Organizing Friday!! The kids dishes.. there are SO many!

I swear they breed!!

We used to keep ALL the kids stuff in the upper cabinets but as the older 2 could reach the bathroom faucet letting them get their own water was fun for them so we moved the cups to a drawer they could reach. 

And our oldest really likes to help with the dishes and setting the table so I decided to move everything where he can reach. 

There was NO room! So many sippy cups and random containers in the drawer that there was no room for anything else! I swear at one point it was really organized but now the baby realllly likes to play in that drawer. (so much that I found a sock, a few lego's and half a package of wipes!)

I went through all the bowls and plates and decided to keep about half of them (the other half are now in the play kitchen, well they are supposed to be, but I have a feeling they will be all over for a few days until the novelty wears off!
Here is the before

During naptime I emptied the drawer and decided we don't really need 12 sippy cups or chopstick helpers!

Our oldest helped me put everything back in, he is SUCH a good helper!
After

All done, and the other cabinets look SO much better now too!

Here is the before

After

Let's hope I can keep Finnley out of the drawer now, his big brother will want to re-organize it everyday if he has the chance!

Next thing I need to organize is..
Birthday stuff! The biggins birthdays are in less than a month and I am not nearly as prepared as I wish I was!

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I DID remember to take pictures!

first I just crushed the pretzels and mixed with some PB

I didn't use the recipe cause I wasn't making that much.

Actually I filled these halfway first.. just melted white chocolate

Then I filled them up and smooshed them down as much as I could

Let them sit in the fridge a while 

the covered the back with more white chocolate, let that set then popped em out!

Finished

Hope the kids and hubby like them!

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National Spaghetti Day, and PB Pretzel truffles!

National Spaghetti day is January 4th (today).. I didn't know until about 10 minutes ago, but I can make spaghetti tonight!  

And although I don't have an amazing recipe (or any recipe) for spaghetti, I just guess and mix stuff together and taste and add more so I rarely use a recipe! But to make it a little more special I think I will make some Ravioli Truffles!  I saw THIS recipe on The Capital Baker and sounds yummy! Chocolate with Peanut Butter and Pretzels?!  Yes please!  But I want to make them go with the spaghetti a little more, so I am using my Ravioli Chocolate mold, which you can get HERE, but I got mine on ebay.

I am going to use white chocolate (only so they look a little more like ravioli) 

Hopefully I remember to take pictures before they are gone!

Happy Spaghetti Day!

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HMB re-do section 1

I decided to grab supplies before everyone else starts with the organizing too, found some cute paper and a big binder!  I use folders instead of page dividers because some of the folders I just don't need all year, like one that has Christmas ideas, gift list and sizes for kids in it.. I don't need that in my everyday binder until about October, so using the folders it's easy to just pop the whole folder in when the time comes.

This is my first section, the financial section of the HMB. It holds a LOT of info and it is one of my most used sections!  First I have our paycheck plans, hubby gets paid every 2 weeks so I like to have stuff split up as close to even as can be while everything gets paid on time. 

Then a list of all our monthly bills and the approximate amount for each month and the due date, this chart makes planning what to pay with what paycheck SO much easier! I have them sorted by due date, with the name and amount.

Next is all of our account numbers and phone numbers for the companies we use, just in case something did happen, it is all together and easy to find. Everything from insurance to credit cards, these are not in any specific order, but maybe they should be!

This is new and I am hoping it will work ok. I just used a page protector and these small colorful envelopes I found at the Dollar Store. I labeled one for Groceries, Gas, Savings, Fun and leftover (which gets paid straight to some debt). So after I pay the bills, I will be using the envelopes and cash with the amount set for each thing, I am so used to using the debit card this will be a bit of a adjustment, but I hope the adjustment helps us eliminate our debt!

It's not too much different then last year, but there are FEWER lines on the page with all our accounts.. I think that is a good sign!

And here is my pencil pouch. Cleaned out for the new year, going to try to keep it clutter free! I keep my checkbook and register in there, a couple dry erase pens, some regular pens and a calculator!

The next section I will be working on is groceries and meal planning! Since using coupons better this year is one of my goals I have to find a way to fit a easy way to use them in this folder.. Hopefully it only takes me a couple nap times to get it set!

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