Fab Five ... Week ending May 16, 2009

Pictures ...

1. "Skinny Scott" who has now lost over 60 pounds!

From Scott Weight Loss

2. Field Day Fun

From Field Day 2009

3. My Judy (aka "Big Casiday") graduated from Mercer

From Judy's Graduation

4. Casiday's room is clean!!!


5. Spring Cleaning is done!! Thanks Simple Mom for the party and encouragement!

From Misc stuff

Spring Cleaned the girl's room - and learned some valuable lessons!

This spring cleaning party has been great for me. I'm making such progress and feeling like I'm in control of things in my house. My kitchen and living room have stayed clean and my laundry is basically caught up. All in all, this has been such a wonderful experience. BUT ... I am ready to move to something else. It has required a lot of focus to keep chugging away at all this. And, well, I'm tired of decluttering, cleaning and organizing ... honestly! But, today was more than just cleaning Casiday's room ... it was a beautiful, special time when I was reminded of some very important lessons. Of course, I'm jumping ahead of myself. So back to the beginning ....


Okay, so the day I have dreaded finally arrived. Day 8 - Cleaning the children's rooms. The truth is ... I have a hard time getting rid of things in here. As evidenced by the after photos - there is still A LOT of "stuff." Maybe by next year I'll be able to get rid of more.

Some of the problem is, I really believe, her age. At nine she is still very much a little girl in some ways and so does play with baby dolls, stuffed animals, etc. But she is also getting into that "tween" time of life and so loves her books, DVDs, video games, etc, as well. Plus, she is a creative little thing who is constantly drawing, coloring, writing ... and so there are journals, coloring books, sketch pads, etc. Within the next couple of years, I imagine, her interests in dolls and stuffed animals will have long waned and those things will be packed away for her children or donated to Good Will. However, for now, we have more "stuff" than I'd like but it is all "stuff" she really uses or plays with regularly. And so... as I have said before, that is our reality and I am content in it.

Now, on to the much awaited photos. Remember, I fearlessly posted photos of her room on Day One of our party at the urging of my sweet sister-in-law Beth who felt her children's rooms were much worse. Mind you, Beth has not yet posted a picture of said rooms ... so there is no way to judge. But, I had not done anything in Casiday's room until today since those photos were taken. I did tell her last night that I would be working in her room today so she better make sure that she had put away properly anything she wanted to keep. The girl knows that I have no patience for things put in the wrong place or (WORSE!) shoved under the bed and will absolutely throw away anything I find there. (Yes, she knows this because she has cried as I packed away her beloved Polly Pockets - ALL of them - to put in the yard sale just last month because they were not put away.)

So, here are the before pictures ...




Now for the after pictures ...



Her sheets and comforter are in the washer still. But I'll have them all on the bed before she gets home from school today. So no final picture of the bed ... maybe I'll get one done later.

A few things I learned today:

1. "Treasure" is very subjective! Casiday treasures things I would just toss aside. But they are important to her and, while it is my job to teach her to find balance in saving things, I must let her keep those things that she values - even if I would not.

2. There are just some life stages where you have more "stuff" ... and that's okay! This season will pass and I will miss the dolls in their pallet on the floor.

3. My child is an amazing person! I was looking through the things she had placed on her bulletin board and found myself thinking that she is just a really great person. She had saved notes written to her from her great-grandmother and from a special friend, pictures of her family and friends, momentoes from our trip to Disney last year, a few of her favorite papers from school, and a Bible verse she had written out. Of course there was a lot of other paper and "stuff" on those two big boards, but I am very proud that she is saving things that are about relationships and memories of time spent with others.

4. I only have a few more years to clean up after her. Casiday is finishing up 3rd grade in 2.5 weeks. In 10 years, she will be finishing her first year in college. Where has the time gone? I decided today that having her room be perfectly clean and tidy isn't really all that important to me. I'd rather have more pictures she's drawn, hear more songs she has written & sung, take more pictures of her playing with friends, and fold more tee shirts from all the places she has been. Life is too short ... and the truth is there will always be something to clean but she will not always be this little girl who loves caterpillars and High School Musical and is looking forward to Children's Camp and dance recital.

Maybe these were not the main things Tsh had in mind for us to consider or learn today ... but, oh, how very thankful I am for the time I got spend in my daughter's room. Praying for her, thanking God for her, and just being reminded that "Children are the Lord's best gift" (Psalm 127:3, MSG).


P.S. Casiday has a blog of her own ... I update it as I think of it with her writings and drawings from home and school. It's not overly current but there are enough writings on there to give you an idea of what kind of special person she is. Check it out ... Princess Casiday!!

Spring Cleaning ... Day 6 - the bathroom ... yuck!!

Okay, so I'm now caught up with the Spring Cleaning Party over on Simple Mom. A wonderful blog that EVERYONE should check out ... I mean EVERYONE! I figure any blog that proves valuable to me - mother of one, a 9 year old who is in public school, pastor's wife who volunteers in both my daughter's school and at the local crisis pregnancy center, helps my sweet husband as much as I can, etc. - and to my sister-in-law - homeschooling mother of seven (ages 10 & under, YIKES!), who is also a pastor's wife in a very small community and who ends up helping her husband with all kinds of stuff ... well, clearly Beth's and my lives are very different. And we both love Simple Mom! So, everyone else I know can certainly find something useful - and simple! - to help in the daily life of MOM.

Okay, free but very sincere! advertising aside ... back to the PAR--TAY!

Today's task was the bathroom. I confess that I only did the girls' bathroom at our house. My precious husband Scott generally maintains his own bathroom - he was raised right, people! Although, I will get in there tomorrow to do some of those tasks he generally despises ... like cleaning out the drawers and cabinets. :) So, back to the bathroom of the day ...

Here are the before pictures ...



And the after shots ...



So, for my daily lessons learned from Spring Cleaning:

1. We keep WAAAAAAY too many extras. I have no idea why I really thought we needed that many travel size portions of anything! So, I followed the advice of sweet Tsh at Simple Mom and combined as many as I could then added the rest to the give pile. Travel size shampoos, lotions, etc are a wonderful donation to your local battered women's shelter!

2. We have way too many bags ... duffle bags, overnight bags, makeup bags, bags, bags, bags! UGH!! So, I pared down to what we love - our Vera Bradley stuff. Everything else was loaded with the books from last week's bookshelf cleansing and loaded in the car for Good Will. The best thing about Vera Bradley - okay, one of the best things! - is that it all folds up inside the biggest piece. Casiday & I both have our own sets ... and every piece is folded up inside the largest piece. Took up one small drawer in the wire rack located in the bottom of the closet.

3. We have way too many beach accessories! Yes, we live 20 minutes from the beach but that is no reason to have 15 bottles of sunscreen! So, I followed the "keep things we use together in the same place" rule and put all the beach towels, beach bags, and sunscreen - along with the small ziploc bag of googles, etc - in the middle wire basket in the closet.

4. Purging periodically is a great thing! I am pretty good about going through the makeup and hair stuff that accumulates in a home with girly girls like ours. So, it was very nice to know that I had just cleaned out my makeup so I didn't have to do anything with that! I go through my makeup on the first day of each season - four times a year! Well, that's the plan ... but by planning it quarterly, I'm still doing great if I get it done twice.

So, it's 10:20 and I'm typing my second blog of the day (check out my Fab Five for last week if you get a chance) ...that means I have already accomplished three of the four MITs on today's list. I'm going to post this blog to Simple Mom and then get started on Meal Plan Monday stuff. Goal is to have everything done by noon so I can get started on some laundry!! LOL I love Mondays!!

Happy Cleaning to all!!!

Spring Cleaning - Days 3 thru 5 ...I think

Spring Cleaning Party continues at the Underwood home ... Thanks to Simple Mom for making this usually tedious and dreaded task into a big ol' party!!

So I have to confess that two weekends ago I got a cleaning urge and went ahead and did my kitchen. I didn't think to take before pictures - though, honestly, I am not sure I would have been willing to show the before pics! It was bad!!!

So, this week I took two days to do my living room and then I really did nothing in the kitchen as it was already done. So this morning, I cleaned out the two bookcases in my living room (pictures below) and then just took pics of the kitchen.



I am a little embarrassed about these pictures, honestly. I guess I just kept piling stuff on that bookcase and behind the doors of the other shelf. All those pictures are just insane! The bookcase is generally hidden as it is behind our front door which I keep open most of the time. I ended up taking all the photos out of the frames and sorting through them for scrapbooking.

There is a huge pile of books for donation. I have a hard time sometimes getting rid of books. But I made myself get rid of one for every two I kept. Someday I'll be at one kept for one donated ... but today was just not that day!

Okay ... so here are the after pics. Also included are pictures of my kitchen cabinets. My final verdict on all of this decluttering (especially in the kitchen) is this ... our reality may not be the same as anyone else's but I am accepting our reality for what it is! So, Scott's vitamins are out on the counter because that is the only way to make sure he remembers to take them. He had weight loss surgery two months ago and his health is way more important to me than completely clear counters ... so the vitamins stay out.

So, without further adieu, here are the after pictures ... followed by some thoughts I have on kitchen stuff.



Just a few ideas that have made my life easier ...

1. I have all white dishes. We do still have some plastic cups & plates but my DISHES are all white. It just looks cleaner than having mismatched sets or multiple colors in my cabinet.

2. I use the silicone bakeware. It takes up less space and is easier to store. I love it!!

3. I got rid of all my duplicate casserole dishes. Honestly, if I am making more than one it is usually to freeze or give away, so I use the aluminum pans (disposable but I wash & reuse them) for that. Keeps my cabinets way neater.

4. I was going to buy new drawer dividers for my utensil drawer. But when I cleaned out all my plastic storage stuff, I realized I had some pieces without lids that would work. So I repurposed those and it has worked great.

This has been a great experience so far! I am looking forward to next week ... bedrooms & bathrooms!! I know I have MUCH MUCH MUCH work to do in those areas! But I am taking the weekend off - too much going on to do any spring cleaning anyway.

Thanks Tsh ... this has been a great experience! Oh & check out my sister-in-law's blog for her progress - she is a pastor's wife who homeschools her seven children (all ages 10 and under) ... truly if she can do this, I can't imagine anyone who can't!! And I have so enjoyed reading others' blogs and seeing their progress. What a wonderful encouraging week this has been!!!

Spring Cleaning - the Living Room ... ugh!

Okay, so it's Day Three of the Spring Cleaning Party on Simple Mom. I'm on my second day since I went with Casiday on a field trip yesterday. (Check out these guys! Pianafiddle was amazing!)

Days 2 & 3 are the living room ... and so I did about half of mine today. Cleaned out the drawers and cleaned off the shelves beside the TV. We have a lot of gaming system paraphenalia. A LOT! There was not a lot to throw away as I had already decluttered this room on Monday. But it took awhile to organize and clean.

Ultimately, I made the following decisions about the "stuff" in this room:

1. We use our gaming systems regularly so it's okay for the Wii Fit balance board and the Guitar Hero drums and guitars to be out. They are not in the center of the floor but we use them often enough that it makes no sense to give up valuable closet space for them. Plus, it is much easier to put them back where they belong when it is in the same room where we play with them. So, as you can see in the pictures, they are placed near the TV & gaming systems.

2. I have a basket by my end of the couch. It is not a very big basket but it holds my computer, a few books, note cards, etc. As long as it doesn't overflow, I am not too worried about what is in it. When it gets full, I'll go through it and toss the magazines, etc. and put away what I'm done using.

3. Scott's space is just that ... Scott's! As long as I can find the phone and the remotes when I need them, it is not worth my energy (and potential frustration!) to go through his stuff and figure out what he needs. He, too, has a basket by his chair and has agreed to try to keep his "stuff" in that basket and not all around his chair.

4. I don't mind dusting the things we love. So, the pipe collection, Norman Rockwell stuff, and the other things that are out are okay with me. It might be cluttered to others, but it is HOME for us and we like it that way.


So, those are my big conclusions for the day. Tomorrow I will be volunteering at Care Net so I will be another day behind on the Party. But Friday I plan to go through the books inside the cabinet and on the bookshelf behind the front door. That will be a HUGE project so I am not starting until I know I have time to finish the same day.

Below are the pictures from today. Happy Cleaning to all!!

Springing into Spring!! Day 1 of Spring Cleaning Party ...

Oh yeah! Decluttering ... I love this task. And we have lots of clutter to de... With only three of us one would imagine that it is pretty easy to keep things tidy and clean. Ummm, no ... must be our personality types that work against us. :) Scott is a pack rat ... he keeps everything. Casiday is a hoarder ... she keeps everything. I am a perfectionist ... I let it all pile up until it's overwhelming and then kill myself to get it all put back in order. None of these personality types are useful in daily household tidying.

Today's specific task was to clear off areas and put things in their proper place or into a give/sell or trash box. We just had a huge yard sale at our church this past weekend so everything to be sold or given is already gone - one major part of this task is already complete! Yea me!! But, we seem to have a paper bunny in our house that multiplies every piece of paper exponentially. So, I'm sure the trash bags will be plentiful.

I took my before pictures in every room but Casiday's ... it's just too much! That will have to be a project unto itself. I think she's going to spend the next 10 days having her own spring cleaning party in there. If I get up the courage to let the whole blogosphere (or the three people who read my blog anyway) see how incredibly messy her room is most of the time, I will take pictures and post them. But, to be honest, that is highly unlikely!!

Right now, the main "clutter" in my house is the laundry. We were gone all weekend and so it has really piled up. So, as I declutter today, I'm going to try to tackle the laundry too. Would be nice to have that task accomplished by time to pick up the girl at 2:30 this afternoon ... we'll see.

So, here are the before pictures ...


Okay ... so I managed to get it all done within the two-hour time frame ... at least the decluttering part. LOL Laundry is the project for the remainder of the day but that is a normal Monday task.

Here are the after pictures ...


As for the question asked on Simple Mom about today's task ... well, I think I am more sentimentally attached to some things than I realized. But I am getting better about letting things go. I even put cookbooks (gasp!) in the yard sale pile last week when we were cleaning out stuff. I am very good at getting rid of Scott's and Casiday's stuff, does that count? LOL

So, I enjoyed Day 1 of the party! I had to focus on doing the task at hand and not get distracted by the other things I "should go ahead and do while I'm here" ... so I didn't dust the areas I decluttered ... because I know that I'll be CLEANING those rooms soon. But it is nice to walk through the house and it's all neat and tidy (except Casiday's room but I just closed the door!! Is that cheating?). I am looking forward to hearing everyone else's stories and seeing pictures - I think that is my favorite part of this ... finding out that everyone has the same battle with "stuff" and "piles" that I have. Makes me feel much less like a failure and much more "normal."

Party on everyone!!

Okay ... so Beth challenged me to put up the pics of Casiday's room ... I guess before pictures will make the after pictures even more impressive. I confess that I am utterly ashamed that any room in my house looks like this but even more embarrassed at the sheer quantity of STUFF my child has. Please don't judge me!! :) Keep in mind that she "cleaned" her room on Friday ... and did a pretty good job so this is the work of two days most of which we were not at home. I would like to think this is a phase she will outgrow but I am not betting on it. As I said before, she is a hoarder so I think clutter and mess are going to be in her life for the long haul. :) (But only in my house for another 10 years or so!! LOL) She's a wonderful, funny, beautiful little person and I adore my daughter ... but this makes me crazy! Can I get a witness? LOL Well, enough stalling, I'm adding the pictures and removing all question of my supposed perfection as a housekeeper. Enjoy!!