TIPS

A friend asked me this morning if I could give her some tips because she thought I was very organized and on top of things. Boy, do I have her fooled. No. I don't have everything organized.  I do however have a lot of lists.  I love sticky notes and note pads.  I jokingly say that I have sticky notes in every room.  Not quite but close.  I do say that if it is not written down it didn't and does not happen.

First things first, I don't have a set plan of how I get things done.  I do write everything I need to accomplish down and I have read a lot of organizing and time managment books and pinned tips and articles on pinterest. You can go to my pinterest board and find a lot of organizing, finances, schedules, etc.  Yesterday I spent the entire day on pinterest. I read articles that I had pinned for later and I also made my Christmas list.  It is almost complete. I just have to fill in a few spaces. I got that done however nothing else really got done yesterday.  I did that while we had a family NCIS marathon on Labor Day.

I do have a few tips I do that I would like to share with you:

First, I get out of bed at 4:45 in the morning, or at least most mornings. I do this so I can exercise and do my daily Bible study before I wake my girls up at 6:15 to get ready for school.  I am not a homeschool mother. That is not for us.  I admire those who do that but we do have a good school here and we are comfortable right now with that.

I get a bath and get ready for the day after the girls get on the bus at 7:00. I also try to lay out dinner or put it in the crockpot depending on what we are having.

I go to work at the church building (I'm the secretary) from 8-12 each day. 

I come home and we have lunch from 12-1 or so. 

After lunch, I do some house work.  This depends on what needs to be done. This is where my lists come in handy. I just walk to the list and tackle what is next on the list.

The girls come in at 3:25 and so I try to be done by then so we can work homework. I then begin supper around 4:30 so that we can eat anywhere between 5:00 and 5:30.  Then the girls help me clear the table and get baths and then if there is any of their laundry  to put away they do that, put up their toys or anything that needs putting away.  Then we sit down as a family to work on the girls Bible bowl chapters.  I try to keep a schedule but I am not so strict with it that I have problems if I can't stick to it.

I have a laundry schedule which helps trememdously. I'll share that with you here:
Monday - bluejeans
Tuesday - light colored clothes
Wednesday - dark colored clothes
Thursday - Bluejeans
Friday - towels and underwear
I use Saturday to finish what didn't get done if I had to miss a day.  I do not do anything on Sunday.

I do make a meal plan. In fact, my oldest daughter just helped me to put together a seven week meal plan. I use family favorites and I also like to try new recipes from pinterest. I also make a point to put any meetings or night activities on my calendar as well so that the meal will be easy for the busiest nights.  I will share that with you as well. This meal plan actually started on August 27th.
August 27th - Monday - girl scout meeting - Chick fil a
August 28th - Tuesday - band meeting - Citrus and Rosemary chicken
August 29th - Wednesday - Bible class - enchiladas
August 30th - Thursday - Girl scout meeting - Hamburger soup - new recipe from pinterest
August 31st - Friday - pizza
September 1 - Saturday - Family fun night at the house - finger foods - football cake, apple pie dip and cinnamon tortilla chips from pinterest
September 2 - Sunday - funeral - eat out
September 3 - Monday - Labor day - brisket
September 4 - Tuesday - Roast in crockpot, mashed potatoes, green beans
September 5 - Wednesday - Brown sugar chicken from pinterest
September 6 - Thursday - Girl scout meeting - Taco soup
September 7 - Friday - clothing closet - pizza night
September 8 - Saturday - clothing closet - chicks in a nest from pinterest
September 9 - Sunday - JEWELS class - eat out
September 10 - Monday - Gospel Meeting - Bankston - eat there
September 11 - Tuesday - Gospel Meeting - Lemon Baked Tilapia
September 12 - Wednesday - Bible Class - Spaghetti
September 13 - Thursday - Football game - potato soup
September 14 - Friday - Football game - Hawaiian Baked Ham and Cheese from pinterest
September 15 - Saturday - Chicken Enchilada pasta from pinterest - or take Hannah out for birthday
September 16 - Sunday - Team B meets - Baked cheesy chicken penne
September 17 - Monday - Stir fry
September 18 - Tuesday - Pork Chops and applesauce recipe form Firm Workout book
September 19 - Wednesday - Bible Class - Fish Sandwiches
September 20 - Thursday - girl scout meeting - Chicken n dumplings
September 21 - Friday - football game - slow cooker chicken ceasar sandwich from pinterest
September 22 - Saturday - VBS - chicken broccoli alfredo from pinterest
September 23 - Sunday - Bible Bowl -
September 24 - Monday - chicken casserole
September 25 - Tuesday - basil and garlic stuffed chicken from pinterest
September 26 - Wednesday - Bible Class - Chicken sandwich
September 27 - Thursday - football game - taco soup
September 28 - Friday - football game - pizza grilled cheese
September 29 - Saturday - ladies day - hamburgers
September 30 - Sunday - 5th Sunday singing and fellowship - baked cheesy chicken penne from pinterest
October 1 - Monday - girl scout service unit meeting - Colorado chile burritos from pinterest
October 2 - Tuesday - cilantro lime chicken tacos
October 3 - Wednesday - Bible class - twice baked potato casserole
October 4 - Thursday - Girl Scout meeting - potato soup
October 5 - Friday - football game - sandwich night
October 6 - Saturday - family fun night - pizza hut cheese bread from pinterest
October 7 - Sunday - Team A meets - chicken cordon bleu casserole from pinterest
October 8 - Monday - Ladies Bible class - Loaded baked potato salad
October 9 - Tuesday - Cilantro lime shrimp  from pinterest
October 10 - Wednesday - Bible class - ranch pork chops in the slow cooker from pinterest
October 11 - Thursday - Girl scout meeting - chicken n dumplings
October 12 - Friday - football game - sandwich night
October 13 - Saturday - chicken enchilada slow cooker from pinterest

When making my meal plan I tried to deem certain nights certain food.  Football nights are sandwich nights. We used to eat at the games but that gets way too expensive so I am going to feed the family before we leave that way it is only a drink and maybe something small for the girls at the game.  Wednesday nights are easy nights for Bible class. Thursday nights are my oldest's football games (she is in the junior high band and they play at home games) or it is girl scout night (I am the girls' troop leader) so those nights are soup nights - this works well for fall and winter. Tuesday nights are the nights that we are at home so those are the new recipe nights. Saturday nights are college game days so we do fun things on those days.  Mondays I have 2 nights I am away at night and those are easier suppers and the rest can be new recipes.  Sunday's are either work team meetings, eating at home, or eating out.  I am trying to keep our eating out to a minimum in order to save money. Knowing our day to day schedule helps to determine my menu plan.

My next thing to do is to make a cleaning schedule. I do have the motivated moms app on my phone and I follow it some. I also just finished a book called the Happy Homemaker.  This is a really old book but it did have some good tips. I am going to work on figuring out a cleaning schedule and then I'll post that schedule here. 

That is about it for me so far.  I am working on more organizing and helpful systems to help my family be more organized and therefore more stress free.  That is my duty as a mom. To keep the home stress free and calm.

Thanks for reading!

Happy Homemaking!