My Thoughtful Spot

Weekly Chores

Bobby and I are up to "Insurance" in our Quicken categories for budgeting.  I still haven't decided whether or not I'm going to seek outside help for housecleaning, so what I've been doing the past few weeks is just driving on.  I'm following my old weekly chores schedule and do you know what?  It works pretty well when I follow it.

Monday - Laundry

Tuesday - Kitchen Chores

Wednesday - Laundry, Library Prep

Thursday - Enter Receipts, Empty Inbox

Friday - Laundry

Saturday - Meal Plan, Food List (Bobby does the Food Shopping)

??????? - Cleaning

Now, let me explain...

LAUNDRY - This is started in the morning.  I fold if I have time throughout the day.  If not, I fold it all around 3:30 or 4:00. The goal is to have it finished before it's time to prepare dinner.

KITCHEN CHORES - I have divided my kitchen into four sections.  I clean one section a week.  The goal is to clean the whole kitchen each month.  Sometimes the stovetop needs to be cleaned more often, or an explosion in the microwave might need immediate attention, but usually I can wait a month to revisit most areas.  Here are the divisions:

1. Clean the Stone Fruit wall - including cabinets, drawers, the microwave, the stove, the toaster oven and countertops.
2. Clean the island - including the light fixtures above it, cabinets, drawers, the dishwasher, the sink, countertop and end panels.
3. Clean the desk area and nook - including cabinets, drawers, desktop, door, windows and light fixtures.
4. Straighten and clean the fridge and pantry, wash the floor.

LIBRARY PREP - I go online to see what is due.  I either renew the items or go around the house collecting them and putting them into a tote bag. I may make a list of items I want to pick-up or make online requests.

ENTER RECEIPTS - I enter any expenses from the week into Quicken.  In this season of our lives, Bobby is doing the reconciling and bill paying.

EMPTY INBOX - I go through my paper pile and trash stuff, file stuff and hopefully deal with things to do.

MEAL PLAN - I check out the plans for the week in my planner, then I plan our meals for the week.  If Bobby is going to be out for dinner, we may have a pancake night.  After about three or four nights, I plan a leftovers night.  I write the meals in my planner along with a cookbook page number if necessary.

FOOD LIST - I look at the meal plan and I circle any ingredients that we need to buy on my food shopping Excel spreadsheet.  It needs to be updated because I've been writing too many notes on it lately, and also because Bobby said the store is rearranging some of the aisles.

CLEANING - Right now the cleaning isn't done at a specific date and time.  It's a floater.  The goal is to get it done at the end of the week, maybe Thursday, Friday or Saturday morning.  It depends on the week.  I alternate, doing the downstairs one week and upstairs the next.  For example, this is the downstairs week.  This morning I cleaned the half-bath before my Bible Study friends arrived, and I cleaned the master bathroom after Quiet Time, while the kids played outside and Sweet Pea slept.  I'll try to have the kids help me clean the rest of the downstairs either tomorrow afternoon or Saturday morning. Last week it was raining Friday night, so the whole family cleaned the upstairs in between dinner and special cookies that Bobby brought home from his office.  That method wouldn't have worked if it was a beautiful spring evening and might not have worked without the cookies.  Another week I cleaned on a Saturday morning with Snuggler and Helper, while Bobby and Worker did the food shopping.

I've found that the chore schedule works if I get off my butt and move instead of lying down with my nose in a book, or sitting in a chair staring peacefully into space (which I seem to be doing a lot these days).

Snippets of Today

• I finally brought Helper to the doctor's to find out about the phlemy sound in her throat.  It's probably allergies.  They gave her some medication.
• I did my kitchen chores: week one.  I have a four week rotation to get my whole kitchen cleaned in one month, but I haven't done any of the weeks in months.
• I also cleaned out the fridge, which should be done in week four, but I felt I just had to do it today.
• I talked on the phone with my sister throughout most of the fridge cleaning.
• Sweet Pea amazed me by running across our backyard in heels.

• I read the exciting grass burning chapter of Strawberry Girl over a giggling and sniggering Snuggler, who was in stitches over his drawings of a peeing hippo. 
• Worker interrupted the chapter to show me his fine drawings of a hard working dog who was pooping in between each task.
• We did the Children's Hour, which hasn't been done consistently lately.
• We read the Rita Skeeter broom closet scene in The Goblet of Fire.
• I'm trying to decide between a hot bath and journaling my Disney scrapbook.

Good Help & Budgeting

A big fight involving three of the kids and some dollhouse people gave me a great idea.  Let's all clean the downstairs together!  Sweet Pea, you feather dust the woodwork.

Helper, you can polish the furniture.  Worker, you can vacuum the living room.

And Snuggler, you can blue juice.

Snuggler didn't do too much work, but he was enthusiastic during the short time he did.  While he was vacuuming, I heard him shout, "Hasta la vista, dust bunnies!"

I haven't made any calls to cleaning services yet.  I'm still on the fence.  Bobby and I are going to make a new budget soon.  Maybe tonight.  That might help me to decide.  We have a ginormous number of categories for our expenses in Quicken.  For years we enjoyed knowing exactly where every penny went.  Now, we're ready to simplify our budgeting categories. I'm looking at my MROL Workbook and the Budget Worksheet in my Franklin Planner for ideas.  And while I'm at it, I think I'll take another look at my homeschooling expenses.  Have a great weekend!

A Spring Clothing Inventory

Matilda asked me:

Could you please consider going into some specifics about what your wardrobe entails. I'm talking specifics. Do you mix and match tops and bottoms. How often do you wear an item before it goes into the laundry. How often do you launder an item each week.

So this post is going to be all about my spring wardrobe.  The nitty-gritty details.  So if you don't want to know how many undergarments I have, do not read on.  Keep in mind that I'm in maternity mode.  This means that I did not go out and purchase this wardrobe.  I was very fortunate to have loads of maternity clothes passed on to me by my sister and her sister-in-law.  Last night I was in a spring fashion show, modeling maternity clothes for Bobby, who was multi-tasking (watching a fashion show and surfing the internet.)  Two big black bags of clothes have gone out the door, and here is my new spring/summer wardrobe:

six tops

four capris, two grubbies (capris and shorts for wearing in our yard), one long skirt

one bathing suit, one long dress, two nightgowns

not shown are:

one slip, three regular bras, 3 nursing bras, five underpants and three pairs of white ankle socks

one pair each: black slip-ons, walking sneakers, running sneakers (for wearing out, not running)

I plan to buy a pair of brown or tan athletic sandals and a couple of new nursing bras.

So, I guess I mix and match tops and bottoms.  I will wear the clothes for one day, then throw them in the laundry basket, except for the nightgowns.  Those I wear until laundry day (usually 2 or 3 nights.)  I do laundry 3 days a week, so I really only need to have four complete outfits.  I have some extras though in case I ruin something and for a bit more variety.  My clothes are getting laundered more than once a week and those who know me IRL will see me in the same things over and over again, but I like to keep it simple.  (Too bad I can't do this with homeschooling supplies.)

What's up with this spring cleaning business?

Didn't we use to start it sometime in early spring and work, work, work until it was finished?  Didn't the whole house smell wonderful and fresh?  Didn't it sparkle?  Didn't I use to go to bed tired, but with the happy satisfaction of a job well done?  I can't really remember.  I called my Memere.  She said, "Yeah.  It's a lot of work."  I called my mother, who said the same, but added, "And I didn't have anyone helping me."  (I guess we got out of her way until we were older when we did our own rooms.)  And they did this in the spring and the fall.  Were they clean freaks?  Or were their homes so important that they were willing to put in the time and effort to maintain them well?  I don't know, but I do know that a spring cleaning binge does not work for my family.

Yesterday we tore up the master bedroom.

This home was brand new almost two years ago.  Since then, some dust has been accumulating in hidden places.

Is it worth 3 people spending a whole morning working together on making the room new again?

Wait a minute... make that 4 people.

I think so.  And Worker has learned some new skills too.

And wouldn't it be great if I could just be grateful for our time together and for our beautiful, clean, decluttered master suite, instead of feeling disappointed at the list of things that will not get done during this vacation?

Spring Cleaning:

• master bathroom
• upstairs bathroom
• laundry room/half bath
• master bedroom
• girls room
• boys room
• playroom
• school room
• living room
• dining room
• study
• foyer
• hall and stairwell
• kitchen
• mudroom

(finish decluttering, spring clean-up outside, etc.)

As I'm accepting that my goals were unrealistic, (especially along with all the fun things I planned for this week) I'm thinking about spring cleaning in general.  Is it necessary?  Should I do one area a week until it's finished?  Or rotate one area a month?  Or every two months?  What are your thoughts?  What do you do?

It doesn't seem nosey to me

Rebekah wrote:

Can I be totally nosey on behalf of all your blog readers and ask what you have decided about hiring someone to clean?

I'm fairly certain that I'll be hiring someone, at least temporarily.  (Maybe until Snuggler and Helper can be as helpful with cleaning as Worker is.)  I've emailed my neighborhood directory and have received about 4 leads to cleaners.  I've been procrastinating making those calls.  (Bobby says I should do it tomorrow.)

I appreciate all of the comments that you left me when I asked you what you would do.  I agree that there will still be "plenty of work to go around" and I think I should "just do it".  Having spring cleaned a couple of bathrooms yesterday, I have an even stronger awareness of how much there is to do around here and how time consuming it is, and soon I hope to be nursing a new baby around the clock.  So thanks again for your opinions.  I will be sure to let you know how it all turns out. 

"Mind Your Cell Phone"

That's another quote from Bobby.  I did too much yesterday.  Last night, after the kids went to bed, I crawled into my bed and lay there looking at the Beautiful Feet catalog that I had requested.  I couldn't move.  I was too tired to answer the phone when it rang around 9:00 PM, and I was even too tired to blog.  In the morning we had cleaned 2/3 of the bathrooms.  Bobby, Worker and I took over two hours to clean the Master Bathroom.  Either we were being too picky, or it was really dirty.

Bobby took over an hour cleaning out the fan.

If you're wondering what our other children were doing while we cleaned, the girls were playing house in the playroom and Snuggler was on the computer.  I told him he could go on it for 30 minutes and then we forgot about him, so he got way more than 30 minutes.  Worker was a huge help.

After awhile Sweet Pea came around.

She wanted to help too, so I gave her a rag.

The upstairs bathroom took Bobby and I under an hour, I think.  We sent everyone outside to play.  It was a beautiful spring day, a great day for opening up the windows and letting the fresh air in.  Here I am gagging on the non-fresh air.

Bobby was right about removing the toilet seat.  I hate to think of the scum we would have left in the bathroom if we hadn't.  Helper came inside to offer us her services.

After lunch, I headed out for my monthly OB appointment.  (All is well.)  While I was out, Bobby hung up four valances in our bedroom that we had purchased almost two years ago.  (Hurray!)

For dinner, we went to (beware of the music at this link) The Ninety-Nine Restaurant at the mall.  We made an unsuccessful trip through Target, where I was mainly hoping to find valances for our bathroom.  (This house is going to be decorated before the baby comes.)  Then I waddled around Build-A-Bear.  Then we drove to Bed, Bath and Beyond to purchase some accessories for the master bathroom.  That really did me in.  Of, course we always end up separating when we shop with children (Helper had to go to the bathroom right then and there) and I didn't mind my cell phone (I think it was at home) and we wandered around the entire store looking for our family who were all driving around the parking lot in the van.

Oh well.  I survived.  Today we took the day off and went to The Carle.  I'll write about that later...

"His & Hers"

That's what Bobby said when he saw the two new buckets.  Really, one is for window solution and the other is for the Pine Sol mix.  Today at approximately 9:00 AM we will begin our spring cleaning.  On the agenda today are bathrooms.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Purging Update

I'm still doing it!  I had scheduled a project for almost every day, but I've found it hard to do anything on days when I go out.  Socializing (although I enjoy it) is more of an energy drain for me than an energy boost.  Here's where I'm at now:

• Tues 3/25 - kitchen cabinets and drawers, utility closet, books (history, biography)
• Wed 3/26 - books (language, math)
• Thur 3/27 - my desk, books (geography, science)
• Fri 3/28 - kids bathroom, linen closet, books (readers, board books)
• Sat 3/29 - school room
• Sun 3/30 - girls room, boys room, playroom
• Mon 3/31 - 1/2 bath, mudroom
• Tues 4/1 - dining room hutch, foyer closet
• Thur 4/3 - pantry, fridge
• Fri 4/4 - my dresser
• Sat 4/5 - my closet

Not bad.  I still can't say that the school room is finished.  I can say that even with less stuff, it got really trashed this week.  That will keep happening until I get a daily pick-up routine going in there.

There are boxes everywhere.  Boxes of stuff to donate, clothes too big for Sweet Pea, clothes too small for Sweet Pea... and there are bags.  But I'm making progress.  Last night I did my dresser and closet.  Here's a before picture.

My closet, which is smaller than Bobby's because I ended up with the duct work going through mine, has been the dumping ground for clothes not in use.  No more.  They're going somewhere else.

My dresser is currently filled with maternity clothes.  (I finally let go of the lingerie and nylons that have been sitting in my dresser for 10 years.  Those drawers are empty now, but that's OK.)  My closet contains the clothes I'm currently hanging. (Helper, Snuggler and Worker's clean spring wardrobes are sitting on the shelf until the warm weather comes.)

And here are my non-maternity clothes.

Two boxes of fall/winter (including boots) and one box of spring/summer.  If I don't use that body pillow by the end of this pregnancy, it's out of here.

What Would You Do...

If you were thirty-eight years old, 23 weeks pregnant, homeschooling, had 4 children (ages almost 9.5, almost 7.5, almost 6 and 2), a 13 room home with a super long foyer and your husband and you agreed that your family could probably afford to hire a cleaning service?  Would you...

A) lower your standards and continue to try to train your children to clean the house along with you

or

B) hire the cleaning service

Wednesday Is My Busy Day

It's probably my least favorite day of the week.  I've been considering changing my Mon-Wed-Fri laundry routine to something that doesn't include Wednesdays.  We do our "school".  Then after lunch I take the boys to the Homeschool Gym & Swim program at our local YMCA.  The girls and I usually go to the library.  At night I have a commitment outside of the home.  I think that the reason I've been getting so exhausted on Wednesdays, besides being pregnant and busy, is that I've been staying up way too late.  So I've decided to change the habits we're working on (in my right sidebar) to things that we already worked on last year, but slipped out of doing consistently lately.

Other exciting news.... the camera Bobby bought for me is all charged up and ready to go.  I should probably read the manual before I get started.

A Purging Plan

Yes.  I AM crazy enough to try to give the whole house a nice purge before we do our spring cleaning in April.  I am posting my plan, even though I'm uncertain it's doable.  Maybe this will give me some accountability.  Bobby will be out for much of this weekend, which could mean I'll get loads done while the children play together, or maybe I won't be able to do much at all.

• Tues 3/25 - kitchen cabinets and drawers, utility closet, books (history, biography)
• Wed 3/26 - books (language, math)
• Thur 3/27 - my desk, books (geography, science)
• Fri 3/28 - kids bathroom, linen closet, books (readers, board books)
• Sat 3/29 - school room
• Sun 3/30 - girls room, boys room, playroom
• Mon 3/31 - 1/2 bath, mudroom
• Tues 4/1 - dining room hutch, foyer closet
• Thur 4/3 - pantry, fridge
• Fri 4/4 - my dresser
• Sat 4/5 - my closet

Spring Stuff

Spring is a season of renewal.  Here are some of the renewed efforts I'm making or planning to make around my home and homeschool.

Spring Daily Chores - I've chosen today, the Monday after Easter Sunday, to make the daily chore switcheroo.  I've been changing these up seasonally so that the kids have enough time to learn them well, but also have a limit to how long they have to do a specific task.  Here's the spreadsheet.  Download my_rule.xls

Spring Menu - This is our simple Mon-Fri, breakfast-morning snack-lunch menu.  I like to save choosing for the afternoon snack and the weekends.  Our dinners I plan on a weekly basis, usually on Saturday morning right before Bobby takes my list to the store.  If you want to check it out. Download Menu.xls  (I'm trying for a daffodil color scheme.)

Spring Cleaning - I didn't even attempt this during Holy Week.  I knew there was no way I could get it done in three days with my low energy, afraid-to-bend-too-much, pregnant body.  I was actually feeling kind of discouraged about the whole thing until last night.  Bobby offered to help me do it all during our vacation week.  Now that's a big deposit in the old emotional bank account!  I'm already thinking about checklists, schedules, stocking the cleaning supply closet, etc.

Spring Purging - The school room is a work in progress that I hope to finish before the great weather appears.  But today I was thinking grand.  Is it the Flylady who says to work on decluttering before you start the detailed cleaning?  Maybe I could declutter OUR WHOLE HOUSE before our vacation, which is scheduled for the week of April 7th.  What do you think?

Spring Curriculum - It is time to remove that "Winter Curriculum" from my right sidebar.  It's really not appropriate anymore.  I doubt the spring version will be a whole lot different from the winter one, but still, it needs updating.  I'll work on that this week.  One thing that I know for sure that I'll be adding is picture study and composer study.  I ignored these in the winter and I'm ready to do it again.  It'll be Cassatt and Vivaldi.

Spring Habits - And while I'm updating my right sidebar, how about a habit change?  It's said that I've been working on morning routines since last summer.  How lame.  It only takes 21 days to establish a habit.  That is if you are consistent with it.  Well, I'm not going to attempt to explain why we've worked on these for 210 days.  Let's just begin anew with.... with ????  I'll think about it tonight.

Spring Prayer - During Lent I had planned to get up at 5:30 every morning so that I could read the Mass readings and The Word Among Us meditation, along with my usual prayers.  Well, the getting up early and the Mass readings didn't happen.  But Holy Week is very inspiring to me.  I plan to get up at my usual 6:00 and start at the beginning of the New Testament.  A shorter shower would give me more time to read.

Ooops.  Here I am bloggin' away during The Children's Hour.  Why hasn't anybody come to tell me it's bathtime?  Why hasn't Bobby told me to stop being a Computer Potato?

 

On Clothing

I went though the boys' spring clothes today.  Worker will be wearing most of the same things as last year.  I don't think he likes to part with them.  We have nice hand-me-downs from his cousins, but most of them were too large.  Snuggler will be needing some shorts and a golf shirt.  After my last post, Melinda asked me how much clothing I think is too much.  I go by how often I do laundry.  Since I do laundry every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, each person really needs to have 4 outfits.  So I shoot for everyone having five.  I must like to have that emergency back-up outfit.

So for the spring, Helper has 5 sets of tops and bottoms to play in, but I also allowed 3 dresses.  One is super fancy (from her Nana, and she'll probably only wear it on Easter), one is a play dress and one is kind of in between.  The boys are going to have 5 sets of shirts and shorts, including 2 golf shirts.  They'll probably wear a golf shirt and a pair of cotton pants to Mass.  I also like everyone to have 2 pairs of pajamas.  They should wear them twice before throwing them in the laundry basket.  (But of course that doesn't always happen.  The boys are often complaining how cold it is at breakfast while they sit there in their underwear.) 

Sidetracked

My homeschool decluttering was put on the back burner today.  I decided that Helper's wardrobe was an urgent issue.  It couldn't wait until the warm weather arrives.  I also thought I might try placing an order from Land's End before their free shipping ends on Friday.  (It's getting harder to find time to go out to a store.)

Helper loved trying on the 4 boxes worth of hand-me-down's that I found in our basement.  So here you can see her new winter wardobe on the left and her new spring wardrobe on the right (except for that little pink sweater which is on top of the wrong pile.)  It turns out that the only things she's going to need for the spring is a pair of sandals and a pair of tights for Easter Sunday.  And guess what!  Three Luvs boxes full of clothing will be going out the door! 

I plan to go through the boys clothes and Sweet Pea's clothes sometime this week.  As for the homeschool purge, I did a little bit yesterday and I'm still reading and thinking on it.  A lot.  As crazy as it sounds, I think I'm trying to prepare for it mentally.  I hope to write an update tomorrow night.

Purging Project: The Master Bathroom

This was a satisfying little project that I almost finished in one night in between the kids bedtime and mine.  I just had to wait for a time when Bobby was willing to sort through his bin of extra health and beauty aids until I was able to say that it was completely done.

I made up these labeled bins when we lived at our old house.  They still work here, but I don't think that they have been purged since we moved in almost 2 years ago.  (That can't be right.)  Anyway, here are the master bathroom closet before and after photos.

Maybe they don't look drastically different, but can you believe I threw/gave away all of this stuff?

I actually found a multipack of pregnancy tests that I didn't know I had.  (Oooops!)  I'm saving those.  Now I have 4 extra tests for someone to take in the future.  Our closet is for the extra stuff that we don't use on a daily basis.  Under Bobby's sink we store the extra toilet paper and the scale.

Under my sink we store only our little health and beauty aids (can you tell I've worked at Kmart?) travel bags.  It was just way too boring a picture to post.  We have three drawers in between our sinks.  This is where the important stuff goes.  The top drawer is MOST important.  Important means it's used daily.  I've shared this photo and its story before.

Second drawer - girl's hair thingys???

Bottom drawer - pretty storage containers my m-i-l gave me and the necessary blow dryer.

I'm a Thinker

This was a very busy weekend.  I really enjoyed scrapbooking with my sister and my friend Kari on Friday and Saturday.  I got our Disney trip and our 2006 Family Album all mounted.  Now, they just need to be journaled.  Jodie and I had dinner out on Saturday night.  Last night we all went to Bobby's Superbowl Party.  I left with the three youngest after Tom Petty's half-time show. 

WARNING:  The rest of this post is rather dreamy, so if you're not in the mood, skip it.

I am still imagining the life I want to live.  In January, I was too sick and tired to feel like doing any planning.  But this month I'm feeling differently about it.  Bobby and I have been talking about our dreams and goals.  His are mostly related to his career.  Mine are mostly related to homeschooling and taking care of the household.  We agreed that mine seem easier to achieve because the outcome of his are more dependent on things outside of our control.  Mine seem more dependent upon discipline and choices.  But enough of this general talk, let me at least write specifically about what I've been thinking.

When I imagine how I want to live right now, in the present, I always think that I want my day to peacefully flow.  Busy is OK, as long as it's not impatient, stressful, hurrying busy.  There is a peacefully going about the next thing busy, that I enjoy.  I want to wake up feeling rested, not dragging from another late night.  I want to get up early enough to be alone with God for awhile each morning, before I'm needed by others.  I want to have a daily rhythm.  This means I need to stick with our morning routines, our chores for the day, our school routines and our Children's Hour at night.  Basically, it means sticking with the first draft of the mother's rule I've made for myself.  This is really hard for me.  I get distracted easily.  Speaking of distracted, notice how I've left my rule in it's beginning stages to work on decluttering my house and also decorating it.  I don't think I've written about it here on my blog, but Bobby and I are determined to get rugs on our floors, window treatments and stuff on our walls.  Bobby especially dislikes the echo in our home, and I'm all for making it homier.  Every decision and purchase we make takes up time though, and I can't wait until it's all finished. 

I guess these things are all related.  The decluttering will hopefully bring order and simplicity.  I want that order.  (A place for everything and everything in its place.)  I want the simplicity of having fewer possessions to take care of.  Speaking of simplicity..... I've also been thinking about my ideal homeschool.  If you've ever read Pocketful of Pinecones, you can probably imagine what I'd like my homeschooling days to be like.  Lots of read alouds, spending lots of time outdoors, taking strolls in a park, having discussions with each other on loads of different topics, living life at a slow pace, etc.  Of course, I realize that this will never happen.  For one thing, we aren't living in the thirties.  Also, I have more than two children, including one toddler.  We don't have a farm to visit, and we've chosen to commit to many outside activities.  But I do see that there are changes I can make to get a little closer to my ideal.  I see the gaps between what I'd like to be doing and what I'm actually doing.

Well, that's all I have to say on this for now.  I'm hoping that writing (along with praying) will bring me some clarity.  But for now, I really need to fold the clothes before dinner. 

Too Much Stuff (IMO)

Mansfield Park has come and gone and now there's a new book getting my attention, thanks to Rebecca.  I stayed up way too late last night engrossed in the interesting topic of clutter.  This morning I was up early jotting down my thoughts on the life I want to live.  I'll be taking a break from the book though to deal with an urgent clutter problem, my scrapbooking closet.

I need to deal with it before my upcoming scrapbooking weekend.  My sister (and maybe one other friend) and I will have a Scrap Night at Bobby's office on Friday.  We'll leave all of our stuff.  Then we'll return on Saturday from early morning to ??????  We haven't scrapbooked together since October and Jodie is due in March, so it's good timing for us.  With a little bit of Peter Walsh's inspiration, I'm ready to be ruthless.   

I told Bobby that I am going to get rid of my Cropper Hopper because I haven't used it in years.  He thought I should keep it because it cost a lot of money (Excuse #3) and it fits in our foyer coat closet.  I don't agree with the belief that just because you have room for something, it's OK to keep it.  Bobby also said that most people have more stuff than we do, and people who come into our home would not think it's cluttered.  I agree with his second statement, but told him that he doesn't see what I do all day.  He doesn't see how much time it takes to manage all the stuff.  We aren't too deep into clutter though.  I see my problem areas as:

• my scrapbooking closet
• our school room closet
• our linen closet
• my bedroom closet
• my bathroom closet
• the basement
• the study closet

OK, maybe there is more to do than I had originally thought.  Are you reading this book too?  How long do you keep homeschooling resources that you don't use?  Do you get overwhelmed when you think of hidden clutter?

I'll continue to think about (and consult Bobby) on the vision I have for my life and my home.  I consider this to be very important.  As Mrs. Sharp says:  Choices have always been a part of raising a family.  Making a conscious decision about how we shall conduct the course of our daily life is one of the most important ones...

 

A Monday in January

6:00 am   I read a meditation, prayed, showered, put in contacts, dressed, did my hair, started the laundry, started Bobby's laptop, had a cup of water and a vitamin, checked out the school plans for today and here I am.

I've enjoyed reading Theresa, Dawn and Angela's "typical" days and I wanted to do one of ours.  I remember the first time I did one of these.  It was for Worker's Baby Album.

A Day in the Life

• nursed, pooped, got diaper changed
• nursed, pooped, got diaper changed
• visited my Memere and Pepere
• watched me eat lunch
• nursed, then napped
• nursed, pooped, got diaper changed

I think there will be a lot more variety today.  Time to wake Bobby up.  This is not typical.  He usually sleeps until 8:15, but I think an electrician is coming here this morning.

The Old Violin is my calendar art this morning.  Time to wake the kids.

W=Worker, S=Snuggler, H=Helper, SP=Sweet Pea

W got the drinks, S got the bowls and spoons and I got the cereal.  H flipped her bowl over while eating so I sent her upstairs to wash and change while I cleaned up the mess and got her more cereal.  We ate.  W took out the recyclables.  H unloaded the dishwasher.  I made my bed and brushed my teeth so I could talk with Bobby.  I listened to him talk about his office, then I told him about Northanger Abbey, which was much more stressful to watch than I expected.  (I haven't read much of the book yet.)  The kids are supposed to be doing their morning routines.  I will tidy up the kitchen, then check on them.

SP woke up.  I'm glad I let her sleep in.  She looks sick.  I changed her diaper and got her breakfast.  I switched the laundry.  I helped S finish his morning routine.  Bobby called from the road to make sure there was no trash pick-up today.

8:10 Time for school.  We started with a chapter on Confession from Faith & Life 3.  The boys drew, SP nursed and H kept busy.

Then H read from a phonics book, W read his reader in his room and S played with SP.

I had to stop to change a diaper.  The phone rang about 3 or 4 times.  I had to keep checking if it was the electrician, but I only answered it once, when it was Bobby checking if the electrician had arrived yet.  Next, S read his last book of the phonics program, hurray!  H did her math, W did grammar and SP must have been doing something.

9:00  I asked W questions about his reader, then gave him a spelling quiz.  Everyone else watched Super Why or played in the playroom.  H came in crying because S hurt her.  S said she was kicking him.  Then they played some more while I reviewed times tables with W.

9:45  Snack time!  SP was crying all the way downstairs.  I have no idea why.  She was fine when I gave her a cheese stick and some crackers.  I spent some time updating this post.  The kids are playing inside.  I told them they shouldn't go out to play today because it's 8 degrees out there.  H went out alone.  I think she only lasted a couple of minutes.  Time to switch the laundry.

SP cries in the laundry room.  S sticks a little Woody riding Bulls-Eye Disney figurine in my face and says, "Look!  It's Woody Potter riding a hippogriff."  I got the first batch folded.  Bobby called again and we talked for awhile.

10:30  I put Signing Time on for SP.  I read aloud to the boys.  SP came in to nurse during Ginger Pye.  When she was done I turned on Barney and she stayed in the playroom with H for awhile.  Then I read aloud to H.  SP came in to nurse again.  She is definitely sick.  I've been wiping her nose all morning.  She put a board book in my face and screamed "Read!" a bunch of times.  I took the hint and read some board books.  H and I will finish reading later. 

The electrician said he'd be back in a half hour.  Bummer.  I was hoping he'd be gone before Quiet Time.

11:55 I'm making hot dogs and Annie's as I type.  Time to switch the laundry again.  W is on the computer upstairs, designing a room on the Bob's Discount Furniture website.  S and H are drawing.  I'm trying to keep SP busy.  The Annie's boxes worked for 2 minutes. 

I didn't notice her spreading January-March of my art calendar all over my desk.  The electrician is back. 

The electrician is gone again until next week.  I called the kids to do their before-lunch chores. 

12:20 Lunch is served.  I ask if everyone has what they need.  S starts a food roll call.  "Hot dog."  "Here!"  "Ketchup and milk."  "Here!"  Then S sings Grace.

1:08  I just set the timer for 60 minutes.  It's Quiet Time!  H is the leader today.  She chose the playroom.  S is in the boys room, W is in the basement, and SP is sleeping in a crib in the schoolroom.  I just nursed her while I read a couple of blogs.  Before that, I got the kitchen cleaned up.  The kids watched Caillou.  SP tried to unload the dishwasher as I was loading it.  Then she played with a doll and some baby wipes while I folded the second batch.  I don't typically get to the folding until 3:30-4:00.  I think this journaling is actually making me more efficient.  Now I'm going to switch the laundry again and try to take a nap.

2:35  I did sleep for about a half hour.  Right here... near all the laundry.

When the timer beeped, W, H and Snuggler each had a cookie.  Then the boys went into the basement to play.  H came in the bed with me and we finished her read alouds.  Now it's time for me to wake up and get moving again.  Maybe I'll have a snack.

3:09  Well... I was eating strawberries, peanuts and water and entering my name in the LOVETOLEARN blog giveaways, when Bobby called.  So I switched the laundry and folded batch #3 while we were talking.  I never realized how often we talk to each other during the day.  He likes to call me when he's driving I guess.  SP is still asleep, which is surprising considering how noisy it is here.  The kids are still playing in the basement. 

This morning Bobby told me that I could clean our master bathroom if I wanted to. (Hint hint.)  I don't know why he said that, it's only been 3 weeks since the last time I cleaned it.  I guess now would be a good time to get started, or after I finish the strawberries.

3:50  I'm tired.....wah wah.  So far I did the toilet, the sinks, the huge mirror (it really is huge) and the woodwork.  Is it time to fold clothes yet?  Yes.  The timer just beeped.

4:20  SP woke up.  I nursed her for a minute while I checked the 4real boards.  Then I switched the laundry, folded batch #4 and put away everything except W, S, and H's clothing.  They will put theirs away after Arthur.  It's time to get dinner started.  I'll thaw out some shrimp.

4:30 The kids brought their clothes upstairs and (I think) put them in their drawers/closets.  W tidied the living room, S put the bathroom towels away and H tidied the mudroom.  I'm boiling water for pasta and tidying the kitchen.

4:45 Pasta's boiling.  The shrimp tails have been removed.  I've been adding links to this post.  I just talked to Bobby.  He's going to pick-up garlic bread on his way home.  I strapped SP's doll into the booster seat.

5:10  Now SP's in the booster seat.  The boys are setting the table.  Bobby should be home soon.  Here's what our dinner looks like.  The kids had buttered noodles. 

5:20 Bobby came home and we ate together.  The noise level was extremely loud so after dinner we sent the kids upstairs, and Bobby and I cleaned up the kitchen ourselves.  When we were done I inserted these pictures into this post, then got ready to go out.   I realized that I forgot to do math with S.  He did it by himself after much reminding.  SP was in the tub when I left the house.

6:45  I set off to the mall in search of new maternity clothes and with hopes of buying some pretty Valentine card making supplies at AC Moore.

9:00  I drove home with 3 cheap plastic red tablecloths, feeling quite disappointed.  Bobby listened to me whine for awhile.  (I'll let you use your imagination as to what trying on maternity clothes was like.)  And now I'm finishing up this post in bed while Bobby watches Medium in his study.  I won't watch it.  It's too creepy/scary for me.  Anyway, I'm already up past my 10:00 bedtime.  That's typical.

Have a good night.

A Super Productive Saturday

This morning Bobby brought all of the Christmas boxes up from the basement.  Then he took the girls out food shopping.  Worker took down our tree and I packed away my Dickens Village and all of the other Christmas decorations.  It was about time.  After lunch Bobby and Worker began cleaning our basement.  I cleaned the living room and did a small purge.  Bobby and I are getting rid of all of our VHS tapes and the kids were willing to part with about half of theirs.

It should be easier to choose something to watch now.  Something is very wrong with my camera.  I think the flash is dead.  Pictures only seem to come out well when there's lots of natural light.

Bobby said he'd get me a new one, but he doesn't have much time right now for shopping.  Do you have any digital camera recommendations?

Here's the CLEAN living room.  (Finding wall hangings and tables are my next projects.)

I continued on my cleaning tear and got the kitchen, dining room and foyer in great shape.  The kids were all in the basement with Bobby.  They did a great job.  The basement looks amazing, but without before pictures, it didn't seem like a very interesting thing to photograph.  Not as exciting as a box of old videos anyway.  The reason they cleaned the basement was that we are having 3/4 of the floor sealed next week.

The other excitement of today was that my sister dropped off this box of maternity clothes for me to go through.

I don't like how I look in my skirts anymore, so I've been spending half of each week wearing ancient navy blue nylon pants with one of Bobby's huge T-shirts layered on top of a tight long sleeved shirt.  It's time for a new look.

I'm a home manager.

I've written this post for the Simply Lovely Plans fair that will be happening on January 16th at Sarah's blog, Plainsong.  (The 2008 fairs are listed here.)  It's about me and where I'm at with planning this year.  I apologize if it's a bit melancholy.  (It's the hormones, really.)

I'm a home manager.  I have an Employer Who is very good to me.  He gives me all the help I need to do everything I need to do on any given day.  How many people can claim to have job support like that?  Sometimes, I don't consult Him though, because I feel like I have so much management experience.  Look at this.

I have eight years worth of planning history.  I know how to set goals, how to break them down into baby steps, and how to accomplish them.  I know how to stay focused and many years I have achieved most of my goals.  Lately though, I feel like I'm not so great at it anymore.  Last year I made up a list of goals for 2007 and I don't think I achieved any of them.  My Employer told me not to worry about it, because I did accomplish what He thought was important.

I feel like my job has gotten more demanding over the years.  I think my Employer trusts me.  I think He believes I can handle the increased responsibilities.  But this year, when I thought about goal setting and planning, I felt kind of lost.  It's really not like me at all.  So this is what I'm doing for now, until I know what direction I am to go in.  I am waking up each morning, doing my morning routine and consulting my Employer.  I'm showing up for work (hopefully with a good attitude) and doing what's in front of me.  The perfectionist in me thinks that this isn't good enough.  I have a huge amount of ideas in my head of truly great things that I'd love to begin working on, but the truth is, if they're not the things my Employer wants me to do, then I won't get the resources I need to do them.  So, I'm back to just showing up.  And on those days when my Employer and I are on the same page, it will be good enough.      

Getting Back on the Beam

Today is Bobby's birthday.  I'll let him sleep as long as he wants to.  Or at least until I can't stand this unshowered feeling anymore.  Most of the kids made him cards this morning.  Worker's been watching Saturday morning shows.  I have loads of housework to do today, but I think for now, I'll write a blog post.

School went smoothly this week.  The housework, however, did not.  These weeks happen sometimes.  I slid into a mode of: I'll finish it tomorrow, let's get take-out tonight, and I'll do it next week.  But let's forget all that now.  Today is a new day.  I am ready to get back on the beam.

I asked Bobby at the beginning of this week, "What do you think is most important to get done around the house?"

He told me:

• bathrooms (Ooops.)
• laundry (This is usually not a problem, but it was this week.  Oh yeah.  We've forgotten that.)
• the dishes and wiping the counters and sweeping the floor (I usually do that.)

That was it.  Of course, I have higher household standards, but wouldn't it be great if I made those three things my priority?

Here are some more of the things that I want to get done each week:

• stick with morning routines
• stick with bedtime routines
• kitchen chores (this is basically cleaning 1/4 of my kitchen)
• emptying my inbox
• entering receipts
• making the meal plan and food list
• cleaning either the upstairs or the downstairs

It sounds doable doesn't it?  I'll let you know how it goes.  But for now, I'm going to stop fantasizing about it getting done and get to work.  Tonight we're going to Bobby's choice - The Rainforest Cafe for the birthday dinner.  It's about 50 minutes away, so it's an adventure.  Have a great Saturday.

He's a Keeper

That's what my friends said about Bobby while we were dating.  I agree.  After ten years of marriage he's still impressing me.  Saturday, he went out alone for awhile in search of some work pants and whatever else he was looking for.  He said he wanted to find a bathroom drawer organizer.  I told him to just get one for his side of our bathroom drawer, because I really didn't need one.  I don't have that much stuff.  Well he came home with two, and I love them!  Look at the difference.

BEFORE

AFTER

That night, Bobby agreed to go through his closet in our bedroom and purge it.  A couple of years ago he had lost about 50 pounds and he had saved loads of different sized clothing, just in case.  We're getting rid of it all, plus some clothing that the kids and I no longer need.  I love the look of this.

But even that isn't all.  There were holey socks and shoes with cracked soles, books that belonged in other rooms, a Graco Jumpster? and small household items that we didn't want anymore.  And now I can go to sleep at night without all that stuff weighing me down.  I forgot to take before pictures, but here are 2 afters, which were surprisingly hard to take since its a walk in closet.  I put the empty laundry basket there for ha-ha's.

My Two Favorite Binders

I almost called this post "Revamping My Home Management Binder", but then I'd be leaving out the binder that's more important to me, My Planner.  In fact, this planner binder that I set-up in the summer is the reason why I needed to revamp the Home Management binder in the first place.  I found that some of its sections really belonged in my planner.  I also wasn't using some of the sections at all, and I wanted a place to keep some of my MROL information.  Most importantly, I changed the font to one that's more my style.  It's called Hogwart's Wizard.

So here is the new Home Management binder.  It's a work in progress.

Inside you'll find these dividers:

• Weekly Routines
• Other Routines
• Kitchen Chores
• Room Chores
• Menus
• Meal Ideas
• Recipes
• Room Analysis Sheets

Here's my planner.  Do you like the title I gave it?

Isn't it beautiful?  You'd probably never guess that I bought it at Staples.  I plan to keep a printout of my rule on the front cover.

Inside you'll find:

• a pocket for the Stop & Shop and Walmart lists
• 2006-2011 calendars
• 2 page monthly calendars
• weekly planner pages for the current month
• Franklin Covey Monticello starter pack pages and dividers
• school schedules for the week
• a brainstorming page for each month of the year
• my MROL workbook pages
• a list of items loaned
• phone numbers
• addresses

I use this binder daily.  This year I hope to get even better at using it.  More specifically, I want to get better at making time for the things that are most important to me, by fully utilizing the master task lists for the month and the weekly pages.

Since I was on a roll decorating binders on New Year's Eve, I threw some pretty paper on this one for the Sonlight pages I'll be using weekly.

I may write more as I work on certain sections.  For example, I'm going to begin the new year by working on routines.  First up are the morning routines.  How about you?  What are you working on this January?

Purging Project #3: The Mudroom

We had our first snow this week, so up from the basement came the box of boots, snowpants, hats, mittens, scarves and gloves.  Everything was dumped onto the mudroom floor, making organizing it high priority.  I did remember to take a picture.

Once again, I filled a basket with 'stuff that didn't belong in the mudroom'.

I thoroughly cleaned the room and put everything that made the cut back in neatly.  I tidied up the smeared chalkboard labels.  Then I hung up seasonal pictures.  (Well, Bobby actually did the hanging.)  I had purchased the frames about six months ago and they were going up today no matter what.  I plan to change them to spring scenery photos in the spring, which will probably be the next time I'll do a deep cleaning.  Here's the finished room... minus Bobby's basket and the door mat.

 

I won't be purging for awhile now because today I need to get the rest of the house back in order and tomorrow will be Sunday - time to rest.  Have a good weekend!

Purging Project #2

The pantry.  Have you noticed I'm beginning with projects I can do quickly?  Just move a few things around.... wipe down the shelves... sweep the floor... print out some labels and.... Ta da!!!

I may like something on the wall here.

That was easy, except for one little thing.  This is the basket of items I purged from the pantry.

 

What to do with these?  I promise I'll empty it before I move on to Purging Project #3: The Mudroom.

Purging Project #1

My desk.  I should have taken 'before' pictures because Bobby said it looked the same to him.  Only I know the sea of papers that I waded through in my sorting between trash and treasure.

Let me give you a virtual tour...

The desktop: a basket filled with field guides and a box of tissues, the cell phone basket, the phone and answering machine and a Yankee Candle.  My "Homeschooling Resources" and "Home Management" binders are out because they are getting makeovers.

The left drawers: receipts, inbox, life files (To Do, Pending, Gift Certificates, Gardening, Scrapbooking, etc.)

The middle drawer: office supplies, coupons, and an adding machine.

The right drawers:  drawing paper for the kids, stamps, return address labels, and the Let's Say Grace book, and the homeschooling files (mainly the files from my crate).

The left cabinet: homeschool planning resources, items to return, a three hole punch, tape, phone books, cookbooks, notebooks, my planner and a clipboard. 

The middle cabinet: old planner pages, a pencil sharpener, office supplies, cards and cameras.

The right cabinet: art idea books, new planner pages, checkbooks, envelopes, and homeschool planning resources. 

There you have it.  More Purging Projects are in the works...

Three Months Later...

I got the urge to clean out my desk and I went for it.  This is Purging Project #1.  Paper!  Much of it went into the recycling bin, some was filed, some went into the pending memory box and some was three hole punched.  Tonight we went to my father's for pizza and movies.  I got to see Pixar Short Films Collection and I left my family watching Meet the Robinsons to come home and put Sweet Pea to bed.  She's out now, so I think I'll get back to PP #1.  There are binders to be evaluated, cookbooks to be moved out, shelves to be labeled...

I'll be back with photos...