Time for some professional help

I finally bit the bullet and accepted that I can't do it alone.  I've tried.  But I really can't do it. 

So I contacted a professional organizer and had her come in for a consult.  And it turns out I'm not that far gone!  There's still hope!

I have a list now and have already gotten started on it.  Hopefully by Christmas, the upstairs will be more manageable and I can tackle the office *shudder*. 

Time to start at the end

So in all my back and forth, I've realized that the reason why I have so much trouble keeping the house organized is because I don't know how I want it to end up.  Like I want it clean, but I don't have a designated spot for everything.  So as I go through each area and 'clean' it up, I end up having the same items in different areas of the house.

Before I can really start going through everything, I need to start with a plan.  Where do I want to store items for business one or two, where do I want art supplies, or towels, or extra blankets, etc.  I need a central SPOT for everything in the house, and once I know where everything goes, I can start clearing items out.


I guess it's time to go back to square one, by starting at the end.

My newest Norwex favorites

Ok, so I know I talk about Norwex a little bit.  Ok maybe a LOT, but I really love it!  And no, I don't sell it.

This past January, I hosted a Norwex party and got a TON of free stuff.  January is the Hostess Free Mop month, and yes, I got enough sales and got my free mop!  But the mop isn't what I want to talk about.

Along with the free Antibac Cloth, and window cloth, and lint mitt, and hand cream, I got a few fantastic items.  The Optic Cloth is amazing.  I used it a few days ago to clean my glasses and OMG it was like seeing the house with new eyes.  Like seriously clean.  And I've been wearing glasses for almost 25 years!  I did the same yesterday with my sunglasses and was SO impressed.  I got one for my hubs for Christmas since he always used our window cloth and I could never find it.  Great stocking stuffer and now he has his own cloth for his glasses.  Well when I needed a few more dollars to get the free mop, I added the Optic Cloth so I could have one of my own and I'm SO glad I did.  AMAZING!

I also got the dust mitt.  Makes dusting SO easy.  AND I got the kids package, that comes with a kid-sized antibac cloth, window cloth and dust mitt.  M LOVES cleaning the windows with her own cloths, and dusting.  In fact, sometimes she'll make fingerprints all over the windows just so she can clean them up.  I don't mind, since she's cleaning them!

One item I've been very skeptical of is the cleaning paste.  I've heard great things about it, but I found that baking soda worked so well that I didn't want to invest in that.  BUT when I had free money to spend, I decided to give it a try and OH.MY.GOODNESS!  So I won a bath mitt at the party, and whipped out the paste to clean the shower last week.  AMAZING!  When I would have to clean the shower again about 5 days later after cleaning with baking soda, I don't have to do it yet with the paste. And the mitt makes it so easy.  Norwex was genius when they decided to make the cloths in a mitt form.

Keep an eye out for a review of the Norwex mop, and maybe a Norwex giveaway!!

I just need the accountability

Well, I haven't posted in a bit.  And my house shows it.

I have no idea why my cleaning habits seem to correlate to how often I post on the blog, but I'm using this Monday to get myself back on track.  Especially since the hubby is home sick today so I can have {some} help with the kids.

I've also noticed that for the most part, I'm pretty good at getting the daily and weekly stuff done, but I haven't ventured into the monthly stuff.  So this week, I'm going to just focus on the normal tasks and hopefully I can start adding the bigger stuff soon.

One plan is to get up earlier.  I was up at 4am this morning to go line up for kindergarten registration, so hopefully I can start getting up before the kids, at around 6am and get a head start.  I'll see how it works!

Starting the Spring Cleaning Early

Christmas is great.  Mad rush to organize the house, lots of food, family and fun.  Lots of gifts.  And then the aftermath.  Cleaning everything up.  Finding room for all the new clothes, toys and more.  Figuring out how you got all the decorations in the boxes last year.  We decided to get some new shelves for the kids rooms, so they can have some books, toys and stuff in there, and keep the playroom less cluttered.  I also wanted to get some hooks for the entryway so the kids could hang up their own coats, instead of throwing them all over the place.

Well, today was the start of the Spring Cleaning.  Some other friends are doing mass organizing in their homes and I decided to follow suit.  I got the hooks for the entryway and tidied that up. Will have to wait for the hubs to do that though.  I don't want to risk missing a stud or damaging the drywall.

Next step is to get the shelves for the kids rooms and organize all the toys, books, puzzles, games, cars, trains, AND MORE!

Well, I should put away the laundry first.  And then the groceries.  Then the Christmas decorations.  Then.....

Cleaning up after the storm

Now I'm a tad embarrassed to admit this since this whole blog is about cleaning, and tips and all that jazz, but you all know how much I LOVE to clean!

The hubs and I did a great job getting the house ready for hosting Christmas dinner.  We didn't have to rush around and finish the last minute stuff the morning of.  Christmas dinner went so smoothly.  There was a ton of food, everything finished ahead of schedule.  It really was a fantastic day spent with love and family.

After dinner I was beat.  So exhausted and I didn't even want to think about cleaning up.  But after a big meal like that you can't leave it for later.  Thankfully I didn't have to.  Santa had sent a couple of amazing elves over for dinner and they did easily 90% of the dishes, and put away most of the food.  I can't even describe how amazing it was to sit down and visit with people, and then to go to bed on Christmas night and not have to worry about a mess.  AND, how much better it was to wake up the next day and not have to worry about a mess.

A lot of people think that Christmas is all about what's under the tree, or in the stocking.  But spending time with great friends and family, singing songs, playing makeshift table tennis, and having someone clean your kitchen, well those are gifts that won't end up broken or in the trash, or donate bin.

Thank you to my amazing Elves!  You guys are invited to every big party I host!

How did the set up and clean up go for your big parties?  Did Santa send anyone else some fantastic helper Elves?

Christmas prep day 2

Here's my list from yesterday:

Today's plan:1. Finish up the last of my orders.  There isn't much left to do, I promise.  And they're all local, and I've scheduled drop off/pick up with all of them so if they aren't already done (which most are, I PROMISE) they will be on time! 2. Finish up crafts with the kids3. Bake something (brownies, cookies, rice crispie squares, SOMETHING)4. Clean up living and dining rooms-meaning ALL work and kid related stuff is out, and it's vacuumed, dusted and cleaned up. 

What did I get done (or not)?

1. Orders: two items done, one dropped off.  3 left to finish, and I promise the hard part is done, just finishing touches.
2. Not done
3. Not done
4.  a. Dining room table cleaned off and wiped.
     b. Side table cleaned off and wiped.
     c. Couch side tables cleaned off and wiped.
     d. Coffee tabled cleaned off and wiped.  And cleaned and wiped.  And cleaned and wiped.  Darn kids.
     e. Work related stuff (piles of fabric moved downstairs)
     f. Need to move a few last random items and vacuum


So what's on my list for today....
1. Finish up crafts.  Will go do that right now.
2. Bake something.  Will do that right now as kids do craft stuff.
3. Vacuum living room/dining room.  In my defense, the vacuum canister in the garage was full (we have a built in) and I had to empty it, WHICH I DID-BY MYSELF!
4. Finish up orders.  That WILL get done when kids go to bed.


And tomorrow?
1. Anything I didn't get done today.
2. Clean bathrooms
3. Finish cleaning and mop entryway
4. Tidy kids rooms
5. Why do I try to have more than 2 items on my list when I KNOW it won't get done?
6. Bake something else
7. More crafts.
8. More cleaning.   Should I go on?????

The Last Minute Christmas Preparation Dance

Anyone want to dance with me?

We are now one week until Christmas and I'm not nearly as ready as I had hoped to be.  Not only do I still have work to do, I also have some last minute shopping to do and then the house cleaning to START!  YIKES!

Last year, after Christmas, I bought a binder, and created sections, to help me plan my holidays ahead of time.  I bought a folder to store cash, with which I could buy Christmas gifts, food, decorations, etc.  I created a budget ahead of time and made notes.   And take a guess how much money was in there?  Yup-NONE!  I didn't use the system AT ALL!

Pinterest also had a ton of ideas, including week by week cleaning schedules, starting in October!  You can bet I pinned them.  Did I refer to them?  Yup, maybe once or twice.  Did I use them?  NOPE!


So why am I such a good planner-on paper-but struggle at getting it all done.  For some reason, I can figure it all out but I can't execute my plan.  Now I have 5 days to get everything done.  It'll get done, but it won't be easy.  Is it just that I work better under pressure?  Will next year be any different?  Probably not.


So here's how I'm going to get it all done: Tell you guys about it!  Lucky!!!

Today's plan:
1. Finish up the last of my orders.  There isn't much left to do, I promise.  And they're all local, and I've scheduled drop off/pick up with all of them so if they aren't already done (which most are, I PROMISE) they will be on time!
2. Finish up crafts with the kids
3. Bake something (brownies, cookies, rice crispie squares, SOMETHING)
4. Clean up living and dining rooms-meaning ALL work and kid related stuff is out, and it's vacuumed, dusted and cleaned up.


Check in tomorrow to see if I got it all done, and what's on the list for tomorrow.

Are you ready for Christmas?  What are you getting done today?  I can help hold you to it!!

Re-Visiting Baskets

I was recently chatting with a good friend, and complaining about the organization (or lack thereof) of my work stuff around the house.  This consists of mostly fabrics, some half completed orders and projects, and some notions.  Scissors, pins and pinned projects found their home on higher surfaces, like the TV stand, hanging over railings, etc.  Folded piles of fabric are mostly in various bins around the house, with some stuff on chairs, the arms of the couch, etc.  In trying to explain the mess to my friend, I took some pics and was almost embarrassed.  It didn't seem so messy in person.  And a lot of it is stuff I'm working on for current orders, or a craft fair I'm attending this weekend, so I overlooked it since I was almost done it all.  *sigh*

So I decided, in looking at the messy picture of the TV stand, that I could just get a basket and throw the stuff in there, and it would look more tidy.

I even dusted the TV stand.  My bank account might not appreciate the large number of baskets and storage containers I'm about to invest in but my visitors sure will!

The real answer

Just a quick post to share this picture.  A few friends on Facebook shared it and I thought it was perfect.  We all know that I struggle to keep a clean house, and we also know that I struggle to stay sane.  And it's true.  Sometimes when I feel like I have a clean house and a good balance, I realize that I haven't been spending as much time with the kids as I should have.  So without further ado, here's the reason why my house is a disaster.  

Although I should also add that I just CLEANED my kitchen, like CLEANED it, swept floors and vacuumed the playroom/living/dining rooms.  About to go mop the kitchen and then cleaning is DONE for the day.  All thanks to nap time and educational websites.  I feel for anyone with a child who doesn't sleep.

I'm baaaaack-and how to clean your make up brushes!

This summer was rough.  It was hard to get into a good schedule with both kids when we really didn't have to.  Sleeping in, doing whatever we wanted all day, gymnastics camp, vacation, it was hard, made even harder by the fact that we had a pretty crappy summer and hubs took the car to work.  So I was very excited for school to start up again so we could get back into a good routine.  I was even more excited when hubs decided that he would start taking the bus to work so I could have the car.  The kids are on a good schedule, the house is relatively clean and I have time to get work done without staying up past midnight every night.

So with all that said, I'm back!  I'm researching new cleaning products, apps and other products and systems to make life easier.

But first, I'm going to tell you all about something I found yesterday.  The EASIEST way to clean your make up brushes.

I've become very careful over the past two years about the products that I use, mostly cleaning and personal care products.  So as I'm in my bathroom last night soaking my brushes in make up remover, and using quite a bit of it, I see, and start thinking about, the handmade bar of soap I have on the side of my sink.  So I think...why not?

And boy did it work!  The problem with the make up remover was that I couldn't get the make up from the inside of the brush.  But with the bar, I could lather the brush right on it, and make sure that it got the bristles in the middle.

You can see the make up coming of of the brush and onto the soap, and can see how you can really get the soap right into the middle of the brush.  And I know that the soap is gentle, since that's why I bought it.

When you've worked the soap into it a bit, you can literally just rinse the make up down the drain and keep going.  

My brushes are all so soft now.  No more foundation residue or sticky greasy brushes.  I wouldn't do this with my eyeshadow or powder brushes, only the concealer/foundation ones.  The dry brushes I just   clean with a tissue or a paper towel, although I could use soap if they got really dirty, but I haven't needed to yet. 

So there you have it.  Clean house, clean brushes.

And I have more posts coming, product reviews and maybe some giveaways, so keep checking in, and tell your friends!

Fresh Start....again

All it took was a weekend.  A long weekend, in fact.  And was it ever long.  In between trying to celebrate Canada Day, we did a HUGE clean up in the whole house.  Re-organized almost the entire upstairs.  And there are still a few little areas that need to be finished up, but it looks a TON better.

Sometimes I just need to power through it, get it all done, and then the maintenance on it is much easier.  I've also set up my new app and if I can remember to check it everyday, or perhaps a few times per day, and can take a few minutes to get those tasks done, then I should be able to stay on track.

Here's hoping that I have a clutter free summer.  And some good weather.

Playing Catch Up-almost at one year!

Being sick sucks. Having sick kids sucks. Being sick and having a sick three year old and a healthy 8 month old sucks even more. And then there's a sick husband, housework, dirty laundry, dirty diapers, clean laundry, dishes, ugh. And of course, you can't keep on top of all this while you're sick, so instead of being able to enjoy feeling better, you get to deal with the house first.

So we're finally feeling better, it's safe to say we are no longer sick, but the house definitely needs some love. Clutter-EVERYWHERE. And I just remembered that the end of February marks one year since we moved. And I've always said, it takes a year to get settled into a new house. So not only does this house need a good solid cleaning, I have just under two weeks to finish up any 'move in' type of things that I had wanted to do. More artwork on the walls, just a general sense of feeling settled in the house.


So today, Day 1 of Operation Overhaul, I'm going to re-de-clutter the house. Major tidying up to do. Will go along and dust while I'm at it. I have no idea what I'm going to do tomorrow. I'm sure I'll figure that out as I go along cleaning today.

Christmas Clean Up!

Now let me preface this post with saying that just because I'm thinking about the clean up, doesn't mean that I'm doing it yet.

The first thing I need to do is make a trip to Walmart to invest in some Christmas organizing gear. We have the tree box and cardboard boxes for all the decorations etc, but I really want to organize my Christmas gear. So I'm going to invest in some plastic bins, and separate the decorations based on tree, and then rooms of the house, so living room, outdoor, and then other. I'm also going to organize different budgets and ideas. So I'm going to get a cheque envelope organizer thing and separate money by category. One for cards, decorations, gifts and other. And while I'm at it, I'm going to add a section for each of the kids birthdays. Hopefully starting this year, I won't have to worry about how we're paying for each occasion as they get closer. I'm also going to get a notebook and binder and keep all my ideas organized. So any ideas I have now I'll make note of in the book, and throughout the year I'll add to it as I have more ideas. Then I'll pull it out next fall and get to work.

The other thing I need to do is organize all the toys. With a birthday and Christmas so close together, it's like our toy collection has doubled in size, if not more, now that we have two kids. So I need to invest in more boxes/bins and organize the toys, books, puzzles, etc. I'm not quite sure yet how to organize it all but I'm sure that some bins will go into storage and will get rotated every month or so. I almost feel like a toy store with the amount of things I have. It's impressive, really. And now I need to find a way to store them all that is equally as impressive! We might be donating some toys after it's all organized, since we have just that many!

I hope you all had a fantastic holiday season and aren't too overwhelmed with cleaning it all up!