Order or not in order...

How do you get organized, or a new routine down? Are you a throw it all down on a list and check it off as you go? Or are ya a place for everything and everything in it's place type? Or maybe you're a labeler/boxer-upper type.

Well whichever one of those fits your style, it's a sure sign of how easier your days flow, from the start of the day headed out the door, to the end of the day when you're all crawling into bed. If you're a mom like me, I like my mornings to not be rushed, and flow easy going. It usually helps when you have multiple kids, to get the older ones involved with doing things for themselves. It's always a teaching/learning experience at the beginning of the school year for us. Making sure that all bus schedules match up in some sort of order, that we all get out the door with the right bags, coats and paperwork. We had a routine going at the beginning of the year. Then Lilly started school and she goes to school on the bus now.

That means I wake up at 6:45am to get her up and dressed then, me up and dressed, and looking semi presentable to the bus driver. Yea, it's rough some mornings. I at least try the night before to get the coats, bags, and shoes near the door. And have the older two daughters to pick out some of their clothes. It helps. But there are some mornings where I just feel like 15 extra mins of laying there, in bed, not moving is my better situation.

I don't know how many mornings, I've spent searching for something I just put on the counter, to only find that one of my small little humans have took it upon themselves to move it to a whole another room. So I try to clip anything important up high, on the fridge, and announce that if they touch it, they might lose a limb.

Another idea so that our family can function pretty easy, has been The Calendar. I even get abnoxious about it and buy the HUGE one that you usually keep on your desk. I learned the hard way, that if you want your husband to be in the know, it usually has to be in BOLD so I write everything down. It's not all color coordinated or anything like that but it's definitely filled up. It's a life saver and it keeps the husband and I talking about our days.

So what is your favorite thing that keeps your life organized? Share with me!!! =]

DIY Laundry Soap

Well I have been talking to some family members and have seen online quite a bit about DIY Laundry Soap. It's very cheap compared to washing with Brand name Laundry Soap that you've bought at your local store. So I'm going to share the "recipe" so to speak with you!

First you'll need to get these items:

5 or 10 gallon bucket

Arm & Hammer Washing Soda ---yes WASHING not baking.. heh heh

Borax laundry Booster

A bar of Fels-Naptha

A bar of your favorite bar soap.. I am using Ivory

Fabulouso --Try and find the one with Oxy in it, but not completely necessary . I use this for the scent.

Oxy Clean --This is my fall back if oxy isn't in the fabulouso

Dawn Dish Soap -- For the fighting power against grease. I have children. Haha!

Measurements:

1 Cup of the Washing soda Borax Fabulouso

1/2 cup of the Dawn Dish Soap

1 bar of both Fels- Naptha & Ivory --or whatever bar soap you use.

4 cups of water in pan

then an additional 3 gallons of HOT water

The super easy directions are as followed:

Shred the bar soap and Fels-Naptha Cheese grater works well here.

Put 4 cups of water in a pan on a medium heat --- don't let it boil ----

Stir with a whisk or a similar stirrer to get all the clumps and chunks out

Dump the melted mix into the large bucket (I use a 5 gallon bucket) with the rest of the

ingredients and stir every 15 to 20 mins. It will look like a gel type of soap.

Now this is just my mix that I got from a family member. You can switch things up, to your liking. I have also seen people who use Essential oils to scent their laundry. It's all up to you!

Happy Laundry Days in the future! :)