Harry Potter Re-Org!

This is our dreaded "Harry Potter" closet. It is in our laundry/bath room and is partially under the stairs. I let our homeschool activities take over the closet. We couldn't get to our wine rack! Time to re-org!

I forgot to take a before picture, so this is about halfway through taking everything out of the closet.











These are the after pictures. I inherited the shelf! I got the "shoe organizers" at a local store and they turned out to be a great fit for DVDs! On the top shelf are all-in-one-organizers from Thirty-One and I love them! They have handles, can be embroidered and have a pocket for easy identification as well. I have four; three on the shelf and one between the carseats.

Some Favorites

I have a sinus infection and am low on brain power. Today I'm just going to show you show of my favorite blogs (in no particular order)!

• Home Sanctuary
• ABC & 123
• Simple Mom
• Like a warm cup of coffee
• No time for flashcards
• Organizing Junkie
• The Great Adventure
• Reinvented
• Three Blondes and a Redhead
• Totally Tots
• 1+1+1=1

Bloglines is an awesome way to blogread and be alerted when your favorite blogs have been updated! It makes all those blogs easier to sort through, as well!

Workbox Update

The last two weeks have been busy. I've had to leave the house for doctor visits (just check-ups), birthday parties and grocery shopping. This really throws the whole day off. Which is okay because Joshua is doing preschool stuff. We pick out letters and animals and colors everywhere we go, unschooling, I think its called. I found The Work of Childhood which has great information on workboxing. These are some questions they posted for us "workboxers" to answer.

JOSHUA is three. NIKOLAS is 19 months.

How many boxes do you fill? 6 for Joshua, 3 or so for Nikolas

Do you expect your children to go in order? Joshua- yes, Nikolas-no

Do you use the schedule strips? I use 24 boxes on one sheet for Joshua, I include his entire daily routine from the start of the school day. Nikloas doesn't have a schedule yet.

How long does it take you to fill the boxes? I try to plan ahead of time for the week which cuts down on filling time, so probably ten-fifteen minutes and I typically fill in the morning. I leave the same activities in the boxes for Nikolas.

Do you fill your work boxes EACH night with all new items? I use Joshua's curriculum workbook and My ABC Bible Verses. We usually having matching, coloring and books everyday but I mix those up.

Do you have some boxes repeat each day so there is less filling/refilling? not so much

What do your kids do with the empty boxes? Joshua puts the boxes back on the shelf.

Do you put away the ‘supplies’ each night? or do your kids? I do, but once Joshua is able, he will be helping me.

Anything else you want to add? We are preschooling, so I use the workboxes loosely but Joshua loves doing them. It also helps me mix up the activities so we're not doing the same things all the time.

Help For Organizing

Calendars, lesson planners, handwriting help. This is a great resource!

eBook Review

I purchased the eBook Spring Cleaning for Normal People from SimpleMom, Tsh. I can't wait to begin the Spring Cleaning party (see post below). I really am motivated to get this place under control! The book has everything set up so that you get your house clean in ten days. It is a plan! It is very well organized and thought out. There is also a "cookbook" to make any cleaners that you'll need. I highly recommend the book! And her blog is awesome, too!

Spring (?) Cleaning

It looked like spring might be here but today it is raining again. The kids did get to play at the park this morning and are BOTH napping!

I'm determined to get this house clean and then keep it clean. Fitting that this week my Bible study is about having a heart for my home. Last week I did a lot of research (reading blogs) to find out how other women keep their homes in order. I decided that I need to have a general schedule, so that I can get things done on a regular basis. I did an Excel spreadsheet because I am very visual and need to have it IN MY FACE and also attractive to look at. Here is the PLAN:

Daily AM:
Quiet time
Open blinds
Make bed
Get dressed
Put shoes on
Medicine
Empty dishwasher

Daily PM:
Put laundry away
Dinner
Run dishwasher
Sweep
Straighten up
Set up workboxes

Monday:
Kitchen
Mom's laundry
Exercise

Tuesday:
Towels

Wednesday:
Bathrooms
Boy's laundry
Exercise

Thursday:
Bedrooms
Sheets

Friday:
Living/Dining
Dad's laundry
Exercise

Sat/Sun:
Church

Weekly:
Menu plan
Joshua's schedule
Water/trim flowers
Wash throws

Monthly:
Go thru toys
Go thru clothes
Wipe out fridge

This is the plan for each room on their days of the week...

Kitchen:
Scrub sink
Countertops
Cupboard doors
De-clutter
Fridge doors
Stove top
Microwave
Reaarange pantry
Sweep
Mop

Bedrooms:
Dust
Sweep
Mop
De-clutter

Bathrooms:
Sink/Counter
Toliet
Tub/Shower
De-clutter
Sweep
Mop
Garbage

Living/Dining:
Dust
Table
Windows
De-clutter
Glass
Desk

That should be enough to get you started. Tuesday I plan on only washing towels because I am gone most of the day for Bible study and errands. And my friend, Karrie, started washing each family member's laundry on their own day and I am trying that out now, too. I have a three bag laundry hamper thing, so one for Mom, Dad and the boys. Then on Tuesday I grab all the towels, Thursday all the sheets. I think it'll be easier to put away the clothes this way, too.

Spring Cleaning Party!

Check out Simple Mom's Spring Cleaning Party! Check out her Spring Cleaning for Normal People eBook!
I need all the help I can get around this house!

Drowning in Home Management!

I am a follower of the Preschoolers and Peace blog by Kendra Fletcher. I've also downloaded a workshop of hers about getting organized. She is a Christian, homeschool mom of EIGHT! I'm enjoying her current series about how to not drown in home management.

Here is part one. Read it (make sure to look at the comments, too) and then you'll understand what my top five list is...

#1 Time with/learning about God
#2 Nurture my marriage
#3 Quality time with kids/homeschooling
#4 Mom Time (peaceful, productive time)
#5 Home Care (if there were ten this would probably be lower on the list)

Here is part two of her series.
I like how she says "keep our home sanitary" not clean it top to bottom!

Anyway, I love Kendra's realistic approach to life. She is an inspiration! There are so many wonderful articles and resources on her blog! Make sure to check them all out!

WORKBOXES All Set Up!

Here are the steps I did with putting the workboxes together. I highly suggest a good quality paper cutter (like the one from Stampin' Up!) and using the little velcro dots. If you can afford it, I'd also get a heat laminator. That is on my wish list for sure! For this, I used laminating sheets, which were ok but... I plan on getting a different shelf, this is one I had. We are limited living in podunk, Sicily. [Sidebar-Less that NINE months to go in Sicily] I also included some examples that we did today.

busybusybusy

I've been working on workboxes! And spending a lot of time with Joshua, working on his workboxes. I've been taking lots of pictures and will be posting soon! I've also started MUFFIN TIN MANIA. I'll add pics of the fun, too! I am super excited about all of our new activities. They seem to be taking up some of my computer time, which is probably a good thing. Let me get to those pictures so I can get to posting them!

Marathon Cleaning

I think everyone is finally feeling better in our house. Nikolas has molars coming in but I think his stomach bug is gone. Motrin keeps that under control. It seems like since we moved here in December, 2006 that we have been sick more than ever before. I do have to take into account that I have kids now an they love to share germs with other kids. But living in a small military community doesn't help. We had to reschedule Joshua's birthday party and the other kids invited either had just gotten over the bug or were in the middle of it.

Believe it or not I actually had some quiet time during all this bodily function mess. It was nice to spend some time with God. And also just read or sleep. I'm so lucky to have my husband home. I don't know what I'd do if he were deployed. He is such a blessing.

So with all my "rest" comes a messy, disaster of a house. There are cracker crumbs everywhere because that was the food of choice most of the weekend. I could see the germs lingering about. I wish it was warmer outside today so I could open everything and get some fresh air in here. I have been disinfecting, bathing, sweeping, dusting, washing and laundering since the sun rose this morning. The kids were more than happy with peanut butter toast for breakfast, good! Minimal mess. Just needed a quick blog break.

Back to life... Thanks for the prayers!

I Must Share This!

I have found a great way to balance the house! Home Sanctuary is new favorite place!

Scheduling Your Life

I've been doing a lot of research and reading (A TON of) blogs about cleaning, homeschooling, organizing and staying sane all at the same time. I asked friends how they do it. I've come to a conclusion (one that my husband came to a long time ago) that I really need to schedule everything I do. And then the key is... drum roll, please... STICKING TO IT! I am using the week view on Microsoft Outlook. Here is the plan for now... Every week I sit down and go over the plan for the next work week, adjusting and adding appointments or changes. Most of the things I do are recurring, so I set it up that way in Outlook then when I plan the next week I just make changes as I need to. At the start of the week I print three copies, one for my desk, one for the fridge and one for my purse. I make sure to schedule showers and prayer/quiet time, too. I desperately need both! I have also started something that will hopefully help me keep the house a bit cleaner. FlyLady is a CHAOS solver kind of thing. I'm just getting started but am very excited to do more than day one! I'll let you know how that goes. I'd love to know your tips for organizing your days!