The "1st" day of Kindergarten

While most traditional schools have a "1st" day of school, we have been easing our way into school but plan to go full speed ahead Wednesday August 29th.  About 4 weeks ago, I started giving Reece handwriting assignments.  Since she learned to write in preschool, this is basically a lot of practice in writing before she gets to her assignments this year.  She has been doing well with this routine except that it is taking a little longer than I expected.  She feels she needs help with writing but I know she knows it and it's more of a matter of attention.  This is one subject/assignment where I thought I could just have it laid out and she would just do it on her own.  It's been getting better over the weeks but still needs some work.  Having our "school room" set up, has also helped - not as many distractions.

This week I added reading and bible.  This consists of her reading a small book every day of the week, and me doing some read-alouds with her.  Some are from a nursery rhyme book and another is a chapter book. Right now we are reading Box Car Children - something I was required to read in 5th grade.  We are very much enjoying that.  She also listens to "Sing the Word from A to Z" focusing on a verse each week.  This week was "All have Sinned".  We are also reading a bible story each day.  Our Math curriculum doesn't start until September but she has been doing some things with pattern blocks and doing her calendar stuff each day - We did this all summer.  And then course she has her chores to do.  So far all of that has been taking about an hour and we start the moment she gets out of bed.  We have been getting everything done including chores, dress and fed by 8:30.  Next Wednesday we will start the other part of math, science, history, and geography so it will take a little longer.  I'd like to keep the routine the way we have now and that way when Brody goes off to preschool at 9, Reece and I can continue with math, science, geography, and history when he is gone.  Those are the harder subjects I think and will require more concentration.  Brody usually reads with us so that works out well.

Things have been going a lot smoother than I thought so far.  I really hope it continues.  She will start dance next Thursday (the 30th) and then Awana the week after.  We are also going to try and make MOMs groups every other Friday morning and we'll be watching a little girl a couple of days a week.

I saw the school bus come to the end of our street and wait (even though I told the school she would not be attending).  I got all teary eyed when I saw it there and then leave.  There are a couple of reasons for this.  1st...I was happy that it wasn't actually picking her up and that she will at least  have another year home with me.  I am glad to be her teacher this year!  But there was still another part of me that was sad she was not going.  When I THINK of homeschooling, I get overwhelmed, but when I am actually DOING it, it feels natural, and I think "what was I worried about".  I also have been thinking about her missing out of the kindergarten experience at an actual school which kind of gets to me.  I told her yesterday that most of her friends actually went to school today.  I asked her if she was sad that she was not going, and she said no that she liked doing school at home better.  Part of me says she doesn't really know what she is missing but the other part of me really liked her answer!

I have some  pictures of our school room and routine.

This is our "to do chart".  These are magnets just like her chore chart.  It has all the subjects we will be doing for the day.  there is another small magnet on the front of them.  When she is done with one, she turns it over to show that it is completed.  I thought this would better show her all we have to do for the day and make her feel accomplished when she is done.  Of course I have some fun ones to add, like field trips, computer time, play doh, etc.

 The ones that are all done...

 Our calendar wall...work in progress.

In her PJs reading her first book.

 Doing some work

 Brody singing along with the bible verse song.

Thoughts the day after the Tornado (8/9/2012)

(*written the morning after the tornado but things got busy and it wasn't completed now).

Laying in the bed this morning in the dark after a restless nights sleep, it was nice to hear some birds finally chirpping as they try to find new homes. It was a nice cool night and morning with our windows open. Shortly after the birds, I could hear chain saws and wood chippers going over the generator that supplied our electricity. Thoughts flooded my head of the events that took place a short 13 hours before. It was odd to look out the front door and see a full view of the neighbors house. The two trees that were there before were cut up and laying an the ground. All my landscaping and flowers were stripped and leaves add a green new paint to everything.

What happened anyways? Some say they saw funnel clouds and rotations, others say 65+mph wind shears.
Photo taken by a friend somewhere off of route 9...

 Around 3:45 on Thursday August 9th, my kids and I went out to pick some tomatos. It was getting dark and started to sprinkle. Brody said he wanted his rain boots. I helped him find them and thought it would be a good "Kodak" moment since he was wearing shorts and a pair of rain boots - no shirt. We saw the neighbor moving some crafting projects inside of his garage to save them from the rain that was on its way. His wife was away to Hobby Lobby getting more wreaths for her craft. We head over there to say hi and have our usually 4pm snack. We grabbed a few lawn chairs and sat in the garage watching the rain. I remember looking up to see the clouds and saying "wow, look at those clouds...they are moving so fast...this will be quick storm". The neighbor then said "look at the neighbor's trampoline...I think it's going to go".

Then the rain picked up and it started hailing...so hard and fast at an angle that we were getting pelted in the face. And then all of a sudden, the wind gushed through the garage pushing us back. The neighbor yelled "Get in the basement". We rushed to the back door, tried to shut the garage, but it was too late - no electricity. I rushed the kids downstairs with a flash light and the radio. The neighbor said he saw the rotation hit the pavement of his driveway. I went back upstairs and looked out the window and it was already over...in a matter of 5 minutes. Trees uprooted...shingles scattered...leaves and hail plastering houses and littering the yards. I couldn't believe my eyes as I looked outside. I stepped out into his garage with water and hail up to my ankles. Everything was pushed back in the garage and the foundation of the east side of the garage was pushed/bowed out.

I immediately went home and grabbed my camera. I tried several times to get ahold of my husband. Three times we were cut off and all he heard me say was "everything is gone". What I actually said was the trees were all gone. Imagine driving home for 30 minutes thinking your house is gone.

Meanwhile the dog was at the vet. I took him there in the morning to have some teeth cleaning procedure thing in which they had to put him under for. Brock was to pick him up on the way home. Given the circumstances, he had a guy in the office go pick up the dog for us. An hour later, the vet called to tell us that they gave him the wrong dog! Turns out the owner of the other dog lived close to him and walked down to exchange dogs. He brought the dog to town and met my mother in law who picked him up. My poor dog will never want to go to the vet again! Gets put under, wakes up to 2 different owners and his territory as he knew it was completely destroyed.

We had lots of help cutting down things and moving things around. My sister in law and mother in law brought food and drinks. We very well taken care of and supported. Clean up begins or continues. We are so thankful that we were not harmed by this event. It sure felt like a close one when we saw all the damage that happened around us. It sure looks different around our neighborhood. I love seeing all the community support.
Neighbors 80 foot tree that was uprooted and laying on their roof.

View out my garage when I ran to get my camera.  That steam is from the hail and the heat hitting.

Our front yard tree.

 Neighbors trees

One of our back yard trees...view of neighbors.

 Front of house where the tree fell on it.

All last week we continued to make progress.  On Monday, Direct TV came out and replaced our battered dish.  The air unit guy came and cleaned out our air units from debri and fixed the fans that were pelted by hail.

On Tuesday Brock stayed home and took in all our ripped screens from the windows and had all those replaced.  He also put back our broken retaining wall that fell due to heavy trees laying on it.

Brody ran to hug BeBe (the neighbor) who was sad that her trees were being cut down.

 Checking out their new territory

 Watching trees being cut down.

The empty neighbors forrest where the kids use to play.  This was full of trees...they lost 13 50-80 footers!

 The dump pile from our street and the streets around us.  It was at least 40 feet high and 50 feet wide.

We still have to replace our roof and gutters along with a few other things.  It has slowed down a bit and we are hoping for a less busy fall...probably won't have as many leaves and things to prune since everything is wiped out.  No canning for me since my garden is gone! :(  There are still some clean up things to do and we will replace a couple of trees in the fall we hope.  Eventually I'd like to see some before and after pictures...just have to dig around to get some befores.

Organizing/Cleaning Issue 5 - Bedroom

I feel like a broken record on a lot of my posts...we're busy!  I kind of left you hanging on the cleaning and organizing because we got super busy all of sudden.  As soon as school was out for summer, we went on a week long vacation, began watching another child, started t-ball, and had a garage sale.  Whew...glad that is all behind us.

I am not going to go into a lot in this post, but just wanted to get back out on the scene.  So far we have looked at Daily Routines (morning and bed time with some help of the fly lady) and cleaning schedules for our Bathroom and Kitchen.  We have also looked at ways to organize in each of these areas of our homes.  Some areas take a bit more work (Kitchen and Bathroom), while other areas, are easier to maintain and organize.  Let's look at an easier room:  The Bedroom.  For me this room is pretty simple.  We sleep in it and that is about it.  We don't spend a lot of time in this room so there isn't really a lot of clutter there (besides maybe the closets).  I don't have a lot of tips on how to organize things in the bedroom outside of dresser drawers all having different types of clothing stored in them (one having socks, one having underwear type items, one having pants or shorts, etc).  However, I do have a cleaning schedule that I use for this zone (which takes place on the fourth week of every month - outside of regular weekly cleaning).  Every week I try to sweep and mop (we have hard floors) and even try to dust at least every other week.  I do wash the sheets in there about every week or every other week.  But on the 4th week, I use the below rotating list of things to take a closer look at.  I date them when I complete them so that I am never wondering when I last did that task.  The list is as follows:

~Clean under beds and under all furniture
~Go through sock/underwear drawers (get rid of things you don't wear or that have holes in them)
~Clean blinds
~Look up (for cobwebs, tops of windows and doors)
~Clean switch plates, light fixtures, knobs
~Ceiling fan
~Detail Dust
~Clean and pick up closet floor
~Closet "fling boogie" (go through closet and get rid of things!)
~Go through toy bins/books (kids room)
~Take a look around - floor/night stands/tops of dressers (get rid of garbage and things that belong in other rooms)
~Flip mattress
~Go through other drawers and get rid of things you no longer want/fit/need
~Baseboards

I do try and organize my closet some as far as hanging things in groups (tank tops together, t-shirts, long sleeve, dressy items, dresses/skirts, pants).  I try to group them in colors as well as I feel like it's easier to find things when I am looking for them (maybe I should just get rid of more and I wouldn't have that problem).
When it comes to week 4, I usually focus on just my bedroom, but if things are going really well, I do the same tasks in the kids room (or assign them to the kids to do).  Since my kids are smaller than I, I have them squeeze under the beds and wipe things down for me.  If you are doing your daily and weekly routines for this room, the other stuff is a cinch (Daily - making bed; weekly - sheets, quick dust, vacuum/mop).  That's it for today!  We'll look at the Living/Dining/Entrance next which I also consider a pretty easy space before we tackle organizing kids stuff (playroom, etc).

Gradys Fun!

We have been enjoying the weather.  We took the kids to Gradys last saturday to eat pizza and play.  They had fun!

 Brody was sad that he wasn't old enough to ride the go-karts with daddy.  He had to sit and watch with me.

 Cotton Candy sure helped him forget about the go-karts...that thing was bigger than him!  Don't worry he had to share with his sister.

 Watching

Getting Dirty

All this talk about getting clean and organized but it was time to get DIRTY!  My kids begged me to get outside and play in the rain and mud...so I let them.  Not without rules of course...once you get out there and get dirty, you can't come inside until you are at least clean enough to get in the tub!  They had an absolute ball and I have a great time capturing their moments in the mud!

It totally looks "staged" (so my husband says" but this mud was put on her face by her own hand when she was trying to get her hair out of her face.

Happy Homeschooling

Since my last post on this subject, we have seen God moving.  We set a budget for this years home school costs and as of yesterday have purchased all of our home school materials for Kindergarten next year!  I can't believe we have come to this point after 3 months of praying and researching!  I have gone from dreading this to not being able to wait until fall to start!  I am truly excited and can't see it any other way for next year.  

I wanted to share an interesting story.  When thinking about all the materials we were going to be getting for home school, I knew I needed something to organize all of it (no...not me:).  I really liked those cube/shelf organizers that I saw at IKEA and that many of my friends have.  I knew at this point it was probably out of our budget to get one. So I was planning on settling for either a shelving unit we had a home that I could use (by shuffling around some other things) or by buying a cheaper/smaller version from Target and spending a little less money.  During this time, God also allowed me to receive a couple of jobs...one as a Doula having a client due in the fall and two watching the neighbor's 8 year old this summer.  

I went to a garage sale last Friday.  At the garage sale the lady was selling the very shelving unit I wanted from IKEA.  I saw she had $85 on it.  She also had a kindergarten/pre-school chair for $1 so I snagged that (even though I don't have the table yet, I knew the chair would be great).  I went home and thought about the unit.  I went to IKEA online and saw that brand new it was $199 so I knew it was a deal.  The next afternoon, I stopped by the sale again to see that she still had the unit.  I asked her what the story was with it.  She told me that she had bought two of the units and discovered that she only had room for one of them.  It was all put together but not glued or screwed tight.   I told her I really wanted it because I was homeschooling next year and need a place to organize things in our school room.  She was very encouraging and thought it was wonderful and that I was a good mommy for wanting to make that kind of sacrifice for my kids.  She said one of her neighbors up the street does it and that if her kids were little she would consider it at this point.  We had a very nice conversation while many others were listening and nodding their heads.  

I told her I would think about the cabinet and that I didn't have the money on me or a truck with me.  She said no one else had inquired and she really wanted to pass it along to me even coming down on price.  I told her I would get back to her after I talked to my husband.  She gave me a business card and told me to give her a call.  

I left and ran several errands including grocery shopping.  I went home and told my husband about the cabinet and he told me to go for it.  I hopped in the truck and headed for the bank to get the cash.  I decided I better call her before I got all the way there.  When I called her she said that there was someone there right now wanting to buy it but she would save it for me if I was on my way - and that she would give it to me for $5 cheaper.  

When I got there she told me that the cabinet just had to be meant for me.  She said the other lady was willing to pay full price for it.  She also said that she never answers the phone during a garage sale especially when she doesn't recognize the caller on caller id.  So I feel it was truly meant for us.  Now...we just need to find a good table to do our work on.

We got it home and it is set up and organized with the curriculum that came in the mail yesterday!  When we drove down the street yesterday we could see a box on the front porch and I had a feeling that is was.  When I told Reece she was so excited and said she wanted to open it herself.  The rest of it should come next week.  I spent $27 less than our budget for curriculum when I wasn't sure how I was going to be able to get what I needed with the budget we set!  With the help of Ebay, good friends, and the grace of God, we pulled it off and are looking forward to a great 1st year of homeschooling.  I can hardly wait to get started!

Reece opening her package of goodies!  (Not a great picture but I was trying hurry and capture the moment and didn't have all the right settings on the camera).

The shelving unit from the garage sale...craft stuff on top, curriculum on first level, toys and stuff will go on the rest.  Need to get some nicer, bigger baskets.

Left to right: Science/history/character building (first box), math (2nd box), language arts/writing (3rd box), reading/bible stuff (4th box)

 

Organizing/Cleaning Issue 4 - the Kitchen

Today, we are diving into the kitchen - the heart of the home.  Each month (week 2) I take a good look at my kitchen and do a 15 minute (or so) job (or two) each day to keep up on things in the kitchen.  This is of course in addition to my weekly cleaning plan and things that are included in the morning and night time routines that we discussed in Issue 1.  Let's review those:


Daily - Empty Dishwasher (if needed), check calendar, prepare dinner plans, clean hot spot, shine sink (or at least empty out sink), wipe down counter as needed (middles only).


Weekly - Vacuum/Mop and empty trash


Below are my "jobs" that I look at on a monthly basis.  I sort of rotate these based on date last completed or just  how I am feeling at the moment.  You would do one or more of these a day in week two (M-F) to take up 15 minutes a day of focusing on detailed cleaning in the kitchen.  Below is my list of things that I think need cleaned in the kitchen.  You are welcome to copy and paste it into a word document and print it off. I put mine in a sheet protector and date it as I complete them.  Then I never have to wonder when the last time was that I cleaned/organized it.  You can add things (as I usually do each month as I find things) and make it your own. The ones with smiley faces next to them are ones I have my kids help me with :)These are in no particular order:


Kitchen Counters (wiping them all down and under things)
Trash Can (put in the shower or hose down inside and out) :)
Sink Faucet (with toothbrush)
Large Appliances (dishwasher, stove, fridge - wiping down)
Detailed Floor scrub (hands and knees kind) :)
Cabinets/knobs (wipe down outside) :)
Look up--cob webs, lights, above cabinets
Light switch plates/door knobs (wipe) :)
Baseboards/look down :)
Small appliances (toaster, microwave, can opener - wipe down)
Rubbermaid/Tupperware drawer - organizing, wipe down, throw away
Pantry - wipe down, organize, throw away (look for expired things)
Lazy Susan/spice rack - wipe down, organize, throw away, refill (look for expired things)
Clean out Fridge - wipe down, organize, throw away (look for expired things)
Clean out under sink - wipe down, organize, throw away :)
Wipe down walls :)
Clean blinds
Clean underneath microwave
De-clutter/go through cabinets (open them, look to see what you can get rid of, wipe down rearrange as necessary)


Here are some ideas for organizing in the kitchen: (note:  I try to organize with stuff I have at home...you can spend a lot of money trying to get organized or you can use stuff that you have at home...I have a little of both in my home)

Tupperware bowls and lids drawer

We all try to stack what fits, right? But what about all those lids? I put mine in a zip lock bag and throw it in the drawer. They can’t spill and they are easy to flip through.  If you have two different shapes, say circle and square, put circle in one and label it circle.  Easy to flip through when you are looking for one, and easy to downsize when you are getting rid of things.  When you get rid of things, be sure to match the bowls and lids so you don't have extra ones with missing items.  

Bulk Cooking/cutting 

I do a lot of cooking in bulk to cut down on meals I have to cook. I have a family of 4 so any recipe that calls for a 9X13 I always split in half and put into two smaller square pans, quart dishes or freezer bags. I freeze one and eat the other. If you freeze flat, you can then file in your deep freeze like a file in a filing cabinet. If I am going to cut an onion, I might as well cut the whole bag and then I freeze the rest in zip lock sandwich bags. I do this onions, carrots, green peppers, etc.  I do mashed potatos in bulk and freeze them…If I buy a 10lb bag I just do the whole thing…one mess and its done.

This is just an example of some of the stuff I have.  I have all my green peppers in individual sandwich bags but then I put all those little bags in one big gallon ziploc to cut down on the scent mixing with the other foods.  Pictured here is green peppers, chopped broccoli (I add this in with sauces to sneak in an extra vegetable - I do this with spinach, sweet potato and carrot as well), chopped carrots, home made chicken broth, and a couple of meals to the right stacked on top of each other.

 How I file my meals...as flat as I can.

Dishwasher loading

This one might cause all of you to stop reading the blog…there were a few organizational tips that I do that I was scared to share as then I would be confessing my OCD organizing problem. This was one of them. When I load my dishwasher, I always put the forks all in one basket, spoons in one, knives in one, etc. That way when I unload it, I just have to pull them out and put them in the right place…no sorting. So I have a slot assigned to each utensil.

top left - bigger spoons (soup/Tbs), knives, back one is kid utensils and other. 

Bottom left - smaller spoons, forks

Restaurant coupons

This is what I use for sorting restaurant coupons (steak n shake, olive garden, etc). I store this file in one of my kitchen drawers. On the lables, I just put what month the coupons expire, that way when the month is over, I just pull all of them out and throw them away. No sorting or leaving them in a drawer for a year, and they are pretty easy to go through and find the one we want when its the rare occasion that we eat out.  I also included menus in the front and back of the file.

Random Recipes

What do you do with recipes you find in magazines or that someone give you? I just made a binder and put clear sheets in there, and just put them in there with sheet protectors. If they are smaller recipes, I tape them on to sheets of paper to fit multiple ones on. I have it organized by appetizers, breakfasts, lunch/sides, dinner, and desserts.

Cheap, cute binder from Wal-mart

 multiple recipes taped onto a sheet of paper and put inside of a sheet protector

 Divided by tabs

Junk Drawer

It may seem strange to some people that I have 3 different utensil holders in my house when I only have one drawer for utensils (forks, spoons, knives).  I use the other 2 for things other than utensils.  One I use in the kitchen in the "junk" drawer to store pens, pencils, and markers.  The other one I use in my craft for that same kind of thing.  You can organize lots of things with utensil holder!

And again I leave my counters pretty bare…fly lady has a rule that if you don’t use something more than 4 days a week, to put it away and off the counters…so I have my coffee maker, knife set, and blender out for smoothies and that is about it. I even put my sugar and flour containers in a cabinet. Easier to wipe down counters this way!

(*of course my spice rack is in alphabetical order because it's easier to locate one when I need it, but I didn't want to go there.)  

I am sure there are many more ideas out there for kitchens but that is the basic stuff for my kitchen!  The key is getting rid of stuff and having a place for everything so that there is less on your counter.  You know what they say...LESS is more!

My challenge to you this week is to clean out your fridge!  I just did mine and it feels great.  Also, clean out and organize that rubbermaid/tupperware drawer!