Simplify

So, I've been thinking alot about simplifying lately. And what exactly that means to me and in my life and home. In some ways I think it means de-clutter. Less toys and books and stuff means less bother with cleaning and moving. And it means organizing. Everything having a place. The girls are old enough to know that certain toys go in certain containers. They can put their clothes away in the right drawers (Well, C and E can). So, everything needs to have a place. And if it doesn't have a place either one needs to be found quickly or out it goes. Simplify also means having a routine. Daily jobs like tidying up, laundry, dishes, etc. Weekly jobs like cleaning each room. I can normally keep things tidy in my house but have a problem getting to the actual cleaning of everything. The kitchen may look tidy but in reality the corners of the counters need to be cleaned and I'm not even going to tell you what under the sink looks like especially near the bin. So assigning different cleaning jobs to different days should help simplify the cleaning process. Same with the girls' toys. Tidy up several times during the day rather than one huge clean up at 5:00 before Daddy gets home. So when I was thinking of this earlier I was trying to reconcile how working more often can actually mean working less...see, that doesn't make sense. But then I realized this is my new motto "more often, less work". If I tidy up more often I will spend less time overall. If I wipe down my shower twice a week then I won't spend hours on it once a month or whenever I get to it. However, (as if any of you who really know me are worried that this is a possibility) this does not mean I will be going overboard in the cleaning department. I have way more important things to do than clean my shower everyday and dust everything in sight. =)

Simplifying also means that for supper (Australian for after dinner/before bed snack) for youth group I am not going to spend hours baking something that will be gobbled up within minutes and very few thank yous to show for it. So, today they get biscuits (cookies) straight from a tube. The upsides--they have a gluten-free alternative(the chocolate chip ones) and leave me with very few dishes to wash and take less time. The downside--they cost more but I think it's worth it.

And this picture--what little girl doesn't need car shaped peanut butter and honey sandwiches for lunch? =)

Catie and Emma's Room

I didn't take before pictures but you can imagine how messy two little girls can make their room. ( I need to be more consistent about making sure they tidy their room everyday.) We went through the clothes to see what clothes there were for them this winter. I moved a big pile of those into Beka's room. Then I was able to put what was left for them in a container on top of their closet. The other containers hold their sheets and extra blankets. They each have one shelf to hold their "treasures". There is a basket for their shoes in the bottom of the closet and a container for a limited amount of toys and books.

The reason we don't have doors on their closet is because they kept sliding them too hard or pulling or pushing on them and we were constantly needing to put them back into the right grooves so they could slide properly. So it was easier to take them off.

If you look closely you can see that Emma's quilt fits her bed but it is only half the squares I have to make it. And I haven't fringed it yet either. Oh well...that's a project for another day! =)

Beka's room BEFORE

So, I'm in a bit of a spring cleaning mode. It's actually fall here but I guess that doesn't matter. Yesterday when Josh mowed the lawn we went through all the outside toys. I found a huge pile of inside toys that had made their way outside so they are now in the washing machine. I threw away a big pile of toys and now have a manageable toy area outside. Later in the afternoon I chatted with Mom on MSN and I mentioned a couple ideas for reorganizing the inside toys and the girls' rooms. So here are the before photos of Beka's room. I also added the photo of what the bookshelf looked like in the main room and beside it you can see the toy kitchen. You can also see the bookshelf from my craft room that wasn't really being used as it should. It had become a catch-all for whatever I happened to place there.

Beka's room AFTER

This is Beka's room after my organizing. The dresser will go in the craft room, probably. At the moment it is in my bedroom since I didn't want to drag it all the way down the hallway. Josh is talking about moving the computer into the craft room so we will see what happens. Anyway...
The toy kitchen and food stuff are out of the main room now, the bookshelf from the craft room holds their books and some baskets of toys (like blocks and Mr. Potato heads and accessories) and I moved the Little People toys out of my linen closet. There isn't a bar in Beka's closet due to some little girls hanging on it and breaking it. I'm hoping Josh will put two bars in it next time and we will hang the dress-ups in the closet and move them out of my linen closet as well. If you notice I also added some ribbon from my huge stash to pull back the curtains. The girls helped move the books into this room and as soon as I took the photo started playing and messing it up. =) But we cleaned it before nap time and it's tidy at the moment.
Now I just need to fill the main bookshelf up with stuff from the craft room and organize that room. And organize Catie and Emma's room too.