I have started a new habit - well trying anyway. I found
this site though 74 Lime Lane and am jumping at the challenge. Most of what she said resinates with me.
The first question - Are you living in CHAOS? (Cant have anyone over syndrome?) Well its a big yes from me. The cleaning and organising drops to the bottom of my to do list, and when people are coming over, I fall into a flat spin and like a tornado clean the surface.
The concept of it is to develop habits that make cleaning and organising your home easier, but also de-cluttering and looking after yourself - not just everyone else.
How it works is the FLYLady (Finally Loving Yourself) sends me an email everyday telling me what to do. The first day was polish the sink and I have to do this every day. The second one was get up and get dressed straight away -right to shoes ready to walk out the door. Today I got additional emails about stopping procrastinating and doing a list of things - which I did because I was told to.
So today I have made all the beds, changed the sheets, washed and put away all the dishes, scrubbed the bathroom, washed and folded clothes as well as made myself presentable. Not only have I done this but the kids have helped!
Everything seems to be split into 15 minute blocks so we have been setting the alarm and going for it. There are even times you have to rest for 15 minutes. I have not been this regimented with my time since I was feeding!
The boys are also embracing the challenge - they all had to dress themselves, put out their dirty clothes and make their beds in 15 minutes today and actually they were pretty successful. Benji helped with the sheets and Xandy helped scrub the bath. The other massive success was at dinner. Normally we can sit for what seems like hours with the kids trying to get them to eat their dinner. They had 15 minutes and what wasn't eaten went to the dog. The timer seemed to take away the tears and the dog only got some scraps. Lets hope I can make these habits permanent.
Oh - and for the procrastination challenge I took photographs of all the boys artwork for the digital frame. Some has gone in the 'precious' cabinet and the rest becomes wrapping. Any extra goes to the bin and I have a clean space! My 15 minutes blogging is up!!!
The local paper was also there and obviously drawn to the little boy in uniform.
I just hope the shot of his workers crack out peeping out of the small yellow fireman sam pants doesn't make the cover!
Spencer also had a really good time and was relaxed and compliant.
I thought I had got out of my promise of more dinosaurs, but we were sitting on the bus (up top on the way home) and Spencer turns to me deadpan and says "Can we get those dinosaurs now Mum?" Bless - and off to Target we went.
Well into the second week of the never ending holidays and things are getting a bit tougher. The boys are bored and hungry. We had a lovely playdate at our place today which was a welcome relief and I made these Apple Chips. YUM. From a pinterest find - vittlesandbits.blogspot.com. I need to refine a little but tasty.
The top looks like the beige stripes have been folded up but I actually think it is black fabric at the top folded in stripes. On my to do list for summer.
We did some cooking. There was no time for a recipe so we just winged it. I got out anything I could find and we were making museli bars. There are currants, sultanas, dates, cranberries, sunflower seeds, coconut, rolled oats, rice bubbles and corn flakes. All of this was just in the cupboard.
Each boy was given a bowl and spoon and allowed to scoop in what ever they felt like and as much as they wanted.
They were actually really restrained and thoughtful
We started by tasting everything and that limited the amount of fingers in the bowls. Well that was until I added the condensed milk. I put in enough to make each one gooey. (yes the technical term) Once they were all mixed and stuck together, I pressed each one into the large tray on baking paper to keep everyones creation separate. Into the oven on a moderate heat until golden (again highly technical) and we got:
Yummy crunchy museli bars. I know what is in them and the worst is condensed milk. THe best bit is they are easy, quick, cheap and REALLY YUMMY.
All their own creation. The music needs a little work - as too the costumes..........
We were lucky to get tickets (in a box) to see Disney on Ice tonight - through Mum's work. The boys were excited and got all dressed up and were on their best behaviour. They love Mickey and Minnie and were excited to see the show.
They weren't disappointed as the first people out were Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy. We also saw Cars, The Little Mermaid and Lion King. All very well done and the use of fabric and lighting was beautiful.
Alexander is getting to the age where he needs some 'activities' during the holidays - especially the June ones which are always cold and miserable. Hello Basketball Camp. Two full days of training and exercise with his basketball team. The ball and shirt were signed by some basketball people - probably the same ones as in this photo......
The quilt is called "Both Sides of the Pond" and is from "Jelly Roll Quilts by Pam and Nicky Lintott. I think it is slightly bigger than the pattern with a larger white boarder to give it a touch more width. At this point it hangs right over our single beds (hiding all the stuff underneath) but also sits nicely on the top of our king size bed.
The first 'official' day of holidays and I am seriously going to have to find my happy place to make it through two weeks. Already the squabbles and provoking have started, but despite all that we braved the winter chill and met friends out at Jells Park. Lots of fresh air and excercise and no cost makes the cold bearable - that and the fact that no-one went in the lake!!
We saw a rainbow today. It was so bright and was so thick that the colours looked to repeat themselves. The boys came straight inside and started drawing their own rainbows.
he and Mr P. once they started they couldn't stop! There is still a little to go on Hogwarts Castle, but the detail in it is fantastic, and once built it makes a great playspace.
It is always funny how your perspective effects your choices. Personally, I would prefer choices to be taken away from me as I tend to over think things and worry over the smallest thing, where if I just let it roll it would probably work out fine.
