Miscellaneous Time Savers 2

Here are few other things that might save some time.

1. Send children outside to play with play dough or water colors.  Keeps the mess out side! 
2. Eat lunch outside as often as you can depending on the weather.
3. Braid little girl hair before bed so that it's easy to brush the next day.
4. Lay out clothes for the next day the night before.  (I have a friend who lays out clothes for the entire week.)  The kids just go and grab their stack of clothes for that day out of the closet and there you have it.  I never had room enough for that, and I never know from one day to the next what we will be doing or need to be wearing!!  You can find what works for you.
5. If possible on Wednesday, dress your kids in Church appropriate clothing so that you don't have to run around finding "church" clothes later in the day.  
6. Keep a tote with a lid on it in the garage for toys like balls, jump ropes, Frisbee,  bug trapping equipment, and buckets and shovels.  Bubbles can go on a shelf so they don't leak on the other toys and side walk chalk can go in it's own bucket or plastic bag and then in the tote.  I try to keep as much out of sight as possible.
7. Don't eat in the van or car.  This makes huge messes.  This is also my husband's rule.  I'm honestly not a fan of it.  Some days it'd save me time (and sanity) to be able to throw snacks at the peeps in the back.
8. If you do eat in the van and it gets kinda messy, you can make the kids clean it out. Give each kid a plastic grocery bag  and 5 minuets to see who can put the most trash in it.  Your van will be trash free in a matter of minutes!  (you may still need to vacuum.)
9. Keep wet wipes and tissues in the van at all time.  Put them in a cubbyhole or small compartment so the car/van doesn't get cluttered and messy. This way you have them relatively close to you anywhere you go.
10. If you don't have a food disposal, use an old strainer to catch all those little food particles that get rinsed off your used dishes.  This saves your pipes from getting clogged.  You can dump the food out in the garden or in the trash.  (Depending on if it could be used in a compost.)