I have a way of creating my own chaos

We ended up having another yard sale this past Saturday with the proceeds going to the adoption fundraising. Our first one was in the pouring rain and this one was in the freezing cold. Yep, we know how to pick the day. It turned out to be a pretty good day and we were so very thankful for all the goods that were donated to us and the help from my Mom for organizing the stuff.

But what was I thinking of having a sale just a week after my oral surgery. Did I mention I had my last 2 wisdom teeth out. Yep. It has been a LOT harder to recover than I thought it would be. I am still not eating normal. My mouth still hurts and I keep getting food bits stuck in my "teeth holes". Delightful sounding isn't it?

So we get up early to have our garage sale (in like 40 degree temps). Work the sale all morning, I come inside to make some food (hadn't eaten all day). Make a tuna wrap and snarf it down (like I said - HUNGRY). My mouth was in so much pain for eating that lunch I paid for it the rest of the weekend. I was still frigged cold so I curled up on the bed to warm up under the blankets and conked out from the pain meds.

So...you think I would learn my lesson about over doing it??? Nope.

Today I was working on a lapbook that I can use to demonstrate when I teach a class tomorrow night on lapbooking. I also had signed my girls up for a history fair for our homeschool group and I decided today that we better come up with some kind of a display (the fair is on Wednesday). Meanwhile we are starting our own lapbook on Mary Cassatt for our own school lesson. And today I thought to myself...I think I'll make some chicken soup and freeze it.

Like I said...I have a way of creating my own chaos. I have the ability to be my own worse enemy.

Did I NEED to start the Mary Cassatt lapbook today? NO
Did I NEED to make chicken soup and freeze it? NO
Did I NEED to have a yard sale this past weekend? NO

When will I learn my lesson? I must work harder at having better judgement. Just keeping it real here. =)

helping a friend get organized

Recently a friend mentioned she needed some help organizing her school room. I took her up on her invite and showed up yesterday with a label maker in hand ready to work. Actually it turned out another friend who enjoys organizing joined us and the 3 of us tackled the job.

First off, I don't want to skirt past the idea that this friend asked for help. Rather than hide behind the overwhelming feeling of not knowing where to start with the clutter and the mess. She swallowed her pride and became real and invited us in to see what life can really be like when you are trying to home educate 3 different ages of kids (not to mention all the extra activities that go along with it). I reassured her we were NOT there to judge, but to help.

Just this past weekend I just got back from a homeschooling convention and was challenged and blessed in so many ways (eager to post more about it). One of the speakers really challenged us to GET REAL. Break down the walls that we hide behind and let true friendship begin. Find those friends that you can be honest with and that will spur you on to "good works". To be a better you. The ones that will walk with you when times are hard and encourage you when you are struggling. And not to mention the ones that will speak truth into your life. Those friendships all start with getting real.

So yesterday when we arrived we started our work in the Dining Room. This is where most of the seat work will take place this year. We needed to move out the china hutch and store and toss the dishes. And I will be honest, we really challenged her to get rid of the extra things that are broken, or the ones she doesn't like or the multiple pairs of candle sticks.

before

Here is the before picture. This room had 10 chairs in it (too much) and you can't see the keyboard off on the right or the china hutch on the left. Both of those have now found different homes and only 4 chairs remain.

After sorting the dishes we moved onto her curriculum. Finding all the books and teacher guides and workbooks she will use THIS year. We grouped it all in subject categories to store on the shelves. Everything else found new homes. I am so proud of her. We made about 3 huge trash bags and several large totes to take to Goodwill. Some extra things were stores in her expanded laundry room and the rest upstairs at the built in desk on the landing.

before

Click on the pic to see the clutter up close. We really did more than just clear off the surfaces (which is what the before and after pics look like). You have to sort keep / donate / trash , group like items together and store in a tidy and usable way. That is the part that takes so long.

before

We also reorganized the kid books. My favorite way to do this is to stack them in categories. Easy readers, chapter books, picture books, science, Bible, art and craft (what ever ones you may have). Then we let our friend quickly go through and toss the ones that she is willing to part with, the put them back on the shelf with labels. Still needs some book ends (that makes a big difference). So here is the big AFTER reveal. What fun to step back and enjoy all the hard work.

after

Hopefully this will challenge and encourage you (it did me...I came home and cleaned out my fridge and reorganized Tally's bedroom shelves).

Is it summer yet?

Because I don't have the energy to finish our last 2 official days to make it to 180 days of school. The weather is sunny and warm and beautiful. The play set if finally up and they girls want to play on it instead of do school. The neighborhood pool is open and it is only open through the summer, so I think we should swim instead of do math facts. And we are having fun letterboxing in our new area (it is more fun than phonics and language arts).

I feel like throwing responsibility out the window and just have a little fun instead. See ya later...we are off to the park.

Summer Season 7 - list

It seems like there has been a lag in these kind of lists that go around people's blogs. Thought I would make one up myself to get the creative juices flowing. Let's start off the new summer season with a glimpse into my vulnerable self. I will try and make these items summer related, as I love a theme to something.



1. I am a terrible swimmer. Can't go under without plugging my nose. I can tread water with the best of you, but actual strokes - um - can't do them. My kids put me to shame in the pool.


2. I love fireworks - but not crazy about fire crackers. I enjoy going to see fireworks - the professional kind, but the kind that you buy in Wal-mart parking lot and set off yourself in the driveway at home (you know the kind that scare children and animals alike)...I can go without those.


3. I serve a LOT of salad for meals in the summer. Taco salad, Asian chicken salad, fruit salad, tossed green salad, pasta salad, layered salad. We have had salad for the last 2 nights for dinner.


4. I am really cheap when it comes to running the air conditioning. I would rather have fresh air breezing through the windows. I set the air as high as I can tolerate it and I am the first one to turn it off as soon as the weather is nice.


5. I make my kids do school in the summer. Yep...that is me, mean mommy. We do math all summer long. Not every day, but at least 3 or 4 days a week. We do however also do LOTS of art in the summer too.


6. I haven't bought a new swim suit in several years. I HATE shopping for a new suit. It is one of my least favorite things to shop for. UGH. I find the whole thing depressing.


7. I LOVE summer camp. Going to camp was a huge part of my childhood years. It was such a tool that God used to reach me and draw me close to Him. My camp was Timber-Lee in Wisconsin. It is still a special place for me. I went every summer from 3rd grade through college (when I worked there). I even loaded my kids up on a plane 2 summers ago to experience it themselves.



So, there you have it. My summer season 7 list. I would love to hear your SUMMER SEASON 7 list. Do share. Either post it on your blog or leave a little list in the comment area.

I must confess -

I did not write the rhyming riddles for the clues. Those were all Chuck. He is an Emmy award winning writer (HERE), so this is right up his alley. It is almost effortless for him to do things like this. If only I had that kind of talent.

And I also must confess, the gifts were really not all that exciting. But the treasure hunt made them more thrilling. The first gift was a craft kit (got at Target clearance for $2). Then she got the lamp (which she needed for her new bedroom). Next was a bag of gummy bears (almost frozen in the freezer). And I always save the birthday cards so she can open them as part of the hunt. Under the TV cabinet she got a vest (I had picked it up a Goodwill months ago and found it when we were moving). And just as a side note, Tally said she could tell that vest didn't come from Goodwill because it was so cute (shhhh, what they don't know won't hurt them). Then the hula hoops (also $2 a piece - and in my opinion one of the best yard toys you can get). Then under the couch were little snack cups (for the snack fairy to bring goodies at night HERE). The next gift was a notebook set (also picked up on the clearance rack at Target). Lastly there was a big gift of a VCR player. You know the old fashion video tape player. We have a few video tapes that the girls have been so eager to watch for years and our player gave up years ago and we never replaced it (DVDs are all we use these days). But there are often video tapes at the library that I wish we could watch and then of course these few that we have here at home. Mainly one video called Brambly Hedge. You can't get it on DVD (formatted for our country) and it is one of their favorite videos. Such sweet little stories and adorable little mice.

So I must confess...I can't do the treasure hunt on my own and the gifts were pretty simple. But she felt special and that is what matters. =)

The temporary house

I just thought I would keep it real here as an encouragement to my friend over at Storing up Treasures in Heaven (HERE). She was feeling discouraged the other day about her own personal move and it got me thinking. Moving really is one of the most difficult things. You take all your things and sort through them (which often stirs the emotions and brings back old memories of days gone by), then you put them all in boxes. And as we all know, searching for boxes is almost half the battle in itself (HERE). Moving also includes the cleaning, the fixing, the house selling, lots of inspections, saying good-bye, loading the truck and driving when you are beyond tired.

Then...when you get to your new locale...the new trials begin. The unpacking (and questioning of why you brought your JUNK with you), putting away, sorting again of your things. Painting new rooms and finding curtains for the new windows (most likely your old ones won't work in the new place) and trying to make it feel homey. Searching out to find a new doctor, hair dresser, church and not to mention getting a new drivers license. This doesn't even touch on breaking into a new group of friends (if there is room for someone new). Not to mention, just missing the feeling of just being "home" (for some reason the new home doesn't feel like home yet).

So we have completed the first part of the move. And we are still in the "can't unpack" stage and as we wait it only prolongs finishing the process. I looked around the other day and realized, we kind of live this pathetic little life right now. And I am not complaining, I am trying to encourage my friend. So for you my friends who are in the midst of moving...a tour of our place.
Everything we own is in the garage. It is packed to the top. I am actually shocked it all fit in there. We have tried to get to a few boxes but it is beyond impossible to find the right box, so it is just better to live without instead.
To show how high it is, here is Tally next to the stack. She is over 5 feet tall and the boxes tower over her.We held out a few school boxes and we are able to do an abbreviated version of school each day. That has helped make it feel more like our normal life. (I do love this beautiful table that Chuck made but finding a house that it fits in is another story).
In order to fit our boxes in the garage, we tried to put as much furniture in the house as we could. My dresser is in the eatery (breakfast nook) and we have been terrible at just dumping our stuff on top of the dresser and little black stand. I am afraid if I put the stuff in a drawer somewhere, I will lose it (note the red arrows).

The girls are camping out in the bonus room. We gave Tristen's dresser away and haven't replaced it so she has no place to put her clothes. The best place (other than the floor) is to stack them on the book shelf (the red wavy marks). The corner of the room is also just stacked with boxes.My clothing storage option is worse than Tissy's. I am still putting my clothes in a suitcase and an open box on the floor. It sure looks like I have given up all hope of trying to keep this place tidy. It is hard to tidy when you don't have the proper place to put your stuff. I also still have 2 little bags (of little gifts) from Christmas that I can't put away because I have no place to put themAnd lastly, I use a box on the floor of the bathroom to keep my "beauty products" in. How's that for trashy???

Like I said...I am not complaining, just keeping it real and poking fun at our mess. On a note of encouragement, reach out to that new family if there is one in your school, church, neighborhood or at work. See if there is a way to be a blessing to them.

Hope you enjoyed our tour...and I hope you feel a little more encouraged. =)

Salad tossed in our Goldfish container

We are trying to figure out and make do with what we have access too. I have already bummed some basics off my very sweet new friends here. We only had 2 mugs and the girls wanted hot cocoa, so I ended up borrowing 2 more mugs so they don't have to wait while I finish my coffee on those chilly mornings. And we did end up borrowing a colander so I could strain some pasta (didn't even think about how to do that until AFTER the pasta was made). I also got a pot with a lid so I can heat soup or boil water. If you haven't already figured it out, ALL of our things are packed away and are waiting until we actually move into our home before we unpack. So...it has been a little interesting on making do with what we have.

Every meal is off of paper plates. And yes I feel guilty in that (goes against the reduce, reuse, recycle idea of me being a tree hugger). We are using plastic ware (plastic silverware sounds too much of an oxymoron). And most of our meals are sandwiches (doesn't take any thing to prep that kind of a meal).

Trying to mix it up a bit I picked up a great salad kit at Trader Joe's the other day. We had sampled it at the store and it was fantastic. Spinach with pecans and blue cheese. Yum-o. I was ready to toss it up for dinner and then I realized...I have nothing to put it in. No large bowl. Not a big pot. Nothing. Then I spotted a air tight plastic container that has goldfish crackers in it. That seemed to be the best bet, so I cleaned it out and tossed our tasty salad in that Rubbermaid container. I wasn't sure it would all fit but it did. And with the lid, tossing it with the dressing was pretty easy. Actually a lot easier than in a bowl with tongs.
It has been the adventure, none the less. Living a very minimalistic lifestyle. It kind of makes me wonder...do we really need all that stuff that is packed in the garage?

Wondering if I can ENDURE???

If you are my FB friend you would see that my status says..."Cris wonders if she can endure?" And if you are not on Face Book, what are you waiting for??? Get on there and click on me to be your friend.

OK, wait, that wasn't my point here, my point was can I endure? I have come to understand that our values really drive us. I have put a lot of thought into values before, but I am coming to understand my own values even more. Though the last year was hard being away from Chuck and living the life of single parent, caring for the kids on my own, keeping up on the acreage and the garden and pool, showing the house at the drop of a hat, keeping it clean, packing our place up in less than 2 weeks, wondering if we were going to sell or not, struggling with the financial hole we were in each month...the list goes on. Believe me, it wasn't the easiest of times. But we were able to endure.

To be honest, I feel so stretched so thin and I held it together for all those long months and now...can I endure? Not sure I can. I understand that routine and familiar surroundings are two of my highest values. And right now, I have neither one of those. We are in a holding pattern with the house that we have the offer on and no idea when we will hear from the bank (it is a short sale). We are camping out in temporary housing (and don't get me wrong, we are VERY grateful for a place to crash). But since we moved so quickly, I didn't not pack with the thought of temporary. We just threw it all in boxes just to get out of there on time. And now everything is packed tightly in the garage stored in boxes and we can't really get to anything (imagine one box moved and the whole thing comes crashing down).

So as positive as I so often try to be, I also want to be honest. I am struggling. I am not sure I can endure. I need to create some kind of routine and I need to "make friends" with my current surroundings so I can find some comfort. The girls have been sick for about 10 days and we are feeling couped up to say the least. We have no new news on the house and I am just keeping it real here. Sorry to be such a downer. Believe me, I know the truth. I know it will all be over soon and we will be done with this whole thing. But for today...I can only endure in God's strength and not my own.

If I could tell by the first snip that it was a mistake, then why did I keep cutting?

I was trying to get myself ready to head out tonight with the girls to go to a fall party. For some reason, one thing after another the whole thing turned out to be a bit of a fiasco. Every few minutes the girls kept coming in the bathroom and asking if it was time to go. That didn't help with how the prep time was going. Let me run through a few frustrating moments that led to "the mistake".

I had taken a shower earlier in the day and had just gotten around to drying my hair (something that I often leave for later). To be quite honest about my hair, I have pretty much hated it since we moved here (a.k.a. the tropics). I have hunted for any product that would make it smooth instead of fuzzy but even with much product and the use of the flat iron, most times I end up putting it up anyway. But for some reason tonight, the humidity was in full swing around here and it just wasn't workin'.

I had opened the windows earlier in the week and we have actually enjoyed a slight cool down, and for some reason, the bathroom is the hottest room in the whole house. I probably should have closed the windows and turned the air back on, but the frugal gal that I am, was embracing the all natural cooling instead. The whole time I was getting ready, I felt like everything I did was a total flop.

Outfit - flop. (Well to be completely honest I was wearing my only jeans {I am a bit of a minimalist} that I had pulled from the dirty laundry basket and they were slightly moist from the Fabreeze spray that I thought might just make them seem fresh and clean).

Makeup - flop. I was so hot, I had a hard time putting on makeup because my face was so sweaty. I have never sweated as much as I do here. It is really hard to get ready when everything seems to melt off of your face.

Hair - total flop. After trying all my tricks, I realized that my bangs were just driving me crazy. I have always had very clumpy bangs. Not all spread out and wispy. Nope. Mine are clumpy. And with the humidity, they tend to have an odd cowlick (you know...that is a really gross name for it). So I dug around and found my thinning shears. I know you are all thinking right now...don't cut your hair when you are already frustrated. I know better. But I did it anyway. And from the first snip, I knew it wasn't right. But I kept cutting to try and fix it. And now...um...let's just say my bangs scary short and oddly choppy.

I will have to wait as they grow out from my mistake. They look terrible. And there will be no picture. Ugh! Note to self...next time...put down the scissors and step away from the mirror.

Do I wonder where they get it???

No, they get it from me. I may harp on them to clean up after they are done, but do I always clean up? In the spirit of keeping it real, I wanted to share what I saw the few days I had the sewing machine out. I know, I know...shocking. (gasp)












I usually am pretty good with putting my things away, but this is a good reminder for me to have some grace on my children.