How We Organize Our Lego

Organize it?  Don't bother!

That's the response I got when we first started getting sets and I put the question out there.  I agree it shouldn't be sorted by set and kept separate - then you only ever build what's on the box.  But we soon had WAY too many pieces for me to find anything when the 4 year old said, "Mom, can you find me a...?"

Searching for a particular piece is not my favorite part of playing with Lego.

It made the most sense to me to sort by type - all the similar blocks together, so if you're looking for a red 2x2, you look in the right bucket, look for red, and you're good to go.  After a few months of tweaking, we have a system that works great.

We got a new *BIG* set on Saturday and weren't around to play with it till Sunday, so after Nolan went to bed I tidied up so we'd have space to at least dump it out and do a bit before church.  I snapped a few pics before the tidy got destroyed again because I've been meaning to share this for a while.

The system breaks down into big buckets and little buckets.  I've got two silver boxes that are a bottom and top from a sturdy gift box, and three Ikea bins that I found on VarageSale from someone who ordered too many.  We don't use lids, because they are always out in play, but they still stack neatly and there is room under the table to tuck them away.

In the big bins are:
 - bricks.  The 2x2's, 2x3's, 2x4's and longer.
 - plates.  All the flat ones.
 - 'one by whatevers' (half width bricks)
 - 'ones and twos'
 - angles and slopes

The little boxes are Ziplock - I have the lids stashed away with some Lego set boxes if we ever need to store them.

 - slopes
 - rounds
 - tinies
 - tiles (flat plates with no bumps on top)
 - people & their accessories
 - specials
 - vehicle stuff
 - technic pieces
 - 'attachers' (the ones with dots on more than one side)
 - windows and doors

Sunday after church we ended up with Grandparents, an aunt, and uncle, and 3 cousins over for the day, which was great.  I checked with Nolan to see if we should tuck the new set away until he had a chance to make it himself, but he was happy to let them play with the new set, too.  So proud of our little sharer.

There are a few more ways I'd like to divide up some of our sections; the bricks  are 3 deep and tough to root around in, and the specials is getting pretty full and could easily make 3 buckets if I took out say the 'attachers' (all the ones with joiners other than dots), and the jumper plates.  Or separate the wheels out from the other vehicle stuff, because that one is overflowing, too.  But it will stay this way for now so it fits well on our table.  We first got Lego for Christmas last year and for his January birthday, and it's been put away maybe twice.  It doesn't get used every day, but often enough to give it prime real estate in the living room.

Nolan took this one of his favourite piece, and why he wanted this set:  the awning.  The camper, the boat and the cabin all incorporate it, and he loves it.

Random side note - apparently when you order from the Lego website, you will get a catalogue in the mail for the next season's release.  We were both eying this set up and  - did you know - if you click on building instructions at the bottom of Lego.com, you can enter any set # and see how to make it?  We did that last week (before we knew we were going to get it!) with this set to make the bear.  We were missing a bunch of the pieces, of course, but improvised a pretty sweet polar bear.

Happy Lego-ing!!

School Supplies for Mom...

I've had some ideas floating around my brain lately of how I could reorganize around the house a bit.  One is about a new way to corral recipes, and the other involves a place to keep ideas for different things - a central location for lists and brain dumps.  Chore lists, blog ideas, my to do list...

So I've been half watching the school supplies, and today I came home with these beauties.

My frugal self thinks I could probably re-purpose a binder that I already have sitting on my shelf holding stuff I never look at, but I told that self to live a little and splurge.  Seriously, it was a few dollars.

My question for you, as I figure out exactly how to make these work in a way that is helpful for me, is how do you keep organized when it comes to your lists and paper stuff?

How do you keep your running to-do list?

How do you manage your multiple cookbooks and the recipes you use all the time? 

Or do you just rely on technology for all this??  

Come on, all you lurkers, I'm really curious, and I know I can just go search on Pinterest, but I want to hear from real people!  I happen to think that the people who read my blog are pretty awesome...  Thanks in advance for your input, and I will post what I come up with later.

Basement Renos

To make room for the babe, my studio is moving out to the main part of the basement so M can move into that room and then we'll turn her room into the nursery. Here's how it's going so far:

First we packed up everything in the basement...

 

...ripped up the carpet, and the ugly end wall went, too.

Lots of the stuff ended up in my studio.

New carpet, new wall, and new cabinets & countertop!

Then we emptied the studio...

...into the basement that was oh so beautifully empty.

I'm busy finding new places for everything.  Yesterday we bought and hung new cabinets over my desk, and today Sean painted M's room.  It's moving quickly - we're grateful for holidays and feeling like we'll be ready in time. Got a car seat yesterday, too. :)

It's NOT the same as Hoarding!

I've started collecting stuff from around the house, garage and shed for a garage sale this coming weekend.  There are a few of us doing it together at a friend's, which should be a good time.  I'm not really optimistic about making any money at it, but it will give me something to do while Sean is away golfing with the guys and M is away hanging out at Granny & Papa's.

The garage sale plus M being gone adds up to why this is a good week to empty, go through, and re-insulate the storage rooms off the sides of M's room.  I have to admit that I wasn't prepared for the mountain of clothing I'd see when I opened the first door.  We've lived in this house for 11 years now, and M has always been in that bedroom.  At some point over the years, she's gotten into that storage area, dug around in the boxes of her baby & little girl clothes and gone exploring.  Wow.  Well, it all had to come out anyway...  There are over a dozen boxes filled with all her baby stuff and clothes from newborn to maybe 4ish?  So much.  At first we kept it because we planned to have more, and then as those plans derailed, and got put on hold, we just never gave much thought to the boxes stacked in the awkward attic space.

 

 

These shots are from when I first emptied it out yesterday - I have made a bunch of progress and only have 4 or 5 boxes left to go through.  Lots of feeling nostalgia - I just want to hug my little two year old in that outfit and have her reach up and play with my hair the way she did...  Aw.  Lots of cute memories.  Also lots of "Ew - this is ugly - why would I have kept it in the first place since I most likely never put it on M?"  Those are for the garage sale boxes.  I'm about half and half keep and toss right now.  Why is there a keep pile?  Hmm... Maybe I'll post about that another day.

Monthly Menu

Ever since Sean & I have been married, I've used a monthly menu plan.   (I've posted a sample before.)  There were some years it was more on the back shelf, but because it's a great tool  and makes my life easier, I've been pretty faithful at using it.  I've got four weeks laid out, and just cycle through them.  Monday is my grocery day, so I pull out the list, adapt the week's menu to suit our week, and make my shopping list from that. 

When setting up the plan, I kept in mind a balanced diet, our weekly schedule (piano after school Tuesdays means a shorter prep time, Friday can be a meal that's not great for leftovers), and food likes and dislikes.  I plan for six days - the last W means weekend, which for us is usually flexible; as long as I've got the fixings for one meal on hand, we're good.

Where there are two meals listed, I alternate and make one one month and the other the next.  I often switch up which chicken meal I make, too.  I have the Company's Coming Chicken Cookbook and like lots of the recipes in there.

Week One
M - Spaghetti
T - BBQ Steaks / Shepherd's Pie
W - Honey Baked Chicken
T - Lazy Perogie Casserole
F - Fish in Brown Butter
W - Burgers

Week Two
M - Tortellini Alfredo
T - Hamburger Helper / Meatballs
W - Parmesan Chicken
T - Lasagna
F - Tacos
W - Stirfry

Week Three
M - Van Raes Mac & Cheese / Penne Rose
T - Perogies & Sausages
W - Chinese Chicken
T - Hamburger Casserole / Canelloni
F - Fish Sticks & Fries
W - Frozen Pizza

Week Four
M - Roast Beef
T - Sloppy Joes / Hot Beef Sandwiches
W - Any Chicken Recipe
T - Chicken Lasagna
F - Pork Chops / Mexican Fish / Experiment with Something New
W - Chicken Fingers & Fries

Do you use a menu plan?  What are some of your family favorites or standbys?