A lofty goal: Creating more space in our bedroom

Jordan and I have a king-size bed.  After our second child, Ivey, was born, we decided we wanted to upgrade from a queen, and when Robert was born 20 months later, we certainly were glad to have it!  Unfortunately, though, it took up a good chunk of our bedroom.  With no garage and not very many closets, we were feeling crunched for space, so we recently decided to take action.

Before we thought of doing anything in our room, we got our oldest, Suzi the Artist, a twin-size loft bed with a long desk underneath and put it in our craft room.  Now it's a Suzi/craft room, which works out since Suzi is so frequently doing crafts.  No pictures of that yet; the whole room needs a good decluttering!  But Suzi loves it and it solved several space issues we were having.  When we saw how well that worked out, we wondered:  Why not loft our king-size bed?

Yes, it's possible!  We googled and found lots of inspiration.  This bed by M.C. Woodworks is one of my favorites.  There are also a few examples of loft beds with stairs that open to offer easy-access storage space!  It took us two weekends to get it done, but here is our finished project.

Yes, she's wearing bunny ears.  She's thinking of being the Easter Bunny for Halloween.  Ha ha!

On the other side of that curtain of pretty fabric is...

Steps with storage underneath!  They are close enough to the wall that getting in and out of bed is safe and easy.  They do not flip open--we decided against that.  But there is still a good bit of storage space underneath them that we can access from underneath our loft.

We didn't spend much money at all on the things we put under our loft.  First we have our two nightstands, which we obviously can't use as nightstands anymore.  We added an inexpensive white shelf for books.  A few months ago we found a dining room chair with broken legs on the side of the road, and removed the legs completely, planning to turn it into a swing.  Until we can do that, it'll serve as seating under our loft.  The kids love listening to records on my 1980's Fisher-Price record player, especially while they relax in our hammock, which we found at a yard sale for $3!

So, after a couple of weekends of thinking, planning, hard work, and a little reorganizing, we now have a brand new (and much needed) area to hang out and relax, where there absolutely could not have been one before.  It was so worth it!

P.S.  We aren't experts and you could probably find a really good, detailed tutorial somewhere else, but if you want to know more about how we made our loft, shoot me an email or leave a comment.  It really wasn't that hard!

How to love your little artist--without spending a dime

I have a craft room that I love... most of the time.  Because it's the one room of the house that no one lives in and company does not see, a lot of junk gets shoved in there.  Company will come, or we'll need to move something that we don't really have a place for, or I'll neglect to clean up after a project or five, and bam!  It's a crap room instead of a craft room.  As of yesterday, it was quite crappy.  So I decided to fix that.

Yesterday morning, a little while after I started this project

On Saturday afternoon we went to pick the kids up from my mom's house (they had spent the night), and when we arrived the girls were making things out of modeling clay.  Suzi (6) had spent hours sculpting a couple of little teacups.  She was so proud of them.  We were getting ready to leave soon, so she put one of her cups on the table and went to wash the clay off her hands.  While she was gone, either Robert (2) or Ivey (almost 4) squashed one of her cups.  She was heartbroken and furious.  Clenched fists, screaming, crying...  It was terrible.  No one should have their art destroyed.

Suzi had a desk at our house, and even though it was counter-height it still was not completely safe from the littles.  I have known she needed a better space of her own for a long time.  We would love to give her a room of her own, but we'll have to add on to the house for that to be an option, so it'll be a while.  I decided to do the best I could for now.  We recently got rid of a ton of stuff we didn't need, which opened up some spaces in the craft/crap room.  The natural light and view of treetops and sky was too much for me to resist.  I decided to set up an arts and crafts nook for Suzi in that spot.

I sent a big pile of fabric to Goodwill, thinned and consolidated craft supplies, moved stuff around, and vacuumed.  While I was at it, I set aside a bunch of scraps, fabric, beads, buttons, and other things for Suzi.  By mid-afternoon it was looking awesome!  I kept the door closed so Suzi had no idea what I was doing in there.  After she was in bed I cleaned off her desk and moved her stuff to the new space.

Here's one more look at the before pic (blech)...

And here's how it turned out!

Late last night, after I finished

When Suzi woke up this morning I took her up to her new space and she loved it!  I made a little reveal video a la Clean House but my voice sounds weird so I won't share that.  There are enough craft supplies on that shelf to keep her busy for months.  She's been up there all morning creating things in her pajamas, and keeps discovering new little things tucked away in the baskets and bins.  I even gave her some Sculpey clay so I can bake whatever she makes, and it won't get squished anymore!

All hers now

Not a bad view, and you should see it at sunset!

The first thing she made was a little sweater for her "dog," Petey, out of a sweater sleeve.  There have been at least five other projects since then, and when I go check on her she shows me what she's done and pauses to smile and say "Thanks, Mom.  Thank you for everything!"  I feel like a fairy godmother.  Robert's naptimes are going to be awesome because (sometimes) I'll get to spend them crafting alongside my little artist.  And I didn't spend a dime!  Why didn't I do this months ago?!

A cleaning weekend, before and after

We spent most of our at-home time over the weekend cleaning and organizing, and it has made a great difference!  Clear surfaces make my days with the kids so much easier.  The one thing we didn't clean up is the kids' mess.  Their toys are still strewn all over the living room.  They drag them right back out the minute the place is clean, so there was no point.  Here are a few before-and-after shots of what we did clean.

BEFORE:  Dining room, and this is on a good day!

AFTER:

BEFORE:  Front table, which catches all the junk we haul in from the van

AFTER:

BEFORE:  End table next to my office (the recliner where I nurse Robert/get online)

AFTER:

BEFORE:  Other side of the recliner

AFTER:

BEFORE:  Kitchen, with a Jordy who thinks these pictures are silly

 AFTER:  Oh, he likes it.

I realized after putting out my few little Halloween decorations that I need lots more of them.  There are at least a couple more things in the attic.  Other than that, maybe I'll see what I can make or find at thrift shops before hitting Party City or Halloween Express!

Eye teeth

Robert is learning to give kisses and they are the sweetest, spittiest little kisses any baby boy ever gave, mmm-mah!

Robert is cutting his eye teeth and at least one molar. Ouch. Last night he finally fell asleep around midnight, I think. Jordan has always been the primary baby cuddler and puts Robert to sleep each night. He is awesome like that. The way Robert has been lately, if he does fall asleep we're afraid to put him down in the bed. That'll probably wake him up, and he hasn't even wanted to nurse to sleep at night lately. I feel bad for him, because clearly the poor little guy is uncomfortable a lot of the time and there's only so much I can do to help.

It's been hard for the rest of us, too. It's hard to juggle baby cuddling, meal preparing, spending time with my girls, homeschooling, cleaning, and other assorted projects I must do. We've been taking a break on the homeschooling. I am sure the girls would love for me to read to them more, without the baby whining and crying at us. Jordan does most of the cooking. The house gets really messy sometimes. Do you know how many dirty dishes and dirty clothes a family of five can generate? It's nuts! By the time I've dealt with all that, I barely have any time or focus to tackle what I call second-tier cleaning jobs. You know, things you say you'll do once the laundry is put away and the floor isn't covered in toys. Stuff like cleaning out the craft (crap) room, going through the kids' outgrown clothes, clearing the dining room table, or seeing if I can find the top of my dresser. I've been thinking about making a list of all these tasks I'd like to do and checking one or two off every week. Maybe then I could eventually work on third-tier stuff like reorganizing and decorating.

By the way, I am still skating! I love and need this in my life right now. Here is what's going on with derby.

Staying home, trying to get stuff done

The UPS man delivered our crystal ball prism last night, and this morning we woke up to little rainbows all over our kitchen. They dance all over the walls and floors, but you can't grab them in your hand or tuck them away to keep.

Suzi is dancing around with a paper coffee mug and decanter she cut out of a magazine, singing a happy nonsensical tune and asking "would you like some coffee?" Ivey is working on an art project involving scissors and glue at the kitchen counter. I can't see her. I am a little nervous.

While I tried to set them up for crafts and put diapers on to wash, Robert grabbed his sippy cup off the table and shook it out all over the floor and himself.

There was glue to unclog. A Bobber to change, because he was soaked from sippy cup water. I poured myself a third cup of coffee.

Suzi asks again, "hey, would you like some coffee?" I tell her to please pour it in my mug. That way I can drink pretend coffee and the real one at the same time. It is cold now, but it still works.

Yesterday was Suzi's fifth birthday, and she got a Green Lantern doll. Today she told us it was Green Lantern's tenth birthday. She decorated a little gift box for him with marker, we sang happy birthday, and he opened his gift. He really liked the card Suzi made him.

A little while ago I had to put the sofa cushions back on because Ivey had taken them and several blankets and thrown them in the floor. She was having a picnic, you see. Almost our entire collection of board books is strewn all over the dining room floor, probably for a similar reason. I'm not sure. My grown-up eyes don't see what they see.

I love watching Suzi and Ivey play together, as long as they're not fighting. Ivey and Robert love to play together too. Ivey is sort of bilingual. She can talk to older kids and adults, but also communicates well with Robert, who is 20 months younger than she is. I keep catching them working together as they play, sometimes making sounds but not speaking words. With Suzi and Robert, it's not the same.

I've just nursed Robert to sleep, but I'm afraid to try to put him down. It would probably wake him up, and if that didn't wake him up, his sisters would wake him up with their yelling. He's kind of sweet when he's asleep, anyway. It's just about the only time I get to hold him anymore.

Through the sliding glass door I see a yard spotted with a million bright yellow dandelions. Those will need to be mowed tonight. I get a little panicky thinking about being inside alone with the three kids for a couple of extra hours while Jordan takes care of the yard. We are having a birthday party this weekend, and I still need to de-junk the dining room, clean the kitchen and the bathroom, pick up the living room, keep up with the dishes and laundry, bake cupcakes and frost them, decorate the house, and wrap a gift. It's insane. I have a lovely countdown checklist that would work like a dream if only I could stick to it.

But the children are on my heels, undoing what I've done, undoing me, and distracting me from doing anything else on my list. It's like swimming upstream, running against the wind. I don't hate it. It's a challenge. They are more than worth it. After a few more years of this, I don't know how I'll ever be able to handle just working on a task again. It'll be lonely and too quiet. It'll feel weird. My limits are being stretched and I am growing during these distracting, loud, messy, exhausting days.

Now Robert's power nap is over. The boy can't walk yet, but he can rearrange lightweight furniture. He can also pull a chair up to the bookshelf, climb onto it, and pull down books. The floor is covered in a vast array of interesting toys, but he can single-mindedly pinpoint every possible way there is to get into trouble and drive me nuts. The things I cannot babyproof.

Some days I just give in completely to the chaos. I just let the mess overcome the house because cleaning it up is like peeing in the ocean. I know that someday we will be able to have nice furniture, and keep drinks and books on our end tables. When that happens I will probably miss having a teeny boy cruising along the furniture saying "dat! dat! dat!" and grabbing for anything he can spill, break, or tear into pieces.

And that is why some days I just give in to it. But today I have a party to prepare for. I can do this. I will scoop up the giggling gap-toothed boy, put him on my back in the Ergo, and attack my to-do list with excessive force. I will not get sidetracked. I will not blow my top.

It will be a good day.

UPDATE: It somehow all got done! Dining room, living room, kitchen, dishes, laundry, and I even wrapped the gift and started decorating. The kids were so sweet and let me work, and now we are running on schedule. Jordan finished working in the yard and it's not even 7:00. Also, I put all the wooden train tracks on vacation and brought out some larger toys instead, so now the kids can't trash the house quite so severely.

When you're feeling discouraged, declutter

Yesterday started out to be a bad day. The girls were whiny and uncooperative, Robert was sick with a cold and possibly teething, and Jordan and I were discouraged. Ever feel like all the cleaning you do is pointless because the kids are just going to mess it all up again within minutes?

So we decided to do the only form of cleaning we've found to be semi-permanent: decluttering. Pack the crap off to Goodwill and you'll never have to sort it again! We took six garbage bags of stuffed animals, toys, and clothes, plus at least five large items out of the girls' room. And that is not a large room. You would think the girls might have been sad about it, but we involved them in our decision-making and they were fine. It feels so good to be able to walk into that room without sidestepping and twisting around. The girls might be able to play together in there now without getting into each other's space and fighting. And the best part may be that it is now totally possible to rearrange and fit a toddler bed in there for Robert. Yep--we could have all three of our kids in one room. It would allow us to put off remodeling our house or moving for an extra couple of years.

I'll probably put up pictures of the girls' decluttered room once we get it looking nice. We had to get rid of a chalkboard/whiteboard easel that didn't fit and was blocking access to the bed, and Jordan had the idea to paint a space on their wall with chalkboard paint instead. There are a couple of other little improvements we could make as well. Meanwhile, I want to take six bags of stuff out of every room in our house! I felt a little panicked yesterday dropping it all off, but I love the results and doubt we will miss anything. I think we will go through my sweater stash (for crafting) next. I am a bit of a sweater hoarder, I'm afraid!

A cleaning trick that works for me

The other morning I woke up and came downstairs to this.

It has been much worse at times. Just imagine this photo, but with cereal strewn across the floor, puddles of water here and there, a path of broken crayons, and a few more toys scattered about. This angle doesn't do it justice. You can't see the dirty dishes and junk piled on the end tables. It's just the way things are with three little kids, for obvious reasons.

It stresses me out to have things so messy, and the main problem is it's hard to tell where to start. I tried several different systems and came up with one I like. I can wake up in the morning, come downstairs to a big mess, and within 20 minutes have my day back on track.

First, I get a timer set for five minutes. Each step should take only that long. If I finish one step with time still left, I work on one of the others.

1) Run around with a trash bag and throw all the garbage you see into it.

2) Grab all the dirty dishes and throw them in the sink, and then get started washing them.

3) Collect all the dirty clothes and get a load going in the washer. Start folding anything that might be in the dryer.

4) Put things away and straighten up the main room, as fast as you can.

It doesn't fix everything, but once 20 minutes is up my living room looks more like this:


Now the house looks decent, dirty dishes are all in one place, and laundry is underway! From here I have a much easier time seeing what needs to be done.

Do you have a system you use to help with cleaning?

So far today

Mama Susie and Robert meeting for the first time on Sunday

Handled a major newborn poop blowout. It was while his diaper was off, during a change. This is my third child and I've never seen a kid get this kind of distance with a BM. He got it in my hair but thankfully my face was out of the way. Had to clean up our bassinet/changing station.

Broke up at least ten sisterly disagreements including hair-pulling, pushing, hitting, baby doll custody battles and crying. Sigh. Is there a right way to do this? Because I have no idea what it might be.

Stepped on at least one sharp toy.

Scrubbed Jordan's dirty dishes from making buffalo wings but he got up with Robert this morning while I slept so I'm not really all that irritated.

Finished at least three loads of laundry and started washing diapers.

Straightened up enough so that we can at least walk through here.

Watched Ivey pour her sippy cup water into plastic teacups and use it to wash her baby doll and decided I couldn't come up with a good enough reason to stop her, especially when she's having such a good time.

Nursed a baby boy and held him and loved him and

Typed this post one-handed. I am getting pretty good at this.

It's been kind of a rough morning, but also good. I got a lot done even though I'm not nearly finished. In a little while we're going over to my parents' house to spend time with my grandma. I'm calling it a day.

Mama's projects and Suzi's

Several weeks ago I made a little upcycled silk ballet skirt for Suzi, but the chore of hemming the thing outstripped my attention span by a mile. I still have about half of that hem to do! After making some singed-edge flowers I started to wonder what else you could singe the edge of. I thought it would be fun to do a little dance skirt and have the hemline resemble petals or leaves. So I made this for Suzi out of more of that prom dress, and it was fast. She wore it to dance yesterday and I think it was mostly a success, but also a learning experience. I might blog about the process later.

I frequently set up to craft at the dining room table and tell the girls this is my project, but I'll get them started on one of their own. Now whenever Suzi is working on anything she calls it her "project!" And it's very important that no one interrupt her or mess with it! The project from yesterday and on into this morning is cutting paper into tiny bits for her Grandma and Grandpa. I gave her a Charlie's Soap bag to put her finished confetti in. I love to see her working on things and getting excited about them.

Projects for today/this week/whenever I have time and energy include:

1) Organize all the girls' toys that have lots of little pieces and put them together in a closet where they can only take one out at a time, so Mama doesn't have to turn into a garbage-bag-wielding witch at clean-up time.

2) Get more comfortable with my new serger. Yes! We bought one Sunday! I got it threaded and can do regular serging and a rolled hem so far, but only in straight lines. I want to learn to do a lettuce leaf edge and make some little jersey knit tiered skirts for the girls. It might be a while before I'm there though, and I'm trying to be patient while I learn.

3) Make some little activity bags for the girls, inspired by these that look like so much fun. I've already made some, but I need to go shopping for a few things. I want to dye pasta!

4) Declutter the bottom of our coat closet to house the activity bags.

5) Organize the craft room (again) to fit in a portable clothes closet for all my thrift store finds which are waiting to be transformed. I can't figure out what to make if my inspiration is buried in a pile where I can never see it. Our futon is covered in sweaters and stuff right now, and I need to get to crafting and try to stay out of Goodwill for a few weeks!

This list doesn't even include birth-related stuff (that'll be another post), but it should keep me busy for a while.

Mommy's day off

I have the day off today. The girls were supposed to go to my mom and dad's house to spend some time with them, and usually I would wait until 9:00 or so to call and decide on a time for them to go. But yesterday was so awful. I'll spare you the (multiple!) poop stories and sad stressful tales, but long story short, we've been stuck in the house all week long because of snow and ice that is totally freakish for our area. The girls and I were driving each other nuts, especially after Jordan went back to work Wednesday. It all came to a head last night when there was nothing in the house I wanted to eat, and to make matters worse this is the week I'm supposed to be writing everything I eat down for Hypnobabies. My friend and teacher Julie is going to be super impressed by the three slices of pizza and five cookies I finally got my hands on. So anyway, I called my mom and asked if Jordan could PLEASE drop the girls off on his way to work at 8:00 and she kindly agreed. Thanks Mama. And now, at 9:00, I'm sitting here by myself. It's just me and the dog, who is taking a nap on the couch. I think she's as happy as I am to have no ear-pulling, no eye-poking, just some time to herself.

I thought it might be interesting to keep a list of all the things I do during a day without the girls and post it at the end of the day. (Is that live blogging?)

1) Read a pee story on another mom's blog and leave a lengthy comment, commiserating.

2) Go to the bathroom by myself. Doesn't happen that often!

3) Make a fresh pot of coffee and drink a cup. Nope, not decaf.

4) Ponder, for the fiftieth time, the questions: How do some moms have five kids and a deployed military husband and do a better job than me? Why do I have such a hard time when I have just about every advantage and no serious problems? How hard are things REALLY going to be with three kids? What if I can't handle it all? I don't know. I don't know.

5) Eat some yummy Kashi cereal with yogurt to make up for last night, and update my nutrition log.

6) Read my email, without little hands trying to pull me out of the computer chair.

7) Read a positive birth story that I wanted to read last week but didn't have time.

8) Go back to bed and turn on my Hypnobabies Deepening CD. This may be the first time I've been able to do it in the morning.

9) Turn on some music, put away diapers, do laundry and dishes, clean the kitchen.

10) Clean up all the girls' messes from yesterday: toys, stuffed animals, unfolded blankets, books thrown everywhere, half finished snacks brushed into the floor.

11) Sit down in front of the overflowing toy box in the living room and start sorting. I do this about twice a month. Some of the toys need to go to Goodwill, some on "vacation," and some just need to go upstairs. Do the same thing in the girls' room until things are neat again.

12) Take some Christmas stuff upstairs for Jordan to put in the attic later.

13) Take a snack break and try to decide what to do next. It's 1:30. I've got three and a half hours left.

14) Empty the dishwasher and fold and put away the rest of the laundry. Now we won't have to worry about those things over the weekend!

15) Go through some of Jordan's old school papers and pick a few to keep.

16) Make two unattractive but functional draft snakes for under our sliding glass door. Jordan asked me to do it a week or two ago. I only used a raggedy old pair of his pants and a $7 bag of rice, but this should definitely help with our power bill!

17) (Leftover) pizza break!

18) Make an apple crisp to take to my parents' house for dinner tonight.

19) Clean off the dining room table.

20) And now Jordan is home and we're collecting up all the trash to take to the dump and our things to donate at Goodwill.

I am going to have to figure out a way to convince my parents to take the girls every week. Hooray for getting stuff done!

Losing count... 23 weeks? It's nesting time!

First, some unrelated pictures.

Our town's Christmas tree the night it was lit

They both want Daddy to hold them. People are asking how he's going to hold one more. We're not sure yet.

You're how old? Three?

Yep, three! And I want a fire truck!

I should be 24 weeks on Saturday. I had a pregnancy ticker last time that helped me keep track, but it annoyed me because once I passed my due date it started counting the days back up. I was a little insulted that the designers of the ticker hadn't thought of that. Women go past their due dates all the time! It should've gone down to zero and then been like "Jenny is ___ days past her due date! Give that lady a medal for patience!" But it didn't, so I didn't get a ticker this time.

I had forgotten how wonderful pregnancy gets about halfway through when I start really nesting. My house is clean and decorated for Christmas! The laundry and dishes have been under control and I am undertaking large organizational projects that normally I would put off forever. On Monday my parents took both the girls to their house for the afternoon and in about four hours I transformed our craft room from a disastrous, shameful mess into a space we can actually use! I wish I'd taken before and after pictures. That room was where craft projects went to die, but by Monday night it was nice enough that on Tuesday I had my friends Megan and Jenn over to make Waldorf bunting dolls. (Well, Megan and I made dolls and Jenn gave us advice and tried to get some knitting done.) Yesterday I went through all the girls' clothes, got rid of some and packed most of the rest away. I'm almost done with that. I washed Robert's newborn clothes too and they are hanging in the Robert section of the kids' closet. It's a little early but I figured I might as well since I was in the mood!

Our little house is going to require some work before this baby comes or it's going to feel super cramped. We have three bedrooms, one of which is the craft/guest room. There is no garage and very little storage space. But the other day when I was cleaning out the craft room, as I piled up at least four tubs worth of stuff to haul to Goodwill, I thought, even if I lived in a mansion with a craft room three times this size lined with drawers as far as the eye could see I wouldn't want all this stuff. And no matter how big the room was it would still be a mess. So we have been regularly and ruthlessly hauling stuff to the thrift store. We have a tub that we keep in the dining room and we keep filling it up until it overflows every two or three days. We'll need some extra space for when we bring in new Christmas stuff. We asked our families to please take it easy on us this year, especially when it comes to toys. Hopefully by the time Baby Robert arrives we'll have plenty of space for him and his stuff! Someday we'll have a garage and another bedroom, and perhaps a sunroom. Someday.

My belly is getting "out there" and it's a different, more bubbly shape. I've gained about ten pounds and it looks like I'll end up weighing a little less than I did with Ivey at the end. A lot of my maternity clothes that fit the two times before are too big this time, so I've had to buy several new things. Sometimes I think I haven't felt the baby kick in a long time and I get worried, but usually it's just because I've been running around too much and once I sit down I realize he's fine. Jordan's been able to feel him for several weeks, but not as much as he could feel the girls.

Overall, this pregnancy has been way nicer, especially when compared to Suzi's. Robert is a sweet little boy.

"I'm a bird in a nest! Tweet tweet!"

Suzi loves playing in this beanbag we found at the latest consignment sale. Sometimes she's a bird in a nest, and sometimes the beanbag is a swimming pool and she runs and jumps into it. I love to see how she uses her imagination to have fun with everyday things. It kind of reminds me of when I was little. My Barbies used to ride around in shoes because they didn't have a car.

And here was our project of the day today. I am embarrassed of the before pictures, but there are better ones after...

This is our storage room.

See that big white boxy thing in the bottom right corner? That is a really nice chest freezer, and yes, it's buried. Jordan had to be the one to put stuff in and take stuff out--I couldn't get the lid up with all that junk on it, and as you can see there is no way to stand in front of it. So today, I decided it'd be good to organize this room. Jordan was thrilled. His favorite part was when I went through all his tools and said "What's that?" and "What does this do?"

It took us several hours. We took everything out, swept the floor, threw a lot out and consolidated the rest. Jordan had already hung pegboard on one wall, so I put the pegs up and hung anything that had a hole in it! Jordan put a shelf up above the freezer. In the end, I think we are both pleased with the results.

I don't think we threw out anything good, but we will definitely be able to find the stuff we kept, and at a glance. Because most of it's hanging on the wall.

And there is nothing sitting on the freezer anymore!

And I can stand in front of it!

Hopefully soon that freezer will be filled with casseroles. I am hoping to start making some soon so we'll have them for after the birth. If you have a good recipe that freezes well, please share it!

Oh, Table! I never thought I'd see you again!

I don't know about you, but my house is not constantly company-ready. I clean when I know someone is coming. If you were supposed to come over at 5:00 and popped in at 4:45 instead, you'd find me frantically vacuuming up cracker crumbs and pitching dishes into the dishwasher at warp speed. I've tried to commit to FlyLady but I just keep falling off the wagon! Anyway, at Cheryl's request, here is my biggest mess:


In case you can't tell, this is my dining room. I know it looks crazy, but let me explain. I love to make things, but it's hard to find the time. I generally only work on a project for a few minutes before I have to get back to caring for Suzi. I figured, what's the point of cleaning this stuff up just to pull it back out again in a day or two?

Therefore, this one table was covered with tulle for tutus, flannel for pads, cotton fabric for slings, t-shirts to tie-dye, and a bunch of odd stuff like laundry and clutter which hadn't quite reached its destination. When I started to work on a project it was aggravating because there wasn't a square inch of table that wasn't covered.

Luckily, I got motivated to clean it up after watching an episode of Clean House. I love Miss Niecy. I set the timer for 15 or 20 minutes at the time (a FlyLady thing) and focused all my energy on it. I organized each project into its own grocery bag or neat stack, and now I can just pull one out at the time. It'll be so much easier to work now! Here's the time lapse:


I feel like there should be fireworks going off, or a parade or something.