What makes our house run smoother?

I'm always looking for ways to make the home run more smoothly. Here's three of them that are working now.

#1- Freezer meals -- Oh I LOVE our freezer meals group. Once a month we make a bunch of a meal and have an exchange. And I always have some meals ready to pull out and make on those busy days. My boys think that the ladies in the group are the best cooks ever. "Who made this dinner?" me "Sister N." "Oh, she's the best cook ever" is heard quite often around here. :D Unfortunately- our group has dwindled, and we're looking for a few more people (hint hint- all you who are close by!)

#2- Morning routine- We have a pretty good routine going in the mornings. First kids make beds then we meet in the living room for morning prayers and devotional. We read a story from The Friend magazine, and sing a Primary Song and read 1 page from the Book of Mormon. One thing I've learned about scripture time- KEEP IT SHORT. It may take us 2 years to get through the Book of Mormon at a page a day- but I can have their full attention (most mornings) for a page. If we tried to read more, I'd lose them.

After Devotional the kids get going on their chores. We have a rotating schedule- it's posted on the fridge so everyone knows what jobs they have. The orage cards need to be done before breakfast, and the older boys need to take care of the animals before breakfast (Bug feeds and waters the dogs, pheasants and chickens, Doodle takes care of the Cockatiels)

The Purple jobs at the bottom are the room each boy is in charge of keeping clean for the week. It's usually done in the afternoons after quiet time.

The boy in charge of the Kitchen is responsible for helping with ALL dishes during the week, emptying the dishwasher, setting the table, helping to rinse or load dishes after meals. Here's Bug on Kitchen DutyThe boy in charge of the Laundry Room is responsible for getting everyone's clothes washed.(with mom's help as needed) Mondays are mom and dad's clothes, Tuesdays are Bug and Roo's clothes, Wednesdays are Doodle's clothes and a batch of kids whites, and Thursdays and Fridays are for towels, and sheets as needed. Yes- even 4 yr old Roo can help with Laundry.The Bathroom Boy is responsible for Cleaning the outside of the Toilet each day, cleaning the sink each day, then Monday is Mirrors, Tue- Inside of toilet, Wed- walls, lightswitches doorknobs, etc. Thur- Trash and Tub, Fri is Floors. Here's Doodle taking care of the birds.

#3- Workbox Drawers. I can't say enough for how well the drawers are working for schoolwork. The drawers 1,2,4,6,8,&9 pretty much stay the same each day-(with math, grammar, phonics, copywork, our Unit Study and all the other daily stuff) and 3,5&7 are rotated through with games, science and other fun stuff. On the chart- you'll notice that one boy in in charge of the "school room" Their responsibility is to fill drawers 3,5 and 7. :D This frees me up, I can give them ideas what I want in the drawers.So that's what's helping our house run more smoothly. What helps your house run smoothly?!