Hello Monday!

Hi friends!! Happy Monday!

How was your weekend? 

Our's was really nice!!

Quick recap: Friday night- our 2nd oldest daughter went to a football tailgate and game with her best friend and her family. The rest of our crew went to our oldest daughters' high school volleyball game. It was the league championship game and our team won with 3 winning sets in a row!! It was super fun to see the team play amazing volleyball and take home the 1st place trophy!

Saturday morning, Aaron made the kids pumpkin pancakes (he used a mix from Trader Joe's!) and I did a 60 minute power walk class on our treadmill. The kids did their chores and after lunch we headed to my mom's house to hang out. Saturday night we had pizza and watched the movie, "Secret Headquarters." I am not a big movie watcher, so I didn't really pay attention- but the kids and Aaron LOVED it! If you are looking for a good family movie- the kids and Aaron totally recommend "Secret Headquarters!"

We went to church on Sunday morning. We had cinnamon rolls when we got home and Aaron and I went for our Sunday walk. After lunch, the boys, Aaron and I headed to my mom's house to do some yard work. We had our usual burgers and fries for dinner and that was a wrap on our weekend!

I planned out our meals for the week!

Here's what we will be having for dinner!

So- I am curious...are you a planner? 

Or more a "fly by the seat of your pants" type of gal?

I am a PLANNER. I have ALWAYS loved a plan!

I create a plan for pretty much everything. And for a lot of my plans- I have a routine for making my plans. HA! Wow. I sound like a lot of fun!!

Since it's Monday and we are starting a fresh week- I thought I'd share my "routine" for planning out my week (which includes my family too :)

Every Sunday morning, before we leave for church, I make a list of anything we might need for Monday- be that certain food items to make lunches, milk for cereal in the morning or anything the kids need for school the next day.

From that list, I will make a Target pickup order or we will stop at the store after church.

Sunday afternoon, I plan out our meals for the week. I do my best to "shop" our pantry and deep freezer. For any items that I will need for our meals, I create a grocery list.

Sunday evening, is when I really get down to business. HA!

1. I plan out my workouts. I just go into my Peloton app and see what classes I want to take and plug them into my schedule. Nothing is set in stone- but I like to have a loose plan in place for when I will be doing strength training and my 60 minute bootcamp I do once a week.

2. I go into my Cozi app and check our weekly calendar. I make sure everyone's activities are scheduled on the right days/times. I just recently started using Cozi and I LOVE it. And the biggest win is that my husband loves it too! I have always been the planner of all the things. Aaron has a very busy and demanding job- so he doesn't have much margin for anything else. He has never used a planner or calendar or anything. As our lives have gotten increasingly busier with the kids' activities/sports, I really wanted him to at least know what was going on. HA!

Well, the Cozi app is awesome. I plug everything into our calendar and Aaron gets a weekly and daily email of what is happening. He checks his email every morning and right there in his inbox, is our schedule for the day! He is informed, I don't have to give him a rundown of what's going on everyday and it's just great. He has told me multiple times how useful he finds this "system" and how much he enjoys knowing what is going on each day! Highly recommend checking out the Cozi app if you are looking for a way to be more more unified with your spouse in regard to your family's schedule!

3. I go into my "notes" app on my phone and plan out each day of the upcoming week. I am EXTREMELY specific with daily to-do list. Some might think it's overkill- but for me- it's very helpful in managing feelings of overwhelm and it keeps me focused on what's important (versus getting distracted and feeling like I got NOTHING done). I tweak my daily to-do list throughout the week. I am always re-prioritizing things and shifting things around as needed!

And that's my "getting ready for the week ahead" routine!

I have been doing this routine for years now- so it is truly like second nature to me. If I don't do these things, I feel off and it can definitely make the start of the week feel a little wonky! 

The good news is- with a set routine and plan- it's always pretty easy to get back on track and get things in right order  pretty quickly.

This is probably more than you bargained for on a Monday morning! HA! 

It's definitely not the most exciting topic- but I thought some of ya'll might be interested in how I keep the chaos controlled at our house! :)

Here's to a new week. There is always a lot to manage and so many curveball thrown our way! Add to that- so many HARD, SAD things happening in our world and it can just feel like A LOT.

I am constantly reminding myself to focus on what's RIGHT in front of me and to be in charge of the things I CAN control. That is enough!

Happy Monday and I hope you have the BEST day!