"Not Mine!" "Not Me!"

During the past 3 decades how many times have I heard those words?  Walking through the house and finding towels and washcloths on the bathroom, bedroom or hallway floors has always been a MAJOR irritation of mine.  Oh how I wish I had my current experience and wisdom 28 years ago.  When we moved to our new home I pondered as to how to decorate the 2nd bath, which, by the way, was already painted a beautiful shade of pale yellow.  As I pondered I ended up with the following list of things I did and did not want in that bath.

1.  First and foremost I wanted to eliminate the, "Not Mine", "Not Me" quotes when asking who left the towel or washcloth on the floor.  Since we did not name any of our children Not Me or Not Mine I've often found myself wondering who they are, why are they living in our home and why have I not ever seen them?

2.  Since it is most often used by 4 boys, 1 grandfather and only 1 girl, I did not want it to be decorated too feminine.

3.  I also did not want it too masculine because we do have a daughter and because our guest bedroom is also upstairs.

4.  I wanted tidying up to be fast and easy.

I wish I had been this clever 28 years ago, but alas maybe someone else will be able to glean from my experience and save themselves decades of hearing, "Not Me!", "Not Mine!".

Since towels and washcloths on the floor REALLY, REALLY bothers me, we installed 5 towel hooks, one for each child.  Each child has been assigned a specific towel and washcloth color.  EJ: lt. blue, OG: pink, JP: orange, BT: purple, AB: green.  If I find a towel or washcloth ends up on the floor, I know who it belongs to and to whom I must address my scolding instruct to clean it up.

 How did I make 5-6 different towel colors coordinate with the rest of the bathroom?  I used those same colors in other areas as well.  We have a purple shower curtain and a lime green area rug.  The hand towels are changed daily and are the same colors as the bath towels and washcloths.

Since the upstairs bath is very large there is plenty of room on the entry side for a clothes dresser and toiletry cabinet. The big boys use this area to store their personal items when home for visits.

This idea was working extremely well for the littles, OG & EJ.  But when the whole family was home earlier this year, we had the opportunity to "test run" my bathroom decorating/organization idea on a larger scale.  It was FABULOUS!  Whenever I found a towel or washcloth out of place, I knew exactly who needed to go clean it up.  Not a single child blamed "Not Mine!" or "Not Me!" for the mess.  I am so glad those two unknowns have finally stopped using our towels and washcloths.

Recent Happenings ...

After recovering from the flu, life around the B house has been ... um, ... anything but routine.  We unfortunately continue to be be plagued with automobile trouble.  Last Friday, the children and I sat in a dealership waiting room for 3 hours while our vehicle was once again repaired for the SAME EXACT problem we experienced on our trip to Great Falls.  Yesterday, as we drove home from OG's music lesson the EXACT SAME issues began with our vehicle again.  OH! how I miss my Texas mechanic!   ... And it gets worse ...Can you believe that after "limping" home in our troubled vehicle I heard a hissing as I got out to open the garage door?  Can you imagine my frustration as I leaned down to see a small piece of metal sticking out of my tire?  By the way, my tires are NEW - they have less than 3,000 miles on them.

 Here's what my tire currently looks like ... AAA is on the way change it for me & I have scheduled another appointment for repairs to the engine.

On a brighter note, we once again have chickens!  Here they are, 7 weeks old.  They are currently housed in a temporary shelter as our "plan A" for chicken housing did not work out.  Grandpa and I will be spending the next few weekends building a new hen house and coop.

Here's a photo of EJ with one of our new young chickens.  Since he and OG used to complain about caring for the chickens we had in Texas, I have been pleasantly surprised at how happy and excited he is to have another flock.  Can you believe he's been feeding and watering them each morning and evening without being reminded?

Recovering ...

When we returned from Great Falls I thought the stress of the trip had made me ill.  Apparently, we were exposed to the influenza virus.  EJ and I are finally on the recovery side.  Although EJ still has a monstrous cough he hasn't had a fever since last Thursday.  My fever lasted 8 days.  Once our recovery is more complete, I'll return to the blogging world.

P.S.  O.G. just came in with a temperature of 100.3 - ugh!