Detail Friday – Getting Organized

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Getting Organized
in Your Home and Homeschool  
 

 

Many of you will be shopping today and bringing home Christmas presents. Start today with decluttering. If you bring in a certain number of items that will stay in your house after Christmas, declutter at least that many items now. We are also working on our Master Bedroom, and the children should be working in their rooms. Today, let’s detail dust the bedrooms. While I dust my room, the boys dust in their rooms. We work together as much as possible. That makes keeping our home tidy a much easier task. You can also ask your children to declutter in their rooms since some of the presents you are buying for Christmas are for them.

Holiday Mission: Go shopping with your husband and have a date night. Mail your Christmas cards.



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:
  • Time for FUN FRIDAY!
 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:

Play a game with your children 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 your launch pad
  • Shine Your Sink
  • Clean Off a Hot Spot
  • Go to Bed at Decent Hour

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Happy Thanksgiving

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Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family! Today’s post will be short, and I am going to not give any Holiday or Zone missions. Today, your mission is to enjoy your family. Make memories. Cherish this time with your family. I am so thankful for my family. I am thankful for my husband and children. I am thankful for my parents and grandparents. I am thankful for my siblings. I am thankful for aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, and nephews. I am thankful for friends. I am thankful for my house, for food and clothes. I am thankful for my church and church family. I am thankful for my job. I am thankful for my blog readers. I have so many things to be thankful for that I could miss the whole Holiday writing down things. I am blessed beyond measure. I’ve had a story to share that’s been on my mind today. If you will indulge me, I will try to share what’s on my heart.

Seven years ago, we were given difficult news that my Grandfather was very sick. He was so sick that they told us he would not be with us at Christmas. Since I grew up in my grandparent’s house, I was very close to him. He was the one who fixed things for me when they broke. He was there to listen. He was there to love all of us unconditionally. He made everyone around him feel special. So the news that he was terminally ill was very difficult news. I was heart-broken. Even thinking about it now brings those emotions back. I spent the day before Thanksgiving talking to Hospice and making arrangements for a hospital bed to be delivered. We were going to bring him home from the hospital before Thanksgiving. We were going to cherish the time we had left with him. Three weeks prior to this, he was helping me move boxes. It was surreal to be setting up care for him.

We spent Thanksgiving Day with him and my mom and other family members. I spent the night. At 3:00 in the morning, we shared pumpkin pie. We made memories. We talked. We laughed. I cried. There were times when I sobbed.

It was hard to think about celebrating Christmas that year as the days went by. We treasured our daily visits. We celebrated his birthday on December 12. On December 13, we said our final earthy goodbyes as he changed his address from earth to heaven. Because I still had small children at home, I had to pull it together to celebrate Christmas and do some of our favorite Christmas traditions. It was hard to do this with a huge hole in my heart.

This week I have had friends who lost family members. I have friends who have children who are sick and in the hospital. I have friends who have welcomed babies into their homes. To everything there is a season. This season, I challenge you to love your family. Enjoy your family. Make memories. Be present in the moment. Love deeply. We are not promised tomorrow. Live and love in the present.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wrapping Up Wednesday – Getting Organized

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Getting Organized:
In your home and homeschool

Today we are going to combine our Zone mission with our Holiday mission. Pull out all of your Christmas wrapping supplies and set up a wrapping station in your home. Take an inventory of what you have on hand and add items to the list that you need to pick up for present wrapping. You will need paper, tape, bows, tissue, bags, name tags, etc. If you don’t have your Christmas cards ready to go, work on those as well.

Check your menu for tomorrow and see if you can do any vegetable chopping today. Have your children make a Welcome sign. If you are traveling today, be careful. There will be a lot of people on the road. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

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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: Is your paperwork caught up? Do you need to update lesson plans or attendance sheets?


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 Tuesday – Getting Organized

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Getting Organized:
In your home and homeschool

Today let’s clean out some of the extra stuff in our closet. Set your timer and do a 27-Fling Boogie in your closet. Find 27 things you can throw away, put away, or give away. Our Master Bedroom closet can be a dumping grounds for extra stuff. So let’s clear that stuff out before Christmas. Then you will have room for that new Holiday dress and shoes. You can also ask your children to bring you anything from their closet that does not fit. You can decide what to do with the items after they bring them to you. Children grow quickly, so they likely have things in their closet that does not fit. You can extend it to them bringing you things they will not wear. Take a look at their dress clothes and make sure they have what they need for the Holidays.

Zone Mission: Tuesday – Master Bedroom Closet and Children’s Closets

Holiday Mission: Do any early baking today that you can freeze or refrigerate until Thanksgiving. I am going to make pumpkin pies today.

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:

  • Are you taking time to enjoy the fall weather as a part of your school day? Take some books outside and enjoy doing some school work outside today.
 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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Thankful Monday – Getting Organized

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Getting Organized:
In your home and homeschool

Happy Thanksgiving Week! What do you have to be thankful for? Spend some time this week practicing thankfulness by doing for others. Find ways for your children to practice thankfulness. We have so many blessing, and I am a firm believer in sharing my thankfulness. If someone has blessed you this year, drop them a note and tell them. It only takes a few minutes, and it will bless them.

If you have not downloaded my Holiday e-book, it is not too late. You can still use the full calendar plans for December and January.

It has helpful pages for you to do your menu planning, grocery lists, gift lists, and a daily calendar for the rest of November, December, and January. I will also put the daily tips in my newsletter and on the blog. The e-book will just help you see the whole picture and give you forms to use.

Holiday Mission – Monday – Start any food prep that you can do for your Thanksgiving meal. Look for things you can cook ahead and freeze. Have your children make place cards for the Thanksgiving table. If you are dining at family or friend’s houses, have your children make a hostess gift and card.

Now let’s move on to our daily missions this week:

This week we are in Zone 4 – The Master Bedroom (Children’s Rooms)

Monday – Clear off a Hot Spot in your Bedroom

Tuesday – Declutter in your Closet (Do a 27 Fling Boogie – Give away 27 things, Throw Away 27 things, or Put Away 27 things or do 9 of each of these to equal 27 things)

Wednesday – Pull out your Holiday wrapping paper, bows, etc. Set up a wrapping station. Put down items on your list that you need to buy.

Thursday – Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy your family!

Friday – Detail dust in your Bedroom. Clear off the flat surfaces.

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

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:
  • Do you have some hands-on activities planned for the week? Look for a Thanksgiving Unit Study to work on this month.
 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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Quick List Friday – Getting Organized

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Getting Organized
 

 

Walk into a room in your house and make a quick list of 6 things you would like to do in the room to declutter, organize, or decorate. Set your timer and pick a number. Keep playing this game throughout the day until you have all 6 things finished.  The point is to make this a game ad help you get ready for Thanksgiving next week. Check your main bathroom one more time to see if there is anything else you need to do in there to clean or declutter.

Have you been working on a thankful list? Have each person in your home write down things he/she is thankful for. Share these next week as a family. This is one of our favorite things to do for Thanksgiving. If you have family who you will not see for Thanksgiving, write them a note and tell them what you are thankful for.

Zone Mission:

Zone 3 – Bathrooms and One Extra Room – Declutter and decorate for next week.

Holiday Mission: Start any food prep that you can do ahead and freeze for next week.

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:
  • Time for FUN FRIDAY!
 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:

Play a game with your children 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 your launch pad
  • Shine Your Sink
  • Clean Off a Hot Spot
  • Go to Bed at Decent Hour

FB Cover - Tami Fox

Room Rescue Thursday – Getting Organized

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Getting Organized:
In your home and homeschool

 

As we are looking forward to the Holidays, we have been getting our homes ready for our family. Today, let’s do a 15-minute room rescue in the room of your choice. Pick a room. Set the timer and see what you can do in 15 minutes. You can do a 27-Fling Boogie. You can move and straighten the room. You can decorate it if you want. The point is that you want your home to be welcoming and peaceful for your family. Sometimes, we tend to look past some of the clutter in our homes, and this is your chance to look at a room with fresh eyes and make some changes.

Holiday Mission: Thursday

Put out the last of your Fall decor and light a candle. Enjoy the fruits of your labor in decorating.

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 you done some hands on learning with your children this week? Plan something for tomorrow! Make tomorrow a Fun Friday for school!
 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

Wipe Down Bathroom Fixtures Wednesday – Getting Organized

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Getting Organized:
In your home and homeschool

Today is the day to wipe down the fixtures and baseboards in your main bathroom. You can also take a damp cloth and wipe down light switches and door knobs. As we approach flu season, you will want to wipe down surfaces that are frequently touched. I use the FlyLady’s purple cloths for wiping down surfaces. I use plain water, and it cleans quickly. If we happen to have a sick person in the household, I will use bleach wipes to wipe down surfaces to kill germs. Another way to help your family stay healthy is to make sure they are drinking adequate water each day. Being properly hydrated will help flush your body of germs.

Zone Mission – Wednesday – Besides wiping fixtures in the bathroom, check your supplies of paper products, body washes, shampoos, and toothpaste. Write down anything you need to restock in the bathroom. Don’t forget to have a new stash of toothbrushes on hand, too.

Holiday Mission: Review Your Thanksgiving Menu Plan. Add to your grocery list anything else you will need for the big meal next week.

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: Is your paperwork caught up? Do you need to update lesson plans or attendance sheets?


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

FB Cover - Tami Fox

Declutter the Main Bathroom Tuesday – Getting Organized

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Getting Organized:
In your home and homeschool

As you have been getting ready for the Holidays, I have given you missions to help you with the various zones in your home. This is to help you get your home decluttered, so you don’t have as much to clean. It will also help you when unexpected (or even expected) company arrives for you to have your rooms decluttered. All of this is to give you more peace in your life and reduce your stress. This week, we are working in the main bathroom and one extra room. You can do this however you want to do it, but I do want you to take 15 minutes to declutter the counters and drawers in your main bathroom. If you have cabinets, open them and pull out anything you don’t need. If you need to declutter in another room in your house to get ready for Thanksgiving or Christmas, set the timer for an additional 15 minutes and have a 27-Fling Boogie. Find 27 things you can throw away, put away, and keep. Make it a quick game!

Zone Mission: Tuesday – Work on your bathroom counters and drawers. Declutter in one other room if needed.

Holiday Mission: Work on your Christmas cards. Set your children up with a Christmas craft. If you don’t have an idea for them. How about giving them paper and markers and let them make a few Christmas cards for special people in your life?

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:

  • Are you taking time to enjoy the fall weather as a part of your school day? Take some books outside and enjoy doing some school work outside today.
 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

FB Cover - Tami Fox

Momentous Monday – Getting Organized

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Getting Organized:
In your home and homeschool

Let’s have a Momentous Monday and enjoy the moments with our families. Sometimes we get so caught up with our To Do Lists, calendars, appointments, doing school, taking care of our homes, and doing for others that we forget to take time to enjoy the moment with our family. Often we can be in the same room with them, but we are not engaged in what is going on with our family. In our technology-driven world, we get caught up in other things. So today I want you to sit down with your family and enjoy the moment with them. You can talk, play, listen to music, sing, dance, laugh, and connect with one another. As the Holidays get closer, be mindful of your pace and the pace you set for you family. Be sure to include times where you are purposeful about being in the moment with them.

In case you have not downloaded it, here is the link to my Holiday e-book. You are not behind. Just start where you are.

Holiday Missions.

It has helpful pages for you to do your menu planning, grocery lists, gift lists, and a daily calendar for November, December, and January. I will also put the daily tips in my newsletter and on the blog. The e-book will just help you see the whole picture and give you forms to use.

Holiday Mission – Monday – Put out fall towels and a fall candle in your main bathroom. Work on a craft project with your children. I have seen so many cute ideas on Pinterest.

Now let’s move on to our daily missions this week:

This week we are in Zone 3 – Main Bathroom and One Extra Room.

Monday – Deep clean the tub and shower

Tuesday – Declutter your bathroom counter and drawers

Wednesday – Wipe down your fixtures and baseboards in your main bathroom

Thursday – 15-minute room rescue in the room of your choice

Friday – 15-minute room rescue in the room of your choice

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

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:
  • Do you have some hands-on activities planned for the week? Look for a Thanksgiving Unit Study to work on this month.
 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