Another Day off.. Peacock style.

Well, spring break is over the half-past mark, but life has stayed every chaotic. Piano lessons, Girl Scouts, Cookie delivery, Girls on the Run, hair, Spas.. it's all pretty consuming. That said, I'm really making a point to enjoy my home. Now, my previous post was on the destruction of said abode, and I was going to time myself in getting it back in order. Remember a few things for me:

1. I have been keeping the kitchen tasks revolving. If my dishwasher isn't running, then it does NOT hold clean dishes. Empty RIGHT away, so it can catch all your dirty dishes for you, leaving your sink available.

2. If you have children, work them like you own them. Catchy eh? But seriously, I have been super guilty of feeling, well-- super guilty. When I was a kid, I had chores. I cleaned my room when told to, I watched my sisters, I cleaned the kitchen, I dusted and vacuumed. You know what? I turned out okay. (Silence from the peanut gallery please!)

So what I did, was delegate my friends. I put the bigger minions on bigger duties. They all had to pick up the living room. Straighten pillows, tables, and get all their stuff out of the room and put away. Then the 9 year old was handed a bottle of pledge and a rag and set to task. Without even being prompted, she moved from the living room to the dining room, and then hit the floor boards with it! The 7 year old took over with vacuuming the living and dining room. I then pulled out the hose attachment for her, and she cleaned up the kitchen floor. I took over in the mopping dept. I have one of those Swiffer Wet Jets, and in leui of using the replaceable pads, I have a microfiber pad meant for another floor cleaning kit (I'll look for a link) that I just attached to the pad holder.

Meanwhile, I went to work on the kitchen. Without being prompted, the oldest girl went to work in the entryway, doing everything from straightening shoes, to mopping! Gotta love those type "A" personalities! I kept the tiny minions out of the way by assigning them to cleaning up the wee boy minion's room. Not much was accomplished, but they were out from under everyone's feet.

When all was said and done, it had been an hour since we started. ONE HOUR. That's it. Popcorn and tv ensued, and there was great rejoicing.

Here is my picture proof:

Work that dust rag Minion! PUSH that vacuum! Mwahahahahah!

Whoah.

Can you hear the voices of the men's choir? Sooo perfect!

The Warden inspects.

So there you have it. If you have small children that take up destroying (er.. um, enjoying) your handiwork, just put them to work. It's amazing how empowere they are with a bottle of vinegar and water. They feel like they are doing big important work, and you don't have to worry about dangerous chemicals. Send them into the bathroom to clean (even if you have to do it again in a bit). Then praise the crap outta the job they did, streaks and all.
If they feel valued and that the work they did was appreciated, they'll be more willing to help more often. I mean, that proves true for me! If DH come's in and just shrugs when I say "Doesn't the house look great?" I end up with a screw it mindset. But if he gives me a "Wow" then my chest puffs up like a freakin' peacock.
I want my kids to feel like that all the time, just a flock of peacocks.
Strut you fab minions, just strut.

Ahem.. A Minor Setback.

Sooooo, in the spirit of total honesty and transparency, I would like to share with you the current state of my house. Behold:

Okay, she's clean, but she ate some tissues, so that was messy and naughty.

Oh hey, this is still clean~

Someone got a shipment of fab.. but did NOT put it away.

Noms

MORE noms

MMmmmmm

The price we pay for noms

ZOMG

 

 

 

 

So there you have it. The kitchen, living and dining room are destroyed. Tonight's mission? To time myself and see how long it really takes to tidy it all up. Why? Because you and I both know it doesn't take as long to conquer these pitfalls as we would have ourselves convinced. (Oh hey, a run-on sentence. How full of win.)

I'll check in later. Enjoy your own home, and remember: if it's a mess, you are SO not alone.

Teeny Weeny Tip

That just occurred to me:

When moving from room to room changing sheets and tidying, open a window. This is more to the colder climate ladies. It's not 30 F out right now, and yet the 15 minutes of fresh air does wonders in each minion cave. Also, when you finish a room right down to the dusting, reward yourself and your room by lighting a candle. It really gives you a completed feeling of accomplishment.

Carry on.

Saturday

It's well past Saturday's halfway point, and I have managed little more than changing all the linens. That said, I am recommitting myself to making it a weekly task. For those of you who already change linens weekly, at this point I will dutifully inform you that the majority of us do not. We just act like we do, and nod in agreement when a linen discussion occurs. For those of you guilty of only occasionally changing linens, I have outed us. Feels good doesn't it?

I have spent the first half of my day giving makeovers to little girls, and watching HGTV. Therefor, I will still deem today as productive. I have some laundry to fold, and I may embark on some larger task. As I have conquered my kitchen and fridge, decluttered my living room, and pwnd (gamer speak for totally owned) the totes, I ask myself "What next?"
My bedroom could use some lovins, and my "new basement" is pretty wild. I'm going to think on it. I'm hungry for some kind of home improvement crafty project. Some kind of decorating for living or for the spring season. I'm just not sure what yet. I'll check back in later. For now, enjoy some pics of my fabulously clean fridge, drawer liners, and some relaxed minions:

Ooooh, so pretty!

ZOMG

Tadaa!

EEEEEP!

Mmmmmmmmm

To show that progress is messy..

Major declutter. Half the utensils went to the downstairs kitchen.

Isn't that great?! (What? Well I only ate a couple...)

Before. Seriously there was crap behind the drawers that was growing.

After. Phew.

So clean. Yaay!

And here's a picture of tiny girl minion's completed bed:

Building plans can be found on Ana White's blog (Button on right!)

The Divas:

What day is it? I think Day Eight

And I totally schooled my refrigerator. No mercy, cleaned shelves, pitched condiments. YeeeeeHaw. I was wild and without abandon.

So now what?

Nothing. Because today is a slacker day. Well, not completely a slacker day. I cut someone's hair, and have to take a minion for a checkup, and there is dinner too.. But I'm just maintaining today. And that's cool. Maintaining can be a crap ton o' work. You have to keep on top of the kitchen. Remember to run your dishwasher before bed, and then you have somewhere to deposit dirty dishes all day. Then be sure to toss a couple of loads of laundry around. Folding it right out of the dryer is the way to go. I have taken up the less than stellar habit of piling it on the floor in the hallway. Our machines are in a hall closet.

Not productive. I'm just being honest here.

But IN THEORY, fold out of the dryer. If you don't have time, don't flip yet. It's too easy to let it pile up on you. Don't set yourself up like that. It's a horrible way to go: Smothered in blue jeans and sweatshirts. Gruesome.

Last night I had a spa, and that was so much fun. Manis and pedis and facials OH MY! I ended the evening with makeup applications. Too fun! Oh, there may have been some margarita action, but you didn't hear it here. I'm really excited about the mobile spa concept. It's a really fun way to get out of the house and meet different people.

So there's day eight. Not a super exciting post, yet the weekend is arriving. I'm sure to do something outstanding with it.

Have Mercy

Remember that totally do-able list from yesterday?

Cough.

Snort.

What list?

Okay, so here's what happened:
About two drawer liners in I thought "I should check my calendar to see how the rest of my week shakes out." I had totally overlooked the fact that I was booked solid yesterday. I thought I had a whole day to putz, and it turned out I had three cuts, two colors and a highlight. Gaaaaah!

The good news is that I still managed to bring little girl minion's new bed upstairs, all painted and pretty. I also organized and lined three drawers in the kitchen. I managed to turn a dishwater-blonde client into a gorgeous red head. The beasts were fed leftovers, and the Hubbins came home and instituted marshal law, reinstating a tidy household. The refrigerator will be dealt with today. It's gruesome.

I'm having a Girl's Night with some good friends tonight. There will be margaritas and pampering. That there, faithful readers, is a recipe for a great night. When I examine the progress made over the last week, I'm pretty pleased. It really wasn't as bad as I thought. Or maybe it was, but it isn't anymore. I still need to work on time management. I am completely guilty of overbooking myself, because I hate to tell people 'no'. That leads to that feeling of being totally overwhelmed, and my default response is a complete halt to all things productive.

Today's Bulleted Items:

• Clean out fridge (cause, yikes.) I will show no mercy to expired condiments.
• Prepare dinner so I can feed the Hubbins and the Minions and then send them out.
• Wash Kitchen floor
• Wipe down bathroom (remember the vinegar and water bottle. This keeps it so much more manageable)
• Nap
• Get ready for my Spa..Spahhhhhhh...

Oh, and one more fun something for you newbie readers. I think I'm going to launch some contests just for funsies. Stay tuned.

Day Six

First things first. If you've been following along, you'll have noticed that the appearance of this blog is changing quite often. Any feedback in regards to what looks good to you is greatly appreciated.

Secondly, I realize the quality of my pictures is less than stellar. I've had some bad luck with cameras. I just sold my DSLR (an Olympus E520 volt) because it was a little too meaty. I picked up a fuji point and shoot, and yet I crave something more in the middle. Any suggestions? I'm looking for something that does lovely in natural light, and yet has a flash that isn't completely obnoxious.

On to today.Shall we use bullets? Why don't we..

• Coffee and blogging, and throw some Facebook into the mix for good measure
• Research some other blogs for home and writing inspiration
• Kitchen tasks
• Drawer liners
• Clean out fridge
• Wash floor
• Knitting (it's like therapy). Oooh, I throw in some fab knitting links on my sidebar. You're welcome.

That's all I'm going to commit to today. I figure, why make these huge lists? I don't want to set myself up to fail. I want to set myself up to SUCCEED baby.  Keep it simple. Right? Hell, with all this simple thinking, why not go all the way? Paint all my home decor white and install beadboard everywhere? NOW it's simple baby. Hey Pottery Barn, EAT YOUR HEART OUT!!

Sorry. I was having a moment.

Days Four and Five

They get merged, mmmkay? I didn't have much time yesterday to spend at the computer. There were hair clients to make pretty (though all my customers are lovely to begin with) and I took the teeny girl minion to the doctor. She has strep. I promise I'll make up for it today. That said, I did accomplish some good stuff.

Now that the totes in the basement are under control, I was determined to declutter the living room. Some problem areas were the pile of the Hubbin's magazines under the lamp table, and a pretty bookshelf I have that has become the resting place for all things paper and official. Other than that, I kinda love my living room as is, and it just needed some TLC. Now the Hubbin's magazines, treasures such as Truck and Trader, American Rifleman, and numerous Cabela's ads, seem to have some kind of paper orgy and proliferated under the table. It's scandalous. A simple solution was a rectangle basket I found amongst the basement clutter. He is allowed that ONE basket. Period. I will enforce purging if the paper overfloweth.

Said basket is pictured on left. I didn't snap a pic of it's placement in the living room, but eventually you'll see it somewhere in pics.
 When I tidied the basement, I really had to show no mercy. My children go weeks without playing in their playroom, and though I recently purged it, I had not gone so far as to actually pitch or put away things removed. They had just hung out in the walkway. I'm so proud. This time I meant business. As I picked through a tote with mixed bits, pieces, papers and whatnot, I finally decided to pitch it. I grabbed a garbage bag and threw it all in there. I felt a little apprehensive, but the truth is this..
We all have overcommited to our stuff. We see a couple broken crayons on the floor and we set them on the counter to put in the crayon bucket later.We find a puzzle piece and set it on a shelf to eventually reunite with it's family. Here's the thing kids; this is what clutters up our lives. This is what ties us down. These little pieces hang over us as tasks unaccomplished.Sometimes we need to just pitch the crayons. If we are so privileged that we can leave our broken crayons scattered throughout the house, then maybe we had too many crayons. Pitching them may seem wasteful, but in the future it will remind us to take better care of what we have. We ARE overindulged, and materialistic by culture.All these material things are gumming up our emotional works, and making us feel, well... like crap. It's like overeating, but with stuff. It's not good for us.Take from this mini lecture what you will, but I think I'm onto something.

End Rant.

Before

After

Ah yes, a clear walkway. Le sigh.

Back upstairs. Watch your step, I make no guarantees about the entryway yet. That's for another post. We're walking, we're walking, and here we are. Back up into the living/dining area. And here's a picture of my lovely clutter catcher:

So how did I pay penance for this crime? Well, first let us take a moment to acknowledge the taxidermy. All hail to the deer slayer.

Okay, now that homage has been paid, let us get down to the knitty gritty. This was the hub for bills, books, papers of importance, etc etc etc. I put it off because I didn't know what to do with all of it. Well, come to find out, it was full of crap. Seriously, my childrens' classroom newsletters from LAST YEAR, a CD storage thing for a CD player that isn't even IN this room, textbooks for classes from last year, cords and instructions for electronics we don't even have anymore.. shall I go on? It took me maybe, MAYBE an hour to totally take care of all of it. ALL OF IT. Dude, this has taunted me for months. Ridiculous.

So here's a trick to deal when you have a hub full of stuff that will need to go everywhere to be put away. Sort it by room. One pile was of report cards from the kids, as well as some artwork and homework-- Scrapbook room pile. One pile was for the file cabinet downstairs. One pile was to go to my room. Bill stuff for a dresser here in the computer room. And yes, of course the GARBAGE PILE! That made this so much more manageable. Then, when faced with the pile in my room, it was itty bitty and took a minute. Same with filing. Voila!

Duuuuuuuude.


I would also like to take this moment to mention that I did in fact NOT remove the train track. The tiniest minion did that on his own accord. Well done little man, well done.

So this may not seem like a massive accomplishment, but when combined with my tidy kitchen, clean basement, and total lifting of burden, it IS huge. It feels great, and looks beautiful.

Today was a day of not much other than maintenance.  I had some hardcore running to do. So, tomorrow will bring with it a recap and a new mission:

Drawer Liners.


Bring it on.

Day Three

So most of the overall tidy is accomplished. A general clean up of the kitchen is being somewhat maintained. We've added some fevers to the mix, and all over chaos that comes standard with the family of six model. Regardless, I put minion numeral uno on dishes, and she rocked the hizzy. For that she was granted an early reprieve of her prior grounding from the DS. And there was great rejoicing.
I have come to realize that if my Two Week overhaul is to prevail, I'm going to have to implement some maintence methods. I think it goes without saying that the moment you move from room A to room B in the tidy process, four minions will relocate to room A and deposit another mess. That mess will then multiply in abundance by the time you've moved to room C, therefor they will be forced to move to room B to escape said destruction in room A.

Minion Math. Brought to you by the Reminder Family.

I will employ some FlyLady tactics in my approach. Methods such as keeping a shiny sink, and being showered and dressed first thing in the morning have honestly helped in the past. If you have never delved into the land of Fly Lady, her website is a bit of an oxymoron. She is committed to helping you tidy and declutter your home, and yet her web page is one of the most cluttered pages I have ever encountered. That said, her baby step method can take even the most frazzeled of the homemakers by the hand and walk them through slowly tidying the home over time.
Here are a few of my own suggestions that were inspired by her site.

1. In each bathroom, I keep a spray bottle with water and distilled white vinegar under the counter. I spray down the mirrors, counter top and toilet daily. (Well, in theory anyways.) I keep a rag bag in my laundry closet, and go to town for just a couple minutes. When the vinegar is wet, it stinks. But once it dries, it takes germs and grime and odors with it. That, and it's not some harsh creepy chemical.
2. I try to do the kitchen before I go to bed. This doesn't always happen, but this is FlyLady's way, and it really does help. Every night get your kitchen clean, and your dishwasher loaded. Start it before bed. When you wake up the next morning, you have a clean and shiny sink (dry it out after each use, it really does keep you on task), and a dishwasher ready to empty. Once you empty in the morning, you can deposit dirty dishes immediately in it throughout the day, avoiding yukking up your pretty sink. This method does wonders for home maintenance overall.
3. Shower every morning. Get dressed. Even if it's just into work clothes, lose the jammies. You will be more productive if you feel refreshed and are dressed.You'll be a little quicker to run the garbage out if you just have to slip your shoes on and run out. 

So that's my FlyLady lecture. Back to programming.

I managed a second coat of paint on tiny minion's bed. Touch-ups will be applied today, and the bed will be installed tomorrow.

Klassy, right?

Tote reorganization did not happen yesterday, for two solid reasons. Number one, my husband and I went out and shot our guns instead. Rule number one in my marriage is; If the Hubbins invites you to do something with him, you drop all and do. The house will always be there. The Hubbins might not.
When I went downstairs to delve into the totes, there was water. EVERYWHERE. The boiler had backflowed. Awesome.
So time previously committed to putting totes back together was instead spent sopping up water and traversing onto dinner tasks.

I will learn time management.

Later.

So for today:

• Totes first
• Touchups on bed
• Digging DEEP into the living room. There will be decluttering, otherwise known as weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth.

Day Two..

Today is a super late starter. I spent the morning and early afternoon in Grand Rapids attending a meeting. So onto today. First things first.

• Coffee and blog (Hey, I'm keepin' it real here folks.)
• Second coat of paint on the bed.
• Finish the overall tidy. It didn't all come to fruition yesterday. I got hung up on the toddler's room.
• If I manage to get ALL THINGS picked up on the main floors (master bedroom included) I will then head down to the old basement. There I will remedy the distressed tote situation.

 These are my only goals for today. I will not give myself a list that I don't think I can complete. I can do this much today. I will employ the minions in their strong areas and attempt to multitask by flipping laundry throughout. I will not hold myself responsible for the folding nor putting-away of said clean clothes.

And how's this for keeping it real: More pics.

This was yesterday's time-suck.

Hey, those sheets are CLEAN baby. And thar be the wee-beast.

This series of bedroom pics brings a thought to mind that I want to share. Tis the point of blogging, no? Okay, so you know how you find a picture of a haircut and you totally love it? So you take it to your hairdresser and she cuts and styles your hair, and a day later it just doesn't look that way? And it never looks as perfect as the models? Well think about it. Their hair looks like that for the SPLIT SECOND the photo is being taken. They might have sneezed and dunked their face in a milkshake a second later, but that's not in the picture. You have no clue! The same goes for those glorious homes in magazines. You don't see IN their closets, IN their cuppoards, or any other hidey hole. Their kids trash their living rooms too. So lighten up on yourself.

End rant.

Oh, and I had the girls try on their Easter Dresses. I bought them in November. Then they grew. Crap.

Note the massive mess in the livingroom through the doorway. See? We all fall short. Imma be in attack mode today.

And so we're off. It's now 4:02 pm. Let's see what I can pull off in the next four hours.

Progress

Okay, it's 4:10 in the pm (ooh.. kinda catchy and rhymey) and here's where we stand.

• The potty reigns triumphant- Today ended up inadvertently becoming a potty training day. When the toddler decides to uno and dos on the pot, all plans change. I spent a large portion of the day asking "Do you need to go potty?" This will be the first time this house has been diaper-free in EIGHT YEARS. Rock on wee man...
• A coat of paint has been applied to the bed-boxes. As stated below, the link to Ana White's blog is on the left of my page. I highly recommend you check it out. Carpentry for beginners. Seriously incredible.
• The kitchen is reasonably clean. 

My personal goal is to have the house completely tidied by the end of the day. Pick up everything; clothes, clutter, coats, shoes, laundry. Employ the minions in my house reno-scheme. It's a dictatorship baby. The eldest is less than thrilled. The "C" she just brought home in spelling is my leverage. You belong to me, oh emo-nine year old.
*evil mother demonstrates the 'dry handwashing' motion...*

MWUAHAHAHHAHAA...

Working Amy..

I realize the color is off, but the green is insanely pretty.

And So it Begins

Now that you're here, you ask yourself "wow.. fun intro. That's it?"

Nope.

There will be pics. Horrible, dreadful, if not a little familiar pictures. My messy home is about to be published on the web. Thank God the hubbins isn't super computer literate. If "Cabela's" isn't in the URL, we're safe. So without further ado..

We'll start in the partially finished basement. It's furnished because the kids spend some time down there, and we clean it up for company. Right now it's a furniture resting place.

Am I lucky or what? How could I take this for granted?

In the corner you can see wood boxes. Those are for a daybed constructed from plans on Ana White's site (See button on left). I will start painting them today. They've been down there for MONTHS.

Kinda usable.. but could be SO MUCH more.

The "Old Basement". This remains unfinished and is supposed to be storage.

The minions actually did this damage. They got into my nicely stacked totes and destroyed them in search of dress up.

A totally unused playroom. It's gonna go folks.

I'm sitting here right now. The mirror on that chair is behind my butt.  At this very moment. Chilling, no?

I might set a minion to the task of tidying the pantry. Just a thought.

Ah yes. Rest and peaceful sleep beneath the remains of dead deer.

I'm a slob. I have no excuses.

The entryway. Or as I like to call it "The Ugh-try Way". Ugh.

I'm actually not freaked about the kitchen. This will be a quick fix.

Note in the upper right corner, why I need to stay in the "country" realm of decor.

Seriously?

Ah yes, the minions. (Well, 3 out of 4).

So, now that I have displayed my mess for all, what is my approach? It is as follows:

• Make the minions lunch. 
• Put a coat of paint on the daybed boxes
• Work on cleaning between coats of paint.

If I can stay steady on task (har.. har har har... MWUAHHAHAHHA!) I hope to have two coats of paint on the beds and the house picked up. Not cleaned, but picked up. That will be day one. Scrubbing comes tomorrow.

ONWARD!