Setting up the school room

Good morning.  Yesterday was very productive.  I finally tackled the school room.  I took everything off the shelves, finished putting the desks together, and organized some of the supplies.  I'm not done yet, but if we decided to start school next week, we'd be okay.

I started working in this room on Saturday, but didn't get anywhere near finished.  So I snapped a picture after I moved everything that needed to go into storage away.  Yesterday, this is what I started with.

I dreaded the closet the most!

I already had the books sorted by type, subject, and each kid has their own cubby.

All week the kids have been obsessed with working in their workbooks.  I bought some workbooks to give as a refresher.  They're rocking them.

On their new chore charts that they made, "mommy's helper" chore was sort all the construction paper.  I wasn't looking forward to this one so when Xander asked...I delivered the supplies.

Xander loved that it continued in a pattern so it was easy for him.

I'm still not done, but nearly.  I spent 6 hours yesterday and emptied out an extra large garbage bag worth of junk out of here.  So freeing!

The white shelving will hold our STEM activities, DVDs, and learning electronics.  Yes, I still need to hang the TV.  Waiting for the hubs to get home so he can help.  It's heavy!

I completely emptied out the shelves.  Laid out all of the baskets and organized the games up top.  I still need to label the baskets so everything is easy to find.

Almost done with this shelf unit.  Right now I have all the books laying down, but I think I'm going to try to stand them up.

I'm excited to fill up the desktop carousel full of new supplies!  I'm dreading going through the tub in the back full of used supplies.  A lot of broken crayons and dried out markers.

I also spend a few hours putting together a spreadsheet that I can fill out to have an organized school year.  I found the state standards for each grade, so I will need to bounce our plan off of those to make sure we cover everything that is required.  Sounds like fun, right?!

This will be my year in advance.  Then I'll make a monthly view with learning objectives.  Finally I'll make weekly lesson plans detailing what work will be completed that week.  It sounds like a lot, but, I'm all for being organized to make this school year a success.

As you can see, I still have work to do.  But, I'm so excited with the progress.  Today I'll work on the spreadsheets some more, and maybe take a break from organizing.

Have a great day!

Weekend Madness

Good morning!  Our weekend was full, fun, and relaxing.  I didn't get everything done that I had planned, but, it was still a good weekend.

We woke up Friday and it was Xander's special day.  It started much like I predicted, just like Sterling's day.  The sun was hot and the water felt so nice.

Luckily, he did all of his chores after we were back home and changed the day.  He had a plan to beat me in a game of WWE.  His favorite!  We played three rounds.  He won twice and I took him down once.  

After our WWE match, I registered our home school.  It's official, we're homeschooling!

Sterling and I took down her bed she was borrowing from Xander so I could put together her new bed.  She was so cute and appreciative.  Just so giddy and kept hugging me saying "thank you".  The sweetest!

After dinner, we headed out for our nightly walk now that we can do them again.

Then, we headed to the pet store to see if there were any dogs.  There wasn't, but there were some playful kitties.  I'm not interested in getting a cat, so I'll just take them to the store when they need their cat fix.

On Saturday, we ran errands and had lunch at Chili's.  Later that night I worked in the school room.  I'm not done.  It's taking longer than I thought, but I just need to dedicate a day to it.  Maybe this week?

I made the kids a list of things they need to do daily in order to have screen time.  Xander has been really good at doing his, but, Sterling has not.  So, I decided to ask them what chores they think they could do everyday.

   

Here's what they came up with

   

The kids and I were busy getting the bedrooms in order.  They are done (well, except for my closet).  

The played all day until 3 and then we got to work on their rooms.  The bins are sorted, the shelves are up and stocked, and their rooms are cozy again.  I did end up taking out 5 totes of toys.  Toys that I don't want to get rid of, but stuff that doesn't need to be in their rooms either.  I also threw out a 2 bags of broken and missing toys and tons of scrap paper tossed in their toy bins.  I'm glad this is behind me.  Now, how long will they keep it right?!

Sterling loves putting her toys in setups

After I took this picture, I put all the dolls that were on top of the shelf in the empty cubby.  

Xander loves setups too.  He's usually really good at putting his toys in the correct bins, but, he does not like putting the toys away.

Hoping this week will be happy and as productive as the weekend!

Have a great day!

Friday Favorites: Sterling's Day

Happy Friday!  I'm linking up with Andrea with our favorite day this week.

Yesterday, Sterling deemed it "her" day.  Where she gets to come up with everything we do.  I agreed, but, with some rules.  Of course.  I can't let a kid run my day.  I had things I needed to get done, so I told her she could pick three special things that she wants everyone to do.

First up was swimming.  It's her summer most favorite thing to do.

Xander's loving his snorkel.  

It was hot, but the water was perfect.

While we were swimming, one of my most recent purchases arrived.  Online it said it was grey, but I think it has more of a green tint to it.  The color is not my favorite, but I think I can warm up to it.  If not, I can paint it ☺️

I took off the door and will take down the storage hook for the brooms and mops.  I plan to put that in the garage and hang up hooks for our coats.  I might do either wainscot planks, shiplap, or wallpaper.  I'm trying to make this area a drop zone that's more convenient for us.  And cute of course.

Next on Sterling's agenda was to play outside.  So after we rode bikes, went for a walk and jumped on the trampoline, the neighbor girls decided to come introduce themselves.  They were sweet girls, too bad they are moving in 4 days.

After showers (not any kids favorite! Why?!), Sterling wanted a movie night.  She picked Wonder.  It's all of our favorites!

What are some of your kids' favorite things to do on their special days?  Today is Xander's day.  I have a feeling we'll be doing pretty much what we did yesterday.  We're working on coming up with your own ideas, but it's also okay to like others' ideas too.

Have a great weekend!

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Cast, books, and sharks

On Tuesday we went to the orthopedic to get Sterling's cast off and her foot x-ray.  We ended up going two days early because she was breaking the bottom of the cast.  We crossed our fingers and said prayers that her x-ray would be clear and she wouldn't get a new cast on.

The nurse taking the cast off scared the bejeebies out of me with the dremel tool.  Every time she'd get through the cast, I feared Sterling would be cut.  Every time.  Thumbs up for all's good!

Prayers were answered and her x-ray was good.  She still has a limp, but we're hoping that will go away in a few days.  If not, I have to take her back in.  Now that her cast is off, she's excited to get signed up for gymnastics.  I'm going to sign her up, but she's not starting for two weeks.  I think her foot needs a little time still.  I found a week long camp and both kids can go.

We headed to the book store yesterday and picked up some of our homeschooling curriculum.  I have done SO much research.  Probably too much.  I couldn't decide on one from another and decided I just needed to "dive in."  I'm glad I went and physically saw some options so I could pick out which I think would work best for both kids.  I'm excited and this first step has given me to nudge to keep getting things done.  With both kids going to camp, I will be able to lesson plan without distractions.  

Sterling also picked up her first set of Junie B. Jones.  She's so excited!

We've had a lot of rain and storms lately, so these two took advantage of bed washing day and made a pallet to jump in.

We are shark obsessed in this house!  Are you too?!  We are glued to the TV when we are home and can't get enough.  Some of the episodes have us gasping and too scared to look away.  It's crazy how some of these shows the guys go right up to the sharks and touch them.  Yikes!  I'm just hoping watching the shows doesn't scare the kids from the water while we are at the beach.

Today we're having a lazy day at home.  Cleaning, laundry, games, reading, and most likely shark watching.  

Have a great day!

Makeover night

Good morning.  I hope you had a great weekend.  We enjoyed our time with Nick.  The kids love it when he comes home.  I was excited to show him all the progress I've gotten done with the house.  Unfortunately, he was only pleased for 5.3 seconds.  I can't win.  But, I'm trying.  And, that's all I can do.  Storage is our problem in this house.  I went to Ikea last week to pick up some solutions to this problem, but of course couldn't get the boxes upstairs by myself.  So, they weren't put together yet and the items placed appropriately.  Nick helped me take the boxes up yesterday before he left and I have one shelf left to assemble.

Our storage problems reminds me of our home in Nebraska.  The rooms were smaller there and we had to figure out storage solutions.  We did.  It just took time.  I'm adding shelving to the kids' closets today, so that should help with their bins of toys.  I'm looking at options for the master closet too.  It's a great size closet, but it lacks storage options.  It's basically a large-long room with one row of wire shelving.  So, I'm looking to either add another row of shelving, add storage cubes under the hanging clothes, or add a row of hanging shelves to put folded clothing on.

Xander was my assembly helper.

Our desks.  They won't stay in this configuration, but they are up.

After dinner the kids and I had a makeover party.  I was told I looked like I died.

Xander did her hair and lipstick.  I put a smiley face on her forehead ;)

Ultimate Warrior.  I think he had the most fun.  But maybe Sterling and I had the most laughs doing his face.  It was hilarious him letting us doll him up too.  He gets the good sport award.

They wanted to party to continue, but I had some things to clean up in the kitchen, so they painted.

Xander realized he missed Double Dare and all of a sudden he had the "worst day ever."

Being a mom is some fun, hard work.  Always hearing how horrible a day is because they can't have something.  Or listening to all the bickering between them two is insane.  They are typical kids.  Love/hate relationship, every few minutes.  My favorite is when "she's looking at me" because "he's looking at me"  😂  I know this season won't last forever, so I take it with a grain of salt.

Have a great day!