Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Upgrading your Reboot

Doing a Reboot is not just about juicing.  It is about changing the way you eat & changing what your taste buds & body craves. So, another step in the process for me was to make salads in a jar for both my husband and I.  I had seen Salads in a Jar on Pinterest a very long time ago and after seeing a friend make her own delicious looking creations I just had to try some of my own as well!  I wanted to share what I put in mine in case you needed some ideas.  And just as a side note I keep a Facebook page where I post some udpates on my Reboot journey with juicing & better eating.  Here's the link. https://www.facebook.com/pages/MMLK-Reboot-with-Juice/337146526407028




And here's what I put in my jars......

Low Fat Sesame Ginger Dressing
Cucumber
Cherry Tomatoes
Oranges
Carrots
Grilled Chicken
Sunflower Seeds
Garlic Pepper Onion Strips
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Dried Cranberries
Iceberg Lettuce

Creamy Poppyseed Dressing
Cucumber
Cherry Tomatoes
Strawberries
Carrots
Oranges
Sunflower Seeds
Grilled Chicken
Dried Cranberries
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Iceberg Lettuce

Fat Free Dorothy Lynch Dressing
Cucumber
Cherry Tomatoes
Carrots
Grilled Chicken
Sunflower Seeds
Dried Cranberries
Garlic Pepper Onion Strips
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Iceberg Lettuce

Creamy Balsamic Dressing
Cucumber
Cherry Tomatoes
Carrots
Grilled Chicken
Sunflower Seeds
Garlic Pepper Onion Strips
Dried Cranberries
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Iceberg Lettuce

The possiblities are practically endless so go make some & have fun doing it!


Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Spring Break Staycation Ideas

DISCLAIMER: I am not very good at this blogging thing. More specifically, the sharing of documents or templates or PDFs. I like to make them, I'm just not great at sharing them on here.  But I am using 4shared.com & it seems pretty easy to just upload something for you to obtain it if you want but then some of the formatting isn't the same because I love to use fancy fonts & I don't know how to retain those within the document, so forgive me.  Use them as you want, I don't care. I merely share them in their elementary form to give you the stepping stones to fuel your own creativity for your own purposes.
ALSO! I do not take the week off to neglect chores or other errands.  We still fit those into our day & just schedule the fun around it.


So!! Spring Break 2013 was supposed to be an amazing adventure in Staycation history where we would travel to different locations & learn of different cultures, doing related crafts & activities & menus.  But, that didn't happen.  There just wasn't enough time for me to pull it off like I wanted to. Thanks to a friend from church my brain was inspired beyond my own Pinterest searching to do it right & do it BIG, but I think it will take a year of planing to make that happen!  

However, I did come up with this, thanks to Pinterest, my kids' requests & my hubby's creative additions. 

Spring Break 2013 Staycation Schedule
Total Cost: $99.00 (Plus supplies used from home & gas to go places)

Monday 
-Swimmin' Safari Pool Party on post (We are an Army family & there are always great activities (cheap ones!) for the kids to do while on Spring Break. We don't live on post so can't do all of them or do them everyday but we did take advantage of this one.)
-Dinner at Taco Bell
-Watch the Emperor's New Groove
-Play Chupacabra board game (http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/120515/chupacabra-survive-the-night)
** Besides the pool party the night did have a South American theme. The kids love themes for some reason so as long as you say it's all themed or grouped together, it raises the fun to another level & it hardly took any work on your part, hee hee.
***TOTAL COST: $46.00
      Pool ($10), Dinner for 7 ($36), movie & game were free because we already had them

Tuesday
**It's CRAFT DAY so we are crafting objects & food!
- Tie Dye T-shirts and socks
-Make polka dot painted jars (http://pinterest.com/pin/83949980525968603/)
- Watch Ratatouille and make our own ratatouille

***TOTAL COST: $29.00
      Tie Dye Kit ($20 - Wal-Mart), We already had white T-shirts, but I did buy Socks for kids to tie dye      ($6.00- Wal-Mart, I just bought a womens 6 pack. They are just for at home so the kids can wear them like big slippers & some they will fit just fine.) Ratatouille supplies ($3.00) We already had most of the veggies but I did have to pick up a couple & besides the veggies there's not much to the recipe.  We already had the jars & paint & the movie to watch.

Wednesday
-A Very Merry Un-Birthday Mad Hatter Tea Party
**Wednesday is a Wacky sort of day so I figured a Mad Hatter Tea Party & Un-Birthday celebration would be perfect!
***TOTAL COST: $0.00
       We are using a birthday hat template (http://stuck-on-glue.blogspot.com/2011/06/its-party-hat.html) & decorating them with various craft supplies we already have.  We are using a tea set we already have as well as cupacke mix & various other snack & drink items we already have on hand. We will also choose to watch either the animated Alice in Wonderland or the newer one while we have our Very Merry Un-Birthday celebration.

Thursday
** It's Super Spy Day
- Pick a Spy Name & use it all day (There were surprisingly some great sites for picking spy names. I shared a few I liked.) -
- Super Spy Training (http://pinterest.com/pin/83949980526190612/)
- Blindfold Taste Test (Because spies need to be smart & secret about everything, even FOOD)
***TOTAL COST: $2.00
       Streamers & Red Curling Ribbon for Spy Training ($2.00 - Wal-Mart), Names are free & we are just using food we already have for the taste test

Friday
**Pirates for a Day
- Watch the Pirates: Band of Misfits movie (We live in a small town, near a small town that is slightly bigger & they have a great little local theater that also plays movies from time to time. During Spring Break they are offering a free showing of older movies with $2.00 concessions. Friday just happened to be the day they were playing the Pirates movie so we turned it into a day of playing pirates & what kid doesn't like to do that?!)
- Geocaching or Treasure Hunting as we call it
***TOTAL COST: $20.00
       Movies (free + concessions: $20.00) We have 5 kids & since we don't have to pay for the movie it's fun to have money to buy goodies so we are giving them each $4.00 to spend on concessions, Geocaching is Free! We gather little trinkets we find from time to time or small toys the kids don't want anymore in our geocache bag so they are always ready.

If you are interested in the brochure template I used in Microsoft Word I will place the links to download them from 4shared below.  Beware, I put them together in like 10 minutes but the kids thought they were awesome & have been carrying them around like they are gold & it keeps them off my back constantly asking what we are doing this week!

Spring Break Schedule for Kids who can Read: http://www.4shared.com/file/noMrpzqG/spring_break_schedule.html

Spring Break Schedule for Kids who cannot read: 
http://www.4shared.com/file/sZ8O0oM5/spring_break_schedule_twins.html






Sunday, September 25, 2011

Noah's Upcoming Birthday

Noteworthy Birthday Boy Birthday Invitation
Invitations for all occasions: graduation day, birthdays, & weddings.
View the entire collection of cards.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

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!

Thursday, July 21, 2011

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.


Monday, June 6, 2011

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!

Saturday, March 12, 2011

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?