Sorry and New Post

First let me say sorry that I haven’t posted in nearly a month. The month of October always seems to be a busy month for us, especially now that we have a baby with an October birthday.

I know that I have posted about this before, but it’s been awhile so I figured I would post about it again hopefully with a different spin.

People think that my home is always perfectly clean and organized, but that is not always the case. I would love for it to be and at times it has been, but in the past 2 years with upgrading to a bigger home, being pregnant, officially starting homeschooling, and adding another child to the mix, it has been pretty much impossible to keep this house perfect.

I have figured out the key areas in my home and life that have to be organized and decently clean in order to help me function as a human being, wife, mom, homemaker, and homeschooler.

#1 – The Kitchen

I don’t know about you but the kitchen seems to be the place that needs to be cleaned the most in my home. With 4 people, 3 of which are home most of the day, eating 3 meals and 2-3 snacks each day in there, it is a 24/7 cleaning job. How do I keep it up? I have daily benchmarks that I aim to meet.

Morning:
In the morning I come down and make sure that everything is clean. If the dishwasher was run the night before and dishes are in the left side of the sink dry and ready to put away, I put all of the dishes away. Any dirty dishes get done. I make sure all counters, table, chairs, and high chair are clean. I make sure the floor is pretty clean. On a good morning all I am doing is putting away clean dishes. On a bad morning I am scrubbing and washing dishes left from dinner. J

After Each Meal/Snack:
I really try to wash dishes, load the dishwasher, and wipe surfaces after each meal/snack. If I do this, it doesn’t pile up and each time we come to the kitchen for another meal/snack, we have a clean work area.

After Dinner:
I really try to wash all cooking dishes as I cook (that is a major help). After dinner, my goal is to wash all dishes and pots and load the dishwasher or put in the left side of the sink (where clean dishes dry). I wipe all surfaces really well. I sweep the floor. If it is dirty, I try to Swiffer mop the floor (especially under the table). It is helping having Lee do baths after dinner giving me more time to do this.

#2 – The Living Room

We play, watch TV, rest, and snack in our living room. My goal was that it wouldn’t be a play room but it is. It just has to be with the myriad of tasks that have to be done in the kitchen throughout the day. Again, I have daily benchmarks that I aim to meet.

Morning:
In the morning I come down and make sure the living room is straightened. I put away blankets that may have been used the night before. I straighten up any snack refuse. I put away remotes. I make sure the toys are not out of control. Ideally, there aren’t toys everywhere because they have been cleaned up the night before. This takes just a few minutes.

Afternoon & Before Daddy Comes Home:
We try to do a quick clean up of toys.

Before Kids Go to Bed:
We aim to clean up the toys.

#3 – The Homeschool Room

Since we homeschool 3-4 days a week, this room has to stay straightened up for my sanity. We have a shelf for all supplies with little plastic containers for each thing (crayons, markers, pencils, etc). We have another shelf for all of our materials. As we do school we straighten up and when we are done we do a big straightening. It is nice to come in each day to an organized, straightened room.

Other Tasks that Make Life Smoother:

Making Beds

I make the master bed and Luke makes his bed. I love the way a room looks when you walk in and the bed is made. It seriously takes like 1 minute but it makes a huge difference in a room. I also think it tends to make you make less mess in that room throughout the day.

Straightening Up Toys

I love the way it looks when toys are organized and straightened up. I aim to train my kids by about 2 years old to clean up their own toys.

Laundry

I aim to do at least 1 load of laundry each day or 2 loads every other day. I don’t like for it to pile up. I try to toss a load in first thing in the morning and have it done by lunchtime.

I have found that these things help my life run smoother and make my home appear cleaner when people come over.

What are the things you have to have clean and/or organized to run smoothly in your life/home?

My Recipe Binder

When I was learning to cook, I would comb through cookbooks and online recipes for hours trying to find something that would please my picky husband. It would be challenging as there were a good amount of things (and still are) that my husband would not (will not) eat. It felt so daunting to look at books and see one thing that would make the recipe a no-go. I would be lucky to find a couple of maybes in a book. That coupled with the fact that I thought I had to come up with a creative and elaborate meal each night made cooking such a hassle.

I had a lot of trial and error in cooking as I had to learn technique as well as please a picky eater. So I came up with an idea. I would make a meal and then quiz Lee on it. I would ask:

"What do you think of the dinner?"

"Would you like to have it again?"

"On a scale of 1-10, what is your impression of it?"

"How often would you want to eat this meal?"

If he liked it, I would work to make it better. If he loved it, I would just keep making it. I decided that instead of trying to have so many recipes that I had dabbled in, I would find one recipe for each type of dish that Lee liked and make it a lot. So I found great recipes for pasta dishes, chicken casseroles, marinated meats, and comfort foods. Once I found the tried-and-true yummy dishes, I stopped looking.

I decided to type them up in Word so that I could easily email them and share them with others. I put them in a binder in page protectors so I could splatter and wipe. I organized them by category:

Appetizers
Soups
Breads
Breakfasts
Beef
Chicken
Pork
Fish
Side Dishes
Desserts

Now I just pull my binder out, turn to the recipe I am making, and make the same recipes. I'd say there are about 100 recipes in there. I will usually make the same tried-and-true recipes and might try a new recipe every few weeks. If we love it, I add it to the binder. If not, I don't make it again.

This method has really made my life easier. My husband is happy to eat the same types of things a lot. I try my best to have at least 2 weeks between the same dish. After we finish the freezer meals, I have a monthly plan I am going to try so that we don't have the same meal more than once a month. I think it will be good because it should be simple, take less time, and give us some variety.

How do you organize your recipes? Do you have tried-and-true recipes? Do you mind sharing?

Diaper Bag

I went for almost 2 years without a diaper bag. To say it was nice doesn't even cover it LOL. Babies need lots of stuff. My awesome mother-in-law lives by the theory that mommies need something nice for themselves each time they have a baby (works for me), so she got me a Vera Bradley diaper bag. I had one with Luke but she thought I needed a new one (again, works for me).

I love Vera Bradley because if you are an organization junkie like me, you will love all of the wonderful pockets. You can put different things in each pocket and feel organized instead of digging through your bags looking for something. This diaper bag has a zipper pouch on the outside, a flip side with three little pouches on the outside, two end pouches, and inside it has three pouches on each side. It also has a matching changing pad. It also has a clasp to hook your keys to.

In my diaper bag, I use one end pouch for my wallet and one for a bottle. I use the zip pouch to put papers. I use the flip side pouches for my keys, cellphone, and hand sanitizer/tissues. I use the inside pouches for diaper cream (which we have never needed PRAISE THE LORD), those mini trash bags for bad diapers (we have needed a few LOL), pacifiers (we don't really use them, but I have them JIC), and nose bulb aspirator and saline drops. If Nathan is sick and needs medicine, I would put that in there as well.

In the main part, I keep a big stack of diapers, a travel pack (or two) of wipes, two extra outfits, two extra onesies, a couple of extra burp clothes, a bottle of water, a formula dispenser with enough formula for 3 bottles, and an extra bottle (sometimes I have more if I am going to be away from the house longer than one or two feedings. I would also put a travel bowl of cereal and a spoon if we would be feeding that while we are out. Sometimes I might have an extra toy or two if I don't want it on his carseat (it's not fun to sleep with toys whacking you in the head).

I always bring the diaper bag in the house after we go somewhere. My rule is: Go through the diaper bag as soon as you get home (or get a chance) and pull out dirty clothes, burp cloths, and bottles. Then replace what needs replacing (clothes, burp cloths, bottles, water, formula) and sit the ready diaper bag by the door. I know you could pack it before you leave to go somewhere, but I find that I am always in a hurry so this makes it easier. Plus if you have an emergency, you are ready to go.

Cleaning Caddies

The first couple of years that I was married we lived in apartments that were one floor. It made cleaning really easy because 1) we didn't have much space to clean and 2) I wasn't schleping stuff up and down the stairs. It was pretty nice. Then we moved to a two story townhome. It was a decent size but I could still clean pretty quickly, but didn't like carrying stuff up and down the stairs.


Once we moved into a 3 story house and I got pregnant, I decided that it was worth the extra cost to set up each floor with a homebase cleaning stuff space. I decided to put a cleaning caddy, vacuum, broom vac, and mop on each floor. It came in handy when I wasn't allowed to lift things. I could pull the vacuum out of the closet and vacuum in very little time and not hurt myself.


Here are my cleaning caddies:


Like I said, I have one for each floor. Each one has bathroom cleaner, toilet cleaner, multipurpose cleaner, a toilet scrubber, a sponge, carpet cleaner, dusting spray, dusting cloths, and air freshener. In the caddies for the 2nd and 3rd floors I put tub scrubbers and trash bags to collect the trash.


The caddies were a few bucks and the way I look at it all of the cleaners, sponges, and scrubbies will run out in the same amount of time as having one set for all of the floors to share.


What do you think? How do you store your cleaning stuff?

Toy Organization - Board Games & Puzzles

If your house is anything like mine, the days after CHRISTmas look like a toy store. My family is big on presents and while Lee and I try to keep the craziness under control, there really is no use since our parents spoil our kids rotten. Since I can't handle mess and disorder, I have systems for toy organization. I thought that I would do a series on toy organization.

Here is Installment #1 - Board Games & Puzzles:

As soon as I open a board game, I check to make sure it has all of the parts.

Then I put the game together to make sure it is all there.

Then I put all of the pieces into different baggies (ie game pieces in one baggie, money in one baggie, etc).

I put rubberbands around the cards.

I like to put all of the little baggies and cards into a bigger resealable bag.

I put everything back into the box.

We have a chest for all of our games and I put all the adult games on one side and all of the kid games on the other. I put like-sized games together to save space.

When we play a game, we always clean it up the way we found it so that no pieces get lost.

For puzzles, we put all the puzzle pieces into a ziploc bag and then put it in the box. That way if the lid was to fall off, we don't lose any pieces.

Hope this helps!

Organized CHRISTmas Present Giving

As everyone knows CHRISTmas can get so crazy, especially when we get too overwhelmed by all the presents, shopping, parties, and other ruckus that tends to happen this time of year. To combat the craziness, I try to really organize my CHRISTmas present giving. I usually start my shopping after Thanksgiving as I really like to focus on Thanksgiving before all the CHRISTmas stuff starts.

Lee and I sit down and write a list of all of the people we are going to be buying presents for. Then we come up with a budget for each person. Then we like to write down some ideas or things that each person likes or is into. I take my list with me when I shop and I write down everything I purchase for each person. That way I remember what I've bought (yes, if I don't write stuff down, I completely forget). I also keep a tally of how much I've spent so I can stick to my budget.

I try to have all of my shopping done by the week before CHRISTmas. I usually end up picking up a couple of things for Luke as he makes new requests every day (sometimes every hour). I like to wrap as I go as well so I don't end up with a massive pile of presents to wrap two days before CHRISTmas. Plus the presents look pretty under the tree.

I hope these tips have helped. I would love to hear how you organize your CHRISTmas present giving or if you just wing it. :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Dishes Dishes Everywhere

Unless you eat out every meal, dishes are inevitable. It's amazing how quickly they can pile up if you don't tend to them after each meal and snack or if you don't unload the dishwasher when it is done. Those are my first tips: always unload the dishwasher ASAP and wash and load the dishwasher after each meal or snack so they don't pile up.

Here's my next set of tips:

Just like everything else in my house, I have a system for dishes. We have a dishwasher and disposal (thank God). That sounds funny, but I have been lots of places that didn't have one or the other or both and it makes it really challenging to do dishes. With a dishwasher and disposal, dishes are simple.

We have a two-sided sink. The side with the disposal and the counter next to it is for dirty dishes only. This makes it easy on Luke because he knows where to put a dirty dish. We don't let him put them in the sink (it's too deep and we would get broken dishes). The side without the disposal and the counter next to it (which just happens to be above the dishwasher) is for clean dishes only. The clean side of the sink is where things that don't go into the dishwasher (frequently used things - peeler, knife or bulky items - pots, pans, mixing bowls) are put to dry.

With this system, it makes doing dishes super easy. You go to the dirty side and either rinse and load the dishes into the dishwasher or scrub, rinse, and put them on the clean side to dry. When the dishwasher is done and ready to be unloaded, you just put it all away (that is when I put away the dishes on the clean side as well). It makes it really easy and pretty quick.

My dishwasher tips:

Yes, I load my dishwasher in a very anally organized manner (and Lee follows it). I figured I would share my system in case you wanted some ideas. Trust me, it takes just as much time to load it specifically versus just putting things in and saves a ton of time when unloading.

Bottom rack:

Utensil holder: Each side has 3 places for utensils. One side is for silverware. We put spoons in one, forks in one, and knives in one. On the other side, we put steak knives in one (the one next to the knives) and kitchen tools (big spoons, measuring cups, etc) in the other two. It makes it really easy when you go to unload. I grab a handful of the same thing and can put it away really fast.

Around the edges (where it is wide): This is where bowls go.

Inside: We line up dinner plates on one side and salad plates on the other. It makes it really easy to unload because you grab a handful of similar plates and can put them away in seconds.

Upper rack:

We have a row for tall glasses, a row for smaller glasses, a row for sippy cups, a basket for sippy cup lids, a row for ramekins (really small bowls), and a row for tupperware and car cups (water bottles, etc).

I hope this helps. :)

The Power of the Planner

One of the biggest things to organize is time. I will confess that I have struggled with this off and on for my whole life. I am the type of person that needs to have everything on a list or in a chart to almost be able to function. I can't just wing it all day and get everything done. I also could forget appointments and when I am supposed to do something with someone if I didn't have it written down.

Over the years I have read tons of books on time management and they all say the same thing - YOU MUST HAVE A PLANNER. I have also spent hours looking at different planners, calendars, PDAs, and other organizers for time. I have loved some and hated others. After all of that, I finally found what works for me. I have to have the monthly calendar view as well as a weekly/daily view with time slots. I like to be able to see birthdays, anniversaries, appointments, bills that are due, and big things on the monthly view and also like to be able to fill in specific time-oriented things on my weekly/daily view so that I can plug in things I need to get done. Sometimes my day just has the big things and other days I like to plug in everything that I need to do (even shower/get ready, workout, cook, clean, etc).

Here is the planner I am currently using:

Of course everyone is different and some people can remember everything. I don't know how they do it especially the more responsibilities they have. If you are a person who just wants to know when big things are going to happen, you could just post a calendar in your kitchen and write things on it. If you like to have some space for each day to write a list of what is happening and maybe have a little room for a To-Do List, then having the time slot style might not work as well. There are planners that have monthly views and then each week with blank space for the day. Some people prefer to have a ton of space for each day. For that you can get a daily calendar which gives you a page or two for each day.

Whatever method you choose to use, the key is to use it. Write things down and keep your planner handy so you know what things are coming up and where your time is going. It really helps.

Organized Vacationing

I don't know about everyone else, but I know that for me a vacation is not truly a vacation. As a wife, mom, and homemaker, I spend hours preparing and packing for our trip, hours in the car keeping everyone sane (putting on movies, handing out snacks, and entertaining Luke), hours setting up shop for the week (putting away food, kitchen supplies, clothes, and toys), hours still cooking meals, cleaning up, and getting everyone whatever they need for each outing, hours cleaning up the place when we are done, hours in the car again, and then hours unpacking, doing laundry, and getting us ready for life when we get home. Does that sound familiar to any of you guys?

Well because I am so OCD and have to have order no matter where I am - home, hotel, or beach house - I have to be really organized. It does make things run a lot smoother and I do get a little more down time as the crew knows where everything is and can [sometimes] fend for themselves.

It all starts a few days before we leave for our vacation. I do all of the laundry and clean up the house. It makes things a lot easier when you have clothes to pack and a clean house to go through and get what you need. I also have a packing list on my computer that I print each time we go somewhere. I print it out the day we pack and tweak it. I add things that need to be packed in addition to all of our regular stuff. That saves me so much time and headache. There is nothing worse than getting somewhere and not having underwear or a toothbrush.

Then when it comes to packing, I use lots of different bags and bins. I like to organize things so that we can put bags or bins in their respective spot when we arrive at our destination. I use one bag for Luke's clothes and personal care items, one bag for my clothes and personal care items, one bag for Lee's clothes and personal care items, one bag for towels and sunscreen - my pool bag, one bag for beach toys as they get sandy and I like to keep them in a mesh bag to carry down to the beach, one bag for Luke's toys, one bin for dry food, one bin for kitchen needs, a big cooler for food when we get there, a small cooler for drinks in the car, and one bag for snacks and toys for the car. Yes, it seems like a lot, but it really isn't. It's more organized than cramming stuff in a bunch of bags.

I pack each area/bag/bin and bring it all to a certain spot so that Lee can load it all in the car. This way he sees how much we have and how he should load everything up. If you have stuff all over the house, you might have something heavy that ends up on top or have to take stuff out and reload. This saves time and frustration.

When we get to our destination, we can just put each person's bag where they are sleeping, they toys/entertainment in the area where we will be hanging out/playing, the beach/pool stuff near the door so we are ready to go at a moment's notice, and the food and kitchen stuff in the kitchen. It is really nice. It also makes it possible to not have to unpack as stuff is where you need it.

When we get done with our vacation, we just load everything back up, repack the car, and when we get home, we just put stuff back where it goes pretty efficiently. One note - when we are packing to come home, we pick a couple of suitcases to put all the dirty stuff in and one to put all of the clean stuff in (inevitably we pack too much). The dirty suitcases go to the laundry area and the clean suitcase is unpacked. Super easy.

I hope this helps. Enjoy your vacations. :)

To-Do List

Anyone who is busy, and who isn't these days, could benefit greatly from using a To-Do List. It's a great way to keep up with what you have to get done, and even better, you get to mark stuff off and feel really good about yourself. ;)

A To-Do List can be made on many different things:
- A notepad
- A sticky note (or series of sticky notes)
- A scrap of paper
- Written in your planner
- Typed up on your computer

It all depends on the user. When I was in college, I used sticky notes. I would put the due date/date of the test on the top and what the thing was (ie Math Test, Spanish Homework Due) and line them up across the top of my desk in order of importance/due date. Then I could throw them away as I finished them. It was a great system.

I like to use a notepad or piece of paper now for daily tasks. I can write out what needs to be done and carry it around with me during the day marking things off as I go.

If you want to keep a master list of things to do like projects, appointments, etc you could write them in your planner. Some people write their to-dos on the day they need to be done in their planner. That is a great idea.

If you are techie, you might like putting your to-do list in a Word document, on an online calendar, or on a sticky note on your desktop (thanks Windows 7 for that neat feature).

The key is to put it where you will see it as it will remind you of what you need to get done.

Some people like to write out their to-dos each day, while some people prefer to make a gigantic list at the beginning of the week and work through it to give them more flexibility. I prefer to know what I need to do each week and then plug things in on my daily to-do list. If I don't get something done, I scratch through it and put it on the next day's list. That works for me.

The key is to write down what you need to get done. Be realistic. There are only 24 hours in a day and you need to sleep, eat, relax, and rest.

How to Fold and Organize Sheet Sets

I came across this and thought it was awesome so I figured I would share it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0Ql1se4Gc0&feature=player_embedded

Packing List

We all do it. A few days before (or the day before if you like to procrastinate like me) a vacation, you sit down with a piece of paper and write out a list of everything you need to pack for your trip - toiletries, clothing, food, entertainment, extras. Sometimes writing the list takes longer than packing your stuff. After doing this a handful of times, I thought, "Why not type this up in a Word document and that way I can just edit and print and be done in a minute?" So I did. I thought of everything that we would normally pack for trips and made a column for each person or category. Then when we go to pack, I don't spend time thinking of what needs to be packed or worse, forget something because I couldn't think of it. It has changed over the years (ie diapers for Luke became underwear for Luke, bottles became sippy cups, etc), but overall the general list is pretty usable. We just hand write a few of the extra things we might need (ie food for meals, specific snacks we want, movies we want to bring, etc). Easy breezy.

If you would like to see my packing list, I would be happy to email it as a Word document attachment. Just e-mail me at ashley-webber@hotmail.com.

How to Stick to a Budget

I have written posts previously about how to create a budget, but this post is about how to stick to your budget. Once you have figured out what your budget is for each category each month, you can create a simple chart and use it to keep you updated on where you stand.

The categories Lee and I use are:
Income
Tithe
Housing (Mortgage/Rent, Insurance, Utilities, Household Maintenance Things, HOAs)
Groceries
Auto (Payments, Insurance, Gas, Repairs, Auto Maintenance Things)
Debts (Anything you pay on each month, ie student loans, same-as-cash things)
Entertainment/Recreation (anything we do for fun, excluding eating out)
Eating Out
Clothing
Savings
Medical
Misc (anything that doesn't have a category)

We created an excel spreadsheet with the categories across the top and the days of the month going down the left side. We put a total row on the bottom and entered in the functions to calculate as we put information in. We also set up a row below that with our budgeted amount for each category. Then we put a row below that to show the difference.

If you would like a blank worksheet to use please let me know (ashley-webber@hotmail.com).

The key to a budget is not in creating it, but in sticking to it.

More Tips for Sticking to a Budget:

Set each budgeted amount at a reasonable level-
Go back and see what you've spent in the previous months and then create a number that is obtainable. You can always make it lower the next month to help you get more under control. If you make it too low, you will get discouraged.

Aim to do really well the beginning of the month -
It's a lot easier to stick to your budget when you work really hard at the beginning of the month. Even if the end of the month gets a little more spendy, you were off to a good start.

Remember that if you do go over in one category, you can pull funds from a different category. For example, if we go out to eat a little too much one month, we usually have a little extra in another category.

Plug in the definite expenses and then see how much you have to "play with". For example, you know that you have car insurance of $50.00 and a car payment of $200.00 and a budgeted amount of $500.00. You have $250.00 for gas and other misc things that come up.

Use one main credit card. Lee and I use one credit card and we put basically everything on that. It helps because we get one bill for most of our expenditures and we can see each transaction anytime we need to to keep us on track. Plus we earn rewards.

Budgeting can actually be pretty fun. You know what you have to work with rather than freaking out when the bills come in. It's also fun when you see that you have stuck to your budget and have more money to put into savings. :)

Organizing Baby Clothes (and Sorry)

First, let me start by saying how sorry I am for not putting up a post since Sunday. My laptop died a couple of weeks ago and Lee's got some sort of virus and is waiting for him to fix it (hopefully it will get fixed this weekend). I have stolen his work laptop to do a quick post.

Since Lee and I are planning (God willing) to have a house full of kids, we kept everything from Luke. We kept all of his clothes, toys, nursery decor, and pretty much everything Luke had.

How to Organize Baby Clothes:

Step #1 - Launder them: Make sure you get all the stains out. If they aren't worth keeping, don't. Fold them neatly.

Step #2 - Sort them: Get a bunch of clear bins with color coordinated lids (blue for boy, pink for girl) or color coordinated bins. Start with the earliest clothes (for us that was 0-3 months and fill the bins).

Step #3 - Label them: Label each bin's contents with a notecard and tape.

Step #4 - Store them: Store them somewhere putting the clothes you will need first the closest (or easiest to get to).

This is great because everything is clean, sorted, and put somewhere where you can easily get to it as you need it.

Meal Planning

A lot of blogs and books that I have read talk about meal planning. Basically you fill out a calendar, be it weekly or monthly, of meals that you plan to make. I have tried this so many times.

Being that I am really organized, I have no problem filling it out and even putting what I would need from the grocery store (only fresh items - not meats or pantry stuff as I buy that before I need it with coupons and sales) on a nice little post-it.

The problem is: I never want what I put on the calendar that day. And if we don't make the meal I feel like I am completely out of whack. I am the type that if I write it all out I want it to go perfectly.

My solution to this waste of my time and feeling like I wasn't being "perfect" when I didn't follow it was to stock my pantry and freezer and keep a few fresh items (bell peppers, onions, potatoes, carrots, fruits) on hand each week so that I could make almost any meal any night of the week.

Usually the night before or the morning of I will lay out the meat I intend to use (I alternate chicken a couple of times and then beef). Then I will ask my husband what he wants for dinner using that meat. Sometimes I give him a couple of choices (ie If it is chicken, "Do you want something like Chicken Pot Pie or Buffaloe Chicken Tenders?"). He tells me, I come up with a few side dishes, and TADA we have dinner.

This works for my family. I have known lots of people that make a meal plan and stick to it. I commend them. I think I am just the type that if I know what I am going to have it already becomes boring to me. I would love to hear what you do to get dinner on the table in your house - Scheduled, Semi-Scheduled, Day Of, of Fly By the Seat of Your Pants? :)

What to Do When Everything is a Mess

A friend of mine requested a blog on what to do when your house is a mess. It is so easy to have your house take you over. I know that we all have great intentions to clean as we go and organize things and keep them that way, but nowadays we are all so busy running here, there, and everywhere, with spouses, kids, and friends to our activities, that before we know it our house looks like a tornado hit.

Have no fear, a plan is here. Okay that was cheesy. ;)

Step 1 - Rally the Troops
I tend to do about 90% of the housework on a normal week as I am a full-time homemaker and my husband works full-time, but when chaos hits or we have people coming over and I don't feel caught up, I get everyone on board to help out. A great way to do this is to offer an incentive. If you have kids that can earn money, you could bribe, I mean encourage them, to help. Or my favorite, offer to take the family out to dinner or an activity when things are back to clean.

Step 2 - Divide and Conquer
I find that when I am cleaning it helps if I don't have someone in the space I am working in. Assign each person a room or a task and send them off to do it. I like to make a list and color code who is going to do what and work our way through.

Step 3 - Straighten
When you walk into a room, the first thing you need to do before you deep clean or organize is straighten up the mess. Put things back where they should have been. Put dirty clothes in the hamper or bring them to the laundry room for a power laundry session (more on that below). Throw all trash into a can or a trash bag if you are carrying one from room to room. Make the bed. This will make a huge difference. I find that most of what drives us crazy isn't the dirtiness but the clutter everywhere. Anything that doesn't have a designated home and needs to be organized should go in a spot of the room or a basket until you do the other steps.

Step 4 - Clean
Dust. Vacuum. Wipe down countertops (they should be clear). Scrub toilets. Scrub showers. Mop the floors. Do any cleaning that the room needs.

Step 5 - Organize/De-Clutter
With everything that you had left over from the straightening step, you now need to decide where to put it. If you don't want it, trash it or put in a donate or yardsale box. If you do want it, figure out the best place for it. My rule of thumb is to group like items. Put books in one spot. Put toys in one spot. Put things that go together together. Also, try to think of the way you would use it. If you would use it with something, put it with that something. Think of the frequency of use. If you use it all the time, put it somewhere easily accessible. If you barely use it, store it somewhere that you can remember where it is.

Step 6 - Try Your Best to Keep it that Way
We spend a lot of mental energy, physical energy, and time letting our house get out of control and having to get it back in control. If you try to keep a routine, it will make things much easier and way less stressful.

*** If your house is crazy and you can't tackle it in one day, break it into pieces, starting with the rooms you need cleaned the most - for me that is always my kitchen and family room. ***

POWER LAUNDRY SESSION - I hate to have to do loads and loads of laundry in one day, but if you are really behind, this is the way to catch up so you can get back to the load a day or every other day rule. The best way to do this is to collect all the laundry in the house. Then make piles/baskets near your laundry room (most needed first). I like to do a whites/white sheets, darks, dark towels/sheets, khakis/nice whites, and nice darks. ALWAYS DO THE PILES THAT NEED IRONING LAST SO YOU CAN CLEAN WHILE YOUR LAUNDRY GOES AND NOT HAVE WRINKLED CLOTHES WAITING FOR YOU AT THE END OF THE DAY. As a load is done, fold it. I like to use my master bed or guest bed after they have been made. At the end of the laundry session, put it all away.

I hope this has helped! :)

Organized Party Planning

I love planning and hosting parties. I am so thrilled that we have a bigger house now so we can host more easily. I think you can host people no matter how much space you have, but it definitely is nicer now that we have a separate dining room so we can double up on the dining spots. We are having my belated birthday bash tomorrow and I am thrilled.

Here are some of my tips for successful party planning:

1) Don't freak out if you don't have the perfect house or the perfect space or perfect dishes or perfect food. It's not about being perfect. It's about sharing your home and your food with those you love. That's what hospitality is all about.

2) Give people ample notice so that you get a good turn out. My motto is: The more the merrier :)

3) Try to have a meal that most people would like even if it means a little more work for you. I like to have a couple of main dishes and a few choices for sides. I don't want someone to feel weird that they don't like what I made. I also try to keep it simple.

4) Clean your house during the week before. Don't wait until the day before or worse the day of. You will stress yourself out.

5) Try to have most of what you need for the meal before the day of. Again, it will stress you out.

6) If you know the meal won't be ready, serve a basic snack (chips and dip) and a drink to the guests while they are waiting for the main meal.

7) Let people help you if they offer. They could bring a simple side dish or salad or dessert. It makes them feel good and helps you out.

8) ENJOY YOURSELF! The goal of hosting people in your home is to have a good time. Remember that! :)

Happy Hosting!

Creating a Routine/Schedule

I have always been really into having a routine/schedule. I think it stems back to high school. When I was in high school, I had classes, homework, always worked a part-time job, babysat and had somewhat of a social life. I knew that without organization I would let some area fall and that wasn't going to be good. My mom required good grades in order to keep my job and have a social life. If I didn't have a job, I wouldn't have a car and other fun things I enjoyed getting. So, I had a plan everyday of what I had to do and when I would get it done. This rolled on through college.

When I was pregnant, I didn't have a job or that many responsibilities, so I became a very unscheduled and lazy person. I didn't like that. When Luke was born, I was all about getting him on a schedule so that we could have normal sleeping habits in our house ASAP. By putting him on a schedule, Lee and I got back into having a schedule for ourselves. I flourish with routine. I like having a time slot for each thing I do. It just makes me more productive. Ever since Luke was born, we have had a schedule and I really think it keeps everyone (especially Luke) sane.

That being said, I thought I would write out step-by-step directions as to how I create a routine/schedule for myself in hopes that it will help others.

Step 1: Get out a blank sheet of paper and write down all of things that you want to accomplish in a given week. I like to divide the paper into weekly and daily things. There are things you only do once or twice a week like activities, playgroups, and grocery shop. Then there are the things you want to do every day like pray/devotion, play with kids, sleep, and shower. Nothing is too insignificant. Obviously you won't have the same exact things in the same spots every week, but as a general schedule, put the things you do (or would like to do) on a normal basis.

Examples of what I do:

Daily - Prayer/devotion, Bible study, reading, sleep, hygiene related things, spend time with Lee, spend time with Luke, prayer/devotion with Luke, Bible reading with Luke, homeschooling Luke, cook meals, daily cleaning, exercise, fun time (ie TV/movie/Wii/craft)

Weekly - Bible study/MOPS, grocery shopping, coupon planning, library storytime, Monkey Joes, church, date night, weekly cleaning (put on specific days)

Step 2: Figure out the things you have to do and fill them in at the appropriate times. From that you can see where you have blocks of time to fill in the variable things.

Step 2: Figure out your wake time, bed time, and meal times.

Step 3: Look for blocks of time that you can complete the various tasks you have to do and fill in the ones in a way that makes sense for you.

Make it work for you. Realize it is an ideal and that it won't go that smoothly every day (if ever). You can even make a back up routine or a more basic one with just wake times, bed times, meal times, and the things that are in stone. That way you have flexibility with the chunks of time. If you do that it helps to make a to-do list for each day and that way you don't forget to do something.

Here's My IDEAL Routine/Schedule:

7:00am - Wake up, Devotion/Prayer/Proverb of the Day, Get ready
7:15am - Make our bed, Wake Luke, Help Luke make his bed, Start a load of laundry
7:30am - Make breakfast and Lee's lunch
8:00am - Eat breakfast
8:15am - Clean up from breakfast
8:30am - Chores (M - 1st floor, W - 1/2 2nd floor, H - 1/2 2nd floor, F - 3rd floor)
*Tuesday 8:30am - Leave for MOPS/Bible study
9:30am - Homeschool Luke
10:30am - Snack, Leave for outings
11:00am - Outings (M - Grocery store, W - Library, Grocery store, H - Monkey Joes, F - ?)
12:00pm - Return home, Unload, Make lunch
12:30pm - Eat lunch
12:45pm - Clean up from lunch
1:00pm - Play with Luke
2:30pm - Give Luke a bath, Read books, Get Luke ready for nap
3:00pm - Exercise
3:45pm - Shower
4:00pm - Bible study, Read
4:30pm - Blog, Coupon
5:00pm - Scrapbook, Sew, Watch TV, Relax
**Wednesday 5:30pm - Go to church
6:00pm - Snack, Cook dinner
7:00pm - Eat dinner, Clean up from dinner
7:30pm - Downtime until bedtime
**Wednesday 8:30pm - Return home from church
9:00pm - Help Lee put Luke to bed
11:00pm - Be in bed watching TV or reading until I fall asleep

Organized Card Giving

Organized Homemaking is more than just cooking, cleaning, and organizing. It's a heart thing. One of the best ways to share your heart with someone is to send them a card for their birthday, when they have a new baby, when they are going through a tough time, or just because.

It can be hard to remember and cost a lot to just go to the store and buy a card. I found a great way of keeping and organizing cards for all occasions in our home office. I love it because anytime I want to send a card, I have them right in my house and they don't cost as much.

It's a card storage/file "drawer. You can put it in a filing cabinet, but I think it is so pretty, that I sit it out for decoration as well as function. I got this for 50% off ($10.00) at the Christian bookstore. It had a ton of cards included for all occasions and dividers with stickers so you could organize it. The best thing is the cards had Bible verses in them.

I put the stickers on (in alphabetical order of course) and put the cards for the specific occasion behind the divider.

In this case, my friend had a baby boy. I went to the BABY section and pulled out an "It's a Boy" card.

The great thing is I can see when I need to pick up some more of that theme. You can get boxed cards Buy 1 Get 1 Free at Lifeway Christian everyday. When you get them in the boxes, you can file them here.

If you can't find this system, you can just buy the boxes and stack them in your office/wherever you keep office supplies so you have them on hand. You could also use a shoe box or plastic box and create your own system. I just think this was easy and pretty.

Organized Bill Paying

Like I said in my post about creating a budget, I could have cared less about budgeting and bill paying until I started couponing and becoming more aware of where our money went. I am blessed to be married to a man who is very organized, especially in the area of papers and money. For the longest time Lee took care of all of the budgeting and bill paying and he did a fabulous job. After talking with him and looking over all of the accounts, the bill schedule, and the way he kept up with it all, we decided that I would take it over. I didn't want to usurp his territory, but wanted to take the load off of him as well as get a better grasp on our finances.

Bill paying is definitely an area that requires organization. I can't imagine just trying to remember what bills you have and when they are due (not to mention making sure that the outgo doesn't exceed the income at any given point). We pay our bills in a myriad of ways. Some we write checks and mail, some we have to go on the website and enter information, and some are auto drafted from our checking or credit card. This seemed so confusing to me at first wondering, "What do I pay, when, and how?"

I decided to do what I do best, make a chart and check off sheet. I went from the 1st day of the month through the last filling in a chart with the day of the month, what the bill was, how much it was (if it was constant or a guess), what account it came from and how exactly it was paid. This is my cheat sheet so that I can just go to it and follow step-by-step instructions so that each bill gets paid the right way.

I then filled in the 12 month calendar for this year with each bill that was due. I color-coded them (red = take action, green = auto draft from credit card, blue = auto draft from checking). This helps me to see if a bill is coming up and if I will need to do something for it. If I need to, I go to the cheat sheet and follow the steps. If it is auto drafted, I just go check the credit card or checking account statement online to make sure it went through. If it was from the checking account, I reconcile the check book. I then mark out the bill on the calendar so that I can see that I paid everything.

I hope that all of that made sense. I know that I am really OCD and anal about things and some people probably have systems that are really simple and they work great for them. I just thought I would share what I have been doing.