Well, Hello!

My last post was in July? Oh my goodness. Well, my excuse is that I was spending lots and lots of time with my kids before school started back up and blogging was last on my list. But now school has begun again (NOOO!!!) and I am back to trying to simplify things. It's now more important than ever. Why, you ask? A couple of reasons:

1. I am continuing my college education this fall and am only two credits away from being full time. Ick. Don't get me wrong - I really think I'm going to love my courses, but I fully expect to be bogged down with homework most of the time.

2. I have two kids in school this year. Granted, one is just two days a week in preschool, but it's still one more kid to get off to school two mornings a week. My other child is in 1st grade and in full day school for the first time, which means I have to keep up with the bag lunches every evening (along with my husband's, so two total). Plus, there's the expected increase in homework, which we'll need to keep organized and make sure it's completed on time.

3. The preschool is a co-op. I love the co-op system, but it requires more of me and especially so this year since it's our fourth year and I've agreed to a larger role on the school council. I will be spending many hours per month at the preschool, not to mention the preschool business that will be brought home with me for the school newsletter.

4. Both kids have requested at least one extracurricular activity for the school year. We haven't decided on what it is yet, but that will add to our weekly schedule. Most likely we will have swimming or wrestling twice per week and either piano or gymnastics once per week.

This doesn't even include all of the regular "life" stuff and extra events that happen throughout the year. Thank goodness I'm not working right now - I don't think I could handle it! As you can see, I'm going to need as much simplicity as possible. There's a part of me that liked giving up all schedule throughout the summer so we could focus on just having fun. But there's also a part of me who craves getting back onto an organized schedule into a very organized life.

I did spend part of the summer working on simplifying and re-organizing a few areas of the house and I am excited to share those projects with you. I am also beginning the strict weekly practice of meal planning and freezer cooking, which I totally lost throughout the summer. I'll do separate post on that because I certainly have quite a few thoughts about it!

There's just something about fall that makes me want to organize everything and get it all in order. I spent an hour thoroughly cleaning my vacuum this afternoon, for goodness sake! And for some reason, it made me feel like I'd really accomplished something.