Monday, March 5, 2012
Morning Routine Chart
I have a 5 year old. My 5 year old is easily distracted and has a difficult time remembering and focusing what she should be doing. I made her a chart for her morning routine to remind her. I put it in a glass frame and Velcro-ed a Dry Erase pen to the side.
I got the idea from Pinterest (of course). Here's the site.
This chart has worked wonders! My daughter wakes up, looks at her chart and starts on her tasks. She loves to mark each of them off with the pen. She hurries to do the tasks so she can. I love that I don't have to constantly be reminding her of what she needs to do every morning. I love that she's in control and can get everything done before she has to go to school. I love that she's ready when it's time to go and we're not rushing to get her clothes on 5 minutes before she has to leave. Finally, I love that I don't have to remember everything that needs to happen in the mornings. I often forget things like having the kids brush their teeth or put their dishes in the sink. This way it always gets done.
I got the idea from Pinterest (of course). Here's the site.
This chart has worked wonders! My daughter wakes up, looks at her chart and starts on her tasks. She loves to mark each of them off with the pen. She hurries to do the tasks so she can. I love that I don't have to constantly be reminding her of what she needs to do every morning. I love that she's in control and can get everything done before she has to go to school. I love that she's ready when it's time to go and we're not rushing to get her clothes on 5 minutes before she has to leave. Finally, I love that I don't have to remember everything that needs to happen in the mornings. I often forget things like having the kids brush their teeth or put their dishes in the sink. This way it always gets done.
Yummy Potato Salad
Here's my yummy potato salad recipe. CLICK HERE to print. Enjoy!
Potato Salad
10-12 med-large potatoes
6 eggs hard boiled chopped
1/2 cup celery finely chopped
8 green onions finely chopped
1/2 pickle finely chopped
1 cup+ bacon
1 1/2 cups miracle whip
1 1/2 tsp. mustard
1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt (maybe 1/2 tsp. more to taste)
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. pepper
Peel potatoes and cut into 1 inch cubes. Place in pot and add water until it just covers the potatoes. Boil for 8-10 minutes until you can stick a fork in the potatoes and they feel soft. Drain and place on paper towel to cool (Don't rinse in cold water!). While potatoes are cooling, combine eggs, celery, green onion, pickle, and bacon. In another bowl combine miracle whip, mustard, apple cider vinegar, sugar, salt, paprika and pepper. After the potatoes are cooled, gently fold them with the other ingredients. Add dressing. If it seems to be too dry for you, add more miracle whip. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
Potato Salad
10-12 med-large potatoes
6 eggs hard boiled chopped
1/2 cup celery finely chopped
8 green onions finely chopped
1/2 pickle finely chopped
1 cup+ bacon
1 1/2 cups miracle whip
1 1/2 tsp. mustard
1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt (maybe 1/2 tsp. more to taste)
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. pepper
To hard boil eggs, put them in cold water with 1/4 tsp of salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a medium boil. Boil for 10 min
then put into cold water as soon as they are done. Peel and chop.
Peel potatoes and cut into 1 inch cubes. Place in pot and add water until it just covers the potatoes. Boil for 8-10 minutes until you can stick a fork in the potatoes and they feel soft. Drain and place on paper towel to cool (Don't rinse in cold water!). While potatoes are cooling, combine eggs, celery, green onion, pickle, and bacon. In another bowl combine miracle whip, mustard, apple cider vinegar, sugar, salt, paprika and pepper. After the potatoes are cooled, gently fold them with the other ingredients. Add dressing. If it seems to be too dry for you, add more miracle whip. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
Date Night Ideas - Learn to Swing Dance
My husband and I started to learn how to swing dance for one of our date night activities. I've taken classes before but he never has. It was a lot of fun. There are a lot of different types of swing dances you can learn. If you're a beginner, I'd start with the East Coast Swing.
There are tons of YouTube videos you can watch that teach you how to swing dance. Here are a few to get you started.
There are SO many moves and fun things you can do with swing. These moves are just the beginner basics. After you get those down here are a few more fun moves to try.
The Pretzel
The Helicopter
Pretzels, Tunnel, Bull Rider, Four Leaf Clover
Find music that is 140-175 beats per minute. Here are some links to swing dance music ideas
http://www.flyinfootwork.com/guide/music/
http://www.dance-forums.com/music/genre/east_coast_swing/
Have fun!
There are tons of YouTube videos you can watch that teach you how to swing dance. Here are a few to get you started.
Beginner Swing Dance Moves
Partner Communication in Swing Dance | Basic Step |
|---|---|
Triple Step | Underarm Turn |
The Elbow Turn | He Turns She Turns |
The Sweetheart Move | The Barrel Roll |
Around the Horn | The Belt Loop Move |
Stop Turn | Stop Spin |
She Turns He Spins | Combine the Moves |
Intermediate Swing Dance Moves
The Pretzel
The Helicopter
Pretzels, Tunnel, Bull Rider, Four Leaf Clover
Music Ideas
Find music that is 140-175 beats per minute. Here are some links to swing dance music ideas
http://www.flyinfootwork.com/guide/music/
http://www.dance-forums.com/music/genre/east_coast_swing/
Have fun!
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Delicious Dinner Rolls
Here is my favorite dinner roll recipe. Pin It
Dinner Rolls
1 C. Hot Water (microwave water for 1 1/2 minutes to get it very hot)
2 C. Milk (also microwaved for 1 1/2 minutes or scald on stove top)
1/2 C. Sugar
1 Cube Margarine
Slice margarine into small slices and put in mixer (I use a Bosch mixer. It's wonderful). Add hot water and scalded milk. Add sugar. Let margarine melt and temperature to cool down a bit (don't let it get too cold).
Then add:
2 Eggs
1 Tbsp. Salt
1/3 C. Vital Gluten
2 Tbsp. Dough Enhancer
1 Tbsp. Yeast
Enough Flour to make dough
Add the eggs, salt, vital gluten and dough enhancer. Next add three cups of flour and put the yeast on top of the flour. I use Saf yeast. It is wonderful and makes the dough rise every time. Also make sure you use dough enhancer and vital gluten. It helps your yeast work better and keeps your bread moist and less crumbly.
Turn on your mixer. Add a cup of flour at a time (or less) until the dough starts to pull away from the sides. It should look something like this:
When the dough clears the sides of the bowl and is not too sticky let it mix for 6 minutes in the Bosch. Let rise until double.
Grease pans and form rolls. To form the rolls, pull all the corners of the dough down and pinch off the bottom. Like so:
I like to cook my rolls in a glass pyrex pan because it tends to make the rolls crispier on the sides and cooked through.
Let rolls rise again.
Bake at 375 degrees for 18-22 minutes (for me it's 18 minutes by my stove tends to cook 2-4 minutes faster than the recipe calls for). When done brush tops with butter and then turn upside down on a clean kitchen towel to cool.
CLICK HERE to print this recipe.
Dinner Rolls
1 C. Hot Water (microwave water for 1 1/2 minutes to get it very hot)
2 C. Milk (also microwaved for 1 1/2 minutes or scald on stove top)
1/2 C. Sugar
1 Cube Margarine
Slice margarine into small slices and put in mixer (I use a Bosch mixer. It's wonderful). Add hot water and scalded milk. Add sugar. Let margarine melt and temperature to cool down a bit (don't let it get too cold).
Then add:
2 Eggs
1 Tbsp. Salt
1/3 C. Vital Gluten
2 Tbsp. Dough Enhancer
1 Tbsp. Yeast
Enough Flour to make dough
Add the eggs, salt, vital gluten and dough enhancer. Next add three cups of flour and put the yeast on top of the flour. I use Saf yeast. It is wonderful and makes the dough rise every time. Also make sure you use dough enhancer and vital gluten. It helps your yeast work better and keeps your bread moist and less crumbly.
Turn on your mixer. Add a cup of flour at a time (or less) until the dough starts to pull away from the sides. It should look something like this:
When the dough clears the sides of the bowl and is not too sticky let it mix for 6 minutes in the Bosch. Let rise until double.
Grease pans and form rolls. To form the rolls, pull all the corners of the dough down and pinch off the bottom. Like so:
I like to cook my rolls in a glass pyrex pan because it tends to make the rolls crispier on the sides and cooked through.
Let rolls rise again.
Bake at 375 degrees for 18-22 minutes (for me it's 18 minutes by my stove tends to cook 2-4 minutes faster than the recipe calls for). When done brush tops with butter and then turn upside down on a clean kitchen towel to cool.
CLICK HERE to print this recipe.
How to Get a Newborn Shot with Black Background Part 2
I mentioned a few "what NOT to do's" in the previous post when taking pictures of a newborn on a black background. Let me illustrate them.
So to recap, when you are taking photos of a newborn on a black background you want your assistant to wear black and/or cover every part of them that is not black with a black cloth so that when you look through the viewfinder of your camera you see black immediately around every part of the newborn. So in the photo below you see two places where that didn't occur (by the head and by the foot). You can still Photoshop this out, but it's just so much faster and easier if you don't have to and look for this problem before shooting the picture.
The second major problem is to make sure you don't cover anything that shouldn't be covered. So also in the photo below you see part of the ball covered and part of the baby's leg covered.
Here's another example. The assistant was holding the baby's shoulders and neck. Unfortunately he was covering the shoulders with the black cloth in attempt to hide his hands.
What would have been an adorable photo if the shoulders were there, turned out like this after post production...very unnatural looking.
Now I'll demonstrate how to get another fun pose, again with the black background technique used in the previous post.
Have you assistant sit cross legged on the floor. Sit the baby on your assistant's leg, one hand supporting the neck, the other on the back.
As you can see in the photo there is black all around the baby which is good, but unfortunately part of the black cloth covered the ball, so that required a bit more Photoshop work for me.
Using the technique in the previous post, burn out the background. It should look something like this.
Then you just rotate the image, make it black and white, bring the color back into the ball, etc. Do whatever you want until you like the way it looks.
So to recap, when you are taking photos of a newborn on a black background you want your assistant to wear black and/or cover every part of them that is not black with a black cloth so that when you look through the viewfinder of your camera you see black immediately around every part of the newborn. So in the photo below you see two places where that didn't occur (by the head and by the foot). You can still Photoshop this out, but it's just so much faster and easier if you don't have to and look for this problem before shooting the picture.
The second major problem is to make sure you don't cover anything that shouldn't be covered. So also in the photo below you see part of the ball covered and part of the baby's leg covered.
Here's another example. The assistant was holding the baby's shoulders and neck. Unfortunately he was covering the shoulders with the black cloth in attempt to hide his hands.
What would have been an adorable photo if the shoulders were there, turned out like this after post production...very unnatural looking.
Now I'll demonstrate how to get another fun pose, again with the black background technique used in the previous post.
Have you assistant sit cross legged on the floor. Sit the baby on your assistant's leg, one hand supporting the neck, the other on the back.
As you can see in the photo there is black all around the baby which is good, but unfortunately part of the black cloth covered the ball, so that required a bit more Photoshop work for me.
Using the technique in the previous post, burn out the background. It should look something like this.
Then you just rotate the image, make it black and white, bring the color back into the ball, etc. Do whatever you want until you like the way it looks.
Photographer Secrets Revealed - How to Get a Newborn Shot with Black Background
Ever wonder how photographers get babies into crazy cute poses when they can't even hold up their heads?
In this post I'm going to show how I got this shot.
If you've had a newborn or seen a newborn, you know that there's no way you could stick a baby on a football and expect them to stay like that. The ball moves, the baby is like a rag doll...it doesn't work (and don't attempt it!).
Getting this shot was pretty simple actually. You'll need the following:
* A camera
* A newborn
* A football
* An assistant (don't try it by yourself!)
* A black piece of fabric (I just used 3-4 yards of black mirco suede from Joannes).
* A very large window/sliding glass door
* Photoshop or Elements
Have your assistant sit cross-legged next to the sliding glass door. Drape the black cloth over their legs and hands. Have them squeeze the football between their knees/legs. Have them carefully hold the newborn, one hand on the stomach, one hand always supporting the head. Place the baby on the ball and position the arms how you want them. Make sure that the black cloth is not covering anything you want to see (part of the football, the baby's shoulders etc.) Make sure you see at least a little black all the way around the baby (in other words make sure you don't see your assistance's skin right next to the baby's head etc., that there is at least some black between the two). Here is the shot I actually got.
Take your photo into Photoshop or Elements.
Grab your clone stamp tool.
Now hold down "alt" and click in a black area. Let go of alt and click on an area that is bright, so in this case I'd click on the white carpet or my assistant's white arms. Repeat these steps until all of the lightest areas are black (or at least pretty dark). To make your clone stamp tool circle smaller or larger push the bracket keys.
[ makes the brush smaller
] makes the brush bigger.
Here's what mine looks like after cloning out the light areas.
Now grab your burn tool. Make sure the Range is set to "shadows" and resolution is "100%".
Zoom into your photo (ctrl+). Make your brush size small when you go around the edges of the baby and football and bigger when you are burning out larger sections of the background. Again use the bracket keys to make your brush size smaller or bigger [ ].
Here's what your photo should look like after you've burned out the background.
Now you can do whatever you want to your photo. I just used a free action called "B&W Beauty" by Pioneer Woman.
That's all there is to it! Pretty easy. If you're not familiar at all with Photoshop you could just use the burn tool and keep burning until everything eventually turns black. The clone stamp tool makes things go a little faster.
One of the reasons why I love shooting with a black background is because it's so fast and easy to Photoshop afterwards, and when you have 4 kids demanding your time, fast and easy is the way to go!
To see more of my photography visit bonniesorensenphotography.com.
In this post I'm going to show how I got this shot.
If you've had a newborn or seen a newborn, you know that there's no way you could stick a baby on a football and expect them to stay like that. The ball moves, the baby is like a rag doll...it doesn't work (and don't attempt it!).
Getting this shot was pretty simple actually. You'll need the following:
* A camera
* A newborn
* A football
* An assistant (don't try it by yourself!)
* A black piece of fabric (I just used 3-4 yards of black mirco suede from Joannes).
* A very large window/sliding glass door
* Photoshop or Elements
Have your assistant sit cross-legged next to the sliding glass door. Drape the black cloth over their legs and hands. Have them squeeze the football between their knees/legs. Have them carefully hold the newborn, one hand on the stomach, one hand always supporting the head. Place the baby on the ball and position the arms how you want them. Make sure that the black cloth is not covering anything you want to see (part of the football, the baby's shoulders etc.) Make sure you see at least a little black all the way around the baby (in other words make sure you don't see your assistance's skin right next to the baby's head etc., that there is at least some black between the two). Here is the shot I actually got.
Take your photo into Photoshop or Elements.
Grab your clone stamp tool.
[ makes the brush smaller
] makes the brush bigger.
Here's what mine looks like after cloning out the light areas.
Now grab your burn tool. Make sure the Range is set to "shadows" and resolution is "100%".
Zoom into your photo (ctrl+). Make your brush size small when you go around the edges of the baby and football and bigger when you are burning out larger sections of the background. Again use the bracket keys to make your brush size smaller or bigger [ ].
Here's what your photo should look like after you've burned out the background.
Now you can do whatever you want to your photo. I just used a free action called "B&W Beauty" by Pioneer Woman.
That's all there is to it! Pretty easy. If you're not familiar at all with Photoshop you could just use the burn tool and keep burning until everything eventually turns black. The clone stamp tool makes things go a little faster.
One of the reasons why I love shooting with a black background is because it's so fast and easy to Photoshop afterwards, and when you have 4 kids demanding your time, fast and easy is the way to go!
To see more of my photography visit bonniesorensenphotography.com.
Cute Crochet Newsboy Hat
Buy one of these adorable newsboy hats in sizes newborn, 3-6 months or 6-12 months on Etsy.
Check out all the other cute crochet hats, headbands and hair bows made by Cute as a Button Little Boutique including this adorable frog hat.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Make Your Own Nursing Cami
About 2 weeks after my son was born, my family and I went to an amusement park....I know what you're thinking...this lady is crazy. Yes, I probably was. However, I'm not the type of person to let things hold me back if I can help it and I certainly didn't want to miss out on all the fun, especially since it was practically an all expenses paid trip. Well, I nurse my babies and it is very difficult to do so in a crowded amusement park. I didn't want to up an leave everybody to find a bathroom every hour, so I nursed right there on the benches a few times.
As you can see in the picture below, the benches had holes in them. I'm kind of a private person while nursing, so I had to wrap a blanket all the way around me and on top of my baby, even though it was sweltering hot outside. :P
All I can say is I wish I'd had one of these from undercover mama.
After I found this brilliant shirt (several months after the amusement park excursion) I still couldn't bring myself to buy one. They are $25 each and I have a very hard time buying clothes for myself. So I didn't.
Well, I'm glad I waited because I just found this brilliant idea on how to make one yourself on pinterest! So easy!
Basically you get a camisole, seam rip the back where the strap attaches to the back of the shirt to detach the strap. Then you cut the strap 2 inches from where the strap attaches to the front of the shirt and sew it in a loop as seen below.
Do it to both sides and you're done. It clips right on to your nursing bra exactly the same as the under cover mama shirt would. If you need more detail, see this website.
After finding this website I immediately went and made myself one with a cami I never wear anymore and only used as an undershirt in the first place. It took all of 5-10 minutes and cost me nothing.
I am so excited! I feel so liberated. I feel like I can actually go somewhere with my baby and not have to worry about where I will be able to nurse him. Love it. Bring on the amusement parks now!
As you can see in the picture below, the benches had holes in them. I'm kind of a private person while nursing, so I had to wrap a blanket all the way around me and on top of my baby, even though it was sweltering hot outside. :P
All I can say is I wish I'd had one of these from undercover mama.
After I found this brilliant shirt (several months after the amusement park excursion) I still couldn't bring myself to buy one. They are $25 each and I have a very hard time buying clothes for myself. So I didn't.
Well, I'm glad I waited because I just found this brilliant idea on how to make one yourself on pinterest! So easy!
Basically you get a camisole, seam rip the back where the strap attaches to the back of the shirt to detach the strap. Then you cut the strap 2 inches from where the strap attaches to the front of the shirt and sew it in a loop as seen below.
After finding this website I immediately went and made myself one with a cami I never wear anymore and only used as an undershirt in the first place. It took all of 5-10 minutes and cost me nothing.
I am so excited! I feel so liberated. I feel like I can actually go somewhere with my baby and not have to worry about where I will be able to nurse him. Love it. Bring on the amusement parks now!
How to Fix Your Doll's Hair
My girls love their dolls. They are still pretty young, so many of their dolls' hair ends up looking like this:
I found this wonderful idea here.
To fix your dolls hair you need
1.) A wig brush
2.) A small travel size spray bottle filled with a solution made up of 2 Tbsp. of fabric softener and the rest water. That's it!
Now I didn't have any fabric softener, so I found this other site that tells you how you can make your own. Since I don't use fabric softener I cut the ingredients down. Here's how to make a small portion of fabric softener:
1 Cup Water
1/2 Cup White Vinegar
1/3 Cup Conditioner
Mix them together (don't shake). That's it!
And here is Rapunzel after her hair has been combed out. Good as new!
I found this wonderful idea here.
To fix your dolls hair you need
1.) A wig brush
2.) A small travel size spray bottle filled with a solution made up of 2 Tbsp. of fabric softener and the rest water. That's it!
Now I didn't have any fabric softener, so I found this other site that tells you how you can make your own. Since I don't use fabric softener I cut the ingredients down. Here's how to make a small portion of fabric softener:
1 Cup Water
1/2 Cup White Vinegar
1/3 Cup Conditioner
Mix them together (don't shake). That's it!
And here is Rapunzel after her hair has been combed out. Good as new!
Friday, February 17, 2012
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Laugh Mom
This makes me laugh. This is so my life...except imagine them all going on at the same time.
DIY Super Hero Capes
I should start this off by saying that I am not very good at sewing. However, I made my 6 month old boy a super hero cape. It was too much fun and surprisingly very easy. Only took me a couple of hours and only took that long because I kept getting interrupted and was doing other things at the same time.
It's a reversible cape, so it has batman on one side and superman on the other. I will definitely have to make a bigger version of these for my boy when he gets older.
I got the appliques from this site: http://www.georgialeigh.com/?p=57. They have several others including Super Why and The Incredibles. I printed the appliques at 65% (as opposed to 100%). I found this to be just about the right size for a baby. I kind of looked at how she did the pattern and made a small version up myself. The masks came from this site: http://www.vanillajoy.com/super-hero-mask-pattern-tutorial.html, also printed at 65%. Very simple, very easy, very fun.
It's a reversible cape, so it has batman on one side and superman on the other. I will definitely have to make a bigger version of these for my boy when he gets older.
I got the appliques from this site: http://www.georgialeigh.com/?p=57. They have several others including Super Why and The Incredibles. I printed the appliques at 65% (as opposed to 100%). I found this to be just about the right size for a baby. I kind of looked at how she did the pattern and made a small version up myself. The masks came from this site: http://www.vanillajoy.com/super-hero-mask-pattern-tutorial.html, also printed at 65%. Very simple, very easy, very fun.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Organize Yourself
I'm the type of person who has to finish what they've started, who goes full steam ahead with whatever I'm working on, who hates to be interrupted before something is done...it's kind of a problem sometimes. I also have a horrible memory and am SO easily distracted. I've been searching for something to help me balance out my life. Then I found pinterest. I LOVE it. It has helped me so much. It has given me ideas. It has helped me organize those ideas. It has helped remind me of things I want to do. It has opened my mind to possibilities.
After immersing myself in pinterest I found several ideas that I thought would help me and put them all together into one. Here's what I made:
Here are some of the things I like about this chart and how they've helped me.
1. This chart has my menus for the week clipped to clothes pins. This way if I don't feel like making a certain meal one day, I can change my mind last minute and switch days. This was one of the biggest problems I've had with menus written on paper. I like to change my mind.
2. On the back of the menu strips are the food I need to make the meal. This was also a problem with paper menus. I would think I had everything when I went shopping and when it came time to make the meal I'd find I was missing an important ingredient. All I have to do with this system is flip the paper over and write down on my shopping list what I need to get that week. No more searching through recipe books weekly to make sure I have everything.
3. I have meal ideas in the "Menu" pocket. No more searching through recipe books trying to figure out what to make. If I find a new recipe I want to try, I just write it on a strip of paper, with the recipe page number if I need to and what I need for it on the back.
4. Cleaning- I have little green pockets next to each day of the week that have the jobs I need to do that day. Here's a site I found that has ideas for how to keep your house clean by doing one chore per day. I modified the chores a little to fit my individual needs and circumstances.
5. I have a "Monthly" and a "Seasonal" pocket at the bottom to help remind me the things I need to clean monthly and seasonally. Here's another website with one thing you should deep clean per month to keep your house clean. You could also use their daily job ideas as well.
6. Lastly, I have one thing that I want/need to do as an individual Velcro-ed onto the front of the green pockets for each day. This helps me feel like I've accomplished something. So here are some of my individual day things:
* Make Something - make one thing which could include a craft, sewing project, gift, website, something for kids, something for spouse, something to help organize etc.
* Fix/Organize - mend one pair of pants, fix a broken toy, organize a messy closet etc.
* Photography - go out and take a photos of something new.
* Bake/Cook - bake bread, rolls, breadsticks, cook a new recipe, cook freezer meals etc.
* Blog - write on your blog.
* Get Outside - get out of the house and take your kids to the park, weed a flower bed, plant something, go shopping etc.
Again, I like that they have Velcro on the back because I can switch them around if I want to if I don't feel like doing something one day, or if it doesn't fit in my schedule.
Maybe you could do a couple of these things each day, but for me, I have four children that demand my attention, so I have to start with baby steps and just try to do one thing for myself a day.
Anyways, this chart has helped me so much. It has helped me finally feel balance in my life.
Now there is one more thing I do to help remind me to do things with the kids. Some days the older kids play all day with each other and I never see them. While this is kind of nice, it doesn't help me feel like a very good mom. So, I got a cup and put a bunch of popsicle sticks in it. On each popsicle stick I wrote one thing to do with the kids. Some examples are things like, "Read 3 books," "Play 2 games," "Do a puppet show," "Put together a puzzle," "Draw a picture together, " etc. I have the kids draw at least one of the sticks per day and that way make sure I am spending time with each of them. The kids love it and it makes it so I don't have do come up with ideas to do off the top of my head (I'm not very good at that).
After immersing myself in pinterest I found several ideas that I thought would help me and put them all together into one. Here's what I made:
Here are some of the things I like about this chart and how they've helped me.
1. This chart has my menus for the week clipped to clothes pins. This way if I don't feel like making a certain meal one day, I can change my mind last minute and switch days. This was one of the biggest problems I've had with menus written on paper. I like to change my mind.
2. On the back of the menu strips are the food I need to make the meal. This was also a problem with paper menus. I would think I had everything when I went shopping and when it came time to make the meal I'd find I was missing an important ingredient. All I have to do with this system is flip the paper over and write down on my shopping list what I need to get that week. No more searching through recipe books weekly to make sure I have everything.
3. I have meal ideas in the "Menu" pocket. No more searching through recipe books trying to figure out what to make. If I find a new recipe I want to try, I just write it on a strip of paper, with the recipe page number if I need to and what I need for it on the back.
4. Cleaning- I have little green pockets next to each day of the week that have the jobs I need to do that day. Here's a site I found that has ideas for how to keep your house clean by doing one chore per day. I modified the chores a little to fit my individual needs and circumstances.
5. I have a "Monthly" and a "Seasonal" pocket at the bottom to help remind me the things I need to clean monthly and seasonally. Here's another website with one thing you should deep clean per month to keep your house clean. You could also use their daily job ideas as well.
6. Lastly, I have one thing that I want/need to do as an individual Velcro-ed onto the front of the green pockets for each day. This helps me feel like I've accomplished something. So here are some of my individual day things:
* Make Something - make one thing which could include a craft, sewing project, gift, website, something for kids, something for spouse, something to help organize etc.
* Fix/Organize - mend one pair of pants, fix a broken toy, organize a messy closet etc.
* Photography - go out and take a photos of something new.
* Bake/Cook - bake bread, rolls, breadsticks, cook a new recipe, cook freezer meals etc.
* Blog - write on your blog.
* Get Outside - get out of the house and take your kids to the park, weed a flower bed, plant something, go shopping etc.
Again, I like that they have Velcro on the back because I can switch them around if I want to if I don't feel like doing something one day, or if it doesn't fit in my schedule.
Maybe you could do a couple of these things each day, but for me, I have four children that demand my attention, so I have to start with baby steps and just try to do one thing for myself a day.
Anyways, this chart has helped me so much. It has helped me finally feel balance in my life.
Now there is one more thing I do to help remind me to do things with the kids. Some days the older kids play all day with each other and I never see them. While this is kind of nice, it doesn't help me feel like a very good mom. So, I got a cup and put a bunch of popsicle sticks in it. On each popsicle stick I wrote one thing to do with the kids. Some examples are things like, "Read 3 books," "Play 2 games," "Do a puppet show," "Put together a puzzle," "Draw a picture together, " etc. I have the kids draw at least one of the sticks per day and that way make sure I am spending time with each of them. The kids love it and it makes it so I don't have do come up with ideas to do off the top of my head (I'm not very good at that).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)