A Bridal Shower

We thought about going roller skating this morning but changed our plans because none of our other homeschooling friends were going. I have so many things on the schedule for today that I need to stay at home anyway. I want to devote a good part of the day to cleaning, decluttering and organizing our bedroom. I am also hoping to spend time working on homeschooling plans for the fall.


This evening, the girls and I will be attending a bridal shower for a young lady that I have never met. The future youth pastor of our church is getting married in January and his fiancee will be here for a few days. For once, I actually have already bought and wrapped the gifts. Yesterday, Hannah, Holly and I made cards. Mine is completely blank on the inside. I wanted to write something inspiring but my poem writing ability seems to have deserted me at the moment. Hopefully I'll think of something. Meanwhile, my lunch break has been too long and I need to get back to my room.

Tackle It Tuesday - My Dining Room Table

The Clutter Monster at my house is a large and horrible beast. In Romania, I blamed disorganization on the lack of closets and drawers. Now it would be too much stuff in too small of an apartment. Here you can see the results of an unusually busy month. John preparing for a mission trip, homeschool, driving people here and there, a girl scout project or two. . . the Clutter Monster took over my dining room table.

For the sake of my sanity, I decided to reclaim the table.

Much nicer. Let's see how long it stays that way!

Around the House

The weather has turned wintery with temperatures below freezing yet we still haven't felt the need to turn the heat on. We did have to don sweaters and warm slippers and curling up under a warm blanket now seems like a good idea. The indoor thermometer says 68 which is actually warmer than we were accustomed to in Romania.

Yesterday, I was able to get some work done in the girls' room. They had one small dresser to share with drawers deep enough to hold a couple of tee shirts. I had them use it for PJ's, socks and underclothes. Tee shirts, blue jeans and other articles of clothing all had to be hung in their closet. It was one crowded closet. Add to that the toys, purses and an entire array of paraphernalia that they "need" and the closet was one colossal mess. Well, we were able to get the girls their own chest of drawers. I moved the small dresser into the hallway where it still holds the PJ's and etc. I filled up Holly's chest of drawers and went to work on the closet. The room now looks terrific and heaven help the person who messes it up! I am working diligently with Holly on putting back what she gets out. Something I obviously failed to do somewhere along the way. Now if I could only figure out how to get her to do a decent job on making up her bed, which is the top bunk.

My Desk - Thursday Thirteen Edition #46

Here is my desk as it should be.

Sadly it doesn’t look like that now. Why is it that my desk is so hard to keep neat? Maybe because I spend too much time here! Here are 13 things that are on my desk but are not supposed to be:

1. Holly’s feathery pen
2. Holly’s subtraction flashcards
3. My cereal bowl
4. Computer program – Outline Maps of the World
5. World Atlas
6. 2 homeschool books
7. library receipt of returned books
8. 8 ½ x 11 paper because I put A-4 paper in the printer
9. Masking tape – Who got that out??? It belongs on my desk but in a basket
10. Calculator
11. Holly’s Bible School papers
12. Scissors – Should be in the pencil holder
13. Dust

I’m going to clean off my desk right now!

Sneak Preview #2 and Show and Tell

Mary aka Canadagirl is hosting Show and Tell Friday. I thought that I would show you another glimpse of our apartment. The kids' rooms are small and Hannah and Holly have to share, giving them precious little space. So I decided to allow their space to continue into the hallway, at least for some of their belongings.


This is our hallway. The master bedroom is straight ahead. The kids' bedrooms are on the left

This is Hannah's doll collection. The quilt on the rack was made by my mom for Holly. Hannah and I want to put a different one there but we haven't unpacked all the quilts yet.
Here is some art work by Gabe and Hannah when they were in 1st and second grade.

This is a puzzle that Hannah received as a gift one year. We worked together as a family to put it together. Our Romanian friend Laura helped some too, making it even more memorable.

A Taste of Routine

The last two days have been great. I have rediscovered routine, or at least tasted it. Monday morning and today we were able to accomplish some school work. We went to the grocery store just before lunch and I planned on going to the library. But just before time to leave, a terrible storm began. It poured buckets and the thunder and lightening were ferocious. Lightening struck somewhere, so close that it shook the entire apartment building. Finally, it let up enough for us to leave. I had left the window open, just a crack, because it has been so hot out. I think in a normal downpour, it would have been alright. Today’s storm, however, practically rivaled Noah’s and the side of the seat was wet enough to soak the seat of my pants. We had to return home for a change of clothes.

The library that we went to today is brand new. Yesterday was opening day. After spending many years on the foreign field with no English library at all, any library is nice. But I must say that the one we went to in Alabama is a cracker box in comparison to the one here and it is technologically behind. The girls, especially Holly, were thrilled with the system here. You scan your own card and books. I admit that I found it fun too. This new library is a couple of miles further than another branch but I am sure it will be our regular one to visit. We didn’t even go upstairs yet!

John and Gabe ended up staying home. John got dinner started and then worked on more household organization. One huge improvement was moving my computer. It was in our bedroom and now it’s in the living room. It has made some room in the corner of our bedroom for storing some of our Rubbermaid tubs. I know that’s not the most attractive idea but it looks better there than in the living room. It may take us another week or so to get settled but we are getting there one step at a time. How long did it take you to unpack and settle in the last time you moved?

Making Space

Our washer and dryer that were supposed to be delivered last Monday finally arrived late Tuesday evening. I had cleared the laundry room closet out early Monday morning in preparation for them. It had been a convenient spot to store things temporarily. The empty closet seemed quite large and I envisioned just where the 13 gallon trash can, laundry baskets and some other paraphernalia would go. When the men delivered the washer and dryer and set them up, I saw those dreams vanish. The closet grew so much smaller with the addition of the huge appliances. Later, I told John and Gabe that I was completely content with a small under the sink trash can and if they felt like we needed the large one, would they please find room in their area of the tiny apartment. They weren’t willing to give up their space for the gargantuan garbage container and it was set aside to be donated.

Yesterday we devoted a good portion of the day to hanging pictures. In 20 years of marriage, one can collect a huge amount of items to hang on a wall. It really didn’t seem like much in a larger house but I don’t think we will have much blank wall space here when we are finished. John also put some shelves up in the laundry room closet and they look great! There’s still no room for the trash can but now there is plenty of storage for large pots, Tupperware, a cooler, etc.

I am still not ready to take pictures but I will try to get there sometime this week for your viewing pleasure and most importantly for my sanity! Meanwhile, here is a silly question for you. How big of a kitchen trash can does your family need?

Busy Days

This week just zipped right past and we have been busy with several different things. On Monday, Gabriel took me to see Spider Man 3. That was his Mother’s Day gift to me. I wasn’t really wild about seeing an action flick, especially paying theater prices for it. Waiting for it to come out on DVD was good enough for me, or so I thought. But Gabe insisted that I would like it and surprisingly, I did! There are some powerful lessons taught in that film on bitterness, revenge and forgiveness. It’s a must see movie, in my opinion.

John has been cleaning and organizing my parents’ garage. That is quite a daunting task! I have been working bit by bit on things here on the inside. School wise I am thrilled to say that are just about finished with one subject! Gabriel asked a few weeks ago if we could just concentrate on one thing at a time and it has been a great idea. He and Hannah just have a couple of reports to do and we’ll be done with English Grammar and Composition 1! Next week, I am planning on focusing on Geography.

On Wednesday night, my blogging friend Julie and her kids came by for a visit on their way back to Texas. They arrived a few minutes after LOST was over. Great timing, Julie!! We had an awesome visit with them! I have no idea when we may cross paths again but I am so blessed to have Julie and her family for friends.

How was your week?

Feeling Better

I suppose with all that we have gone through in the past few months, my body demanded a rest. And rest I have done! I woke up this morning when Holly came into the room. John was sitting here at the computer which is in our bedroom. I heard her whisper, “Daddy, can we have lunch now?” Lunch? I looked at the clock. It was 11:30. I still have a cough and become weak by doing the least little thing but I am feeling better. Thank you so much for your prayers and good wishes.

There are so many things that need to be done. Our container should arrive in a US port soon. Then we will have it shipped here. John has rented a storage building and our belongings will stay there until we know our next step. I want to do some organizing of our things that are already here. Some things we brought with us from Romania. We also have boxes of things that my parents have generously stored for many years; things that we did not want to bring to Romania. If I can go through some of those, our living space will be a bit less cluttered. I also need to make a school schedule. I am still not sure what was accomplished before I woke up this morning but the kids treated the rest of the day like a Saturday. We did do one science lesson this week and they read all week. I am looking forward to next week, Holly’s birthday, time with family and hopefully finding routine. What about you?

Organization and God's Provision

Remember the four tubs that were still out in the garage? Well, they were still out there because I wanted to make our living space livable. I have worked on organizing some things in our closets and dressers and had things fairly nice and neat. Today, the last of the tubs were emptied out and my mom can finally park her car in the garage once again. But now I need to start over again with the organization in the bedrooms. Sigh. . .

Some friends in Florida gave us a van in January – a 1993 Nissan Quest. It is in very good shape and it’s my favorite color too. Not having to buy a vehicle is a great relief in so many ways! Praise the Lord!

My sister-in-law gave us a computer desk so now we have somewhere to put the computer besides my mom’s dining room table. Now I just need to get off the computer and find a place for everything on the bed or we’ll be sleeping in the garage.

But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:19