Routines, When You Can't Sing...Yodel

I had planned today on writing about how sometimes plans go awry as they've been for me lately. And that one way to make your home sing is to roll with the punches and if you can't sing, yodel.

MomsTheWord actually had the same idea this week, so I'm going to change my topic and instead I'll talk about how to survive that upheaval by the doing the opposite of the chaos...having routines.

I have a morning and a night routine. In between I put the daily activities that I would like to do each day, my "to-do" list, but my morning routine and my night routine are the same every day and they help me to keep on track no matter what is going on.

When you make a routine, you go on auto-pilot, which is the beauty of making a routine. It becomes a habit. This past week I had to change my routines a little bit, to accommodate my son's injury. My auto pilot needed On-star, let me tell you! But even when the routines are new, they still become habits. It just takes a few times doing them the same way to get there.

My morning routine looks like this:

Get J (my husband) off to work (lunch and stuff)
kids awake to get ready for school
washer started
Get myself ready
Help Dillon get dressed and ready
breakfast and meds
bible study/morning prayer (I do this while everyone is eating/getting ready)
laundry to dryer
drop-off at school
blog linkups as needed
email and reader
prep for dinner (as needed)
clean kitchen from breakfast

I know it's a little long, but it's the morning routine that I have and it's on auto-pilot...well, mostly. I'm just adding the taking the kids to school because I can't make Dillon ride the bus on crutches...I just can't do it. Also, I didn't have to help my 15 yr old get ready before last week, but it's a little hard to get yourself ready when you can barely move. So I took the new circumstances of our family, and I adjusted the routine accordingly. As the routine is already in place, those few little adjustments were easy to accommodate.

The night routine is a lot shorter:

Clean kitchen
To-Do board (I like to mark my to-do's off on a white board in my kitchen...so I write the next days on each night and then mark them off all day long as I do them)
shower & PJ's for me and Abby
Help Dillon get clothes for morning (he can't go upstairs where his room is, so I bring out choices for him to wear tomorrow)yes, he's on the couch until after the surgery and healing...probably most of the summer :(
Help Dillon with his shower
quick pickup
night meds
post blogs

I've obviously added three items to the list due to the accident, but having this little routine certainly helps me to get everything done each night.

If I did nothing else but the morning routine and the night routine, things would hold together in our home. That's basically what happened last week as I was getting used to the constant care Dillon was taking and all the phone calls and doctor visits that we made. The morning routine and the night routine kept the household going until I could get back on track (hopefully this week!)

If you don't have a set of routines that guide you, I would definitely recommend them. After they've been done for several weeks each task becomes automatic. As your life and circumstances change, you just rearrange or add and subtract items as needed.

This is how I make my home yodel when things are chaotic. And this is the baseline to make my home sing when things are going a little bit smoother. How do you make YOUR home sing?

For more Home Sing Monday's, check out Moms The Word

Singing without Blinders

As I've been going through my home getting the spring cleaning done the past few weeks, I've noticed something. In each room there has been some area that is neglected that I don't seem to see. It is as if I have blinders on, and do not see the clutter, the fingerprints or whatever the issue may be apparently because I am used to it. It looks as though I've been ignoring some issues instead of dealing with them.

For instance, our mud room is at the back of our house. It's an extremely small space, just a narrow room with washer and dryer and a few shelves that I've put in there to hold the overflow from our pantry. There is the backdoor and one small window. This past week as I was finishing up some of my cleaning, I tried to walk through my house several times a day with fresh eyes. Many experts suggest that we walk through our house "like a realtor". If you were going to buy this house, or if you were a guest in it, what things would you notice?

In our mudroom, I immediately noticed the stack of coats on my washer. As we come into the house from the backdoor, we hang up our jackets on hooks in our mudroom. The problem is that there are only three hooks, but there are alot of us. So when all the hooks are used, we tend to just throw our jackets and coats on top of the washer, so they are handy when we go out again.
The remedy for this problem was so simple, inexpensive and took maybe five minutes, but because I've had on my blinders for so long, it's just one of a million tiny little things that I haven't dealt with. I put "coathooks" on my list that I have been carrying around the house with me and the next time I went to town last week, I picked up a couple. I installed them within minutes and now, lo and behold, I don't have to move the jackets to do laundry and our mudroom looks ever so much neater.

Isn't it amazing how such a simple thing as coathooks can be ignored for so long? And that's just one example.

What little things have you been letting slide around your house? Take the blinders off, take a look around and be sure to let me know what you notice.

To see how others are making their homes sing this Monday, check out MomstheWord.

Making My Home Sing 3/30/09

Before I took off the past two weeks, the "singing" I've been doing for my home has been spring cleaning my house one room at a time. Well, if you read those posts you will remember my theory, "If I clean it, spring will come."

Apparently I was correct in that assumption, because the minute that I stopped cleaning look what happened? We got about a FOOT of snow!!

Well you know what that means! I'd better get back to cleaning on the double!

So this week I'm turning up the stereo and singing along while working in my bathroom and living room on Wednesday. I'll dance right into the girls closets on Thursday, working on putting things into order and getting it organized in there

On Friday, I'll work in my room. I'll be cleaning it top to bottom and putting the focus on the decorations in that room, especially the curtains. That should make for a very harmonious week that should put the spring right back into our weather by the weekend!

Wish me luck!

And to see what other bloggers are doing to make their homes sing, please check out Home Sing Monday @ MomsTheWord.

Spring Cleaning Week #2

Didn't you absolutely LOVE the weather last week? I TOLD you, if you clean it, spring will come! I guess that means I better keep it up, so that this good weather will stick around a little more.

This week I'm in my kitchen.

I've divided my small kitchen into five areas, so that I can tackle one area per day, hopefully.


Clean Fridge Inside/Out/Top/Underneath & coils
I think that's pretty self explanatory

North wall cabinets, counters inside & out
This consists of the stove, and cabinets above, the sink and cabinets below and one set of upper and lower cabinets, and counter top. Also are two shelving units (the little bookshelf type). One houses our toaster and coffeemaker and the breads and drink assortments that go with them. The other holds plastic cups and easy access items for height challenged youngsters.

East wall cabinets, counters inside & out
Countertop with drawers and cabinets underneath (houses plastic storage and pitchers, etc). Also this wall contains a shelf that holds my staple supplies, breadmaker, some cookbooks and large items like electric skillet, crock pot, etc.

Pantry
Self explanatory

floors, windows & decorative touches
I'd like to bring a little spring inside. Not sure yet how I'll do that. Maybe I can scour the resale shops this week for some spring patterned items?

Well, I'm ready to get started in the morning. Wish me luck! With this project, the photo project that's all over my dining room table and my to-do list I have scheduled for my garden, this is going to be an awfully busy week.

Oh, and my mother in law called and asked me to bake an alien cake for my father in law. I'm tickled to do it, but hope I can figure out how to make an alien. I'll remember to get pictures this time. I forgot with Evelyn's cake until it was too late.

To see how others are making their own homes sing this week, head over to MomsTheWord. She has a terrific post this week about hospitality.

Making My Home Sing

Every year about this time my thoughts begin to stray towards the garden. I dream about what I will grow, bountiful harvests, beautiful flowers blooming in the flower gardens, the smell of lilac coming from the bushes in my front yard. Oh how I love spring.

Have you ever seen that movie "Field Of Dreams?" Kevin Costner is told by a still, small voice "If you build it, they will come"

I too am hearing this still, small voice. It says "If you clean it, Spring will come."

"If you clean it, Spring will come."

So with that in mind, I'm beginning my spring cleaning tour this week. I'm going one room/area at a time so that by the time spring actually DOES get here I should be in good and CLEAN shape!

This weeks agenda is:

Front Porch
clean off cobwebs
sweep/wash walls on porch
sweep/wash floors
windows in this area and front door
plan pots & seating arrangements for this year
fresh spring wreath for porch (make or buy)

Entryway
cobwebs
wash prints on walls
vacuum area
hang mirror
re-visit ideas about shelf in this area

Dining Room
cobwebs
wash walls/light switches as needed
dust light fixture
windows/blinds
dust and reorganize each shelf
make place for Great Grandmothers buffet that is coming (or plan the space)
vacuum

So that's how I'm planning on making my home SING this week. What are you doing this week for your own home's harmony? For great ideas, visit Home Sing Monday @ MomsTheWord