Busy & Creative at Home (The Grasshoppers Have It Easy)

Mrs. Grasshopper doesn't have much to do in life, other than to chomp on my bush that I worked so hard to prune last week.  (See Not-So-Extreme Makeover: The Front of Our House.)  Sometimes I could wish for such a carefree existence, but then I think...

I was created for more than that! I was created in the image of a creative God to be creative.  Part of that is needing to think through how to solve the myriad complexities  that I face every day as a wife,  mother of 10, homemaker, teacher, and writer.  It calls forth all the resourcefulness I can muster.  That, and a whole lot of just plain effort.  It reminds me of the fable of the grasshopper and the ant.  I need to be more like the diligent ant.

Melody's school bin
keeps everything
in one place,
ready for action.

Yesterday, I stayed busy indoors and running errands.  I thought about it later, and realized I had washed and folded about four loads of laundry, did the dishes, vacuumed my bedroom, made breakfast for four kids, sent my lesson plans from my laptop to my iPod, home schooled my first grader all morning, went to the bookstore, grocery shopped, picked up two kids from school, made dinner, cleaned up the kitchen, took my teenage daughter out shopping for a prom dress (which she fortunately found at the first store, a consignment shop!), organized the medicine and first aid boxes, worked on history with my ninth grade son for an hour, tried to straighten up the living room, and...  I can't even remember what else I worked on.  I did sneak a nap around lunchtime.  Thank God for that.

Leftover Taco Jumble

When my daughter unexpectedly asked me to take her dress shopping in the afternoon (since the prom is tomorrow night!), I decided to make a quick dinner before we left so we wouldn't be in such a rush to get back.  My husband had cooked a large batch of ground beef a few days ago (like I wrote in Cooking Ahead Without Too Much Complication), so I reheated it in the microwave, mixed in a can of diced tomatoes and a can of black beans, then layered it with sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese.  (You could also add salsa, taco seasoning, chili beans, lettuce, green or red peppers, or onions.)  We scooped it up with round tortilla chips.  Yum!  What do you do for quick dinners?

I'm still trying to get the house organized and keep it that way.  That's probably wishful thinking with as many messy people as we have in our family.  I started looking at the FlyLady home organizing web site again, and my friend Ginny Jacobson recommended SimpleMom.  Other great web sites are I'm an Organizing Junkie and Organized Home.  Though I am saving some of the huge projects for summer, I try to organize at least a little something every day, whether it is a small junk basket, my daughter's bin of school books, a shelf on a bookcase or in a pantry cupboard, the top of my dresser, the linen closet, the front hallway, our school supplies, a kid's dresser drawers, or whatever.   What have you been organizing lately at your house?  Do you have any tips to share?

Some of my other home organization posts (from three of my blogs) are:

• A Place for Everything

• Organizing with Plastic Zip-Style Bags at Home and On the Go

• "Bin There, Done That" (Or How to Keep School Clutter from Turning You Into a Basketcase)
• Let Our Ordered Lives Confess the Beauty of Thy Peace...?
• Menu Planning Tips & Links
• Organizing and Laundering Your Linens
• First Steps to a Tidy Home / Children & Chores
• Mt. Washmore (Laundry for a Large Family)
• K.I.S.S. Keep It Simple, Sweetie!
• A Tribute to Sono Harris: The Legacy of a Joyful Home School Mom
• Household Organization: Clutter, Clothes Storage and Chores

Grace,

Virginia Knowles
www.ComeWearyMoms.blogspot.com

P.S. I took the grasshopper photo to submit to the Project 52 photo challenge.  The theme of the week is Green.  I took it with my iPod camera, which happened to be in my pocket when I spotted the grasshopper.  Unfortunately, the battery died after I snapped three pictures, so I couldn't play with it and make sure I got it just right.  The grasshopper seemed a bit blurry and indistinct.  I decided to edit using Microsoft Office Picture Manager, which doesn't have a lot of fancy features but gets the job done well enough.  The main changes were made with saturation and brightness.  I like how it made the green pop out.  The real bush is more muted like the original picture on the left, so I had to wrestle between my desires for both fidelity to the original and artistic creativity.  In the end, I went for the more dramatic lush jungle effect, which is visually pleasing.  What do you think?

This post will also be linked at my weekly Equip & Encourage blog carnival and to Ann Kroeker's Food on Fridays.  Click the pictures to come join the fun, whether it is adding your own link or visiting the other participating blogs!