De-cluttering Day 3

So I decided to tackle the bathroom today.  I de-cluttered both the medicine cabinet and the 1 drawers we have in the bathroom.  I really didn't toss a lot but reorganized both the spaces and now I know what I can expect to find in them now.

I did throw out some of the things in here or find the things in here a new home.

This was one messy drawer.

Looks better.  It is minus a curling iron and some trash.

This is very de-cluttered if I do say so myself. 

30 Days of De-Cluttering - Day 1

So we are living in an apartment right now and going through the forever process of purchasing a house and land.  I've decided that before we move and before I begin to seriously pack I would like to de-clutter  my problem areas around the apartment.  As you know there are certain spots in your home that seem to be magnets for stuff, especially when you need to do a stash and dash because company is coming over. I thought rather than have one big marathon de-cluttering day or even week, I'm going to break up my de-cluttering into thirty days.  Now these may not be 30 consecutive days, but 30 days non the less.
So the areas I have decided tackle are:

1.  Master bath medicine cabinet                    2.  Paper stack on paper
3.  My closet shelf                                          4.  Box on top of our amiore
5.  Babys' closet shelf                                     6.  My bathroom cabinet & drawer
7.  Box 1 on top of my dresser                       8.  The dining table and black bag
9.  Entertainment center drawers                    10.  My dresser drawers
11.Box 2 on top of my dresser                       12.  My nightstand drawers
13.Tupperware container in pantry                 14.  Wicker Chest
15.Spice basket                                             16.  Under kitchen sink
17.Above pantry cabinet                                18.  Dress-up box
19.Barbie box                                                20.  Top shelf in hall closet
21.Middle shelf in hall closet                           22.  Bottom shelf in hall closet
23.Extra closet in my bedroom                       24.  Girls' book shelves
25.Toy box 1 - Cayleen                                 26.  Toy box 2 - Cayleen
27.Under my bed                                           28.  Cull my clothes
29.Top of amoire                                           30.  Paperwork in closet

Because it is my goal to get rid of some stuff I'm going to have to make it my goal to donate stuff on a weekly basis so I don't have a bunch of stuff hanging around the house that will some how magically make it back into some spot I have already uncluttered.

Day 1

My catch all table and the black bag

 The first area to de-clutter was the table because having stuff piled up on it has put a kink in our nightly dinner plans.  It is easier to sit the girls around the mess and to sit in the living room to eat my food.  Terrible habit we have gotten into so it was the first to tackle.  On the table we have obviously laundry baskets (some things are really hard to find homes for in apartments with limited space), library books, school paperwork, ziploc baggies, and the dreaded black bag I brought home from school.  More paperwork, dishes, and other odds and ends are in this bag.

Reclaimed Table

Ta da!!!!! Now we have no excuse to not eat together at the table.  I put away everything in the dreaded black bag, which was a little challenging and then designated it our official library book bag for the summer.  Hopefully that will limit stray books all over the house when it is time to return them.  Isn't my table nice when you can see the whole thing?

Designated book bag

Day 2 of De-Cluttering - The Hall Closet

Hit the hall closet today.  As you can see by the shelf it is pretty jammed packed full of stuff.  I'm proud it only took me a few minutes to clean it out.  I have designated it the girls' coloring book, crayon, and puzzle spot.  Those items are always floating around here without a real home

 

 

 

 

 

Scary isn't it?

Isn't it wonderful?  Only 2 more shelves to go.  All of my extra bedding is on the bottom of the closet.

Routines and Chores

While I was going crazy this past year my husband in his wisdom reminded me of the story of Moses.  Moses was trying to take care of all things all on his own and was being completely unsuccessful in everything.  It was pointed out to him that there was no way he could do it all and then he began to delegate responsibilities.  After he handed out some of his own responsibilities to others, Moses was very successful in the things he had more time for.
This past school year I have spent my week nights exhausted and my weekends even more exhausted because I was cooking, cleaning up, doing laundry, and the housework on my own while working at least 50 hours outside the home.  I absolutely hated to go on family outings because it put me behind on everything.  It isn't really my family's fault, I've never delegated anything to them before.  One of my goals this summer was to create routines and chores for myself and my children and to put them into practice during the summer so they are second nature to us by the time we return to school.
I saw the idea of picture frames somewhere on Pinterest.  They are great because you can use the dry erase markers on them and change out the pages in the frames fairly easily.  I created a frame for each family member and then one for weekly shared household chores.  I've hung these in my kitchen where everyone can easily see their routines and chores.  These could definitely be put on a fancy scrapbooking paper or stationary to make it look fancier.

Dollar Store frames and copy paper written on (don't laugh at my writing or attempt of decoration)

These are my daily routines and a laundry schedule.

Chores - I write names next to the chore weekly.

Claire's daily routines

Cayleen's daily routines with pictures

Cassidy's daily routines

Summer Goals for Organizing My Home and Life

Blogging is something I have not had time for since I started work last year.  I've missed it a lot.  Well, I'm off for the summer and am ready to try and organize my life and home so I can blog during the school year as well as the summer. 
Things seemed so much easier when I work before.  Of course I was five years younger, had 2 fewer kids, and had a job I didn't have to take home with me at night.  I am determined to reach the goals I am setting this summer to increase the quality of my life when I come home from work.  I love my job but not how overwhelmed I am when I get home at night and on the weekends.  So here you are my goals to accomplish this summer and I will be giving step by step progress on my accomplishments.

My Beautiful Kids

1.  30 Days of De-cluttering

2.  Create a Chore/Routine List for my family

3.  Start preparing freezer meals for busy school nights

4.  Pack up the apartment in small steps for our move in a few months

5.  For quality time with my kids - try one new activity a week that is inexpensive or free

6.  As a personal goal - Go to the gym 2 times a week (this I think will be the hardest)

Cherry Peach Cobbler

I created this recipe for desert on July 4th.  I wanted to make a dessert but had no eggs leftover after the potato salad.  It was made from the pantry.  Very easy to make and it turned out super yummy and only requires 4 ingredients!  We ate the leftovers for breakfast the next morning.











Cherry Peach Cobbler

Ingredients:

1 box of yellow cake mix
1 can of sliced peaches in juice (15 oz.)
half stick of melted butter
1 can of cherry pie filling

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare a 9X13 cake pan.  Mix together the cake mix, peaches and juice (I chopped my peaches up a bit so they weren't so big) they are canned in and butter.  Spread into cake pan.  Top with cherry topping.  Bake for about 30 to 35 minutes.  Serve warm or room temperature.  Would be great warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Monthly to Do - July

This month is the month to evaluate clothing for start of the school year. Make a list for each person in your family. What do they need? Socks, underwear, shorts, shirts, pants, shoes, uniforms, back packs, lunch bags, hair accesories, dresses? This is also a good time to start stocking up on school supplies.