7 QTs: Lent, 12 Angry Men (almost!), God Eats Chips, & Uptight FirstGraders

Joining Jen again!

1) It's the first Friday of Lent! Who's excited?!? 

Yeah, me neither. It says a lot about my current attitude that by dinner time on Ash Wednesday, I was asking "Is Lent over yet?".

Hopefully, I'll get with the groove soon...or, the Holy Spirit will have to kick me into gear.

2) This week, my kids' grade school took their standardized tests. Since this is a Montessori school, this is the only testing they do all year. I think it must exhaust the teachers and the students, because both Jack's and Eamon's teachers declared today a Pajama Party Day. 

Jack was all over that action, while Eamon was horrified. 

He's a little buttoned up.

Kyle offered him a tie.

3) Maeve was accepted to her first choice of high schools. She was accepted into their International Baccalaureate program (basically, all honors) which is impressive. Well, until you find out that all those girls are required to take 6 weeks of summer school to prepare for the rigorous classes at additional expense. This is over and above the 4 weeks of volleyball camp she has to take in order to have a good shot at making their team. Joe told her, "your school is the worst.". Brothers are so kind.

4) As Kyle, Maeve, and I were leaving the registration and uniform fitting appointment at her new school on Tuesday evening, I noticed how subdued Kyle seemed. (We had been nicely shuffled from table to table, writing checks for large sums of money at each one.) When I asked him if he was OK, he responded, "That was the least fun I've ever had for $900.". A-ha.

5) THANKS FOR YOUR PRAYERS! After going through the most horrifying security line in the world, sitting for 4.5 hours, and being interviewed by an assistant state's attorney who loudly exclaimed "DO YOU EVER SLEEP?!" when I told her my "job"

was being a mother to 7 kids, I was excused from Grand Jury service!! And, hallelujah, because, as another Asst. State's Attorney explained to us: it was a guaranteed 5 week service, Monday through Friday, 9am to 5pm. Seriously, who can do that?? So, if you think of it, please pray for the 16 people who were chosen to serve, as well as the 8 alternate jurors.

6) As I sat there in the "jury waiting room" -- after praying my Rosary and desperately begging for prayers on via text and Facebook -- I practiced one of my favorite hobbies: people-watching. Human beings are fascinating, odd, gross, beautiful, snooty, tired (I'm looking at YOU, Mr. Snoring Loudly), and anxious. It occurred to me once again that we are ALL created in the image and likeness of God. As to why God would continue to pour the microscopic pieces of potato chips into his mouth from his chip bag, is something you will have to ask him. 

7) Are you joining in the 40 Bags, 40

days Challenge? How's it going? Have you hit any stumbling blocks or found buried treasure yet? I'm doing pretty well (7 bags already!), but am once again horrified at the realization that so many of my kids are hoarders. Here's hoping that the Good Lord sees fit to take me before my kids appear on this show:

The 40 Bags in 40 Days Challenge

My dear friend Jessica over at Housewifespice asked me to break down how I do the 40 Bags in 40 Days challenge, and I will try.

For those of you not "in the know", the 40 Bags in 40 Days Challenge is a way to purge your house of junk in a way that's manageable. It's meant to be done over the 40 days of Lent, so as to add another layer to the spiritual cleanse we are supposed to be doing during this time. 

A few years ago, I used before/after pictures to document my first ever 40 Bags challenge. If you search "40 Bags" here you will see those posts.

As for how I approach the entire challenge, it's pretty simple.

1) I take my handy-dandy notebook (opa-composition style!) and physically walk each room of my house. I inspect each room as if I were a prospective buyer and open all the doors and drawers.

No, not THIS one!!

THIS one!!

2) I list every area no matter how small. In fact, it's easier if I break things down into really small things (i.e. Silverware drawer), so that they're easier for me to tackle. Don't worry about making it too small, because you can always do 2 items in one day if you have the time!

3) I keep my stash of garbage bags/grocery store bags, paper towels, cleaning wipes, and vinegar/water spray in a big reusable shopping bag so I can grab it all at once. (Sorry, no pic! It's in the basement and I'm too cold to run down there!)

4) Every morning I look at my list and decide which items I will tackle based on how hectic my schedule is for that day. So, yes, you can jump around your list as much as you like --- it's YOUR list!

5) Gets to cleanin'!!!

Helpful tips:

- DON'T let your kids (any age) help while 

  you tackle areas which may contain 

  their "precious" items.

- DO let your kids who are 10 and older

   help weed through their own clothing.

- Don't keep anything you haven't used

  or worn in the last 9-12 mos

  (exception: maternity clothes &

  nice hand-me-downs)

- touch every part of each area you 

   are cleaning 

- BE RUTHLESS! Remember that the

  less things that are in your home, the    

  less things you have to clean/organize.

Any questions?

You don't even want to know...

March just keeps getting crazier and crazier around here. I am thinking that God really wants me to have a penitential Lent. I hear you, Lord! You can take a break for April, OK? Maybe a little one?

Anyway, I'm just going to post some of my 40 Bags, 40 Days pics, and then go back to more purging while I comfort a 16 month old who has a double ear infection AND a badly sprained ankle (possibly a "hidden" fracture).

This is our "Big Cabinet" in the kitchen, which previously collected small appliances, and odd paperwork, and an old calculator (?), etc. In the "before" shot, you can see all of the junk wonderful treasures on the counter below. After I cleared it all out and threw away a whole boatload of weirdness, I decided to think about how to better organize our kitchen so we can maximize efficiency (ha!). With that in mind, I decided to make this Big Cabinet our cups/glasses cabinet and also store our blender there.

So, what happened to the cabinet that previously housed the cups?

It is now our "breakfast cabinet"! I put all of the cereal, bowls, mugs, k-cups (for my beloved Keurig!), sugar bowl, creamers, and tea in this cabinet. So, for the majority of family members, this means going to only one cabinet in the morning and the fridge to fetch the milk and half-&-half. Easy-peasy! I'm a GENIUS!

And, here is my OTHER cookbook cabinet! I have a lot of cookbooks, and I really do use most of them on a regular basis, so it's nice to have the space to see them all clearly.

OK, now I'm going back to play nursemaid to my brood. Did I mention that 4 of them have Spring Break this week? This is after most of them were sick all of last week and when I picked up the 2 "un-sick" ones on Friday, the teacher said, "Have a wonderful Spring Break!". I did a perfect imitation of a deer in headlights, thinking "WHUCK the WHUCK?!? I didn't know it was Spring Break!". But, it is.

I'm still here!!

I haven't disappeared OR stopped doing my 40 Bags, 40 Days Challenge, LIFE just got super-busy (kids got sick, brother's wife had their 1st baby, etc) and I haven't been able to post for a couple days week.

So, I have a few "after" pics to share because I forgot to take the before pics I didn't want to overwhelm you with too many pics in 1 post. *I'm nice like that*:

And, now to prove how much I really needed to do this challenge, here are some before and after pics:

Yes, we are now the proud owners of a sad, little liquor cabinet which cannot begin to contain the vast amounts of liquor bottles now stored in our basement!

And, I have begun a 2nd "Cookbook Cabinet" which will also serve as my "hide candy from the kids" cabinet and my "small, fragile vases for which I never receive flowers"  cabinet.

Today, I am hoping to tackle the DVD wallet and rid us of all those scratched DVDs (why do we put them back in there after we've determined that they are useless?) and I would also like to tackle the large wall cabinet in the kitchen (which is the middle section of the new liquor cabinet, the 1st & 2nd cookbook cabinets, and the 1st Aid cabinet). We shall see.

How is everyone else doing this Lent? Spring sprung here last week, then went back into hiding (deep sigh....) for another week or two. So, to keep up my spirits I'm channeling a little bit of "Annie".

More later!!!

Day 2 of The 40 Bags Challenge

OK, I should have taken "before" & "after" pictures of the first day, but I didn't. So, you'll just have to take my word that my phonebook cabinet is now sparkling and organized (It is!). I also threw out two bags of garbage, so I'm technically ahead of the game!

Today is Day 2, and I did take pictures! This is the Icebox cabinet my husband made for me as a wedding gift, and we use it as a book cabinet, mostly.

Here are the "befores":

And here are the "afters":

 

You'll have to pardon the cranky 15-month-old toddler in the After pics, as she is not a big fan of Mama doing this 40-day-purge.

I purged 3 bags of books (going off to the lake house!) and 1 bag of trash. I am feeling lighter already!