All posts by NerdMom

Contesting Monday 8/28

Contesting Monday2

So here is the deal. If you are hosting a giveaway or have a post about someone’s giveaway just leave a link. Make sure this link is to the giveaway post itself and not just the blog or it will be deleted. If you listed it last week but your giveaway is still open, list it again! Also, your link must be to something family friendly or it will be deleted.

So now you need to add your giveaways and go enter some giveaways! Let them know that Contesting Monday sent you! Make sure you share Contesting Monday with your fans and followers so that they can see all these fabulous giveaways!!

Contesting Monday 8/21

Contesting Monday2

So here is the deal. If you are hosting a giveaway or have a post about someone’s giveaway just leave a link. Make sure this link is to the giveaway post itself and not just the blog or it will be deleted. If you listed it last week but your giveaway is still open, list it again! Also, your link must be to something family friendly or it will be deleted.

So now you need to add your giveaways and go enter some giveaways! Let them know that Contesting Monday sent you! Make sure you share Contesting Monday with your fans and followers so that they can see all these fabulous giveaways!!

Contesting Monday 8/14

Contesting Monday2
So here is the deal. If you are hosting a giveaway or have a post about someone’s giveaway just leave a link. Make sure this link is to the giveaway post itself and not just the blog or it will be deleted. If you listed it last week but your giveaway is still open, list it again! Also, your link must be to something family friendly or it will be deleted.

So now you need to add your giveaways and go enter some giveaways! Let them know that Contesting Monday sent you! Make sure you share Contesting Monday with your fans and followers so that they can see all these fabulous giveaways!!

Post-it Brand and Fiskars Unboxing

Who else loves back to school for the office supplies? I was stoked to receive a box of Post-it Brand and Fiskars products from them!

Confession, Post-its are a ride or die here in the NerdFamily. Generics just don’t stay sticky so when we buy pads to have on hand it is always Post-it Brand. Just about every pair of scissor you will find here, be they craft or general, are Fiskars. They are solid, stay sharp, and are comfortable in the hand. Due to those facts, I may have giggled like a little girl when I opened this box. So I had to show you all the coolness.

3Mproducts

(Disclosure: I was sent the products but all opinions are my own. I was not compensated.)

Contesting Monday 8/7

Contesting Monday2

August? Really? Is it really August? I hear that some kids are starting back to school this week. Being homeschoolers, we don’t really pay a whole lot of attention. But I do know that I haven’t gotten all that far on my year long to do list! Maybe winning something will make me feel better?

So here is the deal. If you are hosting a giveaway or have a post about someone’s giveaway just leave a link. Make sure this link is to the giveaway post itself and not just the blog or it will be deleted. If you listed it last week but your giveaway is still open, list it again! Also, your link must be to something family friendly or it will be deleted.

So now you need to add your giveaways and go enter some giveaways! Let them know that Contesting Monday sent you! Make sure you share Contesting Monday with your fans and followers so that they can see all these fabulous giveaways!!

Contesting Monday 7/31

Contesting Monday2

So here is the deal. If you are hosting a giveaway or have a post about someone’s giveaway just leave a link. Make sure this link is to the giveaway post itself and not just the blog or it will be deleted. If you listed it last week but your giveaway is still open, list it again! Also, your link must be to something family friendly or it will be deleted.

So now you need to add your giveaways and go enter some giveaways! Let them know that Contesting Monday sent you! Make sure you share Contesting Monday with your fans and followers so that they can see all these fabulous giveaways!!

Contesting Monday 7/24

Contesting Monday2

So here is the deal. If you are hosting a giveaway or have a post about someone’s giveaway just leave a link. Make sure this link is to the giveaway post itself and not just the blog or it will be deleted. If you listed it last week but your giveaway is still open, list it again! Also, your link must be to something family friendly or it will be deleted.

So now you need to add your giveaways and go enter some giveaways! Let them know that Contesting Monday sent you! Make sure you share Contesting Monday with your fans and followers so that they can see all these fabulous giveaways!!

Meal Plan for Your Sanity

Meal Plan for Sanity

Who should be meal planning? Well, do you plan on eating? Then meal planning is for you! It is that simple. 

Seriously, I was raised in a home that every night the conversation seemed to happen around dinner time. You know the conversation. The one where someone says how they are hungry and want to know what they are having for dinner. Then the evaluation of what is in the fridge and eventually dinner happens, much later.

My husband’s family was sort of the other end of the spectrum. Dinner magically happened with Mom making it. And there was no disclosing what was for dinner until it was placed on the table. Don’t ask! 

When Jeremy and I got married we wanted to figure out an actual system. It is just who we are. My husband had one request of me when it came to dinner. Have a plan! He didn’t care if the plan was to pick up something or that he was cooking. He just wanted a plan (with ingredients if needed). Through the years we have implemented every version of planning from having meals on hand but not a set menu to a specific plan. 

It has brought so much peace to our lives! I can not recommend it enough. I believe everyone should do it too! Now we write out meal plan on our Collage Memo Center along with who is making it. Yes, who. Now that we have older kids, they get to take turns cooking dinner too. 

Meal planning brings sanity to every night. It also brings a little sanity to your budget. You can plan meals around what is on sale at the grocery store. You also tend to have to run out for quick meals a lot less and that saves a lot of money too. 

Are you a meal plan novice? My favorite! Once you start you won’t want to stop, I promise. What has stopped you from meal planning before? If you are new you should check out my Keys to Successful Meal Planning. Don’t be nervous. This is a tool for you and not a regiment you have to fit into. 

If you are a meal planning devotee, when did you start? What is your favorite meal to make?

Summer Bucket List

bucket list

“Can I have Susie over to play?” “Can we go to the zoo?” “When can we watch Batman vs Superman?” “Later, when we aren’t so busy.” We have all had those conversations because there is so much fun that we want to have and never have time for. I personally feel guilty because often, I never get around to having the fun. I was just convicted of this yesterday because I started looking at the movies I am waiting to watch with the kids and the kids were talking about the friends they want to have over.  

This summer is not going to end without us have fun and rest! We will start the year having worked hard on summer projects but having played hard too, no too hard it will be restful play;). But of course, that means I need to put a bit of a list together. Then I can prioritize and try to create a well-rounded summer. 

There are different types of bucket list items. Some are things that kids want to do but they don’t need parents nor do we care to participate. My kids want to see Lion King and Who Framed Roger Rabbit. They can do that when I am doing something else. 

Some things are kind of time-related. We only made it through half of last season’s Flash. We also want to get caught up before the new season begins. Luckily we can just pick up an episode without a big time commitment! But we do all need to be together as a family and that takes a little coordination. 

Some are relationship based on relationships outside the home. Like kids having sleep overs or swim days with friends. That takes coordination with our family and others. That takes lead time. So if it is going to happen, we might want to start scheduling now. 

Some are relationship based in the family. That one on ones with kids. Board game nights are a great way to work on those bonds too. But that means that not everyone always has to be available!

Some are just fun and experiences. I think we need to have a big movie night binge where everyone falls asleep in the living room. We are pretty straight laced, bed by 8 kind of family so I think it will be a fun memory! 

A great bucket list is going to be a smattering of all these types of things. It can be organized by your availability, work, or level of excitement. Fun and memories are not going to just happen! Let’s make it happen!

10 days 2017 button
This is part of my 10 Days to a Better School Year Series! Go see my fabulous other posts.
 

Tech Organization Helps

Tech Organization Helps

It is almost a new school year and most of us are trying to be more organized this year. So to further that effort, let’s talk organization and tools provided free on websites!

My biggest free tool is Google Calendar! It is free with any Google account, even ones that are through another domain. You can set up multiple calendars with multiple colors. I have a calendar that is my appointments, NerdDad’s appointments, and another with blog deadlines. You also can share calendars. My homeschool group has a calendar that I can overlay to look at. My husband can access my calendar to see what the family plans are and add to it.

Google Keep is a great list tool! Just like with the Google Calendar, you can share a list with people so everyone can add to the grocery list. I use the Google voice input to add rough drafts of articles or outlines for articles. I even keep lists of household facts like the measurements of cabinets and shelves. Then I know if something would fit when I am shopping. 

For those of you who want things a little more concrete, like paper, I have resources for you on that front too! I keep my calendar online but I do keep a binder with other organizational tools.

Donna Young is a great source! In addition to various sizes of traditional calendars, there are tons of housework forms, grocery lists and more. Donna Young also has a ton of homeschool printables too.

Organized Home also has a ton printables to go into a household notebook. They have seasonal chore lists, freezer inventory sheets and tons more.

Chart Jungle is another great source but they have a lot more ads. You just need to scroll down a bit. They also have a ton of great printables. They have planting charts under gardening, budget sheets under money and tons more!

So there are just a few sites that will help you to have a more organized year!!!