Molly Saves! In the Powder Room...e-digest review

Here are my favorites from the Econobusters digest of the month...

* The dresser turned into storage...for the bathroom (or any other room, really).
* Ingredients for making homemade cleaning supplies.
* A Nod to Pinterest, which I am COMPLETELY addicited to!
* and most of all...what I really need is the Winter Weather Hair Care tips!

There's something for everyone. Check it out here!

Molly Saves! In the Laundry Room...e-digest review

Time for another review! And who doesn't need some savings and time saving tips when it comes to laundry? My opinion is that I would want to spend more time in the laundry room if it looks great, is organized and functions as I need. Here are some great ideas from the November Digest over at Econobusters! And wait...there are even some Thanksgiving topics in here! A must read!

* Frugal ways to save by making your own laundry detergent and fabric softener
* A checklist to teach kids how to do laundry. I'm big on having my kids learn to take care of their own things.
* The suggestion that everyone has a specific day of the week to do their laundry. (Would love to implement this in a few years when both kids are old enough to do all of their own laundry!)
* Since my kids love to Up-Cycle all kinds of things from around the house, I can see the "From Soap Box to Magazine Holder" project coming up sometime soon.
* And the organizer in me LOVES the collection of links that lead to checklists to help make your holiday season relaxing.

Enjoy!

As a wonderful side note: November 13th is World Kindness Day and the birthday of my wonderful friend that helps make this Digest a reality. Happy Birthday, TONI! I find it very fitting that you were born on World Kindness Day :)

Molly Saves! In the Dining Room...e-digest review

Perfect timing for the holidays! I love the ideas presented this month for the saving in the Dining Room. I love hosting and entertaining for Thanksgiving and Christmas, so this was perfect!

Here are some of my favorite things I found in this issue:
* Connections to some great centerpiece ideas.
* A table manners quiz for the kids...I wonder how good my kids will do on this?
* Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Impossible Pie - enough said!
* Tightwad Training Camp...Food finances. The prices are going up crazy fast on food, so I'm sure a lot of people could use this article!

As always, great job Molly and Team!!!

If you haven't yet had a chance to check out this digest and other tips from Econobusters, you should take a few moments to do so. You won't be sorry!

Molly Saves! In The Closet:e-digest review

I have to say that an organizing digest that tells me when National Smore's Day falls must be amazing! I will definitely be celebrating that day! - Check out the calendar for other fun days to celebrate.

That's not all that you'll find in this issue of Molly Saves! Closet organization is one of my favorite things to do when I'm on a cleaning spree...when I find free time. (Just because I can't find much free time doesn't mean I don't LOVE to organize.)

Here are some of my favorites this month:

* A closet made over into an office for an amazingly reasonable price. What a great idea for a small space.
* Homemade ice cream recipe.
* and LOTS of great tips for clothes shopping on a budget!

If you aren't already a subscriber, you can buy this amazing digest here.

http://www.econobusters.com/


Note: I wasn’t paid to write this review, but received a complimentary copy of the digest in order to give you my honest opinion of it.

Own Your Weaknesses

The following is something that I try to live by: 
In order to be happy, you have to own your weaknesses and stop comparing them to strengths of others. 


And when I think of my weaknesses, I also think of my quirks. 


Today I am writing about our Family Camping Binder for two reasons: 1) My OCD with lists of one of my quirks that I "own" wholeheartedly, and 2) when I mentioned I was working on it, I had many requests of what I had in it. So here it is. Hope it helps anyone else who either loves to be organized, or really needs to get organized.  


Family Camping Binder


* A calendar of the summer month with all camping trips noted, reserved campsite information (including driving directions and other pertinent information if needed)
* A "Beginning of the Season" packing list (includes what we keep in the RV all season)
* A checklist of the items to pack for each camping trip
* Separate checklists for the girls (they pack their own stuff and are great at using mom's checklists)
* A menu for the weekend
* Grocery shopping list* A quick "Before we pull away from the house" list (all door and compartments closed, vents closed, etc)
* Activity lists for "On the Road" and "While Camping"
* Journal pages that we fill out on our drive home (who, what, where, when, favorite memories, etc)
* "What did we forget?" pages. Seems like there is always something we'd like to add to the next trip.

And of course, the binder cover and back are decorated with kid drawn pictures of us camping. 


I love it! It helps keep us organized and sane, while still letting us get the best from our family trips.

Wow! That is a lot. No wonder I get picked on so much. :)  Thanks for reading.

Power of Moms Retreat

 

I had the chance to attend a Power of Moms Retreat in Park City, UT this past weekend. Saren and April did an amazing job putting the retreat together with many great speakers and Saren's wonderful parents, Richard and Linda Eyre, hosting the retreat in their home. To say the experience was great, is a complete understatement. 100 moms wanting to be more deliberate in their mothering, wanting to learn to “take care of the person inside the mom” and getting ideas on how to better raise children in the crazy, lazy, entitled world that we seem to find ourselves among. Those 100 moms represented 500 children! 500 little hearts and minds that will forever be better because their moms DELIBERATELY took the time to become better in their profession of motherhood.

(Saren and April, our fearless leaders for the weekend)

This retreat was far more than I had imagined it would be...and I have been wanting to attend one since I found the website.



Friday started with Mind Organization for Moms (M.O.M.), which is based on “Getting Things Done” (GTD) by David Allen. I had been using GTD for months when I found M.O.M. and was excited to see that it had been customized for moms. The presentation by April Perry was wonderful and will help so many moms clear their minds and simplify their lives so that they can be more “present” when they are with their family instead of having to always worry about what else needs to get done. ~ I highly recommend this program to all moms. I was organized before doing this program, but now my mind is organized as well and I don’t feel overwhelmed by the many projects I tackle. ~


This session was followed by a meeting of almost all of the women on the Board for Power of Moms, of which I am one of the newest members and completely thrilled to have been invited.


Saturday was the main retreat and covered a variety of topics like “Taking Care of the Person Inside the Mom”, “Effective Family Systems”, Values Parenting, and others. I have to say that I took pages and PAGES of notes (and a few pictures) and am so excited to put some of these great ideas in place with our family...hopefully helping to curb some of the issues we find ourselves faced with at this point in raising children.


I also attended the Train-the-Trainer session on Saturday evening to finish up my training and become a Certified Trainer for Power of Moms. I couldn't be more excited to work with other moms that want to become more organized and deliberate in their mothering.


In addition, I bought the book below, "A Mother's Book of Secrets" (written by Saren's mom and sister) and almost finished the entire thing on my flight home - A perfect way to end the retreat weekend.

(You can get it here.)

As a side note: The journey home was an adventure of it’s own and as I was spending my extra long day at the airport on flight standby, I shopped for mementos for my family. In that shopping search, I found something I knew my girls would love -- bright colored pencils with facts about the State of Utah...including the state flower - the Sego Lily. They were so excited about these pencils that had THEIR last name (Sego) on them. Granted, they already have the cute pencils with their first names on them, but these Sego Lily pencils had more meaning to them.


As I was searching for a magnet to add to my collection, I found two bumper stickers that summed up my weekend so well, that I HAD to get them.

~ All mothers are working mothers. ~

and

~ The best way to predict the future is to help create it. ~

That is what all of these mothers were doing at this retreat. Helping to create a better future by raising and leading the next generation.

Putting Up Walls

Today we built a wall. Not a majorly important wall, structurally speaking, but a wall that will help us separate carport from project area. A wall that will allow one car to actually park in the carport and allow the project builder to actually use the other space and find the tools and supplies needed. This is a MAJOR accomplishment for this space.

The great part about building the wall is that we get to do a project together. He measures, I cut. He lines the boards up, I agree that they look good. He climbs the ladder, I take a picture of my handy man. He holds the plywood in place, I use the nail gun to tack it down. I hammer, he takes the hammer away. (Evidently I am allowed to use the nail gun and screw gun, but NOT the giant framing hammer.) Once the wall is up, we add peg board to hang the tools most used. Then comes sorting ALL of the tools, supplies, and miscellaneous items that I have NO idea what they are or what they do. Hubby's rule: If you don't know what it is, it's a tool. He names the items, I organize them into categories. Yes, his work space is going to so organized that we will actually be able to create things in there. (Like how I note that it is HIS space that WE will get to work in?  ;)  ) 

We aren't quite finished with the "Organize the Carport" project, but the major hurdle has been completed. Tomorrow I break out the label maker so that all of those organized containers have names. (Yes, I know I'm a nerd.)

These are the kind of walls we enjoy building.

(After photos will be posted soon...Before photos might be posted.)

Memories - Old and New

So our big project for the upcoming week, besides that it is Spring Break, is to clear out, organize and then put our carport back together...hopefully in a system where items are group together in a consistent manner, can be found when needed, and will be put back when they are not in use. I know! My expectations may be a little high for a carport, but I REALLY like to have things organized.

In the process of going through old boxes, we ran across many interesting items...an old recorder I used for college classes, sorority t-shirts, ceramics that my mom made me when I was a kid, and a box full of purple and white wedding decor from our wedding in 1998.

The "old school" mini tape recorder was a huge hit with my girls as they recorded themselves and then played it back in slow motion or in "chipmunk" voices. Kept them entertained for at least an hour and I can see many more days of fun ahead with that one.

The tape recorder was then put aside when the box of purple tulle, wedding bells and bows was opened. Whispering began and the sneaky girls were quickly grabbing items and running out the front door. Back in for more items and then back out again. They were busy for about 45 minutes when they finally came in and announced that they has remade our wedding for us...in the front yard...for everyone to see! I have to admit, it really did look like someone was setting up for a wedding! Here is what we saw when we opened the front door...

(Don't mind the little one in the robe, hat and rubber boots - doesn't look like the boots even match!

She's been sick all week and was thrilled to finally get to go outside for a little bit.)

I hope the neighbors aren't mad that we didn't send out invites ;)

Girls - Thank you for giving our wedding decorations even more wonderful memories. You always know how to make us smile!

PS - Maybe I should use them to help decorate the weddings that I help coordinate. Lol

Real World Venus vs. Mars

You can find me over at Venus vs. Mars today.

Have a great week!

My Blissfully Sweet Life of Organized Chaos

Hubby: “Has anyone seen my shoes?”
Me: “Under the table!”
Hubby: “Which one?”
Me: “The end table where they were kicked under, like always.”
Hubby: “How about my keys?”
Me: “Downstairs on the arm of the couch.”
Hubby: “My phone?”
Me: “Stuck between couch cushions in the living room.”
Hubby: “Wait, what about my wallet?”
Me: “You left it in the console of your Jeep.”
Hubby: “Oh yeah. Has anyone seen my hat?”

Are you KIDDING me? Thank goodness I adore this man.

This is my life of organized chaos. We’re a fun loving family that stays very busy. A family of 4 with two Chihuahuas and a rotating door that invites houseguests at all times of the year. We are currently opening our home to house guest #3, our 18 year-old niece that is going to beauty school. So, that officially makes us a family of 5 with 2 crazy dogs that think they are Dobermans and bark at every knock or doorbell ring on the TV. My daughters are amazing. At 5 and 9, they could keep me laughing from morning ‘til night, if I wasn’t at work all day. They are creative, inventive and love doing projects with Dad. “Dad, Can I use the nail gun?” is a common question we hear. They and their dad absolutely make the chaos fun and the work day worth working.

My ultimate goal is to have everything organized and to simplify our lives. This would mean that everything has a place, closest are perfectly organized and labeled, my books and files are where I left them in my office, and shoes can find their own way to the closets. ~ I’ve since come to my senses and I’m settling for being able to see the kitchen counters and not get anything stuck to my feet when I walk on the wood floors in the living and dining rooms. Yes, it’s not my idea of “clean and organized,” but as long as others are helping out, I’ve decided to not be such a perfectionist.

While things are certainly crazy all year round, I feel that summer is the craziest. With the entire family home, other than me, throughout the day, the house has no chance to sit and enjoy being clean. That is, three people here to dirty the house all day and the one that cleans is at work and does NOT want to spend her entire evening cleaning.

Enter here…the chore list. Sometimes they get done, sometimes they don’t, but mom’s rule is that if it’s not done before I get home from work, you don’t get allowance for that day. It tends to work with my 9 year-old and I’m hoping that rubs off on the 5 year-old soon. However, she tends to be a walking tornado…things literally fall on the floor as she walks by. I’m thinking about having her tested for a sixth sense…what do they call it when you can make things move without touching them?

At least with a system of chores...(written down and posted on the fridge counts as a system, right?)...and some family members that help…(Kudos to my amazing 9 year-old!)...we can typically find the things we need to make our family function without too much freaking out…on good days. This is what I call Organized Chaos. Now, who has my pedometer and why is the dog in the baby doll stroller?