Home on the Weekends: Cold Outside Fun Inside

It's Saturday morning and most us are experiencing some pretty cold weather  I know we are. But you know what?  I like it!  I love Fall and then Winter is a close second.  It's probably because of the family time and the cold weather.  I like to bundle up, hang out with my family and enjoy the Winter season!

But I know Winter has it's ugly side, first thing comes to mind higher heat bills, going out into the cold, and being inside a lot.  We've seen the higher heat bill, I don't enjoy getting out with the kids in the freezing weather ( I do like going out in the cold by myself), and the boys aren't getting their outside time.  Don't get me wrong they want to.  They would brave the cold to play outside, but they come back in with red, chapped faces and little runny noses.

 So I get why people are so ready for warmer weather.  But it's still Winter and you're kids are probably tired of watching the same shows and playing the same inside games, I know mine are.  So here's a few ideas to change things up this weekend...

• Make new rules up for your old board games
• Make puzzles out of card stock or old puzzles 
• Do a scavenger hunt inside
• Break out the big bucket of craft supplies and go to town.  Hello?  Pinterest!
• Make flags (Why? wait for it...)
• Build forts on opposite ends of the house, then play capture the flag 
• Read a book & use voices (I love to use different voices when I'm reading to the kids)
• Cook together kids love to cook with us  & you can make it interesting, maybe use unexpected ingredients & let them choose.  Note: I did not say set them free in the kitchen, I would definitely supervise.
• Hide & Go Seek, yes I said it, we played all the time as kids and you still can

And if all else fails, put your p.j.'s on (that's assuming you're not still in them, it IS the weekend) and turn on a movie!  I personally, love spending time with our family watching movies by the fire and just being together. It's good times.

Got a new game you invented?  Share it!  Have a craft that your kids love to do?  Share it!  A kid friendly recipe? Do tell!  Share your ideas that you've been doing to change things up during these cold days inside!  

Home on the Weekends: Cleaning out the Clutter

 I conquered my very unorganized laundry room this week.  For the last couple of months things weren't really being sorted and I have been way behind on folding!  I still am.  But I can't tell you how much better it feels to be organized in our laundry room.  But I still have a few "Hot Spots" that need to be taken out. To be honest I sometimes feel overwhelmed by them and just ignore them all together.    

So what are the "Hot Spots" in our house?  Our closet or the mound of unfolded clothes, our very cluttered bedroom, and our unorganized bathroom.  So where does one go to find inspiration? Well, I went perusing some of my favorite places or blogs rather and found great inspiration in the way of getting organized and cleaning up our "Hot Spots".   These are some of my favorite bloggers and these ladies have some great creative ideas and I wanted to share them with you!

Living well Spending Less--check out blog here

Get inspired to clean out your closet!  I'm tackling this project & I totally love the simplicity of 40 hangers!  After purging our laundry room, I know we have all these clothes and don't wear half of them.  Especially the kids and a certain man, they all have either grown out of them (the kids) or shrunk out of them (the man).  With the twins I save all of Tru's good clothes and pass them down.  But even those need to be sorted through and put away properly.  Anyone else do that?  Put stuff up, but not put them away?  Well this post covers that too...no more excuses for me, huh?

Musings from a Stay at Home Mom-check out blog here

Need inspiration on organizing your bathroom?  This is a great read to get your creative juices going!  At my house we are notorious for a cluttered bathroom, as I'm sure my husband would probably tell you.  Our stuff is all over our vanity and we even have the room to store it.  I think simple, easy ideas make all the difference.  I can do this one for sure!

A Bowl Full of Lemons--check it out here

Oh my goodness!  I found this post on Pinterest and I'm ready to tackle the unorganized pit that is our bedroom.  After reading it,  I'm excited to get our room organized again.  The thing that I usually do is I'll get our room all organized, but not really decorated.  Honestly, our room is just a bed & a couple of dressers.  It hasn't really changed since we first got married.  She gives great ideas on de-cluttering and cleaning up and then shows you how to use functional pieces, like baskets and other pieces, to organize and decorate.  I was in real need of some inspiration in the decorating department. 

What's your "Hot Zone" in your house?  Hopefully, you don't have 3 like some of us do, but if you do it's great to get inspiration and take action!  That's what I'm doing this weekend taking action.  I know I always feel better when our home is organized and not filled with the chaos that clutter brings with it.  It just seems to make things warmer and I always feel like I can conquer the world with a clean home!