School Days Wrap Up {Daybook}

Outside my window... peeks of sun and clouds after the rain today (Memorial Day). My perennial gardens are greening up and beautifully lush. The vegetable garden is making progress with beans, carrots and potatoes poking out of the ground.


Thinking about... summer days and summer plans. With the baby due just after the summertime, it's hard not to wish away these days in anticipation of the new little child. These are the days we long for all winter and I want to enjoy them as much as possible. With them come many activities, opportunities for enjoyment and projects that need time (money too). I'm trying to sort them all out to find what's manageable, but also serves each of the needs/desires of everyone in the household. Realistically I won't be able to fit it all in, but I'll do what I can.


Changes... the big kids will continue piano lessons every other week this summer with a new piano teacher. We'll be on a trial period with her and have the understanding that the fall schedule is a little up in the air and will depend on baby. We've been looking to leap to a different teacher for a while and a couple things fell into place to make that possible. Our hope is that the new "older" teacher will help them enjoy playing piano, along with both challenge and encourage them.

The other big change that is on the horizon in July is that our beloved pastor will be leaving us. We've known this for almost two weeks, but he just announced it over the weekend. To say that our hearts are saddened is an understatement. I'm trying to sort my way through the emotions and feel like I'm going through the stages of grieving. So far, I'm still in the denial stage. He has become a good friend to our family. blessed each member in a different way and was what our family needed these last three years. He will be greatly missed. We haven't explained his leaving to the little girls yet. Since they think he pretty much walks on water I think the task may prove to be difficult.

I am hearing... the washer spinning out numerous loads of laundry amidst some early morning quietness. Another benefit of restless sleeping and pregnancy induced early mornings.


What I'm reading... currently I'm trying to get into the 'Miss Julia' book series, without much success. I thought it sounded like a good series and there are plenty of titles, but the story line isn't grabbing me just yet.

Suggestions for good, easy summer reading? I enjoy lighthearted, Christian based, page turning fiction that doesn't require a lot of brain cells that I can pick up easily when I have few snippets of time.


From the kitchen... Saturday morning was muffin baking morning. I made at least ten dozen mini muffins that serve well as additions to breakfast and snack time around here. I made the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip, Cranberry (Craisin), and Oat Bran muffins. On Monday I canned ten pints of strawberry rhubarb jam using my MIL's steam canner for the first time. That just may be the way to go instead of the old huge boiling canner method I've always used in the past.

From the schoolroom... we made it through the CAT testing last week along with other lighter school work. This week we'll finish up what needs to get done and I think one student will have a few math lessons to finish up in June with dad. I'm hoping to get in a field trip this week, but it will depend on weather, location and free time this week to make a trek.



Around the house... the new basement bathroom project continues to make progress. Reed expanded his credentials and now knows how to cut, install and grout tile.  Next up is the flooring and painting before we call the plumber to come work his magic and get everything all hooked up.

After reading the book, I started the KonMari method mainly in my clothes and some drawers, but hope to keep working through tidying other areas around here as well. I find it oddly gratifying, which should pretty much explain yet another new level of my organizing crazy.  I know you are suppose to dive right in and keep on until you are finished, but right now I don't have the time or energy. Perhaps I can get into it in a few other areas once we're done with school work. 

Baby belly... we're at 24 weeks. I'm feeling pretty well, but find myself tired by evening time after being up on my feet all day. I'm still sticking with a good, healthy diet in addition to almost daily workouts or some length of walking fit within my days. I have another ultrasound later this week to see if baby is more cooperative to check heart and kidneys that they couldn't view a few weeks ago.

Sorry the photo isn't the greatest and clearly black is just tough to photograph. It wasn't intentional to be deceiving, but happened to be what I had on today.

Coming up this week... last piano lessons for the school year and perhaps the last with this piano teacher; piano recital; another baby ultrasound; hopefully a field trip with the kids; new bathroom painting?


Photo to share... last Friday:

beautiful spring weather + ice cream treats + the park = the perfect afternoon.

Have a wonderful week! 

(Be sure to let me know if you have summer book suggestions in the comments)

Wordless Wednesday: Back To School

My Kindergartener:

My Second Grader:

Letting Go

This BIG box is sitting in my basement awaiting a springtime garage sale. This box is filled with baby and toddler clothing and the box on top holds several pair of toddler shoes. This box and those clothes have been a personal hurdle I have not been able to get over for at least two years. Until last weekend, I couldn't. I tried numerous times, but believe me, it just could not be done.

The overflowing bins of baby/toddler clothing in my storage room have been a source of pain and trauma for a long time. Although in my heart of hearts I knew that I would not ever need ALL of those clothes, even should we be blessed with a bounteous brood any time soon, I could not get myself to sort through them. If you've followed here for any length of time, you understand and you know how debilitating my heartache can be for me at times over my secondary infertility. The bins full of memories and tiny pink and blue outfits brought up such raw emotion each time I tried to tackle them, so in time I just put aside the job completely.

I did not get rid of every shred of infant reminders or every precious overall set, after all I still hold on to the hope that I will use them again. But there was excess and there are realities. Someone else really may be in greater need for these cute-as-a-button onesies and outfits. Who am I to hoard them and hold on to them? And no, I did not part with any pretty-in-pink or boy-in-blue that sparked any fond memories. For now, I still need those. I cannot completely let go. I am just one woman, after all.

This box, these clothes, are a reminder of grace. Suddenly, one day I finally held the emotion and the God-given grace to muddle through the bins. The place that I had avoided. Alone, I sorted and decluttered, shedding not even a tear. I was able to let go and I was able to look ahead, without fear of the unknown and without anxiety. How refreshing.

Kids' Bedroom Makeover

I was quite inspired by Jessica's post and pictures on re-decorating her girls' room the other week and figured it was time for a little bedroom re-do at our house.

It's a little different though, since I wanted to makeover Lily and Jonah's room and with it being co-ed I couldn't go girly or all out boy either. I presented the kids with the idea of a slight makeover and changing things up a bit, but not too much. They are much like their father and don't like to change things unless absolutely necessary, so I was met with a little resistance. That was okay. My budget couldn't afford a TON of changes, but I wanted to create more functionality and space for each of them to enjoy.

With all of the dorm room/college decor and accessories available right now in stores, it proved to be perfect timing! I started by changing up the comforters on each of their beds and went from there with the rest.



They each settled on wall appliques that suited their tastes and they are peel & stick, so nothing permanent. Perfect.




The white bookcase was already in the room, so I just purchased the other one to allow each child to have their age appropriate books on their shelf along with some that they each share. I was thrilled to find the bins that are on Jonah's shelf since they hold the paperback and Little Golden books so much easier than just having them on the shelf with the others.



Although a little bit of painting was part of the original plan, after the room was pulled together and I took a look I decided that we could fore go that. The green wall on the window side of the room that I was most concerned about seemed to match just fine. In the end I was glad I could skip another painting job, especially if it wasn't needed.

While taking on the makeover endeavor, I decided that a little re-organizing of toys and 'stuff' was also needed. Some of the toys that were overtaking our living room were brought into the kids' room (kitchen set and dishes, blocks, little cars,etc.) and either stored in bins under the bed or in the closet. We also put in a lower hanging rack for the kids' shirts so that they are more easily accessible for them. These changes allowed for our dear living room to be a little less cluttered and most toys that need to be in there are now in one corner or stashed in the toy box.



All in all, it all turned out great and we are loving the change. It also left us with a new look for the kids' room and the living room; a cleaner/more organized living space; no more shirts wrinkled and stuffed in the dresser drawers; and a clear reminder of how much I LOVE bins and baskets for organizing!

If You Are Like Me....

....you would LOVE to have this in your home.


Inspired by Tracy and this post filled with photos of all of her glorious organizing lately, I knew I had to get my hands on a label maker.

Those of you who know me IRL or via this blog, you perhaps have concluded that yes, I am a planner and an organizer (and admittedly, perhaps to a fault). How it is that one who organizes as much as myself has not gotten my hands on to as precious of an item as this, is really beyond me!

After spending a short time in my basement storage room this morning, I've done quite a bit of labeling on my storage bins in there. Oh sure, they were all labeled before with masking tape and hand written labels, but now they are beautifully labeled thanks to my new 'toy'. (Oh, if hubby only knew that was how I spent part of my morning..)


When I mentioned the idea of this purchase last week to hubby, he said he'd thought of getting one before but just never had. Ok, that was all I needed. He was in support of my spending the money on such an item. Hey, at that point I even mentioned that maybe that would be a nice Mother's Day gift that I'd really appreciate. Hubby chuckled. I don't think a label maker was exactly on his list of 'best gifts to give the best mommy in the world'. With that, I decided that my next trip to Walmart would entail hunting one of these down. The other day, I found a number of label makers that fit the bill, but my bill also included a minimal price tag. Organizing or not, we are in tough economic times people. To my delight, I found a version of the model pictured above for *drum roll* JUST UNDER $20!! Perfect. It came with one label refill in the package and I also picked up another for under $7. Not bad I'd say.

And really, this is just more evidence that it doesn't take much to please this mommy. I know, I REALLY need to get out more!!

Next on the list: labeling shelves and cabinets in the garage that are filled with hubby's tools.

A Little Cleaning and Organization...

....goes a long way!

Over the weekend, I felt the urge to attack my linen closet in the bathroom and do some major purging. It wasn't really that it was THAT bad, but more that it felt cluttered and disorganized and bursting with STUFF. I am an organizer. I like things functional and organized, so when something like a closet suddenly feels overwhelming and messy, I drop everything and get right to it. I started by tossing everything I no longer use (hair products, lotions, etc.). Then I went through all of our over the counter meds. and got rid of anything that was expired (trust me, more things than I realized!). Finally, I went through the linens and put aside any that I no longer needed/used/liked for Goodwill. After taking EVERYTHING out of that closet, I re-organized the small things back into baskets and everything else on its proper shelf. I even had extra space so that our toilet paper could be put on a shelf instead of on the floor by the laundry basket where it used to reside. In the end, I had a pile of stuff for Goodwill and a garbage bag full of junk to throw. Not bad. What a rewarding project!

Here's an organizing tip for you: Perhaps someone has already come up with this one, but I had a *light bulb* moment while re-folding my linens to go back in the closet. I took each set of linens that were folded and put them inside one of the pillowcases for that set. I then folded over the excess pillowcase and all was contained in a neat package. I love that the whole set is all together and I won't have to go hunting to find the complete set or have fitted sheets unfolding every time I take something off the shelf! It's going to come in handy too during the night when we are delirious and need to make an emergency sheet change for a certain little boy!! (You can see the neat packages on the top shelf in my completed picture.)

*Disclaimer: from the pictures it may be hard to see the difference, but there really was a lot of stuff hidden in the back of that closet!*


Mission: Disaster!







Mission: Completed!