Avalinette's MAP

Avalinette

Yesterday was interesting. Despite getting much less than usual sleep the night before and feeling exhausted all day I got a lot done:

• laundry all folded and put away (with some help)
• talked to hubby about school options (a big reason I've made little progress is because I keep putting it off mainly because I hadn't talked to him)
• finished off and bagged chicken stock in one cup servings in the freezer
• put lamb bones and veggies into crock pot for more stock
• took kids to school and survived: usually their 1 1/2 hour session exhausts me, but yesterday it didn't
• kept everyone fed and happy (including packed lunch for hubby) 

I'm sure I did other stuff too. I had one of those amazing afternoons where everything works. The kids watched no tv. I set them up outside to do painting while I worked in the kitchen. Miss 2 got distracted by outside and went to ride a scooter and then Miss4 brought her painting work inside (but she's 4 and didn't mess ) Miss 2 then decided she did actually want to paint but was happy to paint outside. I kept the paints in the kitchen with me and both of them came up to me periodically with their paint trays to ask me to squeeze more paint in so they didn't run out of paint, but also couldn't go crazy with all the paint.

Today, playgroup cancelled itself by no one showing up due to sickness so I did some school with the kids and then had them play in the lounge (and now they're watching youtube: movie of the day is the excavator song )

I am feeling lazy.

Angeline

My 2 yr old granddaughter helps me sort laundry when I babysit. The bigger kids "fold" and sort and bring stuff from the dryer. I get them to gather up any dirty clothes, and do a couple of loads while we wind down for bedtime.

Avalinette

@frillyfun, that's pretty awesome. I think my washing machine is more complicated than yours...and we have no dryer, though on some days the kids will help hang out clothes...actually, the washing machine just beeped now, so maybe I'll go switch off their movie and take them outside with me. My kids also sort clean clothes sometimes, but I do the folding (or not folding) and putting away because I like control over Miss 4's outfit choices (and I put her clothes away in fully assembled outfits so she can dress herself).

In my family of origin the three oldest kids (15, 13, 11) did the entire family's laundry...I look forward to that day.

Avalinette

@Angeline, now I wish you were my mother :P

Avalinette

I crashed yesterday: but not a surprise really. I still took kids to school and doctor and went to my antenatal appointment and did a little shopping, but I only did a bare minimum of chores and spent a lot of time lying around, sleeping or eating chocolate. (I didn't do the breakfast dishes till about 5pm).

Avalinette

This past week I:

• painted my nails (but bit them down anyway ... I think it's still less biting than unpainted though)
• took Miss 2 to the doctor again (she's been coughing for 3 weeks now)
• made home made food everyday (except for fish and chips Friday) including lunches on the days H needed them
• finished up two lots of sock (chicken and lamb)
• washed the majority of the dirty laundry (caught up all last weeks)
• did some extra clothes folding and putting away to make up for the fact that we didn't start the week with a full week's clean clothes in the closets
• took kids to two lots of school and a music lesson
• made progress in school decisions for next year (lots of thinking and talking and writing down and also made appointments for 2 school tours)
• Did a little bit (probably less than an hour all up) of homeschool stuff with Miss 4
• Kind of managed dishes: there's been a lot of not getting breakfast done till 5 pm and not doing dinner stuff till the next day.

Tomorrow (Saturday) I need to:

• clean the kitchen to the point it's functional again
• cook bulk bolognese
• cook bulk chicken wings
• hopefully do something off the Marie-Kondo list

This coming week:

• 2 lots of school plus a music lesson
• talk to hubby about school next year stuff and be ready for first school tour on Tuesday
• organise optometrist appointments
• email naturopath
• (maybe organise skin dr appointments?)
• do laundry every sunny day
• make meals
• keep the kitchen clean
• do more homeschool
• (maybe visit friends)
• (maybe invite a family over for Friday dinner)

Avalinette

Another job for the coming week (which probably means something else won't get done):

• Clean the oven. I have my monthly house clean on Tuesday so I'll start the job (oven racks in to soak and bicarb paste in the oven) in the morning and the cleaners can do the horrible scrubbing part in the afternoon.

Today, Saturday, I have done the kitchen clean and two lots of bulk cooking (which means the kitchen needs to be cleaned all over again...sigh...we're onto our third dishwasher load of dishes for the day and not done yet because hubby is making pancake batter now...yum). We have decided not to go to tonight's church thing so I have a bit of extra time this afternoon. I still need to finish seasoning the bolognese and package it for the freezer.

Avalinette

Last week:

• Did 2 lots of school plus a music lesson  
• Did talk to hubby about school next year stuff and be ready for first school tour on Tuesday 
• didn't organise optometrist appointments
• didn't email naturopath 
• did do laundry every sunny day  ...(but we're still short of clothes this week )
• did make meals 
• did keep the kitchen clean 
• did do more homeschool 
• Did invite a family over for Friday dinner 
• Did clean the oven (though I'm not actually happy with it's state of cleanliness)

I had a productive day on Saturday I sent hubby and kids to the kids birthday party we had to go to and I stayed home. I cleared up my kitchen noticeboards (meant to be my command centre but was so messed up with rubbish it looked awful and was totally unuseable) and now I get a happy feeling every time I see them. I also got started on sorting and purging my sentimental stuff, which is pretty major because I've been really putting off getting started on in and I think that now it's started it will be easier to keep going. Saturday's work involved sorting a lot of love letters ...hubby and I used to write lots to each other

After Saturday morning, the already full weekend got even busier with a few extra unplanned things thrown our way, so we've started this week completely exhausted.

This coming week I need to do:

• 2 lots of school and music lesson
• organise optometrist
• email naturopath
• email SIL
• do laundry every sunny day
• homecooked meals everyday (except one)
• more productive stuff for kids and less tv
• people over for Friday dinner
• I don't think I have the energy for a playdate, so: organise a play date for next week

Avalinette

Also, this week or sometime soon, I need to

• cook bulk chicken (I already have my ingredients)
• make pate (need to buy ingredients as well)

And, this week or in the next few

• start chore list for Miss 4 
• start pocket money for Miss 4
• have a trial at toilet training Miss 2

Avalinette

I want to report a little win. I get one evening off (no kid duties) most weeks. Usually, on this night I just crash and do something like have a bath and read a book because I'm too exhausted to do anything else. However, the last two weeks, I've actually gotten out my sewing machine and started mending clothes . 

Avalinette

Last week's wins were mainly managing to stay on top of all the everyday stuff and coping with out of the ordinary things like a car breakdown and subsequent getting home on public transport from an area I didn't know with 2 children in tow (at least I didn't have to deal with the car: H did that, and I decided to take the children away because it was hot and we'd run out of drinking water and whiny children are really stressful when you're organising car towing).

• did school and music lessons
• did lots of laundry (even on the windy/rainy day)
• cooked all the meals...and even on fish and chip night, instead of buying fish and chips, we bought fresh fish and cooked it at home.
• Cooked the bulk chicken dish

Saturday was also a good day: we spent the morning buying garden stuff and then digging and planting seeds (it's the start of Spring here); I sorted and purged a little bit more of my sentimental stuff; and in the evening we ate out at a restaurant we had a voucher for (we couldn't get babysitting, so the kids came along and it wasn't really a date night as we'd initially planned.)

I didn't do any of the extra type stuff so this week I'll need to

• organise optometrist
• email naturopath
• email SIL
• email a friend
• email school re: next term
• order supplements

As well as

• school and music
• laundry
• cooking
• productive stuff with kids (less tv)
• get ready for vacation next week

MrsJon

@Avalinette ; Sorry about your car trouble, that sounded quite stressful.

Hope you have a great vacation!

Avalinette

Thanks @mrsJon. Luckily the car trouble was caught early and was a quick fix: it broke round 9 and we had a fixed car by 12pm. The bus ride was a fun adventure for the kids so I enjoyed watching them enjoy it.

Avalinette

So this week I did all the meals, laundry and school/music lessons (though I realised on music lesson day that she hadn't practiced all week...she supposedly practices every day...ha!) but didn't do any bulk cooking (did use up freezer meals).

• I did all the emails in addition to some extra adminy things that came up
• I didn't do the optometrist or the supplements. Optometrist sent us more letters to remind us we need check ups...and it's 50% off a second pair of glasses for the next few weeks so I should REALLY get onto that.
• I don't think the kids watched much less tv overall. We did better at the start of the week but then rainy days and starting to get sick ruined it. I did do one cool day of crafts and more intense learning stuff than usual.
• I didn't get as much holiday organising done this week so we'll be a little later getting away tomorrow morning than I'd hoped.

Saturday and today (Sun) was a bit of a wash. H was out all day Saturday with 3 back to back activities and Miss 2 was sick. She wasn't unhappy but was very clingy and nursed a lot so I spent a lot of time giving her attention. She had a fever yesterday afternoon and overnight. I missed church community group on Sat evening and church this morning staying home with her. I didn't do any of my Saturday jobs.

Tomorrow we leave for holiday so I have no goals for the week other than enjoying the holiday

Avalinette

We had a lovely holiday which was enjoyed by all. 

I had a pretty productive weekend as well. I made two big meals and now have cold chicken in the fridge for the week and two more meals for the freezer. I sorted through more of my sentimental stuff. I'm kinda annoyed by it: I'm managing to throw some of it out but there's still a lot left. Each individual item gives me joy and I want to keep it, but in a pile it just looks like a lot of stuff. So, as a box it makes me kinda depressed: why have I kept all this stuff?...but if I look inside it's full of lovely memories.

This week

• That list of admin type things I have to deal with just grows every week that I don't get them done. So my list now has 5-6 items on it that need to get done. (I did three yesterday )
• No tv unless the lounge is tidy. I can finally do this because Miss 4 can tidy the lounge without any help from me so I can just leave her to it instead of it being a job I have to do
• Attempt some toilet training for Miss 2? Maybe, I left her without a diaper all morning this morning and did some potty sit time, but I'm really not feeling it.
• Switch food money budget and discretionary spending over to cash so we'll be stricter with it. (We've had some more unexpected expenses come up and our finances are getting a bit sticky   )
• Work out a fortnightly 'cheap' food menu and organise grocery delivery (instead of just buying whenever the mood strikes.) By cheap food, I really just mean mince and chicken rather than steak and less junk food.

Avalinette

Also, we had a play date yesterday with friends who live a little way away (one I've been trying to plan and then having to cancel for ages)

We're going swimming tomorrow with other friends

And we have people coming over for dinner on Friday night.

So, that's three of my other goals done.

Avalinette

I got my three year anniversary badge

As usual, my main achievement has been growing bigger kids  

I'm happier and less depressed about my life than I was a year ago. I feel a lot more like I can take things in my stride.

My house is tidier and more organised and I have better systems in place for staying on top of everything than a year ago (though there's still much room for improvement).

My husband is happier within himself and I think is also feeling more organised and top of things (though he would also agree on the room for improvement). His attitude and outlook on life has shifted and he's been better able to stick to and carry through projects. I'm sure we're building off each other with this (or maybe I'm just building off his positive energy).

Hubby has had much more success seeing the results of treating low T: he has more energy and drive and has put on more muscle. (I say seeing the results of treating low T because I'm talking about what we see in everyday life rather than what the blood test says because a year or two ago his blood tests said he had high T but he still felt like rubbish, now the blood results show lower but he feels better.)

Avalinette

This week my main focus is on my health. I started these things last week already. To that end I want to:

• Monitor my water intake and drink more water. (I started just with monitoring and realised I drink a lot less than I should :P)
• Eat something iron rich every meal (my blood showed low iron).
• Take supplements twice a day (I tend to forget the second lot).
• Put scar reducing cream on my shingles scars (they don't look too bad to me, maybe because I'm used to them, but hubby has mentioned them a few times so I think it bothers him: and they are on my face after all.)  
• Be careful with my sugar consumption: try not to have too much at once. Also monitor my blood glucose. I got a monitor last week because I apparently have a small risk of GD and I am refusing to do the glucose tolerance test, but if I'm monitoring my own blood sugar then that gives me peace of mind. So far my numbers have been good.
• Speak to the GD people at the hospital and check I'm doing the right thing.
• Get blood drawn for the pregnancy blood test I'm supposed to do this week/should have done last week. 
• Make physio appointment.
• Get more exercise: do more squats; maybe go swimming; maybe something else

Also

• Fill out enrolment form for school.
• Get in contact with school to ask some questions.
• Keep giving Miss2 diaper free time at home. (We've done 3 sessions: she's happy and cheerful about sitting on the potty for long dry sessions and will sometimes come to the potty of her own accord after making a puddle on the floor, but has not yet produced anything in the potty and I'm not sure she understands)

Avalinette

I am sooooo tired. Hubby and I are both dragging ourselves out of bed in the mornings and then dragging ourselves around the day at the moment. So, I don't feel like doing anything I think part of the problem is the kids getting up earlier and earlier (the sun and the birds are up earlier every morning) and even when they don't wake us, my body is waking up at 5:30 anyway. H and I are getting to bed earlier and getting around 9 hours of (slightly broken) sleep a night, but it's not as much as we used to get. And, while Miss 2 is compensating for her early mornings by having a longer nap, I'm struggling to sleep during the day now for some reason (I'm exhausted and lying down but feel kind of buzzed and can't sleep...Miss 4 being awake and playing next door doesn't help, but I can't change that). Anyway, I thought I'd really fallen down on my goals last week because I felt like I just couldn't be bothered, but when I looked them over I didn't do that badly after all

• didn't monitor water intake (my excuse is that the kids broke my whiteboard marker and so I couldn't mark it down on my whiteboard as I did last week...somehow, minor as this is, it was enough to make me feel unable to keep track). I have now taken Miss4's whiteboard marker and am keeping track again.
• didn't track iron intake (that whiteboard marker problem again) but I'm pretty sure I had iron with every meal anyway
• took 2 lots of supplements most days
• remembered the scar reducing cream for the week (but forgot some applications over the weekend)
• blood sugar stayed down all the times I tested it
• didn't talk to GD people but will ask midwife for referral tomorrow
• did the blood draw
• made the physio appointment
• didn't really do the exercise...but did find a pool that gives me free entry on Thursdays (because pregnant) and am planning to go Thursday. It's even close enough to H's work that I can leave the kids with him in his office and don't have to pay babysitting if I want to swim laps. (One of my excuses for not going all this week has been the money it will cost...)
• Did the school enrolment form
• Did some diaper free time with Miss 2. She's happy to do it and happy to sit on the potty, but shows very little awareness of what's going on besides sometimes reporting to me after making a wee. No luck getting anything in the potty. I'm seriously considering giving up...which also means giving up on taking her to Miss4's once a week class...which means I'm considering pulling Miss 4 because Miss 2 wants to be there and Miss 4 doesn't so it seems a waste of effort and money...I'm considering switching them to swimming lessons instead.

I feel too tired to make goals for this coming week...

Avalinette

Well, my last week was ok. I managed to do some of my staying healthy/energy goals (drinking water, eating iron, taking supplements etc.) 

I went swimming twice Once at hubby's work and once at the local pool. I also put the kids in the day care at the pool and had some time to myself which was awesome The kids loved the day care so much I had to drag them away. Unfortunately, both times I swam my stomach started hurting after the first lap so I had to stop. That's really frustrating because I was hoping swimming would be a safe way of getting some physical activity. 

I saw physio last week...somehow I'm supposed to avoid heavy lifting (like picking up my kids), pushing and pulling things etc. The midwife also suggested I avoid stairs (near impossible in our two story house). I also need to do more pelvic floor exercises (no surprises there).

Anyway, last week I also managed to write out my to do list properly and categorise everything to make it more efficient and write out my stuff in my diary instead of just remembering everything. I really want to try hard to stay on top of writing down things I need to get done and getting them done.