One quick thing...

...about the Crunch Can below.

If you do your laundry in the dungeon (love that image Barb!) or have to carry the clean clothes upstairs to be put away, then you should know that the straps on the crunch can are very thin and might seem too weak to carry a heavy load. You can also carry it by the metal frame on top, but there are no other built in handles. I don't have to worry about carrying it too much because my older kids come to the laundry room to get their clean clothes and put them away. I am usually left with our foldable laundry and BigBoy's stuff. Hangups are put away separately.

FYI!

Not your ordinary laundry basket

I am totally in love with my new laundry basket! When I said I had gotten rid of it what I meant was the hard plastic laundry baskets that for some reason always sat in my bedroom mocking me whether it was with those few unmatched socks or the final pairs of underwear that just never made it to their final destinations. Sometimes it was just their presence; they were there and there was no home for them. Maybe they should live on top of the dryer, but as you have seen, my laundry room shares space with my pantry and is right off the kitchen. The door to this room rarely stays closed. Most times I keep it open to get some fresh morning sun into the kitchen or that much needed cool cross breeze.

So, sitting on top of the dryer, they would still mock me and taunt me even if by some miracle I was able to get all of the clean laundry put away before starting the next load which seems to be my impossible dream; but if not, enter the familiar feelings of guilt and shame . Mostly, they would drag my spirit down with feelings of never being "done". I tip my hat to you super moms who always put the clean clothes away when they are piping hot fresh from the dryer. My kids have too many times heard me say, "Check the laundry basket!" when looking for clothes to wear.

My mom actually had a laundry day. A day when all of the laundry could be done, folded and put away but she only had two children to wash for. I tried to hold onto that model of maintenance for as long as I could which was about the time that Shortcake came along at which point I had two "laundry days"; one for clothes and one for sheets, towels, etc.... Then, after BigBoy, laundry became an almost daily occcurence and I never quite got that same sense of "it's finished!" There was always more!!!


So why does this basket work for me better than the other ones?

Because it crunches!

It's called a Crunch Can and can be tucked under a bed or next to the dryer and somehow just knowing that it can be hidden away has become the best motivation for getting the laundry done.
I have heard from other moms that they experienced the same laundry revolution somewhere between child #3 and 4 so I don't think I am alone although maybe they have a better system for getting it all put away. Eliminating the quantity was the first step! Anyway, feel free to share your tips, tricks and hints for getting housework done... doesn't have to be specifically laundry oriented. Seems like 'tis the season!

UPDATE*********************************
If you do your laundry in the dungeon (love that image Barb!) or have to carry the clean clothes upstairs to be put away, then you should know that the straps on the crunch can are very thin and might seem too weak to carry a heavy load. You can also carry it by the metal frame on top, but there are no other built in handles. I don't have to worry about carrying it too much because my older kids come to the laundry room to get their clean clothes and put them away. I am usually left with our foldable laundry and BigBoy's stuff. Hangups are put away separately.

For Kimberlee's family...

We aren't the only ones who have enjoyed your family's tradition.

Garden of the Good Shepherd

So far, this idea has been a hit! I have the first couple of weeks worth of eggs filled and am still chewing over some ideas for the rest. I thought I would share what we have done and what we plan to do a little at a time and, later on, beg for suggestions for the ones that have me stumped. Since there are so many, I will do them in weekly chunks.

Each day has a symbol (sticker) to add to the garden, a bible verse to lookup, and a meditation. Some of our activities come from the symbol and some are inspired by the meditation. All outdoor activities are contingent upon the weather, but my children are very aware of that. Here is what we have so far:

Day 1: The Shepherd (Easter Sunday) ~ CELEBRATE!!!
Day 2: The Shepherd's crook ~ Read the Legend of the Candy Cane (a little Christmas in March) and talk about why a shepherd has a crooked staff instead of a straight staff
Day 3: The Sheepfold ~ Read Psalm 23 and dance around the house to some of our favorite Bible songs
Day 4: The Gate ~ Go see the animals at the petting zoo!
Day 5: The Ewe and The Ram ~ find baby animals today (at the pet store)
Day 6: The Lamb ~ shepherd our souls at Mass and then play like little lambs at the park
Day 7 : The Wolf ~ feed a hungry dog today with a donation to the local animal shelter

Coming up for next week...
Day 8: The Table ~ set the table for a nice family dinner... Mom's homemade fried chicken! It's a ton of work but they love it!
Day 9: The Chairs ~ let's go pick out some bean bag chairs for our reading corner!
Day 10: The Bread ~ bake bread with Mom today and play with some salt dough
Day 11: The Wine ~ sparkling grape juice with dinner in fancy glasses
Day 12: The Milk ~ Milkshakes!
Day 13: The Pot of Honey ~ buy some local honey ( I am also looking into a trip to a honey farm.)
Day 14: The Fruit ~ fruit salad for dinner and a nature walk

I'll post more next week and also ask for some help coming up with a few. Have a great Thursday!

Organizing the Laundry Room

Originally written the weekend before we all got sick!

I have a belief that sometimes what we want to call "clutter" isn't really clutter but rather a lack of organization. I know there are some people who would shoot that theory down and say that organization is nothing more than stuff to hold all our stuff. To an extent, they might be right. Do I believe that everything I possess right now is an item I am in need of having? No. There are most certainly some things that a savvy clutter specialist could find in my house that would not even come close to meeting the requirement of "do I need it, do I use it, do I love it" and Husband and I have been trying our best to eliminate those things from our life.

But since my vocation was determined by our perfect Heavenly Organizer, I have to bend to His wisdom and humbly accept that I was not made to live in a monastery. And as much as I would like to think of my home as a domestic church, it is in reality...a home. Filled with little people and not so little people who require things; things to care about, things to use, things we hope to use again and stuff to clean those things.

So, for those items that I need to have in order to fulfill my vocation as wife and mother, I choose to try and organize them in such a way that they don't appear cluttered because in these close quarters where I spend most of my days, appearances are everything; how a room feels can make or break my mood, my sanity. I think, in some cases, that's what clutter really is... an appearance. More adjective than noun if you know what I mean.

So this weekend (actually two weekends ago), we tackled our laundry room. Partly because it needed to be done and partly because we were cleaning up the aftermath of a close encounter of the rodent kind in our pantry which can also be found (if you look really hard!) in the same room. (The minuscule pantry, that is... the rodent is long gone!)

I forgot to take a "before" picture, but I did take this one about half way through:

We put those wire shelves up ourselves several years ago to create a bit more storage especially for cleaning products. I am too scared to keep them under the sink! Don't know why. Maybe it was all those baby proofing articles I read during my New Mommy Cram Session. I also needed a little more space to store some entertaining items that don't get used every day but enough to warrant keeping them. Our kitchen is galley style which means it's shaped like a hallway; kind of long and skinny. There isn't much room for what doesn't get used daily or weekly, but some things do actually have value even if they have to be dusted off to use. The dolly cake mold that turns a rainbow sprinkle cake into a perfect princess ballgown just right for a little girl's birthday; or the square cake plate that displays an All Hallow's Eve pumpkin roll without squishing it unlike a round plate. And let's not forget the sombrero shaped chips and dip plate that no fiesta could do without. Actually, mine is all white... but I wish it was sombrero shaped!

OK, back to the laundry room. Here is the "after":
That would be after I spent way too much money time at the Container Store. Don't worry... Husband said I could. He understands how a well organized home benefits my psychological well being and we had a little left over from our tax return. Actually the canvas bins were pretty reasonably priced considering they offer three different sizes, two labeled sides, and are completely washable! I am totally a form meets function kind of gal. Now, the ones up top are not canvas, but rather woven nylon. Not as functional, but pretty very capable of serving their purpose. I was concerned about the lack of labels because labels are the key to closed/non-transparent storage in my mind but a few pieces of cardstock and a ball of twine solved that problem nicely.
In all honestly, I could have done this without the help of the Container Store, in fact, I contemplated just covering boxes in pretty wrapping paper but I spend a lot of time in this room and I am hoping that by making it a pleasing place to be, my attitude towards laundry will improve. Sometimes, we need those little touches to encourage us to celebrate the monotonous and enjoy the mundane. I know I do.

All in all, I didn't actually purge a lot from this room. Mostly it was the old, mismatched bins and buckets that I replaced with canvas ones. I did get rid of my laundry baskets which is fodder for another post. Are you intrigued? I guess the moral to this post is that in some cases, it doesn't matter what you decide to keep, it's how you decide to contain it.

Eggsellent Creativitea

We had so much fun last year experimenting with natural eggs dyes that we had hoped to do it this year. I had plans to go down to the farmer's market or the local big fancy food store and let the kids each pick some kind of fruit of vegetable to test. Well, since getting out and about was practically impossible last week, on Thursday, I decided to let the kids have at my tea drawer. Not totally. There are some darn good decaffeinated ones in there, so we chose only the ones that were super charged or the ones that nobody liked. The kids each took a look at the color of the brewed teas and made predictions on the final outcomes. All of the eggs were soaked in their tea baths overnight. While we didn't get some of the vibrant colors we got last time, we did get some very interesting textures! On the other hand, the colors are probably closer to some of the actual variations you might find in nature.

So... same game as last year. I will number the eggs here and when you are ready for the results, open up the combox.

Starting with the orange one in the 3 o'clock position and going clockwise, these are the colors we see:

1. light orange
2. grayish green speckled
3. gray
   
4. mustard yellow
5. This one was wrapped in the used bags of #3.
6. blueish gray mottled
7. very light brown mottled
   

The one in the middle was in the same bath as #6 only for a few hours, not overnight.

Here are the possible dyes: Wild Sweet Orange, Passion, China Green Tips, Sugar Plum Spice, Madagascar Vanilla Red, and cranberry (not the tea, the fruit... I had a bag in the freezer)

Let me know how you did! Have a Blessed Easter season!

From Dawn's fingers...

...to my learning room window.

A while ago, Dawn mentioned an idea she had to celebrate the 50 days of Easter. If you missed it, here it is. Dawn always has these amazing ideas to really make each day festive especially during our wonderful liturgical seasons. Well, this idea wouldn't let go of me; maybe it had something to do with the fact that our Lent didn't go anything like what I planned. Our plans were hijacked one right after another and I had to relinquish control rather quickly of "my Lent". So, the idea of finding even a small way to celebrate every day leading up to Pentecost appealed to me. Now, I can't say for sure what Dawn had in mind (I hope she shows us) but this is what I LOVE about the Internet. Someone can share an idea, a picture or a few words and someone else uses their imagination to make it come alive for them.

This idea is actually double Dawn inspired. I am using the Garden of the Good Shepherd sticker calendar that Dawn posted about on the forum when they were on sale for a ridiculously low price (hey, they still are!) as our daily inspiration. We love all things Tomie dePaola and I was very impressed with how well done this calendar is! It came with a booklet and each day has a little thought to go along with the symbol. I photocopied them, cut them out and then added a small something to each one. Some of the activities involve reading books, taking a trip, or a special treat. The pieces of paper are folded up inside the eggs in order waiting to be opened each day.

Now, while it is true that I couldn't have done this project without Dawn's inspiration, I also couldn't have done it without Husband who drilled 50 tiny little holes for me, threaded over half the ribbons and helped me come up with most of the activities in order to have this idea go from thought to reality in a few hours this afternoon. I am really excited to begin. Maybe these plans will actually become reality! Here's hoping!

Happy Easter, dear friends!

And as they were afraid, and bowed down their countenance towards the ground, they said unto them: Why seek you the living with the dead? He is not here, but is risen.
~Luke 24:5-6

He is risen!
Alleluia, alleluia!

Good Friday

BigBoy has a fever so Stations were prayed around our learning table, the ribbons were nailed on in the living room and the scene was set up by The Professor (who did a fabulous job, btw). At this point, attending Mass on Sunday is the only thing on my to-do list with "as a family" penciled in. Maybe I should read this again...

Yesterday's Mental Snapshot

Memories from yesterday I want to enjoy while waiting for the brain fog to lift...

~ Shortcake learned how to make ice chips for all of the sickies with her usual perky can do spirit. There is nothing that makes you feel better than a bowl of ice chips served with a sweet smile!

~ BigBoy (one of the only two who hasn't come down with this bug) making the most of a bad situation walked around all day saying "I think I'm sick...I need a cracker. I think I'm sick...I need some Sprite. I think I'm sick...I need a snuggle."

~ Husband to the rescue! Not only did he come home early to care for the invalids, but he also installed a new modem so that I don't go completely out of my mind with boredom.

~ Sunshine was finally able to laugh at her spots when The Professor said she kind of looked like a Dalmatian (although we still had to cover the bathroom mirror before she would brush her teeth).

Hopefully on the mend today,

A happy break

Just a quick break from my fevered bed to tell everyone about sweet little Kristen Marie who just couldn't wait to celebrate her very first Holy Week and Easter season. Go offer Melissa your congratulations and prayers for this extra tiny little lamb!

Plans

The list of things I had planned to accomplish looked very different a few days ago when Sunshine was getting over a viral rash that covered her body in red blotches… this was a different rash than the one that looked like scarlet fever but turned out not to be back on the day we had snow. I thought that was the worst of what we had to deal with. I had plans to clean my house from the vents to the baseboards. I had plans to fix simple meals in order to allow for more time to purge and organize. I had plans to continue with the exercises I have started to try to get my body into a healthier shape. I had plans to turn off the TV/radio this week and work in contemplative silence. I had plans to really celebrate and enjoy all of the beauty of this Holy Week. But my plans are not His plans. Shortcake came down with a fever and dry heaves last Thursday and my list changed drastically. Items already and to be accomplished below:

• 3 visits to the doctor for anything from possible scarlet fever to eczema.
• make a mountain of ice chips
• 3 calls to the doctor to find out if the newest alteration in Sunshine’s skin condition is OK
• clean and sanitize three thermometers while on fever watch (Sunshine, The Professor and myself); repeat
• entertain the only two who aren’t running fevers until Daddy can come home
• comfort 1 very sad little girl who wretched so hard she blew up just about every capillary in her face and neck on top of that original viral rash that will now be prolonged due to her current fever according to the doc. She screamed when she saw herself in the mirror and now is afraid to eat anything other than ice chips for fear it will happen again.

Please pray for us.

Signing off for now.

What a difference a week makes...

Good thing we homeschool!

Reason # 12, 459 to homeschool provided by the thoroughly shocked and slightly terrified cashier lady....

Her: Now why aren't you kids in school? ( Half joking, half probing)

Me: Well, they are in school... we home school. But we have also been at the doctor's office all morning because my daughter has her second strange rash of the week. 

Her: (With a very palpable look of fear on her face) Is it contagious? 

Me: Uh...yeah...highly! That's why we are standing here in the middle of a heavily trafficked grocery store. Cough, cough, cough, sniffle! No. It isn't.

Her: Well, I guess it's a good thing you keep them at home!

Me: Um...yeah. Ok.

For real!

This headline cracked my kids up yesterday:

Skywalkers in Korea Cross Han Solo

OK...I chuckled too.
HT: Dom

Organizing the kid's clothes

Husband and I have been working diligently to clear out the clutter in our life like so many other people who are thumbing their noses at Old Man Winter (and illness) and leaping into Spring Cleaning mode whether the weather is cooperating or not. We began with the laundry room, climbed up into the attic and then headed back inside to wade through the quagmire of clothes in our kids' closets. We got them cleaned out and reorganized over the course of two whole weekends. Hip hip hooray!!! Maybe, if my courage holds out, I will tackle the school room next like Cheryl plans to.

I was looking for a way to help my girls keep their stuff sorted since their clothes are so similar in size unlike my bookend boys. (It's pretty easy to tell a 5T from a 12 slim.) We divided the girls closet which is just a big wide closet with French doors (not a walk in) into a section for each of them separated by one of those hanging shoe racks. Then I made these hangers and labeled them appropriately.

They were pretty easy to make. I cut 4" x 5" pieces of cardboard and used a utility knife to cut out the keyhole shape; pretty paper glued on the front dressed them up a little. The labels were some old, blank address labels I had that I used my fancy scissors on.

This is Sunshine's side of the closet where you can see the dividers in action. I think they might start showing signs of wear if I were to take them on and off the rod too much, but they were so easy to make, I could replace them anytime. If you try to make your own, let me offer this tip. If you have a shelf above your closet rod, measure the distance from the top of the rod to the bottom of the shelf. The distance between the top of the keyhole and the top of your divider should be less than that measurement. Otherwise, the divider will get stuck when you try to put it on and you will probably ruin it when you try to remove it. Don't ask me how I know.
Now then, here is what we are hauling out of here. What's inside these bags? You sooooooo want to know, dontcha?

• 91 hangers
• 50 T-shirts
• 44 sweaters/ sweatshirts
• 37 dresses
• 35 pairs of pants
• 16 dress shirts/blouses
• 11 pairs of shorts
• 6 ballet leotards
  
• 4 nightgowns
• 3 skirts
• 1 swim suit
  
• and counting as the last few things trickle in from the laundry

And I assure you... my kids are far from naked!

Now, I'm not sharing this just to get a pat on the back for my decluttering deftness, but rather, to give a few pats instead. Many of the items we are giving away were gifted to us by some incredibly generous people that we are so blessed to have in our lives; three beautiful young ladies who take such good care of their clothes that they are more than usable by the time they arrive at our door and a spunky little "godsister" whose taste in fashion perfectly coincides with my daughter's. Thank God for big girls who still love to twirl in poofy pink dresses! So I would like to say "thank you" to these big hearted benefactors. We hope to imitate your kindness in a small way by passing along our remainders to those who can enjoy them now.


P.S. You should know that this was a multi-season full wardrobe clean out. Also, I kept tally for the purpose of blogging but I would highly recommend that you do the same whether you have a blog or not. I never would have imagined that we were giving away that much stuff or that we even had that much stuff to give even though I knew we had too much. Bye now!

Proud moments

After belching out his first word and getting a big boy haircut at a real barber's shop from a man who looked like a St. Nicholas cowboy, you can imagine how much fun our "God blesses" were tonight! We waited with bated breath...

Does Rachael Ray even have kids?

I'm thinking "no".

I had some left over corn flakes that weren't getting eaten so last night I looked for an oven fried chicken recipe since my regular fried chicken recipe was too labor intensive to begin at 6pm. I convinced myself that my kids would get a kick out of eating Chicken Toes because 1) it was Rachael Ray's recipe; 2) it was a cooking-with-kids recipe and 3) we are all suckers for a cute name. But knowing what you do about my children and their food preferences, I'll bet that even you would have warned me against this choice. That's OK. I probably wouldn't have listened.

Allspice and brown sugar in a chicken coating? Yeah, I did give it a second and even a third glance. But then, I do what I always do when it comes to trying a new recipe... I don't trust my instincts. Maybe it's a really good flavor combination that I am not aware of. Maybe my kids will actually love it! Oh, look! Pigs with wings...

Why don't I trust myself? It really comes down to the fact that deep down inside I think I am the cause of my children's picky taste buds. Maybe I didn't make exotic enough dishes in their early childhood. Perhaps I didn't introduce them to all of the culinary experiences I should have? Is my cooking repertoire too unvaried and have I stifled their little palates?

Why do we do that? Why are we, as moms, so quick to blame ourselves? Maybe "we" aren't, maybe it's just me. In this particular case, I blame the "experts". Those people out there collectively called "they" who tell us how our children should eat, play and sleep. "They" say you shouldn't make special dishes for your children. "They" say serve them the same food over and over and over and they will get use to it eventually. "They" say it's a matter of your will vs. your child's; don't you dare give in!

Well, frankly, "they" can stuff it! (Except for these guys who actually seem to have a very balanced perspective on the subject. I especially like #19.)
I have tastes and preferences when it comes to food and so do my kids. As they mature, they will understand that at times we have to eat things that may not be our favorite food, but are good for us and can be enjoyed in some way. And in the meantime, as long as they are willing to try new things every now and then, I am going to allow them to have an opinion and a preference about what they eat. Nobody ever died from eating peanut butter crackers for dinner once in a while. And from now on, I am going to go with my gut. Brown sugar and allspice? Nah! How about garlic salt and oregano instead? No offense, Rachael, but we prefer our chicken toes taste like they walked here from Italy!

Little Miss Margaret!!!

What

did

you

DO?!?

Thank you!