April Fledglings Fly into Spring, Get That Clutter into the Bin

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes]

Welcome to the April 2012 Fledgling Flyers thread. Come and join us for a bit of chat and a lot of housework (or possibly the other way round).

A huge "thank you" to SanguineChompa for leading us through March

If you're house is a mess and you are strugging with C.H.A.O.S. (can't have anyone over syndrome) and S.T.U.F.F. (something that undermines family fun) then this is the thread where we (loosely) follow the step-by-step Flylady housekeeping system (in our own, unique, relaxed style) with lots of chat and support along the way.

We advise not signing up to receive the Flylady e-mails as you will be inundated! All the information you need will be linked here on a daily basis. Feel free to browse the Flylady website as well, links below

From the first of the month, we will be following Flylady's tips on restoring order to our homes, and as we are all at different stages we will be using one of the following methods:

• repeat or start baby steps

• repeat baby steps + do 15 mins a day decluttering in the current zone

• reinforce babysteps and do daily missions if you have finished decluttering.

More info here and here!

All long-standing members, intermittent returnees, lurkers and newcomers welcome!!

Afternoon.
I feel half awake. Need coffee. Dosed up on anti-histamine atm.
Am just about off out. Have a good evening/wkend.

Reporting from a very sunny Lille in Northern France. I am still fucking knackered, 9 hours sleep over 2 night will do that to you.

Teenagers are the most surprising individuals sometimes and it is a privilege to work with them (as long as you don't have to sleep on the same bus as them). Having a lovely time although possibly a little grumpy due to lack of sleep.

Happy Easter everyone!

Hi all [busmile]. Just popping in. Dad coming tomorrow (til Tues - gulp) so lots of tidying to do.

Glad its going well ellie.

Oh good grief, I am in clothes storage hell. I have 3 boys from 9 to 0 and am trying to devise a system for storing the inbetween clothes. Of course there are roadblocks everywhere because I have to clear each closet before I am able to restore the sorted clothes.

So now every room in our overstuffed 3 br apt is chaos and my DH comes back from cOnference tonight! I don't want him to see things this way because he always tells me I bite off more than I can chew!

Sorry, no time to catch up but if anyone has any advice or even just a 'you can do it' cheer please help!

I get that roadblock thing quite often Jnice. I tend to use my bed for all clothes sorting activities. Also, if all else fails, I have two very large Ikea blue bags (don't know if you have anything similar), I sometimes fill them up with stuff and just move them out of the way so I can get started somewhere. Could you use underbed storage for the in between stuff? I have been given masses of hand me downs for DD over the years, under my bed is where it's all been kept until she's big enough to wear things.

Jnice - Have you got any of those vacuum storage bags? They are my life-saver here. They squidge it down to a fraction of the size and makes it all so much easier.

Evening ladies,

Very unproductive day, but a very good one! Lovely day here, so DS and I made the most of the sunshine.

good luck Jnice, you can do it! Sorry for lack of anymore personals, have yet to read the last 4 pages of messages, its on my to do list! Will carve out some time this weekend and enjoy catching up hopefully. Wanted to dump and run, to say still on board, house still in ok order but have failed on missions this week. Managed exercise 4 times which isnt bad. Feels like I'm constantly on the go, am seriously struggling finding any other time for myself at moment, have magazines unread, taped programs not watched and now weather perking up, a whole load of gardening guilt and haven't even started back at work yet. Am definitely having a drink tonight whilst ironing, at least its something. Have a good weekend all

Thanks for the cheers and advice!

whoknows I don't have a lot of underbed storage because we have drawers with sheets etc. I do have the big blue ikea bags though - very useful!

positive I just ordered some vacuum space saver bags - great idea! I had just been using some big zip up bags also from ikea.

Hope I got names right! Am in iPhone taking a break with ds3

Evening all

Toffee - thank you for the Easter Bunnies

MadameM - hope you managed to get xome of your nesbits done

Bitchy - if I didn?t know better I would think you were living in a far flung time zone

PA - glad you got things straightened out with DD4

Carpe - how is DS today? On the mend by the sounds of things, hope so

Honu - well done on the shed. I?m thinking about replacing our little playhouse with a much bigger sunhouse as the children are too big for it now so I can have somewhere else to store all our junk

Juggling - hello, yes, we start with shining our sink, do stick around, this thread can be very motivating

SC - hoorah for a few days away at last!

NickNacks - 4 out of 6 ain?t bad!

Ellie - well done on your worthwhile endeavours with the teenagers

Scatty - enjoy your Dad?s visit.

Jnice - how are you getting on with the clothes?

TheWaffler - I find I can either do regular housework or keep on top of the house but not generally both in the same week

A nice quiet day here, lazed around in PJs all morning, then a walk into town for errands and to go to the park. The afternoon was spent baking and gardening, my first ever batch of hot cross buns and some Easter egg fairy cakes. The DCs both got stuck into the gardening - we are digging out some of our border to make way for a trampoline, which was delivered this morning and will hopefully get put up tomorrow. I?m a bit nervous about it, visions of broken limbs and cracked heads but I have given the DCs a talking to about the rules and hopefully it will be OK.

No missions at weekends, the Babystep is Put out your clothes the night before. One of my favourite babysteps, takes a lot of stress out of weekday mornings if everyone's clothes are all laid out the night before.

Daily focus for Saturday is Family Fun Day - interpret it how you like but make sure it is fun!

Whoknows.

This isn't going to help made case either. Just got in. Fabulous evening. But about to crawl into bed. Not setting an alarm tomo. Another timezone sounds like it could be fun.

Just getting YDS to sleep, then the older 2 to tackle (literally!).

I got to a good point with the clothes. They are bagged up in 'years' but they don't really fit anywhere so I am waiting for the vacuum storage bags - once in those they will probably fit in our closet but only if I go to the next step and declutter and purge that. Next step!

Family day sounds great, I will see if I can get the boys to come and help dig over our allotment.

I agree about laying out clothes, I don't usually manage for myself because YDS sleeps in our room. But for the older boys it makes all the difference.

Well done Jnice

Sorry Bitchy! I do think having a fun night out takes precedence over this go to bed at 10.30 nonsense! Flylady isn't designed for night owls.

Have spent two hours listening to DS2 chatter away whilst I tried to doze, then gave in and draw a picture for him as requested. I now know the entire history of the Moshi Monsters. Have done breakfast for both DS and sleepover friend (DS1).

To do:

Load d/w
Finish putting away last night's Ocado order
Wash DS2's sheets
Make bed up for mum
Tidy DS2's bedroom (which is where mum sleeps)
Quick tidy up downstairs
Swish and swipe in bathroom
Errands in town (looking forward to some time on my own too )
PM - mum here

Bitchy - glad you had a good night. Hope you can sleep it off today (presuming DS not with you).

Jnice - were you really getting your DC to sleep at 3am or are you in a different time zone? Clothes are a nightmare, I find. I have a six-year gap between my boys, so by the time DS2 is ready for the next stage of clothing, I have usually lost them somewhere in the loft .

WhoKnows - that sounded like a lovely day you had yesterday [busmile].

Anyway, must go and make myself look respectable.

So I'm up and dressed (as is DH )

Breakfast has been eaten, DH has had lunch (I'm not overly hungry) and I've done my WAH job (not usually at work on a Saturday, but t'is the end on financial year so things are manic).

No clue what we're doing this afternoon once DS wakes from his nap. I'm hoping that I've dropped enough hints for DH to take him out and let me crack on with cleaning and tidying ready for the onslaught of parents next week (PIL first Tue-Thu, then my lot Fri to... whenever!). However, I expect these will have fallen on deaf ears

Then tonight, the sleep training begins. I'm hoping that a few nights will get DS sorted. I hate how colds/viruses (virii?!) seem to reset all the goo work. But with visitors all next week, I could really do with him sleeping properly. On the other hand, if he doesn't, I have a escape route... "oh, that's DS - back in a bit..."

Got in the fridge to keep me going.

Goo work?! Good work obviously. Sheesh!

Ds is not with me he is away for half term. I have a long long list of stuff I want to get do, and stuff i need to get done before he get home next weekend.
Unfortunately the want is more prevelent in my mind then the need so I am goig to have to tackle a planning day today before I go out.

What i do know is that as of monday I am going milk free and low carb. And trying to get my bedtime in control. And then as of the next week I will be going caffine free having spent this week cutting it back. Hopefully it will help my sleep routine, ability to function and my plan to shift the weight I am under strict instructions from the doc to shift so the plan is a blow out pizza for tea tonight. Homemade and yummy.

To do:
get up
planning
pizza for tea
check kit
off out
finish spring cleaning ds' room!

Hope you are all enjoying your family fun days!

Have had family fun at the Natural History Museum today. Boys a little bit manic now though... Waves to all. Hot cross bun anyone?

hello, just marking my place. Not done anything housey but will pick up again after easter.

Ta da
get up
planning
Homemade pizza for tea
check kit
Water plants.
Sort out contents of 2 storage boxes and reduce so only one is needed
Finish spring cleaning ds' room 15mins done
30mins crocheting

Off out shortly and then tomo - tomo the people go and it shall be peaceful

Happy Easter

I'm so sorry I was AWOL for almost all of march. We are finally home after a month at the inlaws whilst our bathroom was done.

It is now gorgeous and I want to sit in there forever

I'm hoping to catch up properly from Monday as desperately need routines back.

Hope you are all ok.

Off to bgt and read up on your activities.

Nettie a month at the inlaws - I hope you have a good relationship with them, a couple of days at mine is enough.

Bitchy homemade pizza sounds yummy - I miss Pizza.

Blue natural history museum sounds nice.

Well We have gone away for the weekend, spent the day walking around a Lincolnshire seaside town today. I'm only on here because DH found a sign today that said 'a clean house is a sign of a broken computer' and said I needed to log on and tell my flylady friends (he thinks its funny that I discuss cleaning but don't do any according to him so this tickled him)

Right I only pinched the PC to post that and to look up anywhere nearby thats doing any childrens activities for Easter so I better get on with that. Am back Tuesday so will be back to chatting and not cleaning on Tuesday night/Wednesday Morning

I need a list:
Up and functioning
Drink coffee x2
fold washing
ironing
laundry
Move computer onto table
set computer up
try to boot up and see what happens
Aside...
If computer fails to boot up strip of components and load into car for top run
If computer boots up see whether it will be usable
If computer is unusable see if computer fails to boot
If computer boots and is usable panic and try to figure out what to do with it
... end aside.
Tidy up kitchen
Load DW
bleach sink
Finish spring cleaning ds' room
15mins decluttering in my room
1hr walk
Declutter in lounge
30mins core strength type exercises hahahaha 15mins most more realistic
Put bedding away
Put towels away
Put ds' clothes away
finish strip wardrobe of contents for the great clothes sort out
start on the great sort out
clean wardrobe
Sort out the landing.
pot up plug plants for growing on?
plant out the broad bean plants?
and the enevitable getting lost weeding garden?
Set alarm
Early night.

And I am soo going to need a strong coffee when I look at that list tomo later

Morning all and a Happy Easter [busmile]

DS and I have just enjoyed our first slices of toast for 6 weeks, yum!

Today's babystep is Think about your morning and evening routines. these are a cornerstone of Flying, even if you are an experienced Flyer it might be worth thinking them through to see if any changes are needed.

Happy Easter everyone!

Thanks for the round up and links Whoknows and to everyone else.

We are having lovely family days this weekend. Yesterday was mil's and today is my parents so will be back in the flying seat tomorrow! :)