Well, things are going passably well with FLYlady. My kitchen is staying cleaned up and the floors are cleared of toys and junk most of the time. The weekend was hard with SO MUCH going on but I'm just picking up again and keeping at it.
This week the Zone is the Master bedroom and I am thankful for that. Our bedroom is so often a dumping ground when we don't know what else to do with stuff....I got a lot of that picked up yesterday. It is still a challenge for me for some reason. For example, we have a lot to pick up today...but it won't take long to get it done so I don't know why I didn't get it done yesterday. :( So, it is working but it is 2 steps forward and 1 step back it seems. You can check her out here
And our menu this week is kinda thrown together....
Monday- tuna burgers, broccoli, and pears
Tuesday- porkburgers, deviled eggs, grilled potatoes
Wednesday- finger foods (our toothpick meal again). The boys have Awana and I have a haircut...no time for cooking and cleaning it up.
Thursday - Pasta
Friday - shrimp and I don't know what (it is Aiden's birthday and he wants shrimp but I am not allowed to make pasta with it)
Well, gotta go get the rest of my morning routine done (should be done already before I come to the computer but...). And I have clothes to hang out on the line and stuff. We have a busy day today!
Tomorrow I am going to try to post pictures of the fall festival parade! It was a fun time!
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
My Messy House!
So rearranging and purging in our library/school room inspired me to do some cleaning in the other rooms. I, honestly, can't remember the last time I dusted. I feel like I straighten ALL the time and never ever find the bottom and therefore never dust. My school room and desk is a LITTLE TINY bit better. I don't really understand how people have a clean house (by clean I mean that you can walk through a room without tripping or stubbing your toe on stuff) ALL the time!
I feel like I am closer to "zero" than I have been in a long time. By "Zero" I mean a point where my house doesn't stress me out and we can live in it and find things and be happy.
So I decided to join FLYlady again. I signed up for the daily emails and am doing ok with them. They used to be a BOATLOAD of reminders that overwhelmed me. But that doesn't seem to be the case now....but maybe I signed up differently. Since I have used her before, I am implementing a few things at once (which she does not recommend)...but I don't really follow rules well!
So this is what I am doing.
1. Starting a SMALL morning routine
2. Starting a small evening routine. (this is hard since I typically collapse into bed at night-HA!)
3. Keeping my sink shiny (I signed up Sunday and am already failing at this). :(
4. Working in the "zone" of the week. This week is the bathroom and stash -n- dash area (your dumping ground for clutter)
5. The boys and I are doing 2 "15 minute flings" daily.
Number 4 and 5 involve a timer. I set the timer for 15 minutes and we do whatever it is. So this morning I set my timer and decluttered in my bathrooms. I got the drawers in the main bathroom all decluttered (one is completely empty and another is close) and everything picked up. I also got the big "garden tub" (that we never use) in the master bath emptied of all the junk that had been thrown in there (bath toys, etc). I feel good about it. In the 15 minute fling, I set the timer and the boys and I pick up toys and the main areas (mostly the floor) and put everything where it belongs.
I hope I can maintain some level of order with this. I don't want a magazine ready house. We live here. There are three small children here and I want them to be able to play and have fun and that involves messes. But I need to do SOMEthing....I looked ahead and next week's zone is the master bedroom...I can't wait to start pitching stuff in there. Unfortunately, it is my "stash n dash" (or dumping ground) area...It is so messy in there.
So anyway, I am going to make the effort...I am afraid I am setting myself up to fail...but the 15 minutes and timer thing really appeals to me. 15 minutes isn't that long, but it is long enough to get a lot done. Please don't laugh or make not nice comments when I fail and you witness it when you come to my house!
I feel like I am closer to "zero" than I have been in a long time. By "Zero" I mean a point where my house doesn't stress me out and we can live in it and find things and be happy.
So I decided to join FLYlady again. I signed up for the daily emails and am doing ok with them. They used to be a BOATLOAD of reminders that overwhelmed me. But that doesn't seem to be the case now....but maybe I signed up differently. Since I have used her before, I am implementing a few things at once (which she does not recommend)...but I don't really follow rules well!
So this is what I am doing.
1. Starting a SMALL morning routine
2. Starting a small evening routine. (this is hard since I typically collapse into bed at night-HA!)
3. Keeping my sink shiny (I signed up Sunday and am already failing at this). :(
4. Working in the "zone" of the week. This week is the bathroom and stash -n- dash area (your dumping ground for clutter)
5. The boys and I are doing 2 "15 minute flings" daily.
Number 4 and 5 involve a timer. I set the timer for 15 minutes and we do whatever it is. So this morning I set my timer and decluttered in my bathrooms. I got the drawers in the main bathroom all decluttered (one is completely empty and another is close) and everything picked up. I also got the big "garden tub" (that we never use) in the master bath emptied of all the junk that had been thrown in there (bath toys, etc). I feel good about it. In the 15 minute fling, I set the timer and the boys and I pick up toys and the main areas (mostly the floor) and put everything where it belongs.
I hope I can maintain some level of order with this. I don't want a magazine ready house. We live here. There are three small children here and I want them to be able to play and have fun and that involves messes. But I need to do SOMEthing....I looked ahead and next week's zone is the master bedroom...I can't wait to start pitching stuff in there. Unfortunately, it is my "stash n dash" (or dumping ground) area...It is so messy in there.
So anyway, I am going to make the effort...I am afraid I am setting myself up to fail...but the 15 minutes and timer thing really appeals to me. 15 minutes isn't that long, but it is long enough to get a lot done. Please don't laugh or make not nice comments when I fail and you witness it when you come to my house!
Monday, September 13, 2010
The Week in Photos
We had an eventful week last week...and since a picture is worth 1000 words and nobody really wants to read 1000 words...I'm gonna do this the easy way.
Maverick waiting to blow out his candles! Happy 5th Birthday!!!
Maverick waiting to blow out his candles! Happy 5th Birthday!!!
All he wanted was a remote control airplane...and here we are getting it to fly.
Picking an apple at Grissom's. He ate the whole thing, even though it was green...eeew!
Aiden is going for a big kick!! (I'm not sure what is wrong with his arm)
At church on Sunday the kids were all given fishing caps for finishing the Fishin for Missions challenge. They raised 1030.86 for missions over the summer.
Monday Monday
Well, I was going to do the first "Week in pictures" post last night. Instead, Shane and I spent 3 hours (and another 2 hours this morning) trying to clean up the nasty virus that I got on my mini laptop. So, that didn't get done.
Neither did my weekly menu planning.
However, the good news is that we killed the virus and didn't lose any of our information.
I am teaching a "start your own blog" class tonight with the homeschool group so I will post those things then...as a teaching tool.
Neither did my weekly menu planning.
However, the good news is that we killed the virus and didn't lose any of our information.
I am teaching a "start your own blog" class tonight with the homeschool group so I will post those things then...as a teaching tool.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
My Labor Day Project!
So the one thing I really wanted to do is sew my new table cloth on Labor Day. I have a square table that is IMPOSSIBLE to find a table cloth for and I want to make my table a little more "diner-like" without replacing it. I thought a good table cloth would be the way to go. It took a large part of the day with breaks for lunch and such...but I am thrilled with how it turned out. There was just SO much fabric to work with that it took a while.
This is the fabric pattern on the top/front of the cloth. I love that it has so many colors. I can use my black and white dishes and red accents but it has all of those "frosted" colors from the era as well. It is just FUN!
This is the finished project. The backing is a small red gingham. I will not likely sew with that again until I forget how cross-eyed it made me.
This is the fabric pattern on the top/front of the cloth. I love that it has so many colors. I can use my black and white dishes and red accents but it has all of those "frosted" colors from the era as well. It is just FUN!
This is the finished project. The backing is a small red gingham. I will not likely sew with that again until I forget how cross-eyed it made me. So the finished product is reversible depending on my mood or occasion. I am very pleased with it. Now I don't pretend that a household with 3 small boys is a good place for a tablecloth. So I have on order clear vinyl that is stitchable and I will be making a cover to go over it (not only to protect it but by my design it should hold it in place-if my design design works as well in real life as it does in my head. LOL). I am hoping to put to-go menus or other paper "collectibles" from our Route 66 trip under the plastic too. It should help break up the busyness of the patterns.
I also have enough fabric to make a matching valance for my kitchen window and (hopefully) for over the sliding glass door. :)
I also have enough fabric to make a matching valance for my kitchen window and (hopefully) for over the sliding glass door. :)
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
BIrthday Boy!!
Maverick is turning FIVE today! I just can't even believe it has been 5 years.
I'll tell ya, this boy has been a roller coaster ride from day one. The first few months of his life were hard on everyone. He cried so much and was impossible to console. I had nightmares of him being kidnapped and the kidnappers always brought him home. As he got older, the screaming and crying stopped but he got dangerous. He walked at 8 months and at 11 months or so he was found "hiding" on the top bunk of the bunk bed (yep, he climbed the ladder). We had to move him from his crib on his first birthday because got stuck and hung himself upside by his thighs trying to climb in it. He scaled our book shelves shortly after his first birthday...I caught him just before he jumped.
He is intense. When he is happy, there is no one happier. When he is mad, well stand back. When he is afraid or sad or any emotion, he is intensely so. For several years, we struggled with more little things, his socks on the wrong feet (seriously, I still don't know how to tell the difference), hair on his fingers, freaking out about tags in clothes, etc. It was a constant effort to keep him happy. The other emotions were so much more exhausting!
Then, after an appointment with the pediatrician where I got a referral to a specialist to figure out how to help Maverick mellow out., I reached out for help online. The referral was going to take 6-9 months and I was already exhausted! And I got help from a homeschool friend who I've never met in person. She suggested the Feingold diet. We got the kit and followed it religiously. People thought we were nuts! But Maverick started improving. And aiden get aa little less goofy and I stopped getting headaches all the time). And then I canceled the appointment with the specialist. All I wanted was him to be happy and settled, I don't need a "diagnosis" or "label." He is sensitive to additives in food. In the last 1 1/2 years, we have narrowed his trouble foods to dyes. "Colors with a number" is what I say....such as red #40. We avoid these like the plague. I would give him a Big Gulp of coke before I gave him gatorade. We still avoid a lot of other things at home but as long as I can guess something is mostly dye free when we are out and about, we don't freak out about it. It has changed our lives.
Now, what is Maverick like? He is a wonderful boy! Still a little high strung (but so is his mother) but I can bring him back to earth when he is getting close to losing control. He is doing well in his schooling. He makes friends easily and is pleasant. He still exhausts me and is full of mischief but he is likable now. (he hasn't always been likable)!
So HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY MAVERICK!!! You are growing into a wonderful big boy and we love you!
I'll tell ya, this boy has been a roller coaster ride from day one. The first few months of his life were hard on everyone. He cried so much and was impossible to console. I had nightmares of him being kidnapped and the kidnappers always brought him home. As he got older, the screaming and crying stopped but he got dangerous. He walked at 8 months and at 11 months or so he was found "hiding" on the top bunk of the bunk bed (yep, he climbed the ladder). We had to move him from his crib on his first birthday because got stuck and hung himself upside by his thighs trying to climb in it. He scaled our book shelves shortly after his first birthday...I caught him just before he jumped.
He is intense. When he is happy, there is no one happier. When he is mad, well stand back. When he is afraid or sad or any emotion, he is intensely so. For several years, we struggled with more little things, his socks on the wrong feet (seriously, I still don't know how to tell the difference), hair on his fingers, freaking out about tags in clothes, etc. It was a constant effort to keep him happy. The other emotions were so much more exhausting!
Then, after an appointment with the pediatrician where I got a referral to a specialist to figure out how to help Maverick mellow out., I reached out for help online. The referral was going to take 6-9 months and I was already exhausted! And I got help from a homeschool friend who I've never met in person. She suggested the Feingold diet. We got the kit and followed it religiously. People thought we were nuts! But Maverick started improving. And aiden get aa little less goofy and I stopped getting headaches all the time). And then I canceled the appointment with the specialist. All I wanted was him to be happy and settled, I don't need a "diagnosis" or "label." He is sensitive to additives in food. In the last 1 1/2 years, we have narrowed his trouble foods to dyes. "Colors with a number" is what I say....such as red #40. We avoid these like the plague. I would give him a Big Gulp of coke before I gave him gatorade. We still avoid a lot of other things at home but as long as I can guess something is mostly dye free when we are out and about, we don't freak out about it. It has changed our lives.
Now, what is Maverick like? He is a wonderful boy! Still a little high strung (but so is his mother) but I can bring him back to earth when he is getting close to losing control. He is doing well in his schooling. He makes friends easily and is pleasant. He still exhausts me and is full of mischief but he is likable now. (he hasn't always been likable)!
So HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY MAVERICK!!! You are growing into a wonderful big boy and we love you!
Weekly Menu!
Sunday - Vegetable Tomato soup (I love "souper sundays" in the winter
Monday - spaghetti
Tuesday - corn dogs, fruit salad, chips, and baked beans
Wednesday- french toast
Thursday - summer sausage, cheese, crackers, veggies & dip, fruit- We call this a toothpick meal, because we eat everything with our fingers or a toothpick.
Friday- Chicken N Noodles
There you have it! Short, sweet and to the point!
Monday - spaghetti
Tuesday - corn dogs, fruit salad, chips, and baked beans
Wednesday- french toast
Thursday - summer sausage, cheese, crackers, veggies & dip, fruit- We call this a toothpick meal, because we eat everything with our fingers or a toothpick.
Friday- Chicken N Noodles
There you have it! Short, sweet and to the point!
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