Launching and Landing

The door opens.  The kids come in from school. One backpack opens and papers come spilling out.  Lunch bags are thrown down, empty water bottles, coats, gloves.  The house that was clean only moments before is now strewn with worksheets and spelling test.  

. . .Or maybe you are headed out the door for preschool drop off when you remember that the library books are due.  Where are they?  The search begins.  

Whether we are coming or going organization is key. It saves time getting in and out as well as minimizes the chaos that occurs.  

I read in the book, "Project: Organization, Quick and Easy Ways to Organize Your Life," by Marie Ricks, that you should have a "launching and landing" place in your home.  

We were fortunate when we bought our house that there was an unfinished mudroom just off of the garage.  We were able to have it finished how we wanted and it has made coming and going much easier!  

Here are some important ideas for "launching and landing":

Have an assigned place for your keys.

Have a specific place for your coat and purse.  We each have our own hook.  It is easy to grab what we need on the way out the door and easy to put away. 

The thing I learned from Marie Rick's book was that you need a place for things that don't have a place.  When I took this picture the basket on the right is empty.  It is a basket for things that are temporily at our house.  This week I bought a baby gift for a friend that I put in the basket until I was able to go to her house and deliver it.  I also had some clothes to return so they were in the basket and I grabbed them on the way out the door to run errands.  This has been a trick that helps things from pilling up on my counters.  It is a temprary place for things that are only going to be in our house for a short time.  

The basket on the left is for library books.  In the picture we didn't have any library books, but those are the bags we take to carry our library books home in.  When the kids are finished reading a library book they promptly return it to the basket so that I can return them. 

The basket on the right is for gloves, hats, and winter stuff.  The basket on the left contains 6 small bags that the kids take to church with them.  Sunday morning before walking out the door we just grab their bags.  (The oldest kids add their scriptures).  For Ellie it has diapers, wipes, a few small books and a little toy or two.  For the other kids it has a notebook and something to write with.  

Thirsty?

We have six kids.  If each child got a drink at each meal and a drink mid morning and mid afternoon that would be a minimum of 6 x 5 = 30 cups per day to wash.  That just doesn't work for me so. . . 

 We have assigned cup colors so that we never fight over colors :)   After meals the kids put their cup in "cup-land" next to the fridge.  If they have milk with a meal we rinse it out before they put it back.  After dinner they put their cups in the dishwasher.  It is a simple thing, but it makes our lives a little bit easier!  

I am TALENTED!

Today we did a fun Sunday afternoon activity.  Our lesson in Sunday School was about Talents.  I decided that I wanted each of our children to understand that they had been blessed with many talents.  I told them about the parable of the talents that Christ taught in Matthew Chapter 25: 15-29.  We talked about how if we use our talents we will be blessed with more.  

I then had each child come up and I put five of their talents on their fingers.  They each made a plan for how they could use one of their talents today.  Then we stuck their talents in their journals.  They were all beaming and so happy to see all of their talents.  They asked if we could do this at least every month!  

P.S. The Eyre's have a similar tradition that Shawni shared here.

Matthew Chapter 25:

 15 And unto one he ^agave five ^btalents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.

 29 For unto every one that hath shall be ^agiven, and he shall have^babundance: but from him that hath not shall be ^ctaken away even that which he hath.

I am thankful for. . .

Today I am so thankful for the chance to be a mother.  In the past 10+ years of my mothering career I have made mistakes every single day, but I feel so grateful that I have tomorrow to try and be even more patient.  I am grateful that I can keep realigning my focus on the things that matter most.  I am so grateful that my house is noisy and the books are scattered across the family room floor because that means that I have many little bodies to hug, hands to hold, and messy faces to wipe.  This is what I love.  I love being a mom to my children and loving them like my mother loves me.  

I am thankful for. . .

Yesterday was Sunday.  It was a typical Sunday.  I usually get up early to read my scriptures and prepare for Relief Society or read a lesson.  Sweet Abigail got up and started to make pancakes and Alexis set the table while I was on the computer downstairs.  

I am so thankful for sweet daughters!  

After church we ended up pulling out the kids baby books.  Each time we had a baby my mom gave me two baby calendars: one for the first year of life, one for the second year of life.  I very diligently wrote in Abigail and Hyrum's, I wrote a lot in Spencer's, some in Alexis and Tanner's, and very little in Ellie's.  We started reading about things they did and said when they were little.  After reading their baby calendars we pulled out my old journals and read things that I had written about them.  Sometimes I was laughing so hard I couldn't even read to them what I had written.  We had such a great evening telling stories and remembering.  

I am so thankful that I wrote down life's little experiences it is so fun to look back for a moment and remember those sweet two year olds and tiny babies that are now growing up. 

I am thankful for. . .

As thanksgiving quickly approaches I can't help but stop and think about all the things that I am thankful for.  

In President Thomas S. Monson conference talk entitled "Joy In The Journey" he quotes Emily from the classic drama Our Town,  “Do … human beings ever realize life while they live it—every, every minute?”

President Monson continues,"Our realization of what is most important in life goes hand in hand with gratitude for our blessings.

Said one well-known author: “Both abundance and lack [of abundance] exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend … when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that’s present—love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature, and personal pursuits that bring us [happiness]—the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience heaven on earth.”

I am making a conscious effort to be thankful for all the blessings that surround me. 

We have a winner!

Congratulations Emma!  You are the winner of the free digital copy of this new book:

Deliberate Motherhood