day 5..... I swear I fed them

Today was a day of bike rides and gardening and little ones taking naps when they were supposed to with no fits and teenage drama and watermelons and cantaloupes from the outdoor produce sale. It was snuggly hugs from a 2 year old, Tylenol for the teenage drama induced headache, spelling and math, pattern blocks and legos, coloring books and hangman, and unplanned supper that had to unexpectedly be planned at the last minute, which bring me to the picture of the day.

I am a planner by nature. Let's get real here.... I have 9 children... 8 of them at home. We plan chores, computer time, schoolwork, meals, and I mean all of the meals, we used to even plan where they got to sit at the supper table. We are going to have to start that one again as there is way too much arguing about who sat where last time. Anyways, for some reason, when June came around, I didn't have the menu planned for the month. Not breakfast, lunch, or supper. Our meal planning is a meticulous thing... we have certain days for cereal, certain days for casseroles, crockpots, and pizza, certain days for lunches either planned leftovers or something new. I live for planning the menus. Everyone pitches in and requests at least one thing each month. We went camping early in the month for 5 days so I didn't worry about it then. Next thing you know it is halfway through the month and I kept saying I would get it done. Well, here we are with 7 days left in the month and it still sits empty... all 3 of them, breakfast, lunch, and supper. We have been winging it, and I HATE it. Breakfast is late and that starts us all out late for the rest of the morning. Lunches are thrown together without much thought so we can get little ones down for naps. And supper is haphazardly thrown together to get them fed. I don't feel in control of things without the planning. Please believe me, when we plan menus I am not a control freak about it. If we don't feel like having what is on the menu for the night, fine... we choose something else. It isn't that I NEED to know what we are having ahead of time. It's the knowing that I don't have to decide at the last minute when everyone is tired and hungry. It's the pre-planning and having things prepped for the coming week that lets me enjoy my cooking experience as much as possible and helps me enjoy my evening with a lower amount of stress. It also helps on the budget as we can plan from what we have in our freezers and pantry instead of impulse shopping and paying higher prices. Now in all honesty, I am not going to plan out a 1 week menu this late in the game. I may toy with a few ideas, but for the most part, I think I will start planning for July with the knowledge that I NEED my menu. I LIKE my menu. Maybe when I finish the menu for July I will post it. Maybe I should add a dessert menu as well..... just maybe.