Organization? Not my strong suit...

I have been trying so hard to get my life to feel a little more organized. At other times I haven't felt as much need, but with a house full of kids and all the other curve balls life keeps throwing us, I feel like we need some better systems. I have bought a couple simple things, like a mail organizer thing where I can put all our mail so it doesn't take over the counters, and an updated calendar that has all of our different stuff on it. I have been on a mean cleaning streak and am so aware of my shortcomings in this area. I feel like we are all making progress though, and it's bringing a different calm to our days. Well, most days anyway.

We are also trying to do a little bit of a food overhaul. I have started to see how tied (I know, you're all like...really, Ang? Just now figuring this out?) my kids behavior is to what food they are eating. Kate in particular. She has had a few REALLY hard weeks and I finally broke down one night and told Todd I was going to lose my mind if we didn't figure out a way to make it easier. So, I pulled sugar out of her diet (for the most part...she still gets treats every now and then but we are much more conscientious of it). We are giving her snacks every hour and a half to keep her blood sugar up and we are making sure she is getting a lot of protein. I don't want to speak too soon but I will say that we have seen a HUGE difference in her behavior. Her impulse control is better and she seems to be happier. She gets so frustrated when she has a tantrum, and she always realizes later that it was a bad choice and will come and apologize about it, but this seems to help on the front end. I have also had to be a whole lot more intentional about seeing the signs that she is starting to get out of control and I have learned to pull her aside and redirect without letting it get so far that she can't pull herself out of it.

She is not an easy child to parent, but she is incredible. Every night I just pray I will know how to love her without breaking her will and her heart while I try to help shape her into a Godly woman.

It can be so, so hard. If you think to pray for my patience, it would be much appreciated :)

I wanted to share this with you all because there are a couple of simple things I have started doing around the house that have really impacted us. One thing I am TERRIBLE at is meal planning (and grocery shopping, and cooking. But I am the most devoted fan of the Food Network ever. Irony is my BFF). I think I love cooking shows because it's all so organized and all the stuff is prepared and pretty. This is a little silly but I decided I was going to start a new meal system so that I would be better about cooking. Don't laugh at me, because you might like it for yourself!!!!

First, I make a list of what I am going to make that week, and then if they are recipe cards from magazines  or printed from the internet, I make a little index card. The front has a picture of the recipe on it and the back has all the directions. Want a picture? Good. Because I am about to go all Pioneer Woman on you.


So, then I get all the ingredients (except for the dry stuff, which I set aside in the pantry together and pre-measure if it makes sense) and put them in a tub like this with the cute little picture on the front. I can fit four across the fridge shelf. I even chop stuff beforehand if it makes sense to do it.

 Then, when it's about time for dinner, I just pull out the bin and go to town.


As I cook, I use the little plastic tub for all the trash so it stays nice and neat. You know, like on T.V.


I'm just throwing these in because I'm pretending to be Ree.

                                       

Annnnnnnd, VOILA! I did it in about half the time it would normally take me because it was all waiting and the clean up was a breeze.


And bonus, everyone said it was delicious. This is huge.


So, it's a little thing but the bin system (I haven't made up a fancy name yet...) is working out wonderfully for me. I even called Todd the other day to ask him to get started on dinner and told him to just grab it out of the fridge and follow the directions. He called me back 15 minutes later and told me he thought I was a genius. So, you can make great food and be called a genius.

I'm like three sentences away from an infomercial here, friends.

But, before I sign off, I have one more "organizational thing I love" to mention (that name is copyrighted, so please give me credit if you choose to share these nuggets of wisdom).

I was on Jess's (Jess'? I hate the apostrophe after an s. It stresses me out).

I was on Jessica's (better) blog (she just updated it and you have to hope over and see how great it looks!) and read about this incredible (FREE!) program you can download. I'm just saying it has changed my life. You will LOVE this if you have kids old enough to get the hang of it. Basically you spend a few minutes setting up a list of their mandatory/optional chores and you assign a point value to each. They get their own little log-in and they can go in and check the boxes when they have completed the task. Once they have enough points, they can purchase things (it is linked to Amazon and they pick what they want beforehand so it is sitting in their "shop" until they have enough to buy it). You can also do any kind of reward you want if you don't want to do the Amazon thing. They can also "save" money or "share" it and you set up whatever charity you want to link it to, and then it sends you an email when the child has donated points. You can send your kids little notes of encouragement and they can write back...it is precious. My children are SUPER motivated, and my house looks phenomenal. They are jumping at the chance to help with stuff because it's so fun for them...LLLLOOOOVVVEEE this little tool. For the record, I am not being compensated to stalk this company. I just stalk by free will.

So, I hope these little tidbits are helpful, and I would LOVE to hear any tips you want to share for how you keep your lives organized and running smoothly....anyone? Please?

xoxo,
Ang