Tackle it Tuesday -Painting Project

I have overcome a fear.. The fear of painting. I have always let my husband do these sorts of projects unsure of my capabilities. This fall I couldn't wait for him we had a deadline with new carpet coming and so I painted the whole downstairs! Now it isn't perfect by any means and there still are a few spots that need touch ups or spots I missed. But I no longer am afraid and am moving on to other projects. Our cousin gave us her old dresser for our youngest. So this weekend I took advantage of the nice weather we had and painted this. I put the handles on and put it up today.

Before: It was quite sunny on our back porch, kind of hard to see.

Here is the after: She already put her things on it

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Tacke it Tuesday

My tackle for today sounds incredibly simple, but I have been down for 2 days straight with what I am guessing is bronchitis. I have had a scratchy throat and then a sinus thing, but it is in my chest so bad and I cannot get into the Dr until Thursday. Tomorrow is kids day (free day) at our county fair so I am resting all I can today so I have the energy to hopefully get out there tomorrow.
So my tackle today is LAUNDRY! stripping beds, washing bedding and the mountain in my laundry room. There probably is a good 5-6 loads of laundry to wash, dry, fold and put away. Which with the way I am feeling will be an all day tackle. YUCK.

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Tackle It Tuesday- Summer cleaning schedule

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We are down to 3 days left of school around here and I am actually getting excited about this. The lazy days of summer are going to be here. Despite the news I just got today. - I have strep throat- which means at least one of my kiddos or hubby will probably come down with it also some time this week. ICK!! But me & the girls had a picnic in the back yard for lunch today and it was wonderful, just taking in the sunshine watching all the birds and just being with them. I take in every minute of it! So that being said, I just sat down and completed my tackle for today. I made my schedule that will make my life so much less stressful. I have a summer cleaning schedule. I am not a clean freak by any means, but it seems I get stressed easily because no matter how much I do, there is still a mess to clean up! During the school year, Monday is my big cleaning day. I spend most of the day scrubbing the house from top to bottom. But during the summer it is so much easier to do a little each day. What I do is I take my time first thing in the morning and that way I have the rest of the day for fun activities. I don't beat myself up if things get switched around, but I really do try to stick to it. I just made one general calendar for the summer, I am not completely rigid. It just helps me to stay on task and the kids understand a little better of what all needs to be done around here.
I made up chore charts for them. This is something new, but I asked each of them to pick one thing they would like to be responsible for and the rest are things like making beds and helping set the table. My philosophy and what I have told them is how much fun we have this summer depends on how much we can work together as a team. They help me, we can have more time to do fun things. We have a lot of fun things to do this summer!
I have put the calendar on here, it probably will be hard to read, it is clickable and if you want to copy to use yourself - go right ahead!


Basically it is:
Monday - Kitchen, laundry and sweeping
Tuesday - Bathrooms
Wednesday - Bedrooms, laundry and sweeping
Thursday - Living room, dining room, Toy Room, Halls and Laundry room
Friday- laundry and sweeping
Saturday - outside projects
Sunday - off!
Now I don't do the FlyLady thing, but I did once sign up and got a few tips that I do use when I clean.
#1 is to set a timer. 15 minutes in each room or space. You are not allowed to leave that room to take anything any where else. You put it in baskets or whatever and when you are done you move things where they go. It is great how much easier it is to stay focused. I always used to get sidetracked and go from room to room never really completing any task. The max I spend each day doing these is 1-2 hours.

#2 You break the big projects into a weekly project and spend no more than one hour each day on them.

#3 Shine your sink! Don't leave dirty dishes in the sink when you go to bed at night. I always feel so much better when I come into a clean kitchen in the morning. When I come into a sink full of dishes, I am stressed before my day even really begins.

And notice I do schedule a day off. I mean there still will be messes to clean, but I am not doing anything out of the ordinary on these days.

This looks like more than it really is, but for me it makes my summer being home GREAT!!

Tackle It Tuesday

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Well with having a long weekend and nice weather. YAY! My house is a wreck. I have tackles to do, but today I have to tackle just some yucky ol' housework.
I am having trouble getting going this morning too as outside has taken a turn and it is cold drizzling and not a drop of sunshine. Nice because it means we will be indoors and much easier to get things done, but all I need is a sunny morning and a big pot of coffee and I can tackle anything!

So once I find an ounce of motivation, here is what I need to tackle today.

• LAUNDRY! Luckily we went out and bought a new Maytag washer this weekend. Our old one lasted us 12 years and was on its last leg. This one washes so much faster AND I can put more in per load! Love it! But I have 3 loads of unfolded laundry that will have to be fluffed then folded and put away. Plus a load of whites to soak and wash and strip all the beds and wash sheets.
• Clean the Kitchen- Top to bottom. Unload dishwasher, wash windows, counters and sweep and mop
• Toy Room which somehow keeps getting messy. Don't know how...

That is the main part of it. I am trying to use my crock pot more, so I need to look up some good recipes. HEY, IF YOU HAVE A GOOD CROCK POT RECIPE THAT WORKS FOR YOUR FAMILY LET ME KNOW! LEAVE ME A COMMENT, OR E-MAIL ME lovemybusybugs@yahoo.com I'd love to find some more. I used it twice last week and it made life so much easier, I want to make life easier more often!

Other tackles I need to work on this week are: Re-organize the girls room, my closet, the bathroom closet and the pantry. eek. I am hoping to work on one each day, but we'll see how that goes.

Tackle It Tuesday!

An update from last week. Our patio door is now installed!! YAY! It is amazing how different it feels in the room now. Here is the after photo. Instead of clicking a link to last week. Here is the before.

My next tackles are to paint the trim and find curtains for the door.

I really did a bunch of tackles yesterday. Cleaned up from the busy weekend. It was party central here. We had a birthday party and then a fiesta. A mexican buffet and ended the evening hanging around the fire pit. So nice.

I went through all the clothes bins and got out all the summer clothes, made a list of what each kid needs and tomarrow we begin the shopping.

So busy day yesterday, busy day tomarrow. My tackle today is going to MOPS. Our last official meeting of the year. and Taking it easy.

Tackle It Tuesday -Tear em up / Tear em down

So it is Tuesday and I have a few things going on. My baby will be turning 3 on Friday so there is a party to prepare for. YAY! Which means cleaning the house and TRYING to keep it that way which really means doing my regular cleaning and then Friday running around the house like a madwoman cleaning it again :) On top of that we are throwing a little home construction in the mix just so it doesn't get boring. Oh don't forget to add a sick 5 year old who spent Saturday night in the ER for vomiting for a day and a half straight has been sick again and we have to make a DR appt today to see what is going on with her. and PRAY no one else develops what she has in the meantime. So my Tackles are the birthday pinata. Natalie helped me mix up the paste which was my wordless Wednesday post last week. Here is my picture of it almost done.And the finished product!! I was happy that it actually turned out like a rainbow! I was going to get brave and attempt a DORA head, but when I mentioned rainbow, she was so excited. Now it does take a little work to make it yourself, we took about a week from start to finish. You could probably do one in a day or two if you didn't get to detailed and spent a lot of time, but the best part is this cost me a whole....$1.50 to make. Can you believe it? If I would of bought her one it would be anywhere from $15-20. Now I could find them cheaper if I looked I'm sure. But you can't beat $1.50. I purchased the candy to fill it for under $10 so I am still way under priced for the ones I have seen. Gotta love that. The next project won't be done by myself we are hiring people to do it. But we are installing a new patio door. Since we added a deck onto the side of our house (about 3 years ago) we have talked about how much nicer it would be to have a sliding door to go out to it. The porch door is in our hallway so you have to go either outside through the kitchen and walk around or through the dining room into the hall and around. When you are bringing food out and stuff it is a pain. So they are coming today! YAY! Here is what our dining room currently looks like. I will post an after pic once they finish. They are coming early this morning to get started. What are your tackles today? Go to Five Minutes for MOM to see some more!

Tackle it Tuesday

Hello! Today I am so happy that the sun is shining:) I actually have a low key day and a really busy rest of the week so I am going to take today to tackle my laundry room. Change all the linens and wash them and catch up on my bible challenge!
My 90 day Bible Challenge, today is day 41 in the reading and the week before last when the weather started warming up I got two days behind, then I left for the woman's retreat and forgot my Bible even though I told myself to run upstairs and grab it twice. So then I was 4 days behind. Over this past weekend I spent some extra time Saturday morning and caught up on 2 days worth of reading since my hubby was home to keep my little shadow (my 2 yr old) busy.

So Where I am today is in Psalms 11. I am reading in day 39. So I need to read until Psalms 69:21 Can I do it? You bet I can! Even if the kids drag me outside, this bible will come with me! I have to get caught up. I don't want to get any further behind!


Also a Tackle for today is get in a workout. Now I am actually feeling pretty good about myself right now despite the fact that my tummy could use some work and I probably could stand to loose about 5 lbs. But my hubby is happy with me and that makes the world of difference. But I have about 6 weeks until Valley Beach opens so I am gonna make it a point of getting 30 minutes in everyday, whether that be a walk or yoga, or some type of cardio - Something. I have recruited a friend to walk with me at least once maybe twice a week if we can coordinate our schedules. So yay! I should be feeling even better by summer and have more energy too!

What are your tackles? I'd love to know:)

Tackle It Tuesday

Well after a VERY long day and it feels like a million phone calls, our Gas meter is fixed. Thanks to my hubby, cousin and our neighbor. What a day! There are so many codes that our old house was not up to and had to be fixed before they would hook us back up. Even when they guy came back there was one thing and he almost wouldn't let us be reconnected, but I was praying and praying that he would let it slide even temporarily and I stepped outside with miss Natalie so he could see we have a little baby and he gave us a temporary okay with the condition that this one code must be fixed in the next few days. YAY! Luckily it wasn't cold out, but my hubby starts work this week and that means he isn't here to fix any adjustments so we really needed that to be back and running last night. Praise the LORD!!

So since my kitchen was torn apart yesterday and I couldn't do my normal Monday cleaning that is the fun tackles I have today. Oh how I wish I had a fun project to tackle today!

So here is my list:

• Strip all the beds and wash bedding
• About 5-6 loads of laundry
• Dusting
• Washing windows
• Sweeping and mopping kitchen
• Sweeping and mopping Bathroom/laundry room
• Sweeping and mopping Entry ways
• Vacuuming

Doesn't that sound like a fun day? Somewhere in there I am gonna have to squeeze in lots of snuggle time with my 2 yr old. She had a rough day yesterday with mom being occupied helping dad all day. I think she cried the majority of the day and she already is glued to my side and whiny this morning. Hope that gets better!
Happy Tuesday!

Tackle It Tuesday

With St Patty's day done and over we are on to the next celebration. Crazy that they are so close this year. We did have a fun St. Patty's. We had our family party Sunday so really we just did silly things with food. My dh made the kids shamrock shaped pancakes for breakfast and for dinner we had green eggs and green milkshakes. It's always fun to do things different though.

For my tackle today I am working on a wreath. I usually pick pastel colors when I decorate for Easter and Spring, I love the soft purples, pinks, yellows and greens but this year with getting so much snow so late in the season and Easter being earlier, I am all for the bright colors. ( I am ready for spring) Since my wreath from last year was pastel I thought I would make a bright colorful one to cheer up my entry way. Here is what I am starting with...And after just a bit of time and my handy dandy hot glue gun this is the result.That is my tackle for the day, well not my only tackle I have NOTHING to wear for Sunday and nothing to fill Easter Baskets. So a shopping I will go. Wish me LUCK!

Tackle It Tuesday

No School, No Mops. We are snowed in for the day. So many things that need to get done, but my tackle for today is as follows:

• Make yummy blueberry waffles for breakfast and have some warm hot cocoa with it.
• Watch Underdog with the kids - one of their favorite movies these days
• Break out the board games and play Trouble, Uno and Twister!
• Have some story and snuggle time. Just spend time taking turns reading books
• Maybe before the temperature drops any more we'll get out in the 4 or more inches of snow that fell last night and play. It is suppose to snow all day, they are saying schools may be closed again tomorrow already. ( I sure hope not)

I'm sure the kids will have more ideas of fun things to do, this is just some of the things we like to do when we are housebound. Happy Tuesday!

Tackle it Tuesday

I am so excited! One of the things that has kept me from blogging is my super slow computer. We have high speed cable Internet, but our memory was soo low, my computer was bogged down and it took forever to do anything! So my hubby finally got this baby an update and I am amazed. It is like having a new computer again. I was pulling up websites last night and couldn't believe it didn't take an hour! YAY!! So some of your sites that I used to visit I can come by again. Love it!

So I have a few tackles for today. I am helping at my daughters preschool for their Thanksgiving feast. I love to do this, they dress up like pilgrims and Indians. Last year Elena dressed up like a pilgrim, this year she is an Indian. I always am surprised at how many preschoolers eat the turkey dinner.

I have to head to the post office and ship out a camera I just sold on eBay. I am loving this eBay thing. Definitely can see myself walking around my house and just selling everything for the pure thrill of the auction. Could seriously be dangerous. Must proceed with caution.

Also each of the kids are going to have friends over after school which will help me as they won't be needing my constant attention. My tackles for today are the upstairs and downstairs closets. Since the mother in law moved in, I lost some closet space and am freaking because I don't know where to hide Christmas presents!! We are very limited with hiding places in this house. So today I am going to create some space.

At some point I need to sneak over to the next town and buy a few things that are on my shopping list for Christmas. All on sale for 4 day pre -Thanksgiving sales. Savings of like $50, so I gotta get over and do it!

Just need to make some space first. Not too hard of a tackle today and no, no pictures are allowed as It really is overfilled and nobody wants to see those messes.

Tackle It Tuesday

It has been so rainy and dreary here. I am hopping it will clear by the weekend!! My tackles for today are to get the things ready for Ethan's birthday party with his friends this weekend. It has been a tradition since he was 3 that we make a pinata for his party. Usually try to go along with the theme. For some reason in all the hussle and bussle each year, I manage to not snap a picture of them. I make sure we capture the cake, but the pinata never makes it. So far we have made a rainbow, multi-colored, a spider, superman symbol and this year spiderman. Here is Ethan helping me work on spiderman.So today I need to finish the bottom, buy candy and treats to fill it, buy the items for the cupcakes, drinks, snacks etc.

Go to the church for MOPS pre-registration

Take the kids to McDonalds for lunch (they need to get out! Been cooped inside for days)

Clean out the girls bedroom

Clean out the hall closet.

I know I am suppose to share before and after pics, but really nobody wants to see THAT mess!

Hope you all are have a productive Tuesday!!

Tackle It Tuesday

My tackle for today I really am hoping to get done. We set out yesterday to attempt it and the day was cut short by rowdy children who thought that stores were a playground and refused to hear otherwise. (Not Good)
My tackle is....... (dun, dun, dun) THE SCHOOL SUPPLY LIST!!!

I have picked up a few things, but with school just 3 weeks away I would like to have it done and out of the way. I don't like to have that lingering that we still need things, so if it is complete, I can focus on enjoying the last few weeks of summer - which has been hard to do the past few days. I will post on that later. I will update you all if I succeed at my mission for the day.

Have a great Tuesday!!

Tackle It Tuesday

Well first of all, despite the fact that I didn't sleep too well last night, I was able to sleep in until 8:00 AM! My natural alarm usually goes off around 6:30AM. The kids were up already and didn't even bother me... amazing.

My tackle for today is not just one thing, but a list. I usually do all my mopping, dusting, windows things on Monday and yesterday I had a houseful of visitors so my house is actually in worse shape than it should be. Luckily it is starting out a cloudy day - much easier to keep the kiddos inside and easier for me to get some work done.
So for today I have to:

1. Do about 6 loads of laundry - wash, fold, put away
2. Dust in each of the rooms
3. Help the kids clean their bedrooms
4. Upstairs bathroom need scrubbed - showers, floors, sinks etc.
5. Downstairs bathroom needs scrubbed - showers, floors, sinks, etc.
6. Sweep Kitchen and Foyer and mop
7. Run Vacuum
8. Clean back porch

I usually do a little each day, but the weekend was busy and so was the end of last week, so today is a get it all done day! We'll have to eat dinner out tonight so I don't mess up the house. That would be a great reward for completing my tackle today:)

Tackle it Tuesday

I have been trying so hard to get things organized around here, one by one. Really hard when you already needed one more room in your house and you loose your office/toy room to your mother in law. (she moved in with us about a month and a half ago) So really we need 2 more rooms in our house. So trying to make new ways to store things and be realistic about the things we really need to keep and getting rid of the excess.

The past few years I have been doing photo projects. I made photo collages for family members for Christmas about 2 years ago and last year I made video montages for all my kids and each time it required lots of photos being removed from albums. Unfortunately I wasn't so good at putting them back like I should of, so I had 3 photo boxes overflowing with pics. Plus for some reason I haven't put new pics in albums like I used to be so good at. So I have 4 years of newer pics to put away. I am happy to say this last week I put 10 albums back in order, plus the kids little baby albums. I am caught up through 2004!! I know I am still 3 years behind, but I am so much closer to being done. The photos I have left I just need to pick up some new albums which I plan to do today and I already have them organized in years, I just need to put them into seasons and put them away.

I forgot to take a before shot, but here is what I have completed so far...

Tackle it Tuesday!

I cannot believe it has been over a week since I have blogged on here! I cannot imagine how some bloggers find the time to update daily once the weather changes. I will do my best though.

Today is my daughters last day of preschool. Now she will be going again next year to pre- K preschool, but something about this is turning me into major mush! I want this whole growing up thing to slow down just a bit. Before I know it kindergarten will be calling and my little girl will be a big girl and in school until she is an adult. sniff, sniff.

Okay enough on that, I have a tackle at hand. Now this tackle will be a two part tackle as I have never painted a room myself before. My dh does all the painting projects in the house. He has no time free these days so its up to me...

Our boys room is still the baby nursery theme. I have had a hard time coming to the point where I can paint over these characters, but a friend of mine gave me a gift when we first had Ethan and it was a print of all the characters, so I will always have that to remind me of when my babes were little and we would sit in there and I would rock them to sleep. again sniff, sniff. Emotional momma here!! Here is a picture of how this project looks in the beginning. I will have to post an after pic later as I have a lot of work ahead of me today!!