Category: Planning

Re-Entry

As someone who loves routine and thrives on organization and planning, coming home from 3 weeks on the road isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

But, I really enjoyed the time away. It was a change of pace, a change of scenery, a different lifestyle; and it was time spent with some of the people that I love the most in the whole entire world.

I can find and create routines anywhere; but that sacred time away together….it’s precious and not something that our typical fast paced world fosters.

Gia sleeping on the couch beside me

As we settle back into familiar routines and create new ones to serve us now, I’m aware of what we had in that time and space. It is a gift, a blessing. It’s not something to be taken for granted and in someways I’m missing it. A grieving, if you will. Not in a heartbroken or heart wrenching way but just a wistful awareness that our cherished time together is done.

In these moments, I purpose to look for the beauty in the world around me. Not to distract myself from my feelings; but to create a sense of balance within. To acknowledge that I can hold that duality of life that I mentioned previously. I can be both sad and happy. I can remember the past and look forward to the future. I can long for something and be satisfied within.

We took Gia for a walk yesterday and in the last couple of weeks, while we’ve been away, so many flowers have started to bloom. There is an incredible number of tulips in the gardens in our neighbourhood teeming with different color’s and varieties. Between the flowers blooming and the magnolia trees and cherry blossom trees, there is so much color and life. It’s extraordinarily gorgeous.

Tulips are one of my favourite flowers

It’s easy to become complacent and not really notice the beauty in our world because it’s there all the time. Sometimes, we need to purposefully choose to see the good so we can benefit from it. Our negativity biases can trap us in a loop and it’s not “natural” to see beyond that. We need to make a concerted effort to do things differently.

Daily art prompt – butterfly

If you are feeling discouraged or down or even if you just want to be more aware of the beauty around you and the things you have to be thankful for, I’d challenge you to take a month and either search out beautiful things each day or do a gratitude challenge. It will change you in the most amazing ways.

When you start focusing on the good and beautiful things in your life, you become so much more aware of all the things you have to be thankful for.

PS. My sourdough starter activated after 3 weeks in the fridge. So bubbly and happy. It might seem a silly thing but it makes me happy. I experience delight just seeing it double and knowing that it will soon be delicious bread to nourish my family.

Crossing Things Off My List

I have a list written down somewhere. Actually I have a few lists written down in a few different places, and well….can I find any of them right now…..NOPE!

I’m usually super organized and yet I’ve been feeling SO SCATTERED recently.

I think I’ve got too many things on my plate right now and yet…..that’s a post for another day and another time.

We’ve bought a crib set for each of our other kids. I figured that at the very least, I could save and one day pass on the comforter to each kid and that each child was unique and deserved something of their own….With each child I’ve had a harder and harder time choosing something that I really liked that wasn’t too over the top, gaudy or just down right ugly.

I did find a cute set for Siah and yet I wanted something different for this little one.

I decided to buy some fabric and to make some co-ordinating bedding and covers for this baby.

I’m not the worlds most amazing seamstress. My mother can make anything, even without a pattern, (She sewed my sister’s wedding dress and it was UNREAL! A massive hand beaded fairy tale princess dress!) and my sister has made and can make some of the most amazing things – clothing and toys. They can both sew like nobodies business. I can use my machine (barely) and I’ve made a few simple dresses for my girls when they were younger but I had to follow a pattern religiously.

I figured that most of what I wanted to do involved straight lines (I even have trouble with that sometimes) and that at the very least, I could give it a try. First hurdle….finding some fabric, that #1 went with my bedroom colors (as that is where the baby furniture is and where he’ll be rooming for most of the first year.) and #2 that I actually liked and #3 was appropriately boy-ish without being all balls and animals and primary colors. The second hurdle involved the fact that I had NO PATTERN to follow. I figured that at the very least I could try and if it turned out that bad, I’d rope my mother in to helping me.

Fortunately for me, and the family who has to live with me…….I’ve managed to start to pull it all together.

As of this past weekend, I’ve purchased some fabric…..

Fabric Pile

I’ve finished one crib sheet…..

Crib Sheet

and I finished one change pad cover……(I’m quite proud of this considering the rounded or scooped edges that I figured out how to do all on my own – YAH ME!)

Change Table

Here is a closer view…..

Change Pad

I’m almost finished the second change table cover and I still need to make another crib sheet. After that I have to make the bumper pads and the biggest project will be the quilt…. ACK! I’m a little nervous about that one.

My mom did come over to help me figure out how to “fit or secure” the cover and sheet underneath the pads and instead of using elastic, I’ve…..well…..I’ve no idea how to explain what I did. I basically sewed the bottom edge into a corner so there is a pocket for the corners to fit into. I have no idea if you understand and short of going and taking more pics…..which I don’t feel like doing right now….It’s all okay. It works and looks good and more importantly…..they fit perfectly and required no yelling, screaming or swearing.

I’m gonna finish the change table cover today and hopefully the second sheet too.

I think I might even take few minutes to sit down and actually write out a good list of everything that I really want to do before the baby comes and post it somewhere where It won’t get lost.

Oh, and you can see the color that we’ve painted our room in those pics of the change table. When we finish decorating, I’ll take some more pictures and show the whole thing, but for now…that’s a sneek peak!

Meal Planning Success

So, the weekend before last, the kids and I sat down and planned out two weeks of meals.

It worked out amazingly, as it always does BUT…having then get involved in choosing the meals did actually inspire them to help out even more. They pitched in on the meals that they personally chose and it made it much easier for me. YAH!

We managed to make it the ENTIRE WEEK without one restaurant/fast food/quick pick up meal that was AMAZING!

Not only did we eat healthy, but we managed to save a bit of extra money which is always a nice bonus AND….we sat down at the dinner table every night.

We try to do this most nights, but when tired, overwhelmed and running last minute for meals, there are times when we throw some crap food in front of the kids and turn a movie on the computer and let it entertain them for a bit.

It’s our sanity saver in rushed times….although, to know that with a little bit of planning we can avoid the rush and stress and also get in some great family time and conversation…..I like that much better.

This week the meal schedule is

Sunday: Roast Chicken, potatoes, carrots and asparagus with gravy and Yorkshire pudding

This was Geli’s birthday dinner and is her FAVORITE MEAL. Here’s a picture of the DELICIOUS MEAL before the gravy was smothered on….

DSC_0226

Monday: Ham, Pineapple & Veggie Kabob’s

We cooked these on the Bar-B-Que and they were every bit as delicious as they sound.

Tuesday: Fish and Rice with Kale

We had a little salmon and a little tilapia. I have some who don’t like one or the other and some who like both and so I usually just make a few pieces of each and then let the kids pick and choose.

Wednesday: Taco’s (Beans, Elk, Goat Cheese, Lettuce, Peppers, Soy Sour Cream, Salsa)

This is what was planned but as I posted about last night……even my best efforts at planning can get all bunged up by the amazing-ness that is ADD/ADHD. We had Mc Pukes for dinner!

Thursday: Bar-B-Que Chicken with potatoes and veggies
Friday: Homemade Pizza (for Geli’s Birthday Party)
Saturday: Steak & Potatoes and Salad
Sunday: Soup & Sandwiches

I’m hoping that aside from the mid week glitch, that we’ll be able to keep things moving forward and hopefully stress free (when it comes to dinner’s). I need to plan for the next few weeks to keep the momentum going.

What are your favorite “go to” meals? I’d love some new suggestions?

A Little Planning Will Get You a LOOOOOOOONG Way!

I made a meal plan last week and it was a HUGE help.

We have done it before and while it didn’t seem as helpful as it seems right now….it was still a good guideline and we used it “loosely” about 50% of the time…..

But for whatever reason, it is really “clicking” right now. It must be one of those “right time, right place” things.

I am really trying to watch what I’m eating AND I’m also trying to be really aware of our spending AND we have noticed that we were spending WAY too much on “eat out” food recently.

We have been so busy and I feel like I was just trying to survive the summer and we’ve been running around like chickens with our head cut off. Basically we have just been reacting to our situations, and not planning enough things out.

So, with all that in mind, I took the time last week to plan out our meals for last week and it was AMAZING!

We have two days where we are working outside the home and if I plan for easy, quick meals on those two days then it really helps things out. It also helps out that the girls are old enough and accomplished enough to make most any of our meals by themselves. I love that we’ve included them in preparing our meals since they were little and now it is TOTALLY paying off.

Last week, felt so much smoother and less chaotic….it probably helps that we are in a better groove as far as kids going to school and working and at home days with organizing, and cleaning, and….well….I’m just feeling SO much more relaxed about life right now, and really….this is a VERY good thing as it translates into every aspect of our lives.

So, this week didn’t start off exactly as I planned it, as Jeremy was home from school yesterday and it threw my day off slightly.

But, I did manage to list out my meals for the week and here they are:

Monday: Pork Roast with Veggies and Quinoa
(Broccoli and Cauliflower – Jon did the prep on this meal as I was at my Exercise Class and it was DELICIOUS!)

Tuesday: Roast Chicken & Rice with Veggies
(Kale & Carrots – We work today and so the roast is in the fridge ready to go with the rice and chicken in the roasting pan and the girls will just throw it in the oven at 4pm)

Wednesday: Homemade Soup, Salad, and Bisquits
(Chicken potato soup that I have on hand in the freezer. The girls whip up the salad and make the biscuits from scratch.)

Thursday: Chicken, Veggie Stir Fry with Rice Noodles
(2 Chicken Breasts, zucchini, daikon, peppers, celery, carrots, over rice noodles)

Friday: Tortillas with Beef, Beans, and Fixin’s
(Ground Beef, Beans, Lettuce, Peppers, Goat Cheese, Tofutti Sour Cream, Salsa and Corn Tortilla’s)

Saturday: Homemade Pizza
(Dough From Homemade Sourdough Starter, Chicken, Olives, Peppers, Goat Cheese, Farmer’s Sausage, Pineapple, Tomato Paste)

The MOST Delicious Pizza

Sunday: Lasagna with Salad
(Made last week with leftover spaghetti sauce and frozen – will throw it in before church and time it to be ready when we come home from church with salad prepared as soon as we get home)

I’m expecting that this will be a great week of meals that we will all enjoy. We do sit down as a family and eat together almost every night of the week and we find that it’s a priceless time when we can chat and debrief about our days and talk about future plans and just laugh with and love on each other. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.