So, I finally finished and am writing the promised follow-up post! I told you that I was participating in Org Junkie’s Monthly Organizing Round-Up and cleaning up my dining area of the kitchen. (click here to see my previous post on the subject) Since my 5-year-old, Kate, is a budding artist like her daddy all of her art supplies and drawings wind up on our kitchen table and floor, as well as the window seat behind it. After a while, it all starts to mushroom and take over the room as you can see in this before pic… The piles of crayons, and pictures and more pictures, and cards, and table cloth for when we paint, and flipflops (the windowseat is by the back door), and everything else just seemed to always collect here. And even when it’s organized, it’s still just not very pretty to look at. In fact, my husband complains about it frequently.
I decided that not only did all the mess need to be contained better, but it also needed to move out of my kitchen completely. The ‘formal dining room’ in our house is right off of the kitchen and we’ve turned it into a playroom - perfect spot for all of Kate’s art supplies. But before I could move everything, I had to clean out a space on the tall table (away from siblings’ hands) to move everything. (Don’t you love when one project requires a second and third project to happen first to be able to make the first one happen??? Blah.)
Finally, I got the table ready and then moved all the ’stuff’ to the table. Then, I cleaned up the rest of the ‘outdoor stuff’ that sits on the windowseat and found a big bin to hide it all in. So, all the flipflops, sunscreen, bug spray, water guns, and sidewalk chalk are now out of sight! 
And look how clean my windowseat looks now!!
Of course, by the time I got all of that done, I was exhausted and the kiddos were screaming for my attention (quite literally, I’m afraid. Yes, I tend to be a tad “focused” when it comes to organizing projects! ) So, I stopped for the day and decided to come back to the art supply/artwork mess another day. I think that’s actually a key - knowing when it’s okay to stop and come back to a project another day and not feeling like it all HAS to be finished immediately. Especially when you have three little ones under foot. :)
So, a few days later, I decided to tackle all her art stuff. Luckily, I had already put some amount of organizing mojo into this area of our lives and had containers already in use. So, all it took was a little re-thinking of how everything was working and what would make it even better.
She now has 3 magazine holders that are specifically designated for 3 different kinds of things. One for workbooks, one for sketchbooks and CURRENT artwork (I’ll have to write another post about what I do with all her artwork that accumulates at such a FAST pace), and one for stationary (my daughter LOVES to write cards to people). She has an art kit box (thank you, Tiffany, for that birthday present!) that houses all of her stamps, markers, map pencils, glue sticks, and scissors in neat little organized trays. Then she has a stack of art projects like beading, mosaics, and stamping that require adult supervision. And the last box next to the bookcase is full of all her painting supplies, including smock and table cloth. All of the crayons and coloring books moved to another section of the playroom in a three-drawer rolling cart where the youngest two could also access them.
When I was done, I called her over to the table and explained the system to her. (Lucky for me, she takes after her parents and actually enjoys systems!) She got it almost immediately and then called her daddy in to show him and explain each section to him. Best way to learn is to teach it to someone else, right?
So, now, I just owe a huge debt of gratitude to Laura over at OrgJunkie for encouraging all of us to tackle this project. And I’m SO in for the rest of the year, so keep your eyes tuned for my next project! What’s YOUR next project?
After my sister read my post about sending Ethan to get a pair of pants, she emailed me and asked me if I’d thought about using MeckMom’s solution to the problem of him emptying his drawers.
I’m here to say that I L-O-V-E my sister for reminding me of this idea. And I L-O-V-E MeckMom for having this idea in the first place. And I’m going to the store tomorrow to buy under-bed boxes for all 3 of my kids so I can try this out.
I’ll let you know how it works. In the mean time, check out this link to MeckMom’s ingenious idea to keep my kids from emptying their drawers after I send them to get dressed!
One of my favorite blogs that I visit all the time has just launched a new forum-based website called Freepeats. It works very similarly to FreeCycle only it’s more for the mommy demographic. It’s all about finding and giving away new or gently-used baby items in your local area. The cool thing for me is that they just added Houston (my home town) to the list. And through the month of February, it’s completely free to join.
So, if you’re even the slightest bit thrifty and want to know how to get a hold of baby and maternity stuff for free, check out the site and sign up for your local area. Then come back and tell me what YOU gave away or got for free!
The Houston Chronicle has launched a new channel called, MomHouston. It’s a place for local moms to find stuff to do, share parenting advice, brag about our kids, and most importantly, find one another. The site contains blogs, discussion forums and even a “refrigerator door” to share pics of your own kiddos.
If you’re looking for advice, blogs, photos and forums for Houston moms, check it out.
Looking to do some Christmas shopping? One Step Ahead has some of the best products for parents out there. In fact, many of their products have not only been invented by parents, but have also won awards for their innovation. And now you can enjoy free shipping on orders of $85 or more with Code: VIXEN now through November 30, 2007! Start your holiday shopping off right with this great offer. One Step Ahead is your source for pre-tested guaranteed, quality baby products!
No, I haven’t had 27 year’s experience in raising kids, that would have made me quite a young mom… But, I just re-read a post written by my beautiful friend, spiritual mentor, and pastor’s wife and knew I had to share it with all of you, too. It has some of the most profound statements about motherhood that I’ve read in quite some time. While she’s inspired me to jot down my own list, I think my list would never do her’s justice, so I’ll just leave you to see if you enjoy her list as much as I did. And be sure to leave her a comment if you’d like, too!
Click on this link to read her great list…
“What I’ve Learned in 27 Years of Raising Kids”
If you’ve read my post, “It’s Too Quiet…” then you know why I’ve been on a quest to find the answer to the simple question of how to clean vaseline off of well… everything. (Amazing how much damage a 18 month old and 3 year old can do in just a few minutes time!)
So, after MUCH searching, I finally found a site that had directions on how to get vaseline off of clothes and fabrics. (FYI, “Vaseline” is just a brand name of petroleum jelly.) Check out this diy site’s suggestions…
http://www.doityourself.com/stry/petroleumjelly
And then, I had a friend forward this mom’s story about vaseline and how she got it out of her son’s HAIR!!!! So I decided I should include her experience, too… Continue reading…
Are you looking for cheap, crafty things to do with your kiddos to keep them from driving your batty? I stumbled across this blog the other day and thought it had some great and creative ideas for doing artsy types of things with kids and for repurposing all sorts of things around the house, too…
Check out scrumdilly-do and have hours of fun!!!
When I woke Kate up for school the other morning, she had a pretty good bloody nose going. It had gotten on her night gown, soaked into her pillow, and gone through her sheet and into her new mattress! I got her cleaned up, pulled all the sheets and pillow off her bed before she could see it all, and got her off to school.
When I got back home I started to google how to get blood out of a mattress. The last thing I wanted was for the stain to set and be there for the next 20 years! (BTW, yes, I do normally have a mattress protector on the bed, but the last time we changed sheets it was because she had peed, so I had to wash everything and of course, it wasn’t all dry in time for bed, so we just put on the extra set of linens without the mattress pad…) Continue reading…
So, I finally finished and am writing the promised follow-up post! I told you that I was participating in Org Junkie’s Monthly Organizing Round-Up and cleaning up my dining area of the kitchen. (click here to see my previous post on the subject) Since my 5-year-old, Kate, is a budding artist like her daddy all of her art supplies and drawings wind up on our kitchen table and floor, as well as the window seat behind it. After a while, it all starts to mushroom and take over the room as you can see in this before pic… The piles of crayons, and pictures and more pictures, and cards, and table cloth for when we paint, and flipflops (the windowseat is by the back door), and everything else just seemed to always collect here. And even when it’s organized, it’s still just not very pretty to look at. In fact, my husband complains about it frequently.
I decided that not only did all the mess need to be contained better, but it also needed to move out of my kitchen completely. The ‘formal dining room’ in our house is right off of the kitchen and we’ve turned it into a playroom - perfect spot for all of Kate’s art supplies. But before I could move everything, I had to clean out a space on the tall table (away from siblings’ hands) to move everything. (Don’t you love when one project requires a second and third project to happen first to be able to make the first one happen??? Blah.)
Finally, I got the table ready and then moved all the ’stuff’ to the table. Then, I cleaned up the rest of the ‘outdoor stuff’ that sits on the windowseat and found a big bin to hide it all in. So, all the flipflops, sunscreen, bug spray, water guns, and sidewalk chalk are now out of sight! 
She now has 3 magazine holders that are specifically designated for 3 different kinds of things. One for workbooks, one for sketchbooks and CURRENT artwork (I’ll have to write another post about what I do with all her artwork that accumulates at such a FAST pace), and one for stationary (my daughter LOVES to write cards to people). She has an art kit box (thank you, Tiffany, for that birthday present!) that houses all of her stamps, markers, map pencils, glue sticks, and scissors in neat little organized trays. Then she has a stack of art projects like beading, mosaics, and stamping that require adult supervision. And the last box next to the bookcase is full of all her painting supplies, including smock and table cloth. All of the crayons and coloring books moved to another section of the playroom in a three-drawer rolling cart where the youngest two could also access them.
By Kay on Tue, Apr 1, 2008
2 Comments