Beautiful Life

It's that time of year

Rush week

Bid cards

A sea of white

Pledging

Pins

Flowers

Excitement

Lifelong friends

Welcome!!!

Inside the Binders

You all are so sweet.  Thank you for your questions and comments regarding my organization system. I have received numerous questions about how I organize my binders so I am going to share with you today. I hope this isn't overwhelming.

1.  Get a label maker - I label everything from my binders to my kitchen cupboards to basement storage. Having a place for everything keeps a family organized.

2.  Figure out what each person needs in his/her binder and label each divider.  I try to keep the binders very simple.  Below I've photographed my daughters binder.  Her main categories are School, Health and Activities. I have five sub dividers for her class list, her school forms/paperwork and her activities which include piano, dance and gymnastics. I keep contracts, instructer information, as well as the time/place of the lesson so that anyone could come into our home and easily see her weekly schedule. If you homeschool/privately tutor you might want include a divider for each academic subject to help keep track of progress.

I always use my label maker for dividers because I can peel off the labels and replace with new ones as my family grows and schedules change.  

 

I use the same format for everyone in our family, including our animals.  I just customize them all for each need.

I also keep incidentals in a pocket in the rear of each binder.  For ERH, I have a permission slip notepad as well as personalized clothing and school supply labels.

Permission Slip - Mom Agenda     Clothing Labels - Mabels Labels

Other Binders - I have a binder for holidays as well as housekeeping.   My holidays tabs are just the general holiday name.  Under each holiday name, I keep a menu, a spending worksheet and anything else I need.  For example, in the Christmas divider I have menus, spending worksheet, holiday card list, event schedule, decor schedule, giving list, volunteer list and baking list.

My housekeeping binder is divided by daily, weekly, monthly and seasonal tasks. These will vary for each household.  

In conclusion, the binders hold the detailed information that the wall calendar cannot.   The wall calendar is for our abreviated schedule and the binders help me run the schedule.  

I hope this helps.  Nothing is ever perfect however, having things organized keeps our household running smoothly.  

Home Organization

The lovely Erin over at Blue Eyed Bride has a link up for home organization this week.  She has an amazing notebook and planner that she uses to keep her busy life together. 

I have a system for organization but honestly, it is a daily choice for me.  And it is not always easy.

I use a small room that holds a wall system so the whole family can see what is going on each day. I keep all things related to organization in this room including my MomAgenda (personal schedule) here.  It works particularly well for me because there are spots for each childs activities and my children are at the point where they have daily lessons and activities.

I also keep my menu planner in the room.  I use a spreadsheet for my grocery list.  I post it and we check off of it as we run low on things so I know what we are out of each week.  I love it because I rarely forget things at the store (photo below posted below). Feel free to email me if you would like me to send it to you.  It really is wonderful.

I use Rusell and Hazel for Menu Planning.  Isn't this a cute menu planning sheet?  I post mine so we all know what we are having each night.  I do not use the "market list" part of document.

For personal things, I use binders.  I have a binder for nearly everything (including house cleaning).  It helps me keep track of everything.  For a while I used one binder but as the kids grew, it became too much to keep it all in one.

I use these Russel and Hazel dividers for my binders.  I love them.  They are pretty, there is space to write notes on each divider and they last.  

Finally, I use a folio for babysitters.  I just pull it out before I leave the house. It has a wide array of emergency contact numbers and maps in it.  

That is how I do it.

Organizing kids closets

This is on my list for this week.  I want to get both kids closets up and running for fall.  Here is my inspiration.  If you have any great sources other than Elfa, please let me know.  

Ballet and Tap

Light pink leotards

tights

ballet slippers

tap shoes

cover ups

recital wear

pile

saute

arabesques

It's all about to begin for Elizabeth Rose.