How we can use a quick and stress free routine to keep a tidy home.

Hello Boss mum! Today I want to share how I have been able to keep the house tidy by creating a routine that is quick and stressfree. I hope this post will help you by giving you a few ideas to use yourself or maybe inspire you to create your own routine.

Prior to having my three minime's, keeping things clean and organised was a breeze. I was extremely particular and many would agree on the verge of OCD. My home was so clean my family and friends told me my home didn't feel lived in.

Three bubs later and I found myself too concerned with keeping my little monkeys alive and happy to keep up with the dishes. My neurotic cleanliness had become less and less of a screaming itch and more of a defeated meh .

Life as a stay at home mum gets busy, we need to keep up with the coming's and going's of motherhood and still be able to keep up with the house chores. If we don't stay on top of  it all our homes can easily become a dysfunctional mess of toys, clothes, dishes and life.

So, how do we keep on top of all the demands of motherhood and keep our home tidy?

Well, I believe everyone is different, but the answer for me was in creating a routine. Making it easier to tackle daily life of being a stay at home mum, homeschooling and keeping a tidy home.

This is how I have created a routine and keep a tidy home. After reading this you will see that you can do it too.

How I created a routine.

First, I created a daily routine and schedule for the kiddos and I that outlines what we do everyday.

This is because I have a tendency for tunnel vision when I do tasks (or anything really) and because I am also pretty forgetful when I get busy.

Having a routine and schedule is very helpful. I drew up a to do and a must do list for our week containing mealtimes, kids activities, house chores and outings like play group, shopping and I use it to help me stay on track.

Then, at the start of the week I look at what I have to do everyday and  needs of the week. then I prioritise.

I look at what the kids and  I have to do for each day of the week (just in case we may need to go to a doctor or dentist appointment or have friends and family visit.) and I  them to our weeks schedule.

Tackling those daily chores

If I can do it the night before I will.

Now my children are all of school age, I pack school lunches and drink bottles at night. I also wash our dishes straight after dinner. Doing these two repetitive chores the night before gives me less to worry about in the morning.

I schedule my morning to get the daily chores out of the way as early as I can so we can get into homeschooling (Mr 14) by 9:15 am.

My morning chores

Bedrooms

I tidy up every ones (except Mr 14's) rooms and make our beds every morning after breakfast.

I delegate small tasks in the morning too.

• Mr 14 does his own room and is responsible for taking out the trash every morning.

• Our little ones get in their uniform, brush their teeth, So that all I have to do is their hair.

• We check schoolbags are packed and everything has been done before we put our shoes on and leave for school.

Laundry

First thing in the morning is when I put a load of washing  (laundry) on. I time it so that by the time I get home from school drop off I can hang out my first load of laundry and have the second load on. I hate how time consuming it is to get our laundry done, but by me getting it out as early as I can, it just feels easier to deal with.

During the day.

I use our break time's to tend to any unfinished chores (if there are any) throughout the day.

The Bathroom

I clean the bath tub before every bath time and while I am in there, I do the basin and the rest of the bathroom surfaces too.

Weekly chores and more delegating.

I do these chores as they are needed during the week and schedule it to be done every Sunday.

• Bedrooms get vacuumed and all toys are packed away.

• Vacuuming and mopping of all other floors.

• The fridge gets cleaned out and wiped down.

• All kitchen appliances get wiped down.

• Toilet bowls and area eeeeeek!

• Our en suite is hardly used, but it gets a once over on Sunday too.

These days our home is by no means spotless, but it is tidy and stress free.

I hope you found this post helpful. What are your thoughts Boss mum? Maybe you could tell me if you found this post helpful or let me know how you tackle keeping up with your little kiddos and house chores. Do you have a special tip or tool you use that helps you get things done? I would love to hear from you so feel free to leave a message in the comments below.

Your Friend

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Easy cupcake recipe for lunch boxes

I recently made cupcakes with Mr 14, Mr 7 and Miss 5. It is so easy to make that I want you to know about it too.

I use this recipe for birthday celebrations and when baking bulk batch's of flavours for our lunches. What I love about this recipe is that you can easily turn it into any flavour you like.

For the basic batter mixture.

You will need:

A bowl
Measuring cups
Spoon
12 hole muffin tin
12 x patty cases

The ingredients:

1 1/2 - 2 cups S/R Flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2cup caster sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup milk

To give you some ideas I want to share a list of our favourite flavours.

• Apple ( I just grate a few apples for this one)
• Peanut butter & chocolate chip
• Double chocolate ( 1/2 cup cocoa and chocolate chips.)
• Banana & chocolate chips

Instructions

1.) First, set your oven to bake at 180 degrees (or 150 degrees if using a fan bake oven.) and line your muffin tin with patty cases.

2.) Then, add all your dry ingredients into the bowl (If you want to add cocoa, add this now). Mix it all together and make a well in the centre.

3.) Then, add the eggs, oil and milk and mix it up into a batter.

4.) Then, you can add your chosen flavouring, mix it well into your batter.
Note: If you are adding peanut butter, I find it is yummier when it is still distinguishable, so I mix it last and just enough that it will be in every scoop ☺

5.) Finally, using a 1/3 measuring cup, pour the batter into your lined muffin tin and bake for 25 minutes or until golden.

This recipe makes 12 delicious cupcakes.

If you would like to ice your cupcakes, here is a link to a quick icing recipe I use from Kidspot.

I hope you enjoy this easy recipe and have as much fun as we do playing around with different flavours too. I want to ask you a question. What is your favourite recipe to make? Let us all know in the comments and we can all get hungry, no.  Inspired together. 😆

Your friend

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Car maintenance: How to change a flat tyre

Today, I am writing a post to do with how to change a flat tyre on your car because I believe the more we can do ourselves, the more independent we become and in my opinion, stronger too.

Why I think it is important.

Ladies, I don't like feeling helpless and I am either a stubborn ass or a feminist - because I feel strongly that just because a man is around that can do it for me doesn't mean I need his help! Especially if I can do it myself! I mean I am no damsel in distress, thats all. Yes, I guess I am a - stubborn ass! Some of you are probably feeling for my darling man right now too. I get it, I've been told many times ( by many people) I am a hard lady and highly strung, both are true and probably reasons why I want to get things done quick and on my own most of the time.

But, the bottom line is D isn't with me all the time. He has to go to work and keep money rolling in for our family, so there are going to be times like a lot of ladies, where I have to do things on my own and that is why it is important to me that we know how to take care of ourselves.

It is important for us woman to know a few basic things about car maintenance too like . . . . changing a flat tyre, jumping a car battery, checking battery leads are connected securely. Checking the radiator. How to change a spark plug and replace a fuse. Checking  the car's oil level and checking  our car's tyre pressure for instance, are important skills to know in case we experience a car breakdown and we are alone. Maybe not the tyre pressure, but you get my drift. Car maintenance skills are really helpful skills for us to know about.

Now, let's learn how to change a flat tyre and blow our friends and family away with our skills. 😮😮😉

How to change a flat tyre: Step by step

1.) Put your car in park, preferably on flat ground (if you are on a hill, you will need to use wedges behind the wheels to keep the car from rolling) and make sure your hand brake is on.

2.) Pull out your spare tyre and Jack from the boot of your car.
Note: You will usually find the tyre storage under the flooring board of your boot if you have a car. Otherwise, please check your car manual to find where your manufacturer has put yours.

3.) Remove  the hub cap. Then, loosen the lug nuts on the flat tyre. You will need to position yourself firm to the ground and turn the nuts just enough that you they are loose. one by one undo the lug nuts, turning  them counter-clockwise.
Note: If they are too tight use your knee and body weight as leverage.

4.)Once you have loosened the nuts on your flat tyre it is time to use the jack to raise your car. You need to position the jack below a strong part of the frame as close as you can to the tyre you are changing.

Raise up the jack by hand until it is contact with the car and in a secure position. Then begin raising the side of the car until the flat tyre is off the ground. It can take quite a long time to do this step, so we need to push past the time lag here and be patient.
Note: As you turn the jack handle to the right (clockwise) it will raise the car and if you turn it to the left (anti- clockwise) it will go down.

5.) Begin removing the already loosened lug nuts from the tyre and keep them together to ensure you don't lose them. Then, remove the flat tyre and place it at the rear of your car and out of the way of on coming traffic.

6.) Position the spare tyre by centering it with the wheel studs, these are where the lug nuts go on to secure the tyre in place later. It should line up pretty easily.

7.) Then, secure the tyre using the lug nuts. Turn them clock wise to tighten. Make sure all your lug nuts are on your tyre securely.

8.) Lower the car by turning the jack handle counter- clockwise until the car is on the ground. Then, remove the jack and put it in your boot or beside your flat tyre.

9.) Tighten all the lug nuts starting at the bottom then the top, moving in a star pattern making sure they are tight. (Here is the pattern I use: Bottom, top, bottom, left then, right)

10.) You are done! 😄😆😎
Pack up your car jack and flat tyre and place them back in the car's boot.

You are now ready to go and hit the road again!

Now, you know how to change a flat tyre on your own! Great job boss mum!

I am thinking about blogging about basic car maintenance for mums. Sharing some basic skills that will help us to know what to do if our car breaks down. The topics I  am thinking about covering will range from checking oil to jump starting your car, and I can use today's post about changing a flat tyre as the first part of the series.

What do you think ladies?

Is there anything else you independent ladies would like to learn? Or is there something you think I should write about?

Your voice, your thoughts are welcome and appreciated here, so please feel free to leave me a message in the comments below.

I will reply and I may use it in an upcoming post to help everyone.

Until I write again, thank you for stopping by and I hope you are having a great day!

Your friend

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How I home school our teen: our lesson schedule

Today I  am sharing how I teach Mr 14 at home. In this post I am sharing what our lessons schedule looks like, including a copy of the daily schedule I use to stay on track of what subjects we need to be doing any given day. I also share what we have used in our curriculum this past year. I hope this provides you with some inspiration as we are beginning to look at planning our homeschool lessons for next year.

A day in our homeschool

Every day  in our family starts the same as everyone else. We have breakfast, get changed, brush our teeth and do our hair.

Then everybody sets to their chores.
For Mr 7 and Miss 5 check school bag is packed with lunch, drink bottles and homework.
Mr 14 is to take out the trash,
clear the table, make his bed and open his room window.
We are out the door by 8:10am to drop off Mr 7 and Miss 5.

 By 8:45 am homeschool begins. I have chosen Mondays schedule to use as an example of how a day of homeschool goes for us

8:45 - 9:35 am Spelling
9:35 - 10:35 am English
10: 35 - 11: 35 pm Math
11:35 - 12:15 pm lunch
12:15 - 2:15 pm Science
2:15pm We are done for the day.

Time:	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday		Friday	Notes
Morning Chores
8:45 am	Spelling Grammar	English	English	English		Spelling Grammar
9:35 am	English	Maths	Maths	Maths		Maths
10:35 am	Maths	Coding	Art lesson	Economics		English
11:35 am: Lunch
12:15 pm	Science	Elective Unit History	Elective Unit Geography		Life skills	Catch up
1:15 pm to  2:15 pm					Health
After school Activities							Notes:

Some days we can get through our work quickly, especially if we have been learning the topic for a while and other days we need more time. On Friday I leave a 2 hour block in our schedule to use to catch up on any assignments, if he needs more time on them. This helps us to stay on track and affords us flexibility in our lessons when they are a little more challenging.

What is in our curriculum

Maths

Materials: Notebook, white board, markers, manipulative's and computer.
Excel Advanced skills, Start Up Maths Year 3 workbook; By Damon James.
Khan Academy website.

English

Materials: Notebook, whiteboard and markers.
Heroes and Villains workbook; By Sonya Stoneman.
Excel Basic skills, English Year 3 workbook; By Jane Baker
thisreadingmama.com website.

Note: Extra reading is done daily for at least 20 minutes and is interest led by Mr 14. He will read a chapter, sometimes 2 and retell it to me in his own words.

Science

Materials: Notebook, computer and any necessary experiment/activity materials as required.
Excel Basic Skills, Year 5 to 6 Science and Technology workbook; By Peter Clutterbuck.
Scratch website for coding.
ducksters.com website and good old Google for research.

History and Geography

Materials: Notebook, compass, computer, printables, World atlas and globe.
History and Geography Alive 7 workbooks; Too many authors to type.
ducksters.com, Khan Academy, Google websites for research.

Note: art lessons are based off of the topic we are covering in these subjects at the time.

Health/ Life skills

Materials: Notebook, Mum and Dad, computer, life interests and experiences.
https://www.khanacademy.org/science/health-and-medicine
http://www.ducksters.com/science/biology/

Economics

Materials: Notebook, Mum and Dad, computer, life interests and experiences.
Humanities Alive 7 workbook; By Stuart Boyle, Jan Dunne and Adam Smith.

Spelling

Materials: Notebook, white board, markers, manipulative's and computer.
LogicofEnglish and thisreadingmama.com for help and resources.

Grammar

Is covered in our English books and we usually build our lessons around what Mr 14 is learning in them and that works well for us. englishgrammar101.com
provide brilliant online lesson activities that we have found really helpful when big guy gets a little stuck and then there is also Khan Academy, they offer Grammar lessons too.

Physical Ed

Physical Education is covered by us doing seasonal sport and physical activities as a family at least 3 times a week. Then, we have Mr 14's Martial Arts class after school that we are testing out, we are attending once a week  in term 4 for the end of the year. 

So, that's it! That is how I teach our teen in our homeschool!

Your friend 

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