Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Ugh! What a day...

STRESS!!!!


I have reached my limit. I feel completely over worked and over whelmed with the things going on right now......


Why is it so hard to do things bit by bit? Why must I feel as thought I have to do everything with the all or nothing mentality? I have lost my big girl panties. Usually I would just pull them up and get to work. I just don't feel like I am able to do that.


I wish DS3 would just #2 on the potty already. Cleaning up the carpet and the walls has gotten to be a pain in the kiester now. Not sure what it will take to get him motivated. Maybe he'll find his motivation when I find mine.


It's hard to be there for everyone when you're thinking of all that you should/could be doing instead.


Tonight's goal before bed:


say I love you to the boys and shine the sink.


Nina

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Bucket List

So last weekend went well! I got the house company ready by bedtime on Saturday. I got internet installed on Sunday morning. Hot spots cleaned up and toys mostly picked up. So this weekends list is.....


Play area sorted and picked up.
Paper cabinet sorted
Stash and dash hiding spot emptied
Paint stairs and play area
Paint bedroom
Find home for scrap-booking supplies
Entry closet organized for winter gear

Wish me luck I'm going to get started early and see how much I can accomplish before PPF!

Have a great day!
Nina

Friday, October 28, 2011

Goals

Do you have goals? Do you work towards them on a regular basis? I have struggled at goal setting for a long time. I tend to pick things that are too vague or completely unobtainable. It is a life lesson I have yet to learn I suppose. 

Next weekend is Widow's weekend and My wonderful hubby has also decided to head out to a friend's cabin this weekend so I get two Widow's weekends this year. So in an effort to turn this into a positive I am setting some goals. 

Let's start with my bucket list:

Play area sorted and picked up.
Paper cabinet sorted
Bench area cleared off
Stash and dash hiding spot emptied
Mount Washmore tamed
Paint stairs and play area
Paint bedroom
Find home for scrap-booking supplies
Drop off all unneeded/unwanted things to C.A.E.R
Entry closet organized for winter gear


That felt good! Now I'm off to tackle this weeks school papers and make dinner.

Have a great day!
Nina

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Focus

It may not surprise you to know that I have been pouting. I mean full on two year old kinda temper tantrum. I don't like clutter yet I allow it to take over my life. I need to pick up after myself. I have been dealing with the mail when I bring it in. no more piling. I just have lots of magazines that I feel like I must keep. I cancelled quite a few. I actually filled out a do not contact form on one site because it was locked in with an old renewal service I had. What a silly problem to have. 


Well it's time to put my big girl panties on and deal with my clutter. I'll be sure to update with pictures today and I will definitely be participating in Paint Party Friday this week! 


I've managed to follow right along with  100 days to Christmas every day! I'm so proud of my self. So today's focus will be I can complete any task!


Have a great day,
Nina

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Day 2 of 100 days to Christmas!

I'm so excited to be prepared for Christmas and every holiday in between! I have to admit I started putting my holiday binder together early but my Calendars Ready! I printed off Jen's cover to her book 100 days to Christmas for my binder and got started right away. 


This is such a wonderful idea and I wish I would have always known about this but I'm determined to make this the best Christmas yet! Especially since I am now a hunting widow. Bow opener for deer started this morning and my hubby will be spending every free second in the woods from now until New Years eve. Let's wish him luck that he gets a deer on the first day and then will have to wait until November for his next chance at a deer during firearm season and muzzle loader season.


Here are some photos of my progress. I even printed off a banner from the site 100 days to Christmas for the spine of the binder and I used what I already had for dividers and of course the wonderful printouts from List Plan It






Have a great day!
Nina

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Photo Book

Click here to view this photo book larger

What a great idea!

I love this idea! I printed out the first printable Jen from I heart organizing made back in August. I even made my own afternoon and evening printouts. Well she updated and I love it even more! What a great way to keep the kids on task and help remind themselves of what comes next.


Here's a few pictures of the schedule I have. It's in sleeve protectors on the boys bathroom door.






I have placed the new print outs on the pantry door with the calendar and lunch menu print out.


ah it looks so cute! Lets hope we get out the door on time and don't miss the bus again.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Let's get started....

Good Afternoon!

I've decided to try something I read on Mainstream Mom's Blog. Her blog is wonderful! I enjoy it very much and she just recently had a wonderful post about the 100 days before Christmas.


I purchased the program and you can purchase 100 Days to Christmas here. It starts on Friday September 16th. 


I signed up for the daily email and today's link up is what is your favorite thing about fall? Mine is totally pumpkin pie! I've already made two this year!


So Delicious!

I'm so very excited about the up coming holiday season! I can't wait to get started and I plan on blogging my entire way through this!


Thank You Mainstream Mom and Jennifer Tankersley!


Nina

Friday, September 9, 2011

Trying something new....

So my adorable, lovable wonderful cousin does something I thought I might give a try. I haven't painted in a while actually the last time I did it was at her house and it was a blast so I set the boys up watching a movie and I decided to paint some scrap lumber I had in the garage. Not bad if I do say so myself.


It's getting there but it needs something else, harvest moons are pretty but it needs something else...


Tada!

Have a wonderful Paint Party Friday!
nina

Weekly Clean Up!

Hubby is smoking a beef brisket on Sunday. It's so yummy! And I can't wait! It takes all day to cook it slowly. And the whole house begins to smell like it as we are waiting for it to cook. It's a wonderful way to spend an afternoon. Grill going with amazing food on it, relaxing in a lawn chair, kids running and playing. ah so nice...


Plus we'll have a house full of friends who are allergic to our four pawed family members. So it means the whole castle needs an extra deep cleaning to rid it of the mini puff balls that form from all the shedding my lovely dogs do! Got the steam cleaner going earlier, got the windows open for some fresh air. Ahhh so nice!


nina

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

1st Day of School

My oldest started 1st grade today. He'll be gone everyday this year and I'm going to miss him but it should give me a chance to make this house feel more like a home, tackle all of those clutter hot spots, finish my family binder and stay on track using my calendar. Ok, maybe I'm expecting a miracle but if I aim too low I won't know what I am capable of doing. DS2 has a cold and I am trying my best to keep him from giving it to his big brother, wish me luck on that one.



So where to start.... Well the clutter has to go! As flylady says you can't organize clutter. So since I can't even see the surface of my desk I'm starting there. Followed by the grave yard of unwanted things and unfolded laundry that is growing in the master bedroom. Not exactly warm and inviting. No wonder I'm not sleeping too well. Ok ok Back to the desk it's a dumping ground for everything I just am not sure what I should do with and I would/need to keep it cleaned off so I am able to keep track of my business things







 Yay! What a great way to start off the school year. Now what should tomorrows project be???


Nina


Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Pantry Overload!

I love love love having a pantry! It's great but I am not using my space very well at all. My budget is $0 so it's time to scour the house and see what I can find to fix my disorganization. I have a hard time finding things which means putting things away is also difficult.


I took down the unused chore chart. One big over sized chart for two kids didn't work. Magnets ended up everywhere and I had to store them out of reach for DS2 which means DS6 doesn't use it and has barely earned any allowance all summer long.

I printed some labels for the shelves and since I don't have a laminater I placed them in snack size baggies and clipped them to the shelves. Baking supplies on top, boxes on the second shelf, cans on the third and pasta on the bottom shelf. I placed the paper towels and napkins in an unused clear tote.

 I used packaging tape to attach labels to the baskets. Chips on top so the ideally don't get squished by DS2 then two snacks baskets easy to reach and easy to see when we need more.
I also took the recycling out. Amazing how that makes such a difference.


So an afternoon well spent and one more less messy place in the house.


Have a great day,
Nina

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Messy Messy Kitchen!

My kitchen is.....


a huge mess! The center island is full of junk and the counters are uber cluttered! I don't let the kids cook with me because the mess will just get bigger and something might get ruined. Which means I 


a: feel guilty for not teaching them skills they will need.
b: get angry and crabby about what I can and/or can't do.

So where to start? Guess we start at the back door and go clockwise around the room. That way I take tiny steps and don't just shuffle things around. Which will lead to a full garbage can, a happy mommy, a happy husband and most importantly a decluttered kitchen.

Here's the before.....









And my After....






So not too shabby for an afternoon. I emptied the garbage twice and it looks like I should take it out again. Yay go me! It looks much better now what to do tomorrow?

Monday, August 29, 2011

Taming kids art supplies

Markers, crayons, paints and colored pencils were stored in various plastic zip-lock baggies at first glance not a bad way to keep tabs on them. However I managed to have multiple bags for the same thing and was considering buying more supplies because I wasn't sure we had enough. Well, I was wrong so I checked my closet for something to use and this is what I found....



an unused makeup bag just collecting dust in my closet



It's now a great place to keep the boys art supplies