Lunar New Year!

We started this dragon 2 years ago when we studied Vietnam, and the kids finished it today for Tet/Lunar New Year. Thomas spread confetti and Anthony led the dragon dance.

Declutter--Jan

My guiding influences on what to keep and how much to spend as I declutter and organize are Happy Are You Poor and the story of a friend of mine about an old, ugly, but still serviceable key rack that her mom refuses to get rid of. Thinking about her story always starts a waterfall of memories about lovely, elegantly simple, frugal people I've known and the ideas they've shown me. The message of Happy Are You Poor--the Gospel message--is what reminds me that we don't need much to live, and we don't need a bunch of shiny new Made in China to organize into. I'm not saying I won't buy some new things as I organize, but I am trying hard not to buy new things just because I want something new.

Office--I put up an old magazine rack bookshelf with some labeled file folders for "Bills/Receipts", "To Do", and "School Plans" as a landing zone, and it has been great. I added some organization to the closet and office supplies mostly using things we already have, like Mason jars. One thing I realized that the office is also a craft room, projects-to-be-kept-out-of-the-way-until-they-can-be-worked-on (e.g.broken magazine racks) room, and exercise room. Too many jobs for such a small space.

My Closet--This walk-in doesn't actually hold any of my clothes. It is arranged for next season's wardrobes, guest linens, giveaway, and baby supplies. The big job was the clutter from Maria's room that we had moved here to be gone through little by little.

Dining room/Entry/Porch--Not much to do in these areas which is why I lumped them with the big jobs. Today I re-potted the bulb box (optimist me gardens in winter) and prepared the rose bush for its new home.

Poetry for Boys

My boys love poetry most days, but when it was -5 degrees outside, we decided to spice things up a bit:

Up into the cherry tree,

who should climb but little me....

It works very well to jumprope.
********

And this project finally inspired Charles to finish memorizing The Cow:

He made us cream with all his might, and I made apple tart.

A Historic Opportunity

Today the kids and I went downtown with our friends the Beardsleys to be a part of the March for Life. The east end of the mall was wall to wall people, all of us there to protest legalized abortion and pray that the people of our country will come to recognize the dignity of each person from conception to natural death. It may have been less orderly than Tuesday's inauguration (which we watched on TV), but DC was filled with many courteous and helpful souls. A man on the metro shook my hand and told me it was a privilege to meet me. A woman cheerfully helped us squeeze into the tiny metro elevator. Everywhere we walked, teenagers oohed and awed over baby Joseph asleep in a carrier on my back, and older men helped me move the double stroller up and down curbs. And the Beardsleys were there helping manage the troops and making sure no child got left behind. The kids were troopers. Even though they were tired by the end of the walk, they were all excited to have stood up for what is right and were full of questions about how people cannot realize that abortion is murder and when will it end. I wonder the same thing.














Here is Thomas in front of the Supreme Court, and Maria and MacKenzie happy that we have finished the march. Above Mary Chris, Carter, Ronan, and Thomas pose in front of John Paul the Great HS's "Life is Great" sign on the Mall. Blog header is Anthony with the Washington Monument whited out behind him.

Ruthless Simplicity

With a little over 6 months before our move, this is the phrase that is on continuous loop in my head: "Ruthless Simplicity." I have a plan to declutter all the dark corners of the house for 15 minutes a day until the guys with the big truck come. For the record, we moved into this house with about 7500 lbs.

I put my cleaning list in a side bar, but this is for me to refer back to when move next year:

Jan: Office My closet Dining room/entry way/porch

Feb: Landing Master bath Linen closet Repair chest

March: Hand-me-down closet Master bedroom Kitchen Kids' & downstairs bath

April: Living room M, J, JD's room Ch and Cec's room A&T's room

May: Freezer & pantry Entry closet Laundry area Lego closet

June: Art closet Garage Blue room Backyard

July: Harddrive and Dig up roots

When you live somewhere for a short time, your roots are shallow, but we've been here about 4 years and the soil was rich. I already feel that being transplanted is going to be painful. Hopefully, Virginia will give me 6 months of the weather I hate so much to make it a little easier.

The Christmas Game

The kids have created a new game. It involves taking ball shaped ornaments and throwing them at the angel on the top of the tree to try to knock her off.


And I was worried about the baby getting into things.

Happy Birthday, Maria!

Today Maria turned 8.



For her birthday dinner we had B-B-Q beef burgers with chips and sparkling cider. Her birthday cake was cheesecake because she does not care for regular cake. We had a small family celebration since she had already received her gifts: an American Girl doll from Grandpa and Grandma and Dad and Mom, 2 AG doll outfits from Pop and Mama, a Mass from the Baers by way of Uncle Chrysostom, and a card and money from Granny.

She and I also did some shopping at Jo-Ann's where I helped her buy a sewing machine.

Maria loves any kind of craft and especially sewing projects. She also loves to draw and paint and read. She has read Harry Potter 1-3, some Warrior series books, and easy reader versions of classics like Little Princess, Little Women, and Moby Dick.

She also likes to cook, and she and Thomas helped make the tamales for our Epiphany party. She is almost as tall as Thomas and is very mature. She loves to help with James and Joseph, and she shares a room with them.