The TV room. . . and THE TOYS

I have been thinking a lot about toys since my friend Monica posted this link on facebook. The comments about it were also good for thought. Monica mentioned that she had several toys in "storage" and rotated frequently. The funny thing is that I would have told you I do the same thing, but as I was thinking about it, I realized that is not quite true. We don't really have a lot of room for storage. I have to stick things here or there - no real "storage room" or what-not. So in a sense, I was considering toys to be "in storage" when really they were just crammed in the nooks and crannies of the tv (toy) room in places I really did not expect the kids to get them out (although I was not consciously thinking that when I put them there - if that makes sense). In any case, after much mulling over the subject of toys (and having some free time as I mentioned in my previous post -staying home with an almost fine baby) I attacked the tv room. I thinned out the toys so there would be more space. And created a "toy library" (or really it is more just an "ask permission first" so that I can make you pick up your other toys and/or help you because I don't want these broken or the pieces lost - although there are some things that are just regular toys I am planning to rotate to perk interest).

Unfortunately I have no "before" pictures as it did not dawn on me to take any until I was in the thick of it and toys were EVERYWHERE so you will just have to take my word that it looks better.

Here is the "toy library" - although most of it is games or puzzles that I don't want broken or the pieces destroyed - so in a sense it is more like "restricted play" - although there are some "rotating toys" here, too. Here is the tv room - you can't tell but I've seriously cut down on all the bins and what-not that are scattered about. And the ones left I have put serious thought into - the toys on the black shelves are well-loved by all the kids (doctor toy set, toy tea set, tub of toy phones) and the bottom shelf are blocks for the baby to stack and a tub of little people and animals that I think Paul will enjoy.

I moved the toy kitchen into this room from the front room. All the kids love the toy kitchen and use it frequently - so as much as I dislike picking up toy food every day (and disinfecting on a regular basis), I think the kids might riot if I tried to put it in "restricted play"

Here is the closet - just trust me - it has been thinned out and the toys are MUCH MORE accessible. The box in the middle is dress-up clothes or to be more official, "dramatic play." Many of the moms I am friends with dislike plastic toys that take batteries and trust me, I am right there with you - but at the same time, the baby always seems to enjoy the heck out of these - and most of the ones in this closet have been with us since Rebekah was a baby - so they are tried and true.

Here are our videos (yep, old-school - most of these are from when I was little - hehe) and our "older books" - some are chapter books and some are just a bit more advanced. (This is my first time "organizing" the books - I hope it sticks as it makes my book choice much easier when I'm looking for something to read to the kids.)

Here is our other shelf of books. (Notice the tubs on top - more "toy library/restricted play" toys.)

Here is a close up of the bookshelf. The top shelf is wooden puzzles (ask to get them down - so we don't lose the pieces) and our religious books (and St Francis and Jesus). I keep a few of these down in the living room as our "featured books" and then rotate them every week or so. The next shelf down is comic books (a little old for our kids - again, from my childhood - some day they will love them, though - I still enjoy them :) followed by a "regular reading" shelf - books that all the kids (except Paul) enjoy. The shelf one up from the bottom is board books. And then the bottom shelf is big board books and a few more "regular reading" books.

I know it seems nerdy to have a whole post on this but I am sooooo excited to have the room cleaner and a conscious approach to toys. I'm still letting the concept of homeschooling sink into my soul - maybe some day. In the mean time I'm trying to make the most of my time with the kiddos as I work and play with them throughout the day.

House Rearrangement

I was home with the recovering baby this past weekend - and really he was not very sick to begin with and was feeling much better very quickly, so I took the opportunity to rearrange the house. I am THRILLED with the results. I imagine you will be, too.

Here is the living room as it was - front door shot.

Here is another view of the front room. This is an older picture as we still have the stove here (it has been taken out for a while now - it was not mounted, just sitting there, so when it got warmer we moved it to the back porch) but the picture suits my purposes - as you can tell this wall had a bookshelf and chair and misc other junk.

I should interject here, that we were given a new couch that we like quite a bit. We debated getting rid of the old one but then decided to keep both. In any case, it was in front of the window (where the kids' table and chairs are).

Now, here is a shot of the new set-up. I call it dueling couches. But it really seems to open up the room. I put the rug sideways because I like to have the footstool in front of the easy chair (as the kids like to jump on my legs when I have them up and I'm always afraid they will hurt the recliner foot - so I use a footstool instead) and it does not sit well on the rug. But I think the rug sideways also makes the room look larger as it makes the dining area appear bigger. (And I'm all about illusion - if you can't actually make the room bigger, you might as well make it LOOK bigger :)

Here is shot of the old set-up. Notice all the toys along the wall near the kitchen door? I will address where all those toys went in my next post. I did not realize how cluttered they looked until I moved them.

Here is the new set-up. I like the bookshelf there a lot better, but now I will have to move our 5x7 frames of the kiddos. Oh well, maybe I will invest in a digital photo frame (hint hint for Christmas dear Hubby - if you actually read this :) - then I could just have ONE and put pictures of the all the kiddos on it.

And a final picture - looking at the front room from the front door.

Rebekah is now 6-years-old

• Loves riding her bike, going swimming, and dance class.


• Favorite food: homemade pizza without the sauce (I put olive oil on the crust instead)


• Dislikes: tomatoes and tomato sauce (go figure)


• Caught up on: Disney Princesses - Cinderella is her favorite - hence why we are reading "The Glass Slipper" (a Cinderella chapter book) right now.


• Likes to help take care of her youngest brother, Paul - really enjoys carrying him around (but I'm not so sure he enjoys it as much!)


• Can be very helpful in the kitchen and cleaning up - when she wants to be!


• Has an imagination like none other and really enjoys creating adventures with her oldest younger brother, Samuel.


• Willingly appeases her Momma to make homemade cards, valentines, and other crafts that I think need her touch.


• Brushes her own teeth very well - and reminds me when we have no done so - as silly thing, but we just went to the dentist and oh how I wish all the kids were like her!!

Such a sweet, fun-loving little lady! I love you Miss Strawberry Princess Rebekah! May God help me form you into a virtuous, kind, and gentle young woman.

Small Successes

1. Way back in May my daughter convinced me we needed to have a flower garden. I have never really tried to grow anything before. Occasionally my mom would bring us flowers and they would die because we forgot to water them. Well, I decided to try - even though I really know very little about this kind of stuff - and I can honestly say I really did not expect to actually grow anything other than weeds or grass, but here is our first flower blooming that started as just an ity-bitty little seed. (Don't worry, I watered them right after this picture.)

2. I finally found a piano teacher (after planning to for about a year now) and had my first "adult" lesson (as technically I had a year of lessons in 3rd grade). I forgot how much I LOVE playing the piano!!

3. I had some major paperwork things looming over my head and I actually managed to get them all done (one was almost a month late, but hey, it is done now at least).

Feel free to chime in with your successes. For details, check here.

Paul Update

My youngest son, Paul, recently (back on May 17) turned one-year-old. I have been MEANING to post for some time, but circumstances have kept me away. In any case, I figure better late than never. So here we have a few pictures of Paul sitting for the first time at "the big kids' table" and enjoying one of his favorite birthday toys - his drum.






And now I want to copy my good friend, Monica and say a little bit about Paul.

• He LOVES To jabber! He is quite talkative. The only "real" word we consistently hear is "Daddy" (go figure :) but I would swear he has his own version of "thank you" (same inflection - jibberish words, though)



• He is really good at climbing on things. I plan to put up an entire post about this aspect. I have caught him everywhere from on top of the couch (way up on the back) to the top of Jacob's tall table chair. He has no fear and quite a bit of skill.



• His favorite foods right now are: black beans (so strange as I never thought to try and feed these to the other kids, but he eats them straight and LOVES them), peas, hamburger (mashed up), yogurt, and apples



• Nursing - he has nursed the most of all the kids at his age (5 or 6 times a day). Of course, in his defense, this is the longest I have gone, between children, before getting pregnant again. And the nursing baby always seems to be the first to notice that I am pregnant.
  


• Sleeping - he was giving me no short amount of trouble as his "preferred" nap schedule did not mesh with his brother and sister's school schedules and then he was always grumpy by evening, giving me trouble going to sleep at night and stay asleep. But at right about a year he seemed to figure things out. He shifted to one nap a day (about 1pm to 3:30 or 4pm) and began going down quite easily around 7pm - and STAYING ASLEEP until about 8am the next morning (occasionally he still wakes up once, around 5am, but then he goes right back to sleep after nursing a bit).

Paul, you are such a blessing to me!! Hooray for being a year old :)

Small Successes

It is that time again when I take stock of how things are going and look at the positive. So here are our successes for this week.

1) Survived two weeks of swim lessons - got everyone there on time - wrangled the younger kiddos - all went well.

2) Got the spare room cleaned up. It is amazing how things get out of hand so easily when stuff comes in and starts getting piled where it does not belong, but I have gotten it back under control (for now).

3) I have been doing better at keeping myself calm and letting things that normally would have me all upset, slip past (not all, of course, but some and that is a start).

Feel free to join in our weekly reflection by checking out the rules here.

Changes

It has been a little while since I've posted and part of it is the craziness of life and part of it is blogger acting funny and part of it is the camera hiding from me for a while. In any case, I wanted to share some thoughts here today. I have noticed some changes in myself and. . . well, just wow, that is really all I can say about them - oh and thank you, God!

A while ago I began praying that I would be transformed to not be so materialistic and to have a better attitude about money. Early on I realized that the label "financially poor" would be sticking with us for some time as we began our family before "establishing" our careers or really taking too much time to settle in. Then, as we continued to be blessed by God with children I realized I needed an attitude adjustment. I could make do with less, but that was not good enough, I wanted to make do with less AND feel good about doing it! That was more of a challenge as initially I was quite resentful and embarrassed to be choosing children and staying home with them over possessions. Yes, now as I type it I truly understand how silly it was - I was making the right choices for us, but feeling bad about them. So I prayed that God would change my heart - show me true detachment from possessions and true trust in His providence. Well, it has taken some time (as answering prayers often does) but I am beginning to notice the changes deep within me. Here are some of the most recent revelations of them.

1) For the Fathers' Day I told my husband we could bring in dinner from a restaurant. As good a cook as I am becoming, he still has a soft spot in his heart (or more precisely his stomach :) for restaurant food. So we planned a dinner date after the kiddos went to bed (as the cheapskate in me rarely feeds them restaurant food - unless we actually eat out as a family). The hubby chose a place I do not particularly like, so he encouraged me to get food for myself from another restaurant. I thought long and hard, I considered all the options and in the end I chose to eat left-overs from the fridge! And I was just as content (if not more so) with them than I would have been with restaurant food. It has taken a long time to reach this point, but I now truly choose my own cooking over eating out.

2) I was going to the store early Saturday morning to buy last-minute Fathers' Day cards for all the fathers in my life and a gift for my own dad. As I went from store to store, looking at cards and gift ideas (prepared to spend a little money on my Dad as more money spent equaled more respect and affection, so I thought). At the second store, as I scanned the cards, it dawned on me that I could go home right now and the time I would have spent here shopping I could instead spend with my daughter, making homemade cards that would probably be appreciated more anyhow! Likewise, as I thought deep in my heart, I knew what my Dad would truly appreciate - some new praise music - and I had a cd at home that I enjoyed a lot, but he had not heard and would surely enjoy just as much! So home I went to make homemade cards and wrap up my own cd to give to my father. Somehow this simple event just made me stop and think how often I go buy a store card or gift for someone simply because that is what is expected and not because that would truly be the most thoughtful way to do it!

3) Our next-door-neighbor had a baby a few days ago. I want to make her dinner but we are not that close and I'm not sure how to go about offering that so instead we made cookies for her and her other children today. I have kinda turned into a health nut (perhaps a whole other number in itself) so instead of regular granulated sugar and brown sugar I use organic sugar and instead of shortening I use coconut oil and instead of while flour, I use wheat. But since these were for someone else I decided to go for the fluff. We used the last of the regular granulated sugar and brown sugar along with crisco shortening and half white flour (as I was running out). As I was putting the cookies on the pans to bake I inevitably got some on my fingers and it would be wasteful to not lick that off, right? (and wash my hands afterward, of course) Well, the strangest thing happened. . . I did not really enjoy the dough as much as I normally would - it was too sweet. And then, when the cookies were done I of course had to sample a few to make sure I was not giving away something that tasted bad and although I they did taste good, I prefer them with my substitutions. This really solidified that it is not just a conscious choice to use healthier ingredients - I really do like them better all around!

I am still in awe of how God is working me - and oh so grateful!!