New Years!! A New Beginning!!

I love New Years as it is a great chance to "start over".. a new canvas to draw up a New Plan.

I know most people "Spring Clean" but I personally always find January a "Big Clean" month. I don't even need to plan it- it just natually occurs-- must be somekind of internal clock for me. I think it has something to do with putting away the tree and Christmas decorations- it makes the houes feel "empty" but not a bad empty, more like a "clear" empty. With all the Christmas toys and new clothes that need to "find homes" it always starts my organizing instinct. Where to put it all???

Before Christmas I always clear out the clutter. I go into each child's dresser and pull out clothes that don't fit or they don't like. I go though all the toys to see what is broken, missing pieces, too young, or just not played with anymore and that all gets sold on ebay or put in the garbage. I went though all the "snow clothes" (snowpants, boots, snowgloves, hats etc..) and have all the kids try stuff on to see what might be needed for this year. Whatever no longer fits is passed onto relatives or sold on ebay.

Now, after Christmas, I feel like I need to do it all over again. There is never enough room- or so it seems. We need to carefully look at each thing in the house and decide "Do I really need this?". How do I decide if I should keep something? I ask myself, Do I use it everyday- or everyweek -or every month? Depending on what it is used for. I have "seasonal items"- if I didn't use it last year- and I didn't use it/put it out this year- then I probably won't- so OUT IT GOES!

I should note here: I tend to be a very "unattached" person-- I have very few items that I have any emotional attachments to--therefore I find it very easy to get rid of stuff. (The price of an item makes a larger impression on me than emotions.)

I love that my dinning room is completely cleared out (in order to seat 13 people for dinner on Xmas) and I would like it to stay that way! Saying something is one thing but in order for Ideas to be come reality you need a plan!! So my plan for this is to organize my "school stuff" in the laundry room. It was all moved to the laundry room this summer- but things tend to creap back upstairs. I think this is because it is such a mess in the laundry room. It was PUT there at the end of the school year- but literally just PUT - not in any particular order. So I am hoping before I head back to school Jan 5th to get it into seperate file boxes marked: Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer. That should help. As I bring stuff home now- I can put it in the correct box for next year. (instead of making a pile in the dining room)

As this week goes by and I look forward to the clean slate of the New Year, I will be posting a week-by-week House Cleaning list, in case anyone else has the January Cleaning Bug. I will also be posting some New Year's Goals (personal, family, and financial).

Making Your Home a Haven

First, I have a follower! Yea- someone is out there! Hello Follower!

I was thinking back to last year at this time when Crystal over at Biblical Womanhood (www.biblicalwomanhood.com/blog) started her series on making Your Home A Haven, and how peaceful her posts were (and many of the comments people left were very motivating) as we head into what can be a crazy busy holiday season. I just went over there and reread some of them for inspiration.

She started the series with some simple reminders that our home should be a haven and that simple routines can help make it a haven. Our home should be a place that you enjoy, find comfort in, and look forward to returning to -to get away from the hectic world outside. As I thought about this last year, I really began to think "My house is not a haven". Coming home after work to a mess in the living room of coats, backpacks, shoes and reminants of "afterschool snacks", only to go into the kitchen and see the piles of dishes left from that morning's breakfast and packing of lunches. And to then feel overwhelmed with all that still has to be done in the next several hours (HW, making and cleaning up after dinner, kids baths, bedtimes.. oh and cleaning up that mess I came home to). I realised my home was not a haven- it was a place I wanted to run away from (the house and the mess, not the people who live there).

As I followed Crytal's series I was truely inspired to make changes. I started small, as she suggested. First YOU must feel calm and receptive if you what your home to feel calm and welcoming. I started each day with these 5 activies:

1)Five Minutes of Reflection (quiet time): With a cup of coffee, before any kids are up. Just sit and relax, find calm inside me that would help me through the day.

I am SOO NOT a morning person- so this is a great way for me to really wake up before the kids come at me fighting or whining. When my day starts with kids screaming, I tend to start screaming. When I start my day with quiet, I find it easier to keep quiet.

2) Create and Follow a Morning Routine. This should be no more than 5 things you will plan to do in the same order every morning.

My five things are:
Enjoy coffee and 5 minutes of quiet
Wake Kaitlyn for school
Throw a load of laundry in the washer
Pack lunches while making breakfast
Load dishwasher after breakfast

3) Take time to Plan. Take just a few quick minutes and make a To Do List for the day. The list should contain no more than 10 items, and should be things we really want to/need to accomplish that day.

On weekdays- I keep my To Do List to 3-5 things, there just isn't time to get 10 things done on a school day.

4) Do Something! Take 15 mintues, right away and get one thing done off your list. This shouldn't take more than 15 minutes, so if all your To Dos are time consuming, choose one that you could "start" and work on that for 15 minutes.

My Do Something is usually a quick-clean through the house before we leave for the day. I run around opening blinds, staightening comforters, picking up PJs off the floor, straighten the bathroom and living room after the morning rush.

5) Head into your day with a positive attitude!


Now, I realise none of this directly cleans up my messy living room or washes the dishes, but these 5 SIMPLE STEPS ease me into the day, and in fact they do clean up my messy living room and get the dishes done too! Step#2, for me, includes loading the dishwasher after breakfast. So those dishes shouldn't be waiting for me when I get home. And step #3, my 15 minute Do Something, sometimes is to do a quick- clean of the living room, so when I get home there is less mess. And step #5- the positive addittude can do wonders! As we leave for school each day, a positive reminder to the kids to put their stuff in their cubbies after school, can keep the living room clean.

Is your home a haven? What about it is preventing it from being a haven? Think about what simple changes you could make that would make (and keep) it more a more welcoming space.

Happy Homemaking!