Medicine

We have a ton of it at our house (especially now that we have two youngins). We have over the counter, prescription, everyday items, rare items for special circumstances, and tons of bandage items collected from various surgeries.

If you can identify...DON'T get rid of anything (unless of course they have expired and that is a whole other issue). My philosophy...you never know when you might need something. We keep all medicines. Since there are 4 of us in the house, and it is very easy to forget what prescription medicines are for which ailment, I use a permanent marker and write the drug use on the outside of each bottle.

I have three separate *drug* areas. One container holds all of our bandages and creams for boo-boos, itches, burns, etc. The second container hold medicines that belong to Will or myself. Both of these containers are kept in our bathroom cabinet. I keep the children's meds separate. I have a George William Compton III and a George William Compton IV at my house and it would be WAY too easy to confuse the two, especially in the middle of the night :)

My little mini pharmacy has saved us many a time.

I'm back...maybe...hopefully...if I can get it together

Ok...so I have been neglecting this blog. I have been blogging like crazy on my other blog. Mainly because it is about everyday life and, boy, have I been feeling everyday life recently.

I am feeling out of sorts on the *In Good Order* end. I can't stay on top of my laundry. Sippys, bottles, and food seem to litter the floor and the counter tops. This whole two kids business is keeping me on my toes and exhausted. Admittedly (gasp), I have been going to bed before doing my evening chores and I really don't seem to care (I think my *medicine* is making me feel indifferent about things).

I know I am not bringing my *A game*. To make matters worse, look what I found in my pantry this week.



ahhhhhhh!!!! NASTY!!!!!

I am totally a *throw things away the day they expire* kind of girl, so this was devastating to me.

Just in case you are wondering...

I'm still here.

I'm still IN GOOD ORDER. Barely.

Life has been crazy busy lately.

Baby Books

Having trouble keeping up with baby books? Me too!!!

While I was pregnant with our first child, I started out strong. I wrote down every doctor appointment, every pound I gained, my favorite foods, my favorite smells...everything! Then, my first born arrived and I never touched it again.

I didn't even buy a baby book for our second child.

I wanted to keep record of all of those special moments, memories, and firsts, but I just HAD to find an easier way.

I can't take credit for this first idea. My husband came up with it. Even HE recognized that we had to come up with a way to document our first borns life. He bought a little notebook and put it out on our desk. Here, we would record funny happenings, milestones, thoughts, etc. in a very low key format. I love to go back and read our little notebook of memories.

The month before our second child was born, I started a calendar. The little boxes are just the perfect size to write down little tid-bits of information in. I don't have time to write a book. I don't have time to write down how I felt, what my kids were wearing, or to write a page documenting every single gift that was received. I do have time to write a sentence each day. I happened to have a "Baby's First Year calendar", so I am currently using it...but, when it is full I plan on keeping the tradition with just a regular ole' calendar.

After Wade's first year, I plan on having a Family Calendar to document the every day happenings of our life.

Calender

I have a 3 year old who not only always wants to know what day it is, but also wants to know what our plans are.

So, I purchase a cheap (I'm talking about 4$) dry erase board for the refrigerator. Each Sunday, I draw out our upcoming week using simple words and pictures.

This little calendar really helps to keep us planned and organized for the week. Not to mention, Big Brother loves to go over it each day and tell us what is coming up.

I use the little magnets that came with the board to identify the current day for William.

Busy families need calenders!!!

By the way...don't you just love the little finger smudges??

Hide-away ironing board

I hate to iron. But more then actually doing the ironing, I hate dragging out the ironing board. (It's big. It squeaks. It's heavy. It's like wrestling a monkey.) Originally, I wanted to purchase a ironing board that folded into a cabinet on the wall. When I asked Robin (my favorite guy at Container World) about this...he had another idea for me.

A hide-away ironing board. It was mounted (not permanently - and without damaging our appliance) to our dryer.

When I want (or, really, when I HAVE ) to iron, I just flip it out (Wa la!) and go to town.

It's just a mini ironing board. Kind of like the ones you would find in hotels, but it does the trick for me. Great solution if you don't have much ironing space.

What's wrong with this picture?

Test your obsessiveness. Take a quick glance at the below picture and try to determine what is wrong. Just a quick glance. Don't study it.

If you:
- thought that the left stack should be taller then the right stack, the tag is showing on the top right towel, and the top three towels on the right are turned the wrong way....you might be extremely obsessive (right up there with me)

-noticed that the top three towels in the right stack were turned the wrong way...you may be just a tiny obsessive

-didn't find anything abnormal about this photo...you are probably pretty normal

-didn't recognize what these things are because you pull your towels out of a basket and they are never folded...you might be a tad bit unorganized


FYI: My sweet husband put these up for me and I left them just the way they are.

TP

We have a pretty good sized master bathroom. However, our potty room is tiny. The shower and the toilet are both in there and you barely have enough room to turn around.

So, what's the big issue?

Where to put extra tp. You gotta have extra tp in the potty room. You can't be walking out into the main part of the bathroom to get a roll in an emergency.

Problem solved.

I found this great little tp holder at Kohl's. It attaches right to your potty and holds two extra rolls.

Perfect!

Packing up

I inherited a packing gene. No kidding. I love to arrange all of our luggage into our vehicle. I know, I'm strange like that. I got this great trait from my Dad. I would be willing to bet that he can neatly pack away twice as much luggage in one vehicle then any else would be able to. Such a challenge!

We went on vacation last week. I swear, I pretty much packed our entire house. You never know just what a baby might need. Not only did we need everything we own, we also had to have it easily accessible in the car - diapers, wipes, bottles, food, extra cloths, and the list goes on and on. So, I had to get creative about my packing.

Remember these from my favorites?

I used one for diapers and wipes.

Another for baby food/eating supplies.

They fit SOOOO perfectly in the floorboard. (And NO that's not a huge stain on the car seat. Just where I wiped off some crusty food crumbs that were under the baby seat.)

Then it dawned on me, these would be great to keep in the car all the time. What a great little storage bin for a car survival kit.

I love my...

...pull out pantry drawers. If you ever get a say in what cabinets go in your kitchen, you must put some of these in. They are my favorite thing about my kitchen.

Perfect for holding lots of baby food (and my little stash of sweets in the back corner).

I love this liner as well. I put it in all my drawers to keep things from moving around when they are pushed shut. I hate opening a drawer just to find that all my stuff has shifted. This stuff does the trick. It keeps everything in it's place.

Got Bath Toys?

My kiddos love to play in the bath. The more toys, the better. I have tried several different types of bath toy organizers, but I have never been satisfied with any of them...until...

Frog Pod!!!!

This little thing is fabulous. Not only does it hold an abundance of toys, it also has a shelf on top to hold shampoos, etc., and you can hang things off his (or I guess her...at our house, everything is a he) little feet.

The great thing about this product is that the suction is amazing. It doesn't fall off the wall like holders I have had in the past. Every couple of months it will fall off, but I can deal with that frequency.

Oh, did I mention that it is a scoop, so you can scoop up the bath toys and let the water drain out of the holes???

Great product for organizing baby toys. You can purchase at Target or directly from Boon, Inc.

Don't like the frog? What about this cute ladybug????

Two steps forward, one step back

Remember my summer project?

This...

Well, I finally got it looking like this...

And then, a few days later, it was back to looking like this...

Man!!!! I can't seem to get this under control.

Agghhhhhh!!!!!!!

A New Purpose

You know I love containers.

There are all kinds of great containers around you. Containers that are already in use, but will end up in the trash when they are finished serving their original purpose.

So, why don't you get creative: save yourself some money and help out the environment. Give those containers a NEW purpose. Strip them of their old identity and make them feel useful again. I love this because it lets me bring out my creative side. I like a challenge.

I re-purposed my husband's tennis ball containers.

Straw holder, cupcake liners (these fit so perfectly, I was SO excited...they will never again be scattered and crushed all in the drawer), and chip clips.

I have been saving our formula cans also. I am waiting for a good idea to strike me on how to reuse them - other then William and I using one to make a drum out of.

I also have a ton of baby food jars. I am thinking these would be great for holding safety pins or extra buttons.

What are some ways you reuse containers at your house?

Or, ideas for my formula can?

Safes

Safes are a great place to store important documents. It doesn't have to be anything huge, just something that is water and fire proof. We have this one from Target ($44.99).























In it I store: birth certificates, our marriage certificate, social security cards, immunization records, and photo cds. Basically, any documents that we HAVE to have and would be a hassle to replace Side note: I back up our photos on cds. If something happened to our house and all of our photo albums were destroyed, I would be devastated. Photos are precious!! So I back them up and store the cds in the safe.

Chances are great that your house won't be destroyed by a fire or a flood, but, I promise, you will never regret being prepared.

Home Filing System Part 3

Now, take each stack, put it into a hanging folder, give it a label, and put it in your storage area.

Remember, NO misc. folders. They are WAY too easy to start using as a catch all for stuff you don't want to deal with :)

Here is a tip for your monthly bills. I have one folder labeled "bills" instead of a folder for each household bill that we pay. Each month after I pay the bills, I record the check number and date I mailed the payment on the reciept portion and file all of these in the "bills" folder. At the end of the year, I dump it all in file 13. That way we have record of our payments and can look back and reference how much we are spending, if needed.

Now your home filing system is complete.

Home Filing System Part 2

Get all of your loose papers.

Separate them into piles according to type. You can make this as specific as you would like. For example: you could make one big pile of health insurance documents or you could make one pile of health insurance documents for each person in your family.

When you are done, stick a Post-It (or a scrap of paper) on top of each group and give it a label.

Some groups you might have: health insurance, life insurance, car insurance, bills, receipts, work related documents, taxes...

NO misc. piles ALLOWED...give everything a label.

Home Filing System Part 1

A home filing system is a MUST, for everyone!!! Here is how to start:

Get you some of these:

and put them in this:

or this:

or even this: (whatever fits your needs and your storage abilities)

See, that wasn't bad, was it???

Organizer vs. Mommy

Each Wednesday evening, I load up my boys (and all of their essentials) and take them to Gigi and Pop's house. I return Thursday afternoon to pick them up, all refreshed from having some time off. I love Thursdays!!!! Sometimes I scrapbook, sometimes I lay in bed, sometimes I nap, sometimes I shop...mainly, I do whatever I want to do.

After I drop the kids of Wednesday night, I return home and quickly take care of any loose ends at the house. I don't want any tasks to be hanging over my head on MY Thursday.

Last night, I had this small little issue as I was picking up the house.

There sat the Lego zoo/forrest/farm from earlier in the day. Big Brother and I worked so hard to create it and to keep Little Brother from destroying it. What to do, what to do??

My organizing side says, "Knock it down, pick it up, return the Legos to the closet, and vaccuum in it's place."

My Mommy side says, "We worked too hard on it, it brought so much joy to Big Brother, and he will be devastated if he comes home and it is gone."

Orgainizing side says, "He won't even remember."

Mommy side wins today. It's probably going to drive me crazy sitting there in the floor all day today and maybe he won't even want to play with it when he gets home, BUT.... he just may and Big Brother and Little Brother are more important then my floors :)

Helping Out My Man (and selfishly, myself)

My sweet husband was notorious for leaving his "pocket stuff" all over the house. As soon as he walked through the door, he would start emptying out his pockets and leaving a trail of his stuff that spread from the backdoor all the way into our bedroom. It was driving me CRAZY, not to mention the fact that the next day he couldn't remember where he had laid his keys, school badge, cell phone, extra change, etc. I had to come up with a solution....

I purchased this cheap little resin bowl from Hobby Lobby (during one of their 50% off sales). It was important to me that his little bowl fit in with the rest of our decor since it would be sitting out for the world to see 24/7. I placed his bowl in our desk unit just inside our backdoor. Each day, he comes home and promptly empties all of his belongings into his little bowl. Now, I'm not going crazy finding his stuff all over the house and he isn't wasting time in search of his goods. There they are. Right there in their own little spot. Nice and neat.

Here is his bowl.

Here is another option.

Confessional

(just a warning...this may shock you)

I have this area of my house that is complete chaos (hey, I can't have it all together). I have organized it a million times, but it just goes right back to looking like a dump. It is so easy for me to let things pile up here. I just close the door and block it out. (I totally believe everyone has an area like this...fess up!)

Here it is (you might want to sit down for this). Look closely and you will find a little bit of everything.

building suspense





building suspense

There are lots of things wrong with this situation

1. We haven't been able to put our cars in the garage in years.

2. It's like a maze trying to get in the house. You could totally trip and kill yourself on something.

3. We have to keep our garage closed, because HELLO!! we can't have people knowing about our little secret dumping ground.

4. We have no back door friends. Everyone must come in the front door for reasons #2 and #3.

5. It stinks to have to run out to the car (with the kids in tow) in the pouring down rain (especially when there is another option). There is no choice but to get drenched.

6. It stinks having to get the ice/snow off the cars in the winter because they weren't protected in the garage.

7....I could go on and on.....really.....

So, one of my goals is to get this situation under control this summer. I even went to great lengths to have a guy come out and draw a plan for shelving to help me get it together...

stay tuned...I hope to have "after" pictures....

what's your area????

Space Saving Book Shelves

These adorable shelves are the perfect solution if space is an issue. After putting a crib, dresser, chest, and rocking chair in my youngest son's room, there wasn't enough room for a book shelf. I purchased these from Pottery Barn Kids and they are perfect. These can be used as wall book shelves or they can be turned the other way and used for a wall ledge. If you know someone who is good at building, I am sure these little babies could be made quite easily. Only down side: they don't hold very many books. My 3 year old has a large book shelf in his room that I use to store the majority of our childrens' books on, but I wanted my baby to have a few in his room as well.

Forget what your Momma told you...

Don't clean out from underneath your bed!!!

Well, ok, DO clean it out if all you see is dust, socks, some toys, or maybe some sippy cups full of old milk/juice (yep, been there and done that one!).

However, don't feel like there is some unwritten rule about not storing things under your bed. This area is a GREAT spot to store things. We have a king sized bed, so it has lots of space under it for some great storage. Under here we store the leaf for our dining room table, a container of keepsakes, and my husband keeps his magazines and books under his side. I have even utilized beneath Wade's crib for storage. My husband keeps his pocket knife collection here and I use it to store our rolls of wrapping paper. William doesn't have a bed skirt on his bed, so, unfortunately I can't put anything under it (cause I am NOT a big fan of letting the stuff under your bed(s) show).

So, I give you permission to start cramming stuff under your bed. Well, not really cramming...it should still be neat! Take advantage of the extra storage space.

***There are great containers out there that are made for the sole purpose of being placed under your bed.

Car Survival Kit

I remember my Dad telling me years ago that you could learn alot about a person by looking in their car (by this one statement of his, you may be able to tell where I learned most of my organizational strategies). For whatever reason, that stuck with me and, for the most part, I keep a tidy car because of it. Having kids makes that more interesting because my car is always littered with sippie cups, wipes, clothes, shoes, etc.

So, here is my plan...

I got this cute little organizer from here. Might I add that I got it for FREE from my party sales. I filled it with some of William's favorite things so he could have a stash in the car.

It folds up and ties so cute.

I put it in this little tote (which I also got for FREE) and filled it with more essentials that I always seem to need in the car (a sippy cup, band-aids, napkins, hand sanitizer, bug spray, and some books).

I placed it between the carseats so William could reach it.

Now I am ready for whatever comes my way (in the car, that is) and I hope this will prevent stuff from floating all over my car. I also placed an empty tote in the floor. I am going to use this for trash and/or for items that need to be taken in the house.

So, find you a cheap/cute container and create your own car survival kit.

In case you were wondering...

I did it. I cleaned the attic, that is.

My OCDness won this time. After sitting in trainings for 2 days straight I have been itching to tackle a project. I don't do well with sitting and listening. I like to do and be productive. I thought about it all day today. Tried to push it to the back of my mind, but I couldn't. I just had to climb up those unstable stairs to arrange, rearrange, sift through, toss out, and label.

I played this afternoon and then got everyone fed for dinner. The whole while, I was making my plan in my head. Will took William out to play some ball in the yard and I put Wade down for his evening nap. I figured that I would have exactly one hour (the length of Wade's nap) before I would have to go "on-duty" again. I moved the monitor into the garage so I could listen for my sleeping prince and then I started in on it.

Boy was it HOT!!!! When I get in organizing mode I become as strong as an ox. I moved around boxes and furniture that were, undoubtedly, more then my weight. I stacked boxes, carried things up and down the attic stairs, and made a Good-Will pile and a trash pile. I divided the attic into sections and put the most frequent used boxes in the front and the seasonal/memorabilia items in the back. Then, I made labels for each section so anyone (ummm...say, my husband) who enters our attic will know exactly where to find or put things.

I did it in an hour and it felt SO good...got that one out of my system :)

Here are some after pictures (I CAN NOT believe that I didn't think to take BEFORE pictures. Trust me, there is a huge difference.)

Too much of a good thing is bad...take it from me

So, I have never been diagnosed by a doctor, but if you hang around me for about 2.5 seconds you will notice some OCD tendencies. Yes, I like things to be very organized and it's even better when they are clean, BUT...I also like clothes and linens folded a certain way, I like my desk items to be nicely in line with the edge of my desk, I have a thing with angles, I like to keep my email inbox and trash folder empty, I like all the light switches on a panel to be flipped the same direction, and the list of my weird obsessions goes on and on...

About a year ago, I was over it!!! Not really over it. I had the desires to do all of these things (and more), but I was SO tired of feeling like things had to be a certain way. Don't get me wrong, I love having my life together and I love being efficient because of my orderliness, but sometimes I wanted it to be ok if I left school with paper on my desk and emails in my inbox. So...I shared all of this with my doctor and he wrote me a little prescription :) I refer to my little pill as my "keep me calm medicine". It really started to kick in about 6 months later and I feel like a completely different person (and most people around me can tell a difference...now, I am by NO MEANS a SLOB nor have I become unorganized, or have I lost the desire to be organized, but I am a ton calmer).

Well, I ran out Thursday evening...by this morning (when the pharmacy opened back up) my head was swimming and I have been in a fog for the better portion of the day. To say I have been on EDGE tonight is the understatement of the year. I am waiting for my medicine to kick back in and in the meantime I am frantically running all over the house obsessing over everything. I am resisting the urge, with all my might, to climb into the attic and clean it out TONIGHT!!!!

At this point, I think I better just go to bed because I am driving myself crazy and I am pretty sure I am doing the same thing to my hubby (and I have been less then patient with the kiddos tonight). So, I am hoping to feel back to normal (my new normal) tomorrow...otherwise I am going into the attic...

Like His Mommy

So, William, my three year old, is very much a typical firstborn. He already likes to keep things nice and tidy, he thinks it is absolutely essential for everyone to follow all rules, and he can't stand a mess (and I have NO idea where he got this from).

Little background info: I have this thing with the cushions and pillows on our couch. I like for them to be nice and fluffy and I like for two pillows to be on each end of the couch. Don't know why...I just like it that way. Keep in mind, I have never mentioned this to anyone in my house. This is something I do...one of my little rituals, if you will.

So, the other day William and I come home from school. I am, as I typically do, putting up our stuff and getting William's afternoon milk. From the den, William proclaims, "Mommy, somebody's been messing with our pillows!" The pillows are scattered about all over the couch. William quickly runs over and places two pillows on each end, nice and neat next to each other, then says, "Our Daddy has been messing up our pillows again. Now, they are all better. Does that look better, Mommy?"

Yep, it does William...it looks PERFECT!!!!

Here's my sweet little man!!!

Fav #5- Shoe Box Containers

No, not actual shoe boxes. I'm talking about the plastic clear containers that are about the size of a shoe box. Love them! These can be found virtually anywhere and are extremely cheap. Great for small items such as: note cards, Play-Doh, kitchen utensils, batteries, craft supplies...you name it! Of course, don't forget to label them!!!!

These are in our desk cabinet. This is my card/gift area. Top one holds our note cards. Top left: left over goodie bags and small treats from parties (yep, I keep the leftovers...you never know when you might need a cute little bag or treat for someone). Bottom left: gift tags. Top right: bows. Bottom right: ribbon

Top container: household safety items (electrical outlet plugs, corner bumpers, cabinet locks, etc). Bottom container: every single card that has ever been given to William. (I have NO idea why I think I have to save all of his cards, but I do...and that is VERY much unlike me...)

So, that concludes my Favorite Containers series. :)

Fav #4 Drawer Compartment Containers

Whew, been an entire week since my last post...sorry :( All in one week- school ended, my classroom had to be packed up, we celebrated William's 3rd birthday, we put together a monster of a swing set, and then celebrated my 26th birthday...I am exhausted again just thinking about it.

anway...on to my 4th favorite container

Drawer xompartment containers are great because...

-you can buy them in a variety of sizes

-they can be made from wood, plastic, or coated metal (and you can sometimes find them in a variety of colors)

-they can be extremely cheap (you can find these in 2-packs at the Dollar Store)

-they define the space within a drawer

-they prevent loose items from rolling all over the drawer when you open and close it

-they make drawers very visually pleasing

My make-up drawer

Just added one little container for my toothpaste.

These little babies are great for socks.

Fav #3 Wooden Woven Baskets

Of course, these are more expensive than the plastics ones, and rightfully so, because their purpose is two fold: organize and decorate. However, you can still get a good deal on these baskets if you take your time and do some comparitive shopping. If you have a Hobby Lobby close by, watch their weekly sale ads for 50% off the entire selection of baskets.

Here is a sampling of some of the baskets around our house.

Cheap Hobby Lobby 1/2 off purchase for Wade's changing table.

Most expensive baskets I have - Pottery Barn Kids. Used for Wade's small toys and books.

Pretty sure this one was a Wal-Mart find. I keep it by William's bed with his favorite books in it.


Amazingly, another bargain from Hobby Lobby. This is kept in the den for Wade's larger toys.

These 3 came as a set from Wal-Mart ($10-$15). I use in my pantry for chips, granola bars, pasta, etc.