It might a month late, but Organzing Season has arrived in the Nagle5 household!

Typically Organizing Season coincides with the de-Santa-fication process and runs right along with the New Year.  This year, however, Organizing Season was delayed by Superman's departure, a bad case of the flu, some broken bones, and a small car accident.  Still, it arrived and I've been busy embracing all that Organizing Season entails.  Rethinking projects, rethinking belongings, rethinking processes.  The goal?  A smoothly running home, a clear mind, and a simpler flow overall.  My posts this week will be sharing the progress I've made in the past ten days or so.  I hope you find a little inspiration to tackle those niggling projects that are always right there in the back of your mind...waiting for you to get them done.

Let's get started with Superman's Christmas present.  I couldn't show them to you before the holidays and I couldn't tell you about them.  It was the most difficult secret to keep.  Why?  a)  I'm just not a good secret keeper and b) this was a fantastic secret.  Let me show you:

Before November of 2011, this was the most recent official picture of our three children together.  Notice that Buttercup still has all her baby teeth!  That would be because she was four!  Yes, I've been remiss in having pictures of the kids taken period, let alone taken together.  So, this year I decided to surprise Superman by having an updated picture of the kids taken, as well as having individual pictures of each of them taken.  (We're home schoolers, so we don't have "picture day" every year...I'm a slacker that way.)

Cute kids, aren't they? 

So, imagine his surprise when he opened this at Christmas!

Not such little kids any more, are they?  The baby in this picture is almost the same age as the big kids was in the first picture...

The kids were so touched because Superman got tears in his eyes when he opened the package...it made keeping the secret worthwhile.  Did I mention I had individual shots taken of each of the children, too?

Our beloved Prince Charming...so clearly a man now.

Our spirited Prince Valiant...growing up so quickly.

Our beautiful Princess Buttercup...a baby no more.

(To those of you who know us in real life, I couldn't even send him a copy of the Christmas card/photo you all received via snail mail...it would have spoiled the surprise.  I'm telling you, it nearly killed me!)

So, what does this all have to do with Organizing Season?  Having the pictures taken was only the beginning. I needed to get these picture framed and hung. Superman knew the surprise...I had no good reason to not finish the job, so last week I got right to itl.  I ushered in Organizing Season by getting these gorgeous photos framed and hung on the walls.  I love how they look in our bedroom...Superman just had to trust me, as he won't be home on leave for a while.   

A win-win, don't you think?