Hello everyone!
I have been getting weirdly excited about organizing and redoing little areas of our house. I have also been weeding through some of our things and donating and selling them, clearing out some of the clutter of things we no longer need or enjoy. We must be a family of magpies the way we hang onto things! Last week I tore apart our homeschool supply area in the basement, set up a little work station that has my binding machine, paper cutter, and miscellaneous supplies, organized the shelves, filed stuff in my filing cabinet – and basically just organized to my heart’s content. Next I need to focus on the areas where we will actually be doing our schooling – Wyatt’s desk area in his room and at our dining room table. I think I might put my grandmother’s china away for a little bit and rework the china cabinet to hold supplies – and maybe a new reptile tank… I mean, why not right? Lol. I think we would all like a snake, but as the caretaker I don’t think I could do the feeding. Ick. And what if it escaped? I read that snakes can be tricksy little Houdinis! So probably never a snake.
I am also working on ideas for our first day of school, to make it feel like the first day and special, which can be sort of hard when you homeschool. I did take Wyatt back to school supply shopping the other day (and I have since decided that for all future Target runs I will leave my two guys at home as they zoomed through the store without stopping every 100 feet to look at stuff) and let him pick out some stuff to use. I will say he has eclectic taste!
I mean, I did pick up some other stuff too – a few odds and ends from that Dollar Spot right when you walk in, like a United States puzzle since we are studying the U.S. this year, a planet puzzle just because it was $3 and wooden, that little fox vase in the top photo, a little wooden gnome all ready for autumn and holding a pumpkin ($1 everyone!), and of course I needed to make sure we had a supply of the basics to start the year. We needed new crayons, more glue sticks, a fresh sketchbook for Wyatt. And then of course I had to add a few shirts for Wyatt to the cart, as they were on sale for $8 each. We can cross the first day of school shirt off the list because we found the perfect one, blue with little lizards on it. Or maybe it will be the 70s vibin shirt. I guess we will see which he chooses that day!
We had my little niece’s birthday party yesterday. No surprise, Mermaid Girl wanted a mermaid theme! Well, mermaid/fairy, her two favorite things right now. It was a weirdly autumn like day, very cool temps, and I even found some yellow leaves on the ground. It was a very fun day though, the kids enjoyed playing on the playground, I enjoyed visiting with family, and of course eating the cake. We also took a little nature walk which was lovely. Lake Erie was looking mystical and perhaps, full of mermaids…
Tell me, are you Team Mermaid or Team Fairy?
I am super excited about my tiny baby Brussels sprouts! They have taken forever to grow. While I was checking on them, my little neighbor cat came to peep under the fence at me. He always startles me with how much he looks like my Maggie!
I cut back on raising butterflies this year, but I couldn’t help but bring some caterpillars in. This one was my eleventh Black Swallowtail of the summer. Sadly, I have had zero Monarch eggs or caterpillars on my milkweed. They were declared endangered this year, and frankly, I can see a huge difference myself between this year and last year. I have only seen a handful floating and flying about this this summer, and one of my friends whose backyard is an official Monarch waystation has seen about 50. Her numbers are often between 300-600 a summer, so this summer is dismal. Hopefully something can be done to increase their numbers before they are extinct.
And I don’t want to end on that depressing note! Let’s see…hmmm. Here is a photo of my pretty silly Miso to lighten the mood!
Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs.. 
We had all sorts of pets when I was a kid, including a snake that was my sister’s, and I was never a fan of it. It was just a little garter snake, but even that was too much for me. LOL, yes, go to Target by yourself so you can roam the store in peace! Men don’t appreciate Target, ha!
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I always think I am going to like them, but…they scare me. Lol. If they remained tiny I would be ok I think. Like curl up in your hand size.
Yes!! Never again! That was awful. LOL
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I just spotted a monarch the other day! I don’t usually see a lot here though.
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Yay!!! I am so glad to hear that you saw one!!
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The fox vase IS cute, but can we talk about that Le Creuset mug????
Clever idea to pack away the china no one needs right now and fill the cabinet with school supplies. I will need a picture of that when you’re done organizing.
I love that cute dachshund pocket! What will he keep in the pocket?
That mermaid cake is TOO cute and I love eerie Lake Erie! I’m sure there MUST be mermaids living there.
Brussel sprouts how fun!!!! How cute! My favorite veggie.
SO sad about the beautiful butterflies.
The kitty face under the fence is adorable and Miso!!! How beautiful!!! What an amazing face he (? — No, I found another post on your blog where you said “she”.) has!!! BLUE eyes, SILVER face but then the tan/brown/tortisey color only around her nose!!!! I’ve never seen that before. Stunning! Or does the gray/silver part look more tan/brown in person?
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Lol!! I love that mug! My husband got me that blue one and a red one and they are in my top five favorites to use. And I hope that other people have favorite mugs.
I think I might paint that china cabinet too! I am getting ambitious over here! I will post a picture for sure!
Isn’t that the cutest? I have no idea really. Lol. Maybe he can track the daily weather or something and we can keep that there.
Thank you!! Miso is my little baby who came from a hoarder house. I was volunteering at the animal shelter when they all came in, maybe like 50 total living in 600 square feet. She is a tortie himalayan. Her face is sort of silvery gray,with the tan and brown as well. When we first got her she was young, like maybe 6 months old, and she only had the stripe going down her nose. The rest of the coloring has filled in over time. 🙂 She is our giant goofball too. 🙂
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I love Wyatt’s choice of school supplies. If my mom had let me pick out my own school stuff, that’s probably what I would have chosen. That is sad about the Monarch butterflies. People really need to quit killing all the milkweed. 😦
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Lol! They are pretty cute choices. 🙂 I love that he likes a bunch of different things. 🙂
And it is awful! So many pesticides, too little land.. poor things. 😦
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Delightful post! I do love mugs, too, and have quite a collection of them. When I cut down on some of my things three years ago, after I moved to a smaller space, I realized that mugs are small enough and that I could still keep collecting them!
Now I am back to a bigger space, although not as big as the condo I once had, I have started adding to my goodies. Enjoy your organizing!
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Yes! I love a good mug and I like to pick them up from different places we visit. Right now my cabinet is full of a few of my favorites and the rest are mugs that my mother-in-law made herself. She is a potter so we get the best ceramic pieces!
And I love that you are having so much fun adding to your space!
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Oh, the first day of school…I really miss the excitement of preparing for it! And, then when the kids came in…the magic began! There are many, many days I miss teaching! And, as a teacher, I had many, many mugs! When we moved seven years ago, I got rid of many of them. You can only have so many before your shelves are bulging!
One of my favorite first day of school things is the smell of a new box of crayons. Isn’t it the best? I think making your china cabinet into your official teacher headquarters is a really smart idea…I’d leave out the snake personally! Someday, I’ll need to post the picture of me holding a humongous some kind of snake…the type escapes me right now.
I am definitely Team Fairy with a little unicorn thrown in! What a gorgeous birthday cake (and birthday girl)!
Enjoy this school year, Wyatt and Erin!
https://marshainthemiddle.com/
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Lol!! I can only imagine how many mugs you had!! I know that is a popular teacher gift. And the excitement of the first day every year, that had to be awesome. 🙂
And yeah, I think we are skipping the snake. Lol. Wyatt is all about them right now and I am usually pretty good about allowing different pets but..snakes are a no from me. We can just look at them when we go to zoos and nature centers.
I love the smell of sharpened pencils! I just sharpened like 20 pencils the other day and set them up in our work area. I love when I walk in, it smells so good!
Team Fairy here too!
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Miso is such a beauty! I love seeing your butterflies and glad you had at least some. And yes, isn’t Target the best? I swear they put something in the air that always leads you to buying way more than you planned.
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Oh my gosh yes. We just kept adding things! Lol. I love a good Target run.
And thank you! She is so so soft too. And a goof!
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