My Holiday To-Do List

Can you believe it is already November 15? I swear Halloween was just yesterday. I knew this season was going to fly by at a high speed rate. We, as a family, have been too busy to take any time to breathe. And I really don't want December 26 to show up and feel like we didn't enjoy ourselves over these two months.

At the beginning of November, I started a holiday to-do list. It's not on fancy paper, just my spiral notebook where I brain dump on a regular basis. I got out my calendar and looked through our events and tried to anticipate my major tasks that were ahead. Now that we are half way through November, I'll start focusing on what I need to accomplish in December.

Have you created a master to-do list for November and December?

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Does Your Life Seem Really Crazy Too?

Ever since school started, life at our home has been at a frenetic pace. Homework, soccer, field trips, work projects, meetings, birthday parties, blah, blah, blah.

I start my day at 5:45am with a run, speed through the day with work, chauffering kids, and housework, and then collapse into bed at 10pm exhausted from my day. My pillow has never felt so good.

I was excited about the fall routine and quite frankly our schedule is going smoothly, but we have little time during the week where something isn't planned.

Today, I have a reprieve.  I received a call from the school nurse this morning that our oldest daughter wasn't feeling well.

She's now in her jammies and wrapped in her blanket on the couch watching some TV.

I'm nestled nearby catering to her needs and catching up on my email and writing this post.

I think we're both happy for the time-out.

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Goodbye Summer, Hello Fall Routine

My family had an busy summer filled with the beach, the zoo, the pool, and a flurry of other activities.

But like all good things, summer 2012 has come to an end and luckily, my kids were excited to see it go. My oldest entered 1st grade last week at a new school and she was very anxious to ride the bus for the first time, meet new friends and her new teacher. She is so excited that my former grump-a-lump, I-hate-mornings daughter wakes up to a 7am alarm, gets dressed, brushes her hair, makes her bed, eats breakfast, and brushes her teeth without any nagging. Although today is only day 6 of the school year, so let's hope the new attitude continues onward.

While we love summer, we really look forward to fall. Three of us celebrate our birthdays and my husband and I celebrate our anniversary. And who doesn't love apples, pumpkins, and football? ok, football might be debatable.

But I am most excited about the new routine that THIS fall is bringing me.

My youngest will be in Montessori pre-K Tuesday thru Thursday from 8:30 to 3pm, so I now have 3 days where I can devote more time to our small business and hopefully some dedicated hours to my blog. Her schedule also leaves me Monday and Friday to spend with her, run errands, shuttle her to some activities, exercise, and catch up on housework.

I am craving structure after a loose summer. I want to make the most of our new schedule and be as efficient as I can during the week, so our weekends are free to relax.

How did your family's routine change this fall? Let us know how you are handling it in the comments.


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What Are Your Favorite Organizational Tools?

Today, I'm answering a question posed to me by BlogHer's Life Well Lived Campaign, "what are your best resources to help you get organized?"

Wife. Mother. Small Business Owner. Blogger. Runner. Wannabe Chef.

These are things that dictate my time and schedule. Some people (okay, my husband) might say that I'm old school when it comes to organizational tools, but when it comes to organizing my life I still prefer some rather archaic tools: paper and pen.

I still use a paper planner:

I use a paper monthly to-do list to keep myself on task:

And I use binders to keep it all in check.

But I'm married to a tech geek who gave up paper years ago, so I have acquiesced to a few tech products. I admit that I'm madly in love with my iPhone, iGoogle, and Evernote. While I doubt I'll ever give up my paper, I also see the value in technology. And the combination of paper and tech works well for me.

What are your best resources to help you get organized? Let us know in the comments.

Also, hop on over to BlogHer to read 35 Resources to Help You Get Organized. While you are there, enter the current Life Well Lived Moments Sweepstakes for a chance to win an iPod Touch.

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Planning for a Stress-Free Morning

This is our family's final week of summer. We are savoring as much of this last week as we can, because life changes dramatically for us on Tuesday, September 6, 2011. Our oldest daughter starts Kindergarten and my youngest starts her first year of preschool, so in other words, our mornings are about to get hectic.

I run a loose-y goose-y ship in the summers when it comes to bed times and wake up calls. I let the sun dictate the kids' bedtime and their tired heads have been hitting their pillows around 9:30 pm, not the school year bedtime of 8pm. Our morning routine will be the most challenging transition for our family. After long days spent playing in the backyard sprinkler, or at the pool or park and late nights, they have been sleeping in until 9:30 am or even later.

Unfortunately for my little monkeys their alarm will be set for 7:00 am starting next Tuesday. I am a total morning person. I get up by 6 am all summer long to run, so their new wake-up time won't affect me much. I know this will be a struggle for them, especially in the beginning. A jet airplane could be taking off right outside my oldest daughter's bedroom and she would still be snoring away.

I am anticipating a long transition period. I need to be prepared for some potentially hectic mornings ahead.

Recently, I participated in the BlogHer and P&G Life Well Lived Blogger Panel where they explored the topic of Prepping, Prioritizing, and Delegating for a Stress-Free Morning.

The panel was asked: What is the biggest time waster/issue you have when getting you and your family ready in the morning? What tips do you have to save time in the morning to get everyone out and ready on time?

I offered some advice that has worked for our family in the past and something that I will do again starting next week, I "make breakfast a breeze by keeping grab and go breakfast food on hand, like cheese sticks, hard-boiled eggs, yogurt tubes and bananas for those really hectic mornings where there is no time to sit and eat".

Now I'd love to hear your advice in my comments section. What is the biggest time waster/issue you have when getting you and your family ready in the morning? What tips do you have to save time in the morning to get everyone out and ready on time?

Also, be sure to read BlogHer's Life Well Lived Campaign, where they are exploring the topics: Looking Your Best, Getting Organized, and Getting Happy. While you are there, be sure to enter to win the $250 Visa gift card in the Life Well Lived Moments Sweepstakes.

Good Luck!

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July 1st ~ Time for A Mid-Year Review

Does it feel like this year is flying by? I don't know about you, but I want summer to slow down a bit so I can savor it. The days might be longer, but they are whizzing by a rapid pass.

Did you make personal, financial or professional goals or plans back in January for 2011? When was the last time you reviewed those lists?

The half way mark of the year is a great time to reflect back on yearly goals and plans to check your progress and make any adjustments, changes or additions.

What goals or projects can you cross off? What goals need to be adjusted or changed? Maybe a goal wasn't clear enough and it really needs to be modified. Did you blow away a particular goal? Push yourself harder and plan your next step.

What new ideas, projects or goals have sprung up over the last 6 months that need to added to your list?

Have you created and updated your Family Balance Sheet? My offer of a FREE spreadsheet is still valid. Get yourself a copy and update it regularly. This will help you track your financial goals.

One of my goals this year is to run a half-marathon. I signed up to run one in October.

This is one goal that I am having the most success with so far. Why? It was a clear, specific goal. It was also a reasonable goal for me. I used to run a lot of 5ks quite a bit before I had kids, but this distance is a new challenge. I found a race and created a training plan for the year. The plan and a blank calendar are posted on my refrigerator to track my workouts. It is in my face every day.

So far, I have been faithful with running 3-4 days a week and have a plan to increase the mileage slowly over the upcoming weeks. I'm sure I'll be a bundle of nerves right before the race, but I feel strongly that I'll be conditioned enough to complete it.

I have some other goals that I haven't been as diligent with and I need to use the following race analogy to finish the year strong in other areas of my life.

Develop a clear, specific, and reasonable plan. Run a half-marathon.

Designate a dead line. Date is set for October 16.

Work backwards to develop a time line and your steps to achieve your goal. I took a blank calendar and counted the weeks backwards from the race date. On Sunday, July 3, I'll have 15 weeks until my race. I am planning my workouts accordingly.

Break it down into steps. Each week, I am looking at my schedule and planning the mileage that I need to achieve.

Keep your plan/goal visible. My race plan is on our refrigerator. I see it every day.

Find an accountability partner. Whether it is a spouse, friend or family member, talk to them about your goal and ask for their encouragement.

Give yourself a reward. I'm thinking after running 13.1 miles, a big banana split will have my name on it.

How are you doing with the plans/goals that you made for yourself or your family back in January? Have you reviewed them lately? Let us know in the comments.

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Do You Have A Summer Routine?

Does life change drastically for you in the summer?


This is our first official week of summer break. Life changes in a good way for us in the summer. We don't have to follow any real schedule, except the one that we make for ourselves.

But there is so much that I want to accomplish this summer: the girls will need entertained, I am training to run my first half-marathon in October and I have some writing projects that I want to pursue.

I also have a garden that needs nurtured, a house that needs maintained, a balance sheet that needs managed, a blog that I am trying to grow, rooms that need painted, and last, but certainly not least my obligations to our small business that cannot be ignored.

I need to find a balance between enjoying and packing as much fun into our summer and meeting all of my obligations as a mom, wife, and small business owner. I want to develop a summer routine for myself, so that the summer doesn't get ahead of me and nothing gets accomplished.

I'm going to start by focusing on my favorite time of the day in the summer - the early morning, before the kids are out of bed. I head out the door around 6:15 for a run and then work on my computer until the kids wake up. They are sleepy heads in the summer and roll out of bed around 9am.

The rest of the day needs a little work as I get distracted very easily, by just about anything outdoor related.

Does life change dramatically for you in the summer? Do you have a summer routine to help you fit everything in? Let us know in the comments.

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Batch Griddling: Your Mornings Just Got Less Hectic

Our week day mornings just got a little less hectic.

I had 2 cups of pureed roasted butternut squash in the freezer that I wanted to use up. I found a recipe for pumpkin pancakes online and made two batches using the butternut squash in place of the pumpkin.

I flipped 2 dozen pancakes swatting little hands out of the way so they wouldn't get burned. Patience is a learned virtue.

Once the 22 remaining pancakes cooled down, I put them in freezer bags with a small piece of parchment paper in between each cake to prevent sticking.

Now on those hectic mornings, I can just grab the pancakes that we need and put them in the toaster or microwave them for a few seconds and breakfast is served.

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This post is linked to Works for Me Wedneday at We are That Family and Frugal Friday at Life as MOM.

My Binder System for Organizing My Office and My Life

I am a binder queen. I keep binders for many different areas of my life: recipes, finances, workouts. They keep me organized and sane in the areas of my life where I could easily lose all sense of control.

My recipe binder is a very important part of my kitchen. It is full of recipes from magazines, friends, and online that I have collected over the years. Some people keep their recipes on the computer, but I prefer my binder with its well-used, splattered pages. The first page in the binder is a master list of my family's favorite, quick fix, healthy meals.

My financial binder holds my monthly to-do list, my yearly goals, our Family Balance Sheet, our family budget, and our business budget and statistics.


I keep separate binders for our Business Expenses & Statements, Business Taxes, Health Savings Account, Retirement, my passwords (with alphabet tabs), and Workouts.

PK (pre-kids), I trained and competed in sprint and Olympic distance triathlons. I am as slow as molasses, but I really had a blast and took my training seriously. Remember, it was before kids, so I had loads of time to train and workout. This year, I am contemplating running a half-marathon this year, so I got out my Training binder. I use this binder to store training plans, articles, and my training calendar.


I had to chuckle when I saw my training calendar from 2004, the year before our first daughter was born. I wrote "Loser" on June 24 and the funny thing is I remember doing it. I totally blew off my workout that day.


Aside from the large 4 inch binder for our office expenses, I haven't spent a fortune on these books. They were all bought during the back-to-school promotions at Staples or Office Max for about $1 each. I am a bit obsessive about them being all white. I find it visually calming. But I have seen a variety of binders at yard sales and thrift stores for pocket change.

Do you use binders to stay organized? Let us know in the comments.


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Create a Monthly To-Do List To Keep Yourself On Task

Like everyone else, it always seems like I have too many balls in the air at once. I am a wife, mother, home manager, business manager for our small business, and a woman who would also like to read an occasional book or maybe take an occasional yoga class.

Around the time our second daughter was born, I found myself so overwhelmed and distracted that I missed paying the rent for our business office. I also got severely behind on some Quickbooks work for our business. Important tasks were slipping through my sleep deprived mind.

I had to refocus and basically suck-it-up. We are self-employed; no maternity leave for me.

I developed a monthly to-do list. It is broken down by my office jobs: business office, home office, and projects. It is filled with tasks that MUST be accomplished on a regular, timely basis. Tasks might be as simple as 'reconciling' or more complex like 'paying the payroll taxes'. I definitely have 'Pay Rent' on the list.

It is a visual reminder that I keep on my desk so I am able to glance at it daily. At the end of each month, I prepare the following month's list and make any changes for that month, but most of the tasks really don't change much, except for the 'Projects' list.

This simple, yet effective, list has saved me a lot of stress and time. I find great satisfaction in crossing off the tasks when they are complete...especially the 'pay the rent' task.

How do prevent those regular, yet important, tasks from slipping through the cracks?

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Twas Ten Days Before Christmas and My House is A Wreck

What moron schedules a major home improvement project 2 weeks before Christmas?



Oh, I guess that would be me. It seemed like a good idea 2 months ago when we scheduled the project. "It will be done in time for Christmas", we thought.

GRRRRRRR...I didn't factor in all of the cleaning that would need to be done after the project was complete.


Double GRRRRRRRRR......

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There Is Something Delightful About A Brand New Blank Calendar

I bought my new 2011 calendar.

Much to the dismay of my husband, I am still a paper & pen person when it comes to my calendar. I prefer a spiral monthly/weekly calendar. I like to look at one month at a time for planning. I use the weekly section for my daily to-do lists. I love to make lists and I love to cross accomplished tasks off my list.

My husband has set me up on a Gmail account and I have promised him that I will input events into the calendar, so that we have a master family calendar. So basically, I am keeping two calendars. But I just can't give up my paper and pen.

Because this fresh, blank page is wide open for events and opportunities...


...and it will eventually look like this.


A jam-packed month with pre-school activities, birthday parties, appointments and my daughter's doodles. I just love a brand new calendar.

Are you still a paper and pen person like me or is your calendar completely digital? Let us know in the comments.

Thanks for reading FamilyBalanceSheet.

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Are You Wasting Time And Preventing Yourself From Your Million Dollar Dream?

I read an interesting article yesterday in USA TODAY. It was written by Laura Vanderkam and it was titled, ‘Is time really money? For these millionaires, yes.’

The author spoke recently with a non-profit organization, Count Me In, which provides support to women entrepreneurs. The organization made an observation that women entrepreneurs who developed million dollar businesses had one thing in common. They used grocery delivery services before they made their millions.

While they were in a time period where they might have needed to save money, the women entrepreneurs realized that they also needed to maximize their time. The hour or two that they saved by not grocery shopping was focused on honing their skills, growing their business, or maybe chasing down lucrative contracts. For these women the extra $10 to have their groceries delivered was a small price for that extra hour or two. The author states, “they knew that you can spend time to save money. Or you can spend small amounts of money to save time, and use that time to earn a lot more.”

The article wasn’t selling grocery delivery services and it wasn’t saying that we should all use that service. But it was pointing out that, “there’s a limit to how much you can cut (in relation to spending), but there’s no limit to how much your income can grow if you value your time and use it well.”

I love it when I read something that inspires me. It did not inspire me to sign up for grocery delivery, but it did inspire me to think about how I let certain things suck time from my day or evening. I can just look at my day and tell you where I can find an extra hour or two of unproductive time and it won’t even cost me $10. That is very easy for me to answer…my time spent online.

I try to limit my computer time to when the kids are sleeping. But when I get on the computer, I get lured in to facebook, twitter, bravotv.com, the news, etc, and all of the sudden I realize that I just spent an hour flitting around the internet when I could have spent that time reviewing our balance sheet, working on our small business, or writing a blog post. I could have spent that hour being more productive, but instead I chose to waste it away. I have goals and dreams that will stay just dreams if I continue to waste time away.

This is something that I need to work on. Now that summer is here and we are on a different schedule, I have been working on refining my routine. I am trying to fit so much into my day: exercise, devotion, housework, office work, family time, meal time, and at the end of the day – ME time. Basically I need to put a value on my time. Of course my most important values are my faith and family, but after that is my work.

Will that hour or two a day spent more productively lead me to a million dollar business? I'm not sure, but I am posting the USA Today article above my desk so hopefully when I start to spend a little too much time on Bravotv.com I’ll notice the article and realize that finding out what the Real Housewives of NY are up to is lining their balance sheet not mine.

Do you spend money on a service that gives you more time to spend on growing your business or your balance sheet? What sucks time from your day that could be spent more wisely or more productively?

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