Life's Little Moments: Happy 2010

As much as I love the Christmas season I always look forward to taking down the tree and cleaning up the Christmas decorations. The kids hate it and would leave the tree up year round if they could, but there is something invigorating about getting it all cleaned up and ushering in the new year with a clean house. I love the feeling of a new start and I usually love to clean and organize. That is exactly what we have been doing around here!

Duane had vacation the week after Christmas and we tackled the garage...well kinda, Duane and the boys actually tackled it. Every job needs a task manager and that would be me! Duane and I came up with the ideas of what needed to be done and they did it. They tore down shelving and rebuilt it to make better use of the space, they cleared out an area for the kids to use as a play area with their toys and hockey table. Duane also hung up a huge whiteboard for the kids to color on. We also have the treadmill and elliptical out there. Hopefully those actually get used this year!

My in laws gave me a labeler for Christmas. (I asked for it!) It was the best gift ever and I have had so much fun labeling everything I can...spices, the baking cupboard, toys, and even small children. Okay, maybe not the small children, but someone has ended up with a "kick me" tag on their backs a time or two. Shelbie is my organizer buddy so she has enjoyed this too!

The girls and I are also working on making meal times easier. We came up with the idea to create a "meal binder". We used to make monthly menus and last year when I was sick that kind of fell by the wayside. Time to get back to that, but add to it. We are making rotating menus for Fall/Winter and Spring/Summer. On the back of each menu we listed all the ingredients for each week of meals so we don't have to look them up each time we need to go shopping. The binder is divided by months. We are working on putting each recipe in a sheet protector under the month that recipe will be used, that way we never have to hunt for a recipe, it will always be at our fingertips.

We are also ready to rebid chores and make some changes with that too. It's very funny to me that my children actually get excited about this. They have been asking me daily for a week when we are going to bid.

I have high hopes that 2010 is going to be a good year. 2009 really wasn't that great. I have been feeling really good, praise the Lord, and I am praying that things stay that way. I hope each of you has a very blessed New Year!