Reorganizing - The Ugly Phase

The game shelf...this area reminds me of the island of misfit toys. You remember the elf that ran away from Santa's workshop and met an odd assortment of characters and found an island of misfit toys. My games just wish Santa would rescue them.

Let me count the number of missing dice, the puzzle that won't complete, Uno that really is uno. Risk has had the army re-purposed to another battlefield and most lost to the vacuum cleaner. Monopoly feels the pinch of lost housing and unoccupied hotels. Clue...who's got the clues? I think you get the picture.

I told the kids we were going to clean out and reorganize the game shelf. They wanted to play deal or no deal. I said "No deal!" The games have outlived their usefulness in our home. So, I will donate, resale, recycle or trash. I will salvage favorites.
I had two LARGE steel case desks in this room. When we began homeschooling 3 years ago I thought it was a good idea. It wasn't. My dad, The Guardian helped move in and out of the house. I think he's happiest about OUT. They were picked up this morning from a local charity. I got the pictures to prove it.

One of the desks held my guinea pig cage. I lost the lighting that was on that desk and now Piglet sits in the dark. I will have to remedy this quick. As a temporary measure (is it really) I have placed a small dresser in the room. It will hold the cage. I put art supplies in it. I couldn't believe I had enough to fill 3 drawers. I used another to hold books for next year's curriculum. The Guardian took one and that leaves one empty....

The Guardian's desk sits in the corner. We are afraid to move it. The results may look like an earthquake hit. We are planning on moving it, but the furniture is just a small part of what is happening here.

What you are seeing in these pictures is the stuff stored in those desks. I have a friend whose gift is organization. She has come over twice now to keep me on track and help me sort through the mess. I have no problem throwing it away I am just so busy I don't have the time.

See the clear bucket with the blue lid, it will become the new home to book basket. You can't see the old one in this picture, but trust me when I say we have wore it out. It won't get retirement but straight out to the trash - I will check to see if can be recycled first. What is book basket you ask. MFW uses book basket throughout its program (PreK-12). Simply put to enrich our learning we add books on topic (and some off) from our library. This is a wonderful resource. Makes the subject come alive. I have come to appreciate this aspect of MFW.

With 5 people, 2 dogs and a guinea pig, don't forget the fish - we are a bit crowded. This room is our schoolroom, dining room and sometime living room. See our buried table. The Guardian wants an ETA on when he gets to sit down and eat at said table. I am working on it, but I was non-committal in my answer. I can't take too long though because we are taking a spring cleaning break during this project.

This bookshelf holds all of our current school year's books. Well, looking at the picture now I see that some things are missing. Probably buried on the table. The table that is essential to schooling and eating. I can't wait for the ugly phase of reorganizing to be over.

The top shelf holds all of our bibles and my reference materials. The second shelf has Faithful and Beloved's reading and our read-alouds for the year. The third shelf has science and ECC resources. The forth shelf...are you still reading this...has english, math, spanish, vocabulary, writing, penmanship and music/art. The bottom shelf holds this years notebooking projects and health/drug education.

We painted last year so will just give everything a thorough cleaning. I have plans, but plans cost money. A Scout is thrifty...I will work with what I have. A woman is wishful...I will pray. A mom is happy to be at home. The kids...don't care, but they're not helping either. I have come to believe that Faithful and Beloved have radar for when something hits a box, because here they come. Then, its a discussion about put it back, no you can't have it, of course we're getting rid of it you haven't played with it in 6 months or its broken.

This little trio has been promised to me. This will help tremendously. It also will not take up the room the desks did. It will fit perfectly in the corner, once we move the desk. I was told its not beautiful, but a coat of paint or contact paper can work wonders. Many thanks to Dove.