2016 - HHP - Week 13 - Entry Space

[Holiday_Mom]

Hi ladies,

We had mid 60 weather yesterday and by last night, the temperature dropped to the 30's and snowed. Earlier today, while out shopping, I noticed that the stores were all decorated with evergreens and red ribbons. The snow flurries started up again. Christmas is in the air!

Here's a link to this week's tasks: http://christmas.organizedhome.com/house-holidays-plan/13-entry-space-week

 

[Holiday_Mom]

Here's what I plan to tackle this week.

This Week's Household Checklist

• Sweep porch. Done
• Windex storm door and side windows. Done
• Clean cobwebs from entrance. Done
• Double check for enough hangers in the closet. Done
• Clean and declutter house using Thanksgiving prep cleaning checklist. Almost done

This Week's Holiday Prep Checklist

• Bring Serving dishes and serving utensils into dining room. Done
• Continue to work through the Thanksgiving Prep checklist. Almost done
• Set up gift exchanges for family. Done
• Do Christmas shopping this week.
• Bring up Advent box on Saturday.
• Send Christmas Eve invitations. Done

Still to do:

• Black Friday/Cyber Monday shopping plan Still working on this.
• Write out cards.

What are your plans for this week?

 

[happy2bme]

"Entry Space" week couldn't be more perfect for us this week. The last of the renovations involves an entry space. It is the entrance at the back of the house and it comes into the breezeway/mudroom that connects the main house to the addition that we built. We will be so happy when this is done. The flooring is down and the walls are up; we need to paint, put up trim and do some finishing touches like putting up hooks for coats etc.

Household Checklist:
complete all work in breezeway/mudroom - done
vacuum front hall closet - done
clean boot trays - done
clean front door and screen door - done

Holiday Prep Checklist:
go over gift lists - done
work on Christmas cards - done
put together package for mailing - done

 

[jollykelly]

Hello ladies!
I have not posted in week, maybe 2, but rest assured that I have caught up and I am plugging away. I really am so grateful for this plan and the accountability. My entry space is in the back of the house and what we call a "mud room". Boy, does the clutter really seem to pile up there. Here are my plans for the week:

• Clean boot tray and shoe area
• Organize DH's hats (does her really need 15 baseball caps in the mud room?)
• Sort through the gloves, hat, scarves bin and see what I can toss (I am most positive that my 14YO DD will never where the Hannah Montana gloves that are still in there)
• Sweep and mop floor
• Purchase Christmas welcome mat
• Start decorating inside

I hope everyone is getting as excited as I am!

 

[happy2bme]

Kelly - your enthusiasm is infectious!!

Glad to hear the plan is working for you and I agree, how many baseball hats do men need to own??

 

[happy2bme]

I have cleaned the front hall closet and given the front door and screen door a good scrubbing.

The breezeway/mudroom at the back of the house isn't as far along as I would like it to be. We had some problems with the pellet stove and two evenings were spent fixing it. I am pretty sure the breezeway/mudroom will be done by the end of the weekend.

 

[Holiday_Mom]

Awesome job, Kelly!

Mel - Two steps forward and one step back, right? November has pretty much been like that here. But we're still ahead of the game in the big picture.

The entry way is ready for company tomorrow. The porch was swept, the doors wiped down, cobwebs knocked down and the glass has been windexed. The coat closet is ready too.

The menu is coming along nicely.

I got some more shopping done and will hopefully wrap them next week. I plan to do more shopping on Friday.

 

[Cindylouwho]

Happy Thanksgiving my friends! I didn't post this week because I was so busy shopping and cooking for Thanksgiving. With Parent-teacher conferences thrown in too. The dinner went well and I am sooooo glad to be at the point of eating it and DONE cooking it! Now figuring out tomorrow's early morning shopping and when we are going to go get our tree!

 

[ejagno]

Monday I was able to get my front porch decluttered and cleaned off once again. I started the décor along the top by hanging lighted garlands between posts on my Acadian style front porch. It's decorated in old country décor this year. I then played catch-up on the kitchen and living room since both seem to quickly fall into disarray. Today after lunch with the family, we hung more outside lights done and it was hot enough to get a sunburn. We have all 4 grandchildren (ages 2, 4, 6, 7) until Saturday evening so that their parents can get all of their "Santa" shopping done. We decorated, watched Christmas movies, ate popcorn and they played themselves out by 8pm. Tomorrow we bake and decorate cookies, decorate Christmas trees and more outside decorating.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

 

[tanya]

Our entry way is a bit different. We have a front entry that nobody ever uses. Once a year I stick a Christmas wreath and some bells on it and that's it! Its only ever used by salespeople that arrive occasionally! And even then I don't actually answer it. I walk down the side to get there. Its funny the habits we have!We have a long side driveway which runs along the length of the house- the garage is at the back. Everybody who comes to visit walks up the drive or drives up the drive to the back door. We also have another back lane entry directly to the pool. It has an entry gate. Lots of people use that- especially Lukes friends and local visitors. So not a lot for me to do this week. Our back door leads directly into our Kitchen. Our formal entry way is rarely used as the only other room down that part of the house is mine. It stays generally clean as its not used. Its been dusted but there was not mush else to do there.

I have to finish my cards and get them posted. I like to post December 1st- no idea why?
Pretty much all the gifts are wrapped. I have a few more to pick up.
The big job is to pick up the last of Luke's gifts- and sort them out. Then I will wrap them all in one session while he is at school. He has far too many so I need to decide what he is getting and what will be held back.

 

[Holiday_Mom]

Cindylouwho - How'd the shopping go? I went out early in the morning. It was very peaceful. I got a great deal accomplished. I'm planning on getting out on Saturday morning to take my children out for their Secret Santa (sibling) shopping. I spent this evening inputting the receipt information into the budget plan to make sure we're on track. I'm going to go through everything again tomorrow and see what still needs to be purchase and if I should do that on Cyber Monday.

Ellen - I'm sure it's fun but exhausting. What a wonderful gift of time to your children you are giving them too. It sounds like a win-win-win situation. I will start to take down the fall decor either Saturday or Monday. I don't know why it seems impossible to me that Christmas is a month away.

Tanya - That is so funny that the front entry way doesn't get used. Before we had a garage, we always used our front entrance. Now it gets used just a bit less. When we park the car in the garage, we just enter the house through the mudroom. Way to go on the wrapping! I hope to get to some this weekend.

We had a nice Thanksgiving. My husband usually deals with the turkey but because he was on call this week, I took over the duties. I tried something I hadn't done in years and that was to roast the turkey the day before Thanksgiving. That worked out wonderfully. My husband was able to carve the turkey the entire turkey in chunk of time. Usually, he just gets the breast meat done for the meal and then deals with the rest of the turkey a day or two later. A few hours before dinner, we warmed the gravy and added the turkey breast. It tasted so good. Clean up seemed easier too.

I saw a number of areas that need improvement and I realized there were areas that I left no directions on how to do. That meant my family was waiting for me to be around for direction. I need to write out a detailed Thanksgiving To Do list so things can get started or finished without me being there. I hope to work on that this upcoming week.

 

[happy2bme]

The breezeway/mudroom are done! The renos to this house are finally complete!



A package that needed to be sent was taken to the post office today and the cards for the MHH card exchange are ready to be mailed. I also got quite a bit of Christmas shopping done this weekend.

 

[tanya]

Mel congratulations on finishing the house.
You guys ave done so incredibly well.
I have loved hearing about it!

 

[happy2bme]

Thanks, Tanya.

It has been quite the adventure.

 

[Cindylouwho]

HolidayMom ~ Thanks for asking!:

Re Black Friday: Shopping went great! I did Friday, and Saturday retail and Cyber Monday from home. On Black Friday the mall we went to opened at 6 and parking was still easy because the crowds were there the night before. All was restocked and ready to go again since they closed the mall for a bit in the wee hours. Got some great deals but this being Year 2 on Black Friday shopping I learned even more. Big thing was that I really need to know EXACTLY what I'm after before that day. Would have been so much more efficient if I wasn't standing around making decisions on colors etc. The checkout lines grow longer by the second. And Macys... Boy, they had EVERYTHING on sale so I was like a deer in the headlights. But I did well and we wrapped it up by 11 when the crowds were too much.

We pulled all this off because we had our Thanksgiving on Wednesday night (love that) so we could be rested up (and keep eating) on Thursday. Next year hubby works Wednesday so we will a traditional Thanksgiving on Thursday. I have to figure out how to have our meal earlier in the day so we can be ready to go in the morning. We sure don't want to miss it. And I would be SO exhausted on Friday morning if I kept our normal schedule.

Saturday retail sales were strong too. (I didn't make it out til the afternoon -- had to sleep in!)

Re Thanksgiving Timelines and figuring things out -- SAME! Was looking at my recipe directions from the previous year and i didn't note some things. Scribbled down a lot more notes as things came up. Will add them to the permanent file for next year. Also really nailed down my Thanksgiving shopping list. Forgot a few items, but scribbled them down for next year. Getting that menu pretty tight now (if you remember we had to re-do our entire menu plan a few years ago when we went gluten-free. We've been experimenting on recipes the last few years so have made multiple recipes of stuffing etc. Now we have it down.

Tanya ~ Our entryway is the same way! Mudroom entry is at the beginning of the driveway and goes to where the kids rooms are. The formal entry is at the back of the driveway. No one uses it. We've reworked the entry and landscaping multiple times over the years and nothing changes. Everyone comes in the mudroom door. Wish we could pick up our house and turn it around!

Ejagno ~ I dream of having my grandkids around me so I can bake cookies while the kids go shopping. I wish my parents had lived near me so we could do that. The idea of it just makes me swoon!