How I do shopping and keep our family schedule easy!

I am not hugely into pinterest.... yet :-).... but I have seen some really great tips on a lot of different things. Friends have asked me in the past to share how I do my grocery shopping and so I thought id share it with whoever wanted to know.... its super simple and makes me stay on budget and have a less hectic week.

I get a piece of paper and since I go to 3 different stores I write them each down and then I write out each day of the week. Where I live we have a bunch of different stores I could go to, but the 3 I like best due to prices, ease of shopping and location, are Walmart, Sam's Club and Aldi's.

Then the first thing I do is plan a meal for each day of the week. Sometimes we do "on our own" if it's going to be a busy night or we won't be home at the same time. Then once I have planned a meal for each day of the week I write down all the things that I need for those meals under one of the stores. After that is done I add our "staples" to each store. For example milk, bread, crackers etc....

I also look at my budget ahead of time so I know how much money I can spend. I take my list shopping with me and next to each item I put in the cart, I write down next to it how much it is. I keep a tally going as I shop and if I reach my spending limit then something gets put back on the shelf until next time.

Now as far as keeping my family organized with things such as appointments and activities, a few years ago I found the best thing ever!! It's called a "Mom's Plan It Calendar"



It's great because I can put every family member in our house on the calendar and can see at a quick glance if we have conflicting activities on the same day. I then can plan ahead on how to get each person where they need to go or if I need to call and re-schedule something. I also keep this calendar right next to the phone with pens in a jar nearby so that as I am on the phone making appointments I can see quickly what days are open.

Well I hope these ideas have helped some of you, I know they save me a ton of time and money!

Samuel is 6

Its always hard when one of my children has a birthday. I'm so excited to see them grow but also a little sad as well. I look back at pictures and think how fast time is flying and how much I want it to slow down.

Samuel brings sooo much joy and laughter to our home. I call him my "cuddlebug" because he loves to snuggle with me. I can't believe it but today he turned 6 and in a few months he will start school..... my sammy is growing up....

Their first camping trip!

As a child and even as a teenager I never went camping. As a small child I don't recall ever wanting to or any of my older siblings camping. As a teenager the thought of being outside all night in the heat and surrounded by bugs was not on my top 10 things I thought would be fun.

However as I became a mom.... and kept having all these boys.... I didn't want to deprive them of those outdoorsy experiences.... so fortunately I realized I was married to someone who was willing to do those things for our boys. :-) My husband grew up exposed to hunting, fishing and camping but it wasn't something he was ever really into, but being the awesome daddy he is... he does it anyway. :-)

Last summer was an intro to camping for joe and sam. On our summer visit to missouri mike took the older 3 boys, michael, joseph and samuel out to gpa's house and camped out in the backyard. Boys survived and so did mommy.  :-)

This summer I wanted boys to have a "real" camping experience away from home. So mike, michael, joseph and samuel went camping. It was for one night.... away from home.... with smores... hot dogs.... games.... swimming..... and they LOVED it!! It was a bit too quiet at home for my taste but I survived... especially knowing what a great time my boys were having. Next year they are going to add on jonathan to the crew.

Someday I may go too..... and as I said in an fb post..... if their is a/c, showers and a comfy bed :-) :-)