A Lil' Nibble

Not much time today but I wanted to share the link to a BTS binder for Mom's. I am very happy to have completed mine and it is ready to go for tomorrow. I used to have a binder for each kid, but Lordy that was a pain to keep up with! I hope you like her link, she also does a lot of digital scrapbooking ; )

Also, a little fun thing our family learned when the red-headed curly girl started school was this...

A full box (24 count) of crayons will fit into a travel soap container. We use this for school as well as the baseball-bag-which-is-now-a football-bag for the kids to take to games. A bonus is if they melt in there (like THAT would ever happen!) it cleans up sooo much easier than the original cardboard box. Ok, so I gotta get back to triple checking the schedule for tomorrow morning! YAY! Back to school is upon us! 

Plan o' attack for BTS

While talking to some friends tonight, I found myself admitting to my need to be in control. I had plans in my head about how we would spend our last weekend before 'back to school'. Well....none of them worked out, BUT we had a great weekend! With four kids, I think it is a reasonable thought to have plans. But it is just as reasonable to roll with the tide and let things happen sometimes. I have decided to post a few of my personal steps to preparing for Back To School. Last year I had these cute little hooks for each child to hang up their book bags and coats. They worked really well, until my then 5th grader broke his hook due to the 'workload' in his backpack. ; )

So, this year, I am just putting hooks up for the girls (Kindergarten and 3rd grade) and letting my 6th grader use a tubby instead. With the amount of football gear and other 'must haves' it is easier to control the clutter in a box. Here is what I have ready for the girls.

The tubbies are filled with BTS gear and supplies. Instead of them having to lug all that stuff in their backpacks,Daddy and I will carry the tubs in to their classrooms to allow them to unload it at their desks. This is what my littlest lady's tubby looks like.

Now, when my lil red-headed curly girl went through her first year of school, she hardly used most of her supplies. Her crayons, colored pencils and markers came home in May ready to be used through out the summer. BUT, her first grade year, she definitely needed to re-stock through out the year. I hate spending $1.00 for a box of crayons...I LOVE spending $1.00 for FIVE boxes of crayons!

crayons, colored pencils and markers

  

glue, glue sticks, erasers, highlighters and misc. supplies

loose leaf paper and pencils

contained and labeled

folders, wide and college ruled notebooks, loose leaf paper

Stocking up on supplies while cheap is a no brainer. Keeping it organized and easily accessible is essential. My kids know they can come home and be well prepared for any project or assignment. It gives them confidence in themselves and lets them know that we care about their success in school too. I keep the extras out of the kids area. They must come to me to get them. (this saves us from using five notebooks to 'play' school with the neighborhood friends) 

To help with menu planning, I keep a copy of the school lunch menu on the fridge. (we have two schools we deal with in our family, so the other is on the flip side of the one you can see) At the beginning of the week, I can easily reference the school menu and make our supper menu up for the week without duplicating meals. This very simple step has helped me so much! 

I hope to wrap up a few more things tomorrow and share a few links to other ideas from blog land. But, right now, I am so tired and looking forward to my bed. Hope you took an idea or two with you today. I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas too! love, Emily

Finally, Bed Time!

A while back, a good friend (also my cousin) gave me this toddler bed. It had been through the loving affection of two little girls and was in the process of being decoupaged with stickers. ; )

The wood is solid and in great shape. My thoughts raced over all the possiblities of redo-ing this bed. The darling four year old thought PINK would be a great color for her little brother's new 'big boy bed'....Daddy and I, not so much. I re-enforced the wood slats under the matress by wood gluing the ends. I did this in my kitchen....thus the soup cans.

After it dried, I went about spray painting and came up with this...

I am REALLY happy with the outcome! I had planned on adding a vinyl robot or something cute & fun on the headboard, but right now, I am loving the solid bright new color. The best part is that the little man loves it. He has a few months before (I think) he will actually sleep in it, but that is ok. This was a big accomplishment for me, especially with all four kids here this week, along with their friends and football has started and back to school is next week and it has been about 98% humidity for two weeks straight. I feel pretty good. So thanks for stopping and I hope you are all having a great last hurrah for summer.

With Love, Emily 

August Book of The Month

I have got a GREAT end of summer read for you! It is a light and fun read with a wonderful British flare. (oh yea baby...I love the Brits!) Seriously, I have read 2.5 of  Elizabeth Noble's novels and I have and I am currently loving every word. She writes so beautifully. You become part of the book, a must for me....I tend to be a {bit} OCD...  So, I hope you will give this one a chance. I had to keep the 'sippy cup' cropped into this picture simply because that is who I am and that is what you get if you came to my house. If you find the time to pick up Alphabet Weekends by Elizabeth Noble, I do hope you enjoy it as much as I did. With love, Emily  

Shaking it up in the 'Garden'

While perusing a {somewhat} local garden/nursery center this past weekend, I found something that just begged me to try it out. Amist the indoor salesroom, little wooden crates, long terra cotta pots and open topped glass boxes boasted the most adorable little dollhouse type accesories. I stood in awe of the extreme 'cute-ness' of them all. Each one looked so different from the others (each by a different 'artist') and I was hooked. So, I picked up a few pieces and headed home. I have had this wooden crate thingy in the garage for ages and now, it is the beginning of my 'tabletop garden'. I will (of course) add things as I go, including plants and tiny adorable things, but I had to share it with you. Mine is sitting on my front porch table, but the 'ZEN-ness' of it leads me believe that anyone who perhaps, hates the heat & humidity, lives in a non-garden-able area or even a home-bound loved one would just LOVE this!? Just had to share this quick thing, I have bigger things to turn my mind back to especially with back to school only two weeks away. Hope you  like it! Love, Emily    

Let There Be Light!

I have been cleaning my basement. I am trying to gather the 'no longer needed' {ever} baby gear we acquired last year, in hopes of finding it all a new home. Also, sweeping and getting the storage space for our home canning in shape for the upcoming weeks. Yeah, you know where this is going...I got a little side-tracked. But just a little. It seems I have a smallish collection of unused lamps. While moving and cleaning, I found these two lamps.

Eck. The 'brass' one has been around for nearly 15 years. It has been sitting next to the other lamp, which I [LOVE] because it is so large and heavy, but seemed to 'wash-out' any area I tried to give it a home. So, I stopped sweeping (it IS rather hot today) and dragged them upstairs and right out into the garage. Luckily, I had picked up a NEW can of spray paint while looking for stakes for those yard timbers. ;-)   A few short hours later, this is what I have! 

Not only are they more stylish but they now 'match'ish. I have even thought of finding a tinier lamp and setting them as a trio on the same table. We'll see. For now, my step son is left to ponder 'where else I am gonna put a lamp'. I guess two 'new' items is too much for him in one day.  :-)  Now, off to finish that darn basement....