Organization

I found this plastic tray at target, where I find everything in my house. I thought it would be perfect to organize the make up that I like to keep out, and it turned out to be. It fits in my dresser drawer perfectly and makes my life and morning a little simpler.

I'll use all I can get. :)

Couponing

I honestly feel a little shammed writing a post about organization because I just spent the last few hours searching the filing cabinet and every crevice of the house for an important document and came up empty handed. But.. you have to take baby steps right? At least that's what I tell myself.

I'm from the Midwest. We apologize for just about everything that isn't even our fault, we call soda "pop", and we use coupons. I could be totally wrong about coupon-ing (pretty sure that there isn't a verb for coupon, but I'm making it one) only being a midwest thing, but I see a lot of it in my neck of the woods. Some people are hardcore coupon-ers (just made up that word too). I see the women at the store with their HUGE coupon books and they have it down to a the t, where they only pay $53 for 2 grocery carts full of stuff. I'm impressed by these women, because it takes so much planning and dedication.

I'm not hardcore, I'd say I'm a beginner at best. So here in my beginning couponing tutorial.

First some couponing rules that I go by:

*Never buy something just because you have a coupon. This is a huge trap people fall into.

*If the coupon says $2.00 off 2 of whatever product use it during a buy one get one free sale.

*Most stores will take their store coupons even after they expire, just ask.

*I go shopping, make the best choices cost wise, and then look to see if I have any coupons for what I was already going to buy.

*Don't waste your time clipping coupons you will never use. Dog food coupons are a waste of time if you don't have a dog, and no one around you does, and you don't plan on getting a dog before they expire. 

With those ideas in mind, it's always hard to sift through an envelope stuffed full of unorganized coupons. So here's an easy way to stay organized. 

Step 1:

Get your huge stack of coupons:

and some baseball card sleeves:

I bought these from Target. They were only a couple dollars, $2.99 maybe, I don't remember exactly, but I know it wasn't much.

Step 2:

Organize coupons into categories, ie frozen foods, hygiene, baby, feminine care, restaurants, etc.

Step 3: 

Cut or fold the coupons so that they main part of the coupon is seen. ie the $0.50 off Tide. So you can just glance and know what the product is and how much of a discount it is for.

Step 4: 

Create a glossary page that reads what order the categories are in  for quick reference, or for you husband's reference, if you have talked him into using such a coupon book.

Step 5:

Save your hard earned money!

Tackel It Tuesday

I am embarrassed to say that this is the current state of my living room:

Lets see if I can tackle it today.

Update (6:06pm): It still looks almost like the picture above. It's rough when you have a toddler undoing all of your doing. Hub took Riley up to her swim lessons at our community center and look Raigan with him, God love him.

Update: (6:51pm): So without my dear sweet babes around, it took me less than an hour to put all that laundry away and clean up this crazy mess. I even cleaned out the couch cushions and swept under each of them. I have to remind myself often that my house was clean before I had my babies, and that I am not a messy person- most of the time.

I'm in love!

Hub and I were struggling to remember everything to take to the pool. Our girls are young, which requires a parent to be prepared. Extra clothes, regular diapers, swim diapers, snacks, pool toys, sunscreen, sunhats, I could go on all day, but I think you get the idea. So, I wanted to buy them pool bags, I searched, and this is what I found from MK's Monogramming on Main Street in Covington. I'm in love. The font of them is playful, and I of course love all things girly and pink.

It has worked too, to keep us organized, prepared, and lets us enjoy the pool a little more.

I'm on a Mission!

I'm on a mission to organize and simplify our house. 

It might sound harsh, but I got just so darn tired of picking up Riley's room. 

So my solution: I got rid of a TON of stuff. 

Toys, puzzles, clothes, sleeping bags.

Put the clothes she doesn't fit into anymore in a tote to sell or give away. 

The ones I wanted to pass down to Raigan in her room. 

Kept a few toys and puzzles.

Got rid of three large pieces of furniture that I'm wondering how we fit in there in the first place?

When I was done, I thought to myself, why didn't I think of this sooner?

Riley is able to help me keep up with it without feeling overwhelmed too. 

She even puts her shoes away in this cute storage piece. It was a huge deal before finding mates to her shoes before because they were all just thrown in a big pile.

Playroom

Before

After

Busy Life

I was super excited for school to be out for the summer so I would have plenty of time to relax, take it easy, spend time with Hub and my girls, clean the house etc. But life has just gotten even more crazy! Tonight we had my niece's birthday party, Riley's t ball game, and another 1st birthday party to go to. I like having things to keep us entertained, but a night at home would be nice too.

On another note, I have been trying desperately to simplify our life and our home. I have been trying to get rid of quite a bit of things because the less objects we have in our house, the less there is to clean, organize, and keep track of right? I just feel like we have been bogged down by stuff for so long. There isn't a need for all of it. Hopefully if I keep doing a little bit each day things will keep getting more and more simple. There have been a few things to inspire me to do this:

My dear friend, also named Meg, babysits for a family and she invited us over for a play date a week or two ago. This family had quite a large house and so little stuff! They had 3 children, and at first I thought it was a little strange that in the kid's bedrooms there wasn't a lot of furniture. Mainly a bed, a bedside table and a few toys, but the more I got to thinking about it, I decided that it wasn't strange, it was genius! What little this woman has to pick up and clean off and keep organized.

We visited my sister in law's for Memorial Day for a cookout and their house was so neat, free of clutter, and beautifully decorated. I found myself asking her more than once where she got various objects, because I just loved it all.

So I am giving up on holding onto things that I don't think I truly need or will use in the future and am trading it for peace of mind!