Maybe someday when I'm a great photographer... I'll take a picture like this and it will be awesome. You can't really tell what I'm taking a picture of here. There are buds on the tree and several birds... signs of spring, right?! But then there is quite a bit of snow too... also a sign of spring in Utah... I guess! About a week and a half ago we woke up to almost a foot of snow! Then last week it was nearly 80 degrees! Yesterday snow fell again and today it is a beautiful day! Craziness!Aside from the crazy allergies, I LOVE spring. I love all the blossoms on the trees, the new green buds, the beautiful flowers, of course, and the green grass! I'm hoping to get a vegetable garden in this year (of course, I was hoping for that last year too!) We love being outside, going for walks and playing at the park. I love spring!
Another spring thing... spring cleaning and organizing! So far I've cleaned and sanitized every toy in our house and I've gone through the kids drawers and closets organizing and taking out the clothes that are now too small. I love having everything clean and organized... but don't love the process!
A couple Sundays ago, in our young women's class we had a lesson on self-reliance. As part of the lesson we all took a little survey about how self-reliant we are. One "questions" was rating ourselves on housework. With a "1" being "I avoid housework and family chores." and "10" being "I recognize that I need to help with the work of the home and support my parents and family." After the survey we split into three groups and discussed what we could work on. there were two groups of girls and one group of leaders... I thought it was interesting that all the groups brought up this question on housework! No matter what our stage in life, we all seem to avoid the chores sometimes!
So I'm hoping to enlist all of you to share your cleaning and organizing secrets! That way we can all help each other and make this process a little bit less painful! For instance, I learned that using a microfiber glove (like you'd find at an auto supply place for washing your car) is great for quick dry dusting! And I love Spray'n Wash Dual Power laundry stain remover. Here's also a good website for some more cleaning and organizing tips: www.houseoforder.com I'll try to think of some more tips, but I really do want to hear your tips... all of them, no matter how small! From cleaning windows and blinds to organizing your purse and junk drawer to your cleaning schedule, etc, etc, etc! Thanks!!
Happy Spring-ing!
5 comments:
Woah Nat you rock. Way to clean. Spring is silly here. Umm... hmm I don't have any good tips. I like my shark hard-floor vacuum and steam mop. Chad and I just organized our closet and I love it! I kept thinking I needed to pay a load of money to have someone install lots of self organizers and such in it, but I think I can hold off now (for a while). Organizing with baskets, containers, drawers etc. does wonders. Love ya!
I've taken a few tips from the FlyLady to help me organize my chore schedule. I made a list of chores that need to be done every day (now these are mostly assigned to the boys for their daily chores) and a list of chores that need to be done once a week. Now I have a written up "chore chart" (in pencil!) that tells me what I'm supposed to do every day. It's about 4 things per day, one heavy chore--like mopping/cleaning out the car/fridge/bathrooms (heavy meaning I HATE to do it), and three light ones (baths--I have to schedule these in or they don't get done!--someone's laundry, dust, windows etc.). At first it seemed like a lot, but now that I'm used to it, it's jsut part of my day. I usually get my "chores" done by 10am and the boys do their chores at the same time. So I'm usually freed up by 10 until I have to start dinner.
It's all about finding a routine and daily method that works for you. Good luck!
Wow - Rachael - thanks for the tips. Natalie - you too are doing great! So organized and always so busy. I have had a hard time finding motivation lately. I cleaned out the winter/small clothes from the girls room, but they are piled in a corner in my room - my problem is space! We have NO storage!! Oh well - I am sure I will find room somewhere!
I love Mr. Clean White Erasers. They work wonders - however Andie proved to me tonight, they do not take highlighter off of the walls (we have flat paint) so, I need to find something to do that, until then, I have an orange wall! AHHHHH!
Hmmm. I am terrible at this. My evil plan is to eventually become rich and then hire a maid! Okay, that will never happen, so I am going to come back and read all the tips as they come in!!!
You can never have enough help in the housework department! I'm a total neat freak, but I have two secrets that work well at our house. First, 20 minute pick up after the kids go to bed. Just a little straightening goes a long way the next morning. Second, I try and pick one project each day that I want to accomplish on top of everything else. I also love Biz laundry detergent for stains and spit up and such. I haven't found anything it can't get out of clothing and you use such small portions one box lasts forever.
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