Baby Steps 11/8 - 11/13

[DragonfliiMama]

Monday: Recover from the weekend!
Tuesday: Bathroom day! Spend a little extra time on your bathroom tidy to make sure the toilets are clean or scrub out the tub, whatever is most needed.
Wednesday: Kitchen day! Spend a little extra time on your kitchen tidy - scrub the stovetop, sweep/mop the floor, clean the dishwasher, whatever is most needed this week.
Thursday: Holiday Prep! Take a look at your list of things you want to have done before Thanksgiving and get started on the first item.
Friday: Weekend Prep! Make sure your home is ready for a restful weekend. What can you do to keep problem areas under control this weekend?
Saturday: Enjoy some family time!

Daily Activities:

• 5 minute challenge participation (ideally, this should help you with little tasks - most days there is a thread here on GCM and every time you see it come up, you are supposed to go do something that takes about 5 minutes - for some, this becomes too distracting b/c they stray to other areas on GCM and end up spending too much time. So, you can do your own version, or the one here - you choose)
  
• Laundry (this can be sorting, folding, putting away, actually doing a load or several, or just making sure that clothes are put where they go - hung up, in the laundry, in the drawer - the idea being that you don't wind up with overwhelming piles of laundry that you are trying to do all at one time - and some days, hey, you might not have anything to do here )
  
• Your new habit (optional)
  
• Return 10 things to their appropriate homes (enlist your kids' help as appropriate; this is probably a good Monday and Tuesday activity for anything that gets pulled out and not put back during the weekend activities )
  
• 20-minute kitchen recovery (this is to help get dishes out of the sink, off the counters and to help with basic tidiness so *you* feel comfortable when you come into the kitchen - wiping down the stove and counters, making the kitchen next meal ready)
• Bathroom catch up / tidying (mostly getting the towels off the floor / sink, putting out fresh ones if needed, checking toilet paper and quick clearing / wipe down of the sink area and counters; not more than 15 minutes in here)
• Living space tidying (this is geared toward a once or twice daily clean up of toys and such - getting anything that is tossed on a surface that belongs in another room out and in the right space)
• Clutter Buster (this is basically choosing a hot spot where you tend to pile things up and sifting through it and getting it gone - this might combine easily with Returning 10 things to the place they belong - for me it's the corner of my dining room table )
  
• Two Do List (this is whatever you have to do today, but you only choose the two most important - not a list of 10 or 15 things - it can be anything you want - time with God, time with your children, time for you, making a phone call, paying bills, going out for groceries, etc., etc., etc. If you finish these things, you can come back and post a second Two Do List if you want to / find it helps)
• Daily Kiddo Challenge - Spend some age-appropriate focused time with your children today - read a story or two, sing some songs, play on the floor, do an art project, hang out and talk - connect with your little one(s) and share what you all did here
• Daily God Challenge - give God the best part of your day; may you be blessed by your daily time with Him
• Daily Me Challenge - a little ME time; give yourself a 15-minute break with permission to do *whatever* you want so you feel a bit renewed and refreshed.
• Menu Challenge - What are you having for lunch and supper?

Good morning everyone! I hope it's been a good morning for all of you, it's been a bit for me. Today is our recovery day, but I wonder if I might need to recover from today. And it's only 10:30! Oh well. What gets done gets done, it's better than nothing, right? I'll get a more organized post up at some point, but I wanted to at least get us started for the week.

[Llee]

Well, since EVERYONE was up early today, I got lots of laundry done. Like, all of it. And dishes worked on. And I'd made lasagna last night, so we had lunch ready. Now, what to do for supper?

[The Tickle Momster]

How did I not see this until 2PM?

I got started well, but have petered out something fierce. I'm supposed to be paying bills.

I'm also working on pics for the swap.

[Peridot]

Ok- tidied the LR before DH got home b/c the kids trashed it.

Got to the doctor with both boys and back.

lunch was 'old macdonalds' as Maximus calls it.

supper is reheated beef and rice soup.

we went to the library after DH got home.

Tomorrow is going to be a big day...

[DragonfliiMama]

Thank you for linking, Loralee.

I did get a bit done, but no dishes and didn't get supper started and Jimi will be home any minute. I think I'm going to push to really get things done tonight while Jimi is home though, b/c it is supposed to be almost 65 degrees tomorrow and I want to spend it at the zoo.

[The Tickle Momster]

washed & dried 6 loads of laundry. Not folded yet though.
Got the kids to pick up the living room. Much better.
Cleared 2 kitchen counters
Made oatmeal for bfast, salad/leftovers for lunch. and Getting to fajitas for dinner.

Listed 6 swap packages.
Went to the bank & deposited some long overdue to be deposited checks.

Made an appt for Camille to get more x-rays. (yes, I'm looking for sympathy. She may not want any, but I do. )

Now, to play some wii/exercise & then make dinner.

Oh yeah, we did some lessons too.

[Llee]

Michelle, how did the bill-paying go?

Peridot, looks like you got a lot done!

Amii, I hope everything gets done so you can do the zoo tomorrow.

Well, as it turned out, supper was leftovers for Dressy and I and cereal for dh. He didn't want anything but cereal, so I won't complain.

I took the girls on a walk today and Dancing got her first ride in a stroller. She wasn't all that impressed. Dressy had a few major meltdowns. 1) We didn't order tater tots at Sonic, only a slushie (we have a Sonic literally around the corner, though our house doesn't feel like we live in the city). Then, when I needed to help her push the stroller on the way home, the world came to an end.

She was out by 6:30 tonight, without nursing. That has happened um, well, since July, it hasn't happened. Dancing was out by 6. I plan on being out by 8.

So good night and see y'all tomorrow a.m.!

[greenjellysnakes]

Can I join in? I love the idea of the HHBC, but the reality is that it's just too much for me right now!

It's just past noon, Tuesday, here (Australia). So far I've washed two loads of laundry, one which has been hung out to dry. I've put away yesterdays clean laundry, played outside with the kids, fed the chickens, cooked black beans that I had soaking from last night, put away last nights clean dishes and washed the breakfast dishes. Oh, and resurrected the living room from this mornings play.

Breakfast was smoothies and granola, lunch is pasta and dinner will be vege fajitas, refried beans and quinoa salad.

We're having friends over tonight, so I need to do a bit of tidying up after lunch.

[filmgirl2911]

early risers here, too, but my wonderful husband told me I had to go back to bed

so the kitchen recovery is always a focal point and I gave away a bag of things. oh, and I did two loads of laundry, but they are still waiting for me to fold them

I want to start focusing on getting things ready for the holidays (yikes!)

and on Saturday I washed my whole stove in preparation for that task.

we'll see what else happens tonight / this week

---------- Post added at 01:31 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:27 AM ----------

wow you all have been *busy* high fives all around

and welcome greenjellysnakes (there's something I never thought I'd say, not being a fan of snakes, jelly or other )

[DragonfliiMama]

Well I did get a fair bit done this evening. Jimi took Gabriel out to the grocery store to look for Gabriel food - stuff I can have on hand to feed him quick and easy, since he needs to eat more often than I do. While they were gone, I cleaned the kitchen. Unloaded/reloaded dishwasher, hand washed the big stuff, dried it and put it away, wiped down all the counters and table. There is one pot still soaking and a couple little dishes cuz Jimi had ice cream. Mom brought home pizza for dinner, though, so no dinner dishes. I also swept the floor. Picked up the bedroom and vacuumed, got one load of laundry folded/put away and the next one in the washer. Did a wipedown in the bathroom and swept in there too. I want to switch laundry one more time before bed, but we should be in good shape for tomorrow - 1 load to fold/put away, 1 to dry then fold/put away, and empty/reload the dishwasher. And Jimi thanked me for not spending the entire night on the laptop.

Which leads me to something I wanted to let y'all know. I know I *just* took over posting the challenges, but I think I need to take a break from GCM for a little bit. I just spend way too much time on my computer and I need to do something drastic to break the habit. I think if everyone's happy with the really generic challenges I used last week, they could just be copied into a new thread every week? Um, that's what I did this week anyway. I kind of see it as being set up to give some general guidelines and the major stuff gets covered at least once a week, but then we can each decide what needs the most attention for our specific homes... Thurs or Fri could also be extra attention for living space and/or clutter busters if needed. Of course, if people prefer the other format with more specific challenges, that's cool too - and I'm totally willing to take it back when I come back from my break. I'm not sure yet exactly how long I plan on being gone. I think I'm going to say at least 2 weeks, maybe a month? I'm not sure yet. I won't start until swap ends, so it'll be Wed or Thur at the absolute earliest. But I wanted to give you guys a heads up.

[The Tickle Momster]

Welcome Tammy!

I got about half the bills paid. I'm a little because the mortgage hasn't come through yet. We are re-fi-ing, so I know we'll skip a payment, but I thought it would be next month. :s

Amii - I totally understand needing to take a break from here. It's totally addicting, sidetracking, time-sucking and wonderful!

[DragonfliiMama]

Yep, that about sums it up! But my family kinda needs me too, ya know?

[Llee]

I can do it while you're out and about.

[DragonfliiMama]

How are we doing this morning? Gjs, how did you finish out your day?

[The Tickle Momster]

I know. I found a note in my bathroom from dd last night. It was addressed to dh saying that she hoped I would spend less time on my 'puter today. I think after swaps get done, I'll take a break until January.

Dh came home & did 1/2 the dishes last night. So, i'm back to where I started yesterday morning. Can't seemt o get them all done.

breakfast is pancakes.
lunch & dinner are planned, I just don't remember what's on the plan.