If you live anywhere in the Midwest you’ll probably understand why I’m posting this today. At the moment, my house, car, grass, and pretty much everything else that’s exposed to the elements is coated in two inches of solid ice.

Today, my kids spent the better part of an hour smashing zillions of icicles with wooden spoons. Of course, immediately after peeling off all their cold, soggy outerwear they started begging for cups of steamy hot chocolate…so I pulled out one of my favorite appliances - my Cocomotion.

I used to hate making instant hot cocoa. I could never manage to get the right temperature with the microwave and the cocoa powder never seemed to mix into the milk without making a gloppy mess. Then, a few years ago my mother-in-law introduced me to this little wonder. Made by Mr. Coffee, this handy gadget makes the perfect cup of hot cocoa every time and costs less than $25.

The clear, easy-pour canister is marked like a measuring cup so you can make up to 4 mugs of hot cocoa in a single batch. Simply fill the canister to the desired level with milk or water, dump in your powdered cocoa or cider, twist the lid, and hit the button. The Cocomotion whips the contents into a frothy concoction for a few minutes and then shuts off automatically when the perfect drinking temperature is reached. To clean it, I just rinse it under the tap and dry it with a paper towel. As a bonus, the cord wraps up into the base allowing it to store neatly in the back of my cupboard.

I found my Cocomotion at WalMart a few years ago but you should still be able to get your hands on one because I’ve seen them at both Target and WalMart this year. In fact, since it’s late in the season, you may be able to find it in the clearance area. If you do find it for a steal, you might want to pick up several. They make great Christmas gifts when accompanied by a basket of gourmet cocoa packets. Just thought I’d pass it on.

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Thanks to everyone for your fabulous responses to last week’s Talk to Me Tuesday post.  It’s great to know that I’m not alone in my hatred of slimy, grimy showers.

Recently I got a great question from April regarding my many charts.  She wondered where I stash my charts in order to keep them accessible without making things look cluttered.  Although the fridge is a tempting solution, I like to reserve it for things like my Kid’s Weekly Planners and their current homework.  Consequently, I have to stash my other charts and lists elsewhere.  My favorite stash spots?  The inside of my kitchen cupboards and doors.

For example, the picture above shows the inside of the cupboard door nearest to my fridge.  On it I keep my Mom Game Plan, my Stash Box Challenge sheet, a pack of post-its and a clip of quick-reference school sheets (like the lunch menu, and the school calendar).  I’m not crazy about taping things to the inside of my cupboards and doors, so I use removeable hooks to hold things in place instead.  When used in combination with small binder clips they’re an inexpensive, flexible way to keep everything close at hand. 

I use the same basic solution on the inside of my pantry door as well.  Here the clips and hooks hold things like this ziploc bag of clipped box tops, the kid’s lunch boxes, and my Reuseable Grocery List.  As for your question regarding the Picture Job Chart, April, I keep that one on a similar hook inside the hall closet door.  When Saturday morning rolls around I grab the chart from the hook, adjust the jobs, and then post it on the outside of the pantry door for easy viewing.

So there you have it, April.  By keeping my charts and lists in these hidden stash spots around the house, I’m able to keep everything accessible without adding clutter to the public areas of the house.  It’s a simple, cheap and easy way to keep things organized and out of view.  Just thought I’d pass it on.

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When it comes organizing my kitchen, it’s not about perfect order…although I’m guessing you guys know that by now. Rather, my intent is to make my time in the kitchen more efficient and make my kids more independent when they use it. One way I do this is through my super-easy fridge organizing.

When I created this system my goal was to make it easier for my kids to find and put away stuff in the fridge. Consequently, I tried to keep the system as 4-year-old-friendly as possible. To help my kids deal with condiments and other items that hang out in our door shelves, I used a simple number system. First, I numbered the lower condiment shelves with my little Dymo Label Maker ($17). Then, I grabbed a black sharpie from my junk drawer and wrote a number on each item. Generally, condiments went in shelf number one…salad dressings in shelf number two.

I’ve also got two lazy susans in my fridge (click here to read that post). These hold other condiment type products. The one on the top shelf holds all my sauce and marinades, the one on the lower shelf holds things like jams and spreads. To help keep these things where they belong, I used my sharpie again to add a ‘U’ for upper and a ‘L’ for lower on the lids of all those items. Since I had my label maker handy, I made a few simple labels for the drawers as well. I dedicated one drawer to snacks, one to produce, and one to deli.

See? I told you it was easy. Now, you could go a little crazy and label all of your shelves; creating a dedicated spot for your leftovers, eggs, yogurt and such, but I don’t advise it. Too much organization can be hard to keep up with and can overwhelm your family. My advice? Spend your time organizing only the items that tend to hang out in your fridge for more than a week or two. Once you’ve got those staples in order, the rest will kind of organize itself…or get eaten…whichever comes first. Give it a try, you’ll be amazed at the difference. Just thought I’d pass it on.

If you liked this post, you may want to check out my simple spice solution and my $30 pantry makeover.

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 It’s been about 10 months since I posted my first Mom Game Plan.  And although it served me well for the first several months, I found that I became so accustomed to seeing it on my fridge, that I stopped paying attention to it.  Consequently, I started falling behind in my housework and letting things slip through the cracks.  The initial idea was a good one, it just needed a little revamping to get me back on track.  So I created this new, larger version to keep me on the ball.  (You can find the file download below)

Essentially, the elements of the Mom Game Plan are the same.  It’s still a table that breaks down my weekly jobs into smaller, more manageable daily tasks.  However, in this version, I increased the size of the chart to full page-size to make it easier to read and harder to ignore.  I also laminated it so that I could use a dry erase marker to keep track of my progress and make changes where needed.  As jobs are completed throughout the week, I use my marker to check things off the list. 

Like most homes, the messes in my house can be a bit unpredictable.  Thankfully, with this chart, I can adjust my plan as needed.  If the bathrooms are a disaster on Tuesday and I can’t put them off until their regular day then I use the marker to shift things around. 

Another benefit is that it’s great for tracking my progress.  It’s really helpful to be able to look back at the end of the week and see what I need to work on.  If I’ve only got two checks in the exercise column, then I know I need to push myself a little harder in that area next week.

I’m sure it won’t work forever, no great Mom time-saver does, but for now it seems like a step in the right direction.  Just thought I’d pass it on. 

If you’ve got suggestions for tackling the never-ending jobs of motherhood, please feel free post them.  I’d love to share your success with my readers.

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I hate to clean my fridge. Next to scrubbing my kid’s bathroom, it’s my least favorite job. It’s not that it’s particularly difficult, it’s just time consuming. Pulling out and replacing all the contents takes almost as long as the actual cleaning itself. I used to use small plastic baskets to hold bottles and jars, but they looked bulky and forced me to pull out the whole basket to find what I needed. Then my mother-in-law passed along this helpful tip.

Pick up a few inexpensive ‘lazy susans’ from your local super store. I found mine on the clearance shelf at WalMart for $2 each. Place them on your fridge shelves to hold misc. small items. The rotating base makes it easy to find exactly what you’re looking for…no more knocking everything over to get to that big jar of applesauce in the back. It also speeds up the cleaning process significantly. Now when a spill hits, I just pick up the lazy susan, wipe the shelf with a Clorox wipe and set it back down again. Simple, cheap and functional. Just thought I’d pass it on.

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We’ve all been there. It’s 2 o’clock in the morning and of your kids has a fever. You fumble around the kitchen trying to track down those little plastic thermometer things and your half-empty bottle of Tylenol. After many late night trips to Walgreens, I came up with this simple solution.

I bought this inexpensive 3-drawer organizer at Target for around $7. Next, I divided our medicine stash into 3 sections:

Supplies: This drawer hold all the extra stuff like thermometers, Vapo rub, dispensing syringes, cough drops etc.

Adult Meds: This one holds all the medicines for adults

Kid Meds: This one holds all those boxes of chewable tablets and syrup bottles

This handy box sits on the top shelf of my pantry. Obviously, it’s not a revolutionary system, but its simplicity is what makes it work. Now when my daughter comes into my room in the middle of the night I just pull the whole kids meds drawer out of the box, find what I need and slip it back in. It’s simple, cheap, and incredibly useful. Just thought I’d pass it on.

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When it comes to being a fun mom, spontaneity is critical. However, when it comes to being a functional mom a standard routine can be a lifesaver. I created this fridge cheat sheet to help me remember my basic game plan each day.

I can’t say that I’ve ever followed it exactly. In fact there are many weeks that I fail across the board. But this simple schedule at least gives me a goal to shoot for in a few of the key areas. My chart is divided into 4 sections areas: Exercise, Cleaning, Scripture Study, Dinner. Here’s what I’ve got listed:

Monday:
Treadmill, Kid Laundry & Living Room, Daily Reading, Soup/Sandwich

Tuesday:
Volleyball, Bedrooms & Linens, Ensign/Gen. Conf., Chicken

Wednesday:
Treadmill, Kitchen & Mopping, Daily Reading, Pasta

Thursday:
Weights, Grocery Shopping & Organizing, Sunday School Lesson, Breakfast Dinner

Friday:
Treadmill, Bathrooms & Adult Laundry, Daily Reading, Pizza

Saturday:
Run Outside, Car/Basement/Outdoor, YW Lesson Prep, Beef or Pork

Sunday:
Day Off, Bills & School Prep, Relief Society Lesson, OPEN

It’s a pretty basic plan, but it makes a huge difference for me. Plus, having these basic decisions made ahead of time (like having some idea of what I’m going to make for dinner) allows me to juggle the other 700 decisions we mom’s have to make on any given day. Just thought I’d pass it on.

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I’ve used these blue “shop towels” in the garage for years. Then one day, I ran out of paper towels in the kitchen and used these as a backup. I was amazed at how well they held up under water. They have the convenient disposablity of paper towels, but never fall apart when wet; even after a full sink of dishes. You can ring them out and reuse them over and over again. In fact, one of these towels usually lasts me the entire day.

They worked so well that eventually I pitched all my old germ-carrying dishcloths and bought a paper towel holder for under the sink. I still keep paper towels on my counter for little spills and touch-ups, but when it comes to dishes and wiping down kitchen surfaces, I always grab one of these. I buy mine in bulk at Costco, but you can find them at almost any super store in the automotive section. Just thought I’d pass it on.

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