We have been very busy this week with our summer cleaning.  I want to get the house clean and in order for the new school year.  We have worked very hard all week and we are starting to wear down.  I had an ambitious goal this week of deep cleaning the entire house.  Thankfully we live in a small house.  (The only time I'm glad of our small house is when it's time to clean.) 

Here is our ambitious to-do list for the week:

Monday - Clean the boys room, clean Elizabeth's room - this included going through toys and getting rid of broken toys or ones that were not played with.  We also had to clean up the rest of the house from the weekend!

Tuesday - Kitchen - We scrubbed the front of all the appliances and cabinets.  Cleaned out from under the stove and all along the baseboards.  Cleaned out three cabinets and the "catch-all" drawer.  Cleaned the top of the fridge and dusted the ceiling.

Wednesday - Scrub bathrooms and the hallway floor. 

Today - I plan to clean up my bedroom.  My room is where we put everything that doesn't have a place of it's own.  I also plan to clean up the laundry room.  Actually, I confess, I should be working on my chores right now, but I'm using blogging as an excuse!  

Friday - I plan to clean the Living room, dusting, sorting, cleaning knick-knacks, etc.   By the end of the day tomorrow, the entire house should have had a thorough going over, except for the windows. 

Here is our Plan of Action:

On Sunday, I made a check list for each room.  We set the timer for 15 minutes and work with no water or bathroom breaks for 15 minutes.  Then we stop for 2-3 minutes for drinks and potty breaks.  We work like this for 1 hour and then we take a 15 minute break.  After 2 hours we take a longer break for lunch or snacks or what-have-you.  This has worked very well, and we've only taken about 3 hours each day to complete our checklists.  I have given leeway for the younger kids to be able to take more breaks and for Elizabeth (2) to completely opt. out of cleaning if she wants. 

I admit that housekeeping is not my strong point, but I've been convicted recently by this verse:

"Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands."  Proverbs 14:1

I've also begun memorizing Proverbs 31.  As much as I don't want to admit it, I believe that if we are to be the wives and mothers that God intends us to be, we need to improve our homemaking abilities.  We know that there is lots of info out there to help us with this, here are just a few resources that I've tried:

Flylady

Managers of Their Homes (MOTH)

Large Family Logistics

I'm sure there are plenty more out there.  I still haven't found the perfect fit for me.  I am currently trying a sort of combo of all three of the above.  But I think that my most powerful weapon is prayer.  The Lord wants me to be a successful homemaker so that I can be a good wife and mother.  I admit that I've often overlooked prayer as the source of power I need to get everything accomplished.  I encourage you to try prayer!  Ask the Lord for the wisdom and strength that you need to get your house in order!  Be a "Wise Woman"!

~Linda~