It's that time of the year...'Back to School'!

We rarely get the newspaper, but last Sunday my hubby rode his motorcycle up to the local gas station and bought one for me [I think he was just looking for a reason to ride his new KLR!]. I opened the paper to the ad section and I had a slight panic attack...ALL of the ads confirmed the fact that it's 'Back to School' time! Summer has flown by and I'm not ready to officially start school. I usually wait until the first week of September to start, but this year I had big plans to start a little earlier. I thought it would be nice to 'ease' back into our full schedule, but my classroom is a HUGE mess! I'm blessed with a large 'bonus room' upstairs that we use for our classroom. It has a nice window [sunshine!] and good space for desk work, projects, and plenty of floor space for spreading out and listening to lessons. However, it has turned in to a 'clutter pit', not a peaceful, happy learning environment! So, I started back in June...trying to clear-out and organize, but it has been a S~L~O~W process! I have a LOT of stuff. I taught public school for 7 years, prior to having my own children, and it is hard for me to get rid of items that I think I might use 'someday', but I'm determined to de-clutter so I'm sorting through everything and letting go of the things I know I will not use. I found a great cubby shelf on craigslist and it will help me organize the items I keep. Hubby told me that he would help me work in my classroom on Saturday...he always motivates me and helps me a bunch, so I was excited! He has helped me get my classroom in order for about 13 years now! I started teaching [public school] in the fall of 1993 and when Greg and I started dating in 1995, he helped me move my classroom and get it set up each year. He built me a reading fort in my classroom when I taught 1st grade in TX! He's really creative. So Saturday we got A LOT done. I've scattered the 'before' pics through out this post. I'm working in my classroom today, so I should have the 'after' pics up soon...I'm hoping this will motivate me to finish! It's not easy to show you my mess, but I hope it motivates and inspires those of you, like myself, that struggle with organization. I know that 'clutter' leads to stress and we do not need added stress in our homes...AMEN!! EnJOY the pics! I took 4 pictures...from the 4 angles of the room.