May's Fledgling Flyers: shed that clout May Flyers are out

[elliepac]

Welcome to the May edition of the fledgling flyers where we are going to merrily fly around the maypole, dusting as we go.

Here you can do any of the following:

• repeat or start baby steps (again!)

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

or

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

For those who are curious, these are the Babysteps, which we all hope will restore order in our homes and make our lives a little bit easier with lots of support (and chat, and wine, and a little more chat )

So please come and join us, old and new, from May 1st.

Just dropping in to say I'm off for the weekend. Have a good weekend ladies x

not much to report

teeth
dd made icecream and fried potatoes for supper
large vat of minestrone
party elsewhere
washed uniform, hung out
stirred icecream
swept floor
[clutches at straws] put out milkbottles

see you all tomorrow, it is my tidy up the house day

meal planning? meal planning?
mm, ok. will give it some thought. i've planned tonight's meal but tomorrow? i've planned for dd1 to get mcd's on the way to guide camp... does that count? (no idea what the rest of us are having...)

thanks for all good wishes re dd1. we're back and fixed. she bawled for an hour in the car on the way home because she was in pain, but cried herself to sleep . having dosed her up with ibuprofen when we got back, she's been right as rain since am about to give her a medised chaser before bed!

linzer - we'd be happy to oblige on the postcard front - have ds (8) and dd2 (6) of similar ages, though if you want something sensible then dd1 (10) is your girl... let me know

didn't get back until early evening, so maintenance stuff only today so far, this evening entails:

packing for guide camp (x 2)

and that's about it.

dh got back ok tonight but is jetlagged and complained about the living room (not to me really, just whinged at the dcs about (boxed) toys and stuff being everywhere. bit harsh given that they had all just got back from far flung corners of the village with all their o'night stuff and bedding in tow. and he didn't comment on the kitchen but i suspect he will later .

still, never mind, i'm happy about it!

you all sound like you manage to cram so much in! have you got a magic time-extender gadget hidden somewhere?

still trying to work out who's doing what - but i'll get there... are there only 2 pg, or have i missed someone?

Morning all,

Lovely and sunny here today with hardly a cloud in the sky, which makes up for yesterday's constant downpour.

I feel inspired to do some decluttering today, but need to get work out of the way first. Must make a determined effort not to get sidetracked so that I have time to spare before DD1 gets home.

DD2 and DS are going to a friend's house this afternoon and then staying overnight, so I have a nice quiet afternoon with DD1 to look forward to. It will be DS's first night away from us and he's very excited about it!

ellie Well done to DD! We're working on getting rid of the night time nappies at the moment; I can't wait till we no longer need to have any nappies in the house!

MiniM Have a lovely weekend away!

Nick Glad to hear you got back OK; hope DD1 is OK his morning.
A postcard from Canada would be very exciting! If you e-mail me at traungold @ hotmail . com we can sort out who sends to whom

Waves to everyone else, hope you all have a good day!

Morning everyone

I did go to the gym last night [don't think my thighs are going to work today]
I also decluttered my night stand! (does it count if you shoved some stuff innthe drawer outta sight) and coffee table - ridiculous amount of brochures magazines all out for recycling

today's list

get up
morning routine
pack bag (yes failed evening routine again)
sort out sandwiches for zoo this afternoon
work this morning
dc nurserified
dw
wm
s/s
this evening is set back up the wii fit and put in control journal (must start one)

linzer that would be lovely I reckon DS would love recieving a postcard from Austria. I'll pick up some postcards and email you. Afraid I live in flatest place in England (Essex) so don't expect picturesque ones
ellie woo hoo pooh pooh on the potty (did you fo the potty dance?)
nick glad dd was ok medised rules!!

swan putting out milkbottles is very imp task otherwise you end up with 12 sitting by ur sink very unflyladylike
mm have lovely weekend
mrsd glad ur dh went out to discuss such things. And glad your fella seems to have moved on
sc wow! queen if decluttering

well I better trying and get out of bed and start my day

Tidy Up Day Here. Tis 9.30 now and I have until 3 to do nothing But Tidy, no music, no dentist, no work, no appts, no relatives, no errands (well plenty but not going to get sidetracked). Party on 6th so really need to try and make things more streamlined.

See you in 2 hours, think I will start at top and work down, thus avoiding computer

Good morning to all you lovely ladies

I am living in a keg pot today!! Will come back and enlighten you later, but feel if I type it out now it will be jinxing everything!!

Just 10 minute break at work, so quick catch up.

nick - Love your meal planning!! I have been known to go to the supermarket, spend a weeks budget and arrive home to find I have not actually got any proper meals for the week!

Swan - Very impressive list yesterday, must say! A girl after my own heart!!!

MrsD - Hope DH enjoyed his evening meeting! I am sure you had the better evening.

Nettie - Of course "outta sight" counts!! What other sort is there????

Busiest tea break ever. I've had 4 people in my office wanting me!! GO AWAY!!!

Will return to let you know how things are progressing here later, go to get back to work now.

Waves to Everyone else!!

my meal planning has reached new lows of
there is rice, there is pasta, there is potatoes, there is veg

and then I ask - what protein can I find to go with it today?
rummages for fish fingers
anyway there is some leftover steak today which dh bought on Wed

Tidyupdate
have thoroughly tidied masterbedroom and bathroom
now moving onto dcs bedrooms, changing sheets etc, hoovering

PA keg as in powder? Or as in creative activity exciting development? Keep your powder dry as Cromwell said.

see you all at 2pm

DD2 and DS now dropped off at friend's house; DD1 playing with neighbours' DD and about to go out for ice cream with them. I need a plan. Which is as follows: spend 15 minutes in each room - tidying up, decluttering, etc. Especially decluttering.

nettie You can message me on FB if you like. Don't worry about lack of picturesqueness; any postcard would be exciting for the DC! And we're in quite a flat area here too (flat for Austria anyway).

PA Am intrigued. Please come back and update asap!

swan My meal planning consists of rummaging around in the freezer to see what's edible. This is definitely an area I need to work on.

Back later with a progress report (so I really will have to go and do something now).

Right. I am into final furlong.
25 mins to go before pickup.

Todo
hall rescue
kitchen rescue
address birthday card for nephew
hoover decluttered ds1 bedroom hoover landing hoover stairs

done
hall rescue
birthday card
hoovered bedroom and landing
snacks for pickup
todo
stairs
kitchen rescue
dd singng lesson etc etc etc

Back to enlighten you all with the day from hell.

DH had a job interview on Wednesday and was finding out today whether he got the job, or not. Well, it was a NO. But we are not upset, something better will turn up and that one was just not meant to be.
He also had a telephone interview for another job this morning, which went drastically wrong when he was cut off twice due to bad reception and never finished the conversation! Another no coming from that one, I'm sure.

DD1 had her second driving test. FAILED again. This time she knew she had failed when she had to avoid a crash with a car and ended grounded on a roundabout and the examiner had to get the car pushed off!!! She is already laughing about it, so she's ok!!

DD2 had her AS level PE Coaching exam. Went well.

DD3 got the results of a lower level maths test and took her english test. Passed both, which means she will not be a 16 year old with no qualifications, even though she ahs not been at school for 2 years, so very smiley face from her

DS - Just in a foul mood!

DD4 - results from DRs not particularly good today, more problems with her kidneys, so not very happy.

ME- well, I have found it hard to console one of the family one minute, then jump with joy with another the next. A sense of humour has been essential, but now I desperately need a bottle of something!!

Lovely weekend planned. I am shopping on the mainland with DD3 and DD4, while DH takes DD2 & DS to Twickenham for the Rugby final. DD3 will struggle with the shopping, but we will do it with lots of coffee stops and sitting down between shops. We all need to get outfits for a wedding we are going to in Greece in June.

Must dash to mop up more tears and soothe furrowed brows and pat DD2 &DD3 on the back again, then meeting, then fill in another job application with DH before opening the wine. (Must remeber to fill in the form first, or the wine may talk and he definitely wont get the job!!)

HAve a good weekend everyone.

pa omg you are amazing well done honey! What a day!! You deserve a medal and a jolly good drink!!! Im am in awe!
linzer bought ds a postcard at zoo all ready I'll facebook you later! Think DS 3.9 will love it!
swan omg girl stop you are doing brill putting me to shame (sitting on my franny again)

today's list

get up -done
morning routine-done
pack bag (yes failed evening routine again)-done
sort out sandwiches for zoo this afternoon-nope
work this morning-done
dc nurserified-done
dw-done x2
wm-done x2
s/s-done
this evening is set back up the wii fit and put in control journal (must start one)-nope after traipsing round the zoo my legs are absolutely done in.

So chill out time!! Enjoy xxx

Evening all,

Half term . Am actually venturing out of the house in a minute for an impromptu drink with friend who has just rung so please forgive me when I do the round-up and step posting in the morning!

Must however make a special mention for pa, what a day! I stand by my supermum/wife comment that I made yesterday . Shopping tomorrow sounds the perfect treat to soothe all those teenagers.

Zilch flying done here, again . However, I am a woman on a mission. Watch this space.

Better go and try and make myself look like it is not the end of a horrific half term, make-up is a wonderful thing .

See you in the morning!

PA - fingers crossed you don't get another one of those days for a while - but enjoy your weekend.

linzer - will e-mail over the weekend

the rest of you - aargh, you're too good at this!

tomorrow we have another 5 hour round trip to a different city, to check out some trikes for dd2 (then drop her at guide camp) - she's right as rain today.

other plans for the weekend: bathroom blitz so can start a maintenance/ swish and swipe type upkeep for there as well as the kitchen

i may also try and get to the bottom of the ironing... but it depends how brave i'm feeling.

dh is being very well-behaved, and putting his stuff in the dw when he's finished

probably won't be on much over the weekend, but will see you ladies on monday - have a fab weekend, all!

Morning everyone,

Saturday is my day for really struggling with flying, patience and general get up and go! So to this end I am going to post my list!

All breakfast-done
get dc and me dressed
get dh out of bed and pack him off to work
dw
shine shine
wm
dc room rescue
living room room rescue
go to town this morning with dc
go to village spring fair this afternoon with dc
dinner is meatballs and spaghetti
set up wii fit
repot sunflowers

have lovely day x

Morning everyone,

Today's babystep is one i think everybody should do, always!
yet one I think we probably struggle to find time to do. Looking after yourself is important, if you haven't the time to pamper at least promise you will find half an hour in the day when you do something you want to do...me time. And that's an order .

No missions today as it is the weekend so enjoy some family fly time!

On a personal note, I had a lovely time last night even if I do have a slight headache this morning .

Busy day today. DH is taking DS to the cinema while I negotiate Tesco and then onto my mission.

Bakc later

Morning all,

PA - the joys of being a mummy - you have to be all things to all people - at once!

I've gone down with a nasty cough so was doing nothing the last few days, then this morning I've woken up knackered but feeling a bit nuts again on the nesting front.

I'm going to make the most of it but take it easy at the same time, so I shall do something relaxing between each cleaning spree!

Done:

• clean kitchen (it was a tip!)

ToDo

• put clean washing away
• mop kitchen floor
• clean bathroom
• make cheesecake for niece's birthday party.
• Clear dining table hotspot
• 15 minutes cleanup in spare room (for potential babysitters to sleep in!)

I have all day to get it done so will take it nice and slowly!

To keep me motivated!

Done:

• clean kitchen (it was a tip!)
• put clean washing away
• mop kitchen floor
• clean bathroom

ToDo

• make cheesecake for niece's birthday party. (done base)
• Clear dining table hotspot
• 15 minutes cleanup in spare room (for potential babysitters to sleep in!)

Afternoon all,

Distinct lack of flying so far today, but I should really make the most of the fact that I have some time to myself and do some decluttering in the office/spare room (wrong zone, I know...). DH has taken the DDs to the local outdoor pool - it's not really warm enough to go swimming, but DD1 has just bought armbands and a swim ring for her doll and was desperate to try them out! DD2's and DS's sleepover went well but I don't think either of them got much sleep; they've both been very grumpy this morning and DS has now been asleep for about three hours!

PA Sounds like you had quite a day yesterday - but you always seem to cope so well with whatever life throws at you; I am full of admiration!

nettie Postcard will be on its way soon.

ellie Good luck with your mission!

Chairmum Glad to hear you're taking it easy - although you still seem to have got far more done today than I have (that's not saying much, admittedly).

Hope everyone's having a lovely weekend!

Evening everyone

how did I do I ask myself ?

All breakfast-done
get dc and me dressed-done
get dh out of bed and pack him off to work-done
dw-done
shine shine- done
wm-done ish
dc room rescue- partly
living room room rescue- no
go to town this morning with dc-done all chores accomplished very pleased
go to village spring fair this afternoon with dc- no wet and dd slept through all the fair (mummy slept some of it too whilst DS watched tiny pop
dinner is meatballs and spaghetti- done
set up wii fit-nope but still time if I could only bend down, thighs not recovered from squats
at gym
repot sunflowers-nope been pouring

aw well tomorrows another day- just waiting on ocado delivery!!

Then dr who and salad for dinner.
Gotta go dcvin their Maasd mad half hour and can't type with them jumping on me

bye

I am definitely not supermum Ellie and as for superwife!!! DH would laugh his head off if I told him you said that! and linzer thank you for your vote of confidence, it makes me smile . If you could only see the state of my chinese laundry home!
When DH asked me to marry him, 22 years ago his words were - "Will you marry me, have lots of babybells and never settle for a boring life?" Never regretted saying yes to the first one, babies were fine, teenagers more difficult, but often dreamt of having a boring life, just for a little while.

A good couple of hours of shopping, puncuated with coffee and lunch. Lots and lots of money spent. Everyone else now kitted out for the wedding - apart from me. All that way, all that money spent, guess what I bought for myself? ....... a pair of £2 flip flops for the beach!!!! I sure know how to live the high life, dont I?

Cant even relax with a glass this evening as I am picking up DH, DD2 and DS from the boat at midnight.

Hope you are all having a good weekend.

Flying wise quite a good day in the end, although could hardly lift a finger at beginning - lazybones-itis

Dh put together a flatpack desk. That took all day and left him in a foul temper as it isn't quite right (although it looks good to me Dcs sort of helped..
we went out for kebab and chips in the middle, I love our rainy day dashes to the cafe!

Kept doing little bits of cleaning here and there, as reckoned anything better than nothng
hoovered hall, shook out kitchen mat, sink shinyish (nah a bit grimey] dw on
wm on, shopped, cooked, drifted...cats, etc etc.

just relieved no-one came round to interrupt domestic bliss of HALFTERM. Tomorrow I wll seek civilised company again

Morning all,

Posting from my sister's as me and DC's had an impromptu sleepover here last night so we watched eurovision avec vino [grin[ (it is half term after all!)

Today my mission to rescue my house over half term starts. DS is out all day at a Beaver fun day where he gets to meet Bear Grylles, he is super excited. So I have to drop him off at 10 and then the day is mine to clean. Not list posting so I don't disappoint myself but am hoping to get lots done! We shall see!

Back in a min with babystep.

Have a nice day everyone, at least it's not raining today