Where oh where have I been?

I am sure you have all been thinking about me and wondering what in the world has been going on and where I have been.

Just humor me and say "Why, yes, I have!"  

Here is what happened.  

I felt out of control with my life.  It has all slowly been coming to a head.  I couldn't find things, we were missing/forgetting plans.  Every night dinner was fly by the seat of my pants. Laundry was never caught up.  My house was just a disaster. 

 The kids were running wild so to speak. 

By that I mean they were not helping with chores around the house as much as they should.  They were not obeying rules as much as they should.  They were not going to bed or waking up at reasonable times.  

Notice how all that was in past tense.  

I did it, I got it changed around!!!  

I am pretty proud of myself. 

Here was the process I went through:

•Get rid of everything unnecessary!  This is the biggest one.  I dejunked my house.  I went through every drawer, cupboard, shelf, space.  I mean everywhere. I got rid of everything that I don't think I will use in the next 2 years.  This process is the longest and hardest.  

We had a huge yard sale. 

•Get rid on all unnecessary commitments.  If they are not uplifting to you or your family then bye, bye. I consolidated our activities to one day.  Even if only temporary.  I took a blogging break. We dropped cheer leading for the summer.  Debate class is over for the summer.  So 2 were gone right off the bat.  I decided we would have one out of the house day each week.  I try to schedule what I can on Thursdays.  That way in know Thursdays are going to be crazy and I know nothing will get cleaned in the house.  I also know to plan something simple for dinner or start a crockpot meal early. Which brings me to my next step.

•Menu Plan. I like to have much flexibility in my menu plan.  I plan out 6 meals at a time on assigned days, we often switch it up as the week goes on. I have an ongoing list of lunches that we just pull from for lunches. Most days we keep breakfast easy, cereal or eggs and toast. One book that has worked for me is Simplified Pantry. 

•Assign out tasks.  I began making a simple chore list on the computer which I will share about in a near future post. I assign out chores weekly and daily.  I take away privileges if they are not completed.  

With less stuff I feel like I have less to keep up on and I have more time to enjoy my family and the stuff that I want to enjoy.   

So plan on seeing more of me around here!