Sonlight Garden

New Command Central

I blogged about a year and a half ago about my Command Central. It was so beautiful. I loved having a space where I kept everything organized and I could keep track of everyone's activities. Doesn't it look pretty?

I am sorry to say it does not look like this now. It has become a magnet for papers and books and toys and everything else you could possibly imagine. It was just not working anymore.  

 I found a new space. Our mudroom. It is right off of the kitchen and kind of out of the way, but not to out of the way. I started out with a high table that used to be an island in my parents kitchen. Thankfully my Dad had saved it and it was stored in their garage with two bar-stools. My mom refinished the table from plain wood to a bright cheery red. I would love to find some floral shabby chic looking covers for the bar-stools.

 From there I looked for calenders and bulletin boards. This is what I really wanted from Pottery Barn. But I just couldn't justify the price. I love the look of it though. I went looking for baskets at Michael's one day and found a whiteboard calender and whiteboard/cork-board combo for $10.99. I also found some hanging baskets on sale. I bought three, one for incoming mail, one for catalogs and one for pencils, pens, markers, scissors, etc. I found a basket for file folders at TJ Maxx on clearance and even some pretty decorated file folders on clearance for $2.00. Go me!

 I

 I am even overhauling my Home Management Companion. It also took on a life of its own. I downloaded some sheets from Mom Agenda and some beautiful pages for a Home Management Binder from Kim at Starry Sky Ranch. These can be found on the right side bar of her lovely blog. I am completely emptying my binder and starting over.

 

I love this new space. It is bright and cheery. It is the most organized area of my home and I just want to sit in here all day. But then the laundry piles up, and the children need to be fed and educated, and...you get the point.

Bless My Perseverance

Nothing like reading a little St. Josemaria Escriva to get you out of a rut.

" O blessed perseverance of the donkey that turns the waterwheel! Always the same pace. Always around the circle. One day after another, everyday the same.

Without that there would be no ripeness in the fruit, nor blossom in the orchard, nor scent of flowers in the garden. Carry this thought to your interior life." -St. Josemaria Escriva

Wow. I am doing important work here. I know this, but sometimes I do need a reminder. My day in day out is important. It may seem monotonous, the never ending laundry piles as I think to myself "Didn't I just wash this T-shirt?" The constant meal preparations, as someone is always hungry. Sweeping the always dirty floor. Reading the same book over and over to two little preschoolers. Sometimes it seems never ending but it is valuable. What makes it so valuable is how I do it. How do I handle my day in day out?

I have to tell you, It seems I have been walking around my home lately, not really getting much accomplished. I think a lot of it has to do with the disorder around here. I am not quite sure when or why it happened, but it did. It is not an obvious disorder to the outsider, but it is so to me. It is glaring me in the face and it feels like a huge mountain that I need to climb. I realize I am the one who has to fix this. I am the one who has to restore the order. Why? Because I am a wife and a mom and it is my job. It is my "waterwheel" to turn. It can either be well oiled and my walk will be light; meaning I can have a smooth running orderly household. Or it can be full of dirt and pebbles and hard to turn, it will be hard to keep my pace and be constant. I will surely tire out.

I have started looking at how I spend my days. What do I spend my time doing? The answer? I am basically moving "stuff" around all day, mainly clothes and toys. We have to many. So, I have been purging. I am filling trash bags with things to donate and to throw away. I have gone through all of our clothes and the girls room so far. I started to do the girls room and I was overwhelmed at the number of toys and clothes and shoes. If I am overwhelmed, how must they feel? No wonder they have had a hard time keeping their room picked up. The most surprising thing to me has been the girls reaction when I started to reduce things. They have been very generous in their giving. They want peace and order also. Children need this! I think of this and I persevere.

This "circle" that I "walk" everyday is valuable. I am growing my own "fruit". I want them to blossom and grow and ripen. I want there scent to be beautiful!!

Before And After-Pantry

I had to get my pantry cleaned out. It looked like a bomb went off  a mess in there. I had to do it because I was getting a co-op monthly grocery delivery, and absolutely nothing else was going to fit in there. OK, I can't believe I am going to do this. I am going to show you before and after pictures. Wow, this is humbling to say the least.

Now there is something very funny in this pantry, do you see it on the second shelf from the bottom. The blue book.

Wait I will give you a closer look....

That would be Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook. You can tell I read it all the time can't you? She really has great advice that I follow all the time. That is why my pantry looks like this. should take it off the shelf and sit down and read it. Well I have and it is now in my kitchen at my desk. I just thought that book sitting there was hysterical. Martha would definitely not approve.

OK here is what the pantry looks like now. (two months later)

Yes, I am aware it looks like a grocery store. (that's what the kids said anyway) That's how it is when you buy in bulk. This will last us a month probably (hopefully) longer. I wonder what Peter Walsh would say about this? Is this to much food? Probably. Has he ever had to feed a big family I wonder?  I am reading his book and have not gotten very far. So we will see. I have not bulk shopped in over a year and I am excited to be doing it this way again. When we shopped this way in the past we did save quite a bit of money and we ate a lot healthier.

Now, I am also aware that not every family's pantry looks like this. As I was filling the shelves I was reminded of how abundantly Blessed we are. How Blessed I am that my pantry is filled with food and that I can feed my family.

                     A Thanksgiving Prayer

Oh, God, when I have food, help me to remember the hungry;

When I have work, help me to remember the jobless;

When I have a warm home, help me to remember the homeless;

When I am without pain, help me to remember the those who suffer;

And remembering help me to destroy complacency and bestir my compassion.

Make me concerned enough to help, by word and deed, those who cry out for what we take for granted.

by Samuel F. Pugh