Do Moms Lose Their Memory with Each Child?

This is how I see my husband before work. My tired hero.

Oh man!!!  Today I'm feeling the tiredness.  Last night I worked on decluttering till about 4am, took a shower, then went to bed.  Then I got up 5 hours later.  To top it off, we had no coffee left.  I do have some decaf but I'm sorry, that's insulting. (Shhhh, don't tell Charles I made him decaf as well.  He doesn't know.  When he came in to tell me he was still tired and coffee wasn't working, I had to try not to laugh.  Hahaha.) It'd be better to wake up fast by banging my head on the wall 10 times or throwing freezing ice water on my face.  Maybe even do the ice bucket challenge.

Oh, so there's the ice bucket challenge.  I completely forgot to do it being that I was challenged.  That's how bad my memory is.  Also, I forgot I had church nursery duty last Sunday morning.  I'm sooooo grateful I go to church with gracious people.  I'm hoping and praying that was the only time I forgot.  I don't know because I can't remember.  Ha ha. By the way, what is the huge fuss about people doing the ice bucket challenge?  Some are saying people that do the ice water rather than donate are being cheap. Well, at least it's bringing it to people's attention around the world that can donate.  Because of this challenge, tons of money was raised to bring awareness to ALS.  I think that's amazing!!!  Let's do more stuff like this!!!

Today I put my old red van up for sale.  I got so many calls today I could hardly work on my decluttering project I started yesterday. We've had this van since 2009.  It served us for 5 good years but we just simply outgrew it.  Awww.... so many good memories.  Ashley was a year and half then, now she's turning 7 soon.  When we first got this red van we felt like we were driving a house.  We upgraded from a minivan so this was luxury to us.  Now we have a 12 passenger!  Ha ha.



Oh, and do moms lose their memory with each child?  According to eHow pregnant women do.  Come on!  I need a study that shows moms in general have memory loss.  I know I do.  There is just soooo much to keep up with.  I get myself in trouble forgetting important dates but it's because my calendar is hilariously full.

Anyway, it's past midnight and I'm so close to be done with my decluttering project.  Better hop to it!

Sick of the Clutter and Throwing it Out- Here We Go Again

Alright.  When I walk into a room, scratch my head because I don't know what to clean first, and walk out, that means it's time to do the red carpet treatment in that room.  It may seem like I do this process all the time but actually it's because I attack one of the 6 rooms of our house throughout the year.  So yeah, if I post about it 6-12 times a year, that's why.  I've been doing this for awhile and it solves all my "woman, get your act together and keep it organized" issues.

Yeah well, my bedroom tends to be the drop off room when everyone does their chores.  Also, The Destroyer goes in there (my toddler) and loooooves pulling anything and everything out of the drawers and off the shelves.  I had it today and emptied my room out into my living room.  Kyle and Ashley volunteered for free and I still paid them hourly.  Yes, I teach my kids about earning money per job.  It's awesome and teaches them fast.  If it's not part of their chores or personal things then I consider it an extra and it makes a good lesson about earning money.  Wow, the kids and I emptied everything out quick!  The hard part is going through it but if you wait to do this process when you are SICK OF THE CLUTTER, it's the best time to do it because you throw out stuff easier.  They sort of just threw it all over the carpet which is fine.  The deal is it has to stay on the carpet.  It used to be a red carpet which is why it's called Red Carpet Treatment.  Ha ha.  Not it's brown but brown would be weird sounding.  I love my corny sayings.  Anyway, this is what my living room looks like right now with my room emptied all over it.  I'm up late organizing!

Simplify Your Life! 40 Bags in 40 Days.

Someone started an idea for 40 bags in 40 days.  Meaning, every day find things to donate and fill up one bad.  Well, that's not hard for me AT ALL.  Nine people in this house means lots of clutter adds up really fast.  Back in my single days I was so simplistic I was probably considered a minimalist.  I get soooo confused when there is just too much stuff in the house.  I don't like figurines or any sort of collectible.  My kids are what I looove to give my time too.  Not things.  So maybe when they're all grown up I'll find something worth collecting.  I don't know.  I was like that when I was single anyway.

 

Our biggest inspiration when we do a house clean out is from the show Clean House.  No matter how many times we've seen all the episodes from every season, we'll watch it again.  I'll have the show playing somewhere on a monitor, streaming through Netflix, so it encourages the kids and I.  I'm not kidding, it works!!  You can get all the seasons on Netflix.  It just is so motivating to see people clear out their house.  Often you'll see people come to the realization that they've attached memories to junk and it's done nothing but take up space in their house and in their mind. 

Anyway, we are on our second day and working on our second bag!  For us that would be a large bag but for some people maybe it's just a smaller size bag.  Whatever works! Back to work we go!  :D

Decluttering My Crazy Messy Kitchen

As much as I straighten and wipe down the kitchen after these messy kids, it just needs a deep, deep cleaning quite often. One day I just was rummaging through the cupboards when I realized how badly it needed the red carpet treatment. Taking every single thing out of the cupboards, sanitizing all inside and outside of the cupboards, putting back what I want to keep and getting rid of the rest. Wow, I had more crammed in the cupboards than I thought. It was out of control. I think I'm getting rid of about half of what was in there.

Being the way I am, things get messy before I realize it. The only way I can get a handle on it is to constantly do these declutter sessions. I never, ever see a problem till it becomes a mountain. I haven't got a handle on the maintaining. Here's why. I am crazy about my kids and spend every waking moment with them. Literally. They are homeschooled as well. I can't imagine a minute apart from them. I play with them, teach them, cuddle them, and I probably say I love you at least 10 times a day to each kid. I blink and it seems we're having so much fun the house just falls apart in the process. I'm not addicted to cleaning. I'm addicted to my kids. I don't worship my kids and they know it. We just love living life together and experiencing everything together.

To battle the problem of clutter I have to constantly take turns going thru rooms and clearing them out. I like the idea I heard recently about having a weekly rotation where I pick one room to really focus on. Of course I have my daily chores. For example. This week I'm focusing on kitchen. I'm doing more than the usual wipe down. Whew. Tons of work. I wish I could snap my fingers and it's done so I can spend more time with my family. ;)

I told the kids on Monday that if they'll help me clear out the cupboards I'd do the scrub down. It wasn't an easy job for them because we didn't know of all that was crammed in there. Wow!

Finally Mastering the Art of Less Clutter

This past week I have come to realize what a huge difference and change that has happened in me as far as housework goes within the last year.  It used to be that we had so much stuff I felt I cleaned alllll day.  If someone was to come over then I actually dreaded it because it meant I had to clean the whole house.  Trust me, it was a lot.  We just had TOO much stuff and the kids would scatter it everywhere.  Daily.  If we knew someone was coming over that night then we would start cleaning early morning to get it all done in time.  I know.  Sooooo sad.  I finally just got fed up with the stuff and started dumping it all.  Needless to say, I have learned to not get attached to junk.  That's all it really is in the light of eternity and what really matters.  Proudly, the kids have learned this over the years and they do their own decluttering now. They hate clutter!  Haha.  I'm so happy.  The past few times we were gonna have people over I started to realize that we only had to pick up and clean in under an hour's time.  What a difference!!!  I used to dread someone coming over because it meant I had to freak out and clean like a mad woman for a day or sometimes even a day and a half.  My sis finally told me it was time to just get rid most of it. I really didn't know how till she taught me how to do the red carpet treatment.  Just bringing out everything from one room (except big furniture) and into the living room.  Put back what you what and donate the rest. It'll make you sweat but it works.  I was tired of my life revolving around clutter.  (I'll post a how to below)



My husband's been telling me I need to relax more.  I had even stopped blogging less and wanted to stay on top of things more.  Charles told me that I don't need to keep cleaning the same stuff over and over throughout the day.  It's okay if toys are out and things get a bit messy from play.  Just have fun with the kids, take time to blog or read a book, and enjoy life more!  We can all day basic chores throughout the day and get our work done, but we don't have to go in circles doing it.  I love my husband!  We all do our chores at noon where we are thorough but we do another big pickup just before he gets home so daddy can walk into a neat house.  :)  Since it only takes 1 hour to get our work done at noon, it's a pretty quick pickup by the end of the day. Man, decluttering like a mad lady was soooo worth it. When I do laundry I keep a donated bag nearby.  As I fold I can see what should be donated and put right into that bag.  It doesn't make it back into the kids' closet to decide later.  Right now I have a huuuuge donation bag just from doing this the last week of washing. 



Although I can be hard on myself, I'm glad I am. I'm happy I'm not okay with living in a life of clutter and feeling trapped.  It took me awhile to see how much our cleaning has changed and how much easier it's gotten.  I just realized it a couple days ago. I looked around, looked at my son and said, "Kyle, have to realized how easy our chores have gotten?"  He said, "No.  Just kidding, mom!  Yes, it's much faster to clean now!"  :D Ahhhhhh..... The constant learning, relearning, getting mad at the clutter and doing the work was worth it.  I'm now working on a full laundry system to make it more organized.  My sis gave me a great idea so we've been implementing it!

How to Do a Red Carpet Treatment

I say the "Red Carpet Treatment" because when we empty out a room, we put
it all onto the red carpet in our living room.  That way we aren't tripping over
stuff.  Yes, it got piled pretty high onto the rug and couch.  :)

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.  Get rid of it fast!

UPDATED! Why Do I Struggle So Much with Decluttering?

Oh myyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!  Aggghhhhh!  It kills me out much I constantly have to declutter.  Sniff... Just because I'm not a perfectionist doesn't mean I'm okay with clutter.  I HATE clutter.  Let me put it this way, I love going into a hotel and only having to do basic straightening up.  I don't leave anything for the maids unless it's deep cleaning.  It EASY to straighten up.  THAT'S exactly how I want my house.  That's how it was when I was single.  I have two forks, two spoons, two plates.  You get what I mean.  I don't mind more but I don't need everything multiplied by 10.  I'm not a shopaholic and I only go shopping for what I need.  I avoid stores actually and prefer nature.  So HOW in the world do I keep getting more?  Can you tell I'm frustrated?  I think it's because I don't declutter as things come in for Christmas, birthdays, random gifts, a bag someone gives me.  I just forget and don't think about it.  Before I know it I have a big project on my hands.  :(  My husband says he thanks God I'm not a perfectionist and says he would never have wanted to marry a woman that puts house before kids.  That's nice and all but I would like a nice balance.

Last night I did it again where I had everyone empty EVERYTHING onto the living room red rug.  We call it the Red Carpet Treatment.  Everything comes out of their room except furniture.  We put back what we want and donate the rest. I have to have some compassion and let them keep some toys.  Duh.  It's just not an excess of it.  Also, the girls have been finding spots to hide garbage in rather than walk over to the kitchen and throw it away.  One day I went to put some clean clothes away but I couldn't because it was full of hidden random stuff that should be thrown out.  Not food but like paper scraps and wrappers.  Argh.



I see these pics of blogging mamas and wish my house could look like that.  I work hard every day to train the kids.  I was a little bit encouraged recently after watching some kids because I couldn't get those kids to clean for nothing.  My kids will clean as asked and even without complaining.  It's just that they are very messy.  Bless my wonderful, awesome, compassionate, sweet, amazing husband.  The other day I told him my frustrations.  I told him I want a cleaner house. I was practically in tears because I had worked all day.  He looked around and said, "It looks great to me."  Ummmm....what? He asked if I homeschooled and took care of kids.  I replied with an emphatic yes.  He said that was most important to him.  I told him that it was so sweet but I feel happy in a decluttered and somewhat of a neat home.  It makes me feel at peace.  Amazing man.  Seriously.  He always, always reminds me that God is first, homeschooling second, and house cleaning third. 



I know lots of kids come with more messes.  I know laundry piles are much more than people with smaller families.  I know that cleanup is multiplied and I guess I'm not the best one for the job.  I did fantastic at taking care of myself or when my family was small.  I just have to come up with a better plan, work even harder, and pray that God will give me the strength.  It's not he energy level because I have a TON and I can go from morning to late night in whatever I am doing.  I won't even sit down to read one of my books till everything is done for the day and kids are laid down.  I guess I would just like to be a bit more successful. 



I do TONS of stuff with my kids.  I put a LOT of time into them.  I could tell you each and every kids favorite color, their dreams, their likes/dislikes, their favorite foods and what they hate.  I love taking them on fieldtrips.  I will never replace any of that for a perfect house.  I guess I'm just the type of person that has to have less stuff to keep up on.  How these moms do it on a consistent basis without the ups and downs I have is beyond me.  If you are like that, pray for me!  I would like some of it to rub off.  I was the baby of the family and I read the book Birth Order by Dr. Kevin Leman.  VERY good book and it has me down to the "T" with my personality type.  Oh well, here is to keep on keepin' on!  I won't give up.  I'm heading back over to my decluttering pile now....

Don't get me wrong, if having a lot of kids means I have a much bigger mess to clean up then it's worth it.  I love these kids so much and yes I have to work so much harder because of it.  I'm one blessed lady when it comes to that.  Just would like to know how some of those other large family mamas do it.  :D

*** UPDATED! ***

 

So a frustrating day turned GREAT!  My husband came home from work.  I talked to him about all this.  He immediately took charge and directed all the kids to help me move things to donation boxes and put things away.  He gave a couple of them new chores that he wanted to get covered.  Within one hour I was amazed and was smiling all night.  Then he lit some vanilla candles around the house.  My mouth just dropped open watching everyone work so fast together.   I was so happy!  It's so nice having a man around here FO SHO!  I had to show this picture because that is the red carpet we put everything on when we are decluttering. I'll have them empty everything in their room onto that carpet, put back what they want to keep and donate the rest.  I emptied 3 rooms on that carpet the other day so you can imagine how this space looked just prior to this picture.  EEK!  Much, much went into donation bins.  :D

 

 

Keeping Kids Pure in a Hollywood Loving World

I have completely disappeared for a week but for a really good reason.  :D  This one makes me smile.  We were completely decluttering our house.  Our garage is filling up with stuff for our garage sale.  I can't believe how fantastic the house looks again and I'm really proud of the kids for decluttering with me.  After decluttering my room, I thought I'd show you a picture of one of my daughter's great decorating ideas.  It's not really my favorite and I had to remove it.  See if you can spot it in the picture.  :)



 

Recently we shut off our internet to focus more on God and more on our family.  We are fine with it but since I've noticed the kids have withdrawals from it, I'm glad I cut the entertainment I.V.  We don't have movies in the house but there are some exceptions to the rule.  If it is for educational purposes it's fine.  We allow all 19 Kids and Counting episodes, and some Clean House.  Of course all are on DVD.  I let the kids get an idea of what we were gonna do by letting see some Clean House episodes.  It was so awesome seeing the kids go through and clean out their rooms without me having to push them.  We used to have regular movies before but it was getting almost impossible to find anything that had no fornication, swearing, or blasphemy.  Why is it so hard for Hollyweird to show a married couple without making it seem boring or bland?  It's just so wrong of me to make stands against these things to my kids but then watch it in a movie.  Yikes. 

Ryan and Chaz



The other day we were walking through Walmart picking up a few items and I didn't really notice that we were walking through the women's section.  Chaz had his head down and once we passed it said, "How come the world has to always portray women in a perverted way."  Surprised by this question  I told him that whatever good God makes the devil always has to pervert or twist it.  Sometimes it's truly hard to live with higher standards because it's so opposite of the flow of the world, but watching my kids grow up with a love of God, a willingness to serve others, and see them desire what is pure and righteous makes it all so, so, so worth it. 

My Unpredictable Life

Wow, life has been crazy unorganized, stressful, surprising, painful, and yet it still a good life.  :D  Here is why.

Well, my husband is on his fourth week of no work.  He is a contract worker so if there is no work, he doesn't go into the office.  Yep, every day we are all PRAYING that work just comes flooding in to the office.  It's actually there waiting for signatures to be released.  This is typically a slow time of the year for the company but we didn't know in advance and found out when it was too late.  We would love your prayers!

It's been painful because I've been waking up with headaches almost every morning and pain in my feet when I walk.  It's only for a bit after I wake up but it's like the joints are hurting.  I wonder if I'm missing some sort of nutrient that I need in my body?  I don't know.

I'm still working on the decluttering process in my house but it's a slower process this time because we are pretty busy.  I wish I just had hours to do it really fast like last time but I don't.  I just want a simple, simple, simple house and the TIME to make it that way.  I don't need a lot.  I'm not into figurines and collecting stuff.  However, when you have 8 other people in the house saying they want this and that, it's harder to rid of it.  Ivy likes to have her 5 backpacks and 7 purses.  

Homeschooling has been going well!  Ivy has really struggled in the past but she is picking it up quick now.  I really have finally accepted the fact that my kids are staying home with me.  You have no idea (well, Christine does) of my ups and downs with wanting to homeschool.  I remember my first try back in 2005.  It was the worst 5 minutes of my life.  Later on I tried again. I would homeschool one year and then put them in school the next year.  I've finally gotten used to the idea and truly love having them at home, EVEN THOUGH I have two boys right behind me arguing as I'm writing this.

Good news!  I've lost 10lbs in two weeks!  Whoo hoo!  I'm really loving the Paleo Diet.

Why I Have a Lot of Kids

My husband's work has been slow so he has not worked at all this week.  Yikes!  I have to say though that I LOOOOOVE having hubby home.  He's my best friend and we have tons of fun with the kids together.  The last couple of days we've taken the van to get worked on and then hung out at fun places together. We FINALLY have our big van back and we are so relieved.  However, we are still looking to take the captain seats out and putting a bench in for the kids.  We need the extra seat belt and we need to separate our Aspergers kids so he is not right next to someone else.  We are gonna have baby Juliet be in between Chaz and Ryan. That should settle the issues we are having.

Today while I was holding baby Juliet, Charles and I were just commenting on how far we've come with how we think of babies.  It USED to be that babies were a ton of work and we couldn't wait till they got a bit bigger.  You know, like wanting them to hold their own bottle (if they can't nurse), be potty trained, dress themselves, make their own sandwich.  Ohhhhh, how things have changed.  Before having Juliet people were asking me if I was nervous at all.  I was nervous.  I was worried about the work of a baby again till I had her and then realized how truly easy it's become.  It gets easy when you've learned to put others above yourself.  When you've been changing diapers for 12 years without any breaks in between.  It gets easy when you realize that it actually gets harder in other ways as they grow older.  I wish I could take Chaz and Ryan back down to their baby years and just be happy with cuddling them and not wishing for them to grow up.  It's easier than having to correct issues of the heart.  I guess maybe simpler is the right word.  Ahhh... I love my babies.  People wonder why I have so many.  Well, when you love (almost) every day of your life because you are surrounded by cute and funny kids, it makes it hard to imagine being DONE.  Now, if I complain tomorrow about how hard life is, know that it's probably because the house got messy. AGAIN.  

Actually, I'll just get the complaining out now.  Oh my gosh, the kids just had a hay day in this house.  We have been in and out so much that I can hardly keep up.  The boys got back from their 3 day camping trip and mama has to clean and put away all the clothes. It stinks like mud, smoke, and sweat.  Guys are just so sweet smelling, huh?  Don't ask if you can come over my house right now. I'll just say no.  Well, last night I went in the girl's room and asked them to just pick out the stuff they want to keep and I'll throw out the rest.  They literally picked only five items to keep.  I insisted we keep all costumes because I KNOW they love to play in them even though it wasn't the items they picked. The rest went into the donation bag.  This is gonna be done in every room.

Agh! Is It Really Declutter Time Again?

Yesterday I took Ivy to my mom's house because Ivy was just getting bumped too much by Caleb on her burn.  It is so painful.  My mom called me up and wanted her over so I figured it was perfect to keep Ivy's leg safe for a bit.  Not only that, Ivy loooooves her Nana!  My mom is a good cook too.  Bonus!

I've been feeling so burnt out from cleaning.  I'm serious.  I work so hard in training the kids to pick up after themselves but it doesn't seem to be working.  They don't give me a hard time about doing their chores.  We fought and won that battle years ago.  However, I need them to not make huge messes in between.  Mommy doesn't want to clean alllll day because there are so many other things I'd like to do also.  You know, like play with my baby, homeschool, bake some cookies, yada, yada.  I can't believe it's already time again to do another major declutter project but I need to.  Sigh.  I loved how my house looked after the last declutter.  I got rid of SO much stuff and cleaning was a breeze.  I do not do well with decluttering projects and often I'll just stand in the middle of it and give a blank stare.  Or maybe it's because I know once I start the huge process, I have to finish.  Agh.  Okay, I'll stop complaining now.

This weekend is Ryan's birthday part at Xtreme Jump!  It's a huge trampoline place.  I feel really bad for Ivy though and don't think she can participate.  :(  She is a huge swimming fan and I'm not even gonna be able to let her swim for awhile. She has been resting a lot her her dog Bella.  Bella goes for a cuddle anytime, anyplace.

Remember The Trendy Boutique review I did awhile back?  I have a fantastic watch from their site that I love and get lots of compliments on.  They sell so much more.   If you use the code VIRGINIAGIFT you get $5 toward anything at www.thetrendyboutique.com, including our Buy 1 Get 1 Free Geneva watches.  That's a GREAT deal so check it out!  I'm heading over myself to see what's new on their site.

Daily Happenings with the Crazies

So I had ran out of coffee and just haven't been able to get over to Sam's club to get my big box of Keurig cups.  It's a waaaay better deal to buy them there.  However, I'm still trying to get used to my husband not being home during the day.  We would always run errands together.  Lately I have been just waiting till he gets home because he usually loves to go but he's been too tired.  After much desperation and drinking the only coffee in the house, which is decaf, I finally just took the kids and went.  Ohhhh.... thank you God for creating these beans in order for me to have a delicious cup of coffee every day.

We started giving chore money to the kids again and they are super excited.  We reevaluated how much they should be getting by how many chores they have and how hard they are.  Sigh.  I can't get away with just a little bit anymore.  Heh heh.

Sooo, in a week we are starting the "every two weeks there is another birthday."  Ivy's starts it off (till of course Juliet next year) and so we are gonna be super busy have way too much fun.  It's funny because my son Ryan was just telling me he wanted to go to a trampoline place for his birthday.  The very next day I saw it on Groupon and was able to purchase tickets for half the price.  Wheee!  I love saving money. 

Lately I decided to put a cap on how many kids we have coming through our house.  I love kids over but I'm starting to get behind on my work and it's about time to declutter again. Didn't I just do that?  Sigh.

Schooling: Knowing What Works for Each Kid

Recently I took the boys to get their new glasses and they look so good and they can see better.  One question I have though for all doctors and dentists.  Why do you schedule people for 10am but don't even call them back till 11am?  Just wondering because I think it's kinda rude.  I know you like to cram in as many people as you can but you also lose quality of service by doing that.  Thankfully, there were other moms sitting there I could talk to and keep each other company.

Yesterday I finally broke down and bought an electric griddle.  I'm always standing over the stove just to cook one hamburger at a time or one cheese sandwich at a time.  It was normally $30 but on sale for $20, then I used a coupon for $6 off so I paid only $14.  :)  Good deal, eh?  I was able to grill eight hot ham and cheese sandwiches at the same time.  Yes!!!

I washed all the girl clothes yesterday but this time instead of putting it away, I went through and got rid of a ton.  They just got two more bags of clothes from a friend and right away I went through it to see what we wanted to keep and what would go.  Also, I needed to get rid of a lot that they already had like the faded, stained, outgrown, or just what was excess.  Here is the pile I got rid of and that's only half of it!  I had already donated another pile the day before.  I'll be doing this for all the boy's clothes today.  It's a big job but needs to be done because I'm tired of washing anything that is excess and mediocre.  Only the best of it should be kept.  Not only that but they need to have a limit of clothes.  Basically each kid gets 10 shirts but with four boys that's 40 shirts.  So yes, there is gonna be a lot of laundry in this house but that's why I need to keep a limit.  My poor washing machine deserves a hug.  I collapsed in bed at midnight last night after finishing the girl clothes.  

Homeschooling has been going so well!  The kids are really soaring and working at their own pace.  Kyle is really flying and surprising me by wanting to always work ahead.  He's so self motivated and rarely needs my help on anything.  Chaz is really smart but he gets overwhelmed easy and I have to calm him down a lot.  It takes him twice as long as it should just because I have to keep telling him he can do it and it's okay.  He KNOWS what to do and he does well at it but he tends to want to give up before trying.  He comes in thinking something is going to be more difficult and it takes a long time to calm him down to see he can do it. Once he gets started he goes really fast.  Ryan and Ivy have major ADD issues and always have.  It's very, very hard to keep them focused. They have no problem wanting to do their work but I have to snap them back into reality every 10 minutes and remind them what they were working on.  It's funny how each kid has their own personality and issues.  Once I can figure out what works best for each of them I'm sure our days will go smoother.  They really are hard workers.  We are generally homeschooling between 10am-3pm.  We fit lunch time in the middle and once they are done they go straight into chore time.  Work before play is my motto.  We all wake up at 8:30am and I feel like a lucky woman!  I know, I have it soooo good.

I'm fairly new to schooling at home so I feel like I'm constantly having to watch out and experience what does and doesn't work for each kid.  I want to take the time to really understand them and not rush them through their schooling.  I don't care about getting them way ahead, just that they'll learn well at what we do.  It doesn't matter if they are ahead or behind other kids, just that each kid GETS what they are learning.

Living a Life Without Clutter

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

I Think Life is Playing a Prank On Me

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!

Changing My Kids Focus

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!