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10.16.12

ALL THINGS CHRISTMAS!!

I’ve been working on my Christmas to-do list.  (SQUEAL!)  Maybe a tad early, but before you know it we will be decking the halls!  I like to be one step ahead on my Christmas planning so that I can enjoy the season with my family as much as possible instead of running around like a crazy person.  Although no matter how prepared I try to be, running around like a crazy person seems inevitable this time of year.  :)  So to help all of you get a jump start on your Christmas planning, I’ve rounded up some of my favorite past Christmas posts.  Everything from my Christmas wrap station, to decor ideas, to Christmas card ideas, to gift ideas, to how to organize your Christmas decor once it’s all said and done.  Just click on the link below each picture for all of the details.  This post is the MOTHER LOAD of all things Christmas.  Bring it on!  And happy planning.  :)  


Excited to make new memories this year.  :)


xoxo, Erin
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10.15.12

Disneyland re-cap

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…

THE CASTLE!  C’MON DAD!!!
Alice and Mad Hatter!  My all time favorites.   

 Sweet Minnie.  

 Small World never gets old.  

Tea anyone!?
Mickey looks good even in horrible lighting.  I need to learn his secret. 

Just a spoonful of sugar!
 Boarding the boat for a Jungle Cruise.
Chatting with the Princesses.  

Addison and her little cousin Claire were so excited to see the princesses, but Ellie was anxious to head on to the next ride.  I was watching my girls chat with Snow White and out of nowhere felt a great big lump in my throat.  

I was flashing back to the last time we were at Disneyland when I took this picture.  It was three years ago, but it feels like it was last month.  My girls are growing up and before long the magic of the princesses will be a thing of the past.  Talk about depressing.  
Think I can get Kole into Jasmine and Snow White?  He’s already a fan of Tinkerbell.  :)
Speaking of the girls growing up, this was our first trip where they past the height requirement for all of the big rides.  We were so excited to take them on all of the fun stuff!  We tested the waters with a few smaller roller coasters (like the one in Toon Town which they loved) and decided we were ready for Space Mountain.   What we didn’t realize (until we were buckling our seat belts) was that “ghost galaxy” was about to take place.  Seasonal creepy looking ghosts they add to Space Mountain just for the month of October.  As soon as the ride started I knew we had made a mistake.  Pitch black, eerie screaming sounds, the roller coaster going up and up and up, and the scariest looking red skeleton head looming ahead.  WAY too scary of a ride for our girls.  I was sitting by Ellie and grabbed her hand and told her to close her eyes and it would be over soon.  I couldn’t enjoy one second of that ride because I was so stressed about the girls.  I kept yelling at El during the ride to just hold on, but it was so loud I knew she couldn’t hear me.  When we got off Addison and Claire looked as white as a sheet and El was in tears.  They saw her crying and then they started crying.  All three girls were bawling.  We all looked at each other like “what in the world were we thinking!!?”  Car and I kept saying “I don’t remember that ride being that fast!”  “I don’t remember that ride being that scary!”  We felt awful.  We all four declared ourselves the worst parents ever and tried to make up for it with lots of cotton candy and frozen lemonade.  
And suckers.

And toys.  :)

Luckily, we were saved by Thunder Mountain Railroad.  A roller coaster that the girls LOVED.  Still fast, but without the darkness and satanic monsters.  Bonus.  A much better option for our 5, 6, and 8 year old!  The girls loved it so much that we kept getting the fast past to do it again and again and again.  Picture above is Addie waiting for our turn on the ride…  
and here she is ready to go and waiting for me to join her!  
I always rode with Addison on this ride and the two of us would get laughing so hard.  My voice has been hoarse for days because of the screaming and laughing that took place on Thunder Mountain Railroad.  Definitely my favorite memory from this trip.  :)
 Taking a stroll through Tarzan’s tree house.

 Goofy is always a crowd pleaser.  

 Toy Story Ride at California Adventure.  Another favorite!
We spent half of one day at California Adventure and had so much fun.  We were able to catch the Pixar Parade while we were there.  I just love a good parade.  :)

 Seeing Toy Story friends made me miss my little guy!  I kept thinking “oh Kole would LOVE this!”

We ended our time there with the new CARS ride.  It was a blast!  
Definitely a must if you are making a trip to California Adventure.  
Aside from our Space Mountain blunder, the trip was a huge success!  We didn’t even mind waiting in lines because we were all having so much fun visiting and just hanging out together.  Kenny and I got season passes again and the lady at the counter said  “Looks like you usually have season passes but took some serious time off!  What happened!?”  I told her we had another baby and were in major lock down mode for a while.  
But not anymore.
As Ellie would say: we’re back!  
:) 
xoxo, Erin
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Uncategorized
10.11.12

Re-entry

We’re back! 
Two full days at Disneyland.  
So much fun.
I’d love to tell  you all about it but I’m in a fetal position on my couch and can’t move.
We never left the park.
Never took a break except to sleep a mere six hours. 
We were HARD CORE this trip.
My parents were home with the babies so we had to make the most of it. 
And make the most of it we did!
Hence the fetal position.  
My sister’s flight home just landed and she sent me a text saying “Re-entry is a cruel joke.”
Cruel indeed.  
I am so not looking forward to tomorrow.  
What?  The house needs to be cleaned?  Sheets to wash?  Bags to unpack?  Clothes to fold?  Groceries to buy?  Therapy sessions to make up?  New house decisions to deal with?  Homework to catch up on?  A two year old to take care of?  Emails to answer?  3 newly gained pounds to jog off?  Appointments to keep?  A to-do list a mile long that I so enjoyed ignoring so that I could sing “It’s a Small World After all…” with my girls a time or twenty?  
I will be paying for this trip for a while. 
TOTALLY WORTH IT!

Now if I can just muster enough strength to get upstairs to my bed I will be in good shape.
And hopefully have the energy to share more tomorrow.
Glad to be home.
:)
xoxo, Erin
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Uncategorized
10.08.12

Grateful

I can’t quite put into words how I have felt this weekend.  I have read every comment on my last post three times now.  Yes, children were ignored and laundry has piled high.  :)  You are all so amazingly sweet and articulate and thoughtful and sincere.  You made me laugh and you made me cry and you made me even more grateful that I started blogging in the first place. 
I wrote hoping that you would help me be a bit less scattered and come to find out – you all like scattered.  You relate to scattered.  Who knew!?  :)  So I will blog on in regular random fashion!  And I am saving all of your comments from that last post in an email folder so that I can pull them up to read whenever I want.  They will remind me that there are wonderful people reading my blog.  And how lucky I truly am to call so many of you friends.    

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

xoxo, Erin
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Blogging
10.05.12

Random thoughts on blogging and a question for you

I have been staring at my computer screen for two straight hours now.  Granted, I’ve been catching up on recorded shows at the same time which is part of the reason I’m still staring at a blank screen.  :)  But the other part of the problem – my problem – is that I have so many random thoughts that are all jumbled up in my head lately about blogging and I don’t really know how to share them.  So this post will be a bit scattered since at the moment, I am a bit scattered.

When I decided to start a blog four years ago I did it for two reasons.  1- I love to write and take pictures and record memories so I thought it looked like something I would enjoy.  2- I wanted to share pictures of my kids and my life with close friends and family who lived in other areas.  So I started a blog.  And my family and close friends read it.  And aside from sharing what my kids were up to, I also started sharing what I was up to.  Because that was fun for me.  And I never once thought that people I didn’t know would start to read my blog.

But people I didn’t know started reading my blog.

And those people I didn’t know commented once in a while.  And that was exciting too.  It was exciting and it was a little scary.  I knew I’d never know who was reading and it made me feel a bit vulnerable.  For a while I seriously thought about making my blog private because I was sharing so much about my family and kids and life.

For a while I also thought about writing two blogs.  One about my family that would be private and one about my projects for anyone who was interested.

But I never separated the two topics.  And the reason I didn’t is because I couldn’t.  My family is everything to me and everything I do is about them or for them or because I need an escape from them.  :)  But regardless, it’s all about them.

(picture from a post on toy organization… supposedly)  

So I didn’t change anything about my blog and I kept sharing pictures and projects and the funny things the girls would say and the slightly annoying things that Kenny would say and how much I loved it all – even when it was slightly annoying.  And during the process I was “meeting” and connecting with all sorts of wonderful people.  And it made me love blogging even more.  Blogging has been a lot of things to me.  A creative outlet, a way to record the little things that I know I’ll soon forget and never want to, motivation to complete projects, an escape from difficult days being a stay at home mom to three wonderful but incredibly active children who leave me feeling a mix of blessed and exhausted at the end of each day, a way to make new friends – most of whom I’ve never met but who I still feel incredibly close to.  Blogging has been a huge blessing in my life.

Right now, I need a little direction when it comes to blogging.  I am completely scattered.  (Did I mention that yet?  That I’m feeling a bit scattered lately?)  I think my problem is that I have a lot more on my plate than usual with the new house and Kole’s therapy (which we recently bumped up to six days a week because he is showing a lot of progress).  I have very little time to do the things I love.  When I do find a 15 minute break to work on something for my blog I am completely torn!  I have so much I’d love to do and I don’t know which direction to go in.  Should I organize something on my list?  Decorate the front porch for Halloween?  Complete a page in Kole’s scrapbook?  Take a picture of what I’m wearing?  Share more new house updates?

I will always post about my family and what my kids are up to.  Those posts are the heart of my blog and the ones that are the most precious to me.  But because I am feeling so scattered lately when it comes to the other hobbies I write about, I would love some direction from you!

So here is a question that I hope you will take a minute to answer:  What kind of posts do you enjoy the most?  

I’m not planning to change anything about my blog, and like I said, the family stuff will remain the same.  It would just help me to hear if your favorite posts are about the new house, organizing, scrapbooking, decorating, fashion, etc. because I love to post about them all and right now I need some direction!

So direct me!  :)

I would love to hear from as many of you as possible!  I want to get an idea of what the majority of you come here for.  Plus it would just make for a really fun weekend.  :)

Thank you thank you thank you.  Thank you for sticking with me through this post.  I know how completely random it was.  Thank you in advance for taking a minute to answer my question.  And thank you mostly for checking in with me and making Sunny Side Up a part of your routine.  I am truly touched each day by the wonderful people who read this blog.  Your kindness and support mean so much and like I said, I consider you all friends.
xoxo,
Erin

xoxo, Erin
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Food and Cooking...or lack thereof
10.04.12

Organized Recipes

Ok.  I finally organized my recipes.  Don’t expect to be blown away.  You know me when it comes to cooking! 

Which is why for the past few years I have simply thrown all of my recipes into this lovely little red folder titled:  Recipes.  I know.  My creativity with this one is unmatched.  

But lately my little red recipe folder wasn’t cutting it.  I had no room to add new recipes and papers were spilling out all over my neatly organized kitchen drawer.  I can’t have that now can I?  :)  Finding the recipe I needed was becoming such a pain.  But here’s the thing.  The reason I have never organized my recipes is because aside from the fact that I hate to cook (which makes me also despise recipes), I have never seen a system that I thought would work for me.  I know there are hundreds of ways to organize recipes,  but I didn’t want anything that would take too much time (like typing them all up in a binder) and I wanted something that I could easily add to without any work.  
Most of my recipes are torn out magazine pages,
handwritten from the kids like this recipe from Addison when she was in pre-school and just learning to write her name.  They are print outs from recipe blogs and e-mails from friends…  

OR they are typed or handwritten by me and totally trashed from having them out while cooking. 
 **Banana Bread recipe is here by the way and they are delicious!  You can tell I’ve made these a time or two.  I keep thinking I need to re-type this, but I kind of like it.  Looks vintage, don’t you think?  ;)
I wanted something that I could use to easily slip new recipes into their categories without much time or energy on my part.  

So remember when I went nuts in Staples over Martha Stewart’s office supplies?  
 And I bought this lovely little purse organizer?
And then I went back and bought a bigger accordion file…  

and I used it to organize all of my home decor inspiration pictures?  And I called it Pinterest – old school.  Remember that?  Well.  I’m sure you know where I’m going with this.  Those accordion files have worked SO well for me.  When my recipe folder started getting too full I knew one of these babies would be a great solution.

So I went back for a third one!  Because everyone knows the third times a charm.  And everyone also knows that if there is an excuse to go browse through office supplies, you take it.  (Ok – maybe not everyone knows that one…)

My recipe categories are:

Salads
Soups
Dips/Appetizers
Marinades
Breakfast
Dinner
Muffins/Breads
Desserts

I know.  Super simple.  Maybe not the best system for someone who is a major chef, but for me, this is perfect.

It opens so wide – plenty of room to add more categories and recipes once I get into my new kitchen and start cooking up a storm!  And by cooking up a storm I mean using the stove at least once a week. (I’ve always been a firm believer in baby steps.  What About Bob – have you seen that movie?  Personal favorite.  Baby steps to the recipes… baby steps to the fridge… baby steps to the stove…)

And of course it closes so nice and compact fitting perfectly into my organized kitchen drawer.  
And just to prove I actually DO cook once in a while.  This is what we had for dinner last night – 

The crock pot and I are the best of friends.  I just tossed in some chicken breasts and diced a few potatoes and some onion.  Then I sprinkled Parsley on it all because Parsley makes it look like you really know what you’re doing.  Made my house smell SO good!  My girls were like “mom!  what are you making!?  it smells so good!  is someone coming over?”  Then Kenny came home… “mmmm!  smells so good, is someone coming over?”

HA!  Made me laugh.  :)
Nobody was coming over, but we all enjoyed this simple meal (and the smell!) regardless.
Would love to hear how YOU organize your recipes! 
xoxo, Erin
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Uncategorized
10.02.12

Q and A (Little girl gifts and getting started organizing)

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!) –

Age two and up with little girls is all about pretend!

 Tea parties become every day events so pretend food and dishes and tea sets are always a hit.  

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…

pretend cameras,  

pretend ironing boards, 
pretend vacuums, 

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.  :)

You can’t go wrong with dolls and stuffed animals.  

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.  :)

xoxo, Erin
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Ellie and Addison
10.01.12

Iphone pics

Hi everyone!  Hope you all enjoyed the weekend.  Here are a few pics I took with my new iPhone.  I’ve decided I love more than just my ringer.  Like the camera.  And the Pinterest app.  :)  
Friday morning – getting ready for school (do you love my kids’ idea of how to get ready for school?).  I clearly didn’t have the focus figured out.  Plus toppling kids don’t make for the best practice material.  
 Figured out the focus by the time we got to school.  Hello my sweet first grader!

 Roses by our front door.  

 Lots of decorating this weekend.  Inside my house it is officially Fall!
The weather outside my house is hotter than ever.  

Dinner with friends at Cheesecake Factory.  We went for the seasonal pumpkin cheesecake and they didn’t have it yet!  BUMMER!  They get it October 1st – we were two days too early.  We had to settle for Snickers Cheesecake (poor us, right?).  It was so good I had a dream about it last night.  :)  Guess we’ll just have to go back again for the pumpkin!  Until then I’ll be doing double time on the treadmill.

Kenny and I stopped by Lowe’s to look at BBQ grills and they have their Christmas trees out!  WHAT!?  It was still September.  I should have been appalled, but I was ecstatic.  Made me simply giddy!  I was worthless the rest of the night.  I couldn’t focus on BBQ grills.  All I could think about was twinkling lights and happy mail and Chestnut’s Roasting on an open fire.  In fact, it made me want to start planning for the upcoming holiday season ASAP.  I do like to be on top of things you know.  :)

Have any of you starting thinking about Christmas yet?  I have a few posts in mind to help us all jump start holiday planning.  Are you ready for that?  Or do most of you like to get Halloween behind you first?  I’d love to hear if I need to be patient or if your thoughts about Christmas line up with mine:  BRING IT ON!

And on that note… Happy October! 
The countdown begins today!  

:)
xoxo, Erin
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New House
09.27.12

New House Update (we have stairs!)

OH my word.  This week has been nonstop!  I have been rocking a pony tail for weeks now and things just don’t seem to be slowing down.  I’m feeling the need to do a time management post in the near future because I have really had to work to figure out a way to manage my schedule so that I can fit everything in.  Like time to shower.  Building a house is so much work!  My mom keeps saying “I tried to warn you….”  :)  But honestly, even though we’ve reached a new level of crazy around here I am loving the process.  It is so amazing seeing something that was all in my head actually come to life!  Here is a peek of what things are looking like so far…
 The gate into our little neighborhood – I was standing in front of where our driveway will be.
Nothing to do with the house, but I think the view is pretty so I’m sharing it with you.  :)

Things on the outside haven’t changed much.  I can’t wait for the second floor to go in so I can start to see the personality of the house.

The window that is popping up high on the left of this picture is the window over the stairs.  We have a playroom and a “future” theatre room for Kenny that will go over the garages.  I just changed things up a bit and added a closet in the playroom.  I had to take some space out of the upstairs laundry room to do it, but I’m so excited to have a place to organize all of the kids’ toys.  I’m already dreaming of storage options for that closet!  I’m going to have to spend a lot of time at The Container Store after this house is built.  Darn!  :)

This is the formal living room you will see right when you walk in the front door.
This is the right wall of the living room.
Addison dancing around the hallway in her Smurf pajamas.  The kids clearly already feel at home.

This is our main living area – the family room.  I’m putting in a fun oval window in that square up high and then the TV built-ins will be below with a fireplace in the right corner.

To the left side is our outdoor entertaining area.  There will be french doors along that left wall leading outside.  I’m sure the kids will be in and out and in and out 20 times a day and I’ll never be able to keep them clean.  But I bet I will be so happy that they have a yard to play in that I won’t even care.  Actually I bet I will care.  Because I can’t help it.  :)

Next to the outdoor space is our breakfast nook.  I debated over and over if I should put in windows along the wall of the nook leading to the entertaining area or french doors.  Windows are on the other nook walls so it would have looked more symmetrical, plus the doors will be slightly blocked by a table and chairs.  Plus we already have the doors off the family room.  But we finally decided to put in doors anyway.  We figure if we have people over it might be nice to set food up on the table inside and open the doors up outside so people can go in and out to get food.  What do you think?  Did I make a mistake?  Actually don’t tell me if I did.  Only comment if you are going to say – good idea.  I would have put in doors.  ;)

Now we are entering the kitchen!  Woot Woot!!  This picture shows my bay window.  We basically turned the whole house the way we did so that I could have my bay window.  And I am still debating how it is going to look because it pops out so far and didn’t turn out quite the way I pictured.  I’ll share more details once I figure things out myself.  Or I won’t because I’ll remember that nobody but me really cares about this bay window.  Or I will because Kenny is so sick of hearing about this bay window and I need to talk to someone about it!

Here’s the kitchen layout.  Bay window on the right.  Oven and cabinets along that back wall.  Behind that wall you can kind of see the food pantry.  Butler’s pantry to the left (the formal dining room is across the hall).  The work bench is close to where my first kitchen island will be.  We decided to go with two smaller islands vs. one big one.  I hope I like it!

Fridge/freezer and cabinets along the left wall.  I am still debating minor kitchen details.  Like how many clear cabinets vs. closed cabinets, what the counter tops will be (leaning towards quartz), etc.  I can’t wait to be hanging out in my kitchen!  Toasting Eggo waffles and microwaving frozen pizza for all!  ;)  Speaking of microwaves, we are leaning towards getting this built-in microdrawer:
Do any of you have a microdrawer?  Love it?  Hate it?  I would love to hear what you think if you’ve used one before!  Because I never have.  And the microwave will be the most used appliance in our house so it’s pretty important.  :)
We have stairs!!
View from the top.
 The girls were so excited to finally be able to walk up the stairs and see where their rooms will be.
The girls’ rooms are connected by a bathroom they will share.  Their two rooms have french doors leading out onto a balcony.  They haven’t put the floor down, but in this picture you can see how the balcony is framed.  We have such pretty views so we included balconies on the front and back of the house.  Kenny felt like Kole wasn’t getting a fair deal since his room is on the side of the house without a balcony with views so we added a fun pop out window that will have a bench seat for Kole (with organized baskets below for me! – ha!).

Hot air balloons are always flying by our house so we thought it would be fun to have balconies to sit on and watch them.  And I could write posts all day long on how I’m planning to decorate the front balcony for Christmas each year!  Building the house is only the beginning!  :)  Now if I can just find time for that shower…

xoxo, Erin
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Ellie and Addison
09.26.12

Everyday pics

The girls and their “friends” enjoying afternoon pasta and tea.  
More friends making themselves at home in my closet.  
And in the bathroom.  
And in the backyard.  
 Guess those trucks come in handy after all!   

What my trash looks like after a trip to the grocery store.  
Ditching the bulky boxes and tidying up my pantry always puts me in an instant good mood.   

Girls headbands were driving me nuts so I moved them to a new location.  
Temporary fix.  
The new house stuff is completely taking over my current house.  
Every where you look there are plans and brochures and sketches and samples.  
I need an office!  So I’m designing one.  Hence the mess that is making me feel the need for an office.
  :)
My boy is up to his usual tricks pulling everything out of my cupboards.  
Bowls are always a hit.  
Moving the pillows all on one couch never gets old.  
 And pausing only briefly for a favorite part of Toy Story 3.  

There is just something about a sleeping toddler.  PEACE.  :)  Kole cracks me up.  Every night I go in to check on him before I go to bed and every night he is in this same position – sideways in his crib with his feet on the wall and one arm over his forehead.  And yes I know he is getting too old for his binkie. It’s not a crutch for him.  It’s a crutch for me.  :)  With everything going on lately, I just don’t have the strength to deal with taking it away.  When Ellie was 2 1/2 we tossed all of her pacifiers and told her that the binkie fairy came and took them and left a toy instead because she was such a big girl.  Worked fabulously.  One tough night with a few tears and she was over it.  I have a feeling things might not go so smoothly with my little buddy so I’m admittedly procrastinating.  And yes, I know he is in Christmas pajamas in September.  I just couldn’t resist.  :)

 But I’m not completely overlooking Fall.  Picked these up at the grocery store yesterday.  
The mini white pumpkins are my favorite!  
 I’m going to use them for my hutch like I did last year.

Kenny bought me the new iphone 5.  I’ve never had an iphone before.  I got this phone and started a Facebook page for my blog all in the same week.  I feel so…  2012.  :)  
I’m sure it’s amazing but I haven’t had two seconds to play around with it.  
Kenny asked me how I like my new phone last night and I said “I love my new ringer!”  He said – “I buy you the iphone 5 and your favorite part is the ringer?”  
But it’s the song Call me Maybe! 
“Hey I just met you… and this is crazy, but here’s my number… so call me maybe….”  
 Perfect ringer, right!? 

Kole loves my ringer too.  Whenever the phone rings we both get so excited and start to dance.  
But then I answer the phone and the music stops and the party’s over and mom’s occupied and Kole is NOT happy.  So we turn the song on my ipod after my call and dance some more.  I’m tempted to give all of you my cell phone number so Kole and I can dance the day away.
But for some reason I don’t think Kenny would be as amused as Kole and I would be.

:)
 The girls currently have secret “pass codes” on their bedroom doors.  You have to place one hand on the hand drawing and type the code in with your other hand to enter their rooms.  

Not just anyone can enter and I had to block out the code to post these pictures.  
It’s top secret.   
I’d share it with you but then I’d have to kill you.  
Love my girls.  They’re always good entertainment.  :)  

Kenny took these before church one Sunday.  He said “smile” and the girls both popped their knee up in an identical pose almost as if it had been rehearsed.  I swear they share a brain.  
Let’s hope it’s their daddy’s.
:) 
xoxo, Erin
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Q and A
09.24.12

Q & A

Thank you thank you for all of the fun comments and Facebook love everyone!  You all made me feel very “liked.”  :)  I really appreciate all of the support and I’m truly honored that so many of you include Sunny Side Up in your daily routine.  I’m answering a few of your questions today so grab some chips (I could go for some Baked Lays right about now) and read on!

Thanks for the inspiration!  Question:  Do your girls play in their good clothes?  Where do you store their shorts – maybe I missed them?  My girls are 7, 3, and 1 so I get lots of ideas from you!

Three girls!  Triple the fun!  And the drama.  :)  Those are good questions.  About a year ago I completely stopped buying my girls shorts.  They have never liked shorts or pants much (not stylish enough for Addison and not comfy enough for Ellie.  Ha!  See what I mean about the drama?)  They always want to wear dresses and skirts so I buy a lot of skirts with the shorts sewn in them and a lot of leggings and tights to wear under the dresses/skirts in the winter.  It works for us because it never gets too cold here.  As far as the girls playing in their good clothes, I have totally changed my way of thinking about that.  When they were little I bought them so may cute outfits and then hardly let them wear them.  I kept “saving” them for a special occasion and before I knew it, they had grown out of the outfits completely.  I dressed them in their $5 Target tops day after day and the more expensive outfits sat untouched in their closets (a waste of money to only wear a time or two!).  So now I let them wear their good clothes.  To school, to the park, everywhere we go.  Because school and the park is their life and they grow so fast!  And yes, the clothes get dirty and trashed, but then I feel like I really got my money’s worth out of those nice outfits!  So aside from a few fancier dresses for church, my girls wear their “good clothes” every day.  :)  I’ve adopted the same way of thinking with my clothes.  I used to not clean up much because I’d think “I’m just going to be cleaning, at the park, and running kids around all day.”  Well yeah.  That’s my life right now and I don’t see it changing anytime in the near future!  I can do mom stuff in sweats or wear some cute jeans and a belt and at least feel better about myself while I clean and run kids around all day.  And feeling better about myself makes a world of difference.  K – that last part really had nothing to do with your question.  Bur you know I tend to ramble.  Ask me a question and you will get an answer times three.  :)

I was wondering how your girls do in dresses at school?  My daughter also loves wearing them but I can’t picture her playing on the playground without her undies showing or getting her dress all dirty.  

Ok – this was a major problem for us that I just solved last year!  I mentioned above that I try to buy skirts with the shorts sewn in them, but a lot of my girls’ dresses and skirts don’t have them.  Ellie loves the monkey bars at school and I knew she was toppling upside down daily flashing her underwear for all to see, so I started looking all around for some shorts that would be good to wear underneath dresses.  And check out what I found at Target!

They are called Monkey Bar Buddies (how fitting!) and they are perfect little light weight spandex shorts made for girls to wear underneath dresses/skirts.  They run a little small so Addie (who is usually a size 6) wears a 7/8.  I found them on-line here, but check your local Target first.  I bought a pack of two for around six bucks in the girls’ clothes department.  PROBLEM SOLVED.  :)

Totally silly question here!   My two oldest kids are the same ages as your girls and I am wondering what kind of hangers you use in your girls’ closets?   I still have the baby/toddler hangers but they are getting too small for their clothes.  However, the adult plastic hangers are a bit too big.  Which plastic hangers are you using?  Only an organization freak would worry about such things!

Not a silly question at all!  In fact, I’ve been asked this question a lot.  Here are a few pics of the hangers I use for my kids…

 Pink for the girls.  
Green for Kole.  

I bought these hangers at Babies R’ Us.  I bought the pink ones when Ellie was a baby.  They work great for baby clothes and also work great for older kids’ clothes.  They have held up so well and a pack of ten is only three bucks.  A great solution to your hanger problem – from one organization freak to another.  :)  (You can find them here.)

Question about the dividers.  I have a couple sets of them (I think?  Or something that looks the same!) and I love how they divide drawers but the ones I have are always coming loose.  Not sure if I am doing something wrong… it sounds like you are happy with yours and they are not an issue?

The dividers I use in all of our clothes drawers are the Dream Drawer dividers.  You can find them at Bed Bath and Beyond, The Container Store and of course, on-line (here).  They are my favorite dividers and I’ve never had any problems with them. 

They adjust to any size of your drawer and even come with black felt tabs that go on the sides of the spring so your drawers don’t get scratched.  I tried another brand once (Martha Stewart I think) with dividers that went horizontally and vertically and I didn’t like them at all.  They didn’t stay in place and just felt flimsy and cheap.  I took them back and got more Dream Drawer dividers!

I love that they keep things organized without taking up a lot of drawer space.  I have them in almost every clothes drawer in my house.  They divide my exercise clothes and swim suits, pajamas tops and pajama bottoms, and yes – even my white socks from my dark socks.  The possibilities are endless!  :)   (It’s true.  Dividing socks by color is fun for me.  Admitting it is the first step.)

Ok – I hunted all over Target this past Sunday trying to find this cute little notepad and NO LUCK!!  Any idea which section it was in?  

Man!  I feel bad!  Several of you went to look for my favorite new Target find and couldn’t find it.  I found mine in the office supply section.  Same place they carry file folders and paper clips.  There was a section of organization products and this was there among other things.  I couldn’t find it on line but I found these by Real Simple that are the exact same thing.  Hope that helps!

I just discovered your blog and love love love it!  Your organized home makes me drool!  I have two girls under 3.  My 3 year old has a huge collection of kitchen play stuff which she plays with every day.  I tidy up and re-arrange her kitchen play stuff every night but I still feel that the many cups, saucers, etc.  creates a lot of eye clutter in the playroom.  Any suggestions on how to store the kitchen stuff?  


First of all – thank you!  Very sweet of you to say.  :)
Ahhh!  The kitchen collection.
 Yes.  I know a thing or two about that.  :)
Our play kitchen is in the corner of our playroom.  

The main thing I focus on with “kitchen” accessories is to not have too many of them!  I have taken countless toy dishes, food, etc. to Goodwill over the years.  I like to store all of the accessories inside the kitchen.  As soon as things start getting too cluttered, I clean it out and only keep my girls’ favorite kitchen toys.  
 I keep the food in a basket next to the kitchen.

Favorite bowls, plates, pots and pans on top.  Easily accessible and easy to clean up.  A goal for any kitchen!

 Utensils are just tossed in the sink.  

 A few random bowls and tea sets are stored inside the “fridge.”  

Toaster is stored in the oven and cakes in the dishwasher.  Maybe not the goal for any kitchen, but it works for us.  :)

If you have more kitchen accessories than you can fit inside the kitchen itself, another option is using nearby baskets or bins to contain everything.  We have loved these bins from Target for miscellaneous toys in the playroom.  This picture was from a couple of years ago.  Currently the bins are full of trains and trucks.  :)  Still shows some clutter, but I think it’s important in the kids’ space that they can easily see and reach and clean up their own toys.  Hope that helps!

I’m only half way through the questions I was going to answer tonight so I’ll answer the rest another night this week.  If you have a question for me, ask me in the comments.  I’m still working on getting my email button linked to my email address.  The last to-do for the new design!

I should go to bed but I need to finish watching my latest obsession – Property Brothers on HGTV.  Nothing like a good before and after!  Or handsome brothers creating dream kitchens.  I’ll take them both please.  (The before/afters and the dream kitchens, not the brothers.)  Actually… on second thought…  You can throw them in too.

:)  
xoxo, Erin
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Blogging
09.21.12

A new look!

Hi everyone!  So sorry about the lack of posting this week!  Forget the face lift.  We went for the full body makeover!  :)  Which ended up being a bit time consuming.  You all know that I love to make my own blog headers.  And I love to switch them out with the seasons.  (You can see past headers and how I make them here.)  You also know that things are so busy for me right now that I don’t have much time for making my blog headers and switching them out with the seasons.  But I was getting tired of the Easter Eggs.  They just seemed so… Easter.  :)  So I called my darling friend Haylee who is an amazing graphic designer and enlisted some help.

This picture was taken this last 4th of July with Haylee and her cute sisters (and kids).  These girls feel like my sisters too.  Our families have been close friends forever and I love them!  They are all so beautiful and talented and FUN.  One of my favorite things about visiting my hometown is getting together with these girls.  I told Haylee my plan for the blog – yellow and blue and sunny and happy.  :)  Then I sent her the pictures and she went to work.  She did an amazing job putting it all together.  Then we spent the past few nights staying up way too late getting everything uploaded and working just right and now YEA!  A new look for Sunny Side Up!   

And a button!  Can you believe that I’ve been blogging for almost four years and have never had a button?  I’m dedicating this button to my blog friend Katrina who kept asking me over and over if I was going to make one and then finally gave up and made one herself to put on her blog.  HA!  Now that’s a loyal reader.  :)  Katrina – this button is for you!  And for anyone else who wants it.  :)  (code is on the sidebar)

I’ve also decided to join the party (albeit a bit late) and get a Facebook page for my blog.  I’ve told you all before that I don’t tweet and I’m never on my personal Facebook page.  I’m rarely on my computer during the day (aside from monitor/answering emails) and the blog takes up most of my computer time at night.  But I’ve had many requests for additional ways to follow this blog so I set up a Facebook page to make it easier for those of you who prefer to follow blogs this way.  I don’t know how often I’ll be posting on Facebook.  My plan isn’t to pop in every 20 minutes and bore you with what I’m eating for lunch.  Because if you’ve read this blog for 5 minutes you already know that I’m eating a turkey sandwich.  But I do promise to always update my Facebook page when I publish a new post.  And I may include an occasional picture of what I’m up to – kids, projects, shopping, new house stuff.  The everyday.  Ok.  Maybe I’ll be boring you with pics of my turkey sandwich after all.  :)

Didn’t Haylee do a great job with the Facebook header too!?  Love it.  And I would love for you to “like me.”  But only if you want to.  I asked Kenny if he would “like me” last night when the page was up and running and he said he’d have to think about it.  So you can think about it too.  But in the end I hope you do.  :)  You can find my new Facebook page here. 

Haylee – I can’t thank you enough for giving my blog a new look!  And we finished just in time for you to start working on my Christmas cards for this year!  ;)  (Haylee has designed my cards for the past two years.  Once Kole came along I was done making them myself.  No explanation needed.)  

2011 Christmas Card:

Kole was such a pill last year!  Cried the whole photoshoot.  Remember this post?  :)  
2010 Christmas Card:

Haylee is amazing and does such a beautiful job.  You can check out her fun website Hey Hay Designs if you are interested in having her make your holiday cards this year.   As soon as she is finished making mine.  :)

{Thanks again Haylee!}

SO happy to have a new permanent look for my blog!  Now I can focus on the posts.  And new house stuff.  I made lots of decisions this week!   Kenny called Tuesday afternoon to see how my morning had been and I informed him that we were upgrading our toilet seats.  Who thinks about toilet seats?? Someone who is purchasing multiple toilets, that’s who.  Always a good time around here.  :)  
Enjoy your weekend everyone!  

xoxo, Erin
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