As Munchkin travels through her homeschooling journey, we constantly find ourselves needing to adjust her subjects and schooling style. Often, these adjustments lead to changes in our homeschool area(s) and homeschool book/supply organization. Recently, we found that our previous setup was no longer working for us. We weren’t really utilizing the separate space as we have started schooling in the living room rather than upstairs. Munchkin was keeping her supplies in a basket, but this looked cluttered and took up too much space. It was also hard to keep the books looking nice when they were being stored in the basket. I knew it was time for an update.
I decided that I wanted to move the cubby system that D had built for me downstairs, but it wouldn’t look all that great because I had never gotten around to painting the mdf cubbies. So, I set aside some time to do lots of painting. (Since I had several cubbies that had never been painted, I wanted to try to get it all done at once. Less clean-up is always a plus in my book.) Once painted, we did some rearranging of the various cubbies and bookcases to create our new homeschool storage space. (Pictured above: dvd storage cases that look like books. It allows me to consolidate the dvds, so they don’t take up as much space. Plus, these storage cases look nice on the shelf.)
Along the wall, we now have cubbies/bookcases. The first bookcase contains all of our most used resources as well as our homeschool curriculum. (My teacher’s guides are in the next bookcase which also houses cookbooks and home economics resources.) The bookcase at the furthest end contains baskets which hold various electronics, gaming items, exercise things… And no, these bookcases do not house all of our books – not even close. lol! It’s just a way to keep all of the most used, currently used books within easy reach.
Because I didn’t want paperwork to get lost or start to get out of control (you know that happens all too easily), I used a wooden tray that I had for all of the paperwork (to do, to be graded, graded…). Once Munchkin has looked over the graded paperwork, it will be filed. Periodically, I go through and sort through the paperwork to decide what to keep and what to do toss. With regular moves, I can not hang on to everything she does. For now, this system is working for us. I love how organized everything feels, and it makes sense for our current space.
You must purchase the pass in person and show a military id or DD Form 1173. If the military member is deployed, immediate family members are able to take advantage of the offer. Good for 1 year after the date of purchase – pass expires the last day of the month. The pass covers entrance to Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service sites that charge entrance fees, and standard amenity fees at Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and Bureau of Reclamation sites.
As you know, we love visiting our National Parks which means we’ll definitely be taking advantage of this offer. The pass is normally $80, so this is a great deal.
Playing and talking shortly before the goodbyes started.
Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart.
~author unknown~
Munchkin enjoyed spending some quality time with her friend on Friday before they said their goodbyes. It was an extremely tear filled goodbye, and it broke this mama’s heart to see the girls hurting so much. Daddy and I took it upon ourselves to side track Munchkin by having a family movie night. Unfortunately, when we headed out to grab the movie and snacks, I ended up missing my opportunity to say goodbye to my friend. **sigh** Thankfully, the internet and cell phones make it easier to stay in touch.
Our weekend consisted of us keeping Munchkin’s mind of her sadness. We even allowed her to get an upgraded cell phone that has the option to send text messages. This was a huge step for me as it means that my baby is truly growing up. Yes, she has a cell phone previously, but we had the text feature blocked. She’s proven herself responsible with the inexpensive cell phone, so we decided that she could upgrade to something with a keyboard to make texting a bit easier. Thankfully, they were having a special, so we didn’t have to pay out of pocket for the phone. (I dislike contracts, but it ended up being a good way to go.)
First time at the pool for the season.
It’s going to take some time to get over not having our friends living right next door. It’s weird seeing the house empty and not hearing the kids playing. While it’s only been a couple of days, they are already missed. Soon, new neighbors will move in next door – neighbors with 2 little boys. That’s going to be a drastic change. We don’t know who will be moving in on the other side of us. Guess we’ll find out soon enough. The turn-over here is usually fairly quick.
I think as we get older and Munchkin gets older our desire to settle down gets a bit stronger. From what I can tell, this is true for many military families. Don’t get me wrong. I still enjoy the many different places we get to live, the adventures we get to experience, and the people we get to meet. It’s just that, with the passing of time, that enjoyment gets tempered with the need to put down roots. One day… yes, one day… we’ll get to start our homestead and look back fondly at the different individuals who have left footprints in our hearts.
We enjoy shopping at our local Sam’s Club store because we’re able to get some great products in bulk sizes at affordable prices. I know not everyone likes buying in bulk because storing things can be an issue. Cheerios understands this concern, so they changed their club packaging. The new 2 box Cheerios contains two individual boxes, making them easier to store and easier to pour!
Other benefits include…
Reducing the amount of air in each individual bag which means that these enhanced containers fit 10% more cereal than before and use less packaging
Reducing packaging material by over 200,000 lbs, means saving 1,000 trees and taking 130 Cheerios trucks of the road, decreasing CO2 emissions
So, not only are you getting more bang for your buck with these new easier to store and pour packages, but you’re also being more environmentally friendly in the process.
These new and improved 2 box Cheerios are now available on the shelves of Costco, Sam’s Club and BJ’s nationwide.
Are you a big Cheerios fan? You can enter to win your own 2 box Cheerios prize pack (4 boxes total) and/or head over to your local club store to purchase. Rafflecopter giveaway is open to US residents and ends 5/30. Winner will be announced on this post.
It’s turned into a huge school zone around our house. Munchkin is working on her classwork. I’m working on my photography classwork. Daddy is working on his military classwork. It’s weird having all of us working on different classes, but it’s also a wee bit funny to see us all trying to focus on the task at hand. With Munchkin’s best friend and her family moving this week, staying focused has been much more difficult. She wants to spend as much time with her as possible before they say goodbye on Friday. For this reason, I gave her today off from school. They were both up early and ready to play.
Paleontologists of the Future?
One of their new favorite things to do is act like they are paleontologists. They bury dinosaurs in the ground for each other and then excavate them. After they’ve been excavated, they need to be carefully cleaned. Really, I totally enjoy the fact that Munchkin is 13 and her friend is 14, yet, they love to play these types of things together. The Lord knew what he was doing when He brought these two together. Sometimes, A’s brother and sister also join in on the fun which makes for lots of laughter and an occasional argument or two. lol!
A sad, sad day...
The neighbors on the other side of us moved earlier this week, so it’s apparent that moving season is starting. Over the next couple of months, we’ll see a huge turn over in our neighborhood as quite a few families will be gone by the end of July. New families will come in and the entire dynamics of the neighborhood will once again change. Munchkin has decided that she wants to move as it would be easier than staying after her dear friend leaves. We thought that would be happening – a fresh start in a new location, but alas, that is not to be at this point in time. Instead, we’ll carry on here and pray that the Lord brings another friend into Munchkin’s life and/or that He gives her the peace and comfort that she needs as all these various changes take place in her life.
