Organization... basically... stinks!

So you work really hard to get your house, your yard, your car, your kids, your head... your WHATEVER... ORGANIZED... but then "something" happens and well... that organization becomes hmmm CHAOS - at least around here it does!!

As school was coming to a close - we decided that we really needed to get the house and jardin (Jar dehnn) ("yard/garden" in french... it just sounds so much prettier that way doesn't it?) cleaned up and ORGANIZED... ooo that word makes me shudder.

So Mr Safety Man started outside and I continued my trek on fixing up the house inside. I got so tired of EVERY SINGLE ROOM being a disaster.

Mr Safety Man actually conned his daughters in to helping, ok not really conned... perhaps bribed? Well it went like this....
MSM: stomp stomp stomp...
Me: what's wrong MSM?
MSM: i'm out there, no help, they're old enough, etc etc etc
He goes back outside grumbling...
Me: "OH GIRLSSSSssss - you would really make Daddy's day if you helped. Remember we talked about responsibility and if you wanted to start earning an allowance..." coax, coax, coax...

And away they went! I was shocked! Then they hounded him how much cash-o-la they would get for each task/bag/etc they cleaned up! And I giggled. I mean come on... he asked for it!!! But they were helping and they were working hard!!! And you know - they did it again the next night without fussing at all! (Now Mr Safety Man really needs to pay them - so they remember the reward of a job well done.)
Faire du jardinage - The yard work:

Hmmm a lil' discrepancy over who does what job...BooBoo doesn't look happy

Almost done raking!

I'll smile only because I'm getting excited to be earning money doing this!

All better... have my own job pulling weeds!!

And Momma? I worked really hard on the inside of the ol' homestead... trying to get things nice again... And I think I accomplished it...It's the cleanest and most organized it's been for ages.

Le ménage- The housework:

Family room - MINUS TOYS!!! Wish I had taken a "before" photo...

Family room into Dining room - what nothing on the catch-all? I mean TABLE!

Kitchen from hallway...where's all the dishes piled up?

Pass thru/kiddos bar - nope not even gunk on the bar stools!

Fly Lady taught me - a clean sink starts it all... and by golly it did! LOVE that I got it to shine again!

Shiny granite! (pun'kin from friends garden and I made pun'kin soup for dinner!!) NO STAINS on stove!

Front hallway from kitchen (on right) down to girls rooms at end...nothing to trip over!

My favorite room currently... our new LIBRARY! smells like books! AWESOME!

ok really - you didn't need to see the girls bathroom - but hey! IT'S CLEAN AND MINUS DEBRIS! BONUS!

Even the front entry... complete with 1 of my shadows MUGSY!

Well I adore our master bath so here it is! I designed it! And begged for this piece! LOVE IT!
See no kiddos toothpaste globs (they use our bathroom ALWAYS)!

Last but not least- I even started organizing the studio and my shelves my AWESOME SafetyMan built me!

Mr Safety Man dared to come in looking like this:

GACK!

...but after I hollered {ahem} asked him politely to clean off his feet first... he was allowed in to the house!


It was heaven. House, jardin, even my studio desk was fabulous. It was so nice to come home to from vacation. But then - coming home from VACATION and unpacking HAPPENED. And how quickly organization and a nice clean house became... yes, I'm afraid to say so - CHAOS!! (and there's NO way I'm posting a photo of what everything looks like now (it's sooo embarrassing).

Now we start again...