July's Fledgling Flyers : The dc's drive us round the bend, the school holidays descend, our sanity we will lend, and flying will be our friend

[elliepac]

Welcome to the July 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 July 1st.

Today's babystep is laundry. A super important one which if you don't do you end up with washing all over your house like I have currently .

The mission for today is here.

Morning - right having had a night of insomnia I have been very productive and done lots of little bits of projects.

Spoke to ds' teacher this morning and very impressed with what i had to hear. Actually looking forward to his report on friday. Plus got his school photo back and it is fab.

List:
Laundry
embroidery patches
finish discovering kitchen (one bench and sink to go)
unload dw
Move tv
fold laundry
finish curtains (set 1)
finish patchwork table cloth.

And if I get time or energy ironing.

Nick - you are always welcome to raid the wine and nibbles stash. just think there is nothing worse then warm cheese. How is dd? Has she recovered from her surgery? hopes it was nick's-- dd

Ellie - will see what i can do for tonight.

MrsD - how was the home visit? did you get some sleep in the end?

|Good morning everyone!!

Flying visit on here. I see I ma not the only one who seems tyo be too busy to post at the moment (let alone do any housework!!)

MrsD - Hope your teacher visit went well. Never did this when mine started school - I am very pleased about that!!!

MAK - School photos have a very good way of making all little darlings look angelic, dont they - I am not saying your DS isnt angelic, it is just a general observation!!!

Ellie only a couiple of days to go!! Hang in there, girl!!

Just doen job no 1 , off to job no 2 now.

DD3 was in the foulest of moods last evening, so hoping that she will be more livable with by the time I get home this afternoon!!

This morning I have done a quick S&S
Made beds
Done washing
Dw

Downstairs desperately needs a good hoover through, so hoping to have enough energy when I get home to do that today!
Want to bake a cake & waffles

Adding nothing else, or my chances of failure will go from 95% to 100% guaranteed!!!

Have a good day everyone and waves to anyone who, like me has been lurking, but not had time to post.

ANother quiet day here, I hope you aren't all abandoning me! Just nipping in as I have another works do tonight, thankfully not as posh or pricy as the other one but still I don't really want to go. Am absolutely shattered and just want to sleep!

Will be back later to post steps! Hope everyone is ok!

Wanders in to leave wine, cheese and biscuits. Will be back when ds is in bed. TV broke so only way to get peace and prevent destruction is bribery with lego website so not online properally til later.

Am not abandoning you, Ellie! And have every intention of doing my babysteps and missions throughout the summer holidays.

Have kept up my routines today, so the house isn't looking too bad.I am gradually getting through the backlog of washing, though that's going to take some time.

I am overwhelmed by the awfulness of our bedroom, so it's just aswell that this week's missions are in the 'master bedroom'. Started with a 10-minute tidy up this afternoon, in between children's demands. I have made a start, at least. I really want to get on with this and tidy the room up, but children keep wanting food and attention, so I have had to put it on hold for now.

Big drama from my very dramatic DS1 just now, with tears and shouting. He claimed I was being angry with him (I wasn't)and favouring DS2 (I don't think so), but after a lot of crying and me listening, he admitted that he was just fed up of being picked on in football at school. Then DS2 started copying him and wailing loudly. My response was to open a bottle of wine and put the bath on. Early bedtimes for both of them tonight, I think!

Back later to see if anyone else has dropped in. Leave the wine and cheese out for me.

Have had another go at our bedroom whilst DS2 was in the bath. Whilst he chattered away happily to himself I turned a blind eye to the boxes and clothes piled up at the end of the bed, cleared the floor of stuff nearest the door (yes, it was that bad), hoovered and then got down on my hands and knees and washed every inch of this bit of the floor. If you leave our bedroom door open now, it actually looks quite respectable. It's only if you peer round the door and see the rest of the room that you realise how awful it is.

Still, that is a start. Feel quite proud of myself. Will have another bash at it tomorrow. My aim is for us to have a tidy bedroom by the end of the week.

Well done Toffee, good start on the bedroom. My room is never tidy for long, there always seem to be outbreaks of clothes and books, also the ironing basket is in there. Tend to think Flylady is having a laugh when she says make it look like a hotel.

Ellie - I'm still here, trying to spend a bit less time on MN, that's all.

PA MAK - teacher visit was fine, was good as it made me actually get a few tidying jobs done earlier than I would normally have done in the 10 mins between getting back from school myself and them arriving (was teacher and TA). Didn't sleep too well, probably due to coffee I had at restaurant to make sure I didn't fall asleep on half an hour drive home cross country (I don't drink much coffee normally). Had a good night out with my former colleagues.

Not much else to report, have got a bit of a headache so probably an early night is needed.

Oh, nearly forgot, have filled my (small) car boot with stuff to take to the tip / charity shop tomorrow, plus masses of old magazines recycled in the war on clutter.

I've been lurking lots. Wondering how on earthto get back on track!!

Been feelin really rough so not accomplished much but maybe posting will make me feel better

up dc breakfasted and dressed
wm on
bed stripped and remade except master bed which is covered in clothes but is made underneath
swimming lessions with dc
errands including dry cleaning
lunch
more washing
tidied up ds room

I'm afraid I shall be ignoring the master bedroom as I have to empty the entire contents of my loft into it to enable out Walls to be taken down, floor relaid and wardrobe system put in. Work starts as soon as I've cleared the loft.
My timer is set, my dh is away for a few days so it is time to get ready for action.

wwwa can I have a link to your fab camping list, after just done my first camp in 5 years and my first ever with dc i need to get organised!

ellie I am so so sorry for not posting. I will do my lines. "I must post morning and evening and I must provide wine and snacks" I loved Toy Story but dd21m squiggled all the way through and Ds was screaming in horror at the scary monkey. Beware the monkey
waving to everyone i will try and get back on form. Glad you are all ok.

Phew...i'm not on my own . Joking aside I know we are all super busy at the moment so completely understandable that a virtual leaning thread does not come top of the list . Am not rounding-up tonight as am pooped. Have just walked in from leaving do so am going to post steps and hit the sack, although i will pinch some cheese and biscuits, thanks mak.

Tomorrow is DS's leaver's assembly (he is going up to junior school) so I shall probably be a bit sappy and emotional next time you see me!

The step for today is flylady website.

The mission for today is here.

Take Care!

Hello! Still here sort of ish!
Sounds like everyone is, like me, getting through the last few days of term and it's always hectic.

I am very pleased because DD2 had a fantastic progress report - lots of very goods and good and, FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, no warnings!!! It's only taken til year 9 And she managed D of E (was weepy and exhausted by the end but she did it )
So very positive for her.

DD1 also in good spirits though nasty infected toe has flared up again She has been to two open days and wants to go to Cardiff Music College. Plus it's near Gavin and Stacey land

The house however, is a tip! We are off to camp on Thursday, back on Monday then off on family holiday the next Wednesday. Help! 'tis non stop washing til then!!!And no chance to get the house straight. I will be back to flying after that - will SO need to

Feeling very pleased with myself as I managed to get the DC into bed early, then started my evening routine. I now have a very tidy kitchen with a shiny sink. I even washed the kitchen floor (hasn't been done for a while!).

And after all that, I actually put today's washing away (congratulations are in order here, I think).

Just looked at the Flylady website for today's babystep - that woman is obsessed with her lace-up shoes. What is it with lace-up shoes? I understand that she thinks shoes have a psychological impact, but why do they have to have laces? I'm sorry, but I am just not going to buy myself a pair of lace-up shoes to wear in the house.

Apart from that, I have to say that following the routines is working well. It's just a matter of having a bit of time to do them.

MissB - well done on DS2's report. And enjoy your holidays.

Ellie - As a teacher, do you have any advice on what I should give to two teachers (job sharing) who have been particularly wonderful to my DS1 this year, boosted his self esteem no end and given him the best report he's ever had? DS1 is good at computers and they have encouraged this, so we thought of setting up a website for him with his thank-you message, but it all became too complicated. I can see that we will end up simply giving them homemade cards again, with maybe the usual token present of chocolates/biscuits (I'm sure you teachers get fed up of those, though). As a teacher, what do you like to receive, or is a heartfelt thank you enough? (Can't afford wine anymore, btw - too many teachers and TAs to buy for now. Would have to buy a crate!)

Hello everyone,

We got back from holiday yesterday and now I need to get back on track! We had a wonderful time in Italy but it was lovely to come home too, although the cleaning and tidying elves sadly hadn't paid us a visit while we'd been away.

I'd been hoping to check up on you all while we were away, but decided I wasn't addicted enough to pay 14 euros for Internet access at the apartment where we were staying. We then spent three days in a hotel, which theoretically had wifi but in practice it wasn't working, so I was Internet-free for the entire holiday - probably not a bad thing in the end!

However, I've finally caught up on the thread now - if I started commenting on all your posts I'd be here for the rest of the day, but I have read them all.

I now have a week to get the house into some kind of order before we fly back to the UK next Tuesday, so that I don't return to this kind of chaos in August. DH is off for the rest of this week and DD2 and DS will be at kindergarten in the mornings so that should help - although we also have DS's birthday party on Saturday to prepare for (he has decided he wants a pirate cake, which DH has bravely said he will make).

Anyway, today's list (short, so realistic - I hope):

Unpack
Washing
Send birthday card
Shine sink
15 min decluttering

Have a good day everyone.

Good morning

linzer glad you had a fab holiday and internet free holiday
toffee aw your Internet idea sounds fab but i would not know where to start.
missb have lovely camp trip
ellie hope ds leaver assembly is lovely

this morning
dc to breakfast, dressed and nurseried
dh to hull
me to work
wm
dw
make bed
pick up dcs
bath and bed dc
try not to sit down and to set timer and get on with taking stuff outta the loft.

That's all. Hope you all have lovely day

Morning!

Working at home today and tomorrow but sports day (if it doesn't rain!) later so short list from me

Hang washing out
Do the 2 pieces of work that have come in
Do Monday's and Tuesday's missions
Go to sports day
Help DS count the money in his piggybank so we can then go to the shop to buy a bacugan(sp?) with HIS money as I refused to spend £5 on one!
Think about tea
catch up with the Tour (nearly up to date now pa)

See you later

hey everyone,
I've had a poorly ds, so haven't been on, and haven't got much cleaning done. He seems a little brighter today, so am going to try and get some work done today.

So:
Washing up
Wipe counters
fold & pack laundry
1 load laundry
clean bath
5 minutes in living room.

Seems I've got an old friend of mine into flying. She saw my fb status and I explained what it is and now she's flying too. Quite amusing
DS now wondering around wearing nothing but mismatched socks!

QoD that made me laugh. i can picture my ds such atired. tis funny.

Linzer - sounds like you had a lovely break.

I am off to do more decluttering and project finishing. will post tablecloth top picture later. It will need wadding, backing and quilting but cant do that until the big project finished to make sure i have enough for that. the patchwork bit looks really cheerful and goes with the chickens. SO am happy.

list:
2 seams on table cloth edging and press
finish curtains
gloss stool tops and coaster backs
embroidery patches.

kitchen has a split personality. halfis fabulous and almost up to fly lady standards, the other half looks like a bomb has hit it. must deal with this at some point.

Have a good day folks!

Oh my gosh I'm just sitting here sweating. This hot weather doesn't encourage me to do much work. Although the work is twice as necessary as a dirty kitchen becomes hideously smelly very quickly in this weather.

Am debating whether to go do the washing up first or have a cool bath.
decisions decisions

Just sneaking in to have a panic....aaarraggh.... Just realised my mum and dad are down in 2 weeks and i need to dejunk loft and put everything in conservatory and noone will be able to move and it will all look messy regardless and my next two weekends are booked solid and my house is still a mess and and....aaarrraagghh.....

Breathe.........

quick update before school run:

2 seams on table cloth edging and press - pinned just need to run up
finish curtains - in middle of marathon pinning session.
gloss stool tops and coaster backs
embroidery patches. done 2, mumble left

Must do a trip to opticians to ds' glasses fixed. a bit of a joke as he is back at the hospital next week and will get new glasses. but he needs to see between now and then so needs must.

right school run. hope to have got more done when i come back to post later.

DS1 claimed he was too ill for school today. To be fair, he did go back to bed and I found him fast asleep, clutching his teddy, but I think he is just exhausted, not ill. He has been good company, but having him here doesn't encourage flying, although I did get my morning routine done.

Was meant to be looking after a friend's son, but she cancelled. Then was meant to be having another friend round for tea, but she cancelled too. If there are any more cancellations, I will start to worry about myself.

Realised at 2.30 that one of my older boy's job-sharing teachers would not be back at school after today, so had to tear up to school with both boys and DS1's homemade card, buying a bottle of wine on the way (so much for originality).

Popped into school cloakroom on the way back. It stank. Whilst wondering what made it stink so bad, i discovered DS1's swimming bag on his peg and checked inside - wet and stinky! He admitted that they had had swimming last Wednesday.

Home. Threw stinky towel and trunks into WM. Hope it doesn't stink the machine out.

Had my Lakeland order today. This is a bit sad, I know, but I do get quite excited about Lakeland. I now have a brand new dustpan and brush, a new hook for my kitchen towel, Bartender's Friend to make my sink even shinier and some stuff called Brilliant which is apparently going to whiten the black grouting in our bathroom tiles. Plus some baking stuff to do some cooking with the DC in the holidays. (Two days of term left....).

Right, DS1 is on the computer downstairs and DS2 is playing and listening to a new audio CD, so I'm going to grab this moment to do another 15 minutes decluttering in our bedroom.

Good afternoon/evening everyone,

Nettie - Dont panic. Calm thoughts!!! STOP Think rationally. Take one area at a time and get a sense of achievement at completing that, then move on to the next area. It will be fine!

QOD - So, which did you decide, I put my money on the cool bath!

DWM - How was sports day? I do miss the annual sports day as mine are older now. I'm still enjoying Le tour! Day off today, so you can catch up a bit more. Its quite goodn this year, not predictable like it has been some years. I do enjoy the hilly days.

Linzer - Welcome home! If you are anything like me you will now have an endless mountain of washing.....

MissB - Have a fab weekend camping!

MrsD - You're off soon , too aren't you? Have a fantastic time.

Ellie - Let me pass you a slice of chocolate cake and have the wine ready for tonight. I blubbed EVERY time my DCs had a leavers assembly. Quite embarrassing by the 5th time round!!! (When the nursery leaders actually handed me a tissue as part of a song they had made up!)

I took today off to try and get myself prepared for the summer holidays which start tomorrow. I planned on having a relaxing day, but catching up on things around the house. Fairly successful day on the whole, a bit of shopping, kitchen blitzed, some baking and a little doze!
Major achievement of the day was not actually thumping MIL when I met her in town. Her take on the fact that DH has only 5 days left at work, then is unemployed, was that I should get another job to support him "for a change". I do 3 jobs already For goodness sake!!!! She then announced in a loud voice that she would have to go back to doing "red cross parcels - AGAIN!" well, when we have been in serious trouble in the past she did NOTHING and just moaned that I wasnt doing anything about it. (still working my butt off, by the way!!)

Major disaster of the day was me trying to be clever with my Kenwood! I thought that I could multi task it and mix my waffle mixture while grating some cheese. Simple!!! Only I sort of forgot that you need 2 hands to grate the cheese without it going all over the place and you need 2 hands to add eggs to the mixing bowl. Last time I counted 2+2 equalled 4, but I still only have 2 hands. SO no surprise when I tried to add the egg, the cheese started going all over the place and without a fifth hand to push the off button I ended up with chees flying in one direction and egg white flicking in the opposite direction!!! All over my cleaned kitchen.

Wine and nibbles in order for tonight.

See youn all later.

Just realised I Xposted with Toffee. Dont worry about the cancellations. DS wanted to spend time with you, so dont be paranoid!! Hope the stinky swimmers are now freshly hung on the line and wafting in the breeze!

PA - what is it about you and eggs?!

Toffee - I love Lakeland too, many of my favourite household bits come from there. During my decluttering a few months ago I found an old catalogue from about 15 years ago, many things were still the same.

MAK - keep meaning to ask, you've lost me a bit, what are all these UFOs and USPs or whatever?

QOD - hope you went for the bath!

Ellie - hope DS's assembly is lovely for you. Think I will probably blub a bit when DD leaves pre-school on Friday too.

DWM - hope Sports Day was good and DS did you proud.

Linzer welcome back - top marks to DH on the cake front!

Not much Flying here, went to the tip, general tidying etc. Checked smoke alarms - that's an important one.

Tried to give blood, but got rejected AGAIN. Not had much luck the last few years with it, I'm basically healthy, but keep finding I have inadvertently taken an aspirin the day before or other serious misdemeanours. It doesn't help that there is only one session a month here and it is the day DD is at home all day, so have to wait for DH to get home and go right at the end, will be easier once she starts school. Today I was rejected because I think I've got a cold sore starting. Oh well, the thought was there, have booked in again.