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!!

Happy New Year!

Well, OK...we made it past 2012. Phewwww, just by the skin of our teeth.

There are some big projects that I have on my to do list this year.
I've already scratched off a bunch of big projects, so onward I go!

All the Christmas decorations are down {oh I can count that as another project completed}

Now this is what is on our wall:

"Create in me a pure heart, oh God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me"

~Psalm 51:10

This is perfect for us right now!

Thank you Lord for your words!

My children think the flowers on burlap look like Christmas presents...Doh! That's not what I was going for, but hey, whatever! I like them... 

What are some of the big projects on your list?

God Bless!

Purging and Preparing...

I finally did it! I've been planning to do it for a while now.

I had the less than desirable, ever-so-dreaded, yard sale.

I will be the first to admit that...

 I could've been more prepared.

I would've planned it more thoroughly had I known.

I should've advertised better.

Shoulda-Woulda-Coulda...

Oh well, It was really fun. My Mama came over for the morning and hung out. She made more money than all of us {way to go Mom!}

I won't post any pics of her because she was making crazy faces in all of them...AND she would kill me for it :)

I think the girls came in second for the most earnings with their lemonade stand:

{K} was helpful and pretty patient. He sold some stuff and handled the cashiering...

{J} was pretty difficult, we had to keep bringing him inside to Daddy...

He didn't last too long with all the excitement...

Even though my yard sale was not a financial success, I did however succeed in getting rid of a lot of stuff. Even though it didn't sell, it no longer has a home in my garage. It is as good as gone...

I want to start this school year off, fresh and de-cluttered. We aren't buying a lot of school supplies, instead I've taken an inventory of the stuff we already have and we will not add to the list unless absolutely necessary...

Speaking of school, it won't be long before we dive into our second year of homeschooling. I've learned so much in our first year and I have to remind myself to just keep going...

The real challenge has been keeping the baby busy while we are "in study".

I'd like share some ideas that I found:

Independent Activities for a one year old {while the big kids are "in study"} :

Make a textured book

{Via}

{Via}

A peekaboo tray from a shoebox lid

{Via}

A tissue box filled with fabric squares

{via}

Pipe Cleaners and Containers

{Via}

{Via}

Tactile Exploration Cards

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Ball Tube

{via}

Hope you find as much worth in these ideas as I do. Thanks to all you brilliant Mamas.

Oh and I found this and wanted to share it with y'all {hehe}

Have a blessed day!

Homeschooling: {Colors}

In our new house we have about 1000 square feet less than we used to have. We are learning to live with less, and loving it! One of the only draw backs is that our dining room HAS TO BE our school room because we no longer have a breakfast nook or a play-room.

I know I'm being really selfish here, but I just don't want posters and papers ALL over this room...yet..

So I've been coming with unique ways to school with subtle style...

I know when I look back I'm going to remember the fun projects, experiments, books, and time we spent together, not how nice my living room looked...
...so I'm not going over-board just subtle. AND...I like my space to be pretty if I can help it...

I'm preparing to add a kindergarten to our curriculum, so things will get pretty colorful...

I have a few really good ideas for learning primary/ secondary colors...

I cut out bird templates, colored them and we will use them to determine which primary colors will make which secondary colors.

Then, we have our Rainbow color spectrum... made from paint chips atop burlap, painted cardboard and then framed...

Subtle...right?

I love it! What do you think?

Projects: Uber-Cute storage jars

Where do you put it all?

This is where we put it all...

What we used:

• Newman's Own pasta sauce jars
• Paint Chips from Ace hardware for behind the labels {a good variety of colors}
• Benjamin Moore {sunflowers}Paint
• Small paint brush
• A small toy animal
• Hot glue gun
• Template frame below {you can save the template below, add a text box, write what you want, move to the middle and voila!}
  
  

Here are some more samples:

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