Tips For Organizing Your Holiday Festivities

Making a List – Checking it Twice…

If only our lists were this easy?  Making list and keep track of what you are doing, what you have done and what you still need to do can be your survival for the holidays. I will be referencing Christmas, because that is what I celebrate – please just insert your own holiday. Thanks!

Preparing your Home

*With decorations comes moving things around, rearranging and cleaning.
*As you go through your decorations this year. Look in that box. How many things have not come out of that box to use in years?  Hint- It’s ok to get    rid of it. Just because it is from Christmas’s ago…doesn’t mean you HAVE to keep it. Take a picture with it…and let it go. This will make more room  if someone gives you more decorations, or there is something you just have to have in the store this year.
*Cleaning and sorting as you put things out, makes putting them away that much easier.

Holiday Meals – Things to Think of

*Which big meals will you be preparing and on which dates?
*How many people will be there?
*What will you serve? Along with appetizers, side dishes, desserts and beverages.
*Make out your grocery list.
*Look for coupons (big meals can be expensive! – this is one expense that many people don’t think to budget into their holiday spending
*If people ask what they can bring, give them an answer – salad, appetizer, dessert. Don’t hesitate to let them help.

Christmas Parties

*Be sure to write any invites on your calendar with times to keep track.
*Be curious and RSVP  (so many people don’t do this anymore. Let the hostess know how many to plan for)
*Plan what you are going to wear ahead of time.
*Do you need a gift for a gift exchange? Put that on your list
*Plan babysitters early (and get one for New Year’s Eve now if you need one!)

Christmas Cards

*If you still send them (and I hope you do…. I do) then purchase your cards if you haven’t already.
*Update your address list.
*They are great to take with you to appointments – sit in the Dr. office waiting room and fill out your envelops!
*Buy your stamps.
*Fill out your cards. Personally I love the letters (I save and open those last when I get cards) – but at least a short note is appreciated to let people
know that you are actually thinking of them when you write your cards.
*If you are ordering a Christmas card with pictures, be sure to order SOON if you haven’t done so.

The Christmas Gift List

*Decide on your budget! (before you start buying)
*Make a list of all those you need to buy for
*Write down what you plan to buy them, or thoughts of what you’d think they would like if you don’t know specifics
*Watch for deals!
*Suggest no gifts, just time together (if possible). You may be surprised – other family members may thank you for this!

 

This was originally posted on Dec 2, 2010. I’m revitalizing it for this year.

Prioritizing Your Busy Life.

I don’t know about you, but my life has been extremely busy since I took on this full time job. Part of prioritizing so that we don’t go totally crazy is to not take on too much. If you do, then you have to give up something.
For me, one of the things that is on kind of a hold right now is my blog. Ugh… I hate to say that, but there is no reason not to be honest with you all.
If you follow me, then you will realize I’m not posting as frequently as I used to. I’m hoping to get back into the swing of posting more often, but for now, I’m hanging on by a thin string.

I have been turning down most reviews that I have coming through. I’m not planning on having a gift guide this year. So things are changing.

Often people have a hard time prioritizing, so that they take on way too much, don’t want to give up anything (because they either volunteered for it or just love it) and then they fall apart because they can’t do anything the way they should.

How to prioritize:
1) Make a list of all the things you have to do daily.
2) Make a time line of when you plan to do those things on your list
3) Work your list and see if it is realistic.
4) If you can’t get it all completed as you planned, decide what you want to give up.
5) Rework your schedule again. If it still doesn’t work, take off another item.

We have to realize that we aren’t failures if we give something up! It is ok.
I’m not giving my blog up… I’m just not posting as much as I was.

My organizing posts take a lot of time to do. The writing is easy, but I have to actually go in and organize the area (time consuming) then process and edit all the photos and then put together the post. I would guess that one of my organizing posts takes a minimum of 10 hours from start to finish.

Give yourself a break…don’t go crazy – it is ok to give up one of the zillion things you are doing each day, as long as your family, your home are taken care of properly.

Organizing Your Schedule

Feel Like You Don’t Have Time?

We all seem to have schedules that are so over loaded, work, kids, cooking, cleaning, car pools, kids sports, etc…..

Do you often feel like you don’t know where your time goes?  Feeling over whelmed at all you have to do for the week and have no idea how to do it?

My son just started college a couple  weeks ago.  He is living at home (his choice) and working part time along with taking a full college load.  Some of his classes are in class on campus, others are online classes.

He has ADHD and although he has been functioning since his senior year in high school well without his medication, he was overwhelmed today with trying to figure out his schedule. He felt he didn’t have the time he needed to study, work and still have time with his girlfriend and friends.

We worked on a schedule to help him visualize where his free time was and how he could manage it.  Of course college has to be first priority. I have told him that work is secondary. Although he would like to be able to have some income (he is supposed to pay for his books, my ex husband and I are splitting tuition) so that he can take his girlfriend out and save for a car, pay for books etc….  I told him school is priority.  If he has to cut down on something (between school & work) then he needs to cut down on work. I will pick up the books etc. I want him to be able to succeed in college.

Here is the schedule I made up for him on excel.  It is something that is simple to make up and anyone can make one.  Of course you can do the same thing on your online calendar or go buy a planner, but for Tim, this was all he needed.  I told him we can print a new one up each week.  He seemed to really appreciate it.

Simple…. easy…. but extremely helpful.  Visualize Your Schedule!

I color coded it to make it easier to “see”
He has classes on the college campus on Mondays and Wednesdays – blue
He has already slotted out Tuesday to do his two internet classes. This will also be some study time for those classes and possibly his other two classes. That day is in green.
Work is Thursday, Friday and Sunday morning. – yellow
He can now see that he has free evenings every day, all day Saturday and most of Sunday free. It is just a matter of now deciding how much time he can make for his girlfriend and studying.

I printed a copy for him to take with him today as he went in search of a quiet study area at a local library. He will need a “clutter free” “low stimulus” area to study.

Often just being able to see something on paper was helpful to him (I know it is me). He can plan his study time and “play” time.

Back To School Routine

Get Your Routine Set Before The First Day of School

Are you ready for school to start?  My best advice to you is decide what your morning routine is going to be, in advance of school starting?  Make a chore board… or routine board.

Why? Because once the hectic mornings begin, it will be hard to change habits.

Here are my suggestions for a morning routine.

Morning Routine

1) Get up at least 15 minutes earlier than you “think” you need to. There will always be a glass of spilled milk or a “melt down” when you least expect it.
2) Have a “chore board” or “morning routine board” if needed to help your child remember their morning routine.
3) PREPARE the night before!!!
* Pack lunches or lunch money
* Lay out clothes
* Have book bags ready to go
* Homework inside in the bookbags
* Library books inside the bookbags (you get the point)
* Take your shower the night before if possible.
* Have breakfast planned and table set

After School Routine Tips

1) Routine…Routine….Routine. (kids need it)
2) Book bags emptied when they come in the door. Have a specific spot for their papers where you can go through them.
3) Snack
4) Homework time (don’t delay it, get it over with..they are still in school mode..not play mode yet.)
5) Have a quiet place, with low stimulus for homework. Desk in their room without tv, or a kitchen table.
6) Put their book bags away in a set spot. Hooks on the back of a door can work great.

It isn’t hard to establish a routine, but don’t expect your children to do it.  You need to do it for them.  Once you get it going…within a couple of weeks it will be habit to them.  They won’t think anything of it – kids need routine.

Your days will go much smoother with just a few rules put in place. Believe me… I’ve been there.. done that (I have 3 adult sons….remember?

 

Planning Board

DIY Chalkboard & Dry Erase Scheduling Planning Board

Creating your own schedule board that is geared towards your children/ family doesn’t have to be hard. It can be a family communication board, weekly calendar, chore board for the kids, or combination board, or planning board like I created.

I made karate calendar / job board for the triplets.  Their karate schedule is different most every night. It also changes a couple times a year.

I started off with finding a frame. I had one that I really liked, was the right size, but the color wasn’t right. So… I spray painted it.

Step one  – Prime and paint the frame.

This is what I used for primer.  I also got the Krylon paint.

I used an Dover white gloss spray paint and it took several coats.

Step 2: Gathered your other supplies

I had the frame, Chalkboard Contact Paper, 18″ x 6′ and the  Liquid Chalk – Works like a Marker Dries like Chalk – Set of 8 Earthy Colors ,a glue gun, an x-acto knife and cutting board and a ruler. I also purchased a long narrow magnetic dry erase board that fit half of the frame.

But I also needed a few other things.  I had purchased this Elmer’s Tri-Fold Foam Display board from Walmart for another organizing project I am planning in the future. I knew I wouldn’t use it all for that project, so this would work perfect. It is light weight and thick enough.

I also bought some small self laminating sheets.

I had magnets that you can adhere your business card to.

Then I found those cute small clothes pins when I was in Walmart too. They were just too cute. I also bought 3 yards (I didn’t need all of that) of a thicker ribbon and some thinner robe like ribbon (for the name cards) along with white hooks.

Step 3: Measure the space that the Elmer’s foam board needs to be cut to fit.

First position the dry erase board where it will fit. Then measure to cut the foam board.
I used the X-acto knife to cut the foam display board. It made it easier than scissors to cut and you get a cleaner line.

Step 4: Cut the chalkboard contact paper to cover the Elmer’s foam board.

You don’t have to cover the back of the board too. Just bring around the edges and make sure you have a smooth surface on the front without wrinkles or air bubbles.

Wrap the edges under and then on the ends I did trim off some of the excess contact paper with the x-acto knife. I didn’t want to take off both layers, I just wanted to thin it down when I folded it over.

Step 5: Position the two boards into place.

I first cut a piece of ribbon that would cover up where the two surfaces meet and hot glued to the dry erase board.  I positioned it so that it was half off the dry erase board.

I put hot glue around the inside ridge edge of the frame where the boards would lay.

I then placed the dry erase board with ribbon attached into the frame (good side down).  I then put the chalkboard covered foam board into place. I first hot glued the edge of the chalkboard foam piece that would meet up against the dry erase board. Once they were in place I held it up without turning it over to make sure the ribbon was in place and then pushed on it to make sure it would adhere to the chalkboard piece.  This is what the back side now looks like.

I also gave a squirt of some hot glue in between the crack where the two pieces meet.

Turn it over carefully once it has dried and this is what it looks like at this stage. From here you can customize it.  You may want to leave the top blank for hand written notes or magnets. (See the ribbon across the middle?

Step 6: Put the screws in place.

I just purchased the small hook screws. I didn’t need to pre-drill them, I just positioned them and screwed three of them in the bottom, one for each of the triplets.  Then two across the top for the ribbon to tie onto to hang it.

Step 7: Make the Name Cards

I got out some of my old business cards and used those.  I put two of them together for a little thicker base.  Then I covered those in the chalkboard contact paper.

Once I covered three of those I cut the thinner ribbon to the length I wanted. I did bring it down the side of the business card to fully measure.

I then wrote each of the kids names on the chalkboard covered name card in the chalkboard markers. Be sure to let them dry completely before you complete the next step.

I then opened up one of the laminating cards and placed the name card upside down on. I placed the string down along the edge of it and then covered the laminating sheet. Be sure to tuck the other side of the string down.

Step 8: Make the clothes pin magnets

I again took one of magnets for the  business cards.  I covered the sticky side with a piece of the chalkboard contact paper.  I then cut it into two strips length wise. I then used the hot glue gun and glued the clothes pin onto the chalkboard contact paper covered side.

I made one for each day of the week.  I only used Monday – Saturday on my board though. The kids don’t have karate on Sundays, so I didn’t want to crowd them.

Step 9: Make the small cards with the time on them.

I then cut up some of my old business cards in half. Covered those with the chalkboard contact paper and wrote the times on those.

Step 10: Write the jobs on the chore board.

I put a number 1, 2 and 3 on there, because the triplets change seats at the dinner table.  They will have their seat assignment, and chore for a week at a time.

Remember if you mess up, you can use a wet cloth and erase .. and start over.

Step 11: Put it all together

The weekly karate schedule

The top bow. It hides the hook that it is hanging from.

The weekly chore board and seat assignment for the triplets.

The final project

Isn’t it cute?  I am really excited about using it.  It is going to go against a periwinkle wall when my dining room is finished.

 

I Love Your Comments!

I’m linking this post up to these lovely blogs:

Cherished Bliss - Craft and Tell Tuesdays
Bella Before and After – Amaze me August
Tip Junkie – Handmade Projects
A Bowl Full of Lemons – One Project at  Time

This project has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for #collectivebias. The pictures, project and thoughts are my own.

Daylight Savings Time – Spring Ahead!

Don’t forget to set your clocks 1 hour ahead

You know….. you don’t want to be the one walking into church when it is letting out. #justsayin

I love your comments!

Organizing the Paper Clutter – Mission: Office

Those Papers Coming Into The House – They are  never ending!

I discussed my mail system here, but I wanted to go into more detail with you today on how I handle the rest of the paper trail.

Over the next week I am going to go over how to handle in more detail, so be sure to follow along!

1) Bills
2) Files and how to Organize Them
3) Daily paper file or “Command Center”
4) Receipts /Income and how to handle that for a home business
5) Password Directory

Mail Comes in from the Mail Box or School Papers

You can see my post on “mail” here.

1) One Central Location For Mail

Have just one central location that the mail is to be places when it comes into your house. Make sure each family member that might bring mail into the house has 1 place to put it. That way it isn’t left on the kitchen counter one day, dining room table another, couch – underneath the newspaper another day.. you get the point.

2) Sort It

Separate out your spouse’s mail  or if you have another person in the household that routinely gets mail and have a specific spot that you place that when you sort it from the main “mail hot spot”

A) Bills To Be Paid

B) To Do

This will go into your Daily Files  or “command file center”. School conferences, appointments, things you have to follow up on.

C) To File

Papers that you need to keep. There are no “pending actions” to be taken on these papers.

D) Junk Mail – To be Shredded

You can see my post on shredders here.

If you have a specific plan for your paper trail, it will make it run much more smoothly. If you don’t have a plan, things will get lost, be late, appointments missed and life will be a bit more chaotic.

Your Mission if you chose to take it is: Track your Paper Trail!

Link up Your Office Mission Post

You can find the linky by clicking on the button above or going to my Organizing Mission Link Party. Feel free to keep linking up your different office projects that you accomplish during this Office Mission. I am ok with also linking up organizing projects that aren’t office related. This link will be up until Feb. 24 so you will have time to add your office projects in.

I would love it if you could vote for my blog! You can vote up to once per day. Just click the button. Thank you!

New Year’s Goals

Do You Make Goals for the New Year?

Resolutions or Goals?
Which term do you use? Why? Does it matter to you? I know many people hate the word resolutions. But why? Because they never keep them?

New Years Goals

I personally use the word goals? I’m not sure why. I don’t have a problem with the word resolution. But I do think it is a good time to make goals for the year.
It is the beginning of something new
It is fresh
You can forget about what you didn’t accomplish last year (if that is the case) and focus ahead.

I think it is a great time to make new goals.

Here are my suggestions:

Get a piece of paper (or computer as I am going to do) and write out the things that bother you. What you would like to change.
It might be weight, exercise, organizing, cleaning, finances etc…
Then write a list of realistic goals.
Now.. write what you plan to do to accomplish each of those goals.

Now take that list and keep it with you (and make a copy to save). Work on those goals.

At the end of next year it is good to get the list from the year before out and see what goals you have or have not accomplished.

Get Organized for Black Friday Shopping

The Sales Are Coming.. Are You Ready?

How many of you like to do the “combat” shopping ..as my husband calls it?

I do!!  I have gone Black Friday shopping most years and think of it as fun.  I go alone… I have my list….and my plan in place.

To be successful I think you have to do your homework.

1) Have your list made out of what you want to buy
*No impulse buying when everyone is grabbing a deal

2) Have your BF ads together. (or use your smart phone to access your saved online BF store ads)
*The crowds can over whelm you, mix you up and make you forget things… have them marked and ready to go.

3) Know your plan of attack.
*Which store will you go to first?
*What time does each store open?
*Which stores match prices of items at your other store?

4) Grab your mug of coffee (and I suggest adding a packet of Cold Stone Creamery Cocoa to it..oh yum) or Hot Cocoa and get ready to either head out really early….or stay up really late from the night before.

One of the things I have done the last couple of years (last year I did online BF shopping only...but other than that) was to go to Walmart on the Wednesday before BF.  I knew what I was planning to buy and found out where it was in that store.  Then I would use the other store ads to get that item at the lowest price and purchase it at Walmart.

One year I went to an all night Walmart an hour before their BF sale started. All their specials were in the middle rows covered with black plastic. But most of the items I wanted were not at their sale. I went around filling my cart with items that other stores had on sale (and I had their ad with me) and got all the door buster prices!  I have to admit that the woman at the register wasn’t too happy with me. She called over a manager, but the manager ok’d everything. I had exact items, I was there during the right times and none of my ads listed % off…they were all actual pricing.

Here are my other Black Friday posts from the last 2 years

Black Friday Shopping…Organized 2008
Organize and Prepare for Black Friday Shopping 2009
Black Friday Shopping (online) 2009

You have to watch ads now though, some say no price matching during Door Buster pricing.  I haven’t looked this year.  But I will be checking things out online this year.

Here are a couple Brands and products that you should keep your eye out for.  I’m thinking you should watch your Walmart BF ad to see if they are going to be in there and if so… I recommend these Brands.

Seagate Go Flex Hard Drive
Hamilton Beach Slow Cooker
Elmers Products

Disclosure: The Brands that I mentioned are all clients of Collective Bias.  I was not asked to mention any of these Brands in my post and I do not know for sure if any of them will be in the BF ads – but I do like their products and will be watching out for them myself on Friday.  I just wanted to let you in on that. I am also the community leader for the Cold Stone Creamery Hot Cocoa group in CB.  That one is just a no brainer for me to mention, because I’ve been drinking it myself everyday.. duh!

Preparing and Organizing for Thanksgiving

Are You Prepared?

How do you prepare and organize for Thanksgiving?

Of course there are different preparations for the different scenarios.  Is Thanksgiving at your house?  Are you driving near by to someone else’s home?  Are you traveling?

Here are a few of my tips if Thanksgiving is going to be at your house:

Thanksgiving Preparation:

1) Have your menu prepared this week.  (hopefully it is already done)
2) Write out your shopping list and look for coupons
3)  Make a time line for when you are preparing your meal.  Thaw the frozen bird (what day?).  Making some things a couple days in advance and freezing or making fresh that morning.

Organized Thanksgiving Bin

Some of my favorite tips for making things easier (if not this year…than next) is to have a bin like I have in the picture for your Thanksgiving supplies to be stored in.  You know where to find that Kosher salt that you may only use once a year for the brine mixture for the turkey, etc.

1) I make copies of  my Thanksgiving recipes that I know we will have every year and store them in the bin.
2) I keep my electric knife in our bin since we don’t usually use it other than Thanksgiving.
3) Thanksgiving decorations, special bowls and my turkey serving platter are in the bin.

It just makes things so easy.  I bring the bin up a couple weeks before Thanksgiving to get my recipes out and decorate.  What are some things you would put in your bin?

If there are a few little tricks that we can use to decrease stress for holidays like Thanksgiving… then its worth it isn’t it?  I’m all about making things easier instead of harder.  Here is my post from last year for Organizing for Thanksgiving.

How could this make your Thanksgiving a little more organized in the prep stage?

Organizing: Stay in your Target Zone!

What does it mean to Stay in your Target Zone?

When you are organizing a room, a space or even a junk drawer – your “Target Zone” is that area you are organizing.

Everytime you walk out of that space – you are taking a chance of not walking back into it! Why?  Sometimes because being in that space you are organizing is very overwhelming. If you walk away from it, then you are taking the chance that you will talk yourself into not going back in!

But what will more than likely happen is that you will walk into another room and see things in that room that need to be taken care of.  Usually when you have psyched yourself into finally tackling your clutter problem…then you are gun ho to get moving…and you will look at everything in your home with a different eye.  Believe me…. it happens!

The other big reason is because you lose valuable time running each and every item to the room it goes to.  Instead of taking 2-4 minutes to run each item down to the basement or out to the garage – just set that item into the pile where it belongs.  It might be in the black trash bag, or the white donate bag.  Maybe it is an item that you are going to store, or it may be an item that just needs to be moved to another room.  But by putting it in the pile, you will save that time. Then at the end you use a 1/2 hour and take it all and put it where it goes.  This is a good time to utilize your family to help you get all the things where they should go.

I have another post about Staying in Your Target
Zone.
You will be amazed at how this simple step can help to keep your focused on the project at hand.

Organizing: How to Get Started

Getting Started can be the Hard part of Organizing!

But this is actually the 3rd step in my process to Organize a space. The first step is to Visualize and Plan out your space. Then your next step is to know how to sort and make your sorting cards.
Now you are ready to actually walk into that room and tackle the clutter. This is the scary step. I know… you look at that pile of stuff and think…”There is No Way!!”. But guess what? “Way!”. You can do it!
Just little by little. If you try to jump in and don’t have a plan or know what you are going to do with things… .then you might have more of a problem.  Don’t forget that when you start working on one room… you can cause a bit of a “domino effect” and have some mess build up in another room that you are moving things too.  Don’t let that stop you. It is just a part of the process and once you have one room under way or finished… you will get inspired to keep going. It will just feel so good to have your space back again.
Hopefully my video will give you a little guideline to go on too. But if you have the Sorting process down, then the rest of it is just going through each item. Just pick up that first item…and start.

Here is another post I did awhile ago on Getting Started to Organize . You might see some things there that I didn’t mention in the video that might help you.

Please let me know if you have questions.  I will do my best to help you answer them… just leave them in the comments, or you can contact me via contact form to ask me.

Decreasing the load – Decreasing the stress

Do you take on too much?

Are you stressed because you take on too much yourself?  Think you are wonder woman and can do it all?  If you realize you have taken on more than you can handle, how do you decrease that load?

We all go through the same thing -

*We don’t want to let people down
* We don’t want to look like we are quitting
* We want people to think we CAN do it all. lol
* We want to be a great wife & mom

BUT – if we spread ourselves too thin, then no one gains anything from us. We will end up exhausted, stressed and not a happy camper.

I had to make some of those decisions myself.  I took on a college Photoshop class.  I was really excited about it. I did an on line class because I didn’t think there was any way for me to make all the in room classes with my travel schedule.  I figured the online class was videos of the actual classroom sessions that we would see the instructors going over everything.  But you do it on your own time. Wrong!  I have an instructor, someone I can email questions to. They have a written schedule of what projects and quizzes are due and when and what chapters I have to read in the book and when. But…. that is it. The book is the teacher. It goes step by step through how to use photoshop.

I was really stressing yesterday because they sent me the wrong software and I didn’t get the new one until I got back from NC.  So I was already a week behind schedule.  Then looking at getting through 2 chapters (long ones) and going page by page trying to match what it said would look like compared to what it actually looked like on my computer – realizing that not only was I having to learn this, but I had to know all the details of what things were called for tests.  Stress was mounting.

Then I thought – why am I doing this?  Yes I want to learn photoshop. Yes I have the book that goes step by step… yes I also now have the software…. but why do I need to have tests and projects due when I don’t need the credit hours for college?  Plus of course the money I paid for the course to essentially do it on my own without a teacher anyway?

I made the decision to drop the class. I think I can still get a full refund. I have the software and the book, so I can still learn photoshop.  I might try again later with another class….but this time I will be sure to do a class that I can actually sit in and have an instructor instruct me!.

What have you taken on that is too much?  What can you decrease to take off some of the stress?

Prioritizing and Organizing Your Schedule

I have to heed my own advice here. I am needing to do some prioritizing and organizing in my own schedule!

I have to admit that I am feeling overwhelmed this morning.  I just got back from Type A Mom Conference yesterday evening, and looking at all I need to do this week and realizing I don’t have enough hours in the day to do all of it.

October is a very busy traveling month for me. I actually have an event each week and I’m planning on going to Indiana, Las Vegas, Detroit and then finishing by taking my Dad to see my Sister in Virginia at the end of the month.   Oh…and I have my  huband’s 50th birthday this month! I took on a photoshop class this quarter too.  My first project is due on Sunday and because I was sent the wrong software, I didn’t get the correct one until last night. So…I’m already behind in that class on week 2! lol

Why am I telling you this?  Because I want you to know that I struggle with organizing my own schedule at times. I have a lot on my plate right now and I need to do some prioritizing.  I am working on my schedule this morning and trying to decide if I need to give up one of the trips, or give up cleaning my house and taking care of my family or give up writing as many posts on my 3 blogs!!  (kidding on the family part, although by looking at my house this morning you might think I was serious)

I have been thinking of making a series of video tapes for this blog on some of the basics…. If I don’t edit and make them the way I like to make videos now, then I will have no problems and I think that would be helpful…. but I dont’ think I can do that.

SO….what I think I might be doing is to be running some of my old blog posts.  But I will make note if I am rerunning something. Thanks for understanding.

Sandy’s Blog Summary Friday

A Summary Overview of what happened on my 3 blogs this week

I have realized many people do not realize I even have 3 blogs (well 4 if you count my Review site and 5 if you count my store! LOL)   So I decided to start Sandy’s Blog Summary Friday.

Organize with Sandy.com

Charming CHARLIE Fashion Store is one Organized Store I featured this on my Explore blog as you will see below…but I wanted to point out on this blog how cool it is because it is so organized!

Organizing Sports Schedules in your home. As school along with fall sports start..are things at your house crazy?

Avery Teacher Celebrates Teachers Sweepstake Are you a teacher?  You have to check this out! Home school teachers can also enter.

Chat with Sandy.com

Exercise – Why is it so hard for me? Do you love to exercise? I WISH I did! This is a post about what my thoughts are about  having to exercise.

Breyers Sundae Scoop-Off Contest! Great prizes by coming up with a sundae recipe.

Click it for Breast Cancer Next month is Breast Cancer Awareness month, but a Fast Fixin and a group of 12 bloggers wanted to start things earlier than that.

Explore Ohio with Sandy.com

There are 2 places I showed you this week on my Explore Ohio with Sandy blog. You can see my visit to Charming CHARLIES at Polaris Fashion Place in Columbus.

I also took you on a little visit to The Columbus Zoo in Powell Ohio.

Kids Love Ohio Book Review. This book is a great resource to check out places in Ohio. I know I am going to be using it!

Reviews and Giveaways

Rubbermaid Reveal Mop on my Organize with Sandy Reviews blog. This runs until Monday Sept 6th, 2010

Bissel Lift-Off Multicyclonic Pet Vacuum on my Chat with Sandy blog. This runs until Thursday Sept 16th, 2010

Facebook & Twitter Love – I’d Love some!!

Facebook Pages - My Organize with Sandy or Sandy Jenney page (main page)

Organizer Sandy Fan page

Explore Ohio with Sandy Fan Page

Twitter – @OrganizerSandy

Sandy’s Store

Don’t forget I sell two different organizing products that I love!

Pouchee purse organizer and the Card Cubby.  You can organize your purse in a snap with these products. I love them and use them both…ask any of my friend!

Organizing Sports Schedules

The Sports season is upon us…how do you organize your schedule with sports?  Or do you?

So it is not hard enough to deal with the crazy mornings before school?  But we can have equally if not more hectic schedules after school.

Homework
Dinner
Sports Practices
Piano Lessons
Family time

Our time after school has turned into homework, sports practices and trying to squeeze dinner in there somewhere.

My two older boys aren’t a problem…they are on self sufficient mode. T who is a senior has band after school, then does his homework (of which there “is no homework mom”….yeah sure.) and then takes off on his bike (small town) to hang out with his friends.

D who is a junior has band, then runs in after band…grabs something to eat and takes off to teach karate at the karate school. He is also working towards his 3rd degree black belt.  I’m not sure when he is doing his homework, but I assume in the evening. He is a straight A student taking honors classes.

The triplets… the week we have them, I pick them up after school. We come in and they work on their homework if they have any. They are in 4th grade. One of them takes a little longer working on things and needs a little more repetition getting concepts down…so usually I work with him some. Then I have to get them something to eat..basically a dinner at about 4:30.  The boys have football at 5:30 – 8:00 2-3 nights a week and E has karate every night other than Friday and Sunday. (They are free to go as many nights as they want..but she wants to go and as long as you pay monthly and not per class…we figure lets get the most out of our money)  But she and her brothers are on what is called the XPT team …they are more advanced and use weapons and do demos places.  Right now they are purple belts.

On the night that they boys don’t have football they do karate.  Crazy huh?   Oh …and since my hubby is assistant coach on the football team, the week we don’t have the kids, he still picks up the boys and takes them to football and is gone those evening…and then the games are on the weekends.

One of the advantages of having triplets is that you can request them (the boys) to be on the same teams!  So at least we don’t have the problem many families do with different teams.  When E did cheer leading (all 3 years since Kindergarten..but she wanted to concentrate on karate this year) we did have that problem. She would be cheering at other games the same times the boys played. I would take her.

So…now that you have read the craziness of our household you might be wondering why the heck I am mentioning all this stuff.  I just want to let you know that I UNDERSTAND!!  LOL  The sports schedules we have no control of.  They can be crazy…. pictures were supposed to be the last 2 Saturdays but because the kids jerseys weren’t done…they got cancelled at the last minute.

So what do you do to keep the Schedules Organized?

All we can do is plan the best we can. Make a schedule for homework and dinner.  But realize that those might change and be flexible.

Make meals that can be eaten anytime (crock pot is great) or something that can heat up easily..that is the least amount of stress.  It is important to try and eat together as a family…but we different schedules sometimes that can’t happen every night.  So my suggestion would be to make that family time in the evening before bed…instead of watching TV.

School work is first priority. One of the triplets did not go to karate last night because we had work that he was not understanding and needed some extra time with.  I started working with him, but when DH got home from work then he took over and I took the other 2 kids to karate.  Yes…there were some tears, but we explained he wasn’t being punished…but school comes FIRST.

DH said he will be there early enough today today to pick them up from their moms before FB to make sure he has his school work done before he lets him go to FB practice.

Tell me your crazy schedules!  What are some things you do to keep life calmer during sports practices at your house?

Organizing School Mornings

Is there screaming and nashing of teeth on School Mornings at Your house?

I know for many people that is the case – I know it because I read it on twitter..dah? LOL

But your mornings do not have to be chaotic, filled with screaming and crying (you maybe! ).  It all comes down to organizing your school mornings with a little planning.

Sleep

First off decide how much sleep your child needs.  Kids really should have 8-10 hours of sleep at night. If your child is only getting 6-7….right there might be part of the problem – they are tired.   But decide on what that bedtime needs to be and stick to it.  Start getting that shower or bath in plenty of time before bedtime. If it takes an hour to get your child to bed….then start the routine an hour before bedtime. Sounds simple doesn’t it?  Then why if bedtime is 8:30pm and you hear moms saying it takes an hour to get Billy in bed…are they just walking up the stairs to bed at 8:20?  Start up those stairs at 7:30 so they are ready to sleep by 8:30pm.

Prepare the night before

Clothes - Have them lay out their clothes they plan to wear the night before.  This solves several problems. You know if it is clean & ready, you can say…”No you can’t wear that to school” the night before and the fight can ensue then (instead of in the am) and there is no last minute..”I can’t find my….” in the morning.

Lunches – Make them the night before and have them ready.  Actually my kids make their own lunches (with guidelines). The triplets have been making their own lunches for a year now. They are 9. They started working with their dad to make the lunches about 2 years ago and he gradually started having them do it on their own.  Z actually asked yesterday at about 4:30 if he could make his lunch for today. He knew he had football practice later, so he was planning ahead! I was thrilled!! I said…”Of course Z..that is a great idea.”

Homework and Book bags - Their homework should be completed and in their folder and in their book bag ready to go the night before. Make sure any papers you have to sign and any other projects or items are in the book bags. Then in the morning all they need is their lunches.

In the Morning

Waking up – You need to figure out how long your morning routine takes.  How long to get up, get dressed, make their bed and clean their rooms, get breakfast, do any other routines they do and get out the door.  Does it take 45 minutes? 60 minutes? 75 minutes?  When you are figuring the time, figure it out in a relaxed state…not a crazy running around time mode.

Then you take that time and make them set their alarm clocks for that time. If they want to use the snooze button then they need to set their alarm that much earlier.

Getting Dressed & Rooms – If the kids have laid out their clothes the night before, then this is easy. They just get up and get dressed. Figuring out times in the bathroom if you have several kids can take a little planning. We have 5 kids and 1 bathroom. But our 2 teenagers leave an hour and half earlier than the triplets…so that makes it much easier.

Making their beds is a requirement here. They just know to do it automatically. Yes…there is always 1 that I always have to ask if he made his bed and picked up his clothes – and most times he runs back up the stairs to do it. They have to have their rooms reasonable picked up. Dirty clothes off the floor and into their laundry hampers, etc..

Breakfast – Plan your breakfast the night before.  We have big breakfast on the weekends. But during the week, the kids get cereal or toast and fruit in the morning. They make their own. (we breed independence…can you tell?  Another post on that coming up soon).  But make sure they have time to have breakfast. They need the energy

Reading or other activities - My kids (9 year olds) have to read 20 minutes each day. We have been doing that the last couple years as required in school. We kept it up through the summers…and they just know its required. If you have any activities like that …spelling test practice etc… make sure you allot time in the schedule for it.

Backpacks - They just grab their lunch and they are ready to go.

Big key here: KEEP THE TV, COMPUTERS AND GAME STATIONS OFF!!!

Here is our time schedule for AM (approximate times) :

7am – Kids up. They make their beds, get dressed and pick up their rooms

7:15 – They come down. Breakfast and Reading Usually one does their reading first thing, the others are getting their breakfast and then they switch. They can decide what order they do it in…they know what they have to do.

8:00 – Book Bags are ready. Double check on lunches in book bags, homework in book bags, everything done, shoes are ready to go.

If everyone has everything done and they are ready to go – then I will let them get on the computers until we are ready to go.

8:20 – Tell everyone to get ready

8:25 – Walk out the door so I can drive them to school. It is a 5 minute drive (but far enough they can’t walk or ride bikes yet…hopefully next year) and they have to be there in their seats by 8:45. Doors open at 8:30.

As I am writing this I have one of the triplets eating her breakfast, the other is finishing his reading and the 3rd is getting his shoes on after finishing breakfast and getting ready to read.

We have very few crazy crying chaotic mornings. It makes much mornings much nicer!

(Yes..our top picture was posed. I asked them to give me a picture of them screaming and yelling….this is what I got. LOL )

Organizing tips for Back to School

When do your kids go back to school?

Are you ready?  Jumping up and down..or crying your eyes out?

But for all of us it means a Change in Routine!  There are lunches to pack, book bags to attend to, papers to see, sign and dates to put into our calendars.  Getting to bed earlier, getting up earlier.  Catching a bus or learning the route to walk/ride bikes, or moms doing the driving (like me).

This is part of a post I did last year – to give you an idea on how to make a “Routine Board” for the Morning crazies we all have.

I gave some tips for morning and afternoon routine in my Back To School Post you can see here.  Today I want to tell you about the School Routine Board you can make for your kids.  I use this same concept for a Chore Board..but this is why it is such an adaptable idea.  Here are the steps to Make your own.  Instead of the child’s name at the top of the board, you can use “Before School” and “After School”.  Then use your magnets and drawer pictures with brief description of the task that needs to be done.  Children are visual and instead of rattling off the list of “To Do’s” every morning, they will know to look at the Routine Board.

It’s just another way for your morning and after school routines to go a little smoother.

Organizing for Conferences

Or should I say organizing for Craziness!

I attended another blogging conference last week called Blogher.  It is a huge conference and was held in New York City.  I thought I was organized going into it….but soon found out that all of my best efforts still not enough to handle the craziness of this fun filled pack 4 days.

This is a conference that you have many unbelievably good teaching sessions going on, you have 2 levels of expo hall to go through and see all the Brands…and then you have the Brand parties.  Lots of them….overlapping times….subways and taxi’s away from each other…..the craziness.

There are some open parties that anyone attending the conference can go to. But most everything required RSVP’s.  Then you have the Brand parties that either you were invited to or another blogger was able to invite you to as a guest.

My schedule on Thursday was the worse.  Trying to decide what to go to, figuring out the times and the worse part of it is trying to get from one to another on time.  For the most part on the schedule I was on….I couldn’t get to everything I wanted.

I had printed out all the party invites and information.
I had mapped out the locations on paper
I had loaded all the addresses of each place I had to be in my Droid X phone to use the map feature
I had printed out a step by step list of times, locations of parties and times.

I am glad I did what I did…because without what I did…I never stood a chance.  But  even with all of that….I still felt kind of lost…overwhelmed.

I think I felt like I wasn’t fully in control of the situation….like I feel comfortable with.

Just saying that even with the best laid plans….sometimes we can still be overwhelmed  

Do you ever feel like that with situations?  Just wanted to let you know…you aren’t alone.

Working Outside the Home

Working outside the home and raising kids isn’t easy

I have been very lucky in my lifetime.  Since I had my 2nd child, I have not had to work full time outside the home.  So I might not be the best authority to write about Working outside the home.

But….I do know the challenges that I have had to go working part time outside the home.

First off – if it is what you want to be doing and you love it… All the more power to ya.

If you are doing it because you have no choice (like so many people I know) and you wish you could be at home….I sympathize with you.  It would be very hard to keep up with all the cleaning, cooking, laundry and chores of the house…along with school projects, sports, open houses at school….etc, etc, etc….

I can see how the house can become a mess…how clutter can build up faster than you can imagine….and how you can be completely over whelmed.

What is the solution?

I’m not sure of that honestly. I wish I could wave my magic organizer fairy wand and make everything easy and wonderful.

But I do know that if you are organized in your routines, where things are in your home and are disciplined to do what you need to do…when you need to do it – it would make things go much smoother.

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