My newest baby step is to create a control journal, it will essentially be my collection of routines, to dos and important info. I think I am going to attempt to make it digital and do it on the iPad and see how it works.
So far here is my morning routine:
Get up
Get everyone fed
Unload dishwasher
Fold laundry
Get dressed and ready
Play with kids (if I am home) or head to work
Bed time routine:
Start dishwasher
Get clothes out for everyone for tomorrow
Brush teeth/floss
Read stories and get kids to bed
Spend time with Handy Hubby (if he is home) or pamper myself with TV, computer or reading time.
Monday, December 26, 2011
This week in my living room...
Each week Flylady has a "zone" set aside to be focused on, this week it is the family /living room. Traditionally the living room has been Handy Hubby's room to keep clean, but he hasn't been keeping it up too well with the bustle of the holidays. So I am going to take the next week and take down Christmas stuff and get it put away properly, and to clear out the clutter. I also have a goal to put up at least one picture this week and to get my knick knacks put out.
P.S. My sink has been clear and shiny every night before bed, it is such a great change in my life!
P.S. My sink has been clear and shiny every night before bed, it is such a great change in my life!
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Nothing to wear...
Well I'm only on day 7 of my Babysteps journey and I am already failing miserably. 2 of the steps thus far have included clothing, and laundry is one of my biggest challenges (note I said one of, because I have many).
Laundry in my house is typically in one of three states:
1) Feast or famine. I'm a marathon washer, I tend to wait until my mini vacations and wash everything in a 2-3 day period. Then I burn out and don't want to do laundry again until my next holiday break.
2) Wash and go. This is the most frequent state of clothing in our house. Hubby and I each dig through our laundry piles, baskets, and small islands and wash what will get us through the next couple days. Then the clothes typically live in the dryer until we wear it with a short fluff cycle each morning.
3)Interclothing relations. When we hit this stage Handy Hubby knows a meltdown in brewing and stays out of my way. Sometimes when I go on a laundry marathon and I don't get everything put away, my clean clothing can't keep themselves away from the bad boy dirty clothes. It's like my mom trying to forbid me from seeing the boyfriend she didn't like, it was futile, we always found a way to get together. So it all intermingles and then there is no way to tell what is clean and what is dirty, I am sure one of my dresses has been washed 4 times since I last time I wore it. Damn dress is a hussy though and always hangs out with the dirty clothes!
So FLYlady says I should be getting dressed to shoes first thing every morning, well it hasn't happened yet. I have nothing clean to wear and my shoes make my feet stink. My Babysteps yesterday was to set out my clothes for this morning as part of my bedtime routine. Well, I'm still in my clothes from last night, does that count? I suppose not. I'll work on the mountain of laundry and try to get to the point of having something clean to wear in the next week. I'll let you know how it goes.
Do you get dressed every morning to start your day or wait until you need to leave the house? Also, confess or brag about your laundry situation here I'm curious to know if everyone else is cowering from the laundry monster like myself.
Merry Christmas Eve, I'm off to sort the old toys to make room for the new ones!
Laundry in my house is typically in one of three states:
1) Feast or famine. I'm a marathon washer, I tend to wait until my mini vacations and wash everything in a 2-3 day period. Then I burn out and don't want to do laundry again until my next holiday break.
2) Wash and go. This is the most frequent state of clothing in our house. Hubby and I each dig through our laundry piles, baskets, and small islands and wash what will get us through the next couple days. Then the clothes typically live in the dryer until we wear it with a short fluff cycle each morning.
3)Interclothing relations. When we hit this stage Handy Hubby knows a meltdown in brewing and stays out of my way. Sometimes when I go on a laundry marathon and I don't get everything put away, my clean clothing can't keep themselves away from the bad boy dirty clothes. It's like my mom trying to forbid me from seeing the boyfriend she didn't like, it was futile, we always found a way to get together. So it all intermingles and then there is no way to tell what is clean and what is dirty, I am sure one of my dresses has been washed 4 times since I last time I wore it. Damn dress is a hussy though and always hangs out with the dirty clothes!
So FLYlady says I should be getting dressed to shoes first thing every morning, well it hasn't happened yet. I have nothing clean to wear and my shoes make my feet stink. My Babysteps yesterday was to set out my clothes for this morning as part of my bedtime routine. Well, I'm still in my clothes from last night, does that count? I suppose not. I'll work on the mountain of laundry and try to get to the point of having something clean to wear in the next week. I'll let you know how it goes.
Do you get dressed every morning to start your day or wait until you need to leave the house? Also, confess or brag about your laundry situation here I'm curious to know if everyone else is cowering from the laundry monster like myself.
Merry Christmas Eve, I'm off to sort the old toys to make room for the new ones!
Friday, December 23, 2011
Shine your sink
FLYlady has a 31 day Babysteps program, each day you add a new habit to your day each one building upon the last. Well I have plenty of habits, most of which are bad ones. Isn't amazing how much easier it is to create bad habits than good?!
Day 1 was to shine your sink. The idea is to keep your kitchen sink empty and clean. Duh! We all know that is supposed to be, and how much easier it is to clean as you go when the sink it free. Yet my clean salad bowl, baking stone and large pan were all sitting in the right side of the sink (my holding area) for varying times ranging from a month to a week. Why didn't I just take the 2 minutes maximum to put them away? Because they don't have easy homes, I have to move things around, and use a steps tool. Simply put, I am lazy. Well, I have kept my sink clean and clear for the past 2 days and it really does make a huge difference! I made cookies and bread, I had been putting off because the sink overwhelmed me. It sounds so stupid, but those 3 clean dishes in my sink kept me from using and enjoying my kitchen. FLYlady says waking up to a clean sink can and will make you smile, and that is her way of giving us a big hug. When I walked into my kitchen this morning knowing all my dishes were clean and my sink was shiny I felt so good about myself. I made a yummy breakfast for the kids, and put the dishes straight into the dishwasher, and now my day has started off in a positive and motivated way.
Now don't misunderstand, the rest of the house looks as if a tornado came through, my baseboards are dirty and I am pretty sure no one has anything clean to wear to our Christmas gathering today. But my kitchen sink is empty and shiny, and so at least I've accomplished one thing more than usual!
Day 1 was to shine your sink. The idea is to keep your kitchen sink empty and clean. Duh! We all know that is supposed to be, and how much easier it is to clean as you go when the sink it free. Yet my clean salad bowl, baking stone and large pan were all sitting in the right side of the sink (my holding area) for varying times ranging from a month to a week. Why didn't I just take the 2 minutes maximum to put them away? Because they don't have easy homes, I have to move things around, and use a steps tool. Simply put, I am lazy. Well, I have kept my sink clean and clear for the past 2 days and it really does make a huge difference! I made cookies and bread, I had been putting off because the sink overwhelmed me. It sounds so stupid, but those 3 clean dishes in my sink kept me from using and enjoying my kitchen. FLYlady says waking up to a clean sink can and will make you smile, and that is her way of giving us a big hug. When I walked into my kitchen this morning knowing all my dishes were clean and my sink was shiny I felt so good about myself. I made a yummy breakfast for the kids, and put the dishes straight into the dishwasher, and now my day has started off in a positive and motivated way.
Now don't misunderstand, the rest of the house looks as if a tornado came through, my baseboards are dirty and I am pretty sure no one has anything clean to wear to our Christmas gathering today. But my kitchen sink is empty and shiny, and so at least I've accomplished one thing more than usual!
FLYing to become a better homemaker
I am not a naturally neat person, it just isn't in my blood. Neither is Handy Hubby, so the example for our kiddos has been less than ideal. The reality of that fact smacked me across the face when I noticed Biggest Brother tossing trash aside and dropping toys wherever he was when he was done with it. Wow! The blinding strobe of a light bulb above my head was screaming "Stop being a do as I say, not as I do mommy!!!".
I decided to find a way to make cleaning a routine to better instill in myself and my kiddos the habit or being neat. Off to the Internet I went to google "cleaning schedule" and found a bunch of so-so charts, but nothing that really motivated me. Then I stumbled upon www.FLYlady.net and felt a twinge of excitment! I explored the site and loved how homey it felt, and for the first time I felt ok about being a messy mommy who hated having company over - because I am not the only one!!
Anyways, I joined the site and have decided to begin their "Babysteps" program to create new habits to be a better homemaker. I'll keep you up to date on the steps, and how well I am following them. Go over and check out the site if you could use a dose of encouragement and guidance yourself, if you decide to take the Babysteps challenge along with me let me know!
I decided to find a way to make cleaning a routine to better instill in myself and my kiddos the habit or being neat. Off to the Internet I went to google "cleaning schedule" and found a bunch of so-so charts, but nothing that really motivated me. Then I stumbled upon www.FLYlady.net and felt a twinge of excitment! I explored the site and loved how homey it felt, and for the first time I felt ok about being a messy mommy who hated having company over - because I am not the only one!!
Anyways, I joined the site and have decided to begin their "Babysteps" program to create new habits to be a better homemaker. I'll keep you up to date on the steps, and how well I am following them. Go over and check out the site if you could use a dose of encouragement and guidance yourself, if you decide to take the Babysteps challenge along with me let me know!
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Careful what you wish for...
All of my followers know I started this blog to chronicle my attempts at saving and creating money in creative ways, with the ultimate goal being able to quit my full time job and be home with my kids.
Well, the law of attraction worked sooner than planned. We have been blessed For the last 4 1/2 years to have free daycare provided by my mom. Unfortunately, with the economy being so tough she has had to work her "real" job more and focus more on her business and we have no other family able to handle all three kiddos on a full time basis. I made decent income at my job, but not enough to cover daycare for 3 children and still be able to contribute to the family budget.
We had to make a difficult decision, I took a drastic reduction in hours and a demotion came along with it. Oh and I lost my insurance too. Huge changes to our budget and life had to happen in a very short amount of time. To try to make up a portion of my lost income I took on a very part time retail job two nights a week, which has turned out to be an amazing blessing in my life in many ways.
Anyways, to make a long story short I'm not home full time but I am closer than I thought I would be today. I've been neglecting my blogging because I was too busy getting my new schedule under control, but I'm back and I have some exciting things planned for myself that I will share with you.
Well, the law of attraction worked sooner than planned. We have been blessed For the last 4 1/2 years to have free daycare provided by my mom. Unfortunately, with the economy being so tough she has had to work her "real" job more and focus more on her business and we have no other family able to handle all three kiddos on a full time basis. I made decent income at my job, but not enough to cover daycare for 3 children and still be able to contribute to the family budget.
We had to make a difficult decision, I took a drastic reduction in hours and a demotion came along with it. Oh and I lost my insurance too. Huge changes to our budget and life had to happen in a very short amount of time. To try to make up a portion of my lost income I took on a very part time retail job two nights a week, which has turned out to be an amazing blessing in my life in many ways.
Anyways, to make a long story short I'm not home full time but I am closer than I thought I would be today. I've been neglecting my blogging because I was too busy getting my new schedule under control, but I'm back and I have some exciting things planned for myself that I will share with you.
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