Decluttering: Week #2 - The Pantry

This is week Number 2 of the Decluttering Challenge.  I feel like I've done an okay job of keeping up...although, I'm a bit behind on the timeline.  For example, last week, I only cleaned out my pantry.  I did not work anywhere else in the kitchen.  Why?? Because I was still so busy trying to finish Week #1's goal - kid rooms!!  In fact, my sweet husband and mother-in-law allowed for me to have one entire night here in my home last friday night.  By myself.  I looked at my calendar and since the beginning of Sept, I have only been alone in my house one time.  So, My Sweet took the girls to a hotel overnight to swim (and eat at IHOP, play at the park and have TONS of fun) and my MIL kept the little ones.  I worked very hard.  Matt took the laptop with him too - so no distractions ;)  I was too busy working and I didn't take any pictures.  

Anyway...back to the pantry!!  I went through everything in the pantry - tossed the old, made room for the new, swept the floor and tried to reorganize a bit.  Here is my progress...

These are the BEFORE pictures...

This is a bit messy...stuff all over the floor.  

A close up of the messy floor!!!

Disorganized shelves....

The AFTER pictures....

The finished product...

I added a little stackable shelf to keep misc items on - choc chips, pudding, food coloring, random little things.

I used a couple of red ziploc containers to hold all of my extra seasonings.  These are what do not fit into the drawer of seasonings I have next to my stove :) 

Here are my little freezer boxes that I added labels to.  These are where the kids can reach to get their own snacks. 

Another snack bucket on the bottom shelf. 

This is the floor.  No longer a big mess! I put ziplocs, napkins, freezer bags in the wicker basket and my leftover sauce jars in the wire basket.  I know I will need those for something...right?!?!?

My potatoes and onions.  I found this cute little basket at Hobby Lobby a long time ago.  

This is a shelf of things I have put in jars - I have painted the lids red.  Cupcake liners, rice, seasonings, sweetener.  

My pantry is actually still a work in progress.  We recently received some extra shelving we are using in our garage to store canned goods on.  That is where we keep the extra ketchup, peanut butter, etc.  Maybe I will post pics of that when I am completely finished...that is definitely still a work in progress.  :)

A Trip to The Zoo

We took a trip to the zoo today since the weather was SO BEAUTIFUL!  The kids had so much fun!  Of course, I brought my camera along so I could practice taking pictures.  Here are some of my favorites from the day.  I posted a few more on my other blog:  http://photosfromoklahoma.blogspot.com/ 

Libby is such a big helper with Violet - she loves playing with her. 

Violet enjoying lunch with the big kids!

All the kids on our trip...

Libby and Colt....

The kids making a dam in the waterfall....

She was very excited to see the turtles....

Lunch Time!!

Decluttering: Week 1 "Kid Stuff"

I'm posting my progress for my participation in the "Decluttering '12" Series from the Simple Mom:

 In the spirit of full disclosure...not all of this work was done this past week.  Some of it had been done the week before...but I'm still going to count it.  :)

I've realized...there is a LOT of Kid Stuff I need to organize (or RE-organize) in my home.  I just simply could not get all of the projects done in one week that I wanted to do.  (i.e. the homeschool closet, the play/school room, Phil and Vi's closet, the game shelves).  So...I guess I know what I need to work on in the future!

Anyway...here is the work I DID get done.  I've been SO HAPPY with the results.  I KNOW the girls have. Plus, they have been doing GREAT about maintaining their room.  

So...here are the BEFORE pictures.  I'm almost too embarrassed to show them to you.  But, I will.  We have simply let the toys get out of hand.  They weren't being put back in their "homes" and chaos ensued.  

Wanna See???

This is just what I see when I walk in the door.  Stuff everywhere....

Stuff all over the floor.....

The problem with the closet is that their clothes were all on the top rack.  The didn't originally start out this way.  And everyday I would have to go get their clothes for them before they could get dressed because they couldn't reach.  Well...they are 8 and 6 and they need to be dressing themselves!! 

This is me just throwing all of the random stuff into the middle of the floor....stuff from under their beds, the closet floor, the cabinets...so I could decided if it needed to go to the trash, donate or keep....

Here are the AFTER pictures.....Look....you can see the floors!!!

A newly organized closet.  The bottom rack is full of play clothes.  The kids can pick out whatever they want to wear most days.  I let them choose.  I refrain from feeling like I need to tell them to match.  I'm letting them express themselves.  I do, however, have their nicer cloths on the top rack.  There are certain days that I get to pick what they wear when we need to look a little nicer ;)

I tried to take a pic of the top of the closet.  Those are buckets from Target that I labeled...we have a Polly Pocket bucket, A Barbie bucket, a My Little Pony bucket, a "Misc" small toy bucket and a Pet Shop bucket.  They know they can only have one bucket at a time.  They have to clean up everything from one bucket before I will get a different one down.  

They have organized their beds and their all of their "babies".  AKA stuffed animals.  BAB's.  Dolls.  

We were just so happy with the end results.  I think they girls really enjoy their room more when it is clean!! They play in there and they feel more relaxed.  I know I do!!  They have to start cleaning it up at the end of the day before bed...so far, so good!! 

Tornado Alley

I took Madeline to see Tornado Alley at the Omnidome Theater at the Science Museum of Oklahoma.  It is the opening weekend so they had several different trucks and radars from OU on site.  The movie was very interesting.  Madeline and I really enjoyed it.  She really liked talking to the meteorologists and students that were there explaining the equipment.  She was even lucky enough to sit inside one of the vehicles - she thought that was pretty cool!

She thinks that she might want to be a "weather girl" someday. 

They explained that this was their newest radar and it has not even seen a tornado yet! 

My Adventure In Canning Strawberry Jam

I recently made my very first batch of homemade strawberry jam the other day!! I felt so domestic. And I felt so nervous.  I'm so thankful I had the Pioneer Woman to walk me through.  Every step of the way.  I couldn't have done it without her.  Well, her blog, actually.  But I like to pretend that she was standing here in my kitchen cheering my on :)

I have a Ball Blue Book of Canning.  However, the PW's blog had a lot of pictures.  Those pics really helped me.  I'm a visual person.  

So...this post is more about my adventure through canning.  Definitely not a tutorial.  I barely made it through myself.  But I did it.  I had 9 jars as my reward.  I was so excited.  And it turned out VERY yummy!!  

Here are my yummy strawberries.  Crest had them on sale for $1.99 for a two pound package.  

Thank you Ree.  Your help was so.....well....helpful.  ;)

Here is my brand new water bath canner.  It was a birthday gift from my MIL.  For Christmas she bought me a pressure canner.  I can't wait to use it.  One day.  Baby steps.  

The ingredients. 

Yes.  That is a tiny little sliver of butter in there.  The Pioneer Woman told me to do it.  So, I did.  She is a smart lady.  I don't question her.  ;)

Yep.  That is a LOT-O-SUGAR.  

Strawberry yumminess...before I scooped the goo off the top.  

Ready for their water bath.  I wanted to take pictures of the steps of me getting the strawberries into the jar.  But it got a little messy up in here.  And I was concentrating SO HARD on getting the jam in there without making a big mess.  And making sure I left 1/4inch of head space.  Yep.  I was nervous.  

After they cooked in the water bath for about 15 minutes at a CRAZY boil, I took them out.  Let them sit undisturbed overnight.  And here are my beautiful, yummy jars of strawberry jam.  If you are special, I will share one with you.  ;)  Oh...and don't you just love the red gingham lids with the white rings??  I found them on sale at WM.  If the jars are cute, the jam will taste even better.  Right??