OYOL Week 14

Week 14 was to pick another hot spot and declutter it. The kitchen counter was next on my list since it looked like this recently:


Thankfully the construction is complete so fridge is no longer in the middle of the floor.


I was able to clean it up and get it looking like this:


It's cluttered again but not nearly as bad. It's just an area that needs to be maintained on a regular basis. I'm also planning on getting a box to put miscellaneous things in that need a home and keep it on the pass-thru (the counter top on the top right corner) but since that's hot spot 3 it needs to be cleaned up first.

OYOL Week 13- After

Finally my after pictures of Hot Spot 1. If you remember, this is what it looked like before:

Here is the after:


Please note: The timing of this assignment happened to be the week my parents were in town and brought this unit with them. I wouldn't normally go out and buy something to complete it!

It works well but of course now we have new clutter issues. The top is looking like this pretty regularly:

Reed has also taken his shoe obsession to a new level by constantly bringing everyone their shoes, meaning they end up all over the floor.

To deal with the clutter, I'm hoping to get two baskets for the top- one for books and Bibles (the basket up there is broken) and one for the mail. I've also considered getting baskets for each locker for the boys' shoes which would then give Anthony and myself more room for our shoes.

Overall, it's definitely getting the job done. I also realize that I'm forever going to be a pile person!

OYOL Week 13

Week 13 is focusing on the "hot spots." We have several places around the house that collect piles and I always clean them with the resolve to not let them get that bad again. Needless to say the cycle has not ended.

My kitchen currently looks like this:

usually the refrigerator is back against the wall

there was carpet and soon there will be hardwood over this lovely linoleum

My parents are in town, using their vacation to install hardwood floors for us. We're so thankful for their servant spirits!! We're excited to get the carpet out from under the kitchen table. Please take note of the lovely linoleum we found under the carpet. Oh the treasures that old homes give us!

Since two of my hot spots are in a construction zone, I probably won't get to them this week.

Kitchen counter- It's not usually this cluttered, but having company always causes there to be more stuff on it. I've been good about cleaning it, but sometimes it goes from totally clean to cluttered in a moment. I'm not totally sure how to keep it clear.

Pass Through- This is the constant collectal spot in the house. It's the place that things we don't feel like putting away end up as well as things that don't have a home. The drawers were purchased with the intention of filling them with daily activities for G, but since we don't get to them regularly they are just sitting there holding our library books (yes 9 drawers for 1 drawers worth of books). I have some ideas on where to put the things up there, I just need to do it!

Entryway- This spot does clean up nicely, it's just difficult to keep it that way. For a long time the shoes went in a basket. I got tired of it still looking messy with the shoes, coats, my purse, the diaper bag, backpacks, and a laptop bag being dropped right there. The dresser came in to alleviate some of the mess, but the boys cannot open the drawers. My parents were given a cubby unit that my dad rebuilt for us to put all of these things in. I'm super excited and hopeful that it will contain the mess and make for a more inviting entryway. It needs to be stained so hopefully I'll get to it soon!!

FYI: Since we have company in town, a kitchen that is under construction, and Revival services at church, I'm taking the liberty of not sticking to my daily and weekly jobs/routines. We're enjoying the process and trying to make things as easy as possible (like having hot dogs for dinner tonight). I want to enjoy the week my parents are here, so I'm giving myself the freedom to do it. I'll pick back up with the charts and lists next week :)

OYOL Week 12

Week 12 focused on how we form our grocery shopping list. I have a magnetic list on the side of the fridge. I try to write things down as we run out and have a basic order in how I write things. There is certainly room for improvement in this area!

I like the suggestion to make up a list that has categories in the order that they appear in the store. I still haven't taken the time to write the order down, so hopefully I'll get on this since I only have one more piece of paper left on my magnetic list!

OYOL Week 11

For week 11 we were to come up with a meal list. I'm not sure why I never posted this. I've actually had several versions of a meal list made up for a while. Anyway, here are some of our favorite meals (* meals that freeze well):

Breakfast

Meats

Bacon
Sausage links
Ham
Canadian bacon
Turkey Sausage

Eggs
Scrambled
Cottage Cheese
Omelets
Egg Sandwich

Bread/Muffins
Oatmeal Buttermilk*
Buttermilk Banana*
Banana Streusel*
Zucchini*
Cinnamon Rolls *
English Muffin*
Cheese Bread
Apricot Breakfast Bars

Other
Smoothies
Shakes
Bars
Yogurt
Cereal
Oatmeal
Cream of Wheat
Granola
Waffles*
Pancakes*
Cottage Cheese Pancakes
French Toast

Lunch
Meats and Crudités
Sandwiches
Tuna
Loaded Chicken Salad
Black Bean Burgers
Chicken Burgers
Grilled Cheese

Casseroles
Spinach and Rice
Black Beans and Rice
Spinach Quiche

Salads
Bacon, Mushroom, Egg
Balsamic Strawberry Spinach
Spinach Feta
Apple Harvest
Buffalo Chicken
Chicken Ranch
Cesar
Italian Pepperoni
Oriental Chicken
Taco
Steak

Dinner

Fish
Balsamic-Glazed Salmon
Heavenly Halibut
Fish Sticks

Pork
Pork Chops and Apples
Pork Chops and Garden Rice
Croque Madame

Chicken
Chinese Barbeque*
Cesar*
Mustard*
Balsamic*
Cutlets*
Fajitas*
Teriyaki*
Mushroom Wedding*
Pesto*
Thai Honey Peanut
Creamy Garlic Sauce

Turkey
Sausage*
Turkey Joe*
Italian Tomatoes and Turkey Sausage*
Sausage and Peppers*
Turkey Stroganoff*
Turkey Florentine Meatballs*

Beef
Goulash*
Balsamic*
Meatloaf*
Meat Sauce*
Emily’s Crockpot Barbeque*
Teriyaki*
Steak*
Meat Sauce*
Beef Stroganoff*
French Onion Soup Roast*
Beef and Broccoli
Steak and Mushroom Kabobs
Brown Bag Burritos*

Soup
Garden Chowder
Chili
Italian Chili
Tomato
Vegetable Beef
Chicken Tortellini
Italian Beef
Minestrone
Broccoli Cheese
French Onion

Pizza
Pesto Chicken Pizza
Vegetable
Pepperoni
Sausage
Buffalo Chicken
Zucchini Crust Pizza

Casseroles
Emily’s Creamy Poppy Seed Chicken*
Farm House Chicken*
Spinach Calzone*
Chicken Pot Pie*
Shepherd’s Pie*
Mexican Lasagna*
New England Clam Bake*

Meatless
Spinach Calzone*
Zucchini Quesadilla
Spinach Lasagna
Mushroom Lasagna

Side Dishes

Vegetables
Steamed
Creamy Parmesan Sauce
Roasted Veggies
Caramelized Carrots
Garlic Green Beans
Mexican Roasted Broccoli
Broccoli Salad
Cheesy Broccoli
Broccoli Casserole
Coleslaw
Potato Salad
Sweet Potato Fries
Mashed Cauliflower
Cheesy Cauliflower
Cesar Cucumbers
Zucchini Casserole
Parmesan Zucchini
Italian Zucchini
Spinach
Spaghetti Squash

Other
Pasta
Mac and Cheese
Mushroom Spinach Pasta
Couscous
Cheesy Grits
Rice
Tortellini

Snacks
Fruit and Cheese
Yogurt
Apples and Cream Cheese Dip
Veggies and dressing
Veggies and cream cheese
Nuts
Muffins
Bars
Shakes
Crackers

Recipes to try

Breakfast
Pop tarts
Egg Muffins
Baked Oatmeal

Lunch

Dinner

Snack
wheat thins
graham crackers

OYOL Week 10

Week 10 addresses meal planning. Finally an assignment I am already doing (and a post I had already written) that won't take time to implement before reporting about! I've been meal planning for several years and the effort is definately worth it. I try to do a cooking day each month for two reasons- I don't have to put as much thought into what to make (once the cooking day plan is made) or as much time into making it. Here is what I made last week:


Breakfast:
2- Buttermilk Oatmeal Bread

Lunch:
2- Buffalo Chicken
2- Spinach Rice Casserole
8- Black Bean Burgers
8- cooked chicken breasts

Dinner:
2 + 1 lunch portion- Italian Chili
2-Chinese Barbecue Chicken
1-Balsamic Beef
1-Balsamic Chicken
2-Teriyaki Beef
1-Crockpot Chicken Fajitas

Red Sauce in the crocpot that was used to make:
2-Meat Sauce with homemade turkey sausage
2-Meat Sauce with turkey sausage, peppers, and onions (to be used as a pizza topping)
2-Plain Red Sauce

I think I've been striving for more variety than is necessary. I'm trying to find ways to make meal planning easier. In the past few months I've developed themes for breakfast and lunch and this month did the same for dinner. It really helps when I find myself thinking that I don't know what to cook.

Breakfast:
Sun: protein bars/shakes/smoothies
Mon: eggs
Tue: protein bars/shakes/smoothies
Wed: oatmeal/cream of wheat
Thurs: protein bars/shakes/smoothies
Fri: eggs
Sat: cottage cheese pancakes/waffles

Lunch:
salads- 4 times (2 types twice/week)
leftovers/sandwiches (2 times/week)
bean and rice casserole/black bean burgers- (1 time/week)

Dinner:
Sun: Loaded Chicken Salad or Tuna Salad (I try not to cook on Sun)
Mon: Soup
Tue: Beef
Wed: Dinner at Church
Thurs: Fish
Fri: Pizza
Sat: Chicken

In coming up with my cooking day plan I picked two recipes to make for each theme and we'll eat it twice. This really made the freezer cooking plan easy to come up with. I've already strayed from eating the theme night meal on the day I specified, but in the end it doesn't matter. We're eating, I haven't been cooking as much, and I know the meals we'll be eating this month!

OYOL Week 9

I have a few things to share before I give my Week 9 update.

Bare Minimum/Routine Status: I remind myself often that this whole thing is a process and it will be little changes made daily or weekly that will combine together to make it a success. The concept of the routine has been easy for me to implement. I'm still struggling with some elements on it- mainly getting going after nap time, getting the boys to put their toys away before bed, and to give G his stars that he earns for doing his jobs (he's doing them but doesn't know enough to remind me to put them in the jar).

What I Learned This Week:

*This whole experience has been very thought provoking for me. I signed up hoping it would help me get my house in order but realize how much more needed to be done. I've not made any progress on the house but feel like I am making progress overall.

*We experienced a last minute change in schedule that I did not handle with a good attitude. I realized that I can put the effort in to get "my life" organized, but it is crucial that I communicate with my husband so we know what each other is thinking and planning.

*I decided to see if dedicating one day to cleaning rather than splitting it up throughout the week would work better. I think this method will work especially because I woke up that day knowing that cleaning was my focus. I was able to clean some things on my monthly and semi annual lists, however I was frustrated that I didn't get to the bathrooms. I overlooked all that I accomplished and focused on what I missed. I wish I wasn't so pessimistic. I know I set my expectations too high. I just wish I could be more realistic about how much I can really accomplish in a set amount of time, so disappointment and frustration doesn't have to set in.

Now for this week's assignment. Week 9 had us come up with a plan to implement the monthly, quarterly, and annual jobs that we wrote down in week 3. It was suggested that we use this chart to keep track of when these jobs were done. I liked how it looked but was finding that it didn't have enough room or all of the timing options that I wanted. So I decided to remake it because you know, I have tons of time on my hands :)

In addition to making my charts, I've gone through this week and found several things that needed to be added to it. I guess I have not done them in so long that I forgot they needed to be done! Onto the chart they go and hopefully they will be accomplished or I'll at least be able to track how long it has been since they were accomplished. I plan to add these to my Mom Binder that I mentioned in a previous post. It's almost done!!

(Click the image to see them larger)

For now I think I'm going to stick to cleaning on Thursdays while G is in school. The thought of it doesn't sound appealing but the pressure is removed from feeling like I should be cleaning everything everyday. This plan might change in a couple of months when school is out. I'm going to include one or two monthly cleaning things on this day. I will pick one or two things from the other lists to try and accomplish either Fri or Sat mornings since those times were free.

I'd like to add that everything I post on here is a goal. I am hopeful to get it done, but am realistic (or maybe pessimistic) that it might not be done with the frequency that is my goal.

**Note: If you are interested, I created my charts as a Word document meaning you could customize them more than the one from Money Saving Mom. If you would like me to email them to you leave your email address in the comments.

OYOL Week 8

For week 8 we had to report for duty. We had to implement all the planning that we've been doing. After thinking through how I had been accomplishing my bare minimum I reworked it a little before the week started. Based on the original list I came up with, I was finding that there wasn't time to accomplish things if I missed doing them during their assigned time. After I came up with my routines I saw room for better organizing the bare minimum. I've got my 5 things that I need to do everyday and then broke each day down into 3 parts- morning, nap time, and evening. Spaces left blank mean I have that time free for random things that come up or doing something that I missed on another day.

Daily Do’s

1. Read Bible, Memory Verse Review, Pray
2. Empty dishwasher and do dishes after each meal
3. One load of laundry washed and dried
4. Prepare/cook breakfast, lunch, dinner
5. Play with G and R

Weekly Do’s

Sunday
M: Church
N:
E: Church

Monday
M:
N: Read a chapter in book
E: Grocery Shopping alone

Tuesday
M: Grocery Shopping (if not Mon)
N: Plan Awana Large Group Lesson
E: Baths for G and R (Clean bathrooms)

Wednesday
M: Clean and mop kitchen
N: Bills
E: Awana

Thursday
M: Vacuum
N: Blog
E: Baths for G and R (clip nails, clean ears)

Friday
M:
N: Plan for the week- meals, grocery list, work drawer activities
E:

Saturday
M:
N: Finish Planning
E: Baths for G and R
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Here are my thoughts on the week

*A little background: Since my husband is a worship pastor our workweek is a little different. He works 4 weekdays and Sunday. He gets one weekday and Saturday off. My routine list pertains mainly to the 4 days Anthony works. I plan to stick to it loosely on his weekday off and then give myself Saturday off. Sundays we go to church, nap/relax in the afternoon and go back to church at night.

*Anytime I felt like I didn't know what to do next I reminded myself to keep moving. The lists help me to see what I still need to do!

*Having certain things assigned to certain days takes the pressure off of feeling like I should be doing those things I don't enjoy doing (cleaning bathrooms, etc).

*I do really well keeping up with the routine in the morning. I actually exercised three times this week and we played outside 3 or 4 days (it helps that it's warming up). I've noticed most days that I am tired by nap time. I can usually accomplish my nap time jobs, but I'm usually in the middle of something when they wake up and don't want to stop my momentum. I need to make more of an effort to stop!

*It is easier to stop working on things if I work on them at least a day ahead of time so I'm not pressured to get it done because it's time sensitive.

*This week I'm going to try dedicating one day to cleaning rather than trying to split it up throughout the week. It may not prove to be anymore helpful but is worth a try.

*My biggest goal is to stop and play with the boys. I'm not sure why I can't get it through my head that it is acceptable use of my time!

OYOL Week 7

Week 7 had us get a routine on paper. Earlier this year I broke down our day and assigned times to when we would do things. This was good to do in order to see how much time I do actually have, however it was too rigid for me. It would stress me out if I wasn't accomplishing things by the set time periods. So I took that list and erased all of the times. My goal is to accomplish the things on the list during the part of the day they have been assigned to. I made a few changes and included time to accomplish the bare minimum and G's daily jobs. Here is what I came up with:


Before kids wake up
• Shower
• Read Bible and pray

After kids wake up
• Breakfast
• Family Bible time, review Cubbies verse
• Empty dishwasher
• Wash dishes
• Thaw dinner if necessary
• G’s Daily Jobs
• Everyone gets dressed
• Walk/exercise (drop G off at preschool T, TH)
• Start laundry
• G’s work drawer time (M, W, F)
• Morning Bare Minimum
• 10 min blitz
• Snack

Out of the House

Early Afternoon
• Lunch
• Nap time
• Wash dishes
• Finish Laundry
• Afternoon Bare Minimum

Late Afternoon
• Snack
• Play Time

Evening
• Prepare dinner
• Wash dishes
• Clean up kitchen
• Vacuum under table
• Family play time
• G’s Daily Jobs
• Bedtime story
• Kids in bed
• Computer/TV time

OYOL Week 6

Week 6 had us develop a list of chores for the kids and a system to implement them. Several months ago I made a sticker chart for Graham, but after a couple of days I realized that sticker charts are too hard for me to keep up with (not sure why really). Fast forward a few months and we decided to do our own take on a marble jar (I had stars left over from his birthday party craft so we made a "star jar"). It worked, but nothing was ever written down as to how he could get stars so there wasn't total consistency with it (I do believe that we were probably more confused by it then him).

To complete this assignment I decided to combine the two ideas rather than reinventing the wheel. I took the images from the original sticker chart and turned it into a job list:

Sorry it's blurry. Click to see it larger

G will get a star for each job completed on his job list. Once the jar is filled he will get to pick out a new toy or go on a fun outing. I know the responsibility and accountability will be good for him and having it written down with set times in the morning and at night for it to be completed will help it to become part of our routine.

OYOL Week 5

Cut, Combine, or Delegate

Cut

After looking through my Bare Minimum and Do/Want List, I don't know that anything needs to be cut. I wish cleaning the bathrooms and doing the dishes could be, but we don't want to live in filth now do we? I realize that some things on there may never get done, but they are at least goals to one day achieve.

Combine

*I'm going to try and do my bare minimum cleaning in the morning while the boys play.
*If I ever get a plan together of what Graham is going to do for school time I will include writing a letter to our sponsored child once a month.
*I will begin by setting aside one morning's quiet time to read a chapter in the book I'm currently reading. Hopefully my interest will grow and I'll start reading at night too, but I don't want to expect too much from myself now do I? (Note- I've sucked it up and set my alarm for 5:45 in order to get up before the boys, although Graham usually gets up shortly after I do. It's made a huge difference in my day so do this so I don't mind).

Delegate

*I'm going to ask Anthony to be in charge of the family Bible and prayer time. This week is Love Your Family Week at church so it should be a good jump start to making this a part of our daily routine.
*Cubbies Verse can be reviewed during this family time and we can also pray for our sponsored child here.
*We've completely redone our budget for this year so I'm hoping Anthony and I can set time aside each week to look over it together.
*Graham and Reed need to help a lot more with toy clean up. I'm working on a nightly routine that will give us the time to straighten up and will require them to be a part of it.

---
This doesn't really fit into the three categories above, but here are some other things I've realized:

*For whatever reason I guess when I stopped teaching years ago I left my planning time too. For some reason I think I associated planning with not having the ability to be spontaneous or know what is going on. Obviously living like that hasn't been working, so I think giving myself a planning period once a week will really help. I can get our meal plan figured out, grocery list made, G's school activities decided, while considering the activities we have each day. Now I just need to find the best spot for a planning time like this since I envision it being without children :)

*I am hoping that this will be the week for my mom binder to finally come together. I've been thinking about it for weeks and the perfectionist in me wants it to have the perfect font and color scheme before I put it together. I just need to get it put together and can update it as needed. Right now I'm planning on putting the following sections in:

Food- favorite meals, freezer cooking list, recipes I want to try
Bills- bills, receipts, bank statements, and financial goals
Kids- babysitter info, gift ideas, activity ideas
Coupons (in plastic sleeve since I'm not fully into couponing right now)
Personal- projects list, books to read list, personal goals, gift ideas

I hope to report back next week with it DONE!!

OYOL Week 4

We were supposed to break down the activities of our day up to see how much time we spend doing them. I took the lists that I posted in week 2 and 3 and then categorized them and rated them based on frequency. Some things got a zero because I don't do them and the things I do do, were rated higher based on the amount of time spent on them. It's certainly not exact, but I think a fair assessment.


After doing this, I'm left wondering what it should look like? I'm sick of guilting myself for not having "my act together," but what should "my act really look like?" I know I wish the house and food stuff took less time so I can do more with my kids and not be so exhausted at night so I can spend time with Anthony. I guess that's the place to start!

OYOL Week 3

I have gotten behind on the OYOL. Two weeks out of town, mom visiting for a week, round two of the stomach bug, and a toddler dropping from two naps to one will do that to you!! I hope to get caught up over the next few weeks as we get back into our routine. This post will be dedicated to week 3's assignment- things I do or want to do that are not part of the bare minimum and its frequency. I realize that this will be a changing list as I successfully implement things and also think of more things that I want to add.

Daily
Family Bible and Prayer time
Read to the boys during the day and/or before bed
Exercise
Listen to music
Pray for our sponsored child
Review G's Cubbies Verse
Go to bed early
Be satisfied with what I accomplish each day
Play outside

Weekly
Go to the library
Go to the park
Read at least 1 chapter in a book of choice
Go grocery shopping at night alone
Call a friend
Date night
Plan activities for G (in order to cut down on tv time)

Monthly
Practice hospitality- have friends over for dinner
Work on and/or complete craft project
Freezer Cooking
Date out of the house
Get together with a friend without kids
Send sponsored child a letter

Quarterly
Plan Awana lessons
Finish a book

Yearly
Photobooks for each child and one that reviews the year
Deep clean house-move furniture, clean windows, etc

OYOL Week 2

This week's assignment was to come up with The Bare Minimum that needs to be accomplished either daily or weekly. Here is what I came up with:

The Bare Minimum

Daily Do or Die

1. Read Bible, Memory Verse Review, Pray
2. Empty dishwasher and do dishes after each meal
3. One load of laundry washed and dried
4. Prepare/cook breakfast, lunch, dinner
5. Play with G and R

Sunday
1. Church
2. Blog

Monday
1. Meal Plan
2. Grocery List

Tuesday
1. Plan Awana Large Group Lesson
2. Grocery Shopping
3. Baths for G and R

Wednesday
1. Clean bathrooms
2. Vacuum

Thursday
1. Bills
2. Baths for G and R

Friday
1. Clean and mop kitchen

Saturday
1. Baths for G and R
2. Plan for the week

Here's to sticking to it!!

OYOL- Week 1

Overwhelmed. Exhausted. Unmotivated. Frustrated.

This is how I feel and yet, I don’t want these to be the words that my husband or boys use to describe me. I’m tired of feeling like a failure. I’m tired of the piles. I’m tired of the toys all over the house. I’m tired of living for nap time. I’m tired of misplacing things. I’m tired of ending the day forgetting what I’ve accomplished because what I didn’t is hanging over me. I’m tired of letting the boys watch so much tv because I have stuff to do. I’m tired of digging through the laundry basket. I’m tired of calling my husband because I’m stressed out. I’m tired of the tone of voice I've been using. I'm tired of not having a plan for the day. I’m tired of rushing around because we’re late. I'm tired.

Change is desperately needed at our house.

I'm going to be joining Brenda at Unsolicited Advice to become more organized.

I know some of the things that need to be done around here, but getting started is often the hardest part for me. I think her weekly approach will really help get the ball rolling. Plus you will have the added benefit of reading about my progress each week!!

In response to week 1's assignment, here is my purpose for going on this journey:

I desire for my home to be a Christ-honoring place of refuge and solace where our family enjoys to be together.