Chickadee Manor

School Central

This weekend I finally feel like I have our home school materials organized the way I want them to be.  It was one of those "Ah-ha!" moments.  A piece of furniture wasn't working in the living room and I was ready to part with it when I did a quick count of the spaces and realized it was PERFECT for storing the bulk of our school materials.  Chapter and story books will remain in the main bookcases but the rest fits in this nice little unit.  I am so pleased.  The kids love the new set up and are looking forward to starting on their work again tomorrow morning. 

Pardon the grainy photo.  This was taken on a very old iPhone's camera.  Believe it or not there is actually a lamp on the left side of the photo on the top of the unit beside that little wooden schoolhouse (the little schoolhouse was made by one of Dwayne's grandfathers).  It has a clear glass base and white shade, and in this particular lighting it has vanished!

 

 

Daring befores, much better afters

 

Here is my living room this morning!  My dad came over yesterday afternoon to help me get the piano out of the middle of the room and onto the wall it is against now.  Before that could happen though we had to move the big desk, the computer, and all of the associated odds and ends to other rooms.  Now I have the aftermath to deal with - piles of paperwork, cables and chargers, etc as well as the clean laundry that is waiting to be put away, scattered DUPLO and whatever other miscellaneous items have been brought out.  

 

 

In this one the piano is moved from the middle of the living room to the wall it will be residing against.  Our 10th anniversary painting by the marvellous Helene Girard is temporarily propped up until I am able to get on a chair and measure and fuss and make sure I get the nail holes just right, preferably the first time.  There is a story to the painting which I shall share another day soon!

 

 

 

Piano!

Last night we (and by we I mean Dwayne, my dad, and a couple of friends) moved the piano from the old house to the new one.  Yay!  It has been almost 6 months since I've been able to play it.  At the moment it sits in the middle of the living room waiting for me to make space for it.  I have to figure out where to move a rather large desk and hutch that holds our computer before I (and again, I mean Dwayne & company!) can move it into it's proper place.  That hasn't stopped me from playing it already though!  I played from the only three music books that aren't in boxes at the moment - a Jane Austen themed one with pieces from Sense & Sensibility (Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet & Hugh Grant version) and Pride & Prejudice (1995, Colin Firth & Jennifer Ehle), a collection of hit movie songs, and The Lion King.  Ha!  It was fun.

 

 

 

Little by Little

 

 

This weekend we hosted Thanksgiving Dinner at our house with family and friends that have become family.  Everyone brought food and we had a delicious dinner and a good time together.  In preparation for everyone arriving, Dwayne and I shuffled a few things around and in the process I noticed an area that needed attention - the tops of the bookcases.  Since they were moved into the living room a few months ago the tops have been collecting things that I have been trying to keep out of reach of toddler aged children.  The result was an accumulation of boxes of science supplies, breakable items, items with tiny pieces, or tiny pieces waiting to be reunited with whatever they were once part of.  Not particularly pretty, but it served it's purpose.  It has been bugging me for a bit so I thought it was the perfect time to switch things up from strictly functional to somewhat pretty.  I moved a few plants, some seasonal items, a photo of the kids from our trip to the dinosaur museum this summer, a bust of Jane Austen from my recent trip to England, and my two little china dogs - Gog and Magog (if you've read the Anne of Green Gables series you will recognize them).  Much better!  It feels much less temporary and more a reflection of us living here and some of the things we enjoy such as good books and nature.