Car Garbage Bag Holder

Many years ago, when I shared my car with no one, it was kept clean. Spotless. Garbage-free. Anything that didn't belong in it was taken out when I got out.

And then I got married.

I love that man dearly. I do. But he doesn't share my fervency for a clean vehicle. It doesn't help that he's worked in the demolition field since before we got married and it's nearly impossible to keep his truck free from dirt, but that's another story.

Over the years, he's given me children--5 of them--and those children all seem to have missed out on that keep-your-car-clean gene. They're much more like their father in that aspect, but worse. I mean, they are kids, after all. Almost every time they take something in the van with them it remains there until Leighton or I demand that they bring it in the house.

Candy and gum? Pop it in your mouth and toss the wrapper in the cup holder.

Toys? Drop them in your seat once we reach our destination.

Papers from church? Let them slip out of your hands and fall carelessly to the floor to be trampled on.

Hair ties and clips? Ask mom to put them in your hair just so you can remove them before we even get to where we're going and leave them in the van. Bonus points for each additional item.

Crayons, pencils, pens? Set them down and let them roll until they get lost deep between the seats.
Lego pieces? Actually, I'm not so sure what they do with those as I find them in every possible crevice of both the van and the house. What exactly do they do? Throw them in the air to make it rain? Play hide and seek with each other? See who can lose their pieces the fastest? Strategically place them all over to drive mom crazy?? I'm just not sure.

Am I exaggerating? Yes. Maybe. But you get the point. Kids plus car equals mess. (Actually, kids plus anything equals mess, but you already knew that.) Whether you're running errands around town or driving on vacation across country, you need a way to contain the mess.
   

All you need to do is fill an empty paper towel tube with plastic grocery bags.

I know, super simple. We always have bags in the van for garbage or for carting objects back into the house. We've been using this method since our oldest was just a little guy, because it works so well. I do prefer to rely on reusable bags for grocery shopping and carrying our things, so I use the plastic bags mostly for garbage, but there are times when I forget to put the reusables back in the van and just hand the kids a plastic bag to gather their things. When you use up all the bags, you just need to refill it. The tube lasts quite a while before needing to be replaced. It fits easily next to your seat, under it, in the glove box or anywhere that you can access it. I keep mine in a slot in  the passenger door. That way, while Leighton is driving, I can gather the random mess of papers, wrappers, receipts, and whatnot that has been overlooked and get the van back to clean again. 

In a perfect world, the kiddos would clean up after themselves every time without being reminded to. Yeah. Until then, we'll just keep filling our tube with bags.

Now, if only I could figure out what they do with those Lego pieces.

February and March Purging Update

Oh, my. Is it really the end of April? And I'm just now posting my update for March? And February? My sweet hubby insists that I'm late updating because I'm been so busy purging that I haven't had the time to blog. Have I mentioned lately how much I love him? He's always there to encourage when I become discouraged with myself.   

Without further ado, here is how our house changed the last 2 months.

• cleaned out the boys' clothes closet, pulled out stuff that was too small and reorganized the rest by style and size
• donated a box of cassette tapes 
• worked to organize the basement
• cleaned under the boys beds, removing and putting away all toys/clothes/garbage, & vacuumed (yes, did this in January, but kids are kids)
• reorganized our entertainment and mail center
• organized my mason jars by size and type
• reorganized Alyssa's dresser drawers, removing clothes that are too small
• washed the living room curtains 
• washed the living room walls
• emptied the silverware drawer and washed it
• deep cleaned the kitchen, cleaning all the nooks & crannies with a toothbrush
• washed the kitchen chairs and cushions
• purged some of the children's books (!), removing ones that were torn, duplicates, or whose stories were not to my liking
• washed the living room windows inside and out, cleaning all the track and edges (with help from my boys)
• replaced the organizer in the front closet and filled it with the kids' hats, gloves, and such   
• collected all the LEGO Club magazines, punched holes, and put them in a 3-ringed binder
• purged some nail polish
• threw away a pile of socks that had been sitting unmatched for months
• reorganized the medicine cabinet  

Various walls throughout the house also got a good washing, but I wasn't the one who cleaned them.

Tyler, my 3-year-old, decided to draw all through the hallway, part of my room, on Alyssa's door, in the living room, and by the front door. All in a couple minutes as I was feeding the baby, again, right before we were planning to walk out the door for church.

He was given a bucket of soapy water and a rag and had to wash up his mess. There were some tears (from him) and a few laughs (from me). He may be a little stinker, but he sure is cute.

Are you ready to see our donated items in February and March?

Not too bad for months 2 and 3. (See January here.)


Are you still keeping up with purging and cleaning your home? How are your efforts going?

Don't forget, you can head over to Family, Faith, and Fridays and join in with the 34 Weeks of Clean challenge.


Happy Purging!

January Purging Update

I can't believe the first month of 2015 has already come and gone! Where does the time go? The holidays are long passed, our baby is 7 weeks old, and things are settling into a new normal around here.

Remember my Word of the Year? I thought it would be good to post an update at the end of every month. It will help me to stay accountable and maybe motivate some of you to purge your possessions, too. Also, my friend Michele from Family, Faith, & Fridays is hosting a 34 weeks of clean challenge this year. I was excited when she announced the series. It perfectly compliments my goal of purging this year, I love cleaning challenges, and it's always fun to see how others organize. Plus, cleaning is more fun with someone else, even if that someone else is cheering you on through a screen, haha. We're currently on week 5, so come join us!

January was very profitable for us. Of course, I kept up with the normal chores like laundry and cleaning, but I also greatly enjoying taking care of some things that get overlooked or were just needing some extra attention.

• cleaned under the boys beds, removing and putting away all toys/clothes/garbage, & vacuumed
• emptied & washed the freezer, threw away expired food, and organized (we also have a deep freezer, but that was already organized)
• cleaned the microwave (a splattered microwave is a pet peeve of mine!)
• cleaned under the kitchen sink
• took our "learning" DVDs out of their cases and put them in a binder (all our other movies have been organized in a binder for years) and threw away the cases 
• reorganized the kitchen cabinets and donated extra dishes and such
• emptied the coat closet, put the spring/fall coats in the basement making much more room
• spent many hours working in the basement
• quickly purged some clothes from my closet and drawers
• emptied my purse
• mopped the floors and wiped down all the kitchen walls
• gathered all my maternity clothes to drop off at the consignment store 
• and cleaned and organized many other small projects
• purged some of the boys clothes as I was moving them up a size and packing away the smaller ones

I've gotten into the habit of grabbing a few things here and there to throw away or donate as I see them. Some things, like my clothes, I'm sure will take a few times before I've gotten rid of enough to appease me. I have clothes from high school 15 years ago because they still fit! And I know that the basement will take me all year to get how I want it. It's become a catch-all for everything that doesn't fit upstairs.

Yes, we have too much.

  

 

 

Obviously, some of the pictures show the work in progress and others are the final product. I don't have any before pictures because I didn't feel they were really that big of a difference. Because organization is a love of mine and something that I make sure to keep up,  you wouldn't notice much difference with the befores and afters. Pretty boring.

Besides, it's much more fun to see all my messes, right? 

I'm so excited! I've been wanting my boring white pantry painted for quite a while. I even bought shelf liner last May. Eight months ago! I asked Leighton last week if he'd do it over the weekend, you know, so I could help him with his Word of the Year, haha. And he lovingly finished it late Sunday night. It makes me happy every time I open the door. 

Ok, so are you ready to see how much stuff we donated the month of January???

Not bad for month 1! Two large garbage bags missed out on the picture and there are some boxes under the bags here that are hard to see. Also, we threw away quite a bit of stuff. All in all, I'm very pleased with the work that was accomplished the past four weeks.

Do you have any goals for 2015? Are you working to keep them, too? 

Also, don't forget to join the cleaning challenge with Family, Faith, and Fridays and have fun getting your house in order, too!

Word of the Year: 2015

 

I first heard of choosing a Word of the Year 4 or 5 years ago. Instead of making a list of resolutions, the plan is to focus on one little word for the entire year. Honestly, I can't recall ever making a New Year's resolution (why wait until a certain date to make changes that I can start today?), but the idea of a Word of the Year intrigues me. 

 

I prayed for days for God to show me what word should be my focus in 2015. There were 3 words that I considered, but 1 word that continually came to mind.

PURGE.

Maybe it's because we just celebrated Christmas and the house is overflowing with new blessings.

Maybe it's because just a few weeks ago we added another member to our family and now have an abundance of baby items everywhere. 

Maybe it's because there are 7 of us living in less than 1,300 square feet.

Maybe it's because we just have way. too. much. stuff.

 

 

purge, verb: 

1. to clear of something unclean or unwanted.
2. to remove or eliminate.
3. to rid of something unwanted.

I love cleaning and organizing. Ok, maybe the cleaning part is that I revel in the finished product more so than the chore itself. Clutter is stressful to me, so I'd rather get the house in order before enjoying any leisure. And with 5 kids, there's always something that needs order. I spend my days go-go-going, and I enjoy it. It's how I'm wired. But lately, I feel as though I'm spending too much time trying to maintain all the "stuff" we own. Like I said, I thrive on organization. I love the process, the outcome, all of it.

But it shouldn't consume all my time.

I've realized that I don't want to spend my days maintaining everything. I don't want to be so caught up in  controlling the mess. I don't want to be a slave to possessions.

Purge.

I did take part in a 40 Bags in 40 Days challenge last year. The goal was to go through your house and declutter a bag a day for 40 days. I'm not sure exactly how many bags and boxes were filled and removed from the house, but it was a lot. Some things were trashed, others were sold, and more still were donated.

It was invigorating!

But I need to do it again. And again. And probably again.

Don't get me wrong, we have been blessed--so blessed-- with what we have, and I am truly thankful. But now it's time to bless others: strangers, friends, my own kids with my time.

It is my goal of 2015 to purge things from every area of our house. Clothes. Toys. Things. Stuff. Junk.

Our drawers are filled to the tops. The closets are full. The toys are in abundance.

2015 will be spent focusing on culling our possessions. The fewer things we have, the less time I spend making sure the house is orderly, and the more time I have for other passions.

Purge: helping me rid our house of the unnecessary and giving me more time in the process.


Do you choose a Word of the Year? What is your word for 2015?