Living

So this week we had no school...and since our plans got squashed at the last minute, I had lots of free time. I read a ton and cooked a ton. My closest friends will probably laugh, but I have found that I ENJOY cooking! Once you find the right yummy recipes, it is a lot of fun! I love having people try my stuff. Today I am making my own homemade pizza dough (a la Pioneer Woman). It's rising on the kitchen counter as I type.
I also had a lot of time to think...think about life (especially when you read a lot, and see how other people spend their days...fictional, but still...I also blog surfed, too!) I realized that while my life is a good one, I haven't been living intentionally, just living. I first started thinking about this when I read Organized Simplicity last November, and it's been in the back of mind ever since. We live, work, hang out as a family, I nag the kids to help me clean, we read together, play together, spend a lot of time together...but I need to start using my time wisely. I know that someday soon...waaaah...my boys and my girl will be young adults. It's time I really started thinking about that and weird to say, but I need to start getting them ready for the real world.

This post on the great site How Does She? got me motivated. I typed up my boys morning schedules (baby steps here) and we're starting that tomorrow. Then, I'll add the afternoon/evening schedules. I don't want to be too scheduled, I like my kids having free time-time to think, draw, play, be bored...the same reason I don't overschedule my kids. They get one extracurricular activity. Cooper is doing basketball and then, perhaps karate. Spencer starts water polo in 2 weeks and has only been doing the afterschool class of rockets and drama at school. I listened to a friend the other day rattle off her daughters' schedules: ballet, girl scouts (she leads 2 groups, too!), cheerleading, piano...and the girls are only 8 and 5. Whew. I got hives thinking about that. I know some parents love that, but not me. Having dinner as a family is more important to me. I'm also going to try the chores list again-I've tried quite a few, but found one here that I think will work:raisingahealthyfamily.com.

So anyway, back to intentional living: I want to use my time wisely...as a working mom, a big chunk of time is teaching. I started keeping weekly goals for myself in January (thanks to this great idea), but that fizzled out. I am moving that whiteboard to the kitchen, so I can see it everyday. I hardly watch TV, but will cut out more. Family meetings will be starting soon-I'll share how I decide to do it. I just want to make the most of the time with my family as I can. Sometimes I find us all in different room, me blog surfing or reading, the kids in the playroom or watching TV, and Joe working or listening to a podcast. That's fine-we all need a break sometimes, but I want to make sure it doesn't happen too often.

I don't know if this rambling post made any sense to you, but I thought I'd share for my few blog readers, so I can keep myself on track. Isn't making your goals known the first step? How about you?
P.s. My new camera is on its way! Canon Rebel DSLR...cannot wait!!!!!!! So anxious to start taking pictures again. My little point and shoot just doesn't cut it for me, though it's handy in my purse at all times!

Make this. Tonight.

Oh so yummy: Garlic Chicken Farfalle. Made this and can I say yum yum yum! Think it will be a weekly meal. Spencer had 3 helpings! Just had to share! :-)

Happy Valentine's Day

We have decided to spend our Valentine's Days as a family....at least while our kids are young! Joe and I typically have our date a few days before and then do something as a family. This year, we had heart shaped pizza on our china! Yes, get it out more than once a year! (Anyone think wedding china is worth it? I wish now I had registered for something else!) The kids loved it! Then, we played games-a Cupid Game I found online, and then the Kinect for XBox, which was a surprise for the kiddos from Daddy. It's a lot of fun because the whole family can play along. It was a fun day!

We are supposed to be in Arizona right now....but thanks to my lovely car needing lots of work and our mechanic saying we shouldn't take it out of town...we are home. But we've spent a lot of time hanging as a family, going to Barnes and Noble, cuddling...it's good to be home. The good news is that I think we are going to get ME a new car! Whoo-hoo...it's been fun researching our options. I will keep you posted. Still leaning towards mini-vans...yes, I AM that mom!
Cooper got his first basket at Upwards Basketball last Saturday!

He is loving basketball and we are loving the Upwards program! Wish they had Upwards soccer...we are having a great experience. Our coaches rock, no one really keeps score, and the main goal is get all the kids to get a basket! The coaches help out both sides. Love it!!!
Haven't been crafty lately...but here's some of my latest bookmarks for your perusal.

Rules for Your house...love it!

IF you love handprint art as much as me!

Anthropologie Style Necklace (made by the cutest mama ever!) (I am SO making this!!!)

Reading with your kids (Reading with the whole family...we are so into this. Spencer and I just finished the first Boxcar Children book...one of my fav series as a kid!)

Where have I been????

Let's see...date weekend in SF with my hubby and friends (Daniel Tosh rocks! See him if you can!)

And then THE FLU. Yes, after almost $500 in co-pays and meds...I have learned my lesson. Get a flu SHOT. Every year. On Time. Oh well. We survived...so anyways....that's where I have been. And if you know anything about sick families, I am STILL cleaning up the laundry backlog, chores, and everything else. Plus, Valentine's Day! The kids all had parties. Joe and I went out pre-Valentine's Day for a date, and then spent last night as a family: heart shaped pizza on our fine china, games, and a movie! It was the perfect family Valentine's Day!
So, I am behind in my organizing...but luckily, I already had a home management binder
and a recipe binder! Who--hoo! Now to get back on track with meal planning....
Hope your Feb. is going great! I plan to be back more often! Promise! Pinky swear! See you soon! Here's some cute shots of the kiddos

....

Keep up the challenge....

So, Toni is going to keep us going on our organization with weekly challenges! Don't forget to join in the fun! See her blog for details!
*A Bowl Full of Lemons*

Organization helpers

OK, so Toni asked us on the last day of the challenge {which no, I did NOT finish, but I did make a list of the ones I had to do still...ugh...the laundry room and fridge being two of them...dreading those...., but I promise to share when I am finished!}...to share some organization tips that help us! So here's mine:

I use a dry erase calendar that I love love love...easy to change and add...

but I needed a calendar that showed the next few months for upcoming events and appts. I made the inside of the pantry the calendar section. I put our year calendar, as well as the boys' lunch menu, class photos and school district schedule. Easy to find, but out of sight.

I started my household binder and bought a cute basket to store on my kitchen counter with a bucket of dry erase pens and regular pens (i.e. out of reach of my children).

I also added my perpetual birthday calendar, as I want to be better at recognizing birthdays. My household binder stores phone lists, restaurant menus, medical info, future events, school info, kids' activities....all the of the stuff you'll need to run the household.

My little drawers inside of the pantry that stores batteries, matches, calculator, rubber bands, odds and ends. I LOVE that I know where I can find that stuff when I need it! (No pic)

My library bookshelf. I designated one section of our bookcase for library books only. I know where they are and never have to search for them. I even keep the kids' library books there.

I moved my scrapbooks into the family room instead of a shelf in the office where only I see them. The kids love pulling them out to look through them. Here's one shelf:

I have 2 other shelves. One of the best things I did (adapted from Stacy Julian) was take the pics I develop and put them into nice leather albums with photo sleeves so we can look through them, instead of sitting in plastic boxes waiting to be scrapped. I actually need to go get some more. I got 2 for $20 at Costco a few years ago. Need to see if they have more! I don't scrap as much as I used to, so I'd like us to see the pictures!

Coming soon...my first giveaway. If you have boys, you'll probably like this (though little girls might like it, too!). Happy Weekend!

The challenge continues....

Working on the challenges:

Here's the spices: don't need to clean out...yet.

Here's my bathroom drawers before: (yuck)

The last pic shows my freebies/cheapies cabinets: when I was on my big couponing kick last spring I stocked up...so much so that we haven't needed to buy shampoo, deoderant, toothpaste, soap, body wash, razors, etc. since April. The cabinets are really thinned out now, so I better go shopping! Time to bust out the coupon binder!
Anyway, added some baskets, threw out a trash can full of stuff (OK, so it was a tiny bathroom trash can, but still!), organized make up in one basket, lotions in another, and voila:

Tackled the medicine cabinet (this house doesn't have medicine cabinets...is that odd?), and we house our meds in a higher kitchen cabinet away from little hands. See my Shaklee Vitamins?
Love 'em! (Not sure what that gunk is on the wall...not gum or anything

I put kids meds in one basket, and adult stuff in another. All clean!

To be honest, I haven't checked to see what the challenges are this week...I will catch up, I promise! (Though I LOVE your blog, Toni!!!).

Here's what we've been doing....

Playroom Clean up

OK, so I finally tackled the playroom yesterday. It looked like this (THOUGH I will say it honestly never looks like this, I just let it go and didn't make the kids clean up all week since I knew I was redoing it....this is terrible, I will agree)

Our playroom is supposed to be the dining room, but our kitchen is big enough for our table, and we all eat in there anyways...so I converted this area into the kids' area. I took all the toys out of the boys room (to keep their room cleaner). Kendall still has her dollhouse and babies in her own room (need to organize that room, too!).
So, here it is.

I took out the toy organizer (what do I use that for now?) and brought in the bookcase from the boys' room that matched the other bookcase in here already. I threw away a ton of toys/missing game pieces and put some in a donate bag. I used the tubs from our toy organizer so I didn't buy any new ones. I still need to go buy another cartridge for the label maker so I can label the tubs: Little People, cars, musical toys, animals, dinosaurs, people, flashcards, games, puzzles, etc. I had one tub that really is ETC. because those toys didn't fit into the other categories. The boys had fun looking through the toys and picking out the tub to play with.
I plan to work on the other challenges today and tomorrow, need to really hit the laundry room one, but think I will skip the spices (that cabinet is fine, I find my spices easily).
Happy Weekend!

Reviews of Organizing Books

So, I have an addiction to books...if you are my friend on goodreads, you know that. I also have a slight addiction to organizing books. So, in the spirit of all the organizing going down, I thought I share some of my favs:

Organized Simplicity by Tsh Oxenreider: if you know the simple mom blog: www.simplemom.net, then you will like this short book. It is broken down into 2 parts: the first gives tools and suggestions for living a simpler life (money, time, schedule, clutter, life goals). I love what Tsh has to say, so I really enjoyed this section. Living simply is something I want to strive for, and we're making progress, I think. The second half is her plan to decluttering your home. It's a 10 day plan, if you go all out for it. I don't have the time to do it in 10 days (maybe summer), but I'm taking suggestions and currently following Toni's schedule (the challenge!), which is more do-able for me, at this time. But a good resource to have. I bought a copy, and I'm glad I have it!

The House That Cleans Itself by Mindy Starns Clark. This is a library check-out, which I have renewed to the maximum....bummer. It's completely different from the other books...but I like it a lot! She helps you see things in "zones" in your house, and that clutter is a result of not being organized in those zones: homework, bill paying, laundry, etc. Basically, set up stations, and organize those stations, and your house will be more orderly. I am enjoying this, though I have not attempted her "plan" that she advocates in her book.

Organize Now! by Jennifer Ford Berry. This is a week by week book to organize yourself, your house, your finances, etc in a year. I bought this and made it to about week 5...but I think I will pick it up again. If you like following checklists, you will love this book! (Looks like the amazon link takes you to new version...new and improved!)

It's All Too Much by Peter Walsh. You know Peter, right? The TLC organizing guru, been on Oprah, etc. Love him! This book is more of the reasoning behind why our homes are cluttered. He leads you through thinking about your things and why we hold onto things. This is a great book to read before starting a big organizing kick because you will look at your things differently. I held onto a lot of things that were my Grandma's (she was crafty), but things I didn't really need or like anymore, but they were hers. Peter helped me to see that when you get rid of something that belonged to someone special, you aren't getting rid of the memories. Sounds simple, right? Raise your hand if you have things in boxes you can't part with yet....I threw away boxes of "stuff" I saved for those reasons.

Absolutely Organized: A Mom's Guide To a No-Stress Schedule and Clutter Free Home by Debbie Lillard (not pictured)
This is a tiny little book, but full of sensible, good ideas for dealing with the children's stuff: toys, clothes, memorabilia and dealing with everyone's schedules. I got a lot of good tips from this book. Checked this one out from the library, but it's on my paperback swap wish list.
So, there you go. I have a few more books, I'd like to check out, like:
Peter Walsh's new book and
One Thing at a Time

What about you????

Hall Closet clean out

OK, so one day behind (but oh this felt good)...the Hall closet! Holds coats, games, bags, snow and winter gear, summer gear, and who knows what else. It has become my stuffing ground...

During...spread out in the hallway...while making tacos...

And afterwards..voila! I am happy with how this turned out. Put the winter gear into the big red tub, put mittens and hats into the clear tub,

straightened the games and puzzles (we have to keep them up this high when you have small children and small pieces), and even, so happy, fit the vacuum.
So now it can be hidden instead of always out! I moved the summer gear to a blue tub for the garage. I even used a special hanger to hang my bags!

The pink hanging thing (LOL) is from Ikea, and it's supposed to be for Kendall's closet. I stuck it here, threw in scarves and hats, and am envisioning a place for swim goggles, sunscreen, etc. in summer. The boys have one in their closet for soccer gear, baseball uniforms, etc.
Today's challenge: the TOY AREA....that will have to wait until I can literally attack the playroom...this 3 day (whoo-hoo) weekend. I have some major work there (and hopefully some willing 7 year old and 5 year old helpers!).

Grateful for:
Family dinners: Cindy and Charlie took Joe and me out for dinner last night to celebrate (belated) Joe's birthday. YUM!

My label maker...seriously....I am in love! I'm already out of my first cartridge!