"Inbetween the Laundry" Accomplishments

Yesterday I told you that I was planning on getting lots done inbetween my laundry loads.  Let me just tell you that the 6 loads of laundry that were washed, dried, folded and put away were an accomplishment in and of itself.  However, I also was able to get some other things done as well. 

The first thing I was able to mark of my list was Razy's Room.  Awhile ago she got into her storage closet and pulled out a bag of clothes that she had already outgrown and a bag of clothes that she has yet to grow into.  She had them all over her floor.  She also had her dirty clothes mingled in with the others.  She and I were able to put the old clothes away, wash the new clothes and put them away and get the dirty laundry washed and put away.  Not only that, but I was able to go through her closet and pull out more clothes that she has outgrown.  

We Turned This....

Into This...

The first thing I was able to mark of my list was Razy's Room. Awhile ago she got into her storage closet and pulled out a bag of clothes that she had already outgrown and a bag of clothes that she has yet to grow into. She had them all over her floor. She also had her dirty clothes mingled in with the others. She and I were able to put the old clothes away, wash the new clothes and put them away and get the dirty laundry washed and put away. Not only that, but I was able to go through her closet and pull out more clothes that she has outgrown.

I don't have pictures to show of it, but I was able get the base part of our 4th of July pinata made. 

8 layers!!!  It is going to be a doozy to break. 

The playroom...the oh so dreaded playroom.  I sent the kids in there to clean while I worked on the pinata.  After being in there for about 45 mins by themselves and getting barely anything accomplished, I worked alongside them.  Sadly after about 45 mins working in there with them we only made a small dent and will be back in there today.  I told them it has to be cleaned by Friday so we can go watch Cars2.  Hopefully that is incentive for them to get it done.

Remember my Spring Blocks I made awhile back?  I finally got my Summer Blocks finished! Here is a sneak peak...

So those are the BIG things I got done.  I didn't count all the extras that we moms do during the day, everyday...

feed the kids,

clean up after the kids,

wash the kids,

play with the kids

and so on and so forth.

I really need to stop playing catch up and stay ontop of my laundry. 

Shanna has it figured out...

There are 5 of us in my family so I do the days laundry every night before I go to bed so I don't have laundry catch up days. After the kids are in bed, I throw the days clothes in the washer. Then I either watch one of my tivo'd shows, do some homework, read a book, etc. Then I throw it in the dryer and take my nightly bath and get ready for bed. By the time I am done, so is the load and I fold it and go to bed. Then once a week I only have a load of whites and a load of towels to do. I developed this system after realizing that all I do on my day off is laundry. No fun! :)

and thanks to Lynn who wrote...

So Shanna has an awesome system! My take on it? Well...instead of being even further productive while my washer takes care of the clothes cleaning, I usually end up on facebook or random blogs. Oh look, here I am! :) Can't wait to hear what you accomplished!

I am so glad that I am not the only one who gets sucked into the world of blogs and facebook, when I really should be more productive while the laundry is running.

New Skill Challenge!

Do you ever get into the domestic mode and get all giddy when you do something you have never done before?  Well today I canned for the first time and I am feeling quite proud of myself for tackling alone.  It has always been something that I have wanted to try.  Last year JBody's grandmother gave us boxes and boxes of jars.  I had plans to can last year and never did get around to it.  This year I decided I would take on the project.  Let me tell you it is quite the project when you do it all by yourself (well with a little help from the smaller hands in our home) and when your little kitchen only has so much counter and moving space.  After only a few hours of canning here are my results.  Yep I only got 4 quart jars of applesauce and 2 smaller jars (don't know the size) of apple butter. I think I may have had them in the water bath for too long, but I wanted to make absolutely sure. To some I probably am really slow at canning.  Some may even think, "Why bother?"  I would respond, "It was a fun learning experience."  I love it when I learn a new skill.  Don't we all take pride in the work we do with our own hands no matter how small they may seem to another?  I know I do.  So for all of my readers out there, I challenge you to do something you have never done before.  Who knows you may just find your new favorite pastime.  Come back and tell me how it turned out for you.  I would love to hear all about it and give you praises and congratulations!

Tackle It Tuesday

Christmas Advent Calendar

For today's tackle I needed to get my advent calendar done. I cut it close being that today is the first day of December. But it is done and very cute if I do say so. It is made from a cookie sheet that has been spray painted and emblished with stickers, cutouts, paper, buttons, ect. I didn't get the title done (Countdown to Christmas). I lost my i, but I wanted to get the calendar up so the kids could enjoy it.

Each day the kids will help me add one of the magnetic embelishments.

I really didn't want to glue all of these numbers on the calendar so I used my cricut to cutout vinyl numbers. So much easier and I think that it will keep the numbers form falling off over the years of use.

So tell me what is it that you have planned to tackle before the holidays (ie: homemade gifts, decorations, ect.)

Tackle It Tuesday

I am back and what better day to start back up than Tackle It Tuesday! I have been thinking a lot today about the little things and wondering why it has been so hard for me to keep up on everything. As I put the kids to bed this evening, I decided that I would straighten up the kitchen and dining room. Yes I know many of you if not all do this every night after you have dinner, but I have gotten into the habit of doing it in the morning the next day. After putting everything away in those two rooms I moved onto the playroom. For those of you who have been to my house you know that this room gets cleaned every couple of weeks. Three kids can do a lot of damage to a room and I don't have the energy or time to clean up after them ALL the time. This morning we had cleaned the playroom so I only had to pick up a few things. The living room was next and this room too just had a few things to pick up.

So why am I telling you that I cleaned up all these rooms. Well I have found that I have become somewhat lazy in picking up around the house. Small messes soon turn to larger ones and then before I know it I am spending 30mins to an hour cleaning a room when it should only take me a couple minutes. Yes I know my kids are old enough to help, and this is part of my problem. What is my problem you ask? CONSISTENCY. I have decided that I really need to be consistent in things.

I was not always like this. When it was just JBody, Lil E and myself, I was so much more consistent. I was able to stay on top of the household chores. I made time for scripture reading and writing in my journal. I did so much better on exercise and I actually had time to read or do other leisurely activities. Why am I not like that anymore? Did my days go from 24 hours to 16 hours just like that? No. I just have forgotten how to manage my time and be more consistent with the things that I think matter most. Yes I do spend more time running kids to school and back. Getting three kids ready takes more time than just one. Taking the puppy to go potty at various times of the day does take some time, but I am spending way too much time doing things that don't need to be done. FACEBOOK! There I said it. Yes I do love that I can keep up with my friends that I haven't seen in years, but geez this is ridiculous. And yes I do become obsessive when I am researching something on the internet. If I can't find what I am looking for in a couple of minutes than I need to just get over it and move on to something else.

You are probably wondering why I am talking about this when I started out talking about Tackle It Tuesday. Well for my tackle today I have decided that I am going to become more consistent. I am not going to jump right into it and try to tackle every little thing at once. Recently we were challenged at church to finish the Book of Mormon by the end of the year. The challenge came at the end of August. JBody and I figured that if we read 2 chapters a day we could finish it buy the end of December. 2 chapters, easy enough. We have been really good with being consistent in reading the scriptures with the kids before bed even if it is only a few verses. However, my personal scripture study has been non-existent for the past couple of years. So this challenge has not been easy for me. I soon fell behind....WAY behind. So behind that I had to change from 2 chapters a day to 3. I was struggling with 2 how was I going to manage 3? Yes I am behind with even the goal of 3 chapters a day, but guess what, I have been consistent for over the past week with my scripture reading. I have been able to keep with my goal of 3 chapters a day and then some. What a change it has made in my home as well. I feel more motivated to keep things picked up. I get less irritated with the kids. Things seem more peaceful and less hectic. It really has made a difference. I really feel that because both JBody and I have been reading the scriptures the spirit seems stronger in our home. I know that it is not coming from just our commitment to personally read the scriptures, but with reading them together as a family and having family prayer, being consistent with Family Home Evening, and our personal and companionship prayers.

I am rambling aren't I? Well at least I am blogging again. Again back to Tackle it Tuesday...Next Tuesday I hope to report that I stayed consistent with my reading, but to add to that I am going to be consistent with going to bed with a clean house. That doesn't mean immaculate. It can still be lived in, but I (with the help of the kids) will straighten up the playroom and living room and I will not leave the dishes till the morning. And to add to that list I am going to be more consistent with laundry. Laundry to me is like getting into debt. Once you are in it, it is SO hard to get out of it. And one last thing...I am going to try to become more consistent with blogging again. No promises there. Small steps right?

Are you needing some consistency? What are you going to work on?

TACKLE it TUESDAY!! **Baby Shower Cake**

This week's tackle is a Baby Shower cake that I made for a party tonight. The baby's name is Riley. She was born last Monday. The mommy didn't have any preferences on the cake, just that it was chocolate. She told me to surprise her. So I went with what I knew I would like...Pink and Brown. I wisha that the pictures gave justice to the true colors of the cake.

To see more cakes that I have done check out my cake blog.

It's A Peach of Cake.

TACKLE it TUESDAY!!

PRIMARY BULLETIN BOARD

It has taken me awhile to actually get to our primary bulletin board. I started it and had some things up in January, but I really didn't like it. Then a bunch of things happened and I really just forgot about it. So I dedicated this previous weekend to redo and get up the bulletin board on Sunday. I think it turned out really cute. We share the board with 2 other wards. They have their stuff on either side of ours. I cut most of the stuff out using my Cricut. I love that machine.

The Primary theme for 2009 is My Eternal Family. Each month has a theme that pertains to the yearly theme. This months theme is Family Members have Important Responsibilities. The picture up in the left corner will be switched out monthly and replaced with the new months theme and scripture. In the right corner I put The Family Proclamation. In the middle of the board is a world with children from various parts and a temple. Every 2 weeks we will be spotlighting a family in the ward. Their picture will be placed in the middle of the temple and some information about them to the right in the green box. To the left of the world are the birthdays for the month. And at the bottom of the board are squares for information about Primary, Activity Day Girls, and Scouts. I love the theme for the year. The spirit is so strong as we teach the children about the family and how it is of God. The music for the year is exceptionally great. I love being able to share this experience each Sunday with Lil' E. I love my family so much and am so grateful to know that we can be a family for eternity.

Do you have a tackle the you have completed. Let us know by leaving a comment and signing in to Mr. Linky.

TACKLE it TUESDAY!!

I know that it is Wednesday and I didn't post my Tackle it Tuesday. Things were a bit crazy yesterday. I started out thinking I would tackle my stove drip pans. They were nice and grimy. JBody told me I should just go and buy some new ones, but I really thought that I could clean them up nicely. I was so excited after I finished the first one. It was all clean and shiny. Almost like new. The other three weren't as easy. They do look better, but not like I wanted them to look.

Then I decided to move on into the boys' room. It has been long over due for a sortment of clothes. I was able to organize the closet with colored hangers. Lil' E has all his clothes hanging on blue hangers and Doble has the white hangers. I put away clothes thta no longer fit them both, and pulled out ones that they can now wear. I did the same thing with their clothes in their drawers. However, I still don't feel finished. That project took me all day and I still have more to finish.

During my tackles, JBody asked me to do some looking around at prices for car batteries and some other things. So my focus got a bit distracted.

I can say that I was able to get one thing tackled completely. My sister asked me to fill out some questions for her. I will be honest I have been dreading them because they are ones that take some thought and I wanted them to be just right. The following are the questions she asked me to fill out. I thought about putting my answers down. Maybe another time. Right now I feel that they are too personal and just between my sister and I.

The above name student is taking a class entitled "Principles of Inner Victory." They have been asked to identify someone with whom they have a relationship of trust, and invite them to participate in an assignment for the class. The objective of this assignment is to help the person get to know themselves better from the perspective of and through the eyes of another person. You have been identified as such a person.Please take fifteen to thirty minutes to assist this person in completing the assignment by writing a few paragraphs in response to some or all of the questions below. Be objective and positive as well as honest in your suggestions for their potential improvement (please include number 5 and 6 in your response). Also, please note the date by which you need to return this to the student so that their assignment can be completed in a timely fashion.Thank you for your willingness to help this student.

Questions:

1. When you think of this person, what is their single most significant positive character trait?

2. If you were commissioned to write a book (novel) with an objective to help others find meaning in their life with the above name person as a character, what role would you cast them in? What message would their life bring to the reader? What positive characteristics would you want to accentuate as you cast this person?

3. Imagine that you are given a task to provide employment placement services for the above named individual, wherein you will evaluate all of their strengths and place them in a career or position to have the most positive affect upon the lives of others. What are their three most significant traits? In what area of the workplace do you feel they will grow personally, be able to contribute, and be able to utilize their greatest strengths?

4. Looking to the future when most all of us must leave this mortal existence, if you were to design a headstone to be placed at their grave upon their death some 60 years from now, what inscription or epitaph would you include on the marker for future generations to remember? Why?

5. Given all their strengths, can you think of one area where this person might focus attention and energy to improve themselves and become even a better person?

6. What advice would you give this person as they seek a happy and joyful life personally, professionally, etc.

Could you also please include 10 qualities about me. This is for another assignment! Thanks!(I have included the answers for this so you could see what type of wonderful person my sister is.)

1. Integrity: Trustworthy and Honest

2. Caring

3. Responsible

4. Fair

5. Respectful

6. Virtuous

7. Approachable, Likeable

8. Empathetic

9. Benevolent: Charitable, wanting to help others.

10. Teachable

I encourage you to think of a person and answer these questions about them and possibly share them with them. I did enjoy the experience.

TACKLE it TUESDAY!!

Today's tackle has actually been done for awhile. However, I just never got around to getting pictures taken and I needed to get Razy's room cleaned up so I could take the pictures. I am so excited about having it done. I think that it turned out really cute.

Today's Tackle...

RAZY'S NOOK

This is a piece that my parents gave to me when they gave me my cedar hope chest. We painted it to go with Razy's room colors: Pink and Green

This bookshelf is actually pressed partical board. It was white, but I painted the outside pink with the tinkerbell green in the inside to match the shelf above it.

I was not a fan of the mahogany wood all over the walls and ceilings. However, I think it goes with her room. It is just a matter of what to do with the rest of the upstairs. Our room, the boys' room, the bathroom, and the hall are all done in mahogany. At least it is real wood and not the cheap panaling. I think I would have a harder time getting used to it.
JBody's sister gave us this dresser. Someone made it and gave it to her. It was unstained wood so we just slapped on some pink and green and viola a little girls dresser. Cute if I do say so myself.
The top of her dresser has a princess snowglobe I recieved for a graduation present, a little girl looking at a sleeping baby fairy with another fairy telling her to be quiet; gift from my mom, and a fairy on a tree branch; a gift given to Razy from my Aunt Mary. Can you tell what the theme of her room is yet?
I thought I would through in a picture of the cute TUTU I won from FairyWonderful. I love it. I need to get a picture of her in it. She like to wear it and spin circles with it on.

I bought this picture at the Victorian Christmas this past Christmas. I forgot I had it until yesterday actually. I thought it went perfect in her Fairy room.

You can't really tell what her bedding is here, but it is pink with dragonflies on it. She has one of those soft minky dot pillows and her blankie that she has to sleep with as well.

I know that I need to post some other pictures of the house, but this is a start. Hope you like. I know I love it. It is probably my favorite room in the house. It is so small, but perfect for a little girl.

TACKLE it TUESDAY!!

This is a tackle that I really haven't been looking forward to. However, I have told myself that I just need to do it and in theend I will be grateful that it is done. My Tackle this week is....

POTTY TRAINING DOBLE

I really started this tackle yesterday and was really getting frustrated. I was trying to get him to go every 15 minutes, but he would just say he didn't have to go and then he would get upset because of it. I called my mom and she told me to call a friend. So I called my friend Jen and this is what she told me worked really well for her.

She dedicates the whole week to potty training. It didn't take her boys the whole week, but at least this way she new that the week was clear. She then takes the kids to the store and they buy crackers, snacks, candy, and juice (a lot of it). When they get home they strip naked and sit on the potty, yes all day long. At first I was thinking, I really don't want the potty in the living room and him in front of the tv the whole day, but I am willing to try anything to make it easier. When they go potty we make a HUGE deal of it, dancing, singing, candy, the whole shabang. Then clean the potty out and get back on.

So I tried this starting at about 3. I put him on the potty and he got really excited that he was going. At dinner I let him sit with us (Jen has the kids eat on the potty). He was sitting for only a few minutes when he yells out, "Mommy I need to go potty." Yeah I am so hoping this continues this way. Today I have him in front of the tv again on the potty. I did have to take him to preschool to drop Lil' E off and he stayed dry. HORRAY! Hopefully by the end of the week he will be in underwear and telling me he needs to go and have the potty in the bathroom.

Doble on the potty all set and ready for a Potty Training Birthday Party! We call it that because the boys love birthday parties and they think it is cool to be having this Potty Party.

Doble in Heaven. What kid wouldn't love sitting in front of the TV watching Thomas all day and having all the crackers and juice you could ask for?

Razy is enjoying the festivities. Here she is all set with her own supply of juice and crackers. She loves that each time Doble goes she gets to have skittles. She sees them on top of the tv and continues to ask for them. I did think about waiting until September to potty train Doble and do Razy at the same time, but I really want him potty trained in time for Preschool in the Fall and she is too young to be doing it right now. Someone did tell me I should try next month when she will be 18 months, but she is so not ready.

Do you having any potty training tips? Are you in the process of potty training one of your own and need some encouragement along the way? Leave your comments and if you are potty training a little one I would love to give you encouragement, because I know that I myself will be needing it this week. Sometimes I think that it can be just as hard on mommy as it is on the trainee.

TACKLE it TUESDAY!!

For todays tackle, I will be in the laundry room. You know that beautiful, organized room in which we all love. If only mine was like that. Here are some pictures of how I WISH my laundry room looked. They are not my DREAM laundry rooms, but are pretty close to it. Anything organized and clean is fine with me.

Loving all the storage space and even the color. It is so calming. Maybe then I could just relax as I do the laundry. The only thing the laundry room is missing is a sink and front LARGE front loader.

Don't you just love how there is a window that lights this laundry room up. My laundry room is in the basement so it is never so light as this. Also like the flooring and the must have sink.

Okay now onto reality. The following are not of rooms in my house, but at times (most times) very similar. According to the blog I found this picture was on it is 12 organized piles of laundry. Do any of you do this? I am guilty of doing this all the time. However, since we've moved into our place, I have been able to just THROW it down the basement stairs so no one has to see it. Thus the reason it piles up. It goes out of sight, then out of mind.

So like the look of my laundry room. Boxes,clothes, luggage, anything and everything all over the place. This is why I need to tackle it. I did notice they like Tide, just as I do. However, I like to use the liquid detergent. What kind do you like to use? Is your detergent scented, or unscented; powder or liquid?

My Goal isn't to organize everything, just to get laundry DONE. By done I mean washed, dried, folded, and PUT AWAY. The last thing is the hardest for me. It seems that laundry just stays in the hamper sometimes until it is time to wear it again. Do you do this too, or am I the only one?

Tackle= Get 6 loads of laundy DONE

Seems kind or like a weeny tackle, but hey I have 2 sick kids and my living room is a disaster because we pretty much moved the whole play room into it so we could paint.

TACKLE it TUESDAY!!

I am posting this really late, but I thought I would tell you what I tackled today. It really feels like a big fat NOTHING! Hopefully by writing a list out I will feel a little better about how I spent my day.

• Woke up and fed Lil' E breakfast before preschool
• Dressed myself the Lil' E
• Read Lil' E five books to go toward his reading contest
• Woke Razy up and dressed her. Her hair was crazy messy and I pulled it all up in 5 connecting ponies (I'll have to take a picture so you understand)
• Doble woke up so I dressed him.
• Loaded the kids in the car and headed to preschool.
• Dropped Lil' E off and let Razy and Doble stay for awhile so they could participate in their writing time at school
• Gave a preschool mom a ride up the road
• Stopped by the office to sign something for JBody
• Got home and unloaded the dishwasher
• Loaded the dishwasher
• Started a load of laundry
• Folded the load that came out
• Called my Aunt to plan our (mine and Razy's) trip to Oregon
• Put Razy down for a nap
• Took a shower
• My big TACKLE OF THE DAY: Fill out my insurance paperwork and get off in the mail
• Started a new load of laundry
• Folded and put away the load that just came out
• Picked Lil' E up from preschool
• Fed the kids lunch
• Cleaned the living room
• Looked online for hotel rates for trip to Oregon
• Called to get a babysitter for Saturday
• Put Razy down for her second nap
• Cleaned the playroom
• Razy woke up and from then on really got nothing done
• Redid Razy's crazy nap hair
• Parent meeting and dinner at 5:30-7:30
• JBody picked the kids up from the dinner at 6:00. I finished the meeting.
• Walmart to pick up a birthday present and milk
• Got home sat down watched American Idol
• Talked to my Aunt about hotels so she could book the hotel
• This post

Yes I know, I wrote everything down (minus the diaper changings and little things like that), but it makes me feel better to see a long list.

So Did I Tackle It?

Not only did I tackle the refrigerator, I conquered it. It actually didn't take me very long to finish it either. Lil' E came home from preschool and looked inside, turned to me, and asked "Did we eat all the food?" Nope mommy just threw it all away.
Here is a list of everything else I was able to tackle today...

• Showered and dressed myself and 3 kids all BEFORE preschool and got there on time.
• Played legos with Doble and Razy
• Cleaned and organized the refrigerator
• Washed dishes and loaded the dishwasher
• Picked Lil' E up from preschool
• Stopped by a friend's home
• Lunch (yes it was leftovers but hey we all sat at the table together)
• Cleaned the dining room (Razy can do a doezy on the floor in there)
• Cleaned the living room and vacuumed (well Lil' E did most of the vacuuming. He has really taken a liking to it.)
• Read to the kids
• Put Razy down for a nap
• Did an art project with the boys (They turned out really cute. I will have to post a picture later.)
• 3 loads of laundry.
• Autumn came over to play for little while she was joined by her big brother later in the day.
• Surfed the web a bit tweeked the blog a bit.
• Dinner (Sorry can't say I actually made it...pizza)
• JBody came home and helped me come up with a shopping list.
• Went grocery shopping (no kids) to Costco and Safeway.
• JBody and I put a trunk load of food and household items away.
• Sat down to relax and watch AMERICAN IDOL!!!
• This post

TACKLE it TUESDAY!!

Do you ever feel that you are behind on anything and everything? This is a DEFINATE yes for me. Laundry, cleaning, reading, scrapbooking, shopping, lesson planning, blogging, ect. I am dedicating Tuesdays as my day to pledge to complete something that I have become behind on. This doesn't mean that all week I am going to neglect everything else on my list. It just means that I have to complete the task or tasks that I have pledged that day. Reporting back will force me to get things done, instead of saying, "I will just finish it tomarrow." Not only am I hoping to get things done that I have let pile up, but we all like to let others know how much we have accomplished and it feels good for others to support us. So if you would like to join me in my Tackle it Tuesday sign up on the Mr. Linky. We can all be there to praise and support as we tackle our much needed and sometimes unwanted tasks.

For my First Tackle...
Tackle the Refrigerator

I will spare you pictures of the inside of my refrigerator. Just trust me when I tell you it needs a cleaning. I am somewhat sad to clean it because whenever I do it REALLY looks like we have no food. I start throwing everything away. However, that is also a good thing right. As for the outside, it to needs a cleaning. The top especially. Do you use the top of your refrigerator as a collection area. Somehow everything finds it's way to the top of the fridge. Right now we have two bowls of leftover stocking candy, a birthday bag, an almost empty can of almond roca and some other odds and ends up there. Not to mention it probably has collected quite a bit of dust since the last time I cleaned it. As for the art work. Most of it will stay, some will go (in the trash) and some may be save worthy. Wish me luck! And good luck to those of you who have things to tackle yourself.