Flylady-My Hero

About a year and a half ago I was introduced to the Flylady. For those of you who don't know who she is she calls herself, "Your personal online coach to help you gain control of your house and home." She uses the acronym FLY for Finally Loving Yourself. Her goal is to help you maintain order in your life and not live in CHAOS-Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome. (been there and am doing it)

When I first started using her I really did begin to get organized and I was able to keep a moderately clean house. I don't know about you but our house seems to get overrun with paper. Ugh. Anyway, I hadn't really been able to get into the full swing of things before we learned we were moving. So, the Flylady kinda took a backseat.

Now, that we are in the new house I am definitely feeling overwhelmed. I think that if we had moved into the house after it was fully finished life wouldn't be as chaotic, dirty and messy as it is now. We won't even talk about the dust I have and will really have once Ryan starts sanding the drywall in the basement this week.

I really don't know where to start. So, I said to myself, "Duh, Cindy, get back on the Flylady's schedule." She tells you what to clean on what days and even has a checklist for what to clean in each room. Each week you will work on a specific "zone" of your house. You can even request to be sent a reminder email to help you stay on task.

Here is how she breaks the month down:

Zone 1: First few days of the month until the next Sunday: Entrance/front porch/dining room

Zone 2: First full week of the month: Kitchen/ back porch/laundry room/pantry

Zone 3: Second full week of the month: Main bathroom/extra bedroom/ kid's rooms/ craft room

Zone 4: Third full week of the month: Master bedroom/bath/closet

Zone 5: Last few days of the month from Monday until the 1st: Living room/den/TV room

I can't wait to start. Granted tomorrow is Sunday and she calls Sunday "Renew Your Spirit Day." So, I think I may work on last weeks zone, which was the living room. Next Sunday I can renew my spirit. I am too anxious and I just need to start.

Check her out!

Family Memo Board

A couple of weeks ago I made this memo board to help keep track of all the goings on in our family.

In our old house I just taped a calendar to the side of our fridge and I would paper clip things to it. Well, here I can't do that. Our fridge is sandwiched between cabinets and plus it always looked really messy.

This baby hangs in our mudroom.

I bought this cork board from the thrift store for 99 cents. It is a big one, 24" x 36". I painted the frame and distressed it a little. Covered it with some fabric I already had by using staples and then I glued on some ribbon.

Of course, since my cricut is finally out of storage I just had to use it.

I found a little white board calendar at Staples and then I also printed out calendars for the next 6 months. That way when appointments or practices are scheduled during the coming months I can keep track of them.

Once school, football and hockey start I foresee this guy getting lots of use. This is where I plan to hand field trip notices, supply lists, etc.

I am hoping this helps us to run like a well oiled machine. Or at least one that isn't in a dire need of an lube job.

Dollar Store Bins

I am trying to be super, uber organized in this house. Like we all know and I have said it before chaos breeds chaos. So, this is what I did under my kitchen sink.

The Dollar Tree has these stackable bins in 2 different sizes. They worked perfect.


I purchased a bunch more to use under our bathroom sink.
When I am organized I am so much happier.

Grisamore Farms

The boys and I headed off to one of the local U-Pick Farms- Grisamore Farms because it is prime time for blueberries.

We have never been to a U-pick farm before. We had such a wonderful time.

Seriously, almost every shot of Manny catches him eating berries.
First, we picked some raspberries. Sadly their season is almost up so there weren't all that many left.

We picked about 2 pints and between the three of us we probably ate almost as much.

They have acres and acres of fruit and veggies.

And oh my, the blueberries. I so love blueberries.

Manny is already planning a trip for us to come back so we can pick enough blueberries to make some jam with. Sounds like an awesome plan to me. I better find my canner quick.


We came home with 4 pints of blueberries. They are so wonderful. We are planning to go back in September too to do some apple picking.

Robert Treman State Park

My goodness gracious. So, basically right after we got our internet up and running we left to go to NJ for a family reunion. And basically, right after we returned, I left the window open and it rained on our modem and we once again were without internet.

Now, we are finally up and running again and of course, one of the hinges on this laptop broke and I need to bring it in to Best Buy to be fixed. So, we will be left without a family computer for a couple of weeks. But enough is enough, I am just going to have to use Ryan's work one. Every girl needs her computer time, right?

This was what we were busy doing while it was raining on the modem.
My sis-in-law and my 3 nephews and niece came up for a visit.

We took them to our favorite local state park. They dam a spot in the river just after some falls so they can create a public swimming hole. That is Manny flying through the air.

Cousins

After we swam at the swimming hole, we went up to the top of the park to show the fam the other beautiful falls. The boys had a blast sliding down the rocks.

In the spring, we could never do this because the water would be moving way too fast.

This is the first time my niece met her Uncle Ryan. She fell in love.

Every time we go here I am amazed at the beauty.

My brother was stuck at home "working." We hope to get him up here soon.

My sis-in-law Nicole and me.

My oldest nephew and his mama.

Me and my sweet niece.

Johnsie loved having his cousins visit.

This is the best picture. A girl gets thirsty after all of that hiking and swimming. More got on her shirt than in her mouth.

Back in Business, Well Sorta

So, our internet is working but, our wireless isn't. So, here I sit on the floor next to our only working outlet. But, hey we have internet.

No air conditioning however, in this NY heat wave. The high today was 96 degrees. It has been super hot for like the past 5-6 days. I can't say we have no air conditioning because 2 days ago we purchased a portable one that lives in our bedroom. We just couldn't take it. We needed to have someplace to go for refuge. Granted most of our day is spent down on the main floor. But, occasionally we each take a break and lay on our bed for awhile. The boys have been sleeping on our floor these past few nights too.

No TV yet. The Dish Network people say they can't get here until the 20th. Ryan isn't too happy about that. He'd like to be watching the Tour de France.

Ok, I am going to post pics that I should never post. The house is a total mess. Boxes here and there. Molding pieces here and there. Etc. So, bear with me.

This is what it is like living in a construction zone. Chaos truly breeds chaos.

The left side is our junk and some of our builder, Phil's and the right side is all Phil's. Ryan can't wait to organize this place.

Our mud/laundry room. We will be putting in a laundry sink as soon as we have our last electrical inspection. I guess you have to have a 3 foot perimeter around the fuse box. The plumbing is all there and ready. We just have to hide it for now. Shhh.

Open faced lockers will go along the left wall eventually.

Half bath. So exciting, I know.

So, I already told you chaos breeds chaos. We have so many little things that don't have a space yet and they seem to congregate on our peninsula. And, Manny is getting an evening snack.


Tonight I have to clear everything off the counters so that Phil can grout them while we are gone.

The dining room. Ryan thought this was going to be such a wasted space. So, what we have started to do is that, whenever we are all around for supper we eat in here. Otherwise, the boys can sit at the peninsula or the kitchen table.

The fireplace is a work in progress. We still don't know exactly what we are going to do for a mantle and surround. But, for sure the TV is going here. I still am not so sure about that one. I had grand ideas for decorating this bugger.

Our computer area. For now anyway. This is where I am currently sitting. Poor Manny has been deprived of internet for weeks.

The area above our front closet. This is also a work in progress. I am not sure what I all want here.

Our entry light.

Manny's room

Johnsie's room.

The attic. Remember chaos breeds chaos. The way back left is all organized but, you can't see it with all of the junk in front.

Yay, our closet is finally ready.

Now the biggest problem is that Ryan and I can't decide how we want to organize it.

And because we can't decide, our room looks like this. Boxes of clothes line the walls. The carpet in the closet just went in yesterday so, we couldn't pile our boxes in there.

Master bath

Master shower. Another thing that we are waiting for.
I love the front of our house. It looks just like I wanted. Of course, you need to imagine the grass and flowers like I do. And the painted porch.

The pots sitting on the steps have the 50 trees and shrubs we bought back in April. We only lost like 6 total.


The boys were watching some deer in the area between our 1st and 2nd tree line.

We are hoping to plant some shrubs around our pretty propane tank. Again, you need to imagine grass and a patio this time.

Sorry for the picture overload.