Babysteps....

I really have been doing my daily babysteps and even taking pics...BUT since I have not blogged about it in 11 days, you can imagine that I have no idea which pics go with which day, etc. So, I am going to start them over for blogging's sake. I will try my best to blog about it every day, so I don't get this behind again.

Decluttering, Days 41 (2/10)-52 (2/21)...My LR almost completed

Here are pix of my LR...please don't mind the pink & green walls...that's why I am decluttering, so I can repaint (the Liv Room used to be my girls' bedroom...and my dh painted it pink. He paints "around" things, so you may even see some white in there. The little bit of like sage green you see is what I picked out and it ended up NOT being what I thought it would be...hence the reason I didn't keep painting. Sorry the pics are so dark, it was bright outside (and I need another curtain). I will try to take close ups later.

Ok, here's the wall my couch is on. Don't mind the clean clothes to be folded:


Cuz here's the couch after I folded & put the clothes away:


This is the wall for my loveseat & nursing chair. Yes the chair is facing the opposite way...towards my desk. But when not in use, it has to be slid back so the girls can get to their bedroom. The clothes on the rod are for all 4 girls....see drawer note below:


This is my entertainment center (I love that you can close the doors) and my girls' (minus Chey) "drawers"...they are in here, because if not, the girls toss clean clothes that I've put awy in the floor, don't ask why... You can see how close my kitchen is. I like the armoire here, though, so it puts kind of a barrier in between the two...




This is my office/homeschool area. I need to go through the books on the bookshelf (hence not being done decluttering). Mostly all of them are cookbooks, with most of the gooseberry patch books on the top 2 shelves...no, I do NOT have a problem...that's my story & I'm sticking to it. The shelves in the white cube organizer are mostly empty or full of stuff that will have to find homes elsewhere, b/c that is for my homeschool books, which I have not ordered yet.


Hope I have not scared you...this has been what I have been working on decluttering since my last decluttering post. That and the shed outside (for a later post). Wish I'd have taken before pics...I forgot. They weren't bad, just everything was arranged differently.

Babysteps, Day 10...2/10/09

Morning Routine

- Get up and get dressed to lace up shoes; fixing your hair and face
- Looking at your posted reminders in the kitchen and bathroom
- Reading 2 minutes of reminders
- Recognizing the negative voices and changing them; YOU ARE FLYing NOW!
- Put out your Hot Spots for 2 minutes
- 5 Minute Room Rescue (pick any room in the house) set your timer and go!

Before Bed Routine

- Keep your sink shining
- Lay out your clothes for tomorrow
- Put out your Hot Spot (I have to do this twice a day) It makes me smile in the morning!

We have already been using our timers for 2 minutes and now 5 minutes. Today we are going to learn the power of just 15 minutes. You can do anything for 15 minutes. This is all about getting started and giving ourselves permission to stop when the timer goes off. You cannot restart the timer either. This is not a race to finish in 15 minutes either! The timer helps to keep us focused on what we are doing.

Now set your timer for 15 minutes and go gather up all the trash you can find to throw away and put it in the garbage can outside. Then set your timer for another 15 minutes and sit down and put your feet up and read a favorite magazine till the timer goes off.

Cherylann:

I'm dressed to the shoes, have read 2 mins. reminders, no stinkin thinkin yet. Getting to work on my hotspots, decluttering & room rescues :)

Decluttering, Day 40 2/9/09

I decluttered 2 more bags of kids' clothes. I sorted through them as they came out of the dryer.

It's amazing, but I still can't see a difference in the amount of clothes my kids' have, so I am going to have to keep going ;)

MIA

Sorry I have been MIA the past few days. I was gone most of Friday and this weekend. I am now up to date on my blog posts. Sorry, I didn't take as many pics, but I'll make up for it ;)

I am home all day and have a ton of work to do. The master bedroom & bathroom are done, so I just have to focus on: Laundry, dishes (as they are dirtied), kitchen (finish declutter/organize project), laundry room, living room, girls' bedroom for today.

Babysteps, Day 9....2/9/09 DONE

Here is what we are already doing; Look in your Control Journal; leave the sticky notes up to help remind you. It takes us 28 days to develop a new habit. These are just BabySteps on our way to a new way of living.

Morning Routine

- Get up and get dressed to lace up shoes; fixing your hair and face
- Looking at your posted reminders in the kitchen and bathroom
- Reading 2 minutes of reminders
- Recognizing the negative voices and changing them; YOU ARE FLYing NOW!
- Put out your Hot Spots for 2 minutes

Before Bed Routine

- Keep your sink shining
- Lay out your clothes for tomorrow
- Put out your Hot Spot (I have to do this twice a day) It makes me smile in the morning!

Today we are going to learn how to declutter our homes a few minutes at a time with some fun tools that I know you have been wondering about from the reminders you have been reading in our emails. Making it fun will get the job done!

http://flylady.net/pages/FLYingLessons_Declutter.asp

Add a 5 minute room rescue to your Morning Routine.

Cherylann:
Today's is going to be easy :) I decided starting Jan. 1 that I was going to declutter at least one thing each day, even if I didn't get totally finished with it :)

I did a 5 minute room rescue in the master bedroom & bathroom so far today.

Decluttering, Days 37-39

Friday 2/6 (day 37) I cleaned out my purse. Tossed all the receipts I didn't need to keep.

Saturday 2/7 (day 38) I cleaned out the truck again. All trash, clothes/coats/gloves, etc got put where they belong.

Sunday 2/8 (day 39) cleaned out a craft bin & freecycled most of what was in it.

Babysteps, Day 8....2/8/09 DONE

Here you are; you have been FLYing for a whole week. I am so proud of you. Lets review your new habits. I am going to break them down into what you do each morning and what you do each evening.

Morning Routine

- Get up and get dressed to lace up shoes; fixing your hair and face
- Looking at your posted reminders in the kitchen and bathroom
- Reading 2 minutes of reminders
- Recognizing the negative voices and changing them; YOU ARE FLYing NOW!
- Put out your Hot Spots for 2 minutes

Before Bed Routine

- Keep your sink shining
- Lay out your clothes for tomorrow
- Put out your Hot Spot (I have to do this twice a day) It makes me smile in the morning!

Over the last week we have introduced you to our reminders and the basis of our routines. As you establish these habits it will become easy to add another habit for you to practice.

Today I want you to find an old three ring binder and just put some paper in it. Then at the top of one page write Morning Routine and on the top of another page write Before Bed Routine all in pencil. This is a working document; do not allow your perfectionism to interfere with the process. Now you can write your simple routines on each page.

Cherylann:
For my routines, I just put what FL has, what we've already been working on. If I add too much, too fast, I will make these long detailed lists, and I don't want to get bogged down in that again :)

Babysteps, Day 7....2/7/09 DONE

- Getting Dressed to lace up shoes
- Keeping our sink shining
- Reading 2 minutes of Reminders
- Looking at our posted reminders in the kitchen and bathroom
- Recognizing the negative voices; change them and FLY!
- Put out your Hot Spot for 2 minutes; just pick one.

Today we are going to add a new habit to our before bed routine. Tonight before you hop in bed; I want you to pick out what clothes you are going to wear tomorrow. You can lay them on a chair, on a shelf or hook in the bathroom or on a hanger on your closet door knob..

Cherylann:
I've been keeping up with everything I've added so far.

We were gone most of today & yesterday, so I didn't clear an additional hotspot, but I did keep the top of the armoire clutter free. Imagine dh's surprise when he wasn't allowed to drop all his pocket clutter onto it.

I always lay out our clothes the night before, so this was an easy one :D

Babysteps, Day 6....2/6/09 DONE

- Getting Dressed to lace up shoes
- Keeping our sink shining
- Reading 2 minutes of Reminders
- Looking at our posted reminders in the kitchen and bathroom
- Recognizing the negative voices when you hear them and changing the words to be nice to you. That is what FLYing (Finally Loving Yourself) is all about.

Today we are going to learn about Hot Spots. We all have them. Here is a link on our website to read the definition of a Hot Spot.

http://flylady.net/pages/FLYFaq.asp#hotspot

Now I want you to set your timer for 2 minutes and lets practice putting out your Hot Spot. You don’t have to work till you have finished; just do what you can in 2 minutes. Put your bills in one place. This will keep you from having to search for them.

Cherylann:
dressed to shoes (shopping for a new pair today)
shiny sink (gotta love it)
reading reminders & post-its
no stinkin thinkin

cleared a MAJOR hotspot!!!

Armoire before: dh's favorite place to stash things and also a convenient spot to put grocery overflow ;)


After:

Babysteps, Day 5...2/5/09 DONE

FlyLady:
- Getting Dressed to lace up shoes
- Keeping our sink shining
- Reading 2 minutes of Reminders
- Looking at our posted reminders in the kitchen and bathroom

Are you hearing any of those nagging negative voices popping into your head? I want you to take a piece of paper and write down what you hear then I want you to turn those ugly words around and say something nice to yourself to negate the ugly words that they said.

Cherylann:
Actually my outlook is getting more positive since doing the 365 days of clutter and also re-starting babysteps. I didn't have any stinkin thinkin....yay!

I have been getting dressed to the shoes, tomorrow I am going to buy a new pair, since mine are hurting my feet.

My sink is shiny, my dishes are done, i'm reading the reminders & looking at my post-it.

Decluttering, Day 36 Paper

HAHA...It never ends does it? Well, I was awakened at 2am by 2 of my girls playing LOUDly, so now they are separated and one is back asleep. The other is reading quietly.

I couldn't go back to sleep, so I started tackling paper. I tossed a regular trash bag full of papers, catalogs. My desk still looks like a tornado went off on it, but I do have more room :)

Decluttering, Day 35 My Kitchen

I know I just decluttered my tupperware cabinet last week. But it wasn't working (lids were in front, bowls behind). So, I re did it. I also did the microwave cabinet & my medicine/first aid cabinet.

Here's my tupperware cabinet before:


The "back" of the cabinet after (back row)


The "back" of the cabinet after (front row)


Microwave cabinet before:


Microwave cabinet after:


Medicine/First Aid cabinet before (it was already organized inside the basket...did it last week):


Medicine/First Aid cabinet after:

Babysteps, Day 4...2/4/09 DONE

FlyLady:
So far we are;

- Getting Dressed to lace up shoes
- Keeping our sink shining
- Reading 2 minutes of Reminders

Your next thing is to write these things down on a sticky note and post them on your bathroom mirror and above your kitchen sink. This is the beginning of your Control Journal. The little notes help us to remember the habits we are trying to establish.

Cherylann:
I'm dressed to the shoes.

My sink is still shiny & will be tonight before bed. It's such a blessing to not ALWAYS have dishes waiting to be done and a clean, empty sink to wake up to. There were no dishes today...it was a busy day, so we ate out. I did make frozen pizza for dinner, but no dishes (used paper towels).


Read my reminders & a few testimonials.

I have written my post-it.

Day 34, decluttering...my inbox :)

I went from over 1700 emails down to 259. I wish my household clutter would be able to be gone with just a delete button,lol.

Babysteps, Day 3...2/3/09 DONE

FlyLady:
Today you are doing what we have already done.

-Getting up and dressing to lace up shoes
-Keeping your sink shining
-Reading your reminders for 2 minutes.

Then I want you to read something on our website. This will help you to understand more about what we are doing and how together with our reminders, essays and testimonials you are going to see changes in your home and attitude.

Cherylann:
Ok....I can NOT even describe what it feels like to wake up to a clean kitchen, no dishes to wash, no surface clutter, it's AWESOME.

This morning after getting ready (to my shoes), I had some time left over before having to leave for the school bus. So, I reorganized my can pantry (yes, again)....and I moved it to where it will be more accessible. It's on top of my large buffet. I know that's not the ideal place for it, but at least I don't have to pull it out of the corner to use it.
Can pantry:


Breakfast dishes are done :)


Read 2 minutes of FlyLady emails. I liked her Beach Essay today, and will be implementing it this weekend (packing a beach bag for when your kids get sick. Check it out here: A Day at the Beach. You must be a member of FlyLady Mentors to view it.

Lunch dishes are done:


There were no dinner dishes tonight. We went out to dinner tonight to Texas Roadhouse. So here's my shiny sink.

Day 33, Decluttering

Today I tossed 2 bags of paper clutter :) I don't know HOW it all accumulates........oh wait, I do have 5 kids, right, lol.

Babysteps, Day 2...2/2/09 DONE

LOL...I didn't even look at this last night, and this was the first thing I did today. I NEVER do this first thing!!! HMMM....What is going on here? I think I am being flywashed :)

FlyLady:
Today I want you get up and get dressed to lace up shoes when you first get up in the morning. This means fix your hair and face too.

In order for us to change ourselves we need to remind ourselves of what we are doing. I did this with yellow sticky notes throughout my home to guide me through my day. This was the beginning of my home control journal. I had little notes on my bathroom mirror to remind me to get dressed to shoes. When you see the many reminders in your inbox from Yahoo; just think of them as yellow sticky notes. You don’t have to do them yet; they are just there as a little reminder. Read the subject line and you will be absorbing the flow of them. Do not allow those voices in your head to say this can’t possibly work with so many emails. Then when you hear those voices say I don’t have time, Set a timer for 2 minutes and just read a little and then delete at will.

Shine your sink before you go to bed.

It's me again:

I have started the laundry, and have one load to fold/put away.

I have also cleared my counter & washed the breakfast dishes.




I have a ham in the oven for dinner.

I cleared and dusted my kitchen armoire, and was wanting to polish it, but couldn't find the pledge. So, I went online and found a homemade solution...mix the juice of one lemon + 2 teaspoons olive oil (if you don't have a lemon, use 4 T. of lemon juice). I polished my armoire. Next time I will have to make a bigger batch, but I only had one lemon. I hope to soon sand & restain this armoire, my kids have abused it :(




Ok, my son is moving into the MBR with dh, since it's the largest room, and dh is in there by himself. I stay in the LR, b/c I can only sleep on the couch (my back). I took all Chey's clothes out of the MBR to make room for Jacob's. I also put Jacob & dh's underclothes in the new nightstand. For the time being, I have Chey's clothes in the LR closet.

Lunch dishes:


Ok, I did 3 loads laundry today, but I did NOT fold any, so I need to get that done tomorrow.

Here's my shiny sink:


Dinner Dishes:

Baby Steps, Day 1...2/1/09 DONE

After you do this; you will keep it shiny by drying it out after each time you use it and making sure when you go to bed that it is shining so it will make you smile in the morning. This is how I get to hug you each day! That shiny sink is a reflection of the love that you have for yourself.

Our FlyLady system is all about establishing little habits that string together into simple routines to help your day run on automatic pilot. You can do this!

Now that you have completed that very important first step, here is a list of the rest of the Beginner BabySteps. Do not jump ahead and try to get them all done at once, simply go to the next step each day and complete it. You can do this!!

Ok, Cherylann here....this is where I get bogged down. I think that I have to do it ALL right now!! I am going to go slowly this time. Help me please!

Here's the link to Shine Your Sink.

I kept up on the dishes, and did about 6 loads of laundry today. I spent 2 hours STRAIGHT folding clothes. I matched up about 50 or so of my kids' outfits & hung them up. I bet I folded up about 15 loads of clothes. I also have 1 bag of stuff that needs to be stored and about 1/2 a bag so far of stuff to freecycle.

Here are the 7 piles of folded clothes. Yes, they do look messy, but they really are folded, by person :)


Here are their hanging clothes, do you see they are color coordinated by hangers for each person? Cheyanna has white, Rory has red, Brea has purple, Jacob has blue & Caity has pink. Caity & Jacob are about to outgrow the little hangers ;) This was about 1/2way through :)



Here are their hanging clothes after I was done for the day, putting away ALL the clean laundry.


At the end of the day, all clean laundry was folded or hung & put away. And complete outfits for the kids were laid out :)

Here is my shiny sink:


Here are my clean dinner dishes: