A taste of the Flylady

As I have mentioned I love Flylady. So I thought that I would move on from the bedtime routine and show you how I start my morning. Since my clothes are already laid out, and my gym bag is packed if I am going, I head straight to the kitchen. I like lists and time lines, they give me a goal even if I don't exactly follow them. Also, this is today's routine, it does vary from day to day, but stays fairly close to this.

5:20 Roll out of bed head for the kitchen. Fill and start teapot, plug in and start up computer, open recipe book to page needed for whatever I have started. Sit at computer, catch up on blogs I follow and wait for teapot to whistle.

5:30 Make tea, finish mixing up breakfast and get into oven or started cooking on stove, run a sink full of hot water to clean up as I go, or make sure there is room in the dishwasher so clean-up is quick, load washing machine.

5:50 If they are not up already, go wake up #1 and #2 ( warning, this process may need repeated for #2 several times) get them to the table, dish up breakfast. Then while I have them as a captive audience, review any after school activities that they may have.

6:15 Send them on their way to finish getting ready (timer set for #2 as motivation) Since they practice a bit of the Bedtime Routine themselves, getting dressed is not an issue, neither is finding backpacks or gloves.... usually...

6:40 Send them out the door for the bus and move on to #3 (#4 is an early riser too, so he is usually getting ready while the others are. Finish getting him ready, dress myself after cleaning up kitchen

7:15-8:00 Roll laundry, make bed, load car, grab water bottle and kids, head out the door.

On Tuesday and Thursday, this is shortened by an hour. Kids have to be at school by 7:30-7:45 so I am at the gym by 8:00 with #3 in tow. The only things that are different on these days are making sure all the kids are up by 5:50, and making a breakfast that involves very little clean up, Tuesday is oatmeal, and Thursday is cold cereal. Sometimes it is like pulling teeth to keep the kids going, but I have to remind myself that I have tired days too. While this works for us, I am always open to new ideas. What do your mornings look like, are you military strict, or do you roll out of bed and take your time with your coffee and your computer?

Help!

Ok, this post was supposed to be something that was working for me. Unfortunately, things are just not working right now. I wish I could take the batteries out of my schedule, hit the reset button and start over, but that is not the case. My calender looks like Crayola threw up on it because I have so much going on, and my grocery bill looks great because we keep eating out! Here is a sample of yesterday...
5:06 alarm going off, hit hubby to hit snooze
5:15 alarm off again, groan, hit hubby, roll out of bed
5:19 realize we are out of milk, start car, find coat (still in pj's) run to neighbors, bother cows, get milk
5:35 get home, start water for oatmeal, agree to let oldest eat last 2 pancakes and last of cereal, hates oatmeal
5:55 have scolded youngest for crying about cereal being gone, pacified him with promise of sugary oatmeal if it would ever cook!
6:16 sigh and tell#2 that if she misses bus she will be very sorry
6:40 shoo #1 and #2 out door, clean up kitchen, roll over laundry, dress self and #4, pack gym bag, kiss hubby goodbye and take #4 for first day of pre-school
7:45 drop off #4, go to Y, laugh at thought of trying to find parking spot
8:00 breath and attempt to clear mind for first yoga class (mind never cleared, yoga hard!)
9:00 pacify irate person who found out my class may change times, take step since yoga didn't raise heart rate (at least not to where it needed to be)
10:30 showered, changed, dropping off #3 at school, meet hubby for coffee and then lunch
12:45 back on the run, groceries to get, have to run home, put away groceries, feed dog, pack bags for tonight, roll laundry, pick up house
4:00 meet hubby, switch cars and kids, drop off #2 gymnastics, go to meet sister to pick up nephew to watch during appointment (read in car)
5:15 appointment done, nephew returned, picking #2 up from gymnastics, meeting hubby after dropping off #1 at swimming for second meal in town
6:15 kiss hubby goodbye (off to meeting) drive to swim, #2 does homework in lobby, keep #3-4 from killing each other, breakdown and turn on sponge bob, scold #2 for not doing homework, scold #3-4 for beating up each other and playing tag in lobby
7:35 can't stand it anymore, take kids #2-4 to car so that at least the other parents can have some peace, text hubby with questions of possible illegal drug use by kids...
8:00 driving home to 3000 viewing of Backyardagins despite swearing no more tv to and from town
8:30 collapse on couch, laundry waiting, kids in bed still yipping, exhausted knowing that hubby will soon be home, hoping that I can stay awake and interested in some personal time with him, rather than him finding me asleep and drooling on a gardening catalog only open to page 3

This is not working for me....

Oh the piles

How do you keep up with your laundry, is probably the most frequent question I get with four kids. I know many of my friends designate Saturday as laundry day, and there they stand, with a mountain piled up on their bed, couch, counter etc. What am I doing on Saturday morning? Usually I'm drinking coffee and making breakfast. The key is not to save it. It's not wine, definitely not going to get better with age. It's not leftover cake, so no one else is going to take on the task of getting rid of it. It's not moldy cheese, can't just throw it out and start over. Pace yourself...
Every morning I get up and do three things right away before anyone gets out of bed. 1) Start my tea 2) Open my computer and read my morning inspiration 3) Start a load of laundry
I try to do two loads a day this way. Does it always get done? No. Do I beat myself up if I don't? Are you kidding me! I start one first thing in the morning and I either dry or hang that one. The second load gets started right after breakfast and I put away the dried clothes. Now all that is left before I leave the house is to throw the second load in the dryer. I don't worry about folding that load until after the kids are in bed and I am sitting on the couch watching a little tv with my hubby, and sometimes he helps fold too. No stress, no pile, no mold... well I hope not anyway, and my Saturday morning is free. Relatively speaking that is. Works for me!

Update on 101 things

You may have noticed the countdown on the side of my blog telling how many days are left in my challenge. If you have never heard of the 101 in 1001 days or the Day Zero Project, go here to check it out and see examples of other's goals around the world. I have to remind myself to update what I have done every once in a while. It has really helped to keep me accountable to my goals, and has made me realize that some goals just are not appropriate for a season of life. 101 things seem a bit overwhelming to you? How about cutting it down to 10 things in 101 days? Actually setting a group of goals down on paper helps you to focus on something you really want to accomplish, and setting a time limit encourages you to complete your goals rather than putting them off or just forgetting them. So, what are your goals? Is there a list that has been rolling around in your head and is just dying to get out and be looked at?

Before I lay me down to sleep

I have to agree with Cheryl that the time change as been wonderful. It's not so much that we got an extra hour of sleep for one night, but that my kids have not reset their internal clocks yet. This means no work getting them up in the morning, they just wake up, on their own, early... and so does mom. Despite having that extra time in the morning, I take a couple minutes at night to make my morning that much easier. Ten little minutes before I go to bed makes all the difference in the world.
Flylady has been the best thing to happen to me. My husband will be the first to say he didn't marry my for my cleaning abilities, and to tell you the truth, I was not terribly orgainzed either. Mornings were always a rush out the door with this or that missing and me not starting my day with a very good attitude. Now when I get up in the morning, everything flows perfectly, and everyone has a smile on their face as we drive away.
NOT! It has gotten much better though, and that ten little minutes before I go to bed has made a huge difference.
Flylady calls it her Before Bed routine, and it is wonderful. Before I climb into bed to read, or sleep, I do two simple things.

1. Lay out my clothes for tomorrow and pack my gym bag
2. Set out breakfast supplies on the counter and mix up dry ingredients if I am baking

These two things may not seem like much, but in the course of my morning, they save me a ton of time. Now, don't think that I stop there... I do have 4 kids, what about their stuff? This is the Before Bed routine, for everyone. Yes, everyone. Ok, not my hubby, but do guys really care what they are wearing the next day? This simple thing helps us all to avoid the following morning wreaking statement: "MOM! I can't find my..............." Don't be fooled, I still have to say hurry up at least 29 times to #2, but we are working on that too. What do you do in the morning that helps you get out the door faster? Are you already a Flyer, or will you just visit her for the first time today? Let us know!

Ordering out

Sometimes, no matter how much you want to cook at home, you just have to get take-out, or dine in, or take out to the car and dine in there... whatever. Tonight I had wonderful plans to stop that evil cycle and make one of #1's favorite fast food items, Japanese pan noodles from Noodles & Company. I researched online, found the actual chef's recipe, stocked my pantry with what I didn't have, weighed and measured (normally I don't) and ended up with a big pot of disaster... too salty, poor noodle to stuff ratio... you know what I am talking about... Some things should just be ordered out, that works for me.
What about you? Ever work really hard to recreate a favorite, and end up with a flop?

Back to basics- Milling

I love a giveaway. Tons of new people stop by your blog, read about you and what you do, and give you ideas for what they would like to see you talk about. It made me realize that unlike a good book that starts at the beginning, my blog kinda just started where I was. So I thought it might be a good idea to back up and show some of the basics of what I do and why I do it. First order of the day, milling.
I use a Nutrimill to grind my flour for all my baking. Now, why would I spend time grinding flour when it comes in a bag at any big box or grocery store, you ask? The stuff in the bag is dead. That's right, dead. They grind these beautiful wheat berries, kill everything in it, pull out all the fiber and then bleach it. To make you feel better, they "enrich" it, which means they attempt to put the good stuff back into it so that you feel like you are doing a good thing by baking from scratch rather than buying, say, a cupcake. If you bake, you are doing a good thing, but I say why not make it better?
I can't tell you all the particulars about what happens during that process, or how many nutrients are lost in what time frame. What I can tell you is that I know broccoli from my garden is better for me than what I have available at Big-box and that food in its natural state is the best food. So, I grind a weeks worth of flour at a time and store it in my freezer. My personal favorite is a combination of Montana gold and hard red wheat for bread and soft white for muffins, pancakes and other pastries. I do keep a bag of unbleached natural flour that is commercially ground on hand for when I run out, or want to lighten up my bread a bit. More on that later. For now, here is the mix I am about to grind. Makes me want to smile.

Coupons for Kids

My kids would play video games all day if we let them, and that includes the two year old as well. With being well into summer, of course we have heard the standard, "I'm bored!" at lest one hundred times per child. If they are not busy being bored, (thinks on that one for a moment) they are fighting, constantly. Of course their solution to all this is more time on the computer or the Wii, and of course, trying to be the granola girl, I say no way. To which they moan and cry and want to know why did Santa even bring the Wii anyway? Hmm
So our solution to all this is the coupon. It eliminates most of the arguing, some of the I'm bored and all the fighting to do their chores in the morning. This is how it works. Each child has a chore board with their jobs for the week on it. This list is rotated each week between the three oldest kids, with the youngest helping his older brother. I do modify it a bit depending on which kid has which set, but here is this weeks list. After they finish their chores and one page in their workbooks that we picked up here, they are free to play whichever media they choose, but only for 32 minutes, this is their "coupon". Why such an odd time? We had it set for 30 but our oldest argued it takes two minutes for the system to boot and the game to start and we enjoyed this thinking so much we agreed to add the extra two. Chores, homeschool and no arguing for either! Works for me.

What's for dinner...

Ah, the age old question that makes every mom want to cry and wish they were fabulously rich so they could order out, at least at some point or another. Usually I am on top of things and have my menu done on Saturday and written on my calander from Flylady, so I can stock up for the week. Well, my menu is done, but the stocking portion just has not happened. Maybe it was because I was too excited for my my date on Saturday night, or that on Sunday, my back decided to spazz out. Maybe it was swimming on Monday, or Biathalon on Tuesday or the thought of swim again on Wednesday, or the fact that it is summer and the idea of hauling four kids to the grocery store is some sort of torture in itself. At any rate, the shopping has not happened, and it is supper time. What's the solution? Kitchen sink soup! You heard me, and yes it is what it sounds like. This dish starts with me firing up the computer and opening the fridge and freezer doors and a lot of staring. Eventually, I am inspired. Part of an onion in the drawer, oooo some peppers, here is that sausage I bought three months ago to make pizza with, wow, when did I freeze that zucchini? While this may seem a strange way to cook, if you put your four year old on stirring duty and let him dump in herbs, he thinks it looks like the best meal he has ever eaten. Guess I'll call hubby to pick up a loaf of fresh Italian bread and head out to the garden for salad. Oh hey, here is some tortellini....

Posts, Posts Everywhere

We did it! 80 bazillion posts later, we have surrounded our yard with what looks like the start of a stockade. What a job that was! I say that somewhat tongue in cheek since my part of it was relatively easy compared to what my hubby did. We had someone come out with a tractor to drill holes since our first attempt didn't quite produce the results we wanted. (read as- rented a machine with not enough power to dig, or a long enough bit to dig deep enough) This put our project up to about a 9 on the cuss-o-meter scale from the start. Only installing our own crown molding was more painful. After some discussion about how the other 86 holes were going to go, we made the decision to pay someone to do what clearly was going to take us that many years to accomplish, and by then our kids would be out of the house and we would be too old to hunt let alone with a new puppy.
Tractor came, and in the same amount of time it took us to do 5 holes, did all the holes! We were ecstatic! String the line, let's start planting posts, no problem right? That was 2 1/2 weeks ago. Between schedules, rain, wind, rain and more wind...(makes the string move) it took a while to get the rest of them in the ground. My job was holder, clamper, water getter, cheerleader and string mover. I have to say, I sweat much less than hubby who was raker and tamper, using a 40 lb iron bar and a lot of sweat and muscles. It never ceases to amaze me what an incredibly strong and resourceful man I have married. God couldn't have given me a better one, and I know that I wouldn't have found such a guy without His awesome hand. Posts are up, hard part is done, and I am overjoyed at the money we saved doing it ourselves. Hard work! Works for me.

Homemade Taco Seasoning

I commented here about how I am a fabric addict. I love the stuff, can't get enough, have a whole dresser (tall boy size) full of the stuff and yet seem to still buy more. I have been faithful about using the recent yardage for clothing for #2. Twirly, girly clothes that I adore and wish she had a doll I could sew matching things for... My other passion is anything to do with the kitchen. Yup, not scrapbooking or crafting, it's cooking. I don't buy many items for our favorite room in the house, I tend to stay away from extra appliances and am in the process of regifting some things I have replaced since our wedding 14 years ago. I think an anniversary shower is a good idea for old brides... I digress. So, on to the kitchen! Someday I will be really on top of my blog and post pictures, but for now I just want to talk about one little corner of my piece of heaven on earth, the spice racks. Yes, racks, as in two plus the bottom shelf of a cupboard. Why so much space, well, there is just something about a good spice that gets a girl going, and a hubby with a grill, too. You will notice I am posting on Works for me Wednesday and not Frugal Friday where one would think something like homemade anything would go, but since I am a bit of a kitchen snob, I don't know that it is really as frugal as it could be. Why not? I order from Penzey's Spices. You got it, I don't pick up that who knows how long it's been there can of parsley that has no smell and a questionable color from my local big box and put it in my food I worked to hard on to have it be tasteless! Can't do it, don't want to. You think I am kidding about how bad that other stuff is? Treat yourself to one small jar of something you already own. Parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme (humming) cinnamon, I don't care what it is. Order it here. Wait for it to come, sooner if you live in Wisconsin. When it does, open your old jar and take a whiff of whatever it is... does it have a smell? Now open the Penzey jar and smell that one.... ha! Gotcha didn't they? You will never go back. Headed to the kitchen to mix up my taco seasoning, since I always have the spices, but never one of those little nasty packets full of extra whatever it is they put in there. Keeps forever, gotta be cheaper, Works for Me.

Command Central

My family, on more than one occasion, has accused me of being too organized. Well, not organized so much as scheduled. Breakfast done by 7:10, lunch at 11:30, nap at 1:00, pizza on Friday, muffins on Monday, swimming on Tuesday, soccer on Saturday.... you see where I am going. Those of you with a large family, or a spouse, or a job, or a house know what I mean. Actually, that would include nearly every adult I know. On that note, everyone is scheduled and while I know some people do it better than I do, this is how I know what is going on here. (drum roll please)

Command Central!

This is how I keep track of everything that I have going on and rid myself of all those notes and invites that come home and I can't help but loose. If you are familiar with Flylady, then this looks very familiar. Her calendar is hanging up on the left, kids 1-3 each have a clip on the bottom, the double clip is hubby's work schedule and phone numbers, and the top right is my YMCA clip. Everything is housed on our back door in the laundry room so it is easy to find, and keeps my fridge clear. As soon as mail enters the house it is sorted, that is if it is not already recycled coming in through the garage. Whatever makes it into the house is immediately opened and dealt with. If it is an event, we RSVP and then write it on the calender. All the kids things are on there as well as a menu. How you ask? Color coding is my friend.
#1 is green, #2 pink, #3 brown, #4 navy, mom red, dad, orange and multifamily members events are an electric blue. I don't have to worry about putting names on the calendar because I just have to glance for colors. I draw lines to show something that continues, like the blue line for soccer down through Saturday. I even know when the Schwan's man is coming since I am sure to put the sticker on as I come back in the house after putting away my groceries. May is a hectic month, the page doesn't normally look that full, but the large spaces make it easy to write as much as I need to. I also have a smaller version of this for my car. No problem planning Dr. visits since I know what's coming. This also helps for scrapbooking, as I just have to look back for dates to events I have photos for. Cool huh? I would love to hear what works for you as any system can always use help...Off to make some salad dressing, thanks Laura!

Texting...

I never thought I would be a texter. My mom always gave me a hard time about not having that on my phone, "Come on Sonja, sometimes it is just easier." How could typing out a message be easier than just picking up the phone and calling someone? No need to type back and forth, quicker answers to your questions, and how impersonal is a typed message? That ranks right up there with the e-card for your grandma's birthday, in my book.
I have to say, I have converted.... No, I am still not sending e-cards, and I don't like to text to just chat, unless my girlfriend can't get reception from where she is in Missouri, but there is a time and place for something as handy as a quick note. My favorite use for it now, grocery lists. I hate calling my husband at work, his job is stressful enough without him getting a call for diapers or butter. My solution, a text! If he is not busy, he can call me back, but if he is, he knows to just ignore the buzzing phone in his pocket. It also eliminates the forgotten item because he has a written list of what I need. If I am texting my grocery list now, I wonder what my kids will do when they are married.... Texting, works for me!

101 things to do in 1001 days

Please visit Day Zero Project for help in planning your own list of goals. It took me a while to think of things that I really wanted to accomplish in this amount of time, and what is feasible too. At the end of the challenge (and it lands on Friday the 13th!) I plan to assess what I have left and make a new list. Goals! It works for me!

1. Organize my closet
2. Bake an angel food cake from scratch
3. Teach someone to garden (In progress)
   
4. Take 3 Spanish classes (0/3)
   
5. Go back to Mexico 2/11/11
   
6. Read the Old Testament
7. Lose that last 8 pounds Done! 10/23/09 Undone 10/26/10
   
8. Go out on a date with hubby once a month (23/33)
   
9. Try a climbing wall with #1
10. Eliminate all debt but the last school loan (3/6)
    
11. Read 15 of these (3/15)
    
12. Cook a crown rib roast
13. Grow cucumbers Done 9/15/09
    
14. Make it through one summer of homeschooling the kids
15. Go to Ireland
16. Memorize the beatitudes
17. Cut my body fat down to 19% 11/09-25.9%
    
18. Learn the rules of football, no more crazy questions during the game
19. Go on a spa day with #2
20. Increase our savings to 3 times what it is (0/3)
    
21. Hang the kid's' pictures up, again 3/12/10
    
22. Make pretty and edible bagel Done- 05/17/09
    
23. Grow popcorn ( 10/18/09)
    
24. Read 15 of the classics with my oldest son (1/15)-Tom Sawyer
    
25. Visit my grandmas (2/6)
    
26. Attend mass as a family at least three time a month (41/99)
    
27. Visit with a personal trainer Done 9-27-09
    
28. Cook good meals to lower hubby's cholesterol 10 points, beans! Done (once a week)
    
29. Go swimming alone with #3
30. Learn to do our taxes
    
31. Paint and decorate my laundry room
    
32. Learn to make pie crust Done 11-15-09
    
33. Double the size of my garden and donate 10% of what comes out to food pantry
34. Read 30 new books recomended by #1 (12/30)
    
35. Go on a girl's weekend away Done 8-10-09
    
36. Serve some way at church Done 9-29-09 (am a cantor)
    
37. Train to be a spin teacher
38. Celebrate our 15 year anniversary somewhere special 07/15/10
    
39. Take a gym class with #4
40. Make out my will
    
41. Build a patio
42. Learn to make pasta
43. Plant 4 new trees in my yard (3/4)
    
44. Learn needle punch
45. Travel to Washington DC
    
46. Find a new way to be a better help meet for my husband
47. Renew my CPR certification Done 05/13/09
    
48. Surprise hubby by detailing his truck after a hunting trip, myself
49. Take hunter safety with #1
50. Take a financial planning course
    
51. Paint #2's room
52. Learn to make a perfect pizza crust Done 12/28/09
    
53. Learn to compost
54. Shoot a pistol, and get within 1" of the center 10 times (0/10)
    
55. Go camping with everyone.
    
56. Pray for the unborn children every morning for one month (16/31)
    
57. Walk the "Americahood" (our neighborhood mile) 10 times a month (4/330)
    
58. Pray for hubby every morning as he leaves for work
    
59. Go to a Mastokids event with #2
60. Balance my checkbook every day for a month (0/31)
    
61. Create a family room downstairs
    
62. Make homemade marshmallows
63. Grow a totally organic garden
    
64. Go hunting with my husband
65. Take #1 and #2 to Disney in Florida
66. Learn the entire rosary (In progress 11-10-09)
    
67. Enroll in one yoga session
68. Encourage hubby to clean out his closet
    
69. Teach #3 to ride his bike Done 7-15-09
    
70. Organize my workroom
71. Make divinity
72. Learn to soil block, no more peat pots!
73. Learn to golf (In progress 5/10)
    
74. Travel to one new state.
    
75. Practice hospitality one day a month (17/33)
    
76. Create a guest room- Done 5/18/09
    
77. Learn to snowboard
    
78. Set our grocery budget to $550 a month while trying to eat sustainably and organically
    
79. Potty train #4 Done! (10/9/09)
    
80. Make crunchy dill pickles (09/10)
    
81. Build a greenhouse
82. Sew two more quilts and show them (0/2)
    
83. Travel to my in-laws and not dread the long drive with all the kids- Done! 06/12/09
    
84. Learn one new bible verse a month with my kids (0/33)
    
85. Fence in my yard (started 5/8/09, nearly done 7/5/09) Done 9-2-09
    
86. Learn to make meringue
87. Play Wii with my kids one time a week (10/143)
    
88. Somehow remind my husband that I appreciate him Done 12/31/-9 and still going
    
89. Learn to apply make-up (never, having too many problems with reactions)
    
90. Go fishing with the kids
    
91. Create a long range landscaping plan for the yard
92. Win an award at a quilt show
93. Help my sister move up here Done (5/30/09)
    
94. Increase our tithing each year by a percent (2/3)
    
95. Do five chin-ups
96. Start planning an amazing 40th birthday surprise for my hubby
    
97. Take my kids to the Omaha Zoo (Done 06/27/10)
    
98. Sew a quilt for the family room wall
99. Eat vegetarian for one week.
100. Go on a balloon ride
101. Get up at 5:30 for one month Done 10/31/09
     

Two boys, no dressers.

I have climbers. They are on the couch arms, flying through the air, jumping on the pillows and up and down the bunk ladder more times in a day than I want to think about. All those chances for something to break and fortunately, not a cast in the house. We wanted them to have room to play in their room, but where to put two beds, toys, clothes and the multitude of books? Not to mention not wanting to add another piece of furniture for them to use as a launching pad when they were being (insert superhero here). The closet was the answer. Before we had a single rod and shelf, nothing could be reached, they couldn't choose what they wanted to wear, and things were not getting worn before they were outgrown because they were out of sight in bins in the basement. Enter Rubbermaid closet organizer extraordinare! We loved the results so much that we bought another one while it was on sale for #2 room. YAY! Works for us!