On the move again...

{from stuck to slowly moving}
I think that is a good way of describing my week. On Monday I was STUCK!! Thank goodness the week got better. One of my huge issues on Monday was how unorganized I was which was effecting my ability to function as a mom, homeschooling mentor, cook, nurturer, etc...

I've actually known I needed to fix my unorganized home for a few weeks now, and last Monday I even checked out a book recommended my good friend Verena called Organizing from the Inside Out. I was about 40 pages into the book on Monday during the 'break down.' By Tuesday I was emotionally with it enough to start reading the book again, and today I finished!! WOO-HOO, and tackled my first problem area. The 'Kitchen Desk.' It has been a magnet for clutter...paper, books, mail, keys, anything brought in from the car, gum, CDs, whatever. It drove me crazy, not to mention I was always loosing my important mail and papers within its messy realm. So today I tackled it with a new set of skills and objectives thanks to this awesome book. I was able to get it done in a few hours and I feel so much better. I still have a few more finishing touches to put on the space, like getting a filing system figured out and assigning a home to a few more drawers, but it looks and feels so much better.

[Before]

[After]
The book suggested making your 'Household Information Center' pretty. So I added a plant and a cute picture thingy (which we already had). I also moved my calendar from my laundry room, where we never used it to the 'info center' so we could remember birthdays and scheduled events. So fun, So visible, So MUCH BETTER!!

**I also made a home for my keys and purse. I had these hooks in our other house and I loved having a place to hang my purse and keys. It feels so great to have a hook they can call home again!! Its in my laundry room (which is right by the back door) so its out of the way, but where I can always find them.


{Motivation works}

Last week I came to a situation with my kids where I could choose one of two paths. My kids were getting a little out of hand and it was time for a behavioral change to take place. In a rare moment enlightenment I decided to choose the path of positive motivation vs. negative discipline. I told the kids to hold on I had a surprise for them. I rushed into my kitchen and started racking my brain to find/create something I could use as a reward system. This three tier holder thingy caught my attention and I figured I could put something in the bottom section and allow the kids to move them to the center section when they did something positive and the kids could earn a reward. I couldn't find anything to use as chips so I ran to where we store our games and found Rummy Cube. In a rush I dumped all the tiles out into the bottom section ran back to the kids and explained the 'new system.' They were thrilled. We decided once all tiles were in the middle section we'd go to Cold Stone as a family, and then they could work on moving all the tiles to the top section which would result in a family trip to the ZOO. It really turned the day around and I am proud to report that yesterday we went to Cold Stone, and today Megan said, "I can't wait until we get to go to the ZOO." Positive motivation does work...even if you use Rummy Cube tiles and a random kitchen thingy.

{Burn baby burn}


This is a totally random story that I want to document for posterity. Last weekend Scott went on a camp out with the scouts in our ward. On their drive back the bed of the truck he was traveling in started on fire thanks to them not putting their camp fire out enough. They thought they had really soaked the fire, and since it was a carry out policy had loaded the dead fire into the back of the truck. However, once they started gaining speed the coals must have started up again. Before they knew it 4 foot flames were leaping out of the truck bed. A lot of their stuff was burned up including Scott's sleeping bag, foam pad, and pillow. As they were trying to put out the flames the other guy who was driving grabbed a shovel that was in the bed of the truck to give to Scott so Scott could shovel dirt on the fire. The fiberglass handle had burned and when he grabbed it the fiberglass began to burn his hand so he threw the shovel instantly and it hit Scott in the ear. Isn't that strange?! The other two guys both burned themselves, but Scott got a random really strange cut inside his ear.