Decorate the Dining Room – Getting Organized

Getting Organized:
In your home and homeschool

 

 

Do you eat meals as a family on a regular basis? The evening meal at my dining table is a favorite daily activity for my family. We use the table for a lot of different things throughout the day. I sit at one end to do my computer work. The boys use the other end to do school work. We put our things away every afternoon and set the table for dinner. We enjoy sitting together and talking. We tell each other what we are thankful for. We talk about our day. We make plans. It’s an important part of our communication system. Let’s face it. Boys are not difficult to include in family conversations when you put food in front of them. They are like a captive audience. Spend some time today decluttering and decorate your dining table. Start using it daily, if you aren’t already doing that. If you are saving your dining table and dishes for “special company” remember that your family members are your most important people in the world.

 

Have a great week-end!
If you have any questions or tips, please email me. I enjoy hearing from my readers.
Zone Mission: Declutter and decorate the dining table.

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:

  • Check into some summer activities and make a plan to do some of them.
 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

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

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Tidy the Entryway – Getting Organized

Getting Organized:
In your home and homeschool

The entryway into our home sees a lot of foot traffic. It also sees a lot of clutter come into the house and dropped by the door. Shoes, bags, jackets, umbrellas, sports stuff, and more get dropped and never put away. Let’s spend 15 minutes decluttering the entryway today, and if there are things that need a place, let’s work on that, too. We should not have to walk over things to get in and out of our homes.

Zone Mission – Declutter the entryway to your home


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:

  • File the end of school papers and toss the ones you do not need to keep.
 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

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

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Decorate the Front Porch – Getting Organized

Getting Organized:
In your home and homeschool
 

The front porch of our homes is the welcome center. People see it before they ever set foot in our homes. This is an often-neglected area of our homes, and today we are going to sweep it and beautify it. My husband and the boys just washed the outside of our house, including the front porch. It looks so clean and fresh after the spring pollen had covered everything outside. Adding a flag or pot of flowers is a great way to add a splash of color to the front porch. Set your timer and see what you can accomplish in 15 minutes. Be sure to include the children if you are using water to wash the porch. They will love it!
Zone Mission: Clean and decorate your front porch
Here are the Zone Missions for the month of June:
june-2016
june-2016

Grocery Shopping and Errand Day – Take your list, pack snacks, and water bottles.

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: Stop by the library and pick up some books to read over the next week.


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
  • Errand day: Make your plan for grocery shopping and errands. Pack water bottles and snacks for everyone. Pack up your library books that need to be turned in.
Family Fun: Plan a fun activity while you are out.
When you get home from doing errands, have everyone work together to unload and put away everything.

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

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Moving the Furniture – Getting Organized

Getting Organized:
In your home and homeschool
Hello! After the Holiday weekend, it’s time to get back to our normal routines. Today let’s move the living room furniture and sweep or vacuum under it. This is when I find things that have disappeared sometime during the month. Things fall and get knocked under the furniture. Since I have four boys at home, many times I find Legos or Match Box cars under the living room furniture. We have a physics set from Hot Wheels, and that has led to many “finds” when we move the furniture around in the living room. This is a mission that you should ask for someone to help you move the furniture. Don’t do this alone.

Zone Mission: Move the Living Room furniture and vacuum or sweep under it.

 

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.

School: Check out your local library to get details for the summer reading program.

 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

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Happy Memorial Day – Getting Organized

Getting Organized:
In your home and homeschool

 

Happy Memorial Day! This graphic is to remind all of us to be thankful for those who gave their lives in service for our country from the Revolutionary War until today. My family has a long history with military service. It is a blessing to have so many family members who have served our country. I know they are thankful for those who gave their lives for our freedoms. Take time today to share this with your children.
Even though it is a holiday, I have your Zone Missions for the week. If you want to double up on one day and take today off, that is fine. It’s more about your consistency from week to week with your Zone Cleaning. If you miss a day here and there, it is okay. When I travel to conferences, I don’t get all of my Zone Missions completed, but I try to do the ones that I can do.
 

Zone Missions:  Living Room, Entryway, Front Porch, Dining Room

Monday – Declutter and Detail Dust the Living Room
Tuesday – Move Living RoomFurniture and Vacuum or Sweep
Wednesday – Sweep Front Porch
Thursday – Declutter the Entryway
Friday – Declutter the Dining Room
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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.
Weekly Home Blessing Hour:
Spread these out over the course of the week. Put a note on each day of the week with one or two of these per day.

7 Parts of the Weekly Home Blessing Hour from The FlyLady:

  • Quick Dust
  • Sweep/Mop
  • Purge Magazines or Paper Clutter
  • Change Bedding
  • Empty Trash
  • Clean Windows/Mirrors
  • Vacuum
 School:
  • Hopefully, you have finished school for year. If not, make plans to do that soon.
 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: Have some outdoor time with your children today. Play. Do some nature journaling. The point is to add some movement to your day.
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.)
  • Lay anything out that you will need first thing in the morning
  • Shine Your Sink
  • Clean Off a Hot Spot
  • Go to Bed at Decent Hour

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What’s under your bed? Getting Organized

Getting Organized:
In your home and homeschool

 

 

What is under your bed? I keep very little under my bed. My flip flops that I wear to the bathroom are under my bed. There are two, small storage boxes under the bed. My husband has a pair of slippers under his side of the bed. That is it. Each month, I use my FlyLady Rubba Sweepa and pull out the dust bunnies and anything that we might have dropped under there. I have allergies, and it is helpful to keep our floor cleaned, and that goes for under the bed, too. It’s not a lot to do if I don’t use that space for storage. Our bedframe really doesn’t allow for much to go under it anyway. Today, I want you to pull out the stuff under your bed. You can email me with the funniest thing you find. Once you have everything out, sweep or vacuum and get rid of those dust bunnies. Have your kids do the same thing in their rooms. They probably have way more stuff under their beds than you have.

 

Have a great week-end!
If you have any questions or tips, please email me. I enjoy hearing from my readers.
Zone Mission: Clean out under your bed

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:

  • Schedule a field trip or end of school year picnic.
 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

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

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The Great Shoe Purge – Getting Organized

Getting Organized:
In your home and homeschool

First thing I would like to do today is to wish my 3rd born a very Happy Birthday! He is a joy and delight to our family. He is 17 years old today, and we are very proud of the young man that he is. He works and does his school work for me every day. He saved his money and bought a truck, and he pays for his gas and insurance. He is a hard-working, responsible young man. He doesn’t like a lot of public attention, so I did not include a picture. But I want to say publicly that I love him.

Now, if you opened this email from just reading my subject line, thank you! I know this is a topic many ladies do not like to talk about. Most of us love shoes, and we have a shoe collection. I have some dress shoes, but my weakness is running shoes. I currently have 4 pair of running shoes in rotation. I have a mud pair, a pair that is just a little bit better than that, and I have 2 pair that do not have a lot of miles on them yet. I average 25 to 40 miles of running per week, so I go through running shoes quickly. I can get 300 to 500 miles per pair of shoes. When I get a new pair, I toss the oldest pair and move everything down the list. I do run on trails when it rains, so I keep 1 pair for that purpose. I try to not keep too many on hand at once, but I will buy a pair on sale on hold on to them until I need them. If I can’t fit my shoes in my storage area, then I have too many shoes. So that is my guideline.

Today, I want you to spend 15 minutes purging shoes from your home. Check with your children. They likely have shoes in their rooms or closets that do not fit. Kids’ feet grow quickly. With four boys at home, we go through shoes pretty fast. But they are pretty minimalist on how many pair they each have. They have a pair of Sunday dress shoes, a good pair of tennis shoes, a pair they can wear in the mud, boots, and flip flops. With girls, I know it gets more complicated if you match shoes to outfits.

Send me pictures of the shoes you get rid of!

Zone Mission – The great shoe purge


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:

  • Look at your bookshelves. Do you need to do some reorganizing or purging?
 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

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

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Clean Out Your Dresser Drawers – Getting Organized

Getting Organized:
In your home and homeschool
 

Today I want to make your decluttering mission fun! Get out your timer and get your basket to put items to donate. Set the timer for 15 minutes and see how many things you can pull out of your dresser and put in the basket to donate. If you have old socks with holes, toss those. If you have undergarments that no longer fit, toss them. If you are hanging onto maternity clothes or undergarments and are not pregnant, get rid of them. As moms, we tend to hang onto our clothes for much longer than we have a use for them. You should have properly fitting undergarments to wear under your clothes. If you have slips that have lost their elastic, get rid of them. I know slips are hard to find, but there are times when you need to wear one. You want to wear one that won’t fall off when you walk. Once you finish this project, take the items to be donated out to your vehicle. You can donate them when you go out to do errands today or later this week.
Zone Mission:
Declutter your dresser.

Grocery Shopping and Errand Day – Take your list, pack snacks, and water bottles.

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: What do you need to do to finish the school year? Paperwork? Testing? Pick an End Date? Spend 15 minutes working on things to end your school year in an organized manner.


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
  • Errand day: Make your plan for grocery shopping and errands. Pack water bottles and snacks for everyone. Pack up your library books that need to be turned in.
Family Fun: Plan a fun activity while you are out. I am in the habit of checking for free activities that are going on while we are out doing errands.
When you get home from doing errands, have everyone work together to unload and put away everything.

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

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Clean Out Your Closet – Getting Organized

Getting Organized:
In your home and homeschool
Hello! How are you today? Have you finished your school year? We are finished for the year with our homeschool. During the next two months, they will read and do some math pages. This will also allow me some extra time to devote to decluttering in the garage and storage area. It’s harder to get into those areas during the school year because I am balancing school and our routines.

Today we are going to declutter in the closet in our bedroom. Set the timer for 15 minutes and pull out anything that does not fit, or that you do not like. Put it in the basket of stuff to give away. Ask your kids to do the same thing. This will help you thin down what you have and bless someone else.

Zone Mission: Declutter Your Closet

 

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.

School: Work on wrapping up your school year. Go through your books and make a list of what you need for next school year.

 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

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Detail Clean the Bedroom – Getting Organized

Getting Organized:
In your home and homeschool

 

Hello! How was your weekend? We had a lovely weekend celebrating the 75th anniversary of our church. This week we are going to detail clean in our bedrooms for 15 minutes each day. When you are working in your bedroom,  you can give similar activities to your children for them to do in their rooms. By working a little bit each month, you will be able to maintain your bedroom without spend hours on it once in a while. Declutter shoes and clothes. Get rid of things that are piled on your flat surfaces or on the chair in your room. Little steps done consistently will help you have peace in your home.

Zone Missions:  Master Bedroom (Kids’ Rooms)

Monday – Declutter Flat Surfaces & Dust
Tuesday – Declutter Closet
Wednesday – Declutter Dresser Drawers
Thursday – Declutter Shoes
Friday – Clean Under the Bed
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I will be speaking at the North Carolinians for Home Education in a few weeks.

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.
Weekly Home Blessing Hour:
Spread these out over the course of the week. Put a note on each day of the week with one or two of these per day.

7 Parts of the Weekly Home Blessing Hour from The FlyLady:

  • Quick Dust
  • Sweep/Mop
  • Purge Magazines or Paper Clutter
  • Change Bedding
  • Empty Trash
  • Clean Windows/Mirrors
  • Vacuum
 School:
  • Plan one fun activity for this week.
 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: Have some outdoor time with your children today. Play. Do some nature journaling. The point is to add some movement to your day.
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.)
  • Lay anything out that you will need first thing in the morning
  • Shine Your Sink
  • Clean Off a Hot Spot
  • Go to Bed at Decent Hour

FB Cover - Tami Fox