Wish me luck!

Well, it's the beginning of The Great De-Cluttering Of '08 around here. I'm trying to get ready for some serious homeschooling this semester by getting my home more organized. The fact that my house has no closets somewhat complicates this goal.As it does every year. BUT. This year we have an ATTIC, people! It is a wonderful gift of God.

So my first act of De-Cluttering was to organize the dining room-- which is where we plan to do school. Transforming my dining room into a cute, functional and multi-purpose dining/school room would give me a good feeling of "Super Human Homeschooling Mom has Perfectly Organized House". But first I had to get Judah's toys out of the (over-flowing) toy corner and put away somewhere in his room. But the kid's room is full of Sofi's toys. So first I would have to move Sofi's toys on shelves in the (teeny-tiny) closet. But that was full of out-grown clothes in garbage bags and bins. 

Actually, my real first act of De-Cluttering was to go through all the baby clothes I've been saving for nearly six years now and sort out what went to consignment and what had to be donated to Goodwill. It was kind of emotional. More on that later.

So, tomorrow I will take a gi-mongous (if I say it's a word, it's a word) box full of tiny, frilly, pink and dreamy baby girl clothes into town and lay them on the altar of practicality-over-sentimentality-- hopefully making a good enough return to purchase Sofi's winter wardrobe.

Wish me luck!

Blogs and such

So I have a new pet project (hi again, by the way, we've been out of town for Polly's b-day-- pics later). Despite all y'all's self-righteous protestations to the contrary, I know that many of you are actually just as addicted to blog-stalking as I am. So, I'm joining a new 'net phenomenon that I first heard about from Smocklady. I checked out the original post at a new blog I'm checking out these days. 

The basic idea of "Blogging The Recession" (see new button in sidebar) is encouraging people who subscribe to blogs with ads to actually load the blog page, instead of simply reading the post off your blog reader (or email, or whatever vehicle gets info about new posts on your fav blogs to you). This allows your favorite bloggers to actually "get the credit", so to speak, of having you as a reader. I never thought about it before, but simply going to a blog's front page and reading the latest post provides that blogger with a (albeit, small) part of her daily income. Clicking around to read archives or check out offers or ads on the sidebars is a bonus. 

I'm not ready to start putting ads on my blog yet (not enough readership to make it worthwhile, at this point), but some of the blogs I read daily depend on them for their daily bread, so I'm joining the movement to "Support My Favorite Bloggers"!! Won't you join, too?

(P.S. I also promise to update my blogroll soon, so you can check out all the cool bloggers that I've discovered recently!)

Bad bike news

We found out yesterday from the guys at the bike shop that my bike (*sniff, sniff*) will have to be replaced :( Apparently it's too small and in order to make it a comfortable ride, the handlebars have been adjusted upwards waaaay past the safe point. The guy said that with the extra weight of the trailer and kids, it's a pretty serious safety hazard. *sigh* He thinks that we could get a nice used bike for around $200. But that's pretty impossible right now unless God performs a monetary miracle. My only hope is that someone in the area will realize that their (17") bike is too BIG and they're looking for a nice 15" (I think) to trade for! :) It really is a nice bike. The handlebars need to be re-taped and the tires are getting a bit worn-down, but it's lightweight and dependable-- easy to ride and very demure and classy. Y'all pass the word around, ya hear??

But wait, the news gets even worse. Apparently Jeremiah's bike is also too small (What can I say? We have spider ancestry...) and needs to be replaced as well. J has had progressively severe knee pain over the last few months and it's reached the point now where he's agreed to a chiropractor visit this weekend. (pause for shocked reactions from people who know how J feels about medical attention to himself of any sort what-so-ever, regardless of seriousness of his illness-- including almost dying Right in the Middle Of MY LABOR with Sofi!!!)

So, since the bikes are pretty indispensable for our family these days (we use them pretty much every day--especially J, who bikes to work every morning), we are looking at having to fork over between $200 and $400 in the next few weeks to replace our bikes. Granted, it's not the price of a new car, or anything, but given the time of year... Well, if y'all think of it, pray for us :(