"If All The World Were Organized"

If all the world were organized, my mission would be complete;
I'd trade in all my chaos for a life much simpler and neat.

There'd be order in my household from the ceiling to the floor;
Containers in every closet and dividers in each drawer.

I'd wake up every morning with a smile upon my face;
There'd be a place for everything and everything would be in place.

No more searching for a stamp and no more hunting for a pen;
My bills would all be current, unlike 'way back when.'

The kids would be contented, they'd play joyfully in peace;
Their nagging would diminish and their helping would increase.

My workspace would be tidy, not the past chaotic mess;
I'd increase my productivity and minimize my stress.

No more clutter, no more chaos, my life I now could manage;
For all the world would be organized to everyone's advantage!

~Audrey Wilkerson, organizer, writer, extraordinaire...totally kidding, but I DID write this little ditty while my husband watched some old military movie that he thought I was "watching" with him. The joy of multi-tasking! Please feel free to share it with your organizing buddies and be sure to include a link to my blog. My website should be up and running next week. Be on the lookout for www.madetoorganize.com! :)

A Blast From the Past

I was reading back over a year's worth of posts on my "mommy blog" with my friend Ashley and I decided to post a few of my favorites. It's funny how well you can relive certain moments when they are recorded in detail. I laughed just as hard reading them as I did living them. I hope you enjoy them too.
~audrey

Let's Do Two-Player!

I'm guessing that every household with children has some sort of evening routine. Our's mainly consists of dinner, family time, baths, brushing teeth, a story or two, and off to bed (for the kids that is). The last thing that Joshua and Jesse do before bed is go to the bathroom. Now, sometimes we have a hard time getting Jesse to use the bathroom. We usually get responses like, "I don't have to go!", " The peepee's not coming!" , or my all time favorite, "My peepee is not working!" However, one night after being instructed to go potty before coming to bed, my husband and I heard Joshua say, "Come on Jesse, two-player!" We both looked at eachother from the living room couch and jumped up to see what in the world that meant! As we made our way down the hall and into the bathroom, we saw the boys standing on either side of the toilet, each peeing into the bowl at the same time. Apparently the object of the game is to quickly get to the toilet and whoever finishes peeing first, WINS!
Now you will never hear of two girls doing this, for obvious reasons. But I think this tops the fact that girls always go to the bathroom in twos. No more making fun of us! At least we don't use the same stall at the same time!
My boys never cease to amaze me--or humor me. However, this two-player "game" does get Jesse to empty his bladder every night before bed, so I'm forced to say, the game must go on.
~Audrey

Just Babysitting!

A few weeks back, Ashley and I dared the shopping world with all six kids. It must have either been close to nap time or lunch time; both seem to release the inner beast in any child. Well ours' were being particularly loud, embarassing, and disobedient that day and I wasn't about to claim those crazy kids at the register as I checked out. The cashier smiled and asked how I was, as if she couldn't tell by the blood vessels in my eyes and steam coming out of my ears. I forced a smile, rolled my eyes, and whispered, "Thank God we're only babysitting!" I completed my purchase, rounded up the animals and said a quick, "Just kidding, they're all ours!" on the way out the door! If nothing else, it gave Ashley and I a good belly laugh on the way to the car.
~Audrey

Scheduling Children

I have about a million titles in my head of things I'd love to write about, but I'll stick with the most recent to save me time and hope to catch up later.
As in many households with children, the summer tends to be chaotic. Every morning brings the usual questions of "what are we doing today, when are we leaving, what is there to eat..." Oh the list is endless for a four year old. As a parent, you don't want the summer to slip away, which it inevitably does each year, feeling like your kids vegged out in front of the TV or at the pool all summer long. Each summer I set goals for myself and my kids and never seem to get around to any of them. Life is just so fast paced that it is sometimes a challenge to think further ahead than today. Well as I prepared for the new school year and a new season in our lives (homeschooling), I ordered some books from the Maxwell Family (www.Titus2.com). They are a fascinating family with eight children. Mrs. Maxwell has been homeschooling since 1982 and their family is madly in love with the Lord. On top of all that, they are financially brilliant. Their two oldest sons have already purchased their first homes with CASH and they live debt-free. Their books have been a total God-send. The first one I read was "Managers Of Their Homes". This book is primarily for homeschool families or families where Mom stays home with young children. The pupose of the book is to equip you with knowledge and tools to create a schedule for your family. Now, you may be thinking, "well my family is already on a schedule." Trust me, if you haven't read this book, your schedule CAN be improved drastically. Every person that stays home during the day has their own schedule on the "Master Schedule", even the babies. From the time Mom wakes up in the morning until the last parent goes to bed, your time is accounted for. This may seem extreme, but I felt so liberated as I finished my family's schedule and saw just how productive we could be even if we only stick to half of it! Think about how much time you waste during the day, cleaning up unnecessary messes, disciplining bored children, and even sitting at the computer. When you make your schedule as directed in the book, you schedule time for EVERYTHING. When the children are changing activities every thirty minutes or so, the fighting magically disappears (for the most part) and they actually engage eachother in imaginative play and interaction. Well, my schedule says Mom should be in bed at 10:30, so...Goodnight!
~audrey

Mount Washmore

As I piled the laundry high on the office floor today, I folded it a little at a time and began making nice little piles on the freshly vacuumed carpet. As I finished folding certain things, I would put them away. Towels were the last to be folded. I guess I should start folding it all in one sitting because everytime I passed the office, I noticed my piles were destroyed and had to continually refold the same stinkin' towels. Once...twice...three times annoyed!!! Finally I finished the last few towels and put them all away. Laundry...CHECK, Dishes...CHECK, Kids in bed...CHECK! Now I have about two hours before I'll go to bed and do it all again tomorrow! As a fellow blogger put it so eloquently, it's all about "discovering the holy moments in the midst of the mundane."
love it.
~audrey

One Month Down

Well my kids and I officially survived our first full month of homeschooling. Public schools here didn't actually start until August 11th, but we decided to get started on August 1st. I figure if I stay as far ahead as possible, then I'll have a little room to slack off around the holidays or when we just have bad days! It has been very liberating to know that if we have an "off day" and don't get any school done, we can make up for it tomorrow! It's been so nice to have the freedom of doing school when it works for US. Some days, Joshua wakes up earlier than the younger two and we have the opportunity to do school early by ourselves. Other days, the younger two wake up before Joshua and we end up waiting and doing school around 10:30 or 11am when I put Owen down for his nap. Most of all, I've learned that our days go the smoothest when we stick to our thirty minute activity changes and the TV stays off. I just finished my lesson plans for the month of September and I've already learned so much about what I'd like to do different next month. I think we're going to survive after all.
~audrey

Heavenly Closet Space

My husband finished my logo and the design of my website last night (we were up til midnight!). I am SOOOO excited! This is a long time coming and I'm looking forward to all of the fun and challenging projects ahead! I started on Ashley's master bedroom/closet last week and should be able to finish up this afternoon, but I decided to tackle a closet of my own last night after putting the boys to bed. We have what is known as the Game Closet. Unfortunately, it contains much more than just games. The closets in our house are very strange and are divided not in half but like 2/3 on one side and 1/3 on the other. They are very deep and not practical because once you put something all the way in and put something else in front of it, you can no longer reach the thing in the back...anyways, I digress! I emptied the side called the "game closet". There were quite a few misc. sheets that don't get used but a few times a year and really don't belong in that closet (they should really be in a space bag). I used the top shelf for misc bookbags and diaper bags that don't get used all that often and put the board games in front of those. The next shelf has my acrylic paints (nicely labeled), a container holding my candle items (tea lights, tarts, wall flower refills), and about 15 of my scrapbooks. The next shelf houses all of the kids' puzzles, a cute basket labeled "game pieces and playing cards"...as a side note, I got SO tired of finding game pieces and candy land cards all over my house, so I got rid of quite a few game boxes and put their pieces in their own little ziploc bag labeled for the correct game, and the game board itself now slides right onto a shelf and only takes up 1/4" of space as opposed to the HUGE box it originally came in. Now all of the pieces and cards are organized and in one specific basket. Also on this shelf is a nice stack of coloring books. I put the puzzles and coloring books where the kids could not reach them without my help. The reason for this being, they are not allowed to color without permission because "the baby!" and I got really tired of three puzzles being out at one time and none of them were put back together completely, thus you lose the pieces! My kids LOVE puzzles, so we want to take care of them and make sure we keep all of the pieces where they belong. The next shelf holds two nice little containers labeled, "Playdoh" and "Ribbon and Rubber Stamps" There was a LOT of "STUFF" in my rubber stamping container, so I emptied it, organized it, and put it back together nicely...there is a picture below. In case you can't read it, the bags are labeled: jewelry making, rubber stamps, ink pads, alpha numeric stamps, and ribbon. All the way in the back of this shelf are a few bottles of bubbles and some sidewalk chalk...I suppose they really need a shelf in the garage! And finally the bottom shelf. The boys have a container with astronauts and spaceships and also a cute little basketball game that fit on the shelf nicely and the pieces remain inside. I prefer to keep NOTHING on the floor below the shelves because I don't like CRITTERS OR INSECTS! YUCK! Also included are some pictures of my hall closet that houses our linens, towels and three sets of drawers labeled: first aid, pediatric first aid, nail supplies, craft supplies, party supplies, personal toilettries, school supplies, office supplies, and baby items. It was already nicely organized so I thought I'd add the picture. It's SO nice to open a closet and know exactly where to find something or where to put something back. I challenge you to pick a closet and ATTACK! You can buy shoe box size containers at the dollar store for, yep you guessed it, one dollar! And of course I absolutely LOVE my label maker. But if you don't have one, another fun way of labeling is to print out your label titles on white computer paper and mount the label itself on scrapbook paper for a really pretty finished product. Happy Organizing! Be sure and check out the Organizing Junkie and her "Monthly Organizing Round-Up"
http://orgjunkie.com/

~audrey




"Before"




"After"











"The Linen Closet"

Fail to Plan and You Plan to Fail

I've heard my pastor say that many times and it makes complete sense. When we are in those seasons of life when we're flying by the seat of our pants and hoping for the best, that is when we're most open to failure and disappointment. By nature, I am a planner. I have notebooks, notecards, sticky notes, and day planners that help me "plan" my every moment. However, by failing to plan, we set ourselves up for inherent failure. Just as we would never travel to a place we've never been before without a map, why then would we go throughout our day to day lives without a "map", or plan of action?
This week is going to be particularly busy and challenging for me...the control freak. My husband is having his gallbladder out on Wednesday. All three of my boys are spending the night with my parents on Tuesday night and then my mother is bringing them back on Wednesday and spending the night with us Wednesday night in order to help me on Thursday. As a result, I have to make sure Joshua is caught up (and preferably ahead) in school, my housework is completed, meals are planned, if not already prepared, and everything is in order so when my husband comes home from the hospital, I can put it in auto-pilot and focus on taking care of him. I could never succeed at this if I did not have a plan in place.
I think I thrive in situations like this. I do my best work in the "pressure cooker". Last night, for example, before I went to bed, I had my lesson plans laid out, my house cleaned, my to-do list completed and ready for Monday morning, and my espresso machine was armed and ready to fire at the push of a button. :) As a result, I am now sitting at the computer 'blogging' about it. It is 6:30am, I've already gotten the first several things accomplished on my Monday list and I'll be waking Joshua in the next thirty minutes or so to begin a day of 'double school' in order to stay ahead. Plan, Plan, Plan! It has been said, the weakest ink is better than the strongest mind! Everyone forgets from time to time, so why not take ten second to write down your thoughts and plan out your day? You'll be much more productive in the long run.
~audrey

"...Slap Yo Momma!"

Have you ever heard the saying, "...so good, it'll make you slap your momma?" I never really understood why you would slap your momma because of good tastin' food, but if ever there was a food good enough to slap yo momma, I made it today! I felt a little ambitious as I woke up Saturday morning and pondered what to make for breakfast. With a house full of boys, Saturday morning breakfast is a big deal. I decided I was finally going to try Paula Deen's recipe for homemade cinnamon rolls. What I didn't realize until after I got started, was how long it would take! From start to finish, it is about three hours! Don't get me wrong, they're worth every minute of that time. However, I didn't get started until 9am! SOOOOO, while the first ball of dough was rising, the family went to McDonald's for breakfast! :) Now, 1:30pm, I just pulled the finished product out of the oven and iced them to perfection. Here are a few pictures of the process, the finished product, and of course a link to the recipe. I think it would be a great recipe for the holidays, but make ahead of time and freeze the rolls after they rise, before you would put them in the oven. Then, the morning of, you could just throw them in the oven for about an hour. Save two hours of work that morning!
This is what the dough ball looked like before the first rising:









A picture of the glaze, which still needed a few more teaspoons of hot water.






And...***drum-roll please***...the final Masterpiece!









P.S. Do you like my forty-year-old, avacado green, drop-in stove? I must say, it still works like new (except for a few settings on the stove top). If it ain't broke, don't fix it! Or in my case, if it ain't broke, don't replace it! :)
And here is the link: good luck!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/cinnamon-rolls-recipe/

~audrey

Saving the World, One Room at a Time

Well today marks the beginning of my first REAL project/job since beginning my business. Ashley told me she had a few things/areas in her house that could use my help. We decided to start in her room and closet because every woman needs for her "space" to be a peaceful, inspiring, organized escape from the rest of the world...and sometimes from the rest of her house! We began by emptying her closet of everything except the hanging clothes. This made for some mass confusion and disaster-like piles all over her bed and floor. We then began sorting...piece by piece, we threw away trash, made a pile for Goodwill, separated things into catagories that will soon have a home of their own in some new, labeled containers, and put many things back where they belonged in other areas of the house. Why is it that we all have those kind of rooms? It seems like every house has a room that ends up catching all of the "things" that belong somewhere else, but no one has time or motivation to simply put it back in it's home? Whether it be an entire room, a closet, or just one junk drawer; I challenge you to set your timer for 30 minutes and commit yourself to emptying that space and finding an appropriate home for everything in it. Even if it means buying a few new containers, baskets, or rubbermaid drawers. It is SO worth it to come back into that space, or open up that closet and take a breath of fresh air because you know exactly where to find what you need. Not only that, but it's much easier now to put things away when you're finished or you stumble upon something that doesn't belong where you found it. It now will only take you 30 seconds to go to that container, basket, drawer, etc. and put it where it belongs. A place for every thing and ever thing in it's place!

We are 75% finished with Ashley's room. When we finish completely, I will post before and after pictures. Happy Friday Everyone!
~audrey

Why I Can Do What I Do

As I talk on the phone, check my email, watch TV, read books and magazine articles, I’m more and more convinced that I have the best husband in the whole world. (sorry ladies! :) He is the hardest working man I know. He wears so many different hats. I don’t even know how he keeps up…well, yeah I do, its called ME, his personal day planner and reminder. But all joking aside, he’s quite an amazing man. He gets up early to make chocolate milk for the boys, while letting me sleep just a few more minutes. He gives all four of us kisses ‘good-bye’, but not before grabbing two bags of trash to take outside when he leaves for work. He calls me at lunch to see how my day is going and to check on the kids. While at work, he’s patient and kind; always a good friend. On occasion, he has to leave work early so he can get to church in time to lead worship. Afterwards, I have countless people approach me to tell me how much of an annointing my husband has for leading the congregation in the most intimate time of worship. I always agree, knowing that is what he’s called to do. In the evenings, he comes home from work and we have dinner as a family. He helps me do dishes, or at least brings them all to the sink or dishwasher. He helps me give the boys a bath and brushes their teeth. Once, I asked him to put the boys in bed while I took care of the baby, and when I went to kiss the boys goodnight, they were all three on the floor playing “Rescue Heros.” How could I complain; he was spending quality time with the boys, and they would never forget that. After all the boys are asleep, we sit together on the couch and watch our favorite shows before calling it a night. He sits and listens to me as I tell him about my day. He thanks me for little things like cleaning the house, and having dinner ready when he gets home from work. I never feel unappreciated. If, in the middle of the night, Owen is crying and I have already fed him, Josh will get up and rock him back to sleep, allowing me to stay in bed. He loves our children wholeheartedly, and when I’m nine months pregnant and as big as a house, he tells me I’m still the most beautiful woman in the world. But that is only part of what makes him so amazing. He is also a son, brother, and friend. Josh has a little problem with the word no. He NEVER uses it. Sometimes that bothers me, but most of the time, it just makes me appreciate how willing he is to help others. He’s quite a ‘handy man’ and will leave the house at the drop of a hat if someone calls and needs a strong back or a roof patched. He’s a prayer warrior and will stop what he’s doing to pray for you if you ask. He’s selfless, always asking the Lord to show him the way in which he is suppose to be leading our family. On top of all this, he’s a very talented and creative graphic designer. His work never ceases to amaze me and he’s often offering his services free of charge to friends and ministries who can’t afford to go the ‘normal’ route to developing a webpage. After all is said and done, six o’clock comes and goes, church is over, the children are in bed, dishes have been done, and it’s just me and him, I smile and I thank God that he created me to be Josh's helpmeet, friend, confidante, and love… did I mention that he’s HOT too! I’m a pretty lucky girl.
I’m sorry Josh, if this embarrassed you, but I want all the other wives out there to know that they’re wrong… I HAVE THE BEST HUSBAND IN THE WHOLE WORLD. I love you babe.
~Audrey

One Bite At A Time

I'm sure many of you have heard the old saying, "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!" Well that old saying can apply to so many areas of our life in terms of priority and organization. Today, for example, I had about thirty things on my "to-do" list and almost half of them were home school related. I'm determined to stay on top of school with the boys during this first semester so we will have a great start under our belts by Christmas. As I sat in the waiting room at my doctor's office this morning, time was ticking by and I realized I would normally be sweating bullets by that point because of all the valuable time I was wasting just SITTING waiting for my turn to be seen. Luckily, I thought ahead and brought my household notebook (including my lesson plans) and one of the books I'm currently reading. The book happens to be "Homeschooling with a Meek and Quiet Spirit" by Terri Maxwell. One of the chapters was on...of all things...Organization! The chapter was full of great information, but one thing stood out to me above everything else. That is the concept of moving on to a new thing every thirty minutes. This is especially helpful, not only for your household projects, but with children in general. Most people function better on a schedule, and when you're changing your activity every thirty minutes, you never really have the opportunity to get bored or burnt out on any single activity. My boys have certainly responded well to this concept and I've found that I've been much more productive this way as well! Our kitchen timer was set for 30 minutes today and I was amazed at how much I got accomplished during those thirty minute segments (when they weren't committed to helping the boys with school). For example, in the first thirty minutes after lunch this is what I did:
washed lunch dishes by hand
put three loads of laundry away (that was a miracle in itself!)
cleared off and reorganized my "junk table" in our office
swept the kitchen
made more sweet tea (that's my fuel!)

When all was said and done, I was at the doctor's office for two hours. However, by the time I left I had finished my book and double checked all of my lesson plans as well as the rest of my to-do list. By the time I got home, I felt rejuvinated and completely prepared for the rest of my day.
~audrey

The Smell of Success

Even more than the smell of clean babies or the sight of sleeping children, my favorite thing to see and smell before I go to my room for the night, is a fresh, clean kitchen. The scent of pinesol and dishwashing detergent, and the sight of a neatly organized kitchen and dining room promises a GREAT morning, no matter what life throws at me! When my kitchen is clean, I can handle ANYTHING!

This is my 'wall of fame.' My dear friend Ashley Bailey, of Baby Feet Photography took these pictures of my boys. Joshua is five, Jesse is four, and Owen is one. They are my heart and I happen to think they are the most beautiful boys that ever lived.

And Thus Marks the Beginning

I've begun a new chapter in my life and the life of my family. After years of searching and exploring my different realms of creativity and giftings, I believe I've finally found my niche.
Before I go any further, let me give you a little history to go by...
...For as far back as I can remember, I've loved for things to be clean, neat, and tidy. As a child, I can remember having friends over and I would follow close behind them as they explored the things in my room. As soon as they put an item down, I'd be right there to put it back EXACTLY the way I'd had it. I was always rearranging things whether it be a tape collection (yes, it was before CDs were ever invented!), books on a shelf, or my entire bedroom suite. As a young child in elementary school, I could move my entire bedroom suite around my room until I was pleased with the placement of each piece. When things were to heavy to push or pull, I would get down on the floor in a sitting position and use my legs to push my heavy dresser to another wall. I'm not sure that my mom every actually had to tell me to do my chores. I liked for things to be clean, so I kept them that way on purpose. In my younger married years (I married when I was 19 years old), my husband would FREAK when I was making supper and I'd already be spraying the counters down with bleach, BEFORE putting the food on the table. I've since changed my ways, slightly, and lightened up a bit. It used to drive me nuts when people would do things for me, because although I greatly appreciated the gesture, I knew I was going to redo what they did as soon as they left. I didn't do this on purpose. I was a control freak and I didn't know. Once again, I have loosened up on the reigns of my control as I allow God to mold me into the Helpmeet I was created to be for my husband. However, as I've loosened up, I've also begun to discover different giftings and areas of enjoyment that I haven't always seen as positive attributes in myself. For example, when my husband and I bought the house we live in now, I began cleaning a few houses and offices (two of each to be exact), to lighten the load of our new mortgage. Now, I absolutely cherish those six hours a week of cleaning for someone else who doesn't necessarily have time to do it themselves. In addition to cleaning, I love organization. I enjoy emptying a closet or a drawer and getting rid of things I don't need and organizing the things that belong. A place for everything and everything in it's place. I love little Rubbermaid bins, finished off with a freshly made label, sometimes mounted on scrapbook paper...ahhh, I smile as I write it! Slowly, people began to comment on how well organized I was. Friends would tell other people about my scheduling, lists, and organizational ideas. Finally, a few weeks ago at dinner with several other ladies, someone made the comment that if I ever started a business, she'd be my first client. Ah-Ha! What a great idea!! I should be a professional organizer! And so here I am. My dearest friend Ashley gave my business the name "Made to Organize." The purpose of this blog is to chronicle my journey into the world of business ownership and Professional Organization. My next steps will be purchasing my business liscence, my husband is going to design my logo and official website: www.madetoorganize.com and I will complete some course work in Professional Organization and become a member of the National Association of Professional Organizers. Wish me luck!
~Audrey