And he certainly doesn’t care for holding still long enough for mom to get a holly jolly picture.
Either will do, but the chocolate is what I’m looking forward to most.
:)
And he certainly doesn’t care for holding still long enough for mom to get a holly jolly picture.
Either will do, but the chocolate is what I’m looking forward to most.
:)
The fam on “walk to school day.” Â Although Kenny and I were the only ones walking since the girls decided to ride their scooters. Â They were so excited to ride all the way to school. Â Right up until we started going up all of the big hills and they realized just how long of a hike it was. Â Then they wore out and decided maybe driving to school each day wasn’t so bad after all.
Addison went to a birthday party and brought home these glittered beauties she made. Â I said “oh how beautiful! Â I love them!” Â But was thinking now what in the world am I supposed to do with those? Â Gear up for glitter all over the house.
Well. I just completely wasted my evening. I had grand plans to post something fabulous. I take that back. I had grand plans to post… something. And then I watched Parenthood (so good by the way – made me cry). And then I watched a few other shows. And I ate chips. Too many chips. And now it’s late. And I feel guilty. For not posting something. And for eating so many chips. So now I’m just going to organize some pictures (you can see how I organize pictures on my computer here). And then go to bed and call it a day.
And do better tomorrow night. :)
p.s. I was recently featured on the blog Skinny Mom (where moms get the “skinny” on fitness, food, fashion, and family). They wrote and asked if they could feature me as one of Skinny Mom’s favorite family blogs. I said um.. YES! And thank you! Then they asked me some questions and I answered them. You can read those questions and answers here. So fun. Thanks to everyone at Skinny Mom!
K. Now I’m off to bed for real. After I organize some pictures. And maybe just eat a few more chips? NO! I’m putting them away. Tomorrow night I’m going to post something real and eat carrots.
Plus, as you know, there is a certain little buddy of mine who has made it his mission to un-do everything I’ve done in this space. :)
As soon as I get a chance I need to spend a few hours cleaning things up again, but the main problem with my current garage is that I never completely organized it to begin with. We did a few things that help keep our garage in order…
The rest of the garage is a lot of storage sort of lined up along one wall. “Semi organized clutter” I like to call it. Boxes hold holiday decor but they aren’t labeled. Kids’ toys are tossed around randomly. There isn’t a set place for a lot of the stuff we have along this wall. (I was going to take a picture of my garage mess today and then before I knew it, it was dark, but trust me – it’s not pretty.) :)
“Semi organized clutter” is NOT going to happen in my next garage! Every time I’m at the new house I spend some time hanging out in the garages visioning how I’m going to organize everything. I can’t wait! We are going to “lose” a lot of stuff in the move, let me tell you. It will be a great opportunity to simplify. If I wasn’t moving, I would pick a day and completely re-do my current garage. There are so many effective ways to store garage items in an organized way. Here are a few of my favorite organized garages on Pinterest that have given me some great inspiration…
Peg boards are perfect for organizing tools. I’ve seen so many fun peg boards on-line lately. Such an easy, in-expensive way to corral odds and ends.
Painting your peg board is a cheap and easy way to bring even more color to your garage space. Who says garages have to be dark? Love this idea.
This is a picture of Kole’s room upstairs and you can see the outline of a door framed. We discovered some empty space next to his room because the roof is pitched behind it so we are going to create a cool little addition. We’re thinking of putting in a bookcase and making it a secret door that opens into a little hang out for him. I love the idea of a secret door! It’s so… secretive. Although now that I’ve shared it with everyone reading this blog maybe it’s not so secretive after all. :) I’m picturing a fun space for all of his trains.
And this is a picture from last weekend. We have half of our roof! Very exciting. Now it’s finally starting to look like the house that has been in my head for years just waiting to come to life. :)
It’s a bit surreal seeing this house take shape and several times when I have been walking through it I start to feel emotional. Partly because I’m sleep deprived (which always results in easy flowing tears!), and partly because I see our future in this house. I see Christmas morning in the family room. I see birthday parties in the back yard. I see friends over for dinner – preferably prepared by Kenny at the grill so that I don’t have to mess up my kitchen. ;) I see my girls walking down the stairs all dressed up for their first date. I see all three of my kids growing up and Kenny and I growing older together. I see good times and bad times and every time in between in this house. And sometimes it makes me want to cry. Happy tears, but tears just the same. I am a visual person and I love picking out cabinets and fixtures and paint colors and picturing what this house will look like when it’s finished. But even more than that, I love picturing all of the memories that will be made in this house and how over the years this house will become a home.
And I am going to stop writing now because Kenny so enjoys teasing me when I get sappy and I have just given him an abundance of material for weeks to come. :)
Despite the crazy week, I am so excited about the house progress! The upstairs is all framed and they are working on the roof. The picture above is me with Ellie in her room. It feels so real now that I can walk through the whole house and picture what day to day life will be like living there. I’ll share more pics next week when I find the energy and time to sort through them. :)
On another note – I have to share the charts my girls made that crack me up! Ellie loves donuts so every once in a while during homework when we are struggling with her not wanting to stay focused I make a little deal with her. (Homework is a necessary evil to my El – there are always too many things she would rather be doing!) We can go buy a donut at the grocery store if she will buckle down and get her homework done WITH a positive attitude. Yes. I often occasionally bribe my children. Desperate times call for desperate measures. I was upstairs with Kole last week and told the girls to go get started on their homework and I’d be down to help soon. When I walked downstairs I was immediately greeted by colorful paper taped to the wall.
First up is Ellie’s chart. She went into great detail explaining it to me. She added her name taped to the side so that I could move it up and down depending on how she is doing with her homework.
HA! I had a hard time keeping a straight face. Then I saw Addison’s chart and absolutely could not keep a straight face. Let me translate…
I hope it’s a “gud” one.
Only of course it would say things like – visit a pumpkin patch, go to a Charger game, make apple cider, carve pumpkins, make a leaf banner, etc. etc. etc.
BUT then I had a reality check.
My 2012 Fall to-do list: choose roof tile, last walk through for windows/doors, final decisions on which cabinets will be face frame, finalize all cabinet sketches (getting close to not being able to tweak things – yikes!), order fireplaces, go over solar panel bids, start looking at exterior rock, choose door hardware, start looking at bathroom tile and counter tops, meet with electricians to decide locations of plug outlets and light switches, etc. etc. etc.
Anyway. You get the picture. :) All things fun for Fall will have to wait until next year. I’m ok with that. Especially since it was over 90 degrees on the coast today.
I haven’t had much time to decorate for Fall but I thought I’d share a few things I’ve done (even though they are pretty much the same as last year). I’m so anxious to get into my new house and start mixing up my decor! Patience! Trying to be patient. :)
And because his past Halloween costumes are both Christmas themed. These pictures will be making an appearance in December instead. I’m still trying to figure out what he should be for Halloween this year. (Santa Claus keeps coming to mind – HA!) I’m looking for a costume that he will actually keep on. It’s such a bummer when they grow out of the “put me in anything and I’ll just sit and smile” stage. We are SO past that stage and are currently in the “if it will make mom’s life difficult I’m gonna go for it” stage.
I didn’t have time to get too creative with my hutch, so it looks pretty similar to last year too. Still loving the mini white pumpkins!
The next two pictures have more to do with my peace of mind vs. Fall Decor, but here is a before and after of my “junk drawer.”
Much improved! It took a whole 10 minutes. I can’t believe I let it stay messy for as long as I did. I am constantly in and out of this drawer during the day for pens, sticky notes, chapstick, or a screwdriver to change batteries in a toy. Sometimes the smallest organized spaces have the biggest impact in putting a smile on your face, don’t they? :)
Various posts that include my Christmas Decor for 2011…
Disneyland! I’ve recovered. It only took me four days. :) Right after Disney my family went home and Kenny flew to New York for meetings. I was left on my own with a messy house, overly tired girls, and a toddler who decided he didn’t want mom to leave again so hanging on and never letting go was the solution. Last week was a bit crazy to say the least! But we had so much fun at Disneyland. Claire (my sweet niece) wanted a trip to Disneyland with her cousins for her 5th birthday and we were counting down to this trip for months! My parents stayed with Kole and my sister’s 18 month old so we could enjoy some time with the girls.
Four adults with three kids. Now that’s more like it! Not a bad ratio at all. Especially when the kids are these three girls. They were SO excited to be together at Disneyland and they were on their best behavior the whole trip. I have to admit, it felt pretty good to be there with no stroller!
Here are a few pics from our two days at Disneyland…
My family is in town (squeal!). We went to the beach this weekend and I swear I will be cleaning sand out of my house and car and hair for a week! But it was a great beach day. Not too busy and perfect weather. We have fun plans for the next two days and I am excited to take a break from the “norm.” I will be back soon with lots to blog about. :)
Thanks again. Your kind words meant so much to me and I am incredibly grateful to all of you for your encouragement and support and friendship.
xoxo,
Erin
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