Mommiedom

I honestly have to say I was beginning to really dislike my master bedroom. It is grey and well uninspiring for the most part. My blinds I believe were from when the first people who lived here. The were metal and pretty much falling apart. So for Christmas, I really wanted new ones which had to be ordered because of the weird sizes the windows are.

So I finally got around to ordering them and guess what someone mismeasured them so I had to reorder new ones. So once they came, I hung them all by myself. When I finished doing that, I of course really wanted new curtains which led to a trip to Target which lets be honest didn't end that well for the bank account.

So new curtains, bedding, some furniture and accessories (some found around my house) to complete the look. It looks like a whole new room and I love it!

I created a new gallery wall of the family because they are so important to why we are who we are. A fun new storage ottoman helps with extra blankets and a sitting place. I also created a slip cover for my rocker that was red.

I so want to save money, pay down debt and learn to live this year. So I set some goals for myself this year that each month I look for ways to save money.

I started off right after Christmas doing our yearly budget for each month so I know what comes in and what goes out. I figure if I can account for it and create a budget for things than I can control the flow of money. I hate the feeling of bleeding money and the holidays are the worst for that.

So I am planning out some things to save money, pay down debt, limit excess spending.

Last June I started doing cash for gas, allowance and groceries and we have stuck to it for the most part.  I plan out meals each week and limit how much we go out to eat. I realized that we go out so infrequent now, that I really don't know where to go eat anymore because I can pretty much make it at home.

I have learned to make the rose pasta sauce my kid adores at the Italian restaurant. I can make better than Olive Garden's Chicken and Gnocchi soup (I need to share that recipe). Pizza night is way more fun making it ourselves but I do admit to ordering it on occasion.  The added benefit, we are eating way healthier and we either lose or maintain our weight when we eat in. Over the holidays, we ate out more because of the family being here, and I felt sluggish.

The other thing I am doing is the 52 week challenge which should be our travel money for next Christmas. I had some already cut chalkboard labels and stuck that on a big mason jar for our savings. Our first buck went in this week. I also heard of people doing it in reverse and starting out with the 52 bucks first. Either way, my goal is stick to it.

I also decided I needed to figure out a way to stress less about the holidays this coming December so, I decided that each month I would put away a set amount for presents so by December I should have it all covered for the people I need to buy for Christmas. I also plan on trying to purchase gifts as I see them for people and tuck them away.

Along with that I have my monthly folder where I put all the stuff for the month in there. I have Birthday cards ready to go for the next six months, as well as my holiday envelopes, and anything else that might need taking care of over the four weeks. I also write myself notes for the next year.

Overall I am trying to stay as organized and on track as possible for 2014. I have goals each month I would like to meet both personally and possibly professionally as well.

I started following this blog as well as the Facebook page called Mary Organizes and love her ideas about decluttering which I need to do more of. I am pretty organized and admit to some hot spots of disorganization in my house. Yes I know I am known for being neat, clean and organized so this might come to a shock to some that I do have areas where I hide my clutter.

On the blog there is a 91 day challenge to get your house in order. I am pretty good about it in the first place. The one big thing I need to declutter is the attic which is coming soon. I need my hubby to pull everything out and I need to go through and decide where it needs to go- trash, donate or storage.

We has a family have lots of stuff and it is hard to rid yourself of it often because you spent money, memories or you know once you get rid of it you will need it. I need to be better to use what I have and make do which isn't always something I am good at. I am way better than I was and I know if I go through stuff that I will feel even better.

Mary Organizes had a great blog post this past week about telling your kids to stop cleaning their rooms. She hit the nail on the head for me. I really don't nag the kids about picking things up because they understand if it gets left out, it might not get back to them. Both kids pretty much get up each day and make their beds. I have instilled in them that getting into a made bed will help them to get off to dream land better. I admit those few times I don't make the bed, I struggle with feeling comfortable. I was always that kid who made their bed.

My mom was a clean person and organized on the surface but when you would open things, you would cringe. My grandmother was clean but her clutter was every where. I vividly remember my Grandma picking clutter up, dusting and putting it right back down. So for each generation, it got better. My mom didn't like the clutter out and put it out of sight (she hardly does it now and has learned to live with less).

So for me, I like to have order and it does get out of hand on occasion. Example is the cabinet I am showing. It is my holiday dishes. I haven't used them the last few years because I just didn't want to deal with it and would just shove more in. I loved the child safety locks because that helped keep it contained.

The rest of my cabinets look like this:

I have seen so much on Pinterest about making your own laundry soap and I thought yeah I want to do it but when I went to go buy the ingredients and starting pricing it out, the big bag of soap for 8.50 was a much better buy so I just got that which should last me a long time. Though I did still want to make the cute jar I saw the soap in so I bought the biggest jar available at Wally World, stuck a chalkboard sticker on and wrote soap. I figured if I don't end up liking the soap, I can wash the jar out and use it for something else.

So this wasn't a better deal to make rather than buy unless you can get it all for under 8 bucks! Still the jar is cute- now if I could just convince my hubby I need a new washer and dryer for the laundry room.

I try and lead a simple life but I also admit I use lots of things to help make my life simple and well I am hoping easy (though that is never the case). I have been seeing lots of great ideas out there on other blogs as well as Pinterest in creating ways to make ones life easier and more simple, so it got me to thinking about what I do in my life in order to make my household run smoothly.

I live in a clean house, laundry is mostly done every day, meals are made (mostly three per day), and I usually have time to craft. I have been asked many times how I do it all. Some of it is just my personality and some of it is that I am one of those highly organized and efficient people. My Mom always says I do things so fast but I do get the job done when I am doing it. Granted I might miss something along the way but honestly that doesn't happen that often.

These tips today are ones I have found make it easier to get the house in order and let us do the things we enjoy doing. This works well for us but i know that it won't work for everyone like it is does for us. It also was something that has evolved over time and isn't something I would tell people to instantly start all of it but do suggest trying them and seeing how they work for us.

Being home all day I was worried at first I would get bored but that is far from the truth. I also worried that I would watch lots of television which is not something I do at all (just look at our DVR which is full of all the things I haven't watched). I did decide in the beginning to have some sort of plan for my day and I have gone as far of actually charting it out. For me it works for while but I have my schedule down so much at this point, it isn't something I use every day.

I also try and keep a clean house and I find when the house is in order, we all seem to feel in order.

Every single day (there are occasionally days this doesn't happen):

-Everyone's bed is made daily. I don't have a set time but I like to usually have them all done by 10 am. I do make the six year old make her bed every day and I work with the two year old as well in making the bed. I also make sure they pick up their rooms every day. I feel that it should be the kids job to help around the house. They tend to feel better pride int themselves when they know they did it plus they also work at not making such huge messes in the first place when they know they have to clean it up.

- I do daily loads of laundry (I even did this when I worked full time). I usually put a load in the morning, switch out around lunch, and than again late afternoon. I have found this really helps to keep the laundry in check. I hate laundry but folding one basket  every day instead of having a mammoth folding session one day a week is so much easier.

- We start the day early meaning we are all usually up (even in the summer) by 7:30 am and are done with breakfast by 8 ish. We also try and shower by 9 am as well so if we need to go out for the day we are ready. I find this to be the best time to get things done. I know it isn't for everyone but studies have shown early risers are more productive.  This is an earlier schedule once school is in session.

-  I clean a little bit every day. I usually sweep and vacuum the house every day. I also do the dishwasher and wipe down the counters. I find this makes my life easier when I do the big cleaning days once a week. This goes along with making the beds and laundry. I spend about 15-30 minutes a day doing all of these things which in the end cuts down the overall big cleaning time (I usually get the house cleaned top to bottom in about 2 hours each week). I also wipe down the bathroom shower and the sinks.

Weekly

- I do big cleaning where I wipe up the floors, wipe down sinks, toilets and whatever else needs to get down. I also might do a simple wipe down mid week as well. I like the house to smell clean and I hate to smell the pets which I work hard at keeping on top of that Two dogs and one cat plus my thick head of hair leaves lots of hair around the house. I actually have a checklist I created for this (we will talk later about that).

- I plan my meals so than I can plan my groceries. I have found when I plan, I spend less and get the right things. I also created a menu board where I right down the meals so when it comes to dinner time, I don't worry about it. It also helps to pull things out of the freezer to thaw out (I have been guilty of forgetting and than frantically defrosting or changing meal plans). I also love the site Relish Relish for meal planning

- I plan my week out so I know what are down days (ones where we are home) and days where we have things on our schedule. I don't over schedule us at all. I feel that if we were all running around all the time, we would be way less productive. I know those days I run from the moment I am up to the moment I drop are not my best days. I admit I plan for those days in advance. Just the other day we did all of our shopping, errands and such. We all crashed early that night because it took a toll on us. This also includes my blogging as well. I have certain days where I do certain things for the blog. I work really hard at not cramming it all in at one time though I have been guilty of it.

General 

- Have a Family center in the house- that place where bills go, information, and anything else that might affect the family. I created a Family Management Binder. I keep all of our bills, calendars, grocery lists, and act in there. It is all in one access for us.  I have found this to be a wonderful thing to have. Everyone knows to go there if they have a question on schedules or if we need something from the grocery store.

-I also once a month pick an area to tackle like a closet that is upside down (usually the kids) or cabinets. I admit I need to be better in downsizing stuff. I go in spurts and will do it and than I avoid it.


Overall I try hard to not complicate our lives. I limit how much we are scheduled, I work at keeping a steady schedule in the household but also one where the kids can enjoy themselves. We work at keeping our television watching lower but that doesn't always happen.

I hope that this gives you some insight into me as well as why my house runs the way it does. I notice with structure all around we all seem to function better. The kids know what is coming most of the time, they have the freedom to have fun and I get to as well!!!

I saw this on Pinterest and thought that is a REALLY great idea. I have actually been  thinking about how I can pull all of that stuff together of my disorganization and yes I can be- I don't like to but it does happen.

I got a really cute binder from Wally World and a pack of eight pocket dividers (they are the ones that you can write and erase on the tabs).




The seventh tab is for the to do lists (PDF version) . I figure I can use this as needed or each week of the things I need to do. The eight tab is just a general tab for all of that loose stuff that needs to go in there like currently my eye glass script is in there so I hope not to lose it.

I really wanted a central location for lot of this stuff. I hope that weekly, I can go through it to update, and schedule as needed. I love the idea of one stop shopping to make it easier to go through life.

I hope you enjoy working on one as well and please feel free to use the attached PDFs for your binder.

SO summer is fast approaching which means car trips are in our forecast. We are going to Arizona and likely to Wisconsin as well. Last year we did two car trips and on the first one to Florida, I was so mad because the one kid lost one of the cords to the DVD player. I must of yelled for like 50 miles My Father in Law who was with us had never seen me so mad.

So on our way to WI and after I ordered a new cable, I made sure that it all stayed together. This year I had a brilliant idea pop into my head and I created boxes for all of that stuff because it ends up every where (I still have a crayon stuck in the sliding door). I ended up buying clear bins and decorating them with contact paper to hid the items in side as well as make them look cute. Mr. L actually picked out the green contact paper.

I made a bin titled "media" for the dvd player, cords and movies. The rule will be that if it is not in use, it needs to stay in the box plus I have a place for the movies which always seem to get lost as well. I made the kids each of their own to stick all of their stuff in like iPod and DSs. The small one on the top is for our chargers and cords we take along. That will slide nicely under the console between the driver's and passenger's side.

I am REALLY hoping that this will make the trip a little easier and organized. I keep the car pretty clean most of the time but when we are on car rides it seems to be packed full so I am hoping this lessens it some by limiting what they can bring and keeping it in one place.

Now I just have to figure how to efficiently pack four people up with all of our clothes plus the things we need to take with us to Arizona and Wisconsin when we go. So please say a little prayer for me and pray that I have hair b y the end of the trips!

My freezers are black holes for food. Things go in and may never come out. I thought it was more organized than it really was so I had this as my new project and well I really hope it works. The pantry is staying pretty nice and I need to label my flour, sugar, etc . I have labels just haven't gotten around to it.

So back to the freezers. I have two of them. A side by side one in the house and than a top freezer in the garage. Both have been filled to the crime on many occasions and I would forget what I had in there and buy more of the same. With the pantry and things labels, as I run out, I put them on the list but it is harder to see what is in the freezers so yes I pulled everything out of both of them, organized them and wrote everything down. I than categorized them, typed them all up and printed on card stock a sheet of what is in there. Now as I use things, I can cross them off and I also quickly see what I have with out pulling things out.

I used the side by sure freezer as a starting point and filled drawers with like times as well as the shelves. All the breakfast items are now in the house freezer for easy early morning access instead of spread out between the two. I also cleaned out the fridge as well to see what I have and get it ready for my veggie co-op this weekend.

I am all about making my life easier and more efficient. I don't want to be like my Grandma who stocked piled pickles in her downstairs pantry though that was likely due to living through the depression. I also don't want foods to go bad or buy similar items. I now know I have a variety of meats to make so when I plan out the meals for my menu board, I know what I have and can easily make it.

So let's see if I can keep it in some sane order and update my list as needed. I really like being organized and having life simplified so I don't have to stress out about what needs to be made or what needs to be bought. I hope this is the last piece to my crazy organization of the kitchen!

Yep I tackled that finally after years of dreading it. I sort of felt like Monica on "Friends" who had her secret closet filled to the prim with all sorts of things in there. I honestly had wedding presents in there that I had never used because I didn't have a good place for them ( yes I know married almost ten years). Now with the living room redone, I put some of the stuff out. 

I also got those space bags to put all
of the actually linens in that we don't use on a regular basis. Those are so smooth to work with were fun to suck all the air out of them. I used three extra large ones, two large ones and two medium ones. I also took a bunch to good will of things I no longer need like sheets for a full bed I no longer own. I think it looks so nice and I stuck all that extra stuff in my closet looking for a home in there as well (I tackled our closet to but didn't take pictures of it). 


I feel so much better now that these are done and am going to work hard at keeping them organized, especially my own closet. 

I talked on Tuesday about how I organized my pantry which gets so out of control so fast. It got me thinking about all those little tips that I use to organize our lives that I think work really for us. So I figured I would share them with you all.

1. Have separate laundry bins for all of your clothes. I bought three bins from Wally World that re nice a tall and fit a lot. They even come with their own labels of whites, darks, and lights. I have found since I got this, it has made laundry so much easier to get a handle on.

2. A basket on the stairs for all that stuff to go up. I have a decorative basket that I put at the bottom of the stairs to take up all those odds and ends like toys, and dirty kitchen towels (I have a second floor laundry room). The kids have actually learned to take it up and pull their stuff out of it. It is a easy way to put all that stuff in with out cluttering up the stairs.

3. Menu Board which I made here which helps me to plan out the weekly meals. I only do the weekdays because the weekend is fluid at our house. We may go get a big lunch on Saturday and just eat a light snack for dinner. I mark down everything I am going to make which helps me to plan what needs to be defrosted instead of standing at the fridge trying to figure it out at 4:30 each evening.

4. Kitchen chalkboard to mark down messages, and grocery lists. I got a decal one from one of the craft stores and put it on the front of my fridge. It is so nice to have because we will instantly write down anything we are out of and my husband has been so good at it to. It helps to make sure I don't miss anything when I go shopping. I just take a picture with my phone and I have an instant list with me.

5. My new favorite online tool in the Family Calender you can create at Cozi Central . I created our calendar and add all those important dates on there. I get a weekly email from them as to all of the goings ons and I can add to have email and text alerts to me when I really need to remember things. It also goes to my husband as well each week so he knows what is going on. When ever we need to go somewhere, I add it on to the calendar. There are also lots of other wonderful features on there as well that you can use. I have found it so nice to have plus there is a mobile version which I also have so I can instantly input data in.

6. Spend 15 minutes cleaning each day so that you don't have to do a marathon cleaning at the end of the week. I notice that when I do the big stuff like wiping up the floors, that goes really quick. I also pick an area to work on for the 15 minutes like one of the kid's rooms where I pick it up, dust, and do whatever needs to be done. At the end of week, I don't have all this stuff I need to do and the house is pretty neat and clean. Plus I get the kids involved in it as well and they now automatically do it without being asked very often.

I am going to start a special series that is all about organizing your life. Spring is right around the corner, okay about here for Houston, and I thought it would be a great way to give some tricks as to organizing our lives. I try real hard to be organized and for the most part I am put yes I do have areas where I fail like the pantry which is the focus of this first post.

I try and try to keep it organized and have almost on a weekly basis pull things out and reorganize it to fit this week's groceries in. I about had it today when my husband open the door and asked me where the peanut butter was in the midst of all this chaos. I told him to look low like where the kids would put it. I decided that it needed to get done especially after i saw the amazing pantry on Pinterest the other day as well. Mine doesn't look as nice but it is organized and I hope it stays this way.

I started out with going to both the dollar store and Wally world to get containers to put like stuff in. I hate all the boxes of oatmeal floating around as well as the spices falling off the shelf all the time. So after the shopping spree and about 70 bucks later, I had all the stuff I needed.

I pulled it all out and as you can see from the picture, this was a lot of stuff. I have like ten boxes of instant potatoes in some form (Scallop, mashed, etc). I also had so many packs of oatmeal and a variety of pasta that needed to be put together in one home. So like two hours later and lots of figuring it all out, my pantry is cleaned out. I feel so good about it. The blue and green bins hold the kids snacks, pasta/rice sides, coffee and teas in them.

I have all the baking items like flour, sugar, etc in their own bins as well as the cereals and pasta in containers as well. I feel so much better that I can see it all so I won't be buying the same thing over and over again to add up to a ton of things.

Here is the finished pantry all organized and let's hope it stays that way!