5 minute challenges

1. Mop bathroom floors
2. Dust and wipe down computer desk
3. Wash windshield and side windows of car
4. Organize your coats, gloves, hats, winter stuff area.
5. Sit down and have some hot chocolate for crying out loud (and then clean up the mess) :)

Beginning Week 3

5 Minutes: Tami
Weekly: Charlotte
Tips:Kim

Mom and I have been keeping track of things differently.  She has been counting all 7 days, while I am pretty sure we only count Monday-Friday for the daily cleans.  What have you all been doing?  Anyhow, I will try to come up with a weekly challenge ASAP.  Happy cleaning!

My Perfect Weekly Score

For the first time in a very long time I got a perfect score!  I did everything last week.  And it only took me about 4 hours a day.  Think I'm kidding?  Actually I got down and dirty and really cleaned up the entire house.  By this time next week I should have reached my monthly goal of getting it all cleaned at least once.  So anyway, my score is 10 X 6 for daily cleans and 5 minutes, an extra 15 for the weekly stuff, and 30 for the weekly challenge. That is 105.

5 Minute Challenges

Sorry for the delay on posting these. I seriously considered making "paint" a challenge because it looks like it would be the only points I get this week! But I thought maybe it would be a tad unfair.

1. Dust for cobwebs

2. Clean entertainment center

3. Clean silverware tray

4. Clean microwave

5. Take everything off kitchen counters and wipe down

Weekly Challenge

I picked a weekly challenge that I really need. Clean under couch and chair cushions. Clean under the couch and chair. Wash the dirty places on the couch and chairs. I guess another way to put it is to deep clean our couches and chairs. Happy sitting. Oh Brenda do you remember when I washed the couches in Independance and couldn't let you sit on them because you had some stinky gas? That was funny right?

A thought about our goal lists

I am thinking of adding a new feature to our weekly points. It seems to me that the most underutilized feature of the blog is the goal setting side. What if we give points for putting at least 3 goals up and completing one? I know that writing something down is a great way to get it done. I like to be a bit optimistic with my goals, so I wouldn't want punished for not completing them, but a little incentive wouldn't hurt...

Weekly Assignments

5 minute : Andrea
Weekly : Mom
Tips : Brenda

Clean!Clean!Clean!

Keep points on this post!

Weekly Challenge

This week the challenge is to clean fronts of your cupboards, cabinets, oven, wall above the oven, fridge, dishwasher, and the wall between your counters and your cupboards/cabinets. Good luck!

Weekly 5 minute Challenges

The challenges are up and running! Good luck.

November- assignments.

So I can't help but notice that no one added anything for last week.  So lets pull a repeat.  Same assignments as last week and we'll count this as the first week of the cycle.  Happy Cleaning!!

Tip- Electric Knifes

I don't know if you are all aware, but we eat almost exclusively homemade bread.  Over the summer my friend shared a wonderful tip that has made sandwich making with homemade bread a lot easier.  The problem is that it's hard to get bread thin enough.  The solution?  Electric knife.  You can get the bread extremely thin and it makes homemade bread a lot more usable.  Hope this helps someone!

Assignments- week 1

5 Minutes: Kim
Weekly: Tami
Tips:Charlotte

We are beginning our new cycle this week.  Make sure you tally your points for last cycle up ASAP.  Happy cleaning!!

Weekly Challenge

Our challenge this week is: Deep clean the floor in at least one room.

Here's a few ideas-

• Mop the floor
• Clean baseboards
• Using a scrub brush or sponge, clean edges and corners
• Clean/spot clean carpets
• Vacuum edges

If anyone else has a great idea to include, please share. Get down on your knees and scrub!

5 Minute Challenges

The Challenges are up and on the side bar! Enjoy your cleaning this week.

Assignments- Week 4

5 Minutes: Brenda


Weekly: Andrea

Tips: LeAnn

Happy cleaning & Halloween prepping!

5 Minutes for the Week:

5 Minutes for the Week:

1. Top of washing machine/dryer
2. Closet floor
3. TV screens
4. Front of fridge, oven, microwave, dishwasher
5. Dust book shelves

Weekly Challenge - Some Things Never Change

I seriously thought about making this closets again. I know that is super sad. Instead I decided on my other favorite: cleaning the car. So, this week clean out the inside of your cars and vacuum and/or clean the outside of your car. You can do either / or, but I'm planning on doing both. If you just want to go to a car wash for the outside (that is what I'm planning on) that counts. If your cars look anywhere close to mine, good luck.

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&source=hp&q=messy%20car&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

Assignments for This Week

5 Minutes: Charlotte


Weekly: Kim

Tips: Tami

I'm Sorry.......So Sorry!

I know I dropped the ball pretty big this week by not assigning a challenge. Hope you all enjoyed your week off. I was hoping that this last week would be better, and it was off and on. I am crossing my fingers again for this week, I just never know how we will all feel. Morning sickness has mostly passed on (never to be felt again :) the only problem now is the weather turning cold and my kids and I taking turns on who feels sick that day. Anyway, I REALLY hope to do better this week. I have to get caught up in order to get my Halloween costumes done in time. (and if I don't do laundry soon, it will be quite noticeable) Anyway, everyone go ahead and take the points for the challenge, drink some hot chocolate and have a nice week.

Tuesday Tip

Lately, I've noticed a lot of socks missing from the laundry. It seems every week for the last month or so I find at least two-three pairs of Barlow's without a match. Then, one day as I vacuumed under the computer desk, I found this:Apparently, everyday when Barlow sits down to work at the computer he takes off one sock. Just one.

My tip for the week: It appears the "dryer ate my socks" conspiracy is a myth! HUSBANDS are the real sock thieves. If you find a sock with no match, check your husband's favorite hang out spot. Because mine can't be the ONLY one who does this... right?

This week's assignments- Week 2

5 Minutes: Mom
Weekly: Brenda
Tips: Andrea

Happy Cleaning!

True?

I thought this relevant to our cause here on this blog.

http://www.miamiherald.com/living/columnists/dave-barry/story/1223091.html?story_link=email_msg

5 Minute Challenges

1. Get our your Halloween Decor
2. Wash kitchen walls
3. Clean our your purse and wallet
4. Quick fridge organization (since I'm sure they are all still clean from the challenge, right?)
5. Search your recipe books and find a NEW fall recipe to try this month and post it on the recipe blog.

Tip - Keeping the fridge clean

This may seem like common sense, but someone suggested it to me once and it has worked out really well for us. Associate cleaning leftovers out of the fridge with trash day. (Sorry Charlotte, I guess this won't work for you!). Our trash day is Wednesday, so on Tuesday night as Ken is getting the trash ready to go to the curb, I just go through the fridge, cleaning out any leftovers or expired items. Then my fridge stays relatively clean and you don't have to live with a rotting food smell, in your house or your dumpster.

Weekly Challenge- coats & jackets

So, the week is half way over and I can't help but notice that none of the challenges & tips have been posted. Who is responsible for this?!?

OK, fine, it is me. I admit it.

The challenge this week is to get ready for fall. Pull out those jackets, coats, whatever you need for the colder season and make sure everything is washed, fits, needs replaced. Whatever needs done.

Happy sorting!

Weekly assignments- week one

Congrats to Brenda for feeling better!

Congrats to Andrea for getting the most points last cycle, I will be sending you a prize shortly.

This week the assignments are as follows:

5 Minutes: Tami
Weekly: Charlotte
Tips: Kim

Good luck with the new cycle!!

Back on My Feet

Well, I am not sure if any of you have noticed but I kind of dropped of the house keeping wall. I tried to keep up when it was my turn to post things but I have not kept track of my score, and for good reason.....it has not been much of a score. I have had a hard time being on my feet for long periods of time, and even rooms that I can sit and clean have drained most of my energy doing just one room. I am feeling much better these days and I have found that I can get a lot more done that I have for the last 2-3 months. (I am also ready to reclaim my floors, cupboards, closets, etc.) I think this is the start of a new cycle....right? So here goes, I am going to try to get back into the swing of things, get all my daily points and actually attempt the challenges (so go easy on me) It is a bad week to start because Bryan and I took Saturday off and did not clean the house at all, then we were home from church yesterday, so things have gotten especially bad, but I find that it is almost easier for me to get started when it is really bad vs when it is only kind of bad. (is that really weird?) Anyway, I am glad I have this support group to see me through and hope that I can carry through with my new goal to get a good score this week/month! Check up with me and see how I am doing, I am counting on you.

Tuesday Tip: Baking Soda

I have never used baking soda to clean with, but I have tons of it in my food storage and I don't think I will ever use it up before it expires so I started looking for other uses for it. Here are a few ideas that I found and they seem interesting. I think I will try a few.

Sprinkle some on the bottom of your kitchen garbage can. It will effectively remove any odors there.

Got a slow running drain? Pour half a cup of baking soda followed by a cup of vinegar, wait 15 minutes for the fizzing to subside, flush with hot water. The clog is gone. It’s like magic!

Cleaning your bathroom and kitchen fixtures to a blinding brilliance with a paste of baking soda and liquid dish soap.

Appliance manufacturers will tell you never to use any kind of chemicals when cleaning the inside of the refrigerator or microwave. Use baking soda and water only.

For a sour sponge, wet it and sprinkle a goodly amount of baking soda on it. Work it in and let is set up overnight. Works every time.

A grease fire in your kitchen or barbecue can be put out quickly by smothering it with baking soda.

Use a baking soda and water paste to remove scuff marks on vinyl floors, crayon from the walls.

Add a cup to bathwater to soften your skin.

Apply it on rashes, insect bites, and poison ivy irritations.

Keep cut flowers fresh longer by adding a teaspoon to the water in the vase.

Put an open container of baking soda in the fridge to absorb the odors.

Wipe your windshield with it to repel rain.

Improve the smell of dishrags by soaking them in baking soda and water.

Suck it in with your vacuum cleaner to remove the odor

Put it under sinks and along basement windows to repel cockroaches and ants.

Sweeten your tomatoes by sprinkling baking soda on the soil around your tomato plants.

Scatter it on your greasy garage floor, scrub the floor, and rinse.

I can see clearly now.

Ok. I tried to think of a good weekly challenge and I came up with one I really need to do. Here we go-----wash all the windows in the house--inside and out. Newspaper really works well at keeping off the streaks. If anyone know how to get off hard water spots I would really like to hear. Good luck and happy seeing.

5 Minute Challenges

1- Disinfect doorknobs and light switches

2- Wipe base of toilets

3- Kitchen table and chair legs

4-Wash rugs (i.e. bathroom rugs, etc.)

5- Make one appointment you've been neglecting- Doctor, VT, haircut, dentist, etc. (If you are all caught up on your appts., maybe call someone you Visit Teach and check in on them)

My weekly routine

I am getting settled with my school time routines. I find that I do best when I have a basic schedule to follow. Every week things get rearranged, but this provides a good frame work for me. Here is mine (the format got a little messed up when I moved it to google docs, but you get the idea). When I follow it things go great. When I don't, not so much. As you see, no computer time right now, so I have to go!

Weekly assignments:

5 Minutes: Andrea
Weekly: LeAnn
Tips: Brenda

Happy cleaning!!

5 Minute Challenges

So, this is the vacation edition of the 5 minute challenges:

1. Call an old friend that you haven't talked to in awhile (or email them)

2. Spend 5 minutes playing a favorite game with one of your kids

3. Tell your spouse thank you for something they do for you.

4. Take a bubble bath (or spend an extra 5 - 10 minutes in the shower just relaxing)

5. Post a link on this post of a funny website/blog entry / Youtube video that you like.

Have fun! We are!!

Woo Hoo!

Bonus points this week!

I just did this (on my own!) about a week and a half ago. I did need just a minute to do a little rearranging in the freezer.

Confession: I was going to make a post about how productive I'd been, completing a few extra projects like the laundry room and fridge... but I was secretly hoping that if I kept my mouth shut someone would choose this as a challenge and I'd get the bonus points! Mwahahahaha!

Weekly Tip- Use the Snack Sizes!!

This tip was an idea I stole from a friend of mine. It has to do with portion control. Have you ever gone to buy sandwich bags and accidentally picked up snack bags? You know, the little tiny ones? Anyway, instead of buying the little prepackages chip and snack bags like I usually do for the kids' lunches and snacks, I bought those little snack bags. I then bought large bags of things the kids like and then divided them into the bags. It is saving me a TON of money (at least $5/week for chips and $8/week for snacks- that included adding in the price of the bags) and the kids are happy (because, really, the options for prepackaged little bags is pretty limited.)

Bonus plan- when I make cookies and such I make them smaller and put them into the snack bags, too. Three small cookies per bag. Anything homemade I store in a plastic container in the freezer to keep them fresh.

So far, it has worked great! I keep one container for chips (or salty stuff) and one for snacks. Every morning the kids choose one from each container (or grab something homemade from the freezer for snack).

If you want to do this, too, here are my suggestions:

• Divide out the whole bag/box at once. Otherwise the kids will get into the stuff and it won't really be saving you money. After I put them into the bags I put them back into the container they came in (if it is big enough).
• Buy the $3 container and put some of each choice in it. It makes it easier to choose when they can see the whole selection at once. I try to keep three options available for both chips and snacks. When it gets low, I add more from their stored containers (from above)
• I tried not freezing the cookies because the kids would eat them pretty quickly- it is worth it to freeze the homemade stuff.
• Don't overfill the bags. 3 vanilla wafers or 5 pretzels seem to be enough for the kids.
• Buy the name brand bags. I tried the off brand, they did not work as well.

I think that is everything. This has worked really well for us. We are still using the cheese balls and pretzel sticks I bought the first week (and they don't taste stale yet!)

Weekly Challenge: Clean out your hearts closet

Have you ever had a dream where you find an extra room in your house. A room full of dust and old things you have forgotten completely about? And you think to yourself "How did I forget about this room? I could be using this space for so many other things!" I have this dream ALL THE TIME! Until recently I had thought this dream was my mind telling me there was some part of myself (talent, knowledge, faith, etc) that was going unused. Recently someone told me what they thought of similar dreams they were having.
The extra room was a closet in their heart. A place where you stored offenses, bitter feelings toward others, hurt feeling, unforgiven things, etc. Basically things you were pretending you had forgiven but that they were really keeping around but hidden. These things we keep in our heart's closet are taking up space that could be used for so many other things.

So basically the challenge is to start to clean out your closet. Think of something you have been holding against another person and forget about it. Forgive them. Let those wasteful feeling go. This isn't an easy thing but something that will truly improve the quality of your life.

Oh yeah and while your at it clean out your fridge and freezer!!! :)

Assignments, Week 3

5 Minutes: Kim
Weekly: Tami
Tips: Charlotte

I'm getting better, but for some reason Fridays are always a dud for me. I'll have to work extra hard to get it done on the last day this week!

And to think, it only took me 3 and a half hours

Although, every food shelf in the kitchen has now been disinfected and I discovered I have twins of pretty much all my spices. See those 2 clear plastic boxes on the shelf above the white 25 gallon containers? That is my Tuesday tip for next week. Bet you can't wait.

Tuesday Tips

Are your garment less than white? Are your whites not white? Well here is what I have found that helps. Makes the load smaller than usual, ONLY WHITES, (like I only wash Dad's white shirts and socks in one load then only garments in another) then put it on the longest wash cycle. Use normal soap with WATER softner, then add borax laundry boaster. Do not use fabric softner or dryer sheets . Wash in warm not hot water rinse in cold. Mine started looking better right away but after a couple of washings they really looked alot whiter. Hope that this helps your whites like it helped mine. Happy Washing.

5 Minute Challenges

Ok, I have been a bit out of things being sick and off my feet so I am not sure what 5 minute challenges have been assigned recently, so I just chose things that I needed to do, sorry if they are repeats. I have been doing ok at keeping up lately (ok truth be told Bryan has done most of the housework lately) But I am really going to try hard this week.

1. Spot Clean one carpet area (not a whole room)

2. Microwave

3. Sliding Glass Door

4. Front Porch (mine needs to be gotten ready for colder weather)

5. Clean Under Couch Cushions for at least one Couch.

Weekly Challenge

Does your snack shelf look like this?

Does your tupperware look like this?

(Can you spot the blocks??)

Not for long!

This week's challenge is your kitchen cupboards! Remove the dishes and wipe down the shelves, organize those canned goods, wipe up the powdered sugar that spilled all over the lazy susan weeks ago (oh, is that just me?), etc.

And, yes, I realize I am AGAIN handing over bonus points to certain people who might have recently moved! :-)

Let's see some awesome before/after pics!

Assignments for Week 2

5 Minutes: Brenda
Weekly: Andrea
Tips: Mom

Happy Cleaning!!

Weekly Score (Charlotte)

I could have kicked myself! All week I did the dishes, vacuuming, and sweeping. Then I FORGOT on Friday. We went out to eat that night, so there were only a few dishes. It took me less than 5 minutes to do it in the morning. Grrr. Anyway, my score this week was the following:

Mop- 5
Laundry- 5
Bathrooms-5
5 Minute Challenges- 5 + 5
Dishes- 4
Sweep- 4
Vacuum- 4
Bed- 1
Read- 0
Weekly- 30

Total: 68

Worked hard this week

I did everything this week so I get a perfect score. But I also had done the weekly challenge so I also get the bonus points. The only reason it was done was because my curtains finally came and when we put them up it made a mess in the windows and I had to clean them up. I always keep the top of my washing machine clean. It was hard with seminary starting having to get up at 4:15 and not getting to bed until 10:30. I also have been walking 4 to 5 miles every day. It seems to pay off because so far I have lost 15 pounds. That is 1/2 of what I wanted to lose.

Have you been doing your daily work?

I haved been plugging away at my deep cleans. I took today off because a friend who moved away is in CT visiting and asked if we could have a playgroup at my house. I needed the break anyway. I am not even halfway through my list and I am already tired. It is my own fault for letting it go so badly during the summer, but still. Exhausting. I have done my daily cleans every day (except scriptures and bed- somehow I forgot those. Hoping for better luck next week).

Dusting, Windows, and Baseboards ... Oh My!

I feel the need to do some basic "Fall" cleaning activities. So the weekly challenge is a glorified 5 minute challenge: dusting, windows, and baseboards. Once they are all done we can keep them in rotation in 5 minute challenges so they'll stay done!!

5 Minute Challenges

Bet you thought I forgot? No, I just couldn't think about housework again after 3 hours in the bathrooms. Ugg. How do the kids manage to make such a mess? Anyway, there is a combined youth activity at my house tomorrow, so I will definitely be cleaning up the house tonight and getting my daily points!

1- clean garbage can
2- wash mirrors
3- clean sink
4- computer desk
5- top of washing machine

Weekly Assignments

Well, here it is Sunday, just as promised. (What do you mean its Monday? You must be dilusional !) Anway, here are the assignments this week:

5 minutes: Charlotte
Weekly: Kim
Tips: Tami

I tried to space out the assignments so that you only have to do one every other week. Good luck! I'll have to post the 5 minute challenges later (as I am in the middle of scouring my bathrooms now and only took a 5 minute break at the half way point). Lets keep track of our progress here!

No Fair

No fair. I worked so hard to earn the most points this month. I thought I was doing so well until i realized that no except Andrea was doing anything. Ok I will try hard this month to woop everyone and get the most points and the cleanest house.

Ditto!

I'm so glad to hear I'm not the only slacker around here. I'm glad no one mentioned the "let's just start fresh next week" thing to me earlier, otherwise I would have had absolutely no motivation this week. As it is, I barely got the daily cleanings done, and not on the day I was sickest. (Did you notice I lost by one point?!)

Hooray for fresh starts and FALL!

Count me in too!

After a months absence from blogging, cleaning, and exercising I'M BACK! and way more dedicated. Although I've kept my house pretty clean I haven't done what I should have. I've been very lazy. I'm ready to get things back in order (by that I mean me winning!)

Time to Reclaim the House

I am more than ready to go in September. Do you mean starting this Monday (Aug 31?) I will post assignments tomorrow.

Now that my kids are in school I am feeling a huge drive to reclaim my house. Over the summer (and a little before to tell the truth) things have sunk into craziness and I have a list of things that need cleaned out and reorganized. The list included every area in my house :( My plan is to tackle one area a day until things get back into order. I have 4 hours every morning after the older kids leave and before Joseph heads to school. This will be my reclaiming time. So far there have been 2 days of school and I have cleaned 2 area. Until I get done my goals sidebar will be my reclaiming list. I'm hoping to be done in a few weeks. Wish me luck!!

Dropped the ball... off the empire state building.

So, I totally have dropped the ball these last few weeks. Sorry. I've been having a slightly rough time lately and it was unfortunately reflected in my blogging, my cleaning, and my weight loss. Sigh. Someday I will not be struggling with 2 children under 2 and my life will be in complete control (a girl can dream, right?). Anyway, just to inform everyone, although my points aren't even worth trying to calculate, I did complete the clothes challenge. I also completed Mom's bed challenge. I say we take this week off and start afresh with September. I will actually be out of town Sept 3 - 18th, but I can help with the cleaning in all the places I am staying and still try to keep track of points.
So, is everyone else ready to drop the summer funk behind them?? Let's get the party started.

Weekly Challenge: Beds!!!

Since no one posted a weekly challenge and I haven't chosen one yet I decided to do it. For the weekly challenge I think everyone should strip every bed in the house and wash the sheets, vacumn off the mattresses and flip or rotate them, then remaked the bed with clean sheets. Good luck and sleep well.

Tuesday Tip

I'm pretty sure it's my turn for a tip, and it's Tuesday, so... here it is.

Recently I have found something that has worked wonders for my housecleaning motivation:

Podacasts and Audiobooks.

Specifically, on my iPod. I've tried just bringing my laptop in the kitchen to listen while I cook or clean, but there are so many distractions it just doesn't cut it. So now I stick the earbuds in, turn on my book (I'm listening to Pretties right now), and blissfully ignore the children and all other household distractions while I finish what needs to be done. This has also helped me while running- I let myself get wrapped up in the story and forget what I'm doing for a few seconds.

Podcasts I enjoy include Stuff You Should Know and This American Life.

I'd love to hear if anyone else tries this, and what books and/or Podcasts they like.

5 Minuters

1- Clean inside and outside of kitchen trash can
2- Wipe kitchen cupboard doors
3- Wipe bathroom cupboard doors
4- Dust: shelves, screens, clocks, tables
5- Wipe off at least two kitchen shelves

Weekly Challenge: Clothes

I know that I have been extremely remiss with this blog for the summer. But, there are only 2 weeks left before school begins and then I will be back with a vengence. I think I owe Andrea a prize and whomever won the last cycle. (Not sure who that is, someone want to clue me in?)

Anyway, the challenge for this month is school related. I know it is time for me to pull out the winter/fall clothes and make a list for school this year. The challenge is to go through the clothes again and make sure everything is organized. For me that involves putting away the outgrown things, pulling out the stored things that fit and making a list of any gaps in clothing that I need to fill. I like to do it before school starts each year. Good luck!

Challenge Review...CHECK!

I am super proud of myself. Last week I assigned the review week for the challenges. I did this because I had skipped out on so many of them, so I decided that instead of picking just one to do, I would try to get as many of them done as I could. Here are the ones I got done:

Closets

Laundry Room

Craft Room

Fridge

and.......

Garage!

I am SO glad to have a functioning garage again. It took me several hours on 3 different days to get it done, but it is so nice now. We even had some people stop by while we were finishing up and we weren't embarrassed to have them see the inside of our garage. We hung some shelves on the ceiling (that we bought over a year ago....maybe even 2 years ago) and also got some hooks to hang bikes, scooters and strollers. If you have forgotten, here are the before pictures and the after pictures.

August - Week 2

5 minute: Andrea
Weekly Challenge: Charlotte
Tips: Tami

Good luck.
N-O E-X-C-U-S-E-S this week ladies!

Keep track of your weekly points on this post.

5 minute challenges

Oops this week just flew by for me. So everyone gets to use their "Get out of Jail Free" card for this last week. Sorry I dropped that ball. I did get all my other points though.

Weekly Challenge Review

I am not sure if I am the only one who needs this one but summer has been a lot harder than I thought to keep up on everything. I am looking forward to school starting so that I an get back on the ball with my housework, not only do I have more going on but when my kids are home all day they are somehow able to make a TON more mess, so I have been hit or miss when it comes to the challenges. Some of them I get to a week or two after they are assigned and some just sit. As I looked around my house to see what I needed to get done I realized that everything that is still on my to do list has been assigned recently as a weekly challenge and I just didn't get to it. So this week is a review week. Take a minute to review the challenges that have been assigned, which ones you did, which ones you only started, which ones you neglected to do and pick one or more to do this week. I guess in order to get the bonus you would have to still have them all done. Here are some of the more recent challenges.

Closets ~ Outside ~ Sanitize ~ Craft Area ~ Garage ~ Carpets ~ Fridge/Freezer ~Kitchen Cupboards ~ Filing ~Bathroom Cupboards ~ Laundry Room ~ Computer Desk

Good Luck and Happy Cleaning!!

Weekly Tip

OK I forgot which day the tip was suppose to show on. I have one in mind today to I thought I would just post it.

Ten minutes a day saves an hour on Saturday. I have found during the many years of cleaning that if you just spend ten minutes at a task each day that it really does save in hour or more on Saturday, (that was my major cleaning day). I minute or two to wipe the tub after a bath, a minute or two to sweep the mess when it happens etc, a minute or two to sew on the lost button, etc. Hope this helps someone.

August Begins!!!

Okay Friends!!! Clean slates everyone!! Let's keep them clean. I feel pretty good about my performance last month, but I am bound & determined to have a perfect month this month.

Here are the assignments:

5 Minutes: Tamerel Jo
Weekly: Brenda Ranae
Tips: Mother LeAnn

Keep track of your points here ... no excuses this month ... good luck!!!

Finally Mended

So I got this skirt for Maddie over 2 years ago. I only payed $ .50 for it but it needed some mending. I have been putting it off since. Now that it finally fits her I was so excited to HAVE to fix it to get all my points this week! Thanks for the challenge Mom!

Bonus Points Baby!!

I had a goal this month to keep all of our closets clean. I have done really good, especially in my closet, keeping all the clothes hung up and shoes put away! It may be cheap because I only have 3 closets +the pantry in my house but I think I deserve the bonus!

Weekly Challenge : Closets, again

I know I've made this a challenge before, but it has been several months and I guess it is something I struggle with. So, the challenge this week is a closet or two. It can be linen, pantry, coat, storage, bedroom ... whatever you need. I personally have several that need cleaning. Good luck.

Last Week of the Cycle!

5 Minute Challenges : Mom
Weekly : Kim
Tips : Charlotte

This is the last week of July's cycle! Everyone kick it into high gear. I have to say I was at Tami's house several times last week and it was spotless everytime I walked in. It was so nice. So, even though I'd gotten most my points last week, I spent about 3 hours yesterday just cleaning up. Now it is Monday morning, my house is already clean. On Mondays I leave Abe at a friend's house (I watch her son on Wed), so I am taking Tyler to baby lapsit and going shopping since I don't have to clean!! Hooray!

Keep track of your points here.

Andrea's Challenge (A Little Late!)

In my defense of this photo, my playroom was clean enough to sort my laundry in. Then I got really sick and the laundry sat there all week. The floor pillows are from the kids watching TV in there and are not really a part of the mess.

Junk Drawer

I have to sadly admit that my junk drawer took much longer than five minutes. Sadly, I also have another one that I haven't even touched yet. Anyway, I found some amazing finds in that drawer and thought I'd share some of my favorites. Amid about 30 pens, 50 tacs, batteries in every size, and a bottle of coconut cream a friend brought us from Mexico, I found:

My Harry Potter dolls. I'd totally forgotten about these and can't wait to play with them with Abe.

Randomly I found both of my positive pregnancy tests. The back, pink one was for Abe and the front purple one was for Tyler. What a great keepsake.

Motherly Question

Okay, I have a question for all you mothers who have breastfed. *that is the key for any male who might be reading this to stop* One of my girls is producing only half as much milk as the other. I'm not sure why or what the problem is. I've tried starting him on the wimpy side everytime. I've tried nursing him wimpy - good - wimpy in one sitting even. I've tried only nursing him from the wimpy side and then pumping the strong side. I've tried pumping the weak side only about an hour after he nurses. It isn't a huge deal, only it seems as though it makes my boobs loopsided. It is also annoying that the over productive side is constantly squirting milk. I go through 2-3 breast pads a day on the strong side and the weak side's breast pad is rarely even necessary. Anyway, just wondered if anyone else has had this problem or if anyone has suggestions.
Thanks.

Weekly Challenge

This is a pretty selfish one, but I am having a really hard time balancing the outside work with the inside work. If I do great with one, the other goes to pot. So, to give ourselves a little bit of a break, spend your weekly challenge time outside.

Some ideas:
weed the garden
plant some flowers
mow the lawn
sweep the driveway
spray/sweep porch for spiderwebs
Heck, if you want to count playing with your kids at the park, I'd give you the points.

5 minute cleans

I've meant to do this earlier, but it just hasn't happened...

Let me think, let me think ...

1) Bedroom dresser

2) Trunk of car

3) Junk drawer

4) Windows

5) Microwave

6) Find that smell in my front room- oh, wait, that one is just for me...

Weekly Assignments

Since I'm feeling all confident and stuff because I FINALLY got all my points this past week, I'm being proactive and posting next week's assignments.

5 minute: Charlotte
Weekly: Andrea
Tips: Brenda

Good luck. Keep track of points here.

Weekly Challenge

Oops I'm a little behind so I'll try to make this easy. Sanitize all of your door handles/stair railings/light switches. Good luck!

Tip of the Week

So, this is a old tip but something that I've just started taking advantage of. I'd always heard that Wal-Mart price matched, but never thought much more beyond that. Then I read an article on a blog about it and decided to give it a try. Ken loves to drink Tampico Juice and we buy a gallon a week. A local grocery store, Kroger, had it on sale 10 for $10 (we pay $1.87 a gallon at Wal-Mart) and so I went to stock up. Unfortunately they only had strawberry-kiwi flavor and we only like mango. So I took a deep breath and my ad to Wal-Mart. I put 5 gallons in my cart and .... drum roll .... it was a breeze. No problem. I saved $0.87 a gallon! We were so excited. Since then we have price matched several things at Wal-Mart, including when Target put corn on the cob on sale 10 / $10 and I went first thing Monday morning only to learn they sold out in less than an hour on Sunday. I bought over 50 ears at Wal-Mart (where they were $0.25) saving over $10. We parboiled it, cut it off the ear, and froze it and are now stocked up on corn. Sometimes the workers aren't sure how to do it and have to call a manager to help, but I've never had them give me any trouble at all. It saves time (you don't have to drive to a lot of different stores) and money.

Oh, just a note, they do not price match sales such as buy one get one free.

5 Minute Challenges

1. Spot Clean a Couch

2. Clean off Computer Desk

3. Wipe fronts of Cupboards

4. Straigten a Bookshelf

5. Send Brenda Pictures of Jewelry that you like or colors that you want.

Oh and Andrea just left for the week to the Oregon Coast so I am pretty sure she is not planning a challenge. So if Kim wants to step in and do it that would be good.

Weekly Assignments

Here are the weekly assignments:

5 Minutes: Brenda
Challenge: Tami
Tips: Andrea (although it seems as though she stepped in and did it for Charlotte just last week, so if she doesn't want to this week we'll skip her and I'll do it, just let me know)

Good luck to everyone this week. I know I'm getting all my points for sure!!!! This girl needs her some jewelry!

Keep track of your points on this post.

Craft Area = BONUS points!

So Brenda, can I distribute my bonus points and make up for missed points other weeks to still get the jewelry? I can beg again, seriously. My company finally left this morning and hopefully I can get back to a normal life. Oh wait, there is that Primary activity in less than 2 weeks that was kindly dropped into my lap by the old primary president with NO preparations already made for it....sigh.

Notice all the water on the side?? Hooray for food storage.

It isn't *AS* bad

So, I think this was a great idea Andrea. My nightstand isn't *AS* bad as it had been before, so I guess that is a step in the right direction. You can see from my labels though what is occupying my time and making things a mess! Is it okay to place blame on a 7 week old child?? I guess I'm a kindred mother at heart after all :-)

Two Thumbs Up

I didn't touch ONE single thing in this closet before I took the picture. So there you go. I'd give myself a 90%.

Just a Check-up

I am feeling really good about this week. If I straighten my bathroom drawers tomorrow, I'm looking at a perfect score! I was motivated half by Brenda's bribe and half by the fact that we're expecting company this weekend. I've not only been happier and more relaxed with such a clean house, I've been able to do lots of fun family stuff and complete some of those long-needed projects. One of those projects was cleaning out the computer desk, and I was reminded of my vow to never let it get "that bad".

Luckily, I am not alone in this claim. If I remember correctly, each one of us has, at one point or another, claimed that we would do this or that challenge and then keep it tidy.

SO.....

I want the following people to please take a picture of the following areas and post it ASAP. We need to check up on you and make sure you are keeping your promises!

Charlotte- Kids' playroom
Brenda- Laundry room
Kim- Nightstand
Tami- Kids' closet
LeAnn- Computer desk

Ok, no cheating, I really want to see how you guys are doing! I'm so excited!

5 Minutes

Here are the challenges for this week
1. Sweep porch or patio
2. Straighten bathroom drawers / cupboards (keep them from being a challenge again!)
3. Mop one area besides kitchen (bathroom, stairs, etc)
4. Vacuum under cushions of couch
5. Clean top of fridge

Weekly Challenge- Craft Area

Is it really my turn again? Time flies. Anyway, I am making the challenge something from my monthly to-do list: the craft area (in my case that would be the study). Don't have a whole room? Organize your supplies. I find a disorganized craft room/supplies is one of the big stumbling blocks to actually doing the crafty things I want to do. I clean mine out every few months, but it eventually becomes the catch all of everything I don't know where to put and becomes a pile of junk again. Anyway, good luck (I know I'll need it!)

2nd week of cycle assignments

Here are the assignments this week. Keep track of points on this post. I am going to try to get that scripture reading done so I can have a perfect score this week!

5 Minutes: Kim

Weekly: Charlotte

Tips: Tami

Grossest Garage Ever

Cleaning out our garage shouldn't have been hard since we did it a couple months ago. But in the last week a terrible smell had developed in there and it had grown to "Don't open that door!" status. In fact it had reached gag when I had to go in there status. So Friday we finally cleaned it out. After emptying everything out, we discovered the source. Some animal had gotten into the garage while the door was open and pooped in there. 3 times. Luckily it was dried out and easy to pick up and get rid of.

But the smell was still there! As I was cleaning the last area up, I noticed the smell was greatest right by the freezer. It was coming from behind the freezer. A quick inspection revealed the culprit: a week ago Matthew had left the freezer door slightly ajar and the meat in there (remember our cow we bought?) had defrosted. It was still pretty cold, so it wasn't ruined. I shut the door and everything refroze. What I didn't realize at the time was that the defrost tray on the bottom of the freezer had filled with meat juice. It has gone rancid and I can't figure out how to get it off to clean. I pulled out as much liquid as I could with paper towels and added some diluted bleach to the tray, but the smell was only slightly reduced. I am trying to convince Peter to replace the whole thing as it is 10 yrs old, runs hot on the outside, freezes only barely and is hard to shut tight. Until something happens, we have to live with the nasty smell.

Back & Begging for Mercy!

I worked SO hard this week. I was totally motivated by Brenda's incentive and sure I was going to earn it. My first week back on with points and everything and I was rearing to go. Keep in mind I had my mother-in-law, father-in-law, sister-in-law, and 2 young nephews at my house, I also had a 5 week old who decided he didn't want to poop no matter how miserable it made him and who is also still getting up a couple times a night. I also had preparation to do for my first week as the new Primary President of our ward. Needless to say, there was a lot going on. Now that I've made my excuses, I missed 12 points. I missed making my bed and reading my scriptures one day. So totally disappointing. So, that being said, I'm begging for mercy from my dearest sister. I want that jewelry and I really believe I did my best. To prove my love for you and your abilities, I wore the necklace that you made me to Tyler's blessing today (look at my family blog for a pic). I beg of you. Take mercy on me.
Daily Points: 3 x 10 = 30 + 4 + 4 = 38
5 min challenges = 5 + 5 = 10 = 48
Bathrooms = 5 = 53
Mop = 5 = 58
Laundry = 5 = 63
Weekly Challenge = 30 = 93 out of 105 possible.

Tuesday Tip

Problem: Food has boiled over, burned and become encrusted on your stove.

Solution:
All-purpose cleaner
Comet
Soft Scrub
Pampered Chef scraper
Burning it off
Scraping with fingernail
Oven Cleaner

Maybe it seems like an obvious solution, but it took almost a week of having a big ugly burnt-food spot on my brand new stove, and trying every cleanser and method of scrubbing and scraping, for me to discover it. Just spray onto the offensive spill, let sit for around an hour (depending on intensity of spill and burnage) and voila! It wipes right off. Works every time.

Summer is a Little Busy for Me

It looks to me as though Andrea won last cycle (unless someone hasn't sent in their tallies?).

I'm sorry I am so late getting things posted. I have decided I need to just do the best I can this summer, but spending time making time with the kids are the priority. That means that we spend most mornings away from the house and most afternoons on the beach. I will try to get my daily things done, but can't promise I'll achieve any of the challenges. That being said, maybe someone else can be in charge of keeping track of who has assignments this week? I would appreciate it. If no one cares to do it, I will try to keep up. I think since everyone had an off week last week we will go with Andreas idea and keep the weekly and 5 minute challenges the same this week and rotate next week. That means, I suppose, that I need to come up with another tip. I will think about it and let you know.

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer!

A New Incentive Program!

So here goes. I need a break from cleaning. I have been so busy the last few days, weeks, months that I have not done anything that I like to do. It has been going going going and when I get a break from the going, I do housework. SO.....I want to make some jewelry. I LOVE to give away the stuff I make so here is the new incentive program for this next cycle.

If you get 1 week with a perfect score you will receive-----a pair of earrings!

If you get 2 weeks with a perfect score you will receive-----a matching necklace!

If you get 3 weeks with a perfect score you will receive------a matching bracelet!

If you get all 4 weeks with a perfect score you will receive------A SECOND SET!

This is not just for the winner with the most points. I will do this for ANYONE who qualifies! I am super excited to get my stuff out and do some jewelry making so PLEASE work hard and do GREAT this next cycle!

(and no, your jewelry will not have diamonds in them.....keep on dreaming!)

A Game for my Tip

This is a keep kids busy/ fun family night type post. I had never heard of this game before we moved here, but it is a tradition at our school. It is called tennis baseball. Tennis baseball is played like regular baseball only the bat is a tennis racket and the ball is a tennis ball. It makes it easy to pitch, even Joseph can hit it sometimes, and requires no gloves. I played it with Ryan's class the last day of school and it was so fun, we went out and got tennis rackets to play at home.

I like that we can play it with just our family at a local park. It is also perfect for classes (the kids played it all the time at school) or church groups. Even uncoordinated people like me hit the ball. The whole time we played, I never saw someone strike out. It is really fun and you should give it a try.

5 Minute Challenges

Sorry for the delay, I wrote 4/5 on Monday morning, then left the computer to take care of something and never made it back. Here they are, finally.

1- Vacuum edges of carpet (at least one room)

2- Clean all mirrors

3- Deep clean high chair (or equivalent)

4- Clean inside & outside of sliding glass door (or equivalent)

5- Read one Ensign article

Garage

Really???? The Garage???? Do you know how busy I am this week!!! There is no way I can get to the garage!!! I don't have a garage!! What in the world are you thinking saying the Garage????

OK, there I said it, not only did I say garage...but I listed all of the bad things you are thinking about me too. Don't worry I am thinking them too. I am insanely busy right now, but I think that the garage has to be done. So here is how I am defining it:

1. If you are really busy you only have to spend at least 1 hour in the garage working

2. If you don't have a garage then clean out the closets or spaces where you store your "garage items" such as camping equipment, tools, etc.

Good Luck, you can't have it worse than I do, I promise! To prove it here is a sneak peak at my

garage.

Last Week of Cycle

I was doing great last week, until I got really sick. To make matters worse, I found out the hard way my carpet cleaner was broken. I still managed to get my daily cleans done until the last day when 4 days of yucky illness got the better of me and I didn't do it. Anyway, I am feeling better now and am hoping for a better week.

Here are the assignments this week:

5 Minutes: Andrea
Weekly: Brenda
Tips: Charlotte

Happy Cleaning!!

Weekly Challenge

I have been MIA on this blog for awhile point wise, sorry. I really don't know my point totals for the last few weeks. I'm going to get my act together and join back in the fun for July. I'll be ready to handle things by then, hopefully.

The Weekly Challenge this week is carpets. If you have a carpet cleaner, then you can pick one room and clean the carpet. If you don't have access to a carpet cleaner, then you can spot clean in several different rooms. I know that I really need to spot clean a couple of places, but I think I'm also going to do my entire front room. Ken did the hallway last week one day while I was at Tami's and it looks so nice, but now I feel my front room looks terrible!!! Good luck!

5 minute challenges

1. Sanitize door handles/stair railing
2. Dust out light fixtures
3. Make Grandpa Bodily a father's day card and mail it
4. Wipe off top of fridge
5. Sanitize outside of garbage cans

LEMONS

Here is a tip I picked up in my cooking class at BYUI. After running your garbage disposal (or garbarator for those Canadians out there) simply drip in a piece of lemon, or even just lemon peel if you have used a lemon. This leaves your sink smelling great and the acid in the lemon helps to clean the disposal so that it doesn't smell bad from residual food in it. I have only done it a couple of times, but it makes the sink area smell great. (you could also use orange peels, but they don't work quite as well as lemons.)

Weekly Challenge- Done!

I was surprised how bad my fridge had gotten. Some of the gems I uncovered in there included a single piece of bread, some leftover potatoes from who knows how long ago, and a bottle of chili sauce that expired in March 2007. (That means it survived 2 moves!)

Assignments this Week

5 Minutes: Tami
Weekly: Kim
Tips: Brenda

Tuesday Tips - Kids Journals.

Sorry this took so long to post, but better late than never, right? So, I really like to have a journal for my kids of their young lives. They say and do so many cute things and learn so much everyday and it is easy to forget. I found that I was not consistent in writing in the journal that we bought for Abe though. So, I bought a bunch of cheap, small spiral bound notebooks from WalMart and put them with a pen in places in the house that we spend a lot of time (kitchen, Abe's room, toy room, car, etc). Then when he does or says something I think I would like to remember, I just jot it down with the date in the closest available notebook. Every couple of months or so, I transfer the entries into Word and voila! instant journal!

Weekly Challenge- Charlotte

I clean my fridge out almost every week on shopping day. Sometimes it gets pretty bad, but usually it isn't too bad. My freezer, however, just gets stuffed fuller and fuller. It is SO small and my family is SO big that it looks crowded all the time. I even have an outside one that is also full. Ever since we bought the cow and stored it outside, my freezers have been a mess. So I pulled it out and organized it. Surprises: 3 bags broccoli, 4 bags strawberries, 15 small bags mozzarella cheese (I buy big bags and store them in smaller ones and must have accidentally done it 2 or 3 times thinking I was out), and 3 opened bags of hotdogs. I'm saying that this REALLY needed done. To make room I moved all the meats to the outside freezer.

Weekly Challenge

Clean out your fridge, and your freezer if you have time left over.

Wipe down the shelves, the drawers, the doors, and throw away those moldy leftovers.

5 Minutes

1. Organize hung clothes (I thought I would continue the theme. If you did the floors last week then the closet rod this week and then the shelves another week, you have a clean closet)

2. straighten broom closet (or where ever it is you keep the brooms and cleaning stuff)

3. electronic screens (mine need it again)

4. straighten computer desk

5. table/chair legs

Mas bonus points, por favor!

By Saturday I hadn't had a second to even think about the weekly challenge. But when I finally got a chance, I realized there was nothing for me to do!

So with my 2 minutes I straightened the snack-food shelf:

And cleaned up some sugar that spilled:

Here's the rest of my cupboards:

Watch out, ladies. I might actually be a threat this month!

Next Week assignments are:

5 Minutes: Charlotte
Weekly: Andrea
Tips: Kim

Weekly Challenge completed- Charlotte

I finally had a weekly challenge that wasn't a huge deal for me. I keep my cupboards pretty much the way I want them. However, after a year I had decided to move some things around so I did. I cleaned out the cupboard that was messy (left) and moved my pans and bowls from a cupboard to a drawer and the plastic storage from the drawer to the cupboard. I also threw away any containers without lids or lids without container. I decided to store the big containers with their lids and the smaller ones I stacked the containers and grouped the lids into a drawer.

For some reason my before and after words didn't upload. The top is the before and the bottom is the same shot after. You can see how I switched the pans' and containers' places. After I took the pictures I decided to store the big turquoise bowl with the other large bowls.

Until I posted this, I had no idea I had a passion for kitchen organization, but apparently I do. Maybe because it is one of the few places the kids can't mess up?

Weekly Challenge

So this was one of my goals last month and I didn't do it so now I'll make you all do it! Hahahaha. Okay so clean out/organize your kitchen cupboards. For me this includes getting rid of old dishes we never use or are rusty, making everything have a right place, and wiping down the bottom of the shelves. I always seem to have the one cupboard that I just stuff our treats or candy in or that I just throw tupperware I can't find a place for in.

So there you go. Good luck and happy cleaning!

Tuesday Tip

Think about why you are cleaning!

When I know I need to clean something just because I "have" to, my motivation is at -12. But if I decide to have a specific purpose for doing it I am able to get going and get so much more accomplished. Maybe points are the only thing that motivate you, or the look of surprise on your husband's face when he comes home, or, like Brenda said, having a more "refined" home.

Sometimes I try to remind myself who I do it for- to set a good example for my kids and show my husband that I love and appreciate his hard work.

Although- my motivation might not always be positive (yesterday I worked SO HARD so that I could prove to Barlow that I could get more done in half a day than he did in the 10 days I was gone... but that's another post.)

Whatever your inspiration, think about it this week as you get ready for summer!

5 minute challenges

Before I list the challenges I wanted to share part of what I read in June's Ensign last night from a talk by Elder Douglas L. Callister of the Seventy:

President Joseph F. Smith, sixth President of the Church, owned few things, but he took care of them. He was fastidious in his appearance. He pressed his dollar bills to remove the wrinkles. He allowed none but himself to pack hi s overnight bag. He knew where every article, nut, and bolt of the household was, and each had its place.

Would this be true of the environment in which you live? Is it a house of order? Need you dust, clean, and rearrange before you incite the Spirit of the Lord into your home? President Lorenzo Snow said: "the Lord does not intend that the Saints shall live always in dens and caves of the earth, but that they shall build fine houses. Wen the Lord comes he will not expect to meet a dirty people, but a people of refinement.

I thought this a fitting quote for our blog. I am going to try a little harder this week. Hope it inspires you too. The entire article is called Our Refined Heavenly Home. And the text can be found HERE.

Here are the 5 minute Challenges this week:

1. Straighten a Cupboard (or 2) in the Kitchen

2. Clean wood on coffee or end tables

3. Wash Kitchen walls

4. Fix one Decorating item (either hang something up that you have been meaning to get to, or paint something that needs a touch up, or rearrange a picture arrangement)

5. Straighten your closet floor (and vacuum/sweep it if you get time)

Lets start again

I was talking to Brenda, and we were thinking that after the week off, we should start a new cycle. If anyone has a problem with that, let me know. After all Brenda is the only one who kept track of week #3. SO anyway, the assignments this week are:

5 Minutes: Brenda
Weekly: Tami
Tips: Andrea

Happy cleaning!

Week Off

What with Brenda, Andrea and Mom all out of town and Kim's wonderful new arrival, I think it is safe to say we would all be better served taking the week off. We'll see everyone back next Monday!! Enjoy your break.

Piggy Banks/Saving Jars

This is something fun we've been doing for a little while. I took some used formula cans and covered them with paper and decorated them. We use these to keep everyone's allowance in and we have ones for certain things we want to save for. Such as going out to eat, a family vacation, our emergency cash savings, a new dryer, etc. It has been fun to use these to teach tith, savings, and spendings with our kids or kid :) Anyway I had a lot of fun decorating them and still have a few to do.

Just File this Under Weekly Challenge

I had a hard time deciding on a weekly challenge. Not because my house is so sparkly clean, but because there is so much to do and most of it is challenges I didn't do recently (like my kids clothes or the playroom or outside stuff). Anyway, this weeks challenge is one that always seems to be piling up around here- filing. Time to go through those files and make sure everything is in place. Time to file that stack (or stacks) of stuff you figured you'd get around to sometime. Lets get is done!! Good luck (and sorry I'm late posting this this week!)

5 Minute Challenges

1. Clean your email inbox
2. Post your menu to recipe blog
3. Clean diaper bag / purse
4. Wash windows
5. Vacuum under a larger peices of furniture (bed or couch or coffee table, etc)

Ahhh...... Finally

Finally I got my bathroom drawers and cupboards done.  It feels great!

I tossed all the old toothbrushes and replaced them with these fancy things that have a self timer so they run for 2 minutes.  We have 2 bases with 4 different heads for them.  So far it has worked out great.

Week 3

Here are the assignments:

5 Minutes: Kim
Weekly: Charlotte
Tips: Tami

I will have the weekly posted by tonight, but right now I am late for visiting teaching so I gotta go~ Happy Cleaning! Don't forget to post your progress here. Also, with summer approaching, I think we need a plan for points for those vacation days when the cleaning regimen isn't an option. Any ideas?

Weekly Challenge- Charlotte

I didn't realize how badly this needed done until I started. I know it is hard to tell, but the top & left pictures are BEFORE and the bottom & right are AFTER. There was just a lot of stuff, but trust me, it is better organized now. It took me at least 2 hours to finish. Sorry, no orange hair.