Arc Madness

According to my arc planner group, I have been going 'arc raving mad'. I am a big fan of Staples line of notebooks. I am still using a ring bound planner for my all the time every day stuff. But for some of the other planners I have in my life, I am using the Arc notebooks. I do recommend these as an inexpensive option to ring-bound planners. 

Last year I was completely overwhelmed with paperwork, information and flyers from my kids' schools. This year, I was prepared with three Arc notebooks for each of my children. I keep a yearly calendar in each notebook along with school information and I punch any flyers or notes from teachers to keep inside. I'll post in more detail about these later. 

My favorite feature about the Arc notebooks is the sizes! They have a large notebook size, which takes the letter size papers 8.5 x 11" and a half sized notebook which is 5.5 x 8.5. This is my half size meal planner. I have been keeping sale ads, coupons, food budgets, menus and my grocery lists in this notebook. Our food bill averaged about $550 a month for the 5 of us. Using this notebook for the last three months, has brought our food bill down to $450 a month instead. 

Upon scouring the internet for printables for a menu and a complimentary grocery list...I just made my own using Word. I am really careful with my ink supply and my printer use! I love pretty colorful rainbowy pages. However, I am printing pages daily and I can't afford the cost of colorful pages. So here we are. :) 

This post is really my attempt to start posting more frequently. I have been MIA for a while. I get really busy with work and family. But, sharing my planner and different ideas for the home is important to me and I want to try to keep up with this. 

Okay...out! 

-Wayword

This week on:

My lunch/dinner menu for the week. When I make my layout for next week I'll divide the page in half as I always like to keep both lunch and dinner menus on the same page for a quick look.

The top is dinner. (Monday and Wednesdays are always a hot sandwich night due to late football, soccer and XCountry practices!)

The bottom is bento for the week. I always eat what they eat, so I plan what I would like to eat, not just what I think they'll eat. Jolie is such a picky eater. I have a hard time getting her to eat anything...but it's a work in progress! I will cater to what fruits and veggies they like, they all love cucumber, but only two like carrots. Only one of them likes strawberries! And everyone loves anything chicken or deli meat in their bento! 

It's true that making bento for your kids means you love them...because its time consuming. However I like knowing what they're eating and I enjoy the fact that they get a surprise almost every day. 

-Wayword

Lets wrap it up!

I made wraps today for lunch. They're so delicious and the perfect thing to finish up the week. 

Jolie's bento is a tad sweeter since I added a granola bar. 

I really liked how easy this bento was. No cooking, just assembling. It was a breeze. 

I have added to my "wish list", silicone muffin cups for dividing food, plastic tooth picks and sauce cups! Hopefully I can get these this weekend. 

-Wayword

And finally a weekend!

We had sushi at Sushi.com in downtown Spokane. I think it's the best sushi restaurant in our area...I've had a lot of Japanese and sushi cuisine and frankly...some of the food around here is gross. It was pretty decent though. 

We went geocaching together for the first time. We found this little guy in a cache near our house! His name was aptly, "Scabbers". 

I made Parmesan zucchini chips. They were so fabulous! :) 

Chris is texting his sister. But, he's laughing at me. 

Another view of my sock...that is FINISHED by the way. I am now on the second sock! 

Good weekend. 

-Wayword