You can do something!

My son posted this quote this morning and I liked it so much I made a sign of it.

Being a mom can feel so overwhelming, it's hard to know what to do first.  The best thing to do is just do something!  It's amazing what can be done in 10 or 15 minutes.  You don't really need a large block of time to do many things.  Usually the annoying tasks that we have to do regularly are fairly quick to accomplish.  Take advantage of those small blocks of time and just do it!

Lighten your load!

I grew up in Southern California where the temperatures stay mild throughout the year...no winter blizzards, ice storms or temps dipping below freezing for several weeks at a time.  But, I have to say, I really love the winters of the Pacific Northwest.  Not being inclined to spend much time outdoors when it's rainy and cold gives me lots of time to take care of procrastinated indoor projects.

Yesterday, I spent the day sorting papers. It's time to clear out 2014 and make way for 2015.  Tax receipts are now in a folder, ready to process once the W-2's come in.  Receipts are either filed or shredded.  New file folders are set up.  Other files have been sorted and/or disposed of.  It feels so good to have a fresh start! 

Next on the agenda is another round of clutter control.  Like paperwork, clutter has a habit of piling up  :)  It's not a one time process.  Kids grow out of clothes or get them so stained and dirty that they're no good for hand-me-downs.  Get rid of them!  Make room for new and current clothes.  Same with toys.  And how about the items gathering dust in the kitchen and family room?  If no one is using them, find them a new home!

January is such a great time to tackle paperwork and clutter!  It's a new month and a new year.  Put those dreary days to good use and free yourself and your family from the burden of piles (either paper or "things").  Lighten your load and you'll lighten your spirits!

Happy January!

Tidy Tuesday - Books and DVD's...again

Bye bye books!

Let's face it.  De-cluttering the house is a never-ending job.  We are constantly bringing things into our homes but rarely letting things go and getting them OUT of the house.  It's no wonder we run out of space!  But space isn't the problem...too much stuff FOR the available space is.

My husband's and my weakness is books.  We both love to browse bookstores for fun.  We love looking at thrift stores and garage sales for hidden treasures. The result is obvious...too many books!

So, today I did one of my semi-regular brutal book trimming sessions.  It was raining outside, my husband had my car, so I was stuck in the house and the urge to purge (books, that is!) came over me. I tried to be honest with myself as I looked at each title and was able to pull out about 60 books and a stack of magazines to part with.  I know there's more but I think I did a pretty good job.

Eclectic collection, isn't it!

I did the same thing with our DVD collection with one exception.  I know my husband likes some movies that I don't and I don't want to risk throwing out something that he'll miss.  So, I went through the movies and when I came across one I could definitely live without, I put it on its side so he could look at them and decide if he wants to get rid of them too.  Whichever way he decides is fine with me.  If it means that I can get rid of even 5 or 10 titles, it's worth it. 

Tidy Tuesday - Battle of the wills

Face it - toys multiply!

Four year old Lilly is often my source of inspiration for blog posts.  She is an amazing, exuberant, smart, princess-loving little girl.  She also occasionally has an attitude.  :)  Right now, she is dragging her feet about cleaning her bedroom and her mother is feeling frustrated.

Parents and the cleanliness of their children's rooms are a constant source of friction from the time Baby starts to crawl (and pulls everything off shelves) to the time Lanky Teenager packs up and leaves home (hopefully, taking ALL his stuff with him!).  Wouldn't it be nice if we could just set up their room with a wonderful organizational system and that would be it?  Probably not going to happen.  In my entire life, I've only known one family where their two adorable children actually cleaned their own rooms without help, encouragement or nagging.  It was almost freakish  :)

Anyway, I digress.  Children's belongings are only going to multiply.  You can do one of three things.  You can...
1. Ignore the whole mess, keep the door to their room closed and try to keep everything confined to just their room (or toy room).
2. Set up an elaborate organizational system with bins, labels, and shelves.
3. You can trim down the amount of toys they have so there is less to clean up.

Option #1.  Chaos is not comfortable to live with and kids are no exception.  Toys get broken, lost and scattered.  Children probably will be overwhelmed and won't want to play with their things.
Option #2.  Looks good in the initial stages but children are notorious for shoving their toys in whatever bin or container is closest and it isn't long before everything is mixed up and there goes your nice, orderly system.  Tried that one  :)

Dream on!

Option #3.  Trim down the number of toys available and rotate them from time to time.  The more responsible the child (or children), the more sets of toys are available and vice versa.  Best combined with a smaller version of option #2...toys grouped, kept in bins, labeled and stored within easy reach.

I don't think option #1 is acceptable because it's important for children to learn how to respect and care for their things.  The degree of cleanliness and orderliness is also something that is an individual matter.  You might be fine with a relaxed system or you might be someone who is only comfortable with a stricter approach.

Stay calm, don't react to whining and make putting away toys part of the kid's daily routine.  At least it won't take over the entire house that way.  Good luck!  Oh, and Lilly, go put away your toys!

Tidy Tuesday - Tackle the Kitchen!

"I don't have enough space!"  Does that sound familiar?  It doesn't take long for a home's available space to be filled to capacity and start to overflow.  There are two possible solutions.  One is a lot of hard work and usually involves spending a large amount of money - move to a larger place (until THAT place gets too small and so on...).  The other also involves hard work but doesn't require moving or spending much money - trimming down the number of possessions to fit the space you have.  It sounds so easy but acquiring things just seems to happen...much easier than deciding which things to keep and which things to get rid of.

A kitchen doesn't have to be large or fancy

One of the biggest "stuff magnets" is the kitchen.  Who wouldn't want tools to make food preparation easier?  But, do we really NEED to fill our kitchen drawers and cabinets with gadgets that we might use a few times a year?  Do you have any of the following - corn shucker (use a knife), burger press (two plates pressed together works too), pancake dispenser (try a measuring cup), meatball tongs (roll with your clean hands), onion goggles (REALLY?!),  microwave bacon cooker (two layers of paper towels, bacon, another paper towel on top), bagel cutter (a knife), strawberry huller (again, a simple knife) etc.  And don't forget the small appliances like cake pop makers, rice cookers, soda makers, rotisseries, pizza makers and so on.  These things take up valuable space.

Empty your kitchen of these space wasters and make room for the tools you regularly use.  You might even have room to put your food in the cupboards if you clear out enough space.  Wouldn't that feel good?

We have very little control over the space we have to work with but we can be creative in how we use that space and what we use it for. Even a small kitchen can hold the necessities of food preparation and service. 


PS...all those little gadgets and appliances are a pain to clean anyway  :)

Holiday travel preparations

Beautiful mural at SEATAC airport!

I just got back from a trip visiting far away family (which is why I haven't written any blog posts recently) and there are probably many of you who are going to be doing the same during this holiday season.

Here are a few reminders before you walk out the door on your adventures.

1. Clean your house!  This is VERY important!  Coming home tired and cranky, the last thing you want to be faced with is dirty dishes, dirty laundry, a dirty bathroom and a messy house.
2. Empty all the freshies (milk, eggs, fruit and veggies) out of your refrigerator.  You don't want to come home to rotting, moldy, stale food. 
3. Take care of all your bill paying and other paperwork before you leave. 
4. Attach an automatic timer to a few prominent lamps around the house, set to turn on at dusk and turn off around 10 or 11 at night.  You don't want your house to appear empty and vulnerable to break ins.
5. Arrange for a neighbor to bring in your newspaper and mail in your absense.
6. As you walk out the door, check that the oven/stove are turned off, the doors are locked and all the kids are accounted for  :)

It feels so good to be home after a long trip, especially if you come home to a neat and clean house! You will have enough to do to get back to your normal routine without having to be in catch-up mode.  Happy traveling!

The Behemoth

Be careful when you leave your husband for a week to visit family.  With too much time on his hands, you never know what you're going to come home to.  :)

This picture doesn't do it justice.  It takes up the WHOLE room!

When I came home, there was this huge thing on the grass in the backyard.  It was obviously a piece of furniture but I couldn't tell what it was.  It almost looked like a bookcase but was waaaay to unique to call it that.  I promptly asked my husband what that behemoth was!  He explained that it was a murphy bed (a bed that pulls down from the wall)/desk/shelves combination.  Uh huh.  Sure.  And where was this going to go?  And how was it going to get there?  He planned to put it in the small cubby next to the family room for visiting family.  I just couldn't picture getting it in there.  Heck...I couldn't picture it at all!

Well, he finished it and enlisted me in staining it.  And then came the time to move it inside.  We had to move a partition wall to get it into place and it wasn't easy but it fit...barely.  It wasn't very attractive so I went to JoAnn's and bought some upholstery fabric and upholstery tacks to cover the back (or the underside of the bed).  That was better!

Then there were the two electrical outlets that were high on the wall and looked...ugly...when the bed was down.  I went back to JoAnn's and bought some coordinating fabric and made a picture to cover the outlets.  Unfortunately, I couldn't hide the electrical cord so that is still visible but it still looks better than before.

The Behemoth actually looks pretty good now and the bed is definitely comfy.  My husband doesn't like the name Behemoth though  :) Oh well.

The cat thinks it's his room  :)

Are you ready for school?

Sigh...it's that time of year again

For some of you there's a sigh of relief.  For others, it's a sigh of regret.  Whichever it is, there's no hiding the fact that summer is almost over and school is about to start.  There's a subtle change in the air, the days are noticeably getting shorter and the stores are stocking fall clothes and Halloween decorations.

Are you ready for a new school year?  Are your kids ready?  What have you done to show that you value education for your children?  Do you have a quiet place set aside for them to do their homework?  Do you have bookshelves and other resources dedicated to their educational materials?  Have you set expectations for them?

There is so much you can do to help them have a successful year.  Showing that you think education is important by making a place for them to work and setting rules to balance schoolwork and recreation (and then reinforcing those rules!) will be a good start.

Thrifty Thursday - Step away from the...

The whole purpose of advertisers is to sell their products...to you.  They do a pretty good job at it too!  Why else would you come home from the store with something you bought totally on impulse because you saw it advertised in a magazine or on TV or on the radio and it looked like it might come in handy?  Or, you saw it demonstrated at someplace like Costco or worse yet, you ate a sample of it at Costco?  That last one is my particular downfall  :)  Just one taste of --- and I have to buy an entire bag of it, even though before I walked into the store, I never knew it existed.

At times like this, we get to practice the dying art of self control.  It only takes our minds seconds to process whether we need a product or not.  We can resist the urge and put the product down.  Just because we try a sample of something doesn't mean we're obligated to buy it (although that's what we're supposed to do).

Ask yourself -
"Do I need it?"
"Do I have a place for it?"
"Does it duplicate something I already have?"
"Does this encourage my family to eat healthy?"  (for food purchases)
"What would happen if I didn't buy it?"

Do you REALLY need more Lego's?  Ok, well, I guess you can never have too many Lego's  :)

There aren't many products that pass all the questions.  Too many homes are filled with gadgets and impulse items that take up space that could be used for things that you really do use.  Not only that but when we buy on impulse, we spend money that could be better used elsewhere.

In the well known words of William Morris, "Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."

The stress of moving

Moving is never easy but if you have children, the potential for stress is compounded by the number of children you have.  Unfortunately, there are very few families who are able to avoid moving at least a few times while the children are young.  So, you might as well learn a few things to cut down (at least a little) the stress.

1. First and most important, involve your children.  Don't try to hide the fact that you are planning a move.  Your kids can tell that something is going on so share with them your plans.
2. As soon as you know you are going to move, start clearing out clutter and items that you no longer use or want.  Why go through the hassle of packing and moving boxes of stuff that you won't be using!  Again, involve the kids in going through THEIR belongings.
3. Designate an area of the house for packed and labeled boxes.  Stack boxes there.
4. Speaking of boxes, save yourself a ton of hassle by going to Home Depot or Lowes and buying standard size and shape boxes.  They're really inexpensive.  It is so much easier to pack boxes that are the same size than a haphazard collection of used boxes you picked up behind a grocery store.
5. And labeling?  Mark each box with the room it will be in as well as a basic description of the contents.  If there are a number of people helping you move boxes, it is useful if they know what room to put their boxes in.  And, writing the contents will help you when you are faced with 20 boxes marked KITCHEN and you need something specific.
6. Try to keep your routine as normal as possible for the kids.  Try to keep the upheaval to a minimum.
7. Pack the kid's belongings last.  Unpack them first.
8. Remind yourself that this chaos is temporary.  Soon the stress of moving will be over and you can relax in your new home.

Tidy Tuesday - What's in a word?

I overheard my husband talking with a friend about some of the changes we've made in our home.  I thought that our goal had been to de-clutter but I found out that my husband's goal has been to "compress" his possessions.    There is a HUGE difference in meaning of those two words.  While I've been trying to get rid of as much as possible, he's been trying to find ways to fit as much as he can into whatever space he has available.  Now it all makes sense!  No wonder I've been frustrated with him  :)

If you choose to keep everything you've ever owned and compress it all into the tightest space possible, you will be able to hold an awful lot of stuff but I promise you that it won't be easy to get to if you ever want to use it.  What good does it do you to have a large number of well-packed and labeled boxes consuming half of your garage?  Belongings that aren't used regularly, become susceptible to infestation of bugs and rodents, rot, mold and mildew and THEY TAKE UP SPACE!  The old adage "Out of sight, out of mind" also applies.  Are you really going to remember what you've packed away?  Are you sure?

Think about it...do you REALLY need to keep everything?  Can you envision what your closets and garage would look like if they were stripped of unnecessary belongings?  Can you imagine what your home would look like without overwhelming clutter?  Would it be more calming and relaxing?

Now that the weather is starting to warm up again, it's the perfect time to rid yourself and your home of things that weigh you down and keep you from functioning at your best. 

I can't believe I'm highlighting a product called Beer Bands :)

Identifying personal cups...beer bands

 While my kids were growing up, we used color coded Tupperware cups to distinguish whose cup belonged to which child.  (See blog post 6/26/2012) That worked fine when they were young but recently I got tired of Tupperware and wanted something a little more...classy. I still wanted my family (and friends) to know which glass was theirs (I hate washing large numbers of drinking glasses!). 

So, I came up with a great idea...so great I would market it and make millions!  I'd use brightly colored silicone bands (like wrist bands) to strap around each person's glass and...instant identification!  Everyone would want them!  It would be the next big fad!  :) 

Let guest pick their own colored band...no confusion!

Guess what?  Someone already came up with the idea and they're called Beer Bands.  :)  I came across them last week while shopping at T.J. Maxx in the kitchen gadget aisle for $4.99/12 bands.  They work just as good as I imagined!

So much for my grand money-making idea but that's ok.  The bands are still a great idea if you don't want any confusion as to whose cup belongs to whom.  Even if you don't drink beer...which I don't  :)

Tidy Tuesday - A blanket chest

Finished blanket chest...holding two comforters, two throws and two blankets!

My family loves to cuddle up with blankets while sitting in the living room, watching tv or reading books.  This is all fine and dandy but it also means various blankets strewn all over the room. I needed a place to contain them.  And then I got an idea...we have two ottomans and really only use one.  What if I converted one of the ottomans into a blanket chest?  I could do that.

Before - worn out ottoman

Easy job...remove old base

Remove old supports...now side boards have no support.  Rescrew boards and position new base.

Interior needs restaining.  Done.  Let dry and fill with blankets!

Thrifty Thursday - Shelf life

Every box, can or bag of food you bring into your house has a shelf life.  That time might be long (as in whole wheat berries and honey) or short (bagged lettuce).  The problem arises when you are unaware of how long a product is considered useable, or you don't eat it up fast enough before it goes bad, or forget that you even have it.

In our quest to save money, we often buy food in large quantities when it's on sale.  That's truly a bargain only IF we use it before it expires or goes bad.  This is especially true of perishable items.  Saving 10 cents a pound by buying the 10 pound bag of apples rather than individually isn't a bargain if half of the apples rot before they get eaten.  Even cans of fruits and veggies are only good for a certain length of time.  After that time, the quality of the product decreases and the chance for food-borne illness increases.

My sisters, assorted family members and I cleaned out our mother's house a while ago and we were shocked at what we found in the kitchen.  Cans that were rusted and well over 10 years old.  Boxes of cereal and cakes mixes that were 5 years old and worse.  Our mother insisted that everything was still good...that cans last "forever".  Needless to say, everything got tossed in the trash.

This is an extreme example but I'll bet in most of our kitchen cupboards, there are products that are expired.  You might be surprised when you look for that little date somewhere on the product and find you had it much longer than you thought!  It's easy to overlook how long we've had something, especially staples like spices and condiments.  If we buy something, we need to be aware how long its shelf life is and make sure we use it before that time or we're just wasting the food and our money.  Or worse yet, we might make someone sick.

Here's a suggestion - take a half hour and go through some of your food cupboards.  Look for the expiration date on everything.  What did you find?

Tidy Tuesday - Pegboard is wonderful!

Before - Ugly!

This week I discovered the wonders of pegboard.  I know, I must lead a very boring life  :)  Actually, I was at Home Depot with my husband and WAS very bored waiting for him so I wandered up and down the aisles and came across a whole bunch of accessories for pegboard.  I liked the idea of being able to rearrange things on a wall without putting more holes in it and I had JUST the place to try it out.  Recently, I lost my utility closet (due to some remodeling) and my ironing board, vacuum and mop were just stuck in a tiny space between the washer/dryer and a former laundry chute.  Perfect!

I went back to Home Depot and bought a 2' X 4' piece of pegboard ($6.70), a package of assorted hooks ($3. 65) and a package of 3 wire baskets (Unfortunately they only came in black. $9.95)

After - Nice!  The top basket holds the dryer sheets.

Today I got to work.  I patched and painted the two adjacent walls.  Then I located the studs (on the wall, duh!) and attached the pegboard with screws and little blocks behind to give a little space between the pegboard and wall.  That was it!  I like how it turned out!

Tidy Tuesday - A room a month

I read about a great way to keep track of home projects that need to be done in a blog entitled Clover Lane (www.memoriesoncloverlane.com).  Sarah keeps a small notebook that is divided into each room of her house.  She takes a critical look at each room and writes in her notebook the repairs that need to be made and the purchases she wants to make.  Measurements are jotted down as they are needed for each project.  Then when she goes to the store, she can see exactly what size (whatever) she needs and how much of (whatever) she should buy.  What a wonderful way to organize house projects.

I am taking her idea and working on one room per month.  In my notebook, I also taped a sample of fabric, carpeting and paint colors for each room so I can get the right color to match the room.  Some rooms are in pretty good shape right now and others have some work to do.  Some projects have been put off for too many years than I care to admit.

I figure that there is no project that will take longer than a month, even if I have to learn how to learn a new skill to complete it.  As Sarah said, there are numerous resources available to help learn how to do just about anything.   Yay for youtube and how-to blogs and super-awesome sons-in-law!

Thrifty Thursday - Being resourceful

It seems like the less money a person has, the more resourceful she learns to become.  Think about it - if you have the money to buy the things you need, you have no reason to make-do or try to figure out an alternative solution.

I think that's one of the reasons I like Pinterest.  There are so many resourceful women who do such amazing and innovative things and I can use their ideas or use them as a jumping off point to come up with my own ideas.   Take the simple humble canning jar...otherwise known as a mason jar.  It's no longer used just for canning.  If you type mason jar in the search bar in Pinterest, you will see hundreds of creative uses for the jars.  My post last week using mason jars for my spices is just one example (which surprisingly, I came up with on my own!).

I needed the drawers (which hold winter hats and gloves) but the unit didn't fit where I wanted it...

so I took out the drawers and they fit perfectly in this shelving unit!

When you have a need, before you go out and buy something, look around your home and see if you can come up with something that will work as well.  But be realistic - don't save every little cardboard box, Cool Whip container, and rubber band because it might be useful someday.  That's called hoarding and you don't want to do that  :) 

Thrifty Thursday - Out with the old, in with the new

January usually means getting my finances in order.  My college-age kids want to get their FAFSA applications (financial aid) submitted to their schools early, taxes need to be completed, and last year's bills and receipts need to be put away to make room for this year's financial papers.

So, yesterday I worked on my filing system.  One thing I learned years ago was to keep my files simple.  The more complicated they are, the less I use them.  Why make things harder than they need to be?  I also don't worry about making fancy labels or decorating my files to be Pinterest worthy  :)  They're going to be shut up in a drawer.  Functional is fine with me.

So, I start January with labeling new file folders for the new year's receipts.  I will keep 2012's around until I complete taxes for last year but I don't want to mix up 2012 with 2013.  Each category of folder is fairly broad.  The Automotive folder holds receipts for repairs and maintenance.  The Utilities folder holds receipts for electric, heat, garbage, phone and cable.  Other categories are Contributions, Bank, Insurance, Investments, Medical/Dental, Business, Home Improvement, and Education.  I also keep ongoing file folders for important medical information, past tax returns, equipment manuals (staple the original sales receipt to the front of each manual), and insurance policies.

One thing that is fairly common is to keep too many receipts.  In general, you only need to keep receipts and records that you will need for preparing taxes.  For most of us, that means you don't have to keep grocery receipts, gas receipts, receipts for household items and clothing...unless any of these are part of your work or business.

I'm not an accountant or professional financial planner so if you need specific information or you have unique situations, talk with a professional or read up on the subject.  But everyone, regardless of situation,  needs to take some time in January to get their financial paperwork set up for the new year.  Better earlier than later!

The last two days of the year!

There are still a few days left before the new year starts.  What are you going to do with them?  Well, tomorrow is Sunday so it would be a great idea to end the old year by going to church and showing your gratitude for the blessings you received during the year.  Being thankful helps keep our troubles and problems in perspective.

Then comes Monday.  Have you thought about spending the day doing some heavy-duty clutter purging?  If we're getting rid of an old year, why not get rid of some old stuff too!  Invite your children to do the same.  Take the stuff you no longer need to the nearest Goodwill or Deseret Industries and get a tax deduction while you're at it.  (Ask for a receipt!)  Your discarded stuff might be just the thing someone is looking for.  Don't keep it around thinking you might need it someday.  If you haven't been using it already, chances are good that you're not going to miss it in the future .  Give yourself the gift of more space!  Let it go.

Let's make the most of the next two days so we will be ready for a great new year!

Post Christmas

Someone needs a nap!  :)

I don't know about you, but as soon as Christmas is over, I'm ready to put things away and get back to normal. This usually elicits a cry of protest from the kids so I try to compromise.  The tree can stay up and still light up the room with all the twinkly lights (until New Years) but the gifts need to be put away and all the wrappings need to be gathered up and put in the trash.  The leftover cookies and goodies need to be eaten or packed up and frozen for eating later.  I'm tired of sweets (at least for a few days!)  I don't want to see any more elves on shelves. I think they're creepy anyway!  :)

Most of all, it's time to get back to the routines of living.  Kids need their usual bedtimes and mealtimes.  Too much partying and celebrating can be stressful on everyone!  Kids often show their stress by being hyper or cranky so go easy on them for a few days.  Returning back to familiar routines will help.

One thing that we don't have to pack away until next year though is the feeling of love and gratitude for family and friends and the desire to help one another and be kind.  Let's keep those up all year long.