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.

Weekly Challenge

Man did I need to do this weekly challenge. While cleaning I found some orange hair spray. Madison thought she was so cool with orange hair.

Prizes

I finally have the prizes ready to go for the 1st and 3rd months. The winners were Kim and Brenda, respectively. Their prize is:

A $10 gift card to Borders. That should be enough to buy a nice summer read. If I had stamps in the house, they would be there already. As it is, I am headed to the post office today. Congrats!

On an unrelated note, don't forget to make your to-do lists. Most are VERY out of date and it is fun to see what everyone is doing.

Tuesday Tips on TUESDAY

This is a simple tip but one I have found handy (especially when I had lots if preschoolers and not enough hands). If you have enough children to put one in front and let one ride in back (or just one who likes to sit in back), instead of killing your back lifting them in and out, lift up the front of the cart and let them crawl in. You know how the carts flip up so they can stack in rows? They also lift up to let kids in. I know riding in the back of a cart isn't the safest option, but until a certian store starts carrying decent double carts, it is the best option for me most shopping days. I just make sure they're sitting down the entire time.

Finally!

I am so happy- I finally get the bonus for the weekly challenge! With my two minutes I wiped up some spilled toothpaste and set up a few containers that had been knocked over. Here's what my bathroom cupboards and drawers look like:





Too bad I only got a measly 24 points last week, I really could have been in the lead! I will just have to try extra hard this week. This was just the motivation I needed to get going again!

5 Minute Challenges

1. Straighten DVDs
2. Wash dirtiest wall
3. Wipe window sills
4. Dust/clean entertainment center
5. Read one conference talk

I got all my points yesterday, did you??

This is the cool kids post! I got all my points yesterday, it involved Ken doing dishes while I swept the floor at 11:00 last night!!! Did you get all your points? Are you as cool as me? Andrea & Charlotte might be kicking my butt in Bejeweled, but I'm determined to clean my house this week!!!! Watch out, here I come!

Closets ... a little late.

Here are my closet pictures. They are a little late in posting, but I did clean them in time to get the points! :-)

This was the current nursery closet. It was all Abe's stuff and needed to be not only cleaned, but switched to baby items.

Here it is now! All washed baby blankets and burp cloths. Only baby toys in the baskets. I actually enjoyed going through all my baby things!

This was the Big Boy closet. Ironically holding mostly baby items! It also had my tubs of normal clothes and couple other things that needed to go into the attic.

Here is the Big Boy Closet! I was so relieved to get all his toys and books and clothes moved into his new room. I really wanted him to make the transition before the baby came. I made sure his Webkinz was in the picture for the Laters!

Bathroom Cupboards and Drawers

This might be a big mistake (point wise), some of you might have this done, but mine is in desperate need of doing, so I am putting it out there.  You might remember that this was one of my goals to get done the very first week we started this blog, it stayed on there the next week, then the next, and so forth until I just gave up and never got it done, so as bad as it was back then it is worse now.  Just to make sure I do it, here is a sample of what some  of my bathrooms drawers look like now.

Week Two

I had a bad housekeeping week, but leaving my house Thurday morning at 9 AM and getting home at midnight was so worth the missing points!! This week here are the assignments:

5 minutes: Andrea
Weekly: Brenda
Tips: Charlotte

Keep track and Happy Cleaning!

Some people stuff things under their bed. Others stuff things......

I can't tell you how bad my kid's closet needed a cleaning. I can show you though.

Before

After

The thing is I cleaned their closet 2 weeks ago!! Hopefully I can stay more on top of it this time!

5 Minute Challenges

1. Dust out two light fixtures
2. Sweep porch or deck
3. Wipe down front of fridge, oven, microwave, and dishwasher
4. Sanitize door knobs/light switches
5. Post a new recipe on the Recipe blog

Tuesday...er maybe Wednesday Tip

Calendars.

Plain and simple.

When it is your turn for the Tuesday tip I suggest that we write in on our calendars, thus making them a true Tuesday tip.  I swear Tuesdays evaporate before my eyes sometimes!

Ok, I will really think about it an come up with a real tip today.

Weekly Challenge - Closet Extravaganza!

The challenge this week is closets. It can be your linen, hall, storage, or even bedroom closets. Depending on how much work they need, you can do as many as necessary. I'm looking at doing my linen closets, and the 3 bedroom (my room, nursery, Big Boy) closets.

New Cycle

Time to tally the points and rally the slackers. Everyone is back to zero and it's anyone's game. Congrats to Brenda for winning the last 4 weeks. I actually bought your (and Kim's) prizes last week and will send them out tomorrow. Let the games begin!

I just posted this weeks assignments on the sidebar. They are:

5 minutes = Tami
Weekly = Kim
Tips = Brenda

Happy cleaning!

Ahhh....Perfection is SWEET

So thus ends my perfect month...that's right!  Another perfect score this week.  I have to say it feels pretty good and it was a lot of work.  I was shocked as on Saturday night at 11:00 I realized that I had not yet mopped and almost didn't do it....can you believe that...so close and I almost threw it all away, but alas I pulled myself away from my calling bed and mopped my kitchen floor.   Here are some shots of my laundry room.

Friday, aka, Tuesday Tips

Here is my tip for the week. I'm sure all of your kids are angels during Sacrament meeting, but we have some trouble keeping Abraham occupied. So, here is an idea that has worked really well for us. We make a trip to the library during the week and pick out 5 or so new books for him and then put them away and don't let him see or read them. Then on Sunday while sitting in Sacrament, he has brand new books to look at, and since they are new, they keep him occupied for quite awhile.