Confession

My project for today was to clean off the top of our kitchen cabinets. Here is a "Before" picture:

Now here is an "After" picture:

When Jarrod and I lived in Wake County I used to take classes at a pottery studio called Bisque Art. This was "BK" (Before Kids.) Today I enjoyed taking some of my pieces down, washing them, and displaying them neatly on top of the cabinets. I took pictures and they are obviously not professional quality. :)

Here is the bowl I painted at my first class in 1999:

I painted this Rainbox Trout for Jarrod and it is one of my favorite pieces:

This picture is not very good, but this is also one of my favorite pieces:

These lilies were a lot of fun to paint:

This was the most difficult thing I painted...it was so detailed!! We used really thin tape to make the grid, then we painted over it, and finally peeled the tape off.

Now here is my confession: A long time ago I put some cupcakes on top of the cabinets so the boys wouldn't get into them without permission....and I found them today!!!! I can't believe that I totally forgot about those cupcakes! That is why I desperately need to continue with this challenge!!

My next challenge is to clean out the top shelf of one cabinet.

2012 Declutter Calendar

I've attempted to follow several different organization programs over the years. I use a lot of Flylady's techniques (http://www.flylady.net/) and recently I have found a lot of great ideas on Pinterest. One of the ideas that I "pinned" comes from http://www.mysimplerlife.com/2012.htm This is a calendar that gives you one assignment each day for decluttering. I am trying to complete several of the January projects before going back to work.

One project is to set up a donation station. I have a bench by the door and as I am decluttering I place unwanted items inside a cardboard box. When the box is full, I get it out of the house! I also cleared off 2 shelves on the bookshelf by our front door: one for Eli and one for Joseph. These shelves will be used to place the things they need to take to school or church each day. A lot of time is wasted looking for things every morning...bookbag, show and tell, mat sheet, etc.

The next project I am tackling is a much bigger challenge: declutter the tops of kitchen cabinets and dust. This is the place where I put things that I don't want the boys to find or mess with...there's a lot of stuff up there! It is dirty and dusty...yuck! I will work on this a little at a time. I will start tonight while the boys are sleeping. :)

Looking Forward

As 2011 comes to an end, I find myself dreaming about new possibilities in 2012. One constant area of stress in my life is CLUTTER (I've struggled with this basically my whole life.) As a parent I now see a lot of those same "packrat tendencies" developing in my children, especially Joseph. I desperately need to change my habits, because not only are they negatively impacting my life, but my children don't need to live in a house full of chaos and stress. I've made many excuses over the years, but it is time to make big changes!

This week I started clearing out "stuff" and at first I was doing great...but then I started questioning whether or not I should get rid of things because "someone might be able to use it" or "I should save it for a yard sale." I also have a hard time getting rid of things that certain people gave me. It makes me almost physically sick to consider giving away something a beloved family member gave me...if they MADE it, you can forget about it! It is mine forever....even if I will never wear it or use it.

I've been reading some blogs and websites for motivation and that has helped. Jarrod told me the only thing he wants for his birthday is a decluttered house. His birthday is in March and he said he will help me every weekend that he's home. I want to make our house a place where he can relax on the weekends...instead of feeling constantly stressed out because of the clutter. I was able to spend most of the past 3 days working on the main living areas of our house. Our outside trash can is already full and I have given away lots of free items (books, toys, etc.) My goal isn't for our house to look like it came from the pages of Southern Living. I simply want it to be a place where friends can stop by at any time and I won't go into PANIC mode.

As a joke, my mom gave me a plaque that she bought at a thrift store. It says, "Although my house may be a mess, come in, sit down, converse. It doesn't always look like this, sometimes it's even worse." Even though this was a joke I still take it seriously and want to change the perception that people have about my house....I am ready to make it truly feel like a HOME!

Lessons Learned in 2011

This is our version of an annual family letter. Some of you will be getting it in the mail with the Christmas cards that I still haven't mailed! Hopefully I will mail them before Valentine's Day!
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In January, Joseph turned 6 and we celebrated with a party at the Scrap Exchange. The Scrap Exchange is a nonprofit organization that collects discarded materials from businesses or individuals to be recycled and reused for creative projects. At the birthday party the children were given a goody bag to fill with materials to take home for future projects. I received a call that evening from one of the parents who attended the party. Her child had put some old buttons in his goody bag and one of them had a very vulgar word on it. So, we learned to always check any materials your child brings home from the Scrap Exchange!!

Another exciting thing happened in January....Jarrod got a job after many months of unemployment! The job is in Maryland, so he commutes home almost every weekend. We have learned many things through this transition!  It is tough to be the single parent of 2 curious and creative boys. How do full-time single parents do it all?! Fortunately we have had the support of family and friends to ease some of the burden on Dana during the week.

We spent Easter celebrating with Snoopy at Kings Dominion! We learned that this is a good place to meet so Jarrod doesn't have to drive all the way home every weekend. Joseph is typically a very cautious child when it comes to unknown situations; however, he became very brave and adventurous during this trip to Kings Dominion. He and Jarrod went on everything that he was tall enough to ride! Poor Eli wanted to ride with them, but he was stuck riding the "kiddie rides" with Mommy!

In May we joined a pool and it was one of the best investments for our family. Joseph quickly learned that the water at the end of the slide was over his head, while Eli learned exactly how far he could walk before the water would be over his head. With lessons and lots of practice, Joseph learned to swim underwater a good distance.

In June, our little daredevil Eli broke his arm while sliding/tumbling down an inflatable at Monkey Joe's. He learned that having a cast during the summer is NOT fun...especially when your family just joined a pool!! Our trip to the beach was quite an adventure as well. Dana found a waterproof cast cover and it was worth EVERY penny!! We highly recommend  DryPro cast covers (the company is based in Wilmington, NC so it is nice to support local businesses!)

Unfortunately July brought a time of grief for our family. We learned just how serious allergies to insect stings can be. Dana's father was stung by one wasp and within seconds he was in anaphylactic shock. The doctors were able to keep his heart beating with the use of machines and medicine, but he was not able to recover from the damage to his brain due to a lack of oxygen. Through this time of sadness, we were reminded that we are loved by so many people. Visits, phone calls, emails, meals, flowers, babysitting, etc....we were overwhelmed by the outpouring of love shown to our family.

One important lesson that we learned this year is that plans change, and that's ok!! Dana found that she was overwhelmed with teaching, single parenting, hospital visits, etc and she had "too much on her plate." She had to give up her plans to travel to Kenya for a mission trip, as well as mentoring for Team in Training. Even though she was very disappointed, she knew it was the right decision for our family.

Our family has also learned that sometimes God leads us in unexpected directions. We have been members of The Summit Church (formerly Homestead Heights Baptist Church) for many years and have developed strong friendships that will last a lifetime. We have recently felt God leading us to Ridgecrest Baptist Church. The boys have gotten very involved with their Children's Ministry and have made some really good friends. Jarrod and Dana found a great Sunday School Class and look forward to it every week. We are excited to see what God has planned for our family as we become more involved at Ridgecrest!