New Year Goals...

There are two things that stick out in my mind that I'd like to work on as I start this New Year.  

One is losing weight.  Yeah, I know... cliche.  But, Michael and I are starting to talk about Baby #3 and I'd like to lose some weight before getting pregnant.  That's what motivated me last time... I dropped 75 pounds(!) before becoming pregnant with Callen.  Thankfully, I don't need to lose that much weight again... but I certainly need to lose quite a bit again.  Michael and I are going to try to stick close to the Weight Watchers diet and points system.  That's what worked for me last time, so here's hoping!

The second thing I'd like to work on this year is being more patient and gentle towards my boys (all of them!).  I blow up and lose my temper way too easily with them much too often.  They seem to know how to push just the right set of buttons to set me off.  But I don't want my sons to think back on their childhood, remembering Mom as being "mean."  There are ways to keep them in line with out yelling, scolding, etc.  And I need to hold my tongue more often against my husband!

So, no resolutions... just a few goals to throw out there and work on to better myself in 2012.  What are your 2012 goals?

Walk to Cure Diabetes...

My family and I will be walking in the JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes on Saturday, September 24th.  Why?

Because of this little girl.

Meet Elise.  Isn't she gorgeous?  She's a precious 4-yr-old girl who has Type I Diabetes.  We have known her since she was born, as her parents are dear friends of ours.  Fred and Jo are absolutely amazing.  They always have been, of course, but especially ever since the big D-word was brought into their life, when Elise was diagnosed right in the middle of her FIRST BIRTHDAY PARTY!  They are practically superheroes, as are all mothers and fathers who care for children with a disease.  Especially one that requires so much constant attention.  I am constantly in awe of this family!

Type II Diabetes runs in my family.  My mother has it, and is able to control it with medicine and diet.  I know that makes me a target as well.

I pray that somehow, some way there will be a cure for Diabetes in the future.  My family is supporting this organization in an effort to help make that possible!  Won't you join us?  It's too late to join the official Team Elise walkers for this year, but it's not too late to donate to our cause.  Please make a donation in our name (Jade, Michael, Preston or Callen Clark) for Team Elise.

Click here to read more about sweet Elise and how you can help!  Thank you!

Summer Weight Shedding Challenge, Post 4 (of 12)

I have joined up with some other ladies at The Homeschool Lounge in this Summer weight-loss challenge. I have found that when I have a specific challenge or a real goal and someone to be accountable to, I can do much better! My goal is to lose around 25 pounds.  The challenge lasts 12 weeks, ending on October 7th.

Uhhhhh.  I suck.  Lol.  I don't know if it's me or my scale.  My husband and I have speculated for years now that our scale is wrong... or at least dumb.  I know, I know... suuuurrrre, blame the scale.  It's frustrating.  Either the scale went nuts (which is possible because my son was playing with it the other day), ORRRRR, my body is crazy.  I weighed myself on Friday morning and it showed I was up four pounds.  FOUR?!  What the hey?  This morning, though, it showed I was up to my original starting place for this challenge.  I choose to believe this morning's reading because... it's not as bad, of course!  But I have to admit that I have not been active.  I keep saying I want to be, but I just don't do it.  Besides chasing down my kids through the house and going back and forth with laundry or picking up toys... I am not up to much.  I have the (convenient) excuse of it being 112 degrees outside - I mean, what can I do about that?  I could get the kids up early, try to figure out a way to walk with them to get exercise, but honestly... that does not seem likely.  Preston cannot keep up, gets tired 5-minutes in, can't ride his bike very well... his options are strictly limited.  I can't put them both in the stroller.  My hands are tied.  Yes, convenient excuses... I know.  I obviously don't want to lose weight as bad as I say I do.  Perhaps I should just wait until Fall to really put some effort into it.  Or I could just stop shoving food into my mouth now.  Hmm...

My goal this week is: Stop shoving food into my mouth without thinking.

The great thing about being on WW was that I had to think about and record every single thing I ate.  That really puts things into perspective, and you start going "I don't want to admit to eating this, so I'm not going to!"  I guess I should start recording my food intake and it'd challenge me to make better choices. 

7/15 - 24 pounds to go
7/22 - 23 pounds to go
7/29 - 23 pounds to go
8/05 - 24 pounds to go

Previous Summer Weight Shedding Challenge post can be found here.

3 in 30: August 2011

I actually just received something in the mail that is very timely considering I'm joing the 3in30 Challenge this month. As a BzzAgent, I have been doing the Domino Project Campaign, and they sent some of us a copy of Pick Four from Zig Ziglar (curated by Seth Godin).  It is, according to Amazon.com, "an updated version of Zig Ziglar’s legendary goal-setting program, The Performance Planner. Updated, simplified and introduced by Seth Godin, Pick Four, is designed to help anyone achieve his or her goals."  It's a very neat, wire-bound, fill in the blank-type journal that keeps track of your goal progress (and in the beginning helps you narrow down what your true goals are!).  So, see?  Very timely, eh?

I have decided that my three goals for the month of August are:

1) Stick closer to the schedule I created for our mornings.  School-wise, we are trying to make our way through two workbooks before actually starting up First Grade on September 8th.  If we keep on task, we'll be done with those books two weeks before our school year starts, so we need to stay on task and have a bit of a total break from school!  I also need to keep the boys on that schedule so they have their nap/quiet time each day so I can work on my business.  And if that happens, I can get more done in that one chunk, so I don't have to be working here and there and there and here and feel like I'm doing it alllll day long (thereby not spending enough time just playing with the kids).  So, this one is pretty important.  All that to say that my goal is: Stay on schedule!

2)  Continue to keep after the house.  I did the "31 Days to Clean Challenge" in May, and it felt so great to have a clean home!  I want to have that feeling all the time!  I know it's practically impossible with two rambunctious boys, my floor will ALWAYS have crumbs no matter how hard I try.  But I can do a better job at staying after important stuff like dusting, keeping the bathrooms clean, vacuuming, etc.  I want it to be routine, without even having to think about it!  And I certainly don't want my house to get out of control! 

3)  And my last goal is to spend more time with my husband.  He works two jobs.  He's gone all day long most days of the week.  But there is time that we're together, we just usually spend it doing different things in different parts of the house.  I want to spend more quality time with him, and make sure he knows how much I appreciate what he does for our family!  I would like to try to make sure the time that we do spend together is not spent arguing or complaining to each other... I want it to be covered in love, appreciation, respect and honor!

So, those are my three attainable goals for the month of August.  They aren't earth shattering or world changing, but they're a start!  And that's pretty much all I can hope for right now...

Summer Weight Shedding Challenge, Post 3 (of 12)

I have joined up with some other ladies at The Homeschool Lounge in this Summer weight-loss challenge. I have found that when I have a specific challenge or a real goal and someone to be accountable to, I can do much better! My goal is to lose around 25 pounds.  The challenge lasts 12 weeks, ending on October 7th.

So.... yeah.  I maintained.  Which, is actually a good thing considering this was my week to crave nothing but grease and sweets.  You know what I mean, ladies?  The beginning of the week, I was good, though.  We snacked on apples, celery, Magic Pop (which is basically crunchy air!).  But by the end of the week, I was feeling all... girly... and my husband indulged my pleading for Mexican Food.  Sigh.  Hoping that once this passes, I'll be motivated again.  And maybe even get my but moving a little.  Well, I did run through the house with Callen last nite, chasing the little booger and making him squeal like crazy.  That counts as exercise, right?!?

My goal this week is: GET ACTIVE!!!

7/15 - 24 pounds to go
7/22 - 23 pounds to go
7/29 - 23 pounds to go

Previous Summer Weight Shedding Challenge post can be found here.

Summer Weight Shedding Challenge, Post 2 (of 12)

I have joined up with some other ladies at The Homeschool Lounge in this Summer weight-loss challenge. I have found that when I have a specific challenge or a real goal and someone to be accountable to, I can do much better! My goal is to lose around 25 pounds.  The challenge lasts 12 weeks, ending on October 7th.

Week one is over and I apparently lost a pound.  That's awesome!  I have no idea how, because I didn't do anything that would have helped me lose weight this week.  In fact, to be completely honest, I forgot I was even doing this challenge most of the time.  My bad!  I simply continued to eat whatever I wanted, snack wayyyy too much as usual, etc.  So, it was nice to step on the scale yesterday and see that it was one number less than it was last week.  I'll take it!  I don't, however, expect that to happen again.  I'm not that lucky.  I have to gain control over my snacking.  The boys are constantly hungry, constantly clawing at the pantry door... but I need to learn that just because they are having a snack, it doesn't mean I have to have one.  Especially if I'm not hungry!  C'mon, Jade, duhhhhh!

My goal this week is to 1) remember that I'm trying to lose weight and 2) act like it!  But seriously, I think I'll put a note on the pantry door or the Summer Shedding Challenge Icon at least to remind me that I am on a mission!  I need to do some grocery shopping, so hopefully I can keep myself from buying anything that would be too tempting.  And more fruits and veggies!  I know I can do this if I really put my heart into it!

7/15 - 24 pounds to go
7/22 - 23 pounds to go

Initially, I was only going to blog an update once a month, but I think if I commit to blogging it once a week, I'll be more likely to stay on track or at least be more accountable.  Sorry, this series has gone from 4 posts to 12!  Previous Summer Weight Shedding Challenge post can be found here.

Summer Weight Shedding Challenge, Post 1 (of 12)

I am joining up with some other ladies at The Homeschool Lounge in this Summer weight-loss challenge. I have found that when I have a specific challenge or a real goal and someone to be accountable to, I can do much better!  So, here's hoping!

My goal is to lose around 25 pounds.  The challenge lasts 12 weeks, ending on October 7th.  It's Summer and we aren't going to be able to get out and walk, and I don't have the ability to make it to a gym.  Losing 2 pounds a week is going to be extremely difficult.  But, as long as I see SOME progress, honestly, I'll be happy with myself.  My main problems are portion control and binge snacking!  So, I must curb those things to get control of my weight.

I have had a very successful weight-loss experience in the past.  After seeing a horrific picture of myself and realizing how out of control my weight had become, I signed up with Weight Watchers on March 31, 2008.  On April 9, 2009, I met my goal, having lost 75 pounds!  Honestly, it was a lot easier than I ever thought possible.  I walked my neighborhood and I controlled my portion sizes.  That's really all it took.  My motivation was that I had to lose weight so I could get pregnant again - I didn't want to add baby weight onto my current weight.  It worked!  Two months after I hit my goal weight, I got pregnant with Callen!  Now, we're not ready for another child just yet, but it would be nice to be rid of this extra weight and be back down to my goal weight (the same one I had with WW).  That way when we ARE ready for another kiddo, my body will be ready as well!

So, let's see what happens over the next 12 weeks!

7/15 - 24 pounds to go

31 Days to Clean, part 5 (of 5)...

It's not too late to start, if you are interested in the 31 Days To Clean Challenge.  The blog info is here and the 31 Days To Clean: Having a Martha House the Mary Way e-book can be found here.  You can start anytime, do it any way you want to, there aren't rigid rules... don't be intimidated.  There's also a helpful and encouraging forum, as well as twitter friends at the #31daystoclean hashtag!

Day 27 - I've got several boxes and bags ready for Goodwill - clothes, dishes, random trinkets, etc.  It will feel so nice to have that extra stuff out of the way.  And hopefully someone else can find it useful!  The remaining Martha Challenges have to do with the utility room.  Well, mine is teeny-tiny, only enough room for the washer, dryer and to walk through to the garage.  So, I scrubbed down the machines and cleaned the floor (except under, unfortunately).  That's really about all I can do in there.  I could tackle the two shelves, but honestly... there's not much hope for those, no other place for that stuff, so... I'm done with that!

Day 28 - I think my biggest area of guilt is the bathroom.  Ok, bathrooms.  I tend to let them go a little longer than they should.  I love, adore, cherish my giant bathtub... but I don't take care of it as I should.  I also tend to shed... BAD!  And the floor of my bathroom gets... hairy.  Gross! I know, sorry.  I go too long without sweeping up the hair.  So, I feel guilty about that.  I am really the only one that uses the master bathroom, I think that's why I don't give it more attention.  But I know my husband walks through there to get to the closet on occasion, and then I'm all "Oh no, don't look!"  Definitely planning to give it more attention from here on out!

• Getting off easy for the last 4 days of #31daystoclean, don't have much of a utility room!
• RT @sarahmaewrites: @heyjade slacker. ;) #31daystoclean // Thinking it's a bad sign when the author of the book calls you a "slacker." Ha!

Day 29 - I am certainly thankful for my "maids" - a.k.a. the dishwasher, the clothes washer, the dryer, the heavy duty vacuum, and the Swiffer.  I don't think I could even get out of bed if these things weren't readily available to me.  I can't afford a maid, so I am definitely thankful for these things that make my life so much easier!  Again, since I finished up cleaning the utility room on Friday, today I hit the hall closet.  It wasn't as bad as it could be (I've cleaned it a few times in the recently past) so it only took me a few minutes to clear out some stuff and rearrange it so that everything fit nicely.  No big deal today!

Day 30 - Coming up with 10 things I am thankful for took less than half a second.  I am so incredibly blessed.  Much more than I deserve that's for sure!  That's the beauty of God's grace... we don't have to earn our blessings!

1. My husband.
2. My Preston.
3. My Callen.
4. My parents.
5. My in-laws.
6. My home.
7. Our car.
8. Michael's jobs.
9. Freedom.
10. My Savior.

Yeah, they probably seem cliche, but I mean it.  My family is the best... so supportive and precious.  Living off of one income this past year has helped me realize how blessed we are that we have a house and our one car, and that Michael is able to work two jobs to make ends meet.  Our freedom in this country to worship and live as we please.  We can homeschool here in Texas with no harassment, I can't take that for granted!  And obviously, I am thankful for a God that sent His Son to die in my place, so that I could be here, now, living this very life.  Indeed, it doesn't hurt to take some time thanking HIM for all these things!  Even when you don't have much by the world's standards, you have SOMETHING to be thankful for.  Remember that!


Day 31 - I love the challenges for today - rest and enjoy life!  I can do that!  If only Callen hadn't been up all nite and spent most of the morning crying his face off!  But, it seems to have passed, so I think we can make a go at the rest of the day.  Make it a good one!

* Challenge Complete! *

Final thoughts: 
I loved this month-long challenge.  It really got me moving.  I don't think I would have really gotten around to doing some of this stuff... ever.  I have to say that having other people to tweet at, talk to and blog hop around with truly motivated me.  I guess I kind of felt that I was the only one not keeping my house up.  I'm glad to know that I'm not alone, and there are so many others out there just like me!  Thanks to Christin at JoyfulMothering.net for hosting this challenge.  Thanks to Sarah Mae for writing such a fabulous e-book that not only inspired me to clean my home, but to dig down deep and think about the reason WHY I should keep my home clean!  And thanks to all the others out there that took part in this challenge this time around for helping me get this done!  I pray you all enjoyed it, and learned from it, as much as I did!  Now, let's keep our homes clean from now on, ok?  Otherwise, I'll see ya in a month or two when we all have to do this over again!  =)

P.S. Looking forward to helping Sarah Mae kick off a new set of challenges.  She's using some of us as a focus group to see how they work.  Totally pumped about it!  Starts Monday!

31 Days to Clean, part 4 (of 5)...

It's not too late to start, if you are interested in the 31 Days To Clean Challenge.  The blog info is here and the 31 Days To Clean: Having a Martha House the Mary Way e-book can be found here.  You can start anytime, do it any way you want to, there aren't rigid rules... don't be intimidated.  There's also a helpful and encouraging forum, as well as twitter friends at the #31daystoclean hashtag!

Day 20 - Washed the mirrors in the bathroom and pondered where all my time goes... then I realized I was sitting around pondering for a while and wasted a lot of time.  Um... vicious circle much?  Or... question answered, perhaps.

Day 21 - I quickly cleaned the toilets and sinks in the bathrooms because the rest of the day was full of wedding festivities.  Preston was ring bearer in our friend, Dannell's, wedding... and thankfully everything went smoothly.  Yeah, I was a bit nervous that my sometimes-rebellious-5-year-old would have one of his moods and things would go all wrong on his part, but... he did SO GOOD!  Everyone kept telling me (and him) how great he did the whole day.  Super proud of him!

Day 22 - I wore myself out on Sunday, trying to finish up the rest of cleaning the bathrooms (tubs!) and tackling window in the boys' rooms.  I also added dusting the fan and the rest of the rooms, since I was on a roll.  I didn't have the energy to work on... or even think about... routine, or making up a schedule.  Once again, slacking on the Mary challenges here.

• Doing Day 21 and 22 of #31daystoclean today. Instead of home office, I'm doing the boys' rooms. So much to be done!

Day 23 - The boys' rooms both have wood laminate... so for the Martha challenge all I did was sweep (though I did make sure to move the beds and stuff to get under those too!).  Concerning distractions... basically if I don't put it down on my to-do list, it might not get done.  So, my Six List has been my best friend that past few weeks!  Hooray for being able to mark stuff off a list instead of trying to wrack my brain at the end of the day in hopes of remembering something I was supposed to do!  I may get distracted, but I can always go back to my list and see where I'm at.

Day 24 - One thing I'm really bad at is filing paperwork.  I tend to just throw it on top of the filing cabinet until it topples over, then I might get around to filing it.  So, today's Mary and Martha challenges both had to do with organizing a 'hot spot.'  I got all that stuff filed away a lot quicker than I thought.  Guess it wasn't as bad as it seemed.  Now, if I could just do that on a regular basis, there'd be no paperwork mountain threatening to come crashing down every time you walked by our door!

Day 25 - I totally lost my momentum today.  The Martha Challenge was to clean/organize home office shelves/desks.  Since I don't have a home office and I already cleaned our desk in our bedroom anyway, I was going to tackle Preston's book shelf.  It tends to get out of control, and all the books start falling out and what not.  I just... didn't do it.  I went in there a couple of times to get started, took a look at the shelves, and walked back out.  I read the Mary Challenge but shrugged it off.  Total fail.  I'll try again tomorrow.

• I'm on #31daystoclean Day 24, but lacking the motivation to get in there & do it (don't have a homeoffice, the boys' shelves are my goal).
• I mean Day 25... whatever. I lack the motivation to know what day it is too, apparently. #31daystoclean

Day 26 - Today I did what I wanted to do yesterday... cleaned and organized Preston's bookshelf.  I got Callen down for a nap and Preston and I pulled off all the books, sorted 'em and re-organized 'em.  It looks great. For now.  I was also able to make enough room to move some of the homeschool books back to his shelf.  I'm having a hard time figuring out where I want those kind of books.  For now, I think this works.  I ended moving half of his book collection to his little corner shelf so that the big bookshelf wasn't completely overloaded.  There was also a big stack of baby/board books that he wanted to give to Callen, so those helped free up more room too.  We have room for more books now!

I also quickly dusted off the laptop and both computer screens since that was part of today's Martha Challenge.  The Mary Challenge focused on laundry... I try to stay on top of that pretty well.  Though, I admit, I am not the best at folding and putting away clothes that have been cleaned.  The kids usually have a basket in their room of clean clothes that just need to be put away... yet, it takes me a few days to ever do that!  Gotta work on that!

31 Days to Clean, part 3 (of 5)...

It's not too late to start, if you are interested in the 31 Days To Clean Challenge.  The blog info is here and the 31 Days To Clean: Having a Martha House the Mary Way e-book can be found here.  You can start anytime, do it any way you want to, there aren't rigid rules... don't be intimidated.  There's also a helpful and encouraging forum, as well as twitter friends at the #31daystoclean hashtag! 

 Day 14 - Today's Martha Challenge was something about trading winter bedding for summer bedding.  Ummm.... what?  Never heard of such a thing.  Ok, fine, it makes sense in certain parts of the world I guess... and well, I don't even have a Winter/Summer wardrobe either.  I wear the same thing year-round... I also have the same comforters and sheets year-round.  I did, however, get a jump start on Day 15's Challenge because we plan to be gone most of the day tomorrow.  I'm only doing the master bedroom right now.  Taking on all three at once is a little much for me, I think.  So, since I don't have a home office (our computer, desk, etc. is set up in our master bedroom), I'll work on the boys' rooms then.

Day 15 - We had church and went to a Rangers game, so there wasn't much time for anything else.  I feel kinda guilty because I have been slacking on the Mary Challenges the past few days, but getting the Martha Challenges done just fine.  It seems to be easier to get up and clean lately than to spend time sitting still and figuring out certain areas of my life.  And today's challenge, having to do with coming up with a lesson plan... that should be right up my alley, being a homeschool mom and all, but, nope... totally ignored it.  I'll try to come back to that sometime this week!

Day 16 - What's blocking me from achieving my goals and ideals?  Lack of motivation... thinking it's too hard or not worth the trouble, I guess.  I feel like I don't have what I need or know where to start.  What can I do about it?  Do blog challenges!  Lol!  Seriously, doing this Mary/Martha Challenge is kicking my butt and getting me to do things I've NEVER done.  Today I vacuumed the mattress.  It wasn't part of the challenge, but I felt like it probably needed it!  I also dusted the fan in the bedroom and then vacummed the floors and some under the bed (eeeepppp!!!).  So, I didn't do exactly what the challenge told me to do, but pretty darn close at least.

• Day 16 of #31daystoclean complete. Half way there!

Day 17 - Today's Mary challenge involved taking the DISC Personality Style Quiz.  I don't know how many times I've taken this thing, but I always forget what I am or what my choices are.  Anyway, for the record, I'm an "S" which apparently can mean "supportive" or "steady."  Basically, I like familiarity, I care about feelings, I'm dependable and understanding, etc.  I don't like change or confrontation... that's so true!  Anyway, now I know... let's see if I can remember.  I finished dusting the rest of the bedroom that I had already started. I peaked ahead to tomorrow's Martha Challenge, ugh our closets.  I swear, I organize that monkey every couple of months... it'll be nice for a few days, then BAM, total chaos again!  Anyway, I felt like it would a big task, so after the boys went to sleep, I got started.

• Uhhhh.... I just peaked at tomorrow's Martha Challenge. Closet? Clean? Organize? Are you kidding me? #Panic #31daystoclean

Day 18 - Since I got a head start last nite, it wasn't too bad.  I really just had to vacuum what I could of the floor in the closet.

Before

After

Well, at least you can SEE the floor now!  Granted, the closet is not how I'd like it to be, but we gotta but our stuff SOMEWHERE!  There isn't a lot of clothes or things to purge in there anymore (done that too many times already!).  But, I really struggle with the balance between throwing things away and keeping mementos.  So we have lots of boxes of letters, pictures, cards, and random things from concerts (tickets, posters, flyers, autographs, etc).  Sometimes I wanna just throw it all away because it causes so much clutter.  But then, I'm all... BUT THE MEMORIES!!!  I have also wrestled with selling my wedding dress and prom dress (yes, still have it 11 years later!).  I keep thinking I will list them, then just never get around to it in time for proms.  I guess there's always next year!  Haha!

• Tackled that closet last nite, now just need to vacuum the carpet in there (at least what I can get to). Take that, Day 18, #31daystoclean!!

Day 19 - We're supposed to move into the bathroom today, but our medicine cabinet is actually in our hall closet... so I started there and ended up in my bathroom.  I threw out several expired medicines and prescriptions, sorted some of my random stuff in the closet and made lots more room. 

Before, all crammed in there

After, slightly less crammed in there

It looks the same because I was able to take stuff that had been cluttering up my bathroom and move it into the cabinet.  Haha.  It still looks cluttered in here, but now my bathroom space is de-cluttered.  Moving junk from one place to another...  you can relate, right?  Please tell me you can relate!  =)

• Got most of Day 19 done, just waiting for baby to wake so I can vacuum the closet floor (our med cabinet = hall closet!) #31daystoclean
• Yay, hall/medicine closet organized, master bathroom de-cluttered! Successful Day 19, I'd say!  #31daystoclean

31 Days to Clean, part 2 (of 5)

It's not too late to start, if you are interested in the 31 Days To Clean Challenge.  The blog info is here and the 31 Days To Clean: Having a Martha House the Mary Way e-book can be found here.  You can start anytime, do it any way you want to, there aren't rigid rules... don't be intimidated.  There's also a helpful and encouraging forum, as well as twitter friends at the #31daystoclean hashtag!

Day 6 - The Mary Challenge was about lists, and well... I love lists, so this should be no problem for me whatsoever.  However, it also says to put your lists in order of importance... that, I don't do so well.  I usually just scribble out whatever pops into my head, and go about it as it seems fit - not necessarily from top to bottom.  The Martha Challenge had Preston and I digging out all kinds of stuff, rearranging and piling up a pretty good size donate box!

• 1/2 of the cabinets are clean/organized, got a donate pile, wondering if I can put my non-stop-talking-5-yr-old in that pile. #31daystoclean 
• Match game! #31daystoclean http://twitpic.com/4u84jd

Oh, if only it could stay this tidy!

Nothing comes crashing down when opened!

Day 7 - I technically started Day 7 on the evening of Day 6 because I knew I'd be busy most of Saturday.  I was right!  So, I finished up the last little bit of cleaning out and organizing my pantry Saturday evening.  I didn't have much to throw away, because I've done a pretty good job of staying after the things in there and making sure they don't expire and sit for ages.  Of course, that's only after having issues with that in the past.

• Got a head start on Day 7's Martha challenge last nite, just a little bit to do today... but busy otherwise! #31daystoclean 

Day 8 - My husband helped me do some organizing (well, it WAS Mother's Day after all!).  And after I finished throwing lots of random things away, I couldn't believe the difference in my drawers!  We also got a couple drawer organizers so that little stuff isn't just rolling around in there and getting lost.  Hooray!  It's amazing to open a drawer and not be completely overwhelmed at the mess!

Everything has a place!

This drawer OPENS now, yay!

Day 9 - Oh boy, dealing with laziness.  Yikes.  I definitely took this message to heart and stayed busy and active ALL day (on a Monday!).  I took little breaks to rest and check email, but pretty much kept going the entire day long!  That made me feel good, like I was really accomplishing something.  And I got that kitchen floor looking awesome.  For a few minutes, till the kids went back in there.  Oh well.  Better than nothing!

• Ok, Monday, I certainly have a "Six List" for you! But first... coffee! #31daystoclean 
• Caught Callen just before he made friends w/a quarter-sized spider in my kitchen! Yikes! #31daystoclean
• Got baby in his bed for a nap, setting up the kid on the DS for a bit... Kitchen floors, here I come! Day 9 of #31daystoclean 
• It feels weird to walk on clean floors... that's bad, huh? #31daystoclean

Day 10 - I already see my house (at least my kitchen) shaping up in the way that I want my whole house to be.  Organized, clean, inviting - my goals, for sure!  There's a huge difference walking into my kitchen to get a drink... opening the cabinet to find the cups all nicely arranged and then opening the fridge and seeing it so clean!  It not only looks good, it makes me feel like I'm finally doing something right!  Moving into the Living Room today.  Spent some time with my windows... again getting a bit O.C.D. with the dirt in between the screen and the sill.  I'm serious, I don't want that guck in my house anymore!

• My Six Lists keep becoming Sixteen Lists. #31daystoclean 
• Day 10 of #31daystoclean COMPLETE! And before lunchtime even, woot!
• #31daystoclean is seriously cutting into my 'net surfin' time. I suppose that's a good thing, though. Clean house v. 1,000 blogs to read...

Yuck!  Ugh...

SO much better!

Day 11 - So, I accidentally got carried away and did most of Day 12 stuff today as well.  Oh well, less work for tomorrow!  As I'm sitting here, looking over my work... I am just so pleased that I'm actually accomplishing these goals.  The kids are being mostly cooperative (not completely, but when Callen takes a nap I am able to get Preston distracted with DS, tv or computer long enough to really get things done!), and though I'm exhausted from the hard work... my results are gratifying for sure!

• Curse you, popcorn ceiling!!! Full-fledged living room dusting going on over here! #31daystoclean 
• Got a little carried away and did most of Day 12 too, oops. Less to do tomorrow, though! Living Room looks wonderful! #31daystoclean

Day 12 - I really appreciate that this e-book is so encouraging, especially in letting us know that we don't have to get everything just right all the time.  It doesn't wave it's finger at me, telling me that I've been a bad housewife all these years, and it's about time I shape up!  It allows for grace and forgiveness, at the same time as it says "hey, get up and do SOMETHING at least!"  It is giving me the motivation to get off my butt, off the computer, and get busy!  Not quite half way through with the 31-day challenge, but feeling great about it!

Day 13 - I got carried away again, which... is a good thing... I mean, the house needs it, right?  I mopped the entire living room, entry way, laundry room, hallway, and both bathrooms.  Once I had finished the living room, I was just like... well, I have the mop and stuff out... might as well get after it!  Haha!

P.S. This wasn't part of the challenge (yet), but I spent some time tidying up Callen's room, and 5 minutes later, this is what I came across...

Oh, baby... way to go.

He pulled down everything from his shelves and spread it around like it was before.  Apparently, he likes it that way!

31 Days to Clean, part 1 (of 5)...

I started on Sunday, May 1st, even though the blog challenge didn't officially start till the 2nd.  They are taking weekends off, and I don't plan to at this point.  I guess I'll see how that works out with our schedule anyway, and if I need a breather I won't get too off schedule. I will be posting a day-by-day recap every week on Thursday.  It'll include ... well, whatever I want it to include, as well as tweets I've posted as I go.

Day 1 - I went over my reasons as to WHY I want a clean house.  Y'know, other than I don't want to live in complete filth.  My mission statement (was a lot less inspired than most of the other ones I read from other participants... I'm never good at those things!) had to do with having a clean, safe, inviting home.  I skimmed through the Martha Challenges and made a mental note of what kind of cleaning supplies I might need (and what's going to be coming up this month!).  Thankfully, I think I have everything I need.  We'll see.

Day 2 - Cleaned my fridge and freezer... inside and out, top and bottom. Took me allll day (in spurts, of course, between crying kids, phone calls to yell at AT&T, crying kids again, feeding the kids, etc).  It looks amazing, and I really don't even want anyone to touch it!  Haha.  I definitely felt a sense of accomplishment after that.  It certainly didn't seem like a big task, but once I got started and realized how many nooks and crannies there are in that beast, woo boy!  I feel like I really did a good job, so the first person that spills something in there... dies!

• Day 2 of #31daystoclean: I was thinking "no big deal!" Took me ALL day! But I did it, it looks great... I feel good!

Day 3 - I realized I'm very bad at using life-giving words.  I tend to be more of the "no" "don't" "never" type mom.  I need to be more encouraging... and relax!!!  In order to do Martha's Challenge on this day I had to pretty much de-clutter, find new homes and re-arrange the things piling up on top of all of the horizontal surfaces in my kitchen.

Before de-cluttering

That took a while.  After about two hours, I had only finished one-half of the room!  Again, a seemingly small task ended up being intense.  Then I realized why it was intense... because I haven't done this stuff in a very, very long time... if ever!  Had I been more on top of it, scrubbing the outsides of the cabinets would not have been such a big, stinkin' deal!  Note to self: Be very glad you are doing this, it needs to be done!

• Looking forward to starting Day 3 of #31daystoclean, just gotta wait till the kids nap. Dear Lord, please let them nap today!
• Again, didn't seem like that big of a deal but Day 3 of #31daystoclean is intense. Have finished half the room & it looks great! Break time!
• Helpers? #31daystoclean http://twitpic.com/4sy4a4
• DONNNNEEEE with Day 3 of #31daystoclean. May I order pizza so my counters can stay sparkly white? Please?!   

After de-cluttering and cleaning

Clean surfaces!

A place for everything.

Completely rearranged this stuff!

Day 4 - As far as the Mary Challenge goes for this day, I'm pretty sure our house appears lived-in enough to be comfortable, just need to work on the inviting part... making it look inviting and not scary.  I divided the Martha Challenge into two parts, finishing up the microwave quickly as the kids had breakfast... then got after the over when Callen went down for a nap.  I have discovered my nemesis... it's name is "nooks and crannies."  Seriously, they're killing me. I can clean just fine, then I discover an area that is just impossible to get at... drives me crazy!  I feel like I fail because I can't get that area clean - because there's no way to GET IN THERE!  Oh well, gotta let it go... while I don't want to have the attitude of "good enough" anymore, there are just some things I can't manage.

• The sunshine streaming in reminds me that my computer screen needs dusting! That's not on the agenda today though! Oh no! =) #31daystoclean
• Finished the first part of Day 4 Martha Challenge, leaving the harder part for nap time! #31daystoclean
• Day 4 of #31daystoclean complete! All this kitchen cleaning makes me not want to cook. I need a separate challenge for that I guess!
• I think my hubby approves of what I've done so far for #31daystoclean, he suggested @ChickfilA for dinner. I love that man!
• Looking up info on how to clean my window treatment for #31daystoclean. I've never really been able to get 'em clean, but determined now! 

Helpers!

Day 5 - Priorities...hmm.  After reading the priorities that Sarah Mae (the author of 31 Days to Clean) wrote, all I can say is DITTO!  I love exactly what she wrote, they completely apply to me and I'm stealing them!  Um... hope she doesn't mind!  The Martha Challenge was kitchen windows.  I recently cleaned the inside of my windows, but did it again.... but what really needs to be done is the OUTSIDE, because they're still mucky to look through (will attempt that later this afternoon, I need a rest now!).  I also cleaned the ceiling fan above the dining table, washed and vacuumed the window treatments.  I got a little O.C.D. about the dirt/mud in the window sill and worked on that for a long time.  Clean now!  Woo hoo!

• Is it weird that I woke up looking forward to getting personal with my windows this morning? What are you doing to me #31daystoclean?
• Back from the park, kids in their bed (though not napping, sigh)... ready to tackle the rest of the windows! #31daystoclean
• #31daystoclean Day 5 complete, I love the feeling of getting stuff done! I hope this becomes the norm for me!  

I love the feeling of having a deep cleaned kitchen. I actually woke up this morning eager to get started on my task. Is that weird or what? Who wakes up excited about cleaning? Not me, not usually. I am definitely enjoying this challenge, even though it's incredibly hard work. But, again, it's only hard because I have neglected this stuff for so long. Hopefully, once these 31-days are up, it won't be so difficult to keep it maintained! I am excited about that possibility!

It's not too late to start, if you are interested in the 31 Days To Clean Challenge.  The blog info is here and the 31 Days To Clean: Having a Martha House the Mary Way e-book can be found here.  You can start anytime, do it any way you want to, there aren't rigid rules... don't be intimidated.  There's also a helpful and encouraging forum, as well as twitter friends at the #31daystoclean hashtag!

Oh My, Let's Do It!

So, I just started reading a book called Home-Ec 101: Skills for Everyday Living after stumbling upon the author's blog.  I have been doing this stay-at-home-mom/homemaker thing for over a year now and I still don't feel like I have a good handle on it.  Specifically the household chores part.  There is stuff that I just don't think about, know about... or care about.  But, I need to get on the ball!

Well, I'm only up to the fourth chapter of that book*, and then I stumbled across this e-Book called 31 Days to Clean: Having a Martha House the Mary Way and found out there is a challenge starting up on May 1st (um, tomorrow!).  So, headfirst... I'm diving in.  Hopefully this will help motivate me to stay after my house a little better.  I don't have any excuse any more for the dust and dirt to pile up, the laundry to go unfolded and all that... here's hoping having a blog challenge set before me will get my butt up from couch (and AWAY from the blog, funny enough) long enough to get my house in order!  Feel free to join me!  The e-Book is only $4.99 on Amazon (and you don't have to have an e-Reader to read it!).  Let's do it!  (You can click on the image above to find out more about the blogging challenge.)

* Home-Ec 101 has been incredibly inspiring and informative and I fully intend to continue reading and learning from it as well.  The author has a hilarious sense of humor (and references all kinds of 80's and 90's trivia, so it's right up my alley!), plus she really breaks down things so that you understand WHY and HOW of it all.  And I'm only on the fourth chapter so far!