I’ve written gobs of blog posts where I’m really bad about never going back and letting you know how that all turned out.  This is my goal for tonight:  lots of updates!!

Update #1:  The Great Clean Out

inspired by reading Money Saving Mom‘s book:

It’s sort of an odd time to suddenly be all about organizing my house:  we are moving in JUNE.  However, we are drowning in TMS–too much stuff–so I have been plugging away at “The Great Clean Out”.  I decided to combine it with “Getting Organized”, one of my goals for the year.  I’ve been a rubbermaid boxing, label makin’ fool.

Okay, really I’ve only managed to organize three rooms and a few closets, but I’m going to whip out that “4 small boys” excuse again.  It works well for me.  Progress is progress.  Go me.

Here are my Organization tips:

1.  stackable boxes.  There’s nothing worse than avalanches of stuff. You know, like a giant pile of purses that falls on your head if you move the wrong way.  It looks bad.  It creates confusion, and it just doesn’t work.  Put all that same junk in stackable boxes, and suddenly BOOM, you look–and are indeed–organized.

2.  Label it!  If it’s in the box, it needs to be on the label.  “Office stuff” is not a label.  A proper label should read:  “paper clips, folders, notebooks, paper”.  You get the idea.  Specify!!!!

3.  Toss, toss, toss!!!!  

If you don’t remember the last time you used it, you don’t need it.  If you’re keeping it for that day, two years from now, when you will most certainly need it, but you don’t need it now–chances are you won’t know where it is then, so unless it’s extremely expensive–toss it.  

Even if it is costly, it may not work anymore by the time you finally need it.  You get the idea.  Go watch that t.v. show Hoarders for some inspiration.  This could be you!

I am almost done with our coat closet:

Sometimes I find myself with literally only 20 minutes before I have to leave the house, and that’s when I work in mini-projects like this.  All you need is 10 minutes to organize one drawer–one shelf–one cabinet.  You get the idea.  But first, go to your favorite “everything” store (Target), and get some of these awesome clear, square boxes.

Update #2:  Keeping My Toddler Busy

Remember all the hilarious Dan photos?  Dan covered in pudding, Dan and the powder- bedroom- blizzard, Dan and the baby cereal, etc. etc.???  I’m constantly on a mission to keep this little booger busy.  

My friend Patti gave us these Knex blocks for him.  HIGHLY RECOMMEND.  Check out the house he built.  After I took this photo, he stuck a propeller on top of it all and called it a helicopter.  Then it flew away with Daniel, and I’m not sure where it is now.

He has been much better lately.  Your birthday gifts to him also have helped him to stay busy.  THANK YOU!  He is obsessed with airplanes.

Update #3 Snow

We have snow everywhere, every week or so.  The good news is that it melts more quickly now.  The bad news is black snow:  GROSS.  Alabama friends, you would die.  Piles of plowed snow everywhere, and the street pollution turns them black.  Makes you wonder about what we’re breathing.

It’s a thing of wonder and beauty when it’s freshly fallen.  I will never really dislike snow.  It’s just that I don’t want to be cold anymore.

Last update:  #4  My Friday night dilemma from my last post

We ended up dividing up the kiddos.  Alan took Joshua and Dan to the buffet dinner.  I stayed home with Caleb and John David, which has actually been an extremely relaxing evening for me.

See, I kept JD out and about all day.  We volunteered at the school–don’t worry, we made and sorted copies and didn’t disrupt any classes.  Then we went to lunch with my friend Margret. JD ATE QUESADILLAS!!!  I was so proud!

All that, plus three hours of stroller riding to get the boys from school and an hour and a half at the park left JD wiped out. He was completely sleep deprived, so he went to bed at 6pm.  Yes, I will have to be up with him a little tonight to pay for that, but oh well.

Right now it’s just Caleb and me–oh the glory–the two people who love to sit here and play computer the most, and that is exactly what we are doing.   I love you, Caleb!!!!

Caleb and me, 6 years ago

More Organizing Posts:

The Great Toy Overhaul

Goal: To Take Housekeeping More Seriously, But Not Too Seriously

The post The Year of Getting Organized appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

Happy Snow Day!!!

  Does anyone else get a bad case of the “blahs” on snow days???  It looks all glamorous and fun in the photos, but after a little while I get the need to get OUT of the house.  I just have this constant desire to be left alone.

  Isn’t that kind of hilarious?  I want to be left alone, but I have a baby, a toddler, two boys, and a talkative husband.  Actually, they all like to talk.  I’m a woman.  This should be wonderful to me, and it IS wonderful, but oh barnacles, it’s winter, you know?

  I finally had the opportunity to sneak out of here for a walk in the snow this afternoon, so I zipped up my winter coat and my cowboy boots and fled the premises.  

It was such a RELIEF to be walking on the freshly shoveled sidewalk, while there was a lull in the “wintry mix”.  It’s really not even that cold; it was something like 30 degrees.

  I noticed a car drive by, and it sort of looked like they were laughing at me….but who knows.  I looked down at myself:  misty glasses from the weather, giant coat, yoga pants, tucked into cowboy boots.  Ha!  Right.  While I feel like an adventurous young woman, to others I must look like a crazy suburban housewife, out walking in the rain.

  I’ve decided to just be okay with that, and I was getting some good thinking done, so I trudged on, quite convinced I could at least walk off some of the Valentine treats I’ve been pigging out on…..until I realized one of my feet was suddenly very wet.  I was only a little over half a mile from home.

  Drat.  I turned around, and that’s about when the sleet started, which suddenly turned into a hard snow, and at this point I felt quite amused with myself.

  I do hope that no matter how beat down and covered in children I get, I will always be the crazy lady out walking in the snow in cowboy boots.

  Too bad those boots aren’t water proof.  Remember when I posted that photo of Joshua with the white finger?  (Click here to see that photo)  Well, I had my very own white toe.  Kind of neat.

  When I got home, I stood in the driveway and just watched the snow for a few minutes.  

This is it.  This is the weather that’s keeping me from the weekend away that I had so looked forward to.  That’s right, my flight was supposed to leave this morning at 9:45am.  I was going to visit my parents,  hold the latest baby in the family, and just un-clench, you know?  The daily grind here is S-T-R-E-S-S-F-U-L.  I can’t explain just how stressful this phase of our life is.

  Just thinking about this vacation has made me giddy, but it just isn’t to be.  A very kind person said to me this week, “Whatever is meant to happen will happen,” and at the time I was like, “No way!  I am leaving town somehow!”

  Denial.  I was living in denial.

  The airline could not accommodate me this weekend, and they had a rule against just booking me for next weekend instead.  I’m getting a refund, which is nice, but now my getaway feels even further away.

  Ah, well, what is meant to be will be.  I’ll make it down south soon, Mom and Dad, I promise!

For now, at least I have my boys.  Here they are, just being boys:

Dan loves being out in the snow so much, it’s hard to get him to come inside!

JD and Daniel, playing in Daniel’s room.  If you can overlook the mess, just look at the wonder of it.  Kids at play.  I love it.  These are my happy thoughts.

Oh, Dan….  Toddlers don’t actually need parents to bend over backwards finding intricate activities for them.  They make their own science experiments just fine.  This one involved playdoh, water, and a water bottle, and the moment Mom wasn’t looking.  Ha!

my darling little mess-maker

The first footprints in the snow this morning were Joshua’s.  

He couldn’t wait to get out there in it.  Our neighbor, Patti sent him back home when she realized he wasn’t wearing any gloves and his coat wasn’t zipped.  Oy.  Thank you, Patti!  I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again.  Don’t knock suburbia.  We look out for each other here.  It’s a great place to be.

I was amused, looking out the window at these footprints (of Caleb’s) through the backyard.  It reminded me of those Family Circus newspaper cartoons, where he’d always draw the little boy’s footprints all over the yard.  This is Caleb’s version.

This made me laugh.  The “Keep out.” sign is Joshua’s creation.  At the bottom, it reads, “If letter slide under door.”  haaahahahaha.  So apparently, he wants us to keep out, but if you have a letter for him, he wants to be sure to get that!  The blue character was drawn by Caleb.

Tomorrow Alan’s planning to take the boys sledding.  I’m looking forward to that.  No, I’m not going.  I’m just looking forward to the quiet house.  ; )  Actually, I’m considering making snow angels…..

The post My Sloshy Walk Through a Winter Wonderland appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

JD had the hardest time with wanting to look at Xavier instead of the camera.  Finally, Zoe stepped in and got him laughing for the pic above this one.

The post Big Announcement!!! appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.