New house update (exterior)
Well. This has been quite the week! We are all sick at my house. El had her b-day party Saturday and we were all feeling great. By Monday Kenny and El were sick and by last night the whole crew (minus Kole) had a cough, stuffy nose, headache, sore throat and fever. Dr. visits for all today! And plenty of Z packs to go around. Kenny has also been up to his own home remedies. Ever heard of a pie cleanse? I didn’t think so. You eat nothing but pie. He came up with that little trick over Thanksgiving and decided another pie cleanse is in order to cure his cold as well. Even in his sickest state (and he is really sick!) his sense of humor remains in tact. What a relief. ;)
Quick picture dump today. Things have been really moving along at the new house and we are having so much fun seeing everything on the exterior come together. A lot of planning is happening for the inside as well (almost finished designing the bathrooms!) but I think it will be more fun to share inside stuff when everything is actually being installed. Here are a few things that have been happening with the exterior the past two months…
Of course as soon as the hole was dug we had a huge rain storm. Several huge rain storms actually so for a while everything was a muddy mess! Fun to tromp around in though.
My favorite thing so far has definitely been seeing the windows/doors installed. Like so many of you commented on – it makes it feel more like a real house instead of a construction site. :)
Progress! I have to say that one of my favorite things about the building process so far has been meeting so many wonderful people. From the framers to the plumbers to the electricians to the landscapers – they have all been the best. So much fun to work with. I love taking them up some muffins/bagels and juice and chatting with them all. I usually can’t stay long because my little man is waiting for me in the car and the two of us don’t handle separation well. :) It is still way too dangerous to let Kole loose on the scene! But I love popping in when my schedule allows it to see what has been done each day. We are getting an inspection next week and then it’s time for drywall! We will also be starting the siding and rock on the exterior very soon. Bring it! I’m ready to move in. :)
Enjoy your day everyone! Fingers crossed you are all well! It is no fun being sick. Oh and thanks for the sweet comments on El’s birthday post. I know all moms can relate to the happy/sad feelings that come when your child turns another year older. (sniff) I can’t think about it or I need more tissues.
Dear Ellie,
You did it. Even though I distinctly told you not to. You turned nine years old yesterday. NINE! These birthday letters are getting harder and harder for me to write.
Just ten minutes ago you were my vivacious four year old. You loved tea parties and Little Bear and playing with your sister Addison.
Even though you are growing so quickly Ellie and I am starting to see small glimpses of “pre-teen,” you are still the sweetest little person imaginable. You love life and it shows in everything you do. I was reading your birthday letter from last year and the year before the other day and now I feel like I can just say ditto to everything I mentioned in them. The things I love so much about you haven’t changed one bit. You are still so happy and kind and creative and loving.
Here are a few things about you right now at age nine that I never want to forget:
You especially love to draw pandas. Actually you just love to draw period. You are always drawing something and you have such a talent for art. You have already far surpassed how well your daddy and I can draw (although you and I both know that’s not saying much!).
A couple of weeks ago you found a drawing that you liked of an animal on-line and within two hours you had drawn around 20 animals. They were so adorable I had to take a picture. You named them all of course. And numbered them all in order.
And then everyone in the family had to pick their favorites. Because you always love for all of us to pick our favorites. :)
You have a passion for creating things Ellie. Pictures, stories, songs…
or even just new inventive ways to play with your toys. Your creativity is endless and I am always excited to see what you will come up with next.
You love writing notes and you express your feelings this way often.
You also write and draw to express your feelings when you are upset or mad. This note is a favorite of mine. You were upset that your dad had to fly to San Francisco again for work. It pretty much sums up how we all feel when your dad has to travel.
You have such a special relationship with your little brother and sister Ellie. I couldn’t have dreamed up a better big sister for them.
You love them. You watch out for them. You would do anything for them and you show it every day. You show it when you stop playing with your toys because Kole is calling “help me!” You show it when Addie is sad or upset and you instantly run to make her laugh and cheer her up. You show it in the way you talk to them and play with them and take care of them. And you especially show it in the way you make them feel.
You make all of us feel loved Ellie. You are so full of love and happiness. Some days if I’m feeling down I know I just need a good dose of my Ellie. :) You walk in the door and just like that, I am happy again. It’s impossible to not smile when you are around. The two of us always talk about how you are so special to me because you made me a mom. You are special because of that Ellie. You are special to me for countless reasons and I can’t imagine my life without you in it.
Happy 9th birthday Ellie! I love you to pieces.
xoxo,
mommy
Valentine’s mantel – 2013
Remember my Christmas mantel? With my new bff – silver reindeer sporting the bling? I was sad to take him down. Really I was sad to take the whole mantel down. So I didn’t.
To-organize list and progress made
and I boxed it all up! It’s ready for its new home. But it will have to chill in the garage for a bit first. :)
I have to add that I already have plans for how I’m going to store all of my holiday decor in the new house and I can’t wait! I think I’m more excited to organize my new house than I am to actually live in it. I know. That’s not right, right? :)
The stuffed animals/dolls moved into the trunks because I’m going to pack up most of the stuff in our closet under the stairs (where they were previously living when not played with). The girls helped sort their toys and even though they refused to part with anything (because each toy is a beloved friend who is real with real feelings – thanks a lot Toy Story) they did agree to sending less played with toys to grandma’s house. That was the only solution I could come up with after debates and tears. (Sorry mom… you were saying you needed a few more stuffed animals right?)
Then I patted myself on the back and went to give Kole a bath and didn’t take any after pics (the ones above are from an earlier post I did on fridge organization). But, like the pantry, it looks pretty similar.
Like I said, nothing major, but at least I’ve checked off a few things on my list! I’m in the middle of boxing up the bookshelf in our guest room and it is a MESS. I can’t find more than 15 minutes at a time to work on it so it might just be a mess for a while. Actually I have quite a few messes going on around here that I’m anxious to tackle. Check out the current state of my scrapbook room (a.k.a Kole’s room):
Random December
Don’t love that Kenny was at the bottom of a hill looking up to take this picture, but I don’t have many pics of me with all three of my kids and because of that I cherish this one. When I look at this picture I can’t help but feel incredibly blessed. These three mean the world to me. You were in the mood for a little sap now weren’t you.
Too fun. Fingers crossed next year my little man can join us. Verdict is still out on whether he will be able to hold still or not… hmm.. fingers crossed the year after next my little man can join us. :)
Goals and Windows
We chose double hung windows for the front and sides of the house (grids on the top half only) and the full grids for the back of the house.
Seriously mom?
Organizing in 2012 – a look back
I haven’t taken a recent pic of this list from last January, but aside from Kole’s room/closet everything has been checked off. It helps so much to have a list! Even though sometimes I stray away from it and come up with new spaces to organize, the list gives me direction and helps me focus in on what our main problem areas are.
Hopefully by sharing some of my organized spaces from 2012 it will inspire us all to kick it in gear this year and see what we can accomplish! (Que the Rocky music in the background…)
Ahh.. the pantry. Technically this makeover happened in 2011 but it was towards the end of that year so I’m including it in the round up anyway because it makes me happy. This set up has worked so well for us. Our pantry doesn’t always look this picture perfect, but it really is easy to keep organized because the baskets conceal so much and everything has a defined place. That happens because I don’t mix things up in the kitchen that often. Maybe that’s the secret to an organized pantry? You have to be a boring cook.
{January}
In January I found a solution for our crazy amount of stuffed animals (that my girls refuse to part with) and I shared my time management binder (recently updated to a time management notepad). I also got the kids’ bath toys, hair accessories and cupboards under control.
{February}
In February we talked about jewelry solutions and I shared how I organize mine. I also shared how I store cords and cards. Then I ended the month by finally tackling our laundry room cabinets.
{March}
In March I cleaned out and organized the girls’ bookshelf and organized all of my bathroom drawers.
(**sidenote – the bookshelf is currently a mess thanks to my 2 year old sidekick, but I’m happy to report that the bathroom drawers are nice and in tact! One out of two for the month of March – I’ll take it!)
{April}
In April I moved from the bathroom drawers to under the bathroom sink. I also finally organized our master closet. That was a time consuming project and one I was so happy to have checked off of my list!
{May/June/July}
In August I shared some tips for organizing travel with kids and I finally came up with a solution for our morning outfit drama. It was needed and way overdue!
{September}
In September I tackled Addison’s closet and sorted/organized the girls clothes. (I do this 3-4 times a year so that it never takes too long.)
{October}
And my favorite green file box/folders that I use to organize my kids school work until that magical day when I have time to scrapbook again.
Even though I’m sharing a lot of spaces today, this really is SO doable when you break things up and just do a little here and there. Tackle one or two spots a month. That is my goal for 2013. I don’t have an hour or two at a time in my schedule right now so 15 minutes a day will have to do. Eventually progress will be made and your home/life (because the two are very much correlated) will run more smoothly. I’m ready to start now.
Que Rocky music in the background…
or any other music you like.
But Rocky is playing in my head.
Bring it on. :)
Love language
Christmas card displays
I started taping the rest of my cards to the wall next to the frame, but I was having a hard time getting them to stick on the wall so I never got all of them hung and I had to take them down early. I was so bummed!
So this year I was prepared! I bought painters tape (a suggestion from a few sweet readers!) and went to work. I hung some of my cards on the wall and woke up the next morning to this —
I guess painters tape wasn’t the solution. At least not for my crazy wall.




































































































































