Tami Fox

Winter Blahs – Getting Organized

Posted on January 23, 2017 by Tami

Getting Organized:

In your home and homeschool

This time of year, many of us have the winter blahs. I think it comes from getting less sunlight and vitamin D and the let-down that comes after the busy season in December. In January, your schedule gets a little more sane, and you aren’t going from event to event. You may have also realized that some of the curriculum you have been using does not work well for your family.

If you find that you have lost your “zing” for your homeschool year, then look at how you can change that. Do you need to look for a supplemental class or a field trip? Do you need to look for a different curriculum? Do you just need to add some fun to your school day?

One thing that I have found to help me stay encouraged in the winter months is to meet with my local homeschool moms. We can talk about the things we struggle with and help one another. I have been a part of my local homeschool mom’s group since 2002. It has helped me in so many ways, and I love that it continues on to help the moms who are in the group this year.

Homeschooling can make you miss adult interaction at times, so set up a meet up with some of your homeschool mom friends. Enjoy coffee and dessert and talk to one another. It will help you, and it will help them, too.

This week we are decluttering the Master Bedroom. Take a look at the missions for this week and try to do them daily. You deserve a beautiful, peaceful bedroom.

Zone Missions: The Master Bedroom

Monday – Declutter the flat surfaces and detail dust

Tuesday – Declutter in your closet for 15 minutes

Wednesday – Declutter shoes

Thursday – Declutter 1 dresser drawer

Friday – Clean under your bed

Menu Plan for Monday – Hamburgers with a side salad

Weekly Home Blessing – Wash the Sheets

Daily Routines:

Home:

Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
Swish and Swipe
Start Your Laundry
Decide on Dinner
Check Your Calendar
Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.
Daily Movement for 15 Minutes

School: Read aloud as a family.

Afternoon Routine:

Eat Lunch
Clear off One Hot Spot
Reboot the Laundry
Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
Drink Your Water

Family Fun: Take a nature walk today.

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
Put things at the Launch Pad that you will need first thing in the morning
Shine Your Sink
Clean Off a Hot Spot
Go to Bed at Decent Hour

Being Thankful – Getting Organized

Posted on January 20, 2017 by Tami

Getting Organized:

In your home and homeschool

Happy Friday!

In honor of my birthday today, I have put together a list of the things I am thankful for. This is a great exercise to see your blessings written out.

49 Things I am Thankful For:

1) Jesus

2) My Bible

3) Prayer

4) My husband – Jonathan

5) My children: Ashley & Cass

6) Nick & Tricia

7) Jacob

8) Daniel

9) Quinton

10) Ben

11) My parents: My mom who is my rock and my friend.

12) My dad and step-mom who love me unconditionally.

13) My birth family for choosing life for me

14) My brothers, sister, nieces and nephews

15) My extended family

16) My friends who keep me straight and love me

17) My friends who are family to me

18) My virtual friends who bring happiness to my days

19) The freedom to homeschool my children

20) Another birthday

21) A warm house

22) God’s provision for my needs: Food

23) Clothes

24) Shoes

25) Transportation

26) Good health

27) My church and my church family

28) My job and the people I work with

29) My freedom

30) Faith

31) Love

32) Hope

33) Laughter

34) Joy

35) Peace

36) The ability to communicate

37) Music

38) Art and a colorful world to live in

39) The change of seasons

40) Having fun and playing with my kids

41) Running

42) The encouragers in my life

43) The people who are truthful in my life

44) Being outside to enjoy God’s creation

45) Living in a first world country where I have hot and cold running water and indoor plumbing

46) Appliances that help me take care of my family

47) A good night’s sleep

48) The beach

49) The mountains

What are you thankful for?

Have a great weekend!

Zone Mission: 27 Fling Boogie through the House (find 27 things to throw away and give away)

Weekly Home Blessing: Take out the Trash, Sweep, and Mop

Menu Plan: Rotisserie Chicken and salad

Routines:

Home:

Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
Swish and Swipe
Start Your Laundry
Decide on Dinner
Check Your Calendar
Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.

School:

Have a fun day!

Afternoon Routine:

Eat Lunch
Clear off One Hot Spot
Reboot the Laundry
Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
Drink Your Water
Loving movement for 15 Minutes

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
Put things at your launch pad
Shine Your Sink
Clean Off a Hot Spot
Go to Bed at Decent Hour

Historic Moments – Getting Organized

Posted on January 19, 2017 by Tami

Getting Organized:

In your home and homeschool

You may have noticed during the election that I did not post political posts. I taught my children about the election process in the fall, and I shared a lot of those ideas with you. It is important that our children understand how officials are elected in this country, in our state, and in our local area. They will be a part of the process one day.

Tomorrow is a historic day, and that is not just because it is my birthday. (smile) January 20 is inauguration day in this country. Talk to your children about it. Look up facts about inauguration day. One of our Presidents got pneumonia from walking in terrible weather during his inauguration and died a few months later. There are some fascinating facts about the inauguration. I have watched most of them since Jimmy Carter was inaugurated.

Whether you agree with the outcome of the election, teach your children about the process. Watch the inauguration. Talk about the difference in the type of government we have compared to other countries.

Pray for our country and our leaders.

God, please bless the USA!

Have a wonderful day!

Zone Mission – Declutter One Area of Your Home

Weekly Home Blessing Task: Declutter Paper/Magazines

Menu Plan for Thursday: Chicken stir fry and salad

Routines:

Home:

Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
Swish and Swipe
Start Your Laundry
Decide on Dinner
Check Your Calendar
Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.

School:

Play a game with your children

Afternoon Routine:

Eat Lunch
Clear off One Hot Spot
Reboot the Laundry
Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
Drink Your Water
15 minutes of loving movement

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
Put things at your launch pad
Shine Your Sink
Clean Off a Hot Spot
Go to Bed at Decent Hour

Decluttering for Safety – Getting Organized

Posted on January 18, 2017 by Tami

Getting Organized:

In your home and homeschool

Decluttering can help you maintain a safe home. Not only does getting rid of clutter help make you home safer, it also helps when you declutter and dispose of expired products.

Did you know that your cosmetics and your medications both have expiration dates? Today, I want you to spend 15 minutes decluttering your medicine cabinet. Check expiration labels. Find a safe way to dispose of expired medications. Because I have done in home health care, I learned that I can use kitty litter, a little water, and a plastic bag to dispose of expired medications.

First, I collect the expired medications. Then, I get out the kitty litter, water, and a trash bag. I usually do this in the bathroom sink. I just open the trash bag up and place it in the sink. Then I add kitty litter, dump the expired medication, pour water over it, and then put a little more kitty litter on it. I close the bag well and mix the stuff in the bag. Then, I just put this in the regular trash.

The water and kitty litter break down the medications. This is a safer method of disposal than just putting them in the trash or flushing them down the toilet. We live in the country and have a septic tank, so I am cautious about what goes into the septic tank.

Check your cosmetics, too. Dispose of any that have expired. You are going to enjoy your decluttered bathroom!

Have a great day!

Zone Mission – Declutter the Medicine Cabinet

Weekly Home Blessing Task: Wipe Windows and Mirrors

Menu Plan for Wednesday: Cheeseburger Bake, garlic bread, and salad

Routines:

Home:

Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
Swish and Swipe
Start Your Laundry
Decide on Dinner
Check Your Calendar
Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.

School:

Get out some art supplies and be creative with your children.

Afternoon Routine:

Eat Lunch
Clear off One Hot Spot
Reboot the Laundry
Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
Drink Your Water
15 minutes of loving movement

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
Put things at your launch pad
Shine Your Sink
Clean Off a Hot Spot
Go to Bed at Decent Hour

How does one drawer help? Getting Organized

Posted on January 17, 2017 by Tami

Getting Organized:

In your home and homeschool

How does decluttering a drawer help you get organized?

This thought has probably been in your mind. Today’s mission is to declutter a bathroom drawer or cabinet. You wonder how in the world decluttering one drawer is going to help you with all you have going on in your day.

By decluttering a bathroom drawer, you are making a step forward in organizing your home. Small steps like this will add up over time.

Once you throw the trash and expired products from your drawer, you will have more storage space in your bathroom. My swish and swipe every morning goes faster because I do not keep my stuff on the counter. I keep it in the drawers and cabinet.

You know when you are running out of toothpaste and floss if you keep your bathroom drawers decluttered.

Next month, you won’t have much to declutter in the drawer you did this month, so you can move on to another area in the bathroom. Once you go through all of the drawers and cabinets, you will circle back and start again. You will be surprised at how you will find something each month to toss.

As you develop the habit of decluttering monthly, you will maintain areas that you have decluttered. Your home will be free of chaos. You just have to be consistent and intentional each day to follow along with the Zone Mission.

Remember, it is just for a few minutes each day.

Please email me if you have questions.

Zone Mission: Declutter 1 Bathroom Drawer or Cabinet

Weekly Home Blessings of the Day: Quick Dust and Vacuum

Menu Plan for Tuesday: Taco Tuesday and a side salad

If you need more help with organizing your home and homeschool, you can download The FlyLady’s Homeschool Teacher and Homeschool Student Control Journals for free.

Set your timer for 15 minutes for the Home Assignment and 15 minutes for the School Assignment

Home:

Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
Swish and Swipe
Start Your Laundry
Decide on Dinner
Check Your Calendar
Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.
Clean out your refrigerator. Toss the science experiments.
Spend 15 minutes loving movement.

School: Consider a fun topic to study

Afternoon Routine:

Eat Lunch
Clear off One Hot Spot
Reboot the Laundry
Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
Drink Your Water
Write up a menu plan for the next 7 days. Check your pantry and freezer and make a grocery list. This habit will save you time and money. Try out some new recipes with the slow cooker. It will save you time once you start back to your school schedule.

Family Fun: Take your children for a walk.

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
Put things at the Launch Pad that you will need first thing in the morning
Shine Your Sink
Clean Off a Hot Spot
Go to Bed at Decent Hour

Fitting In Zone Missions – Getting Organized

Posted on January 16, 2017 by Tami

Getting Organized:

In your home and homeschool

In the past few weeks, I have had a lot of questions about my schedule. Many of you are interested in how I fit in Home Blessings and Zone Missions. I talked last week about the Home Blessings and doing them one or two a day. Today I will elaborate more on the Zone Missions to help you figure out where to put them in your routines.

As you develop your routines around your school schedule, you can figure out where the Zone Missions fit best for you. I give you ideas for quick missions each day. They take 2 minutes to 15 minutes. They are not designed to take long. I do my Zone Missions in the morning while the boys are doing math. They have math fact sheets and a lesson, and I can take a few minutes to do my Zone Mission, start a load of laundry, and start the dishwasher while they are working independently.

If you have little ones in the house, your Zone Missions might fit better in the afternoon or evening. There is not a perfect way or perfect formula. You just have to be consistent and find what works for your daily schedule.

The Zone Missions are what will help you declutter and detail clean your home in small steps. If you are consistent month in and month out in doing your Zone Missions, you will not have to do deep cleaning in the Spring or Fall (unless you prepare for Passover). I rotate through the 5 Zones according to the FlyLady’s schedule, but I try to give you missions that I think are effective for homeschool families. We have a lot of extra stuff in our homes because we homeschool.

Take a look at the missions for this week and try to do them daily.

Zone Missions: The Main Bathroom and One Extra Room

Monday – Declutter the bathroom counters and wipe them down

Tuesday – Declutter 1 bathroom drawer or cabinet

Wednesday – Declutter the medicine cabinet

Thursday – Declutter 1 other area in your home

Friday – 27 Fling Boogie (get rid of 27 things!)

Menu Plan for Monday – Hamburgers with a side salad

Weekly Home Blessing – Wash the Sheets

Daily Routines:

Home:

Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
Swish and Swipe
Start Your Laundry
Decide on Dinner
Check Your Calendar
Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.
Daily Movement for 15 Minutes

School: Pick a chapter book to read aloud as a family.

Afternoon Routine:

Eat Lunch
Clear off One Hot Spot
Reboot the Laundry
Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
Drink Your Water

Family Fun: Take a nature walk today.

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
Put things at the Launch Pad that you will need first thing in the morning
Shine Your Sink
Clean Off a Hot Spot
Go to Bed at Decent Hour

Save

Family Fun – Getting Organized

Posted on January 13, 2017 by Tami

Getting Organized:

In your home and homeschool

Happy Friday!

Are you regularly having family fun days? By doing Home Blessings and decluttering during the week, we have our Saturdays free to do fun things as a family. I am writing this on a snowy Saturday, and my family is having a family fun day in the snow. I will get out and play in the snow with my boys. Living in the South, we don’t get a lot of snow, so this is a treat for us.

We do other fun things on Saturday, too. We have gone fishing, hiking, picnicing, and more. When the weather is not pleasant to be outside, we have family game day. We watch movies and eat popcorn. There are many ways to have fun as a family and make memories.

Our children will remember these times with us. Think back on your childhood. Do you have fun memories? Do you have memories of cleaning house all day on Saturday?

During our Christmas break, I played a board game with my youngest two boys every night, and I am continuing that with them. Everyone in the house is invited to join in the fun, but the two youngest are the most interested. We are playing games that I have played with my older ones in years past. It’s fun introducing them to the games.

We get to be too task-oriented, and we need to remember to schedule in fun with our family, too.

Have a great weekend!

Zone Mission: Wipe the stove top and microwave

Weekly Home Blessing: Take out the Trash, Sweep, and Mop

Menu Mission: Rotisserie Chicken and salad

Routines:

Home:

Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
Swish and Swipe
Start Your Laundry
Decide on Dinner
Check Your Calendar
Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.

School:

Have a fun day!

Afternoon Routine:

Eat Lunch
Clear off One Hot Spot
Reboot the Laundry
Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
Drink Your Water
Loving movement for 15 Minutes

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
Put things at your launch pad
Shine Your Sink
Clean Off a Hot Spot
Go to Bed at Decent Hour

Routines and Blessings – Getting Organized

Posted on January 12, 2017 by Tami

Getting Organized:

In your home and homeschool

Last week one of my readers asked why I had split the FlyLady’s Home Blessing Hour up throughout the week. As a homeschool mom, I have found it easier for me to focus on only one or two Home Blessings per day than to do them all in an hour on Monday. For many years, I did my Home Blessings on Monday, but with homeschooling and working from home, it was just too hard to do it that way.

On Monday, I don’t wash all of our bedding. I do one to two loads of sheets on Monday, and the teenage boys wash their bedding throughout the week. If you have a large family, it helps to teach the older children how to strip their beds, wash their sheets, and remake their beds. Then you can assign a laundry day for them to wash their bedding and clothes. You want them to be prepared for college and adulthood.

On Tuesday, I picked dusting and vacuuming. If you dust weekly, it does not take long at all. Just dust around everything. When we work in the Zones, then we detail dust and move things around. When you vacuum, just hit the high traffic areas, and then detail vacuum when we work in the zones.

On Wednesday, I picked windows and mirrors to wipe. By using my FlyLady purple cloths, I use a wet cloth and a dry cloth. I move quickly from room to room wiping windows and mirrors. This task takes less than 10 minutes because I am just hitting the streaks and smudges.

On Thursday, I picked decuttering paper and magazines. The FlyLady just recommends magazines, but I added paper for homeschoolers because we have a lot of paper in our homes. By spending time getting rid of paper regularly, it helps keep us from being covered up by piles of paper.

On Friday, I picked trash because that is the day we take our trash off. Then the boys help me with a quick sweep and mop.

Take a look at your weekly schedule, figure out what seems to fit each day the best. I started with trash day, and I like washing my bedding on Monday. Then I worked in the rest of the Blessings into my morning routine.

If you struggle with these, please email me.

Have a wonderful day!

Zone Mission – Detail dust the Dining Room

Weekly Home Blessing Task: Declutter Paper/Magazines

Menu Plan for Thursday: Chicken stir fry and salad

Routines:

Home:

Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
Swish and Swipe
Start Your Laundry
Decide on Dinner
Check Your Calendar
Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.

School:

Play a game with your children

Afternoon Routine:

Eat Lunch
Clear off One Hot Spot
Reboot the Laundry
Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
Drink Your Water
15 minutes of loving movement

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
Put things at your launch pad
Shine Your Sink
Clean Off a Hot Spot
Go to Bed at Decent Hour

Date Your Spouse – Getting Organized

Posted on January 11, 2017 by Tami

Getting Organized:

In your home and homeschool

When is the last time you had a date night with your husband? Our lives our busy. Our children and our home keep us busy. It takes work and effort to plan a date night. If you have a tight budget, it also takes creativity. If you can’t work out the budget for a babysitter and date night, you can plan a weekly at home date with your husband.

Put the children to bed early, or feed them early and set up an activity for them in another room. Cook a special meal for the two of you, or eat dinner with the kids and have coffee and dessert alone.

The main idea is for you and your husband to have some time to talk and enjoy yourselves. My husband and I did a couple’s Bible study in the evenings when the children were in bed.

Think about some of the things you did as a dating couple. You had to take and effort then. You had to make plans. After we get married and have children, we get a little slack in the area of dating our spouse.

One day the children will be grown and move out. Then, we will be alone with our spouse. Do you want to wake up and realize that you didn’t nurture your relationship with your spouse?

Email me and let me know how often you have date night, and if it has been a while, schedule one as soon as possible.

Have a great day!

Zone Mission – Declutter 1 Kitchen Cabinet

Weekly Home Blessing Task: Wipe Windows and Mirrors

Menu Plan for Wednesday: Spaghetti and meatballs, garlic bread, and salad

Routines:

Home:

Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
Swish and Swipe
Start Your Laundry
Decide on Dinner
Check Your Calendar
Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.

School:

Get out some art supplies and be creative with your children.

Afternoon Routine:

Eat Lunch
Clear off One Hot Spot
Reboot the Laundry
Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
Drink Your Water
15 minutes of loving movement

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
Put things at your launch pad
Shine Your Sink
Clean Off a Hot Spot
Go to Bed at Decent Hour

Lesson Planning – Getting Organized

Posted on January 10, 2017 by Tami

Getting Organized:

In your home and homeschool

Do you struggle with lesson planning?

When we struggle with lesson planning, it is a way that our perfectionism rears its ugly head. We don’t plan because we want everything to be perfect. Or we plan and don’t implement the plan because of our perfectionism. Let go of this negative thinking.

Keep your lesson planning simple. It will be easier to implement if it is not a complicated plan. For those of you with multiple children, you need to keep your lesson plans as simple as possible. If you have younger children 6th grade and under, you can simplify by teaching the same history and science lesson to all of your children at once. You teach to the oldest child, and the younger ones get what they understand.

You don’t have to worry about what grade to teach what time period of history. Just teach and go through history with all of your children while they are young. They are going to get it all over again in high school. They will remember history if you make it come alive through reading to them and letting them re-enact it. They will remember field trips that go along with what you have been studying. They will remember when you help them experience history.

With science, if you give them experience with experiments and hands-on learning, they will learn more about the properties of science than if they read a lesson and answer a few questions and move on. They will remember things about nature if you take them outside and let them experience nature. Nature walks serve many purposes with learning and getting in some movement.

If you use a lot of textbooks with your children, keep your lesson plans simple. Stay on top of your grading.

Another tip that I give ladies all the time is to have a regular desk time in your routines. For homeschoolers, we need to have desk time daily to grade school work and check lesson plans. This is another area where using the unit study approach helps me. I grade math lessons, math fact sheets, and language arts (spelling and writing), but I don’t have papers to grade with our unit studies. I incorporate their writing into language arts, and I don’t grade projects for younger children.

You can use a lot of materials to help with lesson planning, but I am very simple in this area. I use a composition book and a pencil. I can keep up with 4 boys’ lessons and tests in a composition book each year. There are computer programs and many different kinds of planners. Find what works for you.

Please email me if you have questions.

Zone Mission: Declutter 1 Kitchen Cabinet

Weekly Home Blessings of the Day: Quick Dust and Vacuum

Menu Plan for Tuesday: Taco Tuesday and a side salad

If you need more help with organizing your home and homeschool, you can download The FlyLady’s Homeschool Teacher and Homeschool Student Control Journals for free.

Set your timer for 15 minutes for the Home Assignment and 15 minutes for the School Assignment

Home:

Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
Swish and Swipe
Start Your Laundry
Decide on Dinner
Check Your Calendar
Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.
Clean out your refrigerator. Toss the science experiments.
Spend 15 minutes loving movement.

School: Consider a fun topic to study

Afternoon Routine:

Eat Lunch
Clear off One Hot Spot
Reboot the Laundry
Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
Drink Your Water
Write up a menu plan for the next 7 days. Check your pantry and freezer and make a grocery list. This habit will save you time and money. Try out some new recipes with the slow cooker. It will save you time once you start back to your school schedule.

Family Fun: Take your children for a walk.

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
Put things at the Launch Pad that you will need first thing in the morning
Shine Your Sink
Clean Off a Hot Spot
Go to Bed at Decent Hour