Day #7 - Fridge Freezer

My organizing and purging didn't happen until this evening.  Aaron & I went to Grand Forks for the day for some thrift store shopping and to get groceries.  The shopping was a success: Aaron got 2 pair of pants for work, I found an orange summer t-shirt, a silk scarf, and an orange/yellow/brown/black dress for myself, and a brown shirt for Hailey to wear under her Easter dress.  We spent most of the day in Grand Forks.  It's almost like we transported to a different part of the country because they hardly got any of the snow from a couple days ago.  You could see all kinds of grass and landscaping...things we were starting to see before our 20 inches of snow!
On Wednesday afternoon, some friends (& neighbors) of ours took advantage of the snow day to clean out their daughter's "too small" clothes and asked if we'd like them.  I've gone thru the clothes with the girls and of course, they wanted to keep almost all of the clothes, so that means that I now need to get out all of their "to grow in to" clothes so we can weed out some more clothes that they don't want.  That is definitely one thing I'm looking forward to when they stop growing...not having to sort thru clothes at least twice a year for all 3 kids!  So that project is ongoing for at least another day...meaning it's taken over the living room couch and the floor in front of it!  At least it's the weekend, so I can have the girls tell me "keep" or "give" since they don't have school.
Back to yesterday's project.  So, after getting the groceries in the house, I started to put everything away.  We usually buy a large box of the sliced cheese and then put it in the fridge freezer.  I haven't defrosted it for some time and yesterday was just the right time to do it.  I couldn't find a place for the box of cheese slices, so everything got taken out and put out in the entry until I defrosted the fridge.  It's so nice to be able to get everything in there and actually know what's in it(sticks of butter, chocolate chips, homemade bread from Gma, juice, etc.)!  Here's a photo of the after (I forgot to take a before).

Another day

I'm so far behind on my 40 days!  Today was going to be another day of purging, but the winter storm last night changed those plans.  We got about 20 inches of snow!  The kids and I were outside this morning shoveling a path from our front door to the garage.  Then, Hailey and I went back out to help shovel over at Gpa & Gma's.  Actually, Hailey helped Gma shovel and I walked around taking pictures.  I tried to walk in the shallow snowbanks, but it was up to my knees!
After uploading my pictures from today, I decided to do some organizing of the older pictures on my external harddrive.  When uploading pictures off my cameras, it automatically files them by date taken.  I decided a better way to file them would be to organize them by day, month, and then year.  It's been a project that needed to get done and I finally made the time to do it today.

Lexi & Jacob waiting for Gpa to push some of the snow out of the way so we could shovel.

Looking toward our door from by the garage.

Funny snow cover up in the tree.

Go for a ride?  :)

You can see the river from up by the barn which means it's time to watch for flooding!

Perfect weather for icicles!

Day #5 - Kitchen Pantry

I tackled the kitchen pantry this afternoon.  I knew there'd be a lot of stuff throw out and I'm actually surprised that I fit all of that stuff in there!  I started by pulling everything out and putting it on the table.  I actually checked expiration dates as I took the stuff out so that I'd hopefully have enough room on the table.  I still ran out of room, but it was when I got to the paper products, so they just got put on the counter and were the last out and last put back in.  I also remembered to take some photos of the before and after, but the before was after I had emptied a few of the shelves (I forgot about it until then).

The stuff from the first couple of shelves (minus the expired food)

I look forward to actually being able to find things and to not have to worry about them being expired when I do!  For the day, I got two big bags of trash/expired food, filled up the thrift store bag from yesterday, and have a small box of food for the local food pantry.  I'll be dropping that box off on Tuesday when I head into town to help with the Fruits and Veggies program at the school.  Tomorrow is Sunday, so I'll be taking the day off.

Day #4

This whole purging the house thing would be a lot easier if I could ship my kids off for the remainder of the time.  I would never do that, but it's a lot harder to do  this when you have 3 children needing you or something as soon as you get started.  The girls didn't have school today, but I was determined to get something done today, so after lunch, they were sent to their room to finish cleaning up their bookcase while I set to work on one of the upper kitchen cabinets.  Jacob was content to have some time to himself playing with Thomas, Percy, and Emily on the tracks his set up in his room.  He even put himself down for a nap!  :)

The cabinet I worked on today was kind of the "junk drawer" cabinet.  It housed the extra batteries, tape, envelopes, certain kid crafts/toys, tons of bubbles, etc.  After a little organizing and moving the bubbles to the entry closet, it looks great!  The kids' crafts/stamps are on the top shelf; bottom shelf has the extra batteries, envelopes, tape, and our budget binder (which was formerly on the counter).

So, tomorrow is another day of balancing my kids and another day of cleaning.  I'm thinking I'm going to tackle the pantry tomorrow.  There's probably quite a bit of expired food and stuff in there that just needs to get out of our house.  The pantry is one part of the house that I have previously worked on, but it's been quite a while since I went thru it.  I'll try to remember to take a before picture this time.  :)

Bag total:

Trash: 1 grocery bag

Goodwill:  Part of 1 grocery bag

Day #3

I'm a little behind on posting an update on my cleaning progress.  At some point on Monday, our internet stopped working so my plan for posting about the day after the kids were in bed were delayed until now.  The internet was still not working all day yesterday, so I was happy that it's up and running again today!
So, day #3 was dedicated to the kitchen countertops on the other side of the kitchen.  This side looks pretty good now even with the few extra things sitting on it waiting for me to find a place in the cupboards when I get around to cleaning them out.
I started out by taking all the stuff off the counters and just piling it on the kitchen table.  Then, before I moved the microwave, I cleaned that out.  Best trick ever: 2 cup glass measuring cup half full with 1 Tablespoon vinegar.  Place in microwave and "cook" for 5 minutes (or long enough to get a nice steam in the microwave).  Then, I used the sponge for the dishes and pretty much just wiped out the splatters.  It was so slick and I don't have to worry about any "chemicals" being left behind in there to cook in our food.  I also tried the lemon juice trick (just google it), but it didn't work as well as the vinegar.  And, the vinegar didn't leave the house spelling like pickles as it was just a small amount and the slight scent disippated (sp?) quickly.
After cleaning the microwave inside and out, I moved on to the upper kitchen cupboards.  I washed down the outside of all my uppers.  I'll have to do some washing down when I get to cleaning out the inside of the cupboards, but at least the outside looks clean.  I also washed down the fridge and got rid of a bunch of magnets that I either didn't like or that the kids have destroyed (the free ones from business).
I also have two bins sitting on the counter with some craft stuff for the kids.  This is only part of the crafty stuff that I have for them, but it was nice to get rid of a few things in those.  Then, the Christmas cards.  Yes, I still hadn't gotten rid of this years Christmas cards we received.  They were all piled in once place (with my purse on top).  I'm not a saver of that type of thing, so they pretty much all went to the trash except 3 if I remember right.  Perhaps after I do the dishes today, I'll take some pictures and post them so you can see the clean and organized countertops.  Perhaps.  :)
Today was somewhat of a challenge.  The day started out well, but then my son wasn't feeling the greatest.  The poor little guy was running to the bathroom almost every 20 minutes.  I'd just get going again on the kitchen when he'd holler from the bathroom, "Mommy!  Can you come wipe my butt?"  His little bum is so red and he cries when I have to wipe him. :(  Thankfully he was doing better yesterday and so far today.  Now his little bum just needs to heal.  Thank God for bananas!  :)
Yesterday was a day off as Little Man needed some Mommy-time.  It was nice to just hang out and chill with him.  That's why I'm a SAHM!  Now, working on the motivation to do some more cleaning today, but have to be done by 3pm as my oldest has an eye doctor appointment today.

Bag total for Monday:
Trash: 2 grocery bags
Goodwill: 1 large bag

A Free Lablel Maker? Please let me win!

Enter for a chance to win a FREE label maker! This would be so much fun...maybe I'll label my children, too! ha-ha

IHeart Organizing: March Challenge: Project "Household Binder" {Label...: "So one of the very most important pieces of putting together our Household Binder, that I haven't touched on yet {yep, I have been holding o..."

Day #2: Kitchen Countertops

Today was a little more challenging in a couple ways.  First, this is where things start to get a little more sentimental.  I have piles of papers which also include my girls' school artwork and accomplishments.  The other way it was challenging was that it's Saturday which means I have 3 children at home instead of just Jacob.  The girls are much more nosy and concerned about what Mommy might be throwing in the trash where as Jacob just looks and then walks away (normally).
So, after sleeping in a little today and then getting started after I fed the kids lunch.  I figured it probably wasn't a good idea to not feed them all day! He-he.  I decided to start on the corner counter that goes between the stove and the sink.  This is usually the catch-all place for the mail, schoolwork, coupons, medicines used very regularly, and the dirty dishes so there was quite a bit to go thru.  I sorted all the papers into different piles on the table: save, trash, Aaron's, coupons, and "doesn't belong in this room".  Once I got the counter cleared off, I washed it and the wall behind it.  Then, the small 6 inch countertop between the stove and the fridge.  I also cleaned the toaster, timer, knife block, vent hood, tile behind the stove, and the top of the stove including the drip pans.  That took a lot of work to get them sparkling clean!  My arm will probably be sore tomorrow.  It's so nice to see the countertop!
Tomorrow is a day off for me.  Sunday is the Sabbath for me and I will not be spending it cleaning and purging; it will be spent with my husband and kids.  40 bags in 40 days will start up again on Monday with more cleaning in the kitchen.

Bag total over the last two days:
Trash: 2
Give: 1 large and 1 partial grocery bag

40 Bags in 40 Days: Taking Control of the "Stuff"

A friend of mine posted a link about 40 Bags in 40 Days on her facebook wall.  I found that interesting and took a look.  It's about purging your house of all the "stuff" we tend to accumulate.  Those low $$ purchases we make at the thrift store, clearance/sale items, the "I could use this later so I won't throw it out" things can add up and start to make you feel like the walls of your house are closing in on you.  I have totally been there and am currently there!  I realized just how much stuff we had and how ridiculous it was when we moved.  I was wishing the whole time that I would have had time to get rid of a bunch of the unwanted stuff.  Fast forward to now, 3 years later...I'm motivated to get rid of the stuff!  I'm going to go into it with the thought process of: If I like it, I'll keep it.  If I don't, it's either to Goodwill or trash.  I'm going to try to keep the sentimental factor out of the decisions, but I know that's easier said than done.  I have decided that if I can't get past the "who" it came from, that item will get put aside to re-evaluate it later.
 
Today was my first day.  I'm just a couple days behind on the "official start date" of the 40 days as it coincides with Lent, but I'm not being super picky about it.  :)  I decided to start off with a room that was a little "easier" as far as the sentimental aspect: the main bathroom.  I've been working on getting rid of stuff over the last year and this is one of the rooms I've gone thru before.  I also went into the room being prepared to spend a good amount of time in there purging, organizing, and cleaning!  I even put down some new contact paper in the bottom of the 3 vanity drawers.  I finished up the room this evening by washing the floor and putting the few things back in their place on the floor (trashcan, scale, rugs).  It feels SO good!!!
 
Tomorrow: starting on the kitchen.  I'm going to be spending a few days in there as we have a lot of cupboards.  I'm planning on doing major cleaning in there as well by pulling everything off the shelves/countertops and washing them down.  Maybe this will give me the motivation to do some painting in there this spring, too.  :)  I'm wanting to do before and after pictures, but I don't want any reminders or show anyone what it looked like before...it's embarrassing to me with how cluttered it is.  Lack of motivation I suppose and not being happy (for lack of a better word) with it, but that's what I'm hoping to change.
 
We are planning on living here for a few more years, probably.  We have started our Total Money Makeover recently and are excited for our future.  We're out of debt and have our starter emergency fund.  Now working towards our 6-month emergency fund and then on to investing and saving for our own house.  We'd love to pay cash for either a current house on the market or build a new house.  I'm leaning towards building because we've got a lot of needs and wants on our list!  All this to say, that I need to make this house feel like a home until we can have our own.
 
I think I've just decided where I'm going to start tomorrow with the kitchen...the countertops!  I can't really do much with what's in the cupboards if I don't have space on the counters to set stuff when I clean out the shelves.  Yay!  Looking forward to tomorrow!