Before and Afters and chains of events

 This particular organizing/decorating venture started with this book shelf.  I saw a blog post about how you can get a tension rod and put a curtain on that to cover your bookshelf to make a room look more tidy.

 Considering that this dinning/art/school/whatever room is most of our main room in our entire apartment.. that little change is kind of a big deal!

 So I did it.  I got a fabric shower curtain and tension rod.  I went for white because I wanted to lighten up the room since the wood is so dark and the area is small and cluttered.  The fabric though was really thick and "heavy" feeling and looking even though it was white.

This led me to reorganizing their school stuff and moving the two younger one's workbox drawers into the living room corner (about 10 ft to the left of this picture on the other side of the couch)  Which led me to moving the hubby's chair/ area... which led him to re-organizing his closet.
So, yes, lots of good changes all tiny in themselves that are leading to great things!

The white curtain over the bookshelf was so easy that I finally took the accordion door off the shoe closet by the front door (which blocked the door from opening when it was open!!!)  and got another tension rod and curtain for here!  I LOVE it!  It's so happy!

 My mother-in-law loved the curtain so well that she got one too.  It's a shower curtain and she's using it that way.  I had to make this a little narrower and then used the part I took off as a ruffle on the bottom to make it long enough.

 At other points I was moving and organizing their school stuff!  These two white baskets were from the dollar tree and I tacked them down right to the table so they won't get knocked over.  The jars that all the art stuff are in were just food jars that I'd saved (like spaghetti sauce or jam jars) and the girls helped me decorate them with pretty scrapbooking paper.

I organized a bunch of cupboards in my kitchen and got rid of a full garbage bag of kitchen stuff that I didn't use or that I really should replace.  I'd been using pots that were given to us a decade ago (that were already worn out and they didn't want) and were now so totally without their finish that they were turning grey instead of staying black.  I burned the rice every time I cooked it because of those pots!  Enter, the new pot.   It's not easy for me to spend $30 or a new pot.  Not sure why this is because I don't have a difficult time buying things for the girls or other people, but things for myself?  I'll usually just make what I have work, BUT this is SO pretty!  AND the rice did NOT burn!

I'm in the kitchen so much each day that choosing to get a pot that actually works well and is a pretty color (it matches the "morning mist" lacquer that I have on my pointer finger!) -- I realized that this must be my favorite color because I keep picking things with THIS color almost exactly. 

I love my "book nook"!  I put a window film on this window so that the people in the parking lot below can't see straight in like they used to be able to.  I used to feel like a dummy on a window display!  Now I can see out past the buildings to the trees without the heat of the sun as much and the people looking in.

Speaking of this "morning mist" color, it's the color of my new bedroom curtains.  I had yellow ones in here, but they didn't really match.  I also got a "morning mist" colored shower curtain liner and several other tiny things.  It all started when I wore my Mom's lacquer of that color in Washington.  I loved it!  AND I think it brings back good memories of being with my Mom, so this color is spreading over many places in my home.

 So speaking of moving my husbands chair which led him to moving his stuff around.  I had a brilliant idea to move his bookshelf ONTO the half wall of our bedroom!  BEFORE you freak out, know that I nailed that thing down and it's not going anywhere!

Now with this shelf there along with the little paper "screen" that I'd made a while back we have a little more privacy from the window on the far side there.  Note, the window behind that lamp?  The window is bigger than it looks from here.

 And speaking of moving the bookshelf.. that led me to move the vase with the sticks in it - an idea that I'd gotten a long time ago when watching "Clean House" - which motivated me to finally organize my dresser area and the kids books right there.  The school area was getting all organized at this point as I moved games and books up here and down there into into that.

 You can kind of see the trees out there from this picture.

 Speaking of wanting to lighten things up a bit.  This dark wood and my dark wood kitchen has always annoyed me.  It's already cramped and the color makes it feel worse.  Well, see above in the picture of the dark wood?  That light color behind the red strainer hanging on that wall used to be the same wood color!  I got some shelf liner paper at the Dollar Tree and covered that side!  It lightened up the kitchen enough to make me want to take it farther!

 Another trip to the Dollar Tree and an awesome find of duct tape.. which AGAIN is that awesome "Morning Mist" color!  And more of that same shelf paper and BAM!

 It's a decorating rental wonder!  My husband thinks it has a French countryside look.  I'm just glad it's not oppressively dark anymore!

 Also, remember the white curtain over the bookshelf that was too heavy of a fabric and seemed to stick out instead of making the bookshelf feel less pronounced?  Well, I moved the green curtain from the dinning room window to in front of the bookshelf.  Suddenly that bookshelf disappeared into the background of the room and I was left with no curtains in the dinning room.

 Enter the yellow curtains that used to be in my bedroom!!!  I LOVE them here!  It's amazing how JUST the color of the curtains (both are sheer) make in this room!  Suddenly the room is cooler even because I don't need to turn the lights on and keep them on all day!  The light makes those curtains glow and it's so warm and cozy.  Light is a huge deal to me and I'd rather have 10 floor lamps in a room than be in a room that's too dark.  I need light!  And this is an amazing way to get that feeling withOUT actual direct light!

Look at that!!!^^  Doesn't that just invite crafting and drawing and art?

 Speaking of sun, I replaced some of our dead plants in our "garden" with Sunflowers!  Which are so fun to see from our window now!

 You can see the mirror effect from the window film that I put up on our window in the picture above too!  It's nice to know that all the people that walk by now can't see right into our house and up the stairs anymore.  :)

And a little farther away our path and some flowers that are amazingly still alive!  I've got peppermint, rosemary, oregano, Asiatic Lilies, a cucumber plant, Hyacinth bulbs, garlic, cherry tomato, Basil, strawberry, and a few other flower plants back here.  I'm a "want-to-be-gardener"  :)

 Last autumn some time I shared my fireplace re-do.. well, the chalkboard paper fell off.  It never stuck well because of the texture of the paint they used to paint this ugly fireplace.  When I talked to my husband about maybe doing it again he was all for it because he really had liked how it looked!
I wanted to take the chalk board thing a step farther and cover the fireplace as well!  In the picture above I can only think of a black hole or something.. it's just so useless!  Maybe if it had an AC unit right in it then it would make sense down here!  As it is, it just seems silly.

 Enter the dollar tree again and 12 decorative mirrors.  I'd already priced floor length mirrors and they would be too tall for this purpose anyway.  So I jimmy rigged these! with wire, duct tape, and sticks that I had to make these panels that I wired to the grill thing at the top of the fireplace (which will be easy to remove since we are renting!)

 The chalkboard paper and some drawings of viney flowers later and it looks like this!!!

This is also the new school area for the two younger girls.  They have shelves with their workbox drawers to the right and it's nice to keep these things separated from the craft and art mess that happens constantly all day long.

And everything back in it's place.  I think I'm a little obsessed with chalk boards now, but they are just so pretty and make me happy!  I tested the look of the fireplace re-do with drawing some words or doing other designs, but for the summer I really like the vines and flowers.  I DID use a hot glue gun to glue down the right and left sides only of the chalk board paper!  It's making a huge difference in how it's staying up and holding up to being drawn on.  The blue will be easy to peal off as well.

 I started organizing JUST in time too because I got our school for next year!  We are doing "Core B" of Sonlight next.  Actually doing the full thing for the first time (instead of just using bits and pieces) and it's World History so we are really looking forward to it!  Once we finish our Alphabet themed school we'll move into that next and it's all waiting in the cupboards above - which USED to be full of my oldest's craft stuff..... which she didn't use often but just had all jammed in there.  This is a much better use of it.  She gets the shelf for current projects and her workbox drawers and I get the cupboards!

I'm already doing so much and still need to do a lot more organizing!  That I didn't want to make another "chore chart" and finally broke down and go the kids these from Melissa and Doug.  
They are magnetic so that's fun and my oldest especially is appreciating her new responsibility chart (because she wants to earn money to save for a toy!)

 I still have a lot more little things that I want to organize and I need to get some more chalk board paper for a couple other things, but the main stuff is done.  A few of my kitchen cupboards have sticky notes on them reminding me to organize them!  As if it doesn't speak for itself?

 And organizing and doing decorating projects while homeschooling three kids feels like trying to run up a gravely hill -- you've got to move your feet twice as fast just to make any forward progress!  It IS worth it in the end.  I already feel so much happier with my little adjustments here and there and this organizing/decorating thing does get easier the more I work at it.  Note: I'm not naturally good at this sort of thing.  I've just learned a lot from a few different places and gotten better as I keep working at it!

I recommend the "Organizing Pro" if you want to get your life less complicated!  She talks about organizing, but it all starts with simplifying as well.  The point isn't to give you more work and make you a super woman.. it's to get this stuff running smoothly so you can do the things you really want to do!  I went through her DVD and book course about 6 years ago.

ALSO, more on the decorating side- check out "The Nesting Place" book!!!  Most decorating books will end up making me feel bad about where I live and discontent.  This lady comes from a place of being a renter for years and years and learning to work WITH the imperfections of wherever you live and how to "love your limitations" -- she also talks about thrifting and other ways to do things yourself to save money while you decorate.  She also helps show you how to look at a space so that you can figure out how you want to decorate it! She calls it "quieting the space"
Seriously, that book and what she says are all so inspirational!  I read a few chapters and I have new inspiration pumped right into my veins and am ready to embrace where I live an make it better.  :)  It's refreshing to read a decorating book that actually makes you feel more content rather than feeling all covetous about the things you'll never have!

I hope some of my ideas have inspired one of you as well!

Alphabet Review

I got an idea for a chalk board design around Easter time and didn't do it right away, but eventually got to it... soooo rather than kicking myself for not being "on time".. or the time that I wanted anyway, I should realize that it's an awesome thing that I ever get to any of my "great ideas" at all, right?

 Alphabet review and also a chance to talk about who God is.  I also focused our school a bit more on math review and I read through all the animal antic books again with the girls along with other things.

I had help with the chalk board on the bottom right.  :)

 Chocolate chips can come in handy with doing math.  I totally have good memories from when I was a kid around their age and my Mom let me use chocolate chips to help me do my math.

 It was a little more complicated in person with how I ran this lesson with all the ways we added up all the numbers, but I can't very well take pictures of all that.

 Even the four year old got to do some school with chocolate this day!

Melissa and Doug numbers puzzle... says the number when you move the puzzle pieces.  I got this mainly to help with all those confusing "teen" numbers that the little ones get all jumbled up when counting

And speaking of counting and the teen numbers-- I also got this poster (which I highly recommend) that is great for visual learners.  You can see their other products for math here So, I talked to one of the advisers at this site and they said that the numbers 1 through 10 words were supposed to be sung to the tune of "Ba ba black sheep".... which I didn't know, but did a youtube search and learned the tune.  I got the poster and THEN, what???  The rhyme for 11 through 20 (which was the part I especially was interested in) was a totally different rhythm and didn't match the 1 through 10 words or tune.
As a musical person this drove me a little crazy.  We were sort of "rapping" the words instead of singing them to the tune they were SUPPOSED to go with and the night before I was supposed to wake up way too early to catch the flight to visit my family up in Washington state my brain was full of how in the world to fix the words so they'd actually work well together.  See video below to know how I changed it!  I've also played this video for my girls while we eat breakfast or lunch or something to give myself a little break.

 And THEN for most of May were were able to visit my family!  The kids got sick one after the other after the first week was over though so we stayed close to home and didn't get to visit as many people as I would have liked.

 I got to wear these wraps that Jamberry sent me just because I promoted to "Lead Consultant"-  How cool is that?

 Since we were resting a lot there was some of this going on, but the little one looked so cute all matching with Gramma.  ;)

 We went to some of our favorite little stores while we were there.  (Got to help the local economy!)

 My Mom bought a bunch of flowers so we could pot them all and her stairs would be all lovely with blooms!

 The kids spent a LOT of time outside running around and catching butterflies.  I hadn't had much school planned for up there, but what with the sicknesses and then the very good use of the outdoors I didn't have them even do as much as I'd planned.

 Hiking up in the woods!

 Hanging out with cousins happened as much as we could possibly make it happen!

 Don't forget the tea parties at Grandma's house!  That is always a must.

 ALSO, their cousin's cousins (yes that was on purpose) had a cat with kittens!  They were beyond excited to get to hold some kittens for a while.  This was the first time they remember getting to hold little kittens.  It's sad to think that some kids have never gotten to play with tiny kittens!

The middle one especially spent as much time as she could holding the kittens. so so sweet.  :)

 I also had fun playing with Jamberry's "Nail Art Studio" and created the designs above!  They got approved so quickly that I was able to order them and got them up there even before I left!  The two on the left I got doubles of because I wanted to give them to my Mom for her birthday.  Hard to see, but the far left is pictures of lilacs that I took while I was up there!  And the middle one is of pictures my little brother had designed with a computer program.  My oldest especially who is closest to her Uncle loved wearing those and thinking of him when we got back home.  :)

 This is what the lilac ones looked like on.  I so love lilacs!  I wish I could find something that smells like them in the right way.  Usually the fake scents just don't cut it.

 The 7 year old got to make a lot of (gluten free) pancakes at Gramma's house and now is calling herself an "expert" and so I stared letting her do some of the making of the pancakes here as well.  It's not easy since our kitchen is only about 3 ft wide.. little too snug for two people to try and move around in there, but we were making it work.

 We now (finally!) have ALL the "Animal Antic from A to Z" books!  LOVE these and more importantly the kids really like them.  It's nice to have books with stories that are fun for me to read and listen to as well!  You can find them on Amazon.com

The middle one (7) absolutely LOVES bunnies, and she saw this "I am a Bunny" book that she'd never really been interested in before on our shelf and decided it was the most beautiful book ever.  The pictures are quite lovely.  So, I jumped on her interest with this and have been having her work on her writing skills by copying a page a day.  She can do a great job if she really is trying.  It's been hard to get her enough interested to actually want to try to do well.

 Oh, and also after we got back I sort of randomly bought them a swimming pool so they could use their ball pit balls again that I'd had packed away for a few years.  They enjoyed doing some reading in it as well as all the rolling in it at other times.  After the business and stress of traveling and the initial sadness of missing family when we are back home and trying to get back into a "normal" groove it was fun to have a little holiday of our own for a week.  We went swimming every day and the ball pit was for indoor times to give me a little break.

 Also, I started a new visual journal besides the one I was already using.  It's not a bad thing to have two going!  AND in case anyone was wondering about the gorgeous color on my nails it's Jamberry's "Morning Mist" lacquer from their "fairy tale lacquer set"-- they have some that aren't in the lacquer sets of course, but this particular color is exclusive to this set.  I *love* the color and FYI their lacquer won't give you a head-ache from the fumes because it's free of 5 toxins normally found in polish.. also it holds up better then the toxic cheap kinds, and that up there is only one coat.  The color is super nice and thick compared to others I've used!

 THIS was from today!  I'm preparing for "T week" now that our little (long) review time/vacation/whatever is over.. but more on "T week" later.

Today was baking, school time, swim time, visual journaling, lunch, Wild Kratts, Jamberry biz stuff, chalk board re-designing, more cooking (made gluten free pizzas) more school time (We are now doing "Life of Fred"  BEST MATH EVER!!) some fussy kid time (can't seem to avoid that!) and so on and so on.  ;)

 My oldest did the cork board at the beginning of the review, but we'll keep it on for "T week"

 I was quite proud of my youngest (4) today because ALL by herself she put this train alphabet puzzle together.  I'm not as surprised that she could figure out how to put it together (though that certainly is impressive!) but mostly because she did it by herself!  She tends to want me to help her do even things that she CAN do herself, but just because she wants me right next to her.  This is hard when I need to help the older two and we've had to endure a lot of fussing and crying during school times, but it's getting so much easier than it was!

And here she is eating a tortilla.

Oh, and just a couple last things to keep it real.  You know how Facebook and Pinterest and Blogs can make life look so easy and amazing and really just shows off the best of the best?  Just to keep it honest and hopefully to encourage other moms out there, the video above is of a giggle fit that my girls were having while trying to do their writing.  I thought it was funny too, but it's also "bang your head on the wall worthy" after a while if you are trying to get them to actually accomplish the thing you were wanting them to do for that day!  My 7 year old sometimes gets a word stuck in her head that she thinks sounds funny and keeps saying it and giggling.  This time it was "Burble" .. which does sound really funny if you say it enough!  Little reminder for us all to keep plugging away (or put the books away until they get over the giggle fit!) and not to get mad and yell.  The giggles are going to be a good memory that they will look back to when they think of what it was like when they were homeschooling.

Oh, and another "keeping it real" moment brought to you by the 4 year old who swiped my camera one day without me knowing.  I found about 20 pictures on my camera of the messy house and mostly of the older two bugging each other.  Hello other parents.. does this ever drive you a little crazy too?  I can't tell you how often I have to be the peace keeper in fights through out the day.


I don't have a picture or video to post of the other bit of difficulty we have to deal with in our homeschooling days which is when the littlest one throws a fit of some kind.  It used to be that she'd cry very loudly without wanting any consoling for a good hour and telling me all the things she thinks she wants until she finally realized she forgot why she started crying to begin with.  Usually it will be that she asks for chocolate and I say "no" -- also it might be important to point out that I'm really not that strict and it's not like she's suffering for lack of sugar to begin with.  She's usually just tired and focuses on something like chocolate or a cartoon to feel better and totally freaks out if she can't have it right that second.
The only advice I've got for that situation is to hold the crying kid and just try to keep your sanity.  I watched "Happy" and sang over her crying for an hour one day.  In case you were wondering, I did try to put her in her room so she'd cry away from us.  That always made her freak out more and get louder and hysterical.... Talk about all our nerves on edge!  I mean.. how can the older two hear anything that I'm reading right?  BUT it's getting better slowly and there are less interruptions, so if you are struggling with something like that too, just know it will get better as you keep being consistent and firm but loving with them.
 Also, you'll get all manner of advice about what to do to force your children to obey you, and yes you can force obedience outwardly, but what about their hearts?   Children need to be treated like we want to be treated.  They are people and deserve respect and if we can show them this and love them even when they are freaking out we can teach them to show us respect in other ways.  This might take longer, but I think it's important to focus on treating our kids with respect and grace and try to think of how God parents us with his never ending love that isn't based on our performance. 

Kid interviews

I've been a little obsessed with watching "Mom's Night Out" recently
 It just makes me laugh (which who doesn't need more of that right?) and it's profound at the same time and is super encouraging.  Exactly what I need (what so many mom's need!)
So there's this "Kid interview" thing going around Facebook lately and I asked my girls the questions in turn.  It was a fun little exercise seeing what everyones answers were.  Also, helps me to remember that I'm not doing as terrible of a job as I usually think I'm doing.

Anyway, I thought the Grandmother's would enjoy this and it seemed a little long for Facebook statuses and I haven't done any sort of "year end review" in a long time anyway.

Gracie age 4

1. What is something mom always says to you? Are you going to have a carrot?
2. What makes mom happy? ME!
3. What makes mom sad? Crying
4. How does your mom make you laugh? Being funny.
5. What was your mom like as a child? Being with me?
6. How old is your mom? 20
7. How tall is your mom? Uh, as tall as you are? You are this tall (She stands on a stool and holds her hand out and tells me to stand up so she can put her hand on top of my head and saying “you are this tall”)
8. What is her favorite thing to do? Read stories
9. What does your mom do when you're not around? Watch shows
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? Be at the beach?
11. What is your mom really good at? Sewing
12. What is your mom not very good at? Climbing the roof.
13. What does your mom do for a job? Make us clean our room.
14.What is your mom's favorite food? Macaroni and cheese.
15.What makes you proud of your mom? Macaroni and cheese.
16. If your mom were a character, who would she be? A surf board.
17. What do you and your mom do together? Read stories.
18. How are you and your mom the same? Being reading stories.
19. How are you and your mom different? Umm because you're big and I'm small.
20. How do you know your mom loves you? Because I'm Gracie!!
21. What does your mom like most about your dad? Kissing him on the lips.
22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go? To the beach.
23. How old was your mom when you were born? 20
24. What's mom's favorite song? Jingle Bells Jingle bells jingle all the way how much fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh! (ect as she kept singing while taking a bathroom break.)
25. How many hours does mom sleep at night? 25^th like this many (holding out all her fingers)
26. What kind of car does mom drive? That car at front by Daddy's car.
27. Why did Mommy and Daddy get married? Because you two first mint... Ole'!
28. Is mom afraid of anything? Monsters, ghosts? Ole'!
29. Is mom smart? Yes or no.
30. Where is mom's favorite place to shop? Walmart?
31. How much money does mom spend on groceries? This many (holds out all fingers and counts them outloud.)
32. What's mom's favorite tv show? This show? (Points to “Big Hero 6” that we had playing at the time.)
33. Who is mom's favorite person? Umm Daddy.
34. What's mom's favorite thing about you? Hugging.
35. What's mom's favorite book? Adventure!

Renna age 7

1. What is something mom always says to you? I love you.
2. What makes mom happy? My smile
3. What makes mom sad? One of us dead.
4. How does your mom make you laugh? Tickling me.
5. What was your mom like as a child? Playing.
6. How old is your mom? 43
7. How tall is your mom? Taller then me.
8. What is her favorite thing to do? Go swimming with me.
9. What does your mom do when you're not around? Rest.
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? Making movies.
11. What is your mom really good at? Baking.
12. What is your mom not very good at? Not giggling.
13. What does your mom do for a job? Sell Jamberry
14.What is your mom's favorite food? Sushi
15.What makes you proud of your mom? Being together.
16. If your mom were a character, who would she be? A sweet kitty.
17. What do you and your mom do together? Make cookies.
18. How are you and your mom the same? We've both got earrings.
19. How are you and your mom different? You're tall and I'm short.
20. How do you know your mom loves you? Because you help me.
21. What does your mom like most about your dad? His bald head.
22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go? To the zoo.
23. How old was your mom when you were born? I have no idea.
24. What's mom's favorite song? Christmas Carols
25. How many hours does mom sleep at night? From night to day.
26. What kind of car does mom drive? A black and white landrover
27. Why did Mommy and Daddy get married? Because you two are love birds.
28. Is mom afraid of anything? Losing me.
29. Is mom smart? Yes.
30. Where is mom's favorite place to shop? Aldi.
31. How much money does mom spend on groceries? A lot. More then I can count.
32. What's mom's favorite tv show? Meet me in St. Lewis.
33. Who is mom's favorite person? Daddy.
34. What's mom's favorite thing about you? My smile.
35. What's mom's favorite book? I am a Bunny.

Lily age 9

1. What is something mom always says to you? I love you.
2. What makes mom happy? Me
3. What makes mom sad? That we can't live at Gramma's house.
4. How does your mom make you laugh? Tickles.
5. What was your mom like as a child? Playful.
6. How old is your mom? 26
7. How tall is your mom? 6 ft tall.
8. What is her favorite thing to do? Read your book.
9. What does your mom do when you're not around? Read your book.
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? Loving?
11. What is your mom really good at? Playing with me
12. What is your mom not very good at? Painting?
13. What does your mom do for a job? Helping me!
14.What is your mom's favorite food? Sushi!
15.What makes you proud of your mom? Snuggable and loveable.
16. If your mom were a character, who would she be? Super Hero!
17. What do you and your mom do together? Journal.
18. How are you and your mom the same? We both have diffuser necklaces
19. How are you and your mom different? That you have earrings and I don't.
20. How do you know your mom loves you? Because I love you!
21. What does your mom like most about your dad? That you like him.
22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go? Washington.
23. How old was your mom when you were born? 20?
24. What's mom's favorite song? “Let it go”
25. How many hours does mom sleep at night? 10?
26. What kind of car does mom drive? A van. A mini van.
27. Why did Mommy and Daddy get married? Cause you love each other.
28. Is mom afraid of anything? Bugs.
29. Is mom smart? Yes.
30. Where is mom's favorite place to shop? Walmart.
31. How much money does mom spend on groceries? $20
32. What's mom's favorite tv show? Old shows.
33. Who is mom's favorite person? Daddy
34. What's mom's favorite thing about you? I'm creative.
35. What's mom's favorite book? The one that you are reading.

I've refrained on commenting after any of their comments.  ;)  It's interesting to hear what they say!  Somethings are really insightful and some are just totally off the wall or funny.  The Daddy overheard that each girl said that my favorite person was "Daddy" -- aww.  ;)