Jul. 28, 2008 - Organizing our Homeschool Stuff
I know the word "stuff" isn't the best verbage to utilize in a manuscript such as this one, but I was at odds with my brain to deduce another word equally as descriptive as "stuff". 
Anyway, I have spent these last few weeks organizinng our papers, puzzles, binders, textbooks ( yes, we do have a textbook or two 
), calendars, library book lists, phonics readers and my own brain. I have typed up all the checklists for the boys and hope to hole punch them tomorrow. My goal is to have them check off the assignments as they finish them at their own pace. I want them to gain more independence for their schedules. I also have some goals and lessons that I want them to learn. I don't want May to come around and find that we never really delved into the Word or that the boys didn't write a single sentence all year long.
On a side note, I haven't forced or even really assigned writing to my boys. They have not been ready to express themselves like that and I don't think young kids, especially boys, need that pressure. I was hoping that my theory of wait until they are ready would work and don't you know that they are ready! Every morning each big kid writes in their journal after breakfast. Katie draws and dictates her story and the boys draw and write tons. It is amazing to see them writing. I can't wait to see how much they mature this year in their writing. I am relieved to know that they see a need for writing and I hope that they both learn to love reading soon.
So, back to organizing, here is a 4 drawer cart we bought several years ago at Home Depot. It has a white melamine top, not smooth like a countertop, and has 4 wire basket drawers. Three are deep and one is shallow. For now we have the library books and the small globe on top of this cart and the kids have their everyday books and notebooks in the drawers.
It may not look like a lot and it isn't. We have the craft/laundry room full of crafts and puzzles and the bookshelves are all over the house. I like keeping my home streamlined and efficient. As long as everthing has a place, our day goes smoothly.
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Jul. 7, 2008 - It's been quiet around here
I thought I would post a quiet update on our family. Everyone is content and times have been quiet here.
Katie has been visiting with her Mimi since last Wednesday and is having a blast being an only child. :)
Everyone else has been home with a quick visit with Grandma yesterday and today.
We have been to the playground, playing with good friends, hey Jennifer!
John installed our new laminate flooring in our sunroom and put up ALL the trim. All the window moulding, baseboards and shoe mouldings have gone up and he has caulked a few gaps. It looks so much more finished with the trim up. He still has to paint the trim but that will come this weekend I'm sure. ( I get a pass on all painting and anything that stirs up dust because of my allergies.)
I made another batch of homemade yogurt yesterday and I am loving this yogourmet maker. I love that I don't have to babysit the yogurt all afternoon.
Overall we had a great weekend. I picked up a great stack of books at the library this Saturday and am making my way through them.
Here are some pictures of the new sunroom floor!
Thanks a million John, :)
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Jun. 11, 2008 - Laundry Room Update #2
About 2 weeks ago I had it on my to do list to hang some of the kids artwork. Unfortunately I couldn't find them anywhere! Then I remembered that last December we were sure we had outgrown our home and we were going to move and I went on a packing frenzy. I found several boxes that have been sealed since then and the art was inside one of those boxes! I got three of the paintings hung and now I am trying to decide what I should do with boxes that I obviously don't need or even remember what is inside them. A few are sentimental items I will carry around until my kids send me to a nursing home, but the other boxes need to be opened and sorted.
I am the queen of sort and toss. John hates to see me reading an organizational blog or a book because inevitably I will be cleaning out our home soon.
Anyway, our laundry room is working for us. I highly encourage a family closet if you have at least 2-3 kids, but especially for more than that. That is when I began to struggle with housework and laundry. It has helped us tremendously to have all the clothing items together in the same room. It has been over a month now and our laundry has not gotten backed up or piled up somewhere.
Here are more pictures of the laundry room/ craft room.
I have even been encouraging a friend of mine to put baskets in her super large pantry, next to her laundry, to keep her little ones clothes. It will really help. 
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May. 18, 2008 - A Photographic Tour of our Craft Corner!
This craft corner is my dream come true. I know it may sound a little melodramatic, but I really love this room. It is part of our laundry room and family closet. Check out this post for the pictures and here are some more.
When we designed this room we knew we wanted a craft area but it wasn't as much of a priority as the family closet. Even still we have a great layout for crafting. We will add a bar stool for under the counter this weekend. We added a sink to help with those messy paint and glue crafts. It is 10 inches deep and bigger than a bar sink but smaller than a kitchen sink. It's perfect!
We have a 4 drawer unit under one end and a 36" sink base under the window. We still need to add the knobs to the bottom cabinets and some trim around the room but it doesn't stop us from using the room!
The top drawer holds small items that we use frequently, including magnifying glasses and dice :).
The 2nd drawer holds coloring books and workbooks. I'm not sure this is the best use for such a prime spot yet but it works for the kids now.
The 3rd and 4th drawers hold all of our puzzles. On some of the smaller puzzles I cut the picture off the box and put it and all the pieces in a ziplock bag. They fit better and are easy to clean up.
This is how we organized the counter. The kids always seem to have a drawing or picture in progress so I decided to use a large metal bucket for storage. Labeled just like everything else for consistency. The small yellow bucket has vintage hankies that we use in place of kleenex. They are beautiful and bring back so many memories.
The glass jars are ones I found several years ago at a thrift store. I loved them then and I love them now. They have been used in so many ways but now they have repurposed as ribbon eye candy for me! I love seeing them in those jars.
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May. 18, 2008 - More laundry organization
Here are some more pictures of our family closet laundry room. John graciously put on the handles for our wardrobes so the kids could actually get in there. I know, I know maybe not such a good idea but they have been tidy so far. Rachel is the worst, if anyone leaves their door open a crack then she "reorganizes" everything for them! So far this system is working, the kid are taking ownership over their clothes and taking pride in how organized it all looks.
My goals were to keep the kids clothes clean and put away in an organized manner. I also wanted them to have age appropriate access to their belongings and to take pride in their space. Even the boys are dong well with keeping their space tidy. They have been notorious for dropping their clothes all over their room and claiming that "Not me " did it.
I have 5 baskets up on top of the wardrobes with random stuff we need but don't need to see everyday. I tagged them all with a word or phrase printed on cardstock. I hole punched each one and used a blue grosgrain ribbon on them all for a consistent look. I know it may a little overkill for some, but I really do appreciate the streamlined feel of this space.
There are three shelves over the W/D that store most of our household supplies. I don't keep much under the kitchen sink because of my pesky babies who are way too curious! I also typed up simple labels and printed them out. I simply trimmed them to fit the label opening on the basket. Who knew trashbags and light bulbs could look so attractive!
This wardrobe is for the boys, ages 9 and almost 8, and for Rachel, age 1. I labeled every basket for easy identification. This makes it impossible for Daddy to say he can't find any baby PJs!
I hope that the labeling on the boys clothes helps Austin. He craves structure to function in this world. This is one of the ways we try and keep order in his environment. He is going through a full evaluation in order to clearly identify the areas he struggles in and how we can help best. He is on the autism spectrum somewhere we are just trying to find out where.
Here are the pictures of our craft corner too.
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May. 5, 2008 - Hairbow Fairies
We have found a way to organize and display our hairbows! We had these folk art type fairies that had no purpose outside of cute art for the kids' room and we decided to give them purpose. My beloved stapled grosgrain ribbon and rick rack to the back and then I clipped all the ribbons onto the dangling ribbons.
I love to see all the gorgeous colors hanging together.
I made a few of the bows but the majority were purchased on eBay in bulk . I figured with three girls they would get pleny of use.
I plan on hanging a cute ladybug mirror under the bows for the girls' daily preening.
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May. 4, 2008 - Laundry Room Update
Today has been an amazing day. I had a refreshing time organizing our kids' clothes. John assembled all three wardrobes with minimal help from me, since I was running around collecting dainty dresses and bins of socks. I finished the three girls clothes sections and I will tackle the boys' clothes tomorrow. I hung all the dresses and outfits and put all the other clothes in bins. Each bin is color matched to each child's color and then labeled with a simple word or phrase. Katie and Lily's first sight words will be "socks, shirts, and shorts" etc. That can be counted as Phonics, right?
Each girl also has a bin with pjs and beauty supplies. The are so excited to have a home for their hairbrush.
We found after four kids keeping track of which toothbrush belonged to who was frustrating, so each child got a color. Austin got blue, Sam is green, Katie is pink, Lily is lavender, and Rachel is yellow. We color match scrapbooks, toothbrushes, loveys, memory boxes, clothing bins and hangers, scissors, laundry baskets (with the help of some plastic friendly spray paint) and some school supplies if possible. I don't go out looking to color match, I look to see what would help keep our home running smoothly and efficiently.
(Just in case you wanted to know I had to take (TN) orange for my toothbrush because John refused and said he needed red....followed by a "Go Dawgs!")
The kids enjoy having their own color. It gives them a sense of ownership and belonging.
My goal for this family closet is to streamline the way clothes are handled. I want to wash, dry. fold (on my soon to be installed counter top) and then take two steps and put away all clothes. I still put away linens in other parts of the house and my clothes but I can manange those.
Enjoy the pictures of my dream come true...
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May. 3, 2008 - The tile and grout met tonight...
My beloved has done it again. He has spent many hours on his knees, tiling. Our laundry room is tiled and this afternoon he introduced the tile to the grout! It looks amazing.
Right now he is cleaning the kitchen and letting a cake cool on the counter. Amazing right, just about this time every year he jumps into action and shows me how much he loves me with acts of love. Tomorrow is the first anniversary of my 30th birthday and I am the princess this weekend. My only real request has been for peace and quiet and a tiled floor! So far so good. ü.
Here is an updated picture of my our laundry room. I'll let you know more about the sunroom when I start to get excited about that room. For now my joy only bubbles out over this beautiful, soon to be organized craft/laundry/family closet type of room.
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Apr. 27, 2008 - Renovation almost complete
We are striving to be content in our home. We have 7 people living in our 1800 square feet home. By the world's standard or average I'm sure it is a mansion, and I know that. I just forget to be content when I am bumping into five little ones in the kitchen or waiting in line to go to the bathroom. My biggest struggle though is laundry. I don't actually mind doing the laundry, I love seeing a full drawer of kitchen linens, clean cloth diapers bundled together in a basket and a cabinet full of thirsy towels. I feel like I can actually see progress being made in keeping my home. I even like to hang out my laundry. As part of my green passion, I have challenged myself to hang out 5 loads a week.
I say all this to come back around to my contentment. We have added on about 350 sq ft. A glorious, tiled space that will be my laundry room and a sunroom. I am designing a family closet for us. I bought three wardrobes to house all of our clothing. I am going to have baskets for all the underclothes, shorts, t-shirts, hanging bars for dressier clothes and shelves for shoes. These soon to be assembled wardrobes will be a few steps away from the mouth of my dryer. The only obstacle in the way will be a clean swept countertop to fold those aforementioned clothes. I fall asleep at night dreaming about how revolutionary our clothes organization will be. Maybe just maybe if I can tame the laundry monster I will have extra time to scrap my kids lives more or devour books that have nothing to do with learning disabilities, dyslexia, potty training, etc.
As soon as we get some progress on assembling these babies I will post pictures. For now I will leave you with the colors of the room, two shades of spring.
