The Beach and the Closet

I couldn't face the homeschool room today. So we did this instead:

Little Bit

Yes, this large child is mine!!! Stop growing Sweetheart!

We met some friends at the beach and had a great time. We saw jellyfish, but no one got stung. Normally, I'm a jellyfish magnet.

And after very refreshing showers, I was ready to finish that closet!

How did the closet get so bad??? Wasn't it just a little while ago I was cleaning it out???

Amazing.

But now the right side holds all the out-of-season and don't-fit-yet clothes.

This closet goes back a long way on each side.

And the left side fits all the extra toys and games. That left the middle. The part that shows.

So I lined up some friendly faces to look at.

And then I found a place for something very important. (Thanks for the idea Masto Mama!)

Doll School!

They bring their dolls to school all the time anyway. In our old homeschool room there was a little space to put them, but they always needed to be picked up later. Sweetheart has the same Doll School set that Masto Mama's daughter has but she's never had a permanent place to put things up.

They were very excited about the area. Even though Sweetheart is close to out-growing it (but not yet!), I know Little Bit will continue to use that area for a long time.

And...I sent Little Bit back into the deep recesses of the closet while we were cleaning out and she found the Bible Daddy has been looking for a LONG time.

And with that happy note (they are in there playing right now)...the closet is done!

Donating!!!

The truck is coming tomorrow. I already have 1 big bag and half of another full. I want to get rid of stuff!!!! And having the truck coming tomorrow just makes me even more motivated.

I already wrote about this earlier in the week.

Then I read this.  Awesome.

Just in case you needed a little inspiration.

'Cause I've decided that the only way I'm going to be able to make it next year is if this house is under control. And I have a plan, which I'll share later.

But today? I stuff things into bags!

Need a Little Help Here

I like our school room to look different from year to year. (No duh...I like every room to look different, huh?) I couldn't stand to have this space look the exact same way every single school year.

This next year will already be different in several ways (new furniture moved in here), but I want a way to make a space of their own for each girl. Now that we are housing all books on our big black IKEA shelves, the girls no longer needed bookshelves in their bedrooms. So, they got moved in here and will be used for storing their school stuff. Kind of like lockers but without doors or locks.

The only part of the room I'm through with. LOVE it. 

The shelves are pretty special. Sweetheart's (below, on the right) was built by her dad and used to be in his bedroom in high school. When we made a nursery for her, that shelf became hers. Then when we were expecting Little Bit I was sad she didn't have a special shelf made by her dad when my sister-in-law offered the smaller one on the left. It was built by my father-in-law a long time ago. He passed away in 1994 and obviously the girls never met him. So I think it's neat they each have a family-built shelf.

I'm cleaning these off today.  Those are some planets from our solar system hanging there. 

I may let them decide what to put on top of their shelves. I was also thinking of putting bulletin boards above their shelves with some of their favorite things on them and also some helpful school things. I was inspired by Masto Mama. Just look at her children's cute boards! (And their whole classroom!)

So I looked online and there are some cheap ones at Target but according to the reviews....not worth it. Too cheap. I hate to put big holes in the wall anyway.

 Any ideas for what I can do above their bookshelves to give each girl a little "space of her own"? 

Affording Homeschooling

I'll tell ya. This year we are really spending a lot more than we usually do. I've been thinking about how much it's going to hurt to drop that much money all at once on curriculum. I know I could homeschool cheaper. I know I could. A person can do a really great job of educating their children with no budget at all. But something happened today that made me realize what a bargain I'm offering my husband with our curriculum costs this year!

While searching for something online, I happened to stumble on a site for a private Christian school. It's not in daily driving distance from our house, but it's in our general area. Anyway, I was interested in how much it would cost to send the girls to private school next year at this place. (A thing I am in NO way considering.) Are you ready??

For both girls: $16,824.00

That does not include uniforms.

Are you kidding me? $8,000something for Sweetheart +$7,000something for Little Bit (after a 10% discount for sibling) + $75 testing fee for Sweetheart + $50 testing fee for Little Bit + $500 enrollment fee + $250 enrollment fee + $400 in some other fee........SIXTEEN THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED TWENTY FOUR DOLLARS.

I will be spending $600.

See? It's not looking so bad now, is it? Yes, there will be other fees for field trips but honestly....that won't even total $100. Not even close.

But we don't live in quite that nice of an area. So how do tuition rates look closer to home?

School #2  $11,342.04 for both girls. Glad they got that .04 in there.
School #3  $8,620.00 for both girls.

Again, I will be spending $600.

Homeschooling rocks.

Have you ever looked at private school tuition rates by your house?

On Getting Rid of Stuff

Last night as we were driving home from church, we noticed a lot of smoke towards our neighborhood. There had been a large fire in our city earlier, but this smoke was in a different direction. As we approached our street, it became obvious that it was terribly near our house and yes...my heart did skip a beat as I realized I had left the dryer on when we left for church.

Cars and people lined our street and it took us a while to get to our driveway. My parents live next to a field and the field was full of neighbors and strangers all watching the fire. It was, thankfully, on the street behind ours. It was a house fire and we stood alongside everyone else watching the firemen and the smoke and the huge flames shooting out of the house for quite some time.

This morning I got the girls up early (I've been needing to get them up earlier so they will go to sleep easier at night and I knew this would do the trick) to go on a walk and see the house. It was really something to see. Just about every single thing those folks owned is gone. Just like that.

I thought too about the Crawfords and all of their neighbors who lost everything in the tornadoes several weeks ago. I went to sleep thankful. Not for our home and stuff--although I was very thankful to be laying in bed in our home instead of in a hotel room or a friend's house--but thankful for the only thing that really matters to me. My family.

I was thinking about how the girls would process the fire they witnessed. The house down the block from us burned when I was 8. I saw it at night. I was scared for months that our house would catch fire. I know the girls would be concerned about their favorite toys. Any time we talk about a family who has lost their home that's what they are concerned about--their dolls. Their dollhouse. Their favorite things.

I was the same way when I was younger. I remember a hurricane headed of our home when I was around 9. I remember my dad telling me to go pack in case we had to leave for my grandmother's house. I remember sitting outside my closet door crying because I couldn't fit all my dolls and stuffed animals into my bags. Which ones would I leave? These are the things a child worries about.

I was happy to realize last night that I wouldn't worry about things today. Sure, it would be sad to lose pictures. It would be painful to watch my children miss their things. It would be a big, huge headache. But they are just things. I was never so glad we spent only $20 on that garage sale couch. Because that couch can so easily be replaced.

And then I read an article about letting go of things. About travelling lite. About not carrying our burdens and bags around with us. Yes, the article was speaking of spiritual things, but we all know that physical things can drag us down just as much.

I had read "The Biggest House in the World" to the girls this weekend. (Part of our summer reading list) The little snail learns, through a story his father tells him, that having the biggest, best shell will only be a burden and he cannot move and see the world if he has that heavy load on his back.

And I thought about how S and I have worked so hard to be out of debt so that if the Lord should call us to go somewhere---we could.

All of that combined is making for a very good day of cleaning out the homeschool room. With much use being made of the trash can, and the giveaway pile.

Stuff headed out of here...