It's a New Day!!

The sun comes up, it's a new day dawning

It's time to sing Your song again

Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me

Let me be singing when the evening comes

Bless the Lord, O my soul
O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I'll worship Your holy name

You're rich in love, and You're slow to anger
Your name is great, and Your heart is kind
For all Your goodness I will keep on singing
Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find

Bless the Lord, O my soul
O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I'll worship Your holy name

10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord) 

Organizing 101: Part 1

I have had a few friends suggest that I share some of my organization techniques so here we go!!

In our Community Group, our ladies are doing the study of Saving Super Mom (if you missed my review of it, check it out here: Saving Super Mom). What I have learned (among other things) is that we as moms make our lives so much more complicated when we are constantly running around doing things - can't find the homework, what is my child taking to show and tell today, I can't believe I haven't cleaned the guest bathroom and we have guests coming over right after work, etc, etc. You can fill in the blank with whatever you might be stressing out with right now. 

Don't get me wrong, I still stress. Organization cannot take away all of the stress, but it can sure help!!! So, here are some tips that have worked well in our house as well as a few we are going to try out: 

1. Lay out clothes for the week.

• I have Lizzy's clothes laid out in this hanging shelf. Every morning, she picks out what she wants to wear but it doesn't take very long because she only has 6 choices (some mornings I tell her to pick between the top 2)

• The white container underneath has her underwear and socks. This is right at her level so she can pick those out on her own. 
• I also pick out my clothes for the work week and sometimes for the weekend as well. I simply hang them up in one corner of my closet. This has helped my mornings out SO much because I don't have to make any of these decisions. 

2. Meal Planning 

• I try and plan with Matt at least our weekly meals. We have a 15 day budget for food (we get cash out on the 1st and 15th so sometimes we try and plan for 15 days). 
• We do NOT plan a meal each day. We (or Matt) cooks about 3-4 meals a week. We eat leftovers. This has helped our food budget tremendously. Also, cooking takes TIME and so now only have to cook maybe 3 days out of the week instead of 7 allows time for you to do something else. 

3. Cleaning Schedule

• This is what we have tried the last few weeks.  Matt was gone for an entire week and so I had time to clean the entire house and get an idea of what needs to be done each week. I have felt that Matt and I are doing double the work lately (I will get home and he will say he vacuumed and I will ask why because I just did yesterday - no dirt on floor, he was just trying to do the weekly vacuuming but didn't know that I already did it). So...I created this schedule and have put it in a picture frame so that we can mark off with a dry erase marker when that task has been done. This way we both know what is to be done. That way, if he is off that day, he knows what I might need help with. Ladies - this is KEY. Most of the husbands I have talked with say they will do more around the house IF THEY KNOW WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE. I know your response is, "he should just know" but he doesn't...trust me! So...I will keep you posted on how well (or not) this goes for us. 

Here is the actual document:

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Dust All of Downstairs	Wash Lights	Wash Darks	Wash UA & Lizzy’s Clothes	Clear Off Kitchen Counters	Wash Dog Towels and Beds	Lay Out Clothes for the Week
Wash Dishes	Vacuum All Downstairs	Wipe Down Kitchen and Breakfast Room Table	Swiffer All Downstairs	Clean Downstairs Guest Bathroom	Clean Lizzy’s Bathroom	Wash Dishes
	Clear Off Kitchen Counters	Clean Out Refrigerator	Wash Dishes	Wash Dishes	Wash Dishes
	Wash Dishes	Clear Off Kitchen Counters	Clear Off Kitchen Counters	Clean Master Bathroom
		Take All Trash Outside and Trash on Street

1^st Week: Dust and Vacuum Upstairs 

2^nd Week: Clean Baseboards                                                                                          

3^rd Week: Dust/Wipe Light Fixtures and Dust Fans                                                                                       4^th Week: 

4. Mail/Clutter Station

• One of the things I cannot stand is when someone brings the mail in and then just puts it in a pile - half of it opened and half not. I created this mail station with the inspiration of this blog: The Nest Effect. All mail goes right into the incoming mail file and then I go through it once every few days and then sort things from there. 

5. Organizing Husband's Junk"

• So for everyone out there who has a husband that wears a uniform, you can may share in  my misery that EVERYTHING  that he needs to get ready in the morning (shirt stays, radio, gun holster, ear piece, etc) ends up on the counter in our bathroom. So...I bought these cheap little baskets at Wal-Mart and he can put everything he takes off into that container and I NEVER have to see it!!!

More to come :)