Organize your Stuff (round 6): Week 4: Paper

Congratulations, All! We have made it to Paper week. Noooooo…. Yes! Actually, as painful as it is, having a firm control of your paper will make the creative process SO much easier… and therefore Creative Me SO MUCH happier. Just work in 5 to 10 minute chunks. Anything more will overwhelm you, and PA Me will take over and lock OCD Me in a closet…and really, we need her to do this.

There is digi paper and real paper for scrapbooking. This layout uses digi paper (reusable and takes up only a thumb drive of space).

…but today, it is all about the real paper!

There are three different things to consider when sorting paper.

First, horizontal or vertical storage. There are different schools of thought on the subject. Most Local Scrapbook Stores (LSS) use horizontal storage to show off all those awesome patterned papers that the Inner Hoarder wants to invite home. Plus side- great visuals. Down side, if you are not doing a lot of turnover, there is dusting and light exposure to consider…and that this storage method uses a lot of real estate. However, if it works for you…awesome!

solid color cardstock

At our house, after some negotiation, the POW vetoed Creative Me and the vertical storage in favor of horizontal storage. PA Me gets out of dusting, the Inner Hoarder gets more paper, and OCD Me gets to use the label maker. The label maker makes all the difference!



by event/subject



Second, sorting method. If you get this one correct the first time around, let us know, because OCD Me and Creative Me are constantly tweaking this. For the most part, we are happy with the solid cardstock which is sorted by color. Then we sorted our patterned paper. The paper that we sorted by stripes or spots, we rarely use. Instead, we have evolved into a hybrid of manufacturer vs. activity files. Now all of the sports paper is together, and the Valentine’s Day paper is together…except if Creative Me thinks it is generic enough to live by manufacturer.

by manufacturer

Creative Me sometimes says to herself… “I just want something with that Graphics 45 feel…” or “this just needs something from Simple Stories…” or whatever manufacturer with whom she is currently in love. The cool thing is, that over time, many of the manufacturer colors will coordinate. Sometimes that “Side B” that you never thought you would use from two seasons ago will work perfect as an accent with that one piece from this season that you HAD to have (OK, Inner Hoarder got two pieces each from the whole line…shhhh….)

This leads us to number three, Purging. It is time to distract your Inner Hoarder. This is where the Jedi Mind Tricks, those blackmail pictures from High School, and the disclosure of your secret stash of snacks are all used against you. The Inner Hoarder guards her paper almost as much as her memorabilia. (This is not the memorabilia you are looking for…move along). If you have been scrapbooking for more than 5 years, this applies to you. We admit, the Inner Hoarder still has paper from 1998 that she is sure that we will use…someday. The POW and OCD Me knows that Creative Me never will…but try telling that to the Inner Hoarder. If leggings and bell bottoms can come back into style, so can this paper (no, it will not).

We challenge you to purge or “donate” 10 pieces of paper…or tell that Inner Hoarder that she can only buy 1 piece for every 3 that you use…purging the 10 pieces will probably be easier. It will hurt. But in the end it will make you happier. (Schools, Girl Scout units, Women’s shelters and Children’s Hospitals are great places to donate).

As usual, here is the Mr Linky if you want to share your blog or your picture of your paper storage...

Organize your Stuff (round 6): Week 2&3: WOYWW 172

Click here if looking for the Organize your Stuff Week 2&3 prompt.

Wednesday is here! Wednesday is here! Time to share What’s on your workdesk (WOYWW)! The lovely Lady Julia has the list at the always awesome Stamping Ground. Come on, We’ll show you ours if you will show us yours…

Here is our desk today:

Creative Me is a bit distracted by the upcoming return of our Fabulous Spouse…as is reflected in the card that she created…

Now it is time to channel inner Mary Poppins and tidy up the Scrap Room…if only it were that Easy! OCD Me wants her handbag!

(***The POW warns that it is family stuff from here down. Scroll to the end if here just for the desk***)

Fabulous Spouse is finally back here in the United States! Hopefully, he will be home by the end of the week from the stateside demobilization process. The POW is definitely sure that this is by far more stressful than having him on The Front, but we do not know why…probably has just a little to do with the no plane ticket home yet though. Here is a picture of him with the Seabees in Kuwait.

Oldest Child got some real playing time this week as his Freshman Football team won 46-0! He has finally decided that the offensive line is fun, because it makes the defensive line look slow and you can mix it up. Also, for now…he has a 4.0! (Woo Hoo!) However, football does come with a price…the dreaded Football Crud. The wet cough and runny nose that no antibiotic can cure…you just need to tough it out.

Illusive Middle Child was not so lucky. There was no joy in Mudville…He lost his game 20-6. However, he too got a lot of playing time, so he really cannot complain (although he did…all the way home) LOL.

Girl Friday is repeatedly reminding us that all she wants for her birthday is her Daddy, and when he is home that she will tell him that she loves him, and give him kisses and hugs. She also has a double ear infection, but that did not keep her from cheering at her brother’s game. After all, real girls cheer.

Organize your Stuff (round 6): Week 2&3: Brainstorming & Cleaning

Wow, it looks like we survived Week 1 of Round 6 of the Organize your Stuff Challenge at Two Peas in a Bucket pretty well. The POW is so happy that so many of you have decided to take this journey with us! Creative Me is on the equivalent of a sugar high, as she did more creating in the last 8 days, than she has done in the last 6 weeks! So, space audit complete!

Housekeeping: We are going to try and post a layout and a card every week to keep you motivated, and challenge you to create something…anything… as well. Here is our layout for this week:

Well, it is time for the first tweak to the patented Zen Master Wookiemouse 29 Step Program. In the first 5 Rounds, the POW has noticed a few trends. First, that before Week 1, there are 40-60 people who will post their need to Organize. About half will show up for Week 1…figure out your problem areas, and Week 2…brainstorming. But, when it came time to actually start cleaning, suddenly the thread was dead. Everyone’s Inner Hoarder and PA Me suddenly found hall closets in need of cleaning and errands that needed running.

By virtue of your making it to Week 2, your inner cleaner (OCD Me in our case) has at least some control at this point. Before our Inner Hoarder and PA Me get too organized themselves and realize that we are going to put them to work, it is time to distract them with thinking up their dream space while The POW and OCD Me start straitening up.

Say what?! Week 2 is traditionally called Brainstorming week. In the past, that has meant that now we have our list of what works and what doesn’t, we now picture our perfect place and savor it so that we have direction to move forward. Channel your inner Martha Stewart, and plan your scrap space just like you plan the way that you are going to spend that winning Power Ball ticket… oh and take a picture of your space.

The picture is for you to realize how far you have come…when you are frustrated because you have realized that you have been Jedi mind tricked for 3 of the last 5 weeks and you are not sure that you have made ANY progress, and it might be just easier to give up. Do not give up! Pop in your copy of The Princess Bride (and if you don’t have it, you really need to rent it) and remember that you can be mostly dead all day, and still come back and save the day. Break out that picture and rejoice. At least one pile is missing.

Our Scrap Space:

Now, we told you that we were going to show you the good, the bad, and the UGLY. Here is our UGLY. Now, OCD Me really, really, really wanted to pick up before we shot this, but as we tell our kids… we will never lie to you (intentionally).

In our defense, PA Me LOVES the TLC show “Hoarders: Buried Alive” and this is her attempt to get a professional to come in and clean it for her. Really though, it is the downward spiral of having Fabulous Spouse activate and leave for Afghanistan the day after Christmas and then having very well trained children “saving” everything for their Dad. Lesson Learned: Do not let your Inner Hoarder in charge of the kids…. OCD Me is not blameless. When we cleaned any other part of the house, what we had no place for came in here… Since the POW was too busy keeping the house going, Creative Me barely had time to slip inside, except to make a card for The Front to send to Fabulous Spouse. Literally, it has been 9 months since we did a layout!

Week 3 is time to start cleaning. There is two versions of cleaning in the School of Wookiemouse Organization: Start Small/ Spot Clean and Go for Broke/ Clean Sweep. In Round 2 (our first round) we Went for Broke. If you can do that, it really does make the process easier. Your OCD Me will feel like she has conquered our Flat-surface-it is (thank you Barbara for that term!), and your PA Me will be able to ignore the boxes , and the Inner Hoarder will not get too upset because nothing has been purged yet.

We are Spot cleaning this time around…This is harder, because PA Me and the Inner Hoarder keep reminding OCD Me that there are SO many piles, and so much more to do, that she might as well give up now. Again, do not give up. That is why we are doing this as a group. If nobody else does, we have your back! The only consolation with the clean as you go method is that Creative Me knows where everything is, and with the Clean Sweep method she tends to get more frustrated.

Review:
1.Think of your perfect Scrap Space (ours has a full service bar, a maid, and a nanny on staff)
2.Take a picture (you can link it in below)
3.Decide if you are going small or going big (and start to box up if going big)
4.Create something…always remember to keep Creative Me happy…she has the immunity idol and is essential to not getting OCD Me voted off the island!

Link in for anything Week 2/3 you want to share :)

Organize your Stuff (round 6): Week 1: WOYWW #171

Week 1 prompt and link here.

Today is Wednesday, which means that we are half way through Week 1 of Organizing our Stuff, and it is also time to show off What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday. Where wonderful folks from around the world show off the neat, the tidy, the cluttered and the creative… We love them all, and are glad as always to be hostessed by the Fabulous Julia at the Stamping Ground.

Here is our desk today:

It is cluttered as usual, but as we are mid-crafty, Creative Me has not gotten to tidying up yet. …yeah… that’s it…

This is the card that Creative Me made using the scraps from our Monday layout, and detritus that PA Me missed when it was her turn in the rotation to clean up. Yes, those are photo scraps behind the words!  It was inspired, by of all things our DVR'd episode of FaceOff where they had to design makeup for Alice in Wonderland characters infected with Resident Evil Zombie viruses...seriously.

When we stop to think about our scrap space, OCD Me has decided that she loves the ink and Copic storage (even if Creative Me and the Inner Hoarder would LOVE more). The scrap storage is working pretty well too.

However, the general clutter, and yes…*sigh* the volume of memorabilia is just TOO MUCH! We are not going to fit another desk in here, so we need to clear off some real estate…stat!... before Creative Me dies a slow death from under use… we’re not dead yet!

(***The POW’s warning: the rest is family stuff…and lots of American football pictures. Scroll to the end if just here for the desk.***)

Well, here is another picture of our favorite Patriot, Fabulous Spouse. A day after the September 11th Anniversary, we can tell you that WE will never forget, as we feel officially trifecta-ed with Fabulous Spouse on deployment in his submarine for the original September 11th, a trip to Iraq for the Surge, and now a trip to Afghanistan… and not even any frequent flier miles to show for it! Here is to supporting The Front!

At the Homefront… we are living the American dream…er, pastime… football! Oldest Child had his first High School Varsity home game…where he played his trombone in the Pep Band.

Girl Friday and Illusive Middle Child had practice during the first half, but the good thing about a home game is that we just had to get our hand stamped and pick them up from the back fields and walk them in during halftime!

We even got our pic snapped by the field photographer! (We are in the green shirt to the left of  the mom in the #12)

The next day, the field belonged to the Little Guys, as it was Junior League Football time. Girl Friday cheered for both the 1st/2nd Grade Team, and the 3rd/4th Grade Team (her brother’s team).

Illusive Middle Child was channeling his Inner All-Star, as he was a Team Captain and started Offense and Defense. The score was 42-6, and he only got a rest when they had to kick-off after the goals and when they finally put in the second string.

Then, it was Freshman Football time. It is the second game of the season, but it is the first one for which Oldest Child was eligible (he broke his ankle the second day of football camp back in July). With Illusive Middle Child as the ball boy...

and Oldest Child on the Offensive Line (2 series in the 3rd quarter and 1 in the 4th), they too got a win…14-6!

So, if you are keeping score…

Oldest Child:2 games, 4 practices
Illusive Middle Child: 2 games, 3 practices
Girl Friday: 2 games, 3 practices
…oh, and we had Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, church (actually, we missed church this week *blush*), and oh yeah…school is in session!

Happy Hopping!

Organize your Stuff (round 6): Week 1: Make Something/ Space Audit

Welcome! Today starts the 6th round of the ever popular Organize your Stuff Challenge at the Two Peas in a Bucket website. The original challenge was hostessed by the ever venerable Zen Master Wookiemouse in May of 2009 (We’re not worthy!). She was followed by the Always Awesome Crisann for rounds 2-5. Now it is time for us to step up to the plate, open up our own crafty dojo and see if we pass on some of their organization mojo!

For those who are new to our blog, when we first started organizing, we found out that it was/is a LOT harder than we had planned. That was when I realized that when it came to scrapbooking…and the mess… it was not really I, but we. The different parts of myself were at war over everything, and so rather than dealing with the growing mess, we just agreed to disagree and the mess grew.

The personalities that we seemed to recognize within ourselves are on the sidebar and are as follows: The POW (Plays with Others Well)… chief negotiator and moderator (the sane part) and ironically hostage to the rest, OCD Me…the reason we are organizing, PA Me (Procrastinator Anonymous)… the reason we have not gotten to organizing yet *squirrel*, the Inner Hoarder…the reason that everyone drops out when we hit memorabilia week and have that paper from 1987, and Creative Me…whose fault this whole crafting thing is in the first place. Theoretically, there is a Budget Me, but we think that she got walled up some years ago a la Tell Tale Heart and we get a niggling thump from time to time that $$ is something that should matter but then we remember why we ditched her in the first place!

Enough about us…

This week we are channeling our Creative Me and OCD Me. We know, we know. These two do not often work together well. Just think of it at a ying and yang zen kind of thing. We want you to Create this week! If you are a scrapbooker, create a layout…card makers, make a card… art journal-ers, journal. Whatever it is that you love to do right now…do it. If it turns out that you cannot finish, that is ok. In the immortal words of Nike: Just Do It!

While you are creating, have your OCD Me take notes. Really? Yes. We want to find out what works and what does not. …and the three foot pile of un-put away prior projects is a legitimate entry in the does not work category. The thing is, 89.7% might be perfect…tool caddy, lighting, brad storage…etc. List those. We will be looking to you for suggestions on those weeks, and you can slack off and *gasp* work on that memorabilia (that is not the memorabilia you are looking for, move along…)… or not! LOL!

We are looking for your week spots. If you ignore everything else, you want to tune in to the Does Not Work weeks… and remember- Some of these will not get fixed. That was a really hard thing for OCD Me to handle. When the universe goes tilt…or you get suckered into that Walking Dead Marathon before the start of Season 3 (you know who you are)…or PA Me and the Inner Hoarder Jedi mind trick you into avoiding it because they are just not ready to deal (memorabilia). Just let it go…we are pretty sure that there will be a round 7.  :)

Oh, and one last thing. If you do not have a blog, they are super easy to create, and an easy way to post progress. NOT required, but The POW found that it kept us on track when we posted something every week…even if it was just a picture. It kept that pesky duo of PA Me and the Inner Hoarder from derailing us too much! The POW is going to try and figure out the linked in thing, so you can share every week. So, if it is not here on Monday, check back. Note: there is no Technology Me. Good Luck!

Review:
Create something! Feed your inner Creative Me.

Document at least your top 3 Works for Me/ Does Not Work areas (or more). Empower your OCD Me.

Extra Credit-Share what you have created/ are creating (if I can figure out the Mr. Linky thing). Wednesday is a good day to do that as there is a large WOYWW (What’s on your workdesk Wednesday) group that will visit your site and give you the encouragement you may need…

Here is ours:

Likes: Paper storage, inks/copics,stamps, tools
Doesn't work: Kits (we have no Idea what is in them), memorabelia piling up (cannot find my fine point scissors), work space too far from embellishments  

Link in to share what your Creative Me did!  

Organize your Stuff (round 5): WOYWW #170

Wow! Wednesday! Where have you been? Or rather, where have we been? Summer is whirlwindy (OCD Me notes: not a real word) in the best of times, this year it was a positively “Toto, we are not in Kansas anymore”, Category IV twister! So, sans four Wednesdays or so, we are back with the always Awesome Julia and the What’s on your Workdesk Wednesday folks over at the Stamping Ground (albeit a late post! LOL!)

Here is our horribly messy desk:

And here is the card that Creative Me whipped out for Big Picture Class’s free Big Idea Festival’s prompt #1: A Card.

As a side note, OCD Me has taken the keys to the house back from the POW, and next week will start Round 6 of Organize your Stuff! It will be the good, the bad, and the UGLY! (Yes, the POW was able to talk the TLC crew out of filming the scrap room for their next season of Hoarders… for now…).

(***POW Warning: the rest of this is Family Stuff. Skip to the end, if just here for the desk!***)

Things are finally winding down for Fabulous Spouse on the Front. Here he is after receiving his “End of Tour Awards” (The medals for not getting blowed up, and doing a good job 18 hours a day working for the Cause). He is farthest to the left. So, within the next four weeks or so, he should be coming home… hence OCD Me taking a renewed interest in the house.

As for the rest of the tribe, football and cheerleading has been our life. Here is Girl Friday at practice in the red shorts.

Illusive Middle Child is doing double duty as a Junior League football player, and a Freshman Football Team ball boy. This picture was after the first game…which they lost 12-14. Oldest Child is obviously upset. He did not suit up, as he is not eligible until next week for play due to breaking his ankle at summer football camp.

Finally, here is the token back to school shots. Oldest child was first (predawn, 6:35 school start time).

Then the little guys were off… (*sigh*… first time that Girl Friday did not want to wear a dress for the first day…rhinestone jeans are in now!)



Happy WOYWW!

Organize your Stuff (round 5): One Little Word Hop

Well, it is the first of the month again! We cannot believe that the summer months have flown by us, and August 1012 is officially retired! As it is September 1st, it is time for our One Little Word Blog Hop where we Share our Word for the Year (ours is Journey) and the homework from the past month given to us by Ali Edwards at Big Picture Classes. As always, Thank You Margie at Nihao, Cupcake! for hostessing!

August’s prompt for the month was a picture of ourselves…here is ours:

The POW and Creative Me concur that this pretty much sums up our August. Our Journey these days is back and forth around town in our little Ford Focus. It is funny, we are putting 300+ miles a week on the car, and yet we never seem to get out of town.

We told someone that we never have time to sit down, but the reality of it is that we kind of always are…the seat just keeps Moving!

The POW has been in charge of the house as OCD Me has been drafted to help keep schedules strait, coordinated, and also keeps track of our friends, favors we have left, and ones that we need to burn in order to make sure that everyone gets where they need to go, and nobody is left behind. It is staggering the mental gymnastics that occur.

This was a sample of our afternoons from last week:

Monday

12PM Oldest Child Physical Therapy (broke ankle back in football camp in July), 1PM Lunch, 2:30 Drop off at Freshman Football, Grocery shop, 4PM start Dinner, 4:30 Dinner, Wonder where Illusive Middle Child is (went camping out of state for 4 days, but is supposed to be home for football practice), realize Illusive Middle Child will not make it, 5:15 go with Girl Friday and Dinner in Tupperware and Trombone to give to Oldest Child back to high school, 5:45 Oldest Child finally done, takes food and instrument to change and get ready for 6:30-8:30 mandatory high school band practice, 6:10 arrive at 6-8pm Cheer Practice and drop off Girl Friday, 6:35 return to High School for Mandatory please join the Band Boosters meeting and band highlights for upcoming year, 7:15 get phone call that Illusive Middle Child has returned…and ask family to hold on to him until 9ish as we are in a meeting, 7:30 excuse ourselves from parent meeting, 7:45 back to Football/ Cheer practice… where they are assigning uniform numbers and Illusive Middle Child is missing (Thank you Team Mom for getting him a number close to the one he wanted as there was no 77 jersey this year), ask Team Mom to take Illusive Child to practice tomorrow, go to Cheer field and retrieve Girl Friday, 8:15 pull out of the parking lot to arrive at 8:30 at Band Practice for Oldest Child. 8:40 Drop Oldest Child and Girl Friday home for showers and leave to retrieve Illusive Middle Child (and camping gear) from friend’s house… and this was the EASIEST day of the week!

PS-at this point, school had not started yet. That did not get added to the agenda until Thursday.

This month has been a Journey in the truest most literal sense of the word. It only takes me 20 minutes from home, but it is definitely not dull or slow paced by any means!

Here is the rest of the OLW Hop Group…you can see their photos and their words as well…
Enjoy your Journey!

You are at the last stop... http://scrappnbee.blogspot.com from here out, you return to Margie to start over!

Margie http://xnomads.typepad.com
Brighton www.simplebrighton.com
Kimberlee http://scrapsandsass.blogspot.com
Monica http://scrapinspired.com/category/one-little-word/
Cheri http://cheriandrews.blogspot.com
Lisa http://backtoallen.com/category/challenges/one-little-word/
Kara http://iwannabemewhenigrowup.blogspot.com
Ruth http://suburbansahm.blogspot.com
Jessica B http://jlfbarnes.blogspot.com/
Veronica www.veronicanorris.typepad.com
Naomi http://poeticaperture.com/
Carolina www.micinnamons.blogspot.com
Kelly http://mindingmynest.com
Cindy http://seriousplay.typepad.com
Amanda http://scrappnbee.blogspot.com

Organize your Stuff (round 5):WOYWW 163

It has been another two week gap, but Happy WOYWW! It is another What’s on your Workdesk Wednesday, when we wander the world watching the wonders that others create, or peep at the places where they perform their craftiness. As always, the Fabulous Julia of the Stamping Ground is our hostess!

Summer is so busy! …and so is our desk!

We must confess that there is no new crafts though. Creative Me is getting ready to paint the kitchen and living room, and with The POW focused on football, PA Me has been runing the home show. So… it is just a desk shot today.

(**The POW warning: the rest is family stuff. Skip to the end if just here for the desk!**)

Now new pictures from The Front. Fabulous spouse is busy doing things of which he cannot speak, and actually preparing to come home in a few months! (As the POW often says, it is amazing how time flies while it is standing still!)

Illusive Middle Child and Girl Friday are still enjoying the sunshine of summer. Illusive Middle Child is wrapping up week four of sailing camp. He is enjoying the challenge of moving up to the bigger, two-man FJ’s that his big brother was sailing earlier in the summer.

Meanwhile, Girl Friday is at art camp. However, in their free time, there is still lots to explore in the Outer Banks, and here they are snorkeling…and discovering a hermit crab.

Oldest Child has started the all-consuming High School football season (#54 practice jersey). It is amazing to see how he is listening to the coaches and improving with each session. We are in the football camp phase right now, and he LOVES it!

However, as of Tuesday, he is also discovering that into every athlete’s life, a little pain must fall. He rolled his ankle, and the next couple days will see how good/ bad it is.

He also has some new Foreign Exchange brothers (well, for two weeks, at least). We were an emergency, last minute Host Family. We like them a lot, and it gives Oldest Child somebody other than his Xbox friends with which to hang out… when not at sports.

As for us, we made our annual pilgrimage to the Rails to Ales Festival in Cle Elum, WA. This year it was a Girls Only event (especially as Fabulous Spouse was half a world away). It was amazing to see old friends and faces (Fabulous Spouse- the guy from Sierra Nevada who stays at the B&B says hi!), and to make new memories as well!

Here is to hoping that we are more crafty next week!

Organize your Stuff (round 5): WOYWW161 & Independence Day 236!

Happy WOYWW! …and to those of us in the United States… Happy 4th of July a.k.a. Independence Day! So, you know about the 4th, but what is this WOYWW of which we speak? It is What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday. The day hen crafters (and those of us who like to snoop) hop around the blogosphere to see a world of workspaces and projects! (and make a friend or two along the way). As always, we are hostessed by the Fabulous Lady Julia of the Stamping Ground.

Our desk…again is but our laptop and hard drive and digi bits…

While the POW is uber happy to still be on holiday, Creative Me cannot wait to get home to her more tactile papers, paints and inks. That is not to say that Creative Me cannot whip up digi magic when the need arises. Here is a layout Creative Me snapped together from an event that happened just yesterday…over in Afghanistan!

Photoshop Elements and the internet are a wonderful thing! Who’d a thunk that pictures taken 24-hours ago, half a world away could already be scrapbooked!

(**The POW Warning: family stuff from here down. Scroll to the end if you are here just for the desk**)

For a treat, we have a picture of Fabulous Spouse’s desk. This was taken on his birthday last week (note that the cupcake has no frosting…stupid mail monkeys lost the frosting-mailed at the same time as the cupcakes-…until 2 days after his birthday). Big changes in the works for Fabulous Spouse on the Front as his boss is headed back to the United States… which means a new Major General. (Ok, Creative Me cannot help but breaking out into the Pirates of Penzance’s “I am the very model of a modern Major General” every time we see Major General, just because it makes milk come out of OCD Me’s nose. You cannot take us anywhere).

Oldest Child is learning to drive… the riding lawnmower. He actually got most of the grass…ok 75% the first go round. He is settling into teenager-dom in style, preferring to hang out in the house on his Kindle then with his family. Ok, unless food is involved or said Kindle is threatened to accompany us, he will opt out. I guess it does not help that it is between 90-100 degrees F (32.2-37.7 degrees C) here.

Illusive Middle Child is taking to sailing like…well the son of a Sailor! (and grandson of a Harbor Pilot). He is mastering the one man Opti, and he and Oldest Child took out Grampy’s two man sailboat. He has managed to not capsize yet (we were pretty darned sure that the two man boat was going down several times during her maiden voyage).

Girl Friday was amazed by the thunder and lightning storm that came through and the 85 mph winds that accompanied it (we do not have thunder storms in Washington). However, the Beach is her favorite (that and trying to convince us that a hermit crab needs to come home with us). We are convinced that half the North Carolina seashells will make their way back home.

Finally, seafood! We went to the Crab Claw for the bucket of seafood (crab, mussels, clams, shrimp)…and Girl Friday opted for dinosaur chicken nuggets. We are pretty sure that it is the first time in recent memory that the adults finished dinner before the kids!

Have a happy 4th of July! Thank you Fabulous Spouse and all the soldiers, sailors, and marines that sacrifice to keep our Freedom! Happy Blog hopping!

Organize your Stuff (round 5): One Little Word

Happy Sunday! …and Happy July 1st! Every first of the month, we share our progress with our One Little Word: Journey. What is One Little Word? It is a yearlong process developed by Ali Edwards over at Big Picture Classes where we pick a word for the year and try to live it and understand how it speaks to us, sometimes in the most unexpected of manners. Thanks as always to Margie at Nihao Cupcake! For organizing our monthly hop!

This morning as we write this, we have the most beautiful hazy view of the river at our parents’ house while the kids get ready for church. Right now we are on a Journey of the most literal sort… a trip back home. Creative Me is a little frustrated that PA Me never got around to scanning our 9-patch art homework for this month, we will have to share on August 1st, but it is three time zones and a very long plane flight away right now, so there is nothing we can do but have the POW pat her on the back and tell her to let it go (and shoot mean scowly, if-looks-could-kill faces at PA Me).

Oldest Child gets award at 8th Grade Assembly

So far, Journey has meant a lot to us. It is a big transition month when you have kids. We are now living with a Second Grader, Fourth Grader, and *gasp* a High School Freshman! It is the start of a Journey that we knew was inevitable, and yet it still seems like a massive Herculean challenge for which we are ill prepared (and yet, the POW reminds us, that if she and OCD Me can manage a summer time cleanout of the boys’ rooms…and THAT is more difficult that Hercules task of cleaning the Augean stables… the High School is definitely doable).

We have gone on a Journey by air (and the four hour layover in Atlanta), and for now we are at rest. We must say, there is nothing like a Journey back home. He who said that you can never go home again, was wrong. We love coming home. After six months of single parenting while Fabulous Spouse is on the Front in Afghanistan, it is SO nice to not have to be the one to plan the menu, set the pace, and be in charge. We even got to read more than 100 pages of the same book that we have been reading since Fabulous Spouse left…in December (we got a grand total of 6 pages on the plane down, as we were entertaining the troops ). (We are now on page 282).

It has been fun to watch the kids Journey. Girl Friday was fearless, and first to tackle “The Tube” towed behind Grampy’s boat… then once she was able to do it, the boys were ready to follow suit.

Illusive Middle Child is five days into sailing camp… about 12 hours of total sailing experience, and yet he and Oldest Child were confident enough to take Grampy’s auction find sailboat for her maiden voyage.

Sorry no project, but glad to share my word! If you are blog hopping, your next stop is Ruth. Here is the rest of the list if you get lost :)

Amanda http://scrappnbee.blogspot.com/
Ruth http://suburbansahm.blogspot.com/
Cheri http://cheriandrews.blogspot.com/
Naomi http://poeticaperture.com/
Lisa http://backtoallen.com/category/challenges/one-little-word/
Veronica http://www.veronicanorris.typepad.com/
Missus Wookie http://mrswookieswanderings.blogspot.com/
Kelly http://mindingmynest.com/
Nikki http://www.inkyart.com.au/
Jill http://jillconyers.com/
Brighton http://www.simplebrighton.com/
Tere http://terecontodomicorazon.blogspot.com/
Cynthia http://paperpapereverywhere.blogspot.com/
Donna http://holimess.blogspot.com/
Margie http://xnomads.typepad.com/  <---start of hop!
Monica http://scrapinspired.com/tag/one-little-word/
Jamie http://jmpgirl.blogspot.com/
Jenn http://www.studiojenn.blogspot.com/