Wardrobe

One of the biggest things we miss in our home overseas is the neatly concealed closes that we had in the States.

Here, we only have a wardrobe.

And though Narnia makes them sound all magical and like portals into a fantasy world, ours, is not.

More like a portal into a world where clothes and toys overtake every inch of a 2 by 4 by 6 box. Please, step into my sand filled horror world.

Last week, we were off of school for our Easter break and one of my goals was to get Grace's wardrobe under control. I didn't have the forethought to take "before," pictures, but here are the "afters" of an afternoon's endeavor.



1. Grace's Easter bunny from my parents plays "If You're Happy and You're Know It," and it claps its hands and flaps its ears. Grace can see it from the changing table and she lights up every time we turn it on.

2. To the left of the wardrobe is where all of our baby gear is stored. Infant tub, bouncy seat, play mat, and several bags of clothes to pass on to other families.

3. The left side of the wardrobe is where we keep her "fancy" clothes (read, do not send her to day care in these clothes,) and her extra clothes.

4. The top, right side is where we keep some toys.

5. The bottom, right drawers are where we keep her bed linens, towels, and burp cloths.


6. At the top I have stored Grace's shoes, hats, and head bands, in flat storage containers. On the right side is our travel diaper bag (it is huge!) stored with other infant gear.

7. On the far left of the hanging rack, you can see a garment bag. I tied off the bottom and cut a slit in the side, and it is where I store all of the matching bloomers for the dresses.

All of Grace's "fancy clothes," are on hangers. I had a hard time with this batch because she has been given SO MANY clothes. It is such a blessing but also a struggle as I try to get her in everything before she outgrows the size! Also, on the far right of the rack, I have a hanging bag with all of her swim suits, rash guards, hats, and flip flops.

8. On the bottom of the wardrobe, you can see our pack-n-play and our storage containers for Grace's past and future clothes, arranged by sizes (newborn, 0-3, 3-6, 6-9, 12-18, and 18- 24 months.)This whole side was wasted space before, as I had been keeping 3 of the storage containers here. Now it is making for some great toy storage!

9. The top shelf is for all of her infant toys. The cans are formula cans that I spray painted and taped off the top to prevent cutting on the edge. These were all part of a bean bag toss game for Grace's 1st birthday party but I repurposed them to hold her rattles, blocks, animals, and such. She doesn't really use these toys any more but on a day when she is really bored I can easily pull out a can for her to explore.

10. The middle shelf is for all of her "later," toys. They are either toys that I have picked up at an amazing discount (like a wooden dollhouse family or a Melissa and Doug bowling set,) or are toys that have been given to Grace but she is not ready for them developmentally (Fridge phonics, ball drop, bath tub boat/fishing set.) These are all just set aside for when she is ready for them- like having our own in house toy store.

11. The bottom shelf is for her "now," toys. These are toys that are appropriate for her developmentally right now, but perhaps she needs assistance or modeling with them (the baby doll or the bag of Arabic books,) or they make alot of noise and we don't want her having access all the time (can of musical instruments, singing snail with blocks.) These toys are for when we are playing with her and can spend some time showing her how different toys are used. She has her normal toys out at her level and she can access them whenever she wants but it makes these even more special when we can pull out something "new" and play with her!

I'm really glad I got this project done this week. I was able to cull out alot of clothes that I want to pass on to another family, and also weed out the clothes that another family lent us but aren't season appropriate or that Grace has out grown. Considering we're moving in two months, this was a good first step to organizing and slimming down on Grace's things!

I'd love to see how you keep yours or your kids clothes and toys organized!

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Wardrobe

Just Plan On It!

I'm your typical, Type A, "Planner."

Not that I don't love moments of spontaneity, but day to day living that is well planned out and well thought ahead makes me very comfortable and very relaxed.

Living moment to moment {for every moment} or not having a full handle of what is coming up and what I need to accomplish leaves me stressed and anxious.

So, for the last 6 years I have been a user of a planner.

A very specific planner, that is.

The summer between my Junior and Senior year of high school, I attended the first of three levels of Student Leadership University, where they introduced us to Franklin Covey daytimers and their organizational system.

We were gifted a beautiful black planner that had part of SLU's motto on it {Five Years from now you will be the same person you are today, except for the People you Meet, the Places you Go, and the Books you Read. SO so true.} and a year's worth of pages.

I used it off and on my Senior year of high school, but mainly to keep track of my babysitting jobs and church responsibilities.

I started college and everyone was buying the 8x10 university planner but I knew right away that was an inferior product. So, I went online to order my refill pages and gasped when I saw the prices. Ridiculous.

So, there lay the problem. Once you are aware of a "gourmet," product, the cheap version just won't do it for you. I soon wandered into the planner aisle of Target and all was redeemed when I found that Franklin Covey produced a generic version of their pages for Target!

I bought those filler pages for the next four years and continued to use the black shell for my planner.

The year we moved all over the place (in 2010 we moved to Florida, Virginia, Vancouver, and the Middle East,) I went shopping with a family friend and picked out a new, slightly larger shell (Fire engine red, thank you,) and used that "slim" version for the year.

2011 dawned and I found myself on the other side of the world, with, sadly, no access to a Target.

My sweet mother in law, knowing my disposition and penchant for planning, went and picked out a beautiful new shell and filler pages for me and mailed them to us for Christmas.

And that, my friends, is the very long story of my "Covey," planner.

Everyone has their own system, I am sure, or at least their own lack of a system. Some use post it notes, scraps of paper, plain notebooks, or whatever planner that strikes their fancy that year.

This, is a look into what my system looks like:

Introducing, Bubble Gum Pink Covey:

Isn't she beautiful? My first one zipped shut, my second one didn't stay shut at all, and this one has a cute little clasp. I definitely like this one the best, since it stays shut and doesn't let papers fall out, but it doesn't make the loud "zipping," sound that my first one made.

Zipping noises prove to be quite the distraction for children and adults alike in classroom and work settings.

Or in church.

Or in the movies.

What? I remember things that need to go in my planner at weird times!


Open her up and you'll see this:
1- Behind the cover flap I store pieces of paper that I haven't filed or filled out yet. This was my Fetal Movement chart for my doctor that was ridiculous. One hour, three times a day. I'll admit. I did it twice and then just filled it in for the rest of the month with rough estimates.

2- Payments for various things that need to be made. Though I don't usually carry our cash around and I don't really pay our bills here, I am unofficially in charge of making sure we have the correct change to pay our cleaning lady who comes in and vacuums and mops for me.

3- There are slots for business cards but since people don't really use business cards that often, I put some key verses on mini index cards. I need to switch them up, but I keep forgetting to!

A Typical Week is laid out like this:
1-The top 2/3 of the page is broken up in half hour increments and is used to schedule your day. I am not that busy of a person, so class or church are usually the only things that get "scheduled," unless I have a meeting or Dr. appointment.

2- 1/6 of the page is broken up in a cute little to do list, with a place for check marks and everything. *Sigh* This is my catharsis.

3- The final 1/6th of the page is labeled "Notes." which I use for various things. This semester I am using it to keep track of how many hours I study and how many hours I use my Arabic out in the community, for reporting purposes.

The second half of the week is very similar:

1- On the Friday To Do list portion, I usually put a few chores that I want to accomplish that week. Apparently that week I wanted to "Install a toilet seat, clean our second bathroom, and clean off the balcony." FYI, that balcony never got cleaned off. ha! See? To Do lists don't master my life...I master them!

2- On the Saturday/Sunday to do list, I try to think of a few "honey do's," that I talk to Ian about at the beginning of the week. He'll tell me if they are unreasonable expectations and I edit accordingly. He works on them throughout the week and I get the joy of checking them off. Everyone wins.

3- Since we live thousands of miles from...well...everyone, I have a hard time keeping track of who I have kept in contact with. On the right side of the "Notes," page I keep track of who I have called/skyped with and who I have sent an email or facebook message to.

A close up of the To Do list system:

1- Pretty simple really, a check means "finished."

2- An arrow means "I didn't do this on this day/week and I have put it on an alternative and later to do list." There's also the potential for an "X," but I try to avoid that because "X's" still scream failure to me.

I'm working on it.

There are TONS of extra little pages at the end of the planner: An Address book, Menu Planner pages, Shopping lists, recommended book and movie pages, website and password tracking pages, much more!

The back inside cover has these two features:

1- A Clear zipper pocket to store those loose pieces of paper that you don't want to misplace. I keep coupons, appointment cards, and brochures here.

2- A notepad for various, you know, notes. The best little lesson I learned at the original organizational lecture was the pitfalls of using different pieces of paper to keep track of things. This can lead to lost or misplaced notes and then missed appointments or things. Having this pad of paper for jotting this miscellaneous notes that can then be moved into the various monthly or weekly tabs! This particular note was a list of nursery/baby items that we needed to purchase before Grace's arrival.

Well, that's just it. If I've scared you with this little corner of my mind, I'm sorry! Hopefully, though, some of you can identify with my need to be organized and well planned out!

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Just Plan On It!