Our Schoolroom

We started our first year of official homeschool last week. Hooray! More on our curriculum and our routine later. First, how about a peek into our schoolroom? I mentioned a while ago that we were turning our study into a schoolroom for the kiddos. Because of the location of the room {you can see into it as you enter the house}, I didn't want it to look to "school-y" with primary colors and giant calendars and displays everywhere. I wanted it to mesh with the rest of our house. I'm pleased with how it turned out, especially considering we bought very little to transform it.

So, here it is!

There's quite a bit crammed in there because we needed to accommodate several non-school things like my husband's medical journals and textbooks, our filing cabinet, and our desktop computer. Thankfully it doesn't feel cramped despite all of those things. I think the wide doorway and big window help.

How about a little tour?
First, we have our computer desk. My husband uses our old PC here for work occasionally and Boo uses it for computer games {Starfall.com}. I'd love to get rid of the desk chair {that I've had since college} in favor of something smaller that can tuck under the desk when not used.
In another corner we mounted corkboard squares and framed them with trim {that I still need to caulk and paint...grr}. It's a great place for the kids to display their craft projects and schoolwork. You know how they want to hang up every single thing they mark with crayons? Well, now our fridge can look tidy and we won't run out of magnets trying to display their creations. Below that is a lime green recycle bin we stash all of our paper scraps in until trash day. It mostly gets filled with junk mail.
The left bookshelf stores most of our school needs. We have a shelf with all of the books included in our curriculum, plus my school schedule binder. Another shelf has magazine files that hold workbooks, paper, teacher's guides, etc. I bought these at the Ikea in Houston and lugged them home in my suitcase a few months ago. I can't wait until our Ikea opens next year. It's a homeschooler's dream. Anyways, the magazine files were less than $0.50 each! I labeled them using chalkboard ornaments I found at JoAnns and white paint pen.

We have a shelf dedicated to all sorts of supplies: glue, paint, stickers, pipe cleaners, etc. I sorted those in labeled Tupperware boxes. The wooden box in the middle {from JoAnns} has our stash of flashcards that we've collected from the Dollar Spot in Target. I love those flashcards and we use them a ton. Read more about that here.
On our filing cabinet in the middle, we keep our fish, Flip, and a small set of drawers that holds scissors, glue, construction paper and markers. Those are things we use the most and are easily accessed by the kids. I painted the front of our old hand-me-down filing cabinet with chalkboard paint. We just keep the chalk in the upper grooves on the cabinet drawers and The Noodle can entertain himself drawing on it if I need to help Boo with schoolwork.
The Noodle isn't one to sit and do one thing for a really long time. {Granted, he's only 23 months old!} With that in mind, I dedicated the bottom two shelves of the right bookshelf to things he could get out and play with on his own. We have a stack of wooden puzzles, a few cardboard puzzles, a basket of letter magnets he can use on the filing cabinet and some foam puzzles and letters all within his reach.

The other wall of the room has an ottoman I found at a garage sale and recovered. There's no real purpose of it being in here right now but it's been a great spot to sit and nurse baby girl while we're doing school. It may get ousted if we start feel cramped in there. Oh, and the door in the middle is to a bathroom. Can't tell you how helpful having a bathroom close by has been with a potty training toddler! It's not much of an interruption to take him potty.

Lastly is the table and chairs. I love this! We ended up cutting down the legs on our old kitchen table. The tabletop is big enough to give the kids plenty of space to work without disturbing each other. The chairs are from garage sales and I'm still finishing painting them all the same color. I love having a table that is kid-sized. It's big enough for me to sit there with them but perfect for them to be comfortable. I didn't want them learning to write while sitting on their knees at a regular table. Oh, and the rug is a cheap one from Walmart that we previously had down in our basement. It's easy to get play-doh off of and I don't fret about them painting or doing other messy projects over it.

So, that's the tour! I'll be posting soon about the curriculum we're using and what we've learned one week in about routine, etc.

Easy Infant Headband

Our baby girl is growing so quickly. It amazes me. Why does it seem faster with each child? Hopefully my incessant picture taking will help me capture all of these fleeting moments of infanthood.

Anyways, baby girl was blessed with some hair straight off the bat but not enough to don any clips or bows. I hadn't stocked her wardrobe with infant-sized headbands so I was looking for an easy and inexpensive way to accessorize her cute little punkin head. Tights did the trick! They stretch, they're soft, they don't fray, and they come in a variety of colors....perfect!

So for a couple bucks I bought a pair of brown tights and started snipping away. I made a dozen little brown headbands for her with just one leg of the tights. I figure it'd be good to have several since they'll stretch over time with use.

I've just been clipping on some of the cute hair clips she received as gifts.
Adorable.

Hanging Out: A Tribute to My Clothesline

All I wanted for Mother's Day this year was this retractable clothesline. I know, lame. But I couldn't have been happier when my boys gave it to me. I love it!

My mom hung out our clothes on the line growing up. We were the only people I knew who did that. Other than the stiff towels and jeans, I never thought twice about it. But I do remember being completely embarrassed whenever my great aunties from New Zealand visited and their giant panties were flapping in the wind for all the neighbors to see. {We lived on an acre of land and there were no fences to hide the line.}

Having a clothesline in sunny, dry Colorado is even more efficient than in hot, humid Texas where I grew up. Here my clothes dry within an hour or so and our sun is so bright that my cloth diapers have never been whiter.

In fact, cloth diapering is what really motivated me to get a clothesline. After over a year and a half of use, The Noodle's cloth diapers were starting to retain an odor despite all sorts of attempts to get rid of it. The first time I dried them on the line, the smell was totally gone.Another awesome benefit of line drying is the cost savings. We've noticed a considerable reduction in our electricity bill. We've only used the dryer a couple times all summer and what a difference that makes!

I'm sure some people would consider hanging their clothes out to be a time-consuming hassle. I've actually found that I'm more productive and on-top of my laundry chores than before. The kids want to be outside playing in the yard all of the time so it's easy to be out there with them hanging out clothes. And when the clothes are dry, I fold and sort them in the basket as I take them down. I had a tendency to let dry clothes sit in the dryer all day {or longer} waiting for me to fold them and put them away. Now I do it all at once.

The only disadvantages I've found so far are dealing with unexpected rain showers {though that very rarely happens here} and towels so stiff they could stand up on their own. The remedy for the towels is to throw them in the dryer for five minutes once you bring them in. No biggie.
I love the particular clothesline we got too. It's mounted to the side of our house and pulls out to clip onto a tree in our yard. When I'm not using it, I retract it. You wouldn't even know it's there when it's not pulled out. No big poles or lines to look at. It has 5 lines which is great for accommodating several large loads of laundry at a time.

As for pegs, my clever Hubby suggested I make a fanny pack type apron to hold the pegs in.

Please ignore my 9 months pregnant belly in this photo.

I made this one using two placemats I found on clearance at Target. Random but it does the job perfectly and the thicker placemat material makes it really durable. Although the boys initially had been offering to hold my bucket of pegs for me as I hung out the clothes, I'm sure their enthusiasm would have tapered after a few weeks. The dorky fanny pack was just what I needed.

So, do you have a clothesline? What are your thoughts on line drying?

If you want to read up more on the benefits of line drying, check out these articles:
GreenLivingTips.com
MomAdvice.com
LaundryList.org

I was not reimbursed for my opinion regarding the Sunline brand of clotheslines. I do not have any connection with the sites referenced above and may not support specific agendas promoted by them. I simply found the line-drying articles there to be helpful and informative.

Butterfly Baby

We've been spending most of our time the last few days marveling over our sweet baby girl. And though she's only days old, I'm already having fun dressing her up.

Here she is modeling the appliqued butterfly onesie I made her a while ago. {I posted about making it here.}

I am really loving these embellished onesies on her. I used several newborn sized onesies I had on hand to make them. They're perfect for these early days/weeks when babies are so small that they don't fill in the 0-3 month clothes. And since they only require a simple stitch around the design, they're very soft on baby's skin. Plus, they're quick and inexpensive to make so you don't feel too disappointed when they outgrow them within a week or two's time.

Okay, enough of my enthusiasm about that project. I'll have more NEW projects to share soon.

She's Here

This weekend we welcomed our sweet baby girl into the world. Praise God for a healthy and precious baby. We are all enjoying adjusting to life with her. Her big brothers are so proud of their new baby sister.