Back Door

 

Yesterday I posted about our launch and landing pads and today's assignment from Rachel Anne is to clean up the area near our back door. Well, this is really easy. We actually have two back doors. One we refer to as the back door, which is directly opposite the front door and goes out to the yard behind our house. The other back door opens to one side of our house and we refer to that one as the side door. But that door often gets mistaken as our front door because we live on a corner lot and our address is on that street, while our front door is actually facing the other street. It confuses delivery people to no end!

So, for this task, I actually did the area near our side door. The reason that I said that this was really easy is because during the winter, we keep this door closed and locked and don't use it at all if possible. The main reason is because it's a sliding door that opens directly onto carpet and I don't want the salt and mud and wet coming in onto the carpet.

However, there was some tidying up to do down there. And I also needed to get things ready for later this month when we will be changing out the window coverings. We live in a rental and it has vertical blinds covering this door. We want to put up some energy conserving drapes. They have a thermal back and they also block out light. I don't know if I want to get rid of the blinds completely, but I do want the drapes up over them at the very least.

So I prepared the area for that and overall did a quick tidy of the area. It looks so  much better now! And I didn't even think it looked bad to start!

Points for today: 40 points!

Points for February: 230 points!

Tossed It Tuesday

This week, we tossed out a bunch of stuff. I cleared off our entertainment center and got it all nice and neat. I also did the same thing to our bookshelf and our desk area in our kitchen. There was plenty of items from those two places alone that got tossed out.

We also have a number of boxes and bags of clothing for donation/consignment that are ready to go. As I am working my way through our laundry and our stored clothing, I have been weeding out as much as I can right now. It is a process that I am sure I will be working on for months to come. So don't be surprised if you often see clothing on my "Tossed It" list.

We also sorted through the kids' toys and eliminated the ones that were broken, missing pieces or just not  played with.

Still have a long way to go but I like where it is heading,

Shameless Brag

This is my NattyNu. He's ten years old and in fourth grade. He is great at math, okay in reading and a terrible speller. He loves to be active and he plays hard. He can be a tremendous help around the house. He is also an emotional kid, who feels things very deeply.

Today, he went to a friend's house to play after school. JoNo went to another friend's house to play as well. Hubby told them both to be back at 5:00 but then our plans changed and so Hubby picked Natty up from the friend's house on his way home today. JoNo had already come home on his own.

Anyhow, when Hubby went to pick up Natty, the friend's parents commented to Hubby how happy they are to have Natty there and how wonderfully behaved he is. They said that they were grateful to Natty for being patient with their son, who is extremely shy and has a hard  time and major fear of making new friends. They said that Natty is a joy to have over at their house and that he is more than welcome over there anytime.

Those words made this mama's heart swell with love and pride. I am so proud of my Natty for being patient with his friend. I am happy that the two of them have become friends. Natty has a hard time making friends sometimes too. He tends to think that people are his friends when really they aren't. He doesn't understand all the fine nuances of relationships and communication. But he is learning. And he has found a new friend in this other child as well. I am so happy for both of them.

It was also nice to hear those words because kids often behave differently at other people's houses and in different social situations. Well, really, that is true for most human beings, not just kids. But I don't always know how his behavior is when he's away from me and sometimes I'm concerned that the behavior is not as good as it could be. But this report, well, it warms my heart.

Thanks Natty for being such a good friend. And thanks for being so well-behaved and showing good choices when you are away from home. I love you Buddy!

Menu Plan Monday

This week's Menu Plan is going to be mostly from my freezer and my pantry because I like those challenges that I have seen on other people's blogs for eating from the pantry and freezer without having to go to the store - or going to the store for minimal amounts of groceries.

So, here we go:

Monday - beef roast in the stockpot (It's simmering as I type...smells DELICIOUS!) mashed potatoes and mixed green veggies

Tuesday - homemade beef stroganoff and mixed green veggies

Wednesday - chicken noodle casserole and carrots

Thursday - goulash (ever have it? ground beef, tomatoes, macaroni noodles, a little of this and a little of that)

 Friday - leftovers

Saturday - kids pick

Sunday - chicken with mashed potatoes and green beans

Menu Plan...

 

 Well, this is something that I do when I link up every Monday to Menu Plan Monday with Org Junkie, but I really like the concept of this menu plan idea. And it will be easier for me to do because it will change up the menu more frequently, which I am sure that my family will definitely appreciate!

It also goes along with the home management binder project that I have been working on recently as well. I haven't had much chance to post about everything that I have been working on. And trust me, there is a LOT going on right now. Hopefully, I will be able to come back and get some of the stuff posted about. But anyhow, moving on...

I did it and I was able to come up with over 3 months' worth of menu ideas! That was incredible! I have the ideas listed and I can pick and plug them in based on what's on sale, what's in our pantry or freezer and what we have going on each week! Woo Hoo! Love it! Menu plan made easy! It was a lot of work first, but it was most definitely worth a lot of hard work now for an easier time later on!

Points for today: 100 points!

Points for February: 190 points!

Tackle It Tuesday

Tackle It Tuesday originated with 5 Minutes for Mom and then Katie put her own spin on it and is doing assignments, so this post will be linked up both places. Oh - and please excuse the poor quality photos. They are taken with my phone because I STILL have not found my camera cord and I'm too cheap frugal to buy a new one.

For starters, Katie suggested we clear off our entertainment centers. For me, this is a huge necessity because I use it as a dumping ground all of the time. It's the highest place in the room and the Punky and Boo children do not have access to the top of it.

I bought these three crosses at Christmas time that I figured would be nice to have on display year round, so I have placed them up here, but it's all the junky clutter that piles up there that drives me mad. Also, the little DVD player that is up here. We rarely use it now (since we got cable installed again) and I have a mind to tuck it away, but I think it is something that is still used often enough that we should keep it there. It does need to be kept up though, because Boo is just a little too, um, investigative, with this item.

And actually, while I am at it, I should clear off these shelves too. They are a fright! I had attempted to make them nice and neat and sort like items into similar containers, etc. etc. but it just doesn't work for me like this. Plus, when you pull out the containers, you can see the other stuff that has gotten mixed in with it. Yeah, definitely does not work for me!

So, that was the challenge. And here are the results:
Top of entertainment center before:

Top of entertainment center cleared off, leaving only the three crosses, the DVD player and some (old!) pics of the kids:

First shelf of the entertainment center before:

And after:

Second shelf of the entertainment center before:

And after:

Third shelf of the entertainment center before:

And after:

Bottom shelf of the entertainment center before:

And after:

And the area under the television before:

And after:

The whole entertainment center before again:

And the whole entertainment center after:

Looks so much neater now, doesn't it? And in reality, it only took about an hour to clear it all off and make it neat and presentable again. Yay for quick projects! And here I thought I didn't have time for any projects right now. But in reality, if you make your mind up to make time for something, you can do it. It also helped that I had a couple of nights off from work due to having bronchitis.

Week #2 Challenge - The Launch Pad

The second weekly challenge from Toni at "A Bowl Full of Lemons" is our launch and landing pads in our home. Well, technically, it's from Laurie, of "Handy Man, Crafty Woman" who is guest posting on Toni's blog for this week's challenge.

So here I am to show you our launch and landing pads. Our system maybe isn't the greatest, but it works well for our family. And I need to apologize right now for the pictures, I have misplaced my camera cord so I am using the camera on my phone to take pictures with and it's not the greatest quality.

First off, when you come into our house, you are standing in our living room. Our living room is mostly carpet, except for the part of the floor that you are standing on when you first come through the door. That area is about 3 feet by 5 feet and is linoleum. I hate linoleum, by the way. But we live in a rental and the flooring is not our choice. If it were my choice, the whole area would be hardwood.

So, anyhow, we have a rug here where we put our shoes and boots while they are wet and/or muddy. With six people in our family and with each person having mulitple pairs of shoes, we have a LOT of shoes, so we try to keep only one pair of shoes in use at each time. The rest we try to keep in the front closet, which is just beyond the linoleum.

We have four hooks on the wall above the linoleum (and behind the door). These hooks are used predominately for the kids' coats and backpacks. It's an easy system for them because they all have hooks at their schools as well. Plus, it seems to be easier for our kids to keep their coats picked up when we remove as many extra steps as possible, such as opening a closet door and using a coat hanger. When we have guests over, we move the kids' coats to the closet and we use the hooks for our guests' coats and purses.

We also have a little shelf with three hooks on the wall next to the door. I use these hooks for our keys as they are really not sufficient for coats and such. I also will occasionally hang a gait belt on one of the hooks so that I don't forget to put it on before leaving for work.

For our kids' paperwork from school, I go through their backpacks once they are on their hooks and pull out all of the papers that I need to look through, which I do at the kitchen table. That is also where I sort through the mail. It's convenient because it is also right next to the trash can and the recycling bin. I sit down with the kids' paperwork and have them rapid-fire decide whether to keep it or toss it once I have had a chance to look through it. I do the same thing with the mail. I sort through it and then toss out anything that doesn't need to be kept. I need to come up with a better plan for organizing the bill paperwork, but I recently brought up an old plastic file box that I can use to sort it. I plan to keep it under the desk.

There is also our large family calendar on the wall close to our kitchen table, so I can mark down our activities as well as the due dates on the bills.

That pretty well covers most of the landing and a little bit of the launch. For the kids, our launch includes their backpacks, coats and shoes being ready and accessible by the door and the things that need to go back to school being already in their backpacks.

For Hubby, he doesn't really need to launch each day so he is kind of on his own for that. For me, I keep my work bag and my suitcase in my car, so that I don't have to try to remember it. Because here's a little secret - I constantly forget it otherwise. :)

So that is our home and our launch pad.