birdsandtrees

Spring Cleaning

I'm off this week from school for Spring Break, and I've got cleaning and organization on the brain.  I thought I'd share some inspiring images (mostly kitchens, entryways, and mudrooms) to get you in the cleaning mood!

(the emersonmade pantry via sweetpaul)

(rolling cubby storage)

(simple and clean laundry room)

(there's a lot of stuff in this kitchen,

but everything seems to have its place!)

(organized kitchen cabinets make me happy)

(this pantry is a such a great use of space)

(I loved this garden shed in this month's Country Living...

I'd love for our shed to look like this someday!)

(such a bright and colorful space)

Happy cleaning!

Today

Phew! What a day. 

Today marks the start of the Lenten season.  40 days to reflect, pray, slow down, repent, and prepare for Holy Week and Easter.  It is one of my most favorite seasons of the year.  I had all these grand plans of ways to start the Lenten season at school today (like we did last year), but some rain that came through the night and morning made their way into our basement and changed the plans I had made. I wouldn't have said this a couple of hours ago, but I'm kind of glad they did.  It made me see how much weight I put into my own plans, my own ideas, my own expectations.  My identity is not found in those things, and today made me draw near to God and away from myself.  Not the day I had planned, but glad it was given to me.  

"Lent is a time of returning to God.  It is a time to confess how we keep looking for joy, peace, and satisfaction in the many people and things surrounding us, without really finding what we desire.  Only God can give us what we want.  Lent is a time of refocusing, of re-entering the place of truth, of reclaiming our true identity."  - Henri Nouwen, Eternal Seasons

The Wheel on the School

I know I've said before how hard it is to find books that my school girls haven't read yet.  We've read some wonderful ones this year, like this one and this one.  I wanted to share with you the one that we recently finished,  The Wheel on the School, by Meindert Dejong.  This was a book that I knew none of them would have read, probably never heard of! 

I was a little hesitant when I first started reading it to them.  The plot is simply about this small school (like us!) in Holland (not like us!) who are trying to find a wheel to put on the roof of their schoolhouse so that storks will come to their village.  Sounds pretty exciting, right? 

What unfolds throughout the book is that the children slowly end up bringing the people of their community together.  It's a simple but beautiful story.  The book does have some flashbacks, and the pacing and timing of the book is a bit more complex, so I would recommend it for a middle or upper elementary read-aloud.  The girls loved it all the way through, and I was so glad they were able to appreciate this wonderful book.  It is one you definitely need to put on your list. 

We're currently reading The Secret Garden and we can't get enough of it!  If you don't have this one, make sure you get the one with illustrations by Tasha Tudor.  Happy Reading!

JCPenney...who knew??

This summer my mom and I went on a pretty intense hunt for roman shades.  Preferably inexpensive roman shades.  I searched online, we went to many home stores, but we finally ended up at JCPenney. I don't think I had been there since junior high.  But if you're looking for any shades - roman or bamboo- I will save you the time of searching - just go to JCPenney!  They are great quality, they come in lots of different colors, and the best part is that they're almost always on sale.  I got each shade for about $25.  I saw a tutorial about gluing fabric (using spray adhesive) onto the roman shade for a custom look.  I was sold!  It was a really easy process.  A fabric without a pattern would make it easier, but overall, I'd do it again. 

For my next project, we've got 5 windows in our bedroom that I want to work on.  They all have mini-blinds in them, so I'm going to try this idea...genius!!  I'll be sure to report how it goes.