Time to Consign

After we took all the baby stuff out of the attic the next step was to decide what to do with it all.

This is only part of the "stash", there is more in the basement and living room

Luckily, this year I was introduced to the wonderful world of consignment. What is consignment? Consignment is taking the things you have stored away and selling them at shops or events. I was introduced to this concept by Michele Fredricks from FairyTagmother. Her motto is "Turn your stash into cash".  She offers a service where she preps and sells your goods at consignment sales at least twice a year.  I love the service because all I do is hand over my "stash" and she does the rest.

So I sorted out all the "stuff" and two car loads later,

 Michelle has my "stash".  She tagging and inputting it the computer as we speak.
 The sale is in September so I will update this post afterward.

Summer Purge: The Garage

After taking everything out of the attic we decided the garge would be next.
So we stalked the weather forecasts until we had a couple of sunny days and started to empty the contents of the garage onto the driveway.

We should have had a garage sale.

Ahhh, it's empty.

We will slowly but surely put everything back BUT it will be in zones.

Garden Zone

The garage is currently in the organizing stage.  Basically, I put everything into piles and decide what kind of bins, baskets, or buckets will work best to coral like items. Then we will start the beatification stage but we aren't there yet.

I am working on the sports zone, tool zone and seasonal zone.  I'll post as I go.

So here is my To Do list for the garge:

• create zones,ie. sports, gardening, tools, etc...
• find a spot for the lawn mower and snow blower.
• create overhead storage for seasonal decorations(I'm thinking loft like)
• put up drywall and paint
• new garage door
• fit the car

Back to School: Week 3 Routine

During the summer we go to bed at 10pm, wake up at 8:15 am.  Sometimes we wear our pjs all day and the pool counts as bath time.  Not anymore.  This week back to school routine is in full effect.

Our routine looks like this:

                 Kids                                                                      Me

Our Morning: 
6:00                                                                          Wake up and
                                                                                 HAVE COFFEE!!!!
                                                                                  get dressed
6:30 Wake up and get dressed                     Make breakfast and lunch
7:00 Eat breakfast and pack lunches         Pack my work bag
7:30 Off to school                                              Off to work


Our Afternoon:
2:00                                                                         Leave work to pick up kiddos
2:30 Give mommy a big hug                           Pick up kids
2:35 Start bickering with sibling in the back seat car  Try not to stop car and let kids walk home
2:45  Snack                                                             Go through school folders and put in a load of laundry
3:00  Start HW                                                     Work on Blog ( help w/ HW)
4:00  Play/Read/Whatever                                  Start dinner and put laundry in dryer
4:30 Dad is home, the kids cheers!!!                        

4:35 All heck breaks loose, kids start bickering AGAIN!     I go hide in my room and let dad deal with it 

5:00 Alex sets table                                                   Dinner is ready

5-7:00 Family time.  This changes once sports start.

7:00 Bath time and Chores                                    Fold laundry
8:00 Family Time
8:30 Bedtime/Read/Study                                     Scrapbooking
8:45                                                                                Cleaning Chores
10:00                                                                              Bedtime!!!

Wow, that looks really good written down.  This off course changes as the year goes on. Eventually, Josh will start basketball, Alex will start gymnastics, Jack usually coaches, and I teach stamping classes once or twice a week.  It is good to have a basic routine and more importantly expectations.   Our routine is not written in stone and is pretty fluid, but our basic needs are laid out and taken care of :)

Back to School: Week 2 Lunches

School lunch, my biggest challenge by far. I am always afraid that my little guys don't eat and will some how starve while in school. I know it's crazy. This year I have decided to include the children in the lunch process.

I gave the kids cook books, magazines and Pinterest. As they looked through the lunch ideas they wrote down their favorites. I figure if they look at it and write it down then they will eat it.






So here is what the first week of school lunch looks like:

Monday: Pizza Sticks (Betty Crockers Kids Cook)

Tuesday: PB&J Sushi (Pinterest)(Source)
Wednesday: Mini Pepperoni Pizza (mommy)
Thursday: Cube cut ham and cheese and pesto pasta salad (Pinterest)(Source)
Friday: Hot Dog Fold Up (Betty Crocker)

Hopefully they will come home with empty lunch bags :)

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Back to School: Week 1- Supplies

This week the kids and I purchased their school supplies. I armed the children with their supply list and shopping cart and off they searched to find the item on those lists. They did a great job comparing prices and decided if the cheaper versions was the better choice. They also buy extra, at the cheaper price, so they can use it as they run out of supplies during the year. I am raising good consumers, pat on my back.

We brought our bounty home and sorted it in to piles.

Then we put it away to pack another day :)

 

Once their backpacks are packed for the first day of school, we keep the extra in these bins. I like the bins because when they run low on something during the year they know where to go to get more.

 

Next week we start planning lunches.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Summer Purge: The Attic

To say my house is currently a "hot mess" is putting it kindly. Every summer I do a big  house purge.  I sort, reorganize, donate, and toss clothes and toys. This year I decided now that my "babies" are ages 10 and 8 years old, it's time to purge the baby stuff.  Yes, ALL the baby stuff is the attic.  I'm talking: high chairs, cribs, bassinets, onesies, all things baby. It's time to let go.  :')  So I sent my hubby up into the 1,000 degree attic and down came the bins. 

As I look around at the MESS, I keep reminding myself that sometimes things look worse before they look better :)

We took down:
15 bins of just clothes 0-3months all the way to 4T
4  bags of toys and stuffed animals
3 bins of blankets and other bedding
2 high chairs
2 kick and play toys
1 bouncy seat
and tons of dust

My plan is to sort the bins (not the dust, we'll keep that) and give some of the clothing to my nieces and nephews.  The rest will go to consignment  ( I'll have more on consignment in another post) or Good Will.

There were a couple of things that I classified as keepsakes.  Those things I placed in a separate bin to save and give to my children when they are all grown up (tearing up right now).  I found their coming home outfit, first birthday outfit, toys that were their favorites and some other goodies.

August 1 or D day

August 1 reminds me that there are about 4 weeks until school starts.  I know it seems crazy to think that summer is ending but I will admit that I have always loved the smell of new school supplies.  My children (ages 10 and 8) on the other hand may not share my same joy ;)

I like to break the children in slowly with the whole back to school thing.  My hubby is a cold turkey kinda guy but that doesn't work out for us.  So in an effort to ease the transition each week we tackle a back to school project.

Week 1: Supplies
This let's my little people know that summer time is starting to wind down.  They enjoy back to school shopping so I like to start there.  Break them slowly :)

Week 2: Lunches
I start to think about what they will eat.  This year I want to pack healthier lunches so I am making a list of their favorite foods.  Then I'll figure out a school lunch schedule and what to buy.

Week 3: Schedule
This week I put the kids on there back to school bedtime and wake up calls.  It takes about two weeks for us get back into the groove of things.

I also take this time to start them on chore schedules.  We have fall chores that they start.

Week 4: Clothes
I wait to last minute on this because I am terrified they will have some crazy growth spurt and they will not fit their clothes.  

Each week I will let you know our progress and how it works for us :)