Play Room Makeover: Part 2

Step One of our playroom makeover was to downsize.

Step two was to sell off all our old toys and use the money for shelving or other items for the playroom.

So I, being the planner I am, drew out a shelf that I wanted in the playroom.  Then  my awesome husband built it for me!  And other than paint the money from the toys covered the cost of the shelves!!

The biggest tip I have for anyone wanting to take on this type of adventure is to keep your kids involved, it is their playroom after all.

So they helped us downsize, sell, build shelves, paint shelves, and reorganize all of the toys.  I always ask for their input and ideas and use some of them.  They loved the process of making the changes and they also enjoyed helping with the projects.  It was fun for all of us.  I did learn a few things though.  Kids do NOT conserve paint and they do NOT paint neatly.  Just take deep breaths and let them slop it on this is supposed to be a fun journey!

Here are some pictures of our new and improved playroom!

Play House area and an Art Easel I picked up for 3.00 at a garage sale

Reading Nook and a specific toy shelf for the baby. I wanted something that was on her level.

Barbie House (Remodel in process)

Book Closet!!  The bottom shelf is craft items that I do not want Jericho to have free access to.

Our amazing toy shelf that my awesome husband built!  I love it it is exactly what I pictured!  

So Here it is!!  We have some other plans but they may take awhile.  So far my thought is this is amazing!  The kids love it and no one has told me they are bored in quite sometime.  So over all I think it is amazing! They think it is amazing It must be amazing!

Play Room Makeover: Part 1

Going back to the basics

Earlier this week I read an article about simplifying the play room.  The playroom has always been my struggle!  It always becomes such a disaster, and if you know me you have heard me say

I HATE TOYS!!!


Well after a little thinking I decided to try a more minimalist approach and I wanted a  more Montessori style play space.

The first thing I had to do was to get my family on board.  So I had the kids make a list of five things they wanted to have in their play space and they struggled to come up with five things!!  This told me that I definitely needed to downsize.

So Step one...

Get

rid of

STUFF!!!

 My girls helped me sort through Barbies.  I chose a small tote and I told them if it didn't fit we were not keeping it. They were okay with this amazingly, we went through every item one at a time and decided what to keep and what to toss.

Above are the before photos. It was so bad! and I really didn't thing we had that many toys! Boy was I wrong!  We threw away 2 trash bags of just trash and we are going to try to sell this heap of toys! 

 Our goal is to use the money from selling the toys to get good shelving solutions and to purchase a few things like an indoor swing and a balance beam.



Following are our after pictures and a list of what we removed.

Eventually this closet will just have books, but that has to wait until we get shelves built.

Okay so pictured above is our step one progress! Yay!  All that you see pictured is all of the toys we have for five kids, and just in case you think they are deprived. They have been playing in their new space for over an hour!!

What we removed

1. About 75% of the toys we had
2. A huge table
3. two large deep toy boxes

So what is next?  First sell these toys! But really step two is shelving.

I cant wait to update you on more progress!

Be Ever Encouraging and Never Questioning

I hate being judged for my choices.  I am sure you do also.  Here is what happened today that sparked this post.


Here we are at the library for No Hunger Summer Lunch.  My kids enjoy going and it is so nice to not have to make lunch every day, it frees up so much time.  Less dishes and less food used means less work for mommy. So we go and we enjoy it and the kids get very nice lunches!! But today here was the scenario

A lady comes up to me commenting about how cute my sweet Jericho is and notices me talking to Malachi and this is how the conversation goes

 "oh how sweet, Is this big brother" --volunteer

I say yes! then I talk to Alexis  and she says

"oh is she your too?"--volunteer

Yes! I have five.  and then I waited for her response

Gasp!!! "Wow you are a busy mom" --Volunteer

and immediately I saw it her eyes and her facial expression changed, she was judging me I can only imagine everything going through her mind then to top it off she asks David what grade he is in and he thinks for a bit and says I will be in fourth grade!

"Oh do you go to school here in Horton?"-- Volunteer

He proudly says "No I am home schooled!!!"

Gasp!!!"Wow your a busy mom"--volunteer

Then she walks away and talks to others but in less then 5 minutes she is back and I know by this time what kind of person I am dealing with.  You know the type? Always questioning never encouraging.

And she says "So do you use the free Kansas home school curriculum?"--Volunteer

I say "No, I piece together different things and build my own "curriculum""

Gasp!!"Wow, that must be a lot of work for you!! "--Volunteer

"I don't mind" I say

And then it comes the questioning look, the glances at my kids sizing them up, are they really educated?

And she proceeds to tell me all of the things that makes my life hard.

"Wow, you have  a lot to do! With educating, cleaning your house, cooking your meals, and nurturing, lots of nurturing!"--Volunteer

I just smiled and went on helping my kids with their meal but inside I was being attacked.  You see homeschooling is a calling. I love homeschooling my children but everyday Satan tells me I am not good enough. He tells me I don't nurture enough, he tells me I don't teach well enough, he tells me my house is not clean enough, he tells me my meals aren't healthy enough.  I have to fight against his lies and conversations like this don't help!!

Then it got me thinking.  These volunteers are from local churches.  If I a believer in Christ feel judged what does a non-believer feel like under this scrutiny?

I feel like as Christians we should be lifting people up not pulling them down! Reminding people how blessed they are not how hard their life is!

So today I didn't feel encouraged or loved. I felt judged, I felt like there was no way I could be doing a good job! My life was too full, too hard. I couldn't possibly have well educated kids.

So to sum it all up remember to encourage each other instead of questioning.  Encouraging people could take a weight off their shoulders and most of all show them Christs love.

Dealing with my loss

First off I am so sorry this has taken so long!  It took me along time to process and have time to write it all out. This will probably be a long post.

As many of you know I had a miscarriage May 2013. it was painful and ugly.  I didn't know how to deal with life. but life goes on, kind of, it goes on with a piece of your heart left behind.  Other people move on but me I stayed in a dark hole for a long time and I questioned God.

WHY!! 

WHY ME! 

WHY NOW! 

WHY? 

WHY didn't  you save him? (I believe God is capable of that! )

I thought you were GOOD?? 

Don't you LOVE me?? 

Then  October 2013 I was pregnant again and I wanted to be happy but I was filled with so much hurt and anxiety  that I couldn't be happy for days after testing, and then I started bleeding again.  and I really started questioning God.  However this time things were different we went straight to the midwife and got an ultrasound and I heard a heart beat. My baby was there!!! I was filled with joy and excitement but it was shadowed in worry the entire pregnancy (All 41 weeks 2 days of it)

Then July 2014 we welcomed our sweet girl into the world. She was perfect and came after a very long hard labor.  She is so precious but for the first few weeks I could barely believe she was here!! I felt like I was living in a dream and any minute she would be whisked away from me but she wasn't and she is perfect and she is already 7 months old!!!! 

Now I still hadn't  dealt with my loss, don't think the joy of this baby erased the pain.  I still miss my sweet baby that I never met.  However it wasn't until February 2015 that I realized I hadn't dealt with my heart. My heart  was  so HARD!!!

I was invited to an IF GATHERING  It was lovely and it was all about Joshua taking his promise land and it was all about God being good. And that was hard for me because I didn't see God as good.  He took my baby right.  He couldn't be good.  Then he started revealing things to me.


Joshua was a slave and then he was free but he wondered for years in the wilderness and then finally God tells him hey I want you all to march around Jericho for 6 days?? SAY WHAT!!  March around this city that has giants in it? But God WHY? WHY Now?   Just take it over.  (sound familiar)  

and in his quiet voice God said to me don't you trust me? 

And this may not mean anything to anyone but me, however My sweet baby girl her name is Jericho Elizabeth.  No not Jericho's walls fall, Not Jericho after a Les Mills pump trainer. 

 But Jericho my promise land and  Elizabeth  God is satisfaction. 

And you know If My Gabriel hadn't went to be with Jesus My Jericho wouldn't be here. I will never know why my baby died and I don't believe God caused him to die. Life happens and being a believer in Christ does not make you immune.  Bad things happen to everyone in every religion and walk of life. I have to remember that God can make a good thing come from an ugly one. Ultimately I have to remember through bad and good God is unchanging and

God is good, All the Time 

I am a Super Mom!!!

Or am I?

I have been wanting to write this post for months. Maybe even a year? but I couldn't decide how to put it into words.  Recently though I went to see the movie Moms Night Out and reality struck me. I can do this post and it is going to be great! (okay maybe not great but I am going to do my best)  and I am going to be real.


One day I was chatting with a friend on Facebook and we were talking about home school. And she said to me "I don't know how you do it!!, You are such a Super Mom"  and honestly it caught me totally off guard!

My first thought was I am not a Super Mom!!! but she was complimenting me and I didn't want to be rude so I said "Thanks! I think the same thing about other moms"

That conversation left me to months of thinking and deciding what is a Super Mom?  WE seem to hear that a lot!! SO he is what my brain kept telling me that a Super Mom was or had.

A Super Mom has it all figured out right? They can balance school, keeping the house up, being a mom, and a great wife, and don't forget meals.  So here is a day in the life of a Super Mom

 She wakes up and reads her Bible and lingers over a nice Hot cup of coffee while the kids are still sleeping.  Then she moseys into the kitchen and the kids are up by now and they help her make oatmeal and fried eggs and a nice piece of fruit and it is all beautifully arranged on the plates. Then the kids clear the table and put their dishes in the dirty dish sink and sit down to start school. (Mind you they are all dressed and their hair is fixed beautifully!) School is accomplished and now it is chore time and the day has been beautiful. They get all the chores done and sit down to a well balanced lunch and then everyone has a quiet time where they read books or nap and mommy gets some quiet time to read, sew, sit, sleep (whatever she wants really)  Once quiet time is over everyone comes down stairs and they do a craft or visit a park. Then they come home and make a beautiful dinner for daddy. When daddy comes home everyone is smiling and joyous and they show him all of the wonderful things they accomplished today Mind you mom is  dressed nicely and wearing makeup and has fixed her hair for the day.....


WAIT A MINUTE!! WHEN DOES THIS HAPPEN?? OK LETS GET BACK TO REALITY!


Here is a day in the life of a real Super Mom.

Mommy wakes up to the noise of screeching (yep screeching) only to find out that The 8 year old is keeping the 2 year old from raiding the pantry again!! Everyone is hungry so she throws oatmeal in the pan and if were lucky we have a piece of fruit with it.  Mommy makes her coffee and maybe gets a chance to drink it hot.  By this time it is after 8 and school has to be started or we will NEVER finish.  So the kids get their school out and mom starts reading lessons and giving assignments She gets interrupted multiple times by the two year old who needs a snack. OR the 2 and 4 year old are screaming.(mind you everyone is still in their Pajamas)  Then she gets back to school and gets assignments laid out for independent work and the phone rings. Mom answers and has to take the call.  The two year old needs another snack and the older two who are supposed to be doing school are punching each other and rolling on the floor in a fight over who gets to use what pencil!!! Then mom realizes that its lunch time and there is nothing prepared. She quickly makes Macaroni and cheese with broccoli in it (hey its got a be a little healthy) and everyone has a piece of fruit.  While mom is cooking the kids are supposed to be cleaning up their chore Zones. It is getting done (kind of). Then they all eat lunch and argue over anything they can argue over.  They double check to make sure school is done and everyone has quiet time.  The two year old naps after getting up 10 times and the older kids read or play Lego's (sometimes they are quiet)  Mom finally takes a shower and gets dressed and tries to have a few minutes of time to herself. Then she looks around and realizes how blessed she really is.  Then kids get up and they play outside. Sometimes mom ignores the house and goes out too. But most of the time she tries to get something done and starts dinner. She gets dinner done and daddy comes home She welcomes him with a kiss and hug, sometimes. She is dressed now but her hair is in a pony tail and she has no make-up on. The kids rush to see daddy they are so happy he is home.  They eat dinner and get kids to bed. Over all it has been a good day. Sure the kitchen floor hasn't been swept, there are 12 baskets of laundry that need folded, the floor needs vacuumed but it will be there tomorrow.  Mom heads off to bed and gets ready for another wild day.

I realized that a Super Mom is just a mom who cares about her kids.  She loves her family and what she does. She strives to be a good mom. She teachers her kids and answers their questions. She does her best with giving them healthy meals. She listens to them. She hugs them.

She doesn't have to do crafts. She doesn't have to go to the park. She doesn't need to wear make-up. She doesn't have to have a spotless house.

A Super Mom is not a mom who has it all together a Super Mom is me. A super Mom is YOU!

Why We Homeschool

I am getting ready to speak at a moms group in our area about why we home school and how it works for our family so I decided to just make it into a blog post. I haven't blogged in way to long!!

I am going to start by saying that homeschooling is NOT for everyone! Then I am going to tell you why it works for us and why we do it.

1) I feel led by God to home school 

When I was about 13 years old i met my first home school friends at camp.They were amazing people! They loved me for me, They were intelligent and thinking individuals.  I wanted to be like them! I wanted to be home schooled! and that is when i decided that home schooling was what I wanted for my kids.  Then fast forward 4 or 5 years. I started dating an amazing man ( who is now my husband) and we were chatting about life and what we wanted and I told him all I want is to be a stay at home mom and home school,  and you know what that amazing man cried because that is exactly what he wanted his wife to do and that was when I knew it was more than just my desire it was Gods desire also.  There is no way i could go through a day of homeschooling with out the backing of  my God.

2) I want to be the single greatest influence in my children's life

I want to watch them learn, I want to be there for them every step of the way, I want to be the one forming the adult they will grow into.  I DO NOT think that other people cant teach my kids and help them grow into fabulous adults, but I want to be the one to do it. In want to stop hear and say I think teachers are amazing!!! I could not do their job on the scale they do. it is one thing to teach your own kids but to teach a classroom full of someone else's kids! WOW! Teachers are amazing people.

3)I can customize their education and learning style

I have very active children who need hands on activities to learn and I have children who want to sit down and do workbooks all day and with homeschooling I can make that happen for any of them!  I can also look at what they are ready for and then start them there.  My oldest i tried to teach to read really early and it was a horrible experience! Now I watch them and see when they are ready.  I believe that it makes learning more fun for the student and easier for the teacher.  One way I customize is in that one of my children excels at math but is a struggling reader at 8 years old. I can give him advanced math and easier reading and it is okay! He can be at a first grade reading level and a 4th grade math level.

4) I was bullied in school

This is  a lame reason to home school but I am being honest here. This is in no way the main reason I home school but I believe it plays a part in my reasoning.  I don't want them to face what I did, I don't want them to draw in a shell and be a shy person because of bullies.  I know I cant shelter them forever but I can protect them and talk about the mean people out there, they know everyone isn't nice.  I am going to give a few examples of things I don't want them to have to deal with at a young age, things i had to deal with.  I don't want sympathy and I am not trying to cry about how bad things were for me, but like I said I am just being honest.  I don't want them to be left out by everyone.  I remember getting bad marks on my report card for not socializing and the reason was no one wanted me to play with them.  I just sat under a tree by myself everyday at recess. I don't want them to be called ugly.  In 6th grade is when i remember this starting and honestly still struggle with this today. I had a girl jab me in the forehead and tell me I had a big head with two bumps on my forehead, I had people tease me and say my bottom lip was big to the point I would bite my lip in to make it look smaller and give myself sores on the inside of my mouth, I had a girl tell me I smelled bad and sprayed me down with air freshener in front of the whole class, I even had someone tell me I talked like a boy. Wow people sure have a way of destroying innocence and self worth.  My kids don't need that.There were many more instances but I will stop here.  I am glad that by homeschooling  I can help them keep that innocence and self worth a little longer.

5) The get to learn lots of different arts, crafts and cooking

One of my favorite things about homeschooling is we have time to spend together doing things other than school.  My kids have learned some really fun and exciting things! My kids ages are 8, 6, 4,  and 21/2 and they have helped me and learned how to freeze apricots, peaches, tomatoes and green beans! They have helped me can tomatoes and apple sauce, they know how to make bread.  They are learning to knit, loom knit, weave, sew, cross stitch and whatever else we decide we want to do and I am learning right beside them!!!

So now you know why we home school. And here is a glimpse of one of our home schooling days.

The hardest things in life

Teach us the most.

In my last post way to long ago I announced we were pregnant with baby number 5.  A few months later I experienced my very first miscarriage an my sweet baby went to be with Jesus.  I was so mad at God for putting me through this. I trusted him with my fertility and I felt betrayed.  I learned though that trusting God doesn't always mean getting what we want or necessarily mean a happy ending. I learned that just because I am pregnant doesn't mean I will get to hold a baby.  I learned many other things and I just want to share some of what God taught me through this horrible trial.

I have an absolutely amazing husband that cares deeply for me. I have always known I was blessed to have him but I needed a reminder of how great he really is.

One thing I learned is I have really great friends! People to hold me up and encourage me and to remind me daily that God is in charge.  Some of them I have never even met in person but they still love and care about me.

I have great kids and I need to let some things go and spend more time with them because I never know when the chance to be with them could be gone.


Here is a few pictures I took when I was struggling.  It was the simple things that kept me going. Here is a few pictures I took of  "weeds" that were growing in my yard as well as my chives, and a beautiful hanging basket that my Mother In law gave me after I lost the baby.