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Funny how something so small can be so BIG. Lego ❤️  

Lots of Tiny Messes Making for a Messy House

I love it that my kids are imaginative, creative, and honestly...pretty wacky. It's great that they are constantly creating new "games". They play puppies, homeless kids (set in different places, an alley, the dump, and other depressing type settings...as imagined from their centrally heated suburban home), they are super heroes, or shop owners. Today they are using some cardboard from recent online purchases to turn one of their bedrooms into a clubhouse. The styrofoam from inside, a mansion for their action figures, pet shop pets, etc.

I honestly do love it.

But, but, but...did you feel the but coming?!

Nice and neat

It is such a MESS! I love toys in their categorized bins. Labeled and tidily stacked on shelves. I enjoy clean floors and sorted toys and tidy rooms. It just doesn't happen very often without a lot of work on my part.

Can you see what's under the step stool? Take a closer look...

Apartment living at its finest, Wall E's come for tea...

I struggle for the balance between nagging them about picking up and sitting back to enjoy their creative process. They just ran past, I think this morning they are super heroes. Apparently my little guy can turn people into lemons...his sister can turn into a baby wolf or a grown-up wolf. They are currently howling at the moon.

Last night's adventure,

turning packing materials into a luxury condo...

The pet shop friends scored a corner penthouse suite...

Who needs a clean house when you can have fun like that!

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Meandering

Yesterday at 11 AM, I marinated some chicken for supper while my lunch (left overs) heated up in the microwave. I left that in the fridge for later and headed downstairs to watch Brothers and Sisters on my DVR while I ate my left over spaghetti. The Buddy was watching a cartoon on the computer while he had an after-preschool snack. An unwinding of sorts.

This isn't how we do it every day. Some days there's lunch together at the table with meaningful conversation. We don't seem to do anything the same two days in a row.

When he was done with his snack, we played play doh and then went to pick up his sister. B and the Buddy played on the playground for a while when she came out because it was a beautiful sunny day and because they felt like it. I took them out for icees after that, just because.

I feel like a kid skipping school some days. Reading a novel smack dab in the middle of the day. Or watching a t.v. show. It's so weird.

This time is such a gift, this at-home year. My home is my priority and I've been trying to give our family as much of my time and attention as I can.

That being said, I also am still a human. Imperfect as ever. I still have rotten, poor-me days. My kitchen, right now, is destroyed. I need to do dishes and sweep up. I am not in a great routine with all of that yet. But am definitely working on it.

The thing about it is that I cannot believe how great it feels to be given this gift of time. This in-between breathing room. It's fantastic.

I just wonder if I'll ever realize that this is my REAL life and I'm not just playing make believe. Somehow it's not quite reality yet. It feels like vacation.

A really, really good vacation.
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The Other Side of This Coin

I can't seem to ever find the balance. As I feel so good about being ahead of the game this year with holiday prep, my home seems to have exploded. Every toy, every wrapper, every piece of clothing - clean and/or dirty, is piled around my home. Messes, messes, everywhere.

So I feel great about the holidays in my mind, I have a great imagination...but the home in my reality?!

Is a dump at the current moment. Fit for a health dept shut down.

Off to do the laundry, dishes, pick up, wipe up. You name it.

My Not-So-Little People

In an effort to clear some space in this house, I took four of our Little People sets to our daycare (which is also where we go to church) this morning. Good-bye to the house, castle, airport, and horse barn.

I loved all of those little princesses, the dragon, and the horsedrawn carriage that went with the castle.

My B bought the Little People dollhouse at ToysRUs with her two binkies. She handed them to the cashier to pay for it (as I snuck him my debit card). I will always remember that's how she gave up her binkies.

It was hard for me to give these things away. Harder for me than my kids, I think. They thought it was a great idea to give them to their daycare. B even mentioned how much more they would be played with.

I think the emotional attachment is more with their little toddlerhoods, which have faded. My little M will start preschool in August. My B will be in first grade.

I did keep the airplane, school bus, and Noah's Ark. We will also always have the manger scene to get out a Christmas. Hey, a mama has to do this in baby steps!

When I left church this morning, my M and his little friends were playing with the toys in a whole new way. Having so much fun, using their imaginations and playing together (as much as two and three year olds play together!). He was so proud to say that the toys were some he shared from home.

I know the toys will get played with and loved ten times over. So much more than sitting in the cupboard in my house. Still, it's just another chapter we are passing through, watching these children grow so fast!

How fun it is, to play in a Little People town!

What I need to do is hop up and pick up around our house.
What I want to do is go to bed and sleep for the next 12 hours.

What I need to do is hop up and do some dishes.
What I want to do is play this really addictive game on my iPod and then go to bed and sleep for the next 12 hours.


Logging off now...
Time for tidying and dishes. Needs win out again. Darnit.

Gearing Up

Do you know what sound I love? The coffee pot brewing, especially the very end when it really gurgles. It's doing that now, excuse me while I go get a cup...

Mmmmm. Okay.

The other sound that I love? Silence. It's quiet here now. Hubs took the kids off to daycare for the day at our church. There are two days this break when they are going, today and tomorrow, so that I can go into work and get ready for next semester. A little quality time off the clock.

Today there is much more on the to do list. Licensing the car. Lunch with a friend. Groceries to buy.

It's probably more than one day will allow to get done.

This morning my priority is our house, which is just a disaster area. Christmas, then a two-day trip out of town, then a lazy weekend and we've got ourselves a big mess. BIG. This morning it's digging out from that. The mail, laundry, gifts, trash, and on and on and on.

Here's hoping the coffee kicks in soon. I've got to get moving!

S.A.

Slobs Anonymous.
Hi, my name is Melanie.
I am a slob.

Today is one of those days. You know the ones. I'm wiping splatters off walls, digging out of a mountain of laundry, washing out untensil holders and silverware trays. Picking up the random bits that cover my floors. The messes my children manage really are wonders of nature.

I'm not good at picking up as I go along. It does not bother me to sit down after a long day and watch a TV show while the toys are piled around me.

So we're having one of those days. A cleaning-in-my-pajamas day. It feels really good to be getting things put back together.

I just wish I were more of a keep-it-clean kind of mom. Instead of dig-out-after-a-blurry, tired week kind of mom.

C'est la vie.

So while I clean...
Our little guy washes utensils while the untensil holder gets clean in the dishwasher (something you should really think about doing more than once every two years, I can say that from personal experience).










Our B is happy to practice her exciting new mouse skills on an internet game she got to play at school (Sesame Street's website is loaded with games perfect for the 5-year olds set. If your 5-year old is like mine and has had very little mouse time).



















All in all, a perfect Saturday at home. Warm inside, protected from the current cold snap in our area. A day to catch up.
Maybe later, a nap.


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The Imperfect Homemaker

I think that the flylady and I have broken up. It's an amicable split, we will remain good friends.

I will always be grateful for the advice on keeping the house tidy and how to clean a bathroom. I am especially grateful for the home management notebook I made with her guidance. I've done none of it exactly right, but the information provided helped to give me a great jumping off point.

The problem is, I am not a routine-oriented person by nature per se. I follow a certain loose routine every day, but it is not bound by the day. I cannot always do groceries on Thursday, sometimes I need to go on Sunday. I cannot always clean my van on Friday, sometimes I skip a week! or need to do it on a Monday.

Mornings have been a favorite for me this summer. We get up around 7 and I get the kids something to eat. I make some coffee and spend some time on the computer while I have a cup. On some days, we will then get dressed and go on an outing. On others, we spend the entire day happily at home.

The key to it all, is looking at our own home and our own calendar and doing what needs to be done here. I cannot follow the routine of someone else. I need to see the needs in my home. Today, for example, my kitchen floor desperately needs to be mopped and I must vacuum the popcorn nightmare that my dear little man created last night. On the schedule or not, that's what I need to do. Soon I will put in a load of laundry, clean up the kitchen, and get mopping and vacuuming done.

Soon, meaning some time in the next day or two!

To Be Done

I made a to do list for today (which I am presently avoiding). Tomorrow we'll host a half dozen soon-to-be kindergarteners for a fifth birthday party. On my list, I should have just put "clean whole house" and "do everything to prepare for party". Instead, I compartmentalized it and am now mourning the busy day ahead.

I am not a very good housekeeper. I keep things sanitary at best. The toys, run away laundry, and popsicle wrappers are what bury me. I declutter several times a year, donate clothes and toys almost monthly, try not to buy excess stuff, etc. I follow the rules in that way. Yet, I'm still constantly chasing my tail. Or toddlers, if you will.

The frustration for me is in the mundane. If I tidy a room, and it's undtidy 6 hrs later. I must do it again? Really?! I enjoy tasks that are not quickly undone. I do not enjoy the repetition of picking up toys, doing the dishes, mopping the floor. I don't know why I detest it so, but I do!

That, and here I sit, loving on my cup of coffee. I've cleaned a bathroom this morning, two to go. I need to switch out laundry, do the dishes (from last night, flylady would be ashamed), tidy bedrooms, mop tile, vacuum carpet, spot clean hall carpet, and so on. We've also got to squeeze in errands today.

What is a girl to do? When she's got such a lengthy list and no oomph?
Back to the coffee, I say. A few more sips and I'm off.

Making Due with the Space We've Got

Orgjunkie does a monthly round-up, collecting posts from people about a specific room in their house that they're organized. This month it's playrooms.

This would be one area in our home that we struggle with a lot. We live in a modest size home, the rooms are not large and we do not have an extra room for a playroom. Couple that with two kids that have too many toys, and you've got a mess! Our t.v. room has become a playroom, because it's where the majority of toys are stored. Both kids have toys in their room and then several big sets of toys in the t.v. room.

The things we have done to up the storage are to have the Hubs' dad build some shelving with storage cupboards and a lego table I recently picked up at a garage sale (score!). It was a drive-by find, we were on our way to the grocery store.

This room gets horribly messy, especially when the kids have had a whole day in there, which has been a lot lately with all of the rain we've been getting. A new goal we've tried (try being the operative word) to maintain is having the kids pick up their messes a few times throughout the day, so that the toys don't go knee-deep! I've also weeded out toys a few times a year so that things they don't really play with or that they've outgrown get passed on to someone who would use them.

My biggest challenge recently has been to instill some good habits into my children. With a 4-year old and a 2-year old, it can be like having two tornadoes in the house 'round the clock. We are trying to teach them that they are responsible for their own messes. If anyone has tips or tricks on how to make this work, let me know!

Getting There

Since school's been out (two weeks), I've been on a home organization kick. I have been inspired by orgjunkie, whose posts help get my brain thinking like an organized person, not my default setting! I have also surrendered to flylady, who helps keep me on a semi-routine. I thought I'd share a few of my latest projects.

I have made peace with the fact that our home does not have many of the modern touches that I would like. We are limited on space and the design does not allow for many of the things on my wish list, like a mud room, desk in the kitchen for home management, closet space, etc. I'm making due now and trying to get it to work for us. I made a control center in our kitchen, next to my free standing pantry. On top is a file box (some day to be replaced by a "pretty" one). Next are cookbooks, then place mats, and on the bottom are reusable grocery bags. It's still a work in progress, I tweak it as I find other ways use it.

We now have a family calendar, right by the control center and phone in the kitchen. It is great and has lots of space to mark what everyone has going on. Although the two-year old doesn't need spaces a lot, I have used it for his well-child appointment and for when do things as a family.


I organized the standing pantry that I have in the kitchen (it's next to our control center). I got some baskets to hold breakfast items and snacks. Below that are baking supplies. On the bottom shelf are trash bags, paper cups and plates, a phone book, a lunch box, and a flashlight. The very top shelf looks a little disorganized, but I know everything on the shelf. It holds shopping bags that I reuse, baggies, a first aid kit, my foil and wax paper, and tea bags.











I decided to make a "mud room" in our garage, by the door we use to come in and out of the house. The bench in our living room had become the dumping ground for coats and the floor there was always piled with shoes. I decided maybe this open space by the door out in the garage might work. I hung some hooks, all by myself! Now we have a place for seasonal outdoor needs (swimsuits and umbrellas now, mittens and hats in 6 months). I also have the kids keep their shoes here, so that we always know where they are and it cuts down on dirt in the house. So far it's working great and I love it!

There are enough hooks that I can hang the kids' swimsuits to dry. Next winter there will be snow suits and scarves, hats and coats. It's definitely nothing fancy, but I am making the best of the space we have and trying to use it in a way that helps us in our new routines!

What I have been learning through all of my little projects is that it's important to give a home [in your home] to anything that is important to you. If it matters, you will find a place for it. I tend to "store" things on my kitchen counters or on top of my computer desk. I'm still a long way from done, I'd actually be very embarrassed to show a picture of either spot in my home right now. Every day, I chip away at the chaos, getting a little bit closer to where I want my home to be. When I get frustrated, I remind myself of the small gains I've made.

Each project that I finish brings me a bit closer to the home I've envisioned. The home that is harmony.

On My Mind

Lately, I'm thinking on and trying to figure out a plan for:

• fun weekly summer outings (there are almost too many to choose from here)
• getting back on my healthy eating kick
• exercise - getting myself to the gym
• farmer's market
• behavior modification through positive behavior supports (my almost 5-year old has developed a few bad habits, like hitting me with her shoe, for example)
• summer bridge activities for my soon-to-be kindergartener, you know, the one with the nasty shoe-hitting habit
• being a homemaker, especially with regards to getting organized
• flylady.com
• budgeting, especially since we just found out we'll be needing to purchase new windows
• menu plans
• daily/weekly/montly routines

Lions, and Tigers, and Bears, Oh MY!!!

Seriously, I've got a lot going on in my brain lately. Too much. So I make lists and lists.

So much for slowing down for the summer!

TO BE FAIR: B has only hit me with her shoe once. It was Monday, when I told her it was time to leave the park. She was trying to get my attention about something, her croc was in her hand, she gave me a "pat" on the shoulder. I guess it stuck with me as an example of what not to do if you are four and want your mom's attention. I shouldn't really call it a habit, to be fair.

To Do

Why is it easier to read about/write about/make lists about/think about the things I need to do than actually do them? Sigh.

I'm a much better wife/mother/homemaker in my mind.

Each day I plan to do better than the day before.

Now I'm going to go do the dishes and change out the laundry.

Woot!

Saturdays

I spend part of my weekends (sometimes ALL) cleaning our house.
I don't do a lot on the weekdays, which I do believe is my problem.

It's the flylady again, hounding me. Her reminder for Saturdays:
"Please don't spend all day cleaning. Daily routines will keep your home maintained."

I don't follow a good routine during the week, which leaves a lot of make-up work on the weekends. The laundry has piled up, though I do try to keep up with that during the week. The bathrooms need scrubbing. The floors vacuumed. The trash emptied.

If I would do a little each day, this wouldn't happen. Spending 50 hours a week away from home seems to hinder these routines. I come home each evening. We do supper, a little relax time - either playing with the kids or watching t.v. We do bath time on an every other night routine. Then it's bedtime for the kids around 8. After that, I am inclined to recline. In my chair.

I write these amazing to do lists involving routines to keep the house tidy. The routines give way to American Idol and Grey's Anatomy. This is the part where I feel lazy.

So I'm inspired today, mostly by my ginormous to do list. To do better this week. To do a little each day. To get in the routine of keeping house. To keep up so the weekends are different.

To not spend next Saturday rushing around like I will today.

On my list today?

• bathrooms
• bedding
• laundry
• mop tile
• empty all trash
• tidy storage in basement
• master bedroom

First, we've got to go up to school for swim lessons and a little Saturday morning work there (my desk is as bad as my laundry room!). Then it's back home, for a day of clean up.

Off I go!

It's All About the Timing

Do you have experience with flylady.com?

A fabulous site and newsletter for the routine-disoriented soul, like myself.

She has routines for the daily grind. For keeping house. For a healthy body. It really is a wonderful resource, though I don't really use it.

I like to use it when I'm playing stay-at-home mommy. Her routines are workable for both, but I'm less likely to use her schedule if I have to tweak it to the working outside of home role I play for 190 days a year. I like to get groceries when she says to. I know to get them, I just like the little game of doing it on a schedule.

I've never actually been that successful at "flying", but it keeps me more on task when I'm pretending to.

Today I'm trying out her tip of using a timer. She recommends setting a timer for all types of cleaning tasks. When the timer goes off, you wrap up and stop. So I'm up in the bedrooms, setting the timer for 35 minutes each. I'm currently in transition and taking a coffee break. I found that while I was doing the first room, B's, I was working much more efficiently, knowing that my time was limited. I also didn't deviate from the task. Usually when I'm picking up one room, I'll find myself suddenly in the garage or laundry room, having been distracted by something. So I stayed in the room, depositing things into a basket that needed to go elsewhere, things that were to throw away, things to donate. I've taken care of those things here during the transition and will put the things to donate in my van at the end of my day. It's working really well so far. For weekly tasks, she says 10 minutes each. I just am giving myself more time because I'm doing the seasonal shift of clothes and toys, getting things thrown out, etc.

I put on some really upbeat music, a mix on our computer title "work out music". Now playing, "Let's Get It Started" by Black Eyed Peas.

So what's working for me today is a timer. Who knew? Such a simple thing is really making a difference in my efficiency. Give it a try!

Weekend Bits

March did not bring the inspiration for spring cleaning, as I had hoped.
My home is still in need of much TLC.
Org Junkie shared this great link about throwing out stuff, it's a fun read!

I haven't decided if this weekend is it or not. I'm a cyclical cleaner and must be in the mood to deep clean the house. It's sort of a manic thing, I must be very, very up to get into that mode. I'm still on my first cup of coffee, so not sure yet whether it's in me today or not. Do you do spring cleaning? Or are you one of those crazy clean-all-the-time people? Something about the change of weather usually inspires me to do a little extra in spring and again in the fall. It works for me.

We've got swimming lessons this morning and a high school musical tonight. Seriously, a high school musical. The Hubs has to supervise at his school and asked if I want to join him. It was quite sweet of him, actually, since he knows how much I love musical theater (and how little I actually get to imbibe). I'm just not sure about the show, since I've never seen it before. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat? Ever seen it? Should I skip it? Anyway, it's a "date" if nothing else, and the Hubs and I rarely venture out alone. The 15-minute car ride will be a treat, being able to talked uninterrupted.

Keeping House - Unfinished Basement, After

I showed the horrifying shots of my unfinished basement.

My mom came. And we worked really hard. She's great at sort of, well...telling me what to do. Which I appreciate because, well...I sort of suck at such projects. I tire easily. I want to get lazy.

Instead, mom had me keep on keeping on.

She had this great idea to hang some flat sheets, to give the illusion of the wall. Even though we are the only ones who ever go down there, now we don't have to look at the shelves while we watch a movie. We hung them right where real walls will some day stand (when we finally finish the basement).

seating area before

seating area after

We also made an old t.v. stand my dad made for me when I went to college into a arts/crafts/games shelf. Which I am very excited about!

storage shelves before

storage shelves after - behind the new "wall"

I also organized all of my photos and scrapbooking supplies in one corner, which is really fun. Now when I scrapbook, it's all right there.

That's it. I could go around my entire house, showing off all of the gleaming surfaces. The places in the carpet where we spot cleaned out the dirt. The bathrooms where the gunk is now gone. But how boring would that be, really? When you could just say, "But OM, that's how my house always looks!"

Happy Labor Day! Aside from putting away some laundry, I'm taking the day off!

Keeping House - The Unfinished Basement

The shelf that holds the kitchen overflow.

So, what are you doin' this weekend? Me? I'm hanging out at home. My mom is heading into town.

What else?

Clean Sweep!!!

Have you ever seen this show?

No, I'm not going on the show. My mom is coming to town and making me clean the crap out of my basement. I am showing you photos of the part of my house where no one is even allowed! But I show you because there will be fantastic after pictures in a few days.

Our basement is unfinished and slightly unused. We have one seating area where we watch a ginormous t.v. I do laundry. And we store lots of stuff.

You can see kitchen stuff. That is overflow from my tiny, tiny kitchen. There are holiday decorations. There is miscellany.

By tomorrow night, it will all be organized (or thrown out) and tidy.

I'm kind of excited!

Keep in mind, I am seriously showing you the basement where NO ONE is allowed! We'll see what it looks like once it's actually tidied. Maybe I won't feel such shame.

The "seating area", which consists of two old chairs and a treadmill.

The bedding storage, gift wrap, and my scrapbooking supplies

My "laundry room", with laundry in various forms of doneness.

WISH ME LUCK!!!

Keeping House - Kids' Rooms

Today we're keeping house in Brenna's room. Herein lies my frustration: it just gets undone. Almost instantly. My cousin suggests just shutting the door, which is EXACTLY what both of our mothers (sisters) did when we were teenagers. The thing is, when their rooms are clean, the kids have so much FUN playing in them. So I do it. And they look good for a minute.

So we took some time and got her room put back together. I had Brenna "help". She gets better at that, the older she gets. When she was younger, when her room would get clean, she'd say, "Look! We have a road!" Meaning, there's actually floor to play on. I always thought that was too cute.

It didn't take long.

Voila!

I'm working on a daily routine. My friend Heidi suggested this as a 5-year SAHM veteran. I've gotten one actually written and it includes having the kids help me pick up their rooms each night before we go to bed. I know this is not a new idea, but will be new to us. And would help us immensely, if we were to start each day with their rooms clean. They would have ROADS to play on every day!