Look at this, 2 blog posts in two days! Tada! It’s Why Bother Monday in my house, but I have a little side project going on this week as well. Actually, I have a few projects going on.

I got a call from the American Kidney Fund saying that they would be in my area and asking if I would have anything to donate. Hmmm…I would get to declutter and just leave it outside my door, YES! I have to admit, I have a large section of my garage that has been taken over by my decluttering. I have been piling stuff out there ready for Hubby to take it to Goodwill. It has been raining every weekend here so he hasn’t been able to do it, but I would really like to get my mom mobile back in the garage before it gets too hot. So today, I have spent some of my morning boxing up clothes to donate to the AKF.

It’s been a pretty easy task because I keep a spot in every bedroom for clothes that need to find a new home! S seems to be growing like crazy lately so I have a lot of stuff out of her room. When I notice her clothes getting too small, I just put them in the designated “clothes to go” drawer right out of the dryer. She doesn’t even know this drawer exists. 7.5 years olds aren’t really concerned about their laundry, you know. In P’s room I keep a spare diaper box to toss in the too-smalls, and in our room I just toss the hasbeens up onto a high shelf out of sight. I’m not sure why my clothes have been shinking, but I know it has nothing to do with my love of chocolate so don’t even mention that!

Keep in mind when you’re going through your clothes that you only wear 20% of your clothes 80% of the time. That means you’re wearing your favorites again and again, right? So go ahead and toss whatever you haven’t worn in the past year, whatever doesn’t make you happy, or whatever has just gone out of style.

Oh! And here’s a peak at my new kitchen color! I LOVE it! It’s making me happy everytime I see my new teal, oops, I mean Opal Silk, kitchen!

Wow! I thought I would have gotten back on the blogging horse this month, but no! May has come and almost gone, and school will be out after this week! I’ll be whipping up a summer plan for us soon. Savannah really does a lot better when she has a routine, as I think my kids do. We’ll be making regular trips to the library, pool, and “playing school” when Phoebe naps….it’s how I trick her into practicing her handwriting and math facts when school’s out!

No new news on Organizement, I’m sad to say! I’m hoping to make some progress on it this summer.

I did start painting my kitchen today though! I’ll post pictures when it’s done!

Once again, I’ve been slacking a bit on the blogging. Family, migraines, and of course, a little organizing, have been keeping me busy! This past week, Savannah was on spring break from school! Woohooo! Although our week’s weather provided snow, rain, a little sun, and tornadoes, we still managed to have some fun launching model rockets, going to the GA Aquarium, and celebrating Easter!

I used this week to organize the office area of the kitchen. I have a designated cabinet/countertop space where I keep my laptop. I use a large portion of the space for the kids art supplies and for Savannah’s school items. I want to get this area spruced up a bit to get us through this last stretch of the school year. I have a confession! While I was going through my papers I found an overdue library book. I have actually gotten a call from the library about it, so you can imagine how late it is. The worst part? It’s a book about organizing! LOL All I can do is laugh at myself about that one!

Back to the kitchen…one drawer is specifically for Savannah’s school stuff. She has the basic supplies in there:pencils, erasers, and a sharpener. That’s also where the memos and forms go from the school, her homework, and library books. Everything in one spot. It’s also labeled so everyone knows where these things belong! This has simplified our afternoons and mornings drastically!

I use the shelves for all my paperwork. I got the idea from the show Mission:Organization. I LOVE that show! I used a cute clementine box to organize my mail/bills that need my attention, the middle section is labeled “to read” for stuff that can wait a bit, and then the right side is “to file” whenever I make it upstairs to the filing cabinet.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter

I am hooked on finding excuses to bake cakes! Who’s with me?! This week we celebrated Savannah’s 7-½ birthday. There’s not a party or even presents. I just use it as an excuse to bake a cake and to make, or in this case order, her a favorite dinner. I’ve made it a tradition to bake her half a cake every year on her half birthday! She still doesn’t know the trick so I tell her it’s a Mommy secret! You can probably figure it out by looking though. This year she wanted chocolate cake, chocolate frosting, and a red smiley face. Here’s the before picture. Oh, and the picture above if from her recent trip to the moon.

Here’s what happened when I left the husky alone with the cake for less than 10 minutes! It was out of her reach, or so I thought. I forget how tall she can be! Yes, I know chocolate is very dangerous for dogs, so I was freaked out for a bit. She’s fine though, in the “doghouse”, but fine, ha ha ha.

Another reason of mine to bake is “Trash and Treats Day” with my BFF. So far we’re meeting up every other week to watch our favorite trashy reality shows on the DVR, and at least one of us bakes for the occasion. It’s SO much fun and so yummy! This week she made yummy S’mores bars!

Speaking of yummy treats. I finished up with the recipe binder I was working on. I put it in a different notebook and half-heartedly decorated it with some scrapbook paper. I also found some AWESOME menu planning notepads at Michael’s for $1!

Head on over to Hooked On Houses and see what other bloggers are hooked on this week!

I’m back and ready to organize this week! Here’s an update:

• My first client has been maintaining the work we did in her bedroom, and best of all, she’s made progress in other areas of her house. Yeah!! I’ll post before & after pictures of her home as we finish each room.
• Savannah passed her test for her ice skating class! She’ll be starting the “Basic 3″ class sometime in March. She’s very fast going backwards!
• Phoebe learned to say “no” and to SCREAM when she’s angry…all in the same week. Lovely.
• I’m currently reading a book called Sidetracked Home Executives by Pam Young and Peggy Jones. It’s the book that inspired Flylady to do what she does. I borrowed it from the library, and I’m really enjoying it so far.
• While I was down last week with the migraines, I got inspired by a few of my favorite shows to work on some small projects. Two of my favorite TV shows right now are “neat” and “Mission: Organization”. They always have great ideas!
• This week I’m finally tackling my recipe disorganization!

I’ve been frustrated by my collection of recipes for a long time now. I have recipes ripped out of magazine, entire magazines with pages dog-eared, recipe cards, and of course, a collection of books that grows every year. They’re taking over my kitchen! I really love baking, but cooking is another story. I have a sweet tooth so that’s a big reason why baking is more enjoyable for me, but also, I have a 7 yr old so that makes cooking a lot more challenging. Kids are picky! Mine is anyway. As I try different recipes in my books I always note whether or not we all liked it, if it could have used some tweaking, whether it was worth the time to cook it, etc. There’s probably a dozen dinner recipes that all 4 of us really enjoy and that I try to cook on a regular rotating basis. I finally got the right idea on how to organize all of this mess on a blog called Forever Whenever. Thanks for the idea, Kim, and for permission to post it here Take a peak at her site to see more pictures and ideas.

The basic idea is just a 3-ring-binder with dividers to keep all your favorite recipes in one place. There’s also room for the take-out menus! Yeah! My goal is to be finished by Friday, but here’s where I’m at right now…

First I gathered all my loose recipe cards that were shoved into a drawer and all of my magazines.

Next I gathered up my new dividers, some cardstock from my scrapbooking stash, page protectors, a glue stick, and a Sharpie. I used the dividers for Menu, Dinners, Breakfast, Dessert, and Take Out. I may switch those up a bit later this week if it doesn’t work out quite right. Then I took my messy cards and glued them right onto the cardstock. Of course I remembered to keep like items together, like two chicken recipes on one page, not a casserole on one side and a cake on the other. I did all of this while catching up with my DVR. Isn’t multi-tasking great? After I finished my show, I wrapped everything up and put it away where I was. I slid my take-out menus and my ripped-out magazine recipes into page protectors and put them behind the appropriate divider.

This is another look at what I was able to accomplish in the time it took me to watch The Amazing Race last night. The pile of magazine scraps and cards is what I was able to get rid of with the use of my new binder.

Quick and easy! While I’m working on this project this week, I’m also going to purge through my cook books that I don’t really love or that I rarely use. I don’t need this taking up valuable real estate in my kitchen!

When you’re surrounded my clutter, do you tell yourself that you just don’t know where to start? I think that’s why so many people find themselves buried in their belongings. Feeling overwhelmed is common when dealing with a disorganized space. Let me help.

There are different options about where you can start.

1. If it’s a BIG mess, like an in-danger-of-twisting-an-ankle-or-misplacing-a-child kind of room, then I’d suggest just closing the door and walking away. Just kidding! If you do go that route, it will just cause more stress, even though you can’t see the mess through the door! You’ll know it’s there and the weight will be on your shoulders, or maybe a monkey on your back. I don’t know. I think monkeys would just make more of a mess, so let’s go with the weight. In a room like this, start small. Spend 10-15 a day on the room. Start by just clearing a path! Don’t get excited and try to spend hours at a time. You’ll burn yourself out. I promise you will see a difference with just a few minutes of work!

2. I like to start with the bedroom. I’ve mentioned it before. The bedroom is crucial. You spend 1/3 of your day in there, right? Your bedroom should be your retreat. You’ve heard the “no TV” rule about bedrooms. I’m hoping that one day my TV will be hidden, but I do want one in our room. If I didn’t have migraines, maybe I’d change my mind. Maybe not. I make my bed every day. I always thought that was such a waste of time when I saw my mom doing this every day when I was growing up. Why make it up if you’re just going to get back into it later? It just feels better, so do it!

3. I’ve read that some suggest starting in the kitchen. With it being the “heart of your home” and all, it leaves an impression on you to keep the rest of the house clean I guess. The kitchen is constant work with the cooking and cleaning. If it helps you to start there, then start there! My point is that there is no right way to organize. Do what works for you!

4. Another idea if you don’t know where to start, is to look at the laundry. Sometimes it just gets SO piled up that you can’t see your floor anymore. In cases like this, start there! I’ll admit, that I would be VERY embarrassed if you could see my bathroom right now!

5. Lastly, think about what the worst-case scenario would be if you didn’t organize. Would it be that all the belongings that are piled up on your basement floor would be ruined if the basement flooded? Or maybe your utilities would be cut off if you lost the bill and then forgot to pay it. Perhaps all the clutter in the laundry room is a fire hazard because of the way it is piled up? While this isn’t a very fun exercise, it may be what you need to think about in order to get motivated to organize and simplify your life!  

Photo from Pottery Barn

While I would have liked to work on my closet again this morning, Phoebe makes that a little difficult.  Since she was playing nicely in the kitchen, I thought I’d work on some cabinets that have been driving me nuts lately.  There’s the before and after shots.  Look how much I was able to purge!

There are many different ways of thinking when you’re purging through clutter, like “Have I used this is the past 12 months?”, ” Do I love this item?”, or even “Does this thing still have a purpose in my home?”.  I was able to fill a medium sized plastic tote full of things that don’t have a reason to be here anymore!  I condensed all my cake decorating supplies and put them in a plastic reusable bowl with a lid, and then I whipped out my label maker just for fun  I also found some cute decorative plastic storage bags that I had bought at the beginning of the school year for Savannah’s snacks.  And I learned that I don’t need to buy aluminum foil, plastic freezer bags, or parchment paper for a long time!  I had more than I thought I did!  When your space is cluttered and you can’t find what you need, you often spend double having to buy more of the item!

2009-A new beginning, a new house, a new blog, and hopefully a new adventure (or two).  The New Year always brings out the domestic goddess in me.  The holiday decorations get put away, and the house looks fresh and clean again.  Not that I don’t love decking the halls, but I also enjoy getting the house “back to normal”, whatever that may mean.  We’ve been in our new house for eight months now, and I’m really enjoying making it a home for our family.