As you already know... school is back in session! Homeschooling four little ones with a newborn, let me just say, EXHAUSTING! My brain has been on mental fry for the past week now! I have tried several times to sit down and put a post together, only to stare at a blank white screen. Yup, my brain has been blank. Not because I have nothing to share, because I do. I have, wait let me count... twelve, yes 12 projects in the works, but the words just have not been there. So I decided I would share with you a couple high lights of what has been going on around my Created Home. Let me just say what has not been going on, is folding laundry, because my clean towel pile is taller than my three year old! Really quite impressive, but time to purge some towels I realized. See there... see what just happened? My brain is all over the place... mental fry... also explains the 12 projects at one time. Any how here are just a couple fun things.
Okay what was your first thought upon seeing this picture? The smiles suggest it is not something torturous. Well my little one on the far right would have said otherwise at first. Notice her nervous smile? This was a blind taste test. We were doing a science experiment about the tongue and how your taste buds (or as one of my daughters calls them, taste bugs) work. This was a blast! I highly suggest it for good laughs! The key: salty, sour, sweet and bitter
Obviously my three year old dressed herself... not only does she not match, her shirt is even on backwards. Four months ago (baby is four months) I would of had her shirt turned around in a jiffy, but hey that is just one more thing to do right?
She posed like this on her own. Cracked me up. This is her Rapunzel tower. She proceeded to tell me, "mommy, don't worry! Don't worry! My tower will not fall down... I glued the boxes together." To which I replied, "glued?"
Her: "yes glued."
Me: "glued?"
Her: "yes mommy, glued. I used our new school glue you bought us."
Sure enough she glued the boxes together with white school glue. Not just a little glue, you know a lot of glue is needed when you are building a princess tower.
Need I say more? This is a good explanation as to why my brain is on fry, my laundry is unfolded and dishes most days can be found in my sink. All of which though exhausting and challenging at times is the BEST blessing!
Hope you enjoyed a peak into some of the fun we have been having around our home.
Homeschooling my children is a wonderful blessing that bares with it a great responsibility. With so many different roles (wife, mom, teacher, homemaker etc.) that I play around our home organization is key to keep things running smooth.
Often times the way school lessons break down in a day, one side of a worksheet is completed that day, leaving the other side for the next school day. What to do with all those papers for different children? What to do with them so they are not forgotten or overlooked? Where to put them so each child knows what they have for that day? What to do with them so they are not in the clutches of the youngest sister who wants to try her hand at her big sister's worksheet? These were the questions that inspired this.
Individual pockets adorned with ribbon. Perfect for holding school papers to be done or to be completed, corrections to be made or homework.
Eyelets make this possible to hang over the door from metal hooks. You can purchase eyelets at any fabric store, I got mine at Hobby Lobby. I then used ribbon to hang the organizer to the height I wanted.
Now for a peak of what is hiding under the fabric. How I made it.
I used a large Diaper box from Costco. I trimmed off the flaps or edges and this created the base for my organizer. I cut out pockets to the size I wanted, (keeping in mind they will be hemmed and turned under so that in the end it is at least big enough to fit a piece of paper) and then turned the edges in and sewed a thin hem. I then placed the pockets on my main piece of fabric. I turned under each edge excluding the top opening. I pinned the pocket to the main fabric and then pined on my ribbon wrapping it around the pocket. I sewed on each pocket and only sewed the ribbon edges to the main fabric. Once the pockets were all complete, I then used my hot glue gun to glue the main fabric to the cardboard box (only warping and gluing the edges to the back side of the cardboard). I also used the hot glue gun to glue down the middle or center part of the ribbon onto the pocket.There you have it... very simple. You could hot glue the whole thing if you did not want to sew.
This organizer will most likely hang on the inside door to my classroom closet. The closet door remains open during school time. The top pocket for now will hold my oldest daughters books. The one she is reading for her book report and the one I am reading out loud to her. The other pockets hold school papers! Yay! A wonderful solution! You could also use this for printer paper, notebook paper, construction paper, story books, coloring books, magazines, mail, bills, school or craft supplies and anything else you can come up with! Labels or numbers on the pockets are possibly in this organizers future. If I do then I will show you the update in a later post.
Now for a bit of an update. Here is what now fills my Mason Jar by my chalk board... because I know you have just been dying for this update. :)
It is that time again... school! As many of you may remember our homeschool classroom has changed location for the fourth time, now to our family room. You can see more of that here. So far I have loved it... the location that is, not how it looked. I have been busy making some changes. First here is just a bit of a reminder of what it changed from.
The chairs finally got to go outside for a day of pampering! Something I have been meaning to do for awhile! Armed with a can of black spray paint I gave them a make over we are all thankful for! They look so pretty now! Well as pretty as school chairs can look.
Here is a look around the room. Some more before and afters of the changes made.
I changed the lamp and this very bare boring wall turned into this...
The basket on the wall (far right) also had a date with the spray paint.
With help from my happy helpers. The Golden Retriever is my wonder dog named Dexter and the Sheltie belongs to Mandy at Mandipidy.
Hanging right next to the chalk board on the right is this mason jar. It used to house spaghetti sauce and now will be the home to chalk... maybe flowers! Or as a good friend suggested maybe it's contents will change with the seasons. I used a curtain rod hook and picture hanging wire to hang it on the wall. I simply put it around the bottle as you would if you were going to tie a bow. Instead of a bow I just kept wrapping it around the jar and then took the ends and wrapped them tight around the hook. It was that simple. Now more of the room.
I love having a place for my kiddos to read books! I change out the books in the basket, especially since kids tend to pick the same book over and over again... until "yes we have that one memorized honey!"
Come back for my next post... I will be showing you the fun thing I did with my gallery wall! I am so excited and I just know you will be too! :)
The bedroom we had our classroom in is now being transformed into just that, a bedroom. My next best location, the family room. I had my reservations with having a classroom in the main part of the house, but with a baby on the way, it seems to be the best place for it. School can keep going on even while baby has a need for me to attend to. Here is the beginning of our new classroom as we know it. I still have a few details to attend to, but for now it is working out just great.
It is so wonderful having a chalk board!
The kids love drawing on it! I love that they also use it to practice what they learned that day in school. From math problems to handwriting, a chalk board is a great tool!I placed a stool at the chalkboard for the extra "short" students in our family.
Another great tool is the framed burlap board (pictured to the right of the chalk board) to display flannel board pieces.
.
Underneath my apple cabinet (pictured there next to the large computer cabinet) I have a Finished Work Box. My kids love getting to stamp their pages for a job well done before placing their completed work in the box.
Here is a look inside my classroom closet. On the wall I used picture hanging wire to display art work. The pages are hung using clothespins.
The closet not only stores all my supplies, it serves as a learning center as well.
The Dry Erase board is a tool I use. From a list of the day's plans, the weeks Bible verse, vocabulary words, to quick thoughts... I love it! Anything I write on the chalk board most likely will be colored over or erased by one of my sweet darlings. This Dry Erase board is safe from little hands!
To save on space, I store my books in plastic bins. I select books each week and place them in a separate basket for easy access for my kids.
The basket is also easy for the kids to place books back where they belong.
Another very loved tool in our classroom is our easel! I placed a child size chair in front of it and my kids love standing or sitting while they draw. Whether we are doing school or the kids are just enjoying the classroom, having a place where learning and creativity never ends is fabulous!
Family room meet classroom is working out MARVELOUS! I truly think this is our best location yet!
