My Accomplished Day

I don't have a whole lot of days where I feel like from beginning to end I was left with a feeling of ACCOMPLISHMENT.  Today was one of those days, though!

This morning we got all the kids up and out to school.  Michael brings the two younger girls to the church and I bring the six other kids to school on Tuesday mornings.  After walking the little boys to their classroom in order to drop off a box of diapers for them, I left the school before 8am.  I drove from there to a park that I like to frequent, but there was nowhere to park since we've gotten so much rain!  I decided to drive over to the river instead and stopped at a different park.  I pulled out my phone, checked email quickly, sent a quick email that I'd forgotten to write earlier, and settled in to start on my Bible study.  That's where the "accomplished" part of my day leaves off a bit... because I'd apparently taken the study book out of my bag and left it next to my bed.

I decided to go ahead and go to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things for our kitchen.  I was feeling like the kitchen was taking over, and needed to get it organized before I went nuts :).  I found some "cracker jars" that look like large fat mason jars.  They were only $5 each, so three came home with me, along with a chrome "bread box."  I picked up two clear bins that are small with latching lids as well.

I also decided that while I was there I should be useful, and I picked up 5 gallons of milk and 4 containers of soy milk, 5.5 lbs of ground beef, an onion, a can of chile beans and a can of corn.

When I got home it was just before 10am and I got to work on my kitchen.  We have 4 sets of meds at our house.  1) Medications taken daily that are pre-dosed in to a pill container or are liquid and dosed right from their container.  2) Medications that are for the rest of the month and are used to refill the pill container each week.  3) Medications that are for further out than this week because I buy in bulk... for instance 3 bottles of Ginkgo cost the same as one once you include shipping and bulk discounts, so we have extra.  4) Medications that are given for symptoms, such as Tylenol, Advil, Mucinex, and Benadryl.

I took the two plastic containers that I'd purchased and put all of the "extra refills" and all of the "regular refills" and put those in to the bins.  I cleared out a section of our cabinets that goes back in to a corner and is somewhat difficult to access... therefore rarely used... and put them there.  I had a third of these containers at the house already, and I put the daily meds in that one and cleared out a much more accessible place for that bin.  I then took the bread box and put all the 'occasional' meds in it!  I added the nebulizer masks, nasal syringes, markers used to mark lunch containers, and the canister of calorie additive that we use for the boys.  It closes up and you'd never know it was our little pharmacy on the counter :).

I also cleared off ALL of the counters at the house!  I moved some things around just for the sake of having a fresh look, like our convection oven and toaster.  I even loaded the dishwasher.

The cracker jars became the home to our sugar, a bag of coffee beans, and the thickening packets we use for Micah's drinks.  With those all looking similar (tho one is a different size) and the bread box hiding our meds, and the other meds all off the counter... and the counters CLEAN... it's amazing how clean the kitchen now looks!

My productive day then took a break while I went and got kids from school and church, dropped Kristopher off at the church to stay with Mike then go to karate lessons, and got everyone else home and occupied.  On Tuesdays I don't even make dinner once or twice a month... because we often get pizza for buy 1 get 1 and that's worth it to not cook :).  Today was no exception and I made cups for the kids and let Michael "cook" by picking up pizza on his way home.  I did do one thing though... I'd purchased an alarm clock with a dual radio alarm, and I set it for the afternoon and bedtime doses of medication for Wesley.  That way if we get in from school and I don't remember to give it to him right away, soon an alarm would sound (well, the radio anyway) to remind me to give it to him.  It's hard to get in to new routines, especially when they break in to otherwise "unplanned" times!

After dinner it was baths x7 (Kris showers in the mornings), PJs, meds, teeth, and bed.  Believe it or not, the kids went down EARLY.

Then, I got to work again.  I started with cooking, and browned all the ground beef I'd bought earlier.  Apparently I need to invest in a larger frying pan, because I had to employ THREE to cook the 5.5lbs of beef.  Anyway, I cooked it all up, drained it (yikes, 24 ounces of FAT!) and then started making it in to meals.  I made a "chili-like" meal with corn, chili beans, hot sauce, and chopped onions.  Then, I made up some mashed potatoes and made some shepherd's pie.  The last of the meat I packaged to later turn in to taco's.  Guess what we're having Wed, Thurs, and Fri for dinner??  YEP!

With dinner for 30 accomplished, or at least the main dishes started, I set in to make smoothie drinks for James and Wesley.  I made 6 quarts of smoothie, freezing one quart and leaving the other 5 in the fridge to be drank in the next 48 hours.  No worries, they WILL!

After smoothies were finished, I put together a sandwich for Kristopher, some leftover Chicken Alfredo for the girls, set up the three boys' lunch boxes with their food for tomorrow, and decided that I was finished :).

I grabbed 8 outfits from the bins of pre-set-up clothes in our closet room and laid them out on the couch in age order so everyone knows where to find theirs in the morning.  Then, at 9:30... I decided it was time to crash.

Somewhere in there I found a small Hershey's bar and it called my name.  LOUDLY.  It's been gone for some time now too :).

Now the question becomes... how long can the kitchen counters stay clear and how long can we continue to put things back where they go?? :)