traveling with some small kiddos and staying organized!

Finally, I'm getting back on schedule and getting some "free" time.  This is going to be a mixture of how we made traveling a little easier with two kids, small kids at that, and how a young mom who has lots to do stays organized!

First Traveling:

I have goggled and researched all I can to help make things a bit easier.  Now please understand that I am not a mom who follows all the books.  I might pull some things out of a book but I'm a little more old fashioned. Same when seeking advice.  I pick and pull what will fit my family, if it doesn't work I try something else.

First I start packing a week in advance.  Each of us have our own suitcase and we are color coded...I will admit I am OCD and proud of it!...Sometimes I may take it a little far but you know it helps that I'm so organized.

The girls are always color coded.  Punkin is purple, Doodle Bug is pink, I am purple and Pink, and Bud is blue and black.

Wherever we decide to go I call ahead and try to get weather reports, places to see, sleeping arrangements, eating places, and even rest stops are on the way.  I always add another hour to our road trips for potty breaks and letting the girls play for about half an hour.  This helps prevent melt downs.

We always try to leave either so early in the morning the girls go back to sleep, around nap, or around bed time.  When we leave early in the morning we pack up my truck the night before.  We only leave out clothes that we will wear the next morning.  I put the girls a blanket draped over their seats and have their favorite toy prepared sitting right next to them, so when we buckle them up (in pjs) all we have to do is let them fall right back asleep and hit the road.  If we leave at nap time, we pack the truck that morning and let the girls place their favorite toy in the car (this helps them know we are not leaving the toy).  I also prepare each of the girls a lunch box with their favorite snacks.  We also pack a small ice chest with drinks, sandwich fixings, and the girls and Buds favorite lunch-ables.  This way we don't have to stop as much for food.  We can stop at a rest area and have a picnic and break out a ball and let the girls play.  Another thing we do to prevent melt downs is when we do stop to get gas or have a potty break we don't just stay 5-10 min like you would if it were just adults.  We refresh our snacks and drinks, everyone goes potty, and we will take a small walk or let the girls walk around to stretch their legs.  We turn a 5-10 stop into a 30 min stop.  Yes, it takes longer but, we get to stop less because they got to stretch their legs longer.  We also carry a potty chair in the very back of the truck.  This is gross, I know but when you have young kids when they have to go a bathroom is not always available.  If it is getting close to dinner or lunch we might even stop at a restaurant or McDonald's with a place place...it wears them out and then they sleep! :)

When we finally arrive at our destination we have a toddler travel bed, its a cot just like one for camping but a fitted sleeping back over it.  We have Disney Princess and you can get one off amazon.com.  I'm not sure what it is called exactly.  Then of course for Doodle Bug we have porta-crib.  We bring our own bedding and pillows and a travel size of laundry detergent, just in case!

The bags we bring and yes this looks like a lot but we are always glad we brought everything.

Front seat with girls: middle row
Ice chest
Lap top (movies) our dvd player broke and I can't see spending so much money on a new one
2 child lunch boxes
A bag of moves, clipboards (coloring) colors, color pages
baby, pony
diaper bag
small back pack for Punkin with a change of clothes
Leapster


Very Back of truck on top of third row:
porta crib
Porta bed
air mattress (depending on where we are going)
4 suitcases one per member
potty
one duffel bag of blankets and sheets
one bag of extra entertainment toys (games, princesses, my little ponies, etc)
Empty back for dirty clothes
emergency car kit (we have a pre-made one that we bought at the store complete with flares, first aid, fix a flat and jumper cables and a bunch of other stuff)
Jump box

Getting close to naptime!

Sleeping oh so sweet!

My OCD out of control, but I had no more room in my closet!

Now how I keep everything organized:

I have calendars everywhere, I can't live without them, sad to say.  I have one on the fridge for everyone to know whats going on along with the grocery list.  I have one in my purse, my planner/wallet, and one that stays on the desk that I keep open at all times and use constantly throughout the day.  They all pretty much say the same thing just one for on the go, one always at hand, and one for there to be no excuse for not knowing what is going on and when.  This part is just mostly a picture demonstration.

Doodle Bugs

Family Calendar a spot for all members and even the dogs

Grocery list; the rule is if its not on the list it doesn't get bought

My planner/wallet

Each day has two columns one side is for school and one for the house stuff

Filing station

Mail station

File drawer, for current items, there is a different one for paid off and taxes

My School Corner (no kids allowed)

Punkin's 

I hope everyone is having a great day!

She was playing so well while I wrote this post!

Happy 1st birthday to Doodle Bug!

So today was Doodle Bugs first birthday!  We had a blast and she devoured her cake...it was oh so cute!  She is a very lucky little girl to be loved by so many.  I can't believe it's been a year since she was born, it has flown by way to fast! I am very thankful for my wonderful family and friends who showed support and love and our ice cream friend knocked it out of the park!  The cake was so cute.  She had a blast and like the cards the most.  Hopefully it means she will like to read :)

Here are a few picks, I have a paper to work on and some sleep to try to get before church in the morning.  The hubby and girls all have sinus problems.  Runny noses, sore throats, coughs....every year at this time my hubby gets sick and Punkin has to and now I get to add Doodle Bug to the mix too.  Yay!  I don't know how but I never get sick. (knock on wood)  But if I do I get hit hard and I'm pretty much dead to the world, so I guess thats why.  God knows my family needs me to take care of them to much...lol.

Hope everyone has a great week!  Enjoy some birthday picks!

My table with the food

Love, love, love the cake!

Look at all the presents, thats a lucky little girl

She decided she was tired of waiting

I was so proud of big sis, not really any jealousy

She preferred the cards...lol 

New jacket for winter, if we get it, its still in the 80s here :P

I love the tutu

Look at my big girl, such a bitter sweet moment

Not sure whats going on

Dove in mouth first!

My Punkin and my best friends little boy

Mamaw and Papaw got her that and she's all over the place

My Dad and wonderful stepmom(this is who I am referring to when I say my parents)...I'd be lost without them 

The aftermath!

Busy Bee and no time to breathe it seems!

 I know my post seem to be very random and very far apart.  The reason is this:  school has slammed me with work and it probably feels worse because I have five classes, Doodle Bug's first birthday party is this Saturday and we are also getting ready for all of the upcoming holidays, and a major bash for my husband in January!

School is crazy and it seems like every day I am getting another page of at least five things per class that need to be completed.  I am still doing good in my classes but all I seem to do is school work and trying to squeeze in some house cleaning as well.

Doodle Bug is trying to walk and I am almost positive that she could if she really wanted to but likes to tease us.  I have all of the decorations ready for the party minus the food right now, I have to get that today.  We also have a very good friend that works at Marble Slab Creamery, his mom and brother (who is also a friend of ours) own it.  We always get free ice cream and he made Punkin's third birthday cake for us and is going to make Doodle Bug's too.  I think he gets more excited about designing it than we do hehehe. My house is a wreck and needs some major scrubbing and I feel like I am running out of time.  We are having some friends come over tomorrow to I do plan on roping them in to helping me:).  I can't believe it has been a year since she was born.  I honestly don't think I'm ready for this.  My babies are getting to big to fast.

The holidays are always crazy and so just getting everything sorted out is crazy and time consuming and can give me a headache too.  There are some major changes in our routine this year.  My mom has made some really bad choices in the way she has decided to live her life and just this past year some lines were crossed that were the last straw and so we will not be going out to her house.  She doesn't act like she cares or even call to check on any of us so we are having to cut our ties.  It is really sad, but I have to do what is best for my kids, they come first and I refuse to let my children be in the environment.  All we can do at this point is pray that she will learn her lesson and seriously get her act together; not put on a front.

So I am now off to get me and the girls ready to go grocery shopping and last minute buying for the birthday party!  Wish me luck, Doodle Bug has a runny nose.  Perfect timing :(

Please be patient with me I have a whole list of stuff I want to post about and so if it takes me a little while to get to it please don't think I'm gone.  I'm just super busy and might get hopefully one post a week!

   
Sunday after Church at Applebees         1st Family of 4 pic            Punkin's bday cake from Marble Slab

Everyone have a great weekend!

Here are a few of Doodle Bug as she has grown!