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This is part 6 of our series –managing a large family.  Thursday is errand day

Having a large family and not being organized or prepared for things could result in me driving to town numerous times during the week.  The Lord has taught me well, during our marriage there has been numerous times where we only had one vehicle, I would have to carefully plan out what I needed to get done on the weekend, otherwise I would be without a vehicle during the week.  Those days are for the most part gone, but I do know that I want to be as frugal as possible and our 15 passenger van is not an efficient gas producer.  I try and minimize my trips into town to once per week.

This day can go smoothly, or it can go quite harriedly. I typically try and get up early for this day, get everyone up and feed them breakfast.  I try and choose oatmeal or eggs, something that will sustain in their stomachs longer than cold cereal. We don’t typically do any chores, we wait to do those for when we get home.  My main focus is getting everyone out the door before 9:30am.  9:00 would be my ideal time, but with 10 children you can’t expect a miracle:)

I  make sure that everyone has used the bathroom before we have left.  We do have a potty chair in the van for anyone that may need to go while we are out doing our running.

My husband is a visionary man and has taught me to pack and go on the spur of a moment.  I am quite good at grabbing a diaper bag, throwing in a change of clothing for the baby, 1 and 2 year old.  A few diapers and a package of wipes and we are ready to go.

My 15 year old daughter make us some peanut butter and jam sandwiches while we are getting ready.  I like to take some apples and a bag of snack mix.  We take plastic bathroom cups to put the snack mix into.  We grab water bottles and 2 sippy cups for the 1 and 2 year old.  Place in a small cooler and we pack it into the van.

Our library books have been accumulating all week.  As we read a book, we place it into our cloth reusable bag to be ready to return.  I have another child grab these to put into the van as well.

Depending upon what errands we have to do this day I might take grocery bags for our trip to Aldis.  A large plastic bin for bread from the bread store—so that it doesn’t get smashed.  A cooler if it is warmer outside for our cold items.  If we are taking one of our hospitality snacks or meals, I will bring those along as well.

I also have my list that I made on office day–Tuesday with all of the stops I need to make for the day.  I bring a pen to cross off what we have done, or to make notes for something to remember.

We bring our sit and stand stroller with us. The baby goes in the front and the 2 year old sits in the back.  We can then put the 3 year old in a shopping cart and usually each older child will take 1 of the younger ones while we shop.

Even though it is tiring, it is always good to reiterate the rules of being out in public with the children.

• Be careful when opening the van door as not to slam into someone else’s car door–done this way too many times—sigh.
• Do not rub your coat on someone else’s vehicle while waiting outside of the van.
• Stand next to the van while waiting for everyone to get out of the van
• No running or chasing  in the store isles.
• You can only touch things that you plan on purchasing, so if you don’t have any money, no touching!
• No asking for things while we are shopping.
• Let’s be an example of Jesus and smile to others’ while shopping.
• Look for ways to be a blessing.  Is there an elderly person who needs help in the store?

We try and plan to get all of our errands done around lunch time.  I like to be able to feed the children lunch in the van and then be driving home for nap time.

When we arrive home, everyone helps unload the van.  We try and have each person clean their rows out.  Our van can get very messy–quickly.  I keep a hand bench broom under our van seats.  When we get home, we do a quick sweep of our van floors.  One of the requirements I wanted when we bought our 15 passenger was the rubberized flooring.  We had carpet on all of our vehicles and when you have a large family, it does not go well together.  Having the rubber is wonderful, we just sweep out the mess and do a quick wipe once a week with a wet rag.  If the cracks are bad we will do a shop vac.

It is now naptime, everyone is tired and cranky from being gone all day.  We lay down the little ones, let the older children take a break and I typically sit down and rest for a few as well.

Thank goodness I made my dinner casserole yesterday.  Around 3pm I place it in the oven and let it bake.  I like to make baked french toast and overnight egg casserole for an easy meal.  If we have an early arrival I might make some other form of eggs for dinner.  We have many chicken eggs so I plan on once a week a breakfast meal and Thursdays are that day.  We like having homemade omelets as well.

We will then do a quick pick up of the house, which isn’t too bad cause we have been gone all day.  We then do our schooling for the week as well.  We do a 4 day school schedule and then just work longer into the summer months.  Today we will do our online work and then later tonight we will read books while enjoying our family time.

Today is a tiring day, it is always a chore to have to take everyone out, but I am thankful we only have to do this once a week.  Sometimes if we have a big, once a month shopping day planned, my daughter, who does not like shopping will watch most of the little ones.  Then I am able to leave earlier in my day and get my shopping done quickly.

We are almost done with our week, up next Friday

 

This is part 5 of our series –managing a large family.  Wednesday is baking day.

I really enjoy baking.  This is probably one of my favorite days of the week.  When we had 4 little children, I would spend my time learning how to be a successful baker.  There were many burnt cookies, unrisen bread, and lots of trial and error.  But I got better.  Then I had 6 little ones, and I remember a time not baking a single cookie in 6 months time period.  That is a long time to go without baking around here. That was my time of survival mode—just getting through my days.  But now I am able to spend a set of time on doing something I really enjoy doing, baking for my family.

Here is my list for baking day that we hang on our clipboards:

[gview file=”https://plainandnotsoplain.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Wednesday.pdf”]

This day I like to get up early before the children, get my chores done, which are quick cleaning the main bathroom and begin on baking.

I usually start with making some sort of bread. As bread takes some time to rise and be worked. I can start a big bowl of something and just keep punching it down throughout the day until I am ready to form it into loaves or rolls.  For dinner on Wednesdays we usually make an Italian meal.  My husband really likes homemade bread with his Italian dishes.  This is a good day to serve that.  Starting this meal early, ensures that I won’t have to worry about it during my baking time.

By this time everyone is usually awake and we begin our day.  We do all of the same tasks that we have done previous days, morning chores, daily grooming, and schooling.  The only difference is that I will be doing some type of cooking or baking around these tasks.  The younger girls help out alot on these days.  They love to help prep our veggies for the next few days.

We usually like to have a platter of fresh fruit and cut up vegetables to munch on during the day.  

My younger girls are getting much experience in the kitchen by helping with these simple kitchen tasks.  Plus lessening my workload.

This is a typical container sitting on our counters throughout the day.  I would rather see my children walk by and grab a carrot stick then a cookie or muffin.  Plus it has helped me to lose all of my baby weight by not munching on high calorie snacks.

I usually try and choose to make 2 snacks for the week.  If I have a good day, I will make a big batch of cookies or muffins and then freeze them for later use.  We really enjoy making energy bites, pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, and monster cookies.  I usually always have a container of these in the freezer.  I love the energy bites especially as they are a quick grab to eat and it will satisfy that sweet tooth but healthy for you.

For lunch this day, I like to include the girls and make something special.  We purchase pita bread at our bread store for cheap and we freeze as much as we can.  It is a great thing for homemade pita chips and hummus plus a quick pizza crust.

They love to take the orders of all of the children and make their “special pizzas.”  We use jarred pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, and whatever toppings everyone enjoys.  Bake at 400 for about 20 minutes.  Easy, yummy lunch.

We  put some carrot sticks with the pizza for lunch.  We cut our pizza’s with a pair of scissors to make it easier to serve the little ones.

My girls enjoy making homemade pretzels.  It is a fun and easy baking project to make.

 

On this day, we  try and make a big batch of homemade hummus and pita chips to eat for lunch during the week.  Since we have 20 laying chickens, we have many eggs to use up.  We will typically  hardboil about 2 dozen  for salads and quick eating.

Tomorrow is our errand day and I usually will make an overnight breakfast casserole to put in the oven while we are gone.

This is what a typical baking day will produce.  I also try and make a hospitality meal or treat, to give to someone we know who will be blessed by it.  The Lord says to share what talents we have and food is one of our talents:)

After a long day of baking, the kitchen is usually quite messy.  It is a good day to do our group effort chores and most of them focus on the kitchen.  I usually will do a quick wipe down of the walls and appliances to make sure to get any flour or mess from the day.  I end it with hand washing the floor to make sure to get in all of the corners and baseboards.

Today has been a rewarding day.  We enjoy a home cooked meal, spaghetti is our favorite with some homemade rolls/bread.  A nice piece of homemade cake for snack time and good fellowship all around.

We goto bed, knowing tomorrow is our errand day, I have to know what it is I am going to do in the morning before I goto bed this evening.  Plan ahead, is the key for success.

Up next…Thursday