Slow, but sure progress

Okay, I don't have any after shots of our catch-all room yet, but I'm making progress.  I forgot to take a complete before shot, but here's what things looked like half-hour after I started...





Waaaaay too many toys, I know!  And there are tons more in the basement, but that will be for another day. Anyways, I worked on it for about an hour today, and here's where I am so far...


Doesn't seem like much for the time I have spent, but most of it was sorting.  My 5 year old son has sooooo many sets of things that have little pieces that are dispersed EVERYwhere.  The bag on the left is things for a garage sale next spring, and the other bag is garbage, which has already been hauled out to the garbage bin.  Here's what the room's looking like so far...





Everything in this picture is sorted and organized, except for the big blue bin in front, which I need to finish going through.  I put all his little "sets" into ziplocks and put them into the sorting bins.  The blue crate to the right of the sorting bins is for all his Hot Wheels, and the bag on top is bath toys, which I will find a place for later.  When I took the above picture, here's what's behind me...


The pink bin has already been sorted, just waiting to get the rest of the room done.  The rest of the stuff is mostly camping stuff and Hubby's  hunting stuff that needs to be organized.  The big white thing toward the right is carpeting that I think Hubby wants to put down in the room when it's clean.  It's mostly big stuff left after the toys are done, so it should go pretty fast once the toys are done.  The toys will eventually be culled down and moved downstairs to our front porch, which will be used as our homeschool room as well.  In spring, we will have a garage sale and get rid of the love seat and few other pieces that are in the front porch right now, and we will have more room to put this stuff.  Hubby's hunting and camping stuff will be sorted into a few bins and be kept in this room, and we can also turn it into a guest room when needed, as we have one of those double high air beds that can be inflated quickly, along with sheets and such that fit it.

Anyways, that's the de-cluttering process so far.  Hopefully I can get more done later today.

The kitchen's coming along!

Well, this is looking much better!  First, I cleaned out the fridge...



It still looks a little crowded, but I had to make room for my pan of homemade gumdrops to set.  These are very easy to make, by the way, and you can find the recipe over at Ronda's blog.  I love her blog, she is very inspirational and has lots of wonderful recipes and crafts.

Anyways, here's my cleaned off table...


And then when Hubby came home, he fixed the cabinet shelf and...



I was able to clear off my counter and put things back in the cabinet!  It is so wonderful to open the cupboard doors and see it all organized, and to see I actually have SPACE!  LOL.  There was only 4 things I didn't keep, but somehow before I organized it, you couldn't fit another thing in there.

Today's project will be our upstairs "porch" which is a room we don't use, except as a catch all for all the stuff we don't know where to put, and for V's toys.  I really need to go through the toys and cull A LOT.  His stash is going to go down significantly, as he has WAY too many.    I will post a report and pictures later.

A tough diagnosis, and a simpler life

Well, I am in the process of being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.  While this is tough to swallow, I will NOT let it get the best of me!  It has been a rough week of testing, including an MRI, bloodwork, and a lumbar puncture, but it is over and hopefully we will have a definitive answer at my neurologist appointment next week.

The good news is, this has really made both Hubby and myself take a good look at how we're living.  We have both agreed that we need to MAJORLY de-clutter our home and simplify our lives.  This is great!  I have always wanted to do an overhaul, and have done some de-cluttering here and there, but Hubby  has always been wary of getting rid of stuff, so I never did anything major.  He is in the process of clearing out a nice big area in our basement to put things for our garage sale next spring, so we are already off to a good start.

I did try and start on the kitchen today, but that was brought to a screeching halt when the shelf broke in the cabinet I was de-cluttering.

The support on the left side broke and it fell down.  Hey, I was trying to take stuff OUT!  LOL.  Ugh, looks like I need to scrub it down, anyways...I guess all things happen for a reason!  I had V take all the food out and I tried to group it so that I can just stick it all in right when Hubby comes home and fixes the shelf.


Oh, and my kitchen table's a mess too...


These are some of the things I found that either I'm going to use today, or move to the fridge.  Why haven't they been moved there, you ask?  WELL, the fridge needs to be cleaned as well...




Okay, and the dishes need to be done...


V (5) loves to balance things precariously when putting them into the sink.  Anyways, what am I doing on the computer???  Now that I've thoroughly embarrassed myself, I better go make it so that I can post nice pictures too!

More updates soon...

A study on The Lord's Prayer...seeking good websites

Starting Monday, I would like to start going over the Lord's Prayer with my 5 year old son.  He has it memorized, but I want him to understand what he's really praying about when he says the words.  I found this website so far, but I am wondering if any of you out there have any favorite references for this?  I would appreciate any suggestions! 

Exciting Times

I know that I already blogged about it, but after today I have to do it again.  It is so exciting to see how much easier and easier it is getting for V to read words, even words he has not seen before.  It is also so cool how well he is doing in math.  I got him a 1st grade math workbook (he already flew through the K stuff) from Sam's, and he is just flying through that stuff.  He has a hard time sometimes with the number words, as with the phonics we are doing, he is just having to visually memorize those right now.  But even those, he is getting good at.  V even did his first crossword puzzle today!  LOL.  His grandma is always doing them, and he is finally seeing what all the fuss is about.

Meanwhile, Hubby and I are getting ready to order the next set of curriculum from My Father's World.  I just love looking through their website.  For now, I plan on using at least through 6th or 7th grade, but of course, I (or more like V) may change, so we'll see.  We can always supplement as well.  I just really like their packages and curriculum!  So far, it has been fun, and well, it's working!  LOL.  I guess I just like the style of how it's presented and taught, and the material itself is top notch.  Yes, I know it's kind of a weird time of year, but V will be finished with K around the end of October (we did start at an odd time, but it's also only 26 weeks) and then we will get him right into first grade.  I'm not sure how long the 1st grade curriculum is, but I'm guessing we will be starting 2nd grade at the beginning of the next “normal” school year LOL.

Susan's Angel

Susan Godfrey has posted an announcement of her precious angel, who is now in the arms of the Lord.  May God bless her family and give them peace and comfort during this time.

PRAY FOR SUSAN GODFREY AND FAMILY

A lot of you probably know Susan from her blogs.  I have known her over the internet for a couple of years now, and she has been such a source of encouragement and inspiration to me in my faith, as well as in practically every aspect of my homekeeping.  After being away from the blogging world for awhile, I was devestated to read this today.   In the midst of everything, Susan's unwavering faith in the Lord is shining through in her testimony to how He is carrying her through this.  I have thought about her and her family many times since I read this, and have cried many times for her.  Every time I think about her, I send up a prayer to the Lord for Susan, her baby and her family.
Please, please, please pray for Susan and her family during this time.  She will be induced this coming Tuesday morning, and she will be going to the hospital Monday night.  Amy has set up a 48 hour prayer chain for Susan and her family as they are going through this.  Please visit her blog and sign up if you can.  Biblical Womanhood is gathering email notes, verses, and encouragement for the family, as well as any snail mail you may want to send to them.
But most of all, please pray for this grieving family, whenever you think of it.

Back to school???

Not really…I may have taken a blogging break, but we have been chugging along at school the entire time.  By the end of October, we will be finished with kindergarten (which V would have just been starting today) and moving right into first grade.
The big thing is, reading is coming along GREAT.  V is reading very short stories from his curriculum right now and it is so exciting!  I taught him how to do it!  Isn't that a wonderful feeling?  Now, I know if I can teach, anyone can!  V is also doing really well in math…he finished up the kindergarten workbook I had got him, so we got him a first grade workbook, and he is just sailing along in that.  I love this!   We are both having so much fun.  I'm still just reeling from the fact that I TAUGHT MY CHILD HOW TO READ.  LOL.  I know so many of you out there know what I'm feeling.  It just gives me so much encouragement to keep on with this because I have seen that I can do it!
Heehee, time to get off the high horse LOL.

Wednesday

What another beautiful day!  We just got back from our walk.  Before that, we enjoyed a picnic lunch out in our backyard.  Our whole neighborhood smells like flowers right now, and it is so lovely to just walk through it and breath in all that wonderful air.  Lilac bushes are becoming more and more popular around here, and those are my absolute favorite flower.  It seems that they're popping up everywhere and they smell sooooo good!
V is doing so good with his phonics!  I am so excited, because the workbooks we had before were doing absolutely nothing for him and it had me worried he wasn't interested in reading LOL.  He is getting better and better at sounding things out and he should be reading short stories in no time.
V is up taking his nap right now…A started his on the walk and woke up when we got home.  I'm hoping he wants to go back to sleep for a little while because I really want to get our cabinet in the living room de-cluttered today…was supposed to do it Monday, but I just haven't had the time.  I think I will try putting A in his swing, as I can tell he is tired.  It's so funny, at night now he goes to sleep right away, but fights it so hard during the day.
I'm off to done my apron once again! 

A Beautiful Tuesday Here! And a CM Question

Ah, it is such a beautiful day in MN! This week in school we are learning the letter O and about Octopuses.  You know, I always thought the plural was octopi, but everything I've looked up says octopuses.  Hmm…
Anyway, V is loving school more and more, and he absolutely LOVES math!  We use Math Sense Blocks, which are kind of like Cuisenaire rods.  He just asked me (long after the school days over) if he could do some more math!  LOL.  I said “Okay!” and printed another worksheet for him from here.
After supper today, I loaded up A in the stroller and the three of us took a walk around our neighborhood, ending at the playground right across the street from our house.  I have been guilty of not getting the boys out enough (for leisure time, anyway) and I am resolved to do this way more often.  We all had a great time, and A didn't even fuss once!
Right now, I'm reading For the Children's Sake, by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay.  Has anyone else read this?  There are some points that I disagree with (as I'm not 100% CM), but I am getting a lot of really good ideas from the book already.  It reads pretty easy, too.  I also have The Joyful Homeschooler, by Mary Hood, but haven't really started it yet.  Has anyone read this?  What is your opinion?
Yikes, I also have a question for those of you who have been following the CM method…did any of you have a hard time getting your child to narrate back to you what you read to them at first?  It seems like V is paying attention, but when I ask him to tell me what happened, he usually says “I don't know,” after hesitating and/or thinking about it.  I'm just reading small chunks at a time (about 5-10 min for now) before asking him to narrate and am wondering how to help him along.  I'm not sure if he's just “shy” to tell it again, although he's not usually shy in nature.