Tackle It Tuesday

I have pictures to post from the preschool picnic yesterday, but I left the camera at preschool. I will have to get it tomorrow when we go for preschool graduation.

I have done "tackles" the last 2 Tuesdays, but I never found the time to post about them. After returning from our trip, I started sorting through the kids clothes. This took me about 2 weeks (a little at a time.) I had to have Isabelle and Kathleen try on a lot of their summer clothes to see who fit which things. They are about one size different, so it works pretty well.
I took the things that were too small to another family, and packed most of the winter clothes in boxes. (We have to have a few things out for chilly days.) These boxes are now ready for our move this summer.
I also started with my winter clothes and *plan* to finish them today.
I was going to pack the coats and snow boots, but 2 Fridays ago it started snowing as we were leaving for Kalispell. Now that we have had 5-6 days where the high is above 60, I think I can pack those.

My goal for today is to go through the coat closet and do the following:
-decide what coats to keep for next year
-pack all but a few light jackets per person in a box
-sort the ones we are getting rid of to go to friends or yard sale

Then I want to tackle the mud room and do the same for shoes and snow boots....
but first I plan to take some cranky children on a long, long walk. :)

Tackle It Tuesday

This weekend it snowed AGAIN! Saturday, I had planned to go with Mary Jo to meet up with Justine and spend the day shopping, crafting, and of course eating. The Scrapbooking store in Columbia Falls was having a big yard sale. We were going to start there, and then do lunch, more shopping, and stamp/craft at Justine's house in Whitefish.
Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate, and we stayed in Browning. The picture is one that Stephen took on Saturday through the living room window. The high on Saturday and Sunday was 19 degrees. I feel like it's January again. Yesterday warmed up a little more, but the snow continued (sporadically). The wind has kept the accumulation down somewhat, and it is supposed to warm up tomorrow. Eventually, we will get spring here.
Because of the snow, we skipped going to preschool. Since we were home, I thought I would do my tackle one day early. I have a few things on my "to do" list that I want to get done before our trip to Billings. (We leave on Sunday.)

My stamping cabinet is always a clutter collector. I put things up there to get them off of the table, or out of the kids' reach. When I do have some extra time, it always seems more important to stamp or scrapbook than to clean off the cabinet.
This is what the top of my stamping cabinet looked like when I started. There are bits and pieces of various projects, and the stamps and other tools that I used.

This is what it looks like now. The wall sconces are not really crooked. It is just where I was standing when I took the picture. I always enjoy when my cabinet is cleaned off, and I can light my candles. Now if I can just keep it that way!

I was hoping to get to the other counter clutter yesterday, but with the kids and supper, and making cookies, that never happened. Maybe today. :)

One of the kids from across the street came over yesterday afternoon, and he wanted peanut butter cookies. I have a soft spot for him, and I couldn't say no. I have been wanting to try out my Master Cookie Mix, so I put it to the test. I made Banana Cookies and Peanut Butter Cookies. I will try to post the recipe later this week.

For more Tackle It Tuesday projects, click on the link below.

Tackle It Tuesday

Today I tackled a section of the basement. Part of that was motivating the kids to pick up their toys. They have a play area there that was messy. I also straighted out the shelves where we store food. I moved some upstairs and better organized it, so that I would be able to see at a glance what we have.
The other thing that I worked on was ordering some pictures and other things for scrapbooking. I am only about 3 years behind on scrapbooking. I know that I will never catch up, so I have some small goals. I want to have a baby book for Caleb. Ian and Isabelle each have one, adn I can't leave him out! I also want to have something for Kathleen that is just hers. She enjoys looking at the books that we have, but she wants to know where she is.
I had a chance to catch up on some scrapbooking this weekend and yesterday evening. I finished our little book of our FL trip last spring. I also finished a small one of Caleb that is his first 2 months.
Today I ordered some pictures of all the kids of last summer. (Kathleen wasn't living with us yet, but spent a lot of time with us.) Sarah gave me a small scrapbook for my b-day that I plan to use for those pictures. I also asked Jason (Kathleen's dad) for some pictures of her when she was younger, but I wasn't sure what he would have.
After I ordered the pictures, Jason called. He left to go on a trip early this morning, but he left a zip drive with pictures of Kathleen right outside the front door. I found it and I have over 80 pictures of Kathleen from about the first 7 months of her life. She was so excited! Now I am working on loading all of those to Photomax and ordering prints. (Of course, Jason doesn't realized that now that I know that he has the pictures of Kathleen I will probably continue to bug him for more. I just know that it is important to her to have pictures of herself when she was younger.
I think that is all I will manage to "tackle" today.

Tackle It Tuesday

After we almost moved in December, we had less stuff in our house. Some of it had gone into storage, and some we decided to sell or give away. Once we unpacked, I rearranged to make things fit better. It was nice to have more space (well, actually the same space, but less stuff to go in that space.)
My plan at the time was that we would spend at least part of one weekend a month keeping things organized and decluttered (is that a word?) That way when we do move, it will be easy to pack. (OK, maybe it will be easier to pack. Packing up an entire house, especially one with kids can never be easy.) My plan is that we'll have things somewhat organized, and have gotten rid of any extra things.
Of course, this month we started homeschooling Ian. That has taken up extra time. Any "free" time I might have on the weekend is used for catching up on laundry, cleaning, etc, or getting things ready for the next week of school.
I saw the "Tackle it Tuesday" on the 5 Minutes for Mom website. I thought I would try to do one small thing every week to keep things under control.
Today, I re-organized the linen closet. It was getting out of control, and I never seem to get to it. I also rearranged and organized the girl's craft area. I am sure that it won't stay that way for long, but at least for now everything has a place.
Now I'm off to tackle feeding 4 kids supper, and getting things ready for Bible study. The fun never ends.