OO2, 1st Day of School & some CTMH goodness

hello hello!

Today marks day #2 of Operation Organization (OO2) in my humble little home. The clutter bugs are going to loose this battle....I will prevail {insert evil little laugh here}. My journey began yesterday with about 10 loads of laundry...2 more to go today and I will be caught up...mission #1 - complete.

Mission #2 - armed with my trusty trash bags I am going 1 room at a time. Just picking up and putting away - moving things to the room that they actually belong in and throwing out stuff that no longer needs to be in my home. Stay tuned for more updates.

Today was the first day of school here. K & J are going to a new school this year as their small little neighborhood school closed down at the the end of the last school year. It was old, but it was small and it was home. They are now in a much larger school - but I am sure they will be happy. This is a pic of them walking to the bus stop with the neighbor...K looks so big next to the boys.

and here is the gang at the bus stop:
So with the kiddos off to school...I must get to cleaning, organizing and making life easier around here.

But first, a little CTMH goodness....

The new Idea Book will go live tomorrow and it is filled with great artwork and new product. I will have a link up tomorrow for you to view the book online. But wanted to share some sneak peaks courtesy of some fabulous consultants who have thier act together (and money in their pockets...). You can view all the sneak peaks starting here with TazzyGirl2000 and follow along with the sneak peak blog hop.

This month's special is Everyday Celebration - a card kit collection free with the purchase of $60 in stamps. Wendy did a wonderful job creating the cards in the kit - so please go check out her blog for some inspiration.

And...last but not least, the monthly Stamp of the Month blog hop kicks off tomorrow. There are over 60 consultants participating (I had to sit this one out this month). For some inspiration on how to use September's fab SOTM start with Jenna on 9/1.

Off to complete my OO missions....

Tracy

Invasion of the Clutter Bugs!

Have you ever noticed that clutter seems to multiply? I mean, it isn't that I keep adding to the piles (no I wouldn't do that), they mysteriously grow...right under my eyes. It isn't only the one little pile that I "will get to later", soon that one is a mountain with another peak forming right along side it, with a competing mountain range across the room and yet another (or four) in the next room. Is it too much to ask to just be able to enjoy being in my home? To sit down for dinner without cleaning off the table? To watch t.v. without moving mountains of laundry or the entire re-enactment of Indian Jones movies in lego form? Well, I guess so.

I have read books, many books, magazine articles, blog posts, etc about getting rid of or at least controlling clutter. Honestly, for every method I put in place, the clutter seems to come back - double, even triple, it's original size! I just can't win.

So....I am not perfect - there, I said it, I am not. I am not going to strive for perfection - because I am too inpatient and perfection is too far off. I want the perfect house (at least perfect to me), beautifully decorated, impeccably clean, organized and comfortable. A place everyone can relax, but still be able to find things and have a sane mother/wife. So...to me, that goal is perfection. Instead I am going to settle for the road to my definition of perfect, I am going to tackle one pile at a time, one corner at a time, one task at a time, one room at a time, and maybe, just maybe I can redefine my level of perfection and reach a place where I am happy.

So I will settle for clean (not impeccably, but clean), organized and clutter free...which will lead to happiness, comfort and sanity! The beautifully decorated, well that will be one room at a time because some major overhauls need to be done in some areas of the house - but I can work with what we have until we can afford to have the professionals called in - although if I don't get rid of this clutter fast we will be calling in a whole other kind of professional.

So off to tackle today's chaos - the mudroom and then one pile...just one.

Go out a try to have a stress free day!

Tracy

CTMH August Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Welcome to the Blog Hop for the August Stamp of the Month! I am so happy to be participating this month and I love this set. Today we are featuring It's Your Day, which is a set of 26 stamps. If you have come here from Kami's blog you are on the right path, if not you might want to go back to Jena's blog to start from the beginning...but don't worry - no matter where you start you should be able to circle through all the blogs.

This month we have 64 Close to My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this month's SOTM and other great CTMH products on their blogs. If you are new to blog hops - it is real simple, just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move on to the next one.

Grab yourself a fresh cup of coffee, sit back and lets go....

My card today was inspired by a card I found in stamp it! cards 2008 by Julia Stainton:

Supplies (all CTMH): Stamps: It's Your Day, August 2009 SOTM D1352 Paper: My Reflections Level 2 Boom-Di-Ada X7095B, Buttercup CS 1271 Ink: Olive z2137, Hollyhock z2128, Buttercup z2110 Accessories: Mini Medley Accents Autumn Garden Collection Z1119 Finished size: 5 1/2" square

Now hop on over to the lovely Karen's Blog to see her incredible work! Be sure to visit all the consultants at their blogs to get those inspirational juices flowing...and remember to leave them some love to let them know you where there!

Remember this great stamp set is only available until August 31, 2009. Contact your CTMH consultant (or me if you just happened upon this post by accident) to see how you can get this stamp set at a discount or even for free!

Happy Crafting!

Tracy

If you get lost on the hop or find some links that are not working here is the complete list of participants:

Jena DeVries
Kristie Horness-Herdener
Carla Ironside
Deb Young
Alanna Moses
Paige Dolecki
Wendy Kessler
Heather Painchaud
Helen Onulak
Barbra Otten
Haley Dyer
Nona Davenport
Michelle Robinson
Cindy Leek
Melissa laverty
Katy Donaldson
Amy McVey
Tammy Lea Pinchard
Leslie markland
Judy Burger
laurie R. Newton
Kami Welter
Tracy Oleksak
Karen Norman
Chris Shouse
Cibele Glazer
Debra Van Patten
Terrie Dodd
Jamia Bankhead
Anne Beck
Jennifer Patrick
Laurie Levnik
Lori Miller
Brae Montgomery
Dawn Ross
Dawn Slipcevic
Barbara Harris
Carol Taggio
Jill Lucas
Chris Green
Nancy Ball
Dawn Heuft
Kelly Triggs
Beth Naumann
Antoninette Herrin
Jessica Booth
Jen Rubio
Misty Jackson
Adeline Brill
Lori Leng
Pam Klassen
Pamela O'Connor
Jennifer Royal
Caren Goldsein
Shannon Pelletier
Sherry Thompson
Maricar Harris
Traci Godbee
Laura Dame
Miranda Kurz
Leisa Hubley
Julia Menseen
Jan Moxey
Jody Gustafson