It's your time! Make 2015 your most organized year yet

 The holidays are over, the kids are back at school and you've racked up an impressive list of New Year's resolutions. It's time to get everything running smoothly — a difficult feat for a busy family. But this is your year! If you're looking to make 2015 your most organized year yet, here are some places to start. Capitalize on that New Year's energy, and make it happen!
    Meal plan
    End the nightly debate over what's for dinner, and plan a month's worth of meals in under 10 minutes. Simply assign a theme to each day. For example, you might have "meat-free Monday, slow cooker Tuesday, comfort food Wednesday, soup and sandwich Thursday, fun and easy Friday, leftover Saturday, and family dinner Sunday." Grab a blank calendar and pick a meal for all the Mondays, then all the Tuesdays and so on. Use whatever categories your family likes, and rotate them seasonally. For example, add in grilling for the summer and soups for winter.
    Combine calendars
    Most of our families go in a million different directions each day. Keep everything together by using one large family calendar hung in a central location. Most office stores sell large format calendars designed as desk blotters. These make perfect family calendars. While you're out calendar shopping, pick up a pack of colored pens and designate a different color for each family member.
    In families with older kids, you can go high-tech. There are a variety of smartphone apps that let you share calendars between all your family devices. Train your teens to add their obligations to the family calendar, and save yourself the trouble.
    Create a command center
    Do you feel like you're drowning in paper? Between all the bills and stuff that comes home from school, most families generate an entire forest of flyers throughout the year. Keep it all corralled in one central location.

    Buy magazine files and pocket folders and start organizing. Make one magazine file for school papers, and assign each child a different color folder to keep inside. Label another magazine file for bills, and keep separate color folders for each company you pay. Designate a third magazine file for important documents, then label separate folders for insurance documents, birth and marriage certificates, mortgage or loan documents, warranty information, health insurance information and retirement paperwork. You may also want a magazine file for home design inspiration — a place to store paint chips for the current colors in your home, etc.
    Stay on top of cleaning
    Get the family involved in picking up. Set a timer for 10 minutes before dinner each night, and challenge your family to see who can pick up the most items before the timer goes off. If you have kids, consider a small reward such as getting served first at dinner or a sticker for the nightly winner. For teens and tweens, give them more screen time or extend curfew by 15 minutes to keep them motivated.
    To keep up with harder cleaning tasks — like scrubbing bathrooms and vacuuming — commit to a schedule that keeps you doing one big chore and one load of laundry each day. No one wants to spend an entire Saturday morning cleaning the house, so spread tasks throughout the week. Don't forget to enlist your kids for help. Assigning chores teaches responsibility and encourages a strong work ethic.
    Declutter everything
    When you think decluttering, your mind probably goes to "stuff," but this is the perfect time to declutter your whole life. Get rid of all the unnecessary objects in your home, and while you're at it, get rid of all the unnecessary commitments in your schedule. Say "no" more often, both to bringing needless objects into your home and to demands on your time.
    If you're looking to make changes in your life, there's no better time than the present. It's hard making organizational changes with a family, but keep everyone on track until it becomes part of the routine. With a little persistence, 2015 can become your most organized year yet.

How I quit letting my kids kill my marriage

A few nights back, my husband and I were flipping through photo albums of the "good old days." We stayed up way too late, reminiscing about all the fun trips, late nights and impulsive craziness of our college years. However, it wasn't long before the pictures of two crazy-in-love newlyweds gave way to baby photos. That's also when the conversation took a turn.
"Why don't we have any fun anymore?"
"When was the last time we did something impulsive?"
"Forget impulsive, when was the last time we laughed?"
These are questions we don't have answers for. After three kids in five years, youthful exuberance gave way to zombie-like exhaustion, especially after welcoming our third baby this summer. We both concluded that we're too tired, stretched too thin and too consumed with little kids to have any fun.
But that's a lame excuse. Yes, kids make it harder to keep romance alive, but they aren't a perpetual excuse to quit trying. I chose my husband before I had the kids, he is the reason I have the kids, and if I get my act together, he'll be around long after the kids are grown and gone.
I've thought a lot about that last part — how to "get it together" for the sake of my marriage. The best gift my husband and I can give our children is to have a solid relationship, and I know we'll both be happier for it as well. So, why is it so hard to commit to working on our marriage? The obvious answer is that we don't have any time. We're going to have to make do with what little time and resources we have, relying on quality over quantity. Here are a few ideas we've come up with.
Date night after bedtime
Who says you have to leave the house to date your spouse? Babysitters are expensive, and our time is seriously limited. We've opted instead to dedicate Wednesday nights for an at-home date. Whether it's making dessert together or cuddling up to a movie, it's the one night each week where we can quit being parents and have fun together for a few hours.
Commit to physical intimacy
You can't ignore the physical side of marriage and expect to have a lasting relationship. I understand that kids can kill the mood, but physical intimacy can mean a lot of different things, so get creative. Whatever you choose to do, make it consistent.
Express your appreciation
Turns out, being an adult isn't nearly as fun as we thought. Paying bills, cleaning house and preparing food takes an inordinate amount of time each day, so thank your spouse for his or her contributions. At the end of the day, we all want to feel appreciated for the hard work we do maintaining our family.
Say "I love you."
So simple, it almost sounds silly, but those three little words go a long way. Say "I love you" until you feel like you can't say it anymore. Say it first thing when you wake up, every time one of you leaves and make it the last thing you say before falling asleep. Say it even if you don't currently feel it. Actions follow thought.
In the deep recesses of my sleep-deprived mind, I understand that this season of raising young children will end. In the not-so-distant future, all three of our boys will leave, and we'll be left all alone. I stop and wonder sometimes what my marriage will look like then. Much of my future relationship depends on the effort I put forth now. I don't want to wake up in 20 years, married to a stranger.
As a young mom, I may not have a ton of time, money or energy, but I can choose how to allot what little I have. Right now, I'm choosing to spend a little more of myself on my husband. It's one of the few investments that I know will pay off in the future.