“I was extremely blessed to grow up in a good home with parents who loved and mentored me,” Carla Hofstee reflects. “At a young age, I remember listening to my parents’ dream of owning a dairy and starting their own business. I watched them over the years take a dream and turn it into a successful business with hard work and discipline. I learned early in life that it was possible to reach for dreams and achieve them.”

At age 20, Carla visited an orphanage in the Bahama Islands, a life-altering experience that opened her heart to children without families. “I will never forget the sad looks in their eyes and the toddlers who had their arms stretched up wanting me to pick them up to hold them,” she recalls. “Dozens of babies lay in cribs crying because the orphanage was understaffed and couldn’t attend to all of their needs.”

This heartbreaking visit fueled a new dream for Carla — to provide a home and family for children in need. She prayed daily, asking God to bring the right person into her life and to provide a home and the resources to support a large family. Her prayers were answered just months later when she met Jim Hofstee on a blind date.

As their relationship blossomed, Carla shared her desire to one day adopt. Jim, who had hoped to have a large family, was open to the idea. After marrying, they had four biological children — two girls and twin boys and — and when their twins were 4, they started the adoption process. Over the next six years, Carla and Jim adopted eight children, including two additional sets of twins.

With their expanding family, the Hofstees moved into a larger home, and Carla took on the challenge of organizing a household of this size. “In an average month, when all of the children were home, I washed 170 to 180 tubs of laundry, matched 420 pairs of socks, made 240 school lunches, averaged 60 to 70 hours of homework and managed a 5,000-square-foot home without hired help,” Carla explains. “I learned to prepare several meals in advance and had a schedule that allowed me to have my house in order by 8am.”

Friends and neighbors often came to Carla for advice on managing their own homes, seeking her guidance on reducing stress and creating order. She shared her personal schedules, checklists and meal-planning ideas, and eventually, the demand grew. “With more and more women coming to me for information, I came up with the idea to teach a class so I could help several people at one time. To my surprise, 250 women attended my first class!” Carla exclaims. From that point on, she was regularly invited to speak at churches, parenting groups, foster care agencies and more.

As the classes grew, so did the challenge of providing materials for each attendee. With encouragement from others, Carla gathered her instructional handouts and transformed them into a book, Organization with Ease, which she self-published in 1996. Available on Amazon, Carla shares from her personal experience, how to manage a large home with ease. She has created declutter questionnaires for specific rooms throughout a house to help readers start decluttering their homes immediately after reading her book. Organization tips, sample schedules for mom and children, menu planning, pull-out charts and check lists are all included in her book.

“I hope my information will help women bring order to their homes, relieve stress, help them manage their family more efficiently and help them find more time in their day to accomplish everything they want to do,” Carla says with a smile.

Reflecting on her journey, Carla finds fulfillment in empowering others: “I love helping people with information that will help them be a better wife, mom, and help them manage their homes with less stress. I enjoy teaching them time management tips that will help them find the time to reach and accomplish their dreams.”

With her 12 children now grown, she is a proud grandmother of 18. Enjoying life with her husband in beautiful Post Falls, Idaho, Carla continues to help families through Organization with Ease classes on occasion, as well as through her additional ventures: Dutch Baked (Facebook.com), where she sells homemade pastries and breads and teaches children’s baking classes; and My Girls Hats, featuring her beautiful crochet items such as hats, animal rugs, backpacks, ponchos, stuffed toys, boot warmers and so much more, which she sells online (MyGirlsHats.etsy.com) as well as at local craft shows. She also teaches crochet skills through adult and children’s classes.

Carla plans to offer a series of classes early next spring, teaching women how to declutter and organize their entire home. Contact Carla if you are interested in attending a class.

Carla Hofstee
Author of Organization with Ease
getmeorganized@yahoo.com
OrganizationwithEase.com