11 October 2019

7 Things To Do Before Noon

Disclaimer* this is on GOOD days. We all have those days that things go crazy and that’s ok too. 


Fuel-for me that is coffee with coconut oil in it, I typically practice intermittent fasting, breakfast counts too. 

Exercise/Move - I just set my step goal for the day and knock out a couple thousand steps first thing, usually while doing #5.

Reading-praying, meditation, self help, affirmations. Whatever you do, make it a priority early in your day.

Get ready for the day- if I put it off too long I just won’t bother. 

Tidy Up- Everything is easier if there isn’t chaos all over 

Prioritize- Make my to do list and prioritize. 

Hardest Thing- Or the thing I want to do the least. Get it over with and the rest of the day is better!

23 September 2019

Meal Planning...just start!



We meal plan for a couple BIG reasons.

  1. Budget 
  2. We don’t like eating out often and we are busy. Time is important 

Those 2 reasons determine how we plan. I try to keep our meals pretty simple, we do not have time during the week for long recipes. Simple meals don’t mean convenience meals. Convenience =expensive. It won’t matter how much we save at the grocery store if we don’t have time to make the meals, we would just end up with expensive take out. Simple is where it’s at for us. 

  1. Blank calendar or paper or notepad on your phone.  It doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive or specific for meal planning. 
  2. Check your planner! Have insane days? Long work days or extra kids over? Make sure you take those into account. 
  3. Start with dinner, breakfast and lunch can be kept simple and basic. Don’t overwhelm yourself. 
  4. Have a list of simple meals handy, I keep our list in my planner. 
  5. Make your grocery list based on the meals and your pantry. CHECK YOUR STOCK. Don’t buy another bag of rice when you already have 3 at home. 
  • You can do this weekly or every 2 weeks. But if you are making a meal that requires veggies that won’t stay fresh long, make that shortly after you shop!

If you don’t have a big list of easy meals,start making one! I’ll work on sharing ours. Very few have a recipe, and many are prep ahead to make them quick. 

20 September 2019

Friday Treat ~ Mini Hand Pies





The first two weeks went so fast and this one is flying too! I have some time today to work on treats for Friday treats. I grabbed this pie crust from my go to, Grocery Outlet, it was about to reach its pull date so it was .25! Just a quarter!  I just tossed it in the freezer. I pulled it out this morning.   I just mixed up some pumpkin and cinnamon and nutmeg and a little brown sugar and filled these then baked them! Just a few minutes of work, not overly sugary and pretty darn affordable!



Do you have a day of the week you make treats? Friday is our least busy day (but still busy) and I like to reward us all for surviving the week lol 

06 September 2019

Organizing Friday


We are wrapping up our first week back to school and Friday is my least busy day! Evening gets crazy though.  My schedule is similar to the other weekdays but no running to preschool and back and no scheduled chores. I just do catch up and organizing or work on projects. 


I’ve got a project and organizing list going, starting with September and October. Some are pretty specific to our house. 

September 6th Hall Built in’s 

September 13 Garage 

September 20 Garage 

September 27 Toys/Games 

October 4 linens/towels/throws

October 11 clothing swap 

October 18 appliances big and small 

October 25 exterior windows

Do you have a list of places you purge and organize year round?   

03 September 2019

Bathroom time savers!




The first Wednesday of every month is when I treat our septic system and drains. Because I am cleaning bathrooms anyway, it’s just part of the bathroom rhythm. I order these on Amazon when we run out, requires very little thinking or work! They are easy to use and don’t take up valuable storage space.  The drain cleaners last a month ish, haven’t had a slow drain since using these




I’m also trying different methods of cleaning the iron ring we get. Any tried and true (preferably natural) methods for taking care of that?   No one used the master toilet for months and it’s pretty bad right now, even though it’s clean, it’s got mineral build up. I’ve got something coming in the mail that has great reviews so fingers crossed 🤞🏻 

Daily Rhythm For Busy Moms

You can make a REAL  life daily routine for yourself too!




 School has started for our crew, I’m taking a day to take some deep breaths and drink my coffee in peace. But only 1 day, then I am getting back to my routine, or rhythm, is a better word. 

I don’t make mine rigid and stressful, it’s rhythm and not schedule because we LIVE and things flow different from day to day.  I’ve broken these down by time but that’s not set in stone, some days our rhythm is a lot faster and sometimes it skips a few beats, ya know? So I use this loosely as a guide. 

I spent a couple weeks many years ago, establishing MY rhythm, based on my priorities.  It’s morphed and changed as our lives have. New house, new baby, new jobs, new schools etc.  Those all helped shape what it is today.  Don’t feel like you can’t make changes as you go. And this is MY IDEAL schedule, ideal not expectation. 


5:00 wake up/workout 

5:45 Reading/Coffee

6:15 Wake kids/ breakfast/lunch 

6:20 Email/Budget

6:45 Dishwasher check 

7:00 Start laundry/kids off then

Daily Chores/Get ready for the day 

8:00 Laundry Swap

8:05 Leave for School drop off 

8:45 Chores/Dinner check  

9:15 Laundry/Second Chance Workout 

10:00 Laundry Away  

10:40 School Pick Up 

11:20 Lunch/coffee

11:45 Tidy Kitchen 

12:00 Resting Time Kids/Step check/Last chance workout  

1:00 Eat Lunch/Read

1:30 Dinner Check/Prep 

Free Time/Projects/Cheer Work/Crafts 

Then it’s chaos of sports/dinner/sports 

9:00 Clean Kitchen at Night 

10:00 Get Ready for Bed 


*I did do most of today’s chores yesterday though! I wanted to sit in our CLEAN family room :) 


My suggestions would be 

Be real with yourself about how much time you are willing to put towards it. Don’t schedule yourself for 3 hours if you won’t have it, or if you will feel burned out. 

Write your priorities out and MAKE them priorities. 

Give it time before you give up or change it. It takes a while to get into a routine. 


31 August 2019

Car Mini Emergency Pack

I’m sharing what we try to keep in the back of the car, it’s not a real emergency kit by any means, but for now it’s got the things we find ourselves needing often. 




It’s been a few months since I checked our stock, or even looked back there. Spring sports and summer adventure have kept it a hot mess! 

Today I fixed it with what we had on hand, and ordered the rest. 

I’ve got 
Non perishable snacks (fruit strips)
A blanket
Band aids
Inhaler
Homeopathic carsickness remedy
Wipes
Tweezers
Bottled waters 


26 August 2019

Meal Planning





It’s one of THE hardest things for me to stick with. It’s not fun or exciting and you can’t really SEE any progress. The only reason I do it is for my sanity and budget! 

There’s gotta be over 2 million pins about meal planning so if my way doesn’t work for ya, don’t give up! Try another way, alter one or many until it works for your family. 

I *try* to plan 2 weeks out because that’s the pay day schedule hubby was on.  Sometimes it’s 1 week and others are 3 if I am feeling it! 
I use my planner to check how ridiculous our schedule is, and honestly every week is pretty ridiculous. Some days are just too busy to have anything besides a slow cook meal that requires nothing to be done the 2 hours before we need to eat. Sometimes we are all eating at different times and it needs to be something that will stay warm for hours. 

I feel like meal planning can be so hard because there are too many options! So to eleviate that, I try to stick to a RYTHM more than a schedule. We don’t eat the exact same thing every week but we have a theme kind of, for each day.  

Monday we have something with chicken because there are SO many fast, inexpensive options and Monday needs to be easy. 

Tuesday we typically have tacos or some kind, or nachos, enchiladas etc. 

Wednesday we do something pasta based because it’s easy and I feel like Wednesday is my most likely day to bail and get take out! 

Thursday is a toss up! Sometimes it’s soup and sandwiches or soup and salad or loaded potatoes with leftovers. Baked potatoes are affordable, quick and easy in the instant pot and the perfect boat to carry leftovers into something new. 

Friday is almost always Pizza. In the summer months we have been cooking them on the pellet grill, that’s my favorite! I’m going to try and remember to make our own dough like my friend Brettan does! Girl makes it every Friday and it seems pretty simple!

Weekends we do more elaborate meals, stuff that needs more attention. Trying new recipes, hopefully getting these big kids to make dinner start to finish too. We tend to eat together more on the weekends, instead of in spurts while running out the door. 

I have started keeping my meal plans from previous weeks because there will be a time, soon, when I don’t have the energy or willingness to do it!   

I also have a page in my planner, broken down by category, of most of the meals we eat.  I use that when nothing sounds good or I need to fill in gaps.  

But my biggest tip is JUST DO IT! 
I hate myself on days it’s 4 and I have to walk out the door at 5:15 and there was nothing done to make feeding these people easier.  

How do you meal plan?  Use the grocery flyer? Do once a month cooking and call it good? Everyone fend for themselves? 

24 August 2019

Back to School Prep {Laundry}





When I asked on Instagram “What makes you stress about Back To School time?
The top answers were 

Laundry/Kids Clothes 
Dinner
Housekeeping 
Logistics 
Breakfast 
Lunch Prep
Getting Out The Door 


I’ve pretty much shared all I can right now on kids clothes, but I wanted to share how we do laundry when we are on the right track. 

I do 1-2 loads a day Monday-Thursday and sometimes a special load, or couch covers on Friday and NONE on the weekend. No one wants to put laundry away Sunday night! 

Obviously there is the occasional mishap when a uniform gets missed in the last dark load on Thursday and is needed on Monday, or someone is losing their mind over certain jeans. But typically our family of 6, with pretty small wardrobes ( I think anyway) can make this work and I feel less resentful about laundry if it’s not an issue on the weekend. 

I’m always down for hearing about new methods! Send em my way! 

19 August 2019

Back to School Breakfast Plan





I was really hoping to be mostly done with this, or at least have a PLAN by last week. The last week has been crazy for us sports wise, and I haven’t had more than 10 seconds to work on anything. 
It might sound silly but having a plan for breakfast makes it a little easier. 
My breakfast game plan for this school year. 

-Have a loose routine for weekdays
      That eliminates the “what’s for breakfast             
        issue”  
-Pack the freezer! 
       Things that can be made ahead and frozen. 
         Burritos
         Breakfast sandwiches 
         Frozen biscuits 
         Breakfast cookies 
         French toast sticks
         Smoothie packs 

-Keep on hand
      Checking these before every grocery trip!      
      Staples for breakfast and sanity! 
         Yogurt (or option to make it)
          Eggs
          Oats (I prefer steel cut) 

-Special items 
     We have late start every other Wednesday.   
     On those days I like to make something a 
     little out of the usual. Some are made ahead
     and some require some planning ahead. 
       French toast bake (I can make ahead)
       Cinnamon Rolls 
       Apple Nachos 
       Love Puffs 





Now I’ve got links to lots of those things, but I am currently at the dentist and I can feel my oral sedation working and I’m scared to link randomness.  I’ll be back with a clearer head 😆

I would LOVE to see how you all do this, how do you make mornings a little smoother? 
       

08 August 2019



We have just 3 full weeks of Summer left 😬
I’ve been off my game the last year or 2.  I’ve been thinking about the things that bring me stress during the school year. I’m sure I am not alone, RIGHT? Things like laundry, breakfast and that kind of stuff. Well I tried to think about my whole week from Monday morning to Sunday night and how MUCH their really is, every week.  I’ve already purged all the clothes, but I need to find an easy way to make sure clothes are not a fight in the morning! Feeding these kids, both breakfast and lunch have to be figured out before 7AM every day! Laundry from start to finish and housekeeping  🤭
🏈⚽️🏐🎀 Sports! So many practices and games and uniforms. I’ve got to have it all where it needs to be. And finally at the end of the day, there’s Dinner and homework    I could easily feel overwhelmed if I decide to wing it, which is pretty much what we have been doing. I don’t want another school year of that, I’ve definitely got way more gray going on since last year 🥴 

So I am working on getting something in place for all of those!

What’s your biggest stress during the school year?

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26 July 2019

July Wrap Up



July is winding down 😬😭 I’m not ready! I say I’m not ready for just about every month to end though, so nothing new there. August is just so much!  Back to school, end of summer, trying to shove all the fun stuff in those last 4 weeks, sports starting, dreaming of things to be less busy in September when the kids go back to school. 

That’s a total lie, September is never less busy, it’s just different busy.  I want to love every minute of August and not be overwhelmed about school supplies or housework or dinner or SCHOOL CLOTHES 🥴. All those things have to be done but I don’t have to stress about them.

Here is my plan to *try to* balance, using that word lightly, all the things we want to do. 

My planner will hopefully be a good compass and roadmap for us! Adding in 
Must do’s
 Like kids physicals, appointments, my team practices and kids practices. 
 Then it’s WANT to do’s
Lake swimming, parade, outdoor movie nights, camping, beach trips etc. 
Then the should do’s can have a place. School clothes shopping, making that a date instead of dreading it, cleaning out the shop and garage, those kind of things. 

How are you prepping to make August super?




*May contain affiliated links* I participate in Amazon Associates Program occasionally. I won't recommend a product I wasn't myself interested in trying or have tried. I may receive monetary compensation for participating. This does not change the price for you.