31 Days to Becoming an Organized Mom: Day 2 Where to Start?

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Want to join me on my journey of 31 Days to Becoming an Organized Mom?  Today I am chatting about where to start when you are feeling overwhelmed with disorganization. In case you missed yesterday’s meal planning post you can find it here.

The Mindset

Grace.  It’s a good thing.  Moms need to have LOTS of grace for themselves, for their children and for their husbands.  I like to be covered in the stuff {smile}.  But I think that there can be too much of a good thing and I’m pretty sure that’s why I’m in the disorganized mess that I find myself in today.

Hard Work.  It’s not fun but it’s necessary. I’m pretty sure that I thought that I was allergic to hard work for a while.  But, as I look around my home and my life that has been pretty “fly by the seat of my pants” lately I see that a lack of hard work has gotten me here.  As I wallow in my wondering about where to even start I know that I am dealing with the consequences of not being willing to do some hard work along the way.

Yes, I have 6 kids {and for some reason everyone seems to think that automatically makes me super organized} and they make crazy messes {anyone know how to get melted crayon out of every thing in the wash load?} but there are plenty of days that the hard work of staying on top of everything kept me from doing anything.

So what do I do about a messed up mindset?  Have you ever heard that the greatest is the servant of all?  I have to put on a mindset that I am here to serve my family.  They deserve it.  If I am willing to clean up and make amazing meals for guests shouldn’t I do that ALL THE MORE for my family?  I love these people {crazy messes and all}.  If I fail to serve them and let them know that they are the most important people in the world to me then I have failed as a mother.

Having this new mindset has given me the strong desire to do the hard work.  For me {and my peace} and for my family.

It Is Work

I am the one who let things get so out of order.  I am the one who was too tired to set a system in place.  So now I am paying the price and have so much more work to do to get back on top of everything.  And that is okay.  I acknowledge this and I stand up and get to work.  One thing at a time.

Where I start is with my mindset and my attitude.  If they aren’t in the right place then I will fail as soon as I begin.

How about you?  Do you struggle with where to start?  How can you look at things differently to be able to overcome your obstacles?

 

Filed Under: Mommy Tips, Organization, Uncategorized Tagged With:

31 Days to Becoming an Organized Mom: Day 1- Meal Planning with Pinterest

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Welcome to Day 1 of 31 Days to Becoming an Organized Mom.  In case you missed the details and the reason behind this series you can find them here.  Today I wanted to share with you how I am attempting to get organized with meal planning by using Pinterest. I feel that having a meal plan and sticking with it is one of the biggest keys to being organized.  When I have a meal plan in place it brings a whole new level of peace and order to my day.

There are about a million different ways to go about meal planning and I have attempted at least 500,000 of them.  Okay, well maybe not, but I have tried a LOT of them.  The problem they all seemed to have for me is that my (big) family didn’t care for all of the recipes or they didn’t leave much room for flexibility.  Also, if you happen to have anyone on a special diet or with an allergy a meal plan can be tricky.

Enter Pinterest.  I started pinning lots of amazing looking recipes on Pinterest but I would never get around to using them because of that darn meal plan or just not remembering them.  I use the internet a lot anyway for finding recipes and planning meals, so I thought why not make a Meal Plan Board?  Oh my goodness!  I get to make meals that I think my family will love every night, plus I get to try lots of new things and can anyone say crockpot?  There are about a bajillion crockpot recipes on Pinterest {and yes I did just make up a number}.  The crockpot is a busy moms best friend! Plus an amazing added bonus is that you can find recipes for just about any diet or allergy issue.  If you are eating Paleo, gluten or dairy free, or low carb, whatever it is, there are lots of recipes to be found for your family on Pinterest.

How does a Pinterest Meal Plan Work?

  • First I created a board on Pinterest and called it “Meal Plan.” You can call yours whatever you like but distinguish this board from your other recipes.

 

  • Next I added the recipes that I wanted to the board by either pinning them with the pin it button {see the pin it button below this post for an example} on a website or I repinned recipes from Pinterest itself {you can search for specific recipes or just see what your friends are pinning}.

 

  • When I pinned the recipes to my Meal Plan Board I would type “Meal Plan Day 1” and so on before the title of the recipe in the description box.  Pinterest doesn’t allow you to order your pins but if you only have only up to 30 recipes on one board it’s not too difficult to find the right one for each day.  I created a 30 day board and if I want to do more I will add another 30 day board called “Meal Plan 2.”  You could also do it for only a week or two at a time or even 28 days {exactly 4 weeks} if that works better for you.
  • Once I had my 30 days of recipes I made a shopping list for each week.  This takes a little bit of time but if you do it upfront then the weeks that follow will be less work.

 

  • When I went shopping I got everything I would need for the week and tonight we are having Mongolian Beef.  I can tell you what we are having for dinner for the next 3o days and exactly what I need to get to make it!

A Few Notes:

  • I made sure to think ahead to what my days are like in a month.  On days when we are busier I chose crockpot or make ahead recipes.
  • You can be as specific as adding a date to the recipe of when you want to have it.
  • This works for breakfast and lunch as well.  I made separate Breakfast and Lunch boards and am still working on completing them for the month.
  • If you are thinking “but I cannot add my own recipes” this is true but there are ways around it.  Since I am a blogger I can add recipes that my family uses and loves to my blog and pin them onto my Meal Plan Boards {and I plan to do this}.  You could also search the internet for similar recipes to the ones you know and love {I bet you’ll find something close} and go ahead and pin it onto your board as a reminder that you are making that favorite dinner recipe that day and just make it your own way.

I know the system is not perfect but I think it will be a fun way to spice up the meal planning!

What do you think?  Will you give a Pinterest Meal Plan a try? Is there anything that you would do differently? Here’s my Meal Plan Board link of you’d like to take a look at it.

Speaking of Pinterest, perhaps you should pin this post {smile}?

 

 

Filed Under: Mommy Tips, Organization, Uncategorized Tagged With:

What Moms Love {Weekly}

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This week I am featuring Rebekah of Your Mom Designs {she makes some fabulous kid stuff herself} and some of what she loves for Fall.  Here is what she is loving:

this week i am loving the anticipation of fall arriving, the excitement of little minds learning new things in school and the simple joy of making a baby giggle as often as possible.
1. i’m a fan of a good cup of coffee year round, but there is something about a hot cup of coffee on a cool fall morning that really starts my day off right, and as the only coffee drinker in my house i find the aeropress makes a really beautiful single cup of coffee.

 

2. with fall approaching i can’t help but look forward to cozy layers in rich colors, and love this hoody by Boden in indigo with a floral print.

 

3. my little girl wears a uniform to school, which actually seems to make our morning routine a slight bit easier, but i do think it’s important to give her some options for expressing her own style, so we are doing our best to acquire/make cute hair bows and this wool felt bow by LoftFullOfGoodies  on Etsy is such a unique style.

 

4.  i love the various products Kids Konserve sells for packing lunches, snacks and drinks, the designs are bold and graphic and safe at the same time.

How about you? What are you loving this week?

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A Purposeful Summer

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Jump!
The other day The Nester reminded me that we only have 18 Summers with our kids.  18?! Isn’t that a crazy thought?  Makes you want to be really intentional with them doesn’t it?  It pretty much confirmed for me what has been on my heart for the past few weeks and that is a Summer blogging break.

I will be taking the Summer off to focus on my little ones, all 6 of them {although some of them are not so little} and to do some behind the scene things around here and my other blog. I am working on shifting my other blog to a new blog and changing the name.  I also have 2 eBooks that I am finishing up.  One is for moms who have lost a child and the other is an expansion of a series I did on How to really Be a Good Mom {Letting Go of the Bad Mom Mentality}. I’ll be sure to let you know when they are out.

Another project I have going on here at Mommy Kudos is working on a local version of Mommy Kudos.  I happen to live in the Dallas/Fort Worth area of Texas and have been wanting to give out kudos to my favorite local places, activities and great stuff for moms, babies and kids.  So I will be finishing that site and linking to it here.

I do have some post coming up on Mommy Kudos this Summer while I am taking a break.  I get to share with you What {other} Moms Love!  I am excited about this new feature.  If you’d like to be a part and share on Mommy Kudos what you love as a mom then contact me for information.

While I’m away I’d love to connect with you on Facebook and Twitter! I’ll be chatting there about our Summer and adding more Summer Fun Ideas to the Pinterest Board.

Have a wonderful and purposeful Summer and I’ll see you back here soon!!

 

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Fit Moms For Life {And a Giveaway to get you started}

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I don’t know about you but the idea of being Fit Moms for Life is super appealing to me.  I am very excited about sharing this book with you! If you are tired of being out of shape, overweight and unhealthy then this book has the potential to change your life.

Dustin Maher has created a book that is all inclusive on how to really become a Fit Mom for Life. This book is not just an exercise plan or an eating plan.  No, this book is detailed and thorough and will show you how to set long term goals, how to take the pain of what you have been experiencing from being out of shape, overweight and unhealthy and turn it in to motivation to take care of yourself.

Maher says that Traditional Cardio Doesn’t Lose Fat.  Perhaps in all your efforts to get into shape you have been doing it all wrong?  I know I was. This book will help to set you straight and on the right path towards fitness.

This book is not only informative on how to eat right to lose fat and what exercises to choose but it also filled with motivational stories from moms who have tried Maher’s methods and have been highly successful.  These stories are real life examples of what you can achieve if you will put these ideas into practice in your own life.

Fit Moms for Life is an easy read that will have you motivated and ready to jump into a healthy lifestyle after changing your mindsets about how to go about getting healthy. I’m following these principles and already seeing results.  Won’t you join me?!

TO PURCHASE: You can find Fit Moms for Life on the Fit Moms for Life site.

Want to WIN the book Fit Moms for Life to get you started on your journey toward health?  Enter below using the rafflecopter form {if you are reading this in email or a feed reader click over to the site to enter}.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I was sent the book Fit Moms for Life for free to review.  All of the opinions shared are my own.  I only share on Mommy Kudos what I use and love.

 

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