Dinner Planning

I think I've got a system that is going to work for our family for dinner planning! Hooray! (Only taken me 13 years...) This might be a way that works while we've got a large busy family with all the kids at home. This is kinda following the Food Nanny's System by having the recipes and shopping list together on one paper, only this way I have more flexibility and am not committed to a theme night (I had a hard time committing myself ~ don't want to make something Mexican if we might not in the mood for Mexican that night, also sometimes if I wanted to make something I couldn't figure out which theme it would best fall under.) Here's how this system works:

I've got a clipboard in the kitchen in a convenient spot for me to see and reference when I'm in there. 

My spot is the little cupboard wall between the microwave and spice cupboard. (Also makes it so it's not visible when people walk in the kitchen, which is nice for keeping it looking uncluttered.)

On the clipboard is my dinner planning paper. I plan out the meals for 2 weeks and what ingredients I need to buy. There's room on the list for dinners and desserts, then I look through the pantry and what's I've got on hand and write out the ingredients I need to buy on the paper, so I've got my shopping list all ready. To keep things simple, I try to just do grocery shopping on one day (Thursday works nice for me), and I usually just go to Walmart and Costco. I look through whatever recipe books and then choose the dinner and dessert recipes to make. I write the meal and then reference it with book and page number so I can find it when it's time to make dinner. For example "Lime & Honey Salmon, Ray #253" for a recipe in a Rachel Ray's cookbook on page 253.  I also have my own recipe book for recipes from online or from magazines that I print up and organize -

Those are referenced by tab and page #.

I keep a sheet for next week on the clipboard too, so if there's a meal I know they kids want next time I can write it in, and I write down anything else we need from the store on there.

One month into it and it's working so far! We've had a sit down dinner ready everynight. :)

Chores During the School Year

During the school year, my kids have 4 jobs each day:

• Make your Bed
• Bedroom clean
• Clothes in closet or drawer neat and organized
• 2 After School chores

After they leave for school in the morning, I take my little clipboard with each kid and category marked and I check off who did their morning jobs. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place on the chores get a surprise on Monday night following the work week.

As for the 4th job there of 2 after school chores, I have a list of 12 chores that I just put on the fridge and when they come home and they each have to pick 2.

That's a change from the 6 chores I have them do each day during the summer. The kids aren't home as much during the day, so they don't make as big of a mess and I don't feel like they need to do 6 household chores each day. :)

Happy Birthday Banner

I started making this with our June birthdays, but just barely finished it today before our September birthdays start next week. I think it turned out pretty cute, but I'm going to change the "i" to a vertically lined background. I just made it out of paper and cardstock again, using the same font as I did with the season pennant banners. :)

Habits

We had a little family lesson on establishing good habits. I read the kids the "Habit Poem" which was reprinted in a book I'm reading called "The Ultimate Career" by Darryl Hoole ~

The Habit Poem 

I am your constant companion. 

I am your greatest helper or heaviest burden. 

I will push you onward or drag you down to failure. 

I am completely at your command. 

Half of the things you do you might as well turn over to me and I will do them – quickly and correctly.

I am easily managed – you must be firm with me. 

Show me exactly how you want something done and after a few lessons, I will do it automatically. 

I am the servant of great people, and alas, of all failures as well. Those who are great, I have made great. Those who are failures, I have made failures. 

I am not a machine though I work with the precision of a machine plus the intelligence of a person. 

You may run me for profit or run me for ruin - it makes no difference to me. 

Take me, train me, be firm with me, and I will place the world at your feet. Be easy with me and I will destroy you. 

Who am I? 

I am Habit.

And from Napoleon Hill’s “Think and Grow Rich.  The 21st Century Edition Workbook”.  

“The principle of habit will take hold of the faculties of your mind just the same as it will influence the physical muscles of your body.  The object in writing out and repeating a self-confidence formula is to form the habit of making belief in yourself the dominating thought of your mind until that thought has been thoroughly embedded in your subconscious mind, through the principle of habit.”

Beautiful or Useful

One of the books I've been reading is the book "The Ultimate Career" by Darryl Hoole.  I got it from the library a while ago and just ordered it off Amazon cause it's got tons of great advice that I'll need to spend years applying to my life, thus getting it for my shelf so I can refer to it over and over again.  Good stuff, and I loved this quote from page 6 ~“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.” ― William Morris

I've been trying to apply it as I clean the rooms of the house today - I'll pick up whatever random clutter is around and think "Is it useful?  Is it beautiful?" and if the answers are no then in the trash it goes.  Which is why I threw away a lot of broken crayons yesterday as I swept them off the floor for the ump-teenth time last night.  I hope as I contine to de-junk with this quote in mind that I'll be able to create a home that is full of useful beauty.

LOVE Art

As I've been trying to think of things to decorate our wall with, things that are pretty and also have some meaning to Corey and I or our family, I made this little work of art over the weekend ~

The LOVE Sculpture (or a copy of it?) was on display at BYU when Corey and I were dating in 1997 before his mission.  So, we've got picture of ourselves by the sign, when I'd come visit him at BYU we'd meet at the sign, and it's  pretty and it says LOVE, so I thought it would be a good artsy and meaningful thing for our wall.  I like how it turned out.  :)

Huge Wall

Here are some ideas from Pinterest, Houzz, and google images that I'm using for inspiration as I try to figure out what to do with the big wall in our front room: