My Top 5 Favorite Smartphone Apps

March 31, 2012 By 3 Comments

photo credit

Dee and I have Android Smartphones (that he always gets for free or almost free) and use them for so much.  One of the huge advantages to Android phones are their huge selection of free apps.  I don’t have tons of apps and I have only paid for two of them.  I have to feel like they’re super beneficial and will get used often for me to pay for them.  Here are my favorite apps that help keep me on track, organized, and a little more efficient.

Chore Checklist - This is a great tool for setting up daily cleaning routines, like Michelle wrote about recently.  You can create morning, afternoon and evening routines and add different tasks in them to be repeated daily, weekly, biweekly, etc.  You can also set alarms to go off at different times of the day to check off what has been completed.  This is more helpful to me than a paper copy because I always know where it is and I can edit it easily.  It has been so helpful to me in keeping up with my cleaning tasks.

WWDiary - I believe in and have benefited from the Weight Watchers program over the years.  After I learned the program and felt like I could implement it, I looked for a free app so I could always have the ability to track my eating.  WWDiary is the best thing out there beside the online Weight Watchers program itself and it’s free.  You can calculate points, keep your food journal with points, insert activity points, and  keep a progress chart on your weight.  It also has the ability to calculate the old points or the new Points Plus.

Dotti - This is a Weight Watchers app as well.  Standard food lists aren’t hard to come by, but one of the more challenging things in trying to lose weight is going out to eat.  Dotti’s app lists hundreds of restaurants along with their menus and the corresponding points values.  It is super helpful!

Alarm Clock Extreme - I have a really hard time getting up in the mornings as I’ve mentioned before.  This app, of course, has the standard alarm clock functions, but it also lets you choose sounds, songs from your playlist or any recorded sound to act as the alarm sound.  I have used my favorite songs, but currently I have a recorded sound of my son laughing.  Silas has the deepest belly laugh you’ve ever heard and I don’t just go back to sleep or ignore it when I hear it.  It makes me smile.  This app also lets you choose different options for the snooze button which is my biggest challenge.  I currently have it set to “Solve Math Problems” as the snooze button.  I have to plug in the correct answer to simple math equations to hit snooze.  It really wakes me up!

WordPress - This is just a basic blogging app that lets me write posts on the go.  I’m using it more and more and it really helps me to use my time efficiently if I’m in a waiting room somewhere or riding in the car for a longer time.

 

What are your favorite apps?  I would love to get some ideas for good educational apps for kids.

Cleaning and Organizing in the Master Bedroom

March 30, 2012 By 12 Comments

The master bedroom has really gotten out of control lately.  Well, not just lately.  I can’t ever seem to keep it clean and organized.  It’s the one spot in the house where the kids aren’t allowed to play, so I pile things in there and just let it go.  I’m not the only one who does this, am I?

My nightstand is always littered with something extra, and this basket was the catch-all one day when I was cleaning our living room.  I just never took the time to put it all away!

My desk area covered mostly in stuff that should be in our purge pile.

More randomness on my book shelf.  And, please, no one comment on the month written on the calendar.  :)  I don’t exactly do very well with calendars and schedules.  Do you notice that Stacey writes all of those posts?

And now for the messiest place in our house…this one little cabinet in my bedroom.  If I don’t have a place for it and it’s small, guess where it goes?  I also put all of the kids keepsakes in here.  Real organized, huh?

I started by emptying the cabinet.

I recently found these boxes and got one for each of the kids.  I wanted something to keep little keepsakes for each of them.

I started going through the huge pile on the bed and sorting out the things for each of the kids.

The one thing I haven’t done anything with yet is the girls’ artwork.  I’ve got some ideas for what to do with this pile, but I would love to hear more ideas if you have any!

I put all of the stuff in the big basket away, moved the things off of our desk into the purge pile, and threw away a lot of junk!

After only one morning of work while the kids were at school this is what the bedroom looks like now!

The kids boxes put away in the cabinet!  I love them!

Wow!  I can see the tops of the furniture!

Look at all of that empty space begging for more clutter. ;)

Another clean surface.

Our bedroom is much neater…at least for now.  At least until clutter starts to pile up elsewhere and ends up finding its way to our bedroom.  Oh, how do I break that habit?

If you you missed our post yesterday about Jessica’s family’s adoption fundraiser, click on over to meet a great family and to see  a simple way you can help them bring home their 7th child!

We are linked up today as part of Project Simplify at Simple Mom and as part of the Spring Into Organization Blogger Home Tour and Link Party.

$7 for our 7th Adoption Fundraiser

March 29, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Do you all remember Jessica that wrote a guest post for us last month about Making Room?  If not, you should go back and read her post.  Jessica is the birth mom of 3 children and the adoptive mom of 3 more.  Her and her husband are currently in the process to adopt their 7th child and are fundraising for the adoption.

When Nick and Jessica started the process to adopt their 7th child, they thought that they were going to be able to complete this adoption without fundraising.  They had their adoption fund in the bank, and then God had another plan.  They needed dental work.  And car repairs.  And just this last week, Jessica had an unexpected surgery for a slipped disk.  And the thousands they had prepared for the adoption went to pay those bills.

Can you help them?

They started a fundraising campaign with A Charity Project called “$7 for our 7th“ (catchy right?).  The idea is that they contact  family and friends and ask them to donate $7.

Pretty simple.

But here’s where the cool part happens.

Can you donate $7 and then help the Irvin’s spread the word (ie. word of mouth, facebook, email, blogs….) to help get their story out?  All you have to do is share the link:  http://www.acharityproject.com/f/7forour7th.  Their hope is that the people you share with will also give $7 (or more, this is just a starting point) and over time, the ripple effect takes over and they meet their goal.

What is their goal?

$10,000

The great news is that they’ve already had over $3,700 donated!

Can you donate to their fund?  Can you help them spread the word about their fundraising campaign $7 for or 7th?

Jessica blogs at Defending the Fatherless.  Hop on over to read more about their family!

Blog Tour

March 28, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Getting Through the Day

We hope you like the new look here at Getting Through the Day and are easily able to navigate the site to find what you are looking for.  A huge thank you to Julie at Deluxe Designs for making this possible!  Before we continue with our regular posts, we wanted to give you a little blog tour.  Here are a few highlights so you can know your way around.

Navigation Bar - You’ll see different categories represented in the bar below the header.  Click around there to read more on a specific topic.  You can also use the Search Bar on the sidebar to find something on a keyword or an old post you’re looking for.

Advertising - We’ve added advertising options to Getting Through the Day.  Click Advertising at the top of the page and look through different options to promote your product, business, or blog.  There are Sponsor Ads on the sidebar that you can currently get for $5/month and we’re always taking guest posts from other bloggers.  Email us with your idea or post!

Featured Products and Posts - You can see different posts in a featured topic listed in the footer.  The topic will change periodically.  Also, in the sidebar, you’ll see a list of different products we love and use in our homes.

Check it out, click around, and let us know what you think!

Also, we can’t forget to mention more about working with Julie at Deluxe Designs.  Julie is incredibly talented, easy to work with, and very affordable.  We found her online and started browsing the other blogs she had designed.  We quickly knew she had the style and skills we wanted.  And I cannot tell you how patient she was in working with us in a complete custom design of our site.  We had some (ok, lots) of tweaks and changes to the design as she created it and she was very gracious in receiving them and changing things accordingly.  Be sure to contact her if you are looking for  a custom blog design on Blogger or WordPress.  She is currently on maternity leave, but is aiming to return to work in a few months.  Again, thank you Julie for all your work!

 

Resources to Help Create and Run a Daily Schedule

March 27, 2012 By 5 Comments

Schedule

photo credit

Once you’re convinced why you should have a schedule, you now know how to get started in writing a daily schedule that works for you.  Today, I want to give you a few resources to help you accomplish this.

For my weekly/monthly calendar, I use Google Calendar.  It’s easy to use, has a clean format, and is accessible from any computer, phone, or tablet with internet access.  One of the best functions of Google Calendar is the ability to maintain multiple calendars.  For example, I have my personal calendar, my husband’s calendar, and my blog editorial calendar,  I can view them all together or separately.  It’s really helpful when I’m thinking through scheduling appointments, time with friends, or travel.  I also have a basic Calendar widget on my Android phone that syncs with my Google Calendar so I can easily view it on my phone at any time.

For my daily master schedule, I use Google Docs.  I prefer using a spreadsheet for this since I use multiple columns for me and each of my children.  Any spreadsheet program will work, but I prefer online access and the way Google Docs works.  I just have one master copy of this schedule.  I don’t plug in the events into my calendar.  It just serves as a guide to go through my day.

For all you paper lovers out there, there are plenty of free online printables to help with scheduling.  Here are a couple of my favorites:

The Project Girl’s Morning, Afternoon, Evening Schedule - great resource for a broader schedule as opposed to an hourly format

Money Saving Mom’s Time Management Series - excellent resource chock full of articles, free downloads, and tips for different stages of life.

What do you use for your daily schedule?  Do you prefer paper or electronic?

Menu Plan 3/26

March 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment
mpm-1

 

Last week I didn’t implement what I had planned for meals a few different days, so I’m using a couple of those meals this week since I already have the ingredients.  And along with leftovers from our birthday dinner Saturday, I shouldn’t have very much to buy at the grocery store.  I love weeks like this where I don’t have to put a lot thought, time, or money into feeding my family.
If you’re wondering why we’re eating bigger meals at lunchtime, read more on my New Cooking Plan here.
Read more on my Freezer Cooking Plan here.
Read more here about what I use to do weekly meal planning.

 

Monday

Breakfast: cereal, fruit

Lunch:  leftover BBQ and fixins from our birthday dinner :)

Dinner: pb&j, apples, cheese

 

Tuesday

Breakfast: cereal, fruit

Lunch:  Creole Black Beans, rice, cornbread

Dinner:  pb&j, apples, cheese

 

Wednesday

Breakfast: cereal, fruit

Lunch: salmon patties, blackeye peas, rice

Dinner: bean and cheese quesadillas (*Lunch Freezer Meal), green beans

 

Thursday

Breakfast:  cereal, fruit

Lunch:   frittata, pancakes (*Breakfast Freezer meal)

Dinner: chicken nuggets, peas

 

Friday

Breakfast: baked oatmeal, fruit

Lunch: Macaroni and Cheese Cups, broccoli

Dinner:  pizza (with dough from the freezer)

 

Saturday

Breakfast: baked oatmeal, fruit

Lunch:  leftovers

Dinner: dinner at friends’ house

 

Sunday

Breakfast:  pancakes (from the freezer)

Lunch:  soup and sandwiches

Dinner:  Popcorn Fiesta

 

Check out orgjunkie.com for more meal plans!

 

Finding Joy — Sunshine

March 25, 2012 By Leave a Comment

After what feels like months of rain, cloudy days, and  cold weather, the sun has returned!  The kids are getting outside to play every afternoon, and I just overall feel happier and more productive on sunny days.  The return of warm weather means that the kids have ditched layers and theoretically I’ll have half the amount of laundry to do.  Warm weather and sunshine bring me lots of joy!  I wish I had taken my camera outside this week to prove it!

 What has brought you joy this week?

February/March Book Update

March 24, 2012 By 2 Comments


We haven’t updated in a while about our reading goals for this year.  I am finishing Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington from a collection of books in Three Negro Classics.  Booker T. Washington is one of those names I have heard through the years, but have never really read his story.  After reading The Help, I have thought so much about life for blacks in America, through history and now.  It was eye-opening and painful to be taken into the lives of the characters of The Help as blacks during the Civil Rights Movement.  It was astonishing to be taken into the real life of Booker T. Washington who was born a slave and lived through the trials of emancipation.  A couple striking parts of the book were how freed slaves gave themselves last names and middle initials and Washington describing the impact that the complete lack of knowledge of one’s ancestry has on a person’s motivation, success, and determination.

As a white mom of biracial children, I want to learn more about African-American history to teach my children about their own history.  But I also think it’s important for me as a white person to learn more about the lives of minorities, their history, stories, and perspectives.  I haven’t had to walk that road and my history and ancestry isn’t filled with this kind of oppression.  I’ve heard whites say things like “What’s the big deal about slavery today?  It’s been over for a long time.”  Then I read the words of Booker T. Washington and I see that his story and so many others will always be a big deal.  And though 125 years is a long time ago, I think of my 97-year-old grandmother and think these first-hand stories are only a couple generations behind us.

 

Project Simplify: Closets, Drawers, and Countertops

March 23, 2012 By 15 Comments

For this week’s Project Simplify project, I decided to tackle the paper pile that continually grows, gets cleaned off, and reappears on my kitchen counter.  This coincides with the two junk drawers in the kitchen as well.  I have tried to get a system for paper, but just haven’t created or maintained a good space to handle it all.  The plan has been to keep papers in one of the buffet drawers, but it’s just been a big mess.  And I end up keeping a constant pile of papers on the counter that I don’t want to forget about.  Here are a few Before pictures.

My kitchen counter which ends up being the catch-all for paper and junk

The junk drawers where papers get placed after being moved from the kitchen counter. This is in the middle of me cleaning them out.

After thinking through the system, I decided to get the paper out of the buffet drawer.  The drawer on the right still serves to hold various things, but I did clean it out and re-organize it.

No more paper! And since I freed up a drawer, I decided to spread out some utensils from another drawer that I frequently can't even open because it's so crammed!

Now, I can actually see what's in this drawer and it opens and closes without things getting caught! Ummm, I can't believe all that other stuff was in this one drawer!

Now for the new Paper Plan:

I bought some cute folders - 6 for $1.99. Not because I don't have a whole box of plain folders upstairs, but because cute is so much more motivating, isn't it?

All the papers (bills, coupons, invitations, cards, receipts, etc.) are now in categorized folders in this notebook. And there's a small bowl beside the notebook to hold all those random things I find throughout the day (hairbows, rubber bands, little toy pieces, etc.), most of which comes out of Ellis' mouth!

I still want a nicer looking solution than just this notebook sitting on my counter.  And counter space is a hot commodity in my house, so after some productive conversation with my mom today (my decorating and organizing consultant), I’m hoping to add a small piece of furniture with some drawers here:

 So my counter can look like this:

I would love to see how you organize the paper that comes into your house.  Leave a comment!  We all need ideas!

 

Laundry Solutions — Part 2

March 22, 2012 By 8 Comments

Yesterday I shared a laundry solution that is working well for our family.  Today, I’m going to share about my secret weapons!

Meet Vera.  She’s 6.  I can ask her to start a load of laundry and she knows exactly what to do.  She carries one of our hampers from the bathroom to the porch where the washer is.

 

She puts the clothes into the washer and measures out a scoop of laundry detergent.

 

After she’s got the clothes and detergent ready to go, she knows how to set the washer settings and start the load.

 

Meet Tobey, affectionately known as Mr. T.  He’s 4.  77 minutes after Vera starts the washer, Mr. T comes along begging (really!) to take the clothes to the dryer.

 

He knows to shake them out before throwing them into the dryer.  It’s quite a site to see him shaking out Matt’s long jeans!  After he gets everything into the dryer, he closes the door and turns the knob to the correct setting.

 

The most amazing thing to me about our laundry system is that it’s so easy that my children have learned to do the laundry!  It started by asking them to help me carry a load of laundry from the bathroom to the balcony  or from one balcony to another.  But Vera would always ask which buttons to push to set the washer, and Tobey always wanted to know how far to turn the knob on the dryer.  Thanks to the help of a 4 year old and a 6 year old, I can do a whole load of laundry without lifting a finger!  Yes, I still have to fold them and put them away, but don’t worry, the kids help with that too.

I’ve always believed that children should learn to help their parents around the house.  After all, they will one day need the skills to live on their own.  I honestly didn’t expect that at this age my kids would be such a huge help with laundry, though.  It’s amazing what they can do if we just have them by our side learning throughout the day.

I’d love to know, what are some things that your kids help with around the house?

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
«Older Posts