A New year

Here is to hoping this year is much MUCH better than the last. This month marks 1 year since our adoption trauma of Jackson. It took most of the year to get to a point where I can write about it, talk about it, or even think about it. But now that I can-- I am done. I pray for that little boy a lot, but I will not spend any more emotional energy wondering. He is in God's hands. And so is his mother. and the best part?? So am I. This year I am finding the little things of routine and order are so comforting. This will sound silly, and VERY OCD... but it is true. I love the spring when we get all new undies/socks, towels, washcloths etc. Call me silly, but it signifies a new beginning in some strange way. Well, as I was dealing out the new socks, I thought I might share a tip. At our house, we have color coded things for the kids. Each kid has their color. I use this color for their towel and wash cloths(they each get 1 towel for a year, and three or 4 washcloths! and it works!) they have their color for toothbrush, their personal bucket,and their cups! pencils, notebooks, boxes for their school papers... etc are all in their color. I cannot BEGIN to tell you how much this has helped! It is organized but it is also helping to lessen illness. It really lessens the laundry! It seriously lessens the dishes. If I see a pencil on the floor-- I know WHO it belongs to! Well, there is another BIG tip, it is the SOCKS. If you have more than one kid, you know how insane the socks can get. About 4 yrs ago, I bought cheap fabric paint in their colors. 5 tubes for about 1.00 each. Then I buy them all new socks. In March it is the boys, in April, it is the girls. That way it doesn't kill the clothing budget for a whole month. lol I get about 10 pr each. I write one letter on the top of each sock in that kids color. After 20 "E" s, I let it dry, and Elijah's are done. Just imagine: a basket of a hundred socks. They are all marked with colored letters. This is a GREAT project for the littles. Even if they do not know the letters that start everyone's names, they know the colors! You could do a dot on each if the letters are too much. But this cuts sock sorting time to about a quarter of the regular time. (or even less) We throw away all the holey socks.(and with boys this generally means ALL the socks from last year) I have more tips and tricks I want to post but it will take some time. The bathroom buckets are a BIG help. This is the time of year that all the new bright colors of spring stuff come out. We have found the top easy to find colors are :red, orange, yellow, purple, pink, green, yellow, and blue. We can generally find all our stuff in these colors. Places to shop:
IKEA has the cheapest cups/plates/bowls for little kids.
Big lots(buckets/containers/ big kid cups
Walmart.... everything else. lol
If you have questions let me know. A funny happened for the hundredth time last night. When I got the socks all marked, I told the boys-- "get your socks and throw the old ones out!" They all three cheered. lol "NEW SOCKS! YAY!!!" they act like it is some amazing thing. They go on and on about how they are sooooo cushy. yes it might sound sad, but really I am glad they can be grateful for socks.