Back to Simplifying...

I originally named my blog The Simple Bees because I was in a huge simplifying stage.

Sometimes things are just unnecessarily complicated. And we were trying to move things back to being more simple.

It's about that time to start the process of simplifying our lives again.

So, the past few days I've been quiet on the blog. Others have noticed I've been quiet on Facebook too. I've been observing our lives and trying to figure out what can be simplified and what needs simplified.

Meals have always been an huge complication in our lives. And I'm not quite sure how to simplify them without causing boredom. Not too long ago, Tuesdays were Taco Tuesdays. But somewhere we became bored with that and moved away from it. So I'll be looking at my methods again and trying to simplify this again. I know that a lot of people eat the same thing every week, but that just isn't appealing to any of us.

I do need to rely more on my crockpot as cooking raw meat isn't going well at all for me at this point.

Homeschooling is going well, but I fear that our curriculum will have to change this fall. We've enjoyed doing unit studies but this fall we expect to have 3 children, 3 years old and under, so I'm not sure I'll be able to keep it going this coming fall.

Our finances will simplify themselves soon. Our van will be paid off this spring and we cannot wait! We've also trimmed the budget back a good bit in order to meet some goals we set and that also helped simplify things.

I'm eager to find solutions that will allow us to simplify more.

Stephanie

I didn't think about my laundry basket... not even once...

I went to bed last night after making a Mega To Do List. To be honest, there are lots of little things that need to be done now that we are moving out of survival mode. Lightbulbs need replaced, this needs organized, that needs organized, I should go shopping for more than groceries for the next few days, we should go to the library, I have a zillion things to print for our homeschool, etc. Our house isn't filthy, just a lot of little projects have been put off.

And then I tossed and turned... until 3 am.

I was bothered and I couldn't quite figure out why. After wrestling with thoughts, I realized exactly what bothered me about my Mega To Do List.

The whole time that we were waiting to hear if Xander had brain tumors or not, my priorities were different. It is no secret that I struggle with perfection.

I've said it before. Really, I have struggled with perfection my entire life.

My four children make consistent perfection pretty far out of reach, but there are times that I really convince myself that if I just work harder, faster, more that I can reach it.

And I have in the past. Except, perfection can't be accomplished in all the areas of my life at the same time without causing me to teeter on the edge of a mental breakdown on my part. It can't be maintained long term with serious repercussions to the relationships in my life.

People matter more than things.

When we were waiting to hear about Xander, I never pushed the children away to complete all the laundry in our home. Let's face it, even if I do get it all done and put away, what happens at the next blow out diaper? Or bathtime? Or even the next morning when we wake up? We make more.

Why didn't I push the children away to finish the laundry? Because I was terrified that our life was going to change in one phone call. I wanted to soak up every single second of each child.

Now that we have good news, that desire to soak up all I can of my children shouldn't disappear. This should be a lesson that I carry with me for the rest of my life.

No matter what, my children are growing.. Their childhood is disappearing right before my very eyes. In 20 years, do I want to remember my house was perfect, my laundry hamper had nothing in it for a few short hours and my to do list was always completed?

Not really.

Or do I want to remember the feel of Solomon's little chubby arms wrapped around my neck? Do I want to remember Xander laying on the floor under a ceiling fan for close to an hour? Do I want to remember how Lainey looks at the world with an optimism that is hard to find these days? Do I want to remember having conversations with Julianne about our faith?

Yes, I want all of that.

So while I cannot completely ignore the responsibilities of keeping a home, it will not remain an idol in my life. I refuse to let it rob the joy of raising four beautiful, smart, loving children.

So Mr. Mega To Do List, you can taunt me from my unorganized desk. I'm going to make memories.

~Stephanie

Our Solution to the Lunch Rush

About 1 o'clock each day I look up and realize it's lunch time.. and I have nothing ready. Our mornings are busy with getting ready, morning chores and homeschooling... And then suddenly everyone is starving and everything we have seems to take too long to prepare. We can't serve peanut butter due to Lainey's allergies and most of my eating children don't care for lunchmeat sandwiches.

As I was making my game plan for Brandon's new 13 hour, 3 day a week schedule I knew lunch would be an issue. I'm SO much more likely to ask Brandon to bring something home on his lunch break than for dinner. I also thought back to Lainey's brief enrollment at a Montessori Preschool when I was a working mom and remembered that children served their own lunch. It teaches the children real life skills by well.. doing real life. Novel concept, huh?

Then, I remembered that I was much more likely to grab some fruit or veggies to eat if it was prepared and looked appetizing. So, our "pickanicka" lunch trays were born as Julianne calls them.

Each morning, during my chore time, I spend time in the kitchen after breakfast. During this time I think about dinner, serve breakfast, and do various kitchen chores. The little boys are sitting at their highchairs and I usually turn up the praise music. (Side note: I'm SO not a morning person.) I cut, peel, slice, dice, chop, whatever I think we should have on the trays. I use two small restaurant trays that I picked up at a restaurant supply store and our rubbermaid containers. I do everything to make the food easily accessible. I make sure to have a wide variety of items to choose from. And then I put it back in the refrigerator (stacking my trays due to lack of space in our fridge.)

This picture shows: Laughing Cow cheese, clementines, yogurt, lettuce, strawberries, carrots, grapes, and hardboiled eggs. We also grabbed some crackers as well.

The children serve themselves. I don't dole out what I think they should eat. They must choose at least one veggie. Certain things they can only have one of (example, yogurt.)

When we are done, we put the lids back the containers that still have food in them and return the trays to the fridge. The next morning I take stock and see what I should add.

It's been amazing for our family. We are eating so much better. I am sick today but Lainey and Julianne were able to get out lunch out before their Daddy arrived home, all by themselves. They were so proud of being able to help me.

Other things that we have had on the tray or plan to add:

- Cucumbers
- Olives
- Pickles
- Sushi (I will not be indulging.)
- Tuna, egg, or chicken salad
- Deviled eggs
- Sliced cheese
- Lunchmeat roll ups
- Fruit Salad
- Pasta Salad
- Potato Salad
- Carrot Raisin Salad
- Coleslaw
- Hummus with pitas
- Seasonal produce (I really try to keep our produce purchases to less than $1/lb.)

So.. this is how we do lunch. How do you handle the lunch rush?

~Stephanie

Food Waste...

I've shared before that I really make it a priority to use up the leftovers we have. This hasn't always been the case. It hit me tonight as I was cooking dinner how much I've grown in this area.

You see, last Saturday we had another family over for dinner. The mom and I became fast friends through our MOMYS group and when they come to Richmond, I practically beg for them to come for dinner. The Dad of the family and Brandon get along great and so do our combined eight (soon to be nine because she is expecting in May!) children. It's a wonderful time of fellowship for us.

Anyhow, Brandon grilled chicken and I prepared corn on the cob and baked potatoes. We had cantaloupe for dessert. There was quite a bit leftover (no one leaves my house hungry!) and we had leftovers on Sunday, eating the remaining chicken and potatoes. We still had quite a bit of corn left.

The next day, I heated just enough corn to have as a vegetable side dish with our dinner. And we still had some corn left. I cut the corn off of the cob and froze it.

Thursday, I combined it with black beans, diced tomatoes and other seasonings and we had it over rice, with chicken breasts and greenbeans as well.

At the end of that meal we had rice and the black beans, diced tomatoes, corn leftover.

Tonight, I mixed the rice and the black bean mixture with another can of corn, ground beef, onions, seasonings, beef broth and more diced tomatoes and made a mexican soup. (I also used a small portion of frozen baked beans from the freezer. I mashed them to make the soup broth thicker..)

The rest of that soup will be eaten tomorrow for lunch.

In the past, I would have been sick of looking at corn and I would have wanted something else. At some point, I was convicted and felt that simply wanting something else and therefore wasting perfectly good food wasn't the best use of our God-given resources.

Here's the good news: You don't have to eat leftovers the same way you made them the first time! Sometimes we do.. we call it Leftover Buffet or Mismatched Meals and I let everyone pick a few things. Sometimes we have the leftovers for lunch.

Sometimes they turn into "do-overs" like a casserole or a soup.

But I've decided to be the best steward I can be of even the little things... like a few extra pieces of corn on the cob.

~Stephanie

It's going to be a crazy week....

This is what our schedule looks like this week:

Monday- Homeschooling and Chiropractor visits for Brandon and I. (Brandon went and there was a sign saying they were closed. I guess we missed the announcement.) Prep chicken for potluck on Tuesday.

Tuesday- Homeschooling and potluck at Brandon's work that our family was invited to. It's a potluck for his team of employees. Solomon turns 3 months old!

Wednesday- Homeschooling, Chiropractor visits for Brandon and I, trip to the library to pick up books for the next two weeks and Brandon's office wide picnic-- families included.

Thursday- Homeschooling and dental appointment for me.

Friday- Solomon's weight check appointment, chiropractor visits for Brandon and I, drop off consignment and Brandon's SECOND interview! Exciting! It's at 12 noon if you'd like to join me in prayer. :)

Soooooooooooooooooooooo.... I shouldn't have scheduled our homeschool to start this week.

Live and learn.

Edited to add: Thursday we also potentially have either rain from the hurricane or rain and wind. So everything on our porch needs moved off, we need to make sure we have water and flashlights. EEEKS!

Book Review: Sidetracked Home Executives by Pam Young and Peggy Jones

I'm always looking for "systems" to help our household run more smoothly. I currently have a system that has been tweaked and updated many times over the years. Several fellow mommies, recommended this book and loved the system it described so I was eager to hear what it was all about.

I checked it out of the local library and started reading it during naptime one day.

The basis of their system is a box of 3 x 5 index cards. At first, this sounded appealing to me. I love index cards! The index cards are different colors based on the frequency that the task needs to be completed. Tasks that need completed more often appear in the box more often.

The stories that they share of their previous times as Slob Sisters were humorous. Most of the book was an easy read although the set up directions were a bit confusing. I read all the way through the first time and then went back and read the set up chapters a few times.

Before jumping in and started yet another system that would never get used, I sat down and thought it out.

I finally decided that this will not work for my family! First... we don't do well with little pieces of anything! I'd have to add a task to my day called "card control." Second, my life at this time doesn't really work this way. I like my way much better!

I can see this working for people that are childless or with older children. Or perhaps people that have a tiny touch of OCD.

I plan to share my current system soon! It's much more "planner-ish" or "daytimer" than a thousand index cards. *giggle*