Organization of Heart, Mind and Home...

Maybe it's because I am pregnant or maybe perhaps that Spring is surely right around the corner (despite all the snow, I believe, oh, I believe), but I have been moving and redoing things throughout the house. Even just moving something from one room to another makes it seem new and fresh. I had been wanting to make some changes is the kids closet and room for awhile now. Their toys and books were overflowing and needed serious attention.
This morning I loaded up the babies in search of baskets and storage containers. I thrifted a bunch at Goodwill for under $10 and this included a couple of sewing patterns, a mesh food cloche, and a pyrex storage container with lid. After a donut break...yes, I know, I know, naughty, I set to work in their room. I sorted, cleaned, rearranged, and purged. I came away with a large box to add to the yardsale pile and a much cleaner/sleaker room.
I put favorite toys in the baskets and placed them on the book shelf and under the dresser...now they can grab and go, instead of having to rummage in the closet and dismantle everything in order to find what they want. The old system caused much frustration for this Mama and her chilldren. Elijah loves to play with his trains and tracks so those are placed on the bottom shelf.
We also have some great wooden puzzles that they love but rarely played with because they were scattered in bits on the bottom of the toybox in the closet. Now they have their own spot on a shelf and have seen more use in one afternoon than they had in months...happy kids...happy Mama.
I have become fascinted with the concept of untoys lately...This lady has a nice post about it. I want the kids to have things they can play with that foster imagination and different textures that they can feel and experience...a basket with scraps of yarn and pieces of fabric, wooden acorns, clothes pins to paint, a box of large buttons, etc. I love the tomatos in that picture up there. Evelyn likes to place them in different bowls and containers and carry them around the house. I got those lovely wooden things from Casey's Wood Products. My do they ship fast and have a nice slections of all kinds of shapes and whatnots. I was able to get a nice assortment of things very inexpensively...I'm not sure I could have walked out of toystore with much comparitively. I'm just saying.

I have also been getting up nice and early in the morning. I think it's important for me to be up before the kids wake up. But, also I have been having quiet time and reading my devotional. What a great start to the day. This was what I decided to do for Lent and giving up a little sleep to meet with God has been nothing but wonderful. He meets me right where I am and I am seeing the power of prayer at work in my life already. I had gotten very lax at praying and complacent in my relationship with Christ. I have just come out of a very long dry spell in my life. I had very little motivation for anything and I was deeply unhappy in everything I was doing. I could feel it poisoning my family and sucking the life out of me. In January I attended my first Mothers of PreSchoolers meeting and I was convicted to pray for my children and my husband, which I had not been doing and to memorize scripture. I started to pray regularly and I see such a difference in myself...how I am with the children and David. I cannot deny the peace and the hope that now permeats my days. Also having scripture on my mind and heart throughout my day has been a wellspring at difficult moments. This week it's I Peter 5:7 "Cast all your anxiety on him for he cares for you." Short but powerful.
Well, I must close I have a little Morsel that has decided to have a meltdown. God bless you the rest of this week.