Just do the list...

In one my random bouts of energy, I decided to tackle the corner of my living room that held all my Mary Kay/Scentsy stuff. Really is just was a pile of stuff and an excuse of where to throw stuff. It was making my living room so cluttered. While sorting through stuff, I foung the Daily and Weekly Cleaning Routine I had typed up when I first became a stay at home mom. Oh the positive energy I had back then! Ha! So I decided that since nothing else I was coming up with was working (although let's face it, anything would work if I just did the work) I reverted back to that cleaning routine. I made some minor tweaks but I figured out my Daily Cleaning tasks and my Weekly Chores.

My Daily Routine consists of a Morning Routine and an Evening Routine. Here it is:

Morning Routine:
Wake-up, Get Ready (no more grungy Mommy)
Make Bed
Empty/Fill Dishwasher
Wipe Down Table and High Chair (From Breakfast/Snacks/Lunch)
Swish/Swipe Bathroom (From Flylady)
Start Laundry
Quick Pick-Up/Odds & Ends

Evening Routine:
Fold/Put Away Laundry
Empty/Fill Dishwasher
Put Away Dinner
Wipe Down Counters/Table/High Chair
Sweep/Shark Floors
Quick Pick Up/Odds & Ends

Now there are two ways to do weekly cleaning and it just depends on your cleaning style and schedule. Some people do their weekly cleaning once a week and focus it on one day. Others do little chores everyday to space it out. I have gone back and forth ad figuring out which one was for me and I finally came to the simple conclusion that while I would love to do all my weekly cleaning in one day and get it over with, I just don't have the time or the week day that I can do it all in one day. I am constantly running around and I just don't have a day of the week that I can pick that I am home long enough to get it all done. Plus, I don't think I have the stamina. I think I would mop the floors, give myself a gold star and skip the rest. So I will be breaking up into daily chores. Here it is:

Weekly Chores:
Monday: Kitchen
Tuesday: Bathroom
Wednesday: Vacuum/Mop Floors
Thursday: Mirrors/Windows/Dusting/Garbage/Recycling
Friday: Bedrooms/Change Sheets
Saturday/Sunday: Laundry

Now the beauty of this list is that when I feel overwhelmed or I find myself sidetracked by weird random tasks, I can just do the list. Refocus and do the list. Even if the living room is full of toys and I am feeling stressed, just do the list. At some point  I will get to those toys in a my quick pick up. Or I can work on my list and make the kids clean up their toys. The answer to my crappiness lies in the list!

We are all Crappy Housewives

Knock on wood but I think this sickness is over in my house. I seriously feel like the last whole month was a big blur and boy did my house take a beating. But we are back on the healthy side of life and catching up on household stuff.

I went to a Girl's Night last night and the host was telling me how she had been reading my Crappy Housewife Blog. Really!! Cool! She then continued to tell me how she can relate! WHAT? Her house was so adorable! So neat and clean! She had the cutest decorations. She told me that she has a catch-all room which is her office. So when company is coming over or she is doing a quick clean, things get hidden in the catch-all room. So that is when I realized that we are all crappy housewives!! We all aren't perfect. NO ONE has the perfect house (well ... wait .... I seriously know someone who has a super clean, organized house in every room.) Some of us show our crappy housewife ways through our whole house and some of us have a room or closet.

But you know what? It's ok!! It's ok to be crappy!! All I care about is that I am trying to be less crappy! Who else is trying to be less crappy?

2nd Shift

Let me first apologize for my lack of posts the past couple weeks. The sickness has continued in my house. A couple of posts ago, I said how my whole family had the flu, then we all got bad colds, and then my 11 month old got pneumonia! Well it didn't end there! My son finished is round of antioboitics so we went on our planned vacation. On vacation, my son and daughter got pink eye! WHAT!!??! PINK EYE??! Where the heck did we get that? Just typing it makes my eye itch. We got home from vacation and I ended up having to take the kids to the ER. We followed up with our pedetrician. He followed up on my son's pneumonia and check their pink eye. But then he wasn't done! He told me my son had RSV. Oh man  ... it is just one thing after another! Come on Spring!!!

Today I have been thinking about the idea of 2nd shift. I know there are people out there who have 2 jobs that they do back to back. I did that once! I was working my regular 8-5pm job and I decided to get a temp holiday job at a clothing store. I figured I would pay off some bills and be able to buy a few extra Christmas presents.  So I worked 8-5pm and then worked from 5:15 to 11pm. I only lasted 3 weeks. It was too much! I applaud people who can do that and have to do that!

As a parent, we all have 2nd shift. Whether we work outside the home or we are a housewife, we have to deal with the dreaded 2nd shift. 2nd shift starts after your first job ends. In my case as a housewife and a stay at home Mom, I work all day with my kids. I drive them to school, run errands, clean-up etc. And I celebrate when my husband comes home a 5pm. But then that is when 2nd shift starts! I have to regroup, do dinner, homework, baths, and bed. And after all that, I still have nightly clean-up to do. I'm exhausted!!! I don't know how to get through 2nd shift. I can make it through dinner but then I collapse and I want to rest.

So how do you get through 2nd shift?

Let the Cleaning Begin

Oh my house is such a disaster. And I have had zero motivation to clean it. I wish I was a natural cleaner, but I'm not so I just need to make habits. This morning my husband asked me what I was doing today and I told him I had to go to his Mom's to clean her house (I do this every week to earn a little money. Funny how I do that, but can't keep my own house clean! Hmmm ... ) He said, "Don't you think you should focus on our house first." He was right, as much as a hate to admit it. Whether I like it or not, I honestly feel that the housework is my job. When I complain to friends about the state of my house, many just point the finger to my husband and tell me he should help more. But call my old fashioned, but I really feel that if I get to be home with my kids then keeping up with the house is my responsibility. Now that is not to say that he can't help me every once in a while and we are working on that. But the day to day tasks should be my job.

So I need to understand my primary job/responsibilities and get my butt in gear. I've got music on. I've got my 2nd load of laundry in and my dining room picked up. I've moved into the living room. I've attempted to get my girls to work on their room but you would have thought I asked them to like shave their head. THEY FREAKED OUT!! So I need to set a better example for them so they don't think cleaning is so horrible!!

Off to work on my house!

Oh the Sickness ...

Words cannot even describe the sickness that has been going around my house since my last post. 3 weeks ago, my whole family got the flu. (Oh the flu laundry  ... yuck!) Then my kids and husband got a bad cold. Then that cold turned into pneumonia for my 11 month old son. So now we are on day 6 of antibiotics and he is finally getting better. But of course, now I have a sore throat. Ahhh ... it' never ending!

So this morning I woke up extra early (again thanks to my 11 month old) and I decided to get my butt in gear. My house has exploded! Laundry is everywhere, dishes filling the sink, clutter, just everything. So I got up, got ready to go, and went and started a load a laundry. Well thank heavens I was dressed with shoes on (thank you Flylady!) because I locked myself in the garage and out of the house. REALLY! Now for those if you who are reading this and do not live in the Eugene/Springfield are, one thing you don't know that it snowed this morning! So here I am at 6:30am, tromping around my snowy front yard, trying to figure out how to get in my house. I ended up tapping on my bedroom window to wake my husband up!

Maybe I should try again tomorrow for a better start!

Clean Eating!

One of my goals to be a better housewife includes meal planning and the idea of homesteading. I recently was introduced to the concept of clean eating and now I am totally obsessed with the concept. First I was interested in it as a diet to lose weight. Eating clean foods is a way to eat better, without counting points or calories. But as I became more interested in the idea, I started reading more about how food really fuels our bodies. It's the whole idea of eating to live instead of eating to live. Using food as a tool. Can food help me have more energy? Can it help with stress and anxiety? I blame so many of my "issues" with being a crazy Mom with 3 kids. Of course I would be tired and cranky. But could my issues be solely because of how I eat? I eat too much processed foods, fast food, and meals filled with a lot of fat. But what is I learned to switch it? Eat healthy proteins, fruits and vegetables - put together the correct foods to boost energy. I am totally into this new concept and maybe this will make me a better housewife!

A Sick Crappy Housewife

You know the one thing I haven't really gotten used to since leaving my job and staying home to be a housewife/mom is what to do when I am sick. When I worked I had these glorious things called "Sick Days" in which if I was sick, I would call in sick to work and still be paid! Of course the kids would still go to daycare and I would be left at home to truly rest and get better. Ahh the good old days!

Now if I am sick, I still have kids to take care of and a house to take care of. I don't get a sick day. I just have to modify my day, pop a Tylenol, and make it work. It is these days where I would completely let my house go! So then my house would be trashed and a couple days after I would get out of my sick fog, I would have a big mess to clean up!

Most of the time when I get sick, I can figure it out. A cold doesn't really stop me. But the flu is another case! That is what is happening to me this week. On Monday my son got the flu. On Wednesday morning my husband and I BOTH had the flu. We litterally traded back and forth, one person sleeping/throwing up, the other laying in the living room watching over the kids. I tried to be different this time around and keep up with the house when it was my "shift." I had the kids pick up their toys that they had scattered around the living room since they were given free reign. We made sandwiches and only used paper plates to keep up with the kitchen. I also tried to pick up little things here and there as I staggered through the house.

Now that I am feeling a bit better and that my other 2 kids are sick, I'm trying to get back on top of things. Of course, I now have a lot of flu laundry. I am just trying to catch up from my day in a complete fog and not let it stretch out a week or two. It's so much nicer because I can do little things here and there and give my attention to my kids! It's how it should be!

Crappy Housewife Meal Plan Monday (even though it is Tuesday!)

So I am a day behind on my meal planning! James was sick yesterday. But here it is!

Since it is the end of the month and my food budget is running low, I am trying to plan meals based on foods I have in my freezer.

Monday: Spaghetti and Meatballs
Tuesday: Pork Tacos (last time my husband made pulled pork, he made a lot and we froze a large container. I think this week is the week to bring it out!
Wednesday: Slow Cooker Spare Ribs
Thursday: Pork Quiche (using that pork again plus wonderful local eggs from our chicken co-op)
Friday: Steak, Potatoes, Veggies
Saturday: Honey Dijon Chicken, Veggies
Sunday: Oven Baked Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Corn

We'll see how that goes and we'll see how much money I spend. I think at the store I just have to get some fresh fruit and veggies. Most everything I have already!

Have a good week!

Busy Weekend and Sick Kids

This past weekend proved to be busy once again. Plus my little 10 month old was sick. Anytime my kids are sick, I seem to put housework on the back burner, especially on weekends. But I am learning that cleaning has to be a daily thing and it has to be a priority! It's kinda like the feeling like a kid and having to do your chores before you can go outside to play!

So last night after my kids were asleep (and thank heavens my son is starting to feel better) I got completely caught up in housework. I was pretty tired and tried to talk myself out of it, but I kept telling myself how great it would make me feel to have to all done. So I cleaned my kitchen, got caught up on dishes, cleaned my dining room, living room and vacuumed everywhere. Feels good!

Now to meal plan!

My Favorite Thing so far ...

I have been working on a lot of things to stop being a crappy housewife. Mainly my focus on this blog has been centered around my house and cleaning. But another change I have made is making a consistent effort on meal planning. Meal planning is the key to so many things and I have been loving it!

What I have been doing is planning Monday mornings. I will plan the dinner for that week. I am trying to see what I have to make meals around my feezer. I have been also trying to make my meal plan more of a schedule. Like Tuesdays will also be Taco Tuesday. It was just vary each week depending on what meat I have. Wednesdays are crazy for us so Wednesday is slow cooker day and it will vary depending on what I have. I then make a grocery list and try to go shopping that day (which as long as my kids are not going crazy, that should work).

The cool thing that I noticed is that the simple act of meal planning helps so many other things. It is like a domino effect!

1. By Meal Planning, I am checking our family calendar so I can plan accordinly around school meetings etc. It gives me a heads up and sometimes a good reminder of what is happneing this week!

2. By Meal Planning, I am saving money. I know what we are having ahead of time and I am shopping for those items. I am not wondering what is for dinner and we are not getting take out! Plus I can check my coupons for specific items to save more money and check the clearance section for future menus.

3. By Meal Planning, we are spending more Family Time! We are having more sit down dinners as a family because I know what is for dinner! I can prep ahead and get the table set (no more take out in front of the TV!) My daughters LOVE helping me cook dinner and I can figure out specific jobs for them. It is such a wonderful priceless time that I get to spend with them while we are cooking! And we have great family talks at the dinner table! This is probably my favorite thing!

4. By Meal Planning, clean-up is a breeze! You would think by making a family dinner, that I would be making more of a mess. But the opposite is happening! When I walk into the kitchen, I know what I am making. While I am in there, I am cleaning up any messes from the day. I am not throwing things around looking for a certain ingredient. I know what is going on so I can multi-task with clean-up. Plus, with more family dinners, my kids are getting more involved with the clean-up after dinner. We each do our task and the work gets done right away.

5. By Meal Planning, I am just happier. Enough said! No stress and I am just able to cook/clean-up with my kids. I am having the best conversations with them. Priceless!!!

If you don't meal plan, I totally encourage it!

Crapy Housewife Meal Plan Monday

It's that time again!!! I always have a hard time figuring out meals but this week I tried to look at what was in the freezer and meal plan that way.

Monday: Honey Dijon Chicken, Salad/Veggies,
Tuesday: Beef Tacos (I'm thinking we will always do Taco Tuesday! Makes it easier to plan)
Wednesday: Slow Cooker Post Roast, Potatoes, Carrots (Wednesdays will always be a slow cooker recipe because Wednesday are a crazy day for the kids and I. That way dinner is already made!)
Thursday: Chicken Rigatoni
Friday: Pork Tenderloin, Salad/Veggies
Saturday: Pizza Birthday Party at Papa's
Sunday: Chicken Stir Fry

Have a good week!

Time to focus

So the last week has been a bit weird for me. Instead of joyfully figuring out this housewife thing, I turned down the path of trying to mentally figure it out. I was trying to find this magic answer of fairness and pride. What does it mean in this modern time to be a housewife? I asked myself if I was just a common slob. I still want to figure out those answers but while I was pondering these questions, my house was still a disaster. So time to focus back on the task at hand and that is to clean up my act! So last night I cooked and cleaned. I still have work to do today, but things are looking better. I guess I complain about deserving a day off but what is comes down to is that when it comes to housework, you can't take a day off. Things have to get done everyday for me and my family. I don't want my 10 month old James crawling around a floor that hasn't been vacuumed because they boy puts everything in is mouth! I don't want my girls not having room to play.

I also want to work on my role as a wife. I realize that we are not in the 1950's so as I dive into this topic, many may be turned off by this. Let me apologize in advance. This is just how I feel. I am not only a crappy housewife, but sometimes an unhappy one. I think I blame my poor husband a lot. I think he needs to treat me better when in all honestly, I am not treating him with the same respect that I am expecting from him. I complain a lot to him and that is not fair. So I want to focus more on  him and our relationship. I want to be that wife that I know he wants. I had this epinphony at church yesterday that if I start treating hiim better, than the things that I want to change for me will. It's the idea of giving respect and taking respect.

This post seems a bit  like jibber jabber but it is what is in my head. Thanks for reading and the comments thus far. Back to it!

The idea of Fairness ...

I know one thing that keeps me a crappy housewife is the idea of fairness. I grew up as a twin where my parents strived to make everything equal and fair. So I have engrained in my head this idea of fairness ... everything in life should be fair. Well once you become a wife and a mother, the reality is that nothing is truley fair. We as woman take on everything for our families. It is our nurturing role. My husband grew up with a Mom who did just that. She took care of everything for her family. In fact, in my eyes, she is superwoman because not only did she do all the cooking, cleaning, laundry, taking care of kids, activities etc, she also ran a successful family business wiht my father in law. She did all the bookwork, invoicing, payroll etc.  I dont think back then she was the kind of person who dwelled on whether ir was fair or not that she was working while do all the housewife work (2 full time jobs in my opinion). I think that was just her role that she accepted and she took pride in.

So now I come to my current situation. I stay at home with my kids as well as have many little part time jobs. We can't afford for me just to stay at home. The income I bring into the family is vital. Saturday I worked 11-2 at one job and 5-9 doing another job. Sunday I did a side job for a few hours. So we can say I was pretty busy over the weekend helping support my family. But I am also expected to do all the housework and while I was off all weekend earning money for the family (about $200), all the housework was piling up. And I am torn with this idea of fairness. Shouldn't my husband help with the housework especially while I am out working? Or is it all part of my job as a wife and mother and accept the reality that it will never be fair? Just something to ponder about ...

Here we go again ...

So now my house is a mess! Here we go again! This is what happens ... I get all excited and gung ho (is that how you spell that?) and I am doing great for a few days to a week. Last week my house wasn't perfect, but I felt a good groove and I felt good. Well then the weekend hits and I am busy or I decide that I can take a day off every once in a while, and then my house goes to crap again. And this I feel like a crappy housewife. How do I move past these hurdles? Will I ever be able to take a day off? Back to work!

Satruday Morning Waffles

Even though I have deemed myself the Crappy Housewife, there are a few things that I think I do pretty well. I love baking and there are things that I love to bake from scratch. The 3 things that I can do well is bake cookies (perfected witht he help of my sister-in-law Amy), pie crust, and waffles. Baking the scratch is great and it is cheaper than the mixes out there. Plus my kids love to help bake with me and get their hands in flour. Seriously what kids doesn't want to make flour hand prints on their bootie!

Saturday morning around here is all about waffles! We love making waffles plus it supports my cooking and homesteading goals(cooking from scratch)! Now I used to be a Bisquick gal. And there is nothing wrong with Bisquick! But let me tell you, once you make my waffle recipe, you will never go back!

Crappy Housewife Saturday Morning Waffles:
Wet Ingredients:
1 3/4 cup milk
2 eggs
3/4 stick of butter, melted and cooled (I always melt on the stove because if you do it in the microwave, you will have exploding butter and a mess)
3 capfuls or vanilla

Dry Ingredients:
1 4/4 cup of flour
2 TB sugar
1 1/2 ts Baking Powder
1/2 ts salt

Mix up the wet ingredients. Mix the Dry  ingredients. Combine wet to dry and mix. Pour into waffle iron (don't forget a little cooking spray) and cook. Yummy!!!

Overthinking my Routines!!!

You know, I can talk myself out of doing ANYTHING! I think that is one of the issues I have with following a daily routine. Sometimes I don't do parts of the routine and other times I skip it all together because I need a break. Problem with the break philosophy is once I would take a day off, they next day the house would be far worse and I would be overwhelmed and not want to clean the following day. Seeing a pattern?

The biggest excuse I use to talk myself out of doing my routine is time. I am one busy lady and most mornings I will get up and think I am so busy and I have no time. I will talk myself out of emptying the dishwasher for example and tell myself that I don't have time and I will do it later etc. Of course, if I just had emptied the dishwasher before I had wasted my time thinking about it, I would have had it done quicker. Make sense?

So this morning I woke up EXHAUSTED! My lovely 2 year old DID NOT sleep last night. But instead of telling myself that I didn't have to start my routines because I was so tired, I just got right to work! I emptied my dishwasher and got water in the sink for the breakfast dishes. I started a load of laundry and put away the laundry that I folded last night.

Good start!

You know you are a crappy housewife when ...

You know you are a crappy housewife when the SIMPLEST idea creates the biggest "ah ha" epiphany moment! My friend Melissa told me that she always keeps about an inch or so of soapy water in her sink throughout the day. That way her kids can put their dishes in and it can get a pre-soak so when she can get to putting the dishes in the dishwasher, they are all rinsed and ready to go. BRILLIANT! I know some of you are wondering why this is such a cool thing for me because you guys already do the water in the sink thing. I realize it is a BIG DUH! But these are the type of ideas that I love hearing because it is so simple and it really helps. And since I am a crappy housewife, these simple ideas don't come to me naturally!

Figuring out a daily routine

Everything I read says that I should have a daily routine! I like the idea of a routine however I have issues trying to stick with one. Everyday seems a little different and most evening I feel useless because I am so tired. So what kind of routine can I set that I can do everyday? On my worst day when I am so tired, what is the basics that I need to do? Here is what I am thinking:

Empty Dishwasher in the morning so it can be filled throughout the day. Run dishwasher at night
Clean up after meals
Do a load a laundry - which means wash, dry, fold, and put away
Wipe down bathroom
Quick Toy pick-up

What are your guy's daily household routines?

Sarah hard at work! At least the Crappy Housewife thing isn't rubbing off on her. She loves to do the dishes!

7pm is the new midnight in my world!

Why is it that I am completely useless after 7pm? Here I am trying to work on my routines and such and then 7pm hits and I am not wanting to do a thing?? I am so tired from the day and I think I have hit my coffee consumption max so even if I had a caffeine IV drip, nothing would seem to get me going to get stuff done! What do you guys do in the evening to keep going?

Crappy Housewife Meal Plan Monday

I'm starting Meal Plan Monday! Mondays are a great day to look at the week ahead, plan meals according to our various activities, and grocery shop. Planning meals will save me money and time. I could use this saved time to play with my kids or fold the 5 loads of laundry that have been taunting me!

Week of February 6th - this is a busy week for me! I am starting a Girl Scout Troop for my daughter Ashley. So I need easy meals that I can make quickly or make ahead in the crockpot or dutch oven.

Monday: Girl Scout Parent Meeting - Grilled Cheese Sandwiches with some kind of veggie
Tuesday: Another Meeting for Girl Scouts - Spaghetti (I can make this ahead of time)
Wednesday: I have Church stuff on Wednesday nights. I sing in the choir and my kids have fun activities at church. Plus during the day is crazy. So Wednesday will always be leftover night!
Thursday: Teriyaki Chicken and Rice with veggies
Friday: Turkey Tacos
Saturday:  I have a Scentsy Party this night so I will be supplying Jason with some kid friendly and simple Mac and Cheese
Sunday: Meatloaf and potatoes

What are you guys having for dinner this week?

Goals of a Crappy Housewife

As a crappy housewife, I have learned what I want to change and how I want to be. I can see it in my head but obviously my lazy a$$ can't see the vision! So I think that if I write some goals down for me and the world to see, then maybe my a$$ will catch up.

Crappy Housewife Goals:

1. Daily Household Routines: I need a routine so I can keep up with my house. Doing a little bit everyday and keeping up on things is so much better than living in a house that has exploded. I know there is FlyLady.net out there and I have read and tried her stuff many times. But it hasn't clicked. So maybe I need a Crappy Housewife Routine!

2. Meal Planning: I need to plan our meals. This will help me so much more organized and save money from grabbing the last minute pizza n going through a drive-thru.

3. Cooking: I guess if I am going to meal plan, I need to cook more right? I want to learn how to cook. I know a lot but I want to be more confident in the kitchen. I also want to involve my kids in the kitchen.

4. Homesteading: I'm really into this idea of homesteading - living more simply and off the land. I want to do more gardening, cook from scratch, more frugal finds, canning, etc

5, Decorating and Organzing: I want to get rid of the clutter and decorate my house. I don't think I have a lot of decorating sense but I know I like simple ideas. I want to make my house a home! Also I want to organize activities for my kids. They always want to do crafts but I am not that crafty plus all of our craft supplies are all over!

I'm sure more goals will come through but those are my top 5. What are your goals?

A little Introduction

I am a Crappy Housewife!! I am admitting this!I do not like, nor do I know how to clean, organize, decorate, etc. I like to cook but I never know what to cook and there is currently about 5 loads of laundry on my couch waiting to be folded and put away! No Joke! Problem is I like a clean house! I want to be more organized! But after years and waiting for a magic pill or thinking that the "Seen on TV" cleaning products was going to be my miracle, I've now come to the realization that the only miracle worker is myself. It's time for me to change my ways and to learn how to be a better housewife!

Let me introduce myself ... I am a 30 year old stay at home Mom of 3 awesome kids. Ashley is 5, Sarah is 2 and James is 10 months old. I was always a working woman but once I had Sarah, the cost of two kids in daycare was ridiculous. The funny thing is I always wanted to be a stay at home Mom and dreamed of being home with my kids and being a housewife. That was 2 1/2 years ago and I still suck at it (honesty is the best policy!)

My hope with this blog is to work on my crappy ways and learn to be a better housewife. I hope that others may read this and feel inspired and not alone! I also hope to get great tips and ideas from readers as well as share tips I learn throughout this process!