I have my house back!!!

I love Christmas I really do, but I am so glad that all the Christmas decorations are down and put away. I spent all morning cleaning up my living room, dining room, and family room. I came downstairs this morning and thought, "I hope no one knocks on my door, I would be so embarrassed!" Seriously, the damage my kids can do is just indescribable! My oldest 2 sons had come and asked to play video games at 6am, claiming their chores were done. What a lie! You see part of their chores is to do the dishes, clear and clean the table, and sweep the floor. Not a huge task if done at least once a day. I came downstairs after showering and found that I couldn't step into the dining room without stepping in crumbs. Ughh. Well, you can now walk freely, I would not be embarrassed for you to come to my door, I would even invite you in. What a fabulous and productive morning! If I can keep the laundry going all day I will feel as if I have accomplished a lot today!

Christmas has arrived

Christmas has arrived at my house! The tree is up and decorated, there are lights everywhere, the nativity is set up, and the house is a mess. This seems to be normal for me this time of year. I spend every spare minute finishing up Christmas gifts and the house falls apart around me. I will try to do better this year, starting today!

Forget Not....

I know I slacked and didn't blog yesterday. But there wasn't much new cleaning happening. I kept up everything I deep cleaned this week and finished the Leia costume for my daughter. I made a cheesecake to share with friends that are coming over tonight and my oldest had his first sleepover with a non-relative. The kids didn't have school so it was a day filled with kids and crafts. I am working on training my older boys to keep things picked up and clean so that our home is always clean and inviting and I won't have to scramble to make things tolerable when someone is coming over. I want to feel comfortable with having people just stop by whenever and not feel embarrassed when they do. I think, no, I know I am making progress. I will not forget to be patient with myself and will celebrate the small victories, just as Elder Uchtdorf instructed.

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

I'm trying really hard to stay focused on my goal of getting my house truly clean and hopefully keeping it that way.

Today I cleaned off all the kitchen counters and scrubbed them. I can't tell you how many times we have talked to our older children about what cleaning the kitchen entails. We talk daily about how doing the dishes means more than just loading the dishwasher. How they need to look around and get the dishes from all around the kitchen and wash them all. Yet today there is a canister that has been waiting to be washed for at least a week and a cooler that came out of Jerry's car on Saturday. I don't know how to get through to them and I know if I don't my house will never stay clean.

I know that I can clean till I can't stand up anymore and if no one else cares or tries to help the cause is lost. I physically can't clean 3000 square feet by myself. Not when there are 7 people making the mess. So I have to find a way to make the others I live with understand that it has to be a group effort. I think this is one of the things that discourages me the most. So many times I have cleaned a space just to see someone thoughtlessly throw something on the floor. Do any of you have any ideas? Any magic solutions? Anything, I'll take any advice!!!!

A beginning...

Each step is closer to my final goal and I have to remember that it can't all be done in one day. This tends to be a major challenge for me. I want things perfect and if I can't make them perfect then I get overwhelmed and quit.
Today I did a small thing. I washed a few doors, a few walls, and the kitchen chairs. All things that had been bugging me, it is amazing what kids manage to dirty. Its funny how you can tell the height of each of your kids by the dirty line up the wall stairs. You can see where they let go of the stair rail because it is 10 shades lighter.
And as I sit here writing about the walls I cleaned I see my daughter tying knots around the rail I just cleaned. This is a never ending and often thankless job, but somehow, someday I will find the joy in the process of cleaning my home.
Until then I will take it one day and one small step at a time!

A New Direction....

So I haven't posted here much. I have decided to take this blog in a new direction.

Have you ever had one of those days when you look around your house and notice every dirty surface, every mess, every fault??? I have had a lot of those lately and have been feeling very overwhelmed by the sheer volume of things that need to be done. I have also realized that while we have lived here for over 2 years many rooms in our house don't feel like us. If that makes sense. Some rooms have personality, mostly my daughter's room (though even that isn't done the way I picture it in my head), but many rooms just look like a house, not a home. As a result I feel the need to share my journey towards becoming a better housekeeper and making this house truly a home.

So if like me you often feel overwhelmed by the never ending pile of laundry, or the messes that occur not minutes after you finally get a room clean, or the sheer magnitude of your job as mother of the next generation, join me and we can tackle this together!

My very good haul

I recently started couponing in an effort to save money. I am not an extreme couponer, I don't even get the paper yet but I am trying to ease into it so I don't get too overwhelmed. Well, I was headed up to IF for a few days and decided I didn't want to haul diapers up there and would go get some at Target since they had a sale going and I had coupons, off I went. The Idaho Falls Target had Huggies on sale for $8.99 for a Jumbo pack and a deal for a $5 gift card if you bought 3. So I bought 1 jumbo pack of size 4s, 1 jumbo pack of size 5, and one pack of Pull-ups (as I am about to start the potty training process with my brillant daughter). So the total for all 3 packs was about $27. Then I used $6 in coupons bringing it down to $21, then they gave me a $5 gift card, bringing it down to $16, then... I got a $3.50 off 1 pack of huggies Catalina too, bringing it down to $12.50 for all 3 or $4.17 each! I felt so proud of myself! Next challenge.... cereal!