I'm ready for the weekend! Oops, it's Sunday night…

Thanks to my friend Suzanne (who showed me this), I have most of this week's lunches made already. Such a relief! Tomorrow morning I will be dropping off some of my children for their first ever daycamp experience. Then I will take the others to the children's museum, and then grocery shopping. After that I will fix all of the suppers for the rest of this week. (Thanks again!) For the rest of the week I will be busy with seasonal cleaning, school for becoming a "real live" web designer, and making jewelry and vinyl decals for my store. Not to mention the all-important work of snuggles, hugs, kisses, giggles, and story reading. Oh yes, there's also quite a bit of paperwork shuffling going to be going on, as three of the children have leveled up to another grade in school. 

My dog needs a bath, my garage needs sorting, and my store needs all of the new items I have dreamed up to be added & clickable!

And I'd like to read a bit, and draw a few pictures, and maybe even paint some.

Is it the weekend yet?
I'm tired.

;)

( for the record, I am NOT complaining. I am delighted with my lovely, busy life. It just strikes me funny sometimes, & I wanted to share that with you.)

I'm Not Making Breakfast Again For At Least 2 Weeks!

No more daily breakfast making for me! (Don't worry- my children will still be eating [marginally] healthy breakfasts.)

I hadn't been on a hunt exactly, for a better method to handle our Tribe Breakfasts, but I suppose I'm always a bit on the alert for improvements. One thing that constitutes "improvement" (in my book, anyhow) is something that takes less time without any serious depreciation in quality. Also, since I consider one of the job descriptions of a Mama is to work yourself out of a job, anything that promotes my childrens' autonomy is also an improvement. Hence, my quitting daily breakfast making.





I've been on a menu rotation for a while now (oatmeal with peanut butter on Mondays, eggs and toast on Tuesdays, scones and sausage on Wednesdays...) and it served us well. I was able to budget pretty closely because I knew what we would be eating/spending every week, I knew what the children were eating and that I had approved it, and there was no more sleepy-eyed, pre-coffee panic of what to make. But, even though I tried to make things quick and painless so that we could get our day going, it still took time.

Also, even though I planned fairly simple meals and my children are old enough to be cooking, it still worked better for me to be making breakfast while they did all their morning chores. Don't misunderstand - here we teach that teamwork is valuable and necessary for success; but this goes along with the whole autonomy thing. The more autonomy they have, the more time I have to do other fun things with them or things that can (hopefully) make more money for us.




So today we had a big kitchen day and made enough breakfast items that are either shelf stable (premeasured cereal and oatmeal), refrigerator sasfe (individual yogurts on sale, energy balls) or good frozen and reheated (muffins, breakfast burritos, crepes). It worked out conveniently that I had one recipe for each child and that they were pretty age appropriate. The 4 year old measured cereal into baggies, the 5 year old measured oatmeal, brown sugar, and cinnamon into baggies, the 6 year old made granola bars, the 7 year old made energy balls, the 9 year old made muffins and the 11 year old made crepes. I'll be putting together the breakfast burritos tonight.

There is a "menu" stuck to the fridge with magnets with a list of the things we made today and the reminder to choose any two items. On the containers are instructions for the warming up or preparing (for example, that you only add 1/2 cup of milk to your baggie of cereal), and another sheet of instructions posted in the kitchen in case there is confusion. The plan is that each child, upon finishing their morning chores will go ahead and get their own breakfast without having to wait on the others to finish their chores, and that I will have that 45 minutes I used to spend cooking to do something else. (Probably exercising for the first while, I've got 20 lbs I want gone!) Granted, these foods aren't perfect as far as my dietary ideals, but I'm learning to pick my battles. If I start noticing that health is less than optimal, then we'll head back to the drawing board, but for now, I'm excited to give this a try!

Are you interested in giving it a whirl? I got the idea here, and after giving it a try, I"m so impressed with how thorough the instructions are and how easy it actually was to pull off. For only $2.99, I'm convinced it's one of the best things I've bought in the line of meal planning and cookbooks. And it's enough food for a family of 4 to eat for about 3 months! There is a list of everything you'll be making, a shopping list of every little thing you'll need, simple recipes that my children had no trouble following, and directions on how to freeze and reheat things. It also kicked off my own creativity and I've been adding to the list all day of things we could make ahead and freeze like this. Sausage biscuits, cinnamon rolls, green smoothies, stacked pancakes... (that recipe should be showing up here sometime soon!) Once I can get together a plan like the one linked here, I'll share it with you, so then, if you juggle things right, you can have breakfast made up to 6 months in advance!

For now, head on over to the plan I followed and give it a try. Let me know how it goes for you, and what you might like if (when) I make one like it. And enjoy all that morning time!


---disclosure: if you buy the menu and isntructions through this link, I'll get a few cents of the sale. The price isn't any higher for you (and at $2.99 its SO crazy worth it!!), I just get a small cut. Thanks!

Quick! What's For Lunch?

Ever have that moment?

We've been playing and painting and enjoying this reprieve from the cold and all of a sudden I realize it's already past lunchtime and I have NO clue what to fix. And our cupboards are looking a bit Mother Hubbard-ish. Add to that my inexplicable dislike for just having sandwiches again for lunch, and I'm trying not to feel stressed about making good, yummy, healthy, lunch - quickly.

Enter what I call "back pocket standards". Those are the recipes that we almost always have ingredients for on hand, that only take a few minutes to throw together, and that are healthy and tasty.

I don't know what to call it, I never "name" my foods or recipes, I just throw them together and eat them. Chickpeas with garlic and rosemary, bread, applesauce. That's what I pulled out of my back pocket today. (Figuratively, of course)

I heated some oil in a large skillet while I peeled some garlic cloves, and minced them into the oil. After I tossed in some rosemary, I let it all soften and get delish-y smelling while I drained 3 cans of chickpeas. Once the garlic was beginning to brown, I stirred in the chickpeas, and let that cook while I pulled a thrifted loaf of sourdough bread from the freezer. Stirred the skillet again and popped the bread into the oven to thaw.

Got a child to stir the skillet every few minutes while I tidied up the kitchen and dumped the applesauce into a pretty bowl, checked on the bread (nope, not thawed yet. Back in to the oven it goes), called the tribe to wash up and set the table, then pulled it all together and sighed in relief. One more lunch crisis avoided :0)

Hoping maybe I'll inspire another harried mom when that moment hits. I'll share a few more "back pocket standards" soon.

Sunday Morning Breakfast in a Big Family

What do you do for weekend breakfasts?

Saturday is the one time a week we fall back on cold cereal. Not every Saturday, but often enough the children look forward to Saturdays! The Mr. and I sleep in on cereal mornings, and the children help one another to cereal and pre-approved videos. Everybody's happy!

I like Sunday morning to be relaxed, leisurely, easy, no heavy thinking... and I want our breakfast together to be a treat, something yummy that you don't have just everyday.  Oh, and it has to be somewhat inexpensive. My solution?

Overnight French Toast.

It's so easy... toss a few ingredients in a pan sometime Saturday evening before I go to bed, cover it and stick it into the fridge. In the morning, preheat the oven, pop the pan in, wake up little people to dress and snuggle, and then belly up to the table to eat something delish!

The ingredients are basic, and, for a treat, inexpensive. A loaf of bread, a carton of eggs, some flour, sugar and vanilla... the most expensive parts are a box of cream cheese and some frozen fruit.

Sounds like success to me!

The recipe, you ask? Here ya go:

(serves 4-6)
(we double this for our family of 10)

12 slices bread, torn into bite-size pieces
8 oz block cream cheese, in approximately 1/2 inch cubes
1 cup frozen fruit (we use either blueberries or strawberries)
8 eggs, beaten
1/3 c flour
1/2 c sugar (omit if you want to use syrup)
1 tsp vanilla

The night before:
Grease a 9x13 glass casserole. Tear 12 slices of bread into bite size pieces and drop into greased dish. Scatter cubes of cream cheese throughout. Distribute frozen fruit evenly over bread and cream cheese. In a separate bowl, beat 8 eggs, then mix in 1/3 c flour and 1 tsp vanilla. I add 1/2 c sugar because syrup at our table (7 kids ages 10 and under) is NOT "relaxed, leisurely, easy, no heavy thinking..." If you'd like to pour syrup on yours at the table, skip the sugar here. Pour the egg mixture evenly over the bread mixture, cover the pan, and stick it in the fridge.

In the morning:
Preheat the over to 400*F, uncover the pan, and slide it right into the oven. Set a timer for about 22 minutes, and go snuggle someone awake. When your timer goes off, check the middle of the pan: you don't want it all wet and gooey. Bake it until it's dry /set in the middle, pull it out, and serve it up!

Perfectly complimented by hot tea or coffee.

Enjoy!

(a bit of) An Apology For What I Share Here (mostly so I can save face)

I've been feeling... not embarrassed, exactly, but... displeased with myself, over the random frivolity I put here. 

Not that there's anything necessarily wrong with frivolity, but when that's 

all.

I.

say.

then I'm not happy about it. 

Mostly because I know what I'm not saying here. 

All the things I think about, the things I want to mull over, the things I want to share, questions I have, ideas I want to share, growth I experience...

But at this point, I don't have... well, I don't make time to get it all here. 

And when I think about why, I'm ok with it. 

I'm comfortable with the priorities I have right now. 

Especially when I remember that they are right now. 

I'm realizing more and more how fleeting these days with my littles. For so long, I kept thinking "once I catch up on _____, I can sit back and enjoy my littles." That blank was filled with school, laundry, housework, prettying up the house, yardwork, gardening, sewing, canning, you name it.

Lately it's hit me, and hit me HARD, that nothing and nobody are going to sit and wait while I "catch up" ( I never will anyway), and I am MISSING OUT. 

And my very very VERY least favorite emotion - the one I hate above all others - the one that is to be avoided at all costs - is 

R E G R E T

So. 

Even though I'm not crazy about the way I look on here, and even though I'd much rather you see the "me" that is thinking underneath all the crazy blur that is homeschooling 7 of my 8 babies and hoping to figure out starting a business all while maintaining one of the happiest marriages on the planet ( and that takes work!), it's just not gonna happen right now. 

But I do want to show glimpses into my life, mostly for my own record (I don't do analog scrapbooks etc), and also for those family and friends who are interested, and for the customers I have to see just who is the person making the things they're buying, and that means there will continue to be silly frivolity showing up here in a greater proportion than it shows up in my head, because that's what I've got time for right now, because I'm too invested in living the non-frivolous to stop and share it. 

The time will come. I am both content in that knowledge, and a little fearful that it'll come too soon, and that I'll have missed things I regret missing. 

Fake It Til You Make It Has Its Place and Purpose

I'm finding out that "Fake It Til You Make It" has it's valid applications.

I could totally derail myself right there and start thinking of all the times it's not the way to do things, and all the implications of all of those, and how it's dishonest, and how self-deception is damaging and...

Well.

I'm trying to not derail.

Anyway.

Today, I was

SO.

EXHAUSTED.

Like dozing off mid-sentence tired.

So I got everyone settled in with an activity, popped the toddler in his bed, & took the preschoolers to my bed for a quick "power nap" (that's what they call a short nap these days, right?).

My alarm went off 20 minutes later, and although I'd slept hard, I did not feel energized or "powered up".

All I felt was "3 more hours please?"

But that wasn't happening.

Enter "Fake It Til You Make It".

Basically, you pretend you are a actress/actor and you take on a role, and play it well.

My role was that of the energized, chipper, well-accomplished, farm-wife mom.

And you know what? After I trotted blithely out to the back of the meadow to retrieve our "rough work" broom, checked on the corn in the garden with one of my little guys, swept a smooth spot in the driveway and settled down to a 15 minute game of marbles with 5 of my monkeys, I was "feeling it" a bit. Toss in some squealing over close shots and honestly trying to manage flipping a marble straight, and I think I'll make it till bedtime.

Self-Talk is really powerful.

Both Ways.

Tell yourself you're tired, exhausted, beat, worn out, can't make it til the end of the day, just don't have the "oomph" for that task, etc., and it's true.

But take on that role, and really try...

Oh yes you can! I know you do it when you're in the middle of scolding your child for not telling you about the jug of milk lying open on its side propping the fridge door open for hours and the phone or doorbell rings- you turn into June Cleaver! (yes, I'm that old)

So do it again. Convince that invisible audience, convince your child, convince yourself that you do in fact have the energy to pull this off well. With a smile, even.

Because if you had to, you could. And it feels so much better than just slogging through thinking about how hard it is.

And, most likely, you'll get some momentum going and actually feel more energetic and maybe even accomplish more that you were aiming for!

I did.

Learning to Deal with Anger and Overwhelm.

I have been operating under a consistent state of overwhelm for the last several weeks.

I don't recommend it.

I don't think my family does either, for that matter. :0P

My Hero (a.k.a. The Mr.) saw what was going on last week and told me to take the evenings "off" all week. So, as soon as he got home, I grabbed my handy dandy backpack, loaded with my netbook, my sketchbook & markers, and various notebooks where I scribble my thoughts, along with a fiction book for brain candy breaks, and disappeared.

It was BLISSFUL.

I actually got to THINK!

Whole thoughts!

And finish an entire email! (in fact, lots of people got emails from me last week as I worked my way back to "inbox zero") :0)

And I got in some reading on some very helpful subjects, like preventing overwhelm, and how to handle it if it does happen. I've been learning how to stop reacting and start responding; which I've known for a long time is the way it's supposed to be, but not how.

Because I know from homeschooling 8 lil monkeys that teaching or telling someone else what you just learned is the best way to really "get it" yourself, I'll be sharing here as I learn.

First then:

When I am angry or overwhelmed :

B R E A T H E.

Repeat.

Remember that there are very few true crises. This most likely can wait 15 more seconds.

Pay attention to the breathing.

Breathe all the way in, fill up. Feel the air going into you.

Hold it a second or two.

Let it out slowly, feeling your self relax as you do.

Now.

Ask yourself: "Why am I angry / overwhelmed? What do I want?" Usually we get angry or overwhelmed because we're not getting something we want. Often what we want isn't realistic, or is dependent on other people, and we can't make others do as we want (so wanting to isn't realistic!)

Just realizing that what I want isn't realistic is enough for me to calm down and deal with things without feeling so frantic.

There are more questions I ask myself, more steps to take, that I"ll share in the next few posts.

Meanwhile, a great blog to read to learn about how to handle things when you realize that what you want is dependent on other people is Assume Love. It's technically a marriage blog, but the principles there are applicable to almost any relationship.

Biscuits!

Biscuits have been my bane.

Always.

Well, ever since 2nd grade, when that word got me out of the school-wide spelling bee. 

I still squirm at that memory. 

I KNEW I'd blown it, as soon as the letters left my mouth. 

I am a speller. That's what I'm good at. 

I don't know WHAT possessed me to allow the letter Q to leave my mouth. 

We never even USED Bisquik! (no offense to the Bisquik people, my mom just made her own.)

Anyway.

They continued to be my bane even after I recovered from the spelling bee trauma.

(mostly by winning another one by spelling a word that downed about 20 people in a row right before me)

I could NOT make them turn out right! 

My mom and granny were more than willing to teach me how, but their biscuits were made in the good ole way of eyeballing the ingredients, and using THAT spoon to measure. 

Didn't work for me.

I make most of my stuff that way, eyeballing & dumping (& driving my husband bonkers), but biscuits just won't cooperate.

SO.

I've found a way to make them that Works For Me, and it is adjustable- I can make any amount off of the one recipe. 

It works by ratio.

Here's what I have written on the oil stained, flour smudged index card in my kitchen. If it doesn't make sense to you, feel free to ask in the comments & I'll see if I can help :0)

Biscuits by Ratio
c flour : tsp salt          1 : 1/2
c flour : tsp baking powder          1 : 2
c flour : c shortening          4 : 1
c flour : c milk          4 : 1

Mix the ingredients in the order and proportions given, mixing dry ingredients, then cutting in shortening, then stirring in milk. Depending on whether you want to make rolled or drop biscuits, you may need to add more milk. (This recipe is for making rolled biscuits.)
Bake at 400 for 15 minutes or until done. 

Hope this helps someone! 

This post will be linked up at this week's Works For Me Wednesday party.

Our Go-To Lunch

When we want something quick, and nutritious, that's more than a sandwich, here's what we do:

One can corn
One can diced tomatoes
One can black beans

Drain the corn and beans, dump them in a bowl and dump in the tomatoes with the liquid. Snip in some fresh cilantro, or add a teaspoon or so of dried cilantro, then sprinkle some fajita seasoning over it. Stir and microwave for three minutes, or warm-up in a sauce pan on your stovetop. 

Serve as is, as a dip for tortilla chips, or add things like shredded cheese salsa and sour cream on top of  lettuce for a fuller meal. 

This is yummy, and filling, and easy to make even for my young children. Then they feel so proud and helpful, as they provided lunch for the family!
This is linked up at WFMW (Works For Me Wednedsay) over at We Are That Family

Fragrant Friends

We have a little friend.
He pops by from time to time, and is always careful to leave us lingering memories of his visit.
Usually, his offerings have me trying to remember just how to load our .22.

Did you know, if a skunk is in your crawl space or inside your walls, the smell inside is powerful, and almost completely unnoticeable from outside?
Also, after several hours, you will wonder if it finally dissipated, or if you're just used to it?
You will continue to wonder this as you and your Tribe trail through the grocery store, and you will add to it wondering whether people are staring at you because of the size of your Tribe (happens all the time) or because you are the modern day representation of Pepe LePew, times 8?

We got home from the grocery store, badly in need of blankies and stories and snacks, to find that our little friend was worried that his previous visit had been too brief.

Yep.

My house got sprayed twice in one day. And you don't know it till you walk inside.

We've held off doing what we've done in the past for skunks that got a little too cozy - trapping and shooting - because we have 3 outdoor cats that we don't want to have to release from a trap every morning.

After today though, I think I'll just give my cats the chance to get smart about entering traps. Surely one  of these nights, the skunk will have to go into the trap first. It's like, a statistical impossibility to catch my own cat every single night, right?

I'm already dreading killing the thing though. I hate killing things. I even feel horrid when I stomp a bug or set/empty a mousetrap. Last time I killed a skunk, it looked at me right before I pulled the trigger.I sunk the bullet right in its eye and it never knew what happened, but still.

And let me tell you. There is no stink on earth like a freshly killed skunk 5 feet away. Every stink that it was going to stink for the rest of its life was released right then and there, before I could get away.

I think I'm selfish enough to be dreading that part the most.

We had a pest removal guy here last week, but this house is so old (built in the 1820s) that there is no way to seal it up to keep the critters out. He just smiled and told me I live in the country in an old house. I'd figured that was what he would say. Seeing as how this is a rental, we won't be putting much into sealing it up, which leaves dealing with invasions as they happen.

Anyone have a live trap? We got rid of ours a few years ago.

Learning About Bedtime

I'm learning a lot lately.
Or else I'm zooming down The Slippery Slope to mediocrity and apathy.
I'm not sure which.
Of course, I know which I want it to be. I know which I think it is.
But really, who ever says "Hey, I'm falling down into apathy and inadequacy now, have a nice day!"
I want to share what I (think I) am learning.
BUT.
One of the things that is making all the other possible is that:
Mamas have a bedtime too.
We (I) can't hang on to my self-image of the Energizer Bunny and accomplish all I set out to and be the sweet, happy, helpful, playful, fun, engaging Mama I am determined to be.
So.
What that means, practically, is that:
Even though I feel like I had an epiphany today,
and ever though I feel like I am bursting at the seams to write it down to concrete it and make it real
(because, are things real when you don't write them down?),
and even though I always think of all the good stuff to write and all the good ways to write it at night and I can never remember just what and how I was going to say the next morning,
 ...
I. am. going. to. bed.
Right. Now.

well.

right after I nurse Caedmon.

Hopefully I'll remember just what and how I was going to write in the morning.
After I get up at 5:30, drink my green smoothie, and do my workout.
I'm serious.

P.S. Read This Now

This is one I'll be reading several times a day for a while.

Go here, and scroll down past the pretty printables and read the blue box.

About Hurry

Go on, go read it.

...

...

...

Now.

Breathe deep.

Carry on, with those pieces of wisdom ringing in your ears.

Choosing Focus and ::Monday Musings::

I woke up this morning and looked at the "Weekend To Do" list I'd compiled for myself friday evening.
Very little is checked off.
I realized that I can look at that list and see a weekend of failure, and start my week feeling 'behind',
OR
I can look at all the things I did do.
I helped my husband wrestle some monster logs onto our trailer to bring home firewood. (I'm talking 200-300 pounds each! Yes, my muscles are sore.)
I performed and emergency plumbing repair.
I took my daughter with me for some one on one time when an urgent errand popped up.
I did some work on my first "Virtual Assistant" gig.
I sorted through and put into storage clothes for 7 children.
I went salvaging in an old barn with my daughter, and we had a blast wrestling out some treasures from under the heaps.
I cuddled 2 toddlers to sleep for the first time in a long time.
I took an impromptu nap (haven't had one of those since baby was born 6 months ago!)
and, of course, the usual maintaining that goes with a family of 10 (with 2 in diapers).
Laundry, sweeping, meals, sweeping, potty trips, sweeping, goodnight kisses, reading stories, answering questions...
I had a good conversation with one of my children, who was very disgruntled at the time, about how whatever we choose to see, to focus on, we will see more of; how that can snowball and form our personality and our outlook on life.
It is easy for me to see which to focus on, which will make me happier, and which will make me more productive. That last part is counter-intuitive, for me at least. I always think that I should look at how much I didn't do to motivate me to move faster, but really all it does is make me feel like a failure and like I'm too behind to ever catch up. When I look at what I did, it seems to carry me on it's inertia into accomplishing even more than I would plan.
Of course, I do wrestle back and forth with wondering whether it's right or wrong or OK to choose happiness.
John Piper's "Christian Hedonism" comes to mind, even though I no longer identify as a Christian. Also, the simple fact that I am more kind, gentle, patient and loving when I am happy.
Then my background comes through and I hear echos of the teachings that seeking happiness itself is shallow and carnal, and that the righteous are at peace in persecution and suffering, and that if I were really "good" I would be all those things in spite of unhappiness, and that I would be reflecting the glory of God that way. 
Sigh.
That's another post.

For now, I will do what allows me to be kind, gentle, patient and loving to my children, and wrestle privately with the ethics of what makes me that way.

::Monday Musings:
Hands Free Mama
Brave Moms Raise Brave Kids
Learning about becoming a Virtual Assistant
Learning about Chalk Paint & DIY
Inspired to Action- one of my favorite encouragements places
Power of Moms- another of my favorites for encouragement

Our Weekly Rhythm

I've finally got a daily rhythm down that WORKS.
(Yes, I said "finally" even though I have 8 children)
It took me WEEKS of work and thought to whittle my expectations for a day down to 24 hours.
Seriously.
I read this post, and thought, "Well. I'll write down a rough idea of what all I do (er, try to do) in a day, and add up the time spent and see how much spare time I have, because since I can't fit in all the reading and crafting and playing with my children and other things that I want, then I must be wasting copious amounts of time in utter frivolity."
My first attempt came up at 28 hours on the light days, 32 on the heavy ones.
Ahem.
Another day, I'll share with you  my steps from there to here.
Today, I'll show you the weekly rhythm we're trying (& liking!).
(Hint: backing off and looking at the weekly rhythm before the daily is a bit of how I whittled my day down to 24 hours)
I saw this online somewhere and snapped a screenshot of it and moved on, so I can't give credit to where I got it, but if you know where it is, let me know and I'll gladly put a link here!

Mondays: Make Something Monday
We do a craft, or even just build a really great train track in the living room, or (like last week) have sewing lessons... Make something.
Tuesdays: Time To Read Tuesday
We either go to the library to trade for "new" books, or we pile up all over the living room on couches and bean bags and read the library books we do have. This is separate from reading lessons and literature class in school. This is recreational reading, cozy, fun, and with a snack.
Wednesdays: What's Cooking Wednesday
Each child has a day of the week that is "their" day, and one of the things they do on "their" day is to be my sous chef. For What's Cooking Wednesday, we all cook something together, either supper (something new or special) or we all bake a sweet treat together.
Thursdays: Thoughtful Thursday
This one I hesitated about, only for a millisecond, out of habit. For so long, I would've scoffed at this, and sanctimoniously told you that I teach my children to be thoughtful every day. Ugh. I'm sorry. Now, yes, I try to teach my children every day to be thoughtful. But I do see a value in setting aside a time to be deliberate and intentional about it. It reminds us, because, let's face it, we are selfish and forget easily, even though I want kindness to be a habit for us all. And I think it will inspire some creativity and "special" acts of thoughtfulness when we know it's coming every Thursday.
So.
Thoughtful Thursday.
Moving on to:
Friday: Somewhere Fun Friday
This one's kind of easy, as there is a sweet mama-lady who heads up a playdate for lots of other sweet mama-ladies that I amm getting to know. We change that up every so often with other things to cater to different ages, so eventually everyone gets a turn to do something that's not so fun for them for the sake of someone older or younger, and everyone gets a turn to do something that is really fun for them.
So there you have it: our weekly rhythm.
This is all in clay, not concrete. I am not perfect, and we don't do perfect here.
I am (slowly) learning not to try to do perfect.
In the words of a lovely friend of mine:

"I am too busy for perfect. I'm just hoping shooting for happy."

Budget Tornado

I am still working on meal planning, and I am still working on updating the calendar until I have a full six weeks of meals. This has always been my method & has always worked for me. However once in a while the cold front of bills move in against the warm front of the paycheck and creates a tornado with my meal plan at the center of it! Once the dust clears and we move the rubble out,the construction on the meal plan will be continued. ;0)

A Little Meal Planning Help (& a Free Meal Calendar For You!)

Ah! One more week of meal planning done! 

I had a system in place, where we had a meal/dish every 4 weeks, all set up in Google calendar. It served me well for a couple of years.

Now, for several reasons, it's time for a revamp. 

#1 We've gotten tired of having the same things over and over, even though I did shake it up once in a while(see reason #2). Everyone else is more tired of the repetition than me (apparently Aspies love repetition/predictability- I thought it was just me!), but at this point even I am ready to change it all up! Wow.

#2 Because I did "shake it up" every so often, the original calendar with its repeats and add-ins is such a mess even I have a hard time navigating it. The original plan (which worked great) was to set meals to repeat every 4 weeks, fill it in so that all days have a meal, include all ingredients needed in the "notes" section of each entry, and make my grocery list for the week according to that. Now it's a headache figuring out which meal listed on each day to have, and to sort out what to buy, since I didn't always add the ingredients when I "shook things up" on the fly.

#3 We are adjusting our diet again, preparing for what I think will be a HUGE shift when we go full-on the GAPS diet in a few months. Right now, I'm working on familiarizing myself with removing grains entirely, then I'll build on that. 

All that to say, I am sharing my new meal plan calendar with you! I repeat breakfasts and lunches weekly, which means we always have the same thing for breakfast and lunch each Monday etc.. Suppers are planned according to main dish/meat; beef on mondays, fish on thursdays, etc..Each Supper includes a recipe for the main dish, with the ingredients listed at the top for shopping lists. I don't always list things I consider as staples, such as flour, salt, EVOO, so if you want to use my calendar, do read thru the recipe before you get started! 

Right now, I only have the next week of meals planned, set to repeat in 6 weeks. Each week I will add another week of suppers until it's all filled in all the way to the first repeat. Then it should be set! 

Feel free to use the calendar all you want- I will try to remember to link to each recipe source in the notes section so that you can springboard from there and find more things to suit your family. 

If you have any questions, requests, or suggestion, leave them here in the comments and I'll do my best! 

**Note: almost all the recipes you will find in this calendar are from The Stone Soup. Some are cited, some I forgot. There are a few of my own, friends' or family's recipes in there too. So if there's one you like and it's not cited, check over at The Stone Soup first- it's likely from there! 

Diagnosis & Prescription

Even though my average week is nowhere near the week described in this post, the diagnosis of "Mommy Burnout" hits the nail on the head when describing my bad days.
That's REALLY hard to admit.
The tongue-in-cheek post describes how to "acheive" mommy burnout.
I've followed the prescription quite well, and it does deliver the promised result!

ugh.

Want To Sync Your Cloud Services?

Things like Evenote, Dropbox, Google Drive, Sugar Sync?
Maybe it's my geekery, but I love cloud computing. I've been hooked on Evernote for years now, and Dropbox has a special place in my nerd-love cubby.
I don't have a lot in Google Drive at this point, but that would be my anti-establishmentarian side, not wanting "all my eggs in one basket"... Google is so ubiquitous it's a bit Orwellian.
But that's another topic.
One thing I'm learning, partly from experience, and partly from sources like David Allen's GTD and my new hero Power of Moms, which took the GTD system and made it pertinent to moms, is to consolidate all my "stuff" into ONE inbox or bucket, rather than have it all over the place, and have to waste time and energy trying to figure out where I put that important thing I need!
So, I've got some stuff in Evernote, some stuff in Google Drive, some stuff in Dropbox... and I've been really stressing over which to use as my main bucket, and the easiest, most efficient way to migrate everything into it without losing things or wasting ALL my time that I've redeemed through these great methods I'm learning!
Enter CloudHQ (referral link)

In Which I Talk About Food & Poop

Oh, yes, indeedy.
I’m gonna.
Not because I think you’re all that interested, but because that’s what’s a focus in my life right now.
I’m only half kidding. About it being a focus.
After 8 children, it’s pretty hard to gross me out. And I’m finding that baby poop can tell you a lot that the baby can’t.

Bathroom Cleaner

I'm definitely a DIYer. Always have been. I've always wondered why people buy things, rather than do / make them. But, I'll admit, there are some things that even my rabid DIY-ness wouldn't mess with.

Well, actually I did. 

But it sent me scurrying back to the old tried-and-true storebought.

Bathroom Cleaner. 

I tried what "everyone" raves about:

Vinegar.

and Vinegar mixed with Lemon Juice.

and Vinegar, Lemon Juice, and Baking Soda. 

Each time, I was frustrated and disgusted, threw away the concoction and cleaned the bathroom again, right. With Scrubbing Bubbles and/or Bleach.

Each time, I decided I'll keep on DIY-ing in other areas, but I'm not messing with bathroom cleaner. 

Then I'd hear someone raving about a new vinegar concoction and I'd try it again. 

Rinse and Repeat.

Sooo....

on this last repeat, I've actually found a DIY mixer-upper that cleans the tub better than my faithful old Scrubbing Bubbles! (I still use store bought stuff on the toilet & floor)