Fledglings flying though July into the summer.

[ColdHeartedBitch]

Roll up, roll up. tis the month of school fetes, sports days and annual reports. In all this flurry of extra activities and with the summer holidays hurtling towards us at rapid speed, now is the time to tame the chaos before our very special chaos creators are able to help us. Fully intending to beat the Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome so that my personal chaos creator can be occupied by others this holiday. Good luck to all to are also striving to achieve this.

Starting from the 1st of the month we shall be fluttering our way to tamed houses. If you are new to the system it is recommend that you focus on making the babysteps your main focus. The babysteps will build up to form routines to help you to stay on top of the house once you have discovered it. First step is to shine your sink. But not just half heartidly, deep clean til it shines Instructions here

For the more established flyer we then progress onto decluttering. 15mins each day in alloted zone of the week. New zones each week. and current zones and decluttering instructions can be found here Zones will automatically update for July.

As for the advanced flyer, there are missions to do each day in the current zone

We have one rule we are NOT perfectionists anything is better then nothing, real life gets in the way and we have to do other stuff other then cleaning (put it on your list, tick it off and :) ), besides the fat fairy's moto is "You are never behind"

As such take the vomit inducing cuteness of the website with a pinch of salt, and join us for wish lists formally to do lists , ta da lists and home bleurghs.

See you bright and early tomo although hopefully not too bright and early.

Morning all and Happy Anniversary to pa! but work at 5.30 on a Saturday , well over and above the call of duty.

Not much flying going on here today. I have still got 120 exam papers to mark and I am hoping to get them done over the weekend because I also have loads to do at work and I can't concentrate on that until I have these damn papers marked.It doesn't help when I am marking them knowing that we have already spent the money on a work van for DH, no shopping spree to look forward to! DH is going to spending lots of quality time with the DC's this weekend although am hoping to get lots done today so we can go out for the afternoon tomorrow.

Anyway, had better get going. The one thing I do have to do is to do the food shop so I need to go and get dressed and showered.

Have a good day everyone. It is beautiful here, hope it is where you are. .

Today I will:
Tidy generally
Do ironing
Do banking online
Shine my sink

Starting with a small list although the 'tidy generally' bit in reality is quite a big undertaking

Morning everyone!

Yesterday was quite successful. Best achievement was buying sandals for both of the DDs. Shoe shopping with 12 and 13 yr olds is a nightmare - their ideas about what is desirable rarely match with my ideas about what is appropriate. However, we did manage to come home with a pair each and they can both walk in them, which is definitely an improvement on the time when I let them go and look without me

Today I have little planned in terms of Flying - one load of washing, swish & swipe, a little ironing later to keep on top of it. No doubt lots more will happen, but I'm not being over-ambitious at this stage. DH and I need to take the caravan back to its home at a farm this morning and put a new cover on it. I don't see the caravan-covering operation enhancing our marriage, frankly, as we are both very poor communicators and both like to be the boss. I foresee nettle stings and a ripped cover, followed by plenty of blamestorming!

This afternoon DD2 is singing in an outdoor concert with the school choir. There is a bit of confusion about where we are meeting as the letter said 'Museum Gardens' and DD2 insists that's a mistake and it should say 'Tower Gardens'. To make matters worse, Museum Gardens has a tower in it, and the only green space that could be Tower Gardens is next to another museum, on opposite sides of the city... Any positive vibes you could send my way this afternoon would be greatly appreciated!

Hope everyone has a good day :)

Hello, I wonder if I might join you?

I shall say in advance that I might be a bit imtermittant in posting as I have a bit of a manic life!

My house is a tip. I am overwhelmed by it. Utterly overwhelmed. I work full time (teacher) although I am going part time in September (yay!) and I have a ds (6 and with suspected ASD....being assessed at the mo), a dd (3 and mad as a bucket of frogs) and an OH (43 and probably the genetic source of ds's ASD!).
I can't keep it sorted. I have no routine and I think I need one! OH is a horder of paperwork and I am not naturally tidy at all but I can see we would all benefit from a clean and tidy house!

So, that's me. I'll head off now to shine my sink. Sadly that means doing last night's pots

Welcome neverputasockinatoaster . (Great name btw, did you actually do that ?)

I too am a full time teacher, have DS 7 and a DD 3 who is also as mad as a bucket of frogs and a DH who is a hoarder (are we the same person?).

I like to use my dedication to my very busy job as an excuse for my hole of a house. I suspect the truth is I am inherently lazy .

This is the perfect thread for you. Even with a full time job, these routines do work (when I do them properly) so get stuck in and I hope you enjoy the thread!

Don't worry about the intermittent posting, there is no pressure here whatsoever to post all the time. Just pop by when you can. I have been here since the inception of this thread nearly two years ago. Some months I post everyday (usually when I am doing what I am supposed to be doing), some months I come one at the beginning of the month and say how good I am going to be and slide back in disgrace at the end because i haven't been very good with nothing in between. .

Happy sink shining!

Non-stop day yesterday. Turned computer on to check MN in the evening, then promptly fell asleep on DS1's bed .

Thanks for the good luck messages for DS1's appointment yesterday. It went really well and the psychologist said that in 17 years of work, she has never seen a child make so much progress with literacy! The main advice she will be giving to his next school is that he should be allowed to do as much work on the computer as possible because he finds writing so difficult. But as far as reading and spelling goes, he is well ahead of his age group . Nice to have some good news for a change!

In the afternoon, we had a meeting with the Education Outreach Worker, who is going to work with DS to reintegrate him back into school in September. He is taking DS to meet his tutor next week and to show him round the school again, and he will be there to help him with any wobbles in the first weeks of term. And he will support the school in trying to get a statement for him.

I actually feel hopeful that DS may get back to school full time after all!

Minimal flying again. I just haven't had time. Will do some basic stuff this morning, then we are going out for lunch with a friend.

Have read through the thread. Good to see new names, as well as the familiar ones.

Hope you all have a good Saturday.

Happy Anniversary PA - hope you have a lovely day.

So far have done:

Pick up DD from sleepover
School uniform fitting 9am
Sports shop to buy shin pads and football socks
Load of washing in
DD to do her piano practice

Still to do:

DD to write card for friend
Take DD to friends party for 3pm
Tidy house
Pick up DD from party at 5pm
Cook dinner (no idea what as yet)
Reading book with DD
Go through her drama lines and school play lines
Do the huge pile of ironing thats mountaining up - eek!!

No trainers in DD size at sports shop - Grr - so will have to go back on Monday. They won't even put a pair by or guarantee her size wil even come in so it may still be another wasted journey.

On the upside today is gloriously sunny which is marvellous

Hope you all have a lovely day

That's amazing news Toffee so happy to hear such positive comments, that is indeed very hopeful

That's brilliant new toffee. Well done to you and your ds .

That's great to hear Toffee

Just a quick post to wish PA a very happy wedding annniversary ... and let's hope your dh was teasing you by not mentioning it this morning!!!! Hope you have a fab dinner out tonight x

Toffee it's fab that you've had some positive news. Congrats to your ds1!!

Great round-up Swan

A warm welcome to Neverputasockinatoaster (I once bought a toaster and instructions actually said "this appliance is not suitable for drying clothes" which made me cackle) Sympathies at paperwork mountain - I have same problem!! Trying to shred it - an hour a day - atm as it happens. Trick is to to try and stop being hard on yourself and feeling bad about situation and allow oneself a bit of time to put it right bit by bit iyswim. I've had some boxes of important work articles old magazines, newspaper clippings and ancient bank statements here for nearly 10 yrs now so it's not going to all disappear over night. But situation is starting to improve - slowly - bit by bit!! Good luck with it all!!!

All of you who are out buying shoes for yr dc are making me feel a bit guilty as I tend to buy dd's on-line [bad mother emoticon]. I know this is a no-no in UK, but over here it isn't the norm to measure feet etc (although of course I check very carefully that they fit). Just tend to find a good brand that suits her foot and stick with it. Shoe shops operate very wierdly over here too. Because country is so small, the market isn't big, hence they only keep a tiny amount of stock. Cue parents buying massively over-sized school shoes in July/ August and massive sandals in April/March hoping to beat the rush and hoping that they will fit by the time the appropriate weather comes to wear them . Anyway, haven't noticed that continental feet are particularly malformed so hoping it's OK anyway ...

Huge waves to everyone. Morning a bit of a disaster. Riding trip aborted as dd didn't feel well in the car. Think she has last week's bug back [sigh]

I never thought I could get so excited about a new washing machine. I have washing machine less for nearly 2 months but this morning have been and purchased a new one from Tesco of all places. I was doing the food shop and there it was with £50 off because it had a small dint in it. Bargain! It is whirring as we speak. Poor little thing I feel quite sorry for it. There it was sat all forlorn thinking nobody would buy it because it was damaged and there I come and give it a home. Little does it know that after 2 months of no washing machine and only doing essentials that I have a mount washmore that reaches to the moon and back and that all it's excitement at being given a home will have evaporated after the 10th load in 2 days. .

DH has been a grumpy tw*t this morning. He wasn't expecting to get up and move washing machines and he has shown this displeasure at actually having to pull his finger out for once by generally shouting at everyone.

Anyway, he has calmed down now and taken the DC's off for a few hours to visit his brother and then his BF. I am going to whip round downstairs, put food shop away and then crack on with my marking.

Shoe shopping sounds a nightmare in Belgium sc. I have to admit to not buying DS clarks etc. anymore. I have tried expensive shoes, mid range shoes and cheap shoes and he still goes through them in 6 weeks flat so I have now reverted to cheap shoes because replacing £35 shoes once every half term was doing my head in. Bad mother I am .

Anyway, had better go and make use of this time.

It is only now I have a new one that I realise how knackered the old machine was, the spin cycle is soooooo quiet.

Toffee brilliant news on ds. You obviously are a brill homeschool mum. Well done you.
linzer did your ds get a Blackpool postcard? Just I'm sure we wrote one but I'm not sure I posted it!
swan sorry I thought chb was leading this week. Or is she step posting and you are round upping?
Ellie love excitement of washing machine. What. Bargain too.
pa have. Great anniversary.
chb have a fab weekend

My ta da list from yesterday afternoon.

Cleaned all inside windows cleaned window ledges.
finished packing
Dried all remaining washing and put dishwasher on
Drove 6 hours. Dh doing the rest hopefully only 3 more hours. Just reaches Scotland and it's not raining!!

neverputsockintoaster I was awful last month with flying. Did turn up very intermittently to apologise and because I missed everyone. My house is definately showing the effects. Hope to catch up with you mid July.

Humongous waves to everyone.

Thank you for all the good wishes. Dh text me from work and wished me a happy anniversary. I suspect the first time he wrote the date this morning he realised that it sounded familiar, it probably took him ages a while to figure out why!!
I had 2 bookings for a meal tonight. One is a local pub where the food is absolutely fantastic, the best steak I have ever tasted and the other a posh restaurant in town. I sort of wanted to got to the restaurant because it was posh and a bit of a treat, but I read the reviews online and was put off. So we are off to the pub - tis posh for a pub, though. No sawdust, anyway!!
New dress, new jewellery, borrowed a bag from DD3, couldnt find shoes the right colour, so oldies will have to do. I will keep DHs eyes above my waist and I will be fine!!

Ellie I totally understand your washing machine love fest. I am still in love with mine and have had it a number of weeks now. I am amazed how clean the clothes get. It actually washes the clothes and whites come out white! I never fully appreciated this invention before.

Wonderful news about DS1 Toffee.

Off to start the beautifying now......... could take a long time.

at ellie calling it mount washmore!!! Great news about the new washer. DH and i generally tend to go for shop spoilt white goods as the dings and dents are often on the side where no one even sees them - got some great bargains.

PA have a fab evening out and enjoy getting ready -that's half the fun

Have done my list apart from pick up DD and am going to get a take away as too hot to have oven on or cook

Have a great holiday nettie

Well, I've washed the pots.......

However I have played lots with DCs.....

Will shine sink momentarily!

And no, I have never actually put a sock in a toaster........ It's an Eddie Izzard quote..... sound advice I feel.....

Just managed to get on the PC for the first time today!

So far we have
taken DS swimming
been to local canal/park where there is loads of stuff going on to celebrate the re-opening of the canal. I've never seen so many narrow boats!
stripped beds
2 loads of washing
festooned said washing around the garden
played football in the park with DS

Off to make cottage pie for tea & re-make the beds

Have a good weekend everyone

Happy Anniversary PA. It's ours today too. Hope you're having a delicious meal with a romantic Mr PA!

Not terribly romantic here as neither of cba to buy cards or presents Not indicative of a lack of affection though, just work, baby, life etc. We are going out for dinner a v good pub/restaurant though

Happy anniversary PA and PMPY!

Great news about your DS, Toffee.

Nettie No, haven't had a postcard from Blackpool - I think the Royal Wedding drawings were the last thing we had.

Am utterly exhausted after an even more tiring day than yesterday. We invited all the neighbours over for a barbecue, so had to go out shopping this morning - hadn't had time to plan or prepare anything before today - and I then spent the following four hours in the kitchen. I think I must be a particularly inefficient cook as I didn't make anything spectacular - just some veggie kebabs, marinades and two salads (one of which no one ate apart from DH, who pronounced it bland, while the six children pounced on the mozzarella, tomato and basil one and ate it all before the adults arrived). Also managed to get halfway through a sauce for the marshmallow and banana kebabs before I realised I didn't have any golden syrup - and had no time to look on the Internet for alternatives.

Barbecue itself went OK, but the weather could have been better. Kitchen looked like a bomb had hit it afterwards. Two of DD2's friends arrived to stay the night just as the barbecue was coming to an end; all the DC are sleeping in one room and - not entirely unconnected - all are still awake (it's getting on for 10 pm here). We'll have to put DS in his own bed if we don't want them all up at 6 am.

Tired waves to all.

Happy anniversary PMPY. How many years for you? I couldn't find a romantic Mr PA, so went with DH instead! Just arrived home.... in time for cycling on tv......yay!!!

Flippin heck!! We have just had a wonderful meal out, steak followed by a cheese board and DH has come home and made the stinkiest pot noodle!! Disgusting!!!

No pot noodles here Lovely meal also including lovely cheeseboard. Home to hungry baby and sleeping toddler! DH is both impressed and appauled by the pot noodle! Sorry for my rubbish typing. I am both drunk and on my phone.
Six years for us. Feels like a lifetime but mostly in a good way!

Hi to all,
lots of lovely food on here tonight even if you didn't have the golden syrup marinade linzer and PA Dh obviously showing he appreciates home cooking.

Push congratulations on your anniversary too
Droitwich has been in the fresh air looking at narrow boats, and decorating her garden too
SC is still battling with paperwork, but serenely
Lady is organising her dd with football kit/practising play lines
Janey is bravely tackling the caravan cover in company with her Dh, proving the point that anything that requires tethering is better alive
Toffee how lovely she said that - hope ds1 was pleased too!
Whoknows I missed you out yesterday I think, well done on ds doing so well in the race

who else? hmm...my memory is not improved by a large glass of Pimms, as have been at a party..Also delicious food. Nice neighbour.
Another (not so nice) neighbour had extremely loud music for 13 year old daughter party, we were incensed (he was was the one who ticked us off for disturbing him at a snowball fight round Christmas) children couldn't sleep, house shaking [grrr] annoying neighbour kept saying, it will be over in 20 mins...special day...once a year....ho hum...Not over till 10.30. Karaoke in back garden fgs!!!!!!have it indoors you plonker....

nicknacw and neverputsockintoaster hope next few days of babystepping go smoothly, remember not to let yourself to get discouraged if nothng much seems to be happeniing in rest o house apart from the sink, it all takes time to master...

ellie has given a warm loving home to a bumped washing machine (I think it was bumped) but is still wrestling 120 answers into some sort of sense

Oh dear, I know there is someone else I've forgotten, I hope you will forgive me

Today was the SCHOOL FETE and I have been out of the house since 8.30, scrunching raffle tickets, putting up marquees, lugging boxes of books, and persuading people to part with 5p pieces.
Yesterday was awfully tense, but today was better really...nothiing like hard physical work to abolish tension...
Tomorrow I'm off to Basingstoke for family do.

nettie enjoy your holiday, and hope drive went smoothly, I hope you sang lots of songs on the way!