The Scout Binder...

I am SO excited to share my new creation! Well...it's not exactly new.  I have been using this organizational system for about 4 years, but I am now sharing this organization and selling this fantastic scout binder!

When my oldest joined cub scouts I had NO IDEA what I was supposed to keep and what I was supposed to throw away.  I had no idea what was important and what I would wish I had years later. As the years passed (keep in mind I have 4 boys) I started to get a better idea of what was important to keep...usually everything! Since I love to organize I knew I needed a way to keep everything organized for EACH of my boys.  That is where the creation of this binder came along. GUYS... This binder saves my sanity! It will keep you organized from Cubs to Boy Scouts...Bobcat to Eagle! I call it The Scout Binder. 

Each binder will have a custom cover page and side binding with YOUR scouts name on it! I love seeing all my boys binders lined up on my shelf. To purchase The Scout Binder click HERE. Enjoy a sneak peek inside the binder!

To see a video of how the binder works click HERE then click on the video tab on the left hand side.

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memory boxes...

Part of getting my house summer ready involves going through all the school stuff and either trashing it or saving it.  For years I had no way to really store my kids stuff. A few years ago I saw some clear hanging file folder boxes on sale at Costco and I knew I had found my answer!

Each one of my kids has their own box with their name on it.  Inside are hanging folders for each grade. Early Years, Preschool - 12th Grade.  All papers and projects from the year go into the folder.  School pictures, report cards, my favorite artwork or homework.  There is also enough room that I also can keep things like their baby book, and other items too.

I scan all these items for scrapbooking purposes and then store them in their boxes.  I try to do this each month.  It is amazing how things don't pile up anymore when you have a place to put it!

chore charts...

I made these chore charts 3 years ago and they work great! You know it's a keeper idea when I use it multiple years in a row! 

Each year I usually do a bit of tweaking because they are all 1 year older.  I have a summer time version and a school time version.  This is a picture of our summer charts. Each kid gets their very own half sized clipboard with enough charts to last the summer.  1 paper lasts 1 week. Taped to the back of the clipboard is the cleaning chart of what I expect when they clean their bathroom and bedroom. And yes...for the "help Mom" chore I make them come up to me and say: "How can I help you today mom?" 

I have found that having a chart is extremely helpful for my kids.  Even my older kids sometimes need a reminder of what is expected each day.  In our house you don't get paid for chores.  You do your chores as part of our family to help our home stay nice and clean.  Also, no one can go play with friends (or hang out if your older than 11 yrs old lol) until after 10am and not until your chores are done.  If they dink around all morning and then their friend shows up at the door ready to play....sorry kiddo...not until your chores are done!

With 5 kids all trying to get chores done and me also trying to get my stuff done is another reason I love the charts.  I need the charts!  There is no way I can remember all of their stuff! If they say their chores are done I usually respond with: "okay, bring me your clipboard."  I run down their list of chores and ask if each thing has been done.  Lots of times there are a few things "forgotten" that need to be completed.

I have also found that most kids need structure and routines.  Summertime is the hardest because they go from the structure of school to nothing unless you provide it for them.  These chores take most my kids about an hour to complete.  That is just a drop in the bucket of a beautiful summer day!

Organization makes me happy!

show me the money...

Years ago as my oldest 2 were starting to become aware of money I scrambled to come up with a plan...."When do we start paying allowance?...Do we pay allowance for chores? How do we keep track of their tithing?  Who keeps their spending money?  Do they need wallets? "

To answer these questions I devised a system that worked for the last few years.  First we decided that we DO NOT pay our kids for chores.  Doing chores is a part of living in our family and we are all expected to help out.  Next I purchased pencil pouches for each kid that had 2 zipper pockets.  One was for their tithing and one was for their spending money.  We kept these pouches in a cupboard in the kitchen but they were usually loose and shoved.

The older they got the more they just helped themselves to their spending money and eventually they just kept their spending money in their rooms or in their wallets. This has been working, but lately has been falling apart.  First I must admit that I haven't been as diligent in paying them their allowance at the first of the month.  So for weeks and weeks they keep asking and asking and usually the Mr. pulls the allotted cash out of his wallet and hands it over.  Tithing getting paid... but not in the "lets figure out what 10% is" kind of way, but the "a dollar or two should cover it" kind of way.  I really want my kids to understand the concept and knew that this wasn't going to achieve that goal.

Combine all that with  my older boys approaching teenage hood and the possibility of earning more than just the allowance that we pay them I knew that it was time to revamp the plan.

Here were our new needs:

• still providing a place for them to store their tithing until they fill out their slips and pay it (10% of all income)
• get the kids started on adding to their own savings account instead of just us (10% of all income)
• teach them about saving up money for more expensive items they want while still having quick spending money
• teach them how to keep track of their money by learning to fill out a bank register

I saw a picture on Pinterest that sparked my new idea.  It was the idea of a Family Bank!!  The idea behind the bank is that all our kids would have a central place for their money.  They will have a place to store their tithing, to store their savings until we deposit it into their real savings account, and a place for spending money that works like a debit account.

One of the troubles that my boys have been having is that they really want to save for things that cost more, but when that blasted ice cream truck comes around they quickly blow through any money they have access to with out thinking.

Time for a change...

First I went to the store and bought a binder and after a little searching I found the type of pencil pouch that I needed. I wanted one with 3 separate zippered pouches. These particular pouches have 3 ring grommets to put into a binder and have 2 pockets on one side and a larger one on the back.  I purchased one for each of my kids including the younger 2 (they don't need them yet, but how many times have I found the PERFECT thing and only purchased what I needed for the older kids and then when I needed it for the younger ones I can't find it anywhere!) I labeled each one with the kids name and then labeled each pocket. The front two pockets are for tithing and savings and the back pocket is labeled spending.

Here is how it works:

We pay our kids $1 for each year they are old, once a month.  So my oldest is 11 and receives $11 a month.  When it is time to pay allowance I get it all in cash and even get the necessary dollars in coins so that they can pay their tithing and savings exactly.  So for my oldest I set out $11.  $10 in dollar bills and $1 in coins.  We sit down together and open up the Family Bank binder.  He puts $1.10 in his tithing pouch, $1.10 in his savings pouch and then the remaining $8.80 is left for spending.  He then decides how much he wants to put into his spending pouch and how much to put into his wallet.  This can be different each month.  The idea behind this is that the money placed into the spending pouch works like a debit account.  The rest is wallet money that can be spent willy nilly on all the ridiculous ice cream or otter pops from the corner stand he wants .  Before withdrawing from his spending pouch he has to come to me (his "debit card" mom) and request to take money out.  I created sheets that look like a check register where they record all deposits and withdrawals. This extra step helps them think first if they REALLY wants to spend it.  If they do it is their choice.

Because all deposits and withdrawals are recorded my kids are really able to see where their money comes from and where it goes.  Every time they earn money they go through this process....tithing, savings, and dividing up their spending.  Sometimes they want all their spending money to be wallet $...that is totally fine.

My hope in doing all of this is that by the time my kids are ready to be on their own they will have the knowledge they need to manage their money wisely through paying their tithing, saving, and learning to spend properly!

I love love love this!!!

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!)

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!

boys and their "own" toys...

Do you have 2 children sharing a room?
Are they at the age where they are starting to have "their" own stuff?
Do they need a space of their own?
Are you getting sick of the piles of stuff?
Do your kids like Legos?
Do they always have something that they "just can't break apart because it took all day"?

Then I have the solution for you...

The Trofast storage system from Ikea. Santa brought both of my boys each their own tower. Santa was a little nervous spending $65 dollars/kid (that includes the bins too), but I can tell you now...4 months later that it was the BEST decision ever!! Gone are the days of the piles of stuff that look useless to me but were treasures to them. Gone are the days of the never ending battle to get them to throw stuff away or find a place for it! The rule now is: If it doesn't fit in your "secret drawers" then it can't stay!

One of my favorite parts is that it is flat on the top...the perfect place for all of those "please don't make me break this apart!" Lego masterpieces!

meal cards...

So about a year ago I over heard a couple of women talking about how hard it is to choose, plan, shop, and make dinners for their families...totally a topic I struggle with too...so I kinda sorta listened for a little bit...one of the women said, "I have decided to assign a theme to each day...like Mondays are breakfast for dinner, Tuesday is Italian, Wednesday is Mexican, Thursday is leftovers, etc..." I heard this and somewhere in the frustrated part of my mind a light clicked on! I could do that! So a few months ago I put my thoughts about that idea into action. I thought a lot about how much I HATE trying to figure out what to make for dinners, how much I HATE grocery shopping, and how much I would LOVE if this process was easier! So here is what I came up with:

I go grocery shopping every 2 weeks so the amount of meals I need to plan for is a lot...

• I chose 7 recipe themes

Italian, Mexican, Breakfast, Crock pot, Random, Casseroles, and Soups

• I made a list of all the recipes that we like and placed them into my categories

• I then went through each recipe and wrote down the ingredients that I don't normally have in the house at all times (this is another part of the planning struggle for me...once I pick what to make I HATE digging out the recipe for each meal and trying to figure out what I need)

• Then I created CUTE 5x7 cards in Photoshop with my lists, printed them off at Wal-mart.

Can I just say that using my cards to make my list made my meal planning a SNAP!! It took half the time it normally does before I go out the door. I am so pleased. It WORKS!!!! Instead of needing to plan 12-14 meals it was so fun to pick 2 of each category (some how groups of 2 seem less daunting) and then right underneath each meal are the things I need...no more pulling recipes! And the great part about creating the cards in Photoshop is that I can add more recipes and print off a new card super easy too!

Here are my cards on a simple small black clip board that I used E6000 to glue 4 strong magnets to the back of so that I could hang it on my fridge.



This is my meal planning/list command post. (we have a stainless steal fridge so nothing sticks to the front...) I have my meal clip board, a pen, and it wouldn't be my house if I didn't have sticky note pads. The blue one is only for writing down my shopping list. Anytime I notice I am out of something I write it down. Food items on the left...non food items on the right. (yep...I am a little crazy when it comes to organizing things...) When I am ready to go shopping I pick my meals and write the ingredients on my list as well. Hooray!!! It totally works. (also...see the orange sticky note? That is where I write the list of what meals I have ingredients for and plan on making during the 2 weeks. Assigning a theme to each day works great, but sometimes I just don't wanna cook pancakes/breakfast on Monday and so I can just pick something else off the list!

school papers...

I have loads and loads of papers that come home with my 3 children from school. They unload all of it onto my kitchen counter and I can’t stand it anymore. If I am not standing there watching WHAT comes out of WHOSE bag I end up walking around with random papers yelling, “Who brought this home? Does this belong to you? Do I need to sign this? When does this paper go back?” Some things go back the next day…some things not until Friday…with each kids teacher there is a different system…there are bag books, and sorting words, home work, and permission slips…yikes… I have tried creating a pile for each kid on the counter, but then the Mr. comes home from work with the mail and plops it down on top of my piles and…well…it is driving me crazy! Luckily I am surrounded by great crafty and talented friends. One such friend had a fabulous idea and I am totally going to copy her! She made a clipboard for each of her kids (and herself) for all of their stuff to be put on. She got a great shelf from IKEA and they just lean against the wall in her craft room. LOVE IT!! Not only are they super cute, but it keeps everything for each child organized & up and out of the way!

Supplies:

plain brown clipboards (I got mine for $ .99 from Wal-Mart. )

scrapbook cardstock to cover each one

modge podge

sponge brush

spray adhesive (optional…I used this, but you could use modgepodge)

sandpaper

sissors, papper cutter

(click on pictures to enlarge)

Step #1: Find a place for your project to live. I recently purchased a lovely peg board and I hung it in my laundry room. I plan on putting my finished clip boards on a shelf over the pegs.

Step #2: Gather your supplies. Make sure you have 2 -12x12 sheets of paper per clipboard. You don't need a ton of modge podge so if you have some you probably won't need to get more, but if you don't have any you won't need more than a little craft paint sized bottle.

Step #3: Take your paper for your first clip board. Cut it down so that it is a little larger than the clip board. Maybe like 1/8th of an inch hanging over. Don't worry about cutting it too straight because we will sand it off later. Next cut 2 notches in the top of your paper so that you can slide it past the bolt thingys. Slide the paper under the silver clip making sure you line up the notches in your paper with the 2 bolt things. Now this was a little harder than I pictured. I had to use a butter knife to slip under the silver clip to lift it up a little. It took a little elbow grease, but I was able to slip the paper under. I wasn't able to get my paper all the way to the top...thats okay...just get it as close as you can. Be careful not to rip your paper in all your elbow greaseiness!

Step #4: A 12x12 paper isn't quite long enough to cover the board so use some extra paper at the bottom. Cut any additional decorative paper for your clip boards. I used some coordinating paper at the bottom of each of mine. Get creative...you can decorate them however you want.

Step #5: Next step is to glue your paper onto your boards. I used a spray adhesive out on my back porch. It goes on really even, but is a little sticky...you can also use modge podge too. I had already slipped my paper under the clips...and I wasn't about to pull them out, so I just lifted the paper up and sprayed underneath. Make sure you leave plenty of time for the glue to dry.

Step #6: Use your sandpaper to sand off the edges of the paper. This was so cool! It totally makes a crisp, straight line. It was a little tough sanding through the layered paper at the bottoms of my boards...just took some of that elbow grease I talked about earlier. Who knew we would also be working out!

Step #7 & #8: I used some ink pads to antique the edges of each board. This step is optional, but I think it looks cute and adds a finished touch!

Step #9: It's time to modge podge! I placed grocery bags under each board so that I wouldn't get the podge onto my counter. Completely cover the front and sides of each board. If you used paper instead of card stock the chances of it bubbling go up. If it does bubble...don't worry it looks worse when wet than it does when it's dry! Let each board completely dry.

Thats it folks! Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy!!

I bought a long black Ribba shelf in IKEA's frame department and voilà instant organization!