Fourth Zone!

Master Bedroom and Office!


CLEAN
• Wash windows
• Wash walls, doors, doorframes, and baseboards
• Dust/polish furniture
• Dust walls, knick-knacks, and ceiling
• Flip mattress
• Wash mattress pad and dust ruffle
• Straighten dresser drawers
• Clean under bed
• Clean air vents
• Straighten shelves and drawers in closet
• Wipe down/polish desk
• Put papers into piles
• Sharpen pencils
• Straighten drawers/shelves
• Dust computer & printer


DECLUTTER
• Donate old/unworn clothes & shoes
• Organize nightstands
• Throw out broken pens/pencils
• Make sure paperwork system is working
• Check paper, printer cartridges, stamps, and envelopes

Third Zone!

The next two weeks we'll be working on our Kids' Rooms and Playrooms!

Kids Rooms/Playroom
CLEAN
• Straighten drawers and shelves
• Dust
• Wash rugs
• Wash curtains
• Wash windows
• Clean air vents
• Clean under beds
• Wash walls, doors, doorframes, and baseboards
• Dust ceiling fans
• Vacuum
• Sanitize toys

DECLUTTER
• Remove outgrown clothes
• Donate or store unused toys
• Throw out any toys that are broken or missing parts
• Check clothes in next size
• Go through artwork

Game Board Storage

Okay, I admit I've been a slacker in the organization department lately. But I saw a tutorial last night that left me totally excited, and I thought I'd share.

You make a shadow box type frame for your game board, and attach the pieces to the back. Part handyman project, part organization! Can you even get more fabulous than that?




TUTORIAL HERE

Product Review

Tonight I wanted to tell you guys about a great giveaway opportunity through MOLLY'S CLOTHING. This business is run by a friend of mine, and she's giving away some great prizes in exchange for becoming a fan on Facebook, putting a button on your blog, etc.

Molly's Clothing sells really cute clothing, but my personal favorites are their cami tops. They're thick enough that you can wear them as a shirt, or thin enough that you can wear them under things. My favorite is the Molly's Mini, which hits just under your braline, so if you're wearing it under a dress, it doesn't ride up or bunch under your dress. Uh, obviously this wouldn't be a style you'd wear on its own though. ;)


The other awesome thing is that they have little girls' sizes. You know when you have the perfect dress or cardigan for your daughter, and you're searching everywhere for a plain white shirt to go under it? I have two of these for my daughter, the white and the pink, and she loves to wear them under things to make them more modest, or by themselves. If I can find a picture of my daughter wearing one, I'll come back and post it. I just noticed when I grabbed this picture off their website that these are on sale right now. Uh oh... What other colors do I need?


So go check them out! And while you're at it, join the mailing list to be entered to win some cool stuff!

Second Zone!

Here's the zone for this week and next week - the Kitchen and Dining Room! Deep clean for 20 minutes a day the first week, and declutter for 20 minutes a day next week!

Kitchen/Dining Room
CLEAN
• Empty refrigerator and clean inside and out
• Clean stovetop
• Clean oven
• Hands-and-knees mopping
• Wipe down front of cupboards
• Wipe shelves in cupboards and pantry
• Move stuff on counters and deep-clean countertops
• Clean dishwasher, microwave, toaster oven
• Wash windows
• Wash walls, doors, doorframes, and baseboards
• Clean filters and hood on stove
• Clean light fixtures
• Clean air vents
• Dust
• Wash/sanitize trash cans
• Wash/iron curtains
• Wipe down/polish dining table and chairs


DECLUTTER
• Clean under sink
• Clean out pantry
• Go through dishes
• Go through small appliances, donate ones that are unused
• Go through kitchen gadgets

"The best chicken nuggets in town!"

A few nights ago we tried this recipe for Baked Chicken Nuggets from allrecipes.com. I had tried one previously that was so nasty that we had to throw them away. :( But these were delicious.

I've posted before about my very picky 2-year-old. I'll admit that he has never eaten chicken (other than at a fast-food restaurant), but he gobbled these up! My daughter told me they were "The best chicken nuggets in town!" Give them a try, they were tasty!

Baked Chicken Nuggets

Ingredients
3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon dried basil
1/2 cup butter, melted
Directions
1.Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2.Cut chicken breasts into 1 1/2 inch size pieces. In a medium bowl, mix together the bread crumbs, cheese, salt, thyme and basil. Mix well. Put melted butter/margarine in a bowl or dish for dipping.
3.Dip chicken pieces into the melted butter/margarine first, then coat with the breadcrumb mixture. Place well coated chicken pieces on a lightly greased cookie sheet in a single layer, and bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.

*Notes: I also added a teaspoon of garlic powder. Next time I'll make less of the bread crumb mixutre, because I had TONS left over.

First Zone!

Okay, the first zone we are going to tackle is the Living Room/Hall. Work for about twenty minutes a day. Depending on your house and your cleaning situation, it could take much longer than this to do everything on the list, but that's not the point. Just pick what needs to be done the most and work for 20 minutes a day. We'll be back to this zone later! I'm doing 5 days on deep cleaning this first week, and 5 days next week on decluttering.

Living Room /Hall
CLEAN
• Wipe down blinds
• Dust
• Clean air vents
• Wipe down walls, doors, doorframes, baseboards
• Wash windows
• Straighten bookcases
• Clean out end tables
• Wipe down/polish end tables and coffee tables
• Clean under couches
• Flip and vacuum couch cushions, clean under cushions
• Clean fireplace
• Organize any toys
• Wash rugs
• Spot-clean carpet
• Clean mirrors and picture frames

DECLUTTER
• Purge old magazines
• Go through videos and DVDs
• Evaluate toys in living room – are they being played with enough to warrant taking up room in the main living space?
• Organize front hall closet
• Print new pictures for wall/change out pictures