Sauturday!

I love Saturdays! This the the day I get to have some fun and recharge. I especially love it because dh gets to join us. Often we will have Family Movie Night or Games Night on Saturday evenings We are really into Cranium these days. During the days we will go swimming or take a trip to the dollar store or go for a walk in a park or visit friends; you get the idea. The activity doesn't matter - spending time together does. I think dedicating a day for this purpose is paramount, especially with lives being as busy as they are. I hope you will spend time doing something fun with your family today. If you do I hope you will share with us what you did Today we are shopping for a birthday present for a good friends 6th birthday later we will have movie night. Tonight we are watching Water Horse. Speaking of I better get going as dh has rounded up the troops and they are waiting for me! lol

p.s. When I returned this post didn't publish so I am posting it late.

Creating a Home Journal: Step 6 - Menu Planing- Part 1

OK! Menu planning is something I have fun with. I really like to cook but when life is busy I really need to plan. I really like Menus 4 Moms for this. They do all the work! the food is good and inexpensive. Using their system monthly food budget is about 400 for my family of 6.

In this section of my Home Journal I keep my Master Grocery List. With my well stocked pantry I can make all the foods my family eats. With my Master Grocery List I can keep inventory and make my weekly grocery list with it. When I run out of something I highlight it with a red dry erase marker right away, then on Monday when I make my grocery list It is easy to determine What I need to put on it. Here is my Master Grocery List.

Pantry Spices & Seasonings Adobo Basil Bay leaf Cayenne pepper Celery seed Chili Powder Chili spice blend Chives Cilantro Cinnamon Cumin Curry Powder Dehydrated onion Dill Dry mustard Garlic powder Garlic salt Ground ginger Italian seasoning Lemon pepper Liquid smoke Marjoram Nutmeg Onion powder Onion Soup Mix Oregano Paprika Parsley Pepper Poppy seed Rosemary Salt Taco Seasoning Mix Tarragon Thyme Balsamic vinegar Red Wine Vinegar Rice vinegar Vinegar Beef Bouillon Granules Chicken Bouillon Granules Dry red wine White cooking wine Cooking sherry Hot sauce Ketchup Worcestershire Sauce Ranch Dressing Mix Sesame Oil Olive Oil Vegetable Oil Baking Needs Almond Extract Baking Powder

Baking Soda Biscuit mix Bread flour Confectioner's Sugar Corn Meal Corn Starch Corn Syrup Evaporated Milk Flour Honey Jell-O packages Rolled oats Stuffing Mix Sugar Vanilla Extract  Yeast Baking nuts   Beans Pinto beans Black Beans Kidney Beans   Lentils Red Beans White Navy Beans Fruit Individual Fruit Cups Pineapple, Crushed Raisins Cran-rasins   Miscellaneous Croutons Graham Crackers Peanut Butter Sunflower Seeds Taco Shells Tea bags Coffee Pasta and Rice Egg Noodles Elbow Macaroni Fettuccini Linguini Rice Rice Noodles Shells (jumbo, medium) Vermicelli   Produce Apples Bananas Grapes Oranges

Canned Goods Cut Corn Creamed Corn Green Beans Mushroom Pieces Peas Roasted Red Peppers Tomatoes (variety) Water chestnuts, sliced Coconut Milk (for Thai dishes) Cream Soups Enchilada Sauce, red and green Green Chiles, diced Salsa Spaghetti Sauce   Paper & Plastic Heavy Duty Foil Paper Plates Parchment Paper Plastic Baggies Plastic Wrap Wax Paper Toilet Paper Refrigerator Items Cheese American cheese slices Cottage Cheese Feta Cheese Shredded Cheese String Cheese   Condiments Barbecue sauce Dill pickle spears Fruit Preserves (100% fruit) Hot sauce Lemon Juice Lime Juice Mayonnaise Salad Dressing Salad peppers or relish Soy sauce/tamari Teriyaki sauce Yellow mustard Dairy Butter Buttermilk Cream Cheese Eggs Milk Coffee cream Plain Yogurt Sour cream

Meat Bacon or bacon bits Deli Meat Pepperoni Produce Carrots celery Garlic cloves Green Bell Peppers Lettuce leaves Mushrooms Onions (a bag) Salad Mix   Freezer Items Frozen Fruit Bagged berries, miscellaneous Frozen Vegetables Asparagus Breaded Okra Broccoli Cuts Cauliflower Hash Browns Mixed Vegetables Peas Peas and Carrots Corn Stir Fry Vegetables Sugar Snap Peas   Meat Beef (ground, roast, stew, and flank) Chicken Hot Dogs Hot Italian Sausage Pepperoni Pork Chops Prepared Ingredients Black beans, cooked Buttermilk biscuit dough Chili Chicken, cooked and diced or shredded Ground beef, browned Ham, cooked and diced Meatballs, raw Peppers & onions, chopped and sautéed Onions, chopped and sautéed

Home work

Think about everything your family eats and make a list

Make a Master Grocery List of all the items you need to buy from the grocery store. Don't forget to include any cleaning supplies

Creating a Home Journal: Step 5, Part 3 - Cleaning - Children's Section

I use this section to list the children's chores. Here
is a great article to help you decide what chores you children can do grouped according to age.

Here is an example of what the children's chore chart looks like:

CHILDREN’S CHORES
Name	Daily Chores	Weekly Chores
7 year old	Room chores - Get dressed, make bed Money - Tidy front porch Table chores - Set Table, Help clear table Bedtime chores – Tidy toys, Jammies, teeth, Pack bag for next day	Mondays - Put clean sheets on bed; Tuesdays - Dust living room Wednesdays - Clean bathroom mirror; Thursdays - Empty bedroom trash; Fridays - Sweeper living room
3 year old	Room chores - Get dressed, make bed (with Mommy) Table chores - Help clear table, Run sweeper on dining floor; Bedtime chores - Tidy toys, Jammies, teeth, laundry in hamper	Mondays - Dust; Tuesdays - Help clean windows Wednesdays - Help with laundry; Thursdays - Empty trash Fridays - Tidy book shelf
baby	Be mommy's helper. :-)

Homework

Make a list of the chores you want your children to do. Have a row for daily chores and a row for weekly chores.

Put a copy in the last part of your cleaning section and post a copy in place where the children can consult what is expected of them for each day.

Do It Anyway

wise words to remember

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centred;
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true
enemies;
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

- Mother Teresa

Creating a Home Journal: Step 5, Part 2 - Cleaning

The next few pages include my supplies Inventory and my favourite cleaning solutions.

I like to keep a list of the tools I use where I bought them and make and/or model numbers for replacement parts like mop heads or vacuum filters. I also use this section to keep handy cleaning tips and special care instructions.

here are the cleaning solutions I like to use. these recipes will save you money and are much kinder to the environment.

SUPPLIES

Liquid Castile Soap
Baking soda
Washing soda
White distilled vinegar
A good liquid soap or detergent
Tea tree oil

1 empty detergent bottle
6 clean spray bottles
2 glass jars

DISH DETERGENT
Mix 2 cups castile soap with 1'4 cup of water and shake

CREAMY SOFT SCRUBBER
Simply pour about 1/2 cup of baking soda into a bowl, and add enough castile soap to make a texture like frosting. Scoop the mixture onto a sponge, and wash the surface. This is the perfect recipe for cleaning the bathtub because it rinses easily and doesn’t leave grit.


WINDOW CLEANER

1/4-1/2 teaspoon castile soap
3 tablespoons vinegar
2 cups water
Spray bottle

Put all the ingredients into a spray bottle and shake. Use as you would a commercial brand.

ALL-PURPOSE SPRAY CLEANER

1/2 teaspoon washing soda
A dab of castile soap

2 cups hot tap water
Combine the ingredients in a spray bottle and shake until the washing soda has dissolved. Apply and wipe off with a rag.

FURNITURE POLISH
1/2 teaspoon oil, such as olive
1/4 cup vinegar or fresh lemon juice
Mix the ingredients in a glass jar. Dab a soft rag into the solution and wipe onto wood surfaces. Cover the glass jar and store indefinitely.

Tile Cleaner

2 teaspoons tea tree oil

2 cups water
Combine in a spray bottle, shake to blend, and spray on problem areas. Do not rinse.





Homework

Record vacuum filter model numbers or any other important instructions related to cleaning here.

Decide what products or recipes you want to use

Make a list to put in your journal

Creating a Home Journal: Step 5, Part 1-Cleaning

This section is big so we will break it into a few posts. In this Section I keep my Cleaning Plan, the Children's Chore charts and some of my favourite cleaning solution recipes. The first part will be about my Cleaning Plan.

This is the first page of my cleaning section. The table shows each day of the week, What cleaning I need to do, and the tools I need to do it. In order to create it, I made a list of all the important chores that must be done. then I divided them by tools needed to complete them and lastly, I assigned them a day. When I was done I had a chart that looked like this:

Cleaning Plan

Day	Chore	Tools
Monday	Sweep and mop all floors	Broom, Dustpan, Mop, Bucket. Mr. Clean, Plastic Scraper
Tuesday	Clean all mirrors and TV/computer screens and inside windows; wipe down all surfaces; dust	Window Shammy, Windoe cleaner, Plastic Scraper
Wednesday	Clean all sinks, toilets, the shower and tub	Abrasive Cleaner, Plastic Scouring Pad, All-Purpose Cleaner, Rags , a Towel
Thursday	Water plants, collect garbage	Watering Can and Fresh Water, A Lrg Garbage Bag
Friday	Clean stove, refirgerator, dishwasher; washing machine and drier	All-Purpose Cleaner, Abrasive Cleaner, Plastic Scouring Pad, Rags Towel

You might want to includyour laundry schedule here too. Below is mine

Laundry Schedule

Mondays	My laundry
Tuesdays	Wash younger children's laundry
Wednesdays	All towel and wash cloth laundry
Thursdays	Laundry day off
Fridays	Bedding Laundry

Homework

create a title page for this section.

Make a list of weekly chores

Divide them by tools needed.

Assign each group to a day of the week.

Put the information in a chart or a way that makes sense to you and print it out and put it in your binder ;)

Next
Supply lists and solution recipes

Creating a Home Journal: Step 4-Weekly Schedule

My Weekly Schedule keeps me on track during the week. Certain tasks are assigned on each day; This is the next sheet in the Schedules part of my binder. This is something that evolves over time. I would start with just writing a simple plan on loose-leaf until you figure out what works for you. Here is what mine looks like:

Monday: Menu Day
Work on menus and grocery list for next week.
Make sure refrigerator is clean.
Dust and Mop all floors
Work on project

Tuesday: Grocery and Errand Day
Double check list and remember to with you.
Clean Inside Windows, Mirrors, TV/monitor screens
Grocery Day
Errand Day:

Library

Post office

Groceries

Wednesday: Zone Clean and Partial Desk Time
Clean sinks, toilets and bathtub
Make Bread
Work on project
Write thank-you notes.

Thursday: Free Day
Garbage goes out today: Empty all garbage cans.
Water Plants.

Friday: Paperwork and Misc.
Be romantic today.
File papers.
Write letters and cards.
Clean large appliances
Clean laundry room.

Friday: is "Date Night", Saturday: is "Family Fun Day", Sunday: is "Renew Your Spirit Day"

The important thing to remember about schedules is that they are guides. They are very useful for keeping us on track but we are not a slave to them. They should make living easier not stress us out!

Homework
Write out all the tasks you need to get done during the week-groceries, cleaning, paperwork, time for self, etc. assign each task a day of the week. Create your weekly schedule. Tweak as needed.

Next:
The Cleaning Plan

Creating a Home Journal: Step 3-Building Routines

By now you should have a pretty binder ready to fill with all the information needed to run your house. As I delve deeper into this adventure called life I am discovering I am a creature of habit. My routines help me focus and keep me on task as I have also discovered I am bit of a scatter brain. The important thing to remember about routines is that they should be simple and realistic - especially in the beginning. For example my dds daily school day morning routine is:
wake up
make bed
eat breakfast
wash face, brush teeth
comb hair
get dressed
pack lunch in bag (and anything else needed for the day)
leave.

When building my routines, I first decided what I had to do in the mornings; make breakfast for self and children, wash up, get dressed, get children ready. Then I added a new thing each week; things like make bed, start laundry etc. until I was happy with the routine.

I did the same things for my night routines and I am now working on my afternoon routines. In the early stages of building a new routine I just write them on a piece of loose-leaf paper that I put in the first section of my binder. I have that set up for my afternoon routine right now! When I am done building my routine I will then type it up, print it and put the hard copy in a page protector and then into the first section of my home Journal.

It is really easy to get carried away and make a complicated set of routines that will overwhelm you and cause you to abandon them all together. Please bear this in mind! Keep it simple, select only what you have to do then add one item at a time. When you do this you will create routines that you will follow and stick too and they will surely help alleviate some of the chaos in your life as they have done mine!

Homework

Make title page for Routines and Schedules section of Home Journal.

create a Morning, Evening and Night time routine.

Next

Weekly Schedules

Creating a Home Journal: Step 2

DECORATING YOUR BINDER

The next thing to do is to make it look pretty. I designed a cover for it using PhotoShop. If you scrap book, you could make a page to slip into the pocket. Have fun with this! You are going to use this everyday. Create a cover that will make you smile when you look at it! The beautiful thing about the pocket binder is that it is easy to change your cover from time to time, maybe to suit the seasons or a holidays.

Homework:

Step 1: Gather Supplies
Step 2: Decorate Your Binder

Tomorrow:
Building Routines

Creating a Home Journal: Step 1

My home journal is the most important tool I have for managing my home. It contains all our schedules and routines, Emergency numbers and anything else required to run your home. With my Home Journal, I might have to be away from home at a moments notice but my Husband or Mother or relative or friend could come into the home and know exactly what needs to be done! I will share how I put mine together in detailed steps.

Step 1: Gather Supplies

I will list What I used to design mine. You should make yours something you will enjoy looking at Your imagination is your limit! Here is what I used for mine

2 inch white pocket binder like this one

subject dividers
1- 8x11 envelope
a pouch or pencil case with:

pen

pencil

dry erase marker

mini hole punch

calculator

sticky notes

I will begin to explain what to do with these tomorrow

The First Post.

I wanted to create this blog as a means to record my Home Making Journey. I have been visiting Fly Lady, Organized Home and many other similar websites to try to find the secret to home maintenance. Guess what I discovered? There are a million ways to "Get 'er done!" lol this blog will be about My way.

I started with making my bed everyday and setting up a laundry schedule after a marathon laundry session to get everything washed, folded and put away. It took me three days of running my washer a dryer constantly to get through all the laundry. As I folded each load I made two piles. One to keep and one to give away. I ended up getting rid of more than I kept! Now I follow a laundry schedule. As you can see, I do laundry 4 days a week and never on the weekends. With my new way of doing things the weekends are free from housework other than cleaning up after ourselves so we are free to have fun!

Laundry Schedule

Mondays	My laundry
Tuesdays	Laundry day off
Wednesdays	Wash younger children's laundry
Thursdays	All towel and wash cloth laundry
Fridays	Bedding Laundry

I am currently in the process of putting together my Operations Manual for my home. Fly Lady calls hers a Control Journal. I have also heard it called a Home Manage Binder, Base Camp and Sanity journal! Regardless of what you call it, the objective is the same. It is a tool to help direct you even during the foggy daze of sleep deprivation, and crazy schedules that is parenthood.

For the next little while I will be explaining the process of putting my Operations Manual together. Tomorrows post will be about what supplies I used.