The hot spot for week three has been announced:

Toys and/or Kids’ clothes

Personally, I will probably be working on the clothing aspect – the kids’ toys get constant “makeovers” (hello trash can and giveaway bin!).  Lorelei is finally wearing the “T” clothes…you know, 2T, 3T, 4T, etc.  But, Aurora can still wear the smaller sizes, which means we’ve been switching out every 6 months.  (I am so ready for the slash sizes… 5/6, 7/8, etc…so maybe they can stay in them for 2 years!!)  Anyhow, I need to go through their clothes and figure out what needs to go to storage and what should stay, as well as re-fold their clothes and move them back to appropriate drawers since the girls sometimes borrow each others clothes (Aurora’s pants = Lorelei’s capri pants.)

Because we aren’t finished having children, I have tote boxes in storage labeled every 6 months (and once we get to “2″ it’s labeled “2 summer” or “2 winter”).  As I weed out clothing that no longer fits, I put them in grocery bags and just put it into the appropriate boxes.  Easy peasy…except for when you move a mattress out of storage and you can no longer get to boxes.  But, that’s a different post.

So, what do you do to organize kid’s clothing and toys?

Do you have a system?  Do you take them to consignment?  Do you save them?  Trash them?  Give them away?  Tell me all about it!

Last week, we were supposed to go through our wardrobes… did you?

I had gone through mine the week before, giving away an entire garbage bag full of clothes…plus some.  This past week, I did take out two of my more formal knee length dresses and gave them a hard look.  At first, I tossed them into the give pile, but then I got them back out, laid them on the bed and REALLY looked at them.  I tried them on, and inspiration struck.  The thing I hated about them was the faux bling that had been attached…without that, they’d be perfectly grown-up worthy.  So, I took a close look at the bling and found that one was actually a pin and the other…well, I was able to break it off with my hands.  Hooray for me (plus, now I have some little crystals for craft projects!)!

I also learned another cool trick — If you aren’t sure whether you want something in your closet or not, put the hanger in backwards and only turn it around after you have worn it.  The next time you purge, see if it’s still facing that way or has been turned around.  If it’s still facing backwards, move it out.

I didn’t accomplish half of the things I’d meant to on my over-the-top list from last week….  But, I did re-organize my shelf!

This week, the challenge if you so choose to accept it is to:  Clear Your Paper Clutter

WEEK 2 – Clear/Organize Your Paper Clutter

You don’t have to get it ALL finished, but I’d love to see what you  do.  Set a goal and go for it…it could be one particular huge stack…or it could just be that you will set aside 10 or 30 minutes each night to tackle it.  (You could even do it as you watch TV.)

I’m ready to hear some of the cool organizational tools you all reach for — Or, what you already use.  Will you/do you use binders?  Folders?  File systems?  Trash cans and recycle bins?  Or, something else?

If you write a post on your blog about this week’s challenge, please also feel free to leave a link in the comments…I’d love to check it out.

Over the past month or so, my hubby and I have gained a little weight.  Not a lot, but enough to give us that kick in the behinds to do something about our less-than-healthy habits.  A couple of weeks ago, I began doing some strength exercises 3x a week (Okay, I know some of you are thinking BIG DEAL, but for me it is.  I HATE exercising, but have found a routine in this and tomorrow will be the end of 3 weeks and going!)  Today, I will add in cardio if my bum leg allows, but baby steps, right?

Along with the exercising, we also decided to give our food a makeover.  Food makeovers are kind of scary.  They can be even more scary when you’re on a super tight budget and things just don’t fit right (we may have to expand that part of the budget and take off elsewhere.)  But, we agreed to go to the store and get what we needed to see how long these things would last us.

Here’s what we bought*:

• 10 ct Mission whole wheat flour tortillas….  $2.62 (3 packages)
• Healthy Life 100% Whole Grain Bread …..$1.77 (we bought one loaf and had one at home)
• 1 dozen eggs… $1.64 (2)
• GV plain nonfat yogurt 32 oz….$2.00 (2)
• GV 1 gal 1% milk….$3.48 (2)
• GV 1 gal 1% chocolate milk….$3.84
• GV medium cheddar block (1 lb)…$4.44 (3)
• Brummel and Brown Yogurt Spread (instead of butter) (15 oz)…$2.38
• Tyson All-Natural Chicken Breasts (3lb)…$7.98 (2)
• Medium Shrimp (14 oz)….$5.48 (2)
• Great Value turkey bacon (12 oz)…$2.48 (2)
• Sara Lee deli oven roasted turkey breast (6.98/lb)… $7.12
• Deli Roast Beef ($6.18/lb)… $6.12
• Bunch of asparagus ($2.84/lb, 2 bunches)…$4.48
• Marketside sugar snap peas (8 oz)…$2.50
• Dole Leafy Romaine (10 oz)…$2.78
• Granny Smith Apples (1 lb/ $1.37)….$4.08
• Grapefruit …. $.54 ea (2)
• GV frozen whole strawberries (1 lb, no sugar added)…$2.36 ea (3)
• Bananas (1 lb/$.52)….$2.65 (for about 14 bananas)
• GV peach halves in cans (29 oz)…$1.76 (4)
• Smucker’s natural chunky peanut butter (16oz)…$2.34 (2)
• Light Ragu Tomato and Basil (1lb 10oz)….$1.76 (2)
• Rotel-mild (10 oz)…$.98 (2)
• GV dry chickpeas (16 oz)…$1.42
• GV light red kidney beans (16 oz)…$1.16 (2)
• GV black beans (16oz)…$1.12 (2)
• Simply Grapefruit juice (59 fl oz)…$3.00
• Simply Orange juice (59 fl oz)…$3.00
• Quaker 1-minute oats, plain (42 oz)…$3.98 (2)
• Fisher Almonds, unsalted (16 oz)…$8.72
• Ortega 40% less sodium Taco seasoning (1.25 oz)…$.62(2)
• GV whole wheat spaghetti (13.25 oz)…$1.00 (3)
• Swanson Natural Goodness Chicken Broth, 33% less sodium (32 oz)…$2.46
• Hodgson Mill Milled Flax Seed (12 oz)…$2.08
• Whey Protein powder in vanilla and chocolate (2lb)…$14.68 (2)

*These foods correspond to the ABS DIET that we are using as a base for our new “health plan”

The total kind of …no, really scares me.  It was about 4x our weekly budget.  But, I’m trying to take comfort in the fact that we’ve not eaten all of this food yet and we’ve been following the meals very closely (eating 6 meals each for 4 people).  Now, I need to find even cheaper but still just as healthy alternatives for the foods we’re buying (like, mostly cheaper fruits/veggies/deli meats/milk).  We won’t have to buy more protein powder or flax seed for a very long time, so that will cut our next grocery bill down by about $32 dollars.  And…silly me, having never cooked dried beans before forgot that DUH!  THEY SWELL!  So, we have lots of beans.  I mean, LOTS.  Tomorrow is day 7, and I just cleaned out the last of the first jar of all natural peanut butter…so we may need to look at a cheaper (but just as healthy) brand…OR find coupons.  And, of course…bananas have already disappeared!

If any of you know of where I can find these things CHEAPER, please let me know!  (Especially if it’s the same brand, or a healthier brand…)

Your mission this week, if you choose to accept it is to:  Organize YOUR wardrobe.

This week, I’m playing along with Simple Mom and her Organizational Challenge – actually, we’ll be doing this for 5 weeks, but hey.  Details shmetails, right?

You can click the link above, but the basic bit is to organize your own wardrobe – you know, with hangers and stuff.  Organized into piles on the floor totally doesn’t count.  (Drats, guess that means I have to fold laundry!  But, does that mean I only have to fold mine this week?)

Anyhow, we have until Friday to go through our own clothing and get rid of what we don’t want.  If we choose to throw away or give away any clothing, it needs to be out by Friday, too.

Personally, I think I’m going to make this a slightly bigger challenge for myself.  I invite you to join me in any capacity you want…

MY PLAN (This Week):

-Break out my improvised FlyLady Zone List for the Master Bedroom – I’ll be dusting and vacuuming and all of that jazz in the bedroom.  (I’m not sure if this is me being proactive or procrastinating…)

-Designing something for my small jewelry collection – a pile on the dresser just isn’t doing it.

-Re-organize my large bookshelf (well, the stuff on it).

-Organize and clean out under the bed (GASP!)

Okay… I have a dare for you… and for me.

I thought some of you might like to play along with me, so I figured I’d post this challenge on here:

Get rid of 30 items in your home by Feb 28th.

It’s pretty simple, really, and yet it can be really hard to know where to start.

For me, this is my “warm-up” exercise.  Spring is coming (YAY!) and that means major spring cleaning – so, what a perfect way to get started!

What counts as items? Pretty much anything and everything!  --Well, except for the normal trash you would’ve thrown out anyhow…unless of course, you collect trash.  It might be books, shoes, clothing, games, toys, old equipment that either doesn’t work or you just haven’t used it, cds, movies, etc.

What do I do with it? You can give it to Goodwill, post it on Freecycle, take it to a homeless shelter.  Or, if you want to sell it, then sell it.  But, by the 28th it needs to be out of your house (so, if you haven’t sold it by the 28th, consider giving it away).  And, if it’s completely useless, consider trashing it or recycling it.

If you decide to play along, please feel free to take a picture of your pile of “stuff” and post it on your blog (and put your link in the comments).  If you don’t blog, I’d still love to hear about the things you’re purging and pictures are always welcomed too!

Quick Introduction: Thieves oil is a blend of cinnamon, clove, lemon, Eucalyptus radiata, and rosemary essential oils that has been university tested and proven to kill 99.96 percent of airborne bacteria.

USES:

• Use the cleaner to clean oil paints right out of the brushes
• Help eliminate airborne bacteria
• Help eliminate odors
• Kill mold
• Use as a disinfectant and cleaner for anything you’d use clorox wipes on
• Use as a mopping solution
• Clean your glass and windows
• Use as an antiseptic
• May be used as a dietary supplement to help with blood clots
• Treat canker sores
• Chicken Pox (add 20 drops to 1 T of calamine or V6 complex and dab onto lesions)
• Treat colds (mix 50:50 with olive oil and massage across shoulders and neck and chest)
• Congestive cough (add a few drops to a wet, warm wash cloth and use as a compress on chest 1-2x a day)
• Diverticulosis/Diverticulitis (dilute 50:50 3-5 drops on lower abdomen 2 times daily. Can also use as a compress.)
• Ear Infection – Dilute 50:50 in warm olive oil. Apply 2 drops to a cotton swab. Using the swab, apply traces to the skin AROUND the opening of the ear, but not in it. If you have the Thieves Antiseptic SPRAY, you can spray into back of throat cavity up to 5x daily
• Epstein-Barr Virus
• Food Poisoning – put in size 00 capsules and take 2-3x per day
• Ringworm (Thieves Antiseptic Spray)
• Gallbladder Infection – use in capsule, apply to body above gallbladder area, and/or use in a compress

**Please realize this list is not a comprehensive list. Thieves has MANY uses.

When listed above, I referred to several different products that contain thieves – the oil, the antiseptic spray and the household cleaner.

Although the thieves oil can be used in any of these situations (and diluted), I have found it to be more cost-effective to buy the Cleaner solution and the Oil.

Cost:

oil – 15ml for $41.78

concentrated cleaner – 14.4 fl oz. For $28.29

(My concentrated cleaner has lasted over a year and is still half-full!)

Please note: The oil is a therapeutic grade essential oil and CAN be ingested. However, the household cleaner is not meant to be ingested. The household cleaner is a safer alternative to typical household cleaners, not only does it not harm the body through normal cleaning, but it also provides positive benefits to your body (because it contains the essential oils).

If you would like to order the Thieves oil or Cleaner, you may contact me at

bosssanders (at) gmail (dot) com

DISCLAIMER:  Although we personally use Thieves and other oils in our home, we are not doctors.  Please do not take any of this as OFFICIAL medical advice.  Oh yeh, and…the FDA didn’t approve this blog post   (There, I think that covers it.)