Thoughtful Tuesday- Decluttering and Organization Time

Well, after spending the entire weekend earlier this month digging through the unpacked boxes in the garage, I have decided we need to declutter and organize a bit around here.  We were looking for an expired passport so my husband could apply for a new passport so he could go on a missions trip to Haiti this summer. It was a grueling process and it made us realize just how much disorganization and clutter had taken over our lives. We have 'lost' hundreds of things over the years, many of which we found during the Big Expired Passport Hunt of 2011.  Some of these boxes hadn't been touched since we moved into this house almost 4 years ago. Now, I know that is shocking, however, some of those boxes hadn't been touched much longer than that and had been moved from house to house while we lived in England. That's a LOT of  junk. Useless junk. Junk that has just been taking up space.


So, in an effort to help minimize the stress in our lives, and make our house hold run a bit more smoothly we HAVE to declutter and organize.  First we are going to get started with the house, then move on to the garage. That just makes the most sense.

First I think I am going  to set up an area for backpacks, jackets, shoes, etc.  The boys have bins to place their backpacks in, but very often notes and other school related things get misplaced or lost around here. Mostly because there really isn't a home for these things. Of course some of it is because my children have been blessed with an ADD mother. :) Add  that in with a busy husband serving in the U.S. Air Force,a 3rd grader, an ADHD middle schooler, 3 dogs, mom going to school, and an almost 20 yr old working out of town during the week but home on the weekend, and it's a little chaotic around here.

What are your best ideas for organizing school stuff? Do you have a designated area for things? How to you corral all those notes and homework papers that need to be taken care of?  Post what works for you in the comments area below. I am sure we can all use a little help with organization.