Meet Virginia

When Life Happens and Exhaustion Hits

2012-02-10T14:02:00.002-07:00

Fridays are normally a great day for me but today has been completely exhausting. Well, it started last night with having to get up out of bed so many times. First, one of my sons who has Aspergers Syndrome was doing his poking routine where he just can't seem to leave anyone alone to let them rest. He already has difficulty falling asleep at night and his way of getting close to another kid or trying to relate is different and comes off as annoying to others. We go through this a lot with him and he just does better having his own bed or a seat further away from kids in the van. Generally, the other kids are pretty patient but sometimes they just get tired of it. Plus, when he can't sleep I generally can't. I have to make sure he's not wandering around in the dark and that he is letting the other kids sleep.

This happens to me all the time

I must have gotten so many times last night I lost count. Another reason is I'm always worried about my dog peeing on the carpet so if I hear his nails clacking down the hallway, I'll just out of bed and go let him outside. I had to wait awhile for him so once I laid back in bed I couldn't fall back asleep for an hour. If I have to get up in the middle of the night I always have a hard time falling back to sleep.

No matter how bad my day is, this picture always cracks me up

Well, I had an extra kid last night and he was spending the night with my son since he was going to be going to their school for the first time. He wanted to go with someone he knew. I had Charles set my alarm extra early this morning so I had extra time for bad bouts of morning sickness once I wake up. I dragged the 7 kids out of bed, helped them dress their tired bodies, and feed breakfast, and we finally headed out for school. I wave goodbye from the van and put my van in reverse to leave. Well, we weren't moving. The van would NOT back up. I revved and revved but got nothing. Sigh. I sat there for a half hour not knowing what to do. My daughter had to potty really bad and we were stuck. I finally pulled out the emergency kid toilet from the bed, layered it with half a diaper on the bottom and let her go. Right then my son pooped his diaper and for some reason I happened to forget the wipes this morning. After I change him I look down and see a huge foot print right on my newly cleaned shirt. How...? It couldn't of been from my little kids. Then I remembered that earlier my son had put his foot up on my lap so I could double knot it. Now I have this nice big designer print on my pregnant belly.

I called my husband to tell him I was stuck. A lady gets out of her van next to me and offers help. I already had help coming so we just talked. Being this is a school just for homeschooled kids I had a fun time talking with her since we had something in common. It was so great meeting you, Jennifer! The tow truck wasn't gonna come for a bit so Charles and I went in his car to a restaurant. The service was terrible and we could never find our waitress. It took 45 minutes to get the food so we had little time to eat. Phooey, just a nice little topper to the stress.

Following the tow truck

Turns out our transmission locked up and that's why I couldn't reverse and my husband couldn't even pushed it. I'm finally home now and utterly exhausted. Our van is towed home and safe and sound. This will complicate things but thankfully I don't have to drive my van very often. I really don't have any energy for cleaning of any sort and just want to crash. Fridays are such a great day for me to either run errands or clean but this is just not one of those days.

What Sunday Mornings Are Like for Large Families Going to Church

2012-02-07T11:59:00.002-07:00

Well, I was really excited about revival week at church and especially because I really love the evangelist that came in. His preaching and teaching really ministers and is always right on the money. (We have hardly been able to make it this week because everyone came down with a bad cold and I can't put my baby in the nursery.) I don't know about you but even though others think church 3 times a week is excessive, I need it. My vessel empties quickly and I look forward to those times. I always leave church with a bounce in my step but if you saw me walking in... well, I barely make it sometimes.

I stare at this picture often to remember that the 6.5 kids I have is nothing in comparison. Heh heh.

It is NOT easy to get a large family ready and looking decent for every church service. It's such a different dynamic in the level of energy it takes to get there. No joke. It take much more time and careful coordinating. I almost always underestimate the time I need to get so many ready in the morning. For me it starts the day before getting everything prepared and ready. By Sunday morning (for example), just getting up early enough to feed everyone, pull the blankets off the kids, sing the song "Rise and Shine" a few hundred times while opening the shades, reminding the kids over and over to get in the bathroom and brush their teeth.

They usually shower the night before but there are always a few that didn't get the hot water so they had to wait till morning. It always takes showing them proof they stink and need a shower to get boys in there. Pulling them out of that nice hot stream of water, finding a towel that someone forgot to put back the night before, is a challenge. I turn on the steamer to get all the wrinkles out of everyone's clothes while longingly looking over at my coffee maker. Hopefully I'll get a cup.

If my boys could get away with this

they would go out like this all the time.

As soon as I finally get the girls ready and send the boys on a shoe hunt, I'll take them over to the bathroom to do their hair. Oh man, Charles just hopped in the shower. The girls will have to wait on their hair getting done. Then I check the boys over to make sure they didn't put on something weird or try to wear white socks with their black pants and black shoes. I send them off to comb and gel their hair. Since they think the only part of their hair that needs to get done is the very top and front, I usually end up taking over and showing them how to do it. The ones that hadn't brush their teeth yet insist their breath smells fabulous and so I convince them to just be obedience and to please not try to do the Dragon Breath Test on mommy to prove it. Just brush your teeth! Once Charles finally gets out of shower I gather up my girls to do their hair and put some pretty bows in. I look over at the clock, we have 15 minutes till we leave and I still am in my pajamas. Argh. Trying to look fabulous in 15 minutes I'm sure takes super hero work. As I'm putting on the final desperate touches, Charles yells out we have to go. We all run to the van while one of us searches for the missing kid who didn't hear the call and we load up. Just as we pull out I remember I never got that cup of coffee and the dog needed to be let out to potty.

Why didn't I just wake up earlier to have more time? Usually with getting preparations done the night before I'll be falling into bed pretty late. Then once I wake up I'm majorly battling morning sickness. Partiers might hug the toilet because they drank too much the night before but pregnant mommies have their reason too. It's not because of alcohol, we're brewing a baby.

So if you see a Mom of Many rushing into church at any time and maybe even a few minutes late, don't comment on her lateness, just say, "I'm glad you made it!" with a smile. I will always say back.... "Me too!" (Flowers and a congratulations card is even better). Every single time I happily sit in my chair at church so grateful we really did make it. No kids were even left behind. I think.

You know how everyone is all excited for Fridays? My favorite day of the week is Monday. Weekends represent busyness, rushing, coordinating, organizing, and going here and there. It's not too bad with a few kids but start adding to the numbers and it gets a little bit tougher. Imagine a mama duck trying to get all of her ducklings across the road. I'm sure the Duggar mama would need a stop light for her ducklings to get across. Mondays represent a normalcy in a routine and calmness. Back to our scheduled daily chores, homeschooling, and reliable routines. Weird, I know. I just know there are moms out there who understand.

Raising My Very Own Calvin and Hobbes

2012-02-06T11:21:00.002-07:00

Caleb crashing the
girls' bath party

Caleb is 2 1/2 and BOY does he act like it. He's the first one to wake up and he always, always poops right when he wakes up. A really bad one. Then he walks up to my bed, climbs up, and sits right next to my face. He makes sure to bring all his cars, the ones that make very loud noises, and plays cars on my body. Do I need an alarm clock? Noooooo...... I don't get to wake up to Folgers in my cup, instead, I wake up to poop smells in my face an loud firetruck engine sounds. He talks and talks at the same time. Finally, I'll pull my tired, pregnant body out of the bed and shuffle in to the kitchen to get coffee. Almost always I never make it and have to get sick in the toilet. I look at my coffee maker that I have a love and hate relationship with, then I look at Caleb. I love my coffee but just thinking the word "coffee" aggravates my morning sickness and changing Caleb does the same. Sigh. Then I wonder if Charles is going to be home soon because often he'll rescue me and take care of Caleb so I can have my coffee. This morning he didn't come home early enough so I gathered the courage to change his toxic smelling diaper and somehow made it through with getting sick.

Charles thinks its funny
when I have to do this to
avoid smells

I then shuffled my tired body over to my coffee maker and was happy to not get sick just trying to make it. It's not the smell of coffee that makes me sick, it's the word "coffee" that does. When I'm pregnant, sometimes smells make me sick but so do word associations. When I was pregnant with Ashley I couldn't say the word "IKEA" and I didn't step foot in that store till I gave birth. Actually, this only happens when I'm pregnant with girls.

Growing up my favorite cartoon has always been Calvin and Hobbes. Does this look familiar?

Calvin and Hobbes?

He is constantly getting into everything, climbing, escaping, is just as hyper, and is getting into my purse as I am writing this. Better go....

Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?

2012-02-02T11:07:00.000-07:00

I now have five computers in the house! My two older boys do their schooling on laptops but my other two only do half of their schooling online, the other half is book work. Sharing two computers with one of them always going bad was just really difficult. I had really long days and sometimes I couldn't fit everyone in. Well, it's no longer a problem. However, I tend to have to sit with my older kids during their work because it's getting so much more complicated. The best part of helping them is with the math. Math has always been my favorite subject. Isn't it weird how much we forget from when we were in school? I remember only the basics. I've heard of that show Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader and I can see why it's a challenge. When you try to go back and remember all that stuff, it's not so easy. My son is in fifth now and I'm really enjoying learning right along with him. He thinks it's weird that I get so excited about it. I'll read something and then want to expound on it or research it more online. Ashley will be joining us next school season so it'll be great to get just one more laptop. Five kids schooling at home and two babies. Whooooaa.... I better step up my game.

Right now Chaz and Ryan are learning about fractions and this is how I was feeling for awhile.

The kids praising Jesus during bible study time

My days have never, ever been busier than they are now. Often I'll go an entire day with only a lunch break and finally getting some cleaning in towards the afternoon. I rarely ever answer my phone during this time because I can't take distractions. My children's education comes absolutely first. Sometimes people get really offended because they think since I'm home all day I have plenty of time to talk. I even get upset messages and I really don't know how to deal with that. I'll keep thinking, "I will call them as soon as I'm done homeschooling...well, maybe once I wash these dishes, oh, maybe once dinner is done, or maybe once I lay the kids down, but ohhhh, it's way too late to call." Sigh. I hate those guilty feelings and don't want to seem like an insensitive friend or relative. I wish more people understood the life of a large homeschooling family.

How Do You Pull Your Kids Teeth?

2012-01-31T13:53:00.000-07:00

Ivy's had a loose tooth for awhile and she's been really crying about it. She would go to eat something and it would start bleeding. She didn't want me to pull it and would scream if I tried. Finally, last night I said enough was enough and we were gonna pull it. I tried pulling it out but it seemed a little stuck. Then I remembered what my dad did with a string and made a knot around the tooth. I gave it a tug and it came right out! She started screaming because of the blood and ran to the bathroom.

Once she saw she wasn't going to bleed to death and could actually eat food she started laughing with relief. She literally talked about her lost tooth for two hours straight. She had never lost a tooth before so she keeps looking in the mirror she's so excited. My dad used all kinds of creative ways to pull teeth. Usually I'd be screaming hysterically and then laugh crazily in relief when it was over. Haha.

One day my kids asked me what the tooth fairy does with all the teeth. One of them piped up and said that it was because the tooth fairy had no teeth and needed some. Heh heh. Yep, tooth fairies are flying around with no teeth and looking for some.

Church Shopping and People Judging

2012-01-30T10:44:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been noticing something and it got me thinking yesterday about it a lot. There are sooooo many churches out there. In America you can find them everywhere. I at least have 10 within one mile of my house. There are all kinds of churches with all kinds of people. The same theme I've been hearing is "I don't go there because of THOSE people.

I've been guilty of thinking like that. Although, I've been to the same church for 12 years I've definitely had negative thoughts here and there. I think everyone has in mind their favorite type of church. Some look for the programs, others the style of preaching, the beauty of the building, style of worship, sports offered, etc. Some want it ALL. Well, I grew up in church so I've heard a ton of reasons why. The only one I've been guilty of thinking is negativity about the people. I had been majorly hurt in the past (who hasn't?) and so for many years I would go to church and just try to keep to myself. Often, while sitting in my seat, I'd look around and just watch all the interactions around me while getting my kids settled for the service. Once the service was over I would pick up my kid from nursery, get my kids together, maybe say hello to a couple of people and just head out. I did this for over a decade as a way of protecting myself, never giving thought to how it might look to other people. Keeping to myself could of come off as snobby or disinterested.

Ashley playing over the floor vent

Recently, I decided to turn look in the mirror at my hesitancy. I hadn't gotten close to many people while trying to protect myself. In the process, I even managed to become shy and really had to push myself just to go up and shake someone's hand. Even worse, I began to make judgments in my mind towards others. I had enough of my excuses and decided it was time to reach out again. No more listening to the negative whether from myself or from cynical people. I have never been shy and always extremely outgoing in the past. I started to say hi to people I made silent judgments about and spent at least 5 minutes asking about their day. In the last few weeks I've been shocked at the transformation not only in my attitudes but in seeing my horrible perceptions of people slowly melt away.

Kyle and Ivy (Right) playing with their friends after church

First off, no church is perfect. No church has it ALL. Some might be mega and give you everything you can ever dream of in a church but the preaching or teaching is lacking big time. That's top on my list above all else. Does what he preach line up with the bible? Is there a comprising just to keep the numbers up? There will always be mean, nosy, annoying, and even downright obnoxious people (at least a couple). Pastors can make mistakes in a judgement call or a rebuke, people can make mistakes in how they treat someone, and I've made plenty. If there is a perfect church, I would ruin it as soon as I walk in. There is just no such thing. Sure I've been offended but there is a BIG chance I've offended others at some point. Sometimes without even realizing it.

I've been looking forward to service more than ever since I decide to lay all my dumb judgments aside and give people a chance. If anything I had to repent of my attitudes. It's been a blessing to be more involved and get to know people better. The church is like a family. You can't choose who's in it, only how your attitude responds to them. How has my attitude been affecting my kids? It definitely rubs off on them. I've been really encouraging the ones old enough to walk around by themselves (8 and up) to get to know other kids and make friends. It's been a joy seeing them more excited also. I absolutely love our pastor and his teaching which is most important to me. Sure our kids have Sunday School and Children's Church but after that there really are not many other programs. However, that's at the bottom of what's important to me so that's not a big deal. As far as people problems? Well, it happens. Just like in a family. You just forgive and move on. I would hope people would do the same for me.

Buying New Doesn't Always Make Cents

2012-01-28T19:07:00.002-07:00

A few months ago I learned another hard lesson about wasting money and how buying new doesn't always work best for us. I had been buying used for the kids or shopping clearances for several years now. I was shopping in the mall a few months ago and decided to do something nice for Ashley and get her a brand new pair of shoes for $20. The new look lasted all of two weeks and then it looked like they had been thrown under a truck. I've gone to a thrift store and bought nicer shoes than that for $2.

$20 new shoes after 2-3 weeks

These shoes were super embarrassing to today I took her to a thrift store and found her several pairs of shoes. Okay, so it's shocking to know these shoes were used yet they obviously have faired way better that the new pair I had bought.

Shoes already used $2

Guess which ones I kept and which ones I threw out? I used to be picky but then I realized kids grow soooo fast and I've learned how to be extremely picky instead in the thrift store. Sure, there are people that just grab anything off the rack but you don't have to shop that way. Just think, either it looks fantastic or not. It should look new or pretty darn close to it. If you try something on and have to talk yourself into buying it, DON'T BUY IT. That just creates more clutter in your closet because you'll never wear it. I found Ivy two pairs of shoes and Ashley five pairs. I'm going through their outgrown shoes tonight and quickly getting rid of them so nothing piles up that we don't need. As soon as I got home I dumped those pink shoes in the garbage. Here I bought those pink shoes for $20 new yet I just bought seven new looking pairs from Goodwill for less than that. Fashion does not have to be sacrificed for the sake of saving money.

In fact, last night I bought myself two maternity shirts from Ross (a discount store). I went into the dressing room with six shirts yet only came out with two. The reason is that four of them I liked but since I stood there trying to talk myself into it, I knew I shouldn't get them. Two that I tried on made me say "Wow!" so I bought them. I am in need of nothing else so I just checked out and left. When I got home, I got rid of two items in my closet. Shirts I didn't like but kept because I didn't have many maternity shirts. I'm keeping my rules about whatever is brought into the house, that many items need to be taken out. I love my home so I need to keep it clutter free!

Feeling Like a Loser Mom Today

2012-01-27T12:55:00.001-07:00

My kids school at home but every Friday they go to a school just for homeschooled kids. It's actually a public school and they get to go and take part in P.E., Art, Music, and take some basic classes on Math and Language Arts. They really love going on Fridays. First off, my alarm doesn't go off today and just by chance I wake up at 7:55am. We have to leave literally in 10 minutes. Well, I couldn't stop getting sick from morning sickness so I had to hope the kids were getting ready like I told them to. I tried doing Ivy's hair and then got really sick again. I couldn't even get the words out, "Everyone get in the van." So on our way there Ryan remembers that he didn't get his backpack. He begs and begs me to turn around but I knew we'd be late if I did. He said one of his teachers can be really mean about it. I felt so bad because I remember how that felt. Finally we make it there, I still can't find Ivy's library book they keep asking for, and I notice that all the kids at school are dressed in pajamas. Ohhh! It's pajama day! Now my kids are really sad and longingly looking towards all the kids in their pj's. :( Why can't I remember anything? They only go to school once a week so it's not like they got a reminder the day before. After they went to their classrooms I just sat in the van for a bit with a sad heart. I guess they'll have to wait another year in hopes mommy remembers pajama day. It's times like this I get frustrated at myself for having a poor memory and not having it all together. Or even close.

Finally we get home and I'm happy at least to not have to homeschool all day and just get housework done. It's cute seeing Ashley and Caleb play together. Ashley got the bubbles out and entertained Caleb. Caleb was clapping and laughing saying, "bubbles!" over and over. When she grew tired of it he picked up the bubbles and was trying to figure it out. He would blow raspberries but would only get one bubble out here and there. When I took this picture he was saying, "Help, Mommy. Mommy, help."

How to Restore Deleted Files on Your Computer

2012-01-26T11:37:00.000-07:00

Do you ever neglect to do something that you know is SO important but figure nothing bad will ever happen? That is so me. My two older sons school on the computer through Switched On Schoolhouse. Every single time they are done homeschooling it asked me if I would like to back their work up onto a disk. I always just back it up onto the computer because I wouldn't know where the blank CD's were. I knew I just needed to do it one day.

Well, the other day when the laptop pooped out on me I did a scan to delete any viruses. Guess what got deleted? Chaz's SOS and work! Aghhhhhh! I was so excited to have 3 computers again to work on and this had to happen. I spent the entire day yesterday trying to figure out what happened and see if it can be fixed. I cried not knowing what I was gonna do. Sure, I could reinstall the program but I had not created backup disks. Oh my. I literally spent the entire day searching for deleted files using a program. Most cost money and even with the scans I did I wasn't finding anything. I finally had to quit so I could get everyone ready for church but I was soooooo vexed. I tried to be a good mood when I got there but I was just sooo sad.

Once we got home I decided to try and do a system restore for 3 days ago rather than 2 days ago that I tried before. I told Charles I would stay up all night if I had to till it was fixed. Around 12:30am the system restore was finished so I tried to pull up Chaz's homeschool and WOW, it worked!!!! I checked and even his backup was there on the computer so I immediately backed it up onto disk like I should have looong ago. Then I started the process up uploading all my pictures onto Picasa online just in case something like this happens again and stuff is lost. Wow, lesson learned!

Since I got the black laptop fixed, which meant all 3 computer were working again for homeschool, do you think anything else went wrong? Of course. The next morning the power cord on my silver laptop broke. We are back down to two working computers. Phooey.

If system restore doesn't work there is a program you can use that find things you did not mean to delete and can't be found. Here is the video of how to do it and what program you can use.

http://www.recovering-deleted-files.net/

Does Anyone Else Find Patience More of a Challenge When Tired?

2012-01-25T13:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a crazy day but then ended well. Just as soon as I finished blogging my laptop pooped out on me. Everything went bad and even the mouse driver stopped working. Instead of doing my chores I spent the entire day doing system scans and trying to figure out what happened. Finally I just had to wait on it to get ready for company coming to my house. Luckily my house is super easy to clean and it only took an hour to get everything back into shape and even the bathrooms sanitized. (Boys can quickly unsanitize a bathroom. Especially when five live in the house).

My friend and I wanted to make something super yummy so I made a Better Homes and Gardens meatloaf and she tried out a new recipe for making delicious mash potatoes. Then I cooked some chopped onions in butter and added some green beens. We made a ton of food. About 6lbs of beef ! Wowee! Don't be fooled by the picture. It's taste so much better than I can take a picture of. Alsooo, I ate way more than that. Tee hee.... My husband woke up the next day and didn't want breakfast. He wanted leftovers.

I think my biggest struggle with patience is at night time when I'm super tired. I LIKE to read books to my kids but often by the time I clean up the kitchen from dinner, get everyone's teeth brushed and ready for bed, I just want to collapse in my own. Sometimes I just fight that feeling and read to them and other times I just say I can't. Mommy needs some quiet time and I need it bad. Just a half hour alone, even better an hour, makes me feel back together again and rested. I feel so guilty though.

I have to say that I give them my full attention all day long, even outside of homeschooling. However, I feel guilty for just wanting that last hour of the day before I fall asleep to have it in quiet. Maybe I just need to start laying them down earlier. I think if I had them in school all day I would force myself to always have that time with them. I checked on them 15 minutes later after I laid them down and was happy to see they were all quietly reading books. After I knew they were settled I did scans on the computer that lasted all night long so it can be working again. Thank goodness!

Living a Life Without Clutter

2012-01-24T14:44:00.000-07:00

We have a new tire on our car again so now we're not stuck! By tomorrow we should have our van's tire replaced. Whew! Just in time for church and my kids going to school on Friday. I don't mind being stuck in my lovely home so much. Just simple errands and missing out on church is what bugs me the most. I love my home and enjoy it just as much as when we first moved in but getting out is nice too. :D

Oh my gosh. This is such a funny cartoon.

I was expressing to my mom of my frustrations of only having two computers for schooling the kids. They have book work and online work so it's been tough sharing it between four kids, a blogging mommy, and a daddy who loves computers too. Some days I'm not able to get on the computer till way later which is fine, but I have to check for reviews and adjustments sometimes. Regardless, their homeschool comes absolutely first. Well, my mom took one of our older laptops home with her to do some work on it. It's a good laptop but just had some problems and would constantly disconnect from the internet. I eventually gave up on it and put it away. She fixed it up so now we'll have 3 working computers. Yeehaw! Thank yewwww!

My sister that just came back from South Africa for 6 years, her family is being stationed here in the states. I'm glad that now she isn't so far and we can visit. They are a super cute family and a joy to be around. Jodee was the one that taught me how to declutter fast and if it wasn't for her I'd still be pulling my hair out right now. I spent a couple of days with her at her house they were staying at temporarily. It's pretty much emptied out because it's being sold. Well, I loved it! I love the feeling of just a quick and easy cleanup every day an so when I went back to my home after staying there, I went right to work. I'm super grateful and have truly woken up each day with peace knowing I have more time for my kids and husband now that I've ever had before. Now, I've had so many friends ask me how I did it so I'll just put it here. I know this is so simple for some but all the other ways I tried just wasn't working. :D

1. Empty out one room completely as if you are moving except for major furniture you know is staying. I moved everything into the living room.

2. Get a bag or box labeled "Giveaway" and "Throwaway". Then I put back what was obvious of what was going back into the room and I would put it back immediately. As I was filling up the room with my favorites and for sure staying, I knew quickly when to stop because I loved how nice it looked. I didn't want to reclutter it because the room looked so beautiful without all that stuff! It made it sooo easy to throw all the rest out.

3. At the end of the day take a break and go donate the stuff. If you want to do a yard sale make sure to take the stuff OUT of the house completely. I put everything onto our back patio.

4. Each day I did one room and I did not stop for 8 days. I made sure each room was completely and totally done with all the messes cleaned up from it before starting the next room. We ate very, very simple that week because I didn't need to be making bigger messes that would make me feel discouraged.

5. If you blog, blog your successes! After my whole house was finished, since I didn't want to do a yard sale but my friend did, she came and picked up all the stuff off my patio.

I hope this helps, my friends! :D I so wish I had known to declutter like this waaaaay long ago. I did our household clothes as a whole separate project with washing everything and laying them all out to see what we'd keep. I gave each boy a bin and only let the toys in there that fit. They are getting older so they really wanted their own bins of their belongs rather than all mixed in like when they were little. They each have their names on their bins. The girls were easier so they share one bin and only the toys that fit in there stay. They each kept only 2 stuffed animals. :) If you do go shopping for a new clothing item, make sure to go home and throw that many out so the clutter doesn't build back up again. :D

Gross Video of How Chicken Nuggets Are Made...Choke

2012-01-23T17:50:00.000-07:00

I was reading on Snopes about a rumor surrounding how chicken nuggets are made. The picture they show is disgusting but I guess there have been some regulations put in place over time. Still..... here is a really gross and interesting video on how chicken nuggets are made. Jamie Oliver wanted to see if kids would eat something if they knew how gross it really was. For example, a chicken nugget.

I Think Life is Playing a Prank On Me

2012-01-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

What an odd last week it was and then how it spilled into the weekend. There was good and bad mixed in. When you work for a school district, you don't get paid when the school is on break. As least not everyone does. Since we knew a month was coming where there'd be no paychecks we prepared in advance. We paid double on our bills and even set money aside for things that might come up. Well, my husband's car died last week so there went our savings to get the expensive part we needed. Thankfully, his father is a mechanic (a really good one at that) and fixed the car. Then, as soon as it was fixed, the tread fell off our van tire while I was driving on the freeway. So we had to park that. Luckily, he still had his work car to take back and forth. This weekend him and I took turns going to church since we all can't fit in the car. He rode the car with 4 kids to church in the morning and I took 4 to the night time service. I grabbed an extra kid from a friend to take home with us and while heading home I got a flat. I was able to pull into a nice hotel and park it. We went inside with 5 kiddos and I made them quietly sit in the nice seats while I made a phone call home. My husband couldn't come get me because we couldn't drive the van so I had to call a friend. She rescued me and took me home but now our dilemma was figuring out how Charles was gonna get to work. My mom calls about an hour later asking where I was. A couple was gonna treat me to eat at a Mexican restaurant after I dropped the kids off but I never showed after church. Darn! Whyyyyy? Of all times to get a flat. I was gonna get out by myself with my mom and some friends. She came by, had me take her home, and borrow her car so we can take it to get the new tires we need. Hopefully tomorrow both of our vehicles will be fixed. Sigh. By the way, I got a flat in the car directly across the street from where I had to pull over the van last week.

On to a more fun and encouraging topic. Remember all that crazy decluttering thing I went through? Well, I had really been wanting to focus on hospitality and spending more time with friends since having more time. My work load has been so much lighter so I've been happy to have friends come visit more. At least I've been much more welcoming to it. I'm just relaxing and wondering what I'm gonna do with myeasy Saturday when a friend called from out of town. She and the kids (Chaz and Ivy's best friends) wanted to come and visit. Sure! They dropped in and while our kids caught up, we got to visit for several hours. I made some steaks and salad and we had dinner together too. They headed back out of town around midnight or so. It felt refreshing to feel so much more open to last minute visitors. :D Yay for a decluttered house and more time for family and friends!

Dear Juliet: A Letter to My Growing Girl

2012-01-21T10:01:00.002-07:00

Dear Juliet,

You are already 22 weeks along and growing inside of me. Babycenter said you are almost 1 pound. I feel your energy at night when I am trying to sleep but I always welcome your little thumps and rolls. You have 6 older siblings and each one says they can't wait to hold you. They said I waited too long to have you but I think you came at the perfect time. Pretty soon I'm gonna take your older sisters to the store and let each one pick out a pretty outfit for you. So no worries, we'll get you looking just gorgeous when you are ready to meet us. Right now we are clearing out a room for you so we can paint and make it pretty in pink just for you. I'm buying you a new crib and everything that will be your very own! I can't wait to give you the perfect room where we can snuggle and rock quietly together. Where Ryan will read you books like he did for your older brother Caleb. This time he won't break the crib because I'll tell him he has to read with you in the rocking chair instead. Even if mommy makes you go to sleep, Caleb will make sure you are never bored because I'm pretty sure he will slip some hotwheel cars under the door for you. Kyle will help find your binky if you are upset, and Chaz always like to pat the back to help. Ashley will make sure you are looking pretty with the perfect socks and Ivy will pick out your outfits. You are so blessed to have so many to look after you! Daddy loves to hold his babies but I see a special look in his eyes when he's holding a little girl. Something about daddy's and their daughters. Try to give him a break though and not wrap him around your little finger too early. We all can't wait to meet you but we know you still have a lot of growing to do. We love you!

Love, Mommy

When Life Happens, Sometimes You Have to Laugh

2012-01-20T12:50:00.002-07:00

See the tread gone?

We've had some crazy car issues these past couple of week. Only being able to drive the large van but not the little car. So Charles has been having to take the van back and forth to work every day so my kids haven't been able to go to school on Fridays. The day we got the car fixed, I went with Charles to drop him off at his car so I could take the kids home in the van. My husband insisted I take the cell phone with me in case I break down for since the transmission is going out. I was like, "Yeah, yeah okay." Well, I was driving home and we all her "BAM, BAM, BAM!" The kids screamed and I pulled off the freeway. While pulling off the freeway I was baffled that although it sounded like a I got a flat tire, it didn't feel like it. I got out and saw that the tread had come off the tire and the loud sound was the tread hitting the metal of the van and bending it.

The tread bent the metal up

What it should look like

Since my tire wasn't popped I just drove really slow home and parked it. As I was getting ready to mop the floor a bit later I started sweeping and thinking about how ironic it was. How is it the moment we get my husband's work car going that we can't drive the van? As disappointing as it was, at least the car was fixed on the same day and he can still get to work. I figured I'd take it as a blessing. Then, as I was sweeping the floor, this happens....

My broom falls apart!

Okay, now that is funny! Haha! We now need a transmission, new tire on our van, and now a broom. Oh well. Life happens, right? For now we will have to take turns going to church since we can't fit everyone in the car. Well, you do the best you can. :D

Changing My Kids Focus

2012-01-19T13:35:00.000-07:00

Today is day 6 in my 31 Days to Clean. It talked about a list to make each day of 6 items in priority order. Every night before bed write down the top six things, in order, that you need to accomplish the next day (no more than six). Then, go systematically through the list, completing the tasks in order, crossing out each thing as you go. At first I wasn't too excited about it till I read this STORY. Then I read this part of the story and it made a lot of sense.

"Because we are a pleasure seeking species. If something feels good, looks good and tastes good, the average person will likely abandon what's right or they 'forget' what would get them the most or what would be the best for them and others in the long run. All for even the most fleeting instantaneous little pleasure..."

Often I would go about my day and just try to remember what needed to be done. Almost always I forget something important. Making a list of 6 things that need to be done in order takes that pressure off my mind. 31 Day to Clean gave me a pretty big task to do today but because I already did a lot of decluttering, it won't take nearly as long. :)

For Christmas my kids got a new chess board and a pretty cool one too with storage underneath. We've been keeping it on our tall table up away from little fingers that would get into it. I love the idea of that being the "chess station" as we always keep it set up. Next school year we are going to have the boys take a chess class. It's a school only for homeschooled kids and they go only once a week. You can pick their classes so that will be one of them and another will be learning instruments. I really want them to learn music more than sports or at least put it as a priority over it. If they want to take up a sport though that's cool with me. Since getting rid of video games, there has been a huuuge behavior difference in my kids.

I love it when the kids play chess and have really been encouraging them to ride their bikes, play outside, and be creative. Last night the kids made a play for Charles and I and we really enjoyed it! For Christmas this year we had a theme and even my mother-in-law was in on it. No video games. We just wanted to buy them either costumes for playing around the house, stuff for physical activity, which is why we bought scooters and bikes, and barbie dolls and doll house for the girls. Seeing my kids be creative and playing in all parts of the house make me happy rather than them all crowding around a game system. I know it made life easier for me but I knew it wasn't good for them. Of course there is nothing wrong with game systems, it's just they played or thought about it all the time. It just got too crazy.

In the next couple of months we will be buying at least 3 more laptops for our home so we don't have to share so many computers for homeschooling. Little Ashley is only 4 but she insists on "homeschooling" on my iPad. There are some really neat apps on there all about preschool and learning so she has lots of fun with that. Baby Caleb will even climb up next to her and sit with her. He sings his ABC's on his own, just not really clear. How cuuuute!

Crazy Kid Prank and a Letter Goodbye

2012-01-18T11:11:00.000-07:00

My son Ryan likes to play these big pranks on the family but I think the other day his went a little too far. It still gave us a chuckle but only because Kyle started laughing....after about 10 minutes. Charles and I were talking in the back room for a bit (about a half hour) and when we came out, Kyle walked up to us sadly and handed us a card. He said, "Mom and Dad, I have something really sad to tell you. Just read the card."

I opened the card....

It says, "Dear Mom and Dad, Ryan and Kyle don't have a working heart so I'm just telling you so we can say goodbye to you, Mom and Dad. Love, Kyle and Ryan."

I looked at him confused and asked him why he thought that. He held his neck and said he didn't feel his heart "beeping". I smiled and told him that he wouldn't be standing there if his heart had stopped and then I showed him how to feel his heartbeat. It took some really good convincing. With Ryan smiling behind him I asked him what was going on. He purposefully showed Kyle the wrong spot to check and then told him it takes about a day or two to die once your heart stops, so Kyle figured he had enough time to write a letter and prepare us for it. Ohhhh, I felt so bad for Kyle (my 8 year old) and reassured him his heart was still "beeping." After he realized it was just a huge prank he was laughing about it with Ryan. What a stinker Ryan is! I kept the card because I thought it was sooooo cute.

I guess I'd want the chance to say goodbye to family rather than die instantly. Some say they wouldn't want to be sad and would rather go instantly but since having so many deaths in the family, instant or over time with cancer, I don't know what's worse. I've had family members die instantly and I wished I could've said goodbye, told them I loved them. The ones that died over a period of time from cancer, I wonder more what their last days were like. Does everyone act sad around them all the time? Does knowing your death is coming soon make you completely depressed and hard knowing you won't see your loved ones grow older? Agh. It's just all such a terrible thought. Alas, it's a reality that happens all around us. I'm just happy my heart is right before God. I'm glad I'm learning to quickly forgive wrongs, apologize quickly when necessary, and am learning that some things are not worth fighting about. Each day is precious on this earth.

31 Days to Clean - Priorities

2012-01-17T11:13:00.000-07:00

(Day 5-31 Days to Clean)

I'm super excited about this post because I want to share something I just stumbled across this morning. As I was drinking my coffee and lazily scrolling down posts on Facebook, my eyes widened when I saw the post 31 Days to Clean on Facebook. What? Yeah! Sure! I'm so excited to finally have a simpler house to clean as of late that something like this doesn't feel like I'm adding more of a burden. I love a good challenge because I just completed one and still am feeling the victory dance.

Sooo, I don't have a Kindle but it doesn't matter. You can go HERE to download the ebook or you can just go onto Amazon like I did and download it. I just installed the Kindle program for my PC but I could have also installed the Kindle App for my iPad if I had wanted. Anyway, it's only $4.99 so it's super cheap. Since I use Swagbucks as my search engine, I get free Amazon gift cards so technically, I got the book for free. :D

Anyhow, I didn't see the Facebook post till Day 5 but better late than never, right? Day 5 is about Priorities and gives two tasks to do just for this day. I think this can be every ones struggle throughout life. Everyone and everything can pull on us in all directions.

Jeremiah 31:25 “In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there.” Mark 1:35

This one is a little hard for me because my favorite time to read and pray is at night time when the whole house is quiet. I have kids with super sonic hearing that as soon as my feet hit the floor in the morning, at least 2 kids are immediately following behind me. Soon after comes Ivy, then Kyle, Chaz, and last is always Ryan. So, when I wait to read and pray when they pass out, I don't have to worry about that. I don't know. Would love your thoughts on that one.

“She looks well to the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness.” Proverbs 31:27

Training my children up in the Lord and teaching them every day is SO IMPORTANT. More than just teaching them their reading and writing, I love to have some bible time with them geared more at their level. In fact, yesterday the kids and I sat down to read from the bible and we decided that since it's the beginning of the year we would just start from the beginning again with the creation and Adam and Eve. The kids absolutely love this time and always want to sing songs and have discussion afterward.

Yes, stay at home mom do more than this... :D

The hardest part for me is saying no to people who have requests of me that would interfere with the priorities I have for my family. I think people with smaller families, especially with kids in school, don't understand the challenge that can come with a large homeschooling family. There can be misconceptions that people have about homeschooling and just don't understand all the work that goes into it. It's more than just caring for our kids at home, I want to train them in other ways as well. I don't want lazy kids that have a mom to do everything for them. Lately we have been emphasizing that work comes before play. It's important to finish our homeschool and daily chores before we can run off and play. It was different when my kids were in school because they had such long school days and I knew they needed that break to just be kids for a bit before having to do their chore. So, all this homeschool talks reminds me of a funny video I saw today. Would love to share!

Another thing is making time to be there for my family without it being only about work. Often, no matter what I am doing, if my husband or kids come to talk to me I give them a full listening ear. There is no book or TV program (if I had a TV) that is more important. I save my book reading time for when my kids are resting. Otherwise I'd be reading one or two sentences at a time before someone needed to come to me about something.

31 Days to Clean gave me two tasks to do today. :) I'm getting right to it.

The Day My 4 Year Old Ran Away...

2012-01-16T12:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had my friend and her kids over. Her daughter Kerrianne is my daughter Ivy's best friend. Ashley is always that third wheel that wants to tag along in everything they are doing and she gets jealous or just sad sometimes. So yesterday while I was talking with my friend in the kitchen, Ashley walked into the house and asked me if she could have the keys and some gas. I asked her what for and she replied that she is running away. Kind of playing along with her I told her that her tricycle doesn't need gas and the keys were hanging up by the door. She grabbed her pink tricycle, a sippy cup of water and went out the front door. We all watched and then quietly slipped out the front door to see how far she would go. Here it is in pictures.

Ashley walking her tricycle after quickly tiring of riding it.

Ivy and Kerrie saying goodbye

The kids running after her to talk to her.

The kids trying to talk Ashley into coming back home

The kids had it and just brought her back themselves

Ivy helping to bring her tricycle back

Ashley did not want to come back. Her problem hadn't been solved.

Ryan had carried her most of the way back and even fell and hurt his shoulder trying to get her.

Charles held his little girl and told her how much we all loved her and never want to her leave us.

Then he let her pick out a donut from the bag. She was happy again even with her tears still in her eyes.

Painful Root Canals, Couponing, and Lazy Mailmen

2012-01-13T18:17:00.000-07:00

Ashley waiting with daddy at the dentists

I mentioned a little bit back that one time, in the middle of the night, I was trying to pull my blankets up but when it was stuck I tried pulling with all my might. Well, my hand slipped and my wedding ring hit Charles right on his mouth. I broke his front tooth in half. Since then we have been scrambling to get our dental insurance going. It was finally approved last week so I called to get Charles an appointment. He got an infection in the gums and was in a lot of pain. We had to take him NOW. They didn't have any appointments available for 2 months. There is no way he could go that long but we found out that he could do a walk-in in case someone cancelled their appointment. Charles had to take the day off and I took him and the two younger kids with us to wait.

On Fridays my older four go to a school so I was happy I only had to be in the dentist waiting room with two kids. We sat for a couple of hours but then since the staff went on lunch break, we left and took one too and then came back to wait some more. Thankfully we only waited a total of 3 hours and he got in. I found out he needed a root canal on that tooth. However, since the infection was so bad they could only give him a partial one and temporary filling. He's on antibiotics and medicine right now. Thank goodness he is sleeping. He's in so much pain. I can't believe I not only hit him with a fist, but I hit him with my wedding ring. It was an accident but we're paying a big price for it now. Especially him. With insurance it's a $700 mistake to have to pay.

By the time I picked up the kids and went back to get Charles from the dentist, the sun was already going down. I'm extremely exhausted but just happy he's being taken care of. I haven't been able to sleep sometimes worrying about the infection spreading. This will help with some of the worries. I've been worried about that and the fact that his work car broke down and now we found out our family van needs a new transmission. His car isn't working at all and our van barely made it home today. Goodness gracious. Positive note is Charles is resting with meds, my kids are healthy, and house is clean and organized. :)

Oh, how I've been ITCHING to get back to my couponing! I still have a pantry full of food from couponing. I had to take a couple months break so I could focus on homeschool and recently decluttering. So I'm excited about getting the paper again. I'm gonna have to call my post office nearby and let them know the mailman won't deliver our coupons in the mail. I asked him why I haven't been getting them in so long. His response? "I'm just too lazy to pass them out." Okaaay. That's gonna have to change. :P Mamma needs her coupons.

Stinky Diaper and a Smiling Baby Can Only Mean One Thing....

2012-01-12T12:12:00.000-07:00

I finally sent my camera out for repairs. I loooove taking pictures and I'm tempted to get a new camera so I can have the 14 mega pixels rather than 10. We shall see. I'm just tired of my battery case always breaking when I never drop it or treat it roughly. It just wears out and breaks every month. That's a really weak battery case door. Android phones take okay pictures but nothing like a nice camera so I really miss it. Pleeeeease send my camera back soon.

This morning Caleb woke up with a really, REALLY stinky diaper. I changed him but when I got up to go get a plastic bag to put it in, the diaper had disappeared. The only one awake was Caleb and he was just sitting there smiling at me. I asked him where he put it but he just gave me some baby talk. Argh. That is ONE STINKY diaper I didn't want hiding in some corner somewhere. I looked everywhere but couldn't find it. When the kids woke up I had everyone go in a search for it. An hour later Ryan found it in the office. I asked him if it stank. He took a big whiff (big mistake) and he yelled because the smell was so bad. Yep, that was the right one. I about fell out of my chair laughing. Thankfully, we were able to bag it up and take it out.

<---This was Virginia before the decluttering process.

FINALLY I can homeschool with the kids and have more time in the day for it without rushing! I've had so much more time on my hands and that's the best way to spend the extra time. Not breathing over their necks but just sitting beside them and being able to take our time at it. We've also wanted more time to go over scripture study and the character quality of the week. It was funny because yesterday Chaz was upset about having to stop playing and start his homeschool. It's never easy to get him going on it and so he was crying about it. I made him sit down and get to work and after about an hour he came to me excited because of all the history he was learning. He said, "Wow, learning can be so fun!"

<---This is Virginia after she decluttered her home. Has time for coffee...outside the home.

Lacking the Character Quality of Hospitality

2012-01-11T13:42:00.000-07:00

I had a get together at my house and made dinner for everyone. I purposefully had it yesterday because I wanted a goal of finishing my project. Technically I'm not done because I still have the office, but just knowing that every other room was done in the house was good enough for now. I needed a boost to make me want to finish decluttering the bathrooms (under the sinks) and to do some detail work. Sometimes when you've been working on a project every single day for 9 days, you can feel worn out mentally. Not so much physically for me because my energy level is oddly always so high. Just a hyper person in general. The past few days I've woken up with a smile on my face knowing that my work load has been 80% lightened because of a decluttered house. I haven't been waking up with a sigh of heaviness having to think about the huge workload ahead. I even had a party last night at my house so there was 5 adults and 8 kids. Normally the cleanup is huge but this time it took me about a half hour to get everything back together again. Whooooa, maybe I can have more of a social life again. :)

Some things I've been doing lately have also helped. My kids were constantly going through cups throughout the day. I got an idea from the Duggars to just use paper stuff to throw away. I've been buying paper plates and plastic cups. At the beginning of each day I get out 8 cups, put their name on it, and that's their cup for the entire day. They stay in the kitchen in one spot and they get thrown away when everyone goes to bed. Even if we had a different cup for each meal of the day per person, that would be 24 cups a day I would have to wash. I just get them in bulk from Costco or Sam's Club so it'll last awhile. Of course in the picture there are 9 cups because Ivy's friend was over. :)

Another reason I wanted to declutter was I knew I was lacking in a certain character quality.

Hospitality

vs.

Loneliness

Cheerfully sharing food, shelter, and spiritual refreshment with those God brings into my life.

Hebrews 13:2

How could I do that if my house was never in order? I mean, I had really busy days. Waking up with the kids, feeding them breakfast, getting the little ones dressed, having everyone do their chores, clean, homeschool, make lunch, clean, throw clothes in the wash, homeschool, lay baby down for nap, homeschool, clean till Charles comes home, make dinner, clean up mess, get kids in bad, throw another load in the wash, deal with phone calls, lay kids down. I mean, the process can be pretty heavy the larger your family is. If someone called and said, "Hey, I'm in the area, do you mind if I stop by?" That would normally throw me in a panic. I'd either have to make up some excuse and turn them down, or stop everything my family is doing and clean really fast. 90% of the time I couldn't have them come because it wasn't enough cleaning time. Is that hospitality? No way. In the middle of my Declutter One Room a Day project, my sister called. She and her daughter wanted to stop by since they were in the area. I paused and looked around me. I had torn the whole house apart and literally, it looked like we were moving. You couldn't even see the floor. We were taking each room at a time and dragging it all out to the living room to go through. I desperately wanted to tell them yes but I was too embarrassed and said no. After I hung up I cried while I worked and then I was angry. That was the last time I was gonna have to say no because my house was messy. Even though I was so angry at myself for it, it motivated me even more to continue my daily project till I was finished. These days people can be so exclusive and my grandma amazes me because she always has an open door. I want to be that person too. I don't mean allll the time, but in reality, how often does that really happen? But when someone does call me, I can finally say, "Sure, I'll see you soon."

Why Game Systems Don't Last Long In Our House

2012-01-10T10:24:00.000-07:00

Our Craigslist picture

Yesterday I was super busy getting our Xbox 360 Kinect ready to sell. We had gotten rid of video games in the past but as time went on we had thought we'd give the a try again. I regretted it almost immediately when we bought this system. Before we got it, we were out doing a lot of adventures, homeschooling was much easier, getting them to do their chores wasn't so hard, and they got along better. I hated all the negative changes and started to pray about how to fix it. My family was just way too game crazy to easily get rid of it. I started praying that God would just move on Charles' heart about it rather than me nag him. Nagging never works and only drives guys crazy. Not only that but I hated the one eyed TV sitting right in our living room. It didn't stream TV but it just felt like it was the focus of the whole room. Last week, 7 months from the time we bought it, Charles talked to me about getting rid of the system. Whoa, really? I couldn't believe it. He loved it just as much as everyone else. I wasn't gonna play around with that decision so I immediately posted it up on Craigslist and got a buyer for $400. We sold the system with 30 games and lots of accessories. It's gone and I feel free. What surprised me more was the kids reaction to us selling it. No one had a bad attitude about it at all and we immediately saw a positive chance in their behavior. They were playing together again, being creative, riding bikes outside.

Almost as soon as the buyers came over our house I had to lay down from another massive headache. I was so frustrated because I hate having to lay around in the middle of the day and do nothing. I was excited about finishing up my Declutter One Room a Day project. After my husband gave me some Tylenol, an hour later I was back on my feet and got right to work on the kitchen. I took lots of stuff out of the cupboards and put in a donation bin. Got rid of the all the miscellaneous donation bags that I had on the floor from working in other rooms. It just got so late by the time I was finished I couldn't really do the extra work I wanted to do. I still would like to wash down the cupboards and clean out the fridge but that's not so much my worry right now since it's about decluttering. I did that so I went to bed happy knowing my cupboards weren't so full of unnecessary clutter.

Boys being boys and outside

I still have the bathrooms to declutter (under the sinks and reorganizing), the office, and then going to all the kids clothes to get rid of the excess. I'm so close to finishing. Waking up in the morning to a clean house has meant so much to me. It's so easy to keep clean I'm crying as I type this. I hated that my life was so centered around cleaning. Why did we need so much stuff? Why wasn't I taking out the old as the new was brought it over the years? It was like one day I woke up (two Saturdays ago) and saw how much stuff there really was. The house wasn't dirty, just over cluttered and I was the one paying the price for it. I was the one cleaning and cleaning every day to keep things put away. Now, I can straighten up the whole house in a half hour. OH MY GOSH. That...is....wonderful.

Making Our Living Space More Livable: Organization

2012-01-07T09:40:00.000-07:00

I'm getting so excited seeing my house transform. It's amazing! Yesterday I was debating on whether to declutter the kitchen or the living room. I decided to go with the living room because that's where everyone was mostly hanging out and I didn't want anything to get drug around the house that I wanted to get rid of.

While I was doing all the work in the other rooms, the living room was where we brought everything to sort. So, I had lots of miscellaneous stuff in there. Then my son Ryan decided to move the couch from where it was before because he wanted everyone to have more play room. It originally faced the window. At first I wasn't for it but I figured since we had to move the couch to clean under it, it was fine. Well, it ended up staying because everyone was big fans of the new space. So we uncluttered the piano and took the big plant off of it. Then took the 2 big trees out to the front to wash down and spray. Cleaned under the couch. Oh my gosh, stuff majorly got pushed under there over time. Oh, does any of my bloggy friends recognize something different in my living room? No game system or monitor! Right in front of the window used to be our Xbox 360 kinect. Boom, it's gone. Not just in another room. Alllll the game systems are GONE. Even the Wii out of the boys room. --> :) <--

I cleaned out the black armoir. There was an old computer that was no good so we tossed it and the old printer. Took the nice printer off the top of the armoir and put inside. The only stuff I have in there is my review things for my blog. I threw away tons of paperwork that was just shoved in there over time. Do you see that wall with the curtain in the second picture? That's our patio and all it needs is one wall put up and it's our fifth bedroom. We'll be doing that soon and making that the homeschool room so baby Juliet can have her own room. They designed the patio that way so it was an optional bedroom. It's just awesome. Actually, homeschooling the kids will be easier since the kitchen would be directly across it.

Anyway, today is the one room I've been dreading. The kitchen. I have to drag out everything under the cupboards and sort through it. Plus clean behind things that have to be pulled out to do a better job. I can't wait till this is all over with since it's been my 8th straight day working on this all hours of the day. Sigh. Have to keep going. I forgot to tell you that I am 20 weeks pregnant! I'm half way there!!! Whoo hoo! To be honest though, I'm not in a huge rush. I've learned to enjoy every stage (except maybe the heaving first trimester). I want to enjoy every bit of my kids without rushing the years by. I don't understand it when people say, "Oh, you just wait, it'll get easier when they get older." I'm in no rush at all for them to grow up and I don't really think the teen years are easy. :D I remember my teens. Whoooey. Lord, have mercy on me even though I gave my parents none.

Clearing the Clutter Clears the Mind

2012-01-06T10:55:00.000-07:00

Today is day 7 of decluttering our house. I'm super excited about the progress of everything. However, the rooms that aren't done are in disarray because I'm hyper focusing on only one room at a time. If I spent my time worrying about the rooms the kids are bringing their toys into, I wouldn't get anything done. So far I have decluttered the boys room, the girls room, my room, my closet, and the garage. Today will be the kitchen. My camera is being sent out for repair so please forgive all the low quality pictures.

After my 20 week ultrasound yesterday, when I got back home I got straight to work finishing my room project. I finished around 11pm last night and collapsed into bed happily. Literally, when I removed everything from the entire room I only put back what I wanted. Whoaaaa, the results were amazing. My vacuum decided to break so my mom lent me one so I can finish my projects. My room now looks like it did when we first moved in.

I was so frustrated because no matter how much I cleaned, it just felt sooo cluttered in my room. I never had anywhere to put my laundry. Well, duh, it was because I had too much. My closets were so crammed with shoes and clothing that there just was nowhere to put anything. Between Charles and I we donated about 4 xlarge black bags of clothing. That black long table you see in the picture is where I would have dumped all the excess clothing. It's nice to see it cleared.

My closet was completely cleared out and between Charles and I we got rid of about 15 pairs of shoes. I had already gone through my shoes before and gotten rid of another 20 pairs. This time I really had to think about it to get rid of more. In reality, I only wear so many and have my favorite. Why am I holding on to the shoes that I might wear someday?

My side of the closet was so crammed that I would have to shove just one more shirt and find a tiny miracle place to fit it. Now, with my dresses on the left and shirts on the right, I have tons of space. That doesn't mean I can go shopping. :D If I buy anything I want to take one item out. That way it doesn't slowly fill up.

My daily project that I didn't get to blog about the other day was the garage. We cleared out all the clutter in the garage in one day. Thankfully, my husband helped me with this one. The wall you see we had boxes and old computers lining all across it. On the other side I had bags of kid clothes. While my husband hauled all the heavy stuff to the garbage, I was going through the clothes and donating lots of it. Now, there are no boxes in the garage and the only thing we have is two shelves to hold auto stuff. It's so cleared out that the kids have been riding their tricycles and scooters in there since it has so much space. I would really like to get some carpet that I can roll out during the day and roll back up at night so we can pull our vehicles in.

So, that's been my busy life the past 6 days! I just have to keep working till I'm completely done. I still have the kitchen, living room, bathrooms (under counters), and backyard and then we'll be done. That's when I'll jump for joy. The experience has been so freeing. Emptying out the entire room and only putting back what I want in it is hard work but actually makes it so simple to know what to let go of.

By the way, I still have a contest going on over HERE if you have a little girl. :D