Before and Afters, Before Afternoon

This week, I decided to take note of the small stuff. As a stay at home mommy (who is on the run a lot!) I often get overwhelmed with my day to day tasks. Sometimes at the end of the night after I've been "working" all day I look around and wonder what I actually accomplished.  I don't have to explain how quickly order turns to chaos when there are four little girls, a goofy dog, and busy mom and super dad in the house.

Yesterday, in an effort to feel better about my everyday tasks, I decided to take some quick before and after shots. None of these tasks took a lot of time (minutes) and what a difference they made!  These are the little (big) messes and chores that I do E-V-E-R-Y day. Seeing the before and afters makes me smile and reminds me of the good job that I do. Even when it doesn't seem like I have accomplished much, I know that if I do these small things every day there is a BIG difference in my home and that makes me happy! As much as I wish my spaces could look like my after pictures all of the time, all I will need to do is take a quick peek at my before and after pics this week to know that what I do here matters and hopefully it will give me motivation to do it all again. And again. And again. And again!

Our Unmade Bed

The Bed is Made (2 minutes or less)

Clean dishes need put away.
Dirty Dishes need loaded or hand washed.

Clean and Shiny Kitchen Sink!
(25 minutes--including hand washing pans and bottles!)

Our Dumping Ground--
mail, bags and purses, miscellaneous papers
 and dishes and food and toys!

All Clear! Even turned on the digital frame!
 (10 minutes to put everything in its home)

There's an empty spot in her tummy!



Lunch hit THAT spot! And what a pretty "after picture."
 My favorite task of the day: Putting a smile on that little face!



Head on over to I'm An Organizing Junkie to see more wonderful before and after pictures to motivate you today!

A ramble

I'm not feeling like myself today. I'm sitting in the middle of my kitchen. In front of me is a pile of (clean) unfolded laundry. The kitchen table has crumbs from breakfast, a matching game the girls were playing, scissors, crayons, pencils, and cups some filled, some empty. To my right, the buffet is cluttered with things that don't have a home or haven't made it to their home. To my left, orange peels on the counter, a dishwasher that needs emptied, a sink full of dishes that I need to load into the dishwasher. Behind me, an almost empty pot of soup that didn't get put away from last night's dinner.  My house looks the way I feel right now.  Looking around there is lots to do and everything seems disorganized. 

Today is the day I usually pay attention to our money, what's going out, what's coming in, bills and paperwork. I started to do our taxes in the beginning of the week. I feel disorganized in this area as well. I don't like when I don't have a clear picture of where our money is going.  

I haven't written a Pampers article all month and (I can't believe!) we are already over a third of the way through February!! 

The kids had two hour delays all week--except for today. And it threw a wrench into plans and schedules. I didn't get to grocery shop until Thursday and I was thrown off because my list no longer matched with the sales and I had no time to search through new coupons and stuff. I only saved $10 this week and that burned me up.

And It's so darn cold around here! At least there was a BEAUTIFUL sunset last night and a GORGEOUS sunrise this morning. I'm glad I took a moment to admire both.

Jim's Grandmother passed away this past weekend and midweek we spent some time laying her to rest.  It is sad that she is gone, but by most accounts, she was ready to go.  The minister who spoke at her funeral shared some clippings that Jim's Grandma had stashed in her bible, some had notes written on them with specific instructions to share with all of us.  It was quite interesting to hear things that she had read and found poignant: One spoke on motherhood, another on faithful, humble service, another to comfort her family when she was gone.  I found it quite touching. 

The family shared a meal after the funeral and it was nice to talk to relatives that we never get to see. Many of them live out of state or on other ends of this one, so to have everyone together is a rarity.

In other news, we are prepping for Ava's next (and hopefully last) surgery next Tuesday. She is having another cleft repair. She had her tonsils and adenoids out over a month ago to make way and I hope that everything goes well.  As of this moment she doesn't know what she's in for, neither do I actually. Her pre-op appointment--the one where we learn what to expect--isn't until the day before her surgery. I'm thinking no school for a week, a soft diet for quite some time. Please send up a prayer and positive vibes for her!

Today would be a day to link up over at I'm an Organizing Junkie.  BUT I haven't organized a darn thing this week.  I've only bailed enough water to keep this ship afloat, but as you know I'm sitting here in water up to my knees right now--not literally people.  I clicked on the link above just a second ago and found it quite applicable to my situation this week!  I need to stop my negative, self pitying dialogue and get to it!

Another post that I read yesterday hit at the heart too. If you've an extra minute you can check it out as well over at Family Secrets. Thanks for letting me ramble it all out here though!

The Pantry Plan: Pantry Organization



Check out some other great organizing stories at orgjunkie.com

Welcome Organizing Junkies! This week I decided to try to tackle my pantry. We only moved in 3 months ago, so at first I didn't think this was an area that needed much work.  I had put everything away in (what I thought was) an organized fashion. But three months later I noticed that things were toppling, some shelves were underutilized, and the layout of the items stored wasn't making sense for our lives.  Instead of looking organized, clutter was creeping in.  So, I made a promise to re-evaluate the space every quarter to keep it looking its best. I still have big plans in here as far as storage goes. And I would like to have a cheery pantry like some that I have seen in the blogging world with some decorative pizazz! So I plan to keep my eye out for some economical but stylish storage solutions and I plan to do some painting in here to take things for stark white to clean, bright, and out of site!

Here's where we were before:

As you can see, there really is no rhyme or reason for what goes where, hence a shelf of alcohol, baby food and candles.   It goes to show you that some planning and forethought needs to go into an organized pantry.  My previous goal was just to get everything unpacked and put away! Now I need to put it in a spot that makes sense.

And so, I took things out shelf by shelf and decided what would work better. I knew I wanted to move the snack foods onto a higher shelf so that I could eliminate the sneaky snacking that one (or more) of my girlies would do.  They would hide away in the pantry and have easy access to cookies and chips placed on a low shelf right at their eye level. Very smart mommy they have. Another thing I knew I wanted to do was reduce the eye clutter of all the plastic bags that hold diapers and wipes and paper products.  If I had a bigger budget (ahem, A budget) for the project then I would invest in containers to store all of my dry goods so I could get everything looking more uniform. So now that I know what I want, I can save up for it, or keep an eye out for deals on containers that will work!

Here's what we ended up with:

I took out the large metal garbage can and  replaced it with a small plastic one that was in the laundry room. I cleared the baby food from the boxes on the bottom shelf and relocated it to a place it will be used. And I tried to put like items on the same shelf.

I moved the alcohol to a higher shelf. I moved the easy bake ovens upstairs (technically it's a toy, right?). I moved the snacks to a higher shelf. I dedicated a shelf to the baby's food, and I put cereal and bread on the same shelf--my potato bin is there too. That bottom shelf that you can't see has my crock pot, other kitchen tools,  and there's a little section for the dog with his treats and a bin for his food.

These are my favorite parts of the project:

 When I emptied the baby food, I used the empty boxes to store diapers, pull ups and wipes. I just covered the boxes with paper and took the diapers out of their package and put them into their new home. I also removed the plastic from the cups and plates. Doing those two little things makes this shelf look much tidier!

I tried to stack the baby food neatly but after I was 75% finished I experienced a cascading avalanche of little jars. Ouch, my toes! Besides realizing that we have way too many jars of baby food I learned that stacking them was not a good idea/ So I found these pink bins that are actually wash basins from the hospital (when Ava was in) and used them to corral the baby food. I also moved the snack "up high" so now the girls are forced to ask for something instead of just helping themselves to a secret binge fest!

There's still some work to be done here but I am happy with the finished result and I'm more motivated to put things in their place!  That's the point of organizing!  Thanks for visiting!

Finally!

Well, something had been stopping me from hanging pictures up in our new abode.  I hadn't done it yet--2 months post move in, because I know that we will be painting almost every room in the house and I want to change up my color schemes a little and I thought, why hang the stuff and then have to change it all when we paint? I would have loved to have SOMEthing painted by now, but reality hasn't allowed it.  We have done a few small projects, well Jim has, but they have all been related to lights and lighting (my husband is an electrician--so these are the easiest projects to complete!)

Lately, my talk about the house has all come out as complaints, much to my husband's chagrin, but to be fair something has been missing around here and the place just hasn't felt like home, until today. We finally pounded the first nails into the wall and hung some things and I must say, I should have done it sooner.  Even though it's just a few things and even though we may change it some time down the road, it's made a huge difference in making the place seem homier! And that puts a smile on my face.

One area that I have been wanting to put together since we moved in is in the laundry room and I have jokingly referred to it as the "command center"  What was once a bare wall now looks like this: 

I found a tip at one of my favorite home blogs, I Heart Organizing, that suggested turning a glass frame into a dry erase board and I decided to use it to create a dry erase calander and two boards: The calander is just a very simple and cheap black and white wall calendar that I put under a frame. For the memo boards I made one for Notes and one to write our Weekly Menu.

I just used some scrapbook papers from a stack I had lying around and then cut a piece of white copy paper for the center, then I used some scrap book letters to label the boards, put them under glass and presto!  Instant dry erase! One of the great things about using glass as opposed to the typical cardboard memo boards is that it erases easily and doesn't leave a shadow behind like every other dry erase board I've ever had. 

Then, taking another cue from I Heart Organizing, I used more scrap book paper and wrapped it around an old tin soup can to create a corral for the dry erase pens. Jim drilled a hole in it for me and we hung it from an S hook on the laundry room shelf so that pens will remain handy.

 I wish I would have had the extra frames lying around because the whole project would have been SUPER cheap! But alas, I had to buy some frames. I did get cheap ones though. I can't wait to use my new "command center." It makes me feel very organized, we'll see!

Also, Jim created a little "man cave" for himself in our office. It actually looks kind of nice.  It is a big slash room right now: Man cave/Office/Workout room. 

I'm just happy there are things hanging up around here and one of the best Christmas gifts was having my husband home with us ALL weekend (and today) that hardly ever happens!  I'm off to spend some more QT right now! Night all!

Toyland

I have two large, black garbage bags full of odds and ends toys...broken, discarded, missing pieces, drawn on...I'm getting rid of them all and then some.  I tried to follow a cardinal rule of getting rid of things and consulted with the owners first--who got rid of many things (but not enough for my liking). I did let them win a few battles: You can keep the Wizards of Waverly Place Crystal Ball (this time), but I will not concede on getting rid of the gazillion Happy Meal toys hanging around.

The end result: They still have a LOT of toys...but we do have a half empty toy box, organized bookshelf, and a four tiered bin organizer with two EMPTY bins. I must confess, I did throw out a few things that they "wanted to keep" when they weren't looking and I bet they will not even miss them.  I see what they play with everyday and it was not these things that I tossed.

I feel like I just did a big toy purge in the beginning of the summer...so I am just AMAZED (and ashamed) of the amount we are getting rid of.  How did all of this stuff get here???  I guess with 4 girls we get a ton of the same types and kinds of things so maybe that makes it seem like there is a lot more.  As opposed to having half toys for boys and half toys for girls, we just have an explosion of dolls and dress up clothes and  Barbies etc.

It does feel good to clean up and clear out.  Even Ava said that I did a good job when she surveyed the 4 tier bin organizer..."You even found a place for the Barbie Cars!" I heard the hint of "I'm impressed" in her voice.  Can we keep it this way for awhile, Ava?  She assured me that we can...but as I type this Livi and Ava are playing with a mismatched combo of dollhouse, Ken and Barbie, and bangle bracelets and silly bands...Sigh. I hope it all gets put back in right bins!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

T Minus 5 Weeks!

So where have I been?  It's nice to know that I have some "real life readers," that is people that I personally know, who are wondering when I am going to post next!  Really I'm flattered and I apologize that I haven't been able to post every day.

With less than 5 weeks until baby number 4 arrives I am nesting like crazy, which leaves little time for anything else.  That, in combination with preparing the house for the market, has kept me offline for most if not all of these last days.  With my trusty phone in hand, I've been able to quickly post to Face Book or do any other Internet perusing that I need to do in 15 minutes or less, but they have yet to perfect "blogging by phone."  So actually sitting down to the terminal is a real treat.  The only thing that brings me here today is that I needed to check on a few things that I couldn't do from my phone!

We are planning to meet with a realtor this week and make the final preparations for posting our sign and getting this ball rolling!

The girls and I have been going through toys together.  A ton more would be gone at this point, but I figured I should let them have a say as to what stays and what goes.  It's hard to get the three of them to agree unanimously that something should be tossed, so concessions have been made. We are halfway through the project and I have two large garbage bags to toss...If I can come out of there with two more, than I will be thrilled!

I mentioned Flylady.com in my last post or two and, wow, I've really embraced this method of housekeeping and I have to say my house has never looked better for longer.  I used to be a marathon cleaner, which means that the dust rags, mops and Windex really only came out when I knew I had company arriving within the next 48 hours...Thanks to Flylady, I would happily invite you in if you showed up on my doorstep. I didn't think this was possible with three little ones who always seem to be trailing me with dirty clothes, toys, and crayon pictures of rainbows, flowers, and princesses. I can still see places that need decluttered, but at least now I feel like I have a plan of attack and I am not so overwhelmed with the everyday tasks--planning meals, making beds, turning over a load of laundry, that I can't get to these areas that have been neglected for far too long.

In other news, the dog has been given more freedom!  Usually, crated at night, we are trying to eliminate the need for the "decorative" 2 1/2 x 3 foot crate in our dining room.   We will need to move it when we show the house.  I like having the crate around, because lets face it, the dog can be a little pesky and it's nice to be able to put him in there to get him out of my hair.  Also, not everyone who comes for a visit wants to contend with a 70 pound, bum wiggling boxer drooling on their pants or trying to sit in their lap! He's doing okay...although he knocked Olivia off the porch and into what's supposed to be my garden and she got a nice goose egg and cut on her forehead and scrape on the side of her eye!  I've also seen about 5 chewed up toys laying around this week and have countlessly yelled "LEAVE IT" as he tries to sneak off with another Barbie to nosh. But that's what we get for organizing the toy room this week I guess! Once everything has a place, it might get better...or he could just move on to shredding shoes, or crayon pictures of rainbows, flowers, and princesses!