Loving Laundry tips...

If you are tired of sorting & folding the giant mountain, here are some things that may help.

1. Don't have 15 outfits per child over 2... this means you won't have as much to do when people run out of clothes. Maybe simple, mix & match around 6 playoutfits, and 2 church ones will suffice... main pont, PARE DOWN on excess laundry.

2. Pack up non current clothing... no, I don't mean style silly! Just size, season, etc... You don't want to keep washing that maternity sweater that ends up on the floor for a year after your youngest turns 2.

3. Use laundry bags, or baskets, but I recommend BAGS, they can be washed right along with the clothes, and they can hang on the back of the door, as long as you wash whats in them regularly. I still haven't found a great source for these... The nylon ones are plecchy feeling, and seem to be too big or too small. You can sew some pretty ones out of a heavier weight home dec stuff, or do a lined cotton version. You just want to be sure to add a strap to hang them up by.

4. Make a schedule of laundry for your home, organized by the bag. Here's mine.

Monday-Diapers, Mike's Jeans, Charlotte's
--Jeans are Mikes work uniform, and being a mechanic, they get REALLY dirty (resolve, formerly Spray n Wash will remove grease if you use enough) --

Tuesday - Levis, Towels, Sheets
Wednesday- Mark, Diapers, Lanas
Thursday--Kitchen Towels(yes, they have their own pretty bag...see below) Levi, Charlotte's
Friday- Towels, Lana, Mikes non jeans
Sat- Diapers, Levi , Charlotte


5. PUT the clothes right back into their bag out of they dryer, and put them away AS SOON AS THEY ARE DRY!

No, I don't love laundry, but I am loving my family by getting them their clothes done BEFORE they need them.

I'm reinstating my weekly planner...

Monday

O Dishes
O Laundry Assignment
O Sweeping
O Personal/Project time
O Monthly Chore
O Swish Bathroom
O Swish kitchen counters & microwave
O Devotions
O Hotspot -Put out the fire!! 15 minutes
O Specific Chores
O Lunches Packed

Mommy- Menu Plan/Grocery Shopping
               Hotspot is Kitchen counter
               Laundry for today is Diapers, Charlotte's, Mike's Jeans

Levi- Bring in and clean out church basket, and diaper bag
Charlotte- Wipe off Mirrors


Monthly Chore
Week 1 - 2 pages scrapbook done
Week 2 - Bills
Week 3 - Scrapbook
Week 4-  Bills

BLECH!

Reality check here....

Up at 8:30, happy daughter is coloring on her window with window markers while the boys slept, ahhh lovely morning scene. ( she got the markers for her birthday. They are really neat! )

• 9:00 I am dressed, and making coffee
• I check email, and eat breakfast, doing a couple e-errands.
• I start laundry.
• I remember to bathe baby. (it's been a while)
• I remind late rising child to eat breakfast.
• I re-start laundry.
• I move giant bag of soda downstairs onto the storage shelf and clean them while doing so
  
• I start to write out a couple recipes out on cards so that I won't have 5 extra cookbooks laying around.
• Stop to judge a fight, discipline offenders.
• Remind child to do their chores.
• Change over laundry.
• Sit down to pay bills and figure out how to import latest bank info to laptop computer.
• (desktop had an accident a while back, now it can't find the hard drive.)
• Lament the slowness of said laptop as it tries to deal with too much info...
• Walk into the kitchen and remember the recipes that I had left 1/2 finished.
• Finish up 5 cards.
• TOSS 2 cookbooks. :-)
• Get back to the laptop, and shout at children who ask is it time for lunch... Look up and realize that it is 3:00.
• Apologize for epic Mommy fail, and encourage child who is sweetly trying to make lunch for all of us.
• Refuse offer of picnic lunch, because I still haven't finished with the bills/computer issues.
• Struggle with anger and frustration as I try to feed toddler, who refuses to eat, and instead sticks toothpicks all over sandwich
• Kick 2 older kids out to the lawn to eat lunch.
• Call back child who hit the other for no reason.
• Discipline child.
• Clean up messy baby
• Put him on couch with winnie-the-pooh.
• Call older two in, start them on cleaning tasks (we've still got time before swimming lessons)
• Answer cries of emergency, emergency !! in the kitchen.
• YES , it was... baby had followed sibling and after they had left the kitchen, opened up the no-no cupboard and proceeded to SOAK his front and face with googone stuff.
• Panic while I search for the poison control number 1-800-222-1222, and instruct children to climb in the car so ER could be reached quickly just in case.
• Get through to the Poison control, get off phone.
• Get big kids out of the car, and proceed to bathe baby.
• Attempt to give baby the 1/2 c. of juice recommended, but he will have none of it.
• He looks like he wants the juice, maybe if I give him the cup... SPLASH... apple juice is added to the bath water.
• Comfort child who thinks that maybe they killed the baby.
• Clean baby, get him dressed while directing cleanup of giant slippery goo gone mess.
• Realize that we have missed swimming lessons.
• Realize that it is now 5.30, and there is nothing for dinner.

I stink at this. I feel like the bugs in Microcosmos that follow each other, but end up in a pile, so confused they just sit there and twitch back & forth...

But hey... at least the bills got paid right????

Dancing With Crooked Feet

Mark had his checkup at Shriner's last week. I had been a little worried about it, since his feet seemed a bit curved in still.

However, Dr. Sussman said that that was normal turning, not relapse, and Mark's feet are very flexible, and his feet are turned out when walking. Mark has been walking since Easter, and he loves to run now. He is very happy, and when he gets all excited about something like blueberries, he does a happy feet dance.

I am so thankful for God's grace in providing us with Mark, and allowing us to live in a time where clubfeet are easily corrected, without multiple surgeries.

It has given me a new perspective on Acts 3.