Oh Happy Day... Part 2

Yes, after the phone debacle, I was charged up and ready to clean and purge.

Stacked in the Dreaded Schoolroom Closet were three tubs.  Tubs so full I could no longer stuff any more in, so things were piled on top of them.  Tubs of the boys' school (and some toddler years) mementos.  Every cute drawing, piece of artwork, things they've written, activity books, sticker charts (eg. from Tate's box: "I Kept My Pants Dry All Day!" - he was the easiest to potty-train, *sigh*), etc.  All the little treasured mementos.  Tons and tons of treasured mementos.

I was ruthless.

The three tubs have been sorted, organized by year (!), repacked (with room to spare), and moved downstairs to another closet, since they don't need to be accessed often.  And three large bags of not-so-much-treasured-mementos went quietly to the garbage/recycling.

Well, that got me fired up to actually organize the rest of the closet. 

This is the closet, before.  The doors are closed.

It's scary inside.

Everything came out.  Everything. 

Three year old air fresheners.  (Not feeling the love anymore.)  Art supplies.  Empty boxes.  Full boxes.  Last summer's nature sketch books, only half filled.  (Score!)  Science materials.  A frisbee(?).  A cushy floor mat.  Found the humming bird nest.  And the owl puke pellets.  The butterfly house (hello birthday idea for Gunnar... new butterflies!).  And other things I may photograph and upload, because they're special.  And (insert info-mercial voice) much, much more.

*** BTW, people, we have only been homeschooling for three years.  Should I be worried? ***

I found great stuff in there.  Just piled in there.  Piles and piles.  And empty tubs.  Which just does. not. compute.

Hours later, problem solved.  That room is so organized happy I can hardly keep myself from just standing in front of the open closet and smiling!

This side is not terribly exciting.  Construction paper, games, SOTW books we've finished but will keep with the set until we're done.  King Cluck.

But room to spare is a happy thing :D

 This side, however, makes my heart sing.

Tidy storage on top.

Three work tubs for the boys, for next year.

And easily accessible science and art supplies.

*happy sigh*

 Some of the things I found in the depths of the closet are now displayed (or waiting for use) on our science shelf - owl pellets to dissect (in a baggie), a shed lizard skin (ew, also in a baggie), and a hummingbird's nest, in a temporary home (plastic peanut butter tub) until I find a better display jar.

 While I was at it, I had the boys make Art Folders, and we 'undecorated' our walls, ready to display fresh things we'll make this summer.  Bye bye, fun artwork.

And I pulled out a bunch of science and other projects we can play with over the summer.

No, I'm not torturing the boys, (you know, forcing them to learn between June and September.)

They like doing projects (because arts and crafts are for girls, but projects are for boys).

And they absolutely love science.

What they don't love is me, making them write up definitions and experiments.

So over the summer it's all a freebie.

Do all the science you want and you don't have to write anything down.

Because - for sure - then you won't be learning anything, God forbid.

I still have to sort through most of this...

 ... and this.

Some of this is staying, and some is going.

But, aahhhhhhhhhh, it's so much better!