Flylady.net (Click here to visit the website)

A couple of months ago I joined flylady.net and I've been trying hard to stick to the routines. I know I lack organization and flylady.net helps you build routines that help you become organized AND motivated. If you join the yahoo group you can get very helpful daily reminders emailed to you to keep you on track, but it is optional. I read and delete them each day. Of course I adjust everything to my liking and even though dear Marla (Flylady) loves purple, I (bug) detest that color LOL I think it's because that's my sisters favorite color and I had to be different. So everything I have is either green, blue, or red so that I feel good when I get it out. That sounds kind of Christmasy huh? I'm talking more of a soothing sage green which most of the things in my house are and a nice *pow* red which is a color I choose for clothes to help get me going and feel confident. I have a pair or red tennis shoes that I wear when I'm cleaning and when I'm exercising and they just make me feel like I have super powers or something LOL. I know I get more done when I have them on. Blue seems to be a relaxing color to me and I like all shades of it. It either makes me think of pale blue skies or sparkling blue water or the blue green of the pine trees...... or my dog "Blue" who is actually a tri-colored Beagle. When I look around to see what I bought in blue, I see all of my craft tubs are blue, my bath stuff is blue, my heating pad and other things for relaxing are blue and my favorite papers, pens and the marker that I write with at my desk are blue. Oh, and the very pretty clear acrylic tape dispenser that I swiped from my oldest son is blue LOL I know that color is important, especially for me, and what colors you chose can tell a lot about you. There are personality books based on color choices alone. Anyway, I got a little off track there but I also adjust my routines to work better for me and my family. I've started to make my control journal but it's not just for me but for the whole family. My boys are given chores to do to help keep things in order and I have an extra after school routine and bedtime routines for the boys. I like to use a smaller spiral bound notebook (the cover is sage) with bright sticky notes inside for the boys to take with them to remember what they have to do. I added tabs for them to quickly find what they need. The routines are all in there written in pencil so we can easily make a change until we get it down.



When I started to use Flylady.net I was only thinking about myself. I knew I needed to be better organized but I never thought it would also help my boys. Riley is the one that has benefited the most. His favorite part of Flylady's plan is Kelly's Missions. The home is divided into zones and each week Kelly sends out missions for every day to complete in that zone. When the zone was in the bedroom Riley was thrilled because he could do it too. One day when Riley was home sick from school he told me that I should email "Ms Kelly Fly" and tell her that she should have more missions that he could do. He was so very sweet and I emailed her describing him and how he looked sitting there wrapped up in his tropical fish blanket with a cup of warm peppermint tea and his unicorn book.......and protruding lip LOL I also quoted the little guy because it couldn't have been said any better! I would try to tell him things he could do instead of cleaning light fixtures or dusting the ceiling but he wanted it to come from Kelly in mission form! Well she got my email and I can't believe what she did!!!!! She made special missions just for kids like Riley and they are called Riley challenges!

He was so thrilled when he came in from school and I showed him the email! I wanted so badly to get a picture when his face lit up when he saw his name but my camera had dead batteries. DRATS! The picture I added above shows Riley with his "fishy" blanket. Doesn't he look like an angel when he's sleeping??? When he's not he's more like the Tazmanian devil!! When after Riley read the email he took off to grab his backpack and did the challenge in less than 3 minutes! He likes to set my timer to count up instead of down so he can see how long it actually took. Then in a whirl he was off yelling for his friend to show him the email I printed out.

Here is the email:


Dear Friends,

About a week ago I got an email from a sweet boy named Riley and his mom. They wanted to know If I would send out some missions or challenges that he could do in the house. He wanted some for his room and some for him to be able to help out his mom. The email was so sweet and got me good, which I think was his Mom's intention LOL!

This week we are in the Children's room for our other room in Zone 3, we have included children's room missions in the missions for this week, but in honor of Riley and all the other FLY kids out there, I am going to send out Kid Challenges this week.Let me know how this works out for you and your kids.

Without further adieu let me present our first Riley Challenge of the week!Our very first Riley Challenge is to go grab your backpacks! Sit down on the floor and let's de-clutter those backpacks. De-Clutter means to get rid of anything that we do not need or use anymore! Take out all the papers that you no longer need to have, if you have a recycle bin go toss them there! Get rid of any broken pencils, pens or markers. Any used up, dried up glue sticks? Do you have any Library books that need to be returned? The end of the school year is coming. Are there any papers that you need to give to your parents? Let's set a timer for 15 minutes and see how fast we can de-clutter those back packs! I bet they will be much lighter tomorrow!

Have fun! Thanks to Riley and his Mom for this request - I think we can have some fun!

Love,

Kelly

A soldier's memorial

Please go and read this story link I think I will enlist the help of my two boys for this challenge. Even if they no longer need anything from Alaska it would be good to them to feel they could help in some way. We will get out shovels out later this afternoon and send out a package. My youngest son Riley has always loved rocks. In the summertime you'll find them in all his pockets, his dresser, and in little piles around his room. I'm sure he has a few he wouldn't mind sharing and would love to help in this mission. I can't wait to tell the boys. Jared especially is interested in helping out. He wore a yellow band around his arm in support of the troops until it finally broke one day. I'll have to see if I can find him another one.

Burning candles and time

Tomorrow (Monday) I'll be 35 and I know I can't be as smart as my grandmother was at that age. It seems like it has all gone by so fast and my kids are getting so big.

My oldest son, Jared, is almost 13 and seems like an adult already. He's such a helper and I don't know what I could do without him. He certainly helped a lot with Thanksgiving dinner! I have been so busy lately, between working a full time job and trying to take classes, that I don't have as much time as I'd like to spend at home with my boys. The other day, after I had drug myself home after a day of work and class afterward, he asked me if I would make him some soup. He had gotten out the can, the can-opener, the pot, two bowls and two spoons..... I realized he didn't just want me to make him something to eat and I know he wasn't being lazy because he saved me time by getting everything ready. He wanted me to take care of him and he wanted me to eat with him. He does so much to help out voluntarily that I tend to forget he needs to know that I will still do something for him.... even if he could do it himself. He has been so helpful in taking care of his brother and I knew he deserved recognition for that. I bought him a cell phone last Christmas and he has been using it wisely. He spends more minutes taking to me than anyone else and I'll never cut that line. It's so nice to hear him tell me about his day at school but mostly he just wants me to talk to him.

My youngest son, Riley, has been challenging his teachers again. He has to be their biggest challenge! This fussy boy can't sit still and everything hurts his feelings or hurts his ears or is scratchy on his skin. He doesn't like crowded rooms filled with noisy kids and is constantly getting in trouble for trying to get out of such a situation. He wants to be first in line or the last in line and is always clowning around. He's always so emotional and will tell you exactly how you hurt his feelings. I've been reading a lot of parenting books lately and I hope I'll find something to help me figure this boy out. When he's at home he is so sweet. He wants to go for a walk at -24 degrees to look at the moon and what phase it's in or to check out something else in the sky. He can sit at the piano and pick out a tune he heard in school (although he says he doesn't want to take lessons)....A TV commercial comes on playing a jazzy tune and he's say "come on mom, dance with me." He draws like Picasso and sings like an angel. It seems to me that no one sees what I do in this boy. I really think he's going to grow up to be someone special. I wish people wouldn't feel like they need to mold him into their idea of an average kid. The average kid would probably be sitting inside at -24 degrees, not exploring the landscape and commenting on how the snow glitters like white gold when the moon is out.
Riley will be Riley.....and I've got my hands full.

I guess I've accomplished more than I thought in my life. These boys really are something to be proud of. I just feel like I've lost so much time. I should be more educated and should have experienced more. There is so much to see and do. There are people in their 20's that are in positions over my head. I know it's because I had my kids when most where in college. I know I don't regret having my boys when I did and being home with them when they are little but I wish I could get there I want to without feeling like I can't have time for them now.

Well, I'll just keep plugging along and hopefully I'll have a lot more to talk about before I am 40!