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 was going to make a fun “Fall to-do list.”  Something similar to my Summer to-do list:

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?  :)

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

Another Q&A today!   I received this question from a friend of mine:

I am starting to make my Christmas shopping list and would love advice from a mom of little girls.  My daughter will be 20 months at Christmas time… what would be a good “girly” gift for her?  I have this boy thing down, but no clue on the girls stuff.

Well!  Glad you asked!  And I’m happy to answer.  Especially since we opened the subject of Christmas up yesterday and it seems many of you are like me and ready to start planning early.  Fabulous!  :)  I will be posting more Christmas ideas soon!  To answer your question, here are a few things my girls loved at that age (and for years after!) –

Dress-ups are HUGE.  My girls were in some sort of dress-up every day from age 2 to 5.  Usually Costco has fun treasure boxes full of different dresses.  And of course – the princess dresses (and heels!) are always favorites.  Pretty much anything to do with the princesses will be a hit.

I got this tent for my girls when Addison was around 2 (El was 4) and they still love it.  We pull it out every few months.

Don’t forget accessories!  Shoes, hats, jewelry.  Even if your little one isn’t into this stuff yet, she will be soon!  Little girls like to be doing whatever their mommy is doing so things like…

and pretend brooms are all fun Christmas gifts.  Apparently they even work for the boys once in a while.  Although Kole never believed sweeping was a broom’s true calling.  :)

At 20 months, your little one might be a bit small to drive the Barbie Jeep, but she isn’t too small to be a passenger in it!  Maybe one of her brothers could take her for a spin until she grows into it?  You can set it to a slow speed for really little ones.  We got this when Ad was 2 and El was 4 and they LOVED it.  I can’t wait to get this baby reved up for Kole once we have a yard!  He has no problem with girl hand me downs.  It’s all he knows!  No shame around here.  Of course that might change once he is older than two.  :)

And this adorable Fisher Price My First Doll House for toddlers has been a favorite for years.  It is a PERFECT first doll house for a two year old.  My girls STILL play with this at least once a week.  Notice I’m CAPITALIZING a lot of my words so show you how much I truly LOVE this dollhouse.  Because I DO!

If you are looking for something a little more baby and immediately fun for a 20 month old, my favorite baby/toddler toy is the Fisher Price Laugh and Learn Learning Home.  All three of my baby/toddlers have loved this and played with it so much.  If you have a baby age one and up you will love it!  It’s the one baby toy I’m hanging on to for the grandkids to play with someday!  And you know I don’t hang onto much.  :)

Hope that helps give you a few ideas!  I included several more favorite toy ideas in a post I did last year  just before Christmas  – Christmas Gift Ideas – Our Favorite Toys.  That post also includes links to most of the toys so it makes for easy early shopping!  I’m going to put together another similar post for this year with new toys that have been a hit around here.  On to the next question!

I came across your website because I want to start organizing and de-cluttering.  I just love everything about your website and blogging.  I just wanted to ask you how you got started?   I have such a hard time.  I really want to do it, but I’m such a procrastinator or I feel overwhelmed.  After seeing all of your ideas I want to toss everything!  I think about it all day at work what I want to do but the minute I get home I lose all ambition.  Any words of encouragement would be great.

Such a sweet comment (thanks again!) and such a good question.  I didn’t really “get started” with organizing because it’s something that comes naturally to me.  I have been organizing my things and keeping things “just so” since I was four years old.  Probably before that, I just can’t remember.  :)  But there are a lot of things that don’t come easily for me (cooking comes to mind) and I know exactly how you are feeling.  So overwhelmed that it is easier to just do nothing.  My best advice is to make a list.  Walk around your house and write down all of the spots that need to be organized.  If you need to organize everything, just start with one room and write down what needs to be organized within that room.  Be specific.  If you’re tackling the kitchen, write things down like: silverware drawer, under the kitchen sink, etc.  Here is an example of one of my “to organize” lists.

 I always have a “to organize” list going.  Once you have a list in place, pick one spot to work on each night.  Even if it is just for 10-15 minutes.  I live by this motto:  Something is always better than nothing.  Turn on some fun music to get you going (that always helps me!) and then just DO IT.  All it takes is cleaning out ONE thing (a drawer, a cupboard, a closet) and you will be so happy every time you open it.  That will motivate you to want to organize more!  Everyone can commit to 15 minutes each evening.  Start small and before you know it, you’ll be an organizing pro!  

Pinterest is full of great organizing inspiration, but I have to add a caution with that one.  I think sometimes it’s so easy to spend all of your free time looking at blogs, Pinterest, and magazines for inspiration instead of just jumping in and doing the work.  I know I’m guilty of this!   So here is your homework: Read my tips for getting and staying organized and start with #1 – make a list.  The next step is to clean out and organize just one small space on that list.  Then check it off and you are one step closer to an organized home.

Let me know how it goes!

That’s all I have time for tonight friends!  Sorry it is taking me so long to catch up on questions.  I appreciate your patience!  If you’ve asked me a question, I will get around to answering it at some point.

Enjoy your day.  :)