Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone!! I hope you all have a great Easter spent with friends and family. We will be spending the afternoon/evening with some of my husband's family that lives an hour away. Even though they don't live that far away, we don't get to see them that much. The last time we saw them was about 3 months ago for Christmas. But I'm hoping we can change that and see them more this year!

Things have been going great with me and my family recently. I know I haven't been blogging as often as I keep saying I am going to. I've been busy substitute teaching and when I don't work, I'm busy either cleaning the house or spending time with my kiddos. Because I don't have a full-time job that would make my schedule more consistent than it is right now, there are days when I'm off work that I kind of feel like I didn't get too much accomplished. I'm so ready for the day where I can start working a full-time teaching job where I'll work every Monday-Friday (except on the occasional holiday) and will have some more consistency in my life. I guess I could try and set up some kind of schedule for myself now, but I feel like that's hard because I don't always have the same amount of days off each way. So I can't just say "3 days a week my schedule will look like this...". Last week I had 3 days off, but this coming week I only have off 1 day. And it's actually starting this week that I'm going to be pretty busy each week for the next 7 weeks. For the next 7 weeks I work at least 3 days a week which is going to be really nice!!

As of right now, my last day of subbing is May 21st and I don't expect to get too many more jobs after that date because it is so close to the end of the school year. But when I am done subbing for the school year, you can bet that I'm going to be creating a schedule for me and the kiddos to follow during the week!! One thing that is definitely going to be on the schedule each week is going to our local YMCA to go swimming!! I keep saying that we need to go more often, but like I just said, it's so hard to be consistent with anything during the week because I don't always have the same days off week to week. I also want to start doing more intentional learning activities with Big E because I don't think I'm going to get to put her into preschool in the fall. If I'm still substitute teaching, I don't know how I would be able to get her to and from preschool. And if I get a full-time position (fingers crossed), I definitely don't know how I could get her to and from preschool. I could possibly enroll her in the program that the YMCA has because working full-time I would be making more than I am now. But we will just have to cross that bridge when we come to it!

The end of February is near...

Can you believe that the 2nd month of the year is almost over already? 2 months down and 10 more to go! So how is my year going so far? I think it's going pretty good. I've been keeping busy with substitute teaching and staying home with my kiddos on the days I don't work. I've also been busy reading in my spare time. I made a goal to read 18 books this year and I'm going to reach that goal and maybe even surpass it!!

I'm enjoying substitute teaching but I am so ready for something full-time!! And what is kind of crazy to think about is the fact that I'm still even wanting to work in the education profession. When I started college back in 2008 to start working towards my teaching degree, I never thought that I would have to be afraid to go to work. Sure there were school shootings in the past but there have been a lot more recently than there were in previous years. But I honestly don't know what I would do as a career if I didn't teach. So yes, I still want to be a full-time teacher with my own classroom. I don't want to get into a big debate about what needs to be done about the whole gun-situation, but something definitely needs to be done because students and teachers should not be afraid while they are at school.

I have been stressing less about having a clean house. There were a good 2 weeks or so where I had the kids pick up their toys before naptime and bedtime every single day. And I actually felt pretty good. I felt accomplished. But that has stopped and now we don't always get the toys away before naptime and bedtime. Most of the time, the only time the toys are all put away is when we are expecting company, which isn't that often. But I have been doing better with keeping up with the dishes and the wash. I think my new philosophy about cleaning is that as long as the household is fed, bathed, and clothed, and we aren't living in a complete mess, then all is good! As the kiddos get older I think it should be a little easier to keep the house clean because I will have their help. Or at least I hope I will have their help. But I also know that if I expect a clean house now and the kids grow up seeing that I expect that, they are probably more likely to help to keep it clean.

I've been slacking (yet again) with my blogging but I really want to get into a consistent schedule of writing and publishing posts. I think what is messing me up is that I don't have a consistent and regular work schedule. If I did, I would get home at the same time each day and then be able to make myself a blogging schedule so I can keep up with it and not slack as much as I have been. But you know what, I'm not going to let that excuse keep me from doing that. I'm going to start writing posts at least 2 days a week and then schedule them to publish for the upcoming week. On each day that I have as a "writing" day, I will be sure to get at least 2 posts written so that I'm able to have posts for you to read!!! As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm not sure how many followers I have out there but I thank anyone that takes time out of their busy lives and reads this! I know that time is precious and it makes me feel so happy that you take some of your precious time to read my thoughts!! Let me know if there is anything you would like to see more of on my blog!!!!

Meal planning

For years I have loved meal planning because I'm a big planner!! I love knowing what is coming next and having a schedule to stick to. While I was in college and living with my husband (fiance at the time), I was also working nights and weekends. I would write out the list of meals that I was going to be making for the upcoming 2 weeks, while keeping in mind the nights that I wouldn't have to cook due to having leftovers or working. Then I would plan my grocery list based on what I needed to make those meals and would make a big shopping trip once every 2 weeks. I would have to shop for small things like eggs, bread, or milk before my big trip, but it was nice to just have to make one huge trip.

I continued this routine for quite a while. Even when Big E was born I was still doing this but not as often as I used to. Then last year I found a printable cleaning schedule. It had one page for each week of the year and on the bottom part of it there was a meal planning section. I used this sometimes, but as the year went on I used it less and less.

Recently I started a bullet journal and it has been great for me!! One of the spreads I make each week is a meal planning page and a shopping list page. I've found it easier to just shop for meals once a week. We just got a Sam's Club near us this past fall and to say we love shopping there is an understatement! We get 2 gallons of milk each week along with some produce and other various things. We have also been trying to go to Aldi to get the things we don't need to get in bulk. And then there's Walmart, we do some of our grocery shopping there as well.

Here is my current spread that I just started and am filling in with our meals for this coming week. My hubby will be away for work and I have a 5 day work week, so I'm definitely going to be planning some easy meals.

And here is one from 2 weeks ago. You can see how I made some changes to it and then I can just take my whole journal with me and cross out each item as I add it to my cart.

How do you plan out what you are making for dinner each week? Leave me some comments!

The search is still on...

So we still haven't found a babysitter for Big E and Little E while I substitute teach, but we are meeting someone tonight and I have a great feeling about this one!! We met with 4 so far so hopefully this will be lucky number 5?

Finding the perfect babysitter is hard! You have to be able to trust whoever it is that you are leaving your children with. Then you also have to find someone in the right price range. You also have to make sure you can find someone who is willing to be flexible with your work schedule. I was going to only substitute on Tuesday and Wednesday, because that's what worked best for the first person we met, but now I'm realizing that I'm going to need to be more flexible than that. So, before even meeting this person tonight, I found out from them that they would be flexible with which 2 days a week she watches them, so I am happy to say I picked up my very first substituting position! I actually got 2, one in October and one in December!

So, fingers crossed that this one is a match! This past year or so has been the year of "things happen for a reason" for me and I believe that things didn't work out with the other 4 people we met with because this 5th one is the one! Have a great rest of your Wednesday, halfway to the weekend!

The never ending task of...

Laundry...everyone has to do it if they want clean clothes, right? Well, with a family of 4 it seems like wash is never ending!! Before we had kids and moved to the house we are in now, I used to do wash on 3 set days, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. This way, it didn't have a chance to pile up too much. I think it's time I start doing that again because lately I've noticed that I've only been doing the wash when the loads are overflowing. And when I do this, it takes me days to get one load of wash from the washer, to the dryer, and put away! It's common sense that if I do smaller loads, I can have them washed, dried, and put away in the same day, right?

So starting this week, my wash days are going to be Monday and Thursday. I'll see how this goes and if I need to, I'll add an extra day in there. I'll just pick the laundry basket that has the most clothes in it and throw it in the wash!!

What will make wash a little easier is when the kiddos are old enough to start helping me with it!! Once I get the wash out of the dryer, I'll then be able to throw it on their beds and have them fold it and put it away!! But let's not get ahead of ourselves here...they are only 3 and 1 right now and time is going way too fast!!! Soon my little babies won't be babies anymore and will be more independent, but I'm gonna enjoy them being little for now!!

What are some tips and tricks you have to make doing laundry go a lot smoother? Leave me some comments!! Have a great Wednesday!!

Time Management

How many people out there wish that there were more hours in a day? I know I do! Well, reality is that we are all given the same 24 hours in a day and it is up to us to choose what we do with them. We have to choose wisely or we're going to tire ourselves out if we try to do too much or we will waste time if we choose not to do anything at all.

Back in January I was doing an online bootcamp with my Young Living leadership team called "Operation Silver Bootcamp" (Silver is one of the ranks you can hit within Young Living). There was a day all about time management and I wrote down that a plan is our what but a schedule is our when. I think most days I have a plan of what I want to get done, but I don't have a schedule of when I'm going to get those things done. Just the other night I put a reminder on my phone for every Monday-Friday at 12:30 pm to work on blog posts. This is a great time to do that because that's when both kiddos take their naps. I just need to start doing that task at the same time on weekdays so I can get it done.

Naptime is also a great time to get the dishes put away. Little E loves trying to get into the dishwasher and has even climbed up on it a few times! So it's so hard to get this task done while he is awake unless I put him in the playroom with the gates up or in his pack and play, both of which he doesn't care for that much. So by doing this while he's sleeping and not in the room, it will make it go a lot smoother for me because I won't have to hear him scream or keep moving him away.

My weekly cleaning schedule has definitely been helping me (for the most part). I will admit that there are weeks when I am a bit lazy and don't get everything done that I should. But for the most party, my house is pretty clean. I get the basics done such as the dishes, toilets, sinks, wash. But I don't always get to the vacuuming or changing of the bedsheets. I do those tasks at least every other week but I do try to get them done every week.

My Young Living business is another thing that I need to schedule time for. Right now the team beneath me isn't that large, but I'm working on making it grow and eventually hope to have a large team under me! But if I get in the habit of having set business hours now while my team is small, it will make it easier to stick to those hours once I have a bigger team to work with. Another thing that goes along with this is how I spend my time on social media. I just started using Instagram a lot more and find myself on there a lot more than I used to be. I have decided that I'm only going to get on 2 times per day, once around 1:30 when the kids are still sleeping and the other time right before bed.

I tried to schedule all my weekdays by printing out a schedule that had time blocks and then filling them in with things I needed to get done, but that didn't work for me. Maybe I just didn't give it enough time for me to get used to so I think I will try it again.

What are some good time management tips that you have that help you manage your time? And what is one thing you would do if you had an extra hour in the day? For me, it would be to do some reading or crocheting! Those are 2 things that I wish I could do more of!