Pondering Proverbs 31:27

Proverbs 31:27 says: She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.

What does that mean to you? This verse makes me really think about how I spend my days. It's so easy to get caught up in the "Tyranny of the Urgent". The children need help with their schoolwork, the phone rings, the bills need to be paid, the clothes need to be washed, errands need to be run, meals need to be prepared, etc. We can find ourselves so caught up in the busyness of our day that we forget the real reason we are home if we are not careful. Are your days filled with honoring the Lord as you serve your families?

Menu planning

Menu planning is another thing that I tackled a few years back when I was trying to organize my life. I really got tired of sitting down every week and planning out what we were going to eat. The older I get, the more I don't want to reinvent the wheel. LOL! Creating a menu for the entire month lowers my stress level and I'm all about lowering the stress level. A friend shared her blank calendar with me and I planned out the menus. I also put a few alternative menus at the bottom, just enough funds were running low or the meat we needed wasn't on sale that week. I'll post a copy of the blank menu planner and also a copy of our completed menu planner. Believe me, in the long run, it WILL make you life easier. And yes, it will take you an hour or so to complete it, but it's take well spent. Then, next week, you want have to spend time thinking about what you are going to eat. Just make your shopping list from the menu planner! Let me know if I can help you with this endeavor! Don't get overwhelmed! Remember, this is to help you SIMPLIFY your life!

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dfvcbjxw_1fbvjwj

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dfvcbjxw_3gsxz2g

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dfvcbjxw_4dqztdw

Vision Forum drawing - Ends Friday, October 26!

Kim over at Life in a Shoe is sponsoring a $750 VF giveaway, and five families will win their dream list--up to $150 worth of products. All you do is come up with your own list of VF items, announce it on your blog, and link back to her post by tomorrow, Friday, October 26.

Here's my list:

Preparing Sons to Provide for a Single-Income Family - $12.00
Boys at Work Set (2 Books) $18.00
Raising Maidens of Virtue $20.00
The Family Worship Book - $20.00
The Spotless Bride (CD) - $10.00
A Church in the House - $12.00
The Return of the Daughters - $20.00
All-American Boy's Crossbow - $22.00
Before You Meet Prince Charming - $12.00

If you don't get the Vision Forum catalog, click here for a link to a download of the catalog as a pdf.

We finally did it! We have a blog!

Welcome to Creative Tips for Moms! I hope this will be a blog that you will frequently visit. One of my creative daughters has worked hard this week making this blog become a reality for me. She loves working on the computer and she also likes to help her Mom get her "to do" list done. :-) I think she has done a wonderful job!

One of the gifts the Lord has blessed me with is the gift of organization. I found out early on in my homeschooling journey that one of the keys for us having a successful day in school was to start our day with an organized home. So, first I'll be sharing some tips for organizing different areas of your home and life at first. Don't worry if organizing isn't "your thing" because I have other creative tips to pass on as well. Hopefully, I will share something that will bless your home as you serve your families.

I think the first place to start in organizing your home is to declutter. I learned from a mom of eight a few years back that "less is better". The less we have to take care of, the easier it is to manage our homes. I like to declutter our home about every two months. We will have a "declutter day" and everybody is responsible for cleaning out their drawers, closets, and rooms. Our goal is to get rid of stuff we aren't using! We like to fill up a big black trash bag and haul it to the trash can. We will make a pile for donating to Goodwill or the Salvation Army or to families that we know can use those items. We enjoy the fruits of our labor when we have finished. I have found that doing this every few months helps keep the clutter down and actually makes the job easier in the long run.