Noah's Upcoming Birthday

Noteworthy Birthday Boy Birthday Invitation

Invitations for all occasions: graduation day, birthdays, & weddings.

View the entire collection of cards.

Kids' Clothing Inventory

With 5 munchkins to clothe it's essential I have an inventory to keep track of what they have & what they need for each season. Here is an inventory I came up with last night & I am really excited about getting it all filled out! Just wanted to share in case you're in need of one too. Click here to download & just make sure to go to Print Preview & select to Fit it to one page. You can change the kids' names of course & corresponding sizes to fit your needs. And of course if you have any suggestions on how to improve it, please share!

Full Out Cleaning Schedule

I have tried to perfect this for years & finally I think I got it! If you are interested in seeing my full cleaning schedule for my home, click here. I have one copy laminated & I just cross off what I do each day for two weeks & then wipe it off to use again the following week. It is color coded for how many times a week I do that particular chore. It is a two week system & then it also includes a small section for cleaning I would like to accomplish once a month.

If I skip a day & get behind, I don't backtrack. I just follow the schedule for the current day & know I will get back to what I missed when the next week comes around. This way I am not stressing about what I have & have not done because I know it will always come back around.

Happy Cleaning!

Bad Behavior=Consequences Chart

It's a Keel Family Revolution today! While Mark was here on R&R we came together as a family to discuss the most problematic behavior & the consequences for those bad behaviors; agreed upon by everyone! So, I have made a chart & will be hanging it up today. I pray it helps us bring more peace into our everyday family life.

We all agreed that the most problematic behaviors in our family were: HITTING, ARGUING, CALLING OTHER PEOPLE NAMES, BEING DISRESPECTFUL TO MOM & DAD, & NOT PICKING UP AFTER YOURSELF. The chart available for download details the consequences we chose for each behavior.

If you are interested in seeing the chart, you can get it here. There is also lined, numbered paper for one of the consequences that you can get here.

Summer Madness Contained.....Possibly

I have a sign hanging by my front door that reads, "Chaos, Panic & Disorder. My work here is Done." This is how I feel most of the time but with summer break upon us I am determined to not let the chaos control us. Instead I have come up with a daily schedule we can look to for suggestions, but it's not mandatory. I have learned in my simple 34 years that high expectations lead to major disappointment, so we dream big but don't expect perfection.

So.....I have put together a daily schedule & a list of freetime ideas & quiet time ideas. I think they're really great references for any family of any size that feels they want a little more say in how their day goes. It's totally flexible which is just the way I like it. Although there are a few things that need to be accomplished everyday & it would be best if they were accomplished at a specific time. It's just a really good guideline. So I figured I would share them here.

It is an Excel workbook. 3 sheets. One is the Daily Schedule, one is Freetime Ideas & the other is Quiet Time Ideas.

Just click here to get it.

I really could have used more quiet time ideas, so if you have any, please add your comment!

Hope you enjoy these & have fun controlling the chaos!

Another Year Survived

It's been so long since I posted on my blog & how sad is that?!? I miss it so but just have not had the energy, time, motivation or desire to share the struggles & changes in my life. Currently Mark is deployed to Afghanistan for a year & I am still struggling with Stage 3 Bipolar Disorder & heavy periods of depression, who wouldn't with 5 kids & a household to handle all by themselves? I wonder if I did blog though, if it would help me feel like I have an outlet, a stress reliever to share my thoughts & dreams & failures & triumps (however small)? I just might try to start blogging again, because I need to reintroduce things into my life that I used to love doing. Wanna come along for the ride?

School Sack Lunch Menu

I searched & searched for a set menu for school sack lunches, but found nothing. BUT! I did find some great ideas that I used to combine our own menu & I figured I would share it with you!

MAIN DISHES:

Bow Tie Pasta w/ Veggies

Tuna Sandwiches (in the shape of a fish)

Mini Cracker Pizzas

Pretzel Kabobs

Chicken w/Ranch Dressing

Beanie Weenies

Hawaiian Roll Sandwich

Mini Bagels w/Cream Cheese

Chicken Nuggets w/Honey Mustard

PB&Honey Sandwich

Club Sandwich

Mini Football Subs

SIDE ITEMS:

vanilla pudding

Jello-O

mandarin oranges

edamame

deviled eggs

banana bread

chips & salsa

popcorn w/cheese seasoning

graham crackers

Chex Mix

If you want any of the recipes, just let me know. I invested in a 3 compartment Ziploc container for each child, as well as really small bowls for dipping sauces and one insulated container. This will cut back on ziploc bag use. We also bought a lunch bag for $3.00 at Wal-Mart that fits everything just fine.

We make our own pudding & Jello-O because the cost is cheaper, no matter how you look at it. My kids are finally EXCITED about packing their lunches & of course I add a little note from Mom in the morning. I think I have some printable lunch notes & riddles that I have somewhere....I'll link to them if I can find them.

Something to Show For it.

What do we have to show for all of our hard work?  What do we have to show for all the children that we birthed, well, the children!  But, what do we have to show for all the times we've attempted to teach them something we figured they would never understand or remember?  Where are our awards for all the dinners cooked & not burned? For all the laundry stains we've miraculously gotten out of that favorite piece of clothing?  Where are the ribbons for First Place in Speedy Diaper Changing? Or the plaque for Most Dirty Diapers Changed in a Single Day?  Where are the ribbons for making it through another day?  Well, the new day is our award I suppose, but once again, my husband is about to embark on a new journey for him, for our entire family.  He will report to Officer Candidate School on Sunday, the 30th.  I could not be prouder of him.  He has received numerous plaques, coins, ribbons, certificates, trophies and titles these past 9 years in the Army.  I often become envious of all of his achievements & the fact that you can see them & touch them helping you to remember where you've come from & where you're headed.  I feel so inadequate next to him & as he proceeds through Officer School, I know he will get high marks. I know he will do very well & come out on top. He'll undoubtedly come back even more fit than he was before, which was pretty darn fit & me, I'll just be the same old unattractive size I've been since having the twins.  With him being gone for 12 weeks (the trial run) at first, it will be my first challenge with 5 kids to care for & not just 3.  And often when I see the twins wreaking havoc, they feel like 6 kids.  I have been challenging my own demons, banging & knocking them down each & every time I can, only to have another show me it's not quite done with me yet & just as I get a handle on that, will I be able to handle my own family?  It's nearly mind boggling doing all we do with Mark here, I cannot imagine how we will survive with him gone.  I know we will, but at what quality of living & what will it do to all my mental progress?  He asked me last night if I was scared.  I couldn't help but say, "Yes, wouldn't you be?" He had to agree I had the bigger burden to bear.  Well, at least we can agree on that & having someone sympathize with you can help a great deal.  I need another mom with 5 kids, a set of twins, a husband gone (12 weeks at first, a month break at home, then away again for 6 months!!), a 5 bedroom home to maintain, the entire family household's finances to keep up, doctor's appts. to go to to keep you from running away & a desire to be more, to be able to do more or be happy with where you are at.  Where are those moms?  

I had not looked at the header of this blog for quite a while & when I did, it instantly brought tears to my eyes.  I don't even know that Maria anymore. I don't remember what she was like, what she loved to do, how she made it through the day with a smile on her face.  I look in the mirror now & it's not the same woman.  This woman has sadness in her eyes, anger on her lips and regret in her heart.  This woman wears two sizes bigger than the girl in those pictures because she gave birth to twins, very healthy, wonderful, adorable twins who needed more room in her stomach than she could handle & now all that extra skin is lifeless and permanent.  And she doesn't have the time, energy or the faith to even try to do something about it, fearing all the hard work would only prove to do nothing, but make the lifeless skin more noticeable against a smaller figure.  The one & only thing that I know to be the same is the love she has for the main man in her life.  In fact, that love is even stronger because of what they've endured, but she feels unworthy to ask for this kind of love, yet she holds on with all her might praying he won't break when things get even tougher because she's sure that they will, they always do.  

I just wish I could take all my gratitude for my 5 healthy, beautiful, wonderful children; my gratefulness for a 5 bedroom home with so many nice things and closets full of necessities; my love for good things and good people & just magnify it so big that I can't deny that it's there, that it will overtake all the bad & cover it with good.  But, that's not reality, hahahaha, that's just stupidity.  I have to grapple and inch and fight my way through it all to get to the top where all that stuff lies.  

I'm tired.  But, there's just a little bit left in me to keep going, for today.