Weekend update 2/27

Wow, it's been a busy, busy, busy few days.

We had a death in the family last week. The visitation was Thursday night and the funeral was Friday. (No fun.)

My daughter turned seven yesterday, so, much of last week was spent getting ready for that. Last night I had 15 first graders at my house for a sleepover. Several times last night I thought that 15 was probably too many. Then, I went down when they were all asleep and took pictures and softenend a bit. It made me smile to see them in their sleeping bags, all over my floor. There were two last night that had never slept over anywhere before. One wasn't going to stay and then called her dad and had him bring her stuff. That makes me very happy. I like to be the place where kids feel comfortable enough to spend their first night away from home.

Here's the update on my PIPs:

Cleaning & Organizing
I was really happy with the way the house looked this week. I've been keeping up with my calendar (I'm hoping to have that posted as a page this month) so my basic cleaning was taken care of. I was able to clean the carpet downstairs several times (remember, the dog peed down there not too long ago.) I was also able to get some deeper cleaning done all while still keeping all the kids I do all week long.

Time
Did very well with time this week. I divided up everything that needed to be done preparing for the party between every day last week. I bought my daughter's presents a little bit at a time since around Christmas. I was just a little stressed because I didn't get the floors cleaned before the party because I ran out of time. I was also frosting the cake right before the guests arrived. It all worked out, though.

Family
This is one of the places that suffers when my week is busy like last week. No one got any individual time.

Food
Another area that suffers when I am busy. I didn't get my meal plan written down, but did have something in mind. My husband was only home for dinner one night and when that happens I feel even less need to really cook. My son is super picky so he eats almost nothing I cook, anyway. My daughter will eat some things and will always try what I make but sometimes it's only a bite. That just makes it easier for me to get by without cooking. Plus, when I don't really plan our fruit and vegetable intake goes way down.

Being Green
I know I didn't do as well here as I could have. I bought plastic cups and paper plates for my daughter's party. I did wash the cups so they could be reused by the girls for the entire party. I was at Target last week and saw some clearance valentines plates, I wish I would have bought a lot and I could have used those for last night's party and future parties. Hmm, I'll have to remember that next year.

Money
I'm not going to list everything extra I spent money on this week because I bought a lot of things I normally wouldn't have. Even with the extra birthday expenses, I think I did well. There were several things that I considered buying that I didn't simply because we didn't need it. It is so easy for me to get carried away with gifts or goody bags, and I have in the past. This week I thought twice before I bought something, especially if I considered buying it on impulse.

I over bought on pizzas and donuts and juice boxes for the party and I wish I had planned that better because it's just wasted money. Although, I'd rather over buy and make sure everyone had enough food than under buy and have the girls not get enough. I have a party at home instead of going to Chuck E. Cheese or Bounce U or swimming at the Y (etc.) because I think I'm saving money. This morning I realized I fed the girls two meals and snacks and drinks for 15 hours. I'm not sure I came out that far ahead and I had to clean before they came and after they left. I'll have to rethink that in the future.