6 Weeks of Organization

I love blogs. Seriously I do- there are many that I follow and are addicted to. They motivate me to be better about couponing, cleaning, organizing, doing fun activities with my kids- you name it. One blog that I follow quite often- http://www.momsbyheart.net/2009/09/6-weeks-of-organization-day-1.html is the post that got me motivated to start a 6 week organizational push. I actually started two weeks ago with Wyatt and Livvy's rooms. I went through all of their clothes and sorted those that fit and those that were too summery and also went through the many boxes of clothes that I have bought at garage sales for them to grow into. We organized their drawers and closets to have certain types of clothes hanging together and in certain sizes so that at first glance it is easy for me to see what they have plenty of and what they need. I then bought some flat totes and put the clothes that they need to grow into in them, labeled them clearly from the front, and stored them under their beds. We went through all of the toys and gave many, many, many away to DI- after all Christmas is coming and there is nowhere to put all the fun stuff that Santa and Grandmas' bring! It felt wonderful to have it all organized. The best part is that the kids helped me do it- so now they know where all the toys go in the right baskets and are great at cleaning their own rooms- Hooray!

So following this genius lady blogger's schedule- I'm going to tackle the next projects:

Week 2 (this week): my pantry. I want to move things around, clean it out, and take inventory of what I have and need to stock up on. Then I'm going shopping :). I'm also going to try to tackle my closet this week and take all of those clothes that I don't wear anymore to DI. Hopefully I can also get Shelby to get my maternity clothes out from the crawl space so I actually have something to wear.

Week 3: My office. It's become the room to dump all of the stuff for the baby that I keep buying and don't really know where to put it. Also- my desk needs some serious TLC and I need to organize all of my stacks of coupons that I keep accumulating and need to clip and sort.

Week 4: Outside. I want to clean out my flowerbeds and prepare my garden and trees for fall. I need to sort all the kids outdoor toys and store them away for winter. I'm also going to try to get Shelby to finish his kennel for the puppy to keep him from chewing up everything in the yard. Finally- I plan on tackling our cars this week. Cleaning them out really well and then getting them winterized- I'll ask Shelby what that entails :).

Week 5: Mud Room/Laundry Room. I'm going to need Shelby's help for this one too because I want him to build me some shelves so I can incorporate a new laundry system before the baby comes. I can't stand having folded laundry on my couch, but the truth is that sometimes I just don't have time to get it put away as fast as I'd like to. BUT- if I had baskets to fold it in on shelves- it would look much better. I'm also going to clean out all of the shoes/boots and tools etc. in the mud room.

Week 6: My part this week will be better planning. I'm going to really work to plan a better menu schedule, shopping schedule, cleaning schedule, and a schedule of projects for the kids. It's so easy for me to get tired in the afternoon, and I really want to have fun projects and goals to work toward- especially working with Wyatt's fine motor skills every day. I'm also hoping that Shelby will get our new wood stove installed this week and the tile laid around it- cross my fingers. Although hunting season may postpone all of the things that I really want him to help me with. His part in this process may make it more like 12 weeks of organization :).

It's no fun to do big projects alone- and it's easier to stay motivated if you have friends doing it with you- SO- anyone wanna join in and keep me accountable? Come on...... it'll be fun-- sort of.