Sorting out our lives

With the new financial year fast approaching, I decided to look at not only our finances, but other areas of our lives that need some work. I'm using the new financial year as a clean slate.

Area's in which I want to work on are:

• Debts
• Kids quality time
• Routines
• Housework/organising/decluttering
• Me time
• Mummy, Daddy time
• Family time
• Friends

I'm going to sit down and work out ways in which I can improve on each of these areas. For eg. With Debts, I want to get the car loan under $10000 by the end of July (It's at $12400ish at the moment). Easy to say, but is it doable? I really hope so!

I will do another post once I've made a plan, but for now the best thing I can do for myself is to get some sleep :)

Coping with 4 kids under 6 - A typical day

A few weeks ago, I did a post on things we do that help to cope with 4 kids under 6 which you can find here.

I promised to post about a typical day in our house, and here it is:

7.30: Everyone up and out of bed

• Breaky
• Dressed
• Teeth
• Hair, etc
• The older 2 make their beds and tidy their rooms

Hubby works afternoon shift so he helps with the morning rush. 1 parent usually gets Missy ready for school while the other gets the boys ready.

8:45: Hubby walks Missy to school (this is their one on one time)

• Put a load of washing on
• Boys outside for play if a nice day
• Feed pets
• General tidy
• Hang load/start another if needed, but usally stick to 1 a day

10:30: Snack time

• Free play
• Feed bubs

11:00: Bubs nap (depends how he slept the night before cause he's teething, but normally this is his nap time)

12:00: Lunch

• Mr 2's nap
• Spend time with Mr almost 4
• Quick tidy
• Rest

2:00: Start getting ready to pick Missy up from school.

3:20: Back home, chill with kids.

• Homework is done on a Monday.
• Reading every day

4:00: Washing off and folded, put away if the kids are behaving.

• Kids play

4:30: Dinner prep

• Kids usually play outside, or I put a movie on. Missy helps mummy

5:30-6:00: Dinner.

• Bubs eats what we eat and often has a quick nap after dinner (again depending)
• Spend time with kids

6:45: Baths

7:00: Mr 2's story and bed time

• Missy and Mr almost 4 help mummy tidy up and load dishwasher (i usually unload it while making dinner)

7:30: Quiet time

• Watch TV
• Read
• Start getting bubs ready for bed

8:00: Bubs bed time

• Kids continue quiet time

8:30: Big kids stories and bed time

• I tidy up
• Prepare Missy's lunch for following day
• Lay out clothes
• Pack anything needed for the following day, such as Library bag for Library day etc
• Catch up on my favourite show
• Catch u on facebook, blogs etc

10:30: shower

• Start dishwasher as it's cheaper rates

11:00: Bed - I've been naughty recently and haven't been going to bed til almost midnight, this has to change lol.


That's pretty much how a typical day goes around here :).

Today wasn't a typical day, as Hubby is doing another double shift, so Missy stayed at my sisters lastnight and my brother called and said that he'll pick Missy up from school as he is coming to our house to use the gym.

Where I'm at...

Well as I'm typing this, I'm looking around my lounge room and it's in a bit of a mess.

Coffee Table
Envelope
Bubs beanie
Leaflet/flyer thing

Lounge
Blanket half hanging off the lounge.
Basket of unfolded washing
Towels 1 folded 3 aren't
A layby
Pile of new bubs clothes

On The Floor
My boots
Kids school bags
Mr 3's robe
Baby wipes
Kids drawings
Un blown up balloon
Lunch box
Cup
Bread bag tag
Hairband
3 toys
Menu plan
and a stool in the wrong spot...

A clothes rack - I think the clothes are dry lol

I've been walking over this stuff pretty much since I came home at about 4.15. It was worse than this earlier and have slowly been putting things away and getting the kids to help aswell.
I could use any excuse under the sun as to why I haven't finished, but to be honest It's sheer lazyness. I am very tired, but the amount that's lying around would probably take all of 15-20 minutes to tidy up... Having said that it's still not enough to convince me to do it lol.

Pretty much my whole house is like this, clutter lying around. It's doing my head in, and as much and as fast as I clean it seems to reappear again. I'll blame the kids, every flat surface, lack of time, how I'm feeling etc, but when it comes down to it, it just proves that we have WAY TOO MUCH STUFF.

We have a council clean up this week (was actually Monday but haven't done our street yet), So we carted some junk out the front, and was amazed to see how quick the broken walker disappeared lol. Its broken so I hope to god they aren't actually going to use that for a baby.

My husband had some old parts for a VH/VK Commodore. He's been meaning to get rid of them, but as the flyer stated no car parts he didn't put them out. I told him to, cause guaranteed some scrapper will come around and snap them up before the council come around. And that's exactly what happened. Within 10 minutes lol.

There's still sooo much we need to get rid of, but most of it is building rubble (bricks etc), so will contact a brick recycler for a quote.

But as far as insides concerned, I'm still finding it hard to get rid of things, as I keep thinking of the "value" of it. I hate storing things for garage sales unless its something worth putting on, but as far as toys, I just want them gone. I've gotta be ruthless! I really don't think my daughter needs 3 tea sets.

So I had a very quick look in her room today while she was at pre school, and I saw 4 things that went out for the collection. I've got my eye on a few more things that I'll box up and take to her pre school or the op shop.

I want to go through their books and take a heap to the pre school/op shop. I don't even want to begin to think how many touch and feel/shapes/numbers etc books they have. Mum just came back from Cairns so now they have more lol.

I've held onto almost ALL their clothes, except for a box and bag I sold to mum a few months ago, a few rotten ones that were binned and a couple of bags to the op shop. All of which have only happened this year. The boys clothes I will keep as we have 3 boys, but as far as the girls clothes I'll go through and sell/scrap/donate etc. Except the baby clothes (On the phone to hubby today, he called to see how my check up went, he said next bub we're going private. I smiled from ear to ear and said yeh well I don't want to go through this again, and he said yeh well we'll wait a few yrs, save up and we'll go private) Woohooooo!!! lol!!! As much as I'd love to go again, if he didn't I'd have to accept it. But he wants another in about 4-5 yrs :D So I'll hold onto all the baby clothes esp. the pink :)

So that's where we're at with the clutter, we're weeding through it slowly and have seen progress.

Financially, we're doing ok. We scrapped that car and lost out $400 but we're not dwelling on it, we're simply rebuilding our emergency fund. We've got about $250 left on the credit card, which will be paid out next Monday. We are now putting an extra $50 a week on the car loan, and have finally gotten to the point where we can afford Sanity Money for each other. We don't take it out regularly, actually most the time not at all, we've been used to not having it for so long, but it's great to know it's there when we want it. Groceries aren't strict necessities anymore and naughty naughty we're spending a bit on chocolate and other yummy stuff. Again we aren't concerned about extra money being "wasted" on luxuries, we're enjoying the fact that we can buy them without worrying how to pay the mortgage.

The pregnancy has been up and down, but looks like things are improving. I've been admitted a few times for certain issues, the most recent being last week for a reaction to the steroids. I was only in over night, and thankfully all was well. Bubs has caught up in his weight and is now looking like he's gonna be a big boy (not sure if I mentioned, but he was 2 weeks behind in growth), he's now 87th percentile in weight lol. I've got slight placenta previa, but so far they aren't too concerned and hopefully I can still have a vaginal delivery. I had low fluid, but this boy is making me soo thirsty and I'm downing drinks like they're going out of style, and at the last scan the level was normal :). The baby is at brim, and I have a scan next week or so to recheck the above issues, and to check the cervix length. Even though the Dr's concerned about pre term labour, I'm not too concerned now, I've had the steroids to boost his lungs, his weight is great, and he's a fighter, so I know he'll be fine :) But having said that, I'm hoping he stays put til 36 weeks at least. Unfotunately I'm still getting the constant Contractions, but I'm getting through them.

And no I still haven't tidied up lol.

Monday Madness

Here's my whinge session about yesterdays not so nice happenings. Be warned, it's rather long...

First off I was peeved over the rain still hanging around. My poor husband has had nothing but interruptions since starting this project (the retaining wall). Interruptions ranging from the weather, which we understand can't be helped, to people constantly ringing or dropping in and asking/expecting him to help them when they can clearly see he's busy. This is not aimed at any one in particular.

My older brother told my husband not to make plans for Monday MORNING as he was coming around to help install the gate. Well Sunday night he said to keep the afternoon free as he's working in the morning and can't do it. My husband got a little peeved as he'd already changed plans to be available in the morning to help my brother and also, he was working in the afternoon. Well my brother never showed up (My husband has also taken days off work because my brother has said he'll be there and either doesn't show up, or shows up far too late for anything to get done). Then I find out from mum that she's pretty sure he walked out the door in his good clothes, not work clothes, and was going somewhere. So there's the possibilty he has lied to us yet again.

So with the above making me angry, My younger brother and sister in law pop in. I got a little frustrated at first as I was having a break from painting the bathroom, but was busy baking treats for the day, and they just stood there whinging about their own problems. I politely listened as I've always been a listener and a shoulder to cry on, but thankfully my husband saved me by (deliberately) saying "So babe did you get everything finished in the bathroom that you needed to?" Of course I replied no, so that got them moving, but they kindly offered to help out by Sis in law watching the kids, and my brother helping either myself or my husband (ended up helping me). I felt terrible about getting a little frustrated, as they did help out a lot.

In the mean time I almost fell off the ladder, luckily the over toilet storage thing was there...

My husband had to leave for work at 3pm, which tied in with when my brother and sis in law were leaving, also the same time my two boys woke up. So this is where I started to feel a bit stranded and stressed. My boys were very full on and demanding food, drinks, and everything else. So my daughter thought she'd have a go at demanding more food. I was trying to see to all of them, clean up the paint stuff and keep my cool... it was hard to do.

Other little normal kid things happened like the constant bickering, not sharing, hurting each other etc, but with each little thing I was getting more and more heated.

Then I remembered I had my antenatal appt booked for this morning so I started searching for my antenatal card. I could not find it anywhere. I ripped the whole house apart and was getting really angry by this stage and found myself snapping at the kids (normally I'm a very cruisy, fun loving, happy person.. It takes a lot to get me to this point)...

I was angry over my brother stuffing us around after all we'd done for him (We were the ones who opened our hearts and home when he needed it the most, but I understand why the others couldn't do it)

I was frustrated with all the interruptions...

I was upset with everyone leaving me at once...

I was frustrated with the kids constant damands and whinging...

I was starting to get angry over other issues going on in our lives -  related or not...

I was fuming over not being able to find my antenatal card. I felt like such a failure and that all my effort and hard work trying to organise this place has flown straight out the window.

Then as I was looking for my antental card, I asked my daughter where Mr 1 was ( we were all in the main bedroom, I was on one side of the bed, bub was on the other, so I couldn't see him) I asked her what he was doing and she said drinking his bottle. I was like oh ok that's good... She started laughing and says haha silly boy drinking glue hahahaha... Me.. whaaatttttt? She grabbed the "glue" bottle which was actually my ultrasound gel for the doppler. The lid was still perfectly intact so that was good. I thanked her for taking it off him and then she laughed again at his ''big bottle'' I ran over to him and he had the bottle of bleach to his mouth!!!!!! I went into panic mode, I felt like the worst mother in history. My 1 yr old son got into the bleach... Could this day get any worse... I could not believe it. Where on earth did he get that bleach from... I put that in the bathroom high out of his reach... then it dawned on me... my little brother had to move everything in order to help paint. He'd put the bleach on the floor and I hadn't realised. Thankfully the lid was still on, but it had leaked and his face wreaked of bleach. I called the poisons centre straight away. The guy that answered was helpful, asked a few questions and advised me he'd be ok, he may get a little tummy ache and to just give him milk, water or food. I gave him milk straight away and he was fine. The only time he'd cry was when he didn't get his own way....yep that's normal so he's fine lol.

I felt so defeated. I felt like I'd fallen off a speeding wagon and was trailing along behind it hanging on by a thin rope. I couldn't seem to get any control over the situation even though I tried. I was stressed, upset, alone and defeated. I wanted my husband. I wanted to be in his arms. I have not felt like that in months and months, more like a year.

I decided to take a break from searching for the antenatal card and spend it with my kids. I felt terrible for snapping at them, they're only kids they don't understand. So we played for a while had dinner, baths and bed.

My daughter stays up an hr later then the boys, so I decided to put Dora on for her, and I was going to go through EVERY drawer in this house until I found that card. I went through the first drawer, nope. Second drawer, nope. Third drawer, is the new baby's newborn clothing, so I smiled and decided to look though his clothes. Then there it was. The antenatal card was in the babies newborn clothes drawer. I cuckled to myself. Is this a sign?? Is bubby trying to tell us something?? Lol, well I'll never know, all I know is that I found my card, and my son was happy and healthy and didn't have any ill effects from the bleach. What more could I ask for :)

I felt instantly calm after that. I had so much stress build up through out the day, and for it to go like that was strange. But I was happy none the less. Then my hubby came home and he was the icing on my cake :) I love that man so much! He's my best friend :) Nawww lol...

We've sorted out the gate. Hubby called my oldest brother (yes, I have a lot of brothers lol, 3 brothers and 1 sister.. and of course me) Who owns the company my (older) brother works for, and has asked for someone else to be sent out and that we would pay him. But we refuse to pay my brother because of his attitude, my (oldest) brother agreed and said to leave it with him and he'd call one of his guys and find out the price he would charge (my oldest brother isn't profiting from this and doesn't expect to). He called back later with the price - $220. We accepted. Yes it's a lot of money, especially considering my (older) brother was doing it for free, and yes the money will have to come out of the emergency fund. But the way we look at it, our driveway is a steep slope, so many times we've had to run after balls, bikes and kids on bikes due to the slope, so to us the gate is a necessity. We're happy to pay that price, as we've still got a bargain in the end.

So that will be getting done soon, providing they have time to do it, and also we received a call from the blinds company, they will be getting installed tomorrow morning between 9-9.30. I can't wait :)

So if you're still with me, thankyou for reading that and sorry for boring you with my issues lol. I'll blame these pregnancy hormones for making mountains out of mole hills :)

A busy, busy week...

This week has been a VERY busy week for us and unfortunately haven't got as much completed (outside) as we'd like, and here's why:

Monday: Mums, Swimming lessons, few errands, back to mums, and home. I was home for not even half an hr before hubby was off to work.

Tuesday: Blood test (Glucose pregnancy one) So all up that with travelling that took a couple of hrs, back home, DH got a little work done on the wall before heading off for Mr almost 3's PD Surgeon appt. Back home, Hubby off to work .

Wednesday: DH off to Bunnings to get some things for the wall. I had an ultrasound to check bubbys growth, back home, Hubby off to work.

Thursday: DH's RDO (day off work) went to whipper snip the lawn, it wouldn't work properly, checked it out, went off to get the part and petrol for the lawn mower, back home, mowed the lawn. General outside tidying (only about half an hr) before my brother came up to help install the gate (FINALLY :) ) Drilled the holes (in driveway) set the posts, concrete didn't set in time so had to call it a day. By that time dinner was ready.

Friday: Dropped the kids off at pre school, picked up mum, went to Kmart (needed baby shower card for today, and pay laybys), Got some fruit and veg, got ultrasound results, got pulled over for RBT, dropped mum off, back home, unloaded car, Hubby jumped in and off to work.

It may seem like there's plenty of time to do stuff while the other is off running errands, but it's impossible for DH to do anything outside with the kids, as the yard is unsafe, esp. for bubby (the older 2 love the mud piles lol)

He leaves for work at 1pm Mon-Thurs and 11am on Fridays. He has a RDO every second Thursday, but most of the time he gets called in for shifts.

We tried to combine errands as much as possible, but we're so limited for time before my husband goes to work.

I do what I can when hubby's working (around the house or at work). Most days I just get general house work done, but I try to get a little of something else done, such as yesterday while all the kids were outside with my husband, 2 of his mates and my brother, I managed to finish the primer on our daughters door frame. I also got a chance to scrub the mould off the bathroom roof, much to hubbys dismay (he down right refused to let me scrub it off without the asbestos mask, goggles and gloves :) He's a sweety :)). I don't feel like I've failed and could've acheived more, as with 3 very demanding kids and this rain, I'm surprised we're getting anything done.

And here's the good news, Mr 3 DOESN'T NEED SURGERY :) :) We're so thankful and so relieved!
The baby is growing well and isn't effected by my thyroid condition :).

Rocks in a Jar analogy

During the month of May, I chose to learn about and put into practice, Time Management. A lot of which is common sense, but one thing that really stood out was the Rock in a Jar analogy.

Basically it's regarding the things on your to do list. Most people tend to put off the bigger or more time consuming task for many reasons/excuses (I am one of those people). Whether it's because there's so many other things on the list that 'need' to be done, or you go to start the big task and the phone rings or some one pops over, or what ever other 'interruption' happens to come your way.

Which brings me to the rocks.

In a middle of a seminar, a professor pulled out a jar and filled it with rocks, to which he asked his class if it was full. They replied yes.

He pulled out some gravel and poured it into the jar. Again he asked his class if it was full. By now they'd caught on and replied probably not.

He then pulled out some sand and poured it in the jar. Is it full? They replied no.

He then poured water into the jar until it reached the top.

There is method in his madness.

If the Jar is filled with all the little bits first, like the gravel, the sand and the water, there is no way you'd be able to fit the big rocks in.

The rocks represent the important things in our lives. If you keep trying to do the not so important tasks and putting off the bigger ones, they'll never get done.

This theory really hit home yesterday when I was playing in the dirt with the kids. I had one of the kids buckets and was picking out the clay rocks in the dirt and placed them in the bucket. I knew I could fit more in and started filling the gaps with smaller clumps and dirt. I had a flash back to the article I read.

I saw first hand how everything fit nicely when the bigger rocks were placed first. I pictured my to do list, with each rock representing the more important tasks, and all the little rocks representing all other things. It got me thinking about how I really need to take a good long look at my to do list and start focusing on the things I 'never have time for' such as my expenses claim I've been needing to do since July last year. I don't know if I'm still able to claim it, or if it's too late, but I've made a start on it and we'll see what happens. If it gets declined then that'll really change my thinking, because as a result of me putting this task off, I would've lost money which is rightfully mine. So here's hoping it gets accepted lol :)

I will be posting a to do list focusing on things that NEED to get done, such as my sons Xray, Registering the cat etc, and not focusing on housework.

Once these tasks are done, I know I will feel like a load has been taken off, as I think about that claim EVERY day.

You can read the full article here