Fridge and Freezer Clean Out

It's been a lazy week around here.

It is cold and rainy and a day

that makes you just want to lay around in

your pajamas!

I figured that since it was too rainy

to get out and run around,

and also the fact that I needed to

"take a vacation" in my

Laundry Room,

I would also continue my project in the kitchen.

Time to clean out the

refrigerator and freezer.

Well it stared out looking like this.

Crammed packed with a bunch of stuff!

Top shelves....just waiting to explode

and the bottom...

not much better.

Random things stuffed in the door

So out it all came....

and into a laundry basket as well.

WOW that was a lot of stuff packed into the freezer...

Cleaned and wiped down,

I started to load it all back in.

and as I loaded I re-wrapped things to keep

them from getting freezer burn.

Threw out A LOT of things that had been in there

waaay too long.

Ahhh....that's better

Veggies and breads on top shelves...

Meats separated out by type on the

bottom shelves.

I cleaned out the shelves and put Popsicles

on a shelf and nuts for baking

and then there were two empty shelves on the bottom

and one on the top!

I also started cleaning out the refrigerator side

and used some of the baskets that I bought

when I bought the pantry baskets

I used one for fresh fruits

and the other for fresh produce

Salad anyone??

So, the kitchen it slowly but surely

becoming more organized.

I still have a few more things to do.

I want to go and get a few more baskets for the

refrigerator and freezer.

I think I am going to make a "lunch basket"

and keep all of the things I need for making

lunches and also a smaller one to

hold the smaller bags of vegetables in the freezer.

One day at a time,

one project at a time...

and one big garbage can full of stuff.

Glad tomorrow is Friday.

Hellloooo garbage pick up!

(if you want to see some other ideas for

cleaning and organizing your kitchen

go and check

them out here!



Meet "Marvin"

you know...

MESSY MARVIN!!!

As we continue to work on his new Big Boy room,

our next project takes us to the floor.

This is what MOST of Jackson's, excuse me, Marvin's carpet

looks like.  It is the original carpet that we put in

almost 8 years ago...

I don't really know why I picked out such a light carpet.

This is what it looks like now,

Marvin has managed to put lotion,

A & D ointment, and just general dirt

right inside the entrance to his room.

I tried buying a rug to just "cover" the spot,

but then the door would not close.

We have tried EVERY thing we could think

of to clean it.  It will look good for a day or two

and then end up looking 10 times worse.

So, we have decided to just re-carpet his room.

The way our flooring is done, each individual bedroom meets

hard woods or tile, so we do not have

to match it to the existing carpet.

I think we have decided on a Frieze Carpet

and the color is Fawn.

It's darker than what is in there right now,

and hopefully will hold up to

this little boy!!

(and yes, we did discuss putting down

outdoor carpet so we could just

spray it down with a hose!)

So, I am off to get on the schedule to have it installed.

Check back soon!

More bedroom progress to come!!



Organizing the Pantry

It's Week 9 Challenge

at

A Bowl Full of Lemons

Purge Week!

This week I decided to take on cleaning

out the pantry.

I have a nice pantry in my kitchen.

It has deep shelves from floor to ceiling and Scott

has put up two racks on the wall that hold canned goods.

However, there is one thing I wish was different.

It has the world's SMALLEST DOOR!!

I laughed the day they put it in.

I thought that has to be the best diet plan on earth.

If I get too wide, I won't be able to fit through the door!

And at the end of my pregnancy with Jackson,

I was getting pretty close! HA

Seriously...18 inches wide...

that's it...

This morning, I got straight to work!

I decided that I am going to take several days and do this right.

Today I began with a basic clean out and organize.

I couldn't find a thing...

I tell you what...that's a MESS!!!

Nothing had a real home...

baking supplies were in with pasta,

and snacks were all over the place.

There were empty tupperware containers

and odd baskets stuffed in and on top of things.

I jumped right in and pulled EVERYTHING out

of the pantry.

Every shelf and rack was empty.

So everything was cleaned out...

but boy was my kitchen a mess!

I threw out things that had gotten lost and were out of date.

I condensed boxes of similar items.

I grouped some similar things together and I am planning

on buying some cue little baskets or bins from the dollar store

to help make the most of my space.

I found that I was taking up a lot of space

with boxes that were almost empty.

Once everything was cleaned out and thrown away,

I measured the shelves. 

 I am planning on having Scott cut some

thin wood to lay down over the top of the shelves.

I love the wire shelving, but sometimes bottles and such do not

sit just right, so I think the wood shelf sitting on top will help.

I started grouping things together on shelves.

I took a little piece of paper and wrote out

the different catagories that I want to use to label my shelves.

I have several paint stir sticks that I am also going to have

Scott trim down for me and drill a couple of holes

in them so I can tie them to the front of the shelves.

That way, when I have little hands help me

put the groceries away,

they will know where things go.

I have some over sized things that I have on the floor.

Two of the clear bins I use to store alminum pans in.

These are great to use when taking a meal to someone...

you don't have to worry about loosing your dish and they

don't have to remember who to return it too!

Cans and such sorted out

All nice and neat...

and yes, that is 7 cans of pumpkin pie filling!

Every year they panic say that the crops were

so bad, there is going to be a shortage around the holidays.

So this year, I thought I would get smart...

and then every time I went to the store,

the shelves were packed!

Oh well!

I also found an over abundace of plastic shopping bags!

I liked having a lot of these when Jackson was little,

because I would put dirty diapers in them and throw them out

the back door until we ran them down to the big can at night.

But we are getting ready to start

POTTY TRAINING

so hopefully we won't need a lot of these

for much longer!

I also checked the fire extinguisher...

still fully charged.

Do you have a fire extinguisher in your kitchen?

I recommend you get one.

Better safe than sorry.

Sigh...it's only Monday and my trash can is busting

at the seams...and my garbage man does not come

until Friday?!?!?

WOW...that's a lot of trash!

Most of it was empty boxes and a few

things that were out of date.

So tonight I am off to the Dollar Store to find some

plastic bins.  I may even stop by Lowe's and look for my

plywood to make the shelves.

Hobby Lobby has glass on sale this week, so tomorrow I am

going to go by and pick up some jars to use to store

my flour, sugar and other dry goods in.

I may even order some cute little vinyl labels.

My vinyl calendar came in the mail today,

so I am also going to pick up a 16 x 20 frame for it.

Which is also half price this week!

LOVE Hobby Lobby and their

half price sales...every other week!

Stay tuned...

more progress to come!

But is definately feels better to get it

cleaned out and organized a little better.

Just a Day in the Life...

This week has not been very eventful around the house.

I have several projects started, but not completed.

So I have tried to get those caught up before I move on to

an new area to organize, decorate and try to not

drive Scott nuts in the process.

He always says he is not a patient person,

but there has to be some patience in there to put up

with me.

I found a little change while doing the laundry this week.

I started pulling out all of Austin's clothes and found his entire

change jar dumped in the bottom.

This has Jackson written all over it!

We had a little excitement with birds!

We usually keep our garage doors down unless

we are out in the yard, but we had to leave them open day before yesterday.

When I came home from taking Austin to school we had a little

bird come flying in...I left the door open and Jackson and I

would go and check on him every now and then to see if he had left...

he left and his friend came in!

This robin was our second guest...

he went on his merry way after we lured him out with

some bread.  Jackson thought that was fun!

I also started priming a few of the accessories that I have

picked up for Jackson's new room.

I had to laugh when I showed Scott what I had bought.

He was looking at them like....that doesn't match...

He has not fully discovered the power of spray paint

that I have from the wonderful world of

decorating blogs!

I did think these were pretty cute little covered jars...

but $15....no, i don't think so...

$3.00...that's better!

but the neon green and turquoise blue,

they do not exactly match the color scheme

we've got going on.

I'll be sure to show you the finished picture

 in a day or two.

The wind and now cold has put my

spray painting project on hold.



I also picked up these cute number hooks...

$6.00 a piece was not bad to begin with,

but $6.00 for all three is even better!



We also dropped off a few clothes to Emily to take to

the Five Little Bees Consignment Sale

if you are in the area and need children's clothing,

you ought to stop by.

If you click the link above, you can get dates,

directions and general information and such.

Well, I'm off to make my list of weekend projects that we need

to accomplish for the weekend.

I have several things inside that I want

to get finished that require assistance from Scott.

And with the warmer days, the yard is calling his name...

and so is the golf course.

YIKES!

Week 8 Challenge!!

This week over at a Bowl Full of Lemons

the weekly challenge is

Organizing Your Schedule

My children are so far apart in age,
 their schedules do not overlap.

Well, Jackson doesn't have a schedule...

but Austin does.

I have thought about hanging a calendar

on the wall in our laundry room,

that we all can see as we head out the door.

Thinking is about all I have done...

until today!!!

I ordered a vinyl calendar like this one

HERE

I am going to find a pretty frame from Hobby Lobby

the next time they are 1/2 price.

It will have it's new home on this wall...

That way, everyone can look over what is coming up

as they are heading out for the day.

I also need to get on some sort of Cleaning Schedule.

I ordered some of the printables

from

Clean Mama

I also found this cute idea from Heather
at Decor-ganize



This is what she made to keep her on track with a cleaning schedule!
Cute, huh...

Her Moto is

Decor-ganize: 
The process of organizing something in a
decorative fashion!

Love that!

But before I can start any new projects,
Scott told me I had to finish the ones I have started!

So, I'm making my list and checking it twice!
Scott is back home and back to his office.
I am hoping his travel is over with for a while!
His Friday off is suppose to be this weekend,
so hopefully we can get a lot accomplished this weekend.

Austin's room still has shelves and wall decor to be hung
back up since we painted and moved his furniture in.
We need to do touch up paint in Jackson's room and then get
busy moving in his furniture and hanging curtains,
pictues, and all of the final touchs!

Guess I better get busy!
Have a wonderful weekend!



Are you feeling Lucky??

This week over at a Bowl Full of Lemons,

Toni is having a giveaway for one of these

Oh the wonderful things I could make...

So hop on over and get signed up for a chance to win!

A Bowl Full Of Lemons Silhouette Giveaway!!!!

B and B

What a whirl wind of a weekend!

Scott came home Friday afternoon to the tail end of my

Master Closet Makeover...

I finished a few more projects...

he carried out a bunch of trash...

and then we all turned in

tired and flat worn out!

Saturday was packed full!

We got all of the Board and Batten trim

hung in Jackson's room.

The weather was so nice so we had the

windows open and were able to leave

the small compressor outside so it was

not so loud in the house!

After we hung all of the battens Scott added

the top rail trim that I had picked out.

I am really excited with how it is turning out.

Scott is just really excited to have it done!

Yesterday afternoon, he filled in all of the nail holes,

there is still a lot of caulk to be done and touch up paint.

I think I am going to take Jackson's pillow sham

to be monogrammed today,

and attempt to spray paint some of the accessories

I have found to decorate his room with.

We are still on the look out for a cheap

chest of drawers or dresser for his room that

will need to be painted to match.

So, while we are still a long way from moving furniture,

we are getting closer.

We might have gotten a little closer if I had not decided

to get a little Boo Boo Saturday night!

A friend of ours had smoked meat on Saturday,

so we had gotten some Ribs and Chicken.

I had gotten some corn on the cob and baked potatoes

to add to the mix.

I was trying to cut Jackson's corn on the cob in half

when I cut my finger instead!

OUCH!

So two and a half hours later,

I came out of the Emergency Room with

two stitches!

I can't hand wash dishes for a week...

doctors orders...

I told him not to worry...

I don't DO hand washing of dishes.

I was able to get most of Scott's laundry caught up

from his trip last week and ready to go again

this week....

So that about sums up our weekend in B's

Board and Batten

Boo Boo's

packing Bags

Beautiful weather

Well, Emily's big consignment sale is next weekend

and I have lots of little clothes to tag, so I better get at it!

Master Disaster!

When the day started you could see the bed...

and then I got a big idea....

I'm going to clean out the Master Closet!

Scott is out of town so I knew that I wouldn't have to

have it COMPLETELY done before

he got home...

I couldn't get to the back of the closet cause there was

a whole lot of junk in there...

You had to turn one way to miss the things hanging on the door

and then turn the other way once you got in...

and don't even think about shutting the door!



There were boxes on top that were storing things that I

no longer needed....

Some boxes on top of Scott's side have not been opened

since we moved in....

Shelves with space that is not being used wisely...

So I decided to take it all out!

At one point Jackson was standing on the bed

behind my clothes saying

"whoa...I can't see you..."

I have a lot to do today...

good thing Scott's not going to come home

to this!

Out it came and I vacuumed around all the

baseboards and wiped down all the shelves.

It's amazing the things you find when you clean out your closet!

Clothes with tags still on them...

mysterious boxes...

what do we have here???

Hmmm....let's see...

I think I bought this to give to Leisa one year

for her birthday...

FOUR AND A HALF YEARS AGO!!!

Oh my!

I think I'll just keep it for myself.

As the day went on, I finally got back

to moving things into the closet.

If I had not worn them lately,

I immediately pulled them out.

I could still go through and pull out some more

but I wanted to get the bed cleared off so

I had somewhere to sleep tonight!

I tried to sort clothes by type...

sweater, jackets, pants, t shirts and so on...

It was hard to get a good picture of everything hanging

neatly, because I was straddling the large pile of

clothes that I had laid out to donate.

Still trying to figure out the best way to sort...

by type or by outfit?

What to do, what to do?

I still have my work cut out for me...

Shoes and shoes to put away...

The bathroom is a mess...

I have a stack of clothes to organize and donate



I also took my clothes off of the plastic tube hangers

and put them all on thin line, velvet hangers.

I had bough three or four boxes of them from

Costco a while back...

wish I had some more...

or maybe I need to clean out some more clothes.

Yeah...I think that would be best.

But in the end....

I could get to the bed!!!

Yippee!!

I am trying to come up with some ideas

on how to store my jewelry and other

things in the closet.

I want to try to find some baskets

and other storage goodies to make happy little homes

for all that stuff I drug out today!

Once I am done with my side

I plan on hitting up Scott's side.

I don't think his will be as hard.

Hopefully, I will be able to get this all done

before Scott comes home on Friday.

I think I can, I think I can....

Our Financial challenge today was to create

a Budget Box.

I'm on it!

A place to keep all of your bills,

paid and un-paid,

check books, stamps, envelopes...

everything you need to keep your bills

together and make sure they are paid on time.

I had gotten all of these together when I made my

Home Management Binder

but, I was thinking that it was taking up

too much space in the binder.

I had thought about getting a second binder just

for financial things,

but I think the Hanging File Box would work better.

I plan on getting all of my things together tomorrow

while I am out.  Since gas has gotten so high,

I do find myself planning my trips out.

And after I cleaned out the closet today I realized that I

DO NOT

need a clothing envelope for me!

There is more than enough in there for me to wear.

Well, I am off to bed.

Austin is participating in a local symposium tomorrow

with his Robotics club

and we have to leave

EARLY

in the morning.