June's Fledgling Flyers:"two flyers are "blooming marvellously" : here come the rest doing their flaming best"

[elliepac]

Welcome to the June edition of the Fledgling Flyers where we are going to attempt to restore order in our houses, chatting 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 June 1st.

making friday the new saturday and on strike will mke sunday the new monday in order to compensate.

OM I get very every time someone mentions Tesco ? or any British supermarket, in fact ? although there is a Tesco in Bratislava apparently, which I must check out on our next trip to M&S.

SC Nice to see you! (And can I ask a very nosey question, as it has been intriguing me for a while ? what are you still counting?)

MiniM I think that snoozing should def. be at the top of your list; you'll be able to fly far more efficiently after a power nap.

swan Hope you got on better with the bedrooms than I did; DD1 got fed up halfway through the 27 fling boogie, although I was amazed that she agreed to get rid of anything at all (the DC seem to have inherited DH's hoarding habits).

ellie Have a lovely weekend; sunshine and wine are always good! (Endless rain here, and no wine as I've been working this evening.)

Chairmum Great birth story and one that Anya will enjoy hearing in years to come, I'm sure! Hope you're getting some rest and at least some sleep.

Toffee I must admit that even shining my sink falls by the wayside when I'm snowed under with work. However, some baby steps (making beds, laying out clothes for next day) are gradually becoming ingrained so I haven't given up hope that I'll get there eventually! And hopefully it won't be too long before you have a quieter period work-wise (what I'm waiting for too so that I can finally make a start on the decluttering, which I think is what makes all the difference).

DEM Sounds like a good idea ? I always feel much lazier on Fridays than I do on Sundays!

Off to bed now - DH and DDs still watching football... (Luckily no conflicting loyalties with Austria not playing!) Will be back in the morning with the baby step.

Have just woken up after falling asleep with DS2 in his cotbed. Managed two Flylady things tonight: first, whilst the bath was running, I took a binbag into DS2's bedroom and threw out loads of clutter; secondly, whilst DS2 was in the bath, I washed the bathroom floor.

Came down to an small mountain of dirty dishes, toast crusts and empty packets in the kitchen, but never mind - at least my bathroom looks better now.

Linzer - yes, it is impossible to keep up with the good housekeeping when there are so many demands on time, but I'm glad to hear some baby steps can become ingrained after a while. I must say, laying out the clothes the night before is one that I'm sticking to, as it helps so much the following day. I would shine my sink tonight too if I could find it under the dirty plates!

Interested to hear that you are in Bratislava, btw.

Right, enough gassing - back to work!

Morning everyone,

Today's babystep is to read FlyLady's testimonial. Now personally, I'm not sure that the kind of private B&B mentioned will ever be possible chez Linzer until the DC have left home (and even then, I'm not sure that I'll ever manage homemade waffles with blueberries for breakfast or a library stocked with yoga videos and the like), but I think the message is that we can have the kind of home we want if we keep working at the baby steps ? and also that it's important to take a break every now and again to look at what we've achieved and refocus on our goals.

Happy flying!

Forgot to say that there's no mission today as it's the weekend.

Woken up by DS announcing he felt sick, so obviously he hasn't recovered quite as quickly as I thought - he's gone back to bed, but I'm not quite sure how much our plans for the day will be affected. Which were:

Hairdresser's
Look for new car
Barbecue with friends - cancelled yesterday as we didn't want to risk DS passing anything on, even though he seemed fine

I also need to fit in some work at some point and would also like to get a modicum of flying done.

Toffee We're actually near to Vienna, but go shopping in Bratislava occasionally (just over an hour away) as a) shops are open on a Sunday in Slovakia (good on rainy days) and, most importantly, b) there's a big new M&S there (not to mention a Debenhams, ELC, Mothercare and Next - all in the same shopping centre). Goodness knows what they're all doing in Bratislava, but we're not complaining.

Unfortunately it is a grumpy morning here.
Started with screechy son, now moved onto ranting husband. PFootballTristesse?

The table is laid with starched white tablecloth though, and sink seems shinyish.
Window box is looking good, lawn seems muchimproved by "conditioner". Forced ds2 into garden before he was allwed to switch on telly this morning. He then tried to put up a tent, so I hurried him back in front of a screen before he make any more mess.

Toffee I am always falling asleep in mykids' beds. And they in ours

Hello all!

Afraid RL has completely got in the way this week and DH has dropped a bombshell that has enormous implications and I'm still in shock

But wanted to say CONGRATULATIONS to chairmum and hope all going well.

Someone asked about ice cream?? Was easy and lush.......

Take one 500ml carton of low fat custard and mix with 2 tablespoons of honey and 150g (ish) of crushed amaretti biscuits. Freeze. Voila! You're supposed to stir every hour or so and it took about 4 -5 hours to be ready. I served with more amaretti biscuits and peaches but 'twas guilding the lily as ice cream so nice anyway!!!

Right, will try and be morem organised this week - off to fat club in a mo and will try and come back later......

Have a lovely day everyone

Linzer - stayed in Vienna many years ago, BC. Loved all the late-night cafes (don't suppose you get to visit many of those!)

Read the testimonial - I would be shut down if I were a b&b!

Still working. DH is going out at 11.30, so has been looking after the DC and cleaning up. Now calling himself 'Flyboy' (has done a pretty good job on the kitchen, I must say).

Am wondering how much work I can get done once I am alone with the DC...

TOFif it was my dc it would be NIL work. But you may be craftier.

missb oh dearhope it was a exciting bombshell not a destructive one, best wishes. Sometimes I wish my dh ws capable of bombshells, usually its just gloom and doom.

anyway have made lunch, tidied kit done
printed something with ds2 about rivers
made a reward chart with ds2, and gave him stickers (yes I know he's eight but anything to get them to help and brush their teeth)

off to rest of music now to meet others, need to get dressed

missb - hope you are ok.

right today's list

laundry 2 loads done never ending here!
folding
ironing
put clothes away
pot up jam
tidy lounge inprogress
saw backs off little child chairs to make stools. done
glue legs more securely onto stools doing
file and sand stools
prime stools
wash down climbing frame ds is helping
water up plants
wash up garden toys in bath to soak

Hope you are all enjoying your weekends.

Just finished work! Only one more batch to go, but that's enough for today. DC have been wonderful, although they have had rather too much telly/computer time. They have also been helping themselves to snacks whilst I work, as I think they realised they had to look after themselves this morning. DS2 built himself a rocket in the front room and dressed up as an astronaut (seemed to involve wearing lots of hats and scarves). Oh, the mess...!

Swan - usually I can't get anything done with DS2 - who's only 4 - but I think he picked up on my panic about getting work done this morning, as he has been marvellous.

Off to the hairdressers in an hour. Dear friend is coming to look after the boys and stay the night. Wine and chat tonight! DC are being remarkably tolerant of my mental/physical absence, which they are not used to.

Am not even dressed yet!

Apart from a total lack of flying, have had quite a productive day. DC and I went to the hairdresser's this morning (quite glad to get that out of the way as I can't do "hairdresser talk" in German, but we do all look a lot better for it) and I've just plucked up the courage to try my not-so-new straighteners for the first time (def. less frizz now).

We've also managed - I think - to find a new (second-hand) car, which DH will be taking for a test drive on Monday. I think he's rather worried about what kind of state it will end up in once I start driving it; he recently referrd to my car as a "mobile dustbin" and I have to admit he does have a point.

Toffee Sadly my days of lingering in Viennese coffee houses are long gone - at least for the time being. I don't think I've ever been to one at night, although I do remember going from one to the next (and then on the next...) one particularly rainy day (a while before DC, needless to say).

Back later for the round-up!

How can 2 days seem like it is going to last for forever? 5yo for free needs lots of information shoved into brain to prevent damage to man, beast or building.

linzer - glad you had productive day even if not truely flying.

toffee - DC can be fab sometimes and occupy themselves beautifully. glad it has happened when you need it.

Hope the rest of you are enjoying yourselfs!

right update time:

laundry 5 loads done never ending here!
folding 2 loads *dones
ironing
put clothes away
pot up jam burnt jam so it needs to be thrown out rather then potted up
tidy lounge inprogress
saw backs off little child chairs to make stools. done
glue legs more securely onto stools done
file and sand stools 1of2 done
prime stools 1of2 done
wash down climbing frame mostly done
water up plants done
wash up garden toys in bath to soak

not kill ds - it's very tempting right now anyone want to borrow a 5yo science genius that needs HE on top of school?

Will probably be back after bedtime - whenever that may be.

Evening All

MissB really hope you are ok x

Chairmum loved the birth story, gosh!

just passing through on may way to get house ready for visitors tomorrow. Shouldn't take too long as I've managed to keep up babysteps this week (but nothing extra done).

I made turkish delight today. V excited as I have been craving it for weeks...really hope it meets expectation or DH will be asked to go on an emergency rations run (not tthat I am meant to be eating it this evening)!

A bit of a cold day here.

Have a good evening All x

Good evening,

Wine time here. I looked at the sink and am to admit I just couldn't be bothered (that's what wine does to me). I made a half-hearted attempt at folding up and putting away the washing - actually, make that quarter-hearted... But tomorrow is another day and all that.

MiniM I love Turkish delight but wouldn't have a clue how to make it. Hope you have a lovely time with your visitors.

DEM I will swap you for a 3 year old with the innate ability to destroy (or if not, at least scribble on) everything in sight.

Toffee It's great that you can work with your DC around. My DS is almost 4 and there's no way he'd "allow" me to get on with anything for more than about 20 minutes. Hope you're having a glass or two of wine now - you certainly deserve it after all your hard work!

swan I've just introduced reward charts for the DDs - it's really encouraging them to get themselves dressed in the morning. On the other hand, neither of them have yet had a star for being nice to their brother and sister - if only I could work out a way to stop the constant quarrelling...

MissB Hope you're OK and that it's not too devastating a bombshell.

Hope everyone's having a good evening - I'm going to try and have another early night, so apologies if I miss anyone out of the round up. I'll be back bright and early (I hope!) to post tomorrow's baby step.

hello! apols for disappearing - two evening's running i typed a huuuuuuuge post, only to find that the mn server had been shut down for maintenance (apparently you lot were all asleep, so they do it in the quiet hours...) so now i've learned not to mn once the kids are in bed - as 3am is obviously peak maintenance time at mntowers

anyway, i really can't bring myself to type it all out again - suffice to say 'two o clock and all's well' and i'm reclaiming the spare room back from oblivion for mil. nuff said.

we are in the 'almost the last week of term' panic, and the whole world is having 'last' parties and get-togethers. it's truly manic, and i'm trying to remember what i've promised for each occasion .

have a great weekend everyone! i'm stuck on the first 6 babysteps - (noted the commandments - am ignoring the 'one thing at a time' rule. as if.)

Good to see you back Nick! You're doing better than me on the babysteps - I'm not sure I've progressed much beyond shining my sink, though I keep meaning to find out what the next one is after lace-up shoes. Right, I really am off to bed now - night all!

linzer if your 3yo sleeps yes please. ds is still going strong. my brain is fried and i still have a mountain of stuff to do tonight. And this is despite him having had sleep meds

Is it MY bedtime yet?

Just to prove to myself that despite ds' input requirement I have actually achieved something final done list reads this:

laundry 5 loads done never ending here!
folding 3 loads done
ironing
put clothes away ds' done about to go do mine so i have a bed to sleep in
pot up jammallow burnt jam to cool so it can be dispatched done
tidy lounge improved
saw backs off little child chairs to make stools. *done(
glue legs more securely onto stools done
file and sand stools done
prime stools done
wash down climbing frame done
water up plants done
wash up garden toys done
find some resources for sorting ds' latest input need done
Subscription and printing resources

Fly lady bedtime babystep. About to do makes a change for this night owl
night all!

Morning all,

Today's babystep is to include laundry in our morning and evening routines. I find that adding it to my evening routine (and once we've added an afternoon routine, in the afternoon routine too) makes a big difference as otherwise I tend to put the washing in the machine in the morning and then forget all about it...

No mission again today. Have a good day everyone!

After yesterday's distinct lack of flying, I need to get organised. List:

Routines
Washing
Work
Update calendar
Decide what to do about Playmobil (DDs bought yet another box yesterday with their pocket money)

DEM DS does sleep but hasn't quite grasped the concept of a lie-in yet (he's up now and I'm trying to persuade him not to "play" the piano so as not to wake everyone else, including our neighbours). V. impressed with your list yesterday btw - hope you managed to get an early night too!

Ds got up before i got to bed. i didnt manage to get all of my clothes away - just too tired. Not as early as had hoped but pre midnight so that is better then in the past.

Ouch. Thankfully ds in now 5 1/2 yo and has learnt that mummy is very grumpy in the morning and when she saids get dressed, turn tv on and go eat breakfast it is best to leave her alone a bit longer. Although he did tell me i was being lazy this morning

Right so today's list:

Top coat stools
washing (yes yet more washing)
folding
ironing
put clothes away
buy bolts for climbing frame
sand climbing frame
paint climbing frame
IKEA for P&Q and some storage boxes.

As it is now 10:30am we can head off and do the gone out bits to return to chaos and ferral ds later.

Hi, all. The sun is shining and hopefully it will warm up a bit!
Done my routiness this morning. And a bit of shopping.
LAst night went to Guide centenary event and DD1 had a solo - 'twas beautiful and I felt very proud. Apparently the old ladies in the front row were crying!
DD2 very pleased as she won a bracelet in a raffle - but now seems to have pulled her tummy muscles and is lying on the settee claiming she can't possibly move
Washing being moved round and house tidy-ish. Am having quiet day today as we're ALL tired.
Hope all well with you lovely flying ladies.....

One tired ds = little flying or anything getting done.

Top coat stools done but needs redoing
washing (yes yet more washing) 1 load done
folding *
ironing
put clothes away
buy bolts for climbing frame done
sand climbing frame
paint climbing frame
IKEA for P&Q and some storage boxes. done

But whilst I haven't been able to get outside to deal with the climbing frame I have managed to declutter a box of stuff that has been sitting in the lounge since christmas. SO that is quite a nice feeling. Especially as the pile to find a home for consists of a small countable number of items and most of it has gone out

Hiya everyone. Ooo it's good to be home! I dud major holiday cottage house rescue prior to leaving this morning. It was a lovely holiday but it's always nice to come home and after just over 3 months of flying, my little house was gorgeous to return to!

So this evening I have

cleaned fridge
dh emptied car
started laundry one humungous case full and dh prior to holiday pile!!
Unpacked cases apart from toy ones
visited dil, texted my deardad
bathed dc
watched dr who.

Off to bed after bb and going to be raring to go tomorrow it's my post holiday resolution to do 15 m a time. (after yucky dentist appointment when I turn into mrssweatalot in dr chair)

Hope you all have good night! Xx