Friday, June 15, 2012

Organizing The Small Spaces, Part 1

So, here I am nearly 5M postpartum and therefore losing any possible excuse for the disorder that is going on in my household. So I am on a mission to get the house and the people in the house whipped into shape before September when Ben starts homeschool Kindergarten....that is almost like for real school!

This means organizing all the STUFF, but also creating new schedules and new habits. Cracking down on the areas we have gotten lax about...you know like insisting Ben actually get dressed everyday. Getting the children more involved in the chores and functioning of the house. Creating new and predictable rhythms. Working on the obedience....obedience to the parents for Ben and Anna and obedience to my vocation for me.

Organizing the small spaces around my house to get rid of the physical and visual disorder and organizing the small spaces in my heart that I might do the best I can do each day. These are big jobs...for me anyway.

So we are starting small. I am going to clean up all of the little places where disaster accumulates.

Above the entertainment center.  You know where you just toss the tapes and dvds instead of putting them away.  Also Claudio leaves whatever he finds in his pockets up here.

Ohh, and also IN the entertainment center.  Because sometimes I don't leave the tapes and dvds on top.  Sometimes I throw them in the cabinet.  Nice, huh.

The homeschool bookshelf....some little person can't keep her grubby paws off this stuff...so it needs lots of straightening and some cracking down on said grubby paws!

My desk is under there somewhere folks.  Clearly it needs to be a working area for me and it ain't.

The back porch often functions as a mud room and a place to put things you just want out of sight out of mind.
I am not sure the disgusting swirls of filth can be seen on these window panes, but rest assured they are there and need some serious attention.

Another shelf of random "just get this out of my way" stuff.

We must break records in terms of the number of junk drawers we have going in this house.....have drawer, find junk I swear.

My cabinets...nuff said.

Another drawer of junk.

My white board.

My pantry shelves.  Full of random junk and could be filled with useful things I need easy access to.  THIS MUST CHANGE!

So, what small spaces do you have that need organizing, renovating, and improvement?

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Living on a Budget

You can find me guest blogging over at Finding Great Joy...discussing some tips for living on a (tight) budget.

Come on over!

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Ohhh Yeah!!

You may wonder to yourself, upon seeing the above picture, "Hmmm, why would those silly Salvucci's leave Anna's feeding pump out on their front porch?!"

The reason my fine feathered friends is THEY'RE COMING TO TAKE IT AWAY HAA HAA HEEE HEE!!!!!  Yes, folks it is a truth universally known that when a girl no longer gets overnight tube feeds her homecare supplier will come and take her pump back!!

Huge milestone at the Salvucci house!!!  I would have taken a picture of Anna swinging from her medical pole but she is sick with some sort of terrible virus and was far too droopy.

It will be weird to not have a medical pole in her room anymore, but I am betting it will quickly become a memory and soon one of us will say, "Hey remember when Anna had that pesky medical pole in her room??"  and the other will say, "WHAT?!  That never happened"  ;)

Three more months till the tube is OUT!

Thursday, June 07, 2012

We Have a Date!!

 Anna picked out her own clothes...she likes stripes.

 You see that spunky, fashion challenged, Little Orphan Annie look alike, who can in one instant drive you to the brink and charm you, who had to fight and persevere for every little ounce of herself (hair not withstanding), who is strong in ways most 2yr olds will never know, and downright GORGEOUS.....yes, her right up there and down there.  Well, that little spunky monkey has an appointment, September 10th, to have a visit with her surgeon to have her feeding tube removed!!!!!!!!!!

Ohhh my gosh it has been a hard a bumpy road but we are SOOOO close to the end now!!

She is no longer receiving tube feedings at night and she is maintaining her weight.  So well in fact that even after having a stomach bug she managed to regain the lost weight ALLLLL on her own....with her own mouth!  She is nourishing herself.  

So pray pray pray that the next few months continue to go well and that Sept. 10th appt comes QUICK QUICK QUICK!!!

this is what her dome hair looks like when we choose not to comb it!

Friday, June 01, 2012

Iceberg...Goldberg..What's the Difference?

So little Buggy here has a weird rash all over her body....We have been a never ending string of illnesses here recently.  So it is no wonder that my conversation with the nurse went something like this:

Nurse: Does she take any medications?
Me: Yes, she takes...Xanax....
Nurse: *blank stare*
Me: wait....I mean ZANTAC!!!!

You know I was wondering why she was such a super sedate baby!