Killin' Clutter

The days have slipped away quickly and I didn't realize how much time had passed since I blogged last. Having less stuff has been my main focus lately as I've decluttered several areas of the house and taken a couple loads to the Thrift Shop and a lucative trip to the dump with truckful of scrap metal. But the end unfortunately is not as near as I'd like, there is much more to go through and donate, sell, or scrap as we prepare to dive into some massive house projects. Along with the decluttering I've begun to slowly implement some of the Feng Shui concepts into arrangements of some rooms. The entire process has been very refreshing and I'm looking forward to having even less!

The boys and I checked out Farmology, an educational program about agriculture which is funded by The 100 Mile Meal, a fantastic concept that entailed collecting donations of food, herbs, and cooking materials from within 100 miles of Lapeer county. Our 4H club donated the pork, and there was a collection of winter veggies (rutabaga, parsnips, carrots and potatoes), a fantastic coleslaw, squash, biscuits, apple cobbler and blueberry cobbler for dessert! Delish. After we ate we made our way through the exhibits that were hosted by local farms and kids from FFA (Future Farmers of America). I would have joined FFA just to get one of their awesome blue corduroy jackets. The best part was when we got home and I tried on my new, cozy, alpaca wool socks.....aaaahhhh.

In between days of decluttering I also did some subbing in the middle school (science & math) and the elementary (begindergarten, art and special ed.). I don't know which is more challenging the youngest kids or 8th graders, probably the older kids because they know better but they don't really care. This past Saturday the Lapeer County Concert Choir had a retreat at the Chatfield School to prepare for our Spring Concert, it was a fun time and we got a lot accomplished. During our break I had a moment to wander around the school which now goes up to 8th grade and I was really impressed with some of the projects they were working on in the upper grades. I'm seriously considering putting Ben and Ethan in for the lottery draw to attend there for middle school. I know North Branch is doing the best they can with what they have to work with but I'm really concerned about some of the things I've seen in the middle school and think Ben may do better in a different atomosphere. We'll see if they get drawn and then decide from there. For the 2011-12 year we'll stick with where we're at cause they'll both be in the upper elementary together and Fox will shift to the high school so I won't really have to deal with middle school.

As I was be-bopping through the house the other day I noticed this sign on an empty cupboard, not sure exactly what the game was the boys were playing but it must have been pretty intense to need a 'panic room.' This made me chuckle. The cabin fever has been pretty severe this year and their imaginations seem to be a bit foggy as they more and more opt for tv, computer, or 'battling' (fake fighting) which drives me crazy! Since the weather has eased up I've been kicking them outside more but they never seem to stay out for long, although Ethan has been heading out on his own with his BB gun to shoot birds, which I'm a little torn about.

Yesterday's pig club meeting was the most informative yet, we learned about what to look for in selecting a pig, how to set up their housing, and the proper way to feed them. We've decided not to buy a pig this year but work on getting an adequate set-up in place first and participate in fair as observers so we'll know better what to expect. The leader said this is fine to do. Update on the Space Camp contest, Ben did not make it to the interview round but will definately try for it again next year.

Fox participated in his first forensics meet at Anchor Bay High School this past Saturday, he scored better than I thought he would have since he was extremely unprepared in my eyes but he seemed to pull it together enough to get some positive feedback. He was pretty resistant to doing it in the first place but when Rob picked him up at the end of the day Fox's first comment was "well, I didn't hate it as much as I thought I was going to." His next chance will be after the break at our North Branch home meet, hopefully he can step it up a notch for that one. He's also starting track this week.

Next week the boys will be on their spring break, originally we planned to go down to Florida to visit Rob's parents but then decided against it because of the gas and distance. Instead Rob and I will continue the 'have less stuff' movement and a few small projects, hoping to even get started on some outside tasks if the weather cooperates. Plus Rob was in Idaho for far longer than he had anticipated on a work project and is happy just to be home, thankfully he did figure things out with some help from the techs in Italy and left Idaho with everyone at the shop much happier.

Less is more......