Holiday Grand Plan, Anyone? - Page 7

[akwifeandmomma]

I'm in. Better late than never!

[wombatclay]

Thalia- that must feel great (getting rid of the old owner's leftover stuff). When I was in grad school I moved a lot from one cheap apt to another and I found that just a plain old NEW shower curtain from the dollar store did so much to make the space "feel" clean and personal.

[daytripper75]

Children's rooms this week! Is anyone else using guest bedroom week next week for kid's bedrooms too?

[Keeta]

Originally Posted by akwifeandmomma

I'm in. Better late than never!

Me too! I'm a little overwhelmed at the moment (DS and I have been gone for a week, so just getting the house back into "normal chaos" has taken all morning so far!).

But I can already tell that the mindset is setting in - every room I go into, I think, "Oooh, when it's time for this room, I'm going to tackle this, and this and this..." But not getting caught up in the doing quite yet.

[karkli]

Originally Posted by daytripper75

Children's rooms this week! Is anyone else using guest bedroom week next week for kid's bedrooms too?

I failed dismally at master bedrooms last week (Got as far as taking down, shaking out, and re-hanging the curtains, and then got permanently side-tracked...) so I plan to do much better at the kids' rooms this week!

We were out of town this past weekend and just got home about an hour ago, so I will be starting this week tomorrow, I think.

[Thalia]

My big goal for my daughter's room is to get all her outgrown clothes washed and packed for storage in case we have another girl. I haven't done this in a while and she's two so there are lot of clothes to go through.

I also want to rethink her toy storage. Right now things tend to dissolve into piles pretty quickly. We have a nice bookshelf but she can't reach anything on it. Her toys are on and under a small IKEA coffeetable, with a few bins. I think I need to pare them down and then put related things into boxes to make for easier pick up.

[karkli]

Well, I did the toys! So far, so good. We got a small bag together for the trash, a small box to pack away for future kids, and a big bag to Freecycle. This very much needed to be done, as my older DD turns 4 next month and Christmas comes right after so the end of the year always results in a mass migration of toys into our house which usually leaves me too overwhelmed to tackle the purging project.

Today, I'm hoping to do both girls' closets, change and wash linens, and dust.

[DaughterOfKali]

I'm getting rid of a lot of stuff this weekend.

Ds is getting two or three toys and some books for Christmas. That's it.

[wombatclay]

We have a family bedroom so thankfully I get what, three weeks for one room? (master bed, children's bed, guest bed)

I did go through much of our clothing, putting together bags for the thrift shop, the consignment shop, the holiday helpers, and us. I can't wait till the weather settles a bit more since this sort of "transitional" weather means I need a lot more clothing options available!

I'm having trouble downsizing the toys though. I know how germy/ick stuffed animals can be, but I'm having so much trouble removing the emotional component from the toy component! We don't have a lot of toys, but what we have seems to be either bulky (stuffed animals made by family members) or really small and cluttery (blocks, tiny dolls made from clothespins, beads/buttons, wooden kitchen stuff that dh has made). I rearranged a few shelves to hopefully organize things more and I'm looking forward to when the girls have their own room...

[daytripper75]

I managed to do both children's rooms already and am moving on to the kitchen. I am certain that I can fill two weeks in my kitchen!

[AngelBee]

Behind, but joining!

[akwifeandmomma]

Plowed through the boys' bedroom and playroom yesterday. Still not completely satisfied with the closet decluttering - but some of that I can't help. Only so much storage space in this house, and things that we want to keep have to live somewhere, right?

Toys completely decluttered, rooms totally sparkling clean, bedding changed, baseboards wiped down... whew!

Now on to my daughter's bedroom. I dread her closet. I really need to purge and get the too-small clothes out, it's just hard with not knowing whether we're going to have another baby or not. We're 99% sure we're done, but that little hint of maaaaybeeee.... makes me hesitate. Plus it's saying goodbye to my kids' babyhood, as my littlest will be two in January. :cry

[DocsNemesis]

I'm behind too, but I'm joining! I need to get the house completely clean before the baby comes anyway and I know I won't feel up to it the last couple months.

The only thing I'm going to have a hard time with is my daughters room. Her birthday is next week and the majority of her bday present is going to be a huge room makeover. She's at her dads next weekend for the whole weekend so it'll be a very long weekend project. I've been planning for this for months but to finally do it...oy! I'm kind of scared!

[karkli]

I was pleasantly surprised by how successful kids' room week was for us. Both of the kids' rooms are clean and decluttered. I've cleared all but one tote bag of toys out of the rest of the house. Everything is now contained and has a place. I Freecycled a nice big bag of stuff.

My older DD's birthday is in November and between that and Christmas, we get inundated with toys at this time of year. This year, we're ready!

I imagine this week - Guest Rooms - is going to be much harder for me. I tend to use our guest room as clutter central, so this is not going to be easy. But I'm up for the challenge!

[anniebee]

I just started this, so I'm a bit behind and trying to catch up. I'm going to try to get to the guest room tonight (I kind of did that a couple weeks ago, so this will be a not-to-hard start for me), which is good, as my parents are visiting this weekend.

I have to start a gift list, though. I have a rough time with this, especially for my in-laws, who don't need anything, don't have any hobbies that I can use for ideas, and don't like what I get for them (vocally in front of everyone on Xmas morning, in my mother-in-law's case...). Blah.

Anne
Joel 16 January 2006
Asher 2 June 2008

[Mirta]

I started this late (last weekend) but just hadn't posted yet.. But I have been busy working on the Grand Plan or doing other decluttering (I've actually been in the mood to declutter paper which is incredibly rare for me, so I've been going with that feeling and working on my paper clutter, even if it comes from our extra bedroom/storage room not past or present zones..But I have soooo much paper clutter, it is needed!!!)

The front yard/porch area is done minus painting that I don't know is going to happen before the holidays and the new flag and flag pole.. My MIL told us she had a new flag we can have so once she finally brings that over I will get the new pole. DS's room is done minus needing to get curtains think I found the ones I want, just need to buy them..he's had blankets over the windows for the past 2 years, we're going to get curtains for the master bedroom for the same reason except 5 years.. I'm just debating buying the curtains myself or asking for gift certificates, (that I may or may not get) that will help pay for them for Christmas.

Foyer was done minus hanging one item, but now we've had the closet door fall twice in two days denting the walls in two different spots... <sigh> Only the windows are cleaned in the Living Room...

The best thing that had gotten done is the Dining Room got painted today!!!!! It's been needing it for at least two years, since I took done the icky wall paper!! It looks sooo much better now that the wall isn't just covered with spackle marks, no more leak stain on the ceiling, etc.. and since the whole room is empty of furniture and clutter until we get our dining room set I am done in that room!!!!!! (though by the time that room rolls around we may very well have clutter in there again...)

Unfortunately the rest of the house is a complete disaster area....but I have hope that it will improve!!

Good luck all!

Kym

[wombatclay]

Gifts:
We go with the "something to wear, something to read, something you want, something you need" formula for the immediate family (dh, dd1, dd2, ds, and I). I'm making baby legs for each child, dd1 and dd2 will get magazine subscriptions while ds will get a home made texture book, "want" is a My Little Pony for dd1/a ballerina outfit for dd2/a play silk for ds, and "need" is hat/scarf/gloves/slipper set. DH is getting flannel jammies, a magazine subscription, a dvd, and that knitted hat/scarf/gloves (his mom always makes him slippers so I skip that).

Stockings are usually an orange, some chocolate, a trail mix of nuts and fruit, fruit leather, and coloring supplies. The regular gifts go in the stockings too... I'm making everyone new stockings this year!

For extended family we make a donation and give a related (small) gift. For example, when we donated honeybees through heifer international we gave people a card and a jar of honey. When we donated ducks (again through heifer international) we gave a card and a rubber duckie. One year we supported families through the holiday helper program and gave people cards and a paperdoll family for their own kiddos. This year we're making donations to a local reading program and giving people homemade books written/illustrated by the kids. It's something that works well since you can donate any amount (the recipient doesn't need to know how much/little you can afford), it helps others while also being a gift, it doesn't add to clutter/consumption/materialism, and it works for everyone.

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I'm having more trouble with the freezer meals though. DD1 has Celiac and we need to stay gluten free. DD2 can't eat dairy. And it looks like ds is sensitive to egg in my diet (dd1 was as well). So we need easy to freeze/reheat, festive, seasonal gluten/dairy/egg free dishes! Other than a lifetime supply of rice/beans and chicken I'm drawing a blank for "main dish" type items. Veggie sides are no problem, and I'm loving the sweet potato fries and the cran relish, but the rest is driving me a bit bonkers.

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The master bedroom is the children's bedroom is the guest bedroom. So I get another week! I think the small house is enabling my lazy holiday cleaning. Though we finished framing the walls of the addition so progress towards a children/guest space (and a real living room) is happening. Yay! Though the weather is not helping. It's been raining/sleeting and generally cold/miserable. Since dh does the work when he gets home it's also usually dark. Poor dh!

[Thalia]

Managed to get all the too-small clothes out of DD's room last week and into the basement, but they need to be sorted and put into boxes still. I also went through all her drawers and sorted everything neatly. We put her pajamas into sets so we don't have to search for tops to match bottoms. And we got rid of all the odd socks (they'll go in one of the clothing donation bins where they have a chance of being reused in some way). Still have to do something about the toys, though.

[Mirta]

Thalia: Good job on your kid's clothes! That is always a major project around here!

wombatclay We're supposed to be doing the "something to wear, something to read, something you want, something you need" formula but ever once in a while DH mentions a gift idea that doesn't seem to fit.. it's hard because we both come from families that literally showered us with presents as kids... and still do.. hard to change that mindset some times, you know? We did well last year, but he was only 1 and DH didn't play with him as much, so he wasn't as into the ideas of toys as he is now..We're still working on narrowing the list...

So, wombatclay, is your master bedroom/children's bedroom/guest bedroom super clean since you have had three weeks for it???!


I can't believe it is already Thursday night and I certainly don't feel like I've gotten much done this week.. Partly because we had two mom & toddler activities this week, plus went shopping twice.. going to the stores with a little one can take sooo long!

But when I REALLY reflect on things, I did throw out quite a bit, I have two boxes of books & one bag of magazines ready to be donated to the library and two boxes of misc. other stuff to go to the thrift shop! I've also bought the curtains for our room and DS's, that I have wanted for over two years! (more for our room) Plus I got the rest of the wallpaper paste off the walls in the master bedroom and started on the spackling so we can paint. And I tracked done a full set of the dining room set my parents gave us an IOU on last Christmas, but hadn't bought us yet since we were waiting till we got the dining room painted (painted it on Monday!).. Just have to work out the details about purchase with my parents and hopefully we will get the table delivered before the end of the month!!! DH is stressing about the table because he REALLY wants it here before Thanksgiving, especially since we just officially announced that we would be hosting for his family and my brother (7 people total including us..) then his brother asked about inviting his future B &SILs who will also be in town... It can ONLY work if we have our new table set or borrow a table and chairs to use in addition to our kitchen set..

[karkli]

Originally Posted by wombatclay

Gifts:
We go with the "something to wear, something to read, something you want, something you need" formula for the immediate family (dh, dd1, dd2, ds, and I).

I really like this. I've never heard the rhyme before, but the concept is fantastic.

I'm one of those weirdos who finishes 80% of their holiday shopping before summer starts, so I'm already well over the "wear/read/want/need" rule for Christmas 2009, but I'm going to keep it in mind for my 2010 shopping.