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.

I refused to put bookcases in the sitting room...

I read a book and then pass it on,

I did manage to survive the couch-diving :)

Got a few other things done but not too much. I need some motivation to really stick to the routines! I start doing one thing, then wander off to another, and I never ever get enough sleep so I always end up catnapping while DS watches a DVD tired.

My master bedroom is looking lovely though...that's something!

That's an excellent plan Cinders (finished your book yesterday, thanks!) - I used to do the same, but have started getting more attached to the books I buy. Or maybe it's just because I've outgrown chick lit and have started buying books that are worth keeping!

Nettie Can I come along and help Cinders declutter your house? Not that I'm an expert declutterer; I just fancy a trip back to England.

Blue Have a good trip back to your parents and a lovely Easter!

feetheart Well done on the kitchen. I often find that I can get most done when I'm being at my most unFlylady-like.

CHB Very impressive list - it just shows how much more productive I could be if I managed to stay away from the laptop.

CheerfulYank I tend to get distracted when I'm doing my routines; I just have to force myself to stay focused and tell myself that I can concentrate on all the other stuff when I've got my routine out of the way.

Finally got the children off to bed just before 9 pm and finished tidying up at 9.30 pm, when DH conveniently (for him) got back. I'm really hoping that they'll all sleep until later than 7 am this morning; I put DS back into his own bed once he'd fallen asleep so that he wouldn't wake the girls when he gets up. Off for a shower now - the longer I leave it, the more likely it will be that I'll wake up the DC (the girls' room is next door to the bathroom).

Morning

feetheart well done at kitchen clean it sounds lovely. I feel for you as I know I will be in that position in years to come. Mil and fil have stuff everywhere! They had a double garage built and fil has filled it so full there is no room for cars! Hope you had a good nights sleep
chb that's some list. Oh yes I remember your Lego sorting last year made me never want Lego to cross the threshold] well done
cheerful your bedroom sounds lovely. My advise is set your timer on missions just do 15m and close the door so you can't get away (says this months leader who hasn't yet tackled a single mission this week)
blue have a lovely Easter
cinders wise lady you are! I really struggle am definately a book hoarder. I dream of wall to wall bookcases in separate room

Today's list

Up/dressed/hair (try not to find anymore grey ones (are you officially past it when you start going grey?)
Dc up/ dressed/nurseried
Dw/wm/hang out
Work- bank recons and data entry on new computer system
Pick dc up/bath/feed/bed
Tidy house
Put away clothes
Clean bedside cabinet and dressing table
Sort pile of stuff in bedroom or sort dc artwork in living room.

Right off to fein or feign sleep as dh turn to get dc up and I'm so old any tired and grey

X-post linzer glad you got them all to sleep eventually. Brill bring dc my dc is desperate to meet yours. . we could have lotsa lovely and chats

I want to go to England

now now now

i want pickled onions

okay

food cupboards decluttering today

Sounds great Nettie - I shall look into flights. DS often talks about his "friend in England" and would love to meet him.

Cinders Have you tried Silberzwiebeln? (Not sure about the taste, but they look the same.) Or do M&S have them? DH has suggested we go to M&S for our wedding anniversary next month - he's so romantic.

lol

at marks and spencers for your wedding anniversary

okay

I have lots of curry ingrdients in one cupboard..
am refusing to go food shopping as Im not meant to be here.

off to do another cupboard..

CHB that's an impressive list

Nettie - I sincerely hope you are never in quite this position! Advice to ANYONE who will listen - DO NOT move into the house that your DH grew up in whilst it is still full of his hoarding father's stuff - its been 8 years and counting and my books are still in boxes
Don't envy the hoarding PiL either though. Mine (well my stepfather) are the complete opposite - I am slightly concerned that when they die there will be only the clean dishes and the cat left. Rather echo-y, far too minimalist house for my liking.

Linzer - hope they slept-in

Cinders - don't declutter too much from food cupboards, you do need to eat :o

Right, list then get up and do something:

• Avon order - done from bed :)
• Clean remaining worktop
• Clean cupboard doors and door
• Morning routine inc lots of washing
• Contact friend to see if they are coming over this afternoon
• Clear tiny hall
• Hoover downstairs
• Attempt 15mins declutter in master bedroom
• Hoover upstairs
• garden and park :)

Enjoy sunshine

Morning all . I have woken with a sore throat and no voice (thats me silently shouting at the kids). I overheard DC discussing my condition and whether it meant we wouldn't be going on a bike ride as promised. DS blamed dd for waking me up in the night and said 'if you have a nightmare or even 2 nightmares just turn over and go back to sleep'! Wise words.

Today:
bike ride (well dc biking and me jogging along beside dd)
laundry
continue spring clean (I know we're not supposed to but needs must)

Have fun all.

feetheart unfortunately I Definately will be in that position. In laws live in the main house of business and unless they retire and move out before (highly unlikely) I will be left with all the stuff!! One saving grace is with all the antiques and really expensive rarely used tools I should be rolling in it. apart from the slight problem that Dh is not very good at getting rid of things either!
linzer m&s anniversary party woop woop! I hope for your next special anniversary he takes you to matalan

Let's all pile round to cinders for curry and some beer in the sunshine. I'll bring the pickled onions.

[egrin]

Where are Easter smilies?

scatty hope sore throat gets better soon.

Oh dear Nettie you have my sympathies. Just have to hope DH doesn't realise what his parents have stashed away then you can ebay them on the sly :)

Thing is here very few. if any, of the books are worth anything and they are not the sort of thing I, or DH for that matter, are ever going to want to read.
On the plus side we do have DH's lego and DD has just started to work her way through his "Swallows and Amazons' collection so its not all bad living in the house your DH's childhood home :)

Scatty - hot toddy for sore throat/no voice. Whiskey or port. Might not cure it but makes it all more bearable.

Need as quick update to keep me going:

• Clean remaining worktop - done
• Oil worktop - done
• Clean kitchen door - done
• Contact friend to see if they are coming over this afternoon - 2.30pm deadline

Now need to get dressed................becoming a bit of the 'thing' this holiday

That sounds like an excellent idea, Nettie - a thread trip to Austria. We can start with curry at Cinders (if you could bring poppadums, that would be much appreciated as we can't even get them at M&S) and then you can all come round and help me declutter.

feetheart No chance of us moving into DH's childhood home as his sister and her family have done so (actually, his sister never left). I would issue a word of warning to anyone with Austrian ILs - if you don't want your PIL's house (which must under no circumstances ever leave the family), then don't expect the sibling who does want it to buy you out. It is their right to have never had to pay rent or bills, to both work while the GPs provide free childcare and to have the house then handed to them on a plate. However, it only seems to apply in a small area of Austria (unfortunately, the area where DH is from), so it is unlikely my advice will ever be needed.

scatty Hope your voice returns soon and that the sore throat doesn't develop into anything worse.

We've had a constant stream of visiting children since Monday (including all three nights), so I breathed a sigh of relief when DD2's two friends (who were actually no trouble at all) were picked up an hour ago. We then had half an hour of relative peace before two of the neighbours' children arrived. Oh well, only half an hour to go and then I can drop off DS and DD2 at a friend's and I shall be child-free for the rest of the afternoon. I really must not spend the entire afternoon enjoying the sunshine in the garden.

Having all DH's childhood Lego was not a plus for me feetheart. I meanly forced him to get rid of it (think it probably went back to his parents', along with all his toy cars) as the DC have more than enough of their own.

Sorry, haven't had time to pop in here recently. Had a busy day yesterday, meeting a friend in the morning, then taking the boys for their jabs in the afternoon and catching up on chores in town. Both boys were very brave and loved the Smarties that the nurse gave them. DS2 had to be even braver, as it turned out that he hadn't been recalled for his pre-school booster, so needed a second injection. He was so happy to get more Smarties that he didn't even flinch. No crying from either of them!

Fell asleep on the sofa at 9, so no Mumsnetting last night.

Today has been a mad whirlwind of getting stuff done. The plumber finally turned up at 9am this morning and has fixed our leaky tap, as well as checking our boiler. When I pointed out that there was a noise of water under our pavement, he had a look under the lid there and said I needed to call the water board because there was a leak. So have done that too (they have just turned up outside). Also sorted invoice for work and various other stuff that had been hanging over me. The children have been suffering benign neglect all morning, but both seem perfectly happy. DS2 is being a bee. He is using a stick for his sting and a straw for his tongue to suck up pollen. I can hear him muttering, "It's hard work being a bee!"

Am taking them out for a picnic shortly, as the weather is glorious. But have to do my Tesco order for tomorrow first. I'm enjoying Menus4Mums, btw. It's fun trying out new recipes and none of them take too long to prepare.

Oh, have just had a card - 'Stop tap will be repaired within next 24 hours' .

Have just had a quick read through of the thread, but don't have any time to do personal messages. Sorry.

Was looking forward to Easter Smileys. Do we usually get them? This is my first Easter on MN.

Hopefully, back later, with more time - maybe .

Back from bike ride. Slightly longer than expected as everytime we (nearly) caught DS up he cycled off again! Voice restored by ice cream .

feetheart nettieyou have my sympathy. Dh's clutter is bad enough, nevermind his parents!

linzer I hope you will reap the benefit of all those visiting children at some point.

[buwink] [bugrin] come on
Come on work [buconfused]

[bugrin] [bugrin] [buwink] [buwine]

Hello everyone. Ive come with a quick update:

1. start washing machine off with load that is in it - done
2. Hang clothes up/put them in the drier - done
3. Iron earlier load - to do tonight
4. go to a possible new friend for a coffee morning. She's had a couple before I just couldnt make the others due to one reason or another. - done
5. Wipe down kitchen side - done
6. wipe down kids table - done
7. fill washing machine ready for Fri - to do tonight
8. Do the back lawn - Leaving till tomorrow due to being completely wiped out today

Ive been really tired today, I think I did a little too much yesterday. Ive spent the last 2 hours sat on the laptop. Its a good feeling getting everything done that Ive wanted to, but Im just too tired today. Im not going to have a big list tomorrow so I will do the back lawn tomorrow.

This morning went ok, went round to a friends house and met some new people. They seemed OK, will go back again.

feetheart Im dreading the parents passing on, not just for the obvious reasons, but also cos Im dreading having to sort out the houses. FIL passed away Jan 09 so MIL lives on her own in a HA house. Ive seen upstairs in her house and there is so much stuff, Im certainly not looking forward to that. DH is an only child too so there is just us, plus it being HA owned I doubt they will give us long to sort it. My parents dont have quite as much stuff and their house is owned, but it will still need sorting. Though one thing I did think of as we live in a LA house once my parents pass on and leave me the house (Ive no living siblings either and they have told me they have a will leaving me everything - though that was before kids so could have changed) I might get thrown out of where i currently live because (an rightly so IMO) you are not allowed to live in a council house if you own another house. So I might end up in the house I grew up in (though it is a lot nicer than mine)

scatty sorry to hear about your voice, liking the conversation between DC's though regarding going back to sleep.

Linzer I really hope you ARE spending the afternoon in the garden having some 'me' time. After all those children you need a break and a relax in the peace and quiet. Thats much more important than flying anyday.

toffee glad your DC's were ok getting the jabs done. Its always a relief once its over. Its easier with grown children as well as you can bribe them with smarties or whatever, its absolutley heartbreaking for the first jabs. I really dont like taking the babies. Am going to have to do it again soon too [busad]

Got to get going now as we have promised DS we would take him out for tea to anywhere he wanted as DH had to pull his very very very wobbly front tooth out. Finally, it had only been wobbly 2 months. DS wasnt happy, but we managed it. He has chosen to go to gourmet burger which is in town so we need to go out early. Im a bit nervous about taking him in town too late, we usually reserve those for if we go out for lunch. Evening meals are usually left to out of town places (that usually are attached to a childrens play area), but DS chose here, so we better go.

Hurrah its offically easter [bugrin]

i am soooo bored of data entry i thought id catch up with you all. [buwink]

feetheart ah yes i feel your pain. DH has kept all his old text books presuming that dc will one day be interested? [buhmm] Hope you managed to get some clothes on [bugrin]
linzer i can bring poppadoms no problem at all [bugrin] I do hope you spend the entire afternoon reading in the garden. Gosh you deserve a rest [bugrin]
toffee i was just thinking about you earlier wondering about jabs. How fantastic are the power of smarties [bugrin] I hope all your plumbing issues are solved [bublush] [bugrin]
scatty well done on bike ride [bushock] at jogging alongside. Glad the medicine worked [buwink]

I'm not sure how many more easter smilies i can fit in but i will try [buconfused]

my list so far

Up/dressed/hair (try not to find anymore grey ones (are you officially past it when you start going grey?)-done
Dc up/ dressed/nurseried-done
Dw/wm/hang out-done
Work- bank recons and data entry on new computer system-done [buyawn] [bushock] looks kinda like a yawn. [bugrin]
Pick dc up/bath/feed/bed-soon
Tidy house-soon
Put away clothes-soon
Clean bedside cabinet and dressing table-done first thing along with making my bed [bugrin]
Sort pile of stuff in bedroom or sort dc artwork in living room.-this evening treat indeed [buhmm]

Have lovely rest of the day. Off to eat some more biscuits do some more lovely data inputing or perhaps some fantastic filing. [buhmm]

[bugrin]

x-posted myhouse gosh honey have a rest too [busmile] You got a little baby growing, i dont know how you are managing to get so much done at all. Hope DS enjoys gourmet burger it sounds so much more delightful that Grotty McRottyDonalds. [bugrin]

Apart from a brief interlude to hang out the washing (I wanted to make the most of the sunshine), I did indeed spent the entire afternoon reading in the garden and it was bliss - I feel refreshed and rejuvenated now. [bugrin] The DC still aren't back so I've just come in to make a start on the tidying up - there's not too much to do thankfully, as we were outside for most of the morning too.

Nettie You are definitely not past it - because if you are, then I am too (although I keep finding white hairs). I think I would prefer grey ones as they might blend in better. Your post could have done with a few more Easter smileys btw. [buwink] [bugrin]

myhouse Glad to hear the tooth is finally out (DD2 has her first wobbly tooth, but unfortunately it doesn't seem to be getting any wobblier - and the new tooth has already come through behind it); hope you enjoy your meal out.

scatty Cycling followed by ice cream sounds like the perfect morning. [busmile]

Toffee I'm all for a lot bit of benign neglect; I'm sure your DC haven't been suffering at all. [bugrin] Hope you all enjoyed your picnic.

DS and DD2 are back home now, so must go and get their tea.

I found even more curry ingredients ..

but dd and tried to get out for a shopping trip
but we ended up back in our home town....[buconfussed]

but at the back of one cupboard I found some yummy wine...

note to self must find a good curry recipe