Day Ten: Kitchen Table

As I mentioned on Day Two, the shelf and the kitchen table are constantly accumulating clutter. Tonight, I tackled the table. It actually wasn't that bad since we eat at the table every night now. Just a couple papers, some cough syrup, Spitz, my old wallet, some flyers, couple boxes of Halloween candy and an empty decorative bowl.

It was just a matter of taking the time to put things away. Story of my life.

The painting supplies get to stay as that is a work in project. So does my box and paperwork for the bloodwork that I was suppose to go do 2 months ago, maybe I'll get around to it next week.

Anyway, here's the after pic:

Day Nine: Winter Stuff

Today's project was a much needed one: organize all the winter toques, scarves and mitts. First I pulled everything off the shelf and out of the baskets. The stuff was already in the baskets just in a very disorganized way, especially considering I dumped them out this summer so I could use them in the camper!

Next I organized them simply: toques, scarves and neck warmers, and mittens. I also pulled out any items that we haven't used in the last couple years. I then chose which basket would contain what category. 

It was a very simple project, but the whole point of this challenge is to make my home clutter-free (and organized). This was accomplished.

Before

After

Want to know what I'm talking about? Check it out here.

Thanksgiving weekend

Checking out this year's first snow
before we leave.

Thanksgiving weekend has come and gone, which makes me sad. Don't get me wrong we had a wonderful weekend but it was just too quick.

We headed back home bright and early Saturday morning, after going to market and picking up my brother. Turns out traveling in the morning with Kaleb is possibly the best idea we've ever had. In general, mornings for Kaleb are uneventful. He wakes up, has breakfast, plays, sleeps then plays some more before lunch.  Granted we had to wake him up a little earlier then he's used to but he made up for it with sleeping most of the way down. He even got some play time with his uncle on our three hour trip.

Showing off his new toque!

We spent Saturday afternoon visiting with my mom. We got the turkey going in the oven, did a little winter clothes shopping for Kaleb, and she got some quality time in with her favourite grandson. After supper and his bath, we headed to J's parents for the rest of the weekend.

At my in-laws', it was their turn to spend time with Kaleb. We also got a turkey supper going as J's grandmother, aunt and uncle would be joining us. K had a blast playing with his grandparents and with his great-aunt and great-grandmother. After an exhausting day, he slept great that night! 

Playing with Pépère.

Monday morning we were up nice and early, packed up, and headed off to my aunts house for a quick visit. We haven't seen her since the summer and it was nice to visit with her and my cousin. The home baked pie and cookies she served us was pretty awesome too!  

Next up we were off to a friends house for another quick visit and cuddle time with their 5 week old daughter. Almost makes me want another one! Almost. Afterwards we were off to see my mom for a few hours before we headed home. Kaleb was so tired, he slept most of the way home! 

I don't know if it is something I'm realizing with age, because of Kaleb, or a combination of both, but this Thanksgiving, I am truly thankful for our families and the amazing friends that surround us. 

Day Eight: Are we cured?

As mentioned before, we went home to visit family for Thanksgiving weekend. It is truly amazing how much stuff our small family of two adults, one baby and two dogs need when being away from home for a couple days. It is also amazing how long it takes us to put said stuff away once we get back home. 

Is it due to the usually late hour we arrive? Because we are preoccupied with Kaleb? Because we sit in front of the tv? Or because we are just exhausted? I believe it is all of the above but especially the last one. 

Tonight we arrived later than we wanted but still managed to: put together a quick supper, give Kaleb his bath, spend some quality baby play time together, and most importantly PUT EVERYTHING AWAY. The suitcase is empty and stored. The dog things are where they belong. Kaleb's toys are in the corner. The food is in the fridge. We even got the dishwasher emptied and refilled.

This is a huge miracle, so are we cured? Probably not. Are we making progress? Most definitely. 

Here's to a clutter-free future. :)

Day Seven: Kaleb's Dresser

I've come to realize that de-cluttering the house also means organization. Case in point: Kaleb's dresser. It wasn't necessarily cluttered nor disorganized, however, the way we had things it just wasn't working. 

When he was a newborn, everything worked great. We had his plain white onesies, socks and pants in the top drawer with pajamas in the bottom two. On the side there are three shelves behind a door, top was diapers, second was creams and soaps, third, random baby things. Once we began cloth diapering, the top two became diapers with everything else in the bottom. 

Now that is some organization!

At some point, it just stopped being easy. We had too many diapers and pants, and not enough onesies, socks and pajamas.  After much pondering, I decided to move his diapers in the top drawer, pants in the second, and pajamas in third. On the shelves we've got the random baby stuff, onesies followed by extra diaper inserts on the bottom. 

This system works so much better and I love how easy it is to organize!