Getting settled

Honestly, I've accomplished a lot since I've moved down here (thanks to my daughters and sons-in-law!) but there is still much to do!

I now have all of the furniture that I think that I will need. For once, I don't have books in any boxes - they are all on shelves! (or in my Kindle) That's a rather nice feeling. But what do I do with all of the family photos that I kept? Many are framed but I don't have enough space to display them all. Currently, I have two trunks and several totes full...

I have a small bookcase for the kiddos with games, books, and stuffed animals. My trains are kept in a box in the LR and I am creating a space for Little Miss #3 (which I think Little Miss #4 will be able to enjoy also). In addition to learning Korean, I'm learning how best to help Little Miss #3 and assist with helping her improve her vision (she has a diagnosis of CVI - cognitive visual impairment). I've placed a black mat for her on the floor and have ordered a black flannel board for the wall next to her.

In one of the low kitchen cabinets, I have children's cups, plates and utensils so that the littles can pick out their own items. There are also special place mats for them to use. I found a children's baking set to assist me in the kitchen (after all, sugar cookies are most fun to make with others!) with a smaller kid-sized rolling pin and we have accumulated over two dozen cookie cutters over the past few years! Eventually, we'll get aprons!

Thinking about it, my Grammie did one thing that I really appreciated when we were young: she took each of her grandbabies to the store and let us pick out our own toy to leave in a bin at her house. That way we would each have something special to play with while we were visiting. The rule was that we could also enjoy our cousins' toys when they weren't there but that we had to ask permission to share if they were there with us. This is something that I am considering doing but I know that there is currently something that each of the older kiddos enjoy playing with among my things so it isn't an immediate need.

My bedding set for the daybed is supposed to arrive today! I have a partial vision of what I would like to do with my office/guest room. First, I need to get my desk organized - then I need to find space for all of the photo albums and empty or move the trunks (they are too bulky in that room). I've been working on framing my K-pop posters so that I can decide what is going in there and what is going in my room.  I like having the bookcase in the closet.  It's large enough that there is still space for guests to hang their clothes.

This weekend I will start decorating for Christmas since we will be celebrating the first Sunday of Advent. (I still have never purchased an Advent wreath to my liking after all of these years - they were always too expensive). I found a very inexpensive small Christmas tree - I'll spend more for a train set if I find one that I like! I kept just a few ornaments but I imagine that they will be enough to fill the tree. I think that my stockings can be hung off the end of my counter - or on the sideboard.

Time to get cleaned up for the day! AMDG!