Susie Lake

15/03/2025

A good morning tomorrow starts tonight! ✨

I love my closing shift routine. The nights that I do all of these steps always make for a much better morning the next day. And I definitely regret it when I don’t do my closing routine. As long as I’ve been keeping up with things pretty well throughout the day, this routine usually only takes about 30 minutes once the girls are in bed. I will say, a lot of the time Austin will help with some of these like doing the dishes and we try to get the girls to help with the overall tidying before they go to bed.

I like the sink to be completely empty before I go to bed so we laid the dishwasher and start it even if it’s not completely full so I can have a fresh start for tomorrow.

Cleaning my sink is one of those small things that really makes a big difference. I usually do baking soda and vinegar about once a week for a deeper clean and the rest of the days I just use dish soap.

I try to clear off all the surfaces downstairs and wipe down all of the kitchen counters. This one can be a little more time consuming if I’ve let clutter start to pile up. I’m always trying to remind myself that clutter attracts clutter and instead of putting things down, I put them away immediately during the day to help make this step easier at night.

Vacuuming our kitchen and dining room is a must after a day of cooking and eating meals with kids. I also mop depending on how much time I have and if it’s needed.

I’ve been trying to remember to pull out something for the girls to do every morning. They’re both early risers and I’m trying to not start our days with screen time so if I pull out something like this basic art supply bin the night before, they can just get right into it in the morning.

I also do a quick tidy of our living room. I put any toys that are left out back in the cabinet and put the pillows and blanket back on the couch. I try to remember to have the girls put their toys back away before bed, but if I forget then I just do it quickly.

Doing this routine makes such a difference for me and how our morning starts the next day. It’s always worth the effort and I never regret doing it!

18/11/2024

Love my sweet family so much! These photos make me so happy! 💕💕💕

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24/10/2024

We have a pretty small laundry room so I’m always looking for ways to make it more functional! These are some of my favorite things that make doing laundry easier!

Comment “ laundry ” and I’ll DM you the link for all of these laundry room favorites!

I think my favorite thing is the retractable clothes line! There’s a piece that is attached to each side of the wall and then I’m able to just pull out the cord when I need it! It barely takes up any space but it’s so useful when I need it!

I love the scent bead/Oxiclean dispenser so much! It’s a nice way to make use of the wall space we have too!

The magnetic door prop is so nice to have for a front loader washer. I cannot get the door to stay open on its own and if it doesn’t stay open to dry, it starts to smell! So this just props the door open for a bit until it’s dry.

The laundry symbol sign is honestly just useful. It’s not necessary and has nothing to do with it being a small laundry room. I just never know what the symbols mean on the tags so this is really helpful for me!

The magnetic lint bin is so convenient! I used to just put lint on top of my dryer for a few loads at a time because I was too lazy to throw it away every time so it’s nice to just have something to collect it all in.

Under cabinet lighting might just be my new favorite thing! First off, it really elevates the look of a space, but it’s also so nice to add some extra light to a small space so I can see things better!

I can’t say enough about collapsible laundry baskets! They fold down so small so they don’t take up much space when not in use. And these ones are so sturdy too!

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19/09/2024

My cleaning routine has gone through a major overhaul and I’m loving it. I finally stopped overcomplicating my cleaning routine and figured out a super simple system that works for me because it’s not overwhelming and I know exactly what I need to do without having to think about it too much.

I’ve broken down my cleaning into daily, weekly, and monthly tasks. So everyday I know what I need to do. My daily tasks never change and this is what they are:

1. Make all the beds. Nothing sets me up for a great day like starting the day with a freshly made bed.
2. One load of laundry per day. Laundry drives me crazy! I have to make it part of my regular daily routine and keep up with it. My goal is to do the laundry from beginning to end- washing, drying, and the hardest part- putting it away! But I do not like having baskets of unfolded clean laundry all over or forgetting a load has been sitting in the washer for two days. This system works for me when I stick to it!
3. By the end of the day, I want my sink empty and clean. We usually do two loads of dishes per day. The first load gets run after lunch and then the second is after the kids go to bed. Then I like to do a quick sink clean so the next day I’m starting with a nice clean space.
Clear and wipe down surfaces. I try to make my way through the downstairs and clear off all surfaces and wipe them down. It really makes for a better start tomorrow.
4. Vacuum and mop the dining room and kitchen. At the very least, I vacuum these spaces. But I love to do a quick mop almost every night too! So much happens in these rooms and it’s way easier to clean them when it’s being kept up with regularly. This is just a quick clean- I do a deep clean vacuum and mop once per week.
5. General tidy in living spaces. I like to tidy up our living room because that’s also our main play area for the kids. 6. We have toys in here and it gets messy fast. We live in a townhouse so we don’t have a playroom or any extra spaces that could be used for the kids. So our downstairs just needs tidying often.

By staying on top of these daily tasks, it really sets me up for a great start to the day tomorrow.

13/09/2024

You know those days where everything just feels so right in the world. Content, happy, calm. That’s the feeling I had this past weekend. We went to our favorite apple orchard and it was honestly the perfect afternoon.

We picked apples and then got some yummy treats to enjoy outside. The weather was perfect. The girls were having so much fun. We got a few sweet photos. Then we went out for pizza. I don’t think I could think of a more perfect day.

The girls made some friends and were playing in the grass with them and Austin and I just sat on the hill and watched. It was the most relaxed I’ve felt in ages. We talked about how nice this was to finally be in a stage where the girls could be a little more independent and we could just sit and talk. I thought I would miss the baby stage so much, and I do and I’m still not totally convinced we’re done. But for right now, I’m just really really enjoying this stage. The girls are little besties and are so good at playing together. They still need me but not for everything.

If you’re in the thick of the baby/young toddler stage, enjoy it for all of its goodness, know that it is really hard and really beautiful all at the same time, and also know that these types of days are on the way too. The last 5 ½ years, I was so deep in my girls needing me for literally everything that it was hard to even picture a time that they wouldn’t. Suddenly, here we are. They are becoming so much more independent and they want to do things themselves. And I’m somewhere between feeling so sad about it and being so excited to get a little bit of freedom back myself. Being a mom is so crazy. The stages we go through and leave behind, and the ones we look ahead to. It’s just so much. But days like this are so sweet and I am soaking them in!

12/05/2024

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you amazing mamas! 🥰 I hope you are celebrated and feel so loved today!

I’m so thankful I get to be mama to these sweet girls! 💕

23/01/2024

Here’s everything I used to put together memory boxes for my girls! I love how these turned out! 💕

https://liketk.it/4tvkg

19/01/2024

Ready to start decluttering your home but too overwhelmed to start? 🫣

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If you're feeling overwhelmed in your home but you can't figure out how to declutter your space, this guide is exactly what you need. This step-by-step guide will walk you through how to declutter your home without getting overwhelmed. By breaking down your decluttering projects into small and manag...