I appreciate all the calendar suggestions given yesterday! 
I forgot to mention that I had tried using a wall calendar (from FlyLady) a couple of years ago and just don’t like having to write everything by hand (and when life changed, the stickers were stuck and pen doesn’t erase). So I think I’m going to try using Google calendar; even though it won’t sync with any devices I own, it does sync with something which is more than I can say for Windows calendar. Perhaps next year, when our vehicles are all our own, I can look into upgrading. . .maybe by then the iPhone will play nicely with Verizon. 
Archive for the 'organizing' Category
I’ve always been the organized type, but lately I’ve struggled to find a system that works for me. I used a wall calendar through high school; now I have outgrown the squares. In college I used the ubiquitous student planner (are those obsolete now?) year round to keep track of homework, work schedules, and the occasional social event. As a new wife and then mother, I first tried the wall calendar and then switched to a small version of the dayplanner. It was still too big for my purse (I travel light) so I usually left it laying on my desk at home: not very convenient.
So it was that I jumped when Larry bought me my very own pda for my 29th birthday. I happily used it for a few years until he upgraded his pda and mine would no longer sync with the updated version of Palm desktop. Soon after that he upgraded mine as well and life was good again. Until last year, when my Palm slowly stopped holding a charge and had to be reset regularly. . .it now belongs to Boy Genius who doesn’t have as much data to lose.
That leaves me high and dry! I’m not inclined to spend my money on another Palm just from the standpoint of not wanting that many gadgets in my purse. I have heard that Outlook would sync with my iPod, but I’m too cheap to buy Outlook just for the calendar. Instead I have been using Windows Calendar, which syncs with nothing and doesn’t work as well as the Palm calendar. I’ve looked at Google calendar and it confuses me, as well as makes me wonder how secure my information would be online.
How do you juggle all those bits of information about who needs to be where and when, so that unlike me you don’t forget to take Bouncy Boy to Cloverbuds the week that it starts early because of the public school schedule? Cheap and easy to use suggestions would be much appreciated! 
For most of the years that we’ve homeschooled, the kids have kept their books and supplies in their backpacks while I have kept community items on a shelf or in a basket. Last year we tried using those grid cubes to store everything in the living room (aka school room). Life was much easier when no one had the excuse to return to the room for their math book! However, the cubes were not strong enough to hold all those books long term. I have been looking off and on for some sort of cabinet or something, but time and money ran out so I removed the scrapbooks from the living room bookshelf (as opposed to the built in shelves downstairs) and went to work.
The top shelf is supplies: Math U See Blocks, yogurt containers of pens, pencils, scissors, glue, gel pens. Currently the second shelf is language plus logic and preschool; the third shelf has history binders and books plus a magazine box full of looseleaf paper; and the bottom shelf has math on the left and science on the right. There may be some minor rearranging once school starts; I have a couple last minute books on order and some of the items (such as workbooks) may be kept in backpacks again.
My back to school to-do list is getting shorter! Tuesday I filled out the form for the school district put the last few books on Twirly Girl’s reading list. Yesterday I printed up maps and timelines for history, although they still need collating. Maybe later today I can work out an updated weekly schedule. I’ve also been preparing extra meals for the freezer for those days when teaching leaves me little time or energy for cooking.
I am frequently asked “how do you have time to sew so much?” The answer, of course, is that I make time to sew, much the same way that you might make time to scrapbook or attend quilt guild or read or garden or whatever it is that you like to do with your free time. My sewing time is the thing that keeps me sane (and clothed ). That said, here are a few ways that I try to make my sewing time a priority. I don’t think I’ve come up with anything terribly clever, but perhaps there is something you can use.
- Have a dedicated space to sew. I realize I am blessed to have a room for this purpose (it’s shared with kids’ crafts as well as storage, but it’s a large room), but even a desk where you can leave the machine sitting out saves you from using sewing time to set up and put away.
- Keep it simple. If you look again at my list of projects for January, the only thing that took more than 2-3 hours was the skirt. Also, breaking things into smaller steps helps. Don’t have a couple hours to stitch up a knit top? Well, how about 15 minutes to bind the neckline of the shirt you cut out and started stitching yesterday? Tomorrow you can add sleeves and stitch side seams, leaving only the hems to finish.
- Spend less time on the computer (see, I told you this wasn’t going to be a clever list!). I finally unsubbed from all email lists except Loopers and a very small list (not a list so much as a way for ‘real life’ friends to keep in touch). I really miss the kind, wise ladies I met on the sewing lists (and still keep up with some through their blogs), but when it came down to reading about sewing or actually sewing. . .
- Keep track. Writing down everything I’ve sewn helps me see that I’ve accomplished more than I think which motivates me to keep sewing.
- Make a plan. My most productive sewing times are when I plan ahead, cutting out similar garments together and then choosing a sewing order based on what color of serger thread is needed. Keep it flexible, though: my sewing time does more for my sanity when I sew something I really want to sew.
- Just do it! I usually make it to my sewing room 2-4 times a week. Sometimes I can find a semi-quiet half hour in the afternoon, while the little boys are still napping and the big boys are playing outside or on the Wii. Other times I stitch after they are all in bed for the night. Listening to podcasts or watching a movie while I sew sometimes helps, sometimes distracts.
What about you? What are some ways you find to do the things that help you relax?
I’ve often thought I should keep a running list of my sewing room accomplishments, and this month I finally set aside a small notebook for that purpose. It certainly is helping me see how much I’ve done–as well as motivating me to do more. I am getting ready to spend a week with my parents and Mimi and won’t have any more sewing time this month, so I thought I would post January’s list tonight.
- Red stretch velveteen skirt (Ottobre 4/2002)
- Two “Flirty Skirty” aprons, one for me and one for a gift
- Sleeve saver bib (my standard new baby gift)
- Mended four pairs of boy pants
- Truck totebag for Silly Boy’s birthday
- Two more nursing versions of the knit top in Ottobre 2/2007: one has the gathered front neckline, the other morphs the crossover maternity top with the regular top
I’ve also been working up a To Sew list for the year (most of the above items were on it, though my skirt was on last year’s list ). For Easter I think I’m just going to sew for Twirly Girl and me. We have so many sets of boy dress clothes, it just seems silly to make more! Silly Boy and Baby Boy should fit into these cute outfits, I surely have something for Bouncy Boy, and the big boys really just need nice neckties or something to spiff up their white dress shirts.
Hopefully being two days late with my new year’s post is not a foretaste of the whole year! ;) At any rate, 2009 will likely be a very different sort of year for me. Baby Boy will be 2 in the fall, but barring any major divine intervention I will *not* get pregnant. After having six babies in the past eleven years, that’s a rather foreign thought for me. I am sad to see the end of that stage in my life, but at the same time I know that six is my limit as far as what my body can handle (not to mention, how much testosterone can this house hold without imploding?). But I have forgotten what it’s like to go through a full year without spending a few months in a fog of morning sickness and/or new baby sleep deprivation. I am eager to see just what I can accomplish, and yet on the other hand I realize that I will still be homeschooling 4 kids while keeping track of 2 active little guys (one of whom is still nursing and in diapers). To that end, although I’m not keen on New Year’s resolutions (they just beg to be broken) I do want to set some goals for myself in 2009.
- Get back in the To Do List habit. I always get more done when I have a list of my daily goals, but I’ve gotten lax about writing things down lately.
- Exercise more. Since any exercise would be ‘more’ for me, I’m setting a goal of 3 hours a week. That lets me choose between 1/2 hour each day or 1 hour every other day. Since we got a Wii Fit for the kids for Christmas, I’ve managed to use that almost daily. When the snow is gone, I’d like to alternate it with some early morning walks.
- Sew regularly, at least weekly. Once upon a time I would have set a goal to sew daily, but that just isn’t realistic between the toddler and the homeschooling responsibilities.
- Read. Some of my friends are participating in a challenge to read 100 books; once upon a time I would have been the first in line for such a challenge. Now, I’m going to try to read one book each month this year (for myself, not counting all the picture books & school books read aloud).
There, that ought to keep me busy!
We’ve usually schooled year-round, starting a new school year after Labor Day and taking a week or two off whenever needed. Last year we started in late August; since the boys were attending Lutheran school I thought it easiest to follow their schedule. With a new baby in September and a move in November, book lessons were sporadic at times, at least until after Christmas. So we continued plugging away until leaving for vacation in June. I intended to pick up again when we returned but first there was VBS followed by the visit from the in-laws, and then Larry got sick. Finally I decided that they had surely spent more than enough time with their noses in books for last year, and that this year we would school from Labor Day to Memorial Day and that would be that.
Well, that seemed like a great idea until the public school started last week, a full week and a half before my planned start date. With the rest of the neighborhood kids back to their desks, my kids sound uncannily and conspiciously loud out there enjoying the last days of summer! Then I saw their school calendar, with the last week after Memorial Day, not before. Uh-oh. In crept those feelings of homeschooling mommy guilt: am I teaching my kids enough?
And then I started to remember all my own “school” days where no bookwork was done. Field trips. Practicing for the Christmas program. Making Mother’s Day cards. Assemblies and pep rallies. Achievement tests. The list of activities that takes children away from their desks is long, and yet all of those days are counted as part of the school’s official “days of instruction.” Now I am the first to admit that we do occasionally forgo the books if a field trip (or other life lesson) presents itself, but at the same time we don’t observe all the government holidays nor do we take days off for teacher training. And with all that in mind, I start to suspect that even starting later and finishing earlier, we won’t come up short.
Once I had settled that in my mind, my mind was free to fine tune my annual school planning. Doesn’t that sound grand? In reality, I had already chosen and ordered the majority of our books. All that remained was to estimate how often to study each subject in order to make reasonable progress over the course of the school year. Like this:
2008-2009 Lesson Plans
Catechism-daily devotions; dictation/copy work weekly.
History-Drama Boy, Boy Genius, Twirly Girl-The Story of the World (Bauer)-1 or 2 chapters per week. Supplement with maps & timeline (Knowledge Quest), Veritas Press cards, and other activities (Dover).
Language Arts
Grammar-DB & BG-Rod & Staff, TG-First Language Lessons (Wise)-daily.
Handwriting-DB (G), BG (E), TG (D), Bouncy Boy (A)-Italic (Getty Dubay)-1-2 pages per week.
Reading-BB-The Ordinary Parent’s Guide to Teaching Reading (Wise & Buffington)-1 lesson per day.
Spelling-DB (B), BG & TG (A)-Phonetic Zoo (IEW)-daily.
Latin-DB (Latina Christiana I), BG & TG (Prima Latina)-3 times a week.
Mathematics-DB (Zeta), BG (Epsilon), TG (Gamma), BB (Alpha)-Math U See-daily.
Science-DB, BG, TG. Earth science and astronomy-once a week.
You may notice I don’t have a specific science book listed; Larry is going to try to teach science this year, so I gave him a couple books and washed my hands. We’ll see how that goes! Anyhow then I plug it all into a weekly schedule, which is a simple chart with days running across the top and subjects down the side. This way I am prepared when someone asks me what they need to do that day. This chart will likely be tweaked in a week or two, when I figure out how long it really takes them to do certain things this year as well as how much they will need my help in various areas. But we need somewhere to start when next Tuesday rolls around. . .
Wondering what a SWAP is? I learned about Sewing With A Plan from my clever online sewing friends a few years ago. It’s a good way to ensure that I don’t sew a lot of cute clothes & still have nothing to wear! There is more than one way to plan, of course, but I start by choosing 2-3 coordinating colors. If I’m sewing for me, usually one if not two colors are neutral (eg, chocolate brown, olive green, burgundy). If I’m sewing for dd, I have more fun with colors, such as pink, mint green, and cranberry.
Then, I pull out stash fabrics in the colors I’ve chosen, as well as any other fabrics that might coordinate (in the first example above, that could mean ivory/tan, sage green, pink. . .). I also get out patterns, preferably ones I’ve already sewn and know fit as well as sew up easily, and plan about a dozen garments. I initially plan for about 6 tops (mostly knit), 4 bottoms, and a cardigan or other simple layering piece. I used my computer to print up a simple 4×3 chart, with one box for listing my main colors and the rest labeled as to garment type. The boxes are large enough to make notes (such as pattern #) as well as attach a fabric swatch.
And then. . .it’s time to take that pile of fabrics & sew it into wearable garments! In the interest of getting everything sewn and thus having a workable wardrobe, I usually get the more complicated items done first. Complicated is relative here; while I mostly stick with simple patterns, if I want ‘real’ pants they do take longer to sew than a t-shirt. My sewing order is usually determined by serger thread color.
Right now, I am working on a winter SWAP for dd, age 7. Here are the garments I’ve finished so far:
This photo makes the pinks look like they don’t really coordinate; they do, more or less, but more importantly they coordinate with the other, not-yet-sewn fabrics. All are Ottobre patterns (what else??). Clockwise from the top:
- Pink & white polka dot ‘popcorn’ knit from www.fabric.com with white decorative elastic (and button/ribbon trim at center front). Ottobre 1/2005 #13
- Floral cotton velour (PRR, bought years ago from a coop or something) with foldover elastic. Ottobre 1/2002 #13
- Pink stretch denim from someone’s grandma’s stash. Ottobre 4/2004 #10
This week I realized I only have 3 months until ‘d-day.’ Yikes! How am I supposed to get all my sewing done?! As usual my sewing list is too long: some specifically baby-related; some Christmas gifts that I won’t have time to sew with a new baby to snuggle; some UFOs that are starting to get on my nerves; and of course some clothing items to keep my family from running around indecent.
After panicking over this for a couple of days, I decided I would probably get more done if I stopped panicking and started planning. I used my computer to print up a simple 2 column table: the first column is numbered with weeks pregnant (28, 29, etc) and the second, larger, column is blank so that I can I write in my sewing plans and/or accomplishments. I printed in ‘landscape’ mode and left a very wide margin on the right hand side for notes.
I started by making a list of what I want to get sewn before #6 arrives, and then gave each item a priority (1-need to sew, 2-want to sew, 3-can wait). I resisted the urge to fill in the whole chart with my lofty plans, and instead just wrote down what I have already sewn plus what I plan to sew next in this week’s box. 
As an added bonus, the sewing room just got cleaned, straightened, and slightly reorganized this weekend, when Larry had to take my cutting table out to fix it. The room is still a work in progress, but it’s so much more tempting to go in and sew awhile when things aren’t falling on my head. Stay tuned for a photo tour, hopefully in the next week or so. . .at the moment I should stop blogging and get sewing!
