I'm Ultra-Organized Now, But Will It Last?

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know that I struggle with organizing my time. (An example of that is HERE.) You also know that I've been nesting, and somehow, that has caused a change in me. Actually, I honestly don't know if this change came about because of nesting or if I was just ready to change, but it feels wonderful. My house, literally, has never been this clean, and I am loving it. That is not to say that every corner is spotless, but for me, this is huge...which reminds me of a time when a dear friend once said to me, in such a chipper, Mormon-y voice, "Don't you just love it when every last corner of your house is perfectly spotless?" I looked at her with a dumbfounded expression and said, "I don't know. That has never happened to me." Yeah, Tracie, I'm talking to you. It still hasn't happened, but I'm getting closer to that ideal day by day.

I'm pretty sure this is all going to be swept away when the baby comes, but for now, I'm relishing!

Okay, so my point is, I now have a system. Instead of roaming around the house aimlessly, I've come up with a tactic to accomplish most of what I need to do. Here is how...

First, I write a list. This may seem like common sense, but it is sense I have lacked for the last 20 years. I guess I just thought I would see what needed to be done and do it, but now that I have a larger home than before and more kids than before, I guess I get confused and lost...but no longer! Here was my list of things that needed to get done on Monday, which included beginning preparations for my mother and sister's visit this weekend...

(Sorry I kinda of broke out into Spanish there at the end. Sala means living room.)

Now this is not to say that I needed to do all this myself. The dear children were assigned about three-quarters of the tasks, leaving me with only a few things to do. Of course, this list didn't include changing diapers, doing laundry, fixing meals, doing toddler time, laying down for 2 hours to gestate, etc., so I definitely kept busy all day.

So that's housework, now let's move on to blogging. People who blog know how time-consuming blogging can be and there are those who have marveled in awe that I now keep three blogs running. I've come up with a system for that, too! I find that it helps if I can think of topics in advance, because then my wheels can be turning until the day I write the post. This especially comes in handy for the toddler blog, as I've found that if I haven't planned out an activity to blog about that day, it usually doesn't get done. Here's my list for this week's blog topics, starting from Monday...

Speaking of blogging, when it comes to having a successful blog (in this case, meaning a monetized blog that receives good traffic), one has to do more than just write. One must network, comment on others blogs and in forums, send reciprocal emails, and much more. (P.S. If you'd like to know much more about taking these steps to have a successful blog, you should check out The BlogStar forum.) This takes even more time than actually writing the posts, so I've worked out a way to do that as well. Here's how...

First thing in the morning, after the babies have had breakfast and the 5 olders have left for school, I change the babies diapers and get them dressed. When I say dressed, I mean into clean sleepers. If you want my full explanation for that, you can go HERE. After accomplishing this, I fold a load of laundry, then network for about 5 to 10 minutes. Then the cycle repeats itself....one chore, on load of laundry, a little bit of networking, one chore, a load of laundry, a little bit more networking, until about 11:00 AM. At this time I begin to prepare lunch for the kids, who, as you remember, attend a school which does not provide a cafeteria. And just so you know, in my ultra-organized current state of being, I have even begun to make special casseroles that can easily be doubled, thus allowing for one meal for the fam, plus leftovers, and one meal for the freezer, in preparation for the birth of the baby.

Can you just believe how amazing I am? I can't believe it, okay? Strangely, though, for some strange reason, I do keep thinking that this is all temporary, that it will all be washed away soon, and that I'll be going back to my old self, falling back into my old, wandering ways. Weird, right? Maybe with your encouragement, I'll stay this way. Wish me luck!

And thanks, as always, for listening. :)

Homemaker Monday: Trouble-Shooting Lack of Organization

Welcome to the 61st weekly edition of...


Thank you for joining us! If you're new to this carnival and would like to enter your post, please check HERE for the rules and regs.

YOURS: This week's "YOURS" goes to Kara over at "Kara's Kitchen Creations"! She wrote the most adorable post about a fun Halloween dinner you can prepare for your kids. I became so happy and actually smiled when I looked at how her "mummy pizzas" turned out. I actually said in my mind as the photo was scrolled up onto my computer screen "Oh. My. Gosh!" Look, see if you do the same...

Am I right? Didn't you smile? If you didn't, you need to do an attitude adjustment! So, Kara, thank you so much for linking up with us and teaching and inspiring us. If you want, please feel free to take the "I Was Featured" button from my left sidebar! For Kara's recipe for "mummy pizzas", click HERE. Thanks again, Kara!

MINE: This week, I am going to troubleshoot how I can improve my day to day living through better organization.



(This, or course, is someone else's home.)

On Friday, I posted a play-by-play of one grueling day in the life of me. It's right below this post. I did it, basically, because I couldn't think of anything better to blog about. Looking back, though, this may have been a mistake. One of my purposes of having this blog is to encourage mothers of large families, and those who would like to have and are working towards having a large family. As one commentator put it, "You are at once inspiring and terrifying me!" I seriously didn't mean to terrify, so I added the "POST ADDENDUM" stating that this is not necessarily a normal day for me, but that days like this do indeed occur more often than I'd like to admit. There were also commentators who didn't seem to approve of this chaos, qualifying their comments with "Hope this doesn't sound mean, but..." or "Not to be rude, but...". And that's okay. I love a good, open, honest conversation, and I feel like we had one in the comments section of that particular post.

All of that being said, I think I could look back on that day and trouble-shoot areas that could have used improvement, and try to become more organized in my daily living so days like this don't occur as frequently. And that is exactly what I am going to do, trouble-shoot, with you here, watching and learning (by my mistakes!), so here we go...

Problem #1: K, I think my first mistakes of the day occurred during the following activities...

"8:40 Spend time on a forum where we discuss motherhood, religion, blogging and the like. Spend time explaining why Mormons don't drink coffee."

and...

"11:00 More computer time."

During a "discussion" my husband and I had this weekend, he expressed that one of my, how shall we say, okay, faults is that I have taught the kids that play comes before work. We had just returned from a trip, and instead of having them clean out the van, I told them they could go outside and throw the football for 45 minutes, then come back to finish their work. My husband did not approve of this one little bit, and stated that I was teaching them to get their reward before their work was finished. Although I tried to reason with him and explain myself, he didn't see things my say, so I called the kids in from their football throwing and told them that they needed to start working.

Although I couldn't say to my husband that he was right at that time, as I thought I was completely justified in letting the kids stretch out for a while, as I think about it now, I do believe I could use improvement in this area. Rather than spend nearly an hour on the computer in the morning, I could have used that time much more productively. I could have planned and begun preparation for dinner, so that I didn't have to throw PB&Js in plastic bags in my diaper bag, then forget to serve them at the concert. I could have folded laundry, read to the 3 three and under, or any number of things. Yes, we all need a little "me" time, but perhaps I could have chosen to get my "me" time after my work was finished, as a reward for my efforts maybe.

Problem #2: The second problem occurred during this event...

"4:05 Continue to encourage the 9-year-old boy to find his piano music for his piano lesson at 4:00

4:10 Send the 14-year-old girl to take the 9-year-old boy to his piano lesson, sans music."

Because I am not diligent about making sure the 9-year-old boy brings his music in the house and puts it on the piano after each and every lesson, it always gets left in the car, someone cleans it out, then it usually turns up in some plastic trashbag full of belongings from the van two weeks later. In addition, the 9-year-old boy became very angry that he had to spend time looking for his music, mumbling under his breath how stupid piano lessons are and how he never learns anything and how he should get to choose whether he wants to be in band or piano, but he shouldn't have to do both. This was all under his breath, mind you.

If I could have been more organized about his piano music, I wouldn't have experienced so much stress and he wouldn't have become so upset about having to go to piano lessons.

Problem #3: Next, we have these events which could have used some improvement...

"5:00 Ask the 14-year-old girl to take the 7-year-old girl to dance class.

5:00-5:30 Try to comfort 3 fussy boys who didn't get naps to speak of.

5:30 Place the now sleeping Twin A in bed, knowning that now he will never go to sleep at his regular bedtime.

5:35 Sit down while holding Twin B and talk on the phone to the 20-year-old girl.

6:00 Pick up 7-year-old from dance class.

6:20 Greet boys who have returned home from football practice, am told by the 13-year-old boy that he needs black pants for the band concert, to which he is to arrive in 15 minutes, remind him that he doesn't own a pair of black pants, so what does he expect to do about this, look at the blank stare on his face, suggest that he call his cousin, who is about twice his size, to borrow his black pants."

This was nearly an hour and a half of just piddling. I could have organized and used this time to make dinner. I also should have had the foresight to ask the 13-year-old boy what he was going to need to wear to the concert so we could have avoided this cousin-pants fiasco. I know my husband would have thought of that. He is just that way. He plans out in his mind every eventuality that could possibly occur and puts plans in place in order to solve any potential related problems. I'm just not that way. I'm spontaneous, and free, creative and adaptable, disorganized and, as on this particular day, too busy and chaotic to even remember to feed my kids dinner before 9:00 at night.

Problem #4: Next problem...

"9:30 Change the twins again, dress them in their sleepers, give them a drink of water, encourage them to follow me into our bedroom, read them a story, offer them more water, to which both of them shake their heads no, lay them down, their heads on pillows on either side of mine, place their covers on them, turn out the lights, say a prayer for them outloud, then drift off to sleep with them, which wasn't supposed to happen because when I woke up, it was...

11:15 Go to the living room to find that the 13- and 9-year-old boys had not gone to bed, but instead had fallen asleep to Madagascar on the couch and recliner."

I have no regrets about how or when I put the twins to bed, but realizing how tired I was, I should have had the foresight to tell the boys that they needed to go to bed by 9:30, just in case I fell asleep. Again, I know my husband would have thought of this, but I didn't, and my kids had to pay by being tired the next day. Yes, it is their own doing and that is the natural consequence of their behavior, but still, an organized mom would not have let this happen.

So, you tell me, what else could I have improved to make my day more managable. Don't be shy, I'm up for more constructive criticism if it helps me to be a better mom and wife.

OURS: Okay, what do you have for us today? If you've never participated before, feel free to use an archived post whether it be a recipe, a how-to, homemaking or motherhood inspiration or anything else related to homemaking. Thanks so much for visiting us here today and I hope you have a GREAT Homemaker Monday!



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My Top 10 Beauty Tips...Hold Onto to Your Ergonomic Computer Chairs...

I was tagged by a good friend to share my top ten beauty tips. Here is what she looks like...


SHE was tagged by another of our good friends. Here is what SHE looks like...


Here is what I look like...



Okay, I can clean up a little bit. Here's an example of that...



Still, it's kind of intimidating to be tagged for beauty secrets by two runway model-type moms. I sometimes can't even believe they're my friends. I'm glad it's not like in high school, when the pretty girls pointed and laughed at me. These girls usually just laugh with me. Or so they say. :) Jeni actually freely admitted to me that she tagged me because she thought I'd have something funny to say. We'll see. Anywho, here are my top ten beauty secrets, in order of daily performance:

Number One: The Shower Routine-

Realizing that the world wouldn't come to an end if I only get three or so showers a week is a gift the twins have given me. I just have not figured out how to do it with them and the toddler around unless they are sleeping at the same time, which rarely happens. Plus, there always seems to be much more important tasks for me to accomplish when the three fall asleep at the same time, like laundry, dishes, reading the Twilight series (did I just admit that?), and so forth. Hey, I use half the amount of soap, shampoo and conditioner, so maybe I'll buy something nice for myself at the end of the year as a reward for my unintentional frugality.

Number Two: Application of Lotion-

My face is as dry as a lizard's, so I have to apply lotion after my shower. Otherwise, it feels like my face is literally going to crack when I smile. And..any lotion'll do. Jergen's cream for extra-dry skin, udder cream, foot crack lotion....my face will suck it right up. I'm sure all of you Mary Kay consultants out there are just cringing that I would even CONSIDER putting foot lotion on my face rather than a specialty facial lotion, but, you'll just have to get over it. I did.

Number Three: The Eyes-

Once I find something I love, I don't change, so I have been using a most special eyeliner for over ten years. I use Revlon Colorstay Eyeline in Blackest Black. I love it so much, because there is almost nothing you can do to get it off and that works for me. You see, I have allergies. I always have and I remember my eyes watering in high school and going into the girl's bathroom only to find that I had looked like a racoon while I was talking to Joe Kidd, my crush who probably forgot about me the moment the late bell rang, unless he couldn't help but remember the racoon eyes. After searching far and wide, I came across the Revlon Colorstay and my world changed forever. I can cry my eyes out, and have, I can give birth to a 9 pound child, and have, and I can go swimming in 7 foot swells in the ocean and have and that eyeliner stays right in place. It's a miracle product and I would highly recommend it! (And this is not a paid advertisement, although I think it should be.)

Number Four: The Eyes (Part 2)-

A perfect addition to Revlon Colorstay Eyeliner is Revlon's Colorstay Waterproof Mascara, again, in Blackest Black. Like the eyeliner, the stuff only comes off in the shower in little crumbles if you pick it off, which is part of my shower routine, right after kneeling in prayer (Yes, I pray in the shower as it's my only private time during the day.) I'm sure you could use some kind of mascara removing cream, but that sounds like a lot of effort, so I just opt with the shower and pick method. I've been using this mascara for over ten years also. I love it!

Number Five: The Lips-

Again, Revlon makes a Colorstay Lipliner that also stays on during childbirth. I use Nude Lipliner and Loreal Violet Attitude Lipstick.

Number Six: The Hair-

My hair has a mind of it's own. If both sides agreed with each other, that would be okay, but one side likes to flip out cutely, but the other side flips the same direction, so in, not out. It is just ridiculous. If I don't put three or four products in my hair, disaster will occur. So, I use Got 2B Glued. I just LOVE this stuff. It's a cream I use before blow drying and it makes my hair go exactly where I want it. I am lost without it.

Number Seven: The Hair (Part Two)-

Another thing my hair likes to do is to curl in unreasonable directions. That's where my straightener comes in. My hair goes from ridiculous to chic in a few seconds with a straightener. I can even flip out the bottoms a little bit if I twist it just right. Another product I'd be lost without.

Number Eight: To Wear-

I love fall, because that means it's time for layering. After giving birth to nine kids, layering is imperative for me, as I've kept on about 5 pounds with each child. I've found that a good quality fitted blazer, in black or brown, does wonders for my bod's appearance. It can disguise the unsightly side rolls, the bulging stomach and the nursing-twins bosoms all at the same time. Thank you, blazer inventor!

Number Nine: The Legs-

I'm not a big fan of the razor. In fact, I curse the person who decided that it was inappropriate for women to sport body hair. It's just that I have so many better things to do than shave every surface of my body that has God-given hair, every day. So I don't...unless I'm going swimming or to church in the summer. I really don't want to be a menace to society, so I cave at those times during the year. In the winter, I let my coat grow out, but so as not to offend, I find that I can wear dark stockings and high boots with skirts and dresses and no one is the wiser! I guess my three years in Germany as a army wife was an inspiration in more ways than one.

And Number Ten: Jewelry-

I love jewelry. Not the expensive kind. I've never been able to afford that....the costume kind, as they call it. I'm a huge fan of chunky stones hanging from choker chains, chandelier earrings and clinky bracelets. However, at this time in my life, if I wear a necklace, the first thing the twins will do is pull it so hard that the attachment clasp will bend and break. I've given up on that, but I still cling to my dangly earrings. My favorite standbys are simple silver hoops. They go with everything and it makes people think you care.

So there you have it...How I make myself presentable to the world. I'd love to hear some of your beauty tips in a pinch in the comment section. Thanks for the tag, Jeni! Now, I tag, Kristin, Bobbi, and C!

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Homemaker Monday: I have an unatural obsession with my oven timer and I'm okay with it.

Welcome to...

Thank you for joining us! If you're new to this carnival and would like to enter your post, please check HERE for the rules and regs. (By the way, if you have been featured on Homemaker Monday in the past, your name is on my left sidebar. Check it out!)

YOURS: This week's "YOURS" goes to "The Homemaker's Cottage" . She posted a recipe for an adorable cheese ball snowman. Here, check him out...


(Photo courtesy of Bettycrocker.com)

When I saw him, I fell in love with him, and I wanted to create him, show him to my friends, then eat him. If you'd like to create him and eat him yourself, click HERE for the recipe. Thank you, Homemaker's Cottage, for this lovely addition to our Homemaker Monday and please feel free to grab the "I Was Featured" button from my left sidebar. We'll look forward to more great ideas from your cottage in the future!

MINE: I'm scattered-brained. I'm pretty sure that's what it is. I feel that I'm too young to be senile, so that must be it. I guess my brain has room to process only one pressing issue at a time, and the most pressing issue right now is feeding the babies and trying to keep the toddler from pinching them. And so... I forget things. I forget that I put the toddler in time out, I forget that I have to meet with the 12-year-old's teacher after school to discuss why he wakes up too late to eat breakfast, I forget that I have to pick the hymns for Relief Society, the women's organization in our church, I forget that I have cookies in the oven, I forget that my visiting teachers are coming over, I forget that the kids get out of school early on Tuesdays and when I finally remember my kids half an hour later, I get to listen to the six-year-old girl exclaim, "Mom?!? What were ya thinkin'?!?"

In an effort to solve this problem, I have begun to utilize the timer to help me remember things. Here is a list of things I time with my oven timer:

1. 2 minutes for the toddler's time out
2. 10 minutes for the 8- or 6-year-old to take a turn caring for a twin
3. 20 minutes for the 12-, 13- or 16-year-old to take a turn caring for a twin
4. As a reminder that I need to start making the kids' lunch
5. As a reminder to check the bread rising
6. 20 minutes to clean something, anything, after the kids go to bed
7. 4 minutes to blend my wheat and milk in the blender in preparation for blender wheat pancakes
8. As a reminder to put another log on the fire
9. As a reminder that I have something in the oven (This is an important one.)
10. 10 minutes for a family clean-anything party right before bed each night

So there you have it - my obsession with my kitchen timer. Does your kitchen timer make your life better? If so, tell us how in the comments!

OURS: Okay, now it's your turn! And let me take this opportunity to thank all of you who participate regularly here at Homemaker Monday. When I view my site meter, I can see that so many visitors click on your links and I know your ideas, recipes, hints, and how-tos are much appreciated! I can't wait to see what you've got for us today! Have a great Homemaker Monday and a wonderful Christmas!



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Sabbath-Prep Saturday #3: Hermano Juan's Easy Pinto Bean Soup With Homemade Horchata and More!

Welcome to Sabbath-Prep Saturday, where we meet to share tips on how to make the sabbath what it should be - a more relaxing, enjoyable day to spend with our families and worship God. If you're new to Sabbath-Prep Saturday, and would like a little history as to what we're doing here and why I started it, click HERE.

The Menu:
-Hermano Juan's Easy Pinto Bean Soup (click HERE for recipe)
-Avocado, Cilantro, Fresh Tomato, Cheese and Green Onion Garnish
-Tortillas
-Homemade Horchata (Mexican Rice Drink) (click HERE for the recipe)
-Flan (click HERE for recipe)

Small appliances you'll need for advanced prep:
-Crock Pot

Prep Method:
Saturday:
-Make the flan and refrigerate.
-Make the horchata and refrigerate.
-Grate the cheese of your choice.
-Right before bed, place the beans and chicken stock in the crockpot on low.

Sunday Morning:
-Add the remaining ingredients to the beans and continue to cook in the crockpot on low.

Sunday After Church:
-Chop up the cilantro, tomatoes, avocados, and green onions.
-Warm up the tortillas.
-Set the table and serve your meal.

How I love a good Mexican meal! Here's Mr. Linky in case you've got a Sabbath Prep idea. Thanks for joining us today!



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Sabbath-Prep Saturday #2

Welcome to Sabbath-Prep Saturday, where we meet to share tips on how to make the sabbath what it should be - a more relaxing, enjoyable day to spend with our families and worship God. If you're new to Sabbath-Prep Saturday, and would like a little history as to what we're doing here and why I started it, click HERE.

So here goes!

The Menu:
-Louise's Crockpot Bar-b-que chicken
-Crockpot Creamed Corn (click HERE for the recipe)
-A Tossed Salad
-White Bread Machine Bread (click HERE for the recipe)
-Cake Balls (This dessert enchanted me and I can't wait to try it! There are so many options as far as cake type and icing flavor to use that the possibilities are endless! Plus, I know the kids would LOVE to help with this recipe. Click HERE for the recipe.)

(Photos courtesy of allrecipes.com)

Small appliances you'll need for advanced prep:
-Two crockpots (Okay, I know you're thinking this is a bit over the top, but there are just so many main dishes, side dishes and desserts that can be made in a crockpot and you don't want to be caught empty-handed!
-Bread machine (My bread machine has been indispensible as I've prepared meals for my family in advance. You can set it to have the loaf baked at a certain time, even at 6:00 in the morning, having the machine work while you sleep. It's a must have!)

Prep Method:
Saturday:
1. Make sure you have all ingredients. You wouldn't want to break the sabbath in your attempt to improve the sabbath, now would you.
2. Make the cake balls.
3. Cut any fresh vegetables in advance in preparation for the tossed salad. Some vegetables don't do well cut in advance, like tomatoes or lettuce, but carrots, broccoli and cucumbers will do just fine.

Sunday Morning:
1. Place frozen or fresh chicken in crockpot, smother it with your favorite bar-b-que sauce and set the crockpot to high.
2. Place creamed corn ingredients in the other crockpot. Follow recipe instructions.
3. Add ingredients to your bread machine and set the timer for the bread to be finished 15 mintues after you arrive home from church. Technically, this step could also be done on Saturday night if you think you'll be short of time on Sunday morning. Imagine that...short of time on Sunday morning....pshaw!

Sunday After Church:
1. Throw together the tossed salad.
2. Set the table.
3. Take the bread out of the machine and baste with butter if desired.
4. Serve your meal.

How about you? Did you write up a post for Sabbath-Prep Saturday? If so, and you would like to share it with us, please enter it into Mr. Linky below. If you decide to use this menu, let me know how things go! Thanks for visiting today and have a wonderful sabbath.



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The Lamest Laundry Post Ever Written

Here's what...


Baby Steps.

When you have babies around, sometimes you have to take baby steps when it comes to accomplishing things around the house, such as cooking dinner, cleaning a bathroom or doing laundry. Running a household of ten can be a daunting task, especially when it comes to laundry. We run the washing machine and dryer no less than three times a day, sometimes more, and, unfortunately, no one has invented a clothes folding and hanging up machine, so that is a task left to real live people. Here's what my laundry looked like from one day's washing...


Tackling this pile may seem overwhelming, even to the most enthusiastic homemaker, and with two babies constantly hanging on my pant legs, some days it's nearly impossible. What I do to make it managable is to take baby steps. Every time I walk by the laundry room, I pause to fold FIVE articles of clothing. This may seem absurd to some, but look what happens when I do it this way...

(DISCLAIMER: You may want to scroll down the page very quickly. I have actually chronicled, through photography, the decrease in pile size with each 5-article folding.)

Okay, here is the previous pile after folding 5 articles. It really helped to get that large, furry animal blanket folded. Definitely instant gratification there...

All right, now the clothes that fell onto the floor are all picked up and folded neatly...

Here you can see that we got another large blanket out of the way, again, making a significant, rewarding dent in the pile...

Here, we've folded 5 more articles...

...and 5 more... (yes, it's dark now)

...and again, 5 more...

Okay, it looks like our basket is empty now, so on to hanging up 5 articles of clothing with each pass-by...

I guess there were only ten articles of clothing to hang up. Sweet...

Now onto putting 5 piles of clothes away with each pass-by... (and yes, it's day again)

...and 5 more...(again, I guess there were only ten piles!)

Now to place the hand soap back where it goes and put away the Scout book and the maraca...

...and...PERFECT!

Looking at THIS sign the 13-year-old girl make for me in shop class makes all of these baby steps worth it...

And guess what? I get to do this all over again the next day!

Maybe if THESE little boys could take a break from hanging on my knees, I could do this pile in one pass-by. Wish me luck!


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Sabbath-Prep Saturday: I'm becoming more organized day by day!

I'm married to a man who was a bachelor for 49 years before he met me. His life was organized, he was in control of his evenings and weekends, and he NEVER had to look for his toothbrush once he put it in it's holder. He finished his Christmas shopping by September 1st, the trunk of his car was always organized, and he never bounced a check. He scheduled and planned trips to Paris twelve months in advance, bought himself and his friends season tickets to pro basketball games, and trying to figure out which route on which to walk the jack russell terriers was the most complicated decision he would make on any given week night.

Then he married me...with my six kids...they having been raised by a frazzed mom (me) and a dad who spend six multiple-month (one time a year) deployments to the Middle East and endured countless other extended field exercises. We were enlisted Army, which means poor, very poor, and we regularly designed our kids' bedrooms around which storage room or closet in our tiny military housing unit would allow a crib or toddler bed to be stuffed inside it, thus affording us an extra bedroom.

So you see, his life has changed...and my life has changed. I used to save all of my dishes for the entire day and wash them at 11:00 at night after all the kids had gone to bed. Why? I have no idea. I used to let our dogs sit on our couches and leave hair everywhere and it didn't seem to bother me. I guess I got used to the dog scent. I used to let the kids eat in the living room and would simply slap the sofa pillows really hard on the couches to get the crumbs off and then vacuum the rug to get those, plus the rest of the crumbs out.

But I've changed, I really have, and I don't do any of those things anymore. I aspire to become more organized, like my husband and his mother before him and to some extent, I am succeeding. Sure I don't know where my cell phone is at the current moment and I didn't organize time in my day today to take a shower, but I am getting better.

To prove it, I am going to commit to starting something special, something wonderful and something so utterly organized it will blow your socks off. I am going to start Sabbath-Prep Saturday.

As most of you know, we belong to The Church or Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, but you may know us as "The Mormons". Yes, we are Mormon, but we really do believe in only having one wife (ask my husband if he would like to take a second wife. I think his words were, "I'd rather lie in my coffin and be buried alive"), and we don't think we'll go to hell if we drink a Coke, most of us just feel like it's really not the healthiest thing to pour down our throats. Something that Mormons do believe in is meetings. We have lots of meetings, meetings for the whole fam, meetings for women, meetings for men, meetings for children, meetings for teengagers, meetings for music people, and more. These meetings take time; to be specific, three hours each Sunday morning. Believe it or not, most of us enjoy our three hour church services and after attending and partaking of The Spirit, we feel refreshed, rejuvenated and ready to tackle another week in the real world. But guess what? After our three hour meetings, we are a little tired and we are HUNGRY!

So what do you do? Do you come home and slave over the stove for an hour and a half when you're tired, the kids are ready for naps and you're all starving? I think not. What I will do on Sabbath-Prep Saturdays is post a menu plan that can be prepared almost exclusively in advance, so all you have to do is walk in the door, have a couple of kids set the table, maybe pop some freezer rolls in the oven and serve.

I will take most of my recipes from allrecipes.com and not all of them will I test in advance. I may be just as surprised as you are by the results, but hopefully in the best of ways. I will also probably put up Mr. Linky soon just in case you would like to create a Sabbath meal prep post and share your ideas. I think this will be fun!

Here goes week one of Sabbath-Prep Saturday:

Menu:
-Teriyaki Chicken
-White Rice
-Chinese Buffet Green Beans (click HERE for link)
(photo coutesy of allrecipes.com)
-Asian Salad (click HERE for link)
-Ginger Ice Cream (click HERE for link)

Small appliances you'll need for advanced prep:
-crock pot
-rice maker
-ice cream maker (if you are planning on making your own ice cream. Otherwise, just use store-bought ice cream)

Prep Method:
Saturday:
1. Make sure you have all ingredients on hand. You wouldn't want to make a trip to the store on Sunday and break the sabbath, now would you.
2. Make the Asian salad dressing.
3. If you are making the ice cream, combine the mix and refrigerate.
4. Cut the green beans for the stir-fry, or, if you are using frozen vegetables, place them in the fridge to defrost.

Sunday before church:
1. Place eight chicken breasts in the crock pot. Slice an onion, and place that, along with a half stick of butter and about 2 or 3 cups of teriyaki sauce on top of the chicken. Turn your crockpot on high and cover.
2. Put the rice in the rice maker and set the timer to have it done fifteen minutes after you arrive home from church.

Sunday after church:
1. Pour the ice cream mix in your ice cream maker and start the machine.
2. Start the stir-fry green beans.
3. Assemble the Asian salad.
4. Set the table.
5. Serve your meal.

What do you think? Easy? This is one I've tried before and believe me, it's a great way to celebrate your sabbath! Have a great weekend and thanks for being here today!

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