Organize your Family's Library Books

As most people with kids, we are frequent library patrons. My mother-in-law has passed on some wisdom to me for keeping track of our library books. Pick a number, any number, one that you feel is a manageable number of books to have checked out. I like the number 4. It’s my birthday month and it’s just a nice round number. So each time we visit the library each child may select 4 books. If they choose less than 4 books I just grab a couple on our way out so our total is 4. This way I always know how many books I need to return. Our school’s library has a similar system but the limit is 2 books per child. If a child returns only 1 of her 2 books checked out then she may only check out 1. So the total checked out is never more than 2 per child.

Thankfully my kids love books. Many months ago I deviated from my 4 book system because one of my kids wanted to check out a gazillion books. I decided that it would be an opportunity for him to appreciate my system. I allowed my 7 year old to check out as many books as he could carry thinking that the heavy load would be enough for him to want to limit his book selection. He carried a pile of books up to his nose all the way out to the car grunting and struggling! He didn’t care! He was thrilled! So much for that experiment. I got loosey goosey on limiting the kids to 4 books after that but it got out of control and a bit confusing so now we are back to the magic number 4 system. It certainly is easier to manage.

At home you can make a habit to read your library books in a designated spot like a favorite couch and keep a tote, bin or what-have-you to keep them in. Then you don’t have to go hunting for them. I am all for being organized but if my child wants to dig into a book in her room I am going to let her. So I don’t have any one designated spot for ours. Our limit of 4 is a sufficient system for us.

Make Deadlines Work for You

A couple months ago I thought we were going to have a new guest staying at our house. I got some of those little nagging projects done thinking that the guest would be arriving soon and I wanted the house to be, well, fresh. I got a fireplace, a bedroom and a stairway painted and finally got to putting a much needed new toilet seat in the guest bathroom. The guest ended up not coming but I was thrilled to have been pushed to get some things done.

This reminded me how effective deadlines can be. I’d like to have some self imposed deadlines on these little nagging projects. It is really the lack of deadlines that keep us from completing them. I have a few more small inside paint projects I would like to get done and I am thinking that they ought to be completed in time for the warm weather that is approaching. I don’t want to (and probably won’t) spend warm sunny days inside when I can be outside gardening and playing with my kids. I know that I will be able to appreciate God’s outdoor creations even more knowing that everything inside is taken care of. We’ll see how it goes. If I can meet my inside projects deadline then I can see how imposing the same annual deadline for inside projects could be productive. I also like to keep to a monthly menu deadline of the 15th of the preceding month. If I can complete next month’s meal plan by the 15th then I am not rushing to get it done and I can spend a little time tweaking it to make the most of the fresh ingredients and such. It just works better if I stick to my deadline. Most people have a January 1st deadline for packing away their Christmas decorations. These deadlines just keep us ticking some times.

A wise neighbor once told me that it is of no use to get all those little nagging projects completed because new projects will just step into their place. Her statement made me realize that I operate on the belief that one day all these projects can actually be done! Complete! Finito! I don’t want to start thinking that her wisdom is correct because then I may never attempt to get any of them done. I am determined to win!

Whenever I see a well kept home I point it out to my husband and he says that if his home ever looks that perfect then he’s spending his time the wrong way. Maybe he is right but I enjoy getting house things done, after all one of us should.

Outgoing Bin for Smooth Sailing Mornings

At night, after the kids are tucked into bed, I go scurrying around the house for a few minutes picking up and getting my act together for the next morning. This makes my tomorrow run smoothly. Weekday mornings are crazy with kids. Getting the kids dressed and fed, beds made, lunches packed and out the door are all I can handle in the morning. I use a large open flexible bin placed by the garage door to toss all the things I need to take with me in the car the next day. Things I throw in there include library books, outgrown clothes that need to be delivered to a friend's kid, toys or clothing left behind from a playdate, pants that need to be hemmed, package for the post office, store return, etc. In the morning I simply grab my bin and go about the errands dictated by the items in the bin.

Organize your Kids' Turn Taking

I have received great wisdom from my in-laws with regard to settling turn-taking disputes between my children. My husband and his 2 brothers called it “Priority Day.” Each day someone has “Top Priority." The child with “Top Priority” for the day gets first choice for his/her cup color, who takes his/her bath first, whose room we read night time books in, who gets a toy first if they both want it at the same time, first pick for dessert plate, pushes elevator buttons, chooses whether to put the quarter in or take it out of the cart at Aldi’s, etc. etc. This system works wonders. There have been too many situations to count where I pulled “Priority Day,” out of my pocket when no other dispute resolution tool was working. There have also been several times when the dispute was SO heated that I never thought the "Priority Day" card would work and I witnessed in amazement at it’s power. My third born is 2 years old so I have been using Priority Day with only two kids up 'til now but my little guy just announced, “MY DAY,” so I think we are going to have to start working him into the rotation. Whoever has second priority gets second pick or first pick if the Top Priority child is not home. Occasionally, I do lose track so I will put initials on the calendar to make sure there are no disputes about who is Top Priority but as they get older my in-laws tell me that their boys NEVER forgot whose turn it was for Top Priority. I have heard of mothers doing it week by week but my kids are too young to feel the justice in that so we’ll stick with day by day for now.

Happy Easter!

HAPPY EASTER!

Save Time and Money with Click N Pull @ Sam's Club!

Get this! My neighbor, Mark, has opened a whole new possibility for time and money savings with regard to groceries! He told me about the Click N Pull at Sam’s Club. I was not aware that such a magical operation was occurring on a regular basis at my good ‘ol Sam’s Club. I have been walking past several taped off shopping carts full of merchandise at the front of the store and not questioning what they were or why they were there. It should be no wonder since by the time I reach the front of the store at Sam’s Club I am pushing my 100 lb cart ahead of me with my arms locked straight and my body at a 45 degree angle while my 2 year old, (who has kicked both his sneakers off at this point), sits backwards in the seat with the belt on his back after squirming around in a full 90 degree turn and is hollering at the top of his lungs, “DOWN!” So it is no big surprise to me that I never wondered what the shopping carts at the front of the store were. I had no idea that my curiosity of those shopping carts could have changed my life quite some time ago. Thanks to Mark, I may finally benefit from this Click N Pull operation that I didn’t know existed before.

So here is the magic. You can shop at Sam’s Club online, submit your order and someone at your local store will gather all the items for you and a shopping cart will be waiting for you when you arrive WITH YOUR STUFF ALREADY IN IT!!!!!!! Isn’t this HUGE? I’m sure you have some questions as I did so let me tell you what I found out. If you place your order before 5 pm it will be ready the first thing in the morning. If you are a business member it will be ready at 7 am or if you are a regular member it will be ready for you at 10 am. You will get an email to notify you that your order is ready for pick up. You pay when you go to the store to pick up your merchandise, not online. If you do not pick up your merchandise within 72 hours then they will reshelve the items. They place your frozen and refrigerated items in their respective coolers in the back so when you arrive for pick up someone is sent to bring them up front. If you want something that is not listed online, (I had 3 items), you can make a note of it in the notes/substitutions box but my notes got overlooked so it is best to call to notify the customer service desk that you have notes written and they will look for them. My local Sam’s Club has a guy, (Bob), who is the designated Click N Pull guy. He fills all the orders in the morning when he arrives at 6 am and I was told that he never misses the notes. My notes were overlooked because I placed my order in the afternoon when he was gone and someone who isn’t accustomed to filling Click N Pull orders filled mine. If I can figure out all these little nuances this could really be a HUGE time saver as well as a money saver for my family.


Why do I refer to Sam’s Club Click N Pull as a money saver you ask? We all know that when we are going through the isles we end up buying something that we don’t really need and which may also not be in our budget. At Sam’s Club and other wholesale clubs, it usually isn’t an innocent $2 donut purchase that we go home with. Instead, it’s a $5 case of donut purchase that ends up in your cart. Come on, you know what I mean. So, if you can plan your list more objectively at home with your shopping list rather than perusing the isles with a hungry stomach or a sweet tooth I believe that there is no doubt that Click N Pull will be a grocery money savings. I haven’t been this excited about a time saving/money saving scheme since I started monthly meal planning. Ahhhhh, it feels good to be a planning/organizing junkie today.

Discover Aldi's and Save $$

I discovered the unbelievable grocery savings at Aldi’s a few years ago. Once I “got it” I couldn’t believe that I had passed up the Aldi’s experience for the first couple years that we lived near one. Once you “get it” you belong to the Aldi’s fan club. I told my friend Colleen that I had finally shopped at Aldi’s after hearing her rave about it for some time and she said, “I TOLD YOU.” I was officially a member. Let me explain how awesome the savings are at Aldi’s even if you don’t track the price of every item you buy. You know that sick feeling you get in your stomach when you check out at the regular Piggly Wiggly/Giant Eagle/Stop & Shop/Krogers when you hear your total? It just seems that you can never get over the fact that you spent THAT MUCH on harmless little necessary grocery items. Well, you get the complete opposite feeling at the Aldi’s check out counter. You can’t believe that ALL those groceries you bought only added up to the total the smiling clerk tells you. It’s unbelievable the difference you experience at the check out.

What the heck is Aldi’s anyway you ask? It is a small grocery store that sells the best quality items it can at the lowest possible price. It does not try to be a full service grocery because of it's size. Aldi’s started in 1976 in Iowa and has grown to over 1,000 stores from the East Coast to Kansas. They attempt to eliminate the bells and whistles that increase price. You’ll see how they do that by visiting a store once. Be sure to take a quarter with you because you will need it to access a grocery cart. You’ll get your quarter back when you return your cart. Don’t be afraid, it’s simple and intuitive. You’ll figure it out. When you enter the store you will instantly sense that something is different but you may not be able to figure it out. It’s the lack of music, (which I believe large grocery chains insert subliminal messages into to get you to buy more and I am only ½ kidding). The products are shelved in the bulk box cases that they come in rather than placed neatly on fancy shelves by store employees. Aldi’s does not supply grocery bags or a bagger. You will bag your own groceries with bags that you either bring or purchase there (paper for 5 cents or large heavy duty bags for 10 cents each). Aldi’s does not accept credit cards but you can pay by debit card or cash. So, the Aldi’s experience is a little different from your typical large chain grocery store but the differences allow for savings that are passed on to the consumer.

Unfortunately you can’t get EVERYTHING at Aldi’s. And a few things I feel may be lacking in quality but there are some really good finds at Aldi’s that you simply can not go wrong with. Here are some items that I have had consistent good luck with at Aldi’s:

Milk
Yogurts
Sour cream/butter/cottage cheese/cream cheese and other dairy goods
Refrigerated Shredded Parmesan/Romano and other premium cheeses such as feta and blues
Spinach
Blueberries
Lettuce leaves of all kindPeppers – red/yellow/orange are always great
Bananas – sometimes a little browned so they go right into the freezer for smoothies
Oranges, strawberries, grapes
All tomatoes, including grape tomatoes
Cucumbers
Beans – pinto dried and canned refried beans
Flour & corn tortillas
Tuna
Pepperoni
Brown Sugar/Flour/Sugar/Vanilla/salt/pepper/baking powder
Honey
Pickles
Corn Meal
Oatmeal
Oat O Cereal
Generic Cereals: raisin bran, rice krispies, cheerios
Tortilla chips & other chips like generic doritos
Frozen berries
Frozen orange juice
Fruit popsicles (yummy)
Ice creams

I would love to add to this list of things that other people regularly buy at Aldi’s so please post here and I will keep adding to it.

It was a Poppy Turkey Night!

Oh how we love Poppy Turkey. Oh how we love to SAY, “Poppy Turkey.” Poppy Turkey Poppy Turkey Poppy Turkey. It’s just fun to say. I went to Aldi’s yesterday to stock up for a triple batch of Poppy Turkey when I ran into Sue. Sue said that she had made the Poppy Turkey and loved it. I have several friends who have turned their noses up at it because they think the ingredients sound strange. Sue was brave, as was Anne and Marilyn. Of course, they loved it! It’s yummy. It’s creamy. It’s good comfort food and it’s delicious. Be sure to make a triple + batch, (after you confirm that it IS yummy of course), because it freezes wonderfully.

I add peas and mushrooms as you can see by my notes. You can get away with 1 1/4 lb of turkey easily.

Purging Feels Goooooood

I just did some major toy purging this weekend. I got rid of 5 very full trash bags. It feels so good! No, my kids have not yet noticed which is why it is still feeling good.

To get organized sometimes you have to purge your household of all your useless excess stuff. It can be tedious work. You have to be in the right mindset. You have to be ready. You have to be tired of the status quo. You have to be willing to let go. It has always interested me as to what causes people to hold on to stuff that they don’t use. Sometimes there is an emotional attachment to an item or memories that surround the purchase of an item like a special trip. Then, there is the fear that as soon as they rid themselves of an item they haven’t used then they will come up with a use for it and wish that they had it. I believe that the latter motivation for holding onto stuff has deep roots in our past. For instance, if you grew up in an affluent household and were able to easily replace a broken or lost item as a child, you are probably more likely to discard items that you aren’t currently using. You have little fear of never being able to replace the item if necessary. On the other hand, if your parents barely scraped by with what little they had you might appreciate coming across items that might possibly have some obscure purpose sometime in the distant future and therefore have a difficult time parting with stuff. I must confess that it is rather easy for me to discard things. I do not suffer from sentimentality. Besides, you can’t take things with you when you die. We’ve all heard that before. So, unless I am using something or going to use it in the immediate future, I don’t want it cluttering up my home. Photos are a great way to compromise getting rid of a useless item. Take a digital photo of the item. It won’t take up physical space in your home but you can easily keep the image forever.

There are many different approaches that professional organizers use to get their clients to purge clutter. Usually 90% of clutter is easily identified as such and tossed. Beyond that, see if you can discard items by going through these questions: I don’t think it’s all that complicated.

1) Is it useful or necessary?
2) Do you have the space to keep it?

3) Do you have a duplicate/triplicate/etc so that you can purge the extras?
4) Why are you holding on to it?
5) Is there a reason that a digital photo / scanned image cannot replace the original?
6) If you still cannot part with it can you find an immediate use for it even if simply for display purposes?

Beyond that, if you do not have space for something that is not useful, then it is your choice to be tripping over it until you get the courage to discard it. I have some boxes of things in the basement that I have not yet had the courage to toss. I would love to rid myself of these things but cannot. I do not like them. They are not useful. My dear grandmother values things a lot more than I do and has given me some things that I feel too guilty to get rid of because I know she would not be happy if I did. She is also of the mistaken impression that they are valuable antiques. After much research I have proved that they are not valuable but I still cannot discard the items. I need to get the courage to toss them or talk to her about it. Maybe I can push them off on another relative instead (hello mom, Aunt C or Cousin C). Hmmmmmm

I am Not A Whole-Foods Saint

My friend, Amy, had just come home from the grocery store and had all of her purchases out on her kitchen counter when I arrived unexpectedly today. She said something to the effect that I was looking at all of her previously hidden processed food sins as if I were some kind of whole foods saint. Truly, I am not but I can see how someone might get that impression of me. I do believe that the whole foods approach to feeding your family is an ideal that we all ought to strive for but let's face it, we all have our vices. I, for one, am a HUGE sugar addict. I have consumed a pound of jelly beans, (sneaked without the kids seeing), in the last 48 hours after almost 72 hours of yet another NO sugar attempt, so anyone who thinks I am a righteous judge of their grocery purchasing habits is clearly wrong. It may not seem timely now that we are into April but I have some New Year's resolutions concerning processed foods that I want to replace with homemade versions before the end of this year. Here are some of my processed foods confessions and New Year's resolutions:

Tyson Dino Chicken Nuggets
Kraft Mac N Cheese (it just seems like an American childhood tradition, so I'm not sure about replacing this one, I just limit the frequency)
Good Seasons Salad Dressing Mix
Taco Seasoning packets (it's so easy to mix your own, I have just not gotten around to it)
Jiff Peanut Butter - Skippy makes a better whole foods version but I don't have easy access to a bargain price for it


There are some other confessions that I should make that I have no intention of replacing with homemade versions:

Cheese-Its (my husband has these in his lunch every day)
Fishy Crackers (occasional)
Pretzels

I am sorry to tell any true whole foods saints out there that there are no homemade versions that will replace the occasional Oreo, Pringle or Ritz cracker. I think the goal is to feed our family the closest to whole foods as possible considering our culinary experience, budget and time constraints.