Halloween!

We are getting ready for Halloween around here. My older daughter is going to be a pirate and I crafter her a black, white, and red tutu. The baby is going to be a clown and she will have a rainbow tutu. Pictures to be posted when they are complete!

I didn't go all out on Halloween decorating but here are a couple decorated places in my home.

More organizing around the house..

I have been busy this week trying to bring some order into a few areas of my house.

After getting the organization binder in order, I tackled a few problem areas. In the pantry, I added a door shoe holder to hold all our snacks. In the bathroom, I added storage drawers- one to hold bandaids and creams, another to hold cold medicines and thermometers. The little purple basket holds all the cough drops. 

My craft area was turning into a dumping zone! I added a tupperware set of drawers to hold little items. Behind the stack of fabric is a bin for works in project.

 Instead of my fabric hiding in a box under my table, it is now neatly folded on the newly freed up shelf. Items that were stuffed in are now in the drawers.

My daughter had a huge play space in the front living room that she never touched. So I moved it all to her closet! I love not having to look at all those toys anymore.

Organization zone on fridge for keeping track of dates, appointments, and notes from school. The green dot is a dry erase dot. I can write notes there too and my daughter has one in her room. When I think of something I want her to do or remember, I write her a note there! 

 

Household Organization Binder

So I saw these organizer binders floating around in blogger land and decided it would be useful in my life as well. I started with a cute binder from Target - I should have gotten one with pockets on the inside but this one has at least gotten me started.
Directly on the inside I have my "To Do" list. If I don't have that in exact view, I will let things slip! I found a cute "To Do List" printable from the internet by using those search terms. But you could just have a plain piece of scratch paper and save the ink! Next to the to do list is a Target shopping list for all my extras you can't get at the grocery store. Little items are popping in my head constantly that I need like nightlight bulbs, WD-40, and Drain-o. So, again I have to keep that list handy. The list is removed because I just pulled it out on my way out the door to Target! No more scrounging around the house last minute trying to figure out what I needed and finding all my misc post it notes reminding me what to buy. It was so incredibly convenient to have the list ready when I had a free minute that I found to go to Target. Sometimes by the time I get my lists together, the best time to go has passed.
The first page that is inserted into the binder is a my weekly calendar at a glance. You could do that upcoming week if your week is busier than mine. I like to have a standing calendar visible- such as Wednesday says "Groceries", Tuesday says, "Baby and Me Class", Thursday says, "Volunteer at School". My weeks stay the same. I have a dry erase calendar on my fridge that I use to add in specific items such as appointments or play dates that occasionally come up.

Next I have a few months worth of calendar pages so that I can add upcoming appointments. Then at the start of the month, I can add those dates to the dry erase board. I have a weekly calendar of where all the baby story times are across Seattle so if a day comes up where we have time and want to catch a story, I just have to glance at my handy calendar and see where one might be! I also put on this same sheet (in a different color of course!) where the farmer's markets were. And finally I added to this sheet both inside and outside fun things to do with Gracie. Now I have a quick way to get ideas for the day if we have a day where we are free and are wanting to get out of the house. Sometimes you can spend so much time planning, you lose interest.
My next weekly calendar sheet is to keep track of chores. I divided up what chores and errands were best to do on each day and also what kind of meals would be good to cook on those days. If we have a "busy day" like groceries, I will have less energy for cooking so it's a standing leftover day. It really helps to plan not only what meals you are going to cook but what type of meal is good to prepare on certain days.
I have a list of months and a few lines below each month. I can keep track of important things to remember that come up each year. So for example, in January it says, "renew vehicle tags" and August says, "Vision exam". Target sells envelope inserts for binders for $1 so I picked up a few. There is one in the front section of my binder to hold black "to do" and "list" notes so there is always scratch paper available.
Then I have a few sections:
-Meals - With more printables to keep track of menu planning and grocery lists. I have a Costco shopping list. And another envelope pocket to hold coupons.
-Bills - With a printable of what bills need paying. I don't plan to update this monthly but I like to have a quick visual of what bills I do have and when they are due. I used page protectors to insert bills as they come in the mail. Monday is my bill and phone call day. So when I am ready I just need to reach in and grab the pile! Luckily my pile is never that big! There is another envelope pocket to hold my check book, envelopes, stamps, address stickers, etc.
-Paperwork - I have more page protectors to hold on to paperwork in progress, things that I have taken care of but need following up on.
-Two different kid sections to hold important papers for them. My older daughter's school schedule for example and a start of the year letter from the teacher I may need to reference again. There is not much in the baby's section right now, just a pool schedule and an application to the Moms Club that I am thinking about joining.
-Volunteer- I volunteer for the PTA so there are a bunch of important papers that I may need to reference in this section
-Craft- I have so many craft ideas rolling around in my head that I never complete. I thought if I had a section dedicated to planning my crafts, I might have more success in completing them. Managing what little time I have and being organized will help me to maximize my free time.
More page protectors at the end to hold misc papers and business cards.  The back of the binder has tabbed folders- one to hold blank pages (calendar, meal planning) so they are ready when I need them. Another folder to hold paperwork to file. I am *really* bad at throwing papers that need filing into a pile and suddenly the pile is huge and it takes me an hour or more to file them. I am hoping that by keeping bills and other papers that I collect through the week in a page protector in this folder that I can easily take my small, easy to manage pile, and file them right away. One last tab to house important phone numbers and medical info. If, that is a big IF, we ever go out on a date, I can take out this paper for the babysitter.

The side of my fridge now houses a dry erase calendar. I have 3 different colored pens hanging from the side. Pink ink is kid stuff, green is me, and blue is husband stuff. I also keep my chore chart here. In the morning, I check what laundry and chores need doing that day. I guess eventually I will have it memorized but it may be tweeked. I have heavier chores on days I don't go anywhere and a few easy chores for the days I do go places. All about the balance! I clip upcoming notices for school or work here too. I can't wait to have a gorgeous more professional household organization station with hand-painted chalk calendar on the wall and just do it all with more style. I plan to do that when we refinish our kitchen. For now, this works!