Simply Monday (?????)

So earlier in the year I started Simple Monday as part of my simplifying strategy, has it worked? I've fallen behind in all my plans to organize my home and my life. Do I have an excuse? Not really, I just start to many projects before finishing the last one :) I'm hoping to use the next few weeks to finish some of the things I started this summer and I'm going to do them one at a time!!! Today though I will be doing- Carpool, t-shirt dyeing at Cub Scouts, Orthodontist Appt for Dallin, Sewing a quilt together for Relief Society (it was supposed to be done last Wednesday), Cleaning the kitchen, catch up on laundry, planning camping trip for next weekend, soccer practice, and FHE. So I guess I will start the other projects tomorrow......

Simply Monday- Back to School (Clothes)

Well, it's time to start thinking of back to school issues :( I love summer and am not looking forward to school starting. The kids on the other hand are already talking about who their teachers could be and which friends will end up in their classes. All the back to school advertising has also inspired me to get started on making our morning SIMPLE. The first thing that I have to work on is helping Lauren with her wardrobe issues. She is always asking me to help her pick out clothes but never wants to wear what I pick. This is my new strategy- I bought a low hanging clothes hanger for her closet which will have outfits sorted for easy choices in the mornings. She prefers to wear skirts so I have them sorted with matching shirts and all her knit shorts and leggings stay in one drawer so she can easily choose what to wear under the skirt. It has worked well this summer and I'm hoping for the same results as school starts ;)

Cat Nap

We love our cat Sebastian, he is almost 12 years old but usually still acts like he's young. I didn't want to leave his adventures out of our blog, so I've been snapping pictures of him whenever I find him in a funny place. He's been in our family so long I don't know what we would do without him.

His favorite nap place is freshly dried laundry, he climbs into the middle of it and falls asleep :)

He loves boxes of all types and whenever there is an empty one around he finds it.

His favorite chair. (Even when Lauren's doll is there)

He's not supposed to be on the table but when the sun shines through he just can't help it. (Or maybe he just wanted to play with Dallin's legos)

This is where we find him most of the time. Especially in the morning when I'm trying to make the bed. He lets us know at night when he's ready for us to come to bed and curls up at my feet as soon as I'm in bed.

Simply Monday- Family Calendar

I have this white board weekly calendar on the wall in the laundry room to help us remember all the daily activities we have. Normally I update this on Sunday from my planner and then on Monday night we go over it at Family Home Evening. Somehow though I haven't done much updating this summer and have forgotten a few activities till the last minute. Like this morning at 9:45 when I realized that it was Monday and cubscouts starts at 10:00. Luckily it wasn't at my house today so I made it to Lori's on time but with wet hair and no make-up :) I don't think the boys noticed. I love having this calendar where everyone can see it so that when someone asks me if they can do something, I just have them check the calendar to see what's going on. Hopefully my Simply Monday posts will help me this summer since I feel like I've lost my simplifying attitude in the last few weeks.

Summer Camping

Last year we bought a camping trailer and LOVED it!!! It made it so much better and easier to enjoy the experience of family camping. This year we decided to upgrade a little so that we could have more room. It's amazing how much better I sleep knowing that Lauren can't fall off the top bunk onto me (it did happen once last year). Although last weekend she tried to get off the top bunk by herself and landed on the floor and kicked Dallin in the head, just glad it wasn't me :) So far this year we've been to Deer Creek Resevoir (above pictures) and Palisade State Park. We did just a quick trip to Palisade so we could see the Mormon Miracle Pageant in Manti, which was really fun. This coming weekend will be our longest trip of the year since Monday is a holiday so we can stay an extra day without Greg taking time off work. We are going to Bear Lake with my brother Aaron and his family.

Simply Monday, Notebooks

I love notebooks, pads of paper, or anything easy to write notes on. I usually keep one on the kitchen table during the day and if I think of something I need to do, I write it down. I'm sure its partly an age thing, but I seem to easily forget what I need to be doing :) I also keep one in my purse for shopping lists or when I see something I really like I write it down so I don't forget where I saw it, what size it is or what I wanted it for. I also write extra chores on it for the kids and they know where to look if I say there are a few things they need to do. I usually buy a bunch of these after school starts when Target marks down all the back to school items then I don't need to buy them so often during the year (unless I see a really cute one at the store.)

No more...

Last week when I went to the Dr. in trying to still figure out this digestive problem I have, she asked if I was drinking carbonated sodas. I said "Of course not". I'm such a liar :) So, I decided that since I need to be telling the truth I better quit drinking it. I thought it would be really hard since I tend to be quite tired from the medication that I take but suprisingly it hasn't been bad!! I miss the flavor but oh well, I shouldn't have been drinking it in the first place. Greg is thrilled that he doesn't have to share his soda with me anymore :)