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 can not spell and do

bunnies

sulk

Poor little [buhmm], he looks so lost.

Have a good night out myhouse. well done on finding wine cyber.

I have finally finished my easter spring clean. Hopefully now I can plodd along with routines and missions more easily and the house will stay clean [buhmm].

Dh has finished work today, we are off to Whitby on Sat for a week [bugrin]. BB next week!

Happy Easter [busmile].

scatty have a fab time. [busmile]

It appears I will do almost anything to avoid dealing with the bookcases.

Tonight I have moved huge heavy garden table and 5 chairs from the bottom of garden to the decking, cleaned all items.
Tool two boxes of board games out of garage and found a home inside
Removed tent from garage in hall to put up in garden tomorrow. Need practice.
Baked a banana and fruit loaf
Baked batch of I think pa oatie flapjacks
Now to put ocado shop away [busmile]

Be back later with linkie mclinkies! [bugrin]

Evening. shit expensive day here. but have managed to get 1 load washing washed. 2 loads dried, 3 loads folded and all of the ironing bar 1 load's bits and bobs done.
sorted out plan of action for training
posted 1 birthday card but could post other as couldnt find the address :(
Also sorted the recycling.

tired so off to bed in the hope that I dont sleep til lunch time tomo and get more done.

chb sorry about your eventful day. I hope you are feeling a bit better now.

eh eh its over there in the bookcase somewhere [bugrin]

make the bed

im absolutely shattered. so im going to say nite all [bugrin]

Evening all,

Can't remember if I posted last night? Anyway, day out with the cousins went well, the country park was heaving with people and boiling hot, so the kids got ratty after a couple of hours, so we went off to the Royal Armouries nr Portsmouth, it is in a fort which is built into a hilltop, lots of lovely cool underground tunnels to run around in and cannons to play on, best of all entry is free!

Today we had a pottering day. DD is very good at pottering and playing by herslef, DS less so, he either wants to be on the Wii or doing play that requires adult input, such as playing football on the green over the road or having stories read to him. I have decided that he needs to learn to play in a more self sufficient way, also I needed to do my chores, so I told them that it was "playing without Mum" morning, I was happy to be in the room with them but I was doing my own thing. It went pretty well, and having dicussed it with DH tonight we think we will make Sunday mornings into play without parents mornings. We then spent a lot of time out on the green playing football and riding bikes (have achieved my holiday goal of getting them both off stabilisers!) before going for a bit of shopping and tea. When DH got home we went to the pub for half an hour play in the garden. but came back to find the house smelling of gas. So more outside play till the nice (actually very nice!) man from the gas board came and gave us the all clear, finally got the DCs to bed at 9, took grateful receipt of a Dominos pizza and am now off to bed.

CHB - hope you are OK. Too tired to scroll back up but hope the rest of you have had a good day.

Not much flying done today, but I have done loads of admin stuff, our leaky tap is finally mended and the water board have already mended the underground leak, so I feel as if a lot has been achieved. And, amazingly, the house isn't looking too bad. I think the decluttering and routines are starting to pay off.

Took the boys out to climb trees and make dens this afternoon. DS2 (5) insisted that I pretend to be a bear and chase him. I can't describe how much I didn't want to be a bear. I just wanted to lie on the grass in the warm sun and read my book. But I felt guilty about this morning's neglect, so I did it and, of course, DS loved it. Do other mums also hate pretending to be bears/cats/dogs, etc? I can do it sometimes. I just wasn't in a very playful mood this afternoon.

Had a huge success this afternoon: I made today's Menus4Mum's recipe (turkey burgers with 'healthy' chips and peas) and every single one of the family ate and enjoyed the meal - even DS2, who will usually only eat pasta . I can't believe it. It helped that DS2 joined me in making the burgers, I think, as it made him want to try them.

No idea what we're doing tomorrow yet. I think I'll see how the day goes. DH is working, so it's just me and the boys.

There are too many posts for me to catch up now, but just wanted to say -

Myhouse - if you feel tired, you must follow your instinct! Don't overdo it.

CHB - well done on your productive day (but sorry it was also expensive ).

Happy holiday, Scattyspice!

Linzer - glad you managed to get some quiet time in the garden. You deserve it!

Nettie - plumbing issues are all sorted - thanks for asking. It will be lovely to go to sleep without hearing the sound of water running.

Can't go any further back in the thread, but Happy Easter to all the Flyladies.

[busmile] [busmile] [busmile]

Toffee - oh yes, I hate having to be a footballer so often. I'm also not very good at the imaginary stuff at all TBH, it's so not my kind of thing (I am the sort of person who dreads the words "role play" and thinks Murder Mystery Evenings are a nightmare)

WhoKnows - I have to be a footballer with DS1 and I hate it too. It just isn't something I would choose to do - I find it really, really boring.

Just off to bed. Goodnight.

Morning!!!

Looks like it might be another nice day but hard to tell before dawn breaks.

Ds has come to the conclusion i am shit at football and doesnt ask me to play anymore. I dont know whether to be pleased or sad about this.

Got mamoth day planned but not sure how much I am going to get through. Been sleeping through the day the last few days and prior to that sleeping loads with naps during the day. have decided it is time to kick start this and using yesterday's disasterous events which have kept me up i am going to reset the old body clock. Bedtime is set at 8pm tonight. I am avoiding car and heavy technology.

to do list:
30mins stretches
run - realistically more of a tiny jog and walking but need to get out and clear the old cobwebs
shower.
30 mins heat and ice physio stuff
Tackle the clutter in my room
finish the last bit of ironing
finish last bit of folding
wash bedding
Put my clothes away
empty box of assorted stuff needing to be downstairs.
load dishwasher
pot up sweetpeas
plant runner beans
plant sunflower
tidy ds's room
put ds' clothes away
wash dress and other handwashing bits
clean bathroom floor
tidy landing
log all food intake into training diary aid
log all exercise into training diary aid (very impressed that cleaning counts as exercise [bugrin])
write up training notes from video studies (4hours worth of videos )
Empty bins
Empty incinerator
If time have bloody great big bonfire!

Bed by 8pm!!!!

Oh and stay off mn or at least only come here to up date. Lets make it only check for 15mins ever couple of hours. Fly lady stylee [buwink]

Good morning! Or night, to me! :)

Just marking my place- did loads of dishes and laundry today. We're in the middle of stripping up our linoleum so it feels like the house will look disastrous no matter what I do. But! Onwards!

I have tomorrow off from work and plan to do Room Rescues the live long day. :)

Happy Easter! [busmile]

Morning all,

DH has just left for work and the DC are still asleep, so I'm hoping this will be the first morning I manage to get a few things done before they wake up (it's not yet warm enough for me to be tempted to sit outside!). I don't understand why they're waking earlier than usual during the holidays when they're going to bed later (often a lot later).

Must make a start on my packing today as we're planning to leave first thing tomorrow (when, no doubt, the children will want to have their first lie-in of the holidays). A friend of DS's will be here this morning while his mum is at work; he's due to arrive in just under an hour.

DH has said he'll be back from work earlier today. Considering all the religious bank holidays we have otherwise, I'm surprised that Good Friday isn't a bank holiday here - we only get Easter Monday.

List update:

30mins stretches done
run mostly walk between bits of jogging done was as bad as expected, seriously out of shape :(
shower. done
30 mins heat and ice physio stuff Done knee ok but going to need a heat pack for my back later [bublush] i forgot i am getting old and not as bendy as used to be.
Tackle the clutter in my room
finish the last bit of ironing
finish last bit of folding
wash bedding 1st of 2 washing
Put my clothes away
empty box of assorted stuff needing to be downstairs.
load dishwasher
pot up sweetpeas
plant runner beans
plant sunflower
tidy ds's room
put ds' clothes away
wash dress and other handwashing bits
clean bathroom floor
tidy landing
log all food intake into training diary aid
log all exercise into training diary aid (very impressed that cleaning counts as exercise grin)
write up training notes from video studies (4hours worth of videos ) done
Empty bins
Empty incinerator
If time have bloody great big bonfire!

Bed by 8pm!!!!

remove nail varnish done
Sort out training kit bag done
Copious amounts of coffee and a proper breakfast done

Shaping up to be a glorious day though. Its going to be a scourcher so very glad to be out killing myself trying to run early to beat the heat.

Night Cheerful, Morning Linzer [bugrin]

Hello!

Just checking back in after having been away for a couple of days. Got back yesterday but threw myself into the washing, food shopping and sorting out and didn't get back on here until now.

We had a lovely first trip in our caravan and will definitely be doing it again! The DDs loved Clumber and we hardly saw them. They disappeared on their bikes and just turned up for meals, which was great. It's funny how hard it is for our DCs to get the experiences that we took for granted when we were kids...

Woke up early and finished the ironing, which seems like an achievement. I did ironing instead of running because we plan to go for a walk later and my aged 41 year old body will no longer accommodate 2 major pieces of exercise in a day [busmile]

So for today, put away the ironing I've just done, wash DDs' sleeping bags, check laundry basket has not filled up again while I wasn't looking, tidy kitchen, swish & swipe, go to Church, make picnic and go for a walk, I think. Some friends of ours heard yesterday that their 4 year old did not get a school place at the same school as their 7 year old, so I have promised to help them set out their appeal as we were in the same boat last year.

Hope everyone has a lovely day.

List update:

30mins stretches done
run mostly walk between bits of jogging done was as bad as expected, seriously out of shape :(
shower. done
30 mins heat and ice physio stuff Done knee ok but going to need a heat pack for my back later [bublush] i forgot i am getting old and not as bendy as used to be.
Tackle the clutter in my room 30 mins done
finish the last bit of ironing
finish last bit of folding
wash bedding 1st of 2 washing
Put my clothes away done
empty box of assorted stuff needing to be downstairs.
load dishwasher
pot up sweetpeas
plant runner beans
plant sunflower
tidy ds's room
put ds' clothes away
wash dress and other handwashing bits
clean bathroom floor
tidy landing
log all food intake into training diary aid up to date
log all exercise into training diary aid (very impressed that cleaning counts as exercise grin) up to date
write up training notes from video studies (4hours worth of videos ) done
Empty bins
Empty incinerator
If time have bloody great big bonfire!

Bed by 8pm!!!!

remove nail varnish done
Sort out training kit bag done
Copious amounts of coffee and a proper breakfast done
Repaint nails done
Complete competition entrance paperwork. done
Find certificate with date of achievement.

its only 9am and I think I am going to bail to the hills for a few hours whilst it is still quiet and it is not too hot. Before getting on with more.

Good morning Fledgling Flyers.

Im feeling very good about flying this morning and I want to paint you a picture. Im sure you have all had similar experiences.

Last night I went to sleep, tv off no book at a reasonable time. DC stayed in bed all night. They got up this morning and played nicely in their snug, affording mummy some time to sleep a bit later. They came downstairs and got their drawing things from the drawing tray and did some drawing.
We then had breakfast, dishwasher emptied, breakfast dishes are done, washing is hanging on the line (I finally set the timer on the washing machine so it was ready first thing this morning ). I am now having my second [bushock] cup of coffee on the newly situated and thoroughly scrubbed table and chairs, with umbrella, sitting on a newly unearthed cushion from the huge pile of tat that used to live in my now spacious conservatory. Dc are playing circle time at their table and chairs on the decking.

Yes admittedly we are all the great unwashed as my mum would say and in our pjs with the slight smell of horse manure wafting over from new doors garden as they have just brought their pony home to graze [buhmm].

Flying is good.

whoknows glad there is no gas leak and the chap was helpful. Was he nice in the ooer nice way or just genuinely a nice man [buwink]
toffee imaginative play is not my forte either I am afraid. Completely devoid of imagination.[bugrin]. Glad your menu4mums is working out. How was chicken and rice?
chb gosh what a ginormous list you have dear [bugrin] good luck with bed at 8, something I do often but watch tv in bed so that?s not much good. [bushock] at updating list before 9.
cheerfulyank good luck with room rescues all the live long day [bugrin] Any renewals or repairs just makes the whole flying thing seem much more difficult as its difficult to see the results. I had that all last year but I think the results can be seen bit more now we are finished (until dh starts getting someone to pull down the hall ceiling [buhmm])
linzer good luck with packing. You are not taking anyone elses children with you tomorrow are you? [bugrin]
janeyjampot glad you had a lovely time away in caravan. Yes I agree about experiences, we my brother and big sister used to take the 4 younger children for walks miles to the nearest beach all on our own. Dsis was 13. Glad everyone thoroughly enjoyed it, well done getting washing and stuff done yesterday.
My list for today is to not harass anyone, (apart from dh out of bed to work). Do need to bathe dc and get us all dressed, put tent up as practice in garden. Decide whether camping in garden with dc is such a good idea. [buconfused] and play the day away. Inside flying is having a rest apart from s/s later

oops posted too soon.

Hope you all have lovely days. [bugrin]

Hope you are sleeping peacefully, Cheerful. Good luck with the room rescues!

CHB - that's an impressive list. You will want to be in bed by 8, after all that.

Linzer - hope you managed to get stuff done before DC woke up. DS1 went to bed very late last night (11pm), but was downstairs watching telly when we woke up at 7.30 . He looked really sleepy, but I think there's more incentive to get up if school isn't involved. Hope your trip goes well tomorrow.

Janey - the caravan trip sounds a great success. I bet the children loved it. Sounds like you have been a whirlwind of activity since. Sorry about your friend's 4 year old. How silly that is. Nice of you to offer to help out.

Wasn't sure what to do today, made the mistake of mentioning swimming and it was greeted with cheers from both boys. So that's what we're doing today. DH is working.

List:

Dress
B/F done
D/W
W/M - do our bedclothes
Empty bin
S&S
Put recycling out for collection
Drape sheets over chairs to dry in the sun
Walking and swimming
Packed lunch
Kitchen hotspot
Tidy kitchen cupboards as they are getting out of control
Ironing - 15 mins
DS2 do Easter card for Grandma (bit late)
Room rescues
Prepare dinner - herby fish tonight
Dinner
BBRoutine
Bed at decent hour

Am going to get started. Back in a minute to update.

Btw, both children were hugely entertained by the new Google logo this morning - lots of animal activity. Worth a look.

Nettie - that sounds like a wonderful start to the day. It's good to know that flying is working so well for you. I must say, I feel so much happier when I am in control of the house and I think that rubs off on the children. Flying is definitely working for me. I don't stress about everything that needs doing now, just focus on 'the list' and know that, provided I keep up with the routines, stuff will get done in due course.

Chicken and rice was OK, thanks. Not my favourite recipe, but DH and DS1 both enjoyed it. They are the 'testers' as DS2 - until yesterday's big success - won't try anything new. Frankly, Menus4Mums wouldn't have worked for me at all with younger children, as it takes about 30 minutes to prepare each recipe and I used to find even 30 mins impossible to find when DC were small. But now they are 5 and 11, it works quite well and I am quite happy to spend that time in the kitchen. It's fun trying new recipes too.

Right, must stop yacking and get back to my list!

Morning everyone,

Just a quick one, will be back later.

I didnt do my ironing last night or load the washer for today.

Ive got a small list today.

1. grocery shopping and put it away
2. hopefully buy some salt crystals for the washine machine so I can give it a good clean
3. back garden

So just 3 things today.

Right off to supermarket now, fingers crossed I find my salt crystal things so I can get my washine machine cleaned. Going to get the drawer out and clean it with old toothbrush and bleach, then put salt crystals in the drum and put on 90 degree wash. Hopefully it will be cleaner then.

cobwebs are descending again.......[buconfused]

and a bit more decluttering...[buconfused]

seems a pattern here

D/W on, W/M on. Distracted by phone calls and texts. Have just booked babysitter for a night out next Friday [bugrin]. Off to get dressed ...

Damn, hit Preview instead if Post. Now about 2 hours behind everyone and no time to catch up!
Post written at 9am looked like:

Looking like a glorious day here too, long may it continue [busmile]

Linzer - slightly at Austrian inheritance stuff. SiL still living free in MiL's old flat but at least we know that at some point DH should inherit half of it, though only if he outlives her. Is another point of weird underlying tension between them
Lego was good as it meant we haven't had to buy any of the new 'can only be made into one thing with a million bits' stuff. Doesn't actually get played with much at the moment, too busy with the never-ending ongoing Playmobil/Polly Pocket wedding

myhouse - moving back into my childhood home would be wonderful - HUGE 6-bedroomed house over-looking the sea. Problem is it's in N Ireland and I can't see DH running his local (to here) IT support business from there. Couldn't actually see me moving 'back home' either, got out as fast as I could when I could [busmile]

List for today includes:

• Morning routine
• Menu-plan, list and shop
• GARDEN - I want to do a 'project' for each of these long weekends. This time it is putting up support wires along the whole of the fence so I can grow things up it.
• Plant stuff
• Hang hammock and book my turn in it - usually have to kick DC and cats out [bugrin]
• Clean garden furniture so we can use it (well done Nettie)
• Find lights, candles, etc for garden
• ENJOY sunshine

Stirring from upstairs so I think it might be time for breakfast

Hi Feet [busmile].

Updated list:

Dress done
B/F done
D/W done
Also washed up extras and wiped down cooker and surfaces
W/M - do our bedclothes done
Empty bin done
S&S done
Put recycling out for collection no collection today of course -duh!
Drape sheets over chairs to dry in the sun done
Packed bag for swimming
Walking and swimming doing now
Packed lunch eaten already
Kitchen hotspot
Tidy kitchen cupboards as they are getting out of control
Ironing - 15 mins
DS2 do Easter card for Grandma (bit late)
Room rescues
Prepare dinner - herby fish tonight
Dinner
BBRoutine
Bed at decent hour

Back later. Hope you are all out enjoying this glorious sunshine.