First Day of my New Life

2012-02-16T19:04:00.001-05:00

I started a new facebook page- Moms on a Mission. Hope you join me over there!

Being Frugal

2011-02-06T16:22:00.002-05:00

For the month of February, I'm participating in pantry challenge at Simply a frugal mom.

So far this month I've spent $145. Saved $55 with Buy one, get one free sale. I'm hoping I wouldnt need to buy groceries for aleast 2 to 3 weeks. I'm trying to stretch out the food we have and trying to not waste any food. I'm quite impressed of what I've done so far. I wanted to share some recipes with you.

Thursday I had some carrots, pineapple, apples and cantaloupe that needed to be used up. So what can you make with those you ask?

I made:

Carrot Pineapple Muffins

Kitchen Sink Muffins So yummy! my favourite muffin

Cantaloupe muffins

Today my husband wanted some chips while watching the pregame show. We had none in the house and I was going to go buy any, so what did I do?

I made tortilla chips. Very yummy with Salsa.

We're having a frugal Superbowl Sunday. We're having things out of our freezer. I didn't go buy anything special just for today. We're have chicken bites, meat balls, chicken strips and I'm making mini pepperoni puffs. All smells so yummy.

What have you been doing to stretch your grogery budget?

Home Management Binder Printables

2011-01-30T09:52:00.007-05:00

This week's Challenge is to make a Home Management Binder. I'm going to share a list of great printable that might be good for you to help you make your binder.I love printables!! I love all the bloggers that share wonderful printables for all of us to print. If you use any of these printables, please give the blogger some love.

Here is a long list of printables. Not everyone will be for you. Find one that will best suit your needs.

Missing Mittens?

2011-01-27T10:44:00.005-05:00

Source

Do your children lose their mittens? Do they leave their hats and mittens at school?

Lovable Labels to the rescue!

Our Press n' Stick clothing dots are great to put inside mittens and hats. All labels are washing machine and dryer safe.

In each pack you receive 48 labels. 24 small, 12 medium, 12 large.

Dimensions:

Large - 3.4 cm x 2.5cm (1 3/8" - 1")
Medium - 2.6 cm x 2 cm (1 1/8" - 3/4")
Small - 2.2 cm x 1.6 cm (7/8" - 5/8")

Order some today if you want to solve the missing mittens problem.

Edited to add: Here is a Lovable Label discount for you. Enter agentlove upon checkout and you'll automatically receive 10% off your entire order. Code expires Feb. 28, 2011

New Weekly Challenge

2011-01-27T08:40:00.004-05:00

And you can too!

Toni at A Bowl Full of Lemons is starting a new weekly challenge and here is what she says about it:

It will start on Sunday, January 30th. I will post an assignment every Sunday night and we will have the entire week to complete it.

A few examples of assignments will be:

Organizing your craft room
Creating a recipe binder
Organizing your bookshelves
Cleaning out (and organizing) the garage
Making a Home Management Binder
Menu planning
and LOTS more!

Some weeks will be very simple and some may be more challenging. The main goal of the challenge is getting our lives clean & organized and staying that way. We will be spring cleaning together & purging winter clothes together. My hope is that our blogging group will function to inspire each other and help each other get our lives in order.

How it works?

If you are participating in the weekly challenge, you will link up your "blog" for that week. Then everyone can visit each other and see how you are doing. You can post your progress daily, or whenever you get to it! You can share pictures or just blog about how your week is going, how the challenge is going, etc... Hopefully we can all support each other by visiting and commenting on each others blogs, like we have with the 21 day challenge.

If you are ready to join the challenge...

Head over here to grab your button.

Hope to see you guys at the challenge. If so, I'll be cheering you on!

Party Recap

2011-01-24T16:01:00.002-05:00

Here I am all prettied up for the party:

Saturday night it started snowing and the roads were getting bad. so I was afraid no was going to be able to make it. Everyone had an half hour to an hour drive. I was afraid it was going to be like my wedding reception again. For my wedding, which was march 2008, we invited 100 people and only 40 were able to make it because of a terrible snow storm. Back to Saturday. Jeremy said they could arrive anytime after 6. so I had to try to keep busy or I am like a kid looking out the window every 5 minutes. The first couple and their 4 kids, showed up at 7pm and the others all came shortly after that. Only 4 out of the 7 couple were able to make it but that was enough. Everyone seemed to have a great time. Everyone crowded around the bar or the dining room table. The kids played nicely (quite surprisingly) and the kids played the air hockey lots. Yay! All the food was eaten and everyone said they felt like a kid in a candy store while trying to decide what to drink. DH has a huge liquor supply. So overall I think it was a great night. I was just happy with myself I was able to pull it off for my husband. He’s been wanting a party for awhile but always too embarrassed of our house.

And there wasn’t much of a mess afterward. Before the party, I ran the dishwasher and unloaded it. so has the night went on, I just put the dirty dishes in there. I think that made a huge difference. Sunday morning went I woke up, I did a bit of straighten up. Other than that, you couldn’t even tell we had a party.

Thank you for all your suport and encouragement. Now I'm going to try really hard to maintain a clean house.

How was your weekend?

tonight is the party!!

2011-01-22T14:30:00.002-05:00

Thought I'd show you a quick tour of the house while its clean and spotless before the big party tonight. I don't look pretty in the video, so please ignore me. Sounds weird to watch myself talk.

My house looks clean but my journey isn't complete. Now to try to maintain it is this clean. Thanks for all the encouragement and I hope you continue to support me on my journey!

Now I'm off to take a shower and get all prettied up for tonight.

To do list

2011-01-18T22:44:00.009-05:00

The pictures in this post are from me playing with my moms new camera. The rooms look messy but only really need a quick 10 min tidy each but would of been pointless to do do yesterday while the boys were home having a "snow day"

Only 4 more days till the party, and there still is a bit to do. Here is a list of what I want to accomplish.

Entry Way:

Find better solution for hats and mittens
Wipe down baseboards
put away our coats DONE!

Living Room:

Clean door DONE!
organize movies and books DONE!
put away blankets DONE!
wipe tv off DONE!

Bar area:

mop floor
wash wine glasses
wash ice tub

Dining Room

wipe off fan DONE!
shred paper DONE!
have DH put box of decorations away DONE!

Kitchen

mop floor
wash sink DONE!
clean microwave DONE!
clean out any leftovers out of fridge
make ice DONE!

Bathroom

empty cat litter
scrub bathroom counter and toilet
wash out bath toy bins DONE!
scrub walls and ceiling DONE!

Boys Bedroom

Declutter DONE!
wash sheets
organize book shelf DONE!
laundry

My bedroom

declutter basket of craft stuff
get rid of boxes
wash sheets
wipe off fan

Day of party:

vacuum each room
quick clean sweep each room
wipe counters

I think that's it. Not too bad. I can do it!! What is on your to do list this week?

Day 14 and 15

2011-01-18T14:40:00.009-05:00

Hope everyone is still doing well with their organizing! I'm sorta in a slump today since the boys are home because buses were canceled.

Hopefully back to feeling motivated tomorrow. Only 4 more days till the party.

Day 14: Under the bathroom sink:
Before:The cat wanted to get in the action too.

After:

I learned how to neatly fold towels today!! Watch this video to learn. They look so much nicer folded this way. Give it a try!! While searching for a video to show me how to fold towels, I found this great video to help you maintain your bathroom.

Day 15: The medicine cupboard:
We use to store all our medicine in a huge basket above the stove. It was a huge mess and just a pain to drag out when you wanted to find a medicine. This challenge was perfect timing because my husband just started a new medicine that he needs to take everyday. so now its easier for him to find it everyday.

It was too cold out and the roads weren't the best. So I didnt want to go out to the store to get baskets. so I used what I had. I made boxes out of cereal boxes. I copied a q-tip box. They dont look the prettiest but they work for the space. I might buy baskets later but for now. This works:

Much better for my husband. Thanks for the challenges Toni and I am loving to see what others have been up to. Happy organizing!!

Catch up post: Day 12

2011-01-17T15:01:00.009-05:00

First, our playdate on Friday went great. It felt so great to be ale to have company over and the 2 moms said my house was beautiful. I was jumping for joy inside.

Day 12's challenge was to organize the spice cupboard. It doesnt look too bad when you open the cupboard but to find a spice you want while cooking, is near to impossible.

Before:
After:
At some point I'd like to try to organize it more but the weather was too yucky to go out to get another basket. so I made do with a blue dish I already had. I'd like a taller bin tho.

Day 12 I also cleaned off the Air hockey table. I was my hot spot where I just dumped things that had no home.

Before:
After:Now the boys or company can actually play the air hockey table. Hoping someone plays it at the party.

That was all for Friday. Called it a day and spent some family time watching the movie "How to train your Dragon". Very cute movie.

Day 11

2011-01-13T15:58:00.005-05:00

Wow!! We are half way there. Wonder what is left to do.

Day 11's challenge is to clean the freezer.

We use the freezer above the fridge for everyday things and to store my baked good that I don't want to get squished. Also store the ice cream in this freezer because it doesn't get as hard in there. I love having an extra deep freezer. I didnt clean the deep freezer today since its pretty bare.

Before:

After:

Not much of a difference but better. I want to redo it next week when I'm able to get more baskets. I need to make room to make ice cubes for the party.

Today I also cleaned out the fridge and scrubbed it down. It looks great now! Perfect timing because tomorrow we're going grocery shopping.

Guess what!!? My house is clean enough that my oldest son is having a couple classmates over for a play date tomorrow afternoon. I am so excited about it. Normally I'd be too embarrassed to let him have friends over.

Hope everyone is enjoying this challenge as much as I am! Thanks Toni!!

Day 10

2011-01-12T20:48:00.009-05:00

Today's Challenge was the laundry room. Perfect timing because this was already on my to do list today. It made me more determined to complete it today.

My Laundry room is off my back hall. I love how most of the time it is out of sight unless you go out the back door to the back yard. So in the summertime, company sees it. The laundry room doesnt have a door on it. I am thinking the previous owners took it down because it was too crowd for the space. So I'd love to add a curtain to the door. I might try to do that before the party. If I don't aleast the room is clean now.

Here is the before:
(Sorry about the blurry pictures. Think the camera was afraid of the mess too.)

The husband thought he'd help with laundry and throw all the clothes out of our bedroom onto the floor. Thanks babe, huge help!

The cupboard in the laundry room where I store my cleaning supplies, and cat treats.

After:

Much better!! The pile on the left needs to be handwashed.

Look, a clean floor! Now no stepping on things while trying to do laundry or to get to the freezer.

The cupboard all clean and organized.

Found a quote that sums up my life: "Clutter is stress and stress is clutter."

Now off to go fold the mountain on laundry on my bed.

Day 9 cont

2011-01-11T23:17:00.008-05:00

The last post was really long as it was, so I thought i'd start a new post showing what I got accomplished today.

Remember this mess on the counters?

Here is what it looks like tonight:Dh helped clear off the counter, cleaned out the artwork box in the corner and the top of the mircowave. Look awesome!!

Looks pretty! Now I can show off my plant. Its amazing its still alive after 3 years.

remember i said I need to clean the front entry way too?

Can you find a cat in the mess?

Now after:

Much better!!

Now I'm off to rest!!

Day 9

2011-01-11T22:22:00.011-05:00

Today's Challenge was organizing the toys. If i read this a month ago, I'd say there was no way I could tackle this in one day. My boys have way too many toys. my husband won't let me get rid of any. His parents kept all his toys from his childhood and now my boys get to play with when we are visiting them. It is pretty cool seeing some of the old toys. So I wouldn't mind keeping some but not all 10 000 of them. Its gotten to the point where I hate toys!

After Christmas I threaten my husband I was going to get rid of them all or he had to buy a new solution to store them. So off to the store we went for a new shelf. Since then it hasn't been actually too bad and the boys have been pretty good about keeping the toys in the toyroom now, instead of all over the house.

Here is some peeks what my toyroom has been through over the last 4 years
What it use to always look like:

AHHHHHHHHHHh! ya a diaster!

Much better for a tiny bit. Then add lots more toys.
Back to always being a mess.
Before:

After:

Much better again! This was my favourite set up for the room because there was lots of room for them to play and a couch for my to sit and watch them play or often I'd see my oldest curled up on the couch reading. It was great but then again more toys were added. Remember my husband wont let me get rid of any toys.

Imagine the diaster picture again but times the mess by 2. And the add the house covered in toys. It got bad after christmas. I spent an entire day and night cleaning it, you can read about it here

Here is what it looks like tonight. There was a bit of a mess on the floor but forgot to take a picture. 6 years worth of toys.

The cupboards on the right are from the old kitchenette. (Our house was a duplex at one time)
I still need to sort out the containers of toys or junk in the corner and love to put labels on the bins. For now that will have to wait tho because I don't think my husbands coworkers will be playing in the toyroom at the party.

Thanks for joing in on my flashback of my toyroom. I'm glad to say its somewhat organized today.

Day 8

2011-01-11T16:20:00.002-05:00

I'm a late late posting but wanted to show you what I got accomplished yesterday.

Day 8's challenge was the coat closet. We just have a tiny coat closet in our back hallway. I'm glad we have it store extra coats and shoes but wish there was more shoe shelving.

Here is before:

After:
I boxed up all the summer shoes and put it on the shelf. No need for them to be at the bottom of the closet making a mess. Added a basket to hold shoes. so the boys can just through them in there. It might take a bit more time finding a match but a least they wont be thrown all over the place.Took all the bags out. Now just need to take them to a store to get them recycled.

Much better and there is still extra room that I might put extra towels there.

Also cleaned out the baby's room.
Before, a big mess:
A box of handed down clothes that need a place to be stored.

After:
Where did the clothes go? you ask. I wanted clear boxes to go under the bed but didnt want to spend that much. Instead I was thinking about making custom boxes from old cardboard. That was going to be too much though. My husband had a great idea to use drawers that were taken out of the old kitchenette that we turned into the baby's room.

The drawers fit perfectly under his crib. now all the clothes are sorted by size. His room looks much better just like a cute baby room should be.

Then I called it a day. Still need to organize the coats in the front hallway. Thanks for all the encouragement.

Day 7, part 2

2011-01-09T13:42:00.010-05:00

Today I organized my pantry, where I keep all my cans and extras that I am able to get for close to nothing with coupons.

We use to keep the boys games on the top shelf in the pantry but my husband bought a new shelf for the boy's toyroom.

Here is the before of the pantry:

During:

Trying to sort the games. I dont think they have enough games either. NOT!

After:

Hoping now that all the games are in one spot we can play them ore often.

Look at all the room in the pantry now.Much better! Now off to do laundry!

Day 7

2011-01-08T21:37:00.007-05:00

Day 7's challenge is to clean/organize the pantry and food cupboards.

Toni must of known I bought containers yesterday to try to organize my food cupboards today.

My food cupboards hold all my baking stuff on the top shelf. Snacks for the boys school lunches in the pink basket. Already had that good system in place. The rest is a disaster. It's a pain when I want to bake and have to get a stool to look for an ingredient. I really loving baking but my system was making baking more of a chore than a hobby.

Before:

After:

OMG much better!! Now when I bake I can just pull down the baskets, use what i need and put the baskets back. For now I just used report cover labels (from the dollar store). I would really like to order these pantry labels because they are dishwasher safe.

The next food cupboard that holds beverages on the top and everyday items on the bottom.

Before:

After:

Much better but I'd like to buy containers for the rice and pasta.

That's all I had time to do today. Tomorrow is going to be the pantry and laundry. No rest for me. The house needs to clean and organized. Only 14 more days till the party!

I'm loving seeing what others are up too. Lots of inspiration and motivation going on. If I haven't visited you yet, I'm sorry. I would love to visit everyone but there just isn't enough time in the day. If you leave a comment, I always comment back :)

Happy Organizing!!

Day 6

2011-01-07T22:23:00.018-05:00

Warning: Lots of pictures and long post.

Today was another productive day but I have a long way to go still to get ready for my husband's work party. I want to say hi to all my new followers and anyone who is reading. I hope you'll comment and encourage me on, and I'll do the same back. Also hope that I inspire you. I am posting my embarassing pictures to show everyone it can be done.

Day 6's challenge was to organizer the dresser drawers. what a perfect day for this. Today was the day a local charity was coming to pick up a donation of unwanted clothes. I had one bag ready for them last night but after I finished the challenge, I had another bag for them. It felt great to get rid of it right away without having to leave the house.

A tip: schedule a charity to pick up your donations after the 21 day challenge. Helps the donation box/bag to not clutter up your house. Plus there is no going back for the item after its gone.

Onto the pictures. Just a peak at one of the drawers, my pajamas drawer:
After:

My husband has hated my night gowns for a long time. Well should say he has hated them forever. So good bye night gowns. They're gone. No grabbing them out of the bag either.

I also went through a box I had in my closet of my clothes before my pregnancy. I put them in my drawer, hoping they'd now fit. I got rid of some clothes I no longer like. I put my maternity clothes away in the box. Afterward the box was half empty, so I put away for my shorts since they aren't needed right now. Its too darn cold for them.

The box overflowing before:

After:

I now have an empty drawer, but I have a plan for this drawer. My shirt drawer is overflowing. I am going to try to put the shirts I wear in the next month in the empty drawer. After a month I'll evaluate the drawers that are left in my original shirt drawer.

I took a break and went shopping at the dollar store for a couple containers that I've been wanting a while. I behaved and only bought the conditioners I knew i had a plan for. There was a really pretty pink one that I wanted to get but I was a good girl.

Here is what did with the containers:

My movies before:
After:

I love it.Much better! look at the empty shelf now!!

I didn't stop there either. I cleaned the upstairs bathroom. It was disgusting. My husband uses this bathroom to shave. No one was ever allowed to use it but us.

Before:

A look at the disgusting sink: Ya I know, gross! I never want to look at it again.

Now a look at it clean:
Where did everything go you ask?
I've had these baskets in place for quite a while. The hold everything we use every day. The system works great if you aren't lazy and take 30 secs a day to put the thing you use right back.

A look at the clean sink:

Look at it shine:

Feels great to walk into the bathroom now.

I am loving this challenge at A bowl full of lemons but my husband would really love if there was a challenge for the kitchen counter or surfaces that are out in the open. He says great everywhere my coworkers won't see will be organized. lol I am loving getting all of it organized. Because I believe if you're organized on the inside, it'll inspire you to keep the rest of the house clean. so once again a big thank you to Toni for a great challenge. If you made it this far, a big thank you for reading!!

Day 5

2011-01-06T17:50:00.007-05:00

Day 5's challenge was to organize under the sink. It was another easy challenge. I was able to do it while supper was cooking.

Before:

After:
I'd like to replace the circle pail with a square tub for my recyclables. right now I pile them on the counter until I take them to the blue box. I'd like to hid them under the sink. For now, I'm going to leave the round pail there until I see if it works for me. My friend at Almost Organized has a great post about this, read it here.

My husband even got into the organizing mood this morning. He helped me make a dent in cleaning up our bedroom floor.

Before I started cleaning yesterday:

What we completed today:
A lot better! It is not done but now I wont be embarrassed if I accidentally leave my bedroom door opened.

Tonight's task is to finish the mountain of laundry I have to do. Hope you had a productive today too.

Day 4

2011-01-05T23:08:00.014-05:00

Note: This was yesterday's post but didn't have time to finish it:

Today was quite a productive day. I think I got quite a bit done.

Day 4's challenge was clean the linen closet. I don't have one and that's the only thing i miss from living in our apartments. This house is an old house. so it doesn't have many closets at all.

I store the boy's extra sheets on a shelf in their closet. So today task was super easy. I straighten up their sheets and found acouple blankets that were hiding behind the couch.

Before:

After:
Not much of a difference.

Since that challenge was easy. I started tackling my bedroom which is a huge disaster. In the summer, we redid my craft room into a nursery. so everything got piled into my bedroom and its been sitting there since.

What I worked on:
(Embarrassing pictures coming right up!)

The dresser Before:
After:The night stand before:

After:
(The picture above was taken with my mom's new camera. I so want it!!)

The book shelf before:

After:
All 3 look so much better!!

Then tonight while watching the hockey game, I did my small thing from Home Sanctuary for the day. I organized my recipes. Put all the loose recipes into a binder.

My drawer with my cookbooks and recipes before:

During:After:Yay! now I can find a recipe.

That was my day! Thanks for looking!!

Day 3: Tupperware cupboard

2011-01-04T14:53:00.006-05:00

Day 3's challenge is to organize the "Tupperware" cupboard. Mine was a disaster but it was easy to do.

Before:

During:
A lot of stuff.

After:
Everything went back in except a few lids. I keep the glass jars to take homemade soup over to my neighbour or to pour grease in.

Looks better for now but I'd like to buy some pretty containers to contain them. Also love to buy a new matching set of tupperware. ours set is all mix-match.

Thanks for looking!

Mission statement

2011-01-03T21:13:00.003-05:00

A Simple mission statement I want to keep in my mind while I'm trying to get my house organized.

To make my home a cozy sanctuary for my family and always warm and inviting for friends.

Computer Desk

2011-01-03T12:00:00.004-05:00

Day #2's challenge is to clean the computer desk. This was a much easier challenge since I just cleaned it not too long ago.

Just a quick post today to show my pictures. I'm busy doing laundry and have a dentist appointment soon (I don't wanna go!).

Before:
After:
Looks better!! Now I got to try to keep it clean like this.

Thanks for looking!!

A New Year, a New Start

2011-01-01T17:12:00.004-05:00

First, Happy new years to Everyone!

source: Sprik Space

I always love a new year or start of a new month because I feel like its another chance to start over to improve how things are. This year, I plan on doing that! My home and life are desperate need of being organized.

I have never been good at keeping the house organized, I have tried many times but am always overwhelmed. I am one of those people who need to be told what to do or it doesn't get done.

Here is the plan:

I plan on participate in A bowl of lemons' 21 day challenge : Toni is posting a challenge for the next 21 days. This is perfect to help me get organized before my party on the 22nd.

Doing the small things at Home Sanctuary: Every day, Rachel Anne posts a small thing to do to help make your home a sanctuary.

Learning to maximize my mornings at inspired to action: I tried this before and loved it. It helped motivate me in the mornings. This one might be harder with the baby but I'm really going to try.

Used the motivated mom planner: A e-book that tells you what chores to do everyday.

And writing downlots of to do lists and my goals.

Hope this resources will help me. What are you hoping to improve and how you plan to try to accomplish it?

Junk Drawer

2011-01-01T16:19:00.008-05:00

When I woke up this morning, I was excited to find out what the first challenge was going to be.
For day one, she said she started out simple, organizing the junk drawer. If today's challenge was suposse to be simple, I'm afraid to see what is to come in the next 20 days. My junk drawer hasn't been sorted out since we moved into this house, 4 years ago.

My Junk drawer in the kitchen is a catch all place for little things that I don't even know what they are. My oldest son has started calling it "The I don't Know drawer." He loves to go treasure hunting in the drawer and everyone he does, I just cringe my teeth and get stressed.

Here is the before:

And the after:

Way better!! I can't even believe the difference. Feels Great!

How I did it:

1. Empty everything into a box.
2. Grabbed my garbage bag, extra little containers, an extra box.
3. I sorted what I wanted to keep into the extra box and the garbage into the garbage bag.
4. Went through the stuff into the keep box and put like stuff into the containers.
5. Put the like stuff where it belongs.

For example, I put stickers, buttons and popsicle sticks into a container and then put the container where i keep my craft supplies. I didn't sort it out individually because all my craft supplies needs to be sorted out later.

6. Put what I wanted to keep in the drawer, back into the drawer neatly.
7. Found a bigger container that fits into the drawer.

The empty container is going to be for junk that I don't know where it goes at the time. That way its all contained in a smaller space but still in the junk drawer. I plan on sorting through the box often.

Day #1 complete.

21 days

2010-12-30T22:09:00.005-05:00

My husband wants to have a belated work Christmas party but has been waiting to have it till our house was clean. I told him that was never going to happen if he didnt set a date. So January 22nd, we're having a PARTY!! I'm excited about it because we don't have people over too often because our house is too much of a mess. We love to entertain but the mess is holding us back. Well not no more!!

The other day, a friend mentioned a challenge that is perfect for me.

Hoping this challenge will help me along on my journey.

Come along on a tour of my main floor of my house, what it looks like on an average day.

This is my first video, so let me know what you think.

Hope you join me the next 21 days. I'll be blogging about it. Yes I know I've said that before but this time its for real.

oh ya, welcome any new readers :)

Aftermath Clean up

2010-12-29T22:41:00.008-05:00

Note: I'm working on switching my blog template. If some of the links dont work, thats why.

I stayed up till 1am Monday night cleaning. Then woke up at 5:30 to try to finish cleaning. My husband thought I was crazy for doing so but it badly needed to be done.

It looks a lot better but still have some work to do.

The living room, clean enough for a cute baby to lay on the floor.

The Dining room. A lot better too but Now if only I could clean the counter top off and keep it clean.

And here is the toyroom, almost cleaned. Left Side of the room.
Right Side of the room

I still have two more baskets of toys to go through and sort. Also have to sort and add all our board games to the black shelf on the right. So far it has stayed clean for 2 days and has been awesome. They have even been keeping the toys in the toyroom. No more toys taking over my house!! I really hope it stays that way for a long time!

Now onto getting the rest of the house clean. I have till Jan. 22nd to do so. The husband wants to have a late work christmas get together then. I clean better with a date in mind.

Thanks for encouraging me on!

Christmas Aftermath

2010-12-28T00:18:00.004-05:00

We had a really good christmas but I hate the aftermath. It looks like a toy store threw up. It doesn't help that I decided to tackle the toyroom today or otherwise there was no way I could put new toys away.

Here is the dining room after I took everything out of the toyroom.

Here is the aftermath in the living room.

These pictures make me want to be sick but I want to keep this blog real. So this is what my house looks like tonight. I'm spending the night cleaning the house before my family comes over to visit tomorrow.

I hope everyone had a great christmas!

Wish me luck and I'll be back tomorrow with after pics.

Wanting it all

2010-11-17T12:33:00.003-05:00

Credit: girlwithoutwings

I struggle and get overwhelmed with wanting to have my life all together (you know house spotless, laundry done, dinner always made on time) that I forget to enjoy my boys now. Thanks to Rachel's post Having it All Together, she reminded me that I need to spend more time loving my boys now while they are still small. They don't stay that young forever. I think tonight I'm going to spend some extra time struggling and reading an extra book with them before bed.

100 questions: Who am I?

2010-11-13T10:19:00.003-05:00

Today while surfing blogs, I came across a great blog post 100 questions to ask yourself. I am going to try to answer as many of these questions as I can while I work on my journey to a better life.

The first question is Who are you?

I never know how to answer this question or write about me. Since I have became a mom, I think I've sorta forgot/lost who I am. On my journey I would really love to improve who I am and find things I love.

I am Amanda.

I am a wife to my great husband.

I am a mom to 3 little boys.

I am the boys' first teacher.

I am the CEO of my household.

I am a friend.

I am a sister to 2 brothers and 1 sister.

I am a daughter and daughter-in-law to great parents.

I am an aunt to 3 nephews and 3 nieces.

I am a Lovable Label sales agent.

Can I improve in each of these roles? Yes and that's what I'd like to do on my journey but that's a whole different post. :)

Who are you? Please share in the comments or link to a blog post :)

Back to Blogging

2010-11-12T22:00:00.000-05:00

Things have settled down a bit now. The new baby is doing well and the 2 older boys are in school full time now. It’s time to get back into a routine and get some things accomplished. Right now my house isn’t as clean or organized as I’d like it to be. It is a lot better than when I started on this journey but still has a long way to go. I love how spotless I can get my house when I’m getting it ready for company to come over but a day later we are back to square 1 again: a disaster. I always feel like I’m playing catch up on my housework. I’d love to be able to maintain a clean house all the time. So that’s why I’m back to blogging. I need something to hold myself accountable.

Here are some recent pictures:

The boys on Halloween

Me and my 3 boys

Gavin, almost 8 weeks old.

Looking forward to blogging again. Thanks to Windows Live Writer, I think blogging is going to be a lot easier now too.(That's if it will let me publish posts. Always something wrong with things.)

Are you ready to cheer and encourage me on?

Introducing the newest family member

2010-10-01T15:53:00.000-04:00

Sorry I did intend to blog more in the last month but I slept a lot and was busy preparing and trying not to go crazy before I was due.

I am now a proud mom to 3 little boys. Monkey #3 was born on September 20th, right on my due date. (And no I didn't have to be induced. Yay!)

A couple hours old.1 Day old. Going home.4 days old.1 week and 2 days

Everything is going well so far. He is a very good baby. Sleeping and eatting well. He gets up about every 3 hours and then goes right back to sleep after eatting. I couldn't ask for a better baby.

I promise I'll be back to blogging soon. I have lots of organizing to do. :)

Ant or Grasshopper?

2010-08-20T14:28:00.000-04:00

photo credit

I need to be an ant, more than an grasshopper right now when it comes to organizing my life and home right now. What am I talking about? Go read this great organizing article about the grasshopper and the ant. Then make sure you come back to read the rest of my post. hehe :)

I'm due in 31 days. The countdown is on. I'm getting very anxious. I even thought I thought I was having contractions one night this week. There is still lots to do before the baby is born but mostly I need to make sure the house is prepared, so things don't fall apart while I'm gone having the baby.

The house has to be picked up and as tidy as can be, so the neighbour can watch the boys while I'm in the hospital. I'd hate for her to have to come over to a disaster.

The laundry needs to be kept up. That way the boys and husband have clean clothes for work and school (when he starts.)

Have to keep the house stocked with food and a meal plan. The boys will need food while I'm in the hospital and a meal plan will make it easier on me and husband if he needs to cook.

Here is a list of goals I'd like to accomplish over the next 30 days or before the baby is born. I'm going to try my hardest to blog everyday to keep myself accountable. I'll be adding as I think of more and crossing things off when they're done.

Declutter:

Night Stand
Bedroom dresser
tupperware cupboard
air-hockey table
computer desk
book shelf
boys closest
bedroom floor
craft supplies

Personal:

make a mp3 playlist
find podcasts
make dayplanner
make a book list

Need to prepare for hospital:

write out instructions for neighbour
pack bag for boys
make phone list
pack hospital bag

Home:

make and freeze waffles and pancakes
make and freeze muffins and quick breads
go through boys clothes
buy night light for boys room
buy clock and lamp for baby's room
go through boys artwork
make recipe binder
find a mail/bill sorter
meal plan for month of September

Anyone want to join in accomplishing whats on your list? Maybe you'd like to be prepared for going back to school or just because you want to. What is on your list?

Tackle it Tuesday: Master Bathroom

2010-08-10T16:06:00.000-04:00

The master bathroom counter top looked like a bomb went off. It's been like that for at least a couple weeks. Today I thought I'd tackle it.

Before:

After:

Where did everything go? Some in the garbage. Some away in the drawers where it's suppose to go and the rest got put away here:

It looks so much neater all contained in these baskets. I had the baskets before but we get lazy and don't put things back after we use it. I have to try to remember to take a minute each day to do so. It'll make it easier to clean next time.

It took a total of 15 minutes or so. Why didn't I tackle it sooner? Is there something you've been putting off to do? Set the timer for 15 minutes and start tackling. You'll be surprised how much you can get done. What are you tackling today?

Top Ten Snacks

2010-08-10T12:47:00.000-04:00

I want to cut back on processed snacks for the boys. It'd be healthier for the boys, save us money and more green for the environment. Individual packaged snacks sure add up and before I know it there goes half of my grocery budget. With both boys going to school every day this year, that's a lot of lunch snacks I'll have to pack.

Here is a list of 10 snack ideas I want to try to make:

1. Cheesy Alphabet Crackers: Theses look so cute and would be a big hit I think.

2. Honey- Sweetened Granola Bars: The boys love Granola Bars. Love that these don't have any sugar added.

3. Chewy Granola Bars: Another granola bar recipe to try. Like how it has rice krispies in it.

4. Carrot Cake cookies: a yummy way to try to sneak in a vegetable.

5. Donut Muffins: These look so cute!

6. Strawberry Cream Cheese Bread: Not sure if they'll be any left of this to pack. Mom might eat it all.

7. Kitchen Sink Muffins: looks like a great recipe to include vegetables and fruit.

8. Stained Glass Jello: Looks so fun

9. Oatmeal Blueberry Applesauce Muffins: Sounds so yummy

10. Spicy Cornmeal Parmesan Crackers: The boys love cheese and crackers

Plus I'll be sending them fruits and vegetables in their lunches too.

There is a lot more yummy recipes but unfortunately a lot of them include peanut butter. Their lunches have to be nut-free for school.

What is your childrens' or your favourite snack?

Bloghop 2010

2010-08-05T19:29:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the blog hop '10 party visitors. My name is Amanda. I just started my blog recently to try to help keep myself accountable on my journey to creating a more organized and beautiful home and encourage on others because I know I'm not alone on this journey.

I'm married to Jeremy, who works long hours to make it possible for me to stay home with our 2 boys. Monkey #1 is 5 years old and Monkey #2 will be 4 in a month. I'm due with monkey #3 in 7 weeks.

My blog posts might be few right now but I have a far way to go still, so please stop by again to encourage me on.

Meal Plan Monday: July 26-Aug 1

2010-07-26T20:00:00.000-04:00

This week I'm still trying to use up what I have in the freezer and pantry.

Breakfasts:
Pancakes
Cold cereal
Toast

Lunches:
Leftovers
cold cut sandwiches

Dinners
Monday: Beef stew (Didn't end up having it last week)
Tuesday: Steak, chedder potato strips and green beans (didn't have last week either)
Wednesday: bacon & french toast
Thursday: Burgers & oven french fries
Friday: Pizza & Salad
Saturday: bbq chicken, some kind of potato, green beans & salad
Sunday: BBQ at my parents & hopefully pizza pie irons

Snacks
homemade microwave popcorn
yogurt
Strawberry banana bread
whatever the boys can find. lol

After this week, my freezer will be getting quite bare which is good for me to be able to clean it out but not looking forward to the next big grocery shop. I'm also planning for a baking day soon. so if you have any favourite muffins, cookies or breads recipes, please share!

Wanted to leave you with a picture of my husband and I at my cousin's wedding on the weekend.

I didnt want to get out of bed

2010-07-22T21:38:00.000-04:00

I didnt want to get out of bed this morning. The alarm clock went off at 7am. Hit snooze once and didnt hear the music playing again till 7:50am. Guess I was really tired. I didnt feel like getting out of bed yet. so I continued to lay in bed still. Heard my husband come home from work (he was on midnights this week) and the boys wake up. I still laid there. I really didn't want to get out of bed. Finally around 10am, my DH came and woke me up to kick me out of bed since it was his turn to go to bed.

After I finally got moving, I started emptying the dishwasher. There was quite a few dishes still dirty. That never happens! so instead of picking out the clean ones, I just ran the dishwasher again. So the dishes didn't get done and no laundry got done either. The day was off to a rough start.

After lunch, I thought I'd be a nice mom and take the boys to the park. Only thing was we had to walk since my jimmy's brakes aren't working properly and aren't getting fixed till tomorrow. We walk there and the boys had fun playing for half hour or so. I warn them 5 minutes till its time to go and then I hear a scream. The oldest, monkey 1, lost his grip trying to swing across the monkey bars and fell. He put his hands out his front of him to break his fall. He screamed/cried the whole walk home. Thats not like him. He normally is pretty good and just shakes it off. I knew something was wrong. Off to the ER we go. Had to ask my mother in law to drive us since DH is sleeping and my jimmy isn't working. 2 hours and $30 later, we are able to leave the ER. He fractured his wrist in two spots. He now has a bright green cast on for 4-5 weeks. No more soccer, baseball or gymnastics for the summer. I don't know who cried more about that. Mom or Monkey. Thanks to pregnancy hormones. On the way home, my mother-in-law picked up 2 pizzas for us to have for supper. Bless her soul. She must of knew after a day like today, I didn't want to come home and cook.

Monkey is still in quite a bit of pain but feel asleep pretty easy. Hoping he is able to get some sleep tonight. We could all use a good sleep. Tomorrow is a new day. Hopefully a better day.

New hair do

2010-07-19T22:02:00.000-04:00

My hair has been getting long and all I have been doing with it has been putting it up with a pony tail. I was getting bored with it. Yesterday I decided it was time to get it all cut off again. (I do this about once a year) Today I went to book an appointment with my Sister in law, who is a hair dresser. She had an opening right then. I love having a sister in law as a hair dresser!!

Here is a picture of me at 26 weeks pregnant to show you what my hair looked like before:
My new hair do
And a picture of me today at 31 weeks.
I am hoping I'll be able to keep it style easily by myself. I Love treating myself to a new hair cut. Makes me feel really good!! Do you love having a new hair do?

Meal Plan Monday: July 19-25

2010-07-19T14:19:00.000-04:00

Friday I did a little bit of grocery shopping for fresh produce and a couple good deals. I do love getting good deals. Every Thursday I cant wait till the weekly fliers are delivered to see what good deals I can get with on sale and using coupons. The best deal this week was Arm & Hammer Laundry Detergent (44 loads) for 97 cents. This week (and hopefully next) I would like to stretch out what we have in the freezer and pantry. The budget is a little tighter this month with an extra mortgage payment and the freezer could use defrosting. So if I can clean out the freezer, it'd be a bonus. I'd like to try to not have to go to the store at all this week except to buy milk or bread.

Breakfasts:

Cold Cereal
Instant Oatmeal
Pancakes
Fruity Breakfast Roll-ups (new recipe to try)
Toast or Bagels

Lunches:

Meat Sandwich
Leftovers
Pepperoni Puffs (new recipe to try)
Salad

Snacks:
Rainbow Cupcakes (Made these yesterday with a cake mix. They turned out so cute)
Zucchini Blueberry Bread
Raspberry Crumble Muffins
Homemade microwave Popcorn (so simple and a lot cheaper!)

Dinners:

Monday: Beef on a Bun, using leftover roast beef from last night, and salad.
Tuesday: Chicken Mozzarella, pasta and bread sticks (new recipe)
Wednesday: Chicken Fingers and French Fries
Thursday: Steak, Chedder potatoes strips, and green beans.
Friday: Chicken Burgers
Saturday: At a wedding
Sunday: Pizza

This week it was pretty easy to come up with meals since our freezer isn't so bare yet but next week might be more of a challenge. I hope I can stretch it out till next pay day in 2 weeks.

Have you ever tried to see how far you can stretch what you already have? How did you do? Want to join me in the challenge?

Getting to Know You

2010-07-18T13:39:00.000-04:00

Thought I'd join in the fun at Mannland5 and participate in The Getting to know You Meme

1. If you had to choose a country to live in besides USA (or the country you live in), which would it be?
I live in Canada. If I had to use another country to live in, I'd probably pick the USA. The shopping is suppose to be better. Lots more coupons and mail freebies. I love to coupon shop.

2. Which would be worse, wearing flip flops in the snow or wearing gloves in the summer?
Wearing flip flops in snow would be worse. If I had to wear them for a long time, my toes would get frost bitten.

3. Fried or Bake and why?
Fried. Loved everything fried. Fried Mozza sticks are the best!

4. If you were an entertainment reporter, which celeb would you love to interview and why?
I have no idea. I don't really pay attention to celebs.

5. What was your favorite book as a preteen/teenager?
Loved the babysitter's club books.

6. List your top 3 guilty pleasure television shows.
The Bachelor, The Biggest Loser & Surviour

7. What bumper sticker slogan best describes you/your attitude/your life?
"If momma aint happy, aint no body happy" If I am stressed and in a bad mood, everyone else seems to be too.

8. If you were to join a circus - what performer would you be?
Not sure what type of performer I'd want to be in the circus, but I've loved to be one of the figure skaters that perform in Disney on Ice.

Thanks for reading! :)

Random Act of Kindness

2010-07-13T21:54:00.002-04:00

I haven't been spending too much time or effort cleaning my house this week. I have been busy working on a very special project.

My cousin, Nicole died 2 months after a courageous battle with cancer. She would of been turning 36 next Sunday. She loved to celebrate her birthday week. Before she passed away, she mentioned how the world had gotten too busy and we were getting less tolerant of each other. She wanted to set something up promoting Random Acts of Kindness (RAOK), a nice break from the all-too-familiar events of fund-raising for the Cancer Society and more specifically her own treatments. But, unfortunately, she never got the chance.

So in her honor, her mom started a facebook event to ask people to help celebrate her birthday by doing a random act of kindness in memory of her. As of tonight, 3543 people have joined and it keeps growing. Its amazing how many people have been touched by it.

I normally do small RAOKs everyday. So this week I wanted to do something a bit bigger and something I could get my 2 boys involved with. Yesterday we went shopping for cat and dog food and today we donated it to the humane society. The boys got a chance to see all the cats and dogs that are waiting to be adopted. Hoping it teaches them to do nice things for others in need.

Here is what we donated:

2 bags of dog food, 2 packages of dog treats and 4 bags of cat food. Buying it at regular price would of cost me $73.09. Buying it on sale and using coupons, it only cost me $15. 35. Donating it to the Humane Society = Priceless.

My boys saying hi to 2 kittens.

It felt great to do something in memory of such an amazing girl.

You may never know what results come of your action, but if you do nothing, there will be no result.". ~Mahatma Ghandi

I'm linking this post to Tackle it Tuesday and Mom's 30 minute blog challenge. Thanks for reading :)

Frugal Friday: Muffins

2010-07-09T13:46:00.000-04:00

I had blueberries and watermelon that needed to be used up before they went bad. They were a couple days old. So they arent the tastiest for just eating raw as a snack but they make good muffins. So what did I do? I made blueberry muffins using this recipe at A Recipe A Day and watermelon muffins. Both turned out very delicious!

I was looking through the fliers today and noticed one store was advertising half a dozen muffins for $2. Together I made 2 and half dozen muffins. If I bought them at the store it would of cost me $12. Instead it didn't cost me anything out of my pocket today because I had everything already in my pantry.

Muffins also make a great frugal gift for a neighbour or friend. We took 4 muffins over to our neighbour as a thank you gift for all the help she does watching the boys for me.

What is your favourite muffin recipe? I'm always looking for new muffin recipes. So please share your favourite. :)

Waking up early

2010-07-08T08:19:00.000-04:00

Photo by FxyLxy

It's only 8:30am and I've got dressed for the day, did a load of laundry and unloaded the dishwasher. That is huge for me. Most morning I'd have a hard time getting out of bed before 9. The boys were good. They'd sit and watch cartoons till I got up. After that it was a struggle to get anything done. There was many days when the laundry and dishes would go undone.

The last 3 days I have been getting up with my alarm at 7am. I'd hop in the shower and get dressed for the day, makeup and all. Threw in a load of laundry and unloaded the dishwasher. Made myself a bagel to eat and sat on the back deck to enjoy my breakfast. It has been so relaxing and feels great to have so much accomplished already. I'd love to wake up 30 minutes earlier to allow a little bit more quiet time to myself since my oldest son wakes up around 7:30am. Just got to remind myself to start with baby steps first.

I came across a great ebook, Maximize Your Mornings by Inspired to Action. It has lots of great information to help motivate you to make the most of your mornings.

How do you start your mornings?

Kitchen clean up

2010-07-06T16:27:00.000-04:00

Today while browsing blogs, I came across pictures of my dream kitchen. It inspired me to get up and clean right then. Off to the kitchen I went to clean.

Here is a before picture:
I cleared off the counter tops, put away stuff I don't use often and rearranged a few things. What a difference it made.

And the after picture:
It's not white cupboards but it looks so much better. Now the challenge will be to try to keep it that clean. I'm glad I found the motivation to clean the kitchen.

Linking this post up to Tackle it Tuesday at 5 minutes for mom and Mom's 30 minute blog challenge.

First Day of my New Life

2010-07-05T21:55:00.000-04:00

Hi :) I'm Amanda. I've been a stay at home mom for the last 5 years to two little boys, or monkeys as I call them. For the last 5 years, we've had no schedule or routines. We do whatever we like, whenever we like. It's been nice to have the flexibility but it also turns my life into chaos! I'm often stressed due to a huge Mt. Laundry growing in the bedroom, no answer to the "What's for dinner?" asked nightly, and being asked "Where is my ______?" daily. The list could go on forever.

Monkey number 3 is due in September. I'd like to get my life in order before then. I want to be a better mom and housewife.

I'm starting this blog to share my journey with others and to help keep myself accountable. I hope you encourage me along the way and join me on my journey. I know I can't be the only one on this journey. Here's to getting Organized and a fresh start!

Also wanted a place where I can dump any ideas that are floating around in my head or I come across while browsing the internet. Hope you find some inspiration here along the way. :)