Getting organized

On Tuesday we went shopping and much of what we bought was to help me get "stuff" organized (tubs, plastic drawer carts, etc.). I am trying very hard to clean out things and get organized as much as possible in August. Whatever I get done now will make life much easier when we start homeschooling Lamb 1 in September. I have several bags organized (for where it goes- Seminary, Goodwill, to my parents, to Ram's parents, etc.) and filled ready to give away. I am just getting stuff organized now and I hope to go through all this again next summer and give more away then.

Here's some of what I've accomplished organizing in the last few weeks:
*videos and DVDs according to these categories-Ram's, Ewe's, Lambs, Misc., and family camcorded.
*Lamb puzzles
*1/2 way done organizing desk/computer area-still have my huge stash of cards/stationary to go through
*Lamb book box in living room and 2 Lamb bookshelves in their closet
*Lamb 1 and 2 toy box
*Lamb 3 toy box
*Lamb games
*Lamb little parts (like Fisher Price people) that Lamb 3 isn't allowed to have
*All 3 Lamb clothes that currently fit them (with the exception of pajamas-haven't done those yet)
*Several tubs of clothes that all 3 Lambs have outgrown, a few tubs of clothes that are clothes for the Lambs to grow into
*2 tubs of toys that were either mine when I was little or toys that the Lambs will grow into but aren't ready for them yet
*baby blankets
* Thoroughly cleaned small bathroom and organized cupboard in there
*Started organizing recipe books and recipes-never finished-probably won't finish it before I die!
*My skirts and dresses
*plastic 3 drawer cart with homeschool books and supplies-one drawer each for Lamb 1 and 2, and Ewe

I still have tons more that I want to organize and then I want to clean the rooms really well too. I also made a schedule for our family and one thing I put in the schedule for me is 1 hour of declutter time each day. I have lots more to organize in the main bathroom cupboards, kitchen, and my clothes. Lamb 1 LOVES to clean and organize. He wishes he could skip rest time every day and help me. He is annoyed when I do some of the organizing without him. He decided to clean out his Matchbox cars the other day because he was running out of room in his car case. He choose about 6 cars to give away and organized all the rest.

It is clear to me that we have far too much stuff in every area of the house! This is the first step for me, to organize it. The next step will be to go through it more thoroughly and give away more. Part of this is a blessing. Ram's mom and the church members are very generous to us especially for Lamb toys and clothes and books. We don't buy the Lambs hardly any of that. That's a blessing. But when it gets out of control and not organized we either can't find things or don't use what we have because we have so much. Since Lamb 1 was born 5 years ago it has become way out of control. So that's why I'm working on organizing it.