October Calendar

Make sure to check the calendar for MOPS meeting dates and playdates. Also, keep an eye on your inbox to make sure you get those evites and reminders for playdates and Mom's Night Out.

September Newsletter

 

Welcome to our 2013-14 year of MOPS! Every month we will have a newsletter that has important dates and reminders. You can always download a copy from our blog if you don't have a chance to grab a printed one at the first meeting of the month. We look forward to this new year! Blessings!

September Calendar

We are starting a new year on September 4th! Come join us for brunch and fellowship. Keep track of everything going on by checking on our calendar.

April's Calendar

Check out this month's calendar! Please let us know if you have an event you would like to add.

MOPS Panel

 

At the last meeting, moms discussed tips that helped them get through each day with a little bit more ease. Below are some of the recommendations that the group came up with. Lindsay recorded them. A printable PDF of the notes she took are here.

Cooking/Food

I double my food dishes when I can and freeze the other half.

I plan meals a week at a time and only buy food to complete the meals.

When you make a casserole, enchilada dish, lasagna make 2 and freeze one.  You already have all the ingredients!

Cook for a month.

Sandwich lunch tip- make 5 sandwiches Sunday, and freeze them...then pull out the sandwich and put it in lunch box.

I make my own Lunchables- buy the block of cheese at Sam’s and cut into individual servings.  I freeze what we can’t use in about a week.  I use my own crackers and snacks.  The cheese is ready to pull out and stick in lunch boxes each morning.

When you freeze meat/food, freeze it flat. The defrost time is quicker.  Use Ziplock brand freezer bags, they are thicker than store brands.

During the summer I cook in the crock-pot so I don’t have to turn my oven on.  My favorite crock-pot cook book is "Fix It and Forget It: 5 ingredients"

When meal planning, if you know that something like lasagna takes a long time to prepare and cook, start working on it a little at a time during the day.  For instance, get all of your ingredients out and ready while you cook the meat ahead of time.  If you make your own sauce from scratch, work on that during the day too. Keep an eye on the clock and start throwing it all together around 4pm if you’d like to eat by 6pm, keeping in mind you will need an hour for it to cook and a few minutes for it to settle. 

Organization

Wake up early, before the rest of the family, get completely ready, then wake them up so that all your time is now devoted to them. You're not stressed getting out the door.  I wake up at 6am and in that hour I can shower, throw a load in, make lunches, feed the dogs and make my bed.

We live by the saying “if you're on time; you're late." There is no reason to constantly be late.  Change your habits so that your family can function its very best.

Use a calendar and the alarms on your phone to stay organized with you daily schedules.  Each week I look at my calendars and then plug all my responsibilities into my phone so it will alert me.

To organize my loose recipes I bought 3 three ring binders.  I separate my recipes into dessert binder, main dishes binder; sides/extra/misc. dishes.  Then fIurther separate them into pies, bars, cookies, cakes etc.

I have three framed boards on my fridge.  The top one is this week’s meal plan.  The second is meal ideas, so if there is something my family wants to eat they put it there.  The third one is next week’s meal plan, so I can be prepared for the next week.

I have the kids take a shower or bath the right and pick out everything they are wearing the night before.  Even hair stuff, socks and shoes.

Keep a charity box and a box for out grown kids clothes in garage. When it is filled up, put the clothes in the attic and make a donation run.

To help my getting ready routine I took pictures on my smartphone of cute outfits I’ve had fun wearing.  I include earrings, necklaces, bracelets, belts, shoes, etc. in the picture as well.  This saves me the thought work.

I love having my kid’s clothes ironed. So, I iron every Wednesday, Wednesday is my ironing day!

Have your child do their homework as soon as they get home from school.  This way you are not rushing them at the last minute before bedtime.

When dropping kids off to childcare, label their diapers and sippy cup with their names before you leave the house.  Also try to keep little snakes in the car for the drive home after church or anytime the little ones might be hungry. It will make the drive much more enjoyable for everyone.

Be organized and it will make all the difference in how you get through the day.  Start with cleaning out your clutter.

We have a shoe basket in the utility room for the boy’s shoes.

When we travel I try to color coordinate clothes to make laundry easier after the trip. 

Check the weather the night before and lay out the kids clothes before bed time.  One less thing to think about.

Think about what you need for yourself and your kids, place it in the car the night before.

Don’t let kids watch TV in the morning, it makes for a slow morning. 

Cleaning

Break up household chores into one a day example:
Bathrooms-Monday
Kitchen-Tuesday
Mop-Wednesday
Vacuum-Thursday
15-20 minutes of cleaning= a clean house

Clean up the house as you go throughout the day, so it doesn’t all pile up at once.  When the kids go to bed, I make sure the house is all picked up so that the next days turns smooth.

When doing laundry I do one load that needs to be ironed then one that doesn’t so that I’m not ironing all day.

Miscellaneous 

Neglect the whole world rather than each-other/family.

Know your roles in the house. As a wife my responsibility is to care for my children, and take care of our house and my husband. You should never have fights over a messy house, dinner laundry and or dirty dishes.  Take care of things and make it a priority in your life.  You will have so many other things to argue about like money or in-laws, etc. Make make your home another fight.

If your child has the stomach flu give them charcoal pill.  It usually gives relief after 30 minutes. 

For ear ache heat up willow oil or olive oil with garlic.  Put 2 drops in each ear. 

Great communication is worth working on and honesty always wins.

Try to find the humor.

Interested in fostering or adoption?  Amy can help you get started, answer question, etc.