April Fledgling Flyers: April Fools we are not, babysteps and decluttering makes our thread hot, step right in and mark your spot.

[NettieSpaghetti]

Welcome, come away in you?ll have had your . This is the April Fledgling Flyers Thread.

Thanks to WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes who was champion at leading us through March.

We are trying to stick to the Flylady © Website and her baby steps and routines to help keep our houses out of C.H.A.O.S and ready for everyday, maybe the odd visitor or two.

Check her website out but don?t sign up for emails as they are likely to inspire but fill your inbox so full we might not see you till August.

The principles are:

Babysteps (one at a time)
Babysteps and 15 minutes daily decluttering
Babysteps and daily missions.

This month I will be posting the links and leading you down the road to building a routine and keeping your house under control.

It is amazing what you can achieve in a simple babystep,15 minutes a day and a little chat.

cold you really shouldnt be aiming a loaded shotgun at your machine where you that depserate to get rid!

Is it repairable cold or done for?

Repeated the success of yesterday's alternate Flying and reading. Thanks to scatty for giving me the idea. :)

So far:
Wash nappies - forgot yesterday
Back up PC - ditto

nappies out
laundry
defrost something for tea
putting away - done this morning's
hoover
get DW tap thing
clear space in kitchen for DW - woohoo!
declutter desk Well, I did my 15mins x2 and will do some more another day.

Also done:
ironing! This is a big deal and my mother would probably faint from shock...
2 bags to charity shop
found a pair of shoes I'd lost ages ago :)
Some stuff gone via freecycle.

Phew. Now I'm going to lie sit down with a cuppa until it's time to fetch the boys... It was me who mentioned meltdowns toffee. We had another huge falling out this morning so I'm hoping this evening will be better. May have to prime DS1 with snacks even though it'll be nearly teatime. He'll have been running around with the big kids all day and utterly exhausted - hence yesterday's disaster.

Hope you got your work done Linzer. I'm a translator too. Anything interesting?

ps Hope your washing machine can be easily fixed or replaced CHB.

Unfortunately I have no idea. The internal door blew open mid cycle was just lucky that it blew open at the top (its a top loaded) so could rescue the laundry. Have just rinsed off in the bath, wrung and stuck in the tumber. Double unfortunately i was trying to get the clothes ds needs for going away in a few hours and my stuff for tomo morning done. My evening will now be spent washing the old fashioned way in the bath tub. :(

Right now i would happily take a shoot gun to it Namechange

I am also a great fan of alternating reading and flying - and feel much more productive than if I've been alternating reading and MNing (although that happens too!).

I got my work finished and sent off just before the deadline, although it took me a ridiculous amount of time to translate two pages - mainly because I was struggling to concentrate and kept getting distracted. I've been waking up far too early the last few days (3.30-4 am) and then drifting in and out of sleep, so have been having to rely on caffeine during the day more than usual (just making myself another cup now - it's very unusual for me to have coffee in the afternoon if we don't have visitors).

CHB Oh no, what bad timing wrt your washing machine - not that there's ever a good time for a WM to blow up. Hope you can get it sorted out soon.

Blue Nice to see a fellow translator on here! What languages do you translate? I was translating a letter/legal document this morning so nothing particularly exciting, but at least it's out of the way now. I have c. 2,000 lines due to arrive next week, which will keep me busy for a while (but am looking forward to having something to get my teeth into).

namechange I also get very frustrated at how much the DC have; they have fairly small bedrooms but also have a playroom, which I think just encourages clutter to accumulate. And then there's all the Playmobil and Lego in the cellar...

scatty Your mum sounds very similar to mine - she's far tidier and more organised than I am and probably wouldn't be very impressed with Flylady either (which is probably why I've never mentioned flying to her).

Toffee Well done on the Monopoly and cars (I have to feign interest where any types of vehicle are concerned!). DD1 and I have been playing a board game called "Gallows Humour" this afternoon - basically hangman - which we both really enjoyed.

Cinders Hope your cold is better and that the pizza baking went well.

janey I take after my mum in that I can't bear to throw anything out either (and so we have a freezer full of little pots of various leftovers that might come in useful some day, but that rarely get used).

Should really think about doing some flying this afternoon, and will start by putting the washing away. At least the house has stayed relatively tidy so far, with both DD2 and DS out.

Oh my its late and have got side tracked on here.

cold that is very bad luck, hope you get done ok for tomorrow. I thought I'd made a good start then stayed plonked here on MN. Ah well DH is in till late tonight so me and little DS can have hoover and shampooers going as much as we like and still go out for food (mcds ! ) and then have popcorn and dvd.

Motto off the day be dammed duplo.

Hello everyone, not much flying from me :(

I have done my list though . I have also tried to clean the washing machine. I read on another thread about giving it a hot spin every month so did that and wiped down the inside, however on the rubber bit by the door there is some gunk. Any ideas how to move it? Tried scrubbing it, wiping it. Its still there. Its not massive or anything, but I would like to get rid of it.

1. start load that it is washing machine, hang it up or get it in dryer - done
2. Iron earlier load - done
3. Possibly take children on a playdate. I have text friend, but have had no reply as yet. - rearranged for Tue
4. wipe down sides - done
5. load washing machine for Friday - done
6. Dye hair a completely different colour. - half done didnt come out quite right so am going to buy some more and try again in a few days

Tomorrow list:

1. start load that it is washing machine, hang it up or get it in dryer
2. Iron earlier load
3. Weekly grocery shopping and put it away
4. wipe down sides

Erm thats it surely I have more to do than that . Is it just me or does there seem to be less to do during the hols?

cold Oh no, these things always happen when you least want it to :( Hope you can get something sorted, good luck with the old fashioned way.

nettie hope the funeral went ok :(

My mum is another keeper. Though she uses all her stuff Ive tried, but end up going shopping and not fitting anything into the fridge/freezer cos of all the leftover stuff that will never get eaten.

I dont know if DH has noticed Ive suddenly become a bit more obsessed with cleaning and routines. Ive not actuallly mentioned flylady or this thread to him as I can only imagine his reaction, dont think he'd really 'get it' or see the need for it. Although I have to say I dont nearly do as much as I probably should, but I am doing more than before and at the moment our house doesnt look too bad (not by comparison anyway). Im building up slowly, but it has only been 3 weeks or so for me. I do think Im not doing as much ATM cos of the kids hols though. In a couple of weeks it will be back to the decluttering.

Anyway enough rambling from me.

i am the twilight lfyer, have wasted most of day on here but I am still plodding on now I am going right now off.

oh dear

holidays plans a tad altered

grotty house

a tad grotty

but pizzas were yum..

I am panting

Washed done
Dressed
Breakfast done

Our bedroom done yey!
Hoover bathroom done
Shampoo Carpet
Hoover landing and stairs done
Dust landing and stairs done
Shampoo stairs

Reorganise DS room - mahooooosive tidyup done done done
Dust & Hoover DS room done
Change bedding DS room

Scrubb cloakroom WC 7 porch
Hoover cloakroom WC & porch
Shampoo Carpet WC & porch

Clear clutter in lounge done
Clean windows lounge
Dust & polish lounge
Hoover lounge
Shampoo lounge

Put laundry away from yesterday (its in garden still ) got it in
Laundry X 2

Good work namechanger!
CHB disaster re washing machine. It is my greatest feat (WM breaking).

Managed to do my list. Also managed not to win fondu set at Rainbows raffle!

Have just accidently eaten an easter egg .

Not been on for a week or so but......

I have still been writing down my lists and getting them done! House is looking good even with the kids on school hols!

Hope everyone else is good! xx

@ scatty 'accidently' ate an easter egg, huh???

I am getting there, its gonna be a late one, thank goodness for wii and cream eggs However I have cancelled my carpet shampooing as I cant find the stopper thing for collection tank . I feel like I should put a notice up for my guests tomorrow apologising and explaining tis not my usual standard, I am spot cleaning carpet by hand but couldnt get toothpaste out of WC carpet (not that my DS ever has to brush teeth at the last minute downstairs on a school morning no never ) sly cig break now and I will return. Please note the kitchen is a s*t tip If I stop I think i will cry,

Washed done
Dressed
Breakfast done

Our bedroom done yey!
Hoover bathroom done
Shampoo Carpet cancelled
Hoover landing and stairs done
Dust landing and stairs done
Shampoo stairs cancelled

Reorganise DS room - mahooooosive tidyup done done done
Dust & Hoover DS room done
Change bedding DS room

Scrubb cloakroom WC 7 porch done
Hoover cloakroom WC & porch done
Shampoo Carpet WC & porch done

Clear clutter in lounge done
Clean windows lounge
Dust & polish lounge
Hoover lounge
Shampoo lounge cancelled

Put laundry away from yesterday (its in garden still ) got it in
Laundry X 2

I don't have a long list for tomorrow either, but will be hanging around waiting for the DW to be delivered (hopefully!), collecting a parcel and then DS1 has a friend coming over in the afternoon. I do need to move a few things before that though - friend is a full on, into everything, climbing sort of boy.

I collect leftovers too, but they do usually find their way into a curry or something.

Well done on not winning a fondue set scatty!

Glad pizzas were yum at least Cinders.

Toffee I'm hopeless at cars too, but can manage board games if DS2 is out of the way - otherwise he just knocks all the pieces over or whatever. It's much easier to be a Fun Mummy now we can go and play catch in the garden though. DS1's latest thing is "rugby" which means sometimes we kick the ball and sometimes we throw it.

Linzer I translate German and French to English. I've got an ongoing project till the autumn which is a luxury as there's regular money coming in!

I have been battling a pc virus, it has really messed up my week Grrr!

Fixed now (or I wouldn't be here)

Hello to Nettie, Whoknows, Linzer, Toffee, scatty, janeyjampot (my ds's nickname is jamjar, goodness know why), Blue, CHB, cobweb and anyone else I have managed to get to.

So, I am trying to get plans into place ready for our school hols to start after tomorrow (I think we're a week later than many of you) I NEED a break, and only 4 more days at work until then. Not going away, but simply to be able to lie in past 6am would be lovely.

So far
Evening routine done
DP gone to fetch girls from Guides, dropping various ones off as it's his turn.

Tomorrow:
morning routine
work
collect dcs
take dcs to gps for tea (while I get my precious hour of time alone to window shop or whatever)
dcs home (walking as the weather is okay and we all need the exercise - it's taken 3 weeks for them to stop moaning about not using the car)
cook some tea for dp and me (he works late on Fridays)

I am out of , must buy some more tomorrow. which makes me sound like an alcoholic, but actually I'll only have a small glass and a bottle lasts me about 4-5 days and I'll go weeks before getting some more.

Have got through another day without bloodshed or drama. Phew. Spent four hours out this afternoon. The boys and their friend ended up chasing each other round and round and playing hide and seek whilst I chatted with my friend. We also chose lots of books and DVDs from the library to get us through the rest of the holidays. I call that a success!

Had a hair appointment this evening, so left dh in charge. Felt very decadent. DS2 popped his head out of his bedroom as soon as I arrived back, but at least he was in bed. I have poured myself a couple of glasses of and, like Scatty, I have 'accidentally' eaten a bagful of mini Easter eggs which I was saving for an Easter-egg hunt. (They were calling to me).

CHB - sorry about the w/m .

Linzer - well done on getting your work done!

Namechange - my goodness, what a productive day! To be honest, I think people notice clutter more than cleanliness, so - provided you can hide the clutter - you'll be fine. (I'm an expert at bagging up all the clutter in binbags and hiding it in cupboards). Alternatively, as I have discovered, when you invite lots of children round they leave mess everywhere anyway, so you may as well just blame any clutter on them .

Nicknacks - sounds like the Flying is working. Glad your house is looking so good .

Darts - you have no idea how guilty you have made me feel by protesting that a bottle of wine lasts you at least 4 -5 days . I don't think you have anything to worry about.

BlueEyeshadow - sorry you are coping with meltdowns too. They are so exhausting, aren't they? I do try to avoid the triggers for DS1, but sometimes things just happen. Oh well... .

DS1 is still up and wants me to read him the 'Spiderwick Chronicles', which I love, so that is no hardship.

No plans to go out tomorrow, so will try to fit in some Flying and decluttering around the DC.

See you all tomorrow.

Evening Fledglings

Zero Flying here today . Apart from putting away a very small pile of clothes out of the many large piles in my bedroom, I?m still on the winter to summer sort out. Went to work (we?re extra busy trying to finish a lot of stuff ahead of all these bank holidays this month). Also went on a run, managed 2 miles, which considering I only started in Jan I am feeling pretty pleased about.

So, what has everyone else been up to?

Linzer was up early even by her own standards and is running on caffeine

Janey was looking forward to a post-parental visit clear out of the fridge

Cobweb was looking forward to baking pizzas

Scatty ? another one whose DH seems oblivious to the Flylady activities going on around him. How do you accidentally eat an Easter Egg? I only ever do it on purpose!

Namechange was getting into a bit of a tailspin about the impending playdate, however sounding confident and with a great list.

Toffee has been a good Mum. I agree it?s nice having some time off from the school run, we have all been more relaxed here this week, glad you had a nice afternoon out with the boys.

CHB managed to destroy her washing machine ? hope you got it sorted

Blueeyeshadow did a good bit of decluttering

Myhouse finished her list and cleaned out her WM. The only thing can think of for degunking would be Astonish paste. Shifts virtually anything.

Nicknacks popped in and is Flying along nicely

Darts has been doing battle with a virus on her PC, annoying and time consuming but glad you?re back with us. I sent DH out for tonight when I suddenly relaised we?d run out. I don?t drink it every night, but just like to have a bottle on hand, in case! Enjoying a nice glass now.

Nettie ? hope everything was OK at the funeral today, thinking of you.

Waves to everyone else, see you tomorrow.

Thanks for a great round up, WhoKnows. Work plus a two-mile run sounds very impressive to me. No matter what Flylady says, there are days when Flying is impossible. (Does Flylady acknowledge this? Or does she expect us to always have time to Fly?).

I have pointed out to DH that I am leaving all the washing up tonight because I am knackered, but have plenty of time to do it in the morning. I don't want him coming downstairs tomorrow morning and thinking, "I knew she didn't do the washing up every evening!"

Going to have a little wander round MN before bed. Good night all.

Still here! Sorted out all the business under my bathroom sink yesterday...that was a job in a half! But it looks lovely now and I'm quite proud of it.

Got beds made this morning; still trying to get my sleep sorted out from being sick so I didn't get up early enough to do much else. :(

Decluttered in my bedroom for an embarrassingly long time. It's still not done, but it's looking up!

Going to walk the dog, shine the sink, fold some laundry and get to bed at a decent hour. Hopefully. :)

good morning flyers

whoknows thank you very much for the round up. at 2 mile run well done.

Yesterday went ok, work, catering funeral, funerla, wake, , meal out with friends, bed.

Funeral was nice, Dolly great grandson aged 7 got up and said a few wrds and had the whole congregation in floods. Dolly was a lovely women and never had a bad word to say about anyone and no one had anything bad to say about her. Lovely.

Right onto links

this is the one i do everyday since last April

mop it

Dont forget Friday is declutter you purse and car day and Date night. my dh is working so think ill have a date with the tv.

Today ive got work this morning the zoo this afternoon, then mad panic clean for playdate saturday morning. Good luck with your today namechange

Have lovely days

Morning all! Well after faithfully promising myself I wouldn't leave everything to the last minute, here I am at the last minute and nothing prepared. Tonight at midnight I leave on a school trip to the Battlefields of France and Belgium for 3 days with 80 teenagers. I have nothing ready whatsoever so today is going to be manic to say the least! I had a lovely few days away with the dc's, weather wasn't half as bad as they said it was going to be and we had lots of fun. Haven't had time to catch up in full with the thread as have got to be up and on this morning but hope everyone is ok!

nettie glad yesterday went as well as these things can.

List today looks like this:-

washing
drying
decide which clothes I am taking
Shopping for toiletries and possibly some new clothes
Haircut
Get Euros
School to pick up work
Pack
Try and get house presentable as DH in charge for 3 days and it needs to start tidy or god knows what it will be like when i get back
Check DC's have clothes considering DH's allergy to washing machines .
Tutoring for a couple of hours

I do love this trip, it being one we run in the history department every year. I haven't been for 3 years due to having DD and not wanting to leave her when she was little. However, severe sleep deprivation is heading my way with a night on a coach with 40 excited teenagers! This year we are also taking some pupils who are less than perfect at school so we are going to have to be alert to any potential trouble although having said that said pupils are really enthusiastic so I hope they will be fine. One in particular has literally never been out of our home town which is really sad at the age of 14 so this is a massive thing for him.

Anyway, enough babbling, more action.

Back later! Have a good day everyone!

ellie good luck with that trip! How fantastic that you do such things (and not just for the 'good' kids). Hope all goes smoothly.

Last day of school/work for you and me darts . Dd has a party this eve, I accepted the offer to pick 1 friend up from school, bring home, get changed and take to party and successfully ignored the hints of another Mum who was after me doing the same for hers (reminded myself that I'm not hosting a party!)

Today:
work/school
Lidl (replace missing easter egg)
take DD +1 to party
perhaps a small

Last day of school here too, so I'm making the most of my last few hours of peace and quiet! As usual when I have a late start (have just got back from doing the weekly food shop), I'm finding it hard to motivate myself so may have to try the 15 mins Flying followed by 15 mins reading trick.

scatty I was hoping that another parent would offer to take DS to the birthday party he's been invited to this afternoon (usually one of us will take a couple of children and the other will pick them up) as it means I'll have to come back from the other side of town while DD1 is at her dyslexia lesson, but his best friend (who he normally goes to on a Friday) hasn't been invited. I may phone another friend's mum to see what her plans are, though.

ellie Enjoy the trip - hope everything goes well!

Nettie Glad to hear the funeral went OK.

WhoKnows Thanks for the great round-up.

Off to see whether I can find anything exciting on iPlayer to watch to make the ironing more bearable. Hope everyone has a good day (and is enjoying better weather than the rain we're having here).

Good morning everyone. Hope it's ok to sneak in half way through the month?

I've tried flying before but always fall off the wagon. House is in CHAOS and it's driving me insane. I tend to find the state of my house is linked to my moods. If I'm feeling positive then everything is organised and clean! I love routines it's just sticking to them that's hard.

I am going right back to babysteps so my only job today is
shine the sink

I will try to do more but don't want to crash and burn :)

Both children are off school (both under 4) and have been slightly manic. They're used to being at groups/school most days. I've made a plan to follow for today and pretend it's a 'normal' day, rather than being lazy and lounging around the house.

Anyway... Hello and Goodbye!

** I did try to read through the whole thread so far but only managed to page 3!