We Caught our Second Wind!

Boy, I must say 2013 was a tough year. I know I've said this before, but I really over-pushed my limits. 

I'm glad to say goodbye...

I had a nice, well-needed rest from it all. The holidays were very lovely and joyful.

 Now I'm ready to roll into the New Year

...like a boss!

{K} had his first basketball game last weekend and he did so well!!

We were THOSE parents yelling so loudly and over-doing it with cheers for ever bucket his team sunk...

Back to schooling...

I'm really looking forward to the last half of the year with the kiddos. I realize that even on the days when we don't seem to get anything accomplished , the children are still progressing at a rapid pace! 

I love love love being able to organize their curriculum. I also love the freedom that homeschooling gives us. 

Lately, I've been having to skip through lessons because I keep getting the response, "I already know this"...

I make them prove it every time, sure enough, we skip even more lessons....

I feel like that is something we struggled with a bit in public school, especially with the oldest...

Even if he knew it, he was still required to do it again. Don't get me wrong, repetition is very important for some things, but there is a point where boredom gets the best of us and does more than cause a little trouble.

I was looking through the pics in my camera and I was laughing so hard at the silly face poses...

         ^that's {J}'s silly face...ha!

My children really take their silly faces seriously. They give 100% effort in making a silly face, it almost looks painful...

So yeah, we've caught our second wind and are feeling like we're cruising right along merrily. 

We haven't been very social, but when the weather gets a bit nicer we'll be out more.

We're also looking for good book recommendations for {M}. She's read so many books already, but here's what she has left on her reading list for the rest of the year:

• The Phantom Toll Booth
• The Great Gilly Hopkins
• Because Of Winn-Dixie
• The Whipping Boy
• Caddie Woodlawn
• Anne of Green Gables
• Tuck Everlasting
• Sounder
• The Last Invisible Boy
• James and The Giant Peach
• Pippi Longstocking

Do you have any other awesome books around the same reading level that you highly recommend?

God Bless all of you and yours!

~The Zeres

Clean and organize my life...

{This happens to be the title to one of my Pintrest boards}

I always look forward to the New Year because yes, I plan to make 'a new.
One of the biggest projects that I have lined up is PURGING PURGING PURGING!!!

My garage is an impossible mess and my house is busting at the seams.
This house eats library books and entire sections vomit their belongs while I'm distracted.
I'm so tired of picking up the same stuff over and over...

It's not working, it's too complicated for the children to comply with the organization of it all.
Most days I feel like I want to take all the baskets and combine them into a giant toy box because I'll find "accessories" mixed in the "figurines" bin or the "cars" will be in the "doll clothes"..nothing stays where it goes, so who cares about labels?
There is this kitchen drawer that jams up every time I open it to use the foil. Really, the foil is the only thing I use in that drawer but all the other stuff is on standby...just in case the need arises...

I'm at the end of my rope!

I know where I need to begin. I need to minimize EVERYTHING! There are too many accessories, figurines, cars, doll clothes, and things in the foil drawer.

...but it is such a big project it's hard to begin...

When I look around there are many things that I love...those will stay.
Everything else will need to prove it's usefulness, if not, GONE!

I have to remind myself that it's difficult for a family of six to keep tidy and organized {especially when Dad and Mom are both full-time students and both work outside the home}

I'm coming up with daily cleaning schedules for everyone in the house, I think this will help a lot.

I also have to remind myself that the youngest member in the house is a  two year old who tends to turn into a tornado if he's given too much freedom to roam....

His chores will include picking up and sorting {I'm sure more chores will come along when the ball starts rolling}

I'm going to test out a lot of those Pintrest ideas and see what works for us!

HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Do you have a really effective cleaning/organizing system?

Tell me, tell me, please share!!