Monday, January 5, 2015

New Year Goals

I am not one to keep resolutions but I am trying to keep our house neat.  Over the Snovember storm and Christmas break I have managed to do some major cleaning.  After taking down the Christmas tree I even cleaned all of the blinds and washed the window treatments in our Family room.  We ordered a new couch during Thanksgiving and anticipate it arriving in the next month. 

I am determined not to let the clutter catch up with me again.  So my new goals include making the beds every morning before school.  I have been trying to do this the past month and it does make the upstairs look much neater.  The kids are getting better about taking the dirty clothes out of their rooms.  I like all dirty clothes to instantly go the laundry room so I let the kids throw their clothes over our bannister and then take them to the laundry room.  I bought Lysol Tap Tops on a deal at Target and love it in the bathroom.  I have been wiping down the counters every morning.  Something I also have been a slacker about.  Some mornings it is crazy getting out of here on time. 

We cleaned the basement that has all of the kids toys in it.  I brought 3 garbage bags of toys and stuffed animals to Goodwill.  Unfortunately there are still many toys to part with.  I will sell lots of them at the next Consignment sale in March.  My Christmas is all put away, but the storage portion of our basement still needs to be purged and straightened up.  Our storage side has a ton of decorations, supplies, and extra pantry items.  I really need to get this under control this winter.  The kids are starting to be so much easier.  Evan is happy to play with Sara or play on his xbox, he loves Madden 15 and football.  Sara is happy coloring and doing crafts and they both will occupy themselves for long periods of time.  It makes life so much easier to complete the little things.

Today we all returned to school.  As tough as it is to leave the house, I think we were all happy to be back.  I am crossing our fingers that we can all stay healthy.  I came home today with a slight stomach bug but it seems to have passed already.  Sara was exhausted and crying and whining by 7:30, she was fast asleep by 8pm.  Evan and I just finished reading Junie B. Jones, we are half way through the series.  As silly as it is I find myself laughing out loud to it.  He wanted nothing to do with it when I introduced it last summer, but once his teacher read the first book he was hooked.  Sara is reading Biscuit books and Sophia the first books.  She hasn't fully caught on to sounding things out and rushes through her attempts and often guesses at the words.  She knows many sight words but her attention span after a full day of school is a challenge.  I remember Evan being the same way in Kindergarten, he hated homework and fought me many evenings.  This year it almost seems to easy and he is done in less than 5 minutes with his math and spelling.  He is supposed to read ten minutes each night.  He likes to read the sports pages in the paper, any articles online about football, and can read anything I put in front of him.  So we don't consistency read together each night.  His spelling and reading are way above grade level, so I have no concerns with him. 

Today it was frigid and looks like it will be the same for the rest of the week.  We received snow shoes for Christmas and Sara and I ventured out last week. For having never done it before she put them on and grabbed her poles and was like a pro.  She fell twice and instantly used her polls to pull herself up.  Sara is very athletic  and agile.  She has already told me next year she wants skis.  There are two ski resorts close by and they have wonderful children's programs.  The cost of skiing is what has held up back.  Marc and I skied until we had children.  I wouldn't say we love it but it is something to do over the winter.  I am not sure we are ready to make the financial and time investment in it quite yet.  Sara wants to enroll in the next learn to skate session.  Evan claims he doesn't want to do it.  He did it 2 years ago and cried through most of it.  I really thought he would be willing to this time but he says no to it.  He will have to come along and watch Sara so I am still on the fence about signing him up.  Its $80 per child plus either skate rental or the purchase of used skates and a helmet.  Evan has a helmet and Sara can probably wear his old skates.  If both of them enroll it will be another $70-$90 for helmets and skates. 

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