The HCHC

What's HCHC you ask? It's quite simple really.

"Holy Crap Holiday Clean-up"

Every year at this time we look around and say "boy do we need to go through things".  This thought results in a massive clean-out and organization of practically every square inch of our house. This year's progression into the HCHC was more subconscious than ever before... here's how it happened:

1. Pinterest. Need I say more? Ok, I might, just a bit. I came across a post that gave a daily breakdown for each week of things to do to keep your house clean- super simple and easy to complete- will easily become habits.  I added one or two things to the list and printed it.

You can find the original at the Gaddis Family Adventure blog

  2. This morning I got up and decided that everyone who says they're going to "start it Monday" never does... so I decided to the plunge!  

3. Completed my three morning tasks. Yay!

4. Felt a sudden spur of excitement thinking "since we've been tossing the idea around... how excited would Brian be if he got home & I had the kids dressers switched?!"

5. Needless to say, the boy had yet to perform disaster recovery from the tornado that had clearly struck his room. He was charged with getting all of the "stuff" out from in front of the dresser and out of the path I would need to get it to the door and emptying the drawers.

6. After much pushing, shoving and groaning, I single-handedly had the dressers switched. 

Woo-hoo!

But it didn't stop there...

7. Seeing an opportunity to give the boy even more space to play, I suggested we move his bed before repositioning his toy box back into his room. Motion approved!

8. Now that the bed was moved, we still had that pile of clothes he had taken out of his drawers. *Light bulb clicks on above my head*

9. Taught the boy how to check sizes and had him try on questionable items. 

About halfway through his fashion show I realized it had happened. I had officially initiated our family's "Holy Crap Holiday Clean-up". 

Mental cheer for motivation!

10. "Good" clothes folded and put away in their new home, the boy continued his work on the disaster that was his closet.

11. Lather, rinse, repeat in the baby's room, adding to the donation pile that was steadily growing in the loft.

12. Discovered I had an audience...

 

13. The boy shows off the immaculate work he did in his room. I'm impressed!

14. Vacuum his room.

 

15. Eat lunch.

16. Loaded the kids' "Sacrament Keepsake" boxes with the baptismal and hospital items previously hidden in the "hidden drawer" on each of their dressers.

17. Here's about where we lost steam for the day... with both kids' dressers full, the loft teeming with donation items, and a feeling of accomplishment... the baby decides it's time for her daily "potty training marathon"- meaning we end up "sitting on the potty" 6 times in an hour. *sigh* 

2pm - momentum officially lost.

3pm - after a good long snuggle, the  baby crashes and finally goes down for a nap.

After the baby goes down, I start a load of laundry and empty, reload and run the dishwasher.

4pm - answer emails, check Facebook and peruse Pinterest (it's an addiction, I admit it.)

Brian is "rewarding" us (well, more like the boy for the awesome work he did in his room) with McD's for dinner.

On the docket for tomorrow:

Family room, living room, finishing touches on the kitchen and dining room.

Our reward: dinner at a friend's house.

We can't wait!