Keep it Simple and Cheap-Shoe Storage

Yikes, Spring is kicking my butt with lots of projects and I have been slacking on posting.  I don't know about you, but shoe organization is always a struggle.  Spring/Summer becomes even worse when there are flip flops, sports sandals, baseball cleats, tennis shoes and more!  I had been in a trap trying to figure out how to calm the clutter.  I finally decided I was over thinking the baskets and cute ideas.  At the end of the day that is why I have an entry closet and these hanging shoe storage options are great and cheap!  Sometimes you just have to remember that simple will do the job too!

Charging Basket

Here is a quick and easy win against counter clutter!  Like many families we have tablets and phones.  I really disliked having them laying on the counter in the kitchen to charge.  This basket is amazing.  It holds an Ipad, Kindle, Nook and two phones easy.  You can force the cords through the back if you want so you have a super clean look.  I got this one at Target, but Home Goods and other stores carry lots of other types.  You could get a wood one and drill holes in the back, but I was looking for something easy and went with this.  It's also a great place to just store them.  No one has to spend time looking for them and I can keep an eye on them since we have a tablet rule of only using them Friday-Sunday.  By the way, that works awesome!  I got so sick of being asked if they could use their tablets and monitoring time and now they know not to even ask unless it is the weekend.  (I do make some exceptions if we have appointments or long drives)  Happy Hump Day!

Target Charging Basket

Iphone Emergency Medical ID

There is always new and useful ways to use our phones, but when I saw this and started using it I had to share.  As a mom, often on my own with my kids I have wondered how someone would get a hold of someone if something happened to me.   Like most people my Iphone is locked.  Iphone emergency ID is a great tool that everyone should consider.  Police, Medics, Random Person helping etc. will be able to see whatever information you want to share.  You can enter; medical conditions, allergies, emergency contacts, blood type and more.  In a life and death situation this could make the difference.   

Below are the steps to enter your information:

• Go to the Health Application on your phone, this is a standard application and looks like a red heart.  
• At the bottom, you will see on the far right, Medical ID.  Click on this.
• Click on Edit on the top right to begin entering your data.
• Make sure you click to "Show When Locked"
• Click Done

Once set up you can go to the Black password page page shown above, hit Emergency, and hit Medical ID  on the grey screen and see what anyone could see without getting into your actual phone.

Take time to tell your kids, so in an emergency they could tell a first responder and better yet tell your friends so they can do this too if they have an Iphone.

Paperwork- "Initial Intake"

Paperwork is always a struggle, the first phase is the "initial intake".  The mail comes in, lots of papers from school etc.  I really can't stand having papers on my counters.  Plus if things aren't kept in some sort of organized fashion it is almost guaranteed that homework, or bills will be lost.  My son gets a packet of homework from his teacher each week and has the week to complete it.  This is great, but means we aren't doing a worksheet and sending it right back.  This wall organizer is perfect for the initial paperwork drop!  We also keep the kids school library books in it so they don't get mixed up with our public library books.  I got this at Home Goods (my favorite place) but they sell them at Hobby Lobby and other stores.  They also have them in all kinds of material if metal, etc. is more your look.  Each of us has a bin.  (If you don't have kids at home anymore you could create categories such as Bills, Magazines, etc.)  The kids know that they have to put papers in their bin and that is where they find their homework.  We have once a week that my husband and I go through the bins if we need to discuss any of the paperwork.  It works great and the bins are small enough that you can't let it get out of control!  Phase 2 coming soon!


P.S.  I need to work on my photography :)  My laundry room where this resides is my least favorite room in the house and I am working to tackle that this spring!  Stay tuned!

Kids Masterpieces, Take a Photo and Purge!

When your first child starts Preschool they start bringing home beautiful works of macaroni art.  You Ooh and Aah over each one and if you are like me, you start saving them.  Goodness who knew they would have a masterpiece EVERYDAY!  So everything starts collecting.  Then you have child 2 and then 3.  They go to elementary school and it slows down but there are still awards, etc.  I could be buried in a pile of "keepsakes".  I am sentimental, but if you know me I am a realist.  Seriously people, no 30 something your old really cares about their macaroni art from when they were 3. Ok, so you still want to keep some stuff and so did I.  So here is my trick.

• I collected all the preschool art I liked.  Each of my kids gets one Rubbermaid Bin.  Once they were done with Preschool I took pics of each piece I really liked.  I threw everything away once I took the pics.  Then I made a Shutterfly book with a pic of their preschool at the beginning, a pic of them and then all their art.  (Shh, I haven't ordered them yet)
• I still keep a Rubbermaid bin for each of them, but if it ever gets full, that is it, so it will force me to continue to purge.   
• If you are truly good, you can take pics and purge as you go and just keep an album on your photo site until you are ready to make the book.

Remember you love your child and what they did,  not pieces of paper!  Happy Saturday!

Cozi

Organization is what really spurred on this blog to begin with, so Cozi is my new partner! A former co-worker and friend introduced me to it over lunch a couple of weeks ago.  Cozi is an app that you can put on your phone and really anyone in your family, a nanny, grandparent etc. can be a part of it.  You have one log in for the app and you share it so you are all seeing the same "site".  So what does it do?  I am using it for To Do lists, Shopping lists, Shared Calendar and more.

Early in our marriage it became clear that my husband is a huge help around the house and with the kids, but he doesn't "anticipate" or "see" what needs to be done.  We both agreed that he just wanted a list.  So I had a paper list on the counter that I would add to when ever I had something for him to do.  This is great until it is phone calls, etc that would be easier for him to do on his drive or at work.  It is also a little frustrating because there are some To Dos that need to be done today and some that could be done this season.  Same goes for shopping, I might have a Target list and need dish soap today, but also need a lamp for one of the kids rooms.  I dont need that today, but I would like to remember when I go to Target to watch for it.  This is where having it on a phone vs. a piece of paper really comes in handy.

So here is the run down of what I love about the Cozi App.

• Its FREE.  You can get an upgraded version if you pay, but I haven't found that necessary. 
• Its easy!  I wasn't looking for something too complicated to start with.  I didn't want too many functions.  
• I can make multiple To Do lists.  We have one for each of us and a shared one of projects we would like to accomplish.
• I can do the same for Shopping Lists.  I have Grocery, Target, Ikea, and a general Home list.  My Ikea and Home lists are ones where I might not be shopping for something today, but it sure is nice when you finally find yourself at that place to know what you thought of 3 months ago that you would like to pick up.
• Calendar, my husband doesn't like having personal stuff on his work Outlook.  I totally get this, but he constantly wants to know for his work travel if we have something going on for such and such date.  I can now have everything on Cozi for him.  I see this being great if you have older kids with phones too!  (downside, I haven't found a way to upload my outlook to it so I am doing double entry right now)
• I used to write my grocery shopping down in sections for where the items were in the store, and I havent found a way to do that with the app.  It hasn't really been a problem though and it sure beats juggling a pen and paper.

So check it out.  I am sure there are tons of other organizing apps out there so let me know if you have one you like to use!