Small Projects This Week

When I get a slower week or two, I try to work in a few projects to the normal day to day running of our home. This morning after making breakfast, I did a quick inventory of the medicines and house hold supplies. Getting that list together will aid shopping fast and help me not waste money. After so much quarantining the past 2 months, and realizing we were fine, I want to try to keep up with less running around by planning better. 

Yesterday's extra job was to freshly organize the master bedroom closet, the front coat closet and the main linen closet.  I try to do this a couple times a year so it never takes that long, but it still amazes me how much junk I can accumulate! This time, I finally dug out all of the pictures and diplomas that have been stashed away for about 5 yrs, since we redid the basement. I think it is time to either box things up for long-term storage or hang things on the walls again. Hard decision...plain walls look nice and really, I'd decorate differently now if I could. For years I proclaimed that the new paint WAS the artwork. That said, this isn't really the season to go with the modern black/wood/simple design that I like so much. Maybe after college.... :) 

Paring Down the Clothes

Paring down the clothing...how often have I thought about it and started, but just never made it happen? I have clothes from DECADES ago that I still wear and like. 

Now that I have two other women living in my house, and they can wear a lot of my clothes, the items just shift from my closet to theirs. Praise the Lord for stretching resources further. He will supply my needs and my kids'! I was blessed to find so many slips in my drawer tonight. 

So I've made a list of what we're going to try in my girls' room for a month:

5  casual outfits
3-4 dressy outfits (probably 3 casual dressy, 1 fancier)
3 pajamas 
max 7 undies
max 7 socks
tennis shoes
boots
3 pr dress/other shoes
slips you need
panty hose
1 robe for winter
1 robe for summer
3 jacket/sweatshirts

It isn't minimalist but it will get us thinking in the right direction--outfits vs. a lot of mix and match. Surely there will be some overlap, but looks can be changed with a scarf, necklace or sweater. Too much vanity and prosperity leads to TOO MANY clothes and choices. 

Here is something you might enjoy watching from Crystal, the Money Saving Mom. A true minimalist who is beautifully working the mix and match. I'm dazzled.

Minimalist Wardrobe Vlog

School Preparations

Pencils sharpened

Pens in a jar

Bins with separated curricula

Schedules on spreadsheets

Coordination of sections

Loose leaf

Notebooks

Folders

Rulers

Markers

Crayons

Colored pencils

Resource books

Desks

Printer

Computers

Payments

Prayers...

Tossing School Work

This is a summer of reducing our household paper weight by about 500 lbs I hope. So far I've emptied 10 binders, several the 3 inch variety, and 2 bankers boxes. The picture above shows the closet that was completely full before starting.

A few years ago I admired an older friends schoolwork keepsakes. She put together scrapbooks with photos and samples of work, but I'm not much of a picture printer, so I just put together books of their work with a few pictures from award ceremonies added in.

The idea of keeping the kids work (pretty much ALL of it) seemed fine until we were out of space. I've got one closet dedicated to the keeping of the work, and last year there was not a spot for their papers, so it became clear a change was needed. Having had our mom's die already, we understand the burden of a lot of stuff to deal with upon our demise. I also recall the lackluster feeling of inheriting random baby/child items that belonged to my husband when we were married. Baby shower keepsakes only matter to the mom-to-be, folks :). It was fun to see the pattern of the plates at the shower for my husband when he was yet to be born, but I really didn't need to. Likewise, those AWANA Cubbie books don't mean anything to the kids years later, nor do the awards...or all their math pages, or CC work. I've finally realized that the learning we're doing matters in the MIND, and we don't need a paper trail to prove anything. I've got test results and kids that can multiply when they are supposed to be able to--end of story!

So, while my girls reduce what is in their room by half, I am working hard at getting rid of all old school work AND teacher resources I'm not using. What is the point of all those old TOOL notes which I never read or refer to?? No point, say I! Be gone notebook pages talking about learning styles!

How about you? Is this a summer to lose weight in the house?

Laundry Improvement

An interesting phenomenon has transpired here regarding the lack of laundry piling up. We've separated it now by person-everyone has their own little hamper in their bedroom. Towels are in a little hamper hanging up in the main bathroom. The kids have to do their own, though I help the youngest; I take care of my husband's, mine, and all the household linens. If the kids change their sheets, I wash them.

What has changed with this is that they are not tossing clothes in as readily as before. I am not having to get on them to do a load on their assigned day now, either. Now I just ask if people have laundry to do on occasion, and I'll remind them to set their basket outside the washer if they want to be next.

Sure, we are doing more small loads, but I think the clothes are cleaner and their isn't a perpetual pile in the hallway or laundry room (or outside the laundry room). It is such a huge relief for me! Even with all of the kids helping with our combined laundry before this system, there was always so much looming around. It continually bothered me. No more!!!

None of my kids are even 12 yrs old yet, so this can work with elementary aged children!!

Simplifying-Another Look

A few minutes ago my beautiful cat came to sit up on my stomach while I balanced the laptop on my legs. She is a sociable kitty and came for the sole purpose of being pet by me. Obligingly, I commenced rubbing her face in a way that made her lay her neck on my arm, and wrap a paw over the same arm to brace herself while she nuzzled down in total satisfaction. Her purring and body posture told me she couldn't have been more pleased with the service I was providing.

Do you ever want to feel that way? Like everything is perfect? That you are having every need met in a way that fulfills you, while being unencumbered to the fullest extent? My cat sat without a care in the world, and now she is nearby grooming herself in preparation for a lengthy  nights rest. She didn't read about the innocent baby shot in Georgia a short while ago, or the ridiculous Hollywood speech calling for inane censoring, or China and Russia buddying up, or poverty rising in America.

I wonder, why did I read those stories? Maybe I'd feel a little more like my cat if I'd passed them by. Instead I'll go to bed more worried about this world than I was 45 minutes ago. Instead I'll wonder why I didn't heed my husband's advice to avoid the news, trusting he'll fill me in on anything I really have to know. Instead I'll read my Bible at this late hour, trying to regain the peace and trust that I know is here for me as a born-again Christian, fully cognizant of this evil world and how many horrors loom in the shadows.

Sometimes simplifying can be very simple. It need not involve decluttering, cutting out texting or TV or huge hauls to Goodwill. Sometimes it can be as simple as reducing unhelpful input. I know what is 'out there' so to speak; do real life examples help? Am I holier now?

Simplifying for summer...it can start now.

"Oh, Lord Jesus, how long, how long, till we shout the glad song? Christ is coming, halleluiah, halleluiah, amen."?

Command Hooks

I really should get up and take a few pictures of all the glorious uses for Command hooks in our home which have helped me get organized and feel less stress!

When you walk in our house there is a closet for coats, which could easily be bigger, but it is adequate. My younger children can't reach the bar, and putting in a lower one hasn't been an option because of how we use the lower space....solution: Command hooks on the back of the door. It's also where I stow the dog's harness and leash, and I hang a few canvas bags for piano lesson day. The kids can quickly pack up what they need to take, using those easy-to-locate bags.

Another key location for the very small hooks--one of my kitchen cabinets under the sink. I hang the travel sized Norwex cloths there. Along a wall in my kitchen that is hidden to the majority of people, I have a few larger hooks for the wet Norwex mop pad and full-sized Norwex antibac cloths and polishing cloths.

In the kid's bathroom I have one hook on the back of the door, lower than the permanent nice one, and my next move is to put a few on the shower door so I can hang their Norwex face cloths there. The curtain can be pulled to hide them once they are dry.

I've got the hooks in my bathroom as well, for Norwex and a basket that holds some items I want easy access to monthly. Command hooks aren't beautiful, but I'm continually repurposing space in our home, and the versatility of them is priceless. I use nails to hang laundry baskets up above my head in our laundry room, but you could use the heavy-duty hooks for that even!