Out with the old

We have been on a deep cleaning spree at our house, & when I say "we", I mean Justin! Yes, that's right. My hubby knows how to clean!

Sorry, men out there, I know that this is a taboo secret, but I have to give credit when credit is do! Sorry, ladies, he's still working on our house so he can't come clean yours. LOL

In order to really clean, you have to drag e v e r y t h i n g  out of the room & then figure out where to put it when you are done, because half of the stuff doesn't actually belong there. So my bedroom, my bathroom, & my hall/laundry room/homeschool library look REALLY GOOD! The rest of the house ..... eh, don't come over please! We are a work in progress.

Anyway, smack during the middle of this cleaning spell, I discover that my washing machine has DIED - not to be resurrected. My dryer has been dying a slow painful loud death. Now, just a little background here - Justin & I have owned 6, that's right, 6 washing machines & 4 dryers since we have been married (not even 13 years)! We have always bought second hand, refurbished. We honestly just bought this last washing machine last year at this time, with tax money.

So, we head off to our local home improvement store & bight the bullet. I wanted one of those huge, front load, high efficiency sets. I didn't realize I would have to take out a second mortgage to pay for it. Holy cow!

Well, the one I REALLY wanted was pewter with stainless accents, BUT a white one just like it was $200 less. Being the cheapskate that I am, I couldn't justify that for color. This is where God entered the scene (ok, He was there the whole time, but decided to remind me of His presence in the next few moments).........

We asked the guy if the white one was in stock - nope, it would take about a week. Ugh, I need to wash clothes. We asked if the pewter one was in stock - had a washing machine, but could sell us the display dryer at a discount. The discount was enough for me to "justify" the color expense.

(not done yet) He was typing it all in the computer in the appliance section, when lo & behold, STRAIGHT down the aisle in front of us was a washing machine. Come to find out, it had a small dent in the bottom corner & was marked down 25%. YEAH! All in all, we saved over $400 off of the sale price & I got the one I wanted! Thank you Lord!

So, cleaning has been put on hold, & home improvement projects have taken its place.



Before with only a few shelves
(but not nearly this neat)



After with shelves to the ceiling
(really this neat)
I need a bigger stepladder!



While he was at it, Justin fixed my pantry shelves & moved the cabinet that was in the hall to the kids bathroom.

On Board with arc

I usually don't openly endorse products, but I AM IN LOVE with the arc from Staples!!! Nope, its not a boat! The arc is a notebook that you can completely customize. AND it can keep everything in ONE place! YEAH! Simplicity is a good thing!

 If you know me, you know that I am very dependent on my planner. It is my second brain. It has papers shoved everywhere & is a crazy mess.



The arc not only holds a monthly & daily calendar, but you can add all sorts of premade pages & even your own (WHO HOO!). So now I have my planner, menus, shopping list, & homeschool planner all in the same place!



Monthly/Weekly Calendar



Shopping List





Weekly Menu



Homeschool Planner





Can you tell I am excited?! Yes, I'm a dork!



Desktop Punch to add your own paper



This is certainly a work in progress, but eventually I plan on adding my prayer lists, the schedule that I am going to make for getting my family/home/etc in order (this will be blogged later when DeAnna gets me her books!) & who knows what else.



I already need the expansion rings!

Expansion Rings

Best of all, its 25% off this week!

Justin wants one now!

Tales of a Homeschool Nothing ~ Ready or Not

Can someone PLEASE tell me just what happened to summer?!?! It has passed us by in a HOT blur! Somehow, summer seemed a lot shorter this year than it did last year. Last year, we went swimming at least 2-3 times every week, we enjoyed the free movies in Jonesville, we participated in 3 library programs, we cooked out, we had friends over, & we went camping. This year, we still went to 2 different library programs & loved the free movies. My kids also enjoyed 3 different Bible Schools and they spent some time at the pool but for some crazy reason, I don't have a tan! Oh yeah, I remember, we added Logan! He pretty much monopolized ALL of my time. I literally went to the pool 5 times all summer long & 2 of those were at night! Not to mention, it was too hot to do much of anything outside most of the summer.

Well, anyway, as summer draws to a close, my thoughts turn to cooler nights, crisp air, colorful leaves, football, & school ......

Wait, did I just say school? Holy cow! Really? Already?

I have been planning & praying & worrying & buying curriculum & worrying & planning & praying & obsessing & researching & praying & worrying & planning & organizing & ... did I mention planning? What about worrying? Well, I've been praying too! (this is where my OCD / "CDO" comes in at)

We had a good year last year, so what did I do? I decided to CHANGE EVERYTHING! bwaahahaha Yep, I couldn't leave well enough alone. Not only did I change curriculums, but I am adding a Kindergartner & a baby! Gluten for punishment, I guess.

I really am excited about the upcoming year though & the kids seem to be too!

So, in a mad last minute frenzy nicely organized manner, my husband graciously helped me redo our bookcases. YEAH!!! We are really cramped for room, so we have to make do with the kitchen table. (oh, what I wouldn't give for a brightly lit, spacious room with.......oh sorry, I was dreaming again)

Ready or not - Monday here we come!

 

 

Our "current" bookcase.
This holds most everything that
we should need for this year.
We are also trying out
 WORK BOXES.
Hopefully this will help with
the simplicity & organization!



 



My Calendar.
As you can see, its still in the bag ~
Hopefully we can start soon!



I LOVE Brian Quest!

Thankfully, the kids do too!



  

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