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School Room

On the way to church Sunday morning, we passed a yard sale with a super cute dresser/hutch set painted rosy pink. We stopped and ended up buying it. It's super cute, in great condition and of course, PINK, which Sadie was ultra thrilled about. However, once we got it home, I realized that buying this new dresser would create a domino effect of cleaning and organizing on an otherwise "lazy Sunday". After some prodding, I convinced Adam that leaving the dresser set in the car was not a good idea, even if it was almost 100 degrees out and no one wanted to go outside. He set it up and ran back downstairs (to avoid the inevitable cleaning Sadie's room was going to need). When I went to do a basic wipe down, I realized that the dresser smelled like perfume and...smoke. Oh no. After almost two hours or scrubbing, vacuuming, and placing contact paper anywhere it could possibly go, I got the smell out. I think. I can't tell though because it still smells like dryer softener sheets.

At any rate, I am SO glad we bought it! It's much easier for Sadie to reach the top drawer and they are much lighter than her old one. I really want her to be able to dress herself, reach her clothes, put them away, etc. This is perfect. It also allows her to display her little treasures that she "does NOT want Ethan to ever.ever. touch". AND by rearranging her room, it gave the space to move the toy boxes from the "toy room" to her room and Ethan's room. SO... domino effect...

I now have an entire room I can dedicate to the "School Room"! I am So excited. I may or may not ever have a house that I will be able to do this in again, but I'm going to take the opportunity to do it here. It will give me a great start in learning to organize for school, AND it will force my dear husband to paint the walls in that room that are covered in... well, everything.

So, here's the first big step into organizing my life!

The Every Day.

E: Do I have any clean clothes?
Me: Yes, in the dryer.
E: I don't want to have to take my clothes out of the dryer!
Me: Well, obviously neither did I.

S: When the baby jumps out, I will keep this stroller here so I can catch her in it.

Me: I'm sorry, husband, I don't know how your expensive watch got into a bowl of yogurt. In fact, I'm not even sure where this bowl of yogurt came from. The kids had waffles this morning.

E: *runs in holding a "sword" and shield (or chip and dip tray in it's alternate form)* I. AM. FOUR!
S: No, you're five!
E: NO, I'm FOUR! Look! My hammer and shield!
S: I don't understand!
Me: I think he means he's Thor, Sadie.
S: OH! FOUR!
(I guess I'll have to work on their "th" sound.)

E: I'm so sorry mommy.
Me: For what? You slept like such a big boy!
E: No. I actually watched your movie with you last night in the reflection of the chandelier.
Me: .....

S: When the baby jumps out, I will stay here. And when she cries, I will tell her NO, BAD BABY! And put her outside with Roxy.

E: Mom. This car is a mess. I can't even find the things I dropped all over the floor!

S: When I was a baby, did you wish I was a power ranger, too?

S: Oh no! A Tomato!
E: It's TOWnato!
Me: It's TORnado!

E: No one can see my room until it is cleaned.
Me: Ok, then clean it.
E: Well, if I clean it, then Sadie will come in, and it won't be clean anymore.
Me: Like the rest of the house.
E: Yeah. Sadie's messy. Maybe she should just stay in her room from now on.


:)

There's Organization to this Mess.

My day has very little routine. There are many factors that go into this - my husband's wacky work schedule, my children suddenly wanting to sleep in, my vulnerability to a morning of sleeping in, PREGNANCY, etc. My life in general is a constant cycle of unexpected moments and torn down plans. I am partially used to the chaos and sometimes find refuge in it, but with a new baby on the way and a husband leaving for training - I realize: Chaos Won't Do. As if the lack of my other half but the addition of a new life is not enough to entice my mind further into the realm of insanity, a chaotic, unplanned day will definitely push it over the edge.

So, here I am, almost 27 weeks pregnant, 13 weeks away from my third child's due date and my husband's departure.
And I am looking to organize my life.

Wow. When I write it that way, it's a bit daunting!

About two months ago, I went through every room and closet of this house and purged it of it's excessiveness. Clothes, toys, bedding, furniture... whatever I hadn't used, was given away. Ten extra large black garbage bags later... and my house could use another round of "simplifying". I know that's it's a constant cycle. Birthdays, Holidays, "just because" days, bring in new items that quickly push the older ones into the corner somewhere, to build upon each other until the day of "spring cleaning" arrives. So I am seeing, that although I did take a huge step in organizing... it was just one step.

So, a few weeks ago I opted to try this "Freezer Cooking Day" thing. I can tell you, it was an ALL DAY adventure. BUT, I got quite a few meals and some Cherry Jam out of it, which has been very helpful!

All in all. Here are my ultimate goals. They won't happen tomorrow or even next month, but these are things I want to have set in place.

A. Homeschooling 5 days a week, in the mornings.
B. Dinner planned for every night.
C. Freezer cooking at least once a month.
D. Reorganizing the kids bedrooms so they things are accessible and easy to clean.
E. Downsizing. I don't know where we will live next year, and I don't want to bring all of this "stuff" with me.
F. Being able to clean up my house in less than an hour every day. Of course, unless I'm cuddling a new little baby.

And last but not least: reading my bible every.day.

So, here's to removing the mess and finding the organization!

I'm back :)

Sorry for the hiatus there. I lost use of the computer for a while and then I was snowed in, so all the great deals were not that great because I couldn't get out to take advantage of them! However, now I'm back and ready to start sharing more great deals! I also started a "Diet Blog" in which I'm attempting to diet on a budget. So, check that out if you'd like as well!

In the spirit of wishing to enhance and better my life, I am going to go back over the budget with my husband this week and try to cut my spending down even more. I will update you with my goals for this year

If you're goal is to lower your spending, save extra money, stock up a pantry, etc, then there are a few things you need to do. It's a process, but it's worth it!

-Start getting the Sunday Paper (or asking for coupon inserts from someone who doesn't use them). Clip out all of the coupons that you want and need. Even if you aren't sure, it's better to have them then to NOT have them. Also, if you want, be on the lookout for the magazine All You. Every month thare are super valuable coupons through the magazine.

- Begin the process of organizing the coupons. I take envelopes, cut the tops off, label the envelopes and throw the coordinating coupons inside. Find a box, such as a recipe box, use some index cards as seperators and ta-da! It makes it SO much easier when you're planning your weekly shopping. Some people use folders to organize, but I prefer boxes. I've had to move up to a larger box which I bought from Refund Cents, but there are tons of other ways to organize them.

Catagories that I use are:

-Cereal
-Milk/Yogurt

-Condiments

-Canned Goods

-Baking Needs

-Snacks

-Frozen Foods

-Pasta/Rice/Bread

-Meat/Cheese

-Cleaning Supplies

-Dental

-Beauty

-Children

-Paper/Plastic

-Medicine/Bandages

-Household Needs

I have a few more that are more precise, but these are the basic catagories I've always used. I also set aside a few envelopes for the local stores, so I don't lose any coupons for Target, Martins, etc.

So - if you haven't yet gone through this process, go ahead, set some time aside and do it! It makes it so much easier when next week's paper comes in or you find coupons throughout the week... they'll all have a place to go so you'll actually end up using them! All the coupons in the world aren't worth anything if they sit at home and expire!

Coupons 1/08

Here are some new Organic/Natural and other coupons for you!


$2/$5 Giant Stores Produce

$5/1 Bach Remedy "Emotional Eating Support Kit"

$1/1 Seventh Generation Diapers

$1/1 SoDelicious Dairy Free products

$0.50/1 Annie's Mac 'n' Cheese

$1/1 Dannon Light 'n' Fit

Organic Valley Coupons

Brown Cow Coupons

$0.75/1 Silk Soy Milk

$1/2 Lifeway Products

Tribe Hummus Coupons

5 Free Puritans Pride Moisturizing Sticks

You can get five free Vitamin E Moisturizing Sticks from Puritan's Pride right now. Here's how:

::Go here and add the 5 for $5 option to your cart.

::Fill in your information on the checkout page and type in coupon code TE1QC1G. This should bring your total down to $0.00. You will need to input your credit/debit card information in order to check out, however, you will not be charged.

Thanks moneysavingmom!