How to Keep Your Kitchen Countertops Clear

It is absolutely hilarious that I am writing this post...Why? Because keeping our kitchen countertops clear is a constant battle in our home. In Jill Savage's book, "No More Perfect Moms", she explains that keeping up with this task can feel like shoveling snow while it's still snowing! She is so right! 

In the process of trying to figure out what works for our family, I have discovered 3 Easy Steps that make all the difference for us:

How to Keep Your Kitchen Countertops Clear

Make sure everything has a place! 

Immediately toss junk mail - don't let it sit.

Create a designated place for backpacks, purses, jackets/coats, etc.

Provide your family with a large bowl or basket that is intended to house car keys, tech devices, etc.

Put away items you don't use on a regular basis.

For example, when it comes to appliances that you don't use every day, store them in your cabinets.

If you find yourself low on storage space, consider storing some of your seasonal items in another location in your home.

Clear your counters every.single.night.

Before you go to bed, make sure your counters are clear - I typically tackle this task after dinner while the rest of my crew tidies up our family room area. This is also when I load the dishwasher: Load/Start the dishwasher at night - Empty in the morning -

Another habit that has made all the difference in our house!

Clearing your counters may seem overwhelming at first, but if you start doing it every night, less will accumulate over time, and the task will not seem quite as overwhelming each time. Enlist help from the entire family! Encourage them to take responsibility for their stuff. Ask them to help you brainstorm ideas for how to get organized and keep up with this!

See the photo to the left? That's what our kitchen island typically looks like around dinner time...

See the photo to the right? That is my goal! 

Do I always reach my goal? Not always - especially on the weekends - but when the counters are clear, I feel like I can breathe a little easier, so we try to make it happen as much as possible.

When I go to bed with clear counters, I wake up to clear counters!

I love when that happens...even if by lunch time it looks like a bomb went off once again.

Linking Up With The Modest Mom, My Joy-Filled Life, A Wise Woman, Women with Intention, and A Mama's Story~

#1 Tip for Teacher Organization

Today, I am sharing my #1 Tip for Classroom Teacher Organization!

If you do nothing else to get your year off to an organized start, at least make sure you do this!

At the beginning of the school year, print a list that includes each child's first name. 

*In alphabetical order - either by first name or last name - depending on how you do your documentation for grading, etc.*

If you have students with the same first name, include their last initial - but keep your list as simple as possible. 

Use a fun font, but one that works for you, and set your font size to be around 18 - just make sure that everyone's name fits in one column. 

Create a Word Document that includes 2-3 of these columns - Print & Cut! 

Print lots of these! 

(Just don't print so many that you don't leave room for a new student or two or three to join you throughout the year when you will need to update and reprint your list. 

Keep your stack of columns handy! 

I typically kept several in my classroom desk drawer...and several in my teacher bag...to where they were ALWAYS handy! 

As field trip permission slips were returned, I crossed names off of a list. 

As math homework was returned, I crossed names off of a list. 

As students were featured as student-of-the-week, I crossed names off of a list. 

As special projects were presented to the class, I crossed names off of a list. 

This allowed me to quickly look at my list and see who:

had yet to turn in their field trip permission slip...

needed to complete their math homework...

were waiting to be featured as student-of-the-week...

had not yet presented their special project to the class...

etc. 

*Use a sharpie...or a highlighter...something that will make it as easy as possible for you to use these lists for quick glancing!*

Yes, each stack of papers (seatwork, homework, quizzes, tests, etc.) had one of these lists attached to it. Not only was I easily able to keep track of missing work, but I was able to record scores/grades/etc. next to each name and then very quickly enter those scores in to my grade book - hard copy & online. 

Crayon-Themed Gift for Students: 

Are you a parent/grandparent looking for a great gift idea or a teacher searching for a little something for your students?  

If so, check out "The Crayon Box that Talked"! 

Paired with a box of crayons, it makes the perfect little combo for any preschool or lower-elementary student.

I have had a great success using these creative "out-of-the-box" activities with varying age groups of elementary students! These projects can be adjusted to fit your specific needs - no matter the age, grade, or teaching environment:

Also, be sure to visit my Teachers Pay Teachers shop!

My Laundry Routine

 In our house, Monday is laundry day! I am pretty protective of Mondays in general as I've set aside that day for the kids and I to relax, recover from the weekend, and tackle the house as much as we can. Without this day, I can not imagine what our house would look like throughout the week!

This post includes a glimpse in to My Laundry Routine:
Things may not always go as planned, but this is typically how we like to do things around here!

First of all, I have an old-school, open-top washer with an agitator, 

and I wash just about everything on cold/delicate.

Around here, we usually use liquid detergent, and we are not picky about brands...

Tide, Arm & Hammer, All, Purex, Extra, we use it all! 

I score awesome coupon deals - stockpiling detergent so that I never run out...

and I never have to overspend for it.

 In addition to detergent, my favorite additions are:

Zout Stain Remover

Arm & Hammer Baking Soda

White Vinegar

When I need a little extra help with a stain, I love mixing the baking soda and vinegar and applying a paste directly to the fabric.

When I need a little extra help with an odor, I love pouring a cup full of vinegar and a cup full of baking soda directly in to the washing machine.
*This mixture will also serve as a great fabric softener.*

As for the Zout, it is an amazing stain remover as well!

I don't throw everything immediately in the dryer.

I flat dry or hang dry our nicer pieces and simply fluff them in the dryer after they have air dried. 

This definitely helps to prolong the life of our clothes. 

A Few Thoughts: 

1. My hubby does his own laundry - I tackle mine and the kids', and he takes care of his own.

2. My goal is for my little ones to take over their own laundry as soon as possible - 

With that being the goal, they "help" me with our laundry routine. 

Even the littlest ones can help:

put their dirty clothes in their laundry basket

throw clothes in the washer

put wet clothes in the dryer

pull dry clothes out of the dryer in to a basket

"fold"

"put away" 

Yes, including little hands will slow you down...and things may not always be done exactly as you wish...but the training process is very much worth every second of what may feel like a hassle at the time.

...even three-year-olds can learn to put away their clothes. Many of us have kids who do too little because we are moms who do too much." - Karen Ehman

3. In addition to "Laundry Day", I will sometimes do a load of towels or a load of sheets - on a different day - just to keep Mondays from being completely overwhelming. 

4. I do not believe in ironing...It goes against everything I believe - In fact, we do not even own an ironing board. We use a clothing steamer - and that is only for our most high-maintenance items. As much as possible, I really try to stick with easy-care items. There are lots of different clothing steamers out there...having one will change your life.

A Few Final Tips:

Each member of our family has an individual laundry basket [for dirty clothes] in their bedroom/bathroom area. These baskets are brought to the laundry room every Sunday night or Monday morning.

Each member of our family has an individual laundry basket [for clean clothes] that I keep stored in the laundry room. When it's time to fold clothes, clean laundry goes in these baskets and is taken to each family member's bedroom.

*Yes, sometimes I get behind on putting the laundry away, but when things don't go exactly as planned, I catch up when I'm able, and yes, I use little tiny hands to help me "put away".*

I hate pulling clean clothes out of the dryer and wrestling them in to the living room - where I usually do my folding. Sooooo, when I discovered that I could place a laundry basket directly under the dryer door opening and easily transfer clean clothes from inside the dryer in to the basket, my life was changed forever (and my back hurts a lot less now, too)!

Does your laundry completely overwhelm you? 

Maybe it's simply time to reduce the number of clothing pieces your family owns! 

Check out these tips for helping you de-clutter your closets~

Looking for more tips that will help you successfully manage your home?
Check out this post!

Taking Steps to Declutter

It has been said that clutter is simply unmade decisions - I believe there is a lot of truth in that! Especially as a home maker, I want to be decisive...and organized...and intentional...about creating a family life that nurtures rather than stresses. Maybe you have the same desire, but you feel overwhelmed about where to start. 

In this post, I am going to include resources that I have found to be helpful to me in this area. If you are struggling with the desire or the motivation to tackle what feels like an overwhelming task - your home, may I encourage you to pray:

"God, give me desire where there is no desire and energy where this is no energy...Instead of being overwhelmed by my stuff and my mess, will you please overwhelm me with your peace and presence as I take small steps toward progress...not perfection?"

Friends, if you are struggling with discouraging thoughts, challenging strongholds, destructive generational patterns, I want to urge you to refuse defeat...to take those thoughts captive and replace them with God's goodness and grace toward you. 

Social Media Inspiration: 

The term minimalist might scare you, but becoming minimalist has a lot of great thoughts and tips for gaining a good perspective about stuff. If you don't already follow along with him, I would encourage you to connect with him for a little inspiration. 

Cleaning Tips:

Everyone is different and will find cleaning inspiration in a variety of different places! There are so many great approaches out there, but here are a few resources that I think might interest you. If you feel stressed out by an approach, move on and find one that works for you!

If you like to use printables to help you get organized in your goals, Clean Mama is going to become your best friend!

Photo Credit: Clean Mama

So many women have found the Fly Lady to be a huge help to them! She offers alot of great little tips that will keep you from feeling overwhelmed in the cleaning process.

Sarah Mae openly shares about her progress in this area! On her blog, she shares loads of great practical tips as well as candid photos that will remind you that you are not alone in your journey~

Bonus: My Favorite Cleaning Products

Tips for Purging Your Home:

Want to have a cleaner home? Own less stuff. It works every time. - becoming minimalist

The first step (before you begin organizing) is purging - getting rid of all of the stuff you don't need...don't use...don't even want. I would highly suggest focusing on one room at a time -  Here are a few tips to help you.

Purging/Organizing Your Closet:

I really love the ideas and inspiration included in this post: 

Why I Got Rid of My Whole Wardrobe

This photo is from that post, and you will love reading her thoughts!

Photo Credit: Dallas Moms Blog

I also love learning great little tips from A Bowl Full of Lemons!

Check this one out: Keep a laundry basket (with a trash bag inside) in your closet. Whenever you want to purge clothing, just toss it into the basket. Once the trash bag is full, it's time to donate!

Organizing Your Kids' Stuff:

If you have kids, managing their stuff can be a full-time job! Around here, I have found some tips and tricks that work well for us! 

Bonus: A Few Tips for Cleaning Toys

Maintaining Order in Your Mini-Van:

Keeping our vehicle organized is key to things running smoothly for us around here! If our van is a mess, you can rest assured that my blood pressure is slightly elevated, but a few simple tips have been the ticket to keeping our mini-van de-cluttered and organized. 

Tips for Purging Your Schedule:

Yes, I'm sure you would agree that we could all use some de-cluttering when it comes to our busy schedules. It has been said, We can do anything - but not everything. I see some truth in that statement - We are all far too busy...saying yes to far too many [good] things...pushing ourselves (and our families) to unhealthy limits...and we must learn how to to Choose the best and say no to the rest. (Julie Ann Barnhill) In the coming days, I'm looking forward to sharing more about this topic! 

Stay tuned~

Recommended Books:

7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess

Living with Less by Mark Tabb.

Satisfied: Discovering Contentment in a World of Consumption

Have you heard of David Platt, Francis Chan, and Craig Groeschel? While their books are not specifically about decluttering...or simplifying...they encourage their readers to live with eternity in mind...which most definitely impacts that way we live now...without a focus on ourselves and our stuff...but on the kingdom.

I guarantee that if you allow these books to impact your life, you will feel compelled to make some tough decisions about your STUFF!

Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream

Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God

Weird: Because Normal Isn't Working

*God has used these books in my life - in a POWERFUL way! I pray you will find encouragement in them as well - no matter what season of you life you find yourself.*

Tips for Keeping Your Mini-Van Organized

Keeping our vehicle organized is key to things running smoothly for us around here! If our van is a mess, you can rest assured that my blood pressure is slightly elevated, but a few simple tips have been the ticket to keeping our mini-van de-cluttered and organized. 

First of all, we do our best to clean it out everyday! I'm not talking about a daily car-detailing of the inside of our vehicle (maybe in my dream world)...I'm talking about throwing out the trash, bringing all the stuff inside the house, etc.

In age-appropriate ways, involve your kids. 

Recruit them to help you.

Encourage them to take responsibility for the messes they create.

We keep small plastic bags in the car - and this makes it easy to dispose of food containers (I remember a time when eating in vehicles was a no-no in my book! Again...dream world!), dirty diapers, snack wrappers, and on and on and on this list could go. Buy some little trash bags - Reuse some Wal-mart bags - Do what works for you!

Now...for the stuff that stays in the van: 

A diaper bag/toddler bag stays in the van at all times - It is well-stocked with diapers, wipes, an extra change of clothes, a few snacks, a few little basic first-aid supplies, etc. Anytime this bag is needed (church nursery, play dates, childcare at our activities, etc.), it is easy to grab and go - only needing restocked every once and awhile. This saves me SO much time when I'm leaving the house in the mornings.

*Some of the Thirty-One Totes work great for this! Again, see what works best for you!*

In addition to the ready-to-go diaper bag, there are two baskets that keep life in our kid-wagon running smoothly. 

Do your kids eat all.the.time? Mine do! I learned early on that I should never leave the house without A LOT of snacks coming along for the ride. This snack basket stays in our van - and it remains fully stocked with squeeze packs, fig bars, peanuts, crackers, etc. 

Stuck in traffic? Staying out a little past your kiddos' regular lunchtime? This basket will be a lifesaver! 

The other basket includes wipes (of all kinds...as you can see), bug spray, sunscreen, hand-sanitizer, small disposable bags for dirty diapers (mentioned above), etc.

This basket stays up between the two front seats - and I love having these supplies easily accessible!

A large bottle of hand sanitizer stays in a cup holder - right next to my coffee cup. I wholeheartedly believe that a mother can survive anything as long as she has a good cup of coffee and large bottle of hand sanitizer!

We spend alot of time on the road, and my husband is convinced that - if ever necessary - we could live in our mini-van. While I'm not so sure about that, we do try to keep it fully stocked with everything we need to survive traveling with little ones.

It was time for a closet cleanout...

As we look forward to our next season of life...becoming a family of five, I am once again motivated to find ways to simplify my life as much as possible. When it comes to simplifying, I am all about LESS STUFF. Getting rid of stuff brings me great joy...peace of mind...solitude within myself. Yes, I am that person.

The first place I usually start is in my closet...then I move on to my kids' closets...then I pray that my husband will someday remove the overwhelming large t-shirt collection in his closet. I believe in the power of prayer...so I'm not sure why all of his t-shirts are still there...glaring at me...every.single.time. I glare up at them.

Moving on...because clearly I am struggling with some unresolved issues there...

In recent days, my closet has experienced a complete overhaul! Can you relate to this? You have the clothes from back when you were all that and a bag of chips, clothes from when you were working (and you still thought you were all that and a bag of chips), maternity clothes, post-maternity clothes, post-post maternity clothes (You know what I'm talking about, ladies!), clothes from around your first child's second birthday when your only relationship with chips was that you hid from your toddler...in the laundry room...with a bag of chips. Okay, that's not really what I did...I actually hid in the bathroom with chocolate.

Seriously, no matter what I do, it always seems like there are still more clothes that need to go - an overwhelming amount of stuff that I am not wearing! I mean, really...what am I going to do with 19 different styles of khaki pants, 45 various shades of black pants, and numerous capri pants - all which perfectly completed my teacher life, but no longer work for my day-to-day? Oh, and some of those cute tank tops? Let's face it...They're just never going to be cute again.

Lately, my mom and I have been discussing the deep things in life...such as why it's important that I rid my closet of all pieces that include horizontal stripes...and why solid white shirts are a ridiculous option for young moms...and why knee caps age along with the rest of one's body...and these discussions have encouraged me to clear out various pieces that I know would be better suited for someone else. It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday.

Thankfully, my favorite consignment sale is this week, so as I was cleaning out my closet, I was tagging the goods for resale and donating some of the less than stellar pieces. Over the weekend, I droppped everything off, and I didn't look back for one second. When I woke up this morning, my house felt cleaner and my mind felt clearer. Bring on baby #3.

Wait, we need to get her a crib first. (Oh yeah, it's a girl! We're so excited!)

How to Organize Your Kids' Stuff

Welcome, mamas! Kids come with stuff - No matter how much we try to tame it, the fact remains. 

This post includes all kinds of ideas for how to organize your kids' stuff! These are things that have worked well in our home, and my hope is that some of these ideas will trigger inspiration for your space. 

In the Car:

We have wholeheartedly embraced the mini-van life. My husband is convinced that - if ever necessary - we could live in our van. While I'm not so sure about that, we do try to keep it fully stocked with everything we need to survive traveling with little ones.

A diaper bag - for my youngest - stays in the van at all times - It is well-stocked with diapers, wipes, an extra change of clothes, a few snacks, a few little basic first-aid supplies, etc. Anytime this bag is needed (church nursery, play dates, childcare at our activities, etc.), it is easy to grab and go - only needing restocked every once and awhile. This saves me SO much time when I'm leaving the house in the mornings.

In addition to the ready-to-go diaper bag, there are two baskets that keep life in our kid-wagon running smoothly. 

This first basket includes wipes (of all kinds...as you can see), bug spray, sunscreen, hand-sanitizer, small disposable bags for dirty diapers, etc. This basket stays up between the two front seats - and I love having these supplies easily accessible!

A large bottle of hand sanitizer stays in a cup holder - right next to my coffee cup. Mothers can survive anything as long as they have a good cup of coffee and large bottle of hand sanitizer!

Do your kids eat all.the.time? Mine do! I learned early on that I should never leave the house without A LOT of snacks coming along for the ride. This snack basket stays in our van as well - always fully stocked with squeeze packs, fig bars, peanuts, crackers, etc. 

On many occasions, this has been a life saver!

In the Nursery/Kids' Closets:

When it's time to create a new space or re-do an old one, I love to shop my house to find what I need! When it was time to create our last nursery, I decided that I would use this basket for diapers...instead of buying one of those diaper caddies that would eventually end up a yard sale. 

This basket has worked perfectly!

When my littles have first come home from the hospital, having baskets like this (that include wipes, diaper rash cream, etc.) located throughout the house has been super helpful. These extra little "makeshift changing stations" have kept me from running all around the house to find what I need when it's time to change ALL of those newborn diapers. 

In nursery closets, using small baskets (inside drawers) for socks, hats, burp cloths, etc. and medium-sized baskets (in closets) for shoes has definitely helped tame the stuff. 

For bigger little boy feet, those canvas hanging shoe organizers have been awesome (in closets) for shoes.

When it comes to their clothes, I use sized closet dividers.

Because I buy ahead, this makes it easy to keep their clothes well organized! 

Each kiddo has a laundry basket, and when it's time for their baths, they are responsible for putting their dirty clothes in their basket. We start this as soon as our littles are able to walk. Yes, I'm serious.

After I wash/fold my kids' clothes, their stuff goes down in a laundry basket. (Each family member has their own basket.) Their basket goes to their room...and they are responsible for putting it away in their drawers. I take care of my little ones' hanging items, but they are guided through doing the rest. Sure, things get unfolded...and drawers can end up looking...well, not like I would have them, but I have to remember that I am training them to be independent. 

Bonus Tip: Year round, this basket stays in a little cubby beside the door we use the most for coming in and out of the house. It is great for storing various things...

 ...but during the winter months, it is home to our hates, gloves, earmuffs, etc.

It's location helps us keep up with all of these things - and it's easily accessible for little hands to gather what they need/put back what they've used!

In the Pantry: 

I actually like to use this basket approach all around my house - rotating various-sized baskets as needed...using them for different things here and there - depending on the stage/season of life we find ourselves. (I usually find my baskets at yard sales and Home Goods!)

We are currently in a season of life when we use A LOT of these squeeze packs! 

Soooo, in our pantry, there are two giant wire baskets - one is just for Go-Go Applesauce squeeze packs and the other is for all of the other ones. 

Being able to access these this way has been made things easy!

Around the House:

Speaking of the kitchen, I keep this large basket near the cooking area - giving little hands something to do while I'm making dinner. Various books and toys are rotated in and out of this basket - and it has been a huge help to me - especially during that difficult hour (or two) before Daddy gets home from the office!

P.S. The basket rarely looks this neat.

Bath toys have a basket near the bathtub (though lots of times the toys just stay in the tub...let's be honest here.)...and each kiddo has a book basket and a toy basket in their room. Most of their toys are kept in their playroom, but I like to keep a few quiet toys in their bedroom so they have something to do when I ask them to play quietly in their room.

Psst....taming bathroom toys has been easy with this bathtub organizer basket from Kidco.

You may be doubled-over in laughter thinking about your children playing quietly in their rooms. So, let me say that for my kids (especially for my oldest...who has inherited my volume of loudness), this is something that has taken a good bit of training. It is all about training - I have learned that from Michelle Duggar. She's my hero.

Before heading upstairs for bath time/bedtime, the whole family works together to clean up the downstairs - which includes our main living space (living room/kitchen) and playroom. 

You can read more about how we do this by checking out:

Chores for Pre-Schoolers

From the time our little ones are able to place even a single item in a container, we start training them to clean up their toys. Once again, baskets are our best friend:

We have an animal basket...

a [huge] block basket...

 a basket for small cars...

 a letter block basket...

 another block basket (or two)...

You get the idea! 

We train our kiddos on what goes where, and it makes it easy for them to play the leading role in the clean-up process. 

I found two of these large basket bins at Home Goods, and I love them! One is for our ridiculously huge Mr. Potato Head collection, and the other one is used for Mega Blocks.

You may be wondering A basket for every.single.different.type.of.toy? No way! 

but let me explain how this works for us... 

First of all, we work hard to limit the amount of toys that our kids have. We do not keep everything they are gifted. They do not get every new toy that they spot at Target. We purge toys as they wear out, break, etc.

Secondly (and this is the biggest thing for us!), we rotate our kids' toys so that they do not have access to all of them at once. 

For example, right now there is an animal basket, a book basket, and a block basket in the living room. The living room baskets are pretty woven baskets that blend with our overall decor - keeping our living room from looking like a day care...most of the time. 

In the playroom, there are more baskets...and the cutesy baskets you see above...well, those are from our transportation-themed playroom. 

There is a closet in there, and I'm able to store toys in that closet and rotate various ones in and out as my kids grow tired of different things. This keeps our house...our kids...and us from being overwhelmed by toys scattered all throughout the house.

Larger toys fit great on these Ikea shelves that we've added to our playroom closet, and - as you can see - some of the small baskets rotate on and off these shelves perfectly!

(More about that here)

You can read more about how we do this by checking out:

 Keeping Toys Organized & Rotated

One of our kitchen cabinets has been designated "The Art Cabinet"! It houses fingerpaints, Playdoh, markers/crayons/colored pencils, scissors & glue, all of our art supplies. Why? Because at this stage with little ones, doing these kinds of activities at our kitchen table seems to be the easiest thing. For organizing school supplies/art supplies, I have loved these stackable bins from IKEA. They come in all different sizes, and I have super impressed with the quality!

Need some tips for how to keep your mini-van organized?

Or ideas for how to keep your kids' toys clean?

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