Family Management - Special Events

Finally I finished the chapter on planning special events.  It's been a busy few weeks with low energy from me and I struggled staying awake past 9pm every night.  Not much but the basics got done but the sleep was important so I guess I should not feel guilty right?

I have never been comfortable hosting large events.  The twins baptism and my wedding were about the two biggest things I planned that  I was proud of.  These events also had more than just family there.  I find family easy to plan for... my family....inlaws are another story.... I get a little nervous.

If you are intersted in reading my other posts about Kathy Peel's book "The Busy Mom's Guide To A Happy Organized Home" then here they are....

Managing your time.

Managing your home and property.

Managing your menus and meals.

Managing relationships with family and friends.

Managing your finances.

Where do I begin? This chapter was stocked full of ideas and honestly if you need help in this or another area Kathy Peel covers then I highly recommend purchasing the book.

Important things to remember when planning a special event whether it's low key or with a hundred people is that you must share the workload and simplify when you can so that in the end you can enjoy your event as well.  Some points to remember...

1.  Traditions cement a family.

2.  Children's brains are like sponges, they remember events so why not help them remember how much fun Mom was at the birthday rather than Mom being a basket case?

3.  Welcome fun....not everything needs to be planned out, spontaneous can be fun too {I will admit that  the word spontaneous makes my blood pressure rise from stress, I don't do spontaneous}.


Whether your event is a children's birthday party or a huge anniversary party for friends and family.  The author cannot stress enough about planning ahead.  On the advice from this book I now have a trusty three ring binder in which I keep tabs on many things.  At the moment it has Christmas gift ideas for each person I am giving a gift to as well as what we already purchased.   It also has birthday party guest lists for my children's upcoming birthdays.  One is in December and yesterday I booked what needed to be booked and now I can move onto party favours and invites.  With 6 weeks before the party I should be ready no matter how busy my life is.

I am a planner and became one when the twins were arriving.  You have to plan ahead when you know you just can't drop everything because you have two newborns and a three year old.  This does not however make it so I never forget something or someone!

Moving on....I am not going to go into much detail like I have for other chapters.  The author goes into great detail on planning "fancy" events in your home or otherwise and I am really not at the phase of my life nor do I think are many of my readers.  Some things she does point out for planning any event are...

1.  Use sitters to help you get things done.  If you need extra time in the kitchen either the day of or before the event, hire a sitter to help keep your children occupied.

2.  Prepare foods ahead of time and freeze.

3.  Ready serving pieces, clean fridge, and clear kitchen countertops. {this is something I do for holiday meals, it makes the cleanup that much faster when your counter is clean from clutter in the first place}

4.  Use a checklist, keep receipts, phone numbers, and guests lists all in a three ring binder.

Finally we enter the area more fitted to my life at the moment...Children's Birthday Parties.  In the past couple of years I  let my children have parties outside of our home.  I feel bad making people drive out to our house.  It was easier when the kids were smaller because usually the parents stayed.  I always had coffee on and invited them to stay if they wanted too.  But now the children are able to stay without Mom or Dad so I feel bad making them drive the 30 minutes in total.  I know...I shouldn't feel that way, afterall they get to drop their child off and have some alone time for the 2-4 hours of the party right?   Heck there are days I would drive and hour for that quiet time.

But anyway...

Party favor's...hmm...where do I begin?  Kathy Peel really does not have much to say on the subject but she does ask "What would you want your child to come home with?"  To help you decide on what to purchase you should consider that question.  Myself...I really dislike the dollar store junk and to be honest it is not cheap for the hostess that has to buy it when you invite 10 kids to the party.  A friend last year went through this dilemma for her son's party.  She ended up handing everyone a hotwheels car at the end of the party...that was enough and totally appropriate.  I do think party favours are a must but they do not need to be a huge bag of items.

If anyone has ideas for party favours could you leave a comment.  I would love to write a post and put those ideas out there.

Next up...seasonal stress relief.  Once again PLAN ahead.  Even if it is a quiet holiday with your own little family of four.  Kathy Peel suggests you focus on giving rather than getting.  Show your children what charity work is.  Model the behaviour.  Donate your time as well as the kids.  I am participating in Operation Christmas Child this year with Samaritan's Purse.  I have never sent a box so this year we are going to make this happen.  I went online to the website and watched a few short videos with my children.  They noticed the difference in our life to the children's life in Haiti right away.  They are quite excited to do this and the video's were great for the kids to see.

Back to a stress free seasonal holiday...

1.  Set aside one weekend or day just for family to relax together.  Do a large puzzle, make hot chocolate, read a book, watch a movie together.  For one whole day do no work and relax together.

2.  Keep motivational books around.  When you get stressed sit down and read positive thoughts to get you through that stress filled moment.

3.  Read the Christmas story together, either in the bible or children's book. 

4.  Have a nativity set that the kids can handle and move the pieces around.

5.  Look beyond your child's wish list...many children just want what other's have even though they may not have any true interest in the toy/item.  Look for toy's that stimulate rather than "entertain" mindlessly.

6.  Consider giving lessons {art, dance, muscial instrument} or concert tickets.

7.  Look for ways to emphasize that gift recipients uniqueness.

I hope I touched on topics that interested you. This post has taken me forever to get up, it has been one of those weeks.  Daddy is done his tour so it's a couple days off and maybe some Mommy time booked in my office to get a few scrapbooking pages done.

I will be digging into the last chapter "Managing Yourself" and will have a post up very soon.

I do, I really do....

I really do have a blog post that I have been working on.  It is about the next chapter in the great book I am reading. 

Yup...I do, I really do want to finish it...

BUT...

........I have four darling children and a husband working, therefore I ask you to just stay tuned until I can get it finished.

Wordless Wednesday - Beauty In Color

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It's Here

I am sitting right beside my bedroom window listening to the wind howl.  I know there is wet white snow flakes flying around in that crazy wind but I refuse to look.  I am not ready for winter to come in like this......slapping us in the face with the powerful wind and those little snow flakes hitting you in the eyes so you can't see.

No, I prefer to have the softly fallen chunky snow flakes you notice as your preparing a meal and it's warm in the house and the kids are all playing nicely.  Yup, that would help ease me into the deep freeze we are about to embark on. 

That being said I do love winter I just need some time to get used to it first.

I have yet to get downstairs and start the coffee pot.  Once I get that going I guess my next step is getting out the gear the kids will need to get outside.  Luckily I thought of that yesterday and it's all organized and ready to go.

Happy Tuesday.

Quotable Monday's

Half of our mistakes in life

arises from feeling where we ought to think,

and thinking where we ought to feel.

-John Churton Collins

Goodbye

Not the least hard thing to bear when they go from us,

these quiet friends,

is that they carry away with them so many years of our own lives.

-John Galsworthy

We buried our dog yesterday.  He was 12 years old.  And despite what the quote said he was anything but quiet.

Bruno our Basset Hound was a pain in the butt most of the time.  Don't get me wrong we loved him, you could not help but love him.  He was a strange animal with his own little quirks and issues. 

But he was always there when you needed him and of course he'd show up when you did not need him, like when you were eating or sleeping.

The kids knew no different.  The dog was here before them.  He was part of the family.

We will miss you Bruno.

You were crazy but the most LOVEABLE animal ever!

My goal in life is to be as good of a person my dog already thinks I am.

~Author Unknown

Wordless Wednesday - An Early Start

Gage 24 months

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Tackle It Tuesday - One Shelf At A Time

It has been awhile since I have been able to link up. 

 Maybe my tackle should be the fact that I had time to post something?

Warning.... I am slightly embarassed by the following pics.  If you know me consider this quite shocking for me to share, and no I am not kidding.  Besides my storage room I am most ashamed of our garage. 

Why am I ashamed? 

It is a garage but when you find items in it like underwear {not mine} and full coffee cups of takeout coffee you know it's time to stop ignoring it.

I have always felt too overwhelmed to tackle this project and you can see why......

This is just one side and not even the whole side.  I don't know how we manage to park two trucks in it most of the winter but we do.

I decided to start with one shelf.  Thanks to the chapter on "Managing Time" in this book I have learned to chill out and take things in bits and it has worked wonders for me.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

This task took me all of 10 minutes.  I ask again WHY DO WE WAIT SO LONG?????

Ugh, procrastination is for the birds!

So I was feeling pretty good until I looked at our so called "toy" box.  I decided I really wanted that WONDERFUL feeling back again so I cleaned it out.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Let me tell you I threw away most of the broken toys in this bin.

Ahhh..feels good.

What are you tackling today?

Head on over to 5 Minutes For Mom and be

inspired!

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I made it to the FINALS...woot woot.

Quotable Monday's

Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak;

courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.

~Winston Churchill

Family Management - Finances

I just finished the chapter on managing your finances in Kathy Peel's book, "The Busy Mom's Guide To A Happy, Organized Home".

You can read about the other chapters here.

Managing your time.

Managing your home and property.

Managing your menus and meals.

Managing relationships with family and friends.

I have found a wealth of information {pun intended} in this book and I do recommend it.  {If your belong to my Mom's Group don't buy it because I plan on donating it to the library.}

On with finances.....  The timing could not have been more perfect in my own life.  My husband and I decided to try something new regarding our own finances, we had a budgeting session at our Mom's group that openend my eyes and gave us the tools to start to budget, Christmas is coming, and a good friend started a blog {which is fantastic} about her family's journey of getting out of debt. 

I love how our speakers at our Mom's group related budgeting to dieting.  You are going to have your good and bad days or months but the fact that your plugged into your finances is alot better than not caring where your money goes.

This chapter starts out just like that...we need to stay on top of our finances, shop smart, create budgets, and live by your family's priorities.  As Kathy Peel states in her book "Difficult financial times can make you bitter or better".  And I have been on both sides...the bitter and now I see the better.

I LOVE LOVE how the author states that money is not about the dollar amount but more in how you view money.

We have so many friends that live on credit and buy things they can't afford or go on trips they can't afford.  The amount of large homes being built baffles a person's mind.  I know I look towards my future and being able to give my kids tuition and pay for weddings etc.  I also want my husband to be able to retire at a reasonable age and enjoy trips with him.  You all hear about live in the now and what if we don't live that long but what if you do live that long?

After you have made the budget and you use it for a few months the next step is to figure out what to do with a surplus or deficit each month.  If you need to cut expenses some suggestions are...

1. Break down large financial goals,example in book $2500/yr = $6.85/day...what can you do to save $6.85 a day?

2.  Use one credit card and one points system.

3.  Before purchase big ticket items figure out how long you have to work to pay it off.

4.  Limit trips to the ATM.

5.  Collect loose change and roll it.

6.  Coupon clip.

7.  Shop at stores and the end of a quarter...discounted items are usually avaible then.

8.  Sign up for email notices of sales.

9.  Start holiday shopping early, start a list, and decided on a spending limit.

Bartering is a great practice too that can save money.  Exchange ideas with friends.  You may be a great event planner and your friend is great at financial advice...trade secrets.  Host a swap party with a theme.  In fact I am heading to a Merge & Purge party tonight at my friend Melissa's house.   Her theme tonight is women's clothing and accessories.  Whatever we don't take will be donated to a charity.  Great idea isn't it?

If you find you cannot cut expenses and you need to increase your income some ideas suggested in Kathy Peel's book are...

1.  The stay at home parent goes to work outside the home.  Check the math before you do this.  Childcare and other costs might make a paycheque not worthy of doing this.

2.  Work inside the home.  {I know I could not do this because I do not have the focus or time management skills, but it works for many people.}

My favorite part of this whole chapter was money mangement for kids.  Here are some suggestions to teach your children about how to handle or earn money.

1.   Look for everyday opportunites to teach them about the value of money.

2.  Do not do or buy anything regularly that they could do or buy for themselves.

3.  Teach them they are not what they wear, drive or own.

4.  Nuture contentment with what we have.

5.  Explain the ATM is not just printing the money but where the money is actually coming out of.

6.  Use money games such as monopoly. 

7.  Give teens an allowance so they can learn to budget.

And BEST of all, the author touched on Allowances.  I have tried allowances with my kids and to be honest it never feels right.  Maybe they are too young to get it, maybe it's because I go off track and forget.  But here are some suggestions on allowances...

1.  Start at age 6 or when they can count and understand money.

2.  $0.50 or $1 for every year of age your child is.

3.  Give a base allowance for sharing in household chores.

4.  Encourage saving and charity donations.

5.  Suspend allowance if duties are not fullfilled.

6.  Pay for only completed jobs.

This was a great chapter to get you motivated in the right direction to manage your finances.

Next up....Managing Special Events.

Light A Candle

Today is

World Pregnancy & Infant Loss Remembrance Day.

I have many friends who have lost...I cannot imagine.

So tonight at 7 pm I am lighting a candle for one hour to remember the babes that are not here with us. You can read more about it here.

Karina, Kathryn, Kerri, Shari, Pam's Neighbor, Wendy, Kylee, Jennifer C., Raylene, Laura D., Debbie K., Beth, I will be thinking of you all today.

Toys...Who Needs 'Em?

We have a board and a pile of dirt.

More fun is happening at the large tire {old sandbox} my husband removed for a fire pit. 

This tire has been the kids ship for the past few days.

A good time was had by all.

Toys?  Who needs them?

Mish Mash

Lately I have been feeling under attack.  No one has verbalized a thing yet my mind plays tricks on me.

Basically it's telling me I am horrible person that cannot control her emotions and that no one likes me.  Okay it's not that bad but I could get there someday.

But....it's a new day and I wake up each morning thinking I am tikkityboo.  Then the day goes downhill fairly quickly, usually as soon as the kids wake up and the demands {oh the demands} of life start hitting me as if I were standing in a batting cage with the balls coming 90 mph.  How I wish I could be one of those ever smiling sunny people! 

I am not a smiling sunny person and I wear my emotions and my heart on my sleeve. I accept that but I dislike my crankiness that comes out of nowhere sometimes and how I attack those I love.

Today we are off to a counsellor for my daughter...more details on that later.  Some people in our lives think it's ridiculous to take her {again no one verbalized it but actions speak louder than words}.  My daughter has sensory issues and with the change of seasons, from hot to cold weather causes alot of grief in this house when it comes to clothing.  Dealing with chaos is not my strongpoint and when your trying to talk a four year old into putting some clothes on while the other three children tear the house apart...let's just say my patience gives out.  Many of her issues border on ADHD but she does not have the learning disability, just the anxiety issues. 

It is our first appointment today, I'm nervous for her and trying not to let it show...hence the crankiness.  If you could keep her and my sanity in your prayers that would be great.

Maybe I need to put on my Skinny Jeans?

Wordless Wednesday - Peace

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Visit the Canadian Blog Awards {scroll down to the categories}.
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Thanks!

Canadian Blog Awards - I was Nominated & It's Time To Vote

I am pretty clueless sometimes. 

I was shocked one day to stumble upon the Canadian Blog Awards and see my blog was nominated in two categories.  Thank You to whoever nominated me. 

This blog was never about winning awards, making cash or really anything in particular except another way for me to ramble on and sort my thoughts out.  You have no idea how many times someones comment has changed my mood or day or crazy thoughts about myself.  This blog has proved to me that kindness is such a HUGE part of who we are as humans and that one kind word can make a big difference in someone's life.

More than once I backed off sharing completely. Then something comes over me where I shrug my shoulders know that it just doesn't matter what people think and to go ahead anyway with my crazy thoughts and jibberish.

So if you do visit my little space of the web, often or not, and if you think I am worthy I urge you to head over to this link and vote for my blog.  I am nominated in two categories, Best Overall and Best Family.

Quotable Monday's

Chains do not hold a marriage together. 

It is threads, hundreds of tiny threads

which sew people together through the years. 

~Simone Signoret

In a time when nothing is more certain than change,

 the commitment of two people to one another has become difficult and rare. 

Yet, by its scarcity,

the beauty and value of this exchange have only been enhanced. 

~Robert Sexton

Marriage means commitment.  Of course, so does insanity.  ~Author Unknown

Happy Anniversary to my husband of 13 years.

If You Were Here - October 2010

If you were here......

you would see my four year old whipping around on his older brother's quad and giving Mommy a heart attack.

If you were here you would hear this 24 month old quad crazy toddler wanting a quad ride very 10 seconds and you would hear his screams in protest when it's time to put the quads away.

If you were here my four year old daughter would show you the flowers she grew "all by herself" this year in my garden.

If you were here you would witness my 7 year old son with my very expensive Nikon camera taking pictures of a jet....we see jets every half hour living so close to the airport but hey this one deserved a picture of it...I guess.  Beautiful sky though.

A prairie sunset...the only thing that beats it is the sunsets I witnessed in Hawaii!

And these two have been crafting like there is no tomorrow.  So if you were here they would try to scare you with their homemade masks. 

 I think they look like the puppets off of "Big Comfy Couch".

If you were here you would be sweating like I am in the extremely warm odd weather we are experiencing in western Canada.  Great for harvest but I'm over it.

My kids however think it's beach/camping weather and decided to set up camp in the front yard.

The gator is the truck the bike trailer the camper.  My 7 year old tied the two together with a skipping rope.  Man I love my creative little people!

Gage however was not into the camping and decided to take off in the "truck".

It's Thanksgiving on Monday for Canada.  Today we are having my family over to the house, lots of turkey, stuffing, cabbage rolls, pumpkin pie...there goes my diet and detox....oh well.

Have a great weekend and a wonderful Thanksgiving.