September Sort It - I'm Almost There!

It's officially the last week of September and I'm nearly sorted! I have 6 days to do the last 7 things on my list, and other than #19: Give the shower a good scrub, the remaining items aren't all that bad.

Here are a few photos documenting my progress...

#21 Baskets for the little miss' room.

#5 Tidy the hair accessories shelf - yowsers!
(before)

           

#13 Get a new passport
Just waiting to get my photos witnessed before I can tick it off the list!!!

#5 Tidy the hair accessories shelf
(after - phew!)

#3 Clean out the baking shelf (before)

#3 Clean out the baking shelf (after)
Clearly I now have to tidy the shelf below...

 And here is my list as it stands right now:

1. Clean all unnecessary items off of the kitchen bench. (This may need to be done a few times throughout the month based on how quickly stuff accumulates there!)
2. Go through the Little Miss' closet & remove everything that is too small or that no longer gets worn.
3. Clean out the 'baking' shelf in the pantry.
4. Look for a new set of dishes to replace our old set.
5. Tidy & organize the hair accessories (& other random stuff) shelf.
6. Make space under my bed to store the Little Miss' Christmas present (she's getting a new bed - shhh it's a surprise!)
7. List the kids' art easel on Trade Me (they NEVER use it & it takes up way too much space).
8. Sort through my clothes & get rid of all the things I no longer wear.
9. Update photos of the kids on Picasa.
10. See the Living Cloaks exhibition at Te Papa. 
11. Sew baskets for the pantry.
12. Re-stock the freezer with baking for lunches.
13. Get a new passport! (Not that I'm planning on going anywhere, but with most of my family overseas I figure it's best to always have a valid one in case of emergency.)
14. Mend everything in the pile of clothes to be mended.
15. Investigate class times for Yoga-Pilates classes and book in.
16. Sort through the cloth nappies & get rid of the ones that are no longer any good.
17. Decide what to do for the Little Guy's 3rd birthday party. :)
18. Sort through all the stuff being stored in the Little Guy's closet.
19. Give the shower a really good scrub.
20. Try to revive the sad, wilted potted flowers from the kitchen & re-plant out in the garden.
21. Make more large storage baskets for the Little Miss' room.
22. Make a list of who we're giving Christmas presents to this year.
23. Plan out the Little Miss' Irish dancing dress (the real competition one - she's been practicing what to do at competition in class, so it won't be long now!)
24. Choose new photos of the kids to replace the old ones in the lounge.
25. Go shopping for clothes - for me, not the kids!!!
26. Make a time to have a good catch up on Skype with my bestie in Canada.
27. Weed the garden.
28. Start weaning the Little Guy from using his soother during the day.
29. Find more Thomas socks for the Little Guy.
30. Actually take all of the excess clothes etc to the goodwill bins (or throw out those that are no longer good).

Wow! Check out all that pink!!!!!
It feels so satisfying to see how much I've done so far and to know that I will be able to complete my list by the end of the month. I hope that everyone else who's been sorting out their September feels as great as I do. :)

Ice Cube Snack Trays

It's not rocket science to serve a variety of little snacks in an ice cube tray, but I did think this was a clever idea to make snack time a little more fun and interesting. My kids, especially the little guy, are pretty picky eaters so the first time I used this way of presenting their food I sneaked in something new - and it worked! The little miss ate everything and then asked for a refill of a few things and the little guy ate everything except his apples (but this is probably because there was no tomato sauce to dip them in - weird, I know).

I've seen this idea done multiple times throughout the internet, but this is the one I originally pinned. In fact I have pinned quite a few ideas from this blog (and the photos are beautiful!)

I don't make the kids snack like this everyday, but they always light up when I do (especially if I sneak a marshmallow or two in there). They're nice & portable, so today we took them outside to eat in the beautiful warm sunshine!

Cookie Monster Knee Patch

I knew my little guy would give me more opportunities to make more monster knee patches, but I didn't think I'd be doing it again quite so soon!

I noticed a hole in the knee of his blue track pants, but hadn't planned on doing anything about it since: a) they're track pants, b) he's almost outgrown them, and c) the legs aren't any bigger than the last pair I patched up and hence will not be any easier to fit over the sewing machine arm... And then while putting the laundry away my husband said "Did you know these have a hole in them? You should make a Cookie Monster patch - they're the perfect colour!" He then proceeded to tell me how he thought I should do it. Now my husband doesn't normally show much enthusiasm for my crazy craftings, so it didn't take too much persuading on his part to make me cave...

I'm not sure if it's because I knew what to expect, or because the track pants have more give to them, but I didn't have to do too much fighting with the sewing machine this time. I still didn't have any white polar fleece or felt, but I did have some thick & durable white curtain lining which is thermal coated and doesn't fray. Hooray! I used the lining for the large white eyes (one of which is covering the actual hole) and added a little black polar fleece for the googly part of the eyes and the mouth.

It was pretty quick, pretty easy, and free! Oh, and pretty awesome if I do say so myself. But most importantly the little guy seems quite pleased with them. ;) Too bad the pants are a bit pilly and almost too small for him.

Vanilla Chia Pudding

Until a friend of mine posted a recipe on Pinterest for chia smoothies, I had no idea that there were such things as chia seeds. I knew of chia pets, but I didn't know that they were named after the seeds that grew their 'magical hair'. I wasn't weirded out that you could eat the hair follicles of those strange little pets, but I was surprised that I hadn't heard of them as a food item before. I was intrigued and did some internet searching on how to use them in a cooking/eating way and apparently there are lots of internet folk raving about the health benefits of chia seeds.

So the next time I found myself at the organics store I bought a little bag of chia seeds to try out in my cooking. I tried it in couscous and smoothies, and it didn't seem to make any difference in taste or texture to either (given that I put berries with seeds in my smoothies anyway).

And then I discovered this recipe for Vanilla Chia Pudding...
Now almond milk isn't something you would find in my house (let along home-made almond milk) and neither is stevia. I do have milk, splenda (or regular sugar - I can do either), vanilla, and of course those chia seeds! So I substituted the almond milk with my regular milk, put in the seeds, a bit of vanilla and some splenda (I'm not so much of a measurer) and shook it all up. I let it sit 10 minutes like the recipe says and then shook it again. The seeds seemed to be clumping all together and settling at the bottom of the shaker, but I did as I was told and gave it another shake before putting it back in the fridge. It did end up quite clumpy, but after breaking up the clump of seeds and mixing in some dried cranberries it tasted really good! The next time I made it, instead of shaking, I stirred and then shook it a few times (after 10 minutes or so and then again after another 10 minutes or so) and then poured it into individual serving dishes to set. One of the things I really like about it (and something that will totally put a lot of people off) is the texture. The seeds get this squishy film around them that reminds me of eating tapioca pudding as a child. :)

Note: I bought my chia seeds from the organic store not because I only eat organic, but because I figured they were such an obscure item that I wouldn't be able to find them anywhere else. However, a few days later I found them in the bulk bins at my local grocery store - a Pak 'N Save of all places! So I guess they're they must be more common than I thought.

September Sort It - Progress Report

I've been reminded that it might be about time to check in and see how my September Sort It list is going... I'm pretty happy that I've done 12 things so far (as it's the 12th here today), but not so happy to see that I've done all the easy/fun things first and most of the things I'm not so keen on are still left. I guess I shouldn't be surprised by that though. Oh well, it's pretty cold here today so a good day to stay inside and cross a few more off!

I love that a few of the other blogs that are sorting themselves out this month have posted before and after photos - I haven't got any before photos of the ones I've already crossed off, but I think I'll run around and take some before photos now - it might motivate me a little to get them done!

I have been updating the list in my original September Sort It post as I go, but as of this morning this is what my list looks like - the pink entries are the ones that have been done. :)

1. Clean all unnecessary items off of the kitchen bench. (This may need to be done a few times throughout the month based on how quickly stuff accumulates there!)
2. Go through the Little Miss' closet & remove everything that is too small or that no longer gets worn.
3. Clean out the 'baking' shelf in the pantry.
4. Look for a new set of dishes to replace our old set.
5. Tidy & organize the hair accessories (& other random stuff) shelf.
6. Make space under my bed to store the Little Miss' Christmas present (she's getting a new bed - shhh it's a surprise!)
7. List the kids' art easel on Trade Me (they NEVER use it & it takes up way too much space).
8. Sort through my clothes & get rid of all the things I no longer wear.
9. Update photos of the kids on Picasa.
10. See the Living Cloaks exhibition at Te Papa. 
11. Sew baskets for the pantry.
12. Re-stock the freezer with baking for lunches.
13. Get a new passport! (Not that I'm planning on going anywhere, but with most of my family overseas I figure it's best to always have a valid one in case of emergency.)
14. Mend everything in the pile of clothes to be mended.
15. Investigate class times for Yoga-Pilates classes and book in. 
16. Sort through the cloth nappies & get rid of the ones that are no longer any good.
17. Decide what to do for the Little Guy's 3rd birthday party. :)
18. Sort through all the stuff being stored in the Little Guy's closet.
19. Give the shower a really good scrub.
20. Try to revive the sad, wilted potted flowers from the kitchen & re-plant out in the garden.
21. Make more large storage baskets for the Little Miss' room.
22. Make a list of who we're giving Christmas presents to this year.
23. Plan out the Little Miss' Irish dancing dress (the real competition one - she's been practicing what to do at competition in class, so it won't be long now!)
24. Choose new photos of the kids to replace the old ones in the lounge.
25. Go shopping for clothes - for me, not the kids!!!
26. Make a time to have a good catch up on Skype with my bestie in Canada.
27. Weed the garden.
28. Start weaning the Little Guy from using his soother during the day.
29. Find more Thomas socks for the Little Guy.
30. Actually take all of the excess clothes etc to the goodwill bins (or throw out those that are no longer good).