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Wordless Wednesday

Menu Planning Monday

Monday- Breakfast
Bagel with apple/peanut butter sandwiches
milk

AM snack cheddar cheese and crackers

Lunch Homemade pizza, green beans, and milk

PM snack goldfish and peaches

Dinner BBQ chicken packets, corn, and french bread


Tuesday- Breakfast
Breakfast wrap, pears, and milk

AM Snack Grapes and cinnamon toast

Lunch homemade chicken fingers, biscuit, applesauce, side salad, and milk

PM snack Banana peanut butter wrap

Dinner Crockpot Tortellini, texas toast, and caesar salad

Wednesday- Breakfast
Pancakes, blueberries, and milk

AM snack bagel w/cheese

Lunch PB&J, mozz. stick, broccoli, carrots, and milk

PM snack Cheese Quesadilla

Dinner Chicken Stirfry and rice

Thursday- Breakfast
Scrambled Eggs, orange juice, and wheat toast

AM snack yogurt and crackers

Lunch tacos, green beans and milk

PM snack apples and peanut butter

Dinner Mexican Casserole with garden salad

Friday- Breakfast
Kix, banana, and milk

AM snack applesauce and graham crackers

Lunch homemade mac and cheese, peas, peaches, and milk

PM snack cheese and crackers

Dinner Gravy Chicken, steamed rice, green beans and stuffing

Saturday night dinner
Grilled Sausage Hoagies and tomato salad toss
Chips

Sunday
Nana's house!!

Menu Planning Monday

Running a home daycare and being part of the CACFP NYS Food Program , I make sure to do a weekly breakfast, snack and lunch menu so I can be prepared but dinner has gotten missed during weekly grocery shopping. So I find myself struggling come Wednesday and Thursday on something creative and yummy to make. So its time to start again.... plan plan plan, which is perfect to start now because I will be leaving Wednesday afternoon for Chicago so I only have a couple days to play haha! Easing into :) So here is my dinner list for the week:





Monday





Meatball subs (thank you Lisa, yummy idea) with frozen meatballs I had leftover from a quick dinner last week, salad and tator tots. (we are going to a basketball game in the city this afternoon so I wont have a crazy amount of time to make dinner when we get home)





Tuesday

Buffalo Chicken wing pizza and green beans.

Wednesday

Something for my husband and the kids in the crockpot because I will be at the airport during dinner time on the way to OPRAH! Probably hamburger/veggie soup which is the hubby's favorite

Thursday

I will be living it up in Chicago with NO children and NO hubby....so hubby will be on his own for dinner....I am interested to see what he comes up with. My guess....grilled cheese and canned soup or pizza :)

Friday





chicken Caesar wraps, french fries and homemade applesauce



Saturday



Hubby and I are off to the city for my friend's bf's birthday dinner. The big 30 and we are all having a wonderful dinner together



Sunday



Spaghetti and meatballs, salad, garlic bread :)



check out I'm an Organizing Junkie for more meal planning ideas

28 days of organizing....

I do homeschooling for my preschooler and toddler and I have two boxes of curriculum taking up room in my laundry room/bathroom area. I have been staring at them and not quite sure what to do but finding it really hard to find what I need for teaching that day. So I emptied out and reorganized the drawers with labels. Now there the drawers have craft supplies, curriculum, and past curriculum all organized it it. Also I put the curriculum in order so I just grab the bag on top and am all set for teaching. I use Mother Goose Time and really love it! Everything comes pre packaged, lesson plan book, almost all the materials you will need (except glue, scissor...things you should already have) and music CD that my kids LOVE! So it feels good to have the junk thrown out and drawers neat!! So far the room is already looking and feeling a millions times better....my bedroom....still needs WORK!

stomach bug puts holt on organizing.....

sick kids and sick me has put a damper in my organizing. Nasty stomach bug has hit my house starting last Thursday and still lingers so I haven't updated anything or posted pictures. I did put up the laundry sorter which looks great. How crazy how something sooo easy makes such a different in a spot. Have gotten the kids into sorting their laundry in the different areas instead of just throwing it on the floor....they really like it. Might get one for their room....hmmm I like that idea...maybe one for each of our rooms :)
OK baby N is sicky sick and needs mommy time.....

Day 3: Remove and Sort (Bedroom)

So my therapist says that I have attention deficit disorder and I thought he was just making excuses for my lack of motivation to finish things, or many degree programs I have started and switched but I am actually starting to think that it may be true! Instead of doing the 15 minutes in my room I went shopping last night. I did need clothes....I swear! I am totally between sizes but reallly......where am I going to put them...have you seen my closet! I totally do things that really drive myself nuts sometimes.

So our plan today is to remove and sort.....eeekkkk I need to remove everything to a separate room which not sure how that is going to work but maybe to the hallway. I will separate into piles KEEP (hanger), KEEP (drawer), DONATE, STORAGE, TOSS

this room scares me a bit and will take a bit of time so I am going to give 45 minutes today, probably after hubby gets home. I will post pictures later......wish me luck....

Day 3: Remove and Sort (laundry room/bathroom)

So even though I haven't start to clean in this room yet I still bought a three clothes organizer last night. I figured I was at the store so might as well get it now.

BUDGET:
$100.00
- 16.99
________
$83.01

This challenge is Remove and Sort.....urgh sounds thrilling huh?

the goal is to remove everything from the room, into another room (my dining room) and make piles. I will have KEEP, TOSS, DONATE, STORAGE

I dont have a lot of space for storage but for some stuff I will have to figure something out.

Day 2: Plan (master bedroom)

1. what do I want the purpose of the room to be? Relaxing bedroom. What to be able to go to bed feeling calm and wake up to clean. Right now my mornings and nights, start and end with mess and the middle is chaotic. A clean bedroom will make the world of difference I feel.

2. What do I need in or near the room to serve the purpose? not sure.....

3. What can I remove from the room? As I look at it, it seems the easiest to remove would be the extra clothes, painting supplies, and toys.

4. What problems do I see with the room? mess mess mess mess.....need i say more!

5. What Organizational tools might help this? closet organizer...shoe organizer and not sure what else.

6. What habits need to change to solve the organization problem? Not letting stuff get on the floor. Once its there, that is where the issue starts! Keep it off the floor, put it in the drawer!

7. What kind of budget do I have to create the organized room of my dreams? I would say no more than a $50.00. I really like the paint so it looks like I just need some closet supplies and cleaning so shouldn't cost much!

8. What kind of timeline is necessary?. 28 days!!

9. What is my plan of action? A little everyday....three kids, husband, cat, dog and home daycare...I don't have a lot of time and can get overwhelmed very fast so I am going to commit to 30 minutes a day. I can put the tv on and do some cleaning before bed :) No excuses...have to go in the room anyways!!!

10 Who can I ask to help me? My husband!! He for sure needs to help with this room....he is part of the problem!!

Day 2: Plan (laundry/bathroom)

1. what do I want the purpose of the room to be? I need it to be a space for laundry, bathroom, baby changing area, storage for preschool supplies, art supplies, overflow of kitchen appliances and storage.

2. What do I need in or near the room to serve the purpose? I need shelves, lots of shelves...I am thinking a wall to floor type thing but just cant be too expensive.

3. What can I remove from the room? As I look at it, it seems the easiest to remove would be the extra clothes, painting supplies, and toys.

4. What problems do I see with the room? Unorganized plus easily messy. I clean it but it takes no time for it to feel messy. Need some more stable organizational tools.

5. What Organizational tools might help this? I need a laundry sorter for sure. Three sorter because I use reusable wipes so I need a separate area for those. Also wall shelves too.

6. What habits need to change to solve the organization problem? I feel my biggest problem is not taking care of things right when I see it. If something falls, pick it up!

7. What kind of budget do I have to create the organized room of my dreams? I would say no more than a hundred dollars. Money is tight this month but really want to get some stuff done so I would say $100 is all we can do.

8. What kind of timeline is necessary? Well its the 28 Day challenge so.........28 days!!

9. What is my plan of action? A little everyday....three kids, husband, cat, dog and home daycare...I don't have a lot of time and can get overwhelmed very fast so I am going to commit to 15 minutes a day. If I have more time then I will spend it but at least 15 minutes to put towards it a day!

10 Who can I ask to help me? My mom....she is usually here every weekend so I will have to recruit her on the weekends :)


Use these questions to start your room reorganizing....and then let me know :)

28 Day Organizing Challenge

So I decided to take the 28 day Organizing Challenge and already fine myself procrastinating. Actually i had to take pictures and was so embarrassed by them was not sure if I was going to continue. But I figured if I posted them, it will force me to have AMAZING after photos! So are the two rooms I am tackling...my laundry/bathroom which also needs to function as an area to store preschool/daycare materials, Tupperware, and all the other odds and ends things that I don't know what to do with plus my master bedroom. This room is by far the worst room. Every time I step in this room a sense of anxiety rushes over me and I just don't know where to begin so its gotten bad...I mean bad!!! So those are the rooms...next step PLAN!

Great New Site- The DIY Dish

Who doesnt love new DIY ideas and videos to help us along!!

Fitness Friday!

Because I am a real housewife and a stay at home mom I don't have the luxury of having two nannies to watch my three children while I go to the gym. So I am always looking for interesting workouts to do at home. I do get bored quick with workout videos and motivation is hard while I am doing it so when I saw the new Wii Your Shape I thought it would be perfect. It was!! I love it!! It is very motivating because you can see your percentage go up and down based on your performance plus Jenny McCarthy gives you motivation (sometimes annoying) to keep going if you stop. I worked out today and burn 458cal in a half hour session. There is a count down clock that lets you know how much longer and also short breaks between different sets of exercises. This is nice because its give you about 30 seconds to get a sip of water but doesn't let your heart rate go down to much.
I included my hand weights today and just purchased a balance ball to incorporate sometimes. All you do is choose you accessory before the workout and the game incorporates it in a few of the exercises. The options are balance ball, hand weights and step board. I don't have a step board but hope to get one soon so I can see what Jenny does with that!
I love the variation. As you continue the workouts, new ones unlock. Every couple of days a something new pops into the routine. Its nice because I haven't gotten bored yet. Plus the routines are never the same, they are all put together a bit different.
I will say the only down fall is I am having trouble with it picking up some of my floor work. I am going to try a colored mat next time to see if that makes a difference. Other than that I have no issues and really love my results so far. I have lost some baby weight and really toned up. Maybe one day I will be brave and post my before and after....or maybe not :)

Oh another great thing is you can change the amount you want to work out. Sometimes I only have 15 minutes while the kids are eating snack or I get ambisous and wake up extra early to do 30 minutes. There is a workout calender all ready set up for you but you can always modify it if you dont have time or have extra time than what is recommended. There is an option to do 45 minutes but the 30 minutes kick my butt so bad right now I have not dared to try 45!!!

Getting Organized with Avery.........

I love learning about new ways to organize (or old ways that I have not yet implemented in my home) and I also love free things! So I was trilled when I ran across this blog called Simplified Saving and she had a link to get free Avery labels. I am currently working on my MAT certification for my home based daycare and have been using labels like crazy. I need to incorporate them in my file folders as well so these will really come in handy. Go check it out and get yourself a sample :)

Wordless Wednesday

http://wordlesswednesday.com/

I'm going to the OPRAH Show!!

No no no I am not going to tell some huge family secret or find a way to better my marriage, I am just sitting in the audience :)

So after watching Oprah for years....when I mean years, I mean YEARS! I finally have the OPRAHtunity to see her in person!!!! I obtained tickets through her website when the reservation window was open. I will be attending with my mother, whom introduced me to Oprah during her daily afternoon quiet times. We (her children) would do a quiet activity while my mother sat with her tea and watched one of her most inspiring people. I have passed this tradition with Oprah down to my own children. I am child focused (being a stay at home mother with three children there is not a lot of "me" time) until 4 pm when my younger boys take a nap and my 5 year old does a quiet project or works on her preschool workbook. This time I make some tea, sit in my recliner, and watch. I did just start watching a child part time so my Oprah will have to DVRed three days a week but no problem :) Soooo I am super excited about the show and really can not wait to get away for a couple days and see the legend in person (with a couple hundred people in the audience of course). I am really just hoping for a really cool guest or fun show. I hope its not a clip show or something too serious. We planning on hitting up Chicago eateries and shopping afterwards so a downer show would not be a great start to the day. But overall I am just excited to be involved in Oprah's last season!!

So I have a guilty pleasure (which based on the on pour of these shows, there is a lot of people with this pleasure) reality tv! The concept is intriguing. Virtually unknown people are thrown on tv and the producers can make them into a character and we are feed that its reality. Obviously we all know that most of the situations are staged and fabricated for audience enjoyment (or obsession). My current "can miss" show is the "Plastic, oh I mean, Real Housewives of ....." series on Bravo TV. The Orange County cast is on right now and yes I DVR my shows every tuesday night but I am going to tell you how a REAL HOUSEWIFE is living especially in this economy situation. I will tell you how I get through the day with three children, 5 years and under, middle class income, and dreams of more for less. Welcome to my life........


I LOVE Mochas! They are sweet but still give me the caffine boost I love. But....I run a home daycare and live in the country so driving to get one or spending the money is not really in my daily plans. So I decided to make my own using coffee from the pot I make every morning for my husband and I.

Chocolate Syrup
milk
coffee
cool whip....

add your own proportions and enjoy!
Taste just as good as Tim Hortons and its easy and cheap!

What do you beverages do you make at home that is just as good as store bought? I would love some new ideas :)