A Prayer For Sarah

Sarah has an MRI at the Cleveland Clinic next Thursday, December 3.

 Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. MRI's are never fun and with rare exception Sarah does this without being put under. The MRI will last  approximately 90 - 120 minutes. We find out the results of her MRI when we meet with her neurologist at the Mellen Center on Monday, December 7. Please pray that we receive good news. Please also pray that if we do not receive good news that our family will make the best of the situation.

A Little Break

I will be taking a little break from blogging as our family has some plans that will be keeping me pretty busy for the next 3 weeks. I will be sure to come back with many pictures and stories. In the meantime I wish you and your family a very happy Thanksgiving.

It Is Just That Important To Me

As some of you know I made some changes to my food shopping strategy in order to try and save costs. One of those changes was to not buy so much organic food. I was still purchasing meat, eggs, and milk organically and will never, ever not do so.

Not buying mostly organic food really, really bothered me. There are a lot of reasons why I believe wholeheartedly in organic. I am not going to go into all of those reasons today, but if you have read this blog for any amount of time you most likely know what those reasons are as I have written about them in the past.

After buying non-organic food the last 3 weeks I just cannot do it anymore. I knew that I felt passionately about organic food, but I guess I didn't realize just how much so until I was no longer buying it. Yes, I am okay with my kids eating some non-organic food. Yes, when we go back to Ohio in two weeks I fully expect to eat non-organic food for the entire time we are there. I am not so hell bent on organic that my kids will never eat non-organic food, BUT I have learned that I am hell bent on serving  95% organic food in my own home.

It was making me feel sick to my stomach to shop and place food in my cart that I knew was most likely sprayed with chemicals so toxic that those applying it have to wear protective gear or that my grocery items were most likely spread with the sludge of factory farms to "fertilize" those crops. I certainly know that some of my organic items have probably made it through loopholes in organic laws  here or there and I know that I am being fleeced by some companies who may be masquerading their conventional food as organic.  I am much more willing to risk these things happening than I am to risk the health of my children and buying non-organic food.

Sarah said it best after I bought my first weeks  worth of non-organic groceries when she asked me if I would go back to buying organic food because she felt like she was being poisoned. Now, I fully know that she said this because I have talked to the kids a lot about why we buy organic foods in this house and she was just using some of what I have said to them and turning it around on me, but I don't care. It was enough to sway me in the opposite direction.

Besides all of this I wasn't really even saving that much money. Sure, I was saving some, but it isn't enough to convince me to stay on the non-organic food budget.

We all have things in life that we are passionate about. Things that we will not budge on because they mean just that much to us. The food I feed my kids is one of those things for me.

A Success Story for Sarah & Me

It's funny how when life gets tough it is the simple things that mean the most.

Before Sarah lost her vision she loved to read. Her favorite books were horse stories especially the Breyer Horse series. One of the hardest things for her about losing her vision was that she could no longer read books on her own.

I have always loved reading to my kids and so when Sarah could no longer read for herself I doubled up my efforts to make sure that I was reading to her as much as possible. In the last couple of years we have read 150 - 200 books easily. The entire Junie B Jones collection, Stella Batts, the first 38 Baby-Sitter Club books,  and now the Classics - which we have read maybe 15-20 of are just a sampling of the books we have read. We are constantly reading together. It is the least I can do for her.

As we began to learn braille we knew that it would be a long road. Braille is both simple and complex at the same time. There is a lot of memorization and a specific way in which you have to hold your hands so that the most sensitive parts - your finger tips - can "read" the braille cell in order to determine what letter is being presented. We had to learn our letters and numbers and then our punctuation marks as well. (We are still working on those.) After learning letters it was time to put those together to create words. It has taken Sarah a while to get decent in reading her words. It is difficult for her to sometimes tell where one letter ends and the next begins which frustrates her. We practice just about every day and I have seen some progress.

It has been about two years since Sarah has been able to read on her own. For two years the words that she wanted so badly to be able to see have evaded her. And then it happened. All of the work she and I have been putting in together learning braille clicked. She read her first sentence yesterday while doing some braille homework. It was simple and it was beautiful:

"She lives a full life with five kids."

We celebrated those 8 words like we had just won the lottery. I whooped and hollered and did a happy dance. Sarah smiled from ear to ear. For the first time in a really, really long time she no longer needed my help in reading. She could do it herself.


I know that this was just one sentence and she is in no way ready to read a chapter book yet, but here is proof that it will happen someday. Of this I am certain. I am so proud of her for getting this far. I am proud of her for day after day learning a new language, a new way to read, and a new way to write. She has put in the work and she is reaping her rewards.

And you know what? I am super proud of me too. I did this. It was my day in and day out of teaching her. It was me putting in the man hours of learning how to teach her. Sarah learned (and is still learning) how to read because of me. Here is one visible success story that I will take some credit for. I am her teacher. Do you have any idea how good that feels? For all of the days that I feel like I may be failing my children in some way here is evidence that I am successful too. For all of the times that I feel that their future rests solely on my shoulders because I choose to homeschool them - here is proof that I am one hell of a good teacher - and that my kids will be just fine.

Here is the proof that how we spend our moments is how we spend our lives. All of those moments day in and day out teaching Sarah and having us both learn something completely new and out of our comfort zone, but so utterly important to her future success added up to create one of the best success stories she has had in these couple of really hard years.

And this celebration was all because of 8 little words. The best things in life are the most simple as the kids and I were reminded of yet again yesterday.

Photo courtesy of:mhpbooks.com

City of Rocks

When something scary happens with Sarah whether it is something like what we experienced Friday night, or it is a situation where she needs to be hospitalized, or whatever else the case may be the only thing I want to do is close myself off from the rest of the world and hunker down with my kiddos and Bob. 

I don't care about anything else. I just want to be with my tribe. I want to have them close to me so that I can allow them time to process all that is going on in our lives and to allow them to have the freedom to express themselves in any manner they see fit. After all, what Sarah goes through and experiences affects them all. Her disease is written deeply into their life story as well. Her ups and downs are playing a role in who they will become as adults. Selfishly, I want to have them close to me so that I can feel like I am sheltering them and protecting them. I want us to have a chance to bond together to understand that we are in this together for better or worse because we are a family. I want them to know that the 6 of us are bound together for life and that our immediate family takes precedence over everything else in this world. That family is first - always. 

Often when something goes down I like to take them away from it all. I like to plan a trip somewhere so that we can know that despite all that we have gone through and will go through we can still have fun as a family and we can still create happy memories. I do this as much for the kids as I do it for me and Bob. 

Bob was at work when Sarah's vision completely went dark on Friday night. I was (and still am) so rattled by what happened that I told him Saturday morning that I needed to get out of town. Bob was completely on board. So we planned a trip to a place called the City of Rocks State Park. It is these enormous group of rocks in the middle of the desert. There are mountains in the distance on all sides of the city, but the area surrounding it is flat with desert landscaping. Out of no where are these rocks. They look so out of place in the middle of no where. 

We had so much fun on Saturday. The rocks are there to climb on and explore. We did this all afternoon long. It was just what we needed. It was the perfect place for everyone. Bob and Andy could climb super high. Josh was able to climb up some not so super steep rocks. (Josh injured his other knee and is almost 100% recovered, but he still needs to be careful.) The rocks were big enough that Sarah could feel her way around them. My monkey child, Elizabeth, was able to freely be her lively, hyper, crazy self all without worrying about being told to calm down. 

As usual it was sunny and warm. It was the perfect day and was just what we all needed. 

All of the kids help Bob and I show Sarah around. They do such a good job of helping her. It is second nature to them now. 

Sarah took a selfie. I love this picture so much. 

Sarah and Elizabeth were talking about what a cool Barbie house this spot would be. 

The area was flat like this all around City of Rocks. 

A Scare For Sarah

I used to think that all blind people had the same amount of blindness. I had no idea that there were different "levels" of being blind.  The government defines being legally blind as anyone with vision worse than 20/200. In case you were wondering the picture below is an example of what that looks like.

What 20/200 vision looks like. 

 In the beginning of our journey when Sarah would get to this point during a relapse she would be hospitalized. She would receive treatment and her vision would go back to 20/20 in one eye and maybe 20/40 in her other eye. As time when on she would only regain enough vision to have her best be at 20/60 or 20/80. And then as more time went on it got to the point where 20/80 and 20/100 was as good as it was gonna get. That was a hard time for us, but Sarah persevered and found a way to maintain her mobility and independence.

As more time went on we no longer took her to the hospital when her vision would reach 20/200, but would instead wait until it was 20/400. The reason that this became the case was because her vision was at 20/200. That became her new normal. It was only when her vision deteriorated to 20/400 did we know that she was relapsing. (The above picture shows what 20/400 vision looks like.)

20/800 vision

Finally, in July of 2014 Sarah's vision did not come back after her normal hospitalization. She was at around 20/800 and that was to become her new normal. As time went on we adjusted to this. We moved to New Mexico and we thought that the sun and the good weather would help restore some of that lost vitamin D Sarah was missing out on by living in Ohio. With 20/800 vision Sarah was still able to navigate decently around our new house. She was still able to make out enough detail that she could be independent. She would have her bad days for sure, but for the most part she would only bump into things some of the time. She was still able to get around without a cane (for the most part). Looking at these pictures I have no idea how she was able to get around, but she did.

The right hand side is 20/800 vision. The left hand side is what you and I see. 

The whole time Sarah was going through her relapses she would complain about having these black dots in her vision. She would always know when she was relapsing because the black dots would increase and her vision would get worse. The picture above shows what that looked like to her. So imagine this combined with the 20/200, 20/400, and then 20/800 pictures. Our girl is truly amazing, isn't she?

In January of last year, right before we left to come back to Ohio, Sarah went from 20/800 vision to what I would call shadow only vision. (I could not find any pictures of it on google images.) The dots are now a part of her life and look like the picture above - only they are all black and not colorful. She most likely would run into you right now if you were standing in front of her unless the lighting in the room was just so. 

Still Sarah has persevered. She has memorized our entire house and can get around without her cane. She is doing a great job in learning to adept the life with vision like in the picture above. She is gaining confidence with her cane so that when we go out in public she sometimes will walk on her own. 

Sarah's biggest fear now (and has been for a while) is that her world will go entirely black. I don't know the percentages, but I venture to say that most people who are legally blind have one of the above vision acuities. There are some who see nothing though. No light. No shadows. No color. Only blackness. To say that Sarah is actually petrified of this would be an accurate statement. If I am being completely honest with myself I would say that I am petrified of this too. How do you know when it is nighttime? How do you know when it is day? How do you not lose your mind with everything being black all of the time? 

On Friday night, Sarah experienced this blackness for about 15 minutes and it shook us both to our core. I was putting Sarah to bed. I was getting ready to turn off her big bedroom light when she asked if I would allow her to keep her desk lamp on as well as her closet light. I told her that was fine and turned off her main light while turning on her desk lamp, a stand up lamp, and also her closet light. I noticed she was blinking very weirdly. Actually, she was blinking the way she did on May 18th, 2013 in the hospital the night she was diagnosed. (It is a look I will have etched in my memory for as long as I live.) Her eyes filled with tears as she said told me everything was pitch black. She asked me if the lights were on and when I told her yes she told me that she could not see them. She could not tell that any lights were on at all. She was completely in the dark. I then turned on her big bedroom light as well and she could not tell that I had done so. I felt utterly helpless. After trying several things (closing her eyes, laying down, etc..) something clicked in her eyes and she was able to tell that the lights were on, but it rocked her to her core. She was crying and I held her in my arms feeling a hopelessness I had not felt in a long time. 

There is nothing in this world that I can think of that is worse than watching your child hurt and not knowing why and knowing there is absolutely nothing you can do in this whole wide world to help her. It is hands down the worst feeling I have ever felt. It is a soul crushing, heart breaking, and utterly helpless terribleness that I cannot describe. 

I had Sarah come lay down with me and snuggled with her that night. Bob was kind enough to sleep in Sarah's bed. I needed Sarah next to me that night as much as she needed me next to her. 

There was no rhyme or reason for this brief blackout. And though it lasted only 15 minutes it was very real and very, very scary because what I can tell you is that if the past is predictive of the future then that black out was not the last one Sarah will have. In fact, it is most likely a forewarning of her future. 

Life becomes very clear to me when Sarah has issues. Nothing else is important, but my kids and my husband and being together. For a moment or two life comes into laser sharp focus. All of the outside things that we have gymnastics, soccer, school,  etc...melt away. All that matters is packing in as many memories as I possibly can in the event that Sarah's world goes dark permanently.

  On Saturday, we took the kids to Rock City (I will post pictures later) and enjoyed the day as a family. Nothing else mattered to me, but being with my husband and kids. We had other obligations that weekend, but I attended only part of 1 of them. It was important to me to be with my family this past weekend. It was important to go some place new and enjoy another experience and have Sarah be able to see the outlines of the rocks and to enjoy feeling the sun on her face with the kids, Bob and I. 

Because this is what her world may someday look like:

Even today, I am still shaken by the events of Friday night. It has been a while since we have had any medical scares. Oh, how I could live the rest of my live without a medical scare...that would be glorious. 

Sarah has an MRI scheduled for when we go back to Ohio in a couple of weeks. She also has an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic to see her neurologist and also an ophthalmology appointment with our beloved Dr. Locastro. I hope that everything comes back with good news on Sarah's MRI, but after Friday night's incident I am afraid that it won't. And I am not sure how I will be able to handle that. 

In times like these I struggle to keep it together. I see my little girl and know that she suffers and know that she will continue to suffer and I cannot wrap my head around that. It doesn't make sense. The fact that Sarah's illness strikes when it wants to with no warning only adds to the hardship.

Part 4: The Family Meeting & Chore Packs & Recipe Box

The Family Meeting

In a busy family it is very easy to rush around and not have meaningful time for one another. A day can easily go by and then another and another until it has been a week or more that a mama has really connected with her children unless she makes deliberate time to do so. It is even easier as a family unit to let a lot of time go by without gathering together to discuss family issues.

In order to combat this problem of busyness I began implementing weekly meets with our family. This is a time on either Saturday or Sunday depending on our schedule for us to gather and discuss how the past week went, what the upcoming week looks like, and then to connect and touch base with each other. (We do have a family hour each day, but that is geared more towards doing an activity together verse all of us talking about the status of our family.)

Every Thursday I type up an agenda and we use that to go over things we are currently working on. I also have a question prepared each week that we all need to answer. Last week's question was: What two goals do you want to accomplish as an adult? I try to make the questions something that requires some thought on each member's part. As you can see below the answers are varied. (And yes, I really do dream of living off the grid entirely.)

I also ask the kids what they liked best/least about the previous week so that we can improve upon our system.

We also read a book as a family. I chose to start with a book of virtues. Each week we read about a virtue and then we discuss what it means and how we can apply it in our own lives. Once we have finished with that we will pick another family centered book and read and discuss that.

Our family meetings are a time in which everyone has a voice and a fair say in all that is going on in our life as a family unit. Everyone is allowed to speak his/her mind. I find the family meeting to very useful and helpful in making sure we are all on the same page in terms of goals and values.

Chore Packs

Since I knew that I was going to be implementing consistent chores and I did not want to have to explain the chores 5000 times to the kids. I decided to make a chore pack for each of them. They are color coded and each kid has all of his/her chores on the chore packs along with directions on the back of each card on how I expect the chore to be completed. The first week I told the kids to ask as many questions as they could think of because I really wanted them to be able to handle these chore packs on their own from week 2 and beyond. 

I love having these chore packs. They were easy and cheap to make and they allow the kids the ability to complete their tasks on their own, but with all of the information that they need to get the job done right. I will double check their work once it is completed, but in the future I can see myself getting to the point where I just check their work a couple of times a week. If something isn't being done to my standards I just go back with the child and show them what I want and how I want it done and point out the directions on the back of the chore pack. I don't know why I didn't do this before because this is hands down one of the best things I have implemented. Plus the kiddos feel good because they know that they have completed a task and done it well. I make sure to praise them on their jobs when they are done well. 

Andy is blue, Josh is orange, Sarah is purple, and Elizabeth is red/pink. The arrow on Sarah's pack means that there are specific directions on the back that tell her exactly what I expect. Obviously, with her I just read the directions, but everyone else has the same thing on their cards when there is a chore that I want specific things done in order for me to consider it complete.

The Recipe Box

Because so much of what we eat is homemade I hear more often than I would like, "Mom, what is there to eat?", or, "Mom, there is nothing to eat!".  Bob had a great idea which was for me to write down all of the things that I make and put them on recipe cards. This way when the kids want a specific snack/meal and I do not have the time to prep it they can just pull out the recipe from the recipe box and make it themselves. This was a brilliant idea. I do struggle with remembering to put each day's recipes in the box (and also to write them out), but I am working on that. Eventually, there should be a ton of different recipes that the kids can pull out and use to make their own things when they are hungry. (Obviously, I am still prepping and planning for their meals, but sometimes they will get hungry during the day when I cannot stop and make something. Some nights I don't want to cook. A 15 and 13 year old are fully capable of preparing a meal on the rare night I just need a break from doing so.) This is good training for them as well as they will be preparing meals for themselves sooner rather than later. I want to make sure that they are eating more than cereal and ramen noodles for every meal.  

Well, I think that sums everything up. If I think of anything else I will be sure to let you know. I would highly recommend this system to anyone looking to simplify and organize their lives!

********************************************************************************

Begin Here

Part 1 - Why's

Part 2: The Binder

Part 3: Family Management Housekeeping

Part 3: Family Management: Housekeeping

One of the things that I really liked about the book, Large Family Logistics, is that the author appeared to make good housekeeping seem rather simple. I have always struggled with housekeeping. When I had four little kids under foot it seemed like my house was a constant wreck, but as they have gotten older it has been easier to keep the house tidy. Still, I don't want a tidy house I want a super clean one, but I don't want to have to do the work all alone. Not only do I not want to do it all alone - I cannot do it all alone and still keep up with homeschooling. Homeschooling isn't negotiable, so for a while I have done the bare minimum in the house to make it look respectable (beyond just picking it up). I didn't/don't like feeling like I have a constant housekeeping list over my head. Now that I have implemented my new system I don't have that worry anymore because everything is getting done or will get done on a regular basis. Check it out:

Monday is Laundry Day.

 This is when I have the kids pull off their bedding as well as bring me their laundry baskets (on Sunday before bed) so that I can begin laundry first thing Monday morning. It usually takes me all day to do laundry for our family. 

I also made two posters which show the kids how to do the laundry so that they can help me on Mondays, but also in the event that they need something washed during the week they can do so on their own.  These posters are hung up in our laundry room.

Tuesday is Kitchen Day. 

As you can see on Tuesday all 4 kids are responsible for cleaning 1 drawer, 1 pantry shelf, and 1 cabinet. Every other week we clean out our refrigerator. I clean other appliances and the kitchen counters while my kiddos are doing their kitchen chores. Then I get down on my hands and knees and scrub the kitchen floor. 

Wednesday is Deep Cleaning Day.

On Wednesday we pick 1 zone in the house and deep clean the walls, floors, ceilings, and furniture. Each child is assigned one of the above spaces to clean and then I help each of them accomplish their task. We all help each other out as we finish our assigned section of the room so that we can all be done more quickly. So far, it takes us about 30 minutes to deep clean our zones. 

The zones are broken down into the following weeks:

Week 1: Family Room & Living Room

Week 2: Bathrooms 

This isn't that hard to do because we are wiping down our bathrooms each day. What we focus on is cleaning out the tubs, ceilings, and walls. Other than that the toilet, floor, counters, and mirrors are cleaned daily. 

Week 3: Play Room & Game Room

Week 4: School Room

Week 5: Closets & Laundry Room & Hallways

We also deep clean one section of our rooms. Each child is responsible for that on his/her own, but I sometimes help the girls depending on what part of our room we are working on. I clean my assigned section of my room. Our sections are: closets, under our beds, walls, ceilings, floors.

In doing it this way our rooms get deep cleaned once a month without seeming overwhelming. It takes between 10 - 25 minutes to do a zone. That is very manageable. 

I also do a load of towels this day & any left over sheets/ blankets from Monday. 

Thursday is my Office Day.

This is where I prep for the next week. 

Friday is Errand Day

This is the day (and I try to make it only this day) that I am out and about running errands. I spend a few hours running errands, but I get everything I need done for the week which is really nice. We also have a light schooling day. The boys are assigned all of the things that they can work on on their own and the girls do just a couple of subjects. 

Saturday is Yard Day

This is where the kids and I help Bob to maintain the yard. The yard is broken down into zones and we focus on one zone each Saturday. This helps to make things appear more manageable. 

This is also an opportunity for Bob to get any help that he might need with the pool, garage area, van, etc...

Some random notes:

*Everyone is responsible for an individual room(s) - Andy has a bathroom, game room, and the school room floor. Josh has the family room and the living room. Sarah is responsible for the master bathroom, the dining room, and the kitchen floor. Elizabeth is responsible for the playroom, the main bathroom, and the hallways. 

*When we clean our floors (unless it is the room being deep cleaned that week or Kitchen Day) I put our homemade floor cleaner into spray bottles for the kids. I have them spray their assigned floors and then place two clothes that we use just for housecleaning under their feet  (we have a whole basket of these in the cupboard above our dryer) and they "skate" their way around the floor mopping it up. 

*Sarah and I buddy up on her assignments. It is very important to me that she be able to do all of these tasks, but it takes her quite a bit longer to get her stuff done than it does the other kids. I help her get her jobs done while still making sure that she knows how to do each one.

*On Saturday night I will also prep for Sunday's meals. We usually eat finger food and then have a casserole or a crock pot dish that I don't have to do anything for on Sunday. 

Sunday the whole family does nothing but relax,

If you are looking to read this whole series here are the links: 

Start Here

Part 1 - Why's

Part 2 - The Binder

Part 4: Family Meeting, Chore Packs, Recipe Box

Part 2: Family Management - The Binder

My family management binder is now my life source. When you first open it up it contains a master calendar that houses all of the kids activities. It is pretty blank right now because Andy is out of season with high school soccer and Josh is injured, but both boys will resume their soccer activities soon which will fill up the chart. I purposefully have kept it blank this month for a couple of reasons:

1.) I needed to slow down our family life to re-focus on getting back on track.
2.) I am trying to limit the amount of activities that we do in order to stay focused after we are back on track.

After the master calendar are 5 main tabs/categories:

1.) Family

2.) Food

3.) Fitness (Mine)

4.) Self

5.) Housekeeping

Under each of these categories are subcategories:

Family

      1.) Book List

This contains a list of books our family will read together out loud.

2.) Ideas

This for any ideas anyone in the family has such as things they want to do, places they would like to go, etc...

3.) Chores

This contains the master list for the chores assigned for that period of time.

4,) Family Meeting Info.

This contains our family agenda for each meeting and also our meeting notes from previous meetings.

5.) I'm bored List

I get tired of hearing my kids say that they are bored, so I created a list of all of the things that they can do when they feel bored. Instead of coming to me they now have a place to go to to get some ideas of what to do when they cannot think of anything on their own.

6.) Morning/Night Routine

This is just a list of everything the kids are expected to do each morning and evening.

Food

Behind the food tab is a helper of the day list. This person is my side kick in the kitchen with me as I provide breakfast, lunch, dinner and 2 snacks each day. This helper is responsible for setting the table, clearing the table, and helping to prep the meals with me.

This is a list of who is helping me each day.

This is what is expected when you are a helper of the day.

1.) Menu

This contains the menu for the entire week. No one has to come ask me what we are eating for any of our meals because it is all laid out in the family management book.

I grocery shop on Friday's, so our new week begins on a Friday and ends on a Thursday.

2.) Cooking ideas

This tab contains all of the recipes that I would like to try as well as suggestions from the kids.

3.) Baking ideas

Same concept as cooking ideas.

4.) Grocery List

Pretty self explanatory. This is the list of the groceries we need for the upcoming week.

This is last week's list.

This is the start of this week's list.

5.) Budget

Again - pretty self explanatory. This is the place where I write down how much we have spend and also where I store my receipts.

 Fitness

1.) Exercise Log

This is where I keep track of how far I have walked each day. How many sit ups, plank time, arm exercises, etc...that I do each day.

2.) Ideas

This is for anything fitness related that I want to remember keep or keep track of.

3.) Nutrition

I keep articles and other things pertaining to nutrition in this section.

4.) Weight Tracker

I think this one speaks for itself. 

Self

This tab is solely for me. It is what keeps me sane.

Proverbs 31 really speaks to me. I took some of the highlighted points from the book, Large Family Logistics, and created my own inspirational version of the Proverbs 31 woman. 

1.) Morning Routine

This has everything I like to accomplish each morning.

2.) Evening Routine

Self explanatory.

3.) Book List

This is a list of books I want to read.

4.) Decorations

This is where I put pictures/ written ideas of how I would like to decorate our next home.

5.) Quotes

I am always inspired by quotes. I like to keep a list of the ones that most inspire me. Here is one that particularly moved me: "For many boys playing video games is their only platform for controlling their own destiny. When they feel like they are failing they can restart their game until they have mastered that level." (I read this in a book that I do not remember the title to. Eek!)

6.) Clothes

Clippings of clothes from magazines that I would like to some day buy or that I find attractive.

So, here you have the bulk of my Family Management binder. The next section, housekeeping, is going to take up a post in-and-of itself.  I will save that for another day.




If you want to read this whole series:
Start Here
Part 1: Why's
Part 3 - Housekeeping
Part 4: Family Meeting, Chore Packs, Recipe Box