This was a total organization weekend. Due to my sister's help and encouragement the other day, I have kept up with the cleaning and tossing out the junk. The problem with this apartment is that I have no place to put anything. We really don't own that much stuff, either. I have small appliances in boxes everywhere, no where to keep the recyclables, and not enough closet space for clothes. I may need to pare back even more. As it is, B and I sleep in the pull-out sofabed while the kids have the 2 bedrooms. We got rid of the huge dining room table and got a corner nook bench (it makes all the difference in the world and I love it so much. Why we didn't think of that sooner, I'll never know). I just bought a potrack to hang up the pots and pans. All the homeschool stuff is in a narrow 7-foot shelving unit (love that, too!). Last year, I got rid of the carpeting to reveal beautiful hardwood floors that thankfully make it look larger in here. The walls are light sage green with white ceilings and trim in the main areas with sheer valance curtains and white miniblinds. I wish we had just one more room. I think we're in about 700 square feet (yes, you heard that correctly) of space for the 5 of us (and 1 parakeet). If anyone out there has any small space tips, I'd appreciate it. We're lucky, though, in that we are in a 2-family house (2nd floor) with a large (unfinished) basement, a washer and dryer, paved backyard (great for skating/biking/skateboarding), front gated patio with garden, and our own garage. Not many urban NY'ers have all that. And our rent is very low since B's family owns the house. We are also in walking distance to the train, church, several playgrounds, the library, and to lots of shopping. A 15-minute subway ride can take us all over NYC. My block has nice families, lots of kids, and is pretty quiet. I really can't complain and I don't think I'll ever move from here.

I went online to nyc.gov today and bookmarked about 100 websites of places I want to go with the kids. I swear I never knew there was so much stuff out there. I mean, I found kids programs in the least likely places! There are kids programs at the Statue of Liberty, the Skyscraper Museum, and St. Paul's Chapel. I found them in the Intrepid, the Federal Reserve Bank, and the NYC Police Museum. There are "pre-visit" funsheets to do, museum scavenger hunts, and junior ranger badges to earn. The programs are for kids around ages 4 to 17 with most of them for ages 6 to 12. I have a goal to go to at least 10 new places before July.

K didn't get a special award for her science project, but she's still happy that hers made it into the running. W only has 3 days of school this week and is off all next week for Easter vacation. They're having a big party on Wednesday with egg hunts, egg coloring, and pizza. J has no dance classes this week. I think we'll go somewhere fun on Thursday (J, W, and me). Since W is off, we can go early. K's vacation (and all the PS kids) is at the end of April (Passover). She only gets Good Friday off in March. Speaking of which, I'm singing with the church choir on Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday vigil, and Easter Sunday. It's always my favorite time to sing - next to Christmas.

Time to go and make a plan for tomorrow!