Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Productive Day: 1st Day of Classes....and home time for momma....

So...today was the 1st day of classes for the kids. It's officially the 1st week of school. (I am jumping ahead but still need io go back and post our "last Hurrah, pt 2".) I was so prepared. So organized. So ready. However, the morning was crazy and everything seemed to go wrong. I won't bore you with all the details but after all my preparation....it was not how I imagined. It seemed like everything was going wrong, which caused me to be very forgetful. Neverthless....we got out the door on time (Just not as early as I wanted). So, once I was on the way to school, I realized I left all of my shopping lists at home (grrr). Baby was majorly crying because he got woken up to early.
Andrew and Jeremy planned to wear matching shirts so we had to take a picture once they got to school. Needless to say, they got "poked" a lot today.
Without shopping lists and a fussy baby, I needed to to go to plan "B". I nervously ran to Trader Joes, hoping I would remember my list (a little daring). I abandoned the rest of the errands due to fussy baby. I wanted to get a bunch of ingredients to make healthier snacks for my kids and I was determined to bake while they were at school. I forgot a few things, but thankfully remembered everything I needed for the recipes. When I got home, I laid the baby down and had a quiet house to be productive in.

{Side Note} I have been following a high school classmate's blogs (not sure she really knows how much):

and

Wow....She is busy. She has 6 kids and homeschools and writes 3 blogs (one is for editors and publishers ,so I didn't list it). In the midst of it all, she is inspiring all of us (who are trying to get by with some success). She has inspired me a lot (probably doesn't know this either). I vowed to start the year off more organized and structured. I am hoping this lasts longer than the 1st month of school. I also want to be better about my meal planning, preparation, and serving less processed food to the kids. Her blogs have been a wealth of information for me. I got these recipes from her and wanted to make sure I started off on the right foot by making a couple today.
I got my Trader Joes ingredients out and made homemade, healthy, granola bars.
Here they are (above)...just before going in the oven.
And...here they are (above) after cooling and being cut into bars.

Then, using almost all the same ingredients (adding a couple things and taking 1 out), I made Cranberry, Blueberry Oatmeal Cookies.

I think I will have some happy kids for their after school snack time!

So.....feeling somewhat accomplished, with all of my quiet time baking, I got my new school schedule printed out for tomorrow. I was inspired by a book and other people's schedule's to make our own. We have every half-hour accounted for in the whole day. This schedule (below) is 4 pages long and we have a different one for each day that the kids are home. Again....I hope we can stick to it longer than the 1st month of school. :)
And, finally.....I got the kids' charts printed out and put in their slots in the classroom with all of their chores and tasks to be done each day.....
Overall.....a very productive day, for the 1st day the kids were gone. And, I got 4 "thumbs up" from the kids when I picked them up...they enjoyed all of their classes and teachers. Hope I can get this much done every day (although I would like future days to start off a little better ). :)

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