Who, me?!

It is always kinda funny to me when someone tells me that they are impressed by my organizational skills. I can just hear the my mom, dad, sister, and three older brothers all guffaw in my head. Seriously. Growing up, I really did have my "own system" for organizing, aka everything was thrown into my desk drawers and only I knew where they were. My mom would come in, look at my drawers, see the "chaos", dump my drawers on the floor, and require me to reorganize in a way that made sense to her. In all fairness, quite a few CD's were ruined during this phase of my organization because none really made it back into the case. However, it has taken me these ten post-graduated years to realize that I actually AM organized! Maybe it is just that I have had to find a way to organize since I am now juggling four kids' schedules, appointments, clothes, toys, books, along with my own (and sometime Nate's). One of the major things I am doing right now is trying to organize schedules. I have a little planner that has a monthly page and then each double page spread has the week on it, set out in a vertical blocks for each day. This may sound ridiculous, but it is hard to glance at the pages and see what is happening when during the week because it is not lined up in horizontal boxes with mornings, afternoons, and evenings lining up nicely. Crazy, no?! So, to remedy my problem, I made up a page for me to ease the anxiety looking at that planner was causing:) I printed them out in a variety of colors and wrote the coming weeks up on the date line, so they are all ready for me to fill out when appointments, games, playdates, etc. arise. I also added a few other areas to keep track of things I need to accomplish within the week: calls, emails, errands, and projects, as well as a little spot for a weekly goal at the top, like focusing on daily scripture study, no soda, exercising 4 times, being more patient with the kids, my list of self improvement goes on and on... I put the current week up with magnets in the kitchen so I can quickly check what is going on for the week or add things on that I need to. If you are like me and coordinating schedules, your list of things to do, or daily life can sometimes stress you out, print them off and fill 'em in. And, if I am being completely honest, I really just love looking at the colors of the weekly glances all in a row. I am a sucker for vibrant colors. Click on each color word to download corresponding sheet. PLEASE let me know ASAP if there are problems downloading, since my last post apparently had issues. Thanks!

Gray:

 

Purple:

 

Blue:

 

Teal:

 

 Mint:

 

Green:

 

Yellow:

 

Orange:

 

Red:

 

Watermelon:

 

 Enjoy the rainbow!

Medical Mess

I hate when I go into the doctor, for either myself or on behalf of my kids, and am requested to fill out medical history forms including the dates of procedures in the past and current prescription and over the counter medications. Yes, I realize that is lame. My kids really aren't THAT old or have had THAT many procedures. But when I can't even remember what I had for dinner two nights ago, recalling the month of past surgeries or hospitalizations is like asking me to recite the periodic table of elements. Not gonna happen.
My lack of medical history organization has been particularly on my mind recently. Not only did my daughter have her appendectomy, but my oldest boy had a tonsillectomy yesterday, along with his 2nd adenoidectomy. Yes, they grow back. How crazy is that?!  All of that combined with the different allergy appointments for the four kids, different plans of action for each, regular check ups, and other little issues that arise here and there, I needed somewhere central and organized specifically to my needs. I saw a cute set of printables for sale online and decided to make my own, in my own style, specific to my own needs. I will be putting all of these printables in a Family Medical Binder, along with copies of insurance information, medical bills, course of action letters, and anything else that we collect along the way. Each family member will have their own section where I can keep track of their specifics. I am sure that more needs will arise or things will come up that I completely forgot that I wanted to track, so I'll be adding along the way. If you are like me and are needing a new system that works for you, give it a try and let me know if it does/doesn't work. Not sure if this is something everyone can use or just me in my disorganized life!

The Binder Cover. Always gotta have one of those. Click HERE

 There will be a few things at the beginning of the binder, before I section it off for individuals. This will be at the very front, since I need all of the help with reminders I can get. Click HERE

I will also keep this at the front, just for a quick reference guide. Click HERE. And yes, I will have to print a couple of copies to cover everyone here.

 

 Each person will get a copy of these in their sections where I can keep track of individual records. Click HERE

 Click HERE

 Click HERE

 

 And finally, click HERE

If you have any questions or any ideas of things to add, please let me know!