For years I used my Time Management Binder and it worked so well for me.  I still use the sticky note shopping list system!  So easy to grab a sticky note and head to the store.

And a big section in the middle where you can write the weeks’ dinner menu.  LOVE this.  I am really trying to plan our dinners a week at a time because I don’t have time to run to the grocery store as often as I used to.  Even if our meal for the evening is chicken nuggets and corn on the cob – writing it down and making sure I have everything ready a week at a time has been a big time saver for me lately.

This is my planner right now.  I recognize it looks ridiculous with everything blocked out so you can’t read it.  I had no choice since I work for the CIA and my daily assignments (a.k.a missions) are top secret.  You can see how I am using the left side for appointments/activities and the right side for meal planning and notes.  I divide my notes into two sections (CIA agents do that) – a section for miscellaneous to-do’s and one for house stuff that needs to be taken care of ASAP.  Anything house related that needs to be done but not right at this second goes into my notebook.  Which I appropriately refer to as “the motherload.”

End of story is that I’m really loving my new planner!  It’s a great solution for busy moms (and anyone else trying to save the world).  Plus you can get it for a great price.  You can check out the details (and other fun planners) at Day Timer.

Not much time to post tonight.  After a typical afternoon/evening of new house issues, helping the girls with homework, Kole’s therapy, cooking dinner, dinner clean-up, and the bedtime routine I was feeling a bit depleted.  Today was definitely a Monday!  (Anyone else feeling it?)  I knew I had a good hour before bed and I could either plop down in front of the TV and blog OR take a nice hot bath.  Hmmm… what to do with my precious hour of free time….??  Then Kenny came home with the new Star Trek movie and just like that – decision made.  Time for a bath.  :)  Even though I’m short on blog time I wanted to pop in to answer a quick question and share something fun I found on Pinterest.  I’m working on a Q & A but thought I’d share the answer to this question I received on Facebook last week since it’s similar to other e-mails I’ve received.

“I miss Fashion Fridays!  Maybe instead of clothing fashion you could do a post on home fashion with ideas of how you plan to decorate your new home???  Pretty Please!!!”

First of all – thank you so much.  Such a kind question.  :)  Let me tell you – building has been a big time commitment (way bigger than I ever imagined!) and while I’ve loved a lot of the process, I’ve definitely had to let a lot of things go.  My house is a mess every day.  Seriously.  Drawers may be organized, but the floor and counters are covered.  Boxes are strewn about everywhere – some half packed.  The laundry?  Done twice a week if we’re lucky (I used to be so good about doing a load a day) and a home cooked dinner is hit and miss.  Of course my blogging time has been limited as well.  I take a lot of pics of the house and then don’t have time to post them.  Plus it has been hard to share a lot of new house pics throughout the process because so much of the house is constantly covered up and a dusty mess.  I promise that once the house is finished and we’ve moved in, I will share a lot more house pictures.  I’ll have more time to share decisions I’ve made along the way once I’m done making all of the decisions.  :)  I’ll also share a lot of fun decor pics along the way while I begin decorating.  And of course, I’ll share lots of the organizing going on as well!  (So excited for that!)  I’m hoping that when this process is behind us I’ll have more time to blog in general and I’ll be able to bring back post topics like Fashion Fridays, gift ideas, etc. now and again.  SO the answer to this question is YES!  FOR SURE!  Just give me another month or so to finish building and to move.  Then I will bore you all to death with home decor pics.  :)

As far as fashion is concerned, currently I’m running around most days in jeans and flip flops with paint all over them.  Nothing too fashionable about that.  :)  So here is something I found on Pinterest to give us all a little fashion fix!

A guy came to give me a quote on putting Epoxy on our garage floors and he had the coolest little office set up inside his car!  He works on the go and said that this set up has worked like a charm.  I thought it was so smart – functional and organized.  He was kind enough to let me snap a few pics with my iphone for the blog.  He made the little desk with dividers and then just put a rug pad on top of it to hold things in place.

 Kenny loves to take the whole fam to baseball games in the summer.  The girls and I aren’t all that into the game.  I bring magazines and the girls bring coloring books and we keep ourselves entertained waiting patiently for the real reason we go – nachos and the end of the game fireworks.

 This was Kole’s first game and he loved every minute of it.  I thought he would want to be up and running around the stadium the whole time but he never left our laps!

I saw this white mirrored hutch on TV last week and am DYING over it!  Isn’t it so beautiful with that fun circle pattern!?  I feel like it’s my new mission in life to find a duplicate.  Not that I even have a place I need it in our house, but I might need to create one!  I’ve found a few things similar, but not the exact same one.  Nothing that I like as much.

Ad loved her tatoos for the afternoon because they coordinated with her shirt and skirt, but the second her clothes changed she wanted them off.  Too many accessories clutter an outfit.

Kids were so excited about the pool that they HAD to jump in the evening it was filled.  No chemicals in the pool yet – straight hose water.  Freezing cold!  A few neighbors joined them and they had quite the time together.  Teeth chattering away.  Yard isn’t finished.  House isn’t finished.  Pool isn’t finished.  But they swam anyway.  And loved it.  Water!  It’s all kids need to party.  :)

I also picked out these fish for the shamu shelf.  I woke up at 5:00 am Monday morning and drove inland for an hour in crazy morning traffic to buy them.  Then flew back to the coast to be at our house by 8:00 when the plastering was about to start (yeah – cut it a little close with that one!).  When the kids saw them they decided the baby fish is Kole, the middle two are the girls, and the first fish is daddy.  Where’s the mommy fish?  According to Ellie I was eaten by a shark.  (What!?)  Now I’m totally kicking myself that I didn’t buy one more fish!  Clearly I’m paying the price.  :)

I decided to go with this Orb Chandelier from Restoration Hardware.  I have loved this exact one for so long!  But I put off buying it because it was so pricey.  I kept looking for other options and found several fixtures I liked, but nothing was big enough for the space.  Then not long ago this baby went on sale.  The exact size and finish I had been admiring!  I scooped one up so fast and just days later they were sold out.  Seems I’m not the only one who adores the orb!

We are waiting for the extension chain.  My electricians were sweet enough to hang it for me without the chain so we could make sure it looked right and see exactly where to put it.  My electricians were also sweet enough to follow me to my old house to pick up the light because it didn’t fit in my car.  My electricians were then sweet enough to ever so politely tease me about my driving.  Apparently they think I have a bit of a lead foot.  “What!?” I immediately protested.  “I was driving my slowest most careful speed not to lose you guys!”  They were then sweet enough to promise to not mention my lead foot to my husband.  Not that it would be news to him.  And now I’ll be sweet enough to stop rambling and stay on topic.   So the orb!  Do you love them?  Hate them?  My mom is not a fan.  (Sorry mom.  I loved it too much to let it go.  I think I can change your mind when you come to help me move.  Are you packed yet?)  

Have you all seen Shelly’s DIY version of the Orb Chandelier (House of Smiths)?  Oh my word.  She made one!  And it looks amazing.  So impressive.  You have to check it out.  If only I had an ounce of her mad DIY skills.  I want to laugh out loud just picturing me trying to attempt something like that!  Let’s just say that if I tried to make one myself, the orb wouldn’t look so orbish.  :)

Hardwood will be finished tomorrow!  Carpenters are running all of the baseboards.  There is still lots to do and we are thinking of pushing back the move date.  (But you can still pack mom.)  I will share more lights soon!

A fun day at the beach.  Not today.  These pics were from a random summer day.  Today we went couch shopping.  A continued search we started weeks ago.  At store #1 we walked in and sat down on a couch and Kenny said “I’m bored.  Can we be done?”  So you can imagine how much fun it has been dragging him around to find “the ones.”  So much fun that I wanted to forget couch shopping today and remember one of our fun summer mornings at the beach.  I love it when Kenny comes to the beach with us.  The kids love it too.  He plays in the waves with Kole and boogie boards with the girls.  He is fun at the beach.  Not so much fun furniture shopping.  :)

 They also started our side gates.  They are going to have inset panels and be painted white.  We have been holding off on a lot of plants and flowers for the yard until everything inside is finished because workers are still tromping over everything each day.

Our conversation this morning trying to coordinate our schedules for the day…  Can you cover this?  Can you be there for that?  Someone needs to sign for appliances… Don’t forget the meeting tonight… crap! it’s your birthday!  We don’t have time for your birthday!  We’ll fit it in from 6:30 to 7:00.

Of course we are making time.  Girls are decorating the house as we speak.  My kitchen table is covered in markers and glitter and I will have mini football drawings stuck to my walls for a week.

And was thrilled to greet them with a hug and see huge smiles on their faces!  They had a terrific day.  According to Addie this school is amazing because she has a class bunny as a pet, the playground was awesome and the desks are made of a cool kind of wood.  :)  El said she was a little homesick for her friends and old school, but really liked her teacher and she made a few new friends.  Our conversation walking to the car…

p.s.  A few more outdoor lights were installed today (ignore the dust!  it’s everywhere!) and we started lights and fixtures inside.  So fun seeing the house finally starting to come together.  I can’t wait to show you all!  :)