One bite at a time Summer 2013

In order to keep myself motivated, I am posting my list of things to clean and organize this summer.  Then, each day I will post a before and after pic, marking off one thing each day-- at least and hopefully.  Here is a preliminary list:
Catchall by the back door.
Computer desk (may have to be done repeatedly)
Top of the gun safe
Entertainment center (may have to be done one section at a time)
Toys (done during nap time)
My dresser (may have to be done repeatedly)
DH's chest of drawers
Bathroom cabinet
Bathroom shelves
Closet (may have to be done in sections)
My bedside table
His bedside table
Desk
Pantry (may have to done in sections)
Kitchen cabinets
Top of each refrigerator 
Catchall by the front door
Toys (in the other pile, also done during nap time) 
Cedar Chest
Joey's closet
Joey's chest of drawers
Joey's book shelf and desk
Bookshelf
Chest of drawers
Linens
Kids' bathroom cabinets
Front porch (may have to be done repeatedly)
This looks like a good start, not totally overwhelming but a little to do each day.
Yes, I think so.

In the Closet

Okay, let me see if I can explain this.  When I., my two year old, sees her older sister use the restroom, she wants to try too.  Great with me!  I plan on getting her potty trained when we get home from vacation.
Today, when N., my four year old, finished using the toilet, I. started pulling at her clothes to let me know she wanted to sit up there too, so I got her shorts and diaper off and placed her on the potty.  She hasn't ever used the toilet before, but I let her sit up there a few times a day.  Still no joy today.

When she was ready, I let her down and she followed me to her room to replace her diaper.  While I was gathering the diapering gear, she ran into the closet.  I called for her to come get her diaper on and she readily appeared--a suspicious sign I should have recognized right off the bat.
I put her up to put a fresh diaper on and noticed her legs were wet, and the wet smelled like urine.  That little mess got off the toilet and went and directly peed in the closet! Really?! Ugh.

Switch Around

While I was cleaning up the girls' room the other day, I got to thinking that since we don't use their dresser, my husband could use it for more clothes' storage space.  So I dumped everything from the dresser into a laundry basket and moved the dresser to our master bedroom.

Since I still needed something for the lamp and monitor in the girls' room, I moved the side table by the front door to their room.

One thing I did store in the girls' dresser was their hair bows.  I have been looking for a way to store them  out of reach and figured out a way to do it for free.  I took two scarves someone had given the girls for Christmas, cut them lengthwise, and pinned them to the curtains that cover the closet.  That killed two birds with one stone because now I have bow storage and I got rid of those scarves.  Frankly, wrapping anything around my kids' necks freaks me out.

Now I have my husband's old bedside table to use as a catch all by the front door.

Out of Order

I had to jump down the list a little because Hurricane Nicandra struck in her bedroom the other night.  She dumped out her sheets and pillow cases, Isa's sheets and blankets, and her old clothes I had in a box to pass down to Esme or Isa, who ever grows into them first-- my money is on Isa.

Anyway, I got rid of another WM bag full of things I no longer need or use and condensed them into one basket.  Those blankets, burp rags, and diaper pads will go to Deysi and Rafa's daughter.  I have some inexpensive, mesh laundry baskets that I use for storage.  So now it is all tucked into one basket under their easel.
While I was in there,  Isa was in such a good mood in her highchair eating a donut that I cleaned out Isa's side of the closet and got rid of another bag of clothes to send to Jackie and Oscar's daughter, Maggie.

I also swept and cleaned under the bed and found four cups and a trash can and a shoe box full of trash.  It's not complete by any means, but I got something accomplished and am ready to spend the rest of the day celebrating our fifth anniversary.

I found the perfect e-card to support my project.

Anyway, I got the top of the gun safe cleaned off and wiped down.  I think one of the many bubble toys leaked up there and made it gooey.  In case any of you want to remark on the decorating taste of having a gun safe in my living room, I can only say that it took five grown men to get it in the door and that's where it stayed.

If I keep going in a circle around the living room, the entertainment center is next.  That is going to take some psyching up to tackle.  On the other hand, I just did it over spring break, and it can't possibly be as bad as it was then.  I need to find some more storage containers to try to contain the girls' hair bows and other associated paraphernalia.

Toys Part One

Going through the toys in the cubby of the family room, I got about a Wal-mart sized bag of trash to throw away and a half a dozen toys to pass on to my niece Deysi's little girl who is due in September.
I forgot to take a before picture, but if you have seen the other pictures of my house (or have ever had small children) I'm sure you can imagine the topsy-turvy mess it was.  For now, it's contained and swept up.

Item No. 2

The computer desk, extended part of the backdoor catchall, was second on the list.  It took three days and  a couple of attempts to get it completely finished with everything else going on around here.
Before

So, I put away clutter, mostly where it belonged and not in another catchall, and threw away the trash.  Here is the result:

I'm not really thrilled with the results, but it will do.  At least it's clean for now.


For the rest of the day, laundry because nothing says I love you like clean underwear.