Organizing Friday {Week 7}

I somehow skipped week 6, so I am adding it here too!

Finished organizing our homework cabinet last week

It's not perfect but for now, with the containers I have it's going to work.

I picked up the magazine boxes at IKEA, each kiddo has one. This is so much easier than trying to decide who didn't clean up what.  The bigger chicken wire basket is crayons, and we are using this milk jar to keep colored pencils in. I drastically reduced the amount of colored pencils and crayons we had. It seemed overwhelming to the kids to have soooo many to dig through for the one they were looking for. So for now, less is more and less is less for me to clean up.

Then it was under the sink! It ended up a little dirty and with little helpers, kind of a mess. 

Going to catch up on that this weekend since it's a quick one.

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Organizing Friday { Week 5 }

Our coat closet was a multipurpose area during the holidays. We kept everything in it, wrapping paper and gifts, coats and shoes. It was a bit much. You can see the mess here.

Spent a little time while the baby was asleep just taking everything out and not putting it back in. Most of it didn't belong in there anyway. My mother and father in law were getting rid of this shoe rack, it fit so we were happy to snag it!  Still have all my aprons and baby wearing stuff in there. They need to be easy to access.

This week I am going to focus on our Homework Cabinet. I don't really know what else to call it. It's in the dining room and has all kinds of stuff the kids use after school. Work books, crayons, pencils etc.  It's a mess, although I did do a little work before I took the picture.

 I have a couple friends that just have the best set up for their homework areas and art supply storage. I am going to see if I can find anything this weekend to inspire the kids to keep it tidy.

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Meal Plan Monday

Our new kitchen is a MESS! I am slowly, very, very slowly getting it organized. The pantry is going to be a hard adjustment. I already miss our big walk in pantry!  

I am also pretty sure we still have a container of food in the storage unit. I am still going to attempt a plan this week and see how it goes. I feel like such a crazy person, haven't made a meal plan for the month, went grocery shopping and I swear I didn't really get anything. I don't think I was prepared for how hard moving was going to be for me.

Monday~Chicken, rice and green sauce

I am probably going an easier route and just using green enchilada sauce (with some blended spinach in it, don't tell the kids) instead of homemade sauce.

Tuesday~Bacon Mac 'n' Cheese

I am going to try to put together a new dish, no recipe so we will see how it turns out.

Having salad with it.

Wednesday~Chili and Rice

Thursday~Chicken Spaghetti

I love how easy this is to throw together in the day as I have time, then I can just bake it as we get close to dinner!

Friday~Grilled Cheese

 Have you tried any new recipes recently that were super? Share them please!

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I'm BAAAACK! Meal Plan Monday!

Our sweet little Hawkins is 2 little weeks old already! It has gone by SOO fast!

We are still getting back into the swing of things and how our new bundle changes how we do things.

Thankfully, I planned and prepped about a months worth of meals ahead of time.

I still need to plan though, or we will have a whole lot of still frozen food come dinner time!

This week we are having

Shredded Beef Taco's

I just cooked a big roast in the crock pot, we used half last week and the rest for this meal.

Cooking once, eating twice is a must right now!

Loaded Potato Soup

We are eating like it's Fall around here, too bad it's still 70-80 degrees!

Crockpot Meatloaf

This is new to us, I am a little worried about how it will turn out!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

In the crockpot, Thursday is a busy day for us!

Chili & Brown Rice

Sneaking in a few ingredients the kids would normally object too!

Weekends are a little easier for us, I don't feel like I have to plan AS much!

What is on your meal plan for the week?

 

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Meal Plan Monday~Week 24

Because we are hoping to sell our house I have been planning easier meals, 

easier to prep, easier to clean up, a whole lot of chicken! I am baking a few chicken breast this morning so it's ready to go for the week. Excited for us all to eat together, no more baseball!

Monday~Chicken Parmesan

Tuesday~Chicken Tacos

Wednesday~Baked Potatoes

Thursday~Chicken and Pasta

With some veggies and whatever kind of sauce I can throw together

Friday~Sub Sandwiches

 

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52 Weeks of Organizing~ Week 22

Pictures went well yesterday! I am glad that part is out of the way.

I did end up going through every one's clothes again, through some craft stuff and just selling a whole bunch.

The hardest part is being realistic about what we NEED!

But I can tell by the amount of stuff leaving our house I am doing better with it. We are excited to see how things change for us coming up. This week I am really just focusing on making our Road Trip Lists!

I am taking full advantage of all the articles on Pinterest for ideas. Check out my Rod Trip board HERE

My Goals for this Road Trip are

~Safety  ( of course, right?!)

~Healthy  We can't live on beef sticks and cheetos, even though the kids would be down with that.

~Fun  not just in the destinations, but along the way

~Educational I am sure the kids could have fun with their video games the whole way, but the whole point is to spend time together so that is not gonna fly! They will be allowed to watch the DVD player in the car, saving for the less straight roads, we have kids that get car sick easy.

~Stress Free   I know that is not going to happen 100% but I want to do as much as I can to make it as stress free as I can. 

That is my plan for the week, to make a whole bunch of lists! I will share them next week!

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Meal Plan Monday~ Week 23

Having an easy, as little mess as possible, eat outside as much as possible dinner plan this week!

We are attempting to sell our house and I know as soon as I make a messy dinner we will get a phone call for a showing. Isn't that how it works usually?!

Monday~Taco's

Tuesday~BBQ Chicken

I will throw together a side depending on what we have in the pantry

Wednesday~Tortellini and Pesto

Easy and everyone will eat it!

Thursday~Loaded Potato Soup

Friday~Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes

We had dinner with family last night so having this tonight!

Saturday~ We have plans out

Sunday~Breakfast 

 Bacon, eggs and pancakes

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52 Weeks of Organizing~ Week 21

We had a short week at home last week, we did get our girly all moved into her new room. Nothing on the walls yet, trying to keep it to a minimum. Because, I am HOPING it is short lived. To add to our crazy that we have going on right now, we have decided to list our home for sale!

She went from the biggest to smallest room, no complaints!

Not going to be getting any organizing done this week. Instead we are making sure everything looks good for the photographer that comes next week. 

I am trying to get the kids on board with making sure their room is clean before school, that is not going over as well as I hoped.

I am sticking with my regular Weekly Cleaning and also making a note of things that need to be touched up, moved, etc.

I see a whole lot of work happening this weekend!
I think this combo of hoping to sell and being pregnant is making me crazy! We have sold a ton of stuff lately, I just feel like we really need to downsize "stuff" in general.
I hope this is my nesting and it doesn't turn into something crazy like paint every room or make the living room a play room crazy.
 

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Meal Plan Monday~ Week 22

Hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day!

We have NO groceries, for sure on the list of to do's tomorrow.

Trying a couple new recipe's this week.

Tuesday~Flautas 

I just used some leftover chicken shredded it with some salsa and cream cheese. 

Mixed in some shredded cheese and rolled into soft taco shells. Spray pan before rolling them up, bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Used this recipe as a guideline but I made it today before we had groceries so I improvised. 

Wednesday~Pork Chops & Veggies

Thursday~Grilled Cheese & Soup

These have been a major craving for me lately, 

in the rotation a little more often than usual right now.

Friday~Chicken Spaghetti

Using a couple different recipe's and making them work for us, no canned or processed and no expensive ingredients!

Saturday~Soup

I am not sure what kind yet, I am waiting to see what's a deal at the market.

Has to be in the crock pot, too many games and birthday parties

Sunday~Meatloaf & Mashed Potatoes

 

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52 Weeks of Organizing~ Week 20

Went through every bin (after I vacuumed)

Sold a few things, took a whole bin worth to donate.

Sometimes it's hard to just let stuff go! Some of these seasonal decorations haven't been used in years but I was holding on to them for some crazy reason.

And I took that picture from the couch, being lazy.

This week was Emergency Packs, but I am moving that around to the last minute before we leave in a bit anyway.  I am going to take this week off from my list, we have had a crazy couple weeks. Thought we were having a girl, we are having a boy. Room was already painted and now we have some even bigger changes coming up. Going to spend this week moving our girly into the newly painted room, getting rid of some stuff she has outgrown and making a list of things we need to do before we leave!

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Meal Plan Monday~Week 21

          

We are ready for a long weekend coming up! I am hoping to use up as much of what we have before the weekend without having to get anything else!

Monday~Chicken and Veggies

Tuesday~Taco's

Wednesday~Loaded Potatoes

Easy way to use use leftovers

Thursday~Chicken Enchilada's

We are out for the weekend!

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52 Weeks of Organizing~Week 19

Last week was the linen closet, it really wasn't much work, I had been working on it looking for something (a clear sign it needed help) so it was easy! Ours is a funny little nook.

Before 

After

And I know this is nothing special or especially pretty. If it were up to me I would much rather look at something like these

and I especially love this one!

And this week I am going to work on our coat closet, it's also our seasonal storage. I haven't been getting as much out so I really need to go through it ALL! I am on modified bed rest and am not supposed to lift so it might be a little trickier than usual. 

It doesn't look terrible in this picture but it also goes back and to the side, very deceiving!

And it also needs a good vacuuming! 

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Meal Plan Monday~ Week 20

With all the rain we had last week, we get to do makeup Baseball games this week, everyday.

I just hope these kids appreciate all the insanity and running around that happens to make it to everything haha.

Monday~Pasta and Meatballs 

Thanks Trader Joe's for making meatballs easy!

Tuesday~Chicken Taco's

Wednesday~Chicken Stir Fry

Easy way to use leftover chicken & veggies

Thursday~Grilled Cheese & Soup!

Friday~White Chicken Enchiladas

Saturday~BBQ Chicken

Sunday~Pork Roast & Mashed Potatoes

In the crock pot, need a mellow day!

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52 Weeks of Organizing~Week 18

Finally got to the bathrooms, it was today, but it's done! Cleaned out all the drawers and cabinets and only put back what we are really using!

They are ALL this tidy now! Moved a couple towels to the rag pile and tossed some expired sunscreen!

This week I need to work on our Linen closet. It's not too bad! I need to be a little more real about how many extra blankets we need but it should be an easy week!

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May 2014 Goals

I totally forgot to do these!! I would love to blame pregnant brain but I think it's just that April was a blur!

 We kept the same ones from the month before.

~ We didn't pay $1000 towards debt but we did pay some. We had some baby stuff to purchase, will for sure be back on track to just debt soon!

~ Kept the same savings plan

~Meal Planning. THIS I did super on!

~ Scheduling. A little better, I am sure it will be a lot better once there is less on the schedule haha

~Been spending more time at home, not as much as I want, but getting there!

This month I am going to be a little less ambitious, I know we have a lot going on and some big expenses.

~Making our "To-Pack" and "To-Do" list for our trip

I need to do some research, we haven't done a road trip like this with kids! I need to have this done before the 25th. I need time to get what we need too.

~Get the majority of the baby stuff in the room

20 weeks to go feels like a long time but I know with a little trip and all the summer fun stuff it will fly by!

~Stay home MORE

I know I have plenty to do here, I just need to stay away from all the fun resale groups on facebook that drag me into town too often!

~Stick to my CHORE CHALLENGE and Weekly Organizing

I know these are so helpful for our little (can I still call it little?!) family and they really don't take that much time. The Chore Challenge of 15 minutes each day really feels like nothing, but it turns out to be 5 hours a month of EXTRA cleaning I normally wouldn't get to. Even more if I was willing to do it on the weekends.

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Meal Plan Monday~Week 19

We have a week full of baseball again!

Monday~Enchiladas

Using left over shredded beef

Tuesday~Meatloaf and Potatoes

Our one day we aren't at the ball fields!

Wednesday~Spaghetti

I am making a bigger batch of marinara so we have some for later in the week

Thursday~Taco's

Friday~Grilled Cheese and Soup

Saturday~Pizza

Sunday~Chicken Parmesan 

Trying this recipe! 

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52 Weeks of Organizing~Week 17

Last week I made sure all of our vitamins and medicine were not expired and that we had the items we use often. We were out of some and had some expired. Looks like I checked just in time, there is a whole lot of coughing and sneezing going on! Thanks allergies!

This week is bathrooms.. Yikes!

I know there are some towels that have seen better days and I am scared to see what the kids have hoarded in their bathroom drawers!

I try to keep bathroom stuff to a minimum, clearly I failed!

Empty boxes, stuff I haven't used in months and 3 different dry shampoo's. Time to tidy it up and be real about what I use and ditch the rest.

I am sure the other bathroom's will have similar changes coming up! It's beautiful weather here, I am working on getting up earlier again, now that I am not AS exhausted. This bathroom organizing will have to be a morning thing, we are enjoying the sunshine!

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52 Weeks of Organizing~ Week 15?

I missed sharing the last couple of week. I did DO some of the work though! Got everyone's winter and cold weather stuff packed up and out of the way. Mittens and long sleeve shirts we won't be seeing for a little while. And I also spruced up our cleaning supplies.

Trying to get back on track with these 52 weeks of organizing!

This week I am going through all the meds to make sure none are expired or about to be empty just in time for the 3am fever.

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Meal Plan Monday~ Week 14

Finally broke down and went grocery shopping!

Now that we have some groceries around here I have no excuse not to stick to it.

Monday~Spaghetti

I cooked two times the ground beef so I can skip that later this week.

Tuesday~Taco's

Planning on making a big bath of chicken too.

Wednesday~Sheppard's Pie

Using the rest of the Ground Beef

Thursday~Tortellini and Chicken with Pesto

To use some of the chicken and have something easy to throw together

Friday~Salmon and roasted veggies

I need easy by the end of the week!

Saturday~Chilli

We have plans that day,  I know I won't get around to making anything if I don't throw it in the crock pot. Hoping I still have some pumpkin!

Sunday~Stir Fry

Easiest way to use the rest of the veggies that need to be used up!

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52 Weeks of Organizing~ Week 10

Last week I was our "office" which is really just a cupboard in our kitchen. 

We keep the printer below, it is rarely used and they are just SO ugly!

I use each of these photo boxes to keep stuff organized

~Camera accessories and stuff

~Cell phone accessories, car chargers etc.

~Checks, credit cards and other bank related items ( we don't keep cards in our wallets)

~Extra supplies, like pens, paper, tape, etc.

~Envelopes, thank you cards, wax seals ( totally addicted), stamps

~And I have an empty one.

We have our 2 Home Management Binders.

1 I use nearly everyday, the other has stuff that needs to be available but not pulled out everyday.

A basket with frequently used supplies like pens, pencils, tape, stapler, etc.

School phone books

then these little spice jars from IKEA, I spray painted the lids and they hold random things like change, screws, plug in covers, batteries. We always have a need for a little place to put something!

On the doors I used a piece of sheet metal and some little clips to hang it without putting holes in the cabinet. It's magnetic and a good place for all of our little reminders, sports cards and invitations.

This is the only office space we have had for a couple years now. It's worked great for us and helped not to keep excess. Where would we put it?!

This week I am working on the mail. Hubby and I have 2 very different ways of handling the mail. I would rather go through it all right now, file what needs to filed, pay what needs to be paid and be done with it. He is a stacker, save for later-er. These don't go well together!

Sometimes he gets mail that I don't have to deal with, it's not often but he needs I place he can put it until he is ready to deal with and keep it outta my way!

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