Erin Condren Life Planner 2013 Review

I guess I never really learned the lesson, "You get what you pay for," because like a fool, I went and ordered a cheapo planner back in June.  By the time it shipped (late!) in August, I was already in a complete tizzy because I'd been without a planner for about two weeks.

 

If you recall, last year I purchased an Erin Condren Life Planner and decided to, for the first time, give a paper planner a whirl.  I honestly don't know how I got by without using any sort of planner up until that point in my life - and if you'd asked me last year, I would have also told you I had no clue.  But with my business picking up, taking on my 2nd part-time job and homeschooling the boys, I knew I HAD to get it together.

 

I really liked - and really USED - my Erin Condren last year but was looking for a cheaper alternative for this year.  BIG MISTAKE!  I was immediately unhappy with the one I ordered and went on-line to get a new Erin Condren the very next day.  I vow to never stray again.

 

At long last, here is my 2013-2014 Life Planner, which arrived (early!) a few days ago...

 

 Last year I went with a pre-set design but this year I picked my own color wheel to coincide with my "Something Blue" business. 

 I added a couple of extras:  the pen holder I had used so much last year and customized stickers, which are a new option this year.  I would have ordered a couple of sheets of these, but couldn't figure out how to do that on the website.

I didn't really use the "notes" sections last year, partly because they were inconsistent on whether they were there each week or not.  This year they are on the left side of every page and I've already been using the heck out of them.

The planners I have ordered have been 12 month ones, starting in August (last year) and September (this year) but I've since realized that's not working for me because my business is seasonal, running mostly May-October.  It doesn't make any sense for me to have to switch planners right in the middle of the chaos.  So to avoid that in the future, I am going to order the 18 month planner starting in July of 2014.  I can hardly wait!

In short, I love, love, LOVE the Erin Condren Life Planner and feel it's worth every penny - accept no substitutes! 

My mom will HATE this post

Growing up, it was always pounded into my head that there was nothing more beautiful than wood finish.  My mom spent literally YEARS on a project removing all the paint from our front bay window panes and all the mouldings in the living room, hallway and staircase.  She is a die-hard stripper, taking paint off just about any wood furniture she can get her hands on. 

 

So she would be APPALLED by this project...

 

Before...

 After...

I've had this piece of furniture forever and always liked the raw pine finish, but after re-doing our living room in a bold blue color I needed to pull that blue into the foyer to make it look cohesive.  It was pretty scary when I first started painting it, but now I really love it.  It stands out so much more than before and really brings the whole house together. 

 

Sorry, Mom!

Part of the beauty of homeschooling is...

 

Making up my own classes!

In addition to the boxed curriculum we're using, I have added a class at the end of the school day called:  Home Ec.  So far, this is their LEAST favorite class. But I've explained to them MANY times that of all their classes, this one will provide the knowledge most applicable to their daily lives

 

 So often I tell them to clean their room "the way I would clean it" and apparently they have no idea what that means.  They know what it looks like when I clean it, but they clearly haven't the slightest clue how to get it to look like that. 

 

Each day contains one lesson and before we go to the next one, they have to repeat the previous day's lesson.  Yesterday, our lesson was on how to make your bed.  Their beds have only a fitted sheet and a blanket, so it really wasn't that difficult.  Honestly, the toughest thing was to get rid of all the miscellaneous clothes, toys, etc. that were on their beds.  Both older boys made their own beds, and then one of the little boys' beds. 

 

Today's lesson was cleaning the floor of the room - no small feat!  I showed them how I do it:  by gathering EVERYTHING that's on the floor into a big pile and then picking away at the pile.  I showed them how to sort things and THEN put them away, rather than take 10 different trips to other parts of the house.  I can't say they were enthused, but I sure was!  Here's a fairly dark picture of the finished product:

 

 

Just a note on the bins for their toys...over the years I have spent probably $100 or more buying different storage containers for their toys and within DAYS they would break them.  I finally got wise and bought heavy-duty dishpans.  LOVE them!!!

Well it was another great school day for us over here.  I am packing a ton in this week and we are hoping to be done completely by tomorrow at noon.  A wonderful client of mine from this past summer has offered to let us stay at her lakehouse this weekend.  It's about 10 minutes from here and the boys will LOVE this little getaway.  They always get so excited just to sleep somewhere different.  And, hey, maybe this way their room will stay clean! 

First Day of School with MFW ECC

 

I must admit, I was more nervous than excited to start this school year.  I bought this curriculum last June and was reading the manual every night, getting really excited.  But then I put it all away, thinking that September was soooo far off.  It seemed that way back in June, anyway. 

 

My spring/summer project in the living room and kitchen wasn't originally done with homeschooling in mind, but I did find a way to adapt what I'd done to our need to bring the schoolroom out in the open.  The small bedroom we used last year wasn't working well for two kids and now I was looking at three (sometimes four!) so I had to move our HQ. 

 

I originally had knick-knacks and cookbooks on these shelves that sit on each side of our doorwall**, but those had to make way for bins with school supplies and notebooks.

 

(**I use this word "doorwall" all the time for our sliding glass door that goes out to the deck and my Wisconsin friends make fun of me.  Is that a Michigan term?)

 

I bought fabric bins at Target so that the kids' supplies were out of sight and yet easy for them to find.  Sammy and Owen have their binders tucked on the side and William and Luke just have theirs filled with workbooks and coloring books.  I will also sometimes print out coloring pages for them that pertain to whatever the older boys are studying. 

So here are pictures of each of the boys today - you can tell we homeschool because they aren't dressed to the nines and their hair is all messed up.  But that's part of the beauty of staying at home, isn't it? 

Before we did anything, we stopped to pray together for the grace to get through the day, and we did a devotional from this book I got the boys for New Year's last year.

Overall, it was a good day.  We started at about 8:30am after breakfast and finished a little after 2pm.  We had a 15 minute break around 10am and took about 45 minutes for lunch and "recess."  It's going to be a jam-packed week for us because we had Monday off (Labor Day) and I have appointments on Friday; most everything for this week will have to be packed into just three days.  We worked a little ahead this morning so I think we'll be able to do it.

I see all these pictures of kids going back to school today and I feel so incredibly blessed to be able to have mine home with me. 

Summer! (finally!)

Well, it was a LOOONG cold winter here in Wisconsin!  Yes, I'm still moaning about it because it truly hasn't felt like we had much of a spring either.  But today....oh, today....you. were. glorious!  82 and sunny - we'll take it!!!  We spent the afternoon at our favorite little lake and my lovely neighbor, seeing my post on Facebook, even met us up there for a bit. 

The real reason I love going to the beach is because I get to dress Luke in this "Tiggy Towel."  Hopefully he'll love it for at least another 10 or 12 years.

 

We had a BIG event last week:  William became the first person in our family to graduate from preschool!  Yay, William! 

 

Preschool wasn't offered when Chris and I were kids - at least not that I know of - and it wasn't offered in our school district until last year, so the older two boys never had the option. I waffled a lot on whether or not to send him because it was quite a drive - 20 minutes each way, so a total of almost an hour and a half in the car every day - but ultimately, I'm glad I did it.  Not only did he enjoy the heck out of it,  but I realized that it was really special for me to get that one-on-one time with him every morning in the car.  We had lots of nice talks and he loved to read the books he brought home with him to me.  I also loved hearing all about how the day went, when he would always tell me what kid "threw a fit."

 

On Friday, they held "Farewell Fun Day" at a park and although it was a bit chilly at first, we all had a great time.  I brought all the boys with me, of course.  You can see Luke fit right in...



 

 I had to snap a shot of this girl, who William had a little crush on.  He liked her because she was a "good listener" - to the teachers, not to him.

 

I'm so proud of William.  When I sent him to preschool, it was more than anything to get a BREAK from him.  We used to call him "The Kracken" as in, "UNLEASH THE KRACKEN!" when we woke him up from his nap.  There were times I really thought he might have a split personality.  He coined the phrase, "That's it!  I'm going to a new house!" 

 

But all that changed almost immediately upon going to preschool.  He learned right away that he did NOT want to get in trouble in school and that translated to home, too.  I credit his teachers with making him so eager to please.  They were both so wonderful to him!

 

 

One of them told me that once - ONCE! - she had to correct him a second time for doing something (drumming on a tabletop) and he started welling up with tears.  She realized how sensitive he was and was very careful with how she handled him after that.  She told me she loved how respectful he was of all his teachers and of the other kids, too.

 

I had considered sending him to kindergarten next year since I know he'd love it, but ultimately I've opted to keep him home with his brothers.  I could handle another 1/2 day schedule, but part with him for a full 8 hours a day?  Not a chance!  I tell the kids all the time that a big part of the reason I homeschool them is because they're MY kids and I simply love them too much to part with them for such a large portion of the day. 

 

I'll do a post soon on my plans for next year's schooling.  I'm so excited about it!

Redecorating

Inspired by a friend of mine, who has been using General Finishes Java Gel Stain on just about EVERYTHING in her house, I finally talked Chris into letting me just do this one little thing:  our mantle. 

 

 He thought that because the mantle was the same oak that matched every. other. thing.  in our house, it would look dumb to have it stained dark.  Boy, did I ever prove him wrong!

I think it looks great, don't you? 

Loss

On a normal Tuesday, during a normal, happy afternoon chat with my mom, everything changed.  She frantically hung up on me because there was a call coming in on her other line.  She saw the area code for Arizona, but it wasn't my brother's number.  It was the call she had worried about getting since he moved alone to Arizona 8 years ago. 

 

Daniel had been found unconscious by his co-worker when he returned from lunch that day.  He had eaten something that apparently set off a severe allergic reaction.  Paramedics were called and they got his heart going again, but he never regained consciousness.  My mom, sister and brother flew down from Michigan that Friday, knowing they were going to say goodbye.  It was heart-wrenching.  They officially disconnected the life-support on January 22nd.  Daniel wasn't yet 38 years old.

 

 

My sister was able to stay with my mom at Daniel's house for a full two weeks and my trip overlapped so I got to see a bit of her.  (I missed seeing my older brother by just a day.)  A sweet friend of mine offered to watch the boys for the 4 days Chris had to work and I was able to put my work on hold.  I flew out last Monday and stayed for 8 days.  It wasn't long enough.

 

Daniel's wishes were to be an organ donor and also to be cremated, so we honored his requests.  Here's a picture I took of my mom and sister as we scattered some of his ashes in the backyard.  They were reading a lovely poem I found.

 

 

Daniel was a big animal lover and had three cats.  My sister took his favorite, Kringer, back with her to Michigan and we had to give the other two to a rescue organization in AZ.  Here's a picture of Kringer on the way to the airport.  He doesn't look enthused about seeing snow for the first time, does he?

 So rarely do I have pictures of me and my sister or mom taken, so I snapped a couple while I was there.  It was odd to be kid-free for over a week and I missed them terribly, but I know it was a special time for us to spend together even though it wasn't under the best circumstances.

It was my first - and most likely my last - trip to AZ.  I have never been out West because I always thought of it as dirty, dusty and hot.  Since I was there in January/early February, I was wrong about the "hot" but right about the rest of it.  I was happy to get back to the snow in Wisconsin because I know soon I'll see the lush, green spring season I love so much.