Everyone has changed out of their church clothes and into their comfy stuff. All members of the family occupy the beds and couches and favorite chairs. Some are reading, some are sleeping, and a couple are watching a race.
I've curled up in my favorite chair with a borrowed lap-top (mine is still on the fritz) and a steaming hot cup of coffee.
Would you like to know two of my favorite activities for Sunday afternoons? - Reading and planning. I love, love, LOVE to read. I can be found reading just about any time I have an extra few minutes, day or night. I also love to plan. I find Sunday afternoons are a perfect time to plan out the coming week.
- First, I take a look at our family calendar. I always need to refresh my memory on appointments, practices, and lessons we have scheduled for the week. I make notes on the calendar and set up reminders if needed. This week we have music lessons and soccer practices and several other things. I will need to keep these in mind as I plan our school days and our meals. I like to be sure to make crock-pot meals on the nights we have somewhere to be. AWANA nights and soccer nights are crock-pot meals for sure.
- Next, I make a meal plan for the week. I check the refrigerator and pantry when I do this and if necessary make a grocery list. (With our new driver in the house it is a simple thing now to hand over my grocery list and a short time later have all the ingredients stocked away for the coming week.)
- I write out a school-work list for each child. It's usually something like 10 Math lessons, 5 Language Arts lessons, Book Report, watch Science video, 15 Phonics pages, etc. It helps me and the kids to know what we need to accomplish by the end of the week.
- I make a list of the errands I need to run during the upcoming week and make a plan for combining them. My goal is to simplify and consolidate as much as possible so that I am not running the roads every single day.
- Every week I have cards to send so on Sunday afternoons I jot down a quick list for that. I write down what I'm sending and who I'm sending to - Birthday, Get Well, Thank You cards, etc. Having the list helps me to remember, and once I've made the list then I can jot out just one or two cards each day. I'm usually able to finish my card list by the time Friday rolls around.
Having some planning time on Sunday afternoons gives me a head start on my week. If nothing else, I feel organized. When Monday morning arrives I know what I'm fixing for dinner, I know what school work we need to get started on, and I've got a basic idea of where we need to be and when.
Before I sign off I'll share my dinner plan with you.
Monday: Beef Stew, applesauce, and bread
Tuesday: Chicken Casserole, green beans, mashed potatoes
Wednesday: Cheesy Lasagna Soup, salad, garlic bread
Thursday: Hamburgers and Hot dogs, Cheesy Potatoes
Friday: Stuffed Crust Pizza, veggie tray
What do you do to get organized for the coming week? Please share!
we are so alike, it is funny...and cool! I use Sundays to get myself organized as well. I can start getting anxious about the week if I don't take the time to pray, plan and think. This week I have quite a few things added to my calendar that aren't normally there. I am babysitting for two different friends, two different mornings, we have a student study meeting for Mikayla, I am attending a mission trip benefit one evening, I have a lot of thank you cards to write and I am starting my volunteer work at the Equine Therapy farm.(Soooo excited.) Due to our week away vacationing at your house,:) I have a lot of housework, laundry, meal planning and shopping to do. Plus, I always have house and yard projects I am excited to work on. So yesterday, I planned out meals, including some new recipes from Pinterest, filled in my calendar, and made my lists. Today I did a big shopping trip (after caring for a baby squirrel Andy and I found in distress.) Due to said squirrel and delivering hubby's cell phone to him which he left at home this morning, and a wee bit of dreaming up ideas in the organizer section of Walmart, shopping is all I have accomplished, and it is 2:00. I was hoping to have the house straightened today as well, before Jeff gets home...we'll see. Mik's meeting is at 245, then I HAVE to play outside with the kids. There is no way I am letting my chil'ren, two new bubble swords, a kickball and this beautiful weather wait on me to get housework done! By the time we play, eat, and bathe and bed kids, housework may just have to wait until tomorrow. Oh well, that's why we make our schedules, lists, and plans in pencil, right? "Home"work is always more important than housework anyway.Love you Sis.
ReplyDeleteYou had me at, "we are so alike". hahahahahaha
DeleteSeriously, your comment is practically a blog post. I love it! I especially love your phrase, HOMEwork is always more important than housework. I hope you won't mind me borrowing that! :)
Love you!