Be Strong and Courageous

Well I must say, getting behind on one week of the projects through my whole process off, but none the less here are a few looks at how I keep it organized. I  finally got around to taking a photo of the 'office' space for the paper clutter challenge. Now mind you I have a huge pile of papers in the craft room to deal with still - but let's not go there today. :)  Here is how I conquer our paper, mail comes in, we open almost immediately and then shred junk  or sort for later the bills and other things into the basket. I admit I will let it fill to the top some weeks before truly addressing the paper, it will then get paid, filed or shredded as well. I  keep a home management journal on the desk with the kids calendars all running as well as household go to's for menu's, upcoming events and such. The shredder and recycling basket get emptied pretty much every day. So my "before and afters' are not that different, although I did toss a few things ...

rI will have you know I skipped the Hot spot for week 3, it was a children's clothes and closets and as I said when doing week one's challenge of the Master closet, that area is already under control in our home. I  also never posted the photos of my paper organizing either, that was the Friday I left out on our marriage retreat, alas I will post some later this week for then as well as what the kids closets do look like on a pretty regular basis. So this weeks Hot spot #4 is our fridges and pantries, I have been organizing these a bit more this Winter and hope the progress I have made will make a difference in my grocery shopping bill. Because I can see and take note of the regular stuff quickly I usually know what I am in need of. So here is the link for the Hot spot and I 'plan' to post photos Friday of the last 2 as well.  Have a great week cleaning out the veggie drawers!

As simple Mom put it : This week’s hot spot: paper clutter. Whether it’s your kitchen island, your desk or home office, the junk drawer, or even your kids’ crafting station, we are going to take care of that paper that seems to grow on its own.   Click below to read all the steps. http://simplemom.net/project-simplify   Best of luck the before pictures are very important here. I have three areas I need to declutter, Addysen's desk and craft area, my craft area, and the craft closet area which has become a dumping ground. Here we go,go go on and adventure. (Insert whitty Cat In the Hat tune there - for my mommies with young PBS watchers).  

Hot Spot Number 1 Master Closet I forgot to take a before so this was about 15 minutes in and I had already cleared the back shelf off and bagged up some clothes for give-away. Here are some of the bags from the first few minutes of purging; all in all 4 bags left the closet alone. I then gathered laundry, and separated it, put all of Addy's things up top for now. I sorted out winter only wear, as well as things that were Christmas and birthday gifts that are still to big into the lovely space bag for storage. I then decided that struggling with her for outfits in the morning  was getting to be a bit much, so put together 5 outfits for her to choose from and once they are worn, I will switch out the tops with the pants for next weeks attire. This will equal less stress in the mornings and less mess as she 'digs' for an outfit every day. I love that they are at her level, the green bins are for her underclothes, and socks and tights, the bin of drawers h...

Faith Barista  is gving  away 3 copies of   Organized Simplicity  . It my next "I'd love to read in 2011" pick. Just wanted to share. She is one who is doing the Hot spot challenge I mentioned yesterday.

This weeks challenge is our closet, I think taking a peek in all the closets is necessary this week. As Spring tries to come, the change out of clothes and the growing children call me to check in on them all. Simple Mom  is hosting a 5 week challenge, in preparation for getting into the deep cleaning of Spring.