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?