30 Day Home Cleaning Challenge: Day 4

Yesterday's challenge was to surface clean an extra room.  I had originally thought that I was going to clean up our office, but I had a slight change of plans. ;)

I made all my shopping lists intending to go shopping, and then decided that it was too late in the morning and too cold to start out, so I decided to go up to the elementary school and have lunch with my daughter.

Came back home, got my youngest all tucked in and napping, brewed some fresh hot coffee (I'd had some iced that morning and it just was not doing the trick! lol) and was ready to get to work!  Only it was already after 2pm!

I knew that my original plan to finish all the laundry, spend 15 minutes in the kitchen, and clean up the office were not going to happen.

I am happy to say that the laundry is DONE!  However, when I took a look at what was left to do in my kitchen, I noticed that one of my major remaining tasks was to straighten and wipe down my laundry cart.   You see, the far left side of my kitchen houses my washing machine, and my dryer is in the garage.

So, I don't have a laundry room, but two separate laundry areas.  I know it's a cop out, but yesterday I decided that my kitchen task was going to be one and the same as my extra room task.

Here's what I had to deal with:

Things had fallen over and not been uprighted, and otherwise just tossed and shoved into there.  Not that big of a deal, but sort of an eyesore in the kitchen.  What you can't see is that, because this sits amid my food preparation area, beneath all of that there always accumulates a layer of crumbs and gunk.  That cart even has 3 shelves, and yesterday I found a dried up piece of broccoli down on the bottom one.   I fail to even see how that is even possible!

Much better!  All wiped down and uprighted.   I moved some of the things causing the pile up issues back down to lower shelves...as the cart had been rolled out to retrieve them, but they had just been sat back on the top shelf.  I even found room for my box of Borax that had been living on the left edge of my washer.


Today's challenge task says to surface clean living room and kitchen.  I have a few toys to straighten up in the living room, and I've been pretty well keeping up with the kitchen all week, but I do need to clean out and wipe down inside my fridge in preparation for my Bountiful Basket we are picking up on Saturday morning.   And I will be making a large shopping excursion this morning.  A busy end to a busy week, but I'm pretty pleased with the progress I've made around here!

How is your challenge coming along?

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30 Day House Cleaning Challenge: Day 3

Yesterday's challenge was to surface clean the bedrooms.   My husband had unknowingly helped me out with that Tuesday night by having my girls clean their rooms while I was away.

Our room was not looking so hot, however.   We had gotten pretty lazy with putting shoes away (mostly myself I admit).  Things had not gotten put away on the bookshelf properly, hangers were left on the floor.

Here is the cleaned space.

And here is the surprising part---That took me all of 5 minutes!  11 minutes total spent cleaning this room, and then vacuuming this room, oldest daughter's room, and hallway.  My husband was quite impressed!

I also washed all the bedding in our room and remade the bed.

Then I moved into the kitchen.  I said I would spend 15 minutes each day this week cleaning/decluttering in my kitchen, and I must admit that I'm running out of things to declutter....except for those ones that I just do not want to do....like the cabinet with all the plastic containers and scrubbing the fridge shelves  (ICK!).

Yesterday, I decided to rearrange and inventory the small over the fridge freezer.  I found that I had a lot more frozen fruit than I realize.   I do a really good job of preserving things before they spoil...but they never seem to make it out of the freezer.  I see some smoothies in our future!  I also straightened the things on top of the fridge and redid my dry erase calendar on the fridge and made it be April.  Not cleaning, I know, but it needed to be done.  ;)

Then there was mount laundry to tackle.

That poor little squished penguin.

That is 5 (!!) days worth (seriously...we emptied that basket on Saturday!), minus all the stuff that hangs, because I tend to hang that up right out the dryer, and of course not counting all the washed bedding.

I tried.  Really I did.   I was separating it all, tossing the towels and washcloths to my girls to fold because that is their job.  Somewhere in the midst of tossing laundry around into piles, something in my back got really angry at me*, and I ended up having to spend the rest of the evening on a heating pad in that freshly made bed.

I'm feeling a lot better today, and at least the towels are done, right?


Today's task is to surface clean an extra room.   I choose our office/guest room.  I won't be able to clean it completely because my husband has sort of turned the bed into a table for his grading papers, but I need to straighten up a bit and vacuum, and also vacuum the younger ones room (she was sleeping yesterday).

I'm going to make one more attempt at finishing up that laundry (adding today's load to it of course), and then maybe, just maybe, I can get back to my one complete load a day schedule.  The aftermath of headlice/bedwetting is brutal!

I am hoping to also get in my kitchen cleaning today, and also get some grocery shopping done.

How did your day go yesterday?


*Note:  I've had issues with my back on and off since a car accident in college.  I know my body has limits that I frequently ignore and later regret.  So no, I did not just happen to randomly hurt myself doing laundry. ;)  I've been pushing myself hard for three days now and it caught up with me, but I'm ready to go again!

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30 Day House Cleaning Challenge: Day 2

I told you yesterday that I have decided to blog along with the 30 Day House Cleaning Challenge.  Once again, I was far too tired to get this up last night, so here is a quick update on my progress for day 2.

Yesterday's task was to surface clean the bathrooms.  I have two bathrooms in my house, and I intended to give them both a quick wipe down, but I only got to the one in the hall...the kids bathroom.   Last I had checked it wasn't too bad.  Ever since I implemented my $2 basket system things have stayed pretty neat on the counter.

When I walked in yesterday morning, however, I had to call for back-up.  Namely, the three year old.   Apparently she felt she needed bathroom reading material (thus there was a stack of about 8 princess books on the counter) and also music (her toy keyboard was set up in front of the toilet) while she was doing water art (there were wet paintbrushes lined up along the side of the tub beside rubber duckies and naked Barbies).

I find that sometimes it's better just not to ask.  So I called her in there and had her return all those things to their proper place and pick up a few bath toys that were scattered on the floor while I wiped everything down and then I got the floor swept.

I also spent my 15 minutes decluttering in my kitchen like I said I was going to do all week.  In that time I was able to tackle the cups, the top of the hutch (meds and cereals are up there) and the utensil drawer.  The cups and utensils have been taking a hit lately since we've been having the girls help with unloading the dishwasher, but they are learning!

I didn't make it to that laundry pile yesterday though.  I made my husband bring it in from the garage last night so it was ready for me today.  He was very surprised to see that a stack up to my chest had accumulated just since last Friday when we all folded a basket the same size.   I'm pretty sure he thought we were doing about 2 weeks worth of laundry that day instead of 4-5 days worth.  Now he gets it!

I think the hardest thing for me is trying to tack on extra tasks while still keeping up with the normal everyday tasks that have to be done each and every day (dishes/laundry, etc.), especially when I have places to go!  I'm going to be gone this morning to a ladies Bible Study so I'm really going to have to make myself get stuff done when I get home after lunch.

Today's task is going to be to surface clean the bedrooms.  My lovely husband had both the girls straighten their rooms while I was off tutoring last night, so I will just have to tidy up our room, wash our sheets, and vacuum the three floors.  I am still going to try to spend 15 minutes tackling something in the kitchen, and conquer the laundry.  I'm thinking that might be saved for in front of the tv this evening.  ;)

Are you following along with this challenge?  How did it go yesterday?  What will you tackle today?

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30 Day House Cleaning Challenge: Day 1

Yesterday, MoneySavingMom and a ton of other bloggers kicked off a 30 Day House Cleaning Challenge.  I was a little bit on the fence about if I wanted to blog along with it or not.  I've sort of taken a blogging hiatus lately, my mind being on my tutoring mostly.  But now that I'm doing less of that I wanted to get back to blogging, and I actually have tons of posts in mind to share with you.  But, I also am needing to whip my house back into shape!  So, I thought that blogging along with this would give *me* motivation to stick with it and get it done.

I meant to post this last night, but I was so motivated to get stuff done around here yesterday, I actually wore myself out and was so tired I totally forgot about posting this yesterday!  Oops!  I guess I'm off to a pretty good start on the challenge, but not the blogging!

Using this list, yesterday's task was to surface clean living room and kitchen.

My living room was not too bad, as we had just had a long tedious struggle over the weekend getting the girls to pick up their things off the floor.  I'm fairly convinced that past infancy (when small objects are obviously magnified), they become completely invisible to children's eyes!

So, all I had left to do in the living room was to vacuum.  But, oh.....the kitchen!

I told you in my menu/declutter plan yesterday that I planned to spend 15 minutes each day cleaning my kitchen.  Well, I decided to begin with just the surfaces yesterday (stick to the challenge, right?) but I figured it would take me a bit longer, so I turned on PBS, set my timer for 20 minutes, and set to work wiping things down--counters, cabinets, appliances.   When the timer went off, I was *nearly* finished wiping all the kitchen surfaces. I had just sprayed down the stove top with my homemade orange vinegar spray (posting soon) so I kept going and got that finished up, but I still had to do dishes (several that had to be hand washed as well) and then sweep and mop the kitchen.  

I got all of that accomplished, plus washing 4 loads of laundry (I have to fold it all today....and of course we had a bed wetting last night so there is more bedding to wash) and preparing our soup for tonight...its all in the pot in the fridge, I just have to pull it out and pop it on the stove!

So, I was busy, busy, busy yesterday!  But, it was well worth it when my oldest got home from school and walked into the kitchen for her snack and said "Wow!  I like how you have the kitchen all clean and organized!"

We were even able to have a little relaxing family time after dinner.   We took the girls and their Dollar Tree kites from their Easter baskets and went over to the park for a bit.

I think it was a fabulous start to the month of April, and so very refreshing after the rough few weeks we've had around here!

How did your day go?

Today's challenge is cleaning the bathrooms, but I still want to spend 15 minutes in my kitchen, and get my laundry folded, but I'm pretty tired after that 4am bedwetting escapade, so we will see how it goes.  I'm also challenging myself to not take naps during the day.  This might be a rough one!  LOL

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7 Decluttering Tasks For The Week

Last week I showed you some of the progress I had made in my older daughter's room, and told you that I planned to spend this week working on their rooms a little bit more.

I did spend Monday - Friday working in their rooms and they were looking pretty good, though not quite finished.  I was VERY busy tutoring on Saturday afternoon so I did not get a chance to do any decluttering on Saturday.   I meant to double my time in my younger daughter's room on Sunday, but they had gotten all the stuffed animals down, and I had told them that we needed to get rid of some of those, and they had been bugging me to help them do that (why they were so eager to get rid of their toys is beyond me, but I'm not complaining).

They are pretty attached to most of the stuffed animals we have, and they also all have names, which I was not aware of (either that or my daughter was just making them up on the spot, which is also possible).  Even so, we were able to fill a garbage bag full of animals they were willing to part with.  19 in all that will be leaving the house!

I know this little task took up *at least* half an hour, but I still intended to go spend 15 minutes in the little one's room.   However, a more pressing need presented itself in the kitchen.  It was called "I had this food in a container to freeze and I cannot find a lid for it."  Thus organizing of the plastic container cabinet commenced.   No lid was found, but another suitable container was.

So this week, I return to their rooms.  

I have already done my task for today, which I think took me about 20-25 minutes.   I finished up sorting and putting away all of her toys, and then I vacuumed.

Tuesday and Wednesday I will tackle the younger one's dresser and closet.

I'm expecting to finish up all of that early on Wednesday and be able to move on to the older one's room and work on her dresser and closet for part of Wednesday and Thursday.

Friday I will begin the moving around of games and books that did not happen this past weekend.

This weekend, weather permitting, I will be working on tidying up the back yard.   I also want to get some gardening done, so I am hoping that it is a lovely weekend, but I will also be very busy tutoring again, so I might have to recruit some help from the rest of the family for this one.


I think that I've made this 15 minute daily cleaning task a solid habit of mine by this point, but I think it is about to get a little bit harder for me to keep it a habit, and that is just because I am running out of things that are in desperate need of decluttering.   I'm sure if I look around a little more closely then there will be plenty that jump out at me that have been there all along and I just choose not to see them. ;)

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My $2 Bathroom Counter Organization

My house has two bathrooms, one in the hallway, and one in the master bedroom.   The one in the master bedroom is very tiny.  There is almost no counterspace left around the sink.  A few of our grooming tasks to get done in there, such as my husband's shaving so that the razor is not within the reach of little people, but for the most part, we all take care of our daily brushing and deodorizing and whatnot in the hall bathroom.

That means that a lot of things belonging to a lot of people get left in that bathroom.  That has usually meant a very messy countertop.  And try as I might to keep things neatly lined up and wiped down, it never lasted very long.

I'm going to share a very old picture with you (I had to search WAY back because there just aren't many dirty bathroom pictures taken, and I had not thought to snap one before I started), but in the years since not much has changed, sadly.   The child in this picture is now in 1st grade, but I've since had another one of these running about, and I've had the same scenario play out, so yeah...

What a messy sink!  (Cute kid though!  She had asked for privacy to go potty!  Ha!)  I was sick of it!  And my youngest is now old enough to know to put things where they go, so a couple weeks ago when I was cleaning this bathroom, I was brutal.   I was throwing away toiletries we were never going to use, some of which had even expired.  I decided only the necessities would stay.    But that was still looking pretty messy to me.

Then I had an idea that prompted a trip to the .99CentsOnly store.  I came back with baskets.  I was expecting to pay $1 each for them, but I actually found 3 packs for $1, so I paid $2 for 6 baskets.

Now we each have a basket on the counter.  We all know which basket belongs to us and we keep our stuff in our own basket.   We each have our own toothpaste, toothbrush, hairbrush (we can never find those in the mornings, and in cleaning I found enough to put one in each basket with leftovers!  Where have they all been hiding??)  We've got the shared handsoaps and mouthwash, but other than that everything is in the baskets.

It is still taking some training and practice on all of our parts.   The girls will bring a brush in the front to get me to help brush int he morning and we will leave it there.  They will leave their toothbrushes and toothpastes lying on the counter at times, but at least now when I ask them to put them away, "away" doesn't mean tossed on the counter at random.   Slowly, we are all getting there!

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Week 1 Update + My 7 Decluttering Tasks For The Week

Last week I shared my plan to spend just 15 minutes each day decluttering my home  (giveaway winners have just been contacted, so check your email!)

I told about how I would be looking around my house each weekend and coming up with a list of 7 tasks to tackle that week, one for each day.

Last week my tasks were:

Top of Hutch/Fridge/Microwave
Tea/Coffee/Candy Cabinet & Utensils
Cups & Glasses
Under Kitchen Sink (Also had time for pots and lids, hutch drawer (will cooking utensils) and dishtowels)
Hall Bathroom
Hall Bathroom Again
Master Bathroom



I followed my list to the letter, continuing on to another kitchen area if I still had time left on my timer, and I got a lot more done than I expected to!  There are a few kitchen tasks that I need to tackle (like that pesky tupperware cabinet!) but I decided to go ahead and move on, and start a list of those for later.

When I got to Friday, I did not get to start on the bathroom.  Instead, I did a fast search and tidy all around the living room because we had misplaced a DVD from the library.  Not it the plan, but it was a necessary change, and we finally did locate it.

I spent the weekend days working in the hall bathroom, and will even need a third day at the very least to complete that one, so I haven't gotten to the master bathroom yet.  I am rescheduling those for this week.

Here are the things I plan to tackle this week:

Monday:  Day 3 in Hall Bathroom  (If anything remains to be done, I will list it out and move on)
Tuesday:  Master Bathroom
Wednesday:  Master Bathroom Day 2 (I think I'll likely need two after having worked in the hall bathroom)
Thursday: Linen Closet (towels and sheets)
Friday-Sunday:  Spending Time in Oldest Daughter's Room


In the bathrooms, I am going through everything under the cabinets and in the medicine cabinets, clearing tossing, straightening, consolidating.

In the kids rooms I plan to be grouping like toys and finding proper homes, and hopefully finding some that can leave the house!  I always do the older one's first, and move outgrown toys/clothes to the younger one's room.  Then I declutter the younger one's room and box up outgrown toys/clothes from there.


This is my plan for the week.   What do you plan to get done?

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My 7 Decluttering Tasks For The Week

Yesterday, I told you how I was spending 15 minutes each day, setting my timer and tackling a small task (or two, or three) until the timer goes off, and then I stop.   (I'm also giving away 3 copies of a fabulous e-book on getting (and staying!) organized!  Enter to win here.)

I told you that on Sunday's while I was coming up with a menu plan, I was also going to be looking around the house and finding the 7 areas that were annoying me the most, and those were going to go on my list for the week.

Here are the items I listed out for this week:

Monday:  Top Of Hutch/Top Of Fridge  (I actually had 5 minutes left and I also tackled the top of the microwave and my cookbook/random kitchen thingy cabinet up above my stove-it wasn't even on the list!)

Tuesday:  Tea/Candy/Coffee Cabinet, and Utensil drawer.  (I've done this already this morning, and I still cannot figure out how mo many crumbs get into the back of a drawer that mostly remains closed!  Also...way too many medicine dispenser thingamajigs! Toss, toss, toss!)

Maybe I can remember that I have tea now!  And ALL the candy is consolidated into those bags instead of loose all over the bottom shelf.

Wednesday:  Cups/glasses.   I also had top of microwave on this day, so I'm sure I'll need one more thing.   Perhaps the cabinet with the pots.  

Thursday:  Under the kitchen sink  (cleaners, bags, wraps..all that stuff jumbled together again, and I think I'm out of some things, so I'm going in!)

Friday:  Hall Bathroom

Saturday:  Hall Bathroom.   I think it will take two days.

Sunday:  Master bathroom (which happens to be much smaller than the hall bathroom)


So that right there is my plan for the first week of this 15 minutes of organizing habit I'm trying to form.  On Sunday I will update on how this week went, and share next week's list.

Do you have any plans to get organized this year?   Care to join me in this?  Tell me your list in a comment!

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4 Weeks To A More Organized Home: Day 14

Another busy day around here, but I am happy to report that my MIL was released from the hospital today.  She's doing much better, and now we just need to get with the airline about getting her back home.

I checked out the Day 14 Assignment early this morning and I can honestly say I was not looking forward to it.  However, once again, it was something that truly needed to be done!

Here's the whole list:

--Get dressed in something that makes you feel great.
--Sit down with a cup of coffee or tea, refer to your list of weekly goals, andmake a list of no more than 5-7 specific things you want to accomplish today.
--Complete your morning routine.
--Set the timer for 15 minutes and clean the mirrors and glass doors in your house.
--Clean out your utensil drawer(s) (those with serving spoons, ladles, spatulas, etc.) in the kitchen and your junk drawer(s). Take everything out, throw out the trash, get rid of extra clutter, wipe out the drawers, and re-organize the contents as you put them back in.--Find 7 items to get rid of today. Throw them out, stick them in a donate or garage sale box, give them to a friend who can use them, or list them on Craigslist or eBay.

Now, I didn't get to anything on this list in the morning.  I only got my dishes done and my laundry folded (keeping up with those are one of my weekly goals, and I'm going great, even with the busy-ness!)

Once we got grandma home, the girls were busy chatting her ears off while I made dinner (well once again we grabbed something random from the freezer--freezer cooking to the rescue!).  Since they were occupied, I decided to tackle those utensil drawers.  I have two...one on each side of the stove.   The bigger one has dividers and doubles as a "junk drawer" (but not anymore!)

Here's what I found when I opened the big one:

I actually couldn't even open it all the way and haven't been able to for quite some time.  Come to find out...the spoon we lost was jammed into the back and I had to push it all the way through and take the whole drawer out to remove it.   There were crumbs all in here and I had to get my vacuum out and suck them up.  I cleared out some things we didn't need, or hardly ever used.  Some will go into the garage sale pile, some went in the trash.

Here's what it looks like now:

Next I moved on to the one of the right side of the stove.  Here's what it looked like:

What a mess!  And the drawer itself was disgusting once I got everything out of it.  I found some things we'd been looking for that didn't belong in this drawer, and a few more things to add to my get ride of pile.

Here's what we have now:

Still a bit chaotic, but progress was made!

And here is what I'm getting rid of:

This stuff is mostly broken & bent out of shape, but some of it might be useful to someone, so I took those to the garage and tossed the rest.

I honestly did not even see the part about the windows and mirrors on the list, but since my 2 year old decided that a bar of soap made a great mirror marker today, I planned to tackle that tomorrow anyway.  Plus, I was just commenting about how I was having trouble seeing through some panes of glass on our back door, so I need to wipe down the outside.   I'll get the girls to help with that.  They'll love it!

I know that Crystal has been assigning an easy day on Fridays, and putting some enjoyment time on the list.  I'm going to start mine now, and curl up with my library book. ;)

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4 Weeks To A More Organized Home: Day 13

I knew that today was going to be a busy one, but I was curious to see what the Day 13 Assignment would be this morning.  When I saw the list, I was happy because I knew that I needed to do these things.  I just wasn't sure when I was going to have time today.

Here is what the list looked like:

--Get dressed in something that makes you feel great.
---Sit down with a cup of coffee or tea, refer to your list of weekly goals, and make a list of no more than 5-7 specific things you want to accomplish today.
--Complete your morning routine.
--Set the timer for 15 minutes and do a quick-clean of your bathroom.
--Clean the top of your kitchen cupboards (if there is space between them and the ceiling) and the top of your refrigerator. If you have clutter on the top of your refrigerator, go through it and see if you can get rid of it or find a new home for it. Wipe down the outside of your kitchen cupboard doors.
--Find 7 items to get rid of today. Throw them out, stick them in a donate or garage sale box, give them to a friend who can use them, or list them on Craigslist or eBay.

Here's what my day looked like:

--Have trouble falling asleep last night.

--Up at 4:30 to begin grocery posts  (no paper outside)

--Paper finally comes at 5

--Type a few posts

--Toddler wakes up at 6 (highly unusual)

--Kindergartner wakes up at 6:30

--Feed them breakfast/get them dressed

--Bus at 7:30

--Husband calls at 8:30..he forgot his clothes for his second job, can I bring them

--9-bring clothes

--9:30 stop by hospital to visit my MIL

--11:15  leave, grab Wendy's

--Noonish   Eat lunch

--12:30 put toddler down for nap, attempt my own to no avail

--1:30--work on homework assignment for a market research session I have tomorrow

--2:30--wake up toddler, go get the other one

--3:30--back at hospital, making kid do homework while we visit

--5:00--leave

--5:30 get home, grab random item out of the freezer for dinner.  Fight with kid to finish homework while it thaws.

--6:30 eat

--7:15 finish homework assignment while girls get ready for bed

--8:00 realize girls room is trashed and they still arent ready for bed.  Ok maybe they brushed their teeth.

--8:20 finally get girls to bed

--8:30 finish laundry I left in floor last night and quickly tidy up living room and dining room  (it's an in-home interview...)

--8:45  Eye the top of the refrigerator wearily.   Decide to go for it.  

Yikes!

I think when you have children, high places become a place to drop things you don't want them to have.  Thus, we have paints and bubbles, glue, etc!

I took everything off and the top was really gross.  I thought it was going to require some scrubbing, but I sprayed some cleaner and it wiped right up.

Then I began the task of determining a home for things.  I made a "where does this go? and please put it there" pile for my husband, and he quickly took care of it.  I wiped the dust off the pumpkins and will put them into the seasonal closet alongside the easter baskets.  And, I found a whole bunch of trash!

Dried up paints galore, empty glue bottles, empty bubble bottles, empty wipe containers, random rubber gloves (???) and empty paper towel roll wrappers.   All things that do not need to be in my house, and no longer are.  Ok well, technically they are sitting in a trash bag tied up by the front door waiting to be taken out in the morning.

Then came the task of deciding what actually needed to be on the fridge.  I decided that lunch boxes did, refrigerator magnets (in the wicker basket), fish tank cleaning supplies, a change jar, and a few art supplies.

Here's what is up there now:

I don't think I will ever have nothing up there, but it's looking much better now.  That was a much needed task to accomplish and it honestly only took me about 20 minutes from start to finish.  (I've spend longer typing about it!)

I did not touch my bathrooms today, nor did I climb to the top of my cupboards or wipe down my cabinet doors (though I just did that on Monday).  

I just had one of those never ending days today where I simply could not fit everything in.   I really seriously thought about not tackling the top of the fridge, but I knew from all my experience during this challenge that it would not take nearly as long as I imagined it would and that I would feel soooo much better about my house once it was done.   And I do!

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4 Weeks To A More Organized Home: Day 12

Today began as a pretty ordinary day around here.  School was back in session so we were up at our normal 6:30am getting dressed and getting breakfast.  After putting my daughter on the bus, I came back and shortly found my Day 12 Assignment:


--Get dressed in something that makes you feel great.
--Sit down with a cup of coffee or tea, refer to your list of weekly goals, and make a list of no more than 5-7 specific things you want to accomplish today.
--Complete your morning routine.
--Set the timer for 15 minutes and vacuum the main living areas of your home.
--Clean your microwave, stove top, and/or oven.
--Find 7 items to get rid of today. Throw them out, stick them in a donate or garage sale box, give them to a friend who can use them, or list them on Craigslist or eBay.

I fed the little one, and then vacuumed while she cuddled with her grandmother who was laying on the couch and not feeling very well.  I had been vacuuming the main living areas pretty regularly since the warm weather hit because we have very fluffy kitty cats. ;)   There was one room I had been neglecting, though...ours!   I can't tell you the last time it had gotten a good vacuuming (I normally just pass it through the doorway and move on....

Well I quickly picked up the few remaining things that were on the floor and came in with the vacuum and even took the hose attachment in all the cracks and crevices.  I must say it is looking MUCH nicer in here now!

After that, I started in on the microwave and oven.  I gave the stove a quick wipe down as well, but I had just cleaned that yesterday.

Then I made lunch.  Then I noticed my MIL's condition worsening.   I won't go into details, but she has a long list of health problems, and after consulting with her husband over the phone, we thought it best that I take her in to the ER.  They must have been pretty concerned about her, too because we were barely in the waiting room for 5 minutes before they called her back and started doing some tests.

We still do not have any definitive answers, but we know a few suspected things that have been ruled out.  They decided to admit her to the hospital here, so we had to call and cancel her flight (she was supposed to fly out tonight).

Its been a very long day for me, as I had to take along a toddler who'd not gotten her nap, and had to leave and go pick up my other daughter from school and then return to the hospital with them both.  Thankfully my husband was not working this evening and was able to meet us there.

So, what started off as a day I thought would be quite normal and allow me to get back into the groove of my schedule ended up being a very long and trying ordeal.

My sink is still full of dirty dishes that I do not feel like worrying with tonight, and there is a basket of laundry sitting half folded waiting to be finished in the middle of my living room because I was in the middle of doing that when we decided it was time to take her in.

I am thankful that I've gotten into the habit of getting up and getting my housework out of the way in the morning because if I were still functioning on my old schedule of getting in the cleaning mood after my kids were in bed, nothing would have gotten done today!

I'm not sure what the doctors plan on doing tomorrow, but I assume they want to run some more tests and just watch her for a bit.  I would appreciate your thoughts and prayers for her as well as for wisdom for her doctors.

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4 Weeks To A More Organized Home: Day 11

I have made in into week 3 of Money Saving Mom's 4 Weeks To A More Organized Home Challenge.  It is going so well that I fully intend to make myself a calendar and assign myself a task like this each day to keep it going!  My girls are even taking cues from my behavior and picking up after themselves without being asked!

Today was day 11, and the assignment was as follows:

--Get dressed in something that makes you feel great.
--Sit down with a cup of coffee or tea and make a list of weekly goals.

--Complete your morning routine 

--Set the timer for 15 minutes and quickly pick up your house and put things back into order after the weekend. If your house looks like mine, you might need to spend longer than 15 minutes.
--Clean out your silverware drawer. Remove all items, vacuum out the crumbs with your vacuum’s attachment, wipe down the drawer with a damp cloth, get rid of anything you don’t need or no longer use, and then put everything you’re keeping back into the drawer in an organized manner.
--Find 7 items to get rid of today. Throw them out, stick them in a donate or garage sale box, give them to a friend who can use them, or list them on Craigslist or eBay.

Well, first of all...school was out today, so that tells you right away that my "morning routine" was off.   Second of all....I stayed up WAY too late reading a REALLY good book last night.  When my toddler woke up around 7ish, my MIL was up so she agreed to get breakfast and told me to go back to bed.  I did.  Until 9:30!

I sat down at my desk, and quickly checked today's assignment (this is sort of becoming my morning routine...I'm going to be lost when this challenge ends!) and jotted down a list of things I needed to do today, the biggest of which was go shopping since we had ran out of milk yesterday!  On my list was to make my weekly goals, but I put them off a bit since I knew many of them were going to carry over from last week.

After I'd had my coffee, I decided to go ahead and tackle the silverware drawer, because honestly, it was needing it!  I had blogged about the state of decay it was in and putting in back in order last November and I do believe that is the last time I have attempted to straighten out that drawer.

Here's what we started off with today:

Not too bad....(ok, ok it's bad!)

...but look what's hiding underneath!

It was kind of scary under there.  I don't even know how things get under there, but I found a dried up macaroni and cheese noodle, and a piece of Cinnamon Toast Crunch...when did we have that last?  I could not even tell you!   I also packed away all of the kids plastic utensils and left only the metal ones in the drawer.   I almost put all of those away too, but I figured there would be a riot if I tried to force "grown up forks" upon them!


Here's what it looks like now:

And here are the items I'm getting rid of, all from that one drawer!  Broken medicine syringes, nasty straws, broken plastic forks, and a few things that I'm not even sure *what* they are!  But I'm pretty sure I don't need them!

I never did set a timer and do a big clean, but I did sweep and mop, so I had my girls pick up all their stuff from the floor so I could do that, and they have been super helpful keeping the living room and their rooms clean this past week.  I should have houseguests more often!  ;)

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4 Weeks To A More Organized Home: Day 10

Today was a very crazy and hectic day around my house.  I've hardly been home all day, actually.  I got up this morning and awaited my assignment from Money Saving Mom, not knowing how busy my day would be.

Here's what was on her list for today:

--Get dressed in something that makes you feel great.
--Sit down with a cup of coffee or tea, refer to your list of weekly goals, andmake a list of no more than 5-7 specific things you want to accomplish today.
--Complete your morning routine.
--Dust all ceiling fans and clean all light fixtures in your house. Check for burned out light bulbs and replace.Set the timer for at least 15 minutes and do something you really enjoy and that relaxes and rejuvenates you. If you need ideas, here are a few: read, write, call a friend, pray, exercise, bake, play with your children, laugh with your husband, stop by the bookstore and browse the book selection, work in the garden, or take a nap! Take some time to just stop and enjoy life today!

Well, I think I can safely say I did NOT stop and enjoy life today.  I don't think I ever stopped, in fact.   I did get my light fixtures cleaned this morning after I put my daughter on the bus.  My MIL and SIL were both still asleep, so I plopped the 2 year old in front of PBS (yes, I did!) and grabbed a wash cloth and started wiping fans.   The only ones I did not get to the were light fixtures in my kitchen that require screwdrivers to remove, but I will ask my husband to get those down for me this weekend.  

Then they woke up, and my MIL wasn't feeling well.  She far away from home and in poor health in general, so she thought she should see a doctor.  The office told her they weren't busy and she should just come in.  When we got there....they were busy!  We waited until we had to leave so I could grab some lunch before heading to my dentist appt!

I got home in time to get my oldest off the bus, chat with her for a bit, and then begin making dinner.   After dinner, we went to Target to basically browse clearance.  (That's something I really enjoy...but not so much with two small children out past their bedtime!  --I will say they were very well behaved, though!)

We *just* made it home (10pm and my girls are still awake but their daddy just got home from work, too so they are hanging out with him), and I am beat!  I intend to go have a nice relaxing bath and get a good night's rest!

My MIL said she was impressed how I was keeping up with my house, though  (In the past she's been impressed that I didn't let things like a dirty house bother me LOL)  Normally after having such a busy day, the amount of housework still remaining to be done would be overwhelming to me, but I really don't feel that way at all today.  I have this challenge to thank for that, I believe!

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4 Weeks To A More Organized Home: Day 9

Money Saving Mom's Assignment for Day 9 of her challenge was as follows:

--Get dressed in something that makes you feel great.
--Sit down with a cup of coffee or tea, refer to your list of weekly goals, and make a list of no more than 5-7 specific things you want to accomplish today.
--Complete your morning routine.
--Set the timer for 15 minutes and do a quick-clean of your bathroom.
--Clean your light switch plates. You can use a damp rag with a little disinfectant on it or a cleaning wipe. If you have younger children, they’d probably enjoy joining you in tackling this project!
--Find 7 items to get rid of today. Throw them out, stick them in a donate or garage sale box, give them to a friend who can use them, or list them on Craigslist or eBay.


Today, my mother in law flew into town, and I had to go pick her up right around noon.  I'm going to be honest that I haven't gotten a single thing done since I picked her up, but I also completed everything on my list before going to get her!

Today, I had to gather up the trash and recycling, since tomorrow it gets picked up.  Then I had to clean out the bottom of the pantry, as I had just found some nasty potatoes, and we were having a small bug problem because of it.  I removed everything from the bottom and sprayed cleaner, wiped the floor up and then got in the sides and corners with a toothbrush.

The light switches took me all of 2 minutes, and my bathrooms had stayed clean all week (by some miracle!) so that took me about 5 and most of that was emptying the trashcans.

Then I swept and did the laundry (my husband did the dishes), and then  drove to pick her up.

We've mostly been just chatting and hanging out since then, and I didn't even have to cook because i had made a huge pot of stew last night and had plenty leftover (I even froze three more containers of it after dinner!).

I did not get rid of 7 things today, but I cleared out way more than 7 items from my dresser yesterday, and I always feel like a clutter burden is being lifted when I bring the trash and recycling out to the street.

I wanted to try to tackle another project from my weekly goals today, but I haven't done so yet.  I may try to work on my recipe binder tonight while watching TV perhaps.

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4 Weeks To A More Organized Home: Day 8

This morning Money Saving Mom posted the following assignment for Day 8:

--Get dressed in something that makes you feel great.
--Sit down with a cup of coffee or tea, refer to your list of weekly goals, andmake a list of no more than 5-7 specific things you want to accomplish today.
--Complete your morning routine.
--Set the timer for 15 minutes and go through your dresser drawers. Remove items you no longer love, need, and/or wear. Quickly organize the remaining items.
--Wipe down all the door handles in your home. You can use a damp rag with a little disinfectant on it or a cleaning wipe. If you have younger children, they’d probably enjoy joining you in tackling this project!
---Find 7 items to get rid of today. Throw them out, stick them in a donate or garage sale box, give them to a friend who can use them, or list them on Craigslist or eBay.

This morning was a very early morning for me, since new grocery ads came out today, so I was up before 5 with my coffee.  My list involved grocery ad posts (4 down, 3 to go), and taking my daughter to the pediatrician.   My husband and I have both recently found out we had strep, and so while she was getting some past due shots, I had them test her, too.  It was positive!  So now we're onto yet another round of antibiotics in this house.

I honestly didn't know if I was going to get to the extra things that Crystal assigned for today, especially since I came back from the doctor, made lunch, and then joined my daughter for a 2 hour nap.

When I woke up, the little one was still asleep, so I got dinner started cooking on the stove, and began running back and forth, tackling one dresser drawer at a time and coming back to check on the meat I had browning.

Once again, I was really glad she had assigned this because it had been bugging me and I'd been meaning to get around to it (sad how I have to be told what to do!).

Seriously, I couldn't even get the drawers closed....My husband was having to squeeze through the tight space to get to bed!

I learned a few things by doing this though...1) I'm way too emotionally attached to my T-Shirts from high school that I never wear except to sleep in.  2)  I have very childish pajamas.  3)  How on Earth did I manage to fit cram 38 bras and 80 pairs of underwear in the that little top drawer???

Yep, you read that right...I counted!  I was in shock.  I am now down to 19 bras (still a few more than I need, to be honest), and I cleared out quite a few of the underwear, too.  A large pile of those were maternity panties that were still floating around in there...and my youngest is nearly 3!  Yikes!  

I even found Barbie's beach towel tucked away with my undergarments!  It had been missing so long that my daughter no longer knew what it was.  She looked at me like I was crazy when I told her, but I know that Barbie is glad to be reunited with it.

I cleared out a nice stack of items from my drawers, and I will be getting rid of them either at a garage sell or donating them.  Here's the stack I found, plus a bag full of undergarments:

I'm parting with my froggy socks and monkey socks, but no one can ever take my Eeyore!

If you ask my husband, the cat needs to go, too!

While I was putting the finishing touches on dinner, and my older daughter was needing a break from her math homework, I decided to set them to work on the doorknobs.  I gave them each a wet washcloth and sent them running around the house.  I told one to do the knob on the inside of the room, and the other to take the outside, and off they went.  They even did the cabinet knobs in the bathrooms and kitchen!

This one is not yet 3, and had so much fun doing this!

I really thought my nap was going to mess me up today, but my sister in law helped me unload the dishes and bathe my girls tonight, and I have once again gotten to everything on my list...well everything except for those last three grocery store posts.  Off I go!

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4 Weeks To A More Organized Home: Day 7

Today, Money Saving Mom posted Day 7 assignments of her 4 Weeks to An Organized Home Challenge.  When the post appeared, I was sitting with my coffee trying to think of things that needed to go on my list today. I'm very glad she assigned the tasks that she did, because there were things that I was just thinking yesterday that I needed to get done, and had totally spaced out about them  (I need to go back to my running list of things that are bugging me approach).

Here was today's assignment:

--Get dressed in something that makes you feel great.
--Sit down with a cup of coffee or tea, refer to your list of weekly goals, and make a list of no more than 5-7 specific things you want to accomplish today.
--Complete your morning routine.
--Set the timer for 15 minutes and vacuum the main living areas of your home.
--Wipe down all the baseboards in your home. If you have children who can help, you might divide your home up into sections and have everyone take a section so you can get this job done quickly!
--Find 7 items to get rid of today. Throw them out, stick them in a donate or garage sale box, give them to a friend who can use them, or list them on Craigslist or eBay.

I did get dressed today (its becoming a habit now!), and you know I was having some coffee and making my list.  My morning routine was a little hectic this morning because shortly before my older girls alarm should have gone off, I heard a door open...and my younger girl came running down the hallway.   This wasn't a problem, I just wasn't expecting it, as I normally wake her to go to the bus stop and then feed her when we get back, but today we all had breakfast together.

Here's what my list looked like for today:

• Fold clothes (I had two loads waiting from yesterday and one that I washed today)
• Go To Albertson's  (Did that!)
• Cook Dinner
• Schedule doctor appt. for my little one (she's overdue for a check-up)
• Vacuum
• Wash baseboards
• Find 7 things to get rid of

After we got back from the bus stop, I let the little one watch a cartoon, and I decided to go ahead and do my vacuuming while she was pre-occupied.  Then I began making my Albertsons list while she played with her aunt.

After Albertsons, we had lunch, and then it was her naptime.  While she and my sister in law rested, I decided to tackle the baseboards.   I don't have pictures, but I'm very glad I tackled this today.  I only got in the kitchen, dining room, and hallway.  Most the one's in the living room are covered by furniture, and I didn't go into any of the bathrooms or bedrooms (I'll tackle those when I deep clean those rooms), but while I was at it I wiped down the bottom portion  (AKA toddler height and down) on the walls.  ICK.  And I've decided that the only hope for my hallway is probably a fresh paint job.

When I finished with that, I tackled the laundry, and then made a list of some things we had already put aside to sell so that I could research prices to ask for them and get them out of my garage finally.

One thing I'm learning by doing this challenge is that things don't take nearly as long to accomplish in real life as they do in my mind!  I dread doing things and fear there will never be enough hours in the day, but today I was done with my entire list before getting my daughter off the bus, and had dinner in the oven by the time my husband got home 45 minutes later, and she was even doing her homework while I  prepared it.

It's a great feeling knowing that things are getting accomplished around here because I know I have some busy days and some more houseguests arriving in the next two weeks, and I'm hoping to be able to keep up the momentum I've created.

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4 Weeks To A More Organized Home: Day 6

After a nice weekend break, Money Saving Mom has posted Day 6 of her 4 Weeks to a more organized home challenge.

Today's assignment is as follows:

--Get dressed in something that makes you feel great.
--Sit down with a cup of coffee or tea and create a list of weekly goals.
--Complete your morning routine.
--Set the timer for 15 minutes and run through your home quickly picking up everything that’s out of place and putting it away.
--Clean out the inside of your vehicle. Remove all trash and clutter. Use a vacuum attachment to vacuum all the seats and floors out.
--Find 7 items to get rid of today. Throw them out, stick them in a donate or garage sale box, give them to a friend who can use them, or list them on Craigslist or eBay.

My results:

--I really thought about staying in my pajamas today, as I already had 3 loads of laundry to wash because I did not touch laundry over the weekend, but I walked out in the backyard to check on my seedlings, and my pajama pants got wet, so I got dressed, and I'm very glad I did.

--I sat down with a bottle of FREE frappucino from CVS and made out a list of my weekly goals, and I also made a daily list, because I need that.  After making lists each day last week, I've decided I don't think I can function without one!  Here's what was on my daily list:

• Make menu/weekly goals
• Get caught up on dishes and laundry
• sweep & mop kitchen
• Wipe down kitchen counters
• 15 minute tidy up
• Clean out van

--I got all of *my* list accomplished before lunch, and even decided to re-organize my towel cabinets in my hallway.  Towels had gotten shoved in there every which way and it was driving me bonkers.  I didn't think to grab a before shot, as straightening it up was a spur of the moment decision, but it's looking much better now!

I plan to go through these and do away with a few soon.  You can see that some of them are frayed and there are strings protruding and whatnot, but for now I'm just happy that everything is back stacked by size and my kids can only reach the smaller ones.   It's so silly for such tiny people to be using humongous towels simply because they are pink.

--I finished up mopping during naptime, and then I set my timer for 15 minutes.   I grabbed an old milk crate that I'm not even sure how we came to be in possession of, but it served well.  I really only made it through the kitchen, living room, and dining room, but I cleaned up as I went and if it didn't belong, I tossed it into the basket.  I returned anything that didn't belong in my girls room or the playroom to its place.  When my older girl gets home from school, I've got a stack of stuff that goes in their room (little one is napping right now, so it's still on the coffee table) and a basket of toys that need to be put away.  I'm going to get them into the habit of doing this and hopefully they will be able to go through the house and gather up their things in this way each night.

--After dinner I went out quickly and tidied up my van.  My husband had recently done a big clean up and vacuumed and all, so there wasn't much to do except toss some fast food cups.

Once again I crossed off everything on my list, and I'm feeling very accomplished at the end of the night, which is not something I'm used to, so I'd say this challenge is helping a lot!

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4 Weeks To A More Organized Home: Day 5

I have so been enjoying blogging along with Money Saving Mom's 4 Weeks To A More Organized Home Challenge!  I've enjoying being held accountable to do the things, and also seeing the things that others have accomplished has been a great motivator to me.

Today was Day 5 of the challenge.  She'll be taking the weekend off from it and resume on Monday with Day 6.

Today's assignment was as follows:

--Get dressed in something that makes you feel great.
--Sit down with a cup of coffee or tea, refer to your list of weekly goals, andmake a list of no more than 5-7 specific things you want to accomplish today.
--Complete your morning routine.
--Remove your couch cushions and clean out any crumbs, toys, or other miscellaneous items you find. Use an attachment on your vacuum to vacuum the cushions, underneath the cushions, and all crevices of your furniture. Spot clean the fabric, if needed.
--Set the timer for at least 15 minutes and do something you really enjoy and that relaxes and rejuvenates you. If you need ideas, here are a few: read, write, call a friend, pray, exercise, bake, play with your children, laugh with your husband, stop by the bookstore and browse the book selection, work in the garden, or take a nap! Take some time to just stop and enjoy life today!

She gave us a pretty easy day today. ;)

First off, since school was out today, we had no alarms to wake up to, which was lovely.   I woke up around 8am to the sounds of my kids giggling in the other room, which meant that they woke up someone other than me!  (I like when relatives visit.  LOL)

I had a quick version of my morning routine while they ate the carrot muffins I had made last night for breakfast.  That made for a very relaxing morning already.

I made myself out a list of things that I needed to do.  It was a short list, but at the top of it was a quick trip to the store, so of course I had to get dressed for that!

When I got back, my husband had already gotten my little one down for her nap, so I quickly had some lunch and got to work on my list.   My sister in law was helping my older girl with some math homework, so I took advantage of not having to do that today, and started on the couch!

I was really glad that she assigned that today, because my little one was building a fort last week, and I noticed then that it *needed* some serious attention, but I wasn't able to take care of it then.   Once that was done, and they were still working, I decided to pull out the couch and clean under it, since I did not get to that yesterday.  My daughter was done by this point, so I sent her on a run through behind there to pick up anything that was hers and not trash.   We found a couple books, some small toys, and a few missing puzzle pieces.

Once I had all that cleaned up and vacuumed, I figured that while I was back there and had easy access, I would clean in the corner between my couch and entertainment center that is a catch all for everything that falls off the end tables, and also where we had stowed the clothe diapers that had been lent to us by a friend.  We're done with them, but I had not yet returned them, so I pulled them all out, tidied up everything else that was in that corner, vacuumed well (even the cobwebs on the wall).  Then I threw all the diapers into the wash one last time and bleached them well.  Once they finished I bagged them all up and sat them back in the corner ready to be returned, but out of the way.

After getting the diapers on to wash, I had some time to sit and read a bit, and once my little one woke up, their aunt and I took then to ride bikes down the road for a bit and they had a lot of fun.   Dinner was already made except for some pasta and garlic bread, and after dinner we watched the very last episode of the very last season of the Cosby show.  I was kind of sad to see it end.  We had been watching through them on Netflix, and then one day they just disappeared, so I had to hunt the rest down at the library so we could finish them.  We even had some ice cream while we watched.

After dinner, I had some help to finish folding all the clean clothes that I had washed yesterday and didn't get to put away.  it didn't even take us that long.

We had a great productive fun-filled day, and we're ready more over the weekend.   Hopefully the past two days were productive enough that I can relax a bit this holiday weekend.

Not only is my sister in law helping with the laundry and the kids, she also helping me declutter.   We weren't told to get rid of 7 things today, but I did!  More even!  She's in Bible college and will be studying Greek, so my husband is passing along some of his books from his seminary classes.

And, I let her go shopping in my stockpile. ;)

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4 Weeks To A More Organized Home: Day 4

This morning was day 4 of Money Saving Mom's 4 Weeks To A More Organized Home Challenge.

Today's assignment was as follows:

--Get dressed in something that makes you feel great.
--Sit down with a cup of coffee or tea, refer to your list of weekly goals, andmake a list of no more than 5-7 specific things you want to accomplish today.
--Complete your morning routine.
--Set the timer for 15 minutes and do a quick-clean of your bathroom.
--Clean out underneath your beds and furniture. Remove clutter and trash and put it away or throw it away. Move the furniture (if possible) and vacuum underneath.
--Find 7 items to get rid of today. Throw them out, stick them in a donate or garage sale box, give them to a friend who can use them, or list them on Craigslist or eBay.

How did I do today?

--I got up 15 minutes before my daughter did, so that was progress.

--She had a program this morning at her school from 9-10 so I did get dressed, and even put on some make up.

--Before we left, I sat down and wrote out a list of what I had to do today.  There were several things that I *had* to do, not just wanted to do, because my husband's younger sister came to visit us from her college today.   On my list was:

• Make up the guest bed (I had to finish washing the bedding this morning), 
• Gather the trash (tomorrow is trash day), 
• Clean the bathrooms--I opted to do a deep clean of the hall bathroom instead of just a quick tidy. The master bathroom got a quick tidy up though.
• Clear off the dining room table--we don't usually eat at this table so it tends to be a place where things get dropped.
• Clean my daughter's room--the toddler made a big mess yesterday, and ended up getting put to bed early, but she happily picked it up this morning.  She did a great job, too!
• Do the dishes (and of course now that I've made dinner the sink is overflowing again!)
• Sweep  (With all the storms the other day and all the pollen and whatnot falling from the trees, it is ridiculous how fast my floor gets dirty!)
• Fold and put away ALL the laundry--this is the only thing on my list I did not complete.   I ended up finding another load to wash that I had not planned on, but I did get the towels and washcloths and dishrags folded and put away.

I did get a couple of extra things done also--when I made dinner, I had a large chunk of ground beef thawed, and so I went ahead and cooked the rest and whipped up a big pot of spaghetti sauce, so tomorrow night's dinner is already cooked, and I should have some to freeze, too.  Then, after dinner I made a batch of my carrot apple raisin muffins for "dessert" and they can either be breakfast this week, or they may end up in the freezer as well.

I did not move around any furniture today, and I did not find anything to get rid of, unless you count taking out the trash. ;)  My little one was following me around helping me hold the trash bag and dump the bathroom cans chanting something about "teamwork".  It was really cute.

Sorry I do not have any pictures for you today.   I kept myself very very busy though.  I'm ready for a little break with school out tomorrow, so my older girl and husband will both be home.   Hopefully since I accomplished so much today, I can relax just a bit tomorrow.  But not relax like I did when I was sick last week.  I do NOT want that to happen again.  *shudder*

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4 Weeks To A More Organized Home: Day 3

I have my Day 3 Assignment from Money Saving Mom.   It is as follows  (she bolds one item that we should try to do even if nothing else gets accomplished):

• Get dressed in something that makes you feel great.
• Sit down with a cup of coffee or tea, refer to your list of weekly goals, andmake a list of no more than 5-7 specific things you want to accomplish today.
• Complete your morning routine.
• Set the timer for 15 minutes and do a quick-clean of your bedroom: throw out any trash, put away items that are out of place, get rid of clutter, tidy up, vacuum, and make your bed.
• Clean out your freezer(s).
• Find 7 items to get rid of today. Throw them out, stick them in a donate or garage sale box, give them to a friend who can use them, or list them on Craigslist or eBay.

First off...that morning routine did not happen today.  Today is Wednesday, and on Wednesday, my morning routine is to be up no later than 4:30 and start typing up grocery deals.  This morning my alarm clocks (yes multiple) did not cooperate with me (or maybe I was so exhausted I have no recollection of turning them off?).  I awoke to my husband nudging me at 6:35 when he was leaving for work.  BOTH of my girls were already awake (the 2 year old should NOT have been--I usually have to wake her to go to the bus stop!) and my chaotic morning began.

After oversleeping, the awake younger sister completely distracted my older girl, and there was lots of dawdling this morning.  There was also (after they were dressed) a pee accident that had to be cleaned up on the bathroom floor from the 2 year old.  Simultaneously, the 5 year old decided to sit on the bathroom counter instead of brushing her teeth, and proceeded to get toothpaste all over the back of her shorts, so with 10 minutes to leave the house, BOTH of my girls needed to change clothes!  Somehow, we still made it to the bus stop on time!

I did get dressed today, in a shirt and jeans instead of my usual lets stay in the shirt and yoga pants I slept in ensemble.

I did sit down and make myself out a list this morning, and my toddler scribbled helped "decorate" it.

Most of what was on my list today were my grocery posts.  Usually, even when I get an early start, I'm still up late finishing the last one, but today I had them all posted by the time I had to go get my daughter from the bus.  We also went to the library, and I washed and dried 3 loads of clothes (haven't folded them yet), cooked dinner (yesterday's dinner--I had planned something much easier for tonight), and did the dishes.

I did not get around to the "clean desk portion of my list because I remembered that I'm having a houseguest *tomorrow*...totally snuck up on me!  So, instead of doing the 15 minute clean in my bedroom, I decided it would be more prudent to tidy up the guest room.

Here's my before picture:

This room is also my husband's office, so there are several items that i just stacked in his chair for not knowing what to do with them, so he will have to finish it up when he gets home, and I've not made the bed yet, but I've got the bedding washing so I'll get it made up in the morning.

I cleaned up what was on the floor, dug out everything that had gotten shoved under the bed, and vacuumed well.  I even got in all the corner crevices and I know that had not been done in a LONG time in that room.

Here's what it looks like now (lets just ignore the bookshelf, shall we?):

I even found my 7 items to get rid of (8 if you want to count the broken pencil):

These are 4 workbooks that my older daughter went through last year and over the summer before starting school.  Obviously, I was hanging on to them for sentimental value, but they really serve no purpose anymore.  They are all written in and worked through, and she brings home daily reminders of her academic progress, so they are really just taking up space.

Then I found a container lid with no container, one play earring with no mate (pretty sure the other one was already broken and trashed) and a Dora ponytail chewed by the dogs.  All have been trashed.

I didn't do anything more to my freezers today, but I had re-organized my small inside freezer when I did my kitchen cleaning on Monday before this challenge began, and I had to rearrange my garage upright freezer yesterday to fit in my shopping haul, so those are both in pretty good shape right now.

This was my Day 3 of the challenge.  I'm hoping that Day 4's assignments will be something I need to do to prepare for my guest also! ;)

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