What a week...

Oh my, what a week it has been. We are taking a planned week off of school to get caught up on some necessary decluttering as well as getting ready for a camping trip this weekend.

Saturday we attended the funeral for a beloved brother in Christ from our church. Although we were unable to hear the service, we were able to get to know a family at church, whom I know are to become bosom friends.

This same family were in the midst of a catstrophe Sunday after church when they second youngest son was hurt in the parking lot. It was no ones fault and things like this just happen sometimes. I won't go into all the details. Let's sum it up like this - they are home, God is good and has given us a miracle and we are forever thankful.

I've started a new digital scrapbook. This was is a 1 year album on our 2nd son (3rd child) B.4.B. It will run from preparing for his birth to his 1st birthday. I've done the first page, but nothing will be divulged until it is finished. This is going to be a fun one!! He's a fun boy who is really funny!!

This week I'll be working primarily on the kitchen. Everything from top to bottom will be decluttered and cleaned. I'll start that after lunch today when the littles are down for a nap. I'm also working on coordinating some meals to bless the family at our church which will hopefully help them get things back to normal at home.

So, although it is a break from school - we aren't really stopping! LOL

**Okay, coming back to finish this post. I got all the littles down for a nap, then the big kids and I got to work. We cleaned out 8 cabinets that held my spices, oils, and such. There wasn't much to get rid of in those cabinets, but we consolidated spices, wiped down the cabinets, doors, etc. and got everything reorganized.

Now for a little break. The big ones are going to watch a movie - The Last Sin Eater - and I'm going to scrap.

We'll pick back up after the movie with doing the dishes. Our water was out for an hour or so. We are having storms over here, and I'm wondering if they were having problems with the pumps or something. We're good now.

I would like to finish all the top cabinets today and countertops. Shouldn't be a problem. Tomorrow we'll do drawers and bottom cabinets and pantry. Thursday I'll like to clean the floors really good and pull out the oven and clean under it. With the big kids' help, it isn't so hard.

Declutter Day!

Declutter Day!

• These are the rewards for each level.
• The levels and rewards build on each other.
• We may not be able to do all of these on the same day, but we will put them on the calendar.
• You must check with us before getting rid of anything that doesn’t belong to you.
• You must be careful with the things that you decide are going to go.
• Trash doesn’t count.
• If you wouldn’t want to wear it or play with it, it doesn’t count. These need to be things that people can still use once we give them away.

Rewards:

100 things – sleep on the couch

200 things – chicken enchilada soup dinner

300 things – Cici’s at home

400 things – starbucks drinks

We reached 120 items today!! We'll continue this and keep track on our whiteboard. It was fun. We got to go through things that I have wanted/needed to go through for months. I got this idea from www.homemaking911.com and a talk that she did for a Cindy Rushton seminar - Let's get ready for the new school year.

Colossal Clutter Cleanup: Entrance

We don't really use this door as an entrance because you know they say that "Back door friends are best!", but for too long it has been used for EVERYTHING under the sun - from storage of boxes to an "office" with a school desk for C.12.B. temporarily while we moved things around.

Here's a before:

Mainly we just had a lot of winter coats that needed to come down. Nothing major - so you didn't get to see it at its worst! LOL





















Just lightweight spring coats now and no toys or diapers on the floor! LOL

Colossal Clutter Cleanup: Bedroom Part 2

Okay, so you want to see the results?!

The bed - Big P hung up the picture for me today. The little bonnet hanging on it is my mom's that she wore when she was a baby! I'm waiting for a few "pretties" that should be coming in the mail in a few days to complete this ensemble. They are miniature garden gates.




















Big P reinstalled the shelving and door on that left closet. It is now housing all of our clothes and shoes, in a very neat and orderly fashion!!















This will be Baby A's little area! :) And that picture will be surrounded with a couple of those miniature garden gates as well.
















And from the other side of the room! yes, I am missing one of my curtain tops! I don't know where it is. I think it is hiding with some sheets somewhere. I'll find it! :)

Colossal Clutter Cleanup: Bedroom

If you aren't familiar with Amy Verlinnich's Clean Heart Clean Home, you must get familiar!! It is beautiful for a variety of reasons - but the main one being that we are to serve God in our homes. For too many of us, clutter is just a result of a dirty heart.

When we decided to do the "living in a RV thing" we knew we would have to get rid of 90% of our belongings! When we decided to hold off on that idea, we knew that God was still expecting us to clean out stuff, but also to be content with what we had - so that we could still get out of vehicle debt.

So, while making our 3/2 double wide mobile home and TONS of land (10 acres is a ton to us!) work for our growing family, we've been doing some rearranging and of course I'm nesting like a mama bird!

So, a before of the bedroom, so that you can really get an appreciation for the end result!!

Yes, that is a bed!
That is the closets - one minus a door, because it was being used as a library for the MP room.

That's the remainder of the library! It was missing one of our bookshelves that had already been moved out, but had gained a filing cabinet!

From the opposite side of the room. Also includes the bathroom, which is done!! I didn't take a before picture of it, so you couldn't really appreciate it, but let me just tell you - I'm so excited! It is decluttered and organized now!!

And for the results of the CCC on our bedroom! Oh, you have to go to the next post for that - it won't let me post anymore pics!!!