Menu Plan Monday

Menu Plan Monday is something I've been meaning to participate in for a while now. Although its technically Tuesday, I'm still operating on Monday mode considering its 2 am.

If you want to check out what others are planning on their menus for the week, head on over to Menu Plan Monday on Organizing Junkie.

My goal for this week is to actually eat what we plan out. Hah! What a novel idea.

June 1st- June 7th

Tuesday :: Baked Cheese Ziti (a mini veggie for Noah -no dairy)

Wednesday :: Ham, Potatoes, Beans & Rolls

Thursday :: Thai Chicken Salad

Friday :: Homemade Pizzas

Saturday :: Soft Tacos/Bean Burritos

Sunday :: Grilled Chicken/Roasted Sweet Potato Wedges/Salad

Monday :: Leftovers!

Tomorrow I need to focus on cleaning out and reorganizing our kitchen cabinets and fridge so I can actually SEE what we need/have and figure out what to make without waste. Hopefully I can fit that in between naps and grocery shopping.

Wish us luck!

Organizationally Challenged

I've been blog searching for organizational tools that will help me as a mom, organize!

We mostly struggle with meal planning. When you don't have dinner on the table, the stress seems to go through the roof.

Not to mention that Noah can't have dairy, I am usually sleeping during dinner, and Bryan is probably the most picky person I know and would rather have everything that I wouldn't consider edible food.

Yikes.

I did find a super meal planning program online called Plan to Eat.  It has a free 30-day trial, which I signed up for. After that its $5 a month.

I hate paying for things that I should be capable of doing myself but the fact is, I'm not. I am just not organized enough. (Well...maybe I am I just don't know it yet..)

I also discovered a blog called Organizing Your Way. She has an awesome list of free printables for a home management binder as well as super resources on Once a Month Cooking. The idea is you plan out a variety of freezable meals and then once a month, take an afternoon and cook, freeze and viola! You have meals at your fingertips.

This idea sounds great in theory but actually implementing it sounds a bit scary. Maybe one of my friends will spend an afternoon doing this with me. It would definitely make my life easier.... it would have saved my sanity the first month of Noah's life, that's for sure!




I'm really enjoying her blog purely because she talks about practical ways to develop life skills like time management, planning, budgeting, etc. I know I need help in these areas and I think everything can benefit from some improvement.

Also Simple Mom is a great page to visit for more blog resources on all thing Simple Living.... The above mentioned blog contributes to her network.

I think my goals for the rest of this month should be to implement meal planning as an integral part of how we operate...then maybe we'll get to the cleaning, routines, etc..

This is what I spent my day after work doing yesterday.... in between nap and sleeping..

and lots and lots of cuddling <3 . Noah loves loves loves playing with water right now.
I'm going to have to get a little pool and more summer clothes for him soon...probably tomorrow since it supposed to be 80's all week!

Productivity... ahhh.

We had a gorgeous, productive weekend!!!

My mother, father and brother in law came up to visit and helped us accomplish SOO many things around the house. I appreciate it more than they know...  <3 Having three sets of hands around helps tremendously. Noah usually takes up most of my free time leaving other projects unfinished. (In this case, since November).

This is what we did.


Bryan and his dad and brother cleaned out one of the bedrooms on my mother's side of the house and it was a job, let me tell you. You could NOT walk into it. You could just open the door and peer in afraid....sweating a little bit.. Now, you can walk all the way through and there are TWO guest beds set up. The rest of the place is begging to be painted.

I'm going to help my mom paint it green (with the left over paint from our bedroom). We are going to then paint her Jenny Lind crib bright yellow as well. It's going to be adorable!! (See inspiration pic)

They moved the ginormous bed that was taking up most of Noah's playroom to that room (see pic where end of bed is). This freed up a TON of space and we were able to move the bookshelves from downstairs hall/office to his playroom.  (Notice the completed chalkboards!!)

THEN we painted most of what needed to be painted in the hall and stairwell. So everything is starting to get put together nicely and really feel comfy. 

Still some more painting to be done but we're almost finished!!

Now to get started on all my sewing projects!  I've got a bit to do before I'm totally done with his playroom...
~ hem curtains
~ reinforce shelving
~ add shelving to top of closet
~ create and apply fabric wall decals
~ buy and hang paper lanterns over stair well
~ hang chalkboards
~ finish book slings and hang
~recover rocking chair  (anyone with really good way to upholster a cane backed rocking chair WITHOUT removing the cane?)

They watched Noah for us this morning and we got to sleep in till 8:00. Isn't that the single most amazing thing you've ever heard!?! ALSO watched him while we to church at Burlington Vineyard so Bryan and I got to spend some time with each other. It was really nice.. <3