Organization
What’s for Dinner: Our Weekly Menu Plan
SURPRISE!!! I’M BACK!!! Yes, I am still alive and kicking (in case you were wondering)! 🙂 The past few weeks (umm….months really) it has been a little wild around our house. All good stuff, but a lot of transitions, adjustments, work, school, travel, and everything else. Also, was experiencing some technical difficulties with my blog and my IT person was super busy so I didn’t want to bug the daylights out of him. Now that everything seems to be back up and running smoothly again, it is my desire to get everything back up and moving along for you. A big shout out to those who have commented, emailed, called, texted, and checked in with me to make sure I was still alive during this little blogging siesta. A huge THANK YOU for being patient and hanging in here with me as my family made some adjustments. Will have to share more about what has been going on these past few weeks….lots of good stuff and a very full calendar! It gets easier and quieter as the kids get older, right!?
It is my goal to stay on top of our dinner menu once again. We have found a good rhythm for the most part (now that school is wrapping up for the year, ha). We are finalizing several details regarding our summer schedule, but overall I hope to be available and more up to date in the blogging world.
It is nice to have people who help keep me accountable and organized throughout my week. It is encouraging to know that other Moms have to work through all the balancing fun of family, work, home, and a multitude of other activities that I seem to experience. If you have it all figured out, let me know because I would love to be able to get my ducks in order, have a positively balance life in every area plus a happy family and clean house (at least longer than 5 minutes). If you haven’t reached that level yet, no worries, I am there with you. We can do our best and I am going to give it my best shot to stay on top of everything and organized so here we go!!!! Here is our menu plan for the upcoming week:
Our Weekly Menu Plan
- Monday (Beef or Pasta Entree): Crockpot Roast, Mash Potatoes & Brown Gravy
- Tuesday (Seafood or Soup Entree): Tilapia Fillets, Italian Herb Bread
- Wednesday (Chicken or Vegetarian Entree): Sweet & Sour Chicken, Steamed Rice
- Thursday (Pork Entree or Kid‘s Night to Cook): Mesquite BBQ Pork Tenderloin, Green Beans
- Friday, Saturday, & Sunday: Leftovers, Family Preference, and Hosting
I have a general pattern I try to follow for my weekly Menu Plan (for example Monday we have a beef or pasta entree and so forth). It is my goal, at least in the beginning, to have at least the main dish and one side planned. I will put together the remaining side dishes (veggies / fruits) based on the food items that need to be used up first and compliment the main entree.
Setting a weekly menu plan helps me utilize my time better, thus freeing up extra time to spend with my family. On the days that I am working longer hours I can prep the meal in advance so it will be easier to pull together once I am home. As I go through the menu planning process I will try to share some of our favorite family recipes. If there is a specific recipe you would like please let me know and I will do my best to accommodate (some recipes are a toss together meal and I do not use any set measurements).
As a family of four our life can get busy. What’s for Dinner is our weekly menu planning series and one of the ways to help keep us organized, on schedule, and within budget. Our family typically eats 6 to 7 dinner meals at home a week. We do try to go out to eat at least once a month as a special treat. Breakfasts are eaten at home before work and school, lunches are eaten at work, school, or home, so dinner is our main meal together as a family. Dinner is our time to reconnect, share, and enjoy being together after a busy day. Our weekly menu plan covers Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday only because the weekend (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) is our time to spend with family and friends. The weekends tend to be more spontaneous and my husband (who is the better cook) likes pitching in therefore we keep the menu open for variety. We use up the leftovers throughout the week for our lunches and on the nights that we are busy or can’t cook.
Photo by Liz
- Monday (Beef or Pasta Entree): Crockpot Roast, Mash Potatoes & Brown Gravy
School Activities, “Snow White & The Prince,” and Roller Skating!
Our girls at Falls ParkThese last few weeks have been a whirlwind of fun with Jake & I going on our anniversary cruise, the girls school activities, fun adventures, work, and more! 🙂 Here’s a little snip-it of some of the school and fun activities Brina & Karlie have been up to lately -“Snow White & The Prince” Play at the Peace Center, a School Roller Skating Fundraiser, Beta Club Induction Ceremony just to name a couple. Very proud of both girls for their hard work at school. They were both accepted into Chorus, STEM Club, National Beta Club (for maintaining an A or A-B grades for their past year in school), Library Assistants, Safety Patrol as well as a number of other school related extra-curricular activities. I had no idea how busy 5th grade could be! Thankful for their hard work, positive attitudes, and their love of learning!
Hanging out with the family!
Skating with Daddy!
Beta Club inductions!
Snow White & The Prince at the Peace CenterTravel & Vacation: Ice Skating Show
Celebrating with my best friend!
Loving our time together on the cruise! Thankful for a time to celebrate! We had a great day on the ship watching the ice skating show, going to various activities, getting a massage, and so much more!
Watching the ice skating show aboard the ship!
A lot of interesting costumes and neat performances during the show!
Thankful for a time to get away and spend together!
Fun characters. Jake and I went ice skating, but we did have any fancy moves or costumes!The “Travel and Vacation” series is an insight into our trips together as a family, ways we relax, and tips on how to make trips more enjoyable. Life is short and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to build memories with family and explore of of the most amazing places during our time away. Explore with a good attitude, look for fun, and it will be an awesome trip jammed packed with positive memories. It is refreshing having some time away from the regular routine. Make it a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet new people and learn. You just might see or try something new that takes your breath away!
Organized Chaos: Medicine Cabinet
Medicine Cabinet
The medicine cabinet is in the kitchen. The items that don’t fit in the medicine and first aid tackle box are placed on the bottom shelf in baskets to keep everything organized. The cabinet is high enough that the little kids cannot reach it, but is accessible for adults. We have been using this method for awhile now and it works really well for our family.
There are 3 different Medicine baskets on the bottom shelf (from left to right):
- Miscellaneous
- Fever & Miscellaneous
- Cold & Allergy
Medicine organized in baskets on the bottom shelf
Organized Chaos: Medicine & First Aid Tackle Box
Our Medicine & First Aid Tackle Box
I like tackle boxes, but probably not for the same reason as most people. Some people like them to store their fishing supplies, I like them because they make great storage containers. We have had this medicine and first aid tackle box for many years. It has worked very well in storing basic medicine and first aid items. The medicine and first aid tackle box is stored in our medicine cabinet in the kitchen. It is within easy reach if you need something, yet not at a level young children can get access to it.
The top of our medicine and first aid tackle box contains items we only use once in awhile like wrapping, bigger bandaids, poison control items, burn gel, spare thermometers, and a few more items. The 3 containers with the white stickers is the section we access the most often which we go into further details about what they contain below. The front right side of the tackle box contains our thermometer and an otoscope (we had kids with a lot of ear infections and this tool has been a huge help for our family). If you have a kid that gets frequent ear infections an otoscope is well worth the investment!
Items in our Head & Stomach Medicine Container:
- Tylenol 8 Hour
- Excedrin Tension Headache
- Naproxin
- Tylenol Extra Strength
- Excedrin Migraine
- Ibuprofin
- Children’s Tylenol
- Children’s Ibuprofin
- Gas X
- Anti-Diarrhea
- Draminine
- Tums
Items in our First Aid Container:
- Eye Drops
- Antibacterial Cream
- Drawing Sauve
- Nexcare Clear Waterproof Bandaids
- Advanced Healing Bandaids
- Fun “Kid” Bandaids
- Small Bandaids
- Sheer Bandaids
- Medical Tape
- Antibiotic Bandaids
- Large Bandaids
- Antibiotic Ointment
- Gauze
Items in our Cold & Allergy Container:
- Cough Drops
- 4 Hour
- 12 Hour
- Kids Cold Medicine
- Adult Cold Medicine
- Kids Allergy Medicine
- Adult Allergy Medicine
- Decongestion
- Mucinex
- Day Time Cold Medicine
- Night Time Cold Medicine
All 3 containers placed in the Medicine and First Aid Tackle Box
You can see all 3 containers are labeled – Head & Stomach, First Aid, and Cold & Allergy
The containers are in the Medicine and First Aid Tackle Box and ready for when they are needed.
The Medicine and First Aid Tackle Box are on the middle shelf of our Medicine Cabinet.
Organized Chaos: Storing Our Vitamins
Organized Family Vitamins
We store our family vitamins on the top shelf of our medicine cabinet in the kitchen. Each basket contains vitamins for our family members. Jake and I have our own baskets, but Brina and Karlie share a basket containing all their vitamins.
Once a week I get the vitamins down and refill everyone’s individual vitamin containers for the entire week. This system has worked pretty well for our family over the past couple of years. Plus it keeps all the vitamins organized and in one location. I picked up the baskets on clearance at Staples (they were sold in packs of 3 or more and were a $1 or less). If you cannot find them at Staples I have seen them around at other stores as well.
Our medicine cabinet with the vitamins on the top shelf.
Organized Chaos: Health & Beauty Supplies
Health & Beauty Supplies
We have a tall narrow closet in the master bedroom where we store regularly used Healthy & Beauty Supplies. When we find something that it is on sale and we know we will use in the next 1 to 6 months we pick it up and put it in the appropriate container. The containers hold plenty for our family for the next few months so we never get more than what the container can hold. If the container is empty or running low we put that item on our shopping list for the next trip to the store.
As the kids get older I have noticed they are starting to go through more of the Health & Beauty items. Since we try to get these items when they are at a good price we haven’t noticed too much of an increase in use. I anticipate as they get older the use will continue to go up and they may start getting more specific about what they like (or don’t like), but for now they are content with just pulling out something from the container that we have on hand.
It helps having everything organized and available so when an object is needed already we have it. There are a couple items that technically are not Health & Beauty that we keep stored in this area as well such as the Air Fresheners and Small Gifts, otherwise it is all health and beauty items.
Once again you can see that I used the small clear containers with a white lid from the Dollar Tree. These fit perfectly in so many of our smaller closets and help us keep supplies in order. They are easy to see into, pull out, open up, and refill. Anyone in the family can easily get the items they need without assistance. We have not replaced the original wooden closet shelves in this closet because it is such a different sized closet the wooden shelves work for it. The closet is not wide enough to fit 2 of the plastic containers side-by-side so I used a narrow box to slide in next to the containers which contains some of the slightly bigger items we try to keep on hand.
Top Shelf of the Health & Beauty Closet Contains:
- Air Fresheners & Refills
- New Make Up
- Q-Tips & Cotton Balls
- Box of Small Gifts (I try to have a handful of small gifts on hand for last minute parties, teacher gifts, hostess gifts, or something else. Couple examples of what I keep in this box are candles, decorative hand soaps, and more. These items have come in handy when we don’t have time to run to the store, but need something to give someone.)
Middle Shelf of the Health & Beauty Closet Contains:
- Female Deodorant (which now we have 3 people in our household using)
- Male Deodorant (we always have at least 2 of his deodorants out at a time – 1 for everyday home use and 1 packed in a toiletry bag for when my husband travels for work. There have been times when he has had to leave at the last minute so having this already packed and ready helps us make sure he has everything he needs to travel and allows us to get him out the door more quickly.)
- Chapstick / Lipstick
- Box of Toothpaste, Tooth Brushes, & Mouthwash (since these are typically longer or taller in size they fit better in the box on the shelf)
Bottom Shelf of the Health & Beauty Closet Contains:
- Hand Sanitizer & Sunblock
- Dental Floss
- Toothbrushes
- Box of Lotion & Face Wash
All the Health & Beauty items are organized and ready to be used!
Organized Chaos: Household & Party Supplies
Household and Party / Gift Supplies
There are certain items our household tends to need or go through on a regular basis. Since these are items our family uses regularly we try to keep them organized, accessible, and stocked so that when they are needed we can get them quickly. Also, there are certain party or gift supplies that we keep on hand and organized to use for a variety of different events that we participate in as a family.
In order to organize our Household and Party Supplies efficiently in our storage room we used these clear small containers with white lids, you can find them for a $1 at Dollar Tree. We were able to fit all our household and party supplies on one shelf. Once the items are placed in containers, we put the lid on, and labeled them. We picked up the wire shelving several years ago at Sam’s Club, but you can find it at a number of stores including Walmart, Target, Home Depot, and more. We have used this system for several years now and it works really well for our family.
Household & Party Supply labels:
- Vacuum Attachments
- New Sponges
- AAA Batteries
- AA Batteries
- D Batteries
- C & Miscellaneous Batteries
- Curling Ribbons & Yarn
- Gift Bag Ribbons
- Paper Bags (White & Brown)
- Crepe Paper
- Ribbons
When the kids were little it felt like almost every toy had a battery, not sure if we go through any less batteries now that they are older. Although, they do have more stuff that charges using a wall outlet now!
The household and party supplies are located on the bottom rack in this picture! Easy to see, reach, and use when needed!
Organized Chaos: Organizing Our Arts & Crafts Supplies
General Craft Supplies
Our kids love to do crafts! In the summer months, on the weekends, or evenings when the kids have some extra free time they like to do crafts. Throughout the school year they have to do various projects for school so our art and craft supplies come in handy for those tasks as well.
The general arts and crafts supplies are stored in our storage closet on one of our shelves in individual containers labeled with what is inside each one. Whenever the kids want to do a craft or need something specific all they have to do is get the container out, use whatever item they need, and put the container back once they are finished. If they use up all of one particular item they write that item on the grocery / shopping list (or tell us if we are nearby so we can add it).
When the kids were younger we had a lot more containers of art and crafts supplies. Now we have narrowed it down to the supplies they use the most and will fit on one shelf in the storage room. We still have a couple drawers and other containers on the very bottom shelf for specialty or specific items that do not fit into these categories, but they are easy to access when they need them as well. Also, the girls have crafts that were give to them in their own rooms, Organized Chaos: Kids Crafts & Activities.
These small containers with lids that we used for the arts and crafts supplies, you can find for a $1 at Dollar Tree, have been very useful in helping our family get organized! Once the items are placed in containers, we put the lid on, and label them. We picked up the shelving a long time ago at Sam’s Club, but you can find it at a number of stores including Walmart, KMart, Target, Home Depot, Lowe’s, and more.
Here are some of the container labels we used for our arts and crafts supplies to get you started:
- Stencils
- Small Crafts
- Glitter
- Craft Sticks
- Modeling Clay
- Crayons
- Google Eyes
- Beads & Necklaces
- Fuzzy Sticks (pipe cleaners)
- Water Color Paint / Paint Brushes
- Finger Paints
- Stamps
- Pom Poms
Our organized storage room – the top shelf in this picture is where the arts & crafts supplies are located!
Organized Chaos: Cleaning the Top of Kid’s Dressers
Messy dresser top
There comes a point when certain areas start to accumulate too many random items that they need to be cleaned. For some reason in our house any available flat surface becomes possible game for these types of items – from the kitchen counter tops, dresser tops, table tops, the floor, and more. I am hoping this is somewhat normal for most houses and if anyone finds an airtight solution to this problem please let me know. After awhile the little things piling up on flat surfaces really starts to bother me whether it is in the kitchen, bedroom, or somewhere else in the house. Honestly, I lose track of how many times a week (or a day) I clean off the kitchen counter tops and other places.
In the bedrooms the big spot for these types of items to accumulate is on the kids dressers. I want them to be able to keep their treasures, decorate, or show off special items, but at some point it needs to be cleaned and organized. Sometimes a lot of the clutter items are just things that are not put away in their proper place. Instead of putting them away they just lay on the dresser top for awhile. Other times it is some fun trinkets they got at a party, won, or received. No matter what it is or why it is there the chore of keeping the dresser tops clean, organized, and dusted pops up quite frequently around our house.
While the kids room is the one I am talking about today I have to admit our dresser tends to get hit with these items as well. Jake and I are as guilty as the kids in loading up the dresser top with items that do not belong on it. Even though this area tends to get messy more quickly if you clean it off regularly it won’t take very long before it is looking good again.
Cleaning off the dresser is quick, easy, and makes the room look so much cleaner:
- Take everything off the dresser
- Dust the dresser off
- Put away the items that did not belong on the dresser
- Straightened up the special treasures you decide to keep or that belong on the top of the dresser
Looking good Karlie! It always makes me smile to see what special items they specifically choose to keep on top of their dressers.
