Dramatic De-Cluttering

Our Pray and Play group is going through the book The Mission of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson.  It is an excellent book and we've all been very inspired by it.  Last week's lesson was on "home keeping" and I challenged the ladies to de-clutter a hot spot in their home and post pics on the group's facebook page. The challenge was the motivation I needed myself to get one particularly awful area of my bedroom cleaned up.  For months, it has been a dumping ground for craft supplies.  My Aunt cleaned out all of her craft stuff in the fall and gave us 5 huge tubs of craft supplies and stuff.  She was worried about becoming a hoarder (she's not even close!) and the funny thing was once I piled all the craft stuff in my bedroom I began to feel like a hoarder! 

Before Pics:

I sorted the craft stuff 3 or 4 different times and I can finally say that we've pared it down to what we will use throughout the years and what is manageable.  I put the many scrapbooking stickers in my scrapbooking box, several things went to the homeschool closet, and a couple of apple boxes full went to the Christian school my mom teaches at for art supplies.  I've shared LOTS with friends and Ali has had craft supplies to delight her ever-creative heart to no end!  I got rid of a huge garbage bag of trash, 1 bag of stuff to donate to the thrift store, and a big box of fabrics to give away that I don't want.  It feels so good to de-clutter!

Here are the results in my craft wing of my bedroom:

Ugly curtains...I know...but the only ones we could find in this town for 8 foot windows!

Eating My Frogs--7 Down, 3 to Go!

So, here is my list of 10 things I've been putting off, whether intentionally, or because I have so much going already that it's hard to prioritize them, that I want to get done before the crazy holiday season starts:


1. Mending (I have 5-10 things that have been sittting in a pile for......far too long...)

2. Paperwork--every year I have to fill out some paperwork that involves copying all of our SS cards and driver's licenses and answering tons of questions and photocopying our taxes, etc. I hate it and always put it off, but not this year!

3. Painting--My kitchen still has a corner that I didn't finish because I ran out of paint. I now have the paint, but haven't made the time. I want to at least finish up the kitchen and hallway before winter.

4. Mail charitable contributions--Though it sounds horrible that I would procrastinate doing this, it all goes back to hating paying bills and paperwork. It's not intentional, and some things like our child sponsorship are automatic electronic transfer thankfully! The money is there and ready to be given, but before you know it, months have passed and I've forgotten to write and send the check. So people like my brother, who is a missionary with CEF, get 4 fat checks a year instead of a monthly small check.

5. Organize Photo Files---This task all by itself is incredibly daunting because of the volume of photos I shoot. So, I'm breaking it into 2 parts. #1: Delete unwanted photos.  Update:  I've started....just need to finish


6. Photo Files #2--Sort pics into folders. I'm 18  11 months behind in doing this. That may not sound like much, but that translates into about 200 folders behind and about 5,000 photos that need to be organized.


7. Go through the sock bin and match and fold socks.

8. Get my hair cut. I usually just have my hubby trim it, but even finding a time to do that seems hard since I have to actually get a shower first to wet my hair and do it during the time he is home and we aren't rushing off to church. I know some women are gasping at the thought of putting off something as important as their hair, but with 4 young kids and homeschooling, that's where I find myself!

9. Biking on the exercise bike for 20 minutes or more each day. With winter approaching, our frequent family bike rides and walks to the park, hikes, etc. are going to disappear. I'm not an exercise-person that gets a big rush out of exercising. For me, it always feels like work, and in a busy life, it's the first thing that gets cut out. But, it is a great way to continue healing from PPD and get back in shape after baby, so I need to do it. So, I'd like to stop putting it off!


10. Taking my fish oil vitamin daily. It smells weird and is huge, and with tons of vitamins to take each day, it's almost always "put off." But, I have noticed a huge difference when I am faithfully taking my evening primrose and fish oil vitamins. So, I want to get back on track with taking this one....gag... 



I have been "in the mood" to organize photo files lately so I think I'll start on that today and commit to deleting/organizing 10 files a day until it's done (which should take 20 days).  I'm making exercise my top priority, joining Crystal in her "21 Days to a More Disciplined Life" series on www.moneysavingmom.com so hopefully I can start making it a habit.

This exercise has been really fun, and by doing these projects which I consider truly boring/painful/horrible I have been more motivated to get other things done too, like sending out thank-you's that are overdue, making things I've put off sewing for a long time, finishing craft projects I started, de-cluttering different rooms of the house, etc. etc.  Finishing one project definitely motivates you to finish another, and another, and another!  I'm anxious to hear if any of my readers here have finished projects too!  Please share in the comments how you are doing.

Eating My Frogs--2 Down, 8 to Go!

Eating my frogs...one at a time...

Sat down with my un-matched sock pile while visiting with a friend who dropped by for tea and cookies.  In the course of the visit I folded 87 pairs of socks!  I've concluded that I hate white socks and much prefer the socks with colorful designs or characters on them since they are so much easier to match.  We go through approximately 47 pairs of socks in a week in this household.  I love summertime when that number is more like 7 (Josiah wears socks in his work boots but the rest of us wear croc-style shoes or sandals!)

Our Math-U-See lesson for the day was on counting by 2's so I made Ali count all the matched socks by 2's twice.  Beware of the homeschooling mom, who will use everything in life for a school lesson!

Eating My Frogs--1 down, 9 to go!

A big stack of mending (6 things) done!  This is the 4th time I've mended the bean snake that Grammy made Jeremiah a year ago and the 10th or 15th time I've sewn the head back onto Ali's special duckie blankie.  Some of the stuff in my pile had been sitting there for a year or more!  Yikes!  This project took me 11/2 hours to complete.

(See the little hand reaching for my sewing stuff?  She's into everything these days!)

Cozi Saved My Homemaking from Certain Disaster!

My super-amazing new friend Nicci Anna (Neech-ee-On-uh) who homeschools 5 boys excitedly told us about Cozi one day at our Play & Pray group.  She showed us how she had her whole life accessible on her touch phone.  She even talked about how FlyLady and Cozi had formed a partnership so that you could link your housekeeping chores onto your Cozi schedule.

I was intrigued, but not sure if it would work for me or not.  I don't have a cell phone, so I didn't know how it would work for me to digi-tize my schedule.  I've given it a month and I'm here to say that....

....I LOVE COZI!!!!  It has truly been the biggest help for me this fall in staying on course with homeschooling and raising 4 children.

Cozi is free and  has lots of options for you depending on whether you want to link it with other online calendars, such as FlyLady's cleaning schedule, etc.  I love that it remembers your schedule so that you aren't having to fill in the blanks every week with the same ol' stuff.  For example, I took my personal chore chart and entered things into the master schedule like: clean the van on the first day of each month, water plants every other Tuesday, pay bills on the 10th of each month, write to grandparents, etc.  It remembers these things and automatically brings them up when it's time.  Maybe this isn't so exciting to all of you if you've been doing this for years, but this non-techie is impressed with my first computerized schedule!  I love that it automatically color-codes the schedule for each person in your family.  I love that you can have it automatically send your husband and yourself a weekly e-mail reminder of the upcoming week's schedule.  I love that you can make grocery lists and menu plans on it and then print them out before you head to the store.  I love sending my hubby little notes from my Cozi page saying, "So-and-so called for you" or "Your wife is having a rough day--you might want to bring home some dark chocolate!"  Cozi even has a journal feature which I use to jot down baby milestones and funny things the kids' say.  You can choose to have your journal routinely e-mailed to relatives or uploaded to your fb page if you want to!

I even put my homeschool lesson plans on Cozi so my whole life is all in one place.  When I get up in the morning, I have my game plan, and that makes things a lot easier.  I always struggle to stay on top of written planners or to keep track of paper lists with lesson plans, but because I'm in the habit of checking my e-mail throughout the day, checking my Cozi page is a snap.  I leave my page up on the screen throughout the day and have it set so that my Cozi page always comes up when I click Internet Explorer.

I have to agree with Nicci, just being able to put all the details of motherhood, ministry and life-in-general down frees your brain to forget it.  I'm now remembering all the stuff that so easily fell by the wayside with a written schedule.  My brain feels less tired because I release those details the minute they are entered onto the calendar.  Have I become a slave to the schedule?  Absolutely not!  I still procrastinate on some chores I should be doing or choose to bump a chore to tomorrow that I just can't get to today.  I still have lots of flex with my schedule, and I see the FlyLady zones as suggestions, not imperatives. 

If I want to carry my schedule with me I can quickly print off the weekly or monthly chart.  I'm constantly talking about preparation on this blog, and how essential it is to motherhood, and this wonderful and free tool called Cozi is keeping me prepared and focused during this stage of life!

(And I'm in no way getting paid to promote Cozi!)

Little Table

This little round table was $10 at a yard sale.  In the past, we've lived in homes that were so tiny I couldn't possibly have squeezed in an extra like this.  It is perfect in the corner of our dining room where I can display candles, seasonal decorations (like a Nativity set or Jesse Tree) or plants and herbs.  A week ago, it was the perfect place to put my quadruple batch of whole wheat bread dough in a warm, sunny place to rise.

"Mom, Where Are My Shoes???"

With 3 small children in a large house, shoes can disappear quickly.

We have one child, particularly, who can NEVER find his shoes.

I was so excited when someone gave us this pretty wooden bench, which fits in our entryway and found that it solves our shoe problems nicely.

The kids are told to keep all their shoes in this one spot.  No more stuffing them under beds, in bedroom closets, or random places throughout the living room.  If I see shoes discarded by the door or laying about in the schoolroom they immediately have to carry them down to the shoe bench.  This is the "central shoe spot" and when it's time to go somewhere, we all head down to the entryway and they grab a pair before heading out the door.

We have a lot of extra shoes thanks to good yard sale finds, hand-me-downs from everyone we know at church and from one sibling to the other.  Here, in the guest room closet where I store larger-sized clothing for the kids, I keep the Shoes-To-Grow-Into.  When a child's shoes begin to feel to too tight, we go "shopping" in the closet for a new pair or two. 

Laundry Room Magic

Our laundry room still wouldn't be called a pretty place, but if you had seen it two months ago you would say it is looking amazing these days!  I think we got at least 2 dump loads of filth and garbage out of this room alone.  And the window that was sooooo caked with dirt and cobwebs that you couldn't even see outside is now sparkling clean and I can keep an eye on the kids playing in the yard while I'm folding laundry.

This is the right side of the laundry room. 

Yay for having a deep freeze again for my freezer cooking endeavors!

My drying rack gets used for delicate items and this is also where I hang my ziploc bags with clothespins for drying.  Potatoes go in the tater box and recyclables in the garbage bin. 

After reading this amazing book and being inspired by the super-organized Duggar family's idea of a family closet, I got to thinking that I should try to make a "family closet" in our laundry room. I also enjoyed this vlog from Stephanie on her family closet.

There was a shelf already in this room that wasn't being used, which was a perfect place to start.
 

I got a bunch of washtubs from the Dollar Tree to hold the kids' clothes.  As they grow, their clothing will be too big to fit in these small tubs, but hopefully by then they will also learn to fold and put away their own clothing, eliminating the need for all of their clothes to be in the family closet.

Since Josiah and I have a very nice master bedroom closet upstairs, our "family closet" is just for the 3 little kids downstairs, all of whom have had trouble with scattering clean clothing about their rooms, and have had a hard time keeping their closets and clothing tubs orderly. I was also letting the clean laundry pile up too high on the folding table because of that extra effort required to get the clothing to the appropriate bedroom.  I don't mind washing or folding laundry, it's putting it away that I hate!

I have one basket for Katrielle's stuff, which is just a holding pen for it until it is taken upstairs to her dresser in our bedroom.  Each child has a sock bin and an undie bin, there is a swimsuit box where all the kids' swimsuits are kept, and the boys each have a shirts and pants box.  Ali's main clothing boxes are under the folding table and contain skirts, shorts, and pants in one, and shirts in another.  Sweatshirts, dresses, church clothing, etc. hang in their closets in their bedrooms.

Now that all of the kids' regular clothing is in one spot, it is soooo much easier for me to keep on top of the laundry and keep it put away where it belongs.  And it is UNBELIEVABLE how much cleaner their bedrooms are as a result!  It saves me so much time and energy not having to run piles to different rooms and not having to rewash clean clothes that were thrown in the hamper by kids who just assumed they were dirty because they were on the floor.  Now Jer doesn't have to ask if he has any clean underwear (because Mama hasn't gotten around to putting it away in his room) and we don't have to dig through piles and baskets to find clean socks.  Getting the boys dressed each morning is a snap as everything is in one place and Daddy doesn't have to be confused over which socks belong to which boy (since the tubs are now labeled with names).  The kids' laundry is quickly sorted as it goes straight from the dryer, to the table, to the bins.  Pajamas still go in the kids' rooms; Ali has a hanging closet organizer that holds hers and each of the boys have a shallow plastic tub under their beds filled with pajamas (which...like undies...I don't fold =).

The left side of the laundry room.  A shelf near the door holds my iron, dustbuster, laundry soap, Oxiclean, a Stray Socks box, and cleaning rags.  God provided this wonderful washer and dryer set for $200  for us this summer when I happened to mention in front of someone at a yard sale that we were looking for a set.   They work great!

In the future I hope to have Josiah install a hanging bar above the washer and dryer that can be used for hanging dresses and blouses immediately after they are pulled from the dryer.  We will probably also do a lot more cleaning and some painting and freshening up down here, but at least for now, it's a very functional room for our family!

Schedules and Charts

Please don't be intimidated when you see all of these schedules and charts.  I'm not a "live by or die by the schedule" kind of person.  I'm flexible, my house is still not perfectly clean when visitors drop by unexpectedly, and I wasn't always this "detail-oriented."  The more children I have and the more we tackle (like homeschooling and extra-curriculars and moving) the more important having a routine and schedule becomes.

Our My Father's World curriculum and K-Math book from Amazon have not arrived yet as I had hoped.... so for now, this is my school plan.  When it arrives and I look it over and become familiar with it, I will need to tweak this a bit to incorporate MFW.  But for now, this is the plan.  I used two blank-calendar printables off the internet and taped them together above the homeschooling table.  Devo is short for devotions, which is what I call the Bible lesson.  Grat. Journals are the Gratitude Journals we started doing last year, where the kids draw a picture each day in their notebook of something they are thankful for.

My husband was a little shocked by how much I wanted to accomplish in a day until I explained to him that many of the things on here take 2 minutes, 5 minutes, or 10 minutes.  In fact, everything on the schedule can be accomplished in 2 hours on a good day, 3 hours on a day with crafts or a lengthier "hands on" time.  That leaves plenty of time in our day for playing outside, going to the park, visiting friends, doing household chores, etc.

My mom saw this in the Oriental Trading catalog for $13 and asked me if I wanted to buy it.  It's great for teaching the kids the concepts of months, days of the week, etc. 

For a while, I tried index cards for household management, and after that daily to-do lists and a home management binder.  Then, for the last year it was a bit of just doing what had to be done and cleaning where it was needed.  However, after moving to a huge house, I realized it would be good to have a chart just to glance at daily or at least a few times a week to make sure that things were getting done.  We used to have 1 laundry hamper which we all shared, now there are 5, with another to come when baby joins us.  So, it's nice to have this chart, reminding me what needs to get done to manage the chores at home.  A lot of it is just habit, like making the bed each day or bathing the kids on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday night but some of it is new for me, like having a guest room bathroom to clean and an entryway to vacuum, etc.

This Melissa and Doug Responsibility Chart is awesome for teaching kids to do their chores.  We've had it for a couple of years now and it's been a wonderful tool.  From 7:00-8:30 a.m. we work on eating breakfast, getting dressed, getting morning chores done, and then at 8:30 a.m. we start school.  When we do our chart, we are usually looking back a day.  So, on Monday we will talk about whether or not they whined on Sunday, made their bed yesterday, or used their manners all day, etc.

My weekly menu plan is just a magnetic pad I got at Walgreens for $1 last year.  Once a week, as I'm planning my weekly shopping trip, I'll write down 7 dinner ideas and then shop for ingredients for those meals as needed.  Lunches are usually leftovers or sandwiches so I don't even plan those out unless I have a special event and breakfasts are usually cereal, since my husband prefers it over a hot breakfast.  I try to always keep pretzels, popcorn, crackers, or fruit and cheese on hand for the kids' twice daily snacks and I don't usually plan out side dishes as we usually have frozen veggies, bread, salad, or fruit as dinner sides.  Each day I choose which of the 7 meals fits my schedule and mood/cravings and make it.  Menu planning at it's simplest!  As you can see, this week I had tuna sandwiches planned for one meal and then realized we had frozen hamburger patties in the freezer and decided those sounded better!

This planner, $1 in the Target dollar section, is where I manage all other areas of life.  Again, I'm not someone who lives for my schedule and checks it constantly.  Many a day will go by without me needing to look at it.  But for family and friends' birthday reminders, lists of people I need to write thank-you notes to, financial notes, dental and prenatal appointments, reminders of which pregnancy week I am on, extra-curriculars like homeschool swimming, AWANAS, or just super busy days where I have 10 things to do and need a place to write them down, this is the spot!  Some people use a wall calendar for this kind of stuff, but I prefer to have mine portable so I can take it on planning trips to the library or wherever I happen to be doing some month-at-a-glance planning in the house.

The Secret to Happy Homemaking

Struggling to conquer Mount Washmore this morning? Trying desperately to start Operation Restore Order after a busy weekend but failing due to interruptions and countless tasks?

This post at my favorite "growth blog" was such a refreshing blessing to me.

I want to be a "Yes Mama" too even if yes means a mess.

Adding Beauty

Pretty candle holder from the thrift store (5 cents), candles, $2
Bouquet from hubby, "just because."



I've been making a more concentrated effort to add beauty to my kid's lives, especially around the table. While I love simplicity, I want our home to reflect warmth, personality, art, and beauty, in appreciation for and reflection on our great God.

Centerpiece for Fall

GirlTalk recently had a post reminding us of the beauty of centerpieces and encouraging us to vary them to add beauty to our homes. It was a good reminder for me, as I can get so busy just keeping food on the table that I forget to add beauty to my family's life. These little pumpkins and gourds from the pumpkin patch were around 25 cents each and add some fall color to our table. I've also been using bowls of pears and apples (which have been on excellent sales) to add some natural beauty to our kitchen. I hunted at the thrift store and found a glass carafe that is perfect for both serving drinks and holding leaves or flowers.

Cooking/Baking Night!

As I mentioned in my last post, my kiddoes seem to eat non-stop! It can be a MAJOR challenge to keep food in the house, even though I feel like I shop a few times a week. What's a mom to do? Fight the hunger war by bulk cooking and baking! I've been interested in bulk cooking since I read all of my mom's books on the subject when I was a young teen, and have often done it, but have never NEEDED to do it so much as now. We're on a budget, have 3 kids who eat a LOT, and homeschool. Because of these things, I have to get creative about keeping my kids fed while staying frugal and having limited time to get it all done. I decided to spend a few hours on Monday night doing some bulk cooking. So glad I got this huge bowl (that came with a lid) at a yard sale this summer for a quarter. It was the only thing big enough to hold 12 C. of flour as well as many other ingredients when I made a double batch of cinnamon graham squares!
We always seem to be out of bread! I'm looking to buy some double-size loaf pans so I can make two HUGE loaves at a time. I would estimate that our family could go through 4-5 loaves a week.

Tilamook cheese was recently on sale for only $2 a pound! That's the best deal on cheese of any brand in our town! I really stocked up on it! I used the older model food processor a lady at church gave me to shred this 2 # loaf and bag it up to use in meals this week.

The results!

1 bowl and 2 jars of fresh salsa from garden tomatoes given to me by my mom

4 loaves of Money Saving Mom's wheat bread (Been making this recipe for 3 years and love it! Didn't use the bread machine this night because of doing the recipe x4, but I often do use it with this recipe!)

4 pans of Tammy's Whole Wheat Cinnamon Graham Squares for snacks (If they look darker it's because I couldn't resist tweaking the recipe to make them a chocolate version of her recipe! Added some cocoa, a little extra sugar, and some chocolate chips! Yummy!)

2# of dried black beans got cooked up to freeze and use in Black Bean soup this week

2 # of brown rice got cooked up to freeze and use in Plowman's Share.

The bowl of macaroni and cheese and the bowl of veggies were part of our supper. I doubled the batches so that we would have lunch for the following day and also vegetables to add with rice, cheese, and elk roast for Plowman's Share, one of our family's favorite meals.

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I started soaking the beans in the morning and left them all day. My cooking "night" began at 5 pm as I was making supper. I got the bread dough made and put it on the stovetop to rise, began cooking the beans and made a double batch of supper. I took my finish pic at 8:30 pm. Granted, I had to bag up the bread and squares after taking this pic, but during the 3.5 hours of doing this baking night I also dealt with kid's needs, served and ate supper, and cleaned up. So, it really didn't take longer than a few hours, even with bagging it all up and sticking things in the freezer. This was my first bulk-cooking event where I had a dishwasher and it made all the difference in the world! I merely had to run an extra load the morning after and clean-up was a snap!

Since we already had lots of roast elk leftovers (thanks to my super sweet brother Colter who got an elk and gave half of it to us) in the fridge, I used the rice and shredded cheese and veggies to throw together two pans of Plowman's Share the next morning and we took one to a family dinner and used the other pan for a couple of meals this week. Having the shredded cheese on hand sure has been handy for several meals this week.

My brother enjoyed the homemade bread I took to a family dinner so I ended up giving him a loaf. That's one of the joys of bulk cooking, you have things on hand to share! I also had a Ladies Craft Night to attend on Tuesday night so I was able to bring some of the graham squares as my contribution. Getting it all done at once sure made this week a lot easier for me. Though my house looked like a tornado for a while (dirty dishes, kids running around tearing up the place while Daddy watched them as I cooked), it has been much easier to maintain this week as I have less prep time for meals.

Bulk cooking is a tool I plan to continue to use often in my attempt to combat the hunger war here at home!

Tackling Emotional Debt

Today I'm tackling my emotional debt hardcore after a busy couple of weeks where it got mostly ignored. What is emotional debt? Well, I'm sure there are different ideas of what it is, but when I refer to it, I'm simply talking about the obligations that are hanging over my head that I need to get done, which aren't neccessarily high-pressure things. When you have financial debt, there is a lot of pressure from bill collectors to pay up....or else! My emotional debt doesn't involve a lot of external pressure (except for getting bills paid on time) but rather internal pressure from myself.

What is on my emotional debt list? I'll give you a recent glimpse from my list:

Thank-You Notes (I had 6 people listed)

Packages to mail

Need to send gifts to 4 couples we know who recently got married

Get some paperwork filled out and mailed

Pray for Samaritan Ministries folks from the Sep. booklet (Samaritan Ministries is a health-insurance alternative we belong to)

Prayer for people we promised to pray for

Get a tape of my Bible verse song made for my Aunt Joanie

Invite a new friend to a playdate

Give books back to gal I borrowed them from months ago

Send photos of our kids to my sis-in-law (she makes a calendar each year for the grandparents)

Send Hannah (in prison--see sidebar) a card of encouragement

Make a sick friend a meal

Some months there are more things than others. Sometimes I'm caught up, but not for long! There is always plenty to do!

Why do I have an emotional debt list vs. just putting these items on a daily to-do list? Because for me, having one master list for the month makes it simpler and I can look it over, check off the item when it's done, and get to the others as I am able throughout the month. Lately, I have been so busy following a homeschooling schedule and routine that I don't usually use my home management binder daily to write homemaking to-do lists in. My previous practices of the daily index cards or the daily checklist have helped me to get into good habits so I no longer find a to-do list really necessary unless it is a very big day with lots of extra chores to do, or a party to plan or big shopping trip, etc. We write Church events or medical appointments on our wall calendar. Find out what works for you and use it!

While obligations hanging over our heads can weigh us down, I want to emphasize that many of the things on the list are blessings. It is a blessing to send cards of encouragement to others and pray for Christians who are sick or suffering. If God lays someone on my heart, jotting it down on this list is preferrable to having niggling thoughts in the back of my head ("I should do this..." or "I need to encourage that person..."). It is a blessing to make or purchase gifts for others. It is a blessing to serve and minister to others on behalf of the Lord. However, as moms, with lots on our plates, it can feel overwhelming if we let it all pile up or try to remember it without writing it down. This is where the handy list comes in. If you aren't comfortable calling your list "An Emotional Debt" list you could find another creative name.

1. Make your list. Write down everything that is cluttering up your brain that you need to do outside of home chores and child-rearing.

2. Prayerfully go over it and consider your daily priorities. How can you take care of your emotional debt bit by bit without sacrificing those priorities?

3. Think about how you can tackle it. Could some of your thank-yous be done more quickly through a heartfelt e-mail? Is there a great book on marriage you could order in bulk and give to the 4 couples you know getting married? Can you save time on the meal you are taking someone by buying french bread and ice-cream instead of making bread and brownies?

Financially, you can get out of debt little by little or tackle it all at once, or do some of both. I try to tackle my emotional debt a little each day, but if it builds up because life hasn't allowed me to work on it, then I do a "debt-snowball" and spend a few hours hitting it hard!

4. Tackle the time-sensitive stuff first. Back when I was dealing with all of the paperwork for my husband's broken wrist, there were all kinds of things on my emotional debt lists regarding forms to fill out, phone calls to hospital billing agencies, etc. Obviously, this kind of stuff is more important than sending thank-you notes promptly. Due to the volume of weddings we were invited to this year we post-poned giving gifts to some of the couples and I plan to surprise the happy couples later on with a card and a small, but sweet, gift. Better late than never, right? =)

5. Be proactive about avoiding too many obligations. This point hits home for me! As a firstborn whose parents were very strict and required a ton out of me (and still do) I have to continually remind myself to utelize these phrases, "Let me pray about it," "No." and "I need to discuss it with my husband." Many times, I have to step back and tell myself no concerning things that I would love to do. I love to sew and want to sew a pretty apron for every one of my friends, my internet and blogging buddies, and all the ladies at church going through a rough time. But can I physically do this when I have only 3-4 kid-free hours in a day? No! These unrealistic ideas must be forgotten. I often expect more out of myself than I should . I have mentioned before that as a stay-at-home mom everyone wants a piece of your time, so you have to fight tooth and nail, sometimes fighting yourself hardest of all, to save time for your main priorities, God, husband, and kids. Thinking before you speak and weighing your options carefully and prayerfully will go a long way towards helping you avoid emotional debt that you could have avoided in the first place. Some examples of this: telling church committees that you only wish to serve in one ministry at a time, telling your kids they may not trade toys with a playmate since it's more work for you to keep track of the borrowed toy (and return it), checking your calendar BEFORE saying yes to a playdate or event, choosing a simple generic gift for extended family for Christmas (the same book, photo calendar, tin of chex mix, etc.)

I'd love to hear what some of you ladies out there are doing to tackle and stay on top of your own emotional debt (or obligations)! Please share!

Photo: Flowers from my hubby at the end of a long week (last week).

School Supplies

I promise that not all of my posts from now on will be about homeschooling! However, I enjoy sharing the things I'm learning as I study on this subject and begin this journey with my children!

My cousin Val gave me these old tubs she had laying around which she wasn't using and it was perfect timing since I was wanting some to organize some of my supplies. I devoted one large shelf in my hall closet to homeschooling stuff and this is where I stash all of these containers and my large cardboard box full of odds and ends and workbooks.

Space Savers and Room Organization

We have one kid's room in our home and it's pretty small. How do we maximize this space for our little ones?

We took the sliding doors off of the closet and put them in the storage shed since one was always falling off and the kids were always banging them around. This made the room feel more spacious and allowed us to fit more into the closet and access it easier.My in-laws brought out a bunk bed set in May that belonged to my husband so Ali moved into the top bunk and Jer eventually will sleep on the bottom and Justus will take his crib. Justus currently sleeps in our room in a Pack n' Play.This changing table has gotten more use as a clothing or blanket shelf than as an actual changing table since I change diapers on the living room floor. I have clean blankets on the top shelf, the kid's underwear tubs on the middle shelf, along with doll clothes, and To-Grow-Into bins for Alathia and Jeremiah on the bottom shelf. Underneath the shelf there is space to store extra packages of diapers.I love the hanging shoe caddy (a yard sale buy) and the basket bins (also a yard sale buy). They keep things easier to find than the plastic tub we were formerly using for Jer's clothing, and yet I don't have to open drawers to put laundry away.We used to have a small dresser here instead of this wire shelving unit. The small dresser held odds and ends, clothes-to-grow into, infant stuff, etc. My brother was giving this shelf unit away and I gladly snatched it up! This holds double what the dresser held, and is easily accessible.

Ali stores her non-hanging clothes here now and is responsible for putting the clean clothes away on the appropriate shelf. I store pull-ups, wipes, extra duckie blankies, and Justus' really warm clothing on this shelf as well.

MoneySavingMom, aka Crystal, once mentioned activity tubs on her blog that her mom had made for her. I copied this great idea and made some for my daughter, who doesn't take naps fall-spring. I also keep toy sets and activities up here out of the kids' reach. We often pull down an activity when they are getting cranky or bored and then when they are done with it, they can choose a different one and put the other one back. Keeping half of the toys out of the kids' reach makes them more exciting for them and helps keep clutter and toy mess down in the house. This freebie from my friend Shiloh is so handy for keeping all of the kids' socks/belts/tights, baby shoes etc. organized and accessible behind their bedroom door. I keep their devotional book and all of our Christmas cards in here (we pray for 2 families a night) so I can reach over and grab them from the rocking chair during bedtime family devotions. I have learned that if things are NOT accessible I will not use them so my goal in my homemaking and organizing is to have easy access to the things we use frequently!

I didn't take pics of the toy box or rocking glider which are in the bedroom but they somehow fit in there with all of the other stuff. Under the crib and under the bottom bunk there is a lot of space for storage. I have some extra toliet paper and a kid's tent stored under there but not much else since they like to hide under the beds for fun! But if we didn't have a storage shed out back this space would be utelized for outgrown and growing-into clothing.

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Justus' clothing is in a shallow plastic tub under our living room couch. I grab diapers and wipes (also under the couch) and change him there on the floor and have the clothes handy. If I need fancier clothes, I get them out of the closet in the kid's room.
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As always, keeping clutter to a minimum helps maximize a small space. When I did my "Pioneer Living" experiment I discovered that life was wonderful with only 5 toys and 5-10 outfits per kid. Since that experiment the toys and clothes seem to have multiplied once again (how do they do that?) but I continue to try to take loads to the shed, rotate the toys, and only hang on to the outfits that fit the kids well, are durable, and look nice, keeping the amount they own to a minimum.

Advance Prep and Flexibility

I was asked by our company a couple of times, in reference to getting supper made, "How did you do this?" Considering we were busy all day taking care of kids or going places, it was a very valid question!

The key for me is being prepared. I have watched 6 small children on many occasions before and I know that there is no time for cooking with that many kids in the house! So, I made sure that cooking wasn't something I would have to do when company was here. What I did:

*Planned simple meals

*Took shortcuts like buying french bread from the grocery bakery instead of making homemade

*Froze rolls and sandwich bread so we'd have plenty on hand

*Made a lasagna and a chicken/brocolli/rice casserole a few days before they came

*Washed lettuce and had it ready to go from the ziploc bag to the bowl for salad

*Made a big batch of brownies all at once before they came (1 pan was dessert the first night, 1 pan was part of our contribution to the church potluck the next night)

*Made the Black Bean Salsa for the potluck earlier in the day when the kids were busy/sleeping

*Had lunchmeat and sliced cheese on hand for sandwiches

*Served ice-cream bars for dessert one night so I wouldn't have to make anything (it was nice that they just happened to be on sale this week too!)

*Had sloppy joe meat ready to put on buns for lunch

*Shopped in advance for all the meals

*Cleaned in advance as much as possible so I didn't have to do it all the day or two before they arrived

I've always loved to plan ahead and organize. Yep, I'm the kid who packed for church camp like 3 weeks in advance, made lists, had all the little travel bottles, etc. I still do that for big trips! Being prepared is such a lifesaver in so many aspects of motherhood. The more kids I have, the more prepared I need to be. With any future pregnancies my goal is to have a huge freezer full of food before I hit Week 7 when the misery of all-day sickness hits. I've already told my husband that we should take about $400 and hit Wal-Mart and fill up our chest freezer with easy-to-make meals since we know from much experience that I won't want to cook for a few months and now there are lots of hungry mouths to feed! With each baby I have had, I have made up about 20 meals before the baby's birth and froze them. This made those first few months a breeze with a new baby! Most moms use diaper bags, right? Diaper bags are just one small way of being prepared for the inevitable!

When you talk to moms of lots of children, who are a wealth of information and inspiration, I might add, it is clear that preparation and organization are very key to their surviving and having a peaceful life. That's not to say that their house is perfect or they never need to be flexible, but it is to say that most of them have learned to manage their lives instead of living in constant chaos. The women I know with the most children end up doing more of the once-a-month cooking or the once-a-month shopping or the monthly menu plan instead of the weekly. They are experts at stocking up clothing in the next-size up for their children and stashing gifts away in advance to be prepared for birthdays and holidays. They often freeze things ahead, have a large pantry, buy in bulk, and cook in bulk. They plan a month or two at a time with lesson planning for homeschooling (or even a year at a time!) and they often prepare for the next day the night before by laying out clothing or putting breakfast food on the table, etc. They have all kinds of crockpot recipes so that a hot meal is ready in the crockpot after church or after a long day.

Advance prep will be your best friend when it comes to managing a household of kids or having company. Of course you have to remember that flexibility should go hand-in-hand with that too. I may look at my Master Packing List a hundred times and we still might run out of diapers on vacation and need a midnight run to Wal-Mart or the kids may lose every pair of shoes we brought them even if we brought extra. When this happens, you have to roll with the punches and just learn to be flexible. It didn't kill Jeremiah to wear his sister's pajamas from the dirty clothes bag when he wet through every extra outfit of his on one vacation. We did survive when my very-organized Mom forgot the diapers on a camping trip when my little brother was only 1 and she was taking 6 kids (my cousins and I) camping at the lake by herself. And though I shopped for all the food in advance, I still made a quick store trip when it turned out that the cream cheese I had frozen was such a nasty consistency we couldn't use it on our bagels and needed some fresh cream cheese. So, while preparation will help you a lot, don't put all of your hope in it or you will be disappointed! Life will always contain many surprises and frustrations but if you are prepared you will face a lot less of them than if you aren't prepared!

What are some tips for becoming more prepared? If you are totally new to being prepared, I suggest trying some of these ideas and incorporating them bit by bit (not all at once) into your life:

*Rising early to have time with God and prepare for the day

*Using a daily list (whether in your head or on paper), a home management binder, Daily Docket, or schedule to map out your day and write down things that need to be done

*Make supper in the morning so when the "pit hour" comes and all the kids are crying you can just heat it up!

*Making a Master List of your family's favorite 50 meals that you can consult when you need menu-planning ideas

*Getting into the habit of making a weekly menu-plan and shopping once a week or less

*Making up a Master Packing List to look over when you are packing for trips so you don't forget those important items for each person in the family

*Making a Master Grocery List as my friend Heather did to help avoid forgetting items on shopping trips

*Having a weekly "stock-the-diaper-bag" routine where you make sure there are a few outfits, a few diapers and some wipes, and some toys, etc. It's no use taking a diaper bag if it's not stocked!

*Making a weekly schedule or routine for activities you can do with your child (playdough one day, painting the next, etc.)

*Setting out the cups/bowls/cereal/bread the night before so breakfast goes smoothly

*When chicken goes on sale, cook 4-6# of it in a crockpot or in a roasting pan in the oven. Cool it, chop or shred it, and freeze it for a handy addition to meals when you are cooking. Do the same for cooking hamburger, dried beans, etc.

*Do a Baking Day to prep snacks and breads for your family so they are easily accesible.

*Buying a freezer chest that you can use to buy ahead when things go on sale.

*Having an emergency kit in the car, first aid kit in the house, and fire extinguisher handy.

*Pack a Park-Kit for the trunk of your car. Going to the park all the time in the summer? Don't want to fuss with packing snacks and drinks every time? Fill an empty diaper box with crackers, bottled water, wipes, band-aids, sunscreen, sun hats, a blanket, sunglasses, kleenex, sand toys, etc. and then you will have it handy if you need it. Of course you will have to restock it now and then though!

*Have a few outfits that are older or faded that you were going to toss or give to the thrift store? Stash one outfit per person in your trunk of your car. Then, when you are at a picnic and your kid wets on you or you discover you forgot to stock the diaper bag, you won't have to drive home! Just remember to put them back in the trunk of the car after you wash them.

*Back up all of your photos and home videos on CDs/DVDs/Memory card, etc. and keep them in a fireproof box with your important documents.

*Make a Travel Bag and fill with activities that your kids can do on long car trips.

*Pack separate bags for each day for a vacation. I love this idea I found online a while back! Instead of having 5 separate suitcases which Dad has to haul into the tent/hotel every day, pack an outfit for each person in one brown bag or tote bag, labeled DAY ONE. Then you just have to bring in blankets, diapers, the bathroom bag, and the DAY ONE bag. We do this now on some vacations/trips and it's so nice to have everyone's swimsuit handy in the swim bag when you want to go to the lake or pool or a church bag fully stocked with church outfits.

*Make a gift stash and add to it as you find great new stuff for cheap at yard sales, or on clearance. Then you can "shop at home" for someone when you want to bless someone who is having a hard day or give someone a birthday surprise.

I'd LOVE to hear your ideas for being prepared since this list is just a starting point!

And have a wonderful and safe Fourth of July everyone!

Spring Cleaning Pics

I organized the changing table in the closet to hold extra blankets on the top shelf and Ali's clothing on the second. The third holds bags of clothes for the kids to grow into. I sorted through the hanging stuff and weeded out things that can be stored until fall/winter. I did leave some heavy coats out because camping in Wyoming involves some icy cold nights in the mountains!

The hanging shoe organizer was $1 at a yard sale. The kids enjoy keeping their shoes in it and they can find shoe options faster now! Jer's clothes are in the tub, diaper supplies are on the shelf under them, and Ali's sock and undie bins are under those.

My friends who have seen our coat closet will agree that this is a vast improvement! Kids' coats, shoes, and backpacks once littered the closet floor and we had all of our winter stuff cluttering up the rack and boots were thrown in on top of shoes. It was bad! Now it holds the shoes we use the most and our summer coats. I also found a way to hang diaper bags and backpacks so they are neater and easier to find.

About twice a year I go through my save pile which is in my bedroom on my dresser in a stackable office tray. Bank statements, important papers and letters, and bill stubs are some of the things I have to sort. Most of it ends up getting tossed, thankfully!

Much better! 3 Piles:

Save

Bank Statements

(to go in my specific folder for these)

Destroy

Before the drawer-paper was put in I had these mats lining the drawer and they would often scrunch up and get all wrinkled under the utensils.

Pretty stick-on paper makes my utensil drawer much neater!



My "Tickler File" which is just a cheap file box folder where I stash various papers on our desk that I can't take care of right away. I sorted through it to see what papers could be tossed or dealt with.

The pockets were labeled with various categories but I put sticky notes with my own labels over them. I have a file for papers to save (cute drawings that Ali made for me), a preschool paper file, wrist injury file, hubby's stuff file, odds and ends, homeschooling papers, etc.

My aunt taught me to do the Tickler File. She uses the bottom drawer of her desk and has regular hanging files. She has a folder for each day of the week and then one for each month. She goes through it every day and "deals with" the papers that are in her folder for that day. It keeps things handy for her for mailing cards, homeschool tests, bills, etc. I have found that my system is better for me because there are many days when I don't have time to go through my file or forget to. So, as long as I go through it and sort things now and then, I stay on top of it and can deal with the papers as I have time and not have them cluttering up the desk.


So, I accomplished 4 of my 6 Goals for the week. I did not get my kitchen shelves re-organized, but that can be done this week. I also need to spend about 5 minutes tidying up my sewing desk. However, I did get a lot of cleaning done that I hadn't originally planned on thanks to some icky poopy ordeals outside with Jer. All the yard toys got washed, the van got completely vacuumed and scrubbed, and thanks to some wetting accidents by the boys, the couch cushion, couch afghan, and pillows got washed as well as all their sheets, blankets, stuffed animals and Justus' crib! I also tidied up the linen closet.


It turns out my in-laws, who aren't usually spontaneous, decided they are coming for a visit so my spring cleaning is getting wrapped up in perfect timing to have company! They'll be here Friday night and will be able to spend 3 days here.
My last big remaining spring cleaning goal is to shampoo our carpets sometime this week.

While it may look like a lot got accomplished this week, I assure you that most of these projects were very easy and were quickly done. Breaking spring cleaning up into one organizing project a day makes it very simple and I really enjoy organizing and find it to be energy-boosting!