The key word for us, actually there are two key words, for January is Productivity and Order.  We want to establish some habits of using our time wisely, of working together, of learning new skills and to get this place in order.

I have already blogged about our Goals for January.

We’ve had day one of our plans – and it went fantastically! Peter had to hold his plans lightly as an approaching storm meant he needed to prune some trees on the farm. But the underlying goal – to work together with the boys – was maintained.

The girls and I worked in the kitchen. We cleaned out 4 cupboards and the pantry. We threw out two armfuls of stuff.
• a glass tray from a very old microwave (that had been replaced twice since then!)
• a boxful of appliance attachments where we could no longer recognise the appliance!
• A couple of platters, salt & pepper shakers, jugs and plastic moulds that never get used

We have been very surprised at how much room can be made in a cupboard by simply throwing out a handful of stuff and reorganising.

We enjoyed morning tea together as a family – since I had cleaned out the trays and serving bowls cupboard it was a delight to pull out a nice tray and set the table nicely.

In the evening, Peter and I sat down to watch the Marriage Course dvd which is one of our goals for our evenings.

Success breeds success so we went to bed enthused for another day of decluttering and cleaning – and being productive!