staying organized...

I just LOVE being organized!

I am also a firm believer in putting things where you normally use them too!

I don't know how many times I used to walk up stairs to get lotion after doing the dishes before I realized that I could just put a small bottle in my kitchen cabinet, or how many times I would go into the nursery to grab a diaper for my 2 year old (yes..I have 2 in diapers) when I never change him in the nursery...before I finally decided to make another bin and put his diaper stuff on top of his dresser (yes...I change him on the floor).

One thing I have learned about being "efficiently mommy organized" is that sometimes it means having multiples of the same thing... just in different places!!

the mommy pouch...

Do you have childhood memories of your mom's purse? I do! It seemed like my mom had just about everything in her purse...need a nail file? a cough drop? how about headache medicine? or a pair of scissors? She seriously could have had a hammer in there and I wouldn't have been surprised!

I have discovered that becoming a well organized mommy isn't something that happens the moment you have a baby...or 4...it happens as needs arise and you look for a way to solve that problem in a way that works for your family.

Like I have said before...sometimes being an organized mommy means having multiples of the same thing just in different places. (I don't know how many times I have needed something and thought, "Oh! I have that...just not with me...it's at home!)

As my kids started growing older I noticed that when we were out and about I found myself needing things that I didn't have like a band aid or a wipe for sticky hands. So a few years ago I made these awesome pouches...

I made a list of things that we often need all the time.

Pouch contents:

• lotion
• hand sanitizer
• tissue pouch
• chapstick
• Band-Aids

In the pouch I keep in my purse I also have:

• Tylenol
• hot hands
  

I made 3 of these pouches. One is in my purse...one is in our church bag...and one is in our family car. The great thing about having it all zipped up in one little pouch is that you can move it where you need it...are you a gal that changes purses often? Now you just move your pouch over too instead of needing to empty all your purse pockets!

We tend to go through the lotion and tissues the fastest! ; )

hair buckets...

I have a "girl" hair bucket and a "boy" hair bucket. My girl hair bucket I keep upstairs in my bathroom because that is usually where I do her hair. I could put it in the kid bathroom...but I believe you should store stuff where you actually use it.

In keeping with this pattern of thought is why my "boy" hair bucket is in my kitchen pantry..."Why the pantry?" you might be asking yourself...well because I usually do my boy's hair after they eat breakfast right before they walk out the door. So to be "efficiently mommy organized" I don't put it in their bathroom...I put it where I use it!

Boy Hair Bucket...

Girl Hair Bucket...

bath time bucket...

 I can't believe that it took me almost 9 years of bathing children to finally create this bucket!! 

After years and years of gathering all the things I would need to use to get the kids clipped, brushed, and lotioned EVERY SINGLE TIME I bathed them I finally thought, "why don't I just put it all in one bucket and stick it under the sink!"  In the past I would grab MY  clippers and brush, grab the lotion off of the baby changing table and some Q-tips out of MY drawer...then I would have to put it all back again when I was done.  To create this bucket I bought a cheap new brush, clippers, and a bottle of lotion.  I used a disposable kid cup to hold a large handful of Q-tips and voila instant bath bucket.

Bucket contents:

• Brush
• lotion
• nail clippers
• comb
• cup
• Q-tips 

Also here is a picture of one of my favorite bath time MUST HAVE items.  It is a huge bath cup that I bought at Wal-Mart a few years back.  I makes washing out shampoo super easy! (It also makes filling up a baby bathtub a breeze too!)

bedtime routine...

Here is our family bedtime routine:

• "Wind Down" time. This involves getting into their jammies, brushing their teeth and then lying down watching a movie, or a kid show. This isn't a time to run around or be silly...it is a time to let your body slow down!
• if they haven't brushed their teeth we do it after wind down time.
• We read scriptures as a family. At this point it is only a few verses each night.
• We say a family prayer
• Then hugs and kisses and into bed.
• Our kids sleep in 2 different rooms so the Mr. and I take turns putting either the boys to bed or our daughter. Each of us has something we do with the kids once they are in bed. Sometimes we read books or sing songs.
• Next it is lights out, door closed, and time for bed.

Now just because we go through our routine doesn't mean that we have kids that all stay in their beds and go right to sleep...we do battle some nights! But I would rather fight the bed time battle earlier than later in the evening!

early to bed...

I am a FIRM believer in early bed times for kids. This wasn't a decision that I made...it just sort of happened. When my first baby was born I tried to pay attention to his natural sleep rhythm. I noticed after a few months that he got cranky and tired at around the same time each night. As the months went by he got cranky and ready for bed earlier and earlier. By 7 or 8 months old he was going to bed at 7pm and sleeping until 6am. Well...after 5 kids I can say that he was a really good sleeper to be sleeping through the night so early, but even with my babies that haven't slept through the night until much later they have all been ready for bed around 7pm.

I have heard many people say, "My kids just aren't ready for bed that early..." Well...I bet they would be if your bed time routine started earlier. During the fall and winter months where it is dark earlier we start our bedtime routine around 6:30pm. This helps them wind down at the end of the day. Their bodies start to slow down and the natural result is that they are sleepy and ready for bed. If your family is busy busy busy until later in the evening they will naturally be up longer. Sometimes starting our routine so early can be hard when my husband doesn't get home from work until 5:45 or 6pm.

Babies and kids need almost 12-14 hours of sleep each night. Especially once they start school.

Another reason that I LOVE the early bed time is that my husband and I then have a few hours at a decent time of night to spent together before we go to bed. I cherish this even more now that we have 5 little ones. We need time to connect and still get to bed at a decent hour ourselves.

to party...or not to party...that is the question...

When I was growing up the rule in our house was that we could have a "friend" party on our even birthdays and "family" parties on the odd birthdays. I didn't mind this as a kid, and now as a mom I totally understand why my parents came up with this rule...parties are a LOT of work.

So as I started having children and those children starting having birthdays I threw my first "friend" party. It was for my first son's 3rd birthday...now it wasn't a disaster, but after all was said and done I thought, "it was fun, but I don't think he even cared whether his friends were there or not...and really he has friends, but mostly they are my friends kids.." Then I remembered the rule from my childhood and decided that we would adopt it into our family with their first "friend" party starting when they turn 6.

So far this has worked fantastically! By the time they turn 6 they have a fun cluster of their own friends to invite and they are old enough to really enjoy having them all over to celebrate.

I have also noticed that my kids enjoy our "family" parties too. I enjoy the more cozy nature that a family party creates, and because the friend parties are less often when they do come around it is funner to plan and do them.

Why the "friend" parties on the even birthdays?...well all the really important age milestones seem to fall on even birthdays...8...12...16...18...

Having this rule in place since my kids have been young means that they don't really even question or throw a fit about wanting a friend party...(so far)!

keeping track of time...

Staying on time... I bought 3 generic egg timers at Wal-Mart and put each kids name on them. What does this do to help me stay "organized" you might ask...Well...in my house each kid has a zillion things that I need to keep timed! Like 20 minutes of reading, or 20 minutes of piano practice, or time out, or quiet time in the afternoons. I find it totally over whelming when my kids yell..."Mom how many more minutes do I have?" "I don't know!!" I found myself saying back. They would each start at different times, but close enough to each other that I would get confused as to who started when...Now they each have a timer to help keep track of all of the "minutes" of work they have to do.

Simple and easy, yet SO helpful!

lunch box treat...

I was thumbing through my favorite magazine and found this super cute idea for an adorable lunch box treat! It is a tube of Rolos with a Hershey's kiss on the top made to look like a pencil! How cute is that?!!


Here is what you will need to make one:
1 Rolo
1 Hershey kiss
yellow card stock
pink card stock
tinfoil
pinking shears or zig zag scissors
tape
glue dots
paper crimper or something to bend paper

First step: Measure your yellow paper so that it covers 95% of the Rolo pack. Crimp the paper or use a straight edge to create lines going down the paper. Then cut one edge of the paper with your scissors. Use tape to adhere the paper to the Rolo pack.

Next take your pink card stock and cut small strips to cover the end of the Rolo pack. Adhere with tape. Then use a quarter to cut circles for the end or the "eraser" Use a glue dot to stick the circle to the bottom.



Next cut a small strip of tin foil and tape it to the bottom seam where the pink and the yellow meet.

Last step is to use a glue dot and place your kiss on the other end of the Rolo pack. I pulled/ripped the kiss tag out.

summer schedule...

I just love summer! I love the warmth and sun. I love the popsicles and trips to the pool. I love it all! What I don't love is thinking of ways to keep my kids happy and busy the whole time! We have the rule that you can't play with friends until 10 am, but my kids get up so blasted early that 10am seems so far away! Last year I added some school work and chores to our summer morning routine, and it worked SO well that I am totally doing it again...and I thought I would share...

I found some awesome notebooks for the kids that look a lot like the papers that my boys were bringing home from school.



It has a place for them to write a few sentences and then draw a picture above. I got them at Target. I also picked up a few Math books. So here is a run down of our new schedule:

8:30am-Breakfast
9am-Write in journal or do 1 math page
9:15ish-20 minutes of reading
9:45ish-do chore

Chores with my kids has been hard for me to implement. I don't know why...I grew up doing chores, but coming up with age appropriate chores has been hard. Last summer I started the whole chore thing...it has worked great and once they were into the routine it wasn't hard to keep it going through the school year too! Here is what they do: my 8 year old cleans the kids bathroom and my 7 year old cleans the 1/2 bath down stairs. By clean I mean wipe down the counter and mirror and take out the garbage every day. On Saturdays, however, they will do the Saturday version of the chore by not only cleaning the counter and mirror and taking out the garbage, but cleaning the toilet and sweeping the floor too! Even before we started my boys were saying,"What about Bailey?" (my 5 year old) ...In her journal I have her come up with a sentence and I will write it for her and then she will draw a picture to go along with it. For reading time I will read to her instead and her chore will be to help keep the loft clean.

I have learned that more structure to our mornings helps with the boredom that seems to always set in an hour after they wake up!!