"STAYCATION"

We work so hard to build a comfortable home but rarely take the time to enjoy it. Between work, family, activities and other responsibilities we tend to want to escape the confines of our day to day lives by taking a vacation. However, often when you return your frazzled and feel like you need a 'vacation from your vacation'. 

"Staycation" is a relatively new concept that gained popularity during the recession when money to travel and take "vacation" was scarce.  The basic definition of a "Staycation" is a period of time where a person stays home, relaxes and enjoys local attractions or other activities to relieve them of their daily routines.  Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary added the term officially in 2009.

By scheduling time for a staycation you can enjoy the escape from your day to day routine in the comfort of your own home. Whats even better is that you can customize it to fit your own needs.   This summer we have had lots of great times. We have camped, done road trips, enjoyed the sun, the rain and have had fun times with friends and family. An opportunity arose a few weeks ago where I had 10 consecutive days off work. I decided to take the time and experiment with the concept of the Staycation!  Being the 'type A' person that I am, I felt there was not better way to spend my time at home then to organize, clean and implement several little projects that I had been thinking about.  Now I know many of you may not think organizing and projects make for a relaxing time, and that is the beauty of a "staycation" you can do what ever YOU want to do!
Initially the first couple days we were camping as it was the long weekend.  We arrived home on Monday and I began to think about what i wanted to do with my time.  So like any "type A" personality, I started a list :)   I knew sitting around all the time would drive me crazy, so my list expanded and as fast as I was crossing off a task I was adding a new one.

In a burst of energy 3days in to my "staycation" I decided to take on a task that I have been putting off due to the craziness of summer.  I decided to POTTY TRAIN WILLIAM!  The day before I set out a potty in every bathroom, with survival activities.  Clayton and I watched the completely unhelpful Pampers Pull up "I'm a Big kid now" DVD and googled 'How to potty train'.  So we woke up on day 1 completely clueless and pulled the diaper off!

Potty training forced me to stay home which allowed me to cross off lots of my "Staycation" tasks; the inspiration for many came from this blog that I absolutely love! http://orgjunkie.com/blog  She has such great ideas and has inspired me to continue to organize my life and learn how to 'simplify' to allow myself to focus on the family motto "ENJOY THE JOURNEY"(http://lyntonrussell.blogspot.com/2010/12/happy-new-years.html).

MY TO DO LIST:

1-Organize my Fridge

CHECK!

2-Organize and Clean my Pantry

Half way there!  Check out How to get Organized by I'm an Organizing Junkie @ http://orgjunkie.com/2007/06/how-to-get-organized-follow-these-process-steps.html  to learn about the organizing 'PROCESS'!  Something that I actually already did but never really broke it down in to steps before.

CHECK!

3-Organize my Bathroom Vanity.

CHECK!  Containerize! Another I'm an Organizing Junkie concept that helps develop limits.

4-Contain and organize my Recipes

CHECK!  This is a work in progress!  It looks much much better!  However I am still trying to prefect the whole, meal planning/cooking thing!

5-Implement the "HIGH 5"- This is an Idea that I found while blog surfing.  (http://lifeasmom.com/2010/09/the-morning-high-five.html)

CHECK! I traced Williams hand on 2 signs, and wrote an activity/chore he needs to complete each AM and PM.  He helped me color them (well he colored one then was distracted!). They are all very simple tasks... Example- Breakfast, clean up dishes, Brush teeth, Etc. but they have been really helpful to start to teach William routine and responsibility.  One is for the morning so I hung it at William's level in our room (the epicenter of our morning) and one on the bathroom door upstairs where William does his evening routine. Clayton has been utilizing them so well!  After each task is completed he gets William to give a high five!  It has made it fun for William.

As you can see I have been very busy this staycation, but have taken time to enjoy summer too!  Playing with William, reading books, biking and watching TV and  I've even tanned a little (when the sun squeezes itself out).  Its been a great "STAYCATION".  I'm happy that I took the time to hang out at home and totally think that a "staycation" is a great way to spend your time off.  It can be budget friendly, relaxing, fun, productive and by the end you will be rested and ready to return to "real life"...... MAYBE!

The hectic Supper Hour!

Supper is always a hectic time in any one's house, Ours included!  Supper time always comes at the worse time of day... It tends to sneak up on us and then all of a sudden we have a cranky child, cranky parents, hungry animals and no home cooked meal on the table!

Although there still is those day's where we "finger cook" (thanks Boston Pizza and Pizza Delight!) Our house has found a way to help decrease the supper time stress, with meal planning! 

Introduced to this concept shortly after we were married thanks to a WONDERFUL cook book we got as a wedding gift called Life's on Fire-Cooking for the Rushed by Sandi Richard (http://www.http//www.cookingfortherushed.com/books/life.htm)  This cook book has collections of 5 recipes with a corresponding grocery list for 12 weeks.  The recipes are easy, quick and diverse, which makes meals more interesting! 

Any way after using this cook book for a couple years we found that meal plans worked really well for us.  Then once we found out that William had so many different Allergies our 'fall back meals' no longer worked.  I made a resolution last New Year's to only cook meals that the WHOLE family could eat, (a goal that has not always been easy and has taught us allot about food!)  So we have started our own meal plan book using the countless other cook books we have laying around in an effort to only cook meals friendly for the WHOLE FAMILY!
(This is my reason I make Meal Plans!)
 
What we do is each time we go grocery shopping (about every 1.5 weeks) we plan a 5 recipe meal plan using one cookbook and make the grocery list up for that week.  We use to take a collection from several different cookbooks for each plan but I found it was confusing and disorganized, so now i just use one cookbook and keep it set out on the counter for that week.  We keep our meal plans written in a notebook so that we can have access to a meal plan quickly when we need too.  Ive started to add a special extra recipe (like muffins or cookies) to each meal plan so we have a yummy treat each week if we want to make it! 

Today I made up a new meal plan titled " THINNER Meals" from my LOW FAT COOKING Company's Coming book. (SIDE NOTE- I enjoy making up creative titles for each meal plan, helps me feel cool!! he he) 

Lyndsay's TIPS for developing your own weekly Meal Plans:

1-Write the plan in a note book to keep them all together and handy for future reference.
2- Use one cook book to decrease confusion and make sure you write the recipe PAGE number down.
3- Only plan 4 or 5 recipes for each meal plan.  I find that life usually gets in the way and some times you have to improvise on a meal one or two day's.  Plus it puts less pressure on you to cook every night!
4-Make sure you plan a variety of different meals, including length of prep and cooking times and different ingredients needed.  This will allow for those really busy nights and for those family members that have more "limited" cooking skills!
5- INCLUDE your family (especially those Hubby's) in your meal plan.  Cooking duties can be shared, and using a meal plan will allow everyone to have access to cook a nice meal for the family!

William "coloring" while I make up the meal plan for this week.

Thanks for Reading!  Let me know what you do in your House to plan homemade suppers! Leave a comment in the comment section!