It feels like we have been living in limbo for months now--waiting for Anna's birth, adjusting to a new baby, house hunting, remodeling, moving, dealing with the sickness from h*ll--the list goes on and on. I long for some sort of normality in our lives.
In my quest for routine and familiarity I created a daily schedule. The "real life" schedule looks nothing like my original paper schedule, but it seems to be working out fabulously! I have managed to read my Bible everyday for almost two weeks. Who knew that was possible with small children?! And, let me tell you, it makes a huge difference in the tone of our day!! Crazy how that works. :)
I also reinstated my daily cleaning list. It's not my favorite way to keep house because the whole house is never clean at same time, but it may be the only way that I can keep up with the mess while I have small children. Unless my husband gets house cleaning services for me for Christmas. Hint hint. ;)
My favorite part of our new normal is e-mealz. Dave Ramsey advertises that e-mealz is a great way to save money and it appears to be working (I spent $30-$40 less than normal on groceries in the first two weeks). But the best part is I don't have to figure out what to cook each week--I simply log on and print off the menu and grocery list. I enjoy cooking, but hate meal planning. Why didn't I do this years ago? You should check it out!! Now all I need is a service that will grocery shop for me . . .
Life seems to be settling down; we are establishing our new normal. In the meantime, my new motto that I repeat to myself daily is, "You are going to miss this!" I don't want my stress over silly things like piles of laundry, poopy diapers, and lack of sleep to cause me to miss out on precious moments with my children. My prayer is that I can streamline the menial tasks of life so that Tandon and I can spend quality time enjoying Anna and Kellen. I AM going to miss this so I am trying to soak it all up while I can.
9 years ago
6 comments:
Great reminders! Thanks!
Just checked out e-mealz last week. It is pretty neat, but it didn't include lunch and breakfast stuff. You still saved 30-40 including the other meals in your shopping?? I'm back to cleaning differently too. Some weeks are better than others. You are doing great!!! Hang in there! I agree...if we aren't careful, we will miss out on them being little. It is going way too fast!!
Thanks for the inspiration!
I'm still deciding if it's easier to clean house all on one day or throughout the week (other than things I have to keep up on like dishes and laundry of course). And I need to spend more time with God! Do you wake up early or find another time? I'd love to hear about this because I've really been convicted about this.
I am going to have to check out that e-mealz thing...very interesting. And I'll start dropping hints to Tandon about getting you a cleaning service for Christmas if you'll do the same to Chris... :) Thanks for the reminder that we will miss this. It's easy to forget!
Shanna, my savings was on the over all grocery bill each week. I don't do anything elaborate for lunch and breakfast (leftovers or pbj, cereal or oatmeal) so it doesn't add a lot of extra cost. What's your new cleaning plan??
Alison, I read my Bible during Anna's morning nap and I send Kellen to his room to play alone. I used to shower and get ready during that time, but since I started making the kids stay in bed til 7 it gives me time to get ready before the day ever starts. Now that we're in the routine, I think Kellen actually likes reading in bed when he wakes up. He goes through phases on whether he likes alone play time, but right now he seems to enjoy it.
My new cleaning plan is slowly being implemented. Some days are better than others, but I've been following the flylady website. I LOVE some of her ideas! Her website is a bit confusing when you first look at it (which is why I didn't look at it back when M was little), but I love the concepts. We should talk about it on the phone sometime (and it feels like forever since we've talked). It is kinda of like our chore cards only more indepth. :)
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