evening routine*

It's no secret that a mom with multiple kids has a hard time getting out of the house in the morning. And those of us that homeschool might be particularly challenged by gathering up the gang (brushed, washed and dressed, no less) for morning appointments, co-op classes, and even church on Sunday.

There are those days that didn't start out well and are spinning out of control. Or the days you get unexpected phone calls, or the baby won't nap, or the sink started leaking and now everything's off.

And then there are days I'm just lost. I have about a million to-do items running through my head at any given moment. Some important and note-worthy, some just white noise that don't pass the "so what?" test. You know, just like the news ticker at the bottom of the screen on your favorite news channel. Constantly scrolling.

Add four kids in and out of the room, asking for help with dictation, wanting you to grade their math, arguing over who gets the pink skirt, and another looking for his left shoe, and I'm spinning in circles, wondering what to do next and what was I doing in the first place? 

These are the days lists and routines keep me sane and focused. The most important are the morning and evening routines. The morning routine is what starts the day right. As the morning goes, the rest of the day goes. But if something is off that morning or the day spirals out of control, it's the evening routine that saves my sanity and the next day!

When I have one of those days the goal for the day shifts and my main question becomes: 

What do I have to do today to make tomorrow morning run smoothly?

Seriously, I like all my days to be predictable and easy going. But they're not. I don't want to say that I give up on the day, but putting aside the current crazy and focusing on the next morning relieves that I-have-to-do-it-all-right-now-or-I'm-a-failure feeling. I may not be able to save today, so I focus on making tomorrow a better one.

These are some of the questions I would ask myself on just such a day:

1. What's for dinner tonight?
2. Do I have clean clothes to wear in the morning? Find them and set them out, including shoes! If they're dirty, put them in the wash now.
3. What is on the calendar for tomorrow? Do I know where my purse and keys are? 
4. Do the kids have appropriate clothing to wear including both the left and right shoes... of a matching set? Find them and set them out (older kids can do this for themselves).
5. Do I have all my materials ready for the next day? If I'm going to the library, find the books and put them by the door. Church? Bag up the Bibles and notebooks, stock the diaper bag, set them by the door. Going to the grocery? Do a quick clean out of the fridge, plan the menu, and make the list. You get the picture. Get it all ready now so tomorrow you're not scrambling and your morning runs smoothly.
6. After dinner, do the dishes. Waking up in the morning to a sink full of dishes is a bummer! Don't let that happen. Then prep the kitchen for breakfast. Set the timer on the coffee pot, set out bowls, spoons and cereal options for the kids. Pack lunch for hubby, put it in the fridge.
7. Set the timer on the washer to finish running just before you wake up. It'll be ready to switch to the dryer and you can start the next load at breakfast. I love having a head start on the laundry, even before I get up! (If you don't have a timer, fill the washer with soap and clothing so it's ready to start and can run first thing while you're getting dressed.)
8. Everyone go to bed at a decent time. Take the time to tuck the kids in and read them a book, give them kisses and hugs, and pray over them (even the older kids love this). Tomorrow's gonna be a brighter day!

On more predictable type of day, my typical evening routine looks like this:

• Dinner (clean up as you go)
• Prep for breakfast
• Shine the sink
• What's for dinner tomorrow (defrost meat?)
• Where's the laundry (switch and load, set timer)
• Check the calendar
• Set out clothes and shoes 
• Get ready for the next day (set out items needed for outings, if any, make sure school books are in their place and can be found, etc.)
• Hot spot (declutter one area that gathers all that stuff throughout the day) 

 *My ideas on routines and the evening routine are inspired by Flylady and her book "Sink Reflections." This series of posts chronicles my efforts to get back to routines, cleaning zones, and other specifics of the flylady system that I have used in the past.

the never ending quest for an organized house

My goal this week is to get the house back to a functioning level. I pulled out my old control journal and found some impressively organized--but seriously outdated--stuff! Most of the electronics were replaced or broken some time ago, the info on the appliances were from the last house, my routines included nap-times, and diapers/wipes were on the grocery list.

Still, I was glad to find my detailed cleaning lists by zones. Joy of joys, right?

It's becoming clear that i'm not going to get this all together in one week. So we will focus on our morning and evening routines and will be working in one zone: the bedrooms! The upstairs was the first area to lose my attention as they usually aren't seen by the public and it is in sorry shape. So that's where we will focus our attention during our afternoon chores: declutter, wash sheets, clean under beds, empty out the closets, etc. etc.

I'm working slowly on my control journal. Today I reinstated our daily routine sheets for each of us, myself included. They look something like this for the kids:

I'm being purposely vague on the times. I find when I post a schedule that is to-the-minute specific we don't stick with it for long. I can always hand-write the times if we need them. I plan one week at a time. I hand-write appointments or things we have planned in the appropriate day and I add things I want them to focus on in the notes section. Goals for the week can also be listed here. This doesn't have to be perfect. When I focus on perfection I don't get anywhere because, well, I'm not perfect. Scratch things out, hand-write items in, get over it and get to work.

Each child has a clip board and the routine sheet goes on their clipboard. I print several of these at once but only write in specifics for one week at a time. This list keeps us focused and on track when we get distracted. After Bible on Monday we discuss our lists and the plan for the week so we all understand the expectations. (It drives me nuts that the hanging clipboards don't line up. But we're not going for perfection, here. Just trying to get to a place where we function!)

This is my daily routine plan. I hand-write any extras we'll be doing each day. For example, on Saturday we usually go to the grocery but some weeks that changes. This week I have it written on the Friday square. I'm also adjusting my hours to resemble my second-shifter husband and the times are a bit up in the air right now. This is my starting point and I'll adjust and fine-tune it as time goes on, which I can easily do cause I'm only doing one week at a time right now. I write my goals for the week in the notes section. These sheets go in the calendar section of my control journal which sits on my hutch in my kitchen, open to the week in question.

the cold hard facts of why my house is a mess: it's me

last night i confessed that i need to do some work getting things in our house in order. i did a few things. 

first, i really needed to commit this area of my life to obedience to the Bible. lets face it, my house is messy and i'm unorganized because i'm lazy and unorganized and i get distracted by shiny things and secretly love to procrastinate. not because of the kids, not because of the mud that surrounds a farm house and the boy and great big dogs that keep tracking it in, not even because we homeschool. yeah, these things contribute to it all, but fact is i just need to get to work.

 

Proverbs 18:9 says, "Whoever is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys"

ouch.

that's me... brother to one who destroys.

so, in my overwhelmed and slightly-depressed state i did two things and only two things:

1. shine my sink

2. get ready for tomorrow: set out clothes and items needed for the next day (mine and the kids). set up the coffee maker and prep for breakfast. find my keys and my shoes. what's for dinner tomorrow?

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

 

i'm going to FLY my way out of this mess one baby step at a time. this is a method of running a household for crazy busy moms that is totally doable. i've done it in the past (years ago) and am working my way back to taking control of my  household and our schedule. if you want to join me on my journey you can start by reading Sink Reflections by Marla Cilley (the flylady). reading the book will help make sense of the website. the m-ville library has a copy. this isn't a quick method. it takes time to put it together, a little bit every day. but it's totally worth it!

cleaning house

i have a confession to make, cause that's what blogs are for, right?

i used to be a super organized, clean freak. 

i'm serious. 

the "i find it necessary to clean behind the furnace in the basement storage room on a regular basis" kind of gal. i loved charts, weekly routines, cleaning schedules, lists, household planners. flylady was my personal hero.

but somewhere between four kids, homeschooling, hobby farming, and a two-year-old foster baby things got messy. really messy. my old way of routines and schedules don't seem to work any more. i plan. i figure. i create. i schedule. we fail. i re-work. we try again. but none of these preparations make up for the fact that not one day seems the same, there doesn't seem to be enough time, and i just can't get organized.

enough is enough.

time to find my way back again. one baby step at a time. i'm starting here: shine your sink.

do you have the same problem? where are you gonna start?

good for her self-esteem, bad for my waistline

One of my girls struggles with not being the oldest. I might as well just tell you, it's my second. She looks at her older sister and is sometimes just plain angry that she isn't the oldest and she asks, "What am I good at." Her sis just seems to be good at everything, because, well, she's had two years more practice. But this isn't an answer that my girl in question is willing to accept.

Well, let me tell you. She found something she is good at. Baking. And she can't get enough of it. Over the last two weeks she has made peanut butter banana bread, cinnamon banana bread, banana bread with a chocolate glaze, chocolate banana bread, black forest cake, and this lovely double-layer vanilla cake with a lemon custard filling. The cool thing is she had learned to improvise and made variations--something that I am not bold enough to do. She learned this from her Grandma who is brave enough to let them experiment in the kitchen and knows something of baking without a recipe. (What?! You can do that?)

I've gotten pretty good at resisting the temptation of all these goodies in the house with me. All. Day. Long. But her daddy had to sit her down and tell her she needs to find an additional outlet for her baking bug. Anyone want some cake?

painting a room and chicken katsu

When I had four kids under six I used to ask parents of older children if it gets easier when they get older--longing for a shred of hope that I wouldn't always feel so tired and frazzled.

I can't say yet if I agree with the answers they gave. Mostly they didn't offer me much hope and they'd say "it doesn't get easier, it's just different." I think it must be in the parenting handbook under "what to say when . . ." I almost always got that answer.

I reserve my judgement until my kids are grown. But for now I just have to say, they amaze me!

I decided this week that our current bedroom arrangement is no longer working and I need to reclaim the spare room (which was well on its way to getting us on Hoarders). So I've been taking the afternoons to paint.

My ten-year-old did all the prep work (removed nails, filled in nail holes, took down the ceiling fan blades, vacuumed and wiped down the wood work) and laid out the drop cloths being careful to cover all the edges. Amazing.

And my twelve-year-old has been making us dinner each night. Tonight she made chicken katsu with tonkatsu sauce while I played beat the clock with the sunset (no overhead light in the room makes painting hard). Amazing. Both the kid and the chicken.

I love it that we can accomplish so much more together than I ever could on my own!

Just some pics of the things I've been working on...

The first pic is of my porch and our rope bed. I made the faux feed sack pillow by applying blue painter's tape to some cheep muslin and painting on the stripes with a dry stencil brush. I also made the "hope" bunting inspired by Romans 8. It was a scripture that God laid on our hearts this summer and we read at mom's funeral, so I like having the reminder as we come and go from the house.

I know I'm about three years behind on the paper wreath, but I just love old books and print types and words in general so when I saw one I knew I'd have to give it a try. Plus, since when did I constrain myself to the "it's in style" mentality? Why start now?

I also added the "k" to the pumpkin from a hand-cut stencil I made out of paper (I used paper since I knew I would probably only use it once). The trick is to apply spray adhesive to the back of the stencil to keep it in place and use a dry brush get a good clean line.

It is good to be making things again. There is just something about the way God made me that drives me to be working with my hands in some way. And from the earliest time I can remember, my grandmother and my mother and my sister were doing the same.

three projects

I left the planning of Maya's party until the last minute but I think it turned out really sweet. After 12 years of cutting cake and dipping ice cream I decided it was too hectic and came up with another plan. We made 90 cake bites in strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla and served them with tea, coffee and warm cider. The bites looked so pretty on my MIL's layered stand. I didn't get a picture of the table but did get some pics of the baking and chocolate dipping process.

We also made a "happy birthday" banner from burlap and twine. The kids stenciled the letters and I sewed the burlap triangles to the twine with a zigzag stitch. I cut 36 triangles so I have extras for other banners. I'm planning to make "give thanks" next.

I found the idea for these cute initial bags on my friend's blog and had the supplies to make and use as library bags. So we made them at the party. The key is a dry brush and stencil adhesive (or any spray adhesive will work) to keep the edges of the doily secure while stenciling.

my first (well, technically second) slip cover

My first slip cover for our old leather ottoman turned out, lets just say, not as I planned. I didn't have enough fabric for the pleated skirt because I was using the leftovers from my storage shelves dust covers, and it looked, well, bad.
So, with the help of my handy dandy seam ripper I took it apart and made this little cover for an old stool that is from my mom's house. The fabric is a clean painter's drop cloth and I even made my own piping! I had to pin the flat side piece to the round top three times until I got it right but in the end I'm pleased with my first attempt (well, second) and encouraged enough to try my hand at another project.

spicy brown pineapple ham glaze

I made a fresh ham for the first time and found this recipe in my moms stash for the glaze. First I baked the ham in applecider on a bed of onion. Then I made the glaze and baked it another 30 minutes. I've never made a ham before so I didn't estimate the time correctly and the ham was done before I even put the potatoes in the oven. So I kept the ham on warm in the crock pot until we were ready for dinner. The ham was very tender and happy!

making the switch

God has blessed us with the ability to clothe the children with hand-me-downs, frugal shopping (that means thrift shop, in case you didn't know), and birthday/Christmas gifts from family and friends! This week I got out eight boxes of fall/winter clothes to switch out with the summer/spring and take inventory, make donations, and pack away the too-small/too-big for another year. It was a big job and took the better part of the day. I washed, dryed and folded all the laundry and pulled out the summer/spring clothes as I went through it all. I also gathered all the shoes in the whole house and we determined which pairs needed to go and who needed what.

oxen and their messes

"Where no oxen are present, the manger is clean, but much revenue comes by the strength of the ox" (Proverbs 14:4).

This is C . He is six and messy. In fact, kids are messy. One of my biggest surprise when we began Homeschooling was the mess! I gained my children, but I lost the eight hours a day of housekeeping I could do when they weren't in the house.

So they don't leave AND they keep making messes the entire time they are home.

It was a good trade. But still.

M3, my nearly 9-year-old, made 4 pieces of toast for her brother for breakfast (yes, four) complete with cinnamon and sugar and peanut butter.

Which he eats enthusiastically while doing his math.

While doing his math.

Which means a boy dotted with the cinnamon/sugar mixture AND books, pencils, and math blocks sticky with peanut butter AND little scraps of crust cluttering the table, the chair, the floor.

Oh, well. Where there are no oxen....

(At least he ate all the toast and finished the math, so this oxen, Lord willing, will grow to be big and strong and be able to do his sums.)

atmosphere of loveliness and joy

"There, it should be woman's office to move in the midst of practical affairs, and to guild them all--the very homeliest, were it even the scouring of pots and kettles--with an atmosphere of loveliness and joy." --nathaniel hawthorne, the house of the seven gables

I haven't been able to read much this summer.  But I did pick up several things and try. It's funny that The House of the Seven Gables is the one that was able to keep my attention, even after my niece gave it to me with the caveat that it was the most boring book she ever read. I'm not yet half way but i've met Phoebe and love how Hawthorne describes her. I must reserve final judgement regarding Phoebe until I finish the book. But when we are introduced to her she takes the dark, empty, cursed old house and infuses it with light and life; she executes the most mundane and everyday of tasks with grace and joy. Let us see what becomes of her and if she finishes well.

"There was a spiritual quality in Phoebe's activity. The life of the long and busy day--spent in occupations that might so easily have taken a squalid and ugly aspect--had been made pleasant, and lovely, by the spontaneous grace with which these homely duties seemed to bloom out of her character; so that labour, while she dealt with it, had the easy and flexible charm of play. " --nathaniel hawthorne, the house of the seven gables

a boys room

These are the after pictures from what I posted a few days ago for Cs room. S added shelves in another awkward cubby from the scrap wood of an old book shelf making good use of previously waisted space. It cost less than $5. Amazing! This is the room that is attached to the girls room. It may not always work so well but at this age they love it. The two rooms may once again be a girls suite but for now this gives us a spare room for whomever God may bring our way.

I plan to paint the circle/star emblem that is on US airforce planes on the wall over his bed. And my thoughtful niece gave C some army posters I will hang over his lego table. The army green covers the ceiling and walls (because of the sloped walls and the curved angles) and makes the room a little cave-like, but looks way cool and the boy loves it!

on girly rooms

I didn't get to post all the before pics because I was trying to figure how to get them posted from my phone. So you get the best part, the after pictures! First, the girls room. I'm not sure what my favorite part is except maybe just that I finally gave them the adorable room I promised them since we moved here. My amazing hubby added the shelves over the beds for lights, glasses and books to aid nighttime reading. And he did an incredible job adding the shelves in the awkward spot in the closet wall that made the space make sense. I still plan to add two shelves in the lower half (i spaced them too wide for their shorter books) and i love it that i can see the top of the selves with the quilts and the robbins egg blue ceiling from the bottom of the steps! I may paint some of their furniture eventually, and I have some photos and vintage plates yet to hang, but for now I couldn't be more pleased!

Before

This will become Charlie's room.

In Which I Make a Decision AND Follow Through

I am the queen at unfinished projects. I prefer to call it being visionary, but really I just allow myself to get dazzled with the promises of the next project and the old one gets stacked up on the shelf, waiting patiently for its due time in the spotlight. Some of the lucky ones get resurrected (and even finished), others are transformed into something else altogether different, the rejected get the lowest of insults and are filed away in the circular file, never to be heard from again.

My hubby put his foot down and insisted that my presence not grace the entrance to another home improvement or craft store until this one was completed. You see, over the summer I painted the upper cabinets in my lackluster kitchen. A couple of weeks ago I finished the lower cabinets too, and here you have it, a complete and finished project! (See the old kitchen here.)

In Which We Add Another Layer to an Old Porch

Sitting Area Before

Sitting Area After
We have the materials to make a robe bed for the corner--just need the time to build it.

Eating Area Before
This is a good view of the peeling paint on the ceiling which the girls helped me scrape.
Eating Area After
Steve painted the ceiling a light robins egg blue. I may paint 2x2 black diamonds in a diagonal pattern on the old floor boards.
I bought this chandelier at a church rummage sale for $3, sprayed it black, pulled out the wires, and added candles, berries, and grapevine.

In Which I Ask . . .

What color shall I paint the kitchen cabinets?!?

I now this is shallow of me, but the varied yellow wood of the kitchen cabinets really bothers me. The pictures below make them look darker than they are. The bottom picture shows the wood tone best.

In any case, they could be Big Bird yellow and other members of the family (who shall remain nameless) wouldn't care, or even notice. I, however, spend a lot of time in this room and it's just not at all appealing to me. So, what color shall I paint them?

Keep in mind that:

1) the back splash and counter tops are a mellow variegated yellow
2) the appliances are white
3) the floors are a vintage linoleum of muted yellow, tan, cream and flecks of gold (I'm not making this up)
4) I get tired of color quickly
5) I have accents of red (like the star and berries here) that I don't want to change.

Some options are posted in the side bar. You can vote for one of them or leave me a comment with a fabulous new option that I never imaged.

Cinnamon Rolls

When you find that recipe, the one that makes all other variations pale in comparison, sometimes you want to keep it a secret and make others wonder how you do it. Well, it's really not that hard, even though I might pretend otherwise. Here it is, the recipe for the infamous cinnamon rolls, tested, perfected, and approved:

3 1/4 c biscuit mix (homemade is fine)
1 c milk
1 stick softened butter
1/2 (heavy) c of brown sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 c finely chopped nuts (optional)
Pancake syrup
Butter cream icing (store bought or homemade)

In a large bowl combine the baking mix and milk until a soft dough forms. Turn the dough out onto a large sheet of waxed paper (I just do this on a clean, floured counter top). Knead the dough gently for a few seconds. Pat the dough into a rectangular shape. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out so that it is about a 1/2" thick. Try to keep it in a rectangular shape as you roll it out.

Spread the butter over the dough. Sprinkle the brown sugar, breaking up any large lumps. Scatter the cinnamon over the brown sugar. If you are using nuts, sprinkle them on too.

Roll the dough up like a jellyroll, with the filling on the inside of the roll. Use a sharp knife to cut it into a dozen slices.

Place the rolls into well-greased muffin cups.

Squirt a little pancake syrup in the center of each roll.

Bake at 400 for 15 minutes.

Spread on icing while still warm.

Icing Recipe:
3 cups powdered sugar, 2 tbs. milk, 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla, and 1/3 cup of softened butter. Combine until smooth.