To wrap up the health and menus section I have a master grocery list adapted from Webmomz :

Download master_grocery_list_from_webmomz.doc

There is a page of most often used recipes such as basic whole wheat bread (for sandwiches, pizza dough etc), brown rice, yogurt, and so on.

Download delicious_whole_wheat_bread_recipe.doc

There is a page of master mixes Download basic_mix_recipes.doc   to make up ahead. Much to my chagrin I must admit I seem utterly unable to teach, clean, and cook well simultaneously.  Give me any two and I am good. Add the third and I am sunk. We have done bulk cooking and mixes to solve that problem. Somehow we got away from that over the summer and boy did we suffer! It tends to not be a problem in the summer because the school schedule was lighter. Right now with contractions hitting hard in the evenings it is crucial to plan ahead. This will be even more relevant once the baby is here.

I have a leftover food safety guide Download food_storage_safety.doc  adapted from this extension office.

This link provides all the info you need to begin once a month cooking. My gripe with many OAMC sites/books is that they make 30 different dinners in that day. It did not save money because the shopping lists had multiple tiny jars of things. Instead, we take six or seven of our favorite recipes and make four of each to fill the month. Basically take one of the weekly menus and double or quadruple it. The next month try a new one.  Another option is to double all the menus each week, eating one and freezing the other. After a few weeks of this you have a month’s worth of meals in the freezer.

Creative Homemaking has a nice printable menu planner that includes all three meals.  They also have some other nice ebooks you might like to print and include here such as homemade beauty care recipes.

In this section or in Other you should have an Emergency Preparedness checklist Download emergency_preparedness.doc  and go over it as a family periodically.  If you are rural like us you probably have to always be prepared for utility irregularities.

On a related note a first aid chart is essential.  A babysitter’s guide Download guide_for_babysitters.doc  is also helpful. Ours is taken from here. It is easy to assume an older sibling is prepared to babysit when in fact they may not have been instructed properly.

Ok that should do it! Start printing, ladies, and please send me a note and a pic when your journals are finished!

Donna Marie posted a great story on her blog today. Which house is yours? 

Ok, will try this again. I started my Health and Menus post earlier then lost it.  NOT a good thing since there isn’t unlimited time to post these days. I am dividing it into two posts since I need to get dinner going ironically ; )

This section of my binder has what I consider a basic assortment of resources – information regarding each child’s health history, dietary guidelines, pregnancy related info, home remedies that work for us, basic menus and recipes.  I don’t have a cookbook in here but rather the standby’s that are used weekly or daily that we need ready access to like bread, rice, yogurt, etc.

My Grandmother told me years ago about how Rose Kennedy kept an index card box that detailed each child’s health info – their shot records, allergies, history of childhood illnesses etc. I was intrigued but the whole idea remained just an anecdotal story to be filed away until recently.  Part of the problem is that the military does not release medical records these days so I have had to guess at recalling the dates of some illnesses etc. I devised this list to keep pertinent info for each child:

Download childrens_health_info_form.doc

Next I have my reference charts for pregnancy.  It’s hard to imagine that there will come a day when these are no longer needed at my fingertips. Sigh! It did cross my mind when filing them though. Brings back to mind what a treasure each pregnancy is!

Download wap_diet_for_pregnant_and_nursing_mothers.doc

Download herbs_for_pregnancy.doc

Next come the weekly menus.  I am still formatting these since I added breakfast and lunches to them. I have long kept a dinner menu to shop by but the other meals were catch as you can. I think I mentioned we are now on a new 5am/5pm barn chore schedule which my husband took over. It has been such a blessing. For years I have heard women raising large families go on and on about getting up early. I always figured we weren’t morning people, couldn’t focus well early, yada yada. This past couple weeks proved that false. We are all doing amazingly well.

These breakfast articles motivated me to carry on in this department. Dh never complained about going it alone in the early mornings but once I really stopped to think about the ramifications of this routine it stopped me in my tracks. Most men fly out the door alone in the mornings, maybe with a handful of something edible, maybe not, and usually barely awake. They face the day empty – physically and spiritually. The family trickles out and starts their routine without a lot more thought or preparation often. The world hits those men with all the crud it has to offer. They come home hungry and tired only to be expected to jump into fixing whatever problems have been encountered at home. Nighttimes often find everyone taxed and running late. Not to say men shouldn’t be shouldering responsibility for the family’s day but it sure makes sense to front end the day to make that most successful. With a bit of a head start we can all eat and pray together and Dad leaves feeling well, with his family the last thing he sees. I like this much better! Hence the breakfast menus lol <g>

Download nt_menus.doc

Download menu4.doc

Download menu4.doc (will upload more of these as they are tweaked)

Download meal_options.doc  general main courses to make in bulk

more to follow….

The Pleasant  View Schoolhouse reminded me of a site I haven’t visited in a long time, Cath Kidston.  This online store has a very Laura Ashley feel to it. Actually more of a vintage Laura Ashley feel, the way that company looked while the founder was still alive. Makes me smile just surfing <g>

Do visit Pleasant View while you are out and about. The photography from her son (15!!) is truly astounding. (to see more click their right sidebar to visit the Pleasant View Photographer) It is another ‘breath of fresh air’ site. I find it both relaxing and encouraging. Lots of white space on both sites so they have a gallery type effect making it easy to process the different images.

So there you have it – a double Oh Pretty! : )  I will be uploading more binder inserts later. 

   I am jumping ahead to my Contacts….

Faith, and….

Other dividers since I have an appt this am and need to run soon. There are fewer downloads for these sections.  Under Contacts I have two downloads available – the Phone Number page Download phone_number_share_page.doc . You can cut the name and number words and insert your own obviously. If you have committee meetings or whatnot you would want your contact people’s info here. I printed a second Phone contact page and have it posted near the phone as easy reference. There is also an address book page Download address_book_page.doc . If you would like additional non-illustrated filler pages simply "cut" the graphic and then ‘copy and paste’ the name/address/phone lines multiple times on a blank Word document.

Under Faith you may want to keep a liturgical calendar, feast day/holiday tips or calendar countdowns, gift ideas, prayer requests Download prayer_requests.doc , and so on. My download Download traditional_liturgical_calendar.doc follows the Traditional Catholic calendar but you can cut and paste the current Catholic calendar into the same format page and change the fonts to Edwardian and Garamond. This is a large document fwiw.

Other?  Well you decide. : )  If you think of some inserts that would be especially nice to have send them my way and I will format more pages.  Ok – off to the midwife to measure this baby!

Ok this was fun! The people who bring you Creating Keepsakes and Simple Scrapbooks and Paper Crafts mags have now produced this new site Clique TV with little daily inspirational web-isodes with your favorite (or my favorite as the case may be lol!) scrap artists.  Check it out!

There was a wonderful reminder on A Clean Heart this week. While we are working to organize, simplify, structure our houses and schedules we must not lose sight of our true goal – making a "home".  More wonderful quotes come from Secrets of a Happy Home Life published in 1894:

"There are people sheltered in houses, which are not homes."

on a home:

"It may be a fine, great house, with rich furniture, costly pictures, and all the elegance of wealth; or it may be a little house, with four rooms, cheap furniture, homemade carpets, and empty of adornment. It makes very little difference what the size of the house, or what its furniture may be. The happiness of the home does not depend on the house or on what it contains; the people who live in the house MAKE happiness, – or mar it."

and never forget:

"Few things we can do in the this world are so well worth doing as the making of a beautiful and happy home. He who does this builds a sanctuary for God and opens a fountain of blessing for men. For more than we know, do the strength and beauty of our lives depend upon the home in which we dwell. He who goes forth in the morning from a happy, loving, prayerful home into the world’s strife, temptation, struggle, and duty, is strong – inspired for noble and victorious living. the children who are brought up in a true home go out trained and equipped for life’s battles and tasks, carrying in their hearts a secret of strength which will make them brace and loyal to God, and will keep them pure in the world’s severest temptations."

Wow!  Could we possibly we need more motivation than that?