Keepng Track Of All Those Books

                                                                              

 As a homeschooling family, we have books.... everywhere.

 We have bookshelves.... everywhere.

 And could still use more! 

 I even have books stacked double width in some places, so often times I am forgetting what I have that I could be using simply because I don't see it.

And then there are the library books!  I usually have anywhere from 20 - 40 books checked out from the library at any given time.

So.... how do you organize your own home library?

Well, thanks to some wonderful cyberfriends on my favorite homeschooling board (FIAR, btw), I received my answer.  GuruLib !!

Now I can catagorize all my curricula, e-books, and dvds....

....plus all those books I acquire through library sales!

Yes, I know what you're thinking.  If I just straightened up the shelves then I wouldn't lose track of what I have.  But, it seems, they are always getting messed up anyway. 

 So that's also where a colored dot system will be put in place.

 I started the colored dots with my last batch of library sale finds. 

 For example, green is for science, yellow is for history, and red is for fiction.  But, I need more shelving space as you can see.

As I go through the books to catalog them into GuruLib, I'll also be decluttering the ones I really don't need or we have outgrown and aren't classics I want to keep.

This fits with my motto for 2011:  See it, Simplify it, Share it.  I'm excited to be off and running.

A Cold Start To 2011

I actually like winter, for the most part, but I prefer it to stay around the freezing mark.

So far this new year, we have had 16 days where the high didn't reach above freezing.  

This year our average temp for January has been 28*F. 

 It was 37*F on Tuesday and LittleE thought is was warm!

But, that hasn't stopped LittleJ from enjoying a little snow fun.  He and Dad went out on Monday for a bit of sledding in the back yard.  We have a little hill that's just right, and seeing we really haven't had much snow, it was perfect.

Isn't he cute!?  He loved it!

Dad thought he should learn to pull his own sled back to the top.

But, he didn't think that part was so great.

The worse thing about playing in the snow?  Those pesky mittens.

Brr.  That stuff is cold.

Fun Friday Flashback ~ MSU

This new year has brought with it some reconnecting with former friends from college. 

I have enjoyed "seeing" into the lives of my former roomates and floormates from W. Holmes Hall at Michigan State University. 

Some I have never lost contact with;  Suzanne, Leisa, and Kim, love you guys!

But now, thanks to facebook (what else!), I've connected with others; Karen, Chris, and Maggie.



I have to say, we had a LOT of fun mixed in with calculus and chemistry.

Many evenings were spent studying, of course, but many were also spent playing euchre.

Sophmore year we tried our hand in the MSU Classic.  I don't exactly remember how many miles we canoed down the Grand River, but we did have a fun time training and competing.

Thanks for the fun memories! 

 Does anyone know about Jean, Becca, or Anna?  And Lori-- I think I sent you a friend request (hint, hint) !

Finally Some Pics From Christmas

Yes, it's been a few weeks since Christmas, but we just took our tree down on Monday, so to me, it doesn't really seem that long ago.

This was our Christmas morning.






The stockings were hanging pretty heavy, and the presents were waiting to be unwrapped by some still sleeping children.

LittleJ is finally up and ready to get into his stocking.

The girls were having a good time with the gifts they gave each other.

LittleJ loves his Batman Batcave. 

He plays with it every day and it even holds a special place in the living room for the time being.

BigJ is playing his new Nintendo DS with a batman game. 

Yes, it seems batman has taken over as the new favorite.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas holiday and is enjoying the new year.