Monday, June 28, 2010

Kids and Technology




This is my son using my husbands ipod touch. I find this amazing because it took me longer to learn how to operate it. He's only 22 months! This video is actually the second one. The first one I tried to get to record so fast I just turned it on and off again and didn't realize it. Of course the first one was so much better b/c it showed him searching through the games and selecting different ones to play, but this one is still pretty cute.

Monday, June 7, 2010

Feeling Good

So it has been about a week now since I started my schedule. I'm feeling good ya'll! Here is a general idea of my schedule:

Morning Routine:
6:15 a.m wake up, take a shower, and get my self ready for the day.
(I know that's early to most of you but I'm usually up by 5:45 during the school year and I thought 30 more minutes of sleep each morning is perfect for now)
6:45 start a load of laundry
7:00 my kiddos start making their voices known about now. They're usually good to stay in their beds for about 15 minutes, so that gives me enough time to eat some breakfast and check my email. Then I get them up and feed them.
7:30ish I go finish getting ready (dry hair, fix hair, etc) while the kids watch a T.V show.
8:00 I put the clothes in the dryer and play with my kids for about an hour.
9:00 The kids have quiet time in their room on the bed with some quiet toys and books. This is when I start on one of the "To-Do List" items or eventually (hopefully) a fun project for the house or kids.
10:00-12:00 is pretty much unscheduled time I might run to a store, take the kids to the pool or sprinkler park, or the library, just something that gets us moving and out of the house.
12:00 lunch and T.V show
12:30 or 1:00 nap time for kids. This is my dedicated time for the Lord just Him, me, and the Bible. This is actually perfect timing for me b/c this is when I start getting tired and need a pick me up. Whatever time I end up finishing I then go fold the laundry if I haven't already and do another item on the "To-Do List."
3:00 ish the kids start waking up
3:00-5:30 another unscheduled time, I try to start dinner and just let the kids play a lot during this time. I might have to run somewhere during this time too.
5:30 Husband is HOME!!

Nighttime Routine:
Before I go to bed I make sure I do a couple things. I've been doing them before I sit down in the late evening b/c I know if I wait too long there is a high potential of me falling asleep on the couch. :) LOL then all I'll want to do is make it to the bed and go back to sleep. So anyway, I do these things:
I make sure all the dishes are out of the sink
I set the dirty laundry, that I'll do in the morning, in the laundry room
I fix my kids milk and juice cups
I lay out my outfit for the next day
I check my "hot spot" in my bedroom and put away whatever might have been left there.
I shine the kitchen sink
I know all that sounds like a lot but it hasn't taken me more than 10 minutes any night. I wake up in such a good mood too. There is just something to be said about waking up to a shiny sink. :)
So what all have I accomplished this week you ask? Well. . .
I went through just about everything in one of the "extra" spaces down stairs. It's been a mess since we moved in 5 years ago. YIKES! I started going through my "hobby" space too. Between the two spaces, I gathered 3 large containers of stuff/junk to sell in a yard sale and about the same amount of trash. Yeah me!! I'm also 1 load of laundry away from being all caught up on my laundry. This is just about a miracle. My laundry room was so piled with clothes there was stuff in there, at the bottom of the pile, I hadn't seen in months maybe even 8 months WoW! Another accomplishment was I cleared off the shelf in the laundry room and dusted it and painted a clear coat on it so it'll be easier to get the dust off next time. I won't say how long it had been since I dusted that shelf. Well. . . okay. . never. another Yikes!! I also reorganized the "junk" drawer in the kitchen. That sounds a little funny to say hee hee! organized junk. Let's see. . . what else have I done . . . I can't think of anything else major but I'm still very proud of myself. It hasn't been easy sticking to the schedule but I'm so glad I am. I've forgotten to set the timer each time too. Oops!
Here's what I'll wake up to in the morning!
Do you hear singing?! Maybe that's just me. :) hee hee!!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Summer Plans

I have some Big summer plans! It's not the beach. . . . or some crazy fun amusement park. . . . or the Grand Canyon . . . or any vacation at all actually. So what is it you ask? My house is going to get organized! I know you're probably confused right about now, but those are some BIG plans. You see, I never can do a quick, good job at cleaning my house b/c every time I go to put something away I notice that the closet or drawer or container I go to put "it" away in is disorganized or a mess. So then I start trying to organize it. I get so distracted and before you know it . . . an hour and a half later. . . I've got a bigger mess than I started with and my house. . . .NOT cleaned or picked up. Call it OCD . . . ADD. . . or what ever b/c I'm sure I've got something. It's bad ya'll. First, I'm going to make a daily schedule and stick to it. I'll post it here as soon as I finish it. I'll have things that I'll do as soon as I wake up and before I go to bed. There will be no if ands about it. The tasks will be 15 minutes or less. Who can't work at something for 15 minutes. I'm also going to do something I do for my students in my class that have a hard time staying focused. . . set a timer. After the timer is up I have to stop and do the next task. I don't think this will be a problem but I'm curious to find out. LOL I'll also have a "to-do" list. I'll have 2 times in the day that will be dedicated to knocking out something on that list. I will only allow myself to work for 30 minutes on these tasks. Some might only take 5 minutes. . . others might not be finished in the 30 minutes. It'll be hard to stop if the task isn't finished, but that's part of my frustration is spending hours on something and the day is gone. Plus I have two little ones who need me too. So, . . . again . . . I really don't know how all this is going to play out. But we'll all know soon enough. I also have "fly-lady" on my side.
My husband is taking off today so we can have some family fun so this schedule will begin tomorrow. I'm going to keep you up to date with my journey and I'm excited that you are following it. Please feel free to comment with anything that you're thinking. I love comments.