New Year’s Day and so on…

Almost all of the pictures in this post were taken with my iPod and often at night, so they’re pretty poor quality.  But I happen to think that poor quality sometimes trumps no pics at all!

We went to the Vandenberge’s for dinner on New Year’s day to spend some time with them, the Ruckers, and our friends the Eges who have moved to Florida and who were in town.

I don’t know what came over me, but I let James eat this giant train.  :)

He was extremely happy.

This is Kim’s picture that I stole off her blog.  It was NOT taken with an iPod.  :)  We love trying to get a picture of all the kiddos together.  I think we did a great job!  Thomas was fussy, but Michael was zonked!

We may have bribed Callie into moving her legs away from her face by saying she could hold a baby when we were through.  :)  She was very happy to hold Mr. Thomas!

Last January I got the hankering to clean out a lot of the closets in the house, and this January I have caught a similar bug.  I’ve done a bit of purging and organizing that I was simply not capable of doing over the past year.  I was reading a blog and there was a beautiful photo of a lovely living room with wall to wall bookcases in the living room surrounding the television.  I decided I’d love to have a bunch of beautiful matching bookcases lining the wall where my TV is, but I’d better stick with what I have for now.  :)

I’ve had this bookcase in my bedroom for forever, and it’s been totally jammed full of photo albums, pictures, textbooks, instruments, memorabilia and what-not.  A couple (few?) years ago I bought a scanner and started scanning old pictures.  I kept some favorites and ditched the rest after there was a digital copy.  I didn’t get very far, and the bookcase was a major mess.  I just decided I needed it in my living room, so I vowed to do a bunch of scanning and organizing to be able to clear it off.

AND. I. DID.  (Now that it’s done, I’m sad I didn’t take a before picture…)

This is what my living room looked like before.  The stuff on the coffee table came off the bedroom bookcase.

And after.

I think it fills up the space much better.  I have to keep the spaces on either side of the TV cabinet if I want to be able to close the doors.  And I do.  I call this phase one, with phase two hopefully being a different home for the TV.  I’d like to move the cabinet (and give it a different job) and put a low, wide dresser type piece there for the TV and components.  I’m not really she-who-buys-new-furniture, so I’m kind of just waiting for such a piece to come into my life.  :)

The second day of the new year I made some yummy new year’s-ish type of food.  I put a meaty ham bone in the crockpot with some navy beans.  My house smelled SO GOOD that day; it was almost more than I could stand.  :)  I also cooked some cabbage in butter – so good.  So, so good. 

Joanna took this one of me with the boys one evening.

Everybody at our house loves that Joanna is a reader!  The middle kids get to listen to a lot more books than if just Mommy and Daddy were reading!

I love my little Natalie artist.  The scribbles on the house are a song… can’t remember which one now.  And at the bottom is Santa on his sleigh and a reindeer!

It’s just so wonderful how different my kiddos are from each other.  Happy momma!

Box Day!

I ordered the supplies for homeschooling on Tuesday, fully expecting it to be a week or so before they shipped since it’s the “busy season.”  But I got the shipping email on Wednesday, and they were here on Friday!  Whoo hoo!
I was really hoping to be home when they arrived so that the FedEx man could maybe bring them inside for me, but alas, they arrived while we were out.  :)

The girls used teamwork for the first box.

Nobody could budge the second box – that’s where the bulk of the books were.

I ended up scootching it to the door with my feet and then Joanna helped me push it up over the threshold.  Whew!
The boxes came with lots of brown paper to play with!

Oh such fun!

Even though it was the afternoon and I was exhausted, you know I couldn’t resist opening up those boxes and digging in.

I decided on Sonlight’s curriculum for a few reasons including its Christian focus, its literature based approach, and its comprehensive Instructor’s Guides for each subject.
We’re using Core A (the core is basically what I would call Social Studies – it includes read alouds, history, and the Bible, and can really be used across several ages) with Language Arts for grade 1 and Science A.  Those all have IG’s – Instructor’s Guides (read: LESSON PLANS) that FILL the huge blue binder below.  We have a separate math curriculum for first grade that is more like something you might see in a classroom with a teacher book, student book, and worksheets.  We’re using Horizons, but there is a lot out there; we’ll have to see what we like.  Math was actually my specialty in teaching, so we’ll have to see what comes back to me.  :)

It took a few hours to get to point above (did I mention I was tired?), but I feel pretty ready to get started!  The IG’s had to be filed by week into the huge binder and there was lots to read.  I feel like a have a good overview of what all there is to (potentially) do during the week, but it will take doing before I get into the groove of course.  :)
I was originally thinking of starting a week from Monday, which is two weeks before the public school.  We may actually start on Monday, but give ourselves the freedom to go slowly and maybe take 1 1/2 – 2 weeks to complete the first week.  I know we’ll want to take off days and weeks here and there for holidays and family time and um, you know babies’ births, so I figure it’s good to go ahead and get started when it’s too hot to do anything else anyway!
I’m sure there will be much updating when we get into the swing of things.  I’m excited!

Organizing my Spices

For while I had my spices in all this matching jars (seen below, being reassembled by Natalie).  They were super pretty and had a little lazy susan stand to spin around on,  BUT I couldn’t fit anything larger than a half teaspoon measure in the opening.  And I’m more of a measurer than a sprinkler.

On Pinterest (of course!!) I saw somebody using mason jars in a drawer to store spices, and it just seemed like something that would work for me!

It was one of those things I was probably going to think about doing but not doing except I saw the tiny jars at the store (and they’re so cute!), and when I came home I had bought enough groceries to warrant a slight rearrange/organize of the pantry anyway.  So I pulled out everything spice related and began transferring.

I cleared out this big drawer by my oven and stove.  It held miscellaneous things, but nothing that needed to be there.  You can see a few spices still in their containers (white lids) because they fit just fine in the drawer and I didn’t have enough jars.

I haven’t actually cooked using my new system, but I think I’m going to like it!

I may try doing something different with the lids at some point (which is why I didn’t spend five seconds worrying about making the labels pretty).  I’m envisioning something I can make that will allow me to put a spoon in the jar and pull it out, leveling the spice.

That probably IS one of those things I’ll think about doing but never actually do.  :)

For now, I’m just happy having the spices by the oven, instead of looking pretty in the pantry.

Photo Dump (and apparently also a brain dump)

First up, a to-do list for organizing.  Most of these are smaller jobs than the closets so I may be able to tackle them in the evenings or other moments I grab, rather than it taking pretty much the whole day!  {Although all projects where I have “helpers” take longer than they need to.  Wouldn’t trade ‘em though!}

• Front hall closet: I’m going to do a quick pull out and organize of this space, but it needs some actual work before I pay it too much attention.  During our big hurricane a few years back, it got lots of water damage that was NOT covered by insurance, so it’s pretty icky in there.  The leak is fixed, so it hasn’t gotten worse, and it got all dried out at the time.  But it needs new drywall and shelving.  These things are outside my current skill set.  :)
• James’ sock drawer: random, I know, but there are a ton of tiny socks in there.
• Under the crib: It’s not too bad under there, but it could use a little attention.  Usually I store extra disposable diapers and wipes and linens for the kids’ beds there. 
• Laundry room: this room is our laundry/pantry/utility room, but the spot that needs the work are the shelves above the dryer.  There is some seriously underutilized space that needs clearing out!
• Dresser in the living room: a lot of it’s contents moved to my craft closet; the rest needs to be evaluated.
• File cabinet: I have a file box and I need to move all of our files that need referencing to it (and then probably put it in the laundry room).  The files that are not really files, just paper storage need to be gone through and reassigned.
• Kitchen cabinets and drawers: I do a reasonably decent job of keeping up in this space, but I have noticed my drawers could use a little love (and maybe some pretty shelf liners?!)  The under-sink cabinet is also gross and scary and needs some serious help.
• Bathroom cabinets: under sink storage is sad looking around here.  :)

And so far, what I’ve accomplished in the last week or so:

• Master walk-in closet
• Small master closet
• Under the master bed
• Girls’ closet
• James’ closet
• Junk drawer
• Pantry

It feels SO GOOD to be clearing things out.  It’s so much easier to clean up less stuff!

I haven’t taken a ton of pictures lately (except for all the closets!), but I have some cute shots that need blogging!

This was the day after Christmas, but I had forgotten these pivs were on the little camera.

We treated ourselves to lunch out at McDonalds, and it was so lovely!

James climbed into Laura’s car seat and was just so happy rocking and singing until I made him get out.  :)

One day we stayed in jammies all day but ran to my mom’s for some reason.  James wanted to wear shoes and I didn’t want to change his clothes, so I put boots over his footies.  It was a good look.  :)

Last week we played at Lisa’s one day.

James stole my cup.  He’s loving drinking out of “real” cups these days.

All the kids had candy canes after lunch.  My children inhaled them.

So cute!

Before I took down decorations this weekend I wanted to take pictures of my nativities.  I love my Jim Shore nativity that my grandma gave me.  As I was putting them away, I peeked at the bottom of the pieces and they all say “Let every heart prepare him room.”  That’s what we printed on our Christmas card this year, but I swear I had no idea!

I also love love this stained glass one that was my parents’ when I was little.  It’s a little worn, but it just makes me so so happy to put it out every year.

On Saturday my mom brought the girls to see Monsters, Inc on the big screen!  It was Joanna’s first 3D movie, and I think Natalie’s first movie in the theatre!  Natalie had been a super-grump that day, but my mom swears she was a doll at the movie.  She switched back to super-grump the second she got in our driveway though. :)

Tell me, if you squint a little, don’t they look 14 and 16?

Sunday morning I snuck a shot of Matt snuggling his girls during church.

I put Natalie in one of her Christmas dresses (and probably will a few more times!).  It was hot every single Sunday in Advent, and she has so many pretty things to wear!

We stopped at the library yesterday morning after dropping Joanna off at school.  The Christmas Tree graveyard out front was just so sad!

But of course I had to take a picture.

Yet another closet!

Take it from me, when you spend a week or so cleaning out and organizing closets, under beds, and in other various little spots, your house is inclined to look like a PIT, even though you are exhausted.  :)

Yesterday was a school day for everyone, and I didn’t have my extras, so I knew I HAD to tackle James’ closet while the house was almost empty.  Natalie ended up home “sick,” but she’s typically super easy to care for all alone.  And she was totally fine; Monday was a mystery fever (thank goodness!) 

She watched some television (she LOVES TV) but also played and played and played!  It was so wonderful to be in the next room and listen to her play.  One of my favorite things to do is watch and listen to that girl play.  It’s FANTASTIC!

Anyway… James’ closet is a walk-in, so there are three pictures instead of one to get the same effect.

Again, I pulled out everything and spread it all over the room.

I quickly labeled the tops of the bins to make sorting the pile of clothes easier.

It doesn’t look so bad all alone!

A couple of the bins got to go to the attic (yay!) since James and Natalie had outgrown their contents.  I sorted everything, put things that belonged elsewhere away, and filled my car to bursting with more donations.

Then I put the keepers back in!

There are quite a few things in here that may end up being moved around or relocated, but it works for now.  The little bookshelf if full of baby things and toys from when I was little.  {Awwwww…}  The green bin has cloth diaper supplies.  The blue bag is my breast pump.  The crates have shoes waiting to be grown into.  They may get spread out across the shelf so they’re easier to get to; we’ll see.  For now, special clothes (think Baptism) and costumes are hanging on the rack.

The little white basket holds training underwear because James isn’t ready for them, but I didn’t want to store them so well I forgot where they were.  :)  The blue thing is a baby toy Miss Laura will be ready for in a couple of months or so. 

The green bag is a bouncy chair that folds up – wahoo!  The blob next to it is a space bag (that you vacuum the air out of) full of baby blankets that were made for my girls and the Boppy pillow.  The stacked bins hold outgrown socks and tights.

It’s a wild assortment of things, but it works!  James has very few clothes that I like to hang up, so the space works very well for short term/transitional storage… for now.  :)

I ran across Natalie’s crib bedding lurking at the back of the closet, and I think I’d like to pass it along.  Does anyone have a baby girl on the way and need some pretty bedding?  I’d be happy to take better pictures.

Now I’m off to not clean out any closets today.  Four children under four is simply not a situation that lends itself to that kind of work.  :)  So I must go play! {and fix food and sweep and stuff diapers.}

Declutter and Organize!!

I’ve had a serious desire to declutter and organize the last week or so.  The only thing holding me back are my sweet angels.  :)  It’s just plain HARD to do this kind of work with kiddos in the house!

On Saturday I focused on getting Christmas decorations down and put away.  I also started (a tiny bit) thinking about some decorations for Valentine’s day.  This is not something I usually do, but the house is so drab after Christmas, and I’ve seen a few things I love on Pinterest, so we’ll see!

Anyway, I reeeeally wanted to work on my “craft” (also office supplies, wrapping stuff and miscellaneous other things) closet that’s in our master bedroom.  So I started in on that after church on Sunday.  I wouldn’t have been able to do any of this without my super wonderful husband, who really helped wrangle the kids while I worked.  I still had 9, 742 interruptions, but I got it done!

I had only emptied a few drawers when I remembered to take the “before” picture.  you can just imagine they are full.  :)

I have a serious addiction to empty shoeboxes.  :)  They are all now GONE, except for what I used to corral supplies.

I took EVERYTHING out of the closet except for the containers.  I left what I had in there (it was pretty much working for me); I just rearranged a bit.  I also grabbed the wire cubes (top shelf) that were in the girls’ closet to use here.

And you can’t even see it all from this angle…

I thinned it out, organized it, and put it back in!  I also pulled some things that fit well here from other areas of the house.

I even have a few empty spots to fill!

After the pics were taken, I labeled all the boxes and bins with what’s inside.  I also added a bin I have of construction paper that was at the bottom of the girls closet.  It went in the empty spot you see on the floor below.  Now maybe we’ll actually be able to get to the paper!

I keep going past it and smiling.  I think I want to remove the doors and use a curtain instead.  It will be much prettier!

Today I was really on a roll and decided to tackle the girls’ closet.  It was MUCH MUCH harder to do without Matt around!!  I definitely couldn’t have done my closet without him, but this one was easier.

I decided I want to give the girls their closet back.  It’s been off limits to them, full of off-season toys and shoes, files and many other things.  I think they need a bit more space to play and a place to put their hanging clothes (they’ve been in James’ closet; they don’t have much).

Again, I forgot to take the before picture right away, so you have to imagine the top shelf full of stuff.

The crates are shoes that are off-season or the wrong size.

{There’ the tub of construction paper.}  The toys are all “out-of-rotation.”

And after!  I moved all the “out of rotation” toys to the top shelf.  It’ll get some organization and maybe a little thinning out later.  (When the children aren’t home!)

I rescued their hanging clothes from James’ closet.  I put that little shelf bench to block the plumbing access and as a place for books.

The filing cabinet will eventually get moved out.  It’s only like a quarter full, so it really just needs to be gone through and moved to a file bin instead.  But that’s a project for another day!

I’m definitely ditching their closet doors (as soon as Matt gets home!), so I had to move all their dress-up which were hanging on the doors.  I made a little dress-up corner across the room!

That feels very good to get (almost) done, and the girls love their new space!

School starts back for everyone tomorrow, so I’m planning to tackle James’ closet.  It holds a lot of the bigger baby items/toys as well as all the bins of off-season and wrong-sized clothing.  When the kids grow out of clothes, I typically just throw them on the floor of the closet, and it is definitely time to get in there and organize!  I have to pull every bin out though, so I can’t do it when James is home.  I’m hoping to get the crates of shoes to fit in there – I think I can do it!  His closet is a big mess, that’s for sure!  Natalie is running a fever, so she’ll be home with me.  But she LOVES watching television, so I’m sure she’ll be happy to do some of that while I tackle James’ closet.

I’ve taken all of these pictures with my little camera that lives in my purse.  I try never to use it at home, but I simply could not get wide enough with my good camera for those shots.  I would have had to stand next door and use an x-ray filter.  :)