Tami Fox

Winning Wednesday – Getting Organized

Posted on July 29, 2015 by Tami

Getting Organized this Summer:

In your home and homeschool

Are you winning the war on clutter in your house? I thought Winning Wednesday made a great alliteration for today. Go through your morning routine quickly. Today is errand and grocery shopping day.

Home:

Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
Swish and Swipe
Start Your Laundry
Decide on Dinner
Check Your Calendar
Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.

School:

Review your list for school supplies today. Many stores have already started back-to-school sales. Don’t just buy things because they are on sale. Buy what you need.

Afternoon Routine:

Eat Lunch
Clear off One Hot Spot
Reboot the Laundry
Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
Drink Your Water
Zone Focus: Living Room – Take a few minutes to fluff pillows and make your living room look fresh and pretty.
Errand day: Make your plan for grocery shopping and errands. Pack water bottles and snacks for everyone. Pack up your library books that need to be turned in.

Family Fun: Plan a fun activity while you are out. Stop for ice cream or slushies. We stopped for ice cream last week, and it was a welcome treat after doing our errands.

When you get home from doing errands, have everyone work together to unload and put away everything.

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
Put things at your launch pad
Shine Your Sink
Clean Off a Hot Spot
Go to Bed at Decent Hour

Tackle It Tuesday – Getting Organized

Posted on July 28, 2015 by Tami

Getting Organized this Summer:

In your home and homeschool

Is there one project you have been avoiding all summer? Maybe you have been avoiding it longer than that. So today, I want you to TACKLE IT! Yes. Take a deep breath. And DO IT!

Set your timer for 15 minutes for the Home Assignment and 15 minutes for the School Assignment

Home:

Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
Swish and Swipe
Start Your Laundry
Decide on Dinner
Check Your Calendar
Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.
Clean out your refrigerator. Toss the science experiments.

School:

Check out the sales loss leaders for school supplies. Make a list since you will be out doing your grocery shopping tomorrow.

Afternoon Routine:

Eat Lunch
Clear off One Hot Spot
Reboot the Laundry
Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
Drink Your Water
Write up a menu plan for the next 7 days. Check your pantry and freezer and make a grocery list. This habit will save you time and money. Try out some new recipes with the slow cooker. It will save you time once you start back to your school schedule.
Zone Focus: Living Room – Clean off the flat surfaces in your living room today. Set the timer and spend a quick 15 minutes or less doing this.

Family Fun: Do something you have been thinking about doing for fun today. Doesn’t matter if it is something at home or if you go somewhere. Surprise your children.

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
Decide on a place in your house where you can put things for the next day. The FlyLady calls this your Launch Pad. It is usually close to your main entry of the house. You are going to use this every night.
Shine Your Sink
Clean Off a Hot Spot
Go to Bed at Decent Hour

Last week, I found this resource for Classical or Charlotte Mason homeschoolers. It is a free resource library. Check it out.

Magnificent Monday – Getting Organized

Posted on July 27, 2015 by Tami

Getting Organized this Summer:

In your home and homeschool

As we move into August at the end of this week, I will start transitioning to a school schedule along with tips on keeping your house cared for during the school year. I have been sending out recipes a couple of times a week. I plan on continuing that as well. If you have questions about caring for your home or homeschooling, you can email me at Tami@TamiFox.com.

Set your timer for 15 minutes for the Home Assignment and 15 minutes for the School Assignment

Home:

Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
Swish and Swipe
Start Your Laundry
Decide on Dinner
Check Your Calendar
Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.

Weekly Home Blessing Hour:

(Even during the school year, I do the Weekly Home Blessing Hour on Monday mornings with my children.)

You will spend 10 minutes or less on each activity. The one that takes the longest is washing and drying the sheets. If you have a large family, you may have to assign each person a day of the week to wash bedding. Also, you will save time if you have a second set of sheets for each bed. When you strip off the sheets to wash, you put the second set on the bed immediately.

In my book, Giving Your Children Wings, I write about how my weekly schedule works. If you want to have something in writing to help you organize your home and homeschool, I have a homeschool package deal for you on my website.

7 Parts of the Weekly Home Blessing Hour from The FlyLady:

Quick Dust
Sweep/Mop
Purge Magazines or Paper Clutter
Change Bedding
Empty Trash
Clean Windows/Mirrors
Vacuum

School:

This week make some plans to celebrate the first day of school with your children. There are lots of things you can do from taking pictures to going out to breakfast to having a scavenger hunt.

Afternoon Routine:

Eat Lunch
Clear off One Hot Spot
Reboot the Laundry
Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
Drink Your Water
Zone Focus: Living Room – When you are dusting during the Weekly Home Blessing Hour, go ahead and dust the ceiling fan, baseboards, and around the top of the walls at the ceiling.

Family Fun: Plan a water activity. We went to the free splash park last week.

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
Lay anything out that you will need first thing in the morning
Shine Your Sink
Clean Off a Hot Spot
Go to Bed at Decent Hour

Fun Friday – Getting Organized

Posted on July 24, 2015 by Tami

Getting Organized this Summer:

In your home and homeschool

What have you done for fun with your kids this week? Plan something fun for today and enjoy making memories with your children. Time goes by so fast, and they will be grown up before you know it. Treasure this time with them. Hopefully, you have had fun with them this summer learning new routines and enjoying time together. I will start transitioning my emails to organization and getting your school year start i my August newsletters. I start early each school year, so I have flexibility during the school year and end our year in early May.

Set your timer for 15 minutes for the Home Assignment and 15 minutes for the School Assignment

Home:

Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
Swish and Swipe
Start Your Laundry
Decide on Dinner
Check Your Calendar
Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.

School:

Did you clear out some extra materials you don’t need for your homeschool this year? Contact some of your homeschool mom friends and see if you can bless them with your excess.

Afternoon Routine:

Eat Lunch
Clear off One Hot Spot
Reboot the Laundry
Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
Drink Your Water
Zone Focus: This is the last day this month that we will focus on the Master Bedroom and your children will focus on their rooms. The rest of the weeks until we come back to this Zone will just be maintenance. For today, deal with that pile of clothes on the chair in your room. Have your children make sure they have all of their clean clothes put away properly. If they don’t fit in the storage areas you have, then declutter more.

Family Fun: Do something fun today with your children. Is there something they have wanted to do all summer, and you just have not done it it? Don’t forget that tomorrow is Family Fun Day. Ask your husband what he would like to do for Family Fun Day.

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
Put things at your launch pad
Shine Your Sink
Clean Off a Hot Spot
Go to Bed at Decent Hour

I post a new post each morning during the week at www.TamiFox.net.

Homemade Chicken Pie – Getting Organized

Posted on July 24, 2015 by Tami

Recipe and Menu Planning:

Chicken Pie

The Crock Pot meal I put in at lunch was cooking slower than I expected. It was probably because the pork chops were larger. So I had to put Plan B into action to use leftovers from the refrigerator for our evening meal. I had enough chicken left from our rotisserie chicken to grind up and put into a chicken pie. I had the ingredients to make the crust, and I had cream of chicken soup that I could use as a “chicken gravy.” There are a few quick helps for cooking from scratch that I use on occasion.

To make a pie crust:
(recipe makes two 8″ pie crusts)
2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup all-vegetable shortening or butter

7 to 9 teaspoons of cold water (depends on your altitude and humidity)

Sift the flour into a bowl
Cut shortening into the flour with a pastry cutter
Add salt and mix lightly
Add cold water
Mix by hand until a ball forms
Refrigerate for 15 minutes
Divide dough in half
Roll out one half of the dough on a floured surface
Fold in half and then fold in half again to make it in fourths
Lay over an 8′ pie pan that has been greased and unfold the crust to cover the pan

Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven until golden brown

Prepare a filling to put in the pie

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today I used chopped chicken and cream of chicken soup as the filling for my pie.

Then I rolled out the second crust and covered the filling. I trimmed the excess dough with a knife and made some ventilation holes in the top crust. I baked it in the preheated 375 degree oven until gold brown (approximately 45 minutes).

Throw Out Thursday – Getting Organized

Posted on July 23, 2015 by Tami

Getting Organized this Summer:

In your home and homeschool

Today, I want you to spend 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes in the afternoon throwing out things you do not need. It can be clothes, curriculum, kitchen items, stuff in the refrigerator, etc. You know where your problem areas are.

For many homeschoolers, having too many books and too much curriculum is a problem. Buying more bookshelves is not the answer to having too many books. Getting more storage bins is not the answer either. You need to thin out the amount of resources you have for homeschooling. My youngest child will soon be 9-years-old, and I have cleared my shelves of curriculum that he has outgrown. I have given away and donated a lot of these resources. I have homeschooled all six of my children, and I have been given resources over the past fifteen years. I love being about to bless others with resources I do not need.

Set your timer for 15 minutes for the Home Assignment and 15 minutes for the School Assignment

Home:

Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
Swish and Swipe
Start Your Laundry
Decide on Dinner
Check Your Calendar
Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.

School:

Go through your homeschool resources and purge the things you do not need.Find a homeschool mom friend who needs resources and bless her with your excess.

Afternoon Routine:

Eat Lunch
Clear off One Hot Spot
Reboot the Laundry
Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
Drink Your Water
Zone Focus: Master Bedroom: Clear off the dresser in your Master Bedroom. Have your children do a 15-minute drill to give away extra toys that they don’t play with anymore.
Spend an additional 15 minutes purging your homeschool curriculum.

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
Put things at your launch pad
Shine Your Sink
Clean Off a Hot Spot
Go to Bed at Decent Hour

Wonderful Wednesday – Getting Organized

Posted on July 22, 2015 by Tami

Getting Organized this Summer:

In your home and homeschool

Wednesday is a busy day with routines and errands. Just do your morning routine quickly.

Set your timer for 15 minutes for the Home Assignment and 15 minutes for the School Assignment

Home:

Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
Swish and Swipe
Start Your Laundry
Decide on Dinner
Check Your Calendar
Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.

School:

Review your list for school supplies today. Many stores have already started back-to-school sales. Don’t just buy things because they are on sale. Buy what you need.

Afternoon Routine:

Eat Lunch
Clear off One Hot Spot
Reboot the Laundry
Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
Drink Your Water
Zone Focus: Do a quick 15 minute drawer rescue in your bedroom. Have your children do the same. Put the donate box in your car to drop off while you are out doing errands.
Errand day: Make your plan for grocery shopping and errands. Pack water bottles and snacks for everyone. Pack up your library books that need to be turned in.

Family Fun: Plan a fun activity while you are out. Stop for ice cream or slushies.

When you get home from doing errands, have everyone work together to unload and put away everything.

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
Put things at your launch pad
Shine Your Sink
Clean Off a Hot Spot
Go to Bed at Decent Hour

I post a new post each morning during the week at www.TamiFox.net.

Taco Tuesday – Getting Organized

Posted on July 21, 2015 by Tami

My menu plan this week changed a little bit because I bought a large pack of hamburger meat over the week-end. On Monday, we had hamburgers. While I was cooking those, my son browned half of the meat for me to use in tacos and spaghetti. So today, we had Taco Tuesday. I also decided to use some of the Masa I bought a few weeks ago to try my hand at making homemade tortillas. I used the directions on the bag, and instead of using a tortilla press, I used plastic wrap and a frying pan to flatten the dough into thin tortillas before I cooked them.

The basic recipe for the tortillas was to use 1 cup of water to 1 cup of masa. I mixed it by hand and let it rest for 5 minutes after mixing. Then I rolled it into golf-ball sized dough balls. Next, I placed one dough ball between 2 pieces of plastic wrap. I used a skillet to flatten the dough. As I was doing this, I was preheating my iron skillet with a little bit of olive oil. Once my pan was heated, I placed the tortilla in the pan and cooked for 60 seconds on each side. After cooking, I put it on a paper towel while I cooked the additional tortillas. My recipe made 8 tortillas. They were delicious, and I will make them again when I make enchiladas or tacos. They were easy to make, too.

Tune Up Tuesday – Getting Organized

Posted on July 21, 2015 by Tami

Getting Organized this Summer:

In your home and homeschool

As I was looking at the calendar, I realized how quickly the month of July has gone. Take advantage of some play days with your kids before you start back to school. Make memories with them.

Set your timer for 15 minutes for the Home Assignment and 15 minutes for the School Assignment

Home:

Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
Swish and Swipe
Start Your Laundry
Decide on Dinner
Check Your Calendar
Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.
Clean out your refrigerator. Toss the science experiments.

School:

Check out the sales loss leaders for school supplies. Make a list since you will be out doing your grocery shopping tomorrow.

Afternoon Routine:

Eat Lunch
Clear off One Hot Spot
Reboot the Laundry
Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
Drink Your Water
Write up a menu plan for the next 7 days. Check your pantry and freezer and make a grocery list. This habit will save you time and money. Try out some new recipes with the slow cooker. It will save you time once you start back to your school schedule.
Zone Focus: Declutter your master bedroom closet. Let’s have a wardrobe TUNE UP. Toss the clothes that are stained and have holes. Put some things in the donate box that don’t fit any more. Ask your children to do the same thing with their closet. Don’t make this an all-day event. Just spend 15 minutes doing this.

Family Fun: Have a water balloon game or get out the water guns. We had a fun water gun game last week.

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
Decide on a place in your house where you can put things for the next day. The FlyLady calls this your Launch Pad. It is usually close to your main entry of the house. You are going to use this every night.
Shine Your Sink
Clean Off a Hot Spot
Go to Bed at Decent Hour

I post a new post each morning during the week at www.TamiFox.net. I will also send out a short email with these each morning.

Motivation Monday – Getting Organized

Posted on July 20, 2015 by Tami

Getting Organized this Summer:

In your home and homeschool

Have you had fun this summer and worked on organizing your home and homeschool? Don’t slack off on the fun stuff. You and your children need to have some fun for reward after working so hard.

Set your timer for 15 minutes for the Home Assignment and 15 minutes for the School Assignment

Home:

Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
Swish and Swipe
Start Your Laundry
Decide on Dinner
Check Your Calendar
Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.

Weekly Home Blessing Hour:

(Spend one hour or less doing this as a family.)

I want you to pick one day a week to do your Home Blessings. It does not matter which day it is, but it cannot be Saturday or Sunday. I do my Weekly Home Blessings on Monday morning, and my boys help me. If you get into the routine of doing this weekly now, it will be easier to continue it once you start back to school.

7 Parts of the Weekly Home Blessing Hour from The FlyLady:

Quick Dust
Sweep/Mop
Purge Magazines or Paper Clutter
Change Bedding
Empty Trash
Clean Windows/Mirrors
Vacuum

School:

Check out the weekly back-to-school sales for local office supply stores and chain stores. Look for loss leaders that you can use in your school. Don’t buy something just because it is a good deal.

Afternoon Routine:

Eat Lunch
Clear off One Hot Spot
Reboot the Laundry
Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
Drink Your Water
Zone Focus: Master Bedroom – Clear off your night table. Have your children clear off the top of their dresser. Do this at the same time and set your timer for 15 minutes.

Family Fun: Plan a water activity at home. We played with water guns one afternoon last week.

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
Lay anything out that you will need first thing in the morning
Shine Your Sink
Clean Off a Hot Spot
Go to Bed at Decent Hour