Managing the MotherLoad by Jennifer Applin

New post up at Larger Families.com

You can check out my latest post at Larger Families.com here. It's all about trying to stay organized!

Coming Soon....

I have a lot of new plans for this blog all set and ready to go for 2008. The new content includes:

-book reviews

-organization tips

-parenting advice

-suggestions for making time for yourself and others

-ideas for being charitable

-ways to live a faith-filled life

-Featured Resource Friday

Stay tuned....the new blogging format starts today :-)

Works For Me Wednesday: Diaper Bag Alternative

Shannon at Rocks In My Dryer hosts the Works For Me Wednesday carnival and here's my contribution:

With four young children I really don't have a free hand. Therefore lugging a big diaper bag containing supplies to meet all of their needs really is not an option. I think it was after child #2 that I wised up, got rid of the big diaper bag and came up with a different solution.

I now have a "keep-it-in-the-car-bin" that stays in the back of my van. It is a medium-sized under-the-bed type of storage container. Here are some of the items it holds:

• a few diapers
• wipes
• a change of clothes for each child
• a few disposable bibs
• sippy cups
• disposable cups
• snacks, water bottles
• a few books, matchbox cars, etc.
• swim diapers (yep even in the winter in case we make an impromptu visit to the YMCA)
• sunscreen
• first aid items
• a clean shirt for me

Now the clean shirt may sound odd, but it has come in handy. We were attending a baptism and at the luncheon afterwards my son (2 months at the time) had a diaper blow-out while I was holding him. Thankfully I was all set with a change of clothes for him AND a clean shirt for me, waiting in the back of the van. Of course the shirt didn't match my skirt, but it definitely beat the alternative!

In the spring and fall I bring the bin in the house, restock it, change out the outfits according to season, etc.

With this in the back of my van I rarely need to carry even my small diaper bag. I simply throw a baggie of wipes and a few diapers in my purse and head off to our destination; knowing that if there is any type of *emergency*, I have supplies waiting for me in the van :-)

Featured Resource Friday: It's that time again....

Yep, I'm talking about Christmas! For those of you who have been enjoying this unusually warm fall, like we have, this may not "feel" quite right. But according to the calendar Christmas is just a little over 10 weeks away. That sounds like a long time, but when you really think about EVERYTHING you need to get done, it really isn't. Plus, maybe you're like me and you'd like to get the "work" of Christmas out of the way so you have the time and energy to truly enjoy the holiday season. Well, here's a few tools to get you motivated and organized:

Thanks to the Internet we now have plenty of places to turn to come up with a great holiday prep plan. There is no need to reinvent the wheel. Many people have the same tasks on their holiday to-do lists (shopping, wrapping, making cookies, sending out cards, etc.). A great site to turn to for a ready-made plan of attack is Families With Purpose (don't you just LOVE that title?-we should all be families with purpose!) You can sign up for their "8-Week Plan to a Frazzle Free Christmas" which includes a free e-book along with weekly and daily reminders to keep you on track. Don't delay-the plan actually starts Monday (although if you jump in a little late and play catch-up you'll still be way ahead of the game). The 8-week plan concludes on December 10th leaving you a full two weeks to sit back and enjoy the festivities!

If you like to move at a faster pace then check out organizedchristmas.com. Their Christmas Countdown plan runs from Oct 21 to Dec 1st. It is complete with weekly themes, a printable holiday planner, daily messages, and even an interactive community at Organized Christmas Message Boards. The site also includes great ideas for holiday gifts and crafts (nothing beats giving a homemade gift-and savings a little $$$ while you're at it!).

A round-up of sites keeping you organized this Christmas wouldn't be complete without visiting Flylady. Anyone who has ever had an issue dealing with controlling clutter is familiar with Flylady. Well, she also has a plan for "Cruising Through the Holidays." Download Flylady's Holiday Control Journal and baby-step your way through your holiday to-do list. Before you know it you will have accomplished it all and have time left to savor the season!

ETA-Okay this will supposed to post on Friday before I went out of town for a wedding but something screwed up. So just pretend it's still Friday (don't we all wish!) ;-)

Our version of lockers

This week I reorganized my foyer closet. I needed something more functional for four smaller children. I forgot to take a before picture, but here are two after pictures:

The focus was creating an area that the kids could really use to be fairly independent when it came to getting out the door (or putting items away when they came home). I also wanted to get school-related papers, files, etc. off of my desk (where they will surely get lost!). I figured since lockers work at school they could probably be a good solution, but they are expensive to buy. Thankfully my mom was getting rid of some closet organizers so with them I designed this system and my husband built it. It looks taller than it is. This top wire shelf is below my shoulders and I'm only 5'2".

There is one more wire shelf to go above this one and together these two areas will have baskets/containers for hats, scarves, gloves, sports-related items, lunch boxes when not in use, etc.

Below that is the wooden shelf which holds school-related binders, files, library books etc. for the older two and snow pants for the little ones.

The coat area has a total of 6 hooks each for coats and backpacks. Previously we had a short coat rack for the kids, but hooks are easier for little kids than hangers.

Finally we have a few shelves for shoes, slippers and boots. I like to keep everything we need to get out the door downstairs--it's much quicker that way.

So this is the kid's side of our foyer closet, complete with our version of lockers :-) 

Benefits of Early Dinners

We're finally getting used to the back-to-school schedule around here. As I mentioned before this is the first time my daughter has been gone all day, every day. Since she still needs an early bedtime we have a lot to cram into those few evening hours (dinner, family time, homework, showers, getting ready for the next day, a few chores, etc.). So I've gone back to our early dinner routine.

Actually I don't know why I ever get away from it. Everytime we start this life is easier and not as hectic. Thanks to the hours my husband works we are able to schedule early dinners. If I'm organized I have everything planned out (and some meals already started) in advance. Here's how it works and why it's beneficial:

-I do most of the dinner prep work while my litlte two are finishing up their nap and the older two are still at school. This allows me to avoid the chaos of cooking with kids underfoot and dealing with any "when's dinner ready?" whininess.

-When my son gets home from school he's the dinner prep person (setting the table, etc.). This is a help to me and keeping him occupied and not fighting with his little brothers is always a plus.

-Shortly after my daughter gets home it's time to eat. Everyone is usually hungry at this point and instead of offereing a snack we have dinner at this piont and a snack later. Also after spending a long day at school I hate to make my daughter get started right away on her homework. This gives her a little break and the entire family has a chance to catch up on the day's activities.

-My daughter helps my husband clean up the kitchen while the rest of us hang out and play. Then we take our time giving everyone baths, getting them ready for bed, ready for the next day, etc. If we waited to eat later all of this would immediately follow dinner which can get pretty tiresome for my husband and I. The relaxed pace is just what we need.

-The rest of the evening is spent tackling homework, playing games, having a snack and on some evenings attending an event (Brownies, church activity, sports, etc.). Again, if dinner was later in the evening these events would immediatley follow and the evening would feel rather hectic and rushed.

So that's it! My mealtime solution for avoiding the hectic dinner hour (or two)/homework/getting ready for bed rush :-)

Smart Habit Saturday

Check out this great new banner Lara at The Lazy Organizer has for Smart Habit Saturday! Of course my habit of participating in SHS hasn't exactly taken off, but I'm giving it another shot. Here's my previous list and my progress:

EXERCISE-let's start with 30 minutes 3x's a week for now.~uhh no, this one hasn't been happening, but I knew it would be the hardest to fit in.

LAUNDRY-2-3 loads a day Mon-Sat. But here's the kicker-it has to be put away!!~I was doing pretty good here until this week with getting back from the lake. I am doing a major downsizing with the amount of clothes everyone has in general, so this should help.

READ TO MY KIDS DURING LUNCH-I do read to them regularly, but I've found that reading during lunch helps keep their lunchtime goofing off in check.~I need to work on this more. My babysitter who is here three mornings a week has started doing this and it seems to be working pretty good.

DAILY SCRIPTURE/DEVOTION TIME-I'm really working on having a Christ-centered life and keeping His plan for me at the forefront of my mind.~This will never be perfect, but I'm happy with my progress.

MEAL PLANNING-Must do this. NO excuses!~This is still not a habit, but getting there.

READ DAILY-DURING THE DAY-I love to read for pleasure, but I usually wait until I crawl into bed around midnight. Therefore I get through about a page and a half before I fall asleep. I want to treat myself to about 30 minutes of reading somewhere, somehow before going to bed.~Nope, not yet. Maybe now that school is starting back up I'll be able to fit this in.

BE MORE DILIGENT WITH MY PLANNER-I flaked on a doctor's appt this week-enough said!~I've been doing a ton of work setting up a new planner system and home organizer. It's great!

STICK WITH A TO-DO/ROUTINE LIST FOR THE KIDS- they benefit from habits just as much as I do. I just need to help them manage this more.~Still putting the finishing touches on this now that school is starting.

LISTEN TO MUSIC DAILY-I have a wide range of music on my computer, so there's sure to be something to suit my mood. In the evenings when I like a little background noise while I work, music is a better choice over the TV. It's inspiring and uplifting without being distracting.~I'm doing this about half of the time.

GO TO BED EARLIER-I think sleeping 11-6:30/7 is best for me. That way I can get up a little before my kids do and actually wake up before I start meeting the needs of four little ones.~Most nights I'm getting to bed earlier.

Here's my new habit to add to the list:

START DRESSING NICER EVERYDAY-I'm a yoga pants junkie! I love just being comfortable everyday especially since I'm at the computer so much. But I think the "just-got-back-from-the-gym" look (when I haven't even been) is getting old. So I'm focusing on dressing nicer, yet still selecting clothes that I'll be comfortable in.

For more SHS check out The Lazy Organizer!

Works-For-Me-Wednesday: $ Bills for School

I've been busy writing articles for a back-to-school guide for one of my clients. As I was thinking about sanity saving tips for busy parents of school-aged children I thought of everything I learned from my daughter's kindergarten experience last year.

I quickly recalled the number of times she brought home a note saying the next day she needed $2 for this, $3 for that etc., etc. There was always something whether it was a field trip, some little fundraiser, or chipping in for a class party. Forking out the money never bothered me, but the problem was that I rarely carry cash. So every time I saw one of those notes it meant an unplanned trip to the ATM (which can be very annoying when you already have a busy evening planned!).

This year I'm prepared. Bring on the notes, because I've gone to the bank and gotten a stack of 50 $1 bills! These dollars are tucked away only to be touched for school purposes (well, and maybe one last binge from the ice cream truck this year!).

So that's my WFMW tip: have a stash of $1 bills on hand ready to stuff into your child's backpack with a moment's notice :-)

For more Works-For-Me-Wednesday tips check out Shannon's blog at Rocks In My Dryer!

S.M.A.R.T. Habits Saturday

Okay I compiled my list of wanna-be habits and it is quite long. So I've decided to just post 10 now and I'll add one a week until I get to 20. By then at least one of those original 10 should actually be a habit and can be replaced with something else (right?!?). So here I go:

EXERCISE-let's start with 30 minutes 3x's a week for now.

LAUNDRY-2-3 loads a day Mon-Sat. But here's the kicker-it has to be put away!!

READ TO MY KIDS DURING LUNCH-I do read to them regularly, but I've found that reading during lunch helps keep their lunchtime goofing off in check.

DAILY SCRIPTURE/DEVOTION TIME-I'm really working on having a Christ-centered life and keeping His plan for me at the forefront of my mind.

MEAL PLANNING-Must do this. NO excuses!

READ DAILY-DURING THE DAY-I love to read for pleasure, but I usually wait until I crawl into bed around midnight. Therefore I get through about a page and a half before I fall asleep. I want to treat myself to about 30 minutes of reading somewhere, somehow before going to bed.

BE MORE DILIGENT WITH MY PLANNER-I flaked on a doctor's appt this week-enough said!

STICK WITH A TO-DO/ROUTINE LIST FOR THE KIDS- they benefit from habits just as much as I do. I just need to help them manage this more.

LISTEN TO MUSIC DAILY-I have a wide range of music on my computer, so there's sure to be something to suit my mood. In the evenings when I like a little background noise while I work, music is a better choice over the TV. It's inspiring and uplifting without being distracting.

GO TO BED EARLIER-I think sleeping 11-6:30/7 is best for me. That way I can get up a little before my kids do and actually wake up before I start meeting the needs of four little ones.

There it is-on paper, well the computer at least, for all to see and keep me accountable. Be sure to check out Lara's blog, The Lazy Organizer, for more SHS, and check back next week to see how I did!

S.M.A.R.T. Habits Saturday

Lara at The Lazy Organizer hosts SMART Habits Saturday and I think it would be fun to start doing this!

Since this is my first time I'm going to start by writing a list of habits I'd like to start working on. One thing I'm going to pay attention to is the difference between weekday and weekend habits. Certain things I want to do everyday, but others just during the week or just on the weekend. Taking this into consideration may change things up a bit. For example right now I'm really good about filling up a big water bottle to keep at my desk while I work during the week. Even though I work from home and that same desk is there on the weekend (and yes I'm there more than I'd like to be), my weekend morning routine is different and I always forget to fill up my water bottle. By midday Saturday I start to feel sluggish and I know that's why.

So that's the plan for the week-coming up with my list of habits to start working on and keeping in mind that my weekday and weekend routines are different, so I'll need to make some adjustments.

Check out Lara's blog to see what others are doing for SHS:-)