During the school year mornings can get a little hectic around here – especially when you consider I have three kids to get up and going at three different times to go to three different schools. All three kids pack lunch thanks to the sub-standard lunch options we have in the public schools, and they all need a good breakfast too. Then in the afternoon it’s three different pickup times and three different sports schedules plus homework and dinner times to manage.  So, how do I save time, money and sanity during the week? A little planning and prep go a long way!

1. Have a plan

Each Sunday I take about 15 minutes or so to plan out the week, taking into consideration sports practices and other commitments. Then I plan our menu for the week. This year I am adding breakfast and lunch to the menu to help streamline things even more around here. You can check out all my weekly menu plans from weeks past or stop back in each Monday for a new one. Need more inspiration? Laura at OrgJunkie hosts Menu Plan Monday and there are literally hundreds of menus posted each week.

2. Create a lunch packing station

Lunches come together a lot quicker if you are not running from one end of the kitchen to the pantry and back every time you turn around. Set up one area of the kitchen or the pantry where you keep everything you need for packing lunches – from lunch boxes, lunch bags, ziploc baggies, plastic forks, napkins, little containers, to anything else you may need. Same goes with the refrigerator and freezer – dedicate a shelf for the things you need most often. This will also make it easier for the kids to assemble their own lunches when needs be. I’ll be working on getting my stations set up between now and Tuesday since the kids go back to school on Wednesday.

3. Make waffles, pancakes and/or muffins ahead of time and freeze

Buying pre-packaged breakfast items like frozen waffles, pancakes and the like can add up quickly plus they are usually highly processed. You can save a lot of money and offer your family better choices if you make these staples yourself, but who has time? You do. Make a whole batch on the weekend or during the week when you have time and freeze the rest. Karen showed us last week how to make your own muffin mix in bulk from scratch or visit GoodLife (eats) for more on making waffles, pancakes and such ahead of time. Did you know you can even make PB& J ahead of time and freeze it, too? My friend Amanda will show you how to make and freeze peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

4. Cut up fruit and veggies in advance for breakfasts, lunches and snacks

When you get back from the grocery store take a few minutes to cut up fresh veggies and fruits and store them in airtight containers in the fridge. Not only does it save money this way, but you and the kids are more likely to grab for that healthy snack if it is ready to go and looking pretty for you!

5. Carpool

How much sense does it make for you and two of your neighbors to all show up at the school for after sports pickups at the same time? None. Get to know the other families in your children’s activities and when possible set up carpools! It will save you time, money and wear and tear on your car, plus my kids are always more excited about going to practice when they know there is some social time involved.

So there you have it – my 5 go-to strategies for a smooth running week (plus a sense of humor when my best laid plans don’t work). What are your strategies for saving time, money and/or sanity once the school year schedule kicks in?

The kids are going back to school soon and that means time to say goodbye to lazy summer mornings and hello to routine, structure, and backpacks! With a little bit of preparation and organization now, you can cruise through the first few weeks of school with your sanity in place. A few years ago I posted my five favorite back to school sanity savers for Moms and kids on now defunct blog of mine, but decided this is too good not to share with my new readers!

Take Stock Before You Restock

I don’t know about you but when my kids came home on the last day of school with the contents of their desks in tow, I noticed something – that box of 12 colored pencils we “had” to have, still looked brand new! And so did half of the notebooks. Before you rush out to buy tons of new school supplies, take stock of what can be reused from last year. Then combine all your kids school supply lists into one and shop throughout the summer for items as they go on sale or buy them in bulk from my personal favorite online resources, Bulk Office Supplies or Discount School Supply (they stock allergy free and special needs art supplies).

The same thing goes for the kids clothes. Where we live the temps are warm enough in September for the kids to wear their summer clothes still – and my kids always seem to have a last minute growth spurt before the school year starts. Get the kids to try on their summer school clothes and items from last year and make a list of must buys and a list of buy once the weather cools down. I never buy my kids jeans before October – and then I wait for stores like Justice Girls Clothing (my girls favorite) to have their massive sales.

Post a routine

Kids always do better when they know what to expect! Help your kids (especially those Kindergarten and 1st Graders) develop a morning routine and practice it before school starts. I love charts that I can post on the refrigerator (remember my summer chore chart?) and I have created a very simple one that is picture-based so that kids of any age can go through it on their own. Yes, you can have one of your very own!! Download the morning routine reminder to hang on your own fridge.

Take it a week at a time

Use Sunday afternoons or evenings to get your week planned out. Keep the family schedule in a location that everyone can see. I have a Magnetic Dry Erase 3 in 1 Board by Board Dudes hanging in the mudroom so everyone can get a feel for the events of the week at a glance and its easy to change.

I also keep a planner on my desk. I just ordered the new MomAgenda Home Office edition because it has room for my schedule and notes, but also has space designated for each child and dinner and pockets for important papers, too. You can get them in a variety of sizes and fun colors. Everyone in the family knows to check the book for important phone numbers, general schedules and upcoming events, too.

Create a Backpack Zone

Find a location in your house that is convenient and create a backpack zone. In our house it is the mudroom. Backpacks, shoes and jackets all get parked there when not in use. It makes it much easier to find everything in the morning if you aren’t hunting high and low all over the house for it.

Create a Home Study Zone

Give your kids a regular spot for doing homework – somewhere with good lighting, minimal distractions, and access to the supplies they may need to get the tasks done. Our kitchen table is the homework zone. There is no TV near by, the kids have plenty of room to spread out and I can monitor their progress without having to sit right there with them.

Joe Bruzzesse of Our Thinking is a Middle School expert and author. He has created a list of supplies to keep on hand for homework and projects. We have a china cabinet in the kitchen that houses art and school supplies. This summer the area got a little out of control so I spent some time this weekend clearing it out and reorganizing. One bin contains paper, notebooks and journals. Another bin contains pencils, pens, crayons, markers, rulers, scissors, tape and such. The bottom cabinet holds art kits (translation – beads) and coloring books.

What are your best back to school tips? Feel free to share them in the comments!!

School’s out for the summer!! Woo-Hoo!!

I am so ready for a change of pace and so are the kids. It’s not that the schedule gets any less hectic, but it just gets different. No 5:45 a.m. wake ups, no homework, no packing lunches. Instead, we are looking at 8 a.m. swim team practice, reading whenever and however (my kids love reading) and packing coolers for swim meets, outings and road trips.

One thing that really helps keep the peace all summer long (well, at least it works in theory) is our Summer House Rules that hang on the refrigerator. My gift to you – a free printable version of these summer house rules to use in your own homes! Enjoy.

Download your own copy of the Summer House Rules as a PDF file – then hang where the kids can not miss it!

You might also want to print out some of my other free printables for making things run smooth this summer:

• Printable Cleaning Checklists for Kids
• Monthly Menu Planning Worksheet
• Kids Chore Charts
• Summer Camp Packing List

Did you ever have job on your to-do list that you just kept putting off forever because you thought it was going to take forever and when you finally just got it done it took a fraction of the time to do??? Yep, me too. My kitchen freezer has needed a good clean out for about two years and being the Queen of Procrastination that I am, I just kept putting it off. Saturday I finally got compelled to tackle the job. Get this – it took me about 20 minutes total and the end result is fabulous! Why did I wait so long to do this? Guess that means the refrigerator needs to be next!

Anyhow, just starting with an organized freezer made it so easy to menu plan this week. Not only did I find inspiration by having everything in plain sight, it made it very easy to know what I needed to buy vs. what I have on hand.

This week’s menu -

Monday – Ravioli Bake with Garlic Toast and Tossed Salad

Tuesday – Sweet and Sour Slow Cooker Curry Chicken over Rice

Wednesday - Minute Steak Sandwiches, Sweet Potato Fries, Steamed Vegetables

Thursday – Red Beans and Rice with Ground Beef and Kielbasa Sausage, Tossed Salad

Friday – Kids Cook Night – the kids have the day off from school, so I am going to let them plan the menu and make dinner as a team.

What job do you keep putting off? Set aside 15-20 minutes and tackle it. You’d be surprised at what big rewards a little bit of concerted effort can bring.

Need more inspiration?Feel free to check out my Menu Plan Monday archives or head over to Laura’s at Organizing Junkie for links to hundreds of menus this week.

So yesterday I shared that I feel like my menu planning is in a rut. Experience tells me that with a little bit of pre-planning and some brainstorming with my crew, we can get out of this rut! And by planning the menu a full month at a time, we avoid eating the same thing all the time and can save a lot of money on groceries!

I created the following worksheet to help me (and you!) with getting the ideas on paper and then rearranging them to make a balanced menu each week.

Print two copies – one for the brainstorming process and then one for the “final cut” menu.

• Download the Monthly Menu Planning Worksheet as a PDF file

In order to keep things pretty simple, I have come up with 7 themes – feel free to adapt for your own family:

• Sunday - New recipe (or anything goes night if we decide to go out to dinner)
• Monday – Slow cooker since this is typically our busiest sports night of the week
• Tuesday – Pasta night – everyone is home and pasta is a nice comfort food
• Wednesday – Quick & Easy – again, another busy sports night with staggered eating times
• Thursday – Family favorite night
• Friday - Kids cook – let’s face it, Mom is tired by the time Friday rolls around and my kids are old enough to start working on their college cooking skills
• Saturday – Grill night – especially when the weather warms up

Next, I interview everyone in the house asking for their favorite from each of the categories. Since there are five of us, building out a month of favorites is pretty easy. If they answer with something already on the list, they have to come up with an alternate. Once I have the main list, I can rearrange the meal ideas into the various weeks to make sure things are pretty balanced – like not eating red meat 4 days in a row and such – and then add side dishes into the mix.

Overall, this takes maybe 30 minutes of your time and can save you hours of frustration over the course of the month.

If your family is having a hard time coming up with their lists, ask them what they would order if they went to their favorite restaurants, pull up menus from their favorite restaurants or put some of your favorite cookbooks out on the table for inspiration.

It works for me! Hopefully it will help you and your family as well!

My daughters share a room. Kind of. The bedroom is a large L-shaped room that we divided in to two smaller rooms years ago so that one part could be a nursery and the other part could be a toddler’s room. The wall that divides the two rooms only goes 3/4 up the wall so they can actually throw things over the wall at each other, but they have their own space.

The smaller part of the room is, well, small. Our youngest has that room and now that she is 9, has lots of American Girl dolls, Buildabears, art stuff and all the little things a girls needs, it is a little tight in there. It is constantly challenging my organizational creativity!

I bought an 24 Pocket Over the Door Clear Vinyl Shoe Organizer with the idea of putting shoes in it. However, she always leaves her shoes downstairs in the mudroom so in less than a week, the shoe organizer was empty again. When cleaning her room this last time I decided to use those compartments for other things – like sleeping masks, lip gloss, scissors, markers, hair ties and clips, lotions, and all sorts of little things that needed a home in her room.

I love that the organizer is clear making it pretty easy for her to see what is in each compartment and find what she needs. And another great feature – the price! You can find over the door shoe organizers at most stores for less than $15 each.

Need more organization ideas – I am joining others at OrgJunkie.com in 52 Weeks of Organizing.

School’s out for the summer!  With three active kids, our schedule doesn’t really get any less crazy in the summer, it  just gets different. Over the years I have found two essential tools that have helped keep the kids on task, retain a level of structure that is needed, and keeps me sane. Those tools are my summer chore chart and the summer house rules. Since my kids are now effectively 14, 12, and 8 – they really can be helpful and do understand that in order to do the social activities they want to do, they have to do their part at home first.

SUMMER CHORE CHART

Since I have been doing a summer chore chart with my kids since they were little, they were actually looking forward to see what their summer chore chart was going to look like. I love putting their photos on the chart each year so before I made the chart I snuck up on them and snapped some fun new pics with my phone’s camera.

• Download the Summer Chore Chart as a PDF – ready to print and hang on your fridge!
• Download the Summer Chore Chart as a MS Word document – ready to customize first, then print and hang on the fridge.

Just to keep things fresh, I usually reassign the chores every few weeks. When they were younger I had to customize the chores a lot more because there was no way my youngest could vacuum or sweep, but now they are all old enough to do just about any chore needed.

If you are looking for another creative method – check out this “anti-boredom device” crafted with a cookie sheet and tiles.

SUMMER HOUSE RULES

I am a true believer in setting expectations for kids. During the school year the expectations are pretty clear and are directed by schoolwork and sports. Summer time is a bit different – there is much more social time, home time and yes, opportunities to say “I’m bored.”  I have printed these up on colorful paper and keep them posted on the refrigerator – feel free to do the same – adapting them as you need for your family. (Click on image to the right for the printable version).

1. Pick up after yourself
2. No name calling, mean words or foul language
3. Be respectful of your sibling’s need for space
4. Chores must be done before friends come over, TV goes on or you go play
5. The kitchen is NOT open 24 hours a day
6. Be positive and supportive of your siblings efforts
7. Don’t forget your manners! Please & Thank You will take you a long way.
8. Mom is not made of money & we are not going out to eat, stopping to pick up a snack or shopping everyday – so don’t even ask!
9. If you tell me you are BORED – I will find a job for you to do.

I’d love to hear about your summer house rules or how you keep structure in tact while still having fun in the summer with your kids.

A few years ago I went to the medicine cabinet (ours is in a high cabinet in the kitchen) and grabbed a bottle of cold medicine to give a dose to my son. Luckily, before I finished dispensing it I noticed I had grabbed the wrong bottle – it was the adult version. I made it my task the next day to make the cabinet better organized.

I went to the dollar store and purchased three small stacking organizer bins with open tops. I labeled them Childrens, Adult and First Aid. I pulled everything out of the cabinet and sorted it into one of these three categories.

The childrens’ bin contains what I consider to be essentials – Childrens Motrin, Mucinex cough medicine, Childrens Sudafed, Similasan Childrens ear ache drops, Little Noses Saline Spray/Drops for Dry for Stuffy Noses, the kids vitamins, and any of their current prescriptions.

The adult bin has Motrin, Aspirin, Alavert, Benadryl, Nyquil, Similasan Allergy Eye Relief Eye Drops and our adult vitamins.

We keep the first aid bin well stocked with Neosporin (love the new Neosporin and Pain Relief formula), Arnica Gel (great for muscle pain), Traumeel Ointment (also for muscle pain), Dermoplast Pain Relieving Spray (takes the sting out of scrapes fast), bandaids in all shapes and sizes, cortizone cream, tweezers, antiseptic wipes, gauze and tape.

This system has worked weel for us for the past few years. My kids are now old enough that they can get their own bandaids and little items. Having the medicines clearly marked in bins makes it much easier for the entire family to find what they need and stay healthy.

Happy New Year! I took some time off from this site for the holidays and it is great to be back.

Laura, my friend at OrgJunkie.com, who hosts Menu Plan Monday, would be so proud of me! New Year’s Day I finally couldn’t take looking at my bowing cabinet shelf anymore and decided to do something about it. I took before photos, emptied EVERYTHING out of three sets of cabinets/storage areas, tossed the old and the expired, then reorganized it all. Take a look:

Like the bowing shelf??? Can you find anything in there? I couldn’t.

Look at all that extra space I have now!  By adding a few inexpensive shelf organizers (Undershelf Mesh Basket – Small (Silver) (6.25″H x 11.25″W x 10.4″D) and 2 Space Stretcher – Large (White) (9″ D x 19.5″ W x 8.5″ H)), I gave myself even more room to work with. You can find more great Kitchen Essentials at Organize.com

My “overflow” cabinet before.

After it is so well organized that the entire top shelf is now empty and I have it for later use.

This green set of shelves holds small appliances, seasonal dishes, and has organizer baskets on the side for cans – but what a mess.

Not perfect but so much better!

After seeing the huge difference in those three cabinets, I was so motivated, I even tackled my refrigerator! Complete with washing down the shelves. Wow.

Now that my kitchen space is more organized, it makes it so much easier to know what I have on hand so I can plan my menu for the week. One of the reasons I find menu planning to be so important for our family is that we are always on the go. A few minutes of planning on Sunday/Monday will save me so much money (by not going to drive thrus) and will give my family better fuel for their healthy bodies – and mine (have you read the simple math of losing weight?)

This week’s plan:

• Monday: The boys wil make Chili, garlic bread and tossed salad (they love making it and it is better than mine)
• Tuesday: Ultra crazy sports night, so we will plan for Subway sandwiches in between sports.
• Wednesday: Saucy Stir Fried Pork and Rice
• Thursday: Bacon Tomato Bagel Melts (on Laura’s menu this week and looks perfect)
• Friday: Hamburgers on grill, lettuce, tomato, sweet potato fries, steamed veggies

What’s on your menu this week? If you need ideas, feel free to check out my Menu Plan Monday archives or head over to Laura’s at Organizing Junkie for links to hundreds of menus this week.