Simplifying Your Heart and Home for Fall

As the leaves begin to change colors and the air begins to get crisp and cool (for us in the south it means we are finally out of daily heat advisories!) our lives can also get very busy. From football games, to dance lessons, 4-H classes or Co-ops life can feel like we are constantly running from one thing to another. After we come home, we see it cluttered and dirty and after a full day, it can be hard to want to clean it! Reflecting on the busyness of my all time favorite season caused me to stop and make for myself goals for the fall that I want to share with you, today.

Saying 'No' 

Just like a cluttered home can cause anxiety and stress, so can a cluttered week. All of the extra curricular things can be fun, but it can also cause stress on not just you, but the children you are doing the activities for. Late dinners, late nights, lack of sleep, and if you are a homeschool mom, another symptom can be less being done with school. 

Decide for yourself how much you actually want to do, and how often you think is okay for you to be doing activities. For me, I am trying to schedule only 1-2 things per week, and as early in the day as possible (I know for non-homeschool moms that's a bit impossible). This way, I'm simply not as tired at the end of the day, and it allows more time for school, outdoors, and family time (and maybe a few things on that fall bucket list I pinned on Pinterest!).

 

My simplified approach to a fall home

I've discovered that while I love the ideas of a minimalistic home, I also love the cozy feel of home decorations. I love color as well as neutral tones, so instead of sticking to the idea of a minimalist home having to be all white with bare shelves and surfaces, I chose things that I enjoy seeing, and perhaps have dual purpose. 

To keep my fall decor simple this year, I only have 2 normal sized boxes (not large totes-I think I could still have room in a large tote for things-perhaps I'll get a tote this year) of fall decor. Last year I discovered some of my decor got ruined, and I decided not to replace it and work with what I had, until I saw a sale, or saw something that really brought joy or helped my space in my house. 

My goals this year were instead of filling the shelf with fall decor, adding a couple of things to each space and letting the one or two items speak for themselves. I found that my home looks cozy and fall like enough, without the over abundance of what I normally would do. Also- less dusting! It's one of the things I will be talking about this month. The biggest reason for simplifying my home, really, is to cut back on the amount of time it takes to clean my home. With two little ones, piano lessons that occur at my home daily, and homeschooling, it is nice  for it to only take a few minutes for each room  to be tidied. 

If you are wondering what this looks like in a practical sense, follow me on Instagram. All this next week I'll be simplifying places in my home as I get ready for the fall season, and in my next post I'll be posting my fall decor and an inexpensive DIY fall wreath idea! Stay tuned! I'll be labeling these posts 'fall 2019' so you can make sure you don't miss a post!

Motivation Monday: How to Keep Your Kitchen Counters Clear

I am a self proclaimed minimalist wannabe. As much as the idea of a sparkling white clean home, with having nothing but the bare minimal sounds nice, when it comes to putting it in practice I often come up short. A youtube creator I follow, suggested clearing everything off our kitchen counters for a couple of weeks, just to see how we felt.

I decided to take the challenge, but do it in my own way. Now I am here to challenge you to the 'Youth Pastor's Wife' version of clear kitchen counters.












Here are the steps:

• Clear off everything (and I mean everything, but maybe the microwave!). I put everything on my kitchen table so that all the counter tops were bare. 

• Decide what things are absolute necessities to keep on the counters. (I decided a coffee pot was a necessity, however, most say you can simply store it when it's not being used. I have an itty bitty baby, and I want access to the coffee pot, one handed!)

• Necessities include:dish soap, microwave-I added my canisters, because they add some color.

• Only add back things that you enjoy, or that you use on a daily basis. (I love seasonal decor, as well as a couple of other decor items.)

Here is the key. While many minimalist challenges want you to not have ANYTHING on the counters, my challenge is to have the counters as bare as possible, while still keeping what you love on display.

Here is what's on my counters:Microwave, paper towel holder, dish and hand soap, coffee maker, canisters, salt and pepper shakers, recipe holder (for decor) and a trivet (also decor), and lastly, a spring centerpiece. This may sound like a lot, but it is pretty sparse compared to how it was before!

I absolutely love my counters now! I don't think I could ever go back to piles of paper, several coffee gadgets, mug display, random kitchen gadgets and decor cluttered around.

So I challenge you to a kitchen counter clean out this week! Follow me on instagram (@youthpastorswife)  and tag me in your photo. I love to see these posts help people!

Before I end this post, I want to share some of my favorite kitchen cleaners. I absolutely love the Mrs Meyers soaps and all purpose cleaner, and I've recently discovered the Method degreaser. The degreaser made cleaning my stove and oven a breeze! I am adding link on amazon where you can find these products, but if you would like to check out Grove, I am also including my referral link. If you try it out for a couple of months, you get free shipping, as well as a bunch of other free cleaners for just trying them out. I am not sponsored, but I really enjoyed trying out more of these natural based cleaners, at an inexpensive price point. I think it's worth a try, even if you just do it for the 2 months they give you for free!








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Monday Motivation: Tackling the Kids' Bedroom

Kid's rooms are so difficult to keep clean and organized. As soon as you clean them, they are destroyed 5 minutes after the kid enters it again. I have tried to make sure my son cleans up after himself, but I had let it kind of go the last couple of weeks.

A fussy baby had me focusing on the front of my house and ignoring the 4 year old tornado blown room. When we decided to upgrade our son's bed to a twin size, it was time to tackle the beast.

This picture was taken about 20 minutes after starting and I was about ready to throw all his toys in a trash bag! Thankfully I had somewhat recently set up a cube organization system, and that helped with knowing what needed to go where so that everything could fit back in the room (neatly!) again.


Since Little Man's room is small, I knew some of the big toys had to go. We've decided the tool bench can be a playhouse toy, instead of an inside toy. A diaper box and a trash bag worth of donation toys later, and the room was finally looking better.

An empty room is so satisfying!! 

While looking for a new bed, my in-laws mentioned an old metal bed frame that was in storage. It had been in storage for many years, and I was nervous about it's condition. However, it was a beautiful painted red, and besides a few dings and scratches, in great shape! It was perfect for Little Man's superhero bedroom and perfect for our budget too!

Here is the bed with the cube units. Finally everything has a place, and everything is in its place. Once books or toys don't fit we take out that category and figure out what needs to be thrown away/donated. And when I say 'we' I mostly mean me. Sometimes I do get my 4 year old involved, so he knows how to sort through his own toys. If he was allowed to make all donation decisions, he would have an over crowded room, though!

Note: One of the cubbies was in the living room at the taking of this picture.

I really love my sons little superhero room. I love it even more now that more history has been added. Not only is the chifforobe from my mom, when she was little, but now this bed is my husband's uncle's when he was little. And to complete the history, are the two rocking chairs: one from my childhood, and the other my husband's grandmother's when she was little.

Hope this inspires you to organize your own kids room!

Remember:

Kids don't need every toy they've ever been given. 
Just keep the toys that they've played with in the last few months. 
Get storage that your child can keep up themselves!

Here are some of my favorite organizational pieces!

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How I 'Try' to Keep the House Clean

"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:" Ecclesiastes 3:1

This was a scrapbooked chore chart I made for myself, shortly after I started teaching piano. It worked beautifully with my schedule, and allowed me to know at the end of the week that my house was clean and tidy. Then came along little man and this chore chart stayed up on my refrigerator as a reminder of how much I could get done in a day. I struggled to get one load of laundry done, and to keep the amount of dirty dishes to a minimum. Things like clean bathrooms and mopped kitchen was a luxury that I got to do on the weekend (most of the time!) while my husband watched our newborn. 

But you know, that was okay. For those first few months, as I discovered motherhood and a new skill of multitasking, it was okay that things were a bit dirty. Little man grew and I grew in my ability to clean while he napped, set up activities, and again, to multitask. My chart and schedule was so consistent before, but now looks something like this:

Daily:

Clean the Kitchen: There is no schedule for this, however, I try for the earlier the better. When Little Man is happily playing in his room, or taking an extra long time eating his breakfast, I load the dishwasher and wash the dishes. Little man loves to help me unload the dishwasher when it's time, and I make it into a game. 

One load of laundry: I load up a basket before my shower, since the hamper is in our bathroom. After my shower I then take the basket into the laundry room, and start the wash. I take yesterday's finished load on to the couch to be folded that afternoon. Technically I'm always one day behind, but I find this is working the best for me right now. 

Straiten Living room, and pick up toys: I do this about 30 minutes before my piano student comes in, since doing it any earlier would mean more time for my son to get all his toys back where they were before. Even if all else fails during my day, I try for this one thing. I never want my students complaining that they have to practice in a messy house!

Do one chore in my bathroom: Little Man still plays in his activity bouncer while I shower, so I have a very short window to gather a load of laundry, clean my bathroom, and shower. I choose to do one thing, the counter, toilet, shower, etc. so that everything gets done at least once a week. I know for some this isn't often enough, but it works for us. 

15 Minutes of De-cluttering: I follow this lady's de-cluttering calendar. Right now it is in the Kitchen, so I do it while I'm cleaning my kitchen. 

Not so Daily:

Front Bathroom:While Little man plays in the bathtub, wipe down that bathroom's sink and toilet (while keeping a sharp eye on Little Man!).  Since Little Man bathes every other day, the bathroom gets cleaned that much. I like for it to be done often since it's the bathroom my students and guests use. 

Sweep and Mop Floors: This, unfortunately , gets done sporadically. While I try to sweep often, my mopping goal is once a week. This chore, I wait for a golden opportunity, and go for it. It's getting easier to work in, because Little Man loves the broom and mop! He loves to 'help' mommy.

Organize and clean Little Man's Room: I am not as consistent as I should be with this. I do it when it gets too chaotic for my liking. This should probably be on my daily list!

Vacuum: Little Man hates the vacuum cleaner! 

Monthly:

I am trying to be honest here, so I am doing just that. I am a bit embarrassed that both of these are on this list. 

Dusting: This used to be my household chore when I was a kid, so maybe that it why it's so hard for me get motivation to do!

Guest Bedroom: I have my in-laws in about once a month, so I take one week out of the month, and try to focus on it. Sheets, bathroom, and straightening. I should probably do the bathroom more often, but it hardly gets used, and so far has worked for our family. 

I still haven't gotten in to an extra deep clean, once-a-month regimen. I try to take a couple of weeks in the spring and fall and do some of that. Now that Little Man is older, it's easier to add something like that.

Schedules can change overnight. The key is to step back every once in a while (I normally do this when I get too overwhelmed. It's probably best to step back a bit before then.) and see what needs to be tweaked and changed. Don't worry that you don't feel as productive as you used to, just figure out what works best for you and your family. 

Do you keep a chore 'schedule'? What does it look like?

Homemade Cleaners in the Bathroom

Once Little Man arrived, I started thinking about cleaning with homemade cleaners-both for the price, and for being gentler chemically wise. I still use disinfectant wipes to clean bathroom counters and to wipe the toilet, but I use a homemade cleaner for the tub and the toilet bowl. Here is what you'll need

• Vinegar
• Dawn (I use Walmart brand with the same results)
• Baking soda
• Sponge wand

That's it! and you can use these same ingredients for other purposes in the house as well, for example: I clean the sink with baking soda, vinegar, and a sponge that I use for only that purpose. 

Another tip: I use baking soda that has been sitting in the fridge for a while (as an odor blocker), and thus, is getting close to being replaced. This way, I get double duty out of it before it gets thrown away!

To clean the Tub/Shower:

Pour a half and half solution of Vinegar and Dawn into the sponge wand. Shake to mix, and start scrubbing! Note: It helps if you let it sit for a bit in the applied soap, and then scrub again after 5-10 minutes. Rinse and enjoy your clean shower!

To clean the Toilet Bowl:

Sprinkle baking soda around the bowl, and pour an already half and half solution (I put it in a spray bottle without the lid) around the bowl. Scrub right away if you have a pretty clean bowl, let it sit if it's not. Repeat process if your bowl is exceptionally dirty!

And there you go! What homemade cleaners do you use? Do you make your own cleaning wipes/solutions? I would love to hear about it! If you have a lot of cleaners you make yourself, and would like to pass your knowledge on, I would love to feature you in a blog post! Just comment your email or if you are Facebook friends, then just private message me.