Monthly Meal Planner

About a year ago I started planning my meals a month at a time.  It sounds like a lot more work than it is.  It actually makes things so much easier.  First I sat down with all my cookbooks and wrote down 20-30 of our favorite meals plus a few new ones to try.  I also surfed the internet for a few new recipes. (this took less than an hour, give or take some minor interruptions!)   I used to just use a printable calendar from Word but I recently found a cute downloadable one here and the cuter it is the more fun I have using it.  You can save it and edit it.  I love it! 

After I have the whole month planned it’s so easy to sit down and write out my meals and grocery list for the week.   Then it’s simple to sit down the next month and plug in the meals or you could just rotate through the last months again.  I usually do one breakfast for dinner once per week because it’s cheap and everyone will eat it.  A lot of times if the meal is geared more for the kids, like hot dogs, Matt and I will have salads.   Of course then I found a great printable grocery list on Pinterest that you can get here.  This is what it looks like…

A friend of mine always say “If you fail to plan then you are just planning to fail”  You know who are! 

Hope this helps make meal planning easier for you!

Melanie

Our Week In Review

We started out our week spending Sunday afternoon at my mom’s.  They are starting to remodel their kitchen and Matt was helping Art remove a very heavy and large desk.  Of course when we got there grandma had Sunday dinner ready for us.  While Matt and Art worked in the kitchen the kids enjoyed playing outside in all the outbuildings and then watching some episodes of Andy Griffiths!  Yep, they loved it even though it was in black and white! They think it’s hilarious!  Joe giggles through every episode.  It was so relaxing and a great way to start the week. (And I didn’t have to cook! Yay!)

Over Christmas break Matt taught the kids how to play Stratego.  This was a big deal because it is a Bonenfant favorite and the kids remember their uncles playing it for years at Houghton Lake. 

 

 

 

 

For two weeks at Heritage they have what’s called J-Term.  The kids get to pick from a variety of special interest classes and for two weeks learn a new skill and get a break from their regular academics.  Hannah picked two sewing classes.  One is called clothing construction and the other is a rag quilt class. We had fun going to Jo-Anns and  I “helped” her choose the material for her quilt. I can’t wait to see it finished and of course I’ll post a picture of it for you to see.  She is loving her classes and even more is enjoying NO homework for two weeks. 

  Here is her first clothing construction.  She also made a few pillows and this week she’s making pajama pants.  By the end of the week I’m sure she’ll be able to teach me a few things. 

Fit Friday

I totally forgot about last Friday but there wasn’t really anything to report.  I was the same and unfortunately the same this week also.  My heart has just not been in it the last few weeks.  I’ve been doing just the bare minimum in exercise and not tracking my calories consistently.  BUT, today Hannah and I are starting a 6 week challenge.  We both set a goal and whoever reaches their goal at the end gets $50.  I’m hoping that together we can encourage and motivate each other. 

I’d thought I’d share my favorite, light, go to lunch.  Sam’s Club has Chicken Sausage in a variety of flavors that are only 120 cals per link.  I cook two in a pan with some olive oil.  Add about 2 cups of green beans, some garlic salt and parmesan cheese and Voila!

It’s so yummy and very filling for less than 300 calories! You could also use asparagus, add some red skin potatoes or whole wheat pasta. 

One of the reasons I haven’t been putting more effort into my exercise is I’ve been making these. 

I got a sewing machine for Christmas and I was itching to do a project so decided to start with an easy pillow for the girls beds.  I really want to learn to sew. (more than a straight line that is)  Now that my mom is living near us I have my own personal sewing instructor!  I don’t really have any interest in making clothing, I want to be able to make things for my house like pillows, window treatments, slipcovers and occasionally some clothing repairs.  The pillows turned out really cute.  Please don’t bring out the measuring tape though because they are far from perfect!   It was a lot of fun and I have to give Matt some credit for putting the boys to bed two nights in a row so I could work on these.  Aren’t they cute???   

Melanie

Gentleness Challenge–How I CHOOSE to Respond

How many times a day in your house do you hear “But she made me….”?  How many times do you hear yourself saying “Mommy’s sorry that I yelled but you….”.  Right now we’re working on being responsible for how we respond to someone wronging us.  We’ve been hearing a lot lately “she just gets on my nerves and makes me yell at her”.  Do other people make us respond the wrong way?  No.  It is a choice.  It is a discipline in self-control and it’s a hard lesson to learn.  For both mom, dad and kids.

Galatians 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. 

When we practice self-control, and choose to respond with gentleness we are showing our children the work of the Holy Spirit in our own lives.  The Holy Spirit can help us learn self-control but only if we choose to respond. 

Check out this  post from http://womenlivingwell.org.  I read the Duggar’s book a few years ago and was challenged way back then to be “slow to anger” and gentler with my kids.  This post is a good reminder of how to be a gentler mom.

Melanie

Our week in review

We’re finally getting used to our back to schedule after being off for Christmas.  Here’s what we’re up to..

• Joe is back playing basketball at the YMCA with his neighbor/friend Logan.
• Hannah and Rachel took a duck tape class at the Library.  They came home with wallets, bookmarks and begging me to take them to Hobby Lobby to buy duck tape.
• I spent a day painting a bedroom at my mom’s new house.

 

Gotta love catching him reading without being told to. 

The boys got a new game for Christmas called Zingo.  Thanks for the recommendation Rhonda, they love it!  Ben really struggles when he doesn’t win but we’re working on it.  As you can see there are Nerf bullets covering my floors lately.  Joe got a few new guns for Christmas and he and Matt have been having Nerf gun wars in the evenings. 

We’re really enjoying the slower pace right now without having the girls in any sports. Our evenings are much more calm and relaxed.

 

I wanted to share this video because it’s a very powerful message packed into two minutes.  I’m still a newbie at all this bloggy stuff so if you can’t view it from the email you can go to my blog here to view it. 

 

Mission Organization

 

Once Upon A time

I thought Facebook was the ultimate place to waste time…Then I was introduced to

Have you been on Pinterest yet?  It is my new addiction!  It is basically an online notebook of all the great ideas you find online.  It stores them by category/picture and links them back to the website where you found it.  You can also look at what others have pinned from around the web and pin them onto your boards.  Now my favorites tab won’t be so long. One of my favorite categories is Organization.  No need to hire a professional organizer when you can just look at others cool ideas and copy them!  I stumbled across the blog below and was mesmerized by her site.  I’m sure I spent at least an hour looking at all of her great ideas.  I finally stopped drooling and started planning.  Armed with a list I headed to Target.  First room to tackle, the kitchen.  I thought you might be able to use some of the ideas. 

 

When my mom and Art were staying with us he built me this wonderful pantry. I’ve always wanted a pantry like this.  I found printable labels here and went a little crazy.  I love having all of my baking ingredients together in large containers.  I put all of the kids snacks in the green baskets so it’s easy to make lunches.  On the top shelf I used the little totes for cookie cutters, sprinkles, and the third one for all the misc. baking supplies that needed a home.  Next I moved to the fridge.  For a family of seven we have a very small fridge.  I didn’t really see how I could make any more space than what was there.  But I was wrong!!!  Of course http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.com/ had ideas for organizing your fridge.  The one thing that made the biggest difference was a sandwich tote.  A place for all of our sandwich meats and cheeses.  This freed up a whole bunch of space in the drawer (below).  It literally used to be overflowing.  This also makes making lunches easier because everything you need is in one spot.  I also moved the shelves around to make the best use out of the space.  I promise I don’t yell at my kids if they don’t put stuff back where I want it. I just put it back where it goes and enjoy my organized fridge.  I also found some great fruit and veggie storage containers at TJ Maxx for a good price.  An added bonus is that the lids match my kitchen. Yay!  Next project, the bathrooms.  If you haven’t been on Pinterest go check it out but wait until you have a good hour to waste cause once you start it’s hard to get up! 

The Gentleness Challenge

This month one of the blogs that I follow, http://www.womenlivingwell.org is hosting a Gentleness Challenge.  This is something I have been feeling very convicted of for some time now.  Now that I have a 13 year old who helps take care of her younger siblings I’ve noticed a bad habit, which I hate to admit she most likely picked up from her mother.  Harshness.  Ouch.  Proverbs 15:1 says “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” It is absolutely true that mom sets the tone of her home.   I am currently on week 2 of the challenge and I can say that I have seen a huge difference in our home.  I hate to admit that it comes much more naturally for me to criticize and point out faults than to encourage and compliment.  These are some ways that I am intentionally working on being more gentle with my words.

• Each morning I light a candle in the kitchen and say a prayer for peace in our house that day.  Since we live with Autism in our house it can sometimes feel like your walking on eggshells trying to avoid the next blow up. 
• Get up early to have some “mom” time before I have to serve my family.
• I gave Matt permission to “call me out” if I’m being too harsh with my words.  And promise not to get harsh with him.
• Give each child at least one hug and compliment before and after school.

Doing these things has made a big difference.  Have I become a pushover? No.  In fact I think it’s made me be more consistent in dealing with behavior right away so that I don’t let it go until I’ve lost all patience and start yelling.  The best part is that the kids are responding.  I’ve noticed more smiles, hugs and “I love you moms”.  I’ve also noticed them being more gentle with each other.  Perfection? No.  Progress? Definitely.

If you’d like to check it out or join in here is the link http://womenlivingwell.org/2012/01/introducing-the-gentleness-challenge/

Taken from the challenge:

Our Assignment for the week: I encourage you this week to smile more, hug more, SLOW DOWN, listen, take a deep breath. When you feel like screaming – whisper. Pray pray and then pray some more.

Have a great week!

Melanie