Fun Time – Getting Organized

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Getting Organized:
In your home and homeschool

 

Last weekend, I enjoyed speaking at a homeschool conference. These events always help me feel connected to my audience through question and answer sessions. One of my sessions was on Giving Your Children Wings. One thing our children want from us is our time. They want to play with us. They want to have fun with us. This is possible when we work together to bless our homes. It is possible when we look at what we are doing around our homes as a BLESSING. The best way to reward children for doing their routines, school work, and helping bless our home is to give them play time with us. As you get rid of clutter and embrace the routines, you will have time for FUN with your kids. This is week 2 of school for us. It has not been easy. It has been a transition for my children as they are advancing in skills and knowledge. Growth and learning is not always easy, so I scheduled a fun day today. They knew from the beginning of the week that if they got their school work completed, routines done, and helped me with the Home Blessings, we would take the kayaks out this afternoon. The exceeded my expectations, and I held up my end of the deal. After lunch, we loaded up and took the kayaks out to the river. They had two hours of fishing time, and I watched and enjoyed playing with them. I did not take any work with me. I went for fun time. This is what I want for you and your children, too. I want you to have time to make memories and have fun and not feel the guilty pull of a cluttered house.

Have a great week-end!
If you have any questions or tips, please email me. I enjoy hearing from my readers.
Zone Mission: Wipe out your microwave and stove top/vent area. 
 
Menu Mission: My menu plan for today is Rotisserie Chicken because it’s grocery shopping day. I will serve it with a salad and fresh veggies. 

 

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 around for homeschool groups if you do not belong to one.
 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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Basements, Garages, and Caves – Oh my – Getting Organized

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Getting Organized:
In your home and homeschool

These past few days I have tried to write about areas that I know homeschool moms have a hard time dealing with on a large scale. The beauty of what I have learned from The FlyLady is that you can deal with these cluttered bigger areas one thing at a time. You do not have to spend all day cleaning out a big area. You can break it down into smaller steps, and if you work at it consistently over a period of time, you will get it done. Some areas we tend to have pile up are the basement, garage, and/or the “man” cave or family room. I am not advocating that you go in to declutter your husband’s stuff in these areas, but you can take care of decluttering your stuff and your children’s stuff in these areas. Take a look around. Decide which big area needs to be decluttered. Spend 15 minutes a day dealing with it. This is a great afternoon project. Just start with one thing in one area. Don’t dump lots of things out at one time. Only deal with what you can declutter in 15 minutes. Keep a box in the area for things to donate. Have a trash can for items not worth donating. Keep a very small amount of what you are going through. If you are holding onto stuff for your children, make sure it is something they will want later. Use plastic bins to help you sort the things you are keeping and label them. When your box of items to donate gets full, put it in the car and start a new one. You can tackle these projects! Just do it one baby step at a time.

.

Zone Mission – Wipe down the fronts of the kitchen cabinets.
 
Menu Plan for Thursday: 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:

  • Look at back to school sales for needed school supplies.
 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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Disposable Plates Can Help – Getting Organized

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Getting Organized:
In your home and homeschool
As you are gearing up for back to school, your schedule will be shifting around. One thing that helps me when I am making adjustments to my schedule is to use disposable plates for several days. This cuts down on the amount of dishes we have each day, and it gives a few extra minutes of flex time in my daily schedule. It’s not something I do regularly, but it certainly has a place at certain times. If you have added a child to your family or are going through a difficult time, use disposable plates, cups, napkins, eating utensils, etc. While some would say it’s not environmentally helpful to do this, it can use your amount of time spent in the kitchen. Our dishwasher is ran twice a day for the most part, and if I use disposables, I can get by with running it once or less per day.
We are still working in our kitchen zone today, and we all have a drawer that catches stuff. It has many names, but most call it a junk drawer. Today, spend 15 minutes decluttering the junk drawer. Through out the things you do not need. Put other things away in their proper spot. If you have hundreds of pens or pencils in there, thin it down. I use plastic containers to help sort what is in my drawer.

Enjoy your day!

Zone Mission: Declutter the Junk Drawer

Menu Plan for Wednesday: Tacos and Salad
 
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 your lesson plans.

 

Errand Day: Do your errands and grocery shopping this afternoon.

 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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No More Laundry Mountain – Getting Organized

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Getting Organized:
In your home and homeschool
Is your current laundry system working for you? As I am writing this, I have the sounds of the washer and dryer in the background. In my large household, we do a minimum of two loads of laundry per day plus bedding. Each load is moved along throughout the day. The boys help me at each stage, so they are very familiar with all 4 steps of the process. What are the 4 steps?
1)  Wash
2)  Dry
3)  Fold or Hang
4)  Put Away
By handling it one load at a time, we do not live out of laundry baskets. We do not have piles of laundry (clean or dirty) sitting around. It takes only a few minutes to fold or hang the clothes and put them away. I have a process that makes this easy. When I am folding laundry, I make a stack for each person. When I am done, I ask them to come get their clean clothes and put them away. They keep their drawers purged, so the folded clothes fit in their designated places. Their hanging clothes hang in their designated places. I have a special place to keep their church clothes (suits, shirts, ties).
We keep the laundry system as simple as possible. By not procrastinating folding and putting the laundry away, we have eliminated so much stress and mess.
 

Zone Mission: Declutter the Hot Spots in your Kitchen 

 

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
Menu Plan for Tuesday: Spaghetti (low carb version with spaghetti squash) and Salad
 
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 your lesson plans..

 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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Blessing Your Home – Getting Organized

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Getting Organized:
In your home and homeschool

Are you struggling with getting your Weekly Home Blessings done each week? I spoke at a conference over the weekend, and this was a question of several ladies. They are having a hard time getting their weekly blessings done and homeschooling. So I broke it down for them. I thought my readers would also benefit from this. First, to make it easier to clean your home, remind everyone in the home to pick up behind themselves daily. With small children, it may be more than once daily. By having stuff picked up and put away, you are ready to do your Home Blessings.
Second, break down the Home Blessings over several days if you cannot focus on all 7 parts listed below in an hour. Decide what fits best on what day(s). I spread mine out to fit my schedule. On Monday, we sweep and vacuum. On Tuesdays, I hit the paper clutter and dust. On Wednesdays, I do the windows and mirrors. On Thursday, we wash some of the bedding. On Friday, we completely do the floors (sweep and mop), and the boys take out all of the trash. Each of these tasks is done in 10 minutes or less. We hit the high traffic areas. The detail cleaning is saved for the Zone Missions.
Third, you noticed I used the pronoun, “we” in the paragraph above. We have a team approach to Blessing our Home. It does not all fall on one person. This makes is faster, and it also means that we are daily working together as a family.
You can have a clean home and homeschool, too.
Zone Missions: Kitchen
 
Monday – Declutter Kitchen Counters and Wipe Down
Tuesday – Declutter Kitchen Hot Spots
Wednesday – Declutter 1 Kitchen Drawer
Thursday – Wipe Down Front of Kitchen Cabinets
Friday – Wipe Down the Microwave and Stove Top/Vent

Menu Plan for Monday – Grilled Hamburgers and Side Salad (buns for the boys, and lettuce bun for mom)

 

 
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.

School: Pick your start date for school and check on school supply sales.


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

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Family Fitness – Getting Organized

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Getting Organized:
In your home and homeschool

 

You have been so kind in your emails to me this week about some of the different elements I have been including in my daily posts. Thank you! I am happy to add items of interest. Please keep emailing me!
Another element to our home and homeschool is family fitness. This is an area that is easily neglected. I decided 3.5 years ago that I was going to exercise regularly and get my body back to a healthy weight. I also wanted to deal with some blood pressure issues and a thyroid issue. So when I tell you that it is easy to neglect your own physical fitness, I know exactly how easy it is. I involved my children as much as possible when I started out walking and running. I kept it short and sweet. As I became more fit, I added distances, and the children did not follow along in adding longer distances. They are happy at shorter distances. But my goal was to get us active and outside at least 15 minutes a day. We are still meeting this goal 3.5 years later. It takes commitment when the weather is less-than-perfect. But it can be done.We are all healthier now than we were when we started.
Look at your schedule. Where can you put down 15 minutes to walk outside regularly? If you can’t get outside, can you walk around inside of the house for 15 minutes a day? Do you need to break it up into 5 minute walks? There are creative ways to have regular movement in your day.
The rest of the story (as someone use to say) is that I am a two-time marathon finisher, and I am training for my third marathon this fall. So my training schedule has been rigorous this summer, and it has not been easy every single day. But I still get out there and do my best. I may never be the fastest person in a race, but I am a winner for just getting out there and trying. I started small, and I just added a little at a time.

 

Have a great week-end!
If you have any questions or tips, please email me. I enjoy hearing from my readers.
Zone Mission: Dust your entryway and dining room from the ceiling to the floors. 
 
Menu Mission: My menu plan for today is Rotisserie Chicken because it’s grocery shopping day. I will serve it with a salad and fresh veggies. 

 

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:

  • Think about back to school pictures.
 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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Curriculum Picks – Getting Organized

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Getting Organized:
In your home and homeschool

Since I have talked about our schedules this week, I thought you might want to hear about our curriculum choices for the school year.
12th grader – Lifepacs for Science, History, and Language Arts. Lifepac Consumer Math. Bible study with Dad.
10th grader – WriteShop and literature reading. Algebra 2 by Saxon. Apologia Biology. American History by Notgrass. Bible study with Dad.
8th grader – WriteShop and literature reading. Algebra 1/2 by Saxon. Apologia General Science. American History unit study. Bible study with Dad.
5th grader – WriteShop Primary and literature reading and spelling. Saxon Math 6/5. Hands on science and hands on history. Bible study with Dad.

Zone Mission – Clean under the furniture in the dining room.

 
Menu Plan for Thursday: Corn Dogs and Tater Tots for the boys; chicken and salad for mom and dad. 

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 back to school sales for needed school supplies.
 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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Boys’ Schedule – Getting Organized

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Getting Organized:
In your home and homeschool
Yesterday, I shared my schedule with you, and I had requests for the boys’ schedules. This is our 17th year of homeschooling. I have a 12th grader, 10th grader, 8th grader, and 5th grader. It’s going to be a busy year!
9:00 am – Boys get up; they do their morning routine. (Make bed, eat breakfast, brush teeth, get dressed)
10:00 am – House Blessings as a team and start laundry
10:30 am – Start school (Bible, History, Science, Math, Language Arts)
1:00 pm – Lunch
1:30 pm – Boys either finish school if it’s not done or have free time to play or read.
3:00 pm – Boys help with dinner prep and cooking.
4:30 pm – Dinner with the Family, and everyone works together for clean up.
5:00 pm – The son who is a senior has time with me to review his school work.
5:30 pm – Everyone puts away clean clothes from the day. We generally do two loads per day.
6:00 pm – Evening play time and devotions with Dad
8:00 pm – Family time and winding down for bed time
10:00 pm – Bedtime

Enjoy your day!

Zone Mission: Declutter in the Dining Room

Menu Plan for Wednesday: BBQ and Beans
 
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 your lesson plans and pick the start date of your school, if you have not done that already.

 

Errand Day: Do your errands and grocery shopping this afternoon.

 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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A Day in the Life – Getting Organized

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Getting Organized:
In your home and homeschool
It’s been a while since I did a “Day in the Life” type of post. Many have asked me over the years about my schedule, and since today was the first day of our homeschool for the year, I thought I would share it with you. My boys really do not enjoy me taking pictures and putting them on the Internet, and for safety, I will not put their pictures on here. Enjoy reading about our day.
6:00 am – I get up and have breakfast, coffee, and my morning quiet time.
7:00 am – Running and strength training
9:00 am – Get the boys up; take a shower while they do their morning routine.
10:00 am – House Blessings with the boys – Windows/Mirrors, Dusting,Trash, Dishes/Counters, Start Laundry
10:30 am – Start school
1:00 pm – Lunch
1:30 pm – Work time for me; boys had free time to play or read
2:00 pm – Computer work and reboot laundry
2:30 pm – Start dinner (Precooked meat; just mix and bake); Finish laundry
3:00 pm – Computer Work
4:30 pm – Dinner with the Family, and everyone works together for clean up.
5:00 pm – Meet with high school son to review his school work.
5:30 pm – Prep work for hosting a live game for work
6:00 pm – Live game hosting online for work
7:30 pm – Check emails and write blog post
8:00 pm – Family time and winding down for bed time
 

Zone Mission: Declutter the Entryway. 

 

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
Menu Plan for Tuesday: Spaghetti and Salad (Low Carb Chicken for Mom)
 
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 your lesson plans..

 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

The Front of the House – Getting Organized

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Getting Organized:
In your home and homeschool

Have you heard the phrase, “Front of the House?” I have heard it in the restaurant industry, but I think there are applications to our real homes. We want the front of our homes to look nice and to be inviting both to our family and friends. As we come into our homes, things tend to get dropped on the porch, beside the door, or dumped on a table. Each month, we will spend the first week working on the “Front of the House.” I keep these missions simple because I want you to do them and be successful. I spent time each month working on missions for you each day of the week. Many of them are the same each month because we have high traffic areas in our homes, and we have neglected areas in our homes. If there are things that you need to do in your home that I don’t assign as a mission, you can assign it to yourself.
Many of my homeschool friends are gearing up for a new school year. So I want you to consider the flow of your week. Are you able to get your Weekly Home Blessings done one day each week? Do you need to spread them out over several days? Either way will work. It is more about establishing the routine to do it weekly rather than picking one day of the week and not getting it all done. Over the years, I have done it differently. There were times when it worked with my schedule to do it all on Monday. Last year, I tried something different, and I did it over the course of the week. We do the Weekly Home Blessings as a team. It makes it go faster, and I am teaching my children how to bless their home.
Zone Missions for the week for the Front Porch, Entryway, and Dining Room:
 
Monday – Sweep (or use the water hose) and Declutter the Front Porch
Tuesday – Declutter the Entryway
Wednesday – Declutter the Dining Room
Thursday – Clean under the Dining Room Furniture
Friday – Feather Dust the Ceilings and Baseboards

Menu Plan for Monday – Low-Carb Cheeseburger Casserole

 
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.

School: Pick your start date for school and check on school supply sales.


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