Home Management: Simplified & Streamlined, Remember the Goal

I've really enjoyed doing this series with Rachel. Examining different aspects of my home management and figuring out how I can spend less time on them has been really helpful.

Over the course of this series we've:

-Tracked our time use, created time budgets, and developed simple routines
-Organized our kitchens
-Stocked our freezers
-Revamped our menu planning systems and worked on getting breakfast and lunch on the table faster
-Worked on decluttering our homes
-Developed cleaning routines that work for our current season of life

We've covered a lot of ground!

I think any time we undertake something new, it's really important to consider the goal. Why do we want to simplify and streamline the management of our homes? I want to spend less time on cooking and cleaning (and other household management tasks) is because I don't clean for the sake of having a clean house. I clean, cook, and organize as part of my ministry to my family. 

Having a clean, smoothly running home is a means to an end--creating a welcoming, warm home for my husband after a day's work, a lovely place for my children to learn and grow and create memories, and a place we are able to exercise hospitality,  a place we can do life in a Christ-honoring way.

God has given us our homes, our families, and the twenty-four hours we have each day and He calls us to steward them well. Ultimately, the goal in all of the tasks we undertake as homemakers (and any other roles we fill) should be to glorify Him.

As we close out this series, I am looking forward to continuing to use the ideas we've discussed in the management of my home, especially as we get ready to welcome a new person into our family in just a few weeks. I'll need everything (besides snuggle time!) to be as simple and streamlined as I can make it!

Be sure to visit Rachel at Intentionally Simple this week to read her concluding thoughts.

An update on The List

A couple of weeks ago, I shared the list of things I want/need to get done before Baby #3 makes his appearance. Thankfully, I've been able to chip away at it quite a bit. My original goal was to have everything done by September 10, which I don't think will happen--but I'm shooting to have it done by the end of next week. We'll see how it goes!

To do:

• Organize all our children's clothes. Sort things into hand-me-downs for Joshua, a few special girl items to save, and items to consign/give to Goodwill.
• Wash, sort and, and store clothes Joshua will use. Put newborn and 0-3 month clothes in his drawer.
• Put together a toy organization system Katie can handle by herself.
• Fix the cabinet door on the children's dresser.
• Make cloth wipes
• Clean and set up bassinet
• Freeze at least 10 dinners worth of food, plus breakfast items {I have 4 dinners' worth of main dishes frozen plus a few miscellaneous things}
• Order more cloth diapers (I'm thinking 10-12 more) and get them washed and ready to go {The diapers are here and have been washed once. They say to wash them 3-5 times before using}
• Get noise machine, hamper, and GoodNite Lite for Katie and Benjamin's room {The noise machine is working out so well we opted to skip the GoodNite Lite for now}
• Pick up a new DVD or two for Katie and Benjamin (not because I advocate rotting their brains in front of the TV all day--but I know there will be the occasional moment when I really need something to hold their attention during the transition into life with three babes)
• Purchase a Baby K'Tan carrier (I've finally settled on this to add to my baby-wearing arsenal)
• Order birth kit
• Gather other birth supplies {Everything is bought. I just need to get it all in one place}

Home Management: Simplified and Streamlined, Cleaning Routine

I have long struggled in keeping up with a regular cleaning routine. Most days, I feel like I do well to just keep up with the daily necessities (dishes, etc.)--but the reality is that toilets and floors do need to be cleaned regularly.

Our assignment for last week was to develop a simple cleaning routine. After giving it a little bit of thought, I decided to go back to the Motivated Moms chore planner. What could be more simple than someone else making a list of what needs to be done and when? :)

For $4, I downloaded this year's planner (regular price is $8, but once the year is halfway over, the cut the price in half). I have used Motivated Moms in the past, and I definitely can see the difference in our home when I keep up with the list (and I love having a list to check off--ha!). For me, the small price is definitely worth it. I'm not sure why I stopped following their list before (I think I finished 2010 using it, and never picked back up at the start of 2011 right after Benjamin was born), and I'm definitely glad to have it as a helpful tool once again in simplifying my homemaking.

I find that most days, the chores take around half an hour or less. In case you're curious, here are the chores on the list for the last two days:

Yesterday:
Change dishcloth/towel
Change hand towels in bathrooms
Clean top shelf of refrigerator
Inventory refrigerator contents and plan meals around leftovers
Vacuum main/public rooms or first floor
Clean Toilets
Replenish stock of toilet paper in bathrooms

Today:
Clean out purse/wallet
Pay/File bills
Clean bathroom mirrors
Clean/wash hairbrushes and combs
Dust children's/guest room(s)

Another thing I love about their system is that if you miss a day or part of a day, it's easy to catch up in little bits of time throughout the remainder of the week. And everything will show up on the list again--so if you just can't get to it one day, you can get to it the next time.

In addition to the Motivated Moms weekly chore lists, I have a list of chores I try to do every day to keep things tidy. These can be found throughout our daily routine which I posted several weeks back as part of this series .

This week, we're just going to focus on continuing to apply all the things we've worked towards throughout the series and we'll be wrapping up next week!

Be sure to visit Rachel at Intentionally Simple to see her cleaning routine!

Home Management: Simplified and Streamlined, Decluttering

First off, I am so sorry this post is going up so late! It has been a fun and busy week with my mom in town. I've also been working feverishly to finish up a lengthy paper (which needs to be done by tomorrow at the latest and I still haven't finished!)--so that has been occupying all of my writing time.

Last week's project was decluttering. If I was not almost 8 months pregnant and busy keeping up with two other children, I would have loved to do a top-to-bottom de-clutter of my entire house. But, I knew that just wasn't realistic so I didn't even go there.

However, with Mom's help we spent about 5 or 6 hours one afternoon doing a big declutter project that I really, really wanted done before Joshua's arrival (due date is 6 weeks from today!). We were able to go through all the children's clothes in my entire house and sort them into things to consign, things to go to Goodwill, and things to keep for future babies.

I meant to take a picture, but totally forgot until after I dropped things off at a consignment store and Goodwill. But, seriously, I could not believe how many clothes my children had. Goodwill got a big black trash bag plus three normal-sized white trash bags (it felt so good to hand those bags over), I was able to sell some items to Once Upon a Child, and I'm working on getting the remaining things washed and packed away (either to save, or to consign during other seasons)--except the newborn and 0-3 month boy clothes, which will be washed and put in Joshua's drawer (awwww).

It feels so good to be mostly done with this project, as I've been wanting to do it for months. I think Mom and I will probably be able to button it up completely today before she heads out tomorrow.

Week 11 Project: Cleaning Routine
This week, Rachel and I are going to be working on developing simple cleaning routines. I feel like I do pretty well if I can just stay on top of daily stuff--but mopping, dusting, etc. are a wee bit neglected in these parts.

Be sure to head over to Rachel's post at Intentionally Simple to see her decluttering results! I really admire her low-clutter lifestyle and would like to have her decluttering skills when I grow up. ;)

Getting ready for Baby #3

That photo of our little man was taken almost fourteen weeks ago. Y'all, that means I have less than 7 weeks until his due-date!

I am getting really excited to meet my sweet baby boy, and my brain has definitely transitioned into "getting ready for baby" gear. Since this is my third time welcoming a baby into the world (and it's been less than two years since I had a baby boy), we have basically everything we need. It's just a matter of organizing and getting ready. And, since I have some experience, I also know what things will matter to me after the birth and be important in making for a speedy recovery and peaceful transition.

A couple of weeks ago, I put together a list of things I want to do and things I need to (or would like to) buy before Joshua makes his appearance.Thankfully with help from Ben and my Mom, I've been able to chip away at my list.

To do:

• Organize all our children's clothes. Sort things into hand-me-downs for Joshua, a few special girl items to save, and items to consign/give to Goodwill.
• Wash, sort and, and store clothes Joshua will use. Put newborn and 0-3 month clothes in his drawer.
• Put together a toy organization system Katie can handle by herself.
• Fix the cabinet door on the children's dresser.
• Make cloth wipes
• Clean and set up bassinet
• Freeze at least 10 dinners worth of food, plus breakfast items 
• Order more cloth diapers (I'm thinking 10-12 more) and get them washed and ready to go
• Get noise machine, hamper, and GoodNite Lite for Katie and Benjamin's room
• Pick up a new DVD or two for Katie and Benjamin (not because I advocate rotting their brains in front of the TV all day--but I know there will be the occasional moment when I really need something to hold their attention during the transition into life with three babes)
• Purchase a Baby K'Tan carrier (I've finally settled on this to add to my baby-wearing arsenal)
• Order birth kit
• Gather other birth supplies

My goal is to have everything finished by September 10, so we're ready a month before the due-date (just in case he comes early--though I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for that to happen!).

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Goals for This Week

 

I have been reading Eat That Frog! this week on the Kindle app. on my phone and felt inspired to start setting weekly goals again after not being diligent in this area over the past several weeks. I spent some time yesterday afternoon thinking through our week and my priorities and came up with goals for this week.

Waking up on a Monday morning with an aim in mind for the week makes such a difference, in my opinion! It helped that Ben very sweetly helped me clean the entire house on Saturday. Waking up to a nice, tidy house makes it a lot easier to be productive, too. :)

Here are my goals for this week:

Personal:
-Exercise four times (yoga twice, cardio/toning twice)
-Start the Make the Most of Your Mornings Challenge

Marriage:
-Have breakfast ready by 8:30 every morning {I know it may seem silly putting this as a marriage goal, but it makes a big difference in Ben's work day to get out of the house at a reasonable hour!}

Children:
-Work with them at picking up their own toys every day. {We just put a shelf in their room on Saturday that can hold everything, so I'm hoping to have this responsibility completed handed over to Miss Katie before we meet Joshua!}    

Home Management:
-Have the whole house tidied up at least once every day.
-Decide right after breakfast what we'll be having for lunch {instead of waiting until everyone is hungry!}
-Sort through ALL of our stored children's clothes. Pare way down on little girl clothes (planning to take things to a consignment shop) and get hand-me-downs washed, ready, and organized for Joshua {My mom is coming into town on Thursday and we'll be working on this together!}

Education:
-Finish and send in my essay

Blog:
-Post at least three times

Home Management: Simplified & Streamlined, Breakfast & Lunch

Just as a note, Rachel and I decided to switch to posting for this series on Mondays instead of Fridays.



Our project for last week was to focus on ways to streamline breakfast and lunch. Our family usually eats all three meals together each day, and especially at breakfast, it seems to take forever to get a hearty meal on the table and manage to eat and get on with the day in a timely manner. Most days, it's the same with lunch--rather than a quick, filling meal, we end up with a major interruption midday.


I certainly wasn't perfect in getting breakfast and lunch on the table quickly every day last week, but there were a few things I did that definitely worked well for us.

::Plan ahead. I do have a menu plan every week, but I never don't always follow it religiously. Knowing for sure the night before what we're having for breakfast and figuring out right after breakfast what we'll have for lunch helps tremendously.

::Prepare ahead. Baked oatmeal can be mixed up the night before and baked in the morning as can breakfast casserole. One night, I mixed up the dry ingredients for a batch of muffins and had the other ingredients ready to go and breakfast came together a lot quicker. Anything that can be done ahead of time (at a more convenient time!) helps. I also stashed some extra muffins in the freezer, which made for a nice quick breakfast--thaw them out over night, scramble some eggs, and serve it with some fruit for a nice, hearty breakfast in under 15 minutes.

::Plan for leftovers. I try to make enough dinner to eat leftovers for lunch several times each week. This is about as simple as it gets, and often provides me with a little more protein than typical lunchtime staples would.

::Have back-ups available. Yesterday, I figured that today we'd have enough leftovers to eat for lunch. I was wrong. So, we had oatmeal for lunch. Is it our favorite? No. But, it worked (I do grocery shopping Monday evenings, so we were out of several staples!). Keeping things on hand for a quick lunch of smoothies, macaroni and cheese, quesadillas, a snack-y lunch, or other simple meals is a great way to get some healthy food in your kiddos midday without taking forever.

What do you all do to get meals on the table quicker?  Be sure to visit Rachel at Intentionally Simple to see how she's streamlining breakfast and lunch!

Week 10 Project:
This week, we're moving out of the kitchen and into the rest of the house. We'll begin by focusing on decluttering, since the less unnecessary stuff we have to clean, to easier cleaning is. I've got a big de-clutter project to get done before Joshua is born, so I'm going to try to get that done this week. We'll be back next week with an update and the next project!