What Do YOU Do? : Groceries/Meal Planning

I have recently decided that this summer shall be dubbed “The Summer to Get Organized” (I was going to call it “The Summer to Get My Act Together”, but “The Summer to Get Organized” has a more positive ring, don’t you think?).

What’s in store to get organized? Our house. Our stuff. My systems for organizing said stuff in said house. My systems for cleaning/laundry/etc. Schedules. Communication. Etc. Etc. Etc.

Oh yes, and the fun task of food planning/shopping/etc.

Bottom line: I need to come up with a system for planning/shopping that is somewhat simple *and* cost-effective. As much as it pains me to say it, having my groceries delivered to my door, while handy, is proving *not* to be the most cost-effective option each week.I definitely need to tighten up the ship in that area…but I don’t know how.

So I’m wondering…What Do YOU Do?

Do you plan meal menus? If so, how far in advance (a week? 2 weeks? a month?)

How do you handle your grocery shopping (how often to you go; do you get your dry goods at one store & produce/perishables at another, etc?).

Have you found any good, healthy (read: safe), reasonably-priced options for organic food (produce, etc.?)

Do you utilize coupons?

You get the picture.

Now I turn it over to you, and I BEG you for your answers encourage you to tell me true:

Just What Do YOU Do?!

What Do YOU Do? : Cleaning

So, it’s pretty much official. Though I’m just barely halfway through it, am already falling head over heels in love with this book: Steady Days: a Journey Towards Intentional, Professional Motherhood by Jamie C. Martin.

It’s all about…well, becoming more intentional and “professional” in your approach towards motherhood, particularly if you are a stay-at-home mom. It’s a quick and easy read, broken down into “bite size” chapters and chock-full of practical suggestions on everything from developing a simple “routine” for your day to maintaining enthusiasm and inspiration. Really, it’s all about learning to make the most of these precious years at home with your kiddos. Which is what I’m all about. Which is why I am loving the book.

Have I mentioned I’m loving this book?

ANYWAY…in addition to the “Steady Days” book, the author has a blog, and today’s post caught my eye. Why? Because it’s called “intentional cleaning“, which is a topic that has happened to be  on my mind for awhile.

I’ve been trying to come up with a good “method” for keeping things reasonably clean around here. I don’t want to spend all my time cleaning but I also want my home to be a comfortable, clean, safe place for my kids.

Our most recent method has been the “company is coming!” method. This involves inviting company over and then cleaning furiously in an effort to present the facade that our home is immaculately clean once they arrive. Of course, there always ends up being an oversight, such as sticky spots on the floor, or (in the case of what happened the other day) a horrifically messy freezer, revealed only when the guest, in an effort to put away the delicious frozen dessert they had brought, opened the freezer door (before I  had a chance to stop them) only to be met by a disastrous pile of frozen and freezer-burned chaos, with nary an inch to spare for said dessert….now that was embarrassing…but I digress. 🙂

Seriously, though, for a long time my method has been “try to find a day to just get it all done” — which wasn’t working for me. Too random; too much pressure; too much STUFF building up into a mess as I waited for a time when I could get it all done!

So, another method I’ve been working on has been the “days of the week” method, which (for me) looks something like this:

Monday — Master Bedroom

Tuesday — Kitchen

Wednesday — Bathrooms

Thursday — Living Room/Dining Room

Friday — Kids Bedrooms

I like the idea of breaking it all down into manageable chunks — just having, essentially, 1 “chore” to conquer every day. It just seems like it will work in this season of my life. Now, I haven’t really been implementing this method long enough to know if it works for me, but I guess time will tell!

I’m definitely curious to hear what all you other ladies do to keep your home spic and span. Do/did you use a particular “method”? What has or hasn’t worked for you? Do you stress about keeping your house clean? What’s your “cleaning” philosophy? Other thoughts on the topic?

What Do YOU Do?

1. Blog your thoughts on the topic, including a link back to my blog post
2. Leave a comment on my blog including a link to your blog post
3. If you don’t have a blog (or don’t feel like blogging about it), just leave a comment! I still want to hear from you!
4. Be sure to check out all the other bloggers who have participated!

What Do YOU Do? : Children’s Bibles, Family Devotions and Such

So…as I’ve mentioned before, I’m not big on resolutions —  I’m not very good at keeping them, that is. However, with the year still new and because I have found fresh inspiration from sites like OrganizingYourWay and SteadyMom, I’ve decided that I really do want to stop and re-evaluate and tweak the way I do a lot of different things — particularly things that have to do with homemaking, parenting, etc. Is that a resolution? I’m not sure.

Annnnyway…I thought I’d start this little “series” on my blog called “What Do You Do?” (WDYD for short :)), and I would *LOVE* for you to participate. I’m hoping to not only get ideas (selfishly :)), but I am hoping that maybe we could all get ideas from eachother as we share what we do!

Here’s how it works:

1. I’ll throw out a topic along with any thoughts, ideas and/or specific questions I have on the topic.
2. You blog your thoughts on the topic, including a link back to my blog post
3. Leave a comment on my blog including a link to your blog post
4. If you don’t have a blog (or don’t feel like blogging about it), just leave a comment! I still want to hear from you!
5. Be sure to check out all the other bloggers who have participated!

Without further ado, here we go…

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TODAY’S TOPIC: CHILDREN’S BIBLES, FAMILY DEVOTIONS and SUCH

Kind of an unusual topic to start out with, but one that came to mind today!

OK, here’s the deal. W is now 2, so he’s really just starting to gain a better understanding of Bible stories, and we’re working on figuring out more of a regular routine for sharing them with him. However, finding a good Bible storybook has been difficult.

Here are my ponderings on some that we’ve explored (note: I’m not trying to critique them; just weighing the pros & cons):

We’ve been using The Beginner’s Bible for quite awhile. It’s a nice, simple little storybook, but sometimes it’s a little too simple for my taste…

So…after doing a little research, we got The Big Picture Story Bible. At first glance? Awesome. Perfect wording/story-length for preschoolers. At further glance? Um, WHOA. Big Picture, indeed! The idea behind it is that it ties all of the stories together to show how God’s plan for redemption runs through the entire history in the Bible — not just the New Testament. This is cool on many levels — but sometimes I just miss reading to W about Noah & the Ark! The simple stories are gone. They’re all mentioned, but kind of all woven together…hard to explain.Still, it’s a very cool, beautifully illustrated book!

Finally, it seems that everyone and their brother has recommended the Jesus Storybook Bible. This happens to be a title I scored for free during my days in Christian retail (yes, I stockpiled a few things to share with my future kids!). The idea is similar to the Big Picture Story Bible — it’s supposed to weave all the stories together to show Christ as the common thread, which is SO cool. However…has anyone else here read this? Am I the only one to be put off by the flowery language in the introduction alone? I feel kind of bad, because it is an awesome concept, but it’s hard for me to get past. What do you think? Should we give it another go?

OK, so those are the 3 kid’s Bibles we’ve explored. Does anyone have any thoughts on these titles? What Bible storybooks do/did you use with your kids? What is your routine for reading them to your kids? Do you have a “family devotions” time in your house? If so, what does that look like?

WHAT DO YOU DO?

Yeah…I’ve left you with lots of questions. Now….ANSWER! 🙂