Starting 2013 Planned and Organized... I hope!

Well we are already at the end of January 2013, I haven't had much time to blog lately but have alot of stuff I have been meaning to share!

Last Nov/Dec I decided I needed to organize things around here a little bit more. I started by buying lots of storage containers and cleaning up our rooms and bathroom and putting things just where they need to go. Than I cleaned out our freezer and cabinets and reorganized and took a inventory of what we had. With a family of our size this is a MUST! Seems like I am always buying the same thing that we have 5 of already, just because I'm not sure what we have on hand.

Next thing I started a family binder.
Included in this is is 4 sections nothing to fancy just Calendar, Meals, Chores, and Budget.

 

Here is a little summary of what is in each section and how I use it.
Calendar:
This section has printed out calendar month pages this where just where I put all of our appts., meetings, date nights, special occasions and such. Helps me keep track of things so I don't forget important things in the craziness of life.
Meals: This section I have a master grocery list (I can get ideas of what I need off this, helps me remember some things I would normally forget while making my grocery list), meal ideas, pantry and freezer inventory and meal plans for a month. There is room for recipes I would like to try, coupons and the store ad if I need to get groceries.
Chores: This section just has a list of daily, weekly, and monthly chore lists that I like to "try" keeping up with. You can print these kind of charts out from the internet on many sites.  I also have my boys chore charts in this section.
Budget: This section has our complete budget for 2013. There is room in this section so I can add the reports for each month and in the back I have a zipper pouch and folder for a 3 month period. The zipper pouch is where I put any receipts we have for purchases. Once January is done I will just put them in a envelope and place them together in the pouch to get them from the other 2 months. The folder is where I have a transaction sheet for each month. This is where I put our expenses and purchases, also the bills that come in and need paid.

Nothing major but it does seem to help me keep our house a little more organized and on top of things. Between raising children, housework and homeschooling it can get a little crazy around here at times.

Lastly I have been taking some great advice from a homeschooling mother at our co-op. She shared with all of us about preparing meals ahead of time and freezing them and doing bigger qty of things to save time. I can't tell you how much this has helped me.
To start we purchase hamburger and chicken in big qtys and cook it all up. Next I either make taco meat, lasnaga, stuffed shells, meatballs, or just keep the cooked meat in freezer bags to add to a casserole or to make something else later. The chicken I normally just shred it up and divide it into zip-lock bags. I can just pull out one of these bags of cooked chicken and make BBQ chicken sandwishes, add it to a cassrole, cream chicken and biscuits, add it to soups,.... you really can do so much with it!!!! We also have been making our own pizzas and putting them in the freezer for a quick meal. There is so many ideas that I still want to try with this but haven't taken the time to do all of them yet.

So far these few simple things have helped our house a ton, hopefully it may give you some ideas for your own. If you have any great ideas yourself please feel free to share too!

Lord please give me WISDOM NOT PATIENCE

Please LORD give me patiences and GIVE THEM TO ME RIGHT NOW! Ever have a prayer like this?!?!? Funny thing about asking God for patience, that most people don't think about, is that by asking for patience, you are really asking God to put trials and tests in your life to help you become a patient person. WOW I bet some people just got a huge eye opener. Am I right???... Yes, it's true, patience isn't something you just wake up one day with, it's something to be learned, practiced, developed.

Last night one of our dear friends Josh asked us a question that I never really thought about. He said, "Do you feel and think you are more patient, now that you have had children?" After a moment I answered, "yes." If I really think about it, before I had children or even before I got married for that matter I never really needed to be that much of a patient person. I didn't have others I was responsible for training, teaching, and caring for. Of course like everyone else I had to be patient about normal stuff in life but I have to say I have found myself saying, the prayer above, far, far more times, now that I'm married with 4 children.

The Bible tells us in James 1:5
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

In the past 2 weeks I have changed my prayer, instead of asking God for patience like I have for the past 8 1/2 years I have been praying that the Lord will bless me with wisdom.  Wisdom in sharing His Word, wisdom in my marriage, wisdom raising our children. King Solomon ask God for wisdom and God was pleased with his request and blessed him with great wisdom to govern his people.You can read about it in 1 Kings 3
 
With wisdom comes patiences, for years I have been praying for the trials and tests but completely forgetting to ask the Lord for the tools to help me through them. I have found myself upset, frustrated, and confused about how to handle certain situations. Wondering why things seem so hard to understand.

I serve a Bigger God than any trial or test I could ever face, and I have to tell you, that this God even in all of His Power, loves me enough and cares enough about little me to hear my prayers. And I am so thankful!

This past few weeks I have felt the presents of God in everything I do, in every decision I make, in every meal I prepare, every lesson I teach, in every moment of disciplining and raising our children.

I just want to say, thank You Lord, and please may I have a second helping, You have blessed me with this family and I ask that You continue to give me wisdom for each day.