"Enjoy the LITTLE THINGS in life for one day you will look back and realize they were the big things."


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What blog is about Intro

Come on in and sit awhile while I talk about the "Little Things" in life. I will share my journey of everyday life.... homeschooling, raising my children, homesteading, gardening, health and wellness, and real life.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

I Will Share A Well Kept SECRET... Johnny Carino's BARGAIN

Well, I made it through the closet! Hmmm... the reality is only half way... really 1/3 of the way. I never planned to do mine or my husbands, so I made it through two of the four kid sections. I still call that an accomplishment!! Come on... I have a five month old baby in the house along with the others. Maybe I will work on the others over the coming days.

I have also had a revelation regarding what will be the successful routine for her home with homeschooling. Not so much a revlation as it is the same theory that I had from the very beginning. I just had to try a few things to come back to my original idea!! Isn't that the way it usually goes. I was trying out doing the bulk of teaching my second grader and pre-Ker all during my two year old sons afternoon naptime. Great thought, except that if he did not sleep long then that idea was a flop. So, I end up stressing to get it done and all the while shortchanging my little pupils. I decided that my original plan has got to be the route to go. Get up early, get the kids ready first for whatever the day holds and could hold. That means on MOST days get them fed and dressed as if we are going somewhere just in case we are feeling spunky and want to go out. Do my second graders lessons early and have hers done in two to three hours before lunch time. This will allow them the chance to play outside or in the house, do computer stuff, play games, or whatever and still get thirty minutes of school done with my pre-Ker. My older one can help me "teach" which in turn they both learn from and get to do the fun little projects. Also, my two year old will then be sleeping for the really messy craft projects.

Okay, okay.... about the messy projects and my little son being eliminated.... he can participate sometime. The room we work in is carpeted and we hope to change that eventually, but in the meantime we don't really want a disaster are for out learning room. He does do some art with us in his highchair because he tends to be a roamer and destroyer. The less messy stuff we do allow him to do, but let me tell the room has the scars already to show it all. Today it was a dry erase marker run through the carpet... did I mention that the carpet is light beige? Oh yeah, it shows it all. We have chalk stains on the floor from the first week of homeschool. Who knew chalk would stain!?

Tonight I am topic hopping! So, my next topic is saving a dime. Apparently, I have hit on a well kept secret that I shall share with you tonight. We try to save money when dining out. I mean even if we CAN afford it now there is going to come a time when these little ones are all going to require a "meal" of their own or get bigger appetites. Sahara doesn't eat, yet and Caden gets a rather small portion. Of course, Sierrra and Savannah don't exactly eat large protions either being that they are so young. Our favorite place to eat is Johnny Carino's Italian Restaurant, so about seven months ago we discovered that we can eat there for cheaper than our second fav spot, Pizza Hut!!! Imagine that... a nice restaurant and it is cheaper than an all you can eat buffet night at Pizza Hut!! The thing is that if you are familiar with Carino's meals they have regular entre portions and then they have the grandisimo family portions. On Monday nights they offer the grandisimo portion at the regular entre price. An example would be that the regular Chicken Parm would have one chicken breast and the grandisimo would have five!! When we eat out we mostly order water for our drinks to save money and to be healthier. Also, this assures that our kids are not just filling their little bellies full of soda and not eating good. So, the first time we tried out the special we got to the end of the meal and they brought the ticket... to our joy the bill was $13.98 !!! FIVE people ate on that!!! Now things have changed a little and if you want salad you have to pay 99 cents more for that...not per person.... that is for everyone at the table!! Well, yeah wouldn't you pay 99 cents more for salad and NOT COMPLAIN!? The end result is dinner out for about $20 bucks... because the waitstaff has got to have a tip, too. We leave filled with the best bread (free, of course), dinner, and salad we could dream of. Also, Mondays are quiet at restaurants and that makes a good night out for us and the kids love to "entertain" the waitstaff, since they have time to talk with the majority of the place empty. SO, my SECRET IS OUT!! And with that I am off to bed...

Hmmmm... one more bargain...it is bargain season for retailers. Anything you want to buy really. Clothing is what I hit at this time of year. The Children's Place is having their Monster Sale. That is 50% off their sale price!! If you wait it out it goes even lower, but you get less to choose from. It will go down to 75% off eventually... Hmmm.. do you shop or do you wait!?!? I got great infant and toddler clothes at Target last night for $2.80, $1.98,even lower. Their stuff goes fast, so you have to just hit it at the right moment. Happy bargaining!

Friday, January 23, 2009

The Weekend Cometh... Closet Organization 101

Ahhhhh! The weekend.... sounds relaxing doesn't it!? Not in our world. No, it is the weekend of the dreaded closet "sifting". What that means is that I will be going through one huge, massive closet that is home to clothing for SIX people.

When you have a new baby in the house, you expect things to be crazy.... Well, add a few more faces to the mix and one incredible season of GROWTH SPURTS!!! I know, I know ... the baby is expected to grow and change sizes almost daily, but not all the other kids in the house. I thought we were set until later in Spring, but I am telling you that my children are all in "highwaters". It's not that they do not have clothing to fit them. They do... I promise. It is that I have not had the time to get in there and take the clothes out that are too small. It is at the point now that where things are starting to dissappear into the depths of nowhere.

Enough of that. I am very blessed. I have a huge closet and it is big enough to hold all the clothes for a family of SIX!!! What am I complaining about!?!! So, what I should be sharing with you is not all the whining.... I should be sharing with you how to organize such a space. The closet must be about ten feet deep and approximately eight feet wide. I am really not sure. I have measured every surface in that thing from floor to ceiling to make room as each addition has been made for each child, but for the life of me I just do not remember. With six people in the house there are just more important things to commit to memory... YA Know!

So, as you walk into the closet there are built in shoe slots on the wall that the door is on. Floor to about eight feet high and eighteen inches wide. We stash junk like board games, etc. in the upper slots that are just to hard to reach. Hmmm... I did not mention that I think the ceiling in that closet is about ten feet high and the upper two feet have shelving that goes all the way around. You would not believe the JUNK we have managed to store in there in the eight years that we have lived here. Anyway, back to the shoe storage. One one side we store my shoes. On the other side my husband stores his shoes and he shares that space with our eight year old daughter, Savannah.

In the back of the closet we have a flip down ironing board. There is a clothing rod that runs across the back that has extra hangers there and then a couple of those cheapey hanging plastic storage closet organizer systems that you can get at Wal-Mart for $8.88 (by the way I am FRUGAL) and a hanging shoe organizer that our five year old daughter, Sierra, shares with her two year old brother, Caden. The hanging storage containers that are on that wall contain things like night clothes, underwear, socks for our son. There is another metal standing organizer in there (I got free) and that holds Sierra's night clothes, shorts, and the family bathing suits. On the floor under that section I have empty Huggies Diaper boxes that are perfect for storing winter hats, mittens, gloves, and things to grow into.

On the right side and the left of the closet it is divided into three sections on each side. Each person has a top and bottom hanging rack. They also each have a shelf with three sections (actually a closet organizer that sells at Wal-Mart for $19, but is meant to have two sections... I turned it upside down and it makes it have three... (frugal/cheap). We use those for folded pants and such and the provide a "boundary line" between each persons upper section. The higher third shelf on all of them is used for "growing into" items. Also, wherever I can fit it in (and that kind of depends upon the ages and needs of each child) there are some lower storage shelves that also help define the boundaries while adding needed storage on the lower level. These get folded clothes poked in them. We do not have dressers or chest of drawers in the bedrooms and there are no clothes stored anywhere but this closet with exception to "growing into" clothing that is stored upstairs.

I take use of every space I can. I have some really great large size brightly colored rectangular baskets that are perfect for storage underneath everyone's bottom rack hanging clothes. The only problem is that I could not get more when I needed more, so we used some more of those great Huggies Diaper boxes. So, of course, we used the pretty ones for the kids and this holds the older girls socks, tights, underwear, gymnastics stuff, etc... whatever needs a home. For Caden it is home to some more summer clothing and stuff that he can wear that I have not had time to hang.... ooops!

Now Sahara's baby section is a bit different, because her clothes are so tiny. Under her section I have some stacking plastic bins that I got a few years back ($3 @ Dollar General) and there are four of those (stacked two by two). These hold socks and tights, tiny little shoes, hats and caps, bibs, and some to grow into items.

Everyone has these little labels I made from double sided cardstock paper that make dividers for the kids clothes such as, dresses, short sleeve shirts, long sleeve shirts, casual dresses, dress dresses, etc. to help stay organized. And in answer to the question you are thinking... No, no one pays any attention to those but me. LOL! I think they think they are there just to make it "look pretty". Anyway, so you can tell that I WANT it to be organized. And with that said I will be heading into the depths of no where for a ?!relaxing?! weekend.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Trying to Learn This Stuff

Ok, so this is where I am going to ramble on about nothing really. I am just testing and trying to learn this stuff. And just for the record... I am always the one behind the camera, so you will probably never see a great pic of me.

Recently, I started home schooling my four children... well, two are school age... the others just make it a wild and woolly experience. On that venture I have done a lot of searching and reading others blogs. I have found it to be quite helpful and uplifting. Maybe I can do that for someone someday.... be a glimmer of hope in a very uncertain, treacherous new adventure. My heart tells me and knows that it will be the best thing for my kids and family; however, my cup runneth over with at this time in my life! LOL!

About those kiddos I have... They are beautiful ... I think so! They are Savannah (8), Sierra (5), Caden (2), Sahara (6 mo). Savannah is a 2nd grader and Sierra a Pre-Ker.... Caden is our sweet destoyer as we attempt homeschooling and Sahara is our little angel that is just sweetly going with the flow of things.