how we tricked our daughter on christmas

This was so priceless!!!!! What we did was had some gifts wrapped upstairs for her and her stocking too. I had a certain order for her to get her gifts and told hubbie so he wouldnt ruin it. Okay so it worked last she got a gold wrapped gift from us. The a card to go along that had a lot of sentimental sayings in it for her. It also said have fun with all your gold wrapped gifts you deserve it with the way the last year was for you . (It was a rough one!!!!!!!!!! Has been much better since we changed schools) So she reads it and doesnt say anything at all. I say , which was already set up , James where did you put the rest of the gold gifts????? I then say did you forget them downstairs. He says yes and we go down and she sees them but still has no idea what so ever is in them. I say one minute let me set up the video on my camera . I guess I dont do it fast enough because hubbie says go ahead Angel and open it ! What no way I am not ready. Oh well I miss that opportunity for video and I start taking pictures. She opens the first one and says it is a wii. She started crying and was so emotional for receiving it and keeps saying I got a wii!!! She opens the wii fit plus too and is still crying and emotional. By this time I cant see and I am crying too! Wow what an emotional christmas morning!!!!!!!!
I will add another post once I get the pictures uploaded from the camera.
She has been playing on it every day since she got it I would strongly reccommend the wii and wii fit plus!!!!!!!!!!!!!

what works for me(secret exercise)

I cant believe it has been so long since I have wrote in my blog!!!!!!!!! Wow life has been busy but not that busy. I do want to change this and be more active blogger this coming year.

So what works for me is that my daughter was not getting much exercise so for christmas she got a wii and wii fit plus. Wow she has not stopped she has been running , jumping , skiing and boxing. I know some of you are thinking that it might not be real exercise but the way I look at it is she is exercising and moving more than she did yesterday.
So that is what works for me to get my child to do more exercise. She wants the dance mat next love the exercise ones!!!!!!!!! They are fun she says and I say yes they look like fun so she continues on.
Shhh... let it be our secret!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Health maybe under control

Remember when I posted back oh around January stating one of my goals was to get to see the gynocologist and the family doctor and get some tests done. Well the first was easy done and everything was fine. Well the second has taken me till yesterday to get around to. No I didnt procrastinate like I do with everything else in life.
Let me start last July I received something
in the mail telling me my doctor was retiring as of July 29 and guess what date it was July 28.
I had put off making a doctors appointment no excuse really why but thought and was all set to make one for August and get all the tests done to see if there was anything off in my body.
Well after receiving that letter it was a journey to find a family doctor. Here in Canada that is not an easy feat to accomplish. I got really lucky and found one and went to visit him for the first time on Sept.22 . I asked him to run some tests for me since I am always cold and was not really feeling my usually self. So I asked him to check iron levels, thyroid, liver and adrenal glands. I forgot about Vitamin d but wished I would have asked. Oh well something for next time.
Well I got the results low iron and low b 12( glad he ran this test I didnt ask for). I got the supplements tonight and will begin taking them . I will let you know how they work for me.
B12 is usually low if you dont eat enough proteins. Hmmm... protein sources meat ( dont really like , dairy sources( lactose intolerant) and eggs( oh I like these)
My nutritionist friend also told me to take 15 almonds each morning and that would help too.
I will slowly be changing my diet with her help over the next couple of months. I am doing it slowly not all at once.
So hope everyone is happy and healthy.
Oh I guess I now have a reason why my house isnt spotless and I like to sleep a lot .

works for me Wednesday- social networking

Hi I dont do this very often. Okay I havent done it once since I started my blog.
I would love you to all take a minute and vote for my daughter to win a contest.
Here is the link www.myredcarpetexperience.com/fairviewpark/
You need to go to the 7-11 category and then second row Angel wearing the grey hat.
I am trying to use social media networking to see how it all works to connect and support
one another in our desires.
Thanks so much

Operation Organization

One more week left !!!!!!!!!! My weekends have been really busy and fun so I have not had time to post my goal for the weekend till Sunday or Monday but I do get around to it. Better late than never.

Here is my report I am still working on deleting all my inbox msgs. I have not been very good at keeping my inbox clean either which upsets me. I need to be more vigilant on doing this. I get so much mail every day and I am also in the process of organizing another womans show on Oct.3,2009 which makes for a lot of mail too!!!!!!!!!!
So this week I will be more vigilant and go through every email every day.

My cleaning schedule from last week worked but needs some tweaking which I already figured out. I missed a few things so they need to be added. So again I will work on this too.

The command center worked awesome when my daughter brought home notes I put them in the blue hanging folder. On the weekend I went through them and filled out what I needed to and then filed the rest on my holding shelf so I know where they are if I need to refer back to them. Which I might one is a field trip and a list of P.D. Days and list of teachers and their extension numbers.
I am thinking of buying a book and plastic pouches to store this in for future reference. I think the file folders might get to be a bit much.

Another busy week and I start my other school on Wed so then I will be working full time.

We had a great long weekend the last before I go back to work and Angel goes back to school. I was so glad to see that summer weather has finally arrived for the last couple of days before school begins.
So last week I stated that I would clean off the computer desk. I did that and I couldnt believe how much things were piled up. I took everything off and then only put back what I really wanted to be on there. I wiped everything down too to get rid of all of the dust. I found a home for other things and then got my hubbie and daughter to find a home for their belongings too. It looks so much better right now and my family is not sitting here and sneezing!!!!!!!

My daughter cleaned out her launch pad center where her knapsack and any lunch bag go. I am so proud she takes on organizing challenges too!!!!! She even started going through things in her bedroom and was able to find a pile of books she doesnt want anymore. Maybe I am wearing off on her a bit!!!!!!!

So for this weeks challenge I set for myself is to set a cleaning schedule up that will work with going back to work and all the extra running around I will have . I also will get to try out the command center to see if it works.

The other challenge which might take two weeks is to go through all my inbox and clean it all out.

I learned this from another blogger which has worked for me so far. First step I did was make a folder that was labeled Sept 09 and put all my email into it so my inbox was empty. I now deal with this daily to keep it cleaned out. I have gone through the Sept 09 and have it down to about 1/2 of its size. I am sure it will take time because when you start with almost 4,000 msgs to weed through but it feels good to be purging and getting things under control.

no more ironing !!!!!!!!

Okay lets get honest for a minute who am I kidding I rarely ironed. When it was a special occasion or something but that is about all. I tried to keep the wrinkles out of my clothing by catching them as soon as the dryer stopped and hanging them up. Yes that worked for a bit till I got a big lazy and they would sit or hubbie would take them out.
So I mentioned to a very good friend that I needed to buy a clothing steamer so I can be wrinkle free.
Well she was out shopping and she found a little hand held steamer very small and portable for only 12.00 so she picked up one for both of us. I decided to pull it out and try it yesterday and it worked so well . It took maybe 1-2 minutes a shirt!!!!!!!! No more wrinkles in this house!!!!!!!!
After today we are wrinkle free!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I steamed 10 shirts for my daughter and will be doing more today!!!!!!!!!!
If you dont own one and you hate ironing seriously for the cost of the investment it pays for itself!!!

Oops I forgot to post for the challenge

This weeks goal is pretty simple really with starting back to work tomorrow.

I have just set the goal as get the computer desk all cleaned and dusted. My daughter and hubbie keep sneezing when they are on the computer so I am guessing maybe a build up of dust!!!!!!!!! I have mentioned it to both of them but neither has taken the duster and dusted maybe they like to sneeze to clean out their sinuses!!!!!!
Number 2 goal was learn how to use my new clothing steamer- did that today and I will write a separate post about that.

Command Central

The theme for this month the command center. I did this last year and love it so much easier to find important papers. I am going to change it a bit this year use either a small binder or file folders havent really decided yet. I gave the top shelf to my hubbie , next to me and next to my daughter. We also have the bottom shelf for activity books and coupons.

My daughter's monthly school calendar goes on the fridge so we can see it everyday before school.

update on the challenge

OOps I almost forgot to blog about last week and this week in the organization challenge. We are 1/2 way through wow!!!! Last week I organized and deleted a ton of blogs now I can go through all of them everyday .

I also did back to school shopping for my daughter and we are now ready for school. Her clothes are all organized whew what a job!!!!!!!

I decided I was going to not do the linen closet this past week either but move it to this coming week. It is the last official week I have of summer before I go back to work.
So the goal I have set for this week is to

1) clean and organize the linen closet
2)clean and organize the coat closet.

So the other update for all who have followed me all summer for the clean and clear it I am doing really well as I hope you are too. I have only the linen closet and the coat closet left. I have been working really hard on maintaining all areas that have been cleaned throughout the process. I am happy to say they are really easy now to keep up with and dont get that out of control that it takes forever to fix now it is at most a 10 minute tidy of the area.
My dresser is still clean too so that is good . I am working every day to hang up things or put them back . They say it takes 21 days to build a new habit .
Thanks to everyone that has stuck with me this summer . I will post about the two closets this week so stay tuned!!!!!!!!!!

This week is another bedroom

I looked at the calendar and realized I only have two weeks left till I go back to work!!
So although I was going to do my daughter's room later there really is not a whole lot
of time so this is the job this week. I want to go through all her clothes and get all her
laundry caught up and put back in her drawers. I will be doing that I did with the masterbedroom
except she doesnt have a pile of clothing like her mom did.
So really just doing some organizing and cleaning for her. She will help me and will have a say
to what she likes with her clothes and what needs to go. There is really no reason to keep something if she is never going to wear it. Although with that said we found out last year after doing this that we only had good clothing for her to take camping with her so we learned our lesson to keep some play clothes that might not be your favourite to take camping.
We did some back to school shopping today too. We bought two pairs of skinny jeans and two cute jumper type dresses too . I have been looking forever for some dresses for her but they are hard to find. So today one will do for the first day of school and she will still have the other for another time. Now we just need a pair of shoes probably ballerina flats. She is not a running shoe girl at all.
So it is all about clothing for this week!!!!!!!!! That way we will both be ready when school begins again for us !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Next week will be the linen closet and the main closet and then for us we will be done !!!!!!!!!!!
Hope you are still all working with me to do small pieces to get a big result!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I already feel the peace, calm in my house!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

conquer your clutter challenge

Okay I felt like I had not completed what I said I would do for the challenge
so I just took the time to go through the rest of the blogs that were left and
did the keep or go thing. It feels really good to be less than 1/2 less which are
the ones I truly learn things from or are emotionally attached to.
So cross number 1 off my list !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

conquer your clutter challenge

So to report last week I got rid of 12 garbage bags for donation out of the spare bedroom.
I also deleted about 1/2 the blogs I had. I am still in the process because I find it hard that people dont blog too much over the summer . So many are not even very active but through out the year they are busy and I liked them enough to keep them. So I have the keepers and I have a few more I will give another week go back through and then if not delete. But at least I did a good purge this week.

Okay so for week 3 my goals are
1) to keep cleaning up my blogs and then only have the keepers by next Friday.
2) laundry- I have a lot to fold and put away !!!!!!!!!!!
3) clean the linen closet

I love the challenge so we can all support one another. I won a gc too this week !!!!!!! Thanks so much !!!!!!!!

This weeks goal!!!!!!!!!

I havent stopped not yet. I finished up the master bedroom and now have moved to the spare bedroom. It is not really set up as a bedroom but a dumping ground really. So I didnt use the same steps I did for the master bedroom. For you what you need to do is go on to another bedroom and scroll back to complete the same steps for the master bedroom.
In our spare bedroom all I am doing is purging and purging for now. We donated 12 garbage bags full of stuff .
We found we still have the crib from our daughter so we will be donating this to a womans shelter very soon!!!!!!!!!!!
It feels really good but I must admit about 1/2 way through I couldnt see the head way I had made and if not for my hubbie would have given up!!!!! It is easy to get frustrated. If he was not around I would have taken a whole week to do what we did in one afternoon. We still have things on the fringes of the room but it is stuff I want to sell. I am going to be selling my daughter's toybox and bratz and barbie dolls. I kept it really simple I could have sold the 12 garbage bags but just easier to get it gone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I will admit there is one thing that is sentimental to me that I am having a really really hard time parting with and that is books inparticular childrens books. I used to work in daycare and have accumulated oh many many many books. I decided it was all too much to go through the books too so they are all stored away in the closet and I will do that one day.
WEll off to have a treat of mini- choc. cupcakes!!!!!!!! I think I deserve a reward for this.

conquer your clutter challenge

Last week I joined a challenge I found on another blog called Coming Clean. She set up a challenge for us to pick one challenge each week to accomplish. I love having the support and encouragement of others to accomplish our goals. So week one the pics above show some of the work I did on the master bedroom. I started by cleaning off the dresser that was the goal I picked for her challenge for week 1. Accomplished!!!!!!!!!!

Week 2
1) I have two goals I am starting to clean up the sparebedroom and really what I want to accomplish is to go through the room and fill bags I want to donate. I know this will leave me with what I want to keep so I then can work on finding homes for them.

2) The other thing I actually cheated and started yesterday was cleaning out and purging the amount of blogs I read. So the first step I did was make a folder called keepers. As I read them daily as they are updated I can decide if I want to keep reading the blogs or not. I use sage and love it to organize my blogs but on the other hand really easy to save them to so I have done this too much. So this will be ongoing all week and if the blogs dont make the cut and arent in the keepers folder at the end of the week they are being deleted. I have already moved some that I read and really look forward to reading to this folder. I also kept any blogs that if I only have a few minutes I go to those first. So by the end of the week I want to only have the ones that I enjoy, teach me something, or that I can not live without.

Sometimes life or sunshine get in the way

Image via Wikipedia

I must admit I havent really been working too much on my bedroom. I sure hope you all have been working on it. It does not look like I will get back to work on it till Sat. We have actually had a few days of sunshine. Weird no rain!!!!!!!!!! So I have taken advantage of this and not really done too much around the house. We went swimming , okay if you know me not me, my daughter and her friend and I sunned on my anti-gravity chair!!!!!!!!!! Today we went to a reptile show at the library. I was very brave and volunteered not having any idea other that a reptile was involved some how. They picked out 4 adults and we went up and then told us to hold out our hands and not to look back or peek. He took it out and the children cheered and some oh mys and oh ahhh.. Then he placed it our hands it as an albino burmese python. Here is a pic that looks just like it but is not the one from today. I didnt have my camera with me . :(
Okay if you dont know I am scared I mean scared of snakes. I like to test myself though and try to get over my fears. This was huge for me and I was worried I would get the head but thankfully I got the middle. This snake was huge it weighted over one hundred pounds and was not full grown. It was kinda cool to touch and rub it while he gave his talk to the children. Then it was the end and he said all the children could come up and pet the snake. Oh my that is where it got a little scary once they all started touching the snake it started moving and felt really weird.

Okay so back to the challenge really all I can say is keep cleaning the master bedroom. I hope to get all caught up on the master bedroom on Sat. Then move on to another room our spare bedroom yikes that might take awhile !!!!!!!!! Wait till you see the before pic you will understand.
Happy cleaning. Keep cleaning and de-cluttering.

works for me Wednesday - tips to make a school day easier

I have few tips and tricks I used last year that made the school day easier.

1) I have a wicker basket with a lid that holds my daughter's backpack.
Nice and neat and stays all together. It is big enough to hold a few things
of my daughter's like a gym bag to hold her gym clothing for school too.

2) I have set up a communication area too. So when my daughter has notes
I have to sign I have a folder she puts them in so we then know where they
are and are easily returned to her calendar to take back to school.

3) the last one has saved us so much extra time is what we pack for lunch
for her to take every day. Somedays it is hot stuff or a sandwich, next w
pack a cereal bar and lastly we pack two containers the same every day
one for fruit and one for veggies. No having to think about what you want
or need to pack. We alternate different veggies and different fruits but
I then know she is getting some good nutritious food into her at lunch.

Hope these tips make your day a bit easier!!!!!!!!!!!!!

continuing in the master bedroom

If you live in Canada I sure hope you had a great long weekend. I sure did. I got kinda
lazy the only thing I did was clean off all the clothes off my dresser. Pics to come.
So today I move on wash all of your bedding!!!!!!!!!!!! Fresh sheets to sleep on ahhhhhhhhh!!!
I also am trying the mattress spray by norwex. I did my daughter's a couple of weeks ago and she
doesnt get up sneezing or coughing and it hasnt affected her asthma either. I was a little worried about that but no side effects.
The other thing to do today is clean off your night tables if you have them. Take everything off put everything you dont need in the garbage and then find homes for other stuff. Wipe clean and then put back only the necessities.
Well sorta in a cleaning mood so going to go and take advantage of that check back tomorrow!!!!
It just might be the dreaded closet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Queen for the night

Okay so this weekend took a little break and went to have some
fun with a great friend in Toronto. Here are some fun pics of me.
Funny usually I hate having my pic taken but put a crown on me
and wow look out !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

joined a challenge to help keep me motivated

I have been cleaning and cleaning and organizing and purging. I found this challenge and decided to join so I can have others to work with too and keep motivated.

So they want us to post our goal for this week and mine is the master bedroom. I will post pics as I go along.

We move on to another room!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well your bathroom , living room and kitchen must be all nice
and organized. Yes they might not be spotless but that was not the
idea. We just did deep cleaning as we went along and organized.
So today we go on to the Master Bedroom.
I did a load of laundry and that is all that really got done today because
it was a beautiful summer sunny day here so I went out with my daughter
to a market and had lunch together too. We really havent had too many nice
sunny days here lots and lots of rain so we took advantage of it. Also we went
to an opera production tonight too very interesting!!!!!!!
So for today and tomorrow we will work on our clothing. For me that means
I need to hang a lot up , do laundry , organize and purge.
I am a little embarrassed to say that I cant see the top of my dresser for
clothes. I have a really really bad habit of piling my clothing.
I need to really work on breaking that habit!!!!!!!!!!!! I tried once this spring
but then one day it was busy put a dress up there and then jeans and then..
well I am sure you get the picture. I have to keep everything off the top
if I want it to stay clean.

inexpensive skin care

Todays work for me Wednesday is about inexpensive skin care.
By using these two specific products you dont need to use
mositurizers, cleansers, exfolicants or any acne cream.
What is you ask ???????????? It is norwex face clothes and
tea tree oil. If you have any breakouts at all dab on some tea
tree oil and you will notice it dries up the blemish and then it
quickly disappears. Try it you wont be sorry !!!!!!! Plus you
will save sooooo much money !!!!!!!! Oh and you wont need
to buy make up remover either.

last day in the kitchen

Wow we are really doing great almost 3 rooms done. I sure hope you have
followed along and are noticing big changes in your house and the way you
feel.
So today is the last day we will spend in the kitchen time to really move
on . So today is go through your pots and pans and see if you can get rid
of some.
Also we are going to sweep and scrub our floor and wipe down the outside
of the cupboards.

For me I have one more spot to declutter which will then help me to
declutter another cupboard. If you have any areas you have missed
decluttering then take the time today to finish that up so we can move
on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Come back to tomorrow to see which room is next!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!??????????????

more decluttering

So today we move on to our utensils. Take them all out and decide which ones
you will get rid of. As you do this sort them into like piles to actually see how many
you have of each thing. Toss what you truly dont use or need. Clean out drawer and then
place them back into a spot we will call home.
The second task which might take a little longer is to go through your food cupboards
and check for old food or food you could donate to the food bank. So here we go take
out all the food and sort into like piles. Clean the cupboard or pantry and then place
like items back into the spot you will call home.

Here are some to help you videos to help
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vDLEn7zVUA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvouB-X0GCs

For me I have to buy a basket for my baking goods. I am also trying to re-arrange a
few things and the utensil drawer cant be done till tomorrow till I have space. I am going
to have two utensil drawers one for the big stuff and one for the silverware. I have to clean
out another area tomorrow which will then give me room to move around a few things to
free up the other drawer I will be using for the big utensils. Then I will buy a basket or two
to store my tea towels and dish clothes too . So for me personally it will be a work in progress.

Organizing

I am continually reading blogs and many many blogs. I came across this one today
that put it the best way on how to organize. Go and check it out
http://stuff2borganized.blogspot.com/2009/07/want-to-get-organized-here-are-steps.html

decluttering !!!!!!!!!!!

Today we declutter our glasses, cups , bowls and dishes.
So same thing take it all out and hopefully put only 1/2 or 3/4 back.
Wipe down the shelves and then put back less.
That is all for today tomorrow we go through our food cupboards to organize.

start decluttering

Okay so today find a spot you want to start decluttering. We will be doing food and dishes soon.
Then remove all the stuff from that spot. Clean that spot and place back only what you love.
Today I picked the microwave cart and still having a hard time letting go. I took everything out of the cart and then wiped it all down . Then I looked at the stuff that was going back and in and thought I wont use some of this stuff I should get rid of them. I didnt I neatly put them back but I am going to get rid of the fondue pot that has never been used. The other thing that I thought I should get rid of is a blender now that I have the magic bullet. But what happens if the magic bullet breaks I need that blender is my thought. Now that I have looked back I will be getting rid of the blender because truthfully if the magic bullet breaks I will be going out to buy another right away.
So I have a bit of empty space to fill with other stuff.
I have to wait till I declutter one cupboard area where I am literally tossing everything already decided. It will give me room to move around things then.
Well go and purge and declutter. Come back tomorrow when we start with our purging our dishes.

continue on

Today is the freezer you need to defrost the freezer and organize it.
Tomorrow we start decluttering. Okay lets start today go through all your glasses and cups and purge some. It will be easier to have less and most times we keep them for sentimental reasons not out of need. Go ahead take the big leap and try to get rid of some.

Stove and Microwave today

First put your dish clothes into the laundry.
Second wipe down your stove top and front.
Third clean out the inside of your oven with whatever cleaner you see fit to use. Again do what works for you .
Next wipe down your microwave and then clean the inside.
All done for today.

I finally tried the trick to clean your microwave that has been posted on a bijillion blogs and it works. So here is the trick I am sure you already know but I will repeat it put a bowl of water with a little lemon juice into your microwave. Microwave it for 1 minute and then take a cloth and wipe it all clean. The steam has loosened all the dirt in the microwave. It works like a charm maybe one minute to wipe hard stuck on food off !!!! I will definitely try this again.

So now I am off to relax in the backyard by the pool for the afternoon. We finally have sunshine !!!!!!!!!
Enjoy your day !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here is are my pics of my clean kitchen

Here are some pics of my kitchen all clean!!!!!!!!!!!!
Each shelf has a purpose. The top one is hubbie's shelf to store things which is most of the mail.
Then my shelf so I tuck things in there and sometimes mail too. The next shelf is my daughter's shelf and she puts phonenumbers, girlguide forms and whatever else she wants to put there. Last shelf is for coupons and program guides.
I think for my shelf and possible Angel's we might start using file folders too .

More Kitchen

Lets continue working on our kitchens. So now that your fridge is all shiny clean lets work on a different area. Today will be counter tops. What you need to do is put away everything that does not belong on your counter tops. Then move all the stuff to one side of your counter and clean all of that area. Then move it all back or give it a new home.
Then clean another part of the counter top . Keep going till you get that ahhhhhhh.. feeling!!!
I have a mail sorter too which is overflowing that sits on my counter top so that will have to be purged and re-organized. I am trying to think of new ways to make it more organized.
While you are at it add your sink . So you need to put the dishes in the dishwasher or wash what is in your sink. Then it is time to shine your sink.
Here is a link to the steps to shine your sink up

http://www.flylady.net/pages/FLYingLessons_Shine.asp

I bet your kitchen is starting to look so shiny and clean tomorrow is stove and microwave.
I am sorry I post in the afternoon but that is usually when I can get on to the computer. Again I need to share with my family.

I have had a question if I do the task first or post ??Usually I post first and then go and do the task at hand.

Today we move on to the Kitchen

How awesome you are all doing 2 rooms down!!!!!!!!!

Today we are going to clean the fridge inside and outside.
I have found two you tube videos for you to watch to give you
some ideas. I will post pics too of my fridge to show you . I use
baskets everywhere they are really what helps me to organize
and contain clutter. Sometimes it does not help but the one spot
that I have found it really helps is the fridge. I have been thinking of
getting some more too .
I have one for veggies we use to cut up for lunches and I have one for
fruit we use for lunches too. The last one holds all the smaller containers
of yogurt, pudding and the likes that get lost are too hard to get out for
lunch or a snack. I find foods in these baskets get eaten more than the
foods stored in the bottom drawers.
I take two minutes no more when the food comes in to get rid of the packages
and now they are just grab and go. I also use the green bags to keep my veggies
and fruits to last longer too.
So here are the videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gI6c_WR3Fw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvIEoG_ET8o&feature=channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRNOn57sdu0&feature=channel

The other tip I learned which I will pass on is to put a couple pieces of paper towel in bottom
of all the baskets or drawers. It is so easy if it spills just then to toss the paper towel and keeps
the drawers clean.
I have tried the green mats you can buy at dollerama and they are useless they dont make
produce last longer and if anything gets spilled on them they are sticky and a mess.
Paper towels are the way to go!!!!!!!!!
So go and clean and then pour yourself a nice summer drink and go out in the sunshine!!!!!!

finishing the livingroom

So if you have been following along with the clean and clear it challenge you will have almost 2 rooms done. WEll after todays decluttering you will have two rooms done! How good does that feel??
So today we are decluttering once again. You are to declutter anything bookshelves, drawers, cabinets whatever you have left.
Probably wouldnt hurt again to vacuum the livingroom again too . I know mine needs it.
I have some clutter to put away from my small couch too which seems to be the dumping ground when you walk in the front door.

Here is a great article on decluttering you should read.

http://simplenest.net/10-questions-to-help-you-declutter/

So go and finish up what you have left!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

more in the livingroom

Sorry for posting so late but you can either do it today or tomorrow.
We are cleaning our windows inside and out. The second thing to do
is go through and organize and purge and cds you have. I am feeling a bit
under the weather today so it will be short and sweet.
Come back Monday for more .

more on the livingroom

This is a picture of what my coffee table has looked like in the past and will after I am done with it today .

Today we concentrate on the tables in your livingroom. I have two end tables
and a coffee table that is what I have to today.
So whatever tables you have concentrate on them.
1) clean everything off
2) declutter and find homes for things that dont belong on those tables
3) put stuff in the garbage that is garbage
4) put back the stuff you love
5) stand back and admire

day 2 on the livingroom!!!!!!!

For today we are continuing to work on the livingroom. Two tasks today to complete.

First off did you dust the tv off yesterday ????? If you didnt then do it today so it is nice and clean and fingerprint free.
Okay so on to todays tasks :

1) We will declutter our dvds and movies of any sort. Try to go through and give them a home and organize them for what makes sense to you . Also try to purge a couple that you dont even know why you have them or havent watched them in so long why do you have them.

To declutter my way is to make piles after it is all taken out. I have the I keep pile and the maybe pile, get rid of and the garbage bag to put any that are broken .


2) Clean off whatever is housing your tv . For me it is a cabinet . So go and take everything out and clean it all and then only put back what you love . Again try to purge some things. It will make it easier next time to dust if there are less things to go around or take out!


A little side note I got all my norwex stuff yesterday so I will be trying them out over the next couple of days and I will let you know how I like my new products.

I will be using my new microfiber cleaning cloth and the polishing cloth too as I go around today !

So go and get busy and dont forget to have a bottle of water or some kind of liquid drink with you as you declutter. I have read it dehydrates you and takes a lot out of you to do this so you need to replenish yourself.

When you are done purging get rid of the stuff as soon as you can out of sight or better yet out of your house.


OKay now you are done reading go and get working !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dont forget to post your links showing us your work.

we go on !!!!!!!!!!

First off I say do what works for you right. Well that is basically why
I didnt post anything on Monday or Tues. Monday I couldnt have gotten on
my com[puter to post anything till 12:30 am Tues technically. Have to share
the computer with hubbie and daughter and then had a few plans that took me
out of the house that day.
Tuesday I did what worked for me and that was celebrating my daughter's birthday
at Canada's Wonderland. We had such a great time and I was gone from 8am till
10 pm last night. Too tired to post any ideas last night.

Okay so now I am back on track ! We are starting the living room which will take more than a week but we will see once we get going.
First off we are going to dust everything !! Next we are going to vacuum up all the dust and vacuum our rugs.
That is all for today.
Easy really I will use my dust cloth and possibly my micro cloth and go and dust all pictures, tv, shelves, cabinets. Dont move anything yet though on the bookshelves that is a whole other day. Just dust around them.
I have a huge ceiling fan too that I am sure needs dusting.

So go and get started!!!!!!!!!!!

The end is in sight!!

Two more things to do in the bathroom then room 1 is done.
Wash the floor and if you want or didnt do spring cleaning wipe down the walls.

Now you are all done stand back and admire your work this week.

Take Sunday off or get caught up.

Monday we start a new room and suggestions????

Here is a question I get asked quite often why are you taking so long to do the bathroom I usually do this cleaning all together at once???????

Yes I do too but we are taking baby steps really just to get going. From here on out you will go back to regularly cleaning the bathroom all at once.
The big thing for me is once a year I find time to declutter.
We are trying to develop habits of cleaning and organizing and not overwhelming anyone. It takes 21 days to develop a habit.

Go out in the sunshine with your family !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Come back on Monday though!!!!!!!!!!!