Spring Cleaning - Outdoors

Here in Northeastern New Jersey we've had a true spring. 

The temperatures have stayed mostly cool with just a handful of days with warmer temps. This past Saturday was the first weekend day when the weather was warm and we were home to be able to "work" the yard. 

This spring the weed cover in the flower beds around our home took on the appearance of a blanket. Thankfully we decided to make the yard work a family work project. All hands were on deck and required to put forth a good effort.

In the front of our home, we have 3 bushes - 2 small pines and another small shrub.  The smaller shrub never really developed correctly so we decided this spring to remove it.

Dave decided to have Emily lend her strength in the removal of the small shrub. She did a great job!! Dave did help with the positioning of the shovel but the effort was all Emily. Go girl!!

Matthew and Emily helped in taking the sad shrub to the yard debris bag. 

About 5 1/2 years ago, we had our underground oil tank removed. Due to its location in the front yard, we had to have our Japanese maple tree removed. Sadly, our oil tank issues didn't end there. The tank had a small leak (the size of the top of a pencil eraser) in it so, we had to have the soil remediated. Then we had to have a well put in so samples could be taken over a period of time to show that the soil was "okay". After those two processes were completed, a report was sent to the state, which sadly did not make it prior to the state changing its soil level requirements. Once again, the soil had to be remediated. Why do I tell you this story? So you are aware that for those 5 1/2 years we have not touched this side of the house in regard to sprucing up in fear of a new dig having to occur. Finally, we did get our seal of approval and this spring we took action. Dave created a new bed around the pine and under a portion of the windows on that side of the house.

When it comes to manicuring the beds, we love the look of black mulch. It makes the light color of our home "pop". On Saturday, we mulched the front and on Sunday Dave mulch the beds on the side of our home.  Now, it is time for color. We are planning to add a birdfeeder post to the one side of the picture window and a birdbath in the area next to where we removed the shrub. Also on the docket, some potted flowers and I plan to paint the front door this spring. It is currently green, the new color is called Spanish Tile, an amazing deep red. 

Things came together nicely and I am happy to report that our temperatures are staying on the warmer side of 60. 

Day Three - Living Room Redo

I decided to give the kids a break today from spring cleaning and did a job on my own. 

When it comes to my home, I love change and one of the easiest ways to create change is rearranging furniture. Now, most people change their furniture layout only occasionally and some have limitations due to the way a room is laid out. I have limitations when it comes to my living room - fireplace, TV connection, sliding glass door, etc. - but this doesn't keep me from changing things around.  

This time I placed the love seat in the middle of the room making two areas of access to the sliding glass door which leads to our back patio. With summer coming, we spend a lot of time out there. 

The sofa was place in front of the windows with an ottoman being placed in front of each sofa.

We have two tables in the living room and I changed the location of these also. I put the smaller one in the back of the room and the other at the end of the larger sofa.

With the room rearranged and in order, all I have to do is wait for Dave to get home and see that same smile he makes every time he walks in and another room of the house has been changed.  

Maybe later today the kids and I will go through their clothes but if not we will save it for another day. I am just glad to be sitting in my newly arranged living room soaking in the rays pouring in through the windows.  

Day Two - Basement Completed!!!

Yesterday was day two of our spring cleaning effort here at home.

We have a half finished basement which serves as a toy & video game play room, homework, laundry & workout area. Because this room serves so many functions it is important to keep it as organized as possible. 

As the kids have gotten older, their choice in toys have changed direction. No longer are they interested in multi piece systems - their interests tend to be in Legos (boy & girl), trains, cars, etc. Lego's are the most dominate. Every spring we go through and purge the toys that aren't being used or of interest. 

The kids did an awesome job! As you can see from the picture, the basement is very clean.  Here are a few more pictures of our efforts.

This is the "hallway" that is designated as the toy storage area.  I told you Legos dominate.

Here is a view inside the hallway & the storage shelf that holds all the other toys.

Emily is my little organizer and without any advisement on my part she decided to label the toy bins and areas. 

So happy to check off another cleaning task on our spring cleaning list.

Day One - Kid's Rooms Done!!

This morning at 10 a.m. the cleaning began here in the Wessel house.

Emily was on her own. Her room tends to be very clean and organized already so little supervision is needed. Matt, on the other hand, needs my assistance to stay focused and actually make decisions on what to keep, donate and trash.  

As you can see, things always get worse before they get better. We were able to get through all Matt's toys and books. The only thing left to do with both kids is to go through their clothes and see what is needed for the upcoming season.

Here are a few pictures of what we accomplished today.

Matt's closet while in the process of cleaning.

Matt's closet after.

Matt's room when our work was completed.

Emily's room when she was finished with her spring cleaning.

Emily's closet

It is so nice to have their rooms so clean. Tomorrow we are headed to the basement to tackle the toys, DVD's and Wii games.
Oh and we continued our tradition of "milkshake Monday" taking a break around noon. Of course, our little outing also provided me with a much needed cup of coffee.

Day one of spring cleaning was very successful.  Just hoping the kids keep their cleaning momentum for at least one more day.  Hoping to get in some outdoor work this week too. Tune in tomorrow to see what new tasks we accomplished. 

Spring Break.....Spring Cleaning

This week is spring break for the kids and for us that means time to clean! 

When the kids were younger, I would deep clean while they were in school. Okay, mainly for Matt. Emily definitely inherited my cleaning, organizing gene. For the last two years, I've had the kids involved in the cleaning process. 

So, what will this week's cleaning entail? It means first in their rooms we will go through clothes in their dresser and closet, toys in bins and the closet and all of their books. As you can see from the picture, Matt is in major need of a cleaning intervention. He has more of a hoarding gene which I have no idea where that comes from.  

We will also tackle the basement/play area. Toys, books, DVD's and Wii games are going to be sorted through and organized. One thing we will be doing this spring cleaning that we have not done in the past is washing walls. We are preparing for the painting process that will be occurring in the weeks to come. On the painting docket: Matt's room, kitchen, hallway, dining room and staircase area. There is nothing like a new coat of paint or color to make things fresh and new!

We start our cleaning tomorrow but I don't want you to think that I am all business. Each day I have a fun activity planned to offset the work and I am hoping by Thursday and/or Friday we will have a special date to celebrate the work we accomplished.  

With the recent institution of daily chores, we have tried to explain to the kids that this is their home too and that we all need to work together in its upkeep. There is a wonderful feeling of accomplishment when you participate, working together to complete a task. This is something I want the kids to understand and strive for - the good feeling of working hard. Not looking for a reward but just knowing that they completed a job well done.  

So think of this week as we are cleaning and I will keep you apprised of our progress.  Oh, and I have a feeling a large garage sale will be happening in the next few months. 

A New Order

I've been meaning to get on here to blog but my days and nights have been filled with a flurry of activity.

Monday I started a new cleaning schedule as suggested in this book "The Good Wife's Guide" by Darlene Schacht. It seemed pretty straightforward and not as labor intensive.

A few tasks are done every day such as making sure beds are made, dishes done and laundry. Then throughout the day, you complete three 10 minute "tidy sessions" and one "shed your junk" session. Each day has a main task......Monday, the first day of the week is the bathrooms - my most disliked task!!! Tuesday the bedrooms, Wednesday the kitchen, Thursday grocery/errand day and Friday vacuuming and mopping all floors plus cleaning any common rooms that haven't been completed. Saturday is for outdoor yard work, garage and car clean up.

Sunday is church and family day.

I was excited to start it and even after a very full week (with one day and the weekend to go), I'm still pretty happy with the schedule.

Here is my issue which I'm sure all of you are well aware of my issue.....I can't just do things on a small scale.

The bathroom day was pretty straightforward. Did I like it....not in the least!! LOL!! I was able to spend my afternoon cutting the materials I needed for a banner I have to complete by Friday for a bridal shower. Oh, did I mention that I spent up until 11 shopping for cutting blades for my Cricut so I could cut above said materials. Cleaning started later than what I wanted but it got accomplished!

My big issue came on bedroom day. One of the things I love that she suggests in her book is that the bedrooms should be clutter free and havens for rest. Well, I'm not a clutter person but my book collection has grown and my dresser top was getting a little over taken by things. So, I was determined to clear things out. Our bedroom alone took me most of the morning. Boy, that doesn't sound like it should be that big of a deal but I failed to mention that this "decluttering" led to cleaning out the linen closet, my entire bedside table and the storage area behind our bed. I was able to do a quick dusting and vacuuming of the kids rooms....thankfully their rooms were still intact from the deep clean we did during winter break.

Yesterday was the kitchen...once again I couldn't do it small.... I ended up cleaning out all the drawers, the snack area and the cabinet above the fridge. Relocated some small appliances. Of course, I had to reorganize my cookbooks located in the dining room cabinet and because I had a few in the storage cube in the living room that became a cleaning target also and the rest of the books located in the living room. I told you I can't do SMALL!!! I did get time before getting the kids to do some more work on the banner - which I completed while the kids were at AWANA last night and delivered this morning.

Today I did the grocery shopping, ran a few errands then came home to work in my craft room. I have some "undone" projects that I wanted to get working on and I started cleaning out unneeded scrapbooks now that I will be doing Project Life.

So, as you can see my days have been filled and my nights well lets just say homework and dinner.....that pretty much sums up the evenings.

I do think this new schedule will get easier after all sooner or later I will have simplified our home so much I won't be able to go BIG!!! Yeah, right ......I'll always be going big if not in my home, someone else's.

Mr. Clean Is Back!!

Matthew is a boy after my own heart, he loves to clean. This morning he had another "moment" of cleaning. He pulled out the Wet Jet and felt the need to mop. This is a new Wet Jet.....I had to toss the other as it seemed that in addition to spritzing it was leaking cleaning fluid out the bottom. When Matt pulled it out of the closet, he noticed it was different and said "mom, I love the design on this".

I just pray the design continues to fuel his desire to clean!! Thank you for your service, little man. ;)

Mr. Clean

All the cleaning and organizing we have been doing over break has brain"washed" Matt into doing more cleaning.

Yesterday, I heard a bunch of spraying so I called for Matt and this is how he entered the living room - gloves, sponge, Windex and paper towels. He decided the trucks in his room needed a little "spring" cleaning too! I had no intention of stopping him!! Keep cleaning little buddy!!

Room #3 - Living Room

I just couldn't stop with the kids rooms... I had to take it to the rest of the house. The living room found a new "look" this afternoon. Just a few shifts of the sofas and the end tables and viola a whole new look. I know it seems foolish but even this small of a change makes me happy!! Who knows what will happen the rest of this winter break.

Room #2 - Emily's Room

While I was working with Matt "spring cleaning" his room, Emily was busy working on her own room.

The funny thing is that Emily's room pretty much looks this clean all the time except for when she is in the middle of playing. When she is done, she puts everything right away.....you'd never know that she was playing in there.

It was nice though to have her take charge of her own "spring cleaning" - she even dusted all her furniture and shelves. All I did was run the vacuum after I vacuumed Matt's room.

I so love clean rooms!!!

Room #1 - Matthew's Room

Today we decided it was time to do some "spring cleaning" during winter break.

Matt and I went through all the toy bins in storage shelf and then his closet. The finished product looked awesome.... now if only it can stay that way for a while.

Matt tends to love to bring out all of his toys but struggles with putting them away. I thought that if he helped me "organize" them then maybe it would encourage him to keep it clean. Tomorrow we will be heading to the basement where his LEGO collection is "housed". It will be a little more work!!!