Abbey and I tackled her closet last weekend. Notice the dead girl falling out of the closet. She is a faker. And she likes clothes WAAAYYY too much. I have 'after' pictures of all the 40 Bag progress I've made coming soon. I feel like I am falling farther and farther behind blogging-wise. I know I have been terribly boring lately here but sometimes it's a matter of staying caught up in life, or caught up in blogging, and life feels better to be caught up in.
I am reading Anne again, because it reminds me of the loveliness of spring.
Do you own Home for a Bunny ? It was one of my favorite books when I was a child and I found this Little Golden Book at the grocery store-it is now Patrick's favorite. This week at least.
I went to IKEA for the FIRST time ever. I didn't know we even had one within drive-able distance. I bought $12 curtains for Abbey's room and this cactus for Matthew. That is all.
We had a crack-down last weekend. It was completely announced and came out of the blue. Well, it came out of the fact that there were four children who were totally ignoring the job list and then when reminded about it, acted like they were being asked to---I don't know---plow a field? Fetch water from a well? Walk 10 miles barefoot in the snow to school? Let's just say I whipped things into shape around here.
A product of aforementioned crack-down. Thank you Melissa. (Not half as cute as yours but my rampage zapped my creativity-I was all about function.) The blank spaces will be "special" jobs needed that evening.
Isaac's phone-missing for 2 days, found in bottom of washing machine. Not the first, nor I believe the last.
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LOVE this whole thing! I am going to do this chore idea...mine act the same weay...over picking up and doing a little folding or wiping... PLEASE! ;)
ReplyDelete& the phone....it will happen again, trust me!
*way..
ReplyDelete;)
I was really relating to this post and then I read your "crack down" post and was laughing out loud!! So true and so funny....but not so funny when you're in the 'thick' of it. Thanks for the great laugh this morning.
ReplyDeleteSo glad someone else is stuck in this thing called real life! LOL We have been traveling quite a bit this month and I feel like nothing has gotten accomplished. Blog post? What's that? Here's hoping next week is calmer.
ReplyDeleteSarah..FYI I had a cell phone mishap in August..somthing to do with a week old cell phone and the tide. Any way I went to the phone store and (I heard the rice trick and tried to no avail) they told me that there is a little white strip on the inside of the battery pack/phone. If it has turned pink then it has been exposed to water.(That's how they can tell). You know I just asked around and you would be suprised how many people have their "old" cell phones kicking around. I now have my sister-in-law's (who upgraded to a fancy fruit phone) Good luck!
ReplyDeleteLove the sign! I think I need to do something like that for my teenage son. Glad to have found your blog and I can't wait to read more.
ReplyDeleteLOVE that chore wheel idea! :)
ReplyDeleteI added a link on my Operation Organization FB pg. inviting my fellow organizing enthusiasts to join in on your 40 bags in 40 days challenge AND your photo is featured on my latest article!
Cheers!
~H
I'm so glad you posted this messy picture. I've started your 40 day plan today and I was looking at all your pictures thinking..."my house will never look like that"...so glad you are a real person!
ReplyDeleteLoved reading Anne of Green Gables as a child! Missing phones are a regular occurance in my house!I must have a crackdown here, and see if I can restore some order to their rooms!!
ReplyDelete~Anne
Oh, don't you love crackdowns?? love the chore wheel, but the sign is even better :) My daughters' dread going through room days, but I LOVE them. Ikea overwhelms me! The one and only time I went I bought a drawer organizer.
ReplyDeleteWe just had a chore crackdown at our house too! I love your analogy of plowing the fields because that is how my boys have been approaching the chore of cleaning the toilet. Like it will take forever and I'm a mean witch for even asking.
ReplyDeleteIkea is overwhelming for me too. I decide what I want online before going to the store and only go on weekday mornings when it's not as busy.
Doing your 40 bag purge at our house too. So nice to get rid of stuff!
Love Ikea. Never buy a thing but always walk out ready to tackle home organization. For me, just the drive to declutter and organize are the best item they sell ... And I get the motivation for free :)
ReplyDeleteI love that sweet little blue dollhouse! Do you remember if you built it from a kit or bought it made! I have a 5 year old daughter and I'd love to give her a dollhouse for her birthday or Christmas this year! I love how traditional your daughter's dollhouse is! Some of them are are so plastic and cheap looking! I'm looking more for a keepsake! Any chance you could share where you bought the dollhouse and if you put it together yourself and how difficult it was?
ReplyDeleteThanks so much!
~ Ali
PS I love the idea of cracking down! I need to do the exact same thing around here!
One of these days when I have a little more time to type I want to email you a terrific story about my 2nd grade son...if you can imagine he got to close to the creek across the street from his school after school one day after I told him not to. I walked him back to the school with his dripping text book and a Magic Tree House library book and he confessed and said he was sorry to the school and that he would be responsible to pay back the school. After working (8 year old mowing our lawn, folding tons of load of laundry, working for his GrandMother, etc) he has finally paid back the school (he earned about 5-10 dollars a week). He is so excited not to be in debt to the school and proud of his accomplishment! In the heat of the moment I truly thought how would my blog friend over at Clover lane handle this mess of a situation and came up with this plan of WORK lots of WORK! :)
~ Ali
I know you think your posts are boring lately..I think they are totally relatable and I love it! This is life...
ReplyDeleteLove the list before you come down..stealing that idea for my 11 year old. Keep on Inspiring!!
Home for a Bunny -- that's my Bob's fave this week, too! Found it in the huge stash of little golden books my mom saved from when I was a kid. Naptime is now burrow time.
ReplyDeleteI really like the chore wheel idea. Also, thanks for sharing the link to Simplicity Parenting book a while back. I am currently reading it and loving it. Very helpful. :-)
ReplyDeleteOh, the job wheel. I have such fun memories of many iterations of the job wheel growing up. My mom was a huge fan. I remember once my mom let us write our own names in the appropriate place so that we would feel more ownership of the process. Just a little memory.
ReplyDeleteOkay, Abbey is funny... love her posing. Tell her it made me laugh. You are NOT boring. And I can't believe that you went to Ikea and only bought those two things. I always seem to leave with a car load :)
ReplyDeleteI have peeked at your blog every now and again for a while now, and I wanted to tell you how thankful I am for your inspiring words and real-life helps. I am diggin' this 40 bags deal, and my laundry room is TOO! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you!
Every home needs a good old "crack down" every now and then!
ReplyDelete"sometimes it's a matter of staying caught up in life, or caught up in blogging, and life feels better to be caught up in" - my new favorite quote
ReplyDeleteLove the jobs wheal. Girl after my own heart!
ReplyDeleteI love your posts Sarah, they ground me in this whirlwind of life and motherhood. I am learning that for me, my days are much better spent if I spend my day at home, getting it and my life in order rather thn keeping up with the billion oppurtunities that present themselves on a daily basis. Love boundaries, love how you know yours and love how I m learning mine better.
ReplyDeleteOh, and pardon all my spelling errors - typing with one finger on an iPad does have a downside :-)
ReplyDelete:-))) I have 5 kids ages ranging from 13 to 1 and we are in the middle of a crack down too.... With the older kids that is :-)) that chart thingy looks like the way to go...I must try it :-)))....
ReplyDeleteHOW did you not know you had an IKEA an hour away??? that is insanity.
ReplyDelete:)
my kids have become lazy bums.
it's coming soon around here....times are about to change.
oh yes they are.
Hi Sarah,
ReplyDeleteBeen absent from blogging a bit myself...good to be back and just in time for 40 bags in 40 days right!?!:)
i think we need a crackdown too...and that sign upstairs and that chore wheel too!!:0
have a happy day sarah
ps
we have Home for a Bunny too!!
I just discovered your blog and love it already! Can't wait to get a bit more caught up..
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, I recently did a series of posts centering on Anne of Green Gables (wrote my MA thesis on the series), trying to incorporate the novels into daily life at home: littlepinkbookmarks.blogspot.com.
I have benn doing your 40 bags this year (after reading about it for two years!). I mentioned it to my co-workers and both of them decided to join in to. They thought it was a brilliant ideas.
ReplyDeleteLove the pics...
We call it 'boot camp' when everyone gets lazy and needs to be reminded. We're overdue right now...
ReplyDeleteAnd my son has gone swimming with his phone several times! We use the silica packets that come in shoes, etc. So far, the phone has always come back to life!