My Favorite Organizing Clutter Solutions

I have 2 little girls and the hair accessories are overwhelming. My bathroom closet looked atrocious no matter how many times I tried to reorganize it - until I found this at Canadian Tire for $17. Best $17 I ever spent on organizing.

Also in the bathroom, I have organized all of our regularly used lotions, shampoos, etc on a couple of lazy susans on the top shelf and I have baskets for my towels, hand towels, curling irons, brushes, and one for spa stuff. I threw in an empty "catch all" basket and when it gets full of stuff that I found around the house that belongs in the bathroom, it gets put away.

Our shoes used to be in a heap in the bottom of our entrance closet and finding pairs proved to be quite a challenge. I picked up these organizers at IKEA for I think $10 each and they are sooo easy to use. I love them! The shoe problem is now virtually non-existent.

Our master bedroom closet is large but we don't hang at least half of our stuff, so I put my 9 drawer dresser in the bottom and hang my stuff on the left and his on the right with organizers (from IKEA) in the middle to help keep things separate. We also have a wardrobe that we use to keep our worn-once-but-still-clean-so-gonna-wear-again stuff in. Before it was just all over the place and adding, unnecessarily, to the laundry pile.

Also in our room, I purchased a 3-sorter laundry hamper for lights, darks, and work clothes.

And this 4-sorter + 4-sorter + 2 single hampers for the laundry room - makes SUCH a difference and no more laundry all over the floor! (ok, well sometimes there still is, but it's WAY better than it was!)  I know. 10 hampers seems excessive, but believe me, it's not!

The schoolroom is organized with the help of an IKEA EXPEDIT shelving unit fitted with cheap baskets from JYSK and cheap white bins from Walmart (baskets were under $5 ea and the bins were $2something ea) The green ones were from JYSK as well and were $5 ea. Each bin has it's own category - science, playdough, busy bags, art supplies, puzzles, etc.

Schoolroom Reveal aka My Office - Part 2

     So I decided to use my "office" (as seen here) as our new schoolroom.The office was atrocious. Please click the aforementioned link and take a look. I could've had a much larger school room in our basement but I knew that I would never feel like doing school down there as we get amazing natural light on our main floor. So I thought that instead, I would use a tiny room and see what I could do with it. Hopefully it's an inspiration to people who don't have a lot of space to work with in their homes. I also made a closet into a workspace for my older son for when he needs somewhere to work away from the girls and those pics are here. You may be wondering where I have moved my office and I will show you that in another post soon :)

 I decided to add some color and this red is also in my entrance and in my bedroom. I only did the one wall and I LOVE birch trees. This mural took maybe 5-6 hours and was WAY easier than I thought it'd be.

The baskets are awesome and I got em at Jysk for $3.99 ea but they don't have anymore :( I also got the white footbath tubs at Walmart for $2 something each. The green canvas bins were $5.99 each and also from Jysk.

These "rugs" are actually bathmats also from Jysk and they were $4.99 ea

The Artwork display

Logan's workstation and the secret mailbox - we will open it each day when the flag is up and see what special activity or book we are doing that day. (Sometimes it'll be a treat)

 

I use these for crayon, marker, etc storage

I often buy Classico pasta sauce and then wash and de-label the jars and use them to store things like clothespins, magnets, chalk, etc.

I love this one room schoolhouse picture :)

This is a darkroom timer that my mom had when she was young and we always used it as a timer when I was homeschooled so I thought it would be great to keep it going in my classroom :)

I found this pic online and added the chalkboard and cross on the front of the building and our school name and class times. 

And I fell in love with this as soon as I saw it!

I am going school shopping this weekend for most of our curriculum and some extras (I'll just have to find a way to fit it all in there!)

Again here are the links for Logan's study nook and What the office/school room used to look like.

Summer 2012 Updates

Hey, so I haven't been around for a long time and I'm going to just give you a quick update before I dive back into "regular" blogging (hey, I'm trying!)

Homemade Baby Formula - so I tried this for a couple-3 weeks and it was ok. K ended up getting some pretty good diarrhea and I found out from a friend that it was because I didn't water down the goats milk half and half  before mixing it up. She wasn't used to the milk, so needed to be eased into it. So I didn't end up trying it again, but I may try it again in the future (with another child seeing as K is now over a year old and on 3% milk and having a lot less colds).

Homemade Deodorant - still love it.

My Office. Ugh. Well, it's not that bad, but it doesn't look a heck of a lot better than it did. My organization in there is greatly improved and the floor is usually kept clutter free - but it's still a bit of a dumping ground and I'm still working on getting rid of as much as possible and figuring out systems that will work for me. Improvement is progress.

No Shampoo - I went "poo free" for about 3 months and enjoyed it. I liked my hair and it was pretty good. A little itchy that first week or two but then pretty good. I ended up having a dandruff problem, which I'm not sure was related, and so went back to regular shampoo and am still using it. Interesting, though, my head is quite itchy quite often. Like every 3 days or so it gets annoying, so I may try some shampoos from the Health Food store in town and let you know what I think of that.

Another Baby! So I have 5 kids now and the addition was quite unexpected and I got, well, half an hour's notice of the change! It was a whirlwind and exciting and crazy and the babies are the same size and the same weight and very near the same place developmentally which makes it "feel" like having twins (although not exactly like twins, one is 5 months and one is 13 months). I still carry, feed, rock, nurture, love, change, dress 2 babies. I have crashed a little once already and now have a cold (and so do all the children, except 1) and I suspect it's because of the new set of germs in the house. :)

The kids are all a little more irritable -

L is tired more easily and a little on edge and overwhelmed, but LOVES the babies and realizes that good stress is still stress. He helps a lot.

 J is as up and down as ever (pray for her) but I'm working super hard at building relationship with her and lavishing her with all the love I can muster. She, too, loves the new addition :)

D loves the baby the most. She ADORES her and mothers her and nurtures her. She is full swing into the "getting into EVERYTHING" stage (cutting up the playpen mesh, eating a tube of flouride free toothpaste, trying to eat deodorant, putting thick diaper rash cream all through her hair and on her hands and feet, brushing her teeth with anybody's toothbrush she can get her hands on, etc etc etc). She is a rollercoaster and a complete joy.

K hated the new baby for the first little while. Not sure why, cuz K is the sweetest baby on earth. It took her a few weeks, but she is warming up to baby P very nicely :) I wouldn't say she loves her yet, but she is definitely ok with her being around now. We love K more every day and she is finally progressing! Crawling (aka crab walk), saying a few words, signing more, responding, sitting up on her own, trying to stand.

 And little baby P is delightfully patient and calm and sweet and chubby and lovely. Her cry is horrible and odd, but it's tolerable since she's such a joy :) 

I'm doing really well, but had to make a few changes and am still making changes.

1. Packing diaper bags and visit bags the night before.
2. Making Matthew's lunch the night before.
3. Working way harder and going on the computer/watching tv way less.
4. Doing housework in the evening instead of winding down and watching tv which means I go to bed a little later and wake up a little tireder and have to nap in the afternoon a bit more often.
5. NOT FEELING THE LEAST BIT GUILTY ABOUT NAPPING. I need my rest. When I don't get it I'm grumpy or get sick.
6. Spending more one on one with the kids.
7. Make batches of bottles the night before so they're ready the next day.
8. Getting out for regular dates with Matthew and regular breaks when I'm overwhelmed. (thanks to the respite fund!)
9. Making 2-4 meals at once and cooking way less often.
10. Getting more and more organized in all areas of my life because I have to. (and I want to)
11. I finally quit teaching Sunday school and so won't be continuing in the fall (unless I change my mind)
12. Lots more paperwork and emails (foster related)
13. Dr's appointments coming out my ears lol

I'll stop there, but I could go on.

What I'm loving right now:

cuddling babies
reading stories
going for walks with my triple stroller
visiting with friends
a clean and organized home
home cooked meals
 taking naps
dates with Matthew
 teaching the kids
 prepping for the school year
 time alone with God
going to church
watching the kids dance to crazy music
 Matthew coming home at the end of the day and the children running to hug him,
encouragement and help from family and friends
 Bible study at my house on Tuesday mornings
coffee (how did that end up so far down the list??? lol)
listening to all my clocks ticking late at night when all are sleeping
watching my babies sleep
having 5 children - Love that.
Summer weather and storms and our borrowed air conditioner
food
Pinterest
helping friends/family
crafting

........I'm so grateful. <3

My Hair, My Office, My Heart.....

So by this time it has been firmly established that I am a terrible blogger......but hopefully that is because I am being a present Mother in the lives of my children. Do forgive me.

I blogged only 4 times in December and left you with questions.....

Am I still going shampoo-free? How is that going?

What about that grand office reveal???

I made it 9 weeks without shampoo, using baking soda and apple cider vinegar. I loved every minute of it and proudly told everyone I met that I didn't wash my hair anymore. But mid December I ended up with a bit of a dandruff problem (which I am not convinced was related to going poo-free, cuz I've had it on and off before).
I was super stressed in December because of everything that goes on in December combined with sickness etc, that I felt too overwhelmed to begin researching natural ways to deal with my dandruff (which shows up nicely on my black hair). So I quit. Lame. I know.

I have been using shampoo again since mid-December and the first time I used it my hair felt so soft and......flat and dry. My head got kinda itchy from being so dry since I wasn't used to drying out my head with shampoo anymore. I have noticed that although I am shampooing again, my hair does not get very greasy anymore. I used to HAVE to wash my hair every other or third day and now I am only needing to wash it about once a week - SCORE! That makes me happy cuz I'm kinda busy.

I will probably quit the shampoo thing again, but being on the verge of possibly more kids makes me a little hesitant to begin the experiment just yet. I don't want to take on too much at once.

The office. Oh my. Ok it is definitely much better than it was but it's still a bit of a gong show. It looked GREAT for like 3 days after I organized it and then got pretty bad again. I think I have organized it two more times since the supposed "great reveal" and it's less chaotic now, but still needs work. I think the real problem is that it is a dumping ground and I don't really use it much. Maybe if I actually used that room more, it would be more organized and functional. I need to develop better habits when it comes to that room and I think it needs one or maybe 2 purposes at the most - currently it probably has about 7 uses...I AM making tons of progress over here with the rest of the house and it looks better more often and I am feeling less and less stressed about it.

My heart is next on the list for this blog post and by far the most exciting for me. For the last month or so I have been feeling God tugging at my heart concerning orphans and adoption and fostering. Obviously this has been a passion in my life for awhile, but this is a new and strong desire to really make a difference in this world.

• John 14:18  

  “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

• James 1:27  

  Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

  

These and other verses like them have greatly impacted me. I have been content to be a foster to adopt mom and to love and raise my kids. I have always loved kids and thought that I'd have a big family. I always felt that I'd have a bunch of kids (maybe 10ish) and that'd be it. (LOL) Then they'd grow up, leave home, get married, have their own kids, and I'd get to be Grandma. I don't feel that way anymore. I want to adopt. I don't see an end in sight. When these kids are grown, I don't want to stop adopting, I want to take more difficult or special needs kids and love them (since I'll be able to focus on them without babies underfoot). I want to adopt the whole world. I want everyone to know what a blessing it is to love with all your being for the glory of God. I want to share my love of adoption and influence others to do the same. I want to save all those kids out there that need a mom and a dad to love them. I can't do it alone, but I can do my part. I am so excited! (I know some of you are probably rolling your eyes and saying, "oh Rachel" but I'm serious!) 

I could go on and on, but my kids need me, so that's it for today :)

My Office - Part 1

My "office" is a mess. Always. All the other rooms in my house on my main floor are pretty organized and clean - for the most part - and that is thanks to my good friend, Office. Here's a picture of him......

 Going in...

 Inside......

 What IS all this stuff??? Craft supplies, tools, junk that needs to be organized......

 Storage for tools and sewing.....LOL

 What was I thinking?

 Oh yeah, and the washer and dryer that aren't hooked up.

 The floor......I think??

Pretty ain't he? He's really accommodating and goes out of his way to help me out. All the time. He hangs on to all kinds of stuff for me while I get other, more important things done. There's a LOT going on in there. It is the craft/storage/ironing/sewing/tool/filing room as well as housing a future stackable & space saving laundry area. I know, a little too much for an approximately 10'x10' room. Poor guy :(

Let me introduce you to my other friend, Desk. You saw him already, but in case you missed it......

This is where I am supposed to get all my crafting done. Obviously that isn't happening, so I have to haul out all my stuff to the dining room table and we eat 3 meals a day here, so that can't be for very long. Problem.

 I should insert here that I TOTALLY reorganize this room about once a month. It ends up looking great for about 2 days and then it's back to this again. I need to find a REAL solution. Fast.

My intention is to fix this problem TODAY. I don't know what I am going to do exactly, but telling you about it is the first step. Telling you means I have to do something about it - I think. K. Going to do that now. Be back later with after pics........any after pics would be awesome in comparison to this!

No shampoo & decluttering pics

So I promised you guys some pics of my hair since I have stopped using shampoo and I've been soooooo busy that I haven't had time to blog much. I've been decluttering my house like CRAZY and I have those pics here for you today, too! (Not pics of the house yet, but of what's come out of it)

I haven't washed my hair with shampoo for 3 weeks and 6 days now! (I'm using water and sometimes baking soda and apple cider vinegar) So far so good. I've had some questions, so I'll try to answer those and if you have any more questions, please feel free to comment below and I'll get back to you!

Q: Why not use shampoo?
A: Because shampoo dries out your scalp and hair, stripping it of it's natural oils. Your scalp then goes into overdrive to produce MORE oil and you end up going back and forth between oily and dry. Not healthy.

Q: Why use baking soda and how much?
A: Baking soda removes the buildup from your hair. I use about 2-3 tsp mixed into a cup of warm water.   Pour it on my wet hair and massage my scalp, then rinse.

Q: Vinegar? Can I use regular vinegar or does it have to be apple cider vinegar? Will I smell like vinegar when I get out of the shower?
A: Vinegar acts as kind of a freshener/conditioner for your hair. You don't have to use apple cider vinegar, but it doesn't smell quite as strong as regular vinegar. You will not smell the vinegar when you get out of the shower. I use about 2 tsp mixed with 1 cup of warm water and pour it over my wet hair and then rinse. I use it after the baking soda treatment.

I also use a dry shampoo that I bought in the states called "batiste dry shampoo". It's like a talcum powder aerosol can and you just shake, spray it on your roots, work it in, and that's it. I use it maybe once a week.

Q: Was there a hat only stage?
A: I think there would have been if I didn't curl my hair or use dry shampoo. Both of those things really helped. You can make your own dry shampoo by grinding oats into a powder (add cocoa powder to it if you have dark hair) and then work it into your roots and shake out/brush out vigorously over the tub. Sounds weird, but works. It took about 2 and a half - 3 weeks for my hair to feel great.

Q: Is your head itchy?
A: The first week it was, but not at all since then.

Ok, so here's all the pics I promised! First hair pics and then all the junk I've gotten rid of this week! (except for the 6 garbage bags of stuff I got rid of at the beginning of the week)

I took these pics 10 minutes ago, so they are RECENT lol 3 weeks + 6 days with no shampoo!

 the back of my suburban loaded (there's a dresser under there!)

 midsection of my vehicle :)

 There's the dresser and some chairs

front seat, too :)

I can't wait to take the next load away! It really feels great!

Too Much To Do and Too Little Time

This is a topic that always comes up when women are talking.
"Oh I've been sooo busy lately!"
"There just isn't enough time in the day!"
"I don't know how to get it all done!"
"I can't keep up."

It's a common theme in all of our lives, no matter what our circumstances are. It doesn't matter if you have one kid or 7, work outside the home or stay home or work from home, married or not.......the tasks seem endless and the days too short. I find that I pendulum between "super-mom" and "losing-it-mom" most of the time. How do I find balance? I know I can't be super mom and I don't ever want to be losing-it-mom, but how do I do that?

One thing I have discovered is that the more kids you have, the worse it gets! There are more mouths to feed, more messes to clean, more stuff in the house to manage, more fighting going on, more training needed, more love to give, more safety concerns, more, more, more! I think it is possible to "wing it" (as is my personality and my preference) if you've got a couple kids - maybe - but past that and it's either going to be complete chaos or things are gonna run smoothly (aka discipline and a plan).

For years we've had the same old problems in our home -

I can't seem to keep up with the laundry (now it is worse than ever!)

There's too much clutter and we can't find what we need when we need it.

The dishes are endless and the kitchen is always a mess! (Matthew doesn't dare try to cook in there most of the time)

My office is a dumping ground and too small of a room with too much going on in it.

On top of all that, I am trying to get a workshop for my new business set up in my basement and because power tools and foster children don't mix, that means we have to have a whole room made for it - build a wall with a lockable door and move all my storage........

STEP 1: DECLUTTER

I am in the midst of GETTING RID OF AS MUCH STUFF AS POSSIBLE. Most of it is donated or thrown out and a few things have been sold, but there is much more to sell/get rid of. I think one issue is that, sure, I get rid of lots, but I get given lots, too! I'm gonna have to stop giving other people's junk a loving home.....that's all there is to it.

STEP 2: ORGANIZE WHAT YOU'VE GOT LEFT.

This is so much easier said than done and it's gonna be difficult if you still have too much stuff (which most of us are guilty of). The way I am doing this is I am making a list of all the things in my entire house that need storage. Example: Bedding, clothing, dishes, out of season platters/baking pans etc, sewing, keepsakes, toiletries, toys, files, artwork, tools, craft supplies, out of season clothing/coats/hats/mitts etc. , baby accessories (highchair, cradle, exersaucer, swing, etc). Then I decide where it should be stored, how much room it needs, if it needs to be purged further, and what it should be stored in.

What you store something in makes a HUGE difference. For example, all my kids clothes that don't fit are stored in rubbermaids labeled according to size, so every time I do laundry, the small pile of "no-longer-fits" is easy to put away in storage. But it's NOT easy to put away (even though it's so nicely categorized) cuz the rubbermaids are in a dark room in the basement - they are stacked on each other - and I have to unstack them, find the right one, and then take the lid off to put the stuff in = HASSLE. So what happens instead is I throw all the clothing in a grocery bag, run it down the stairs....and pitch it in a corner or on top of something to deal with on a rainy day. So I need to get some bins that have slide out drawers, like those craft carts, I think. Or dog food bins, or something like that, to store our out of seasons in.

IF YOU AREN'T GOING TO USE YOUR STORAGE SOLUTION THEN IT IS NOT A SOLUTION.

That's enough for today, I think. I guess this is now a "getting back on your feet" series and this is part 1. It's all about time management, stuff management, and discipline......not fun, but necessary and VERY rewarding :) This is gonna be fun! See you soon...........

Money Money Money

We all use it every day. It's stressful, complicated, great, and annoying! I have "kept track" (lol) of our finances over the last 5 years and it's been interesting. My approach has been pay the bills on payday if there's enough money left over after food and gas. Due dates? Too many to remember or keep track of so just pay when the money comes in. This has not been working so well for us. And my filing system has been lacking to say the least. Oh I have everything in file folders in file boxes, but the stuff that comes in, before it gets filed, is a mess. Heaps and piles of papers stacked on my desk. And who has time to spread it all out on the floor and spend 4 hours categorizing and filing? Not me, that's for sure. Then 3 things changed.

I went to a Crown Financial seminar at my church. www.crowncanada.ca

I stumbled across Hannah Keeley's website. www.hannahkeeley.com

I bought a letter organizer for my desk to sort papers into as they come in. I'll be buying more of these, but so far I just have one. They cost $14.95 at Walmart.

If at all possible, go to a Financial seminar. Crown Financial was impressive. They really want to help people out of their messes. Hannah Keeley's passion is helping moms in all aspects of their lives, including finances. She has a bunch of free stuff, forms and such, on her website. You sign up, which involves putting in your email address and choosing a password, and then you can access the free downloads. I signed up months ago and have never gotten even one email from them, unless I requested it. They don't harass you with ads etc, so no worries about signing up.

The first thing I did was make a gorgeous money binder. It's so pretty and fun that it makes doing the finances fun. Pour the coffee, turn on the music, bring out the binder and hum my way through it. Everything is perfectly laid out and organized and I can find any info I need at my fingertips. I used Hannah Keeley's forms as well as making some of my own, to suit our needs as a family.

These are the categories in my binder:

• Monthly Budget and Legers - There's one for each month. The budget shows the amounts I think it will cost for the various categories for the month and then there's a column for what it really cost and the difference. The ledgers keep track of each purchase. You can just print off your bank statement if you'd rather, but I like to write down each category, highlight it, and put the amount. I have a different color for each of my categories, so that it is easy to add it up at the end of the month and know what we spent on said category. For example, green is gas. I highlight all the gas purchases green and then add up all the green ones at the end of the month to get my total. Make sense?
• Budget - This tab has the forms for figuring out your budget. There's 5 sheets. I like to keep it in my binder so that I can find out, for example, how much prescriptions cost monthly, if I need to know.
• Debt Destroyer - ever heard of snowballing? You write down all your debts in order of smallest to largest. You write down the totals you owe on each and the minimum payment for each. You pay the minimums on all the debts each month except for the smallest debt. You pay as much as you can on the smallest one until you've paid it off. Then, whatever amount you had been paying on the smallest debt gets added to the minimum payment of the next smallest debt, til it's gone. So no matter how much debt you get rid of, you are always paying the same dollar amount each month on debt. This gets rid of your debt a lot faster. 
• Tithe and Cheques - I made this form. We don't use cheques hardly ever, except for tithing. So it made sense to make a form with this title. It has 4 columns: Date, Cheque #, Paid to, and Amount. Any cheques we write, the info gets written on this page, instead of on the back of the checkbook. 
• Due Dates - I made this form, too. It has 3 columns: Name of Bill, Details, and Due Date. I listed all our bills that we pay monthly, including debts and mortgage etc. In the Details I put down if it is an automatic withdrawal and, if so, from where - Checking account? Credit card? Then I listed the due date and grouped like with like. So all bills due on the first are listed first, all the ones due on the 10th are together, etc. Makes it easy to see, at a glance, what's due and when. 
• Account Ledgers - Each bill has it's own page. It lists the bill name, the date, the amount you paid, and any balance leftover. One page records the payments on that bill for the entire year. This way you can see what you paid, what to expect to pay, and if your payments have been going up or down. 
• Current Bills/Receipts - This is a pocket folder in the back of the binder. As bills come in, they go into the pocket. When they are paid, they get filed. The receipts that collect for the month are put in the other pocket and then filed or shredded at the end of each month - something that should take no more than 10 minutes. 
• Income for the Month of _______ - I made this form to keep track of our various income. Stuff from the government, our regular paycheck, the car parts Matthew sells, tips, etc. It has 3 columns: Date, Source, and Amount. Pretty self explanatory. With this form, we know what we've got to work with and there are no surprises. It also helps to see if your income is varying month to month. 
• Cash Spending - This is the last one, and I made this one, too. We often have cash on hand from selling something or withdrawn from the account and there's no way of keeping track of what happens to it. This has 5 columns: Date, Description, Debit, Credit, and Balance. Self Explanatory. 

All I needed to buy for this was a binder I liked (about 5 bucks), some dividers I liked (2 bucks) and some tabs to separate the monthly budget and ledgers. I also have a label maker, so I used that to label everything, so it looks great.

So now, we know what's going on, we know what we've got, what our expenses are, and where we're gonna be at the end of the month. No surprises. This is such a huge part of life, that it pays to do it well. Literally. Hope this has been helpful to you guys and I would love to answer any questions. There are great resources on both of the sites I linked earlier and you can get lots of these forms and more for free on Hannah Keeley's site.

 I even labeled it $$$

 Isn't it cute? :D