Posts by: Angie Rose Randall

How to Create a Home Management Binder – Plus, FREE Downloable Templates

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Owning a home takes work – cleaning, maintenance and the repairs can feel never-ending! It’s hard to keep up with all the household to-dos especially when managing kids, work, and just life (!!) so I created a home binder to stay organized. I think what makes this binder especially helpful is that everything you need is in one place so you can always reference back, if needed.

Before we dive in, let me just say that this blog post has been in the works forever (and my most requested blog topic perhaps of all time lol) so thanks for hanging tight on this one. I spent time creating templates for you all that you can easily download and make your own! (These are at the end of the blog)

Note: I will be the first person to admit that this binder may have gaps and need some revisions (your suggestions/feedback for enhancements would be appreciated!) but I’ve slowly tweaked it over the years to include everything I need to manage our home.

So let’s get into it…

What’s a home binder?

Simply put – A binder that houses all of the information needed to run your household smoothly.

I’ve divided my home binder into the following categories.

  • Contacts
  • Calendar
  • Contracts
  • Receipts
  • To Do Lists
  • Important docs
  • Miscellaneous

Contacts

Include the contact info of all your close family members, doctors, schools, home repair and maintenance people all in one place for easy reference! I add this to our binder, but also keep this on our fridge so babysitters, grandparents or whoever can easily reference it when needed.

I split “contacts” into the following categories:

  • Home maintenance – Organized by Cleaning, Repair and Maintenance
  • Medical care – Kids’ doctors, Adult doctors, Specialists, Dentists etc
  • Kids’ care – School, sifters, activities
  • Pet care – Vet, Groomer, Walker etc.

*I keep the “Contacts” list on my computer and continuously update it as we have new contacts. I only re-print the document annually. 

Schedule

It’s hard to keep up with all of your household responsibilities but it helps when you write down everything that needs to be done and then identify how often they need to be serviced. You can then easily reference it at the beginning of every month to see what needs to be tackled each month. Here’s how to get started:

  • Home Maintenance Plan Schedule – Write out all your household responsibilities. I divided them into: monthly, quarterly, 2x a year and 1x a year. I then split each of these categories into Home and then Personal / Business. In yellow, I indicate which months they should be completed based on their needs / frequency

  • Cleaning schedule – We have our home cleaned weekly, but about a year or two ago I decided that many specific parts of our home were being missed. So, I created this monthly calendar that includes specific “deep cleaning” sections for our housekeeper to focus on each month so nothing falls thorough the cracks.

Contracts / Estimates

With so many projects and home maintenance to-dos, I feel like I am always getting estimates and invoices so I need to house them somewhere.

  • Add in any agreements, proposals or contracts for home: Painter, Landscaper, Insurance, etc. It’s nice to be able to reference back to this once you get an invoice!

Receipts

  • Any time you have work done on your house, keep your receipt so you can remember when someone came and how much they charged.
  • You can even write notes about whether they did a good job, who specifically you liked working with etc. This always helps for the next time you need the same repair or want to compare pricing!

To-Do Lists

  • I have a general house to-do list which I write on my To Do Templates. (I have 3 design versions of this To Do Template which you can access here)

 

Important Docs

  • Important dates to keep in mind – birthdays, anniversaries, special occasions you want to remember and see at a glance on one page (this helps when I buy cards in bulk)

  • Copies of insurance cards, license / passports
  • Passwords

Miscellaneous

  • Notes that you want to write down – names of paint colors, grocery staples/lists, odds and ends, etc.

Well, there you have it! Feeling overwhelmed? Inspired? The key is to start with building the actual binder (list of what you need is below) and then getting started on filling in the templates with your own information and contacts etc. I have one excel document on my computer that houses everything in this home binder and I simply use tabs excel to keep it all separate but together. I update as I go and print out new content when necessary.

 

Build Your Own Home Binder

Here’s what you need to get started:

 

  • DividersI bought this pack of 100 dividers which is such a steal! I use them for this binder and others for work / medical / financial etc. These are clean and modern and a fraction of the price of the ones from Container Store. 

 

  • Label makerI love this label maker (which includes the tape needed) that I use all the time! I printed out labels for every section of the binder so I can easily organize all the content inside.

 

 

 

  • Laminator (optional) – Since I reference back to these calendars, lists and important documents so many times, I like to laminate them to make sure they in good condition. This laminator is super easy to use and laminated in just minutes!

 

  • Computer with access to Excel to download the templates and a printer.

Templates are below for you to customize and make your own! Happy organizing 🙂

Fall Bucket List

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Fall is here and I am gearing up for more outdoor, family activities that we can enjoy together before the weather turns here in Chicago. Below is a list of all the activities I am hoping to do this season.

  1. Go apple picking at County Line Orchard
  2. Visit Goebbert’s Pumpkin Patch
  3. Decorate our home with mums and fall florals
  4. Make apple pie with Chloe
  5. Visit Lincoln Marsh when the leaves change color
  6. Organize a Halloween activity for our block and neighborhood friends
  7. Get crafty with fall color leaves
  8. Roast pumpkin seeds
  9. Visit Mortem Arbortorem
  10. Have a family Halloween movie night
  11. Bake pumpkin muffins with Chloe
  12. Carve pumpkins
  13. Visit Cantigny Park and Cosley Zoo with Chloe

What are your favorite activities? Let me know in the comments.

 

Downloadable Chore Chart for Kids

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School is almost back in session and I’m all about getting organized and welcoming more structure back into our days.

I’ve put together this chore chart for Chloe to make our mornings more seamless. Within the chart, I’ve outlined the responsibilities that Chloe needs to do every morning – get dressed, brush teeth, brush hair, pick up clothes / toys off of the floor and put clothes in hamper. Once she finishes all of them, she is allowed to have her iPad with breakfast (a big incentive for her!). Chloe likes to add check marks when she completes a task and clean the sheet at the end of the week. We leave the chore chart on her dresser and make sure we address it every morning before we move onto breakfast.

Rather than printing the same document every week, I laminated this spreadsheet and use erasable markers, I’ve found this process to be easy and clear!

 

Make Your Own Chore Chart: Everything you need is below!

 

Customizable Chore Chart

You can make this chart your own by adding in the chores that are important to you. You can download yours here.

Laminator

I love this one from Scotch. Super easy to use!

Laminating sheets

Don’t forget the thermal laminating sheets! You’ll need these to laminate anything.

 

Dry Erase Markers and Eraser

You’ll need this Expo set – markers, eraser and spray.

 

Good luck! Hope this helps!

 

Learning & Development Activities for 18 – 24 Month Old Toddlers

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Jack has quickly moved from a baby to a toddler and I realized recently that I needed to switch up his activities and toys to be more age appropriate. The activities below are all simple and easy to execute (who has time for much else right?!) but hit on necessary learning skills like language, fine motor / hand eye coordination and gross motor.

Most of the activities below you can do with items around your home. Otherwise, I linked a few items I recently purchased, like stacking cups, easy puzzles, etc.

 

Fine Motor / Hand Eye Coordination Activities

  • Practice stacking cups or stacking rings

 

 

 

 

 

The First Years Stack Up Cup Toys

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Melissa & Doug Rainbow Stacker Wooden Ring Educational Toy

  • 3-4 piece puzzles

 

 

 

 

 

6 Pack Animal Puzzles for Toddlers Kids

 

  • Shapes into slots puzzle

 

 

 

 

 

Playskool Form Fitter, Shape Sorter

  • Chopping banana or avocado (anything super soft) with a toddler-safe chopper. Perfect way to get your kiddo familiar with cooking (Chloe always loved it).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joie Fruit And Vegetable Wavy Chopper Knife

  • Put magnets on a cookie sheet so he / she can pull them off. Bonus if you get alphabet magnets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Tape empty paper towel or toilet paper rolls onto a bin and slide small objects through like a slide.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Unwrap “presents” – Put animals or other things inside tin toil to unwrap

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Clothespin – put clothespins around a silver bowl so they can pick them off and hear them fall into the bowl

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Shape and Color Recognition Puzzle

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dreampark Wooden Educational Toys

  • Pompoms and Shaker Cups – Put the pom poms into the shaker bottle, dump out and repeat.

Caydo 300 piece pompoms

Sensory Activities

It’s easy to get creative with sensory bins – try different textures, temperatures, colors, objects. Few ideas below:

  • Water beads – Transfer them into buckets. Jack loves the texture!

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Rice bin – Include utensils, bowls, spoons to transfer.

  • Water bin with ice and spoons

 

  • “Car wash” with trucks and cars and some soap

  • Give “baby doll” a bath with sponge – doesn’t have to be fancy! A soap, washcloth is all you need. This was one of Chloe’s favorite activities.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arts & Crafts Activities

  • Painting with water (no mess!)

 

  • Practice drawing with crayons on a big piece of paper / cardboard box for ample room

 

  • Stamps on a piece of paper

Language Activities

  • Aim to read 3 stories a day (before bed and otherwise)

  • Post-it Note Peekaboo – Identify words / things in books – put a post it over animals and items and have him pull off and identify what it is

 

  • Practice animals and sounds. Say colors out load. This is a great book to do both:

  • Put animals / items in rice / sensory bin and dig for cards and then identify what it is. I just this pack of 50 animals to make this easy!

Gross Motor / Movement Activities

  • Practice going up and down the stairs safely.

  • T ball and Basketball hoop – May be a little young but can’t hurt to start to introduce these activities early on!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Kicking a soccer ball – this one below is foam and intended for beginners

And last, I developed this Weekly Overview Chart that will help me / our nanny track Jack’s activities, his progress and take notes when he’s “mastered” something or does something new. You can download the Learning & Development Activities Chart Here.   

I hope it’s helpful for you. 🙂

Questions to Ask Your Neurologist After a MS Diagnosis

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An MS diagnosis can leave you blind-sided, confused and terrified. Not only are you likely experiencing physical ramifications of the disease but you’re also likely not thinking straight because you’re overwhelmed with emotions.

I remember this time in my life all too well and even though I went through the motions, I had no idea what I should have asked once I actually got into a neurologist’s office. (I mean, how could I? I was just diagnosed with a disease that I knew nothing about!)

So that’s where this new blog post comes in: Questions to ask your neurologist after diagnosis. I’ve broken them into sections:

  • Understand
  • Treat
  • Manage

UNDERSTAND

  • Please explain what multiple sclerosis is in simplest terms.
  • Can you walk me through my MRI and help me understand where my lesions are and what they can mean for my every day life?
  • Do I have any active lesions or only inactive? Please explain the difference.
  • What changes in my day to day or overall physical health can I expect from my MS at this point in time?
  • Do I have Relapsing or Progressive MS? Please help me understand the difference.

TREAT

  • What can I immediately do to manage my active lesions? (If applicable) If you’re currently experiencing a flare or relapse with noticeable physical symptoms, I would ask about Intravenous steroids to to calm your symptoms and expedite the healing process.
  • What ongoing medication would best suit my form of MS? What would be your 2nd choice?
  • What’s the effectiveness of the medication? They should give you a percentage to measure efficacy level.
  • What are the risks of the medication and how do I minimize them?

I would then compare the efficacy rates / risks / frequency with what makes you comfortable and what your goals are for you / your family. Things to consider: if you looking to start/expand your          family, side effects, frequency of medication, etc. 

  • What else can I do from a lifestyle perspective to help my condition? Ask about diet, exercise, sleep, stress, vitamins recommendations
  • Request lab testing to gauge your Vitamin D, B12 etc. so you know the appropriate vitamins to take – these goes a LONG way!⁣

MANAGE

  • Where can I go for more information? What resources do you suggest? Who can I reach out to?
  • In case of emergency, how do I get a hold of you? What should I do if I don’t hear back right away?
  • How often do you recommend we meet to discuss my progress / state?

Other items for you to think about / do after diagnosis

  • I recommend 2-3 consults with different neurologists so you can “interview” them and see who you are most comfortable this. Your neurologist is the single most important component in your success!
  • I would also highly suggest that you talk with others diagnosed with MS (bonus if they are on the medication your doctor is recommending!). You want to hear from others who are thriving
  • If you’re newly diagnosed, read this blog “Read this if you’re newly diagnosed with MS”. I promise it’ll help ease your mind, offer concrete next steps and give you hope!
  • Bases on your doctor’s MS drug recommendation, I would call the drug manufacturer (Biogen, Genentech) and connect with their financial aid department. If you’re covered by insurance, more than likely you can join their assistance program and get your medication for FREE! Check out this blog post for more info on that.
  • Track your symptoms and any new questions that arise (I do this on a notepad on my iPhone) and share at your next doctor’s appointment.

I hope this helps! Best of luck to your on this journey. You can always reach out to me with questions!