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Ramblings
03.09.12

A birthday dinner and new priorities

YEA!!!  It’s the weekend!!!  And it’s not just any weekend my friends.  It’s my birthday weekend!  My official birthday is on Sunday which means the partying started tonight and (if I have anything to do with it) will continue on until Monday.  My darling friends took me out for dinner tonight to celebrate.  Girl friends are the BEST therapy, aren’t they!?  Oh my gosh.  We laughed all night long.  I am grateful everyday for all of the amazing girl friends I have in my life.  They mean the world to me and honestly, I don’t know what I’d do without them.  They make life FUN.  
They were all giving me grief about this picture – knowing it would show up on the blog.  One friend said she tried on four pairs of jeans.  Another friend wants me to point out that she is about to pop with baby #3 (on my right side if you are looking straight on in the purple shirt – she looks so good you actually might not have even noticed.)  I had a major wardrobe malfunction and had to borrow Ann’s coat.  We laughed for 20 minutes about it.  It was quite the photo shoot!  We took a few pictures (like always because optionality is key) and then I told them all to cross their fingers because they know that I’m just going to pick the picture I look best in.  ;)  I know.  They’re so lucky to have me, right!?  The reality is, they all look amazing all of the time.  
{Love you guys!  Thanks for such a fun night.  And Shari, you were missed!}
A look back on past birthday dinner pics.  This is becoming a bit of a tradition and I quite like traditions.  :)
2011 – we were missing a few friends this year.

2010 – guess I probably should point out that I’m about to pop with baby #3 because I’m sure you couldn’t tell, right?  Oh you could?  What gave it away?  My see through shirt with my pants pulled up over my larger than life stomach!?  Seriously, what was I thinking wearing that shirt!?  What was I thinking getting a picture in that stage of the game?  And what am I thinking blogging this picture yet again?  
Tradition I guess.
 2009

It’s really late because we couldn’t stop chatting tonight so my Fashion Friday jean post will have to wait until some time next week.  I started working on it this afternoon when Kole was napping and then I got a call from our landscape architect and I spent the next two hours dealing with new house stuff.  Thank goodness my girls can fend for themselves a lot of the time because designing this house has been a huge time commitment and I don’t see that changing any time soon!  I am the busiest I have ever been right now (there is a lot of other stuff I’m dealing with regarding my little man but that is a post for another day!) so I’m warning you all that my posting schedule may be a bit more sporadic.  Fashion Friday may pop up on a Tuesday – or not at all since most days lately I am running around in gym clothes and a pony tail.  The only time I can handle new house stuff is during Kole’s nap and late after the kids go to bed which is also my only time to work on projects and to blog.  :(  I have to prioritize.

Here is a run down of my priorities right now – in the order I’m prioritizing them…

Family/Life obligations
New House
Blog
Basic Hygiene 
Cooking
So see!  It’s not all bad.  I am prioritizing posting over washing my hair and cooking.  Although you all know how I feel about those two things so maybe that’s really not saying much after all.  ;)  
My mom knows that I am stretched to the limit and calls me all the time to make sure I’m taking care of myself.  Our conversations always sound the same:

“How are you holding up!?  How is Kole?  Oh I wish I could be there to help more with him!  You have GOT to take care of yourself Erin.  If the mom goes down, everyone goes down.  Are you getting enough sleep?  Don’t stay up too late blogging!  I don’t want to see that your post time is after midnight again!  You’re going to get sick.  Did I tell you that if the mom goes down, everyone goes down?”

“Yeah mom.  You mentioned that…”

Once a mom, always a mom.  :)  I guess I’m going to have to start tweaking my “post time.”  ;)  
Anyway, thanks for understanding.  Thanks for reading.  Thanks for helping to make blogging such a great outlet for me.  Because right now, even though I don’t have time for this little outlet, I sure need it!
Have a great weekend everyone!  Do a birthday dance for me!  
:)
xoxo, Erin
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home decor 2
03.08.12

Ramblings – from Erin & Kole

I can’t thank you all enough for your sweet comments and well wishes about my news!  Your excitement is making me more excited!  If that’s possible!  :)  Seriously, you are all so kind to be excited and happy for me.  I am thrilled that I will have all of you to help me make decisions and to listen to me ramble on and on about all things house.  Because let me tell you – Kenny is already over it!  In fact, he has banned the word “built-ins” from my vocabulary.  Maybe I have been insanely a tiny bit obsessed with the built-ins I have planned, but I can’t help it!!  Built-ins are all I can think about!  My mind wanders off daily to a happy place where I am organizing all of those built-ins! Whenever my architect brings up built-ins I get so excited my voice goes up three notches.  Kenny on the other hand, starts looking sick to his stomach.  And then he gets this all too familiar look on his face.  His “time to reign in my wife” look.  But there will be no reigning me in when it comes to my built-ins!  Kenny is figuring this out quickly and is bracing himself for the year ahead.  
Since I don’t want all of you to ban me from my new favorite word, I’ll move on to something else.
For now. 

Meet the newest member of the family!  Isn’t she lovely!?  She is from Pottery Barn and was my Valentine gift from Kenny this year.  I may have e-mailed Kenny daily slightly hinted that I loved this lamp and begged and pleaded kindly suggested that he get it for me at some point.  So when he saw it go on sale, he ordered it for me.  He also bought me the Breaking Dawn DVD.  I know.  He was impressive this year!  In fact, he made me feel pretty lame about what I bought him for Valentines Day – gift card to get the car washed.  BORING!  I’ll have to do better next year.  Maybe Kenny wants a lamp from Pottery Barn?  I bet he’d love that.

She is my inspiration for a little “Spring spruce up” going on around here.  Wonder where she’ll go in the new house?  Hmm.. maybe in the formal family room… next to the built-ins.  Or maybe on the built-ins in our master bedroom?  Built-ins!  Built-ins!  Built-ins!  That feels so good!  I may be banned from saying the word but Kenny never mentioned anything about typing it.

Switching gears again – here is Kole sharing a scene straight out of our house everyday…
Oh how I love to bounce up and down on my sisters’ bed!  I can’t get enough of this and would do it for hours if mom wasn’t worried about me hitting my head on the top bunk.  I don’t know why she’s worried.  Maybe because I’ve done it so many times?  And maybe because it always seems to end with me screaming with a bump on my head or a fat lip?  Oh well!  Hasn’t stopped me yet!  
Wait a minute.  Stop the bouncing!  What are those sisters of mine up to?  

Looks like they’re having a tea party.  With real water and everything.  They sure seem to be having fun.  Wonder if I should interrupt the party and show them some real fun?  I can’t get enough of this little trick either!

{CHEERS!}  Nah…they’re really enjoying themselves.  Maybe I’ll leave them alone.  
On second thought…
I’m going in for the kill!  

And as you can imagine the picture taking stops at this point while mom deals with one big mess and two upset sisters.

All in a day!
:) 

xoxo, Erin
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New House
03.06.12

Some News!

Ok.  I have some news that I am so excited to share with all of you!  If you’ve read my blog for a while now you’ve heard me mention our home search.  We have been house hunting for over a year now and after spending hours looking at different areas and different houses we have finally figured out what we are doing.  We are building!  In our same area.  And I am thrilled!  Some lots came up for sale not far from our current house (which is so rare because there isn’t much land left close to the ocean) so we bought one!  Right after Christmas.  And I have been dying to share my fun news with all of you ever since, but I waited a while.  Mostly because I am afraid that once I start talking about our house plans I won’t stop.  :)  Building a house has always been a dream of mine and when we started our search, we found a lot and almost bought it.  But it was in a different area than the one we currently live in and for various reasons (schools, Kenny’s commute, etc.) we just didn’t feel good about it.  We decided that we wouldn’t build, but would make it a priority to stay close to our current area.  Aside from location, a yard has also been a priority for us (they are hard to come by around here!) so we spent a year looking at beautiful homes with beautiful yards, but for one reason or another, nothing felt right.  And then our lot came up for sale (one of six beautiful lots that form a neighborhood).  And after a lot of careful deliberation (on Kenny’s part — I was ready to sign the dotted line the second he acted like it was an option!) we sealed the deal.  
So the girls.  They are SO excited that we own land.  And they love visiting “the lot” and think it’s great that we are building a house on it.  Just so long as they never have to live there.  :)  They tell us every day that they never want to leave our current house.  It will be an adjustment.  But I’m not too worried.  They will still take dance and gymnastics at the same place.  They will go to the same church with the same group of people.  They will be in a different school, but the same district.  And I know their sweet, friendly personalities.  They will make new friends quickly.  And they still have a while to get comfortable with our future plans.  They are still young and that is why this house search has been a priority for us.  We are anxious to get into our next home and just plant.  Our home to raise our kids in and who knows?  Maybe our grandkids.  You never know for sure, but our plan is to be in this next house for quite a while.

A few pics of the lot…
We love the location.  It’s a little area that is so close to city life and all of the things we love, but it feels like we are in the country.  There are even horses close by.   


 We took our parents to see the lot while everyone was in town for Ellie’s baptism.  They loved it too and all had lots of input about the future guest room.  :)

 Another thing we love about this lot is the beautiful views we have.  Kenny standing at the front of our lot…

and towards the back.  He is showing the girls where the pool will be in an attempt to get them more excited about moving.  They told him they can’t wait to swim in the pool on our lot.  And then go back our current house to take a bath and go to bed.  :)

As far as where we are in the process…it will be a long one.  We have a great architect and have been working with him the past couple of months on the design.  The floor plan came together so quickly.  I have been dreaming about this house for so long now and knew exactly what my priorities were!  The outside took a little longer and we are still making minor tweaks to the exterior.  We are hoping to break ground sometime this summer and then it will take a year or so to build, so we still have a ways to go before this dream becomes a reality.  But I have loved the process so far!  It has been time consuming and at times it has been stressful (and we haven’t even started building yet!) but it has also been SO much fun.  Kenny cares a lot about the yard and really that’s it.  Everything else he is leaving up to me.  He basically told me I could build an igloo if I wanted and he’d be happy.  And it’s true.  He is pretty easy to please when it comes to house styles.  So this arrangement is working really well.  Because I am getting exactly what I want.  Isn’t that the way it always should be in a marriage?  ;)

I’ve shared a lot of my projects with you on this blog and I am so excited to share my biggest project to date!  Creating this house.  And rest assured, it won’t be an igloo.  :)

And how does Kole feel about all of this?  First of all, he is THRILLED that in the near future he won’t have to have scrapbook supplies filling up his closet.

And until the house is built, a big open patch of dirt is right up his alley.  :)

xoxo, Erin
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Ellie and Addison
03.05.12

Recovering

Oh man.  Crazy weekend.  CRAZY!  These three don’t stop.  I’m in recovery mode.  Dead to the world on my couch.  Kenny is half asleep on his couch.  We’ve hardly said a word tonight.  We can’t talk.  We have to conserve every ounce of energy possible.  And store it away for next weekend.

:)
I’ll be back soon.  Lots to share as soon as I have the energy to share it!

Happy Monday!

xoxo, Erin
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fashion2
03.02.12

Fashion Friday

It’s Friday!!  Can I get a woot woot!!  This week flew.  I’m so glad the weekend is here.  Isn’t Friday the best?  I love the anticipation of the upcoming weekend… which usually turns out even busier than the week… but the anticipation of down time, whether it happens or not, sure feels nice.

Ok – first up on the fashion agenda – Some of you asked questions about the outfit I posted last Monday…

The simple cowl neck top is from Forever 21 (shock!) and the boots I bought at a specialty store that I honestly can’t remember the name of.  The tag says Forever – not Forever 21 because they were a tad more than 20 bucks.  :)  Sorry that isn’t much help!  I bought them in December when I was in a haze of Christmas shopping madness (because nothing calms the haze of Christmas shopping madness like making a little purchase for yourself) and I really didn’t pay attention to the store I found them in.  I just saw them in a store window, decided I’d been a really good girl, tried them on and bought them in a matter of minutes.  I’ve become a rather quick shopper.  Before I had kids I used to browse for hours and take forever trying on and debating different options.  Those days are long gone!  I can’t begin to count the number of times I’ve been in a store with a toddler and half way through my browsing stopped and said, “we’re out of here.  Done.  Not happening today!”

Snapped another fashion pic of my sister-in-law while we were in Utah.  I love the way she wore her belt high above her waist.  So cute with the orange sweater and grey and white stripped top (Target!).  

We were celebrating my brother’s birthday.  (btw- don’t you just love my nephews hair!  What a stud.  I tried to spike Kole’s too.  He ran away before I was done – mid spike – and looked hilarious.  The do was not a success.)  Notice the missing chunk of birthday cake.  Austin and Dayna went to dinner and my girls just couldn’t wait one more second to dive in.  Ha!  I don’t think the birthday boy minded too much.  Especially since he came home to birthday cards showering him with love from two happy girls with chocolate in the corners of their mouths.  :)
My cute mom on her way to work one morning.  Love the scarf.  Love the green.  Love the jeans.

Love the purse.  Love my mom.  
Couple things I’ve worn lately…
Cowl neck sweater from The Limited.  This is SO warm.  I love it on chilly mornings.  

And this outfit I know you’ve seen before, but since it has been “winter” around here I thought I’d share my favorite winter accessory.

These tights are from Nordstroms.  They are called Spanx ‘Trinket’ Tights and I love them so much!  They are a fun diamond pattern that I’m crazy about.  Adds a little something special to the outfit without being too crazy busy.  If you don’t own a pair of Spanx you are missing out!  The top of these tights have a control top that will make you look and feel 5 pounds thinner.  LOVE Spanx.  Aside from my diamond pattern tights, I’m also loving the ‘Back Seam Dot Stockings’.  Such an easy way to add a little personality to your outfit.  And to hide those white winter legs.  Unless you’re naturally tan all year long.  And if you’re one of those girls, you should probably wear tights anyway so that fair skinned girls like me will still speak to you.  ;)  
I think I’ve shared this Forever 21 top with jeans before.

Just another way to wear it with a basic black skirt from Banana Republic, black boots, and a peek of my diamond tights.  

And last but certainly not least, Miss Addison modeling her panda pajamas (Target baby!).  And yes.  She likes to wear hair accessories that match her pj’s.  As soon as we are in for the day (sometimes as early as 4:00) we all put on our pj’s.  Ellie and I are pretty casual, but not my Addison.  This girl believes that style doesn’t stop.  Not even for bedtime.

Enjoy your weekend everyone!   

P.S. – I have had several requests to do a post about my favorite jeans.  I guess since I’m just a tad obsessed with them?  :)  If you have a jean question let me know in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer it in next Fridays’ post.

P.P.S. – It’s March.  :)  :)  :)

xoxo, Erin
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home decor 2
02.29.12

Mom’s new Spring decor

I cannot believe it is almost the first of March!!  It feels like just two days ago our Elf on the Shelf was heading back to the North Pole.  And now all of the sudden it’s almost here.  My favorite month!  March signals Spring around here (well – pretty much any month could signal Spring around here) but March is when I can make it official.  I am so excited to decorate and make my house feel a bit more Spring-y!  My mom has already started adding some Spring touches to her beautiful home so while we were visiting last weekend I took a few pics.  Because that’s what I do.  :)

First – her bird painting.  A score from Pier One Imports.  I LOVE all of the colors.  
 I also love the way it looks on her beautiful rock fireplace.  The accents to the side of the painting (a small plant, clear jars, and a bird nest with a few eggs) are perfect little touches for a Spring mantel.  

 Love her built-ins and beautiful french doors…

and her wood floors…and her pillars…and everything else about her house!

 She didn’t stop with the bird painting at Pier One.  She also picked up some fun, bright pillows that add such a great pop of color to her neutral couch.  That’s the way to do it people.  Buy a neutral couch and change the pillows whenever you’re in the mood to mix things up.  Instead of buying bold colorful couches.  Like I did.  :)  Oops!  Lesson learned.  (Although I loved my bold colorful couches for seven years – but now going on year eight – not so much.)

 Those bright pillows were just what this living room needed!  Mom – I’ll tell you what this living room doesn’t need.  That trunk you are using for a coffee table.  It would look much better somewhere else.  Say… in my house in San Diego perhaps?  Just a thought.  
(You know I’m not giving up until that trunk is mine.)  
Love, your favorite.  

Looks like March signals Spring in Utah too!  Or at least it does in my mom’s house.  Thanks for letting me take pics of your house again mom.  And thanks for the trunk.  In advance. 
Happy almost March everyone!!
More pics of my mom’s house:
Exterior here
Interior here and here
xoxo, Erin
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Food and Cooking...or lack thereof
02.28.12

Salad in a Tortilla

Mondays are always busy, aren’t they?  Each year when I’m figuring out extra curricular activities for my girls I make sure to NOT schedule anything on Mondays.  I usually spend the entire day catching up from the weekend – cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping, and food prep.  Now you all know I’m not much of a chef, but I do like to have healthy snacks washed and cut and ready to go in my fridge (and not so healthy snacks organized and ready to go in my pantry – ha!).  ;)  Most Mondays after a trip to the grocery store I wash all of the produce, cut everything up and place it in clear containers.  Most Mondays I also put together this:

I wash the lettuce and put it in my lettuce crisper so it’s ready to go for salads and sandwiches throughout the week.  Then I cut up vegetables.  Usually carrots, celery, cucumbers and whatever else I have on hand.  I put the veggies in a plastic container so they are ready to go for the week. The salad dressing I make is a recipe from my ultra healthy friend Koni. (I’ve shared this recipe before.)  Supposedly it’s the “good kind of fat.”  Bonus.  All I know is that it makes the vegetables taste really good.  

Salad Dressing:
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1 cup extra virgin olive oil (I hear this combo and start thinking of Macaroni Grill and their bread and my mouth starts watering!)
1/4 tsp basil
1/2 tsp oregano
2 minced garlic bulbs
Shake well and keep in cupboard (don’t refrigerate!)

Because of a little prep work on Monday, it’s easy to whip up a quick, healthy lunch or snack.  Now I have veggies washed and ready to go to give to my kids after school (usually with something like crackers and cheese) and for me, I pile everything on a whole wheat tortilla.   I always add my oven roasted almond slices (love them) and then the dressing.  It’s seriously so good.  And if I eat a healthy breakfast and this for lunch, I feel like I don’t have to be as strict with dinner.  Although sometimes I try to pass this salad tortilla off as dinner when I’m not in the mood to cook.  Which is most nights.  It never flies.  Kenny calls it “rabbit food” and just makes himself a bowl of cereal.  So I go back to just eating it for lunch.  But it sure makes a good lunch!  Or snack.  So that is why I’m sharing it with all of you.

Enjoy my fellow rabbits!  And have a nice day.  :)  


xoxo, Erin
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Ramblings
02.27.12

Random Monday

So last week was a little slow here on the blog.  We were on the go…
Literally.  :)

My kids were out of school all week – “ski week” we call it around here because most people travel somewhere cold to get their snow fix.  We spent the week at my mom’s – our little retreat and home away from home.  It was a fun getaway.  And now I’m back!  And ready to finish the 15 projects I left behind.

But for now, I’m sharing a few random pictures from before our trip because well – I’m feeling a bit random tonight.  So random pics it is!  

 Cleaned out the garage last week.  (Some of my tips for garage organization are here and here.)  Always feels nice to pull up to a clean garage.  I usually straighten mine up once a month while the kids are playing in the front yard.  It’s crazy how quickly it can turn into madness if I don’t.

I love this time of year!  Everything is growing like crazy including our bougainvillea vine…
and our lemon tree.  
 Lemons just in time for a little Spring Decor!   Lemonade anyone? 

Speaking of Spring, we’ve had some fun rainy days this past month.  This is my little miss on our way to ballet.  I love her cute smile in this rain gear so much.  I’m tempted to scrap this picture —
but it might look a bit too much like this page.  And of course then I’d actually have to blow the dust off of my scrapbooking supplies.  Hoping this is the week and dust will fly!  
Kole up to his usual tricks.  

Climbing, climbing and a little more climbing.  
And the girls up to their usual tricks.  This little teddy bear travels in style!

Bought another white pitcher.  
I’m starting to think it has become a bit of an addiction and something might be wrong with me.  
I also bought some new black boots.  In December.  They were a Christmas present to me from me.   
They are comfy and fun and look good with so many things.
But the only picture I have of me in them is this one.  Black boots with a black top.  
How incredibly original of me.  
Looks like Kole’s done eating.
I found this sweet note from my Ellie in the kitchen a few weeks ago.  
The best.  Noting beats a note like this one.  

Kenny also received a note from Ellie.  She left this for him one morning while he was packing to head out of town.  He has been traveling a lot lately for work and clearly Ellie isn’t feeling it.  Quite frankly I’m not feeling it either.  And that is final.  :)

Kole and I doing laundry.  I say “laundry time” and Kole books it to the hallway.  I toss the warm clothes from the dryer on him (a fun game I used to play with the girls when they were toddlers).  Then Kole pulls every clothing item I try to fold out of my arms and laughs hysterically.  I get nothing done and after 20 minutes of this little game I finally haul the clothes up on my bed so that I can actually fold them.  Good times.  :)  
How was that for random!?  Happy Monday everyone!
p.s.  Just found out that someone nominated me for Apartment Therapy’s “Best Family Blog.”  So thank you to whoever nominated me!  So incredibly kind.  You can vote for my blog (or someone else’s for that matter!) here.   Thanks for your support!  Over and out.  
xoxo, Erin
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Ellie
02.22.12

Photography – lesson learned

I’ve learned a lot about photography in the last few years.  Well.  Not a lot meaning I’m a great photographer (hardly!), but a lot meaning I’ve learned so much more than I knew before I started using my first SLR.  I love taking pictures and playing around with my camera and I enjoy trying out different settings, different lenses, and different lighting to achieve the look I want for certain pictures.  A lot of the time when I’m taking pictures of my house or projects for the blog I pay close attention to lighting, aperture, ISO, shutter speed, backgrounds, etc.  I take my time.  And I don’t use the flash because heaven forbid – I’ve read enough camera tips to know that if I did the walls would come caving in around me and life as I know it would never be the same!  ;)  

Taking pictures of my kids is a different story.  
Sometimes I see something ordinary that happens often in our day to day life that I want to capture and remember.  Like the other day when I glanced out the back door and saw Ellie flinging Kole around like a rag doll.  My usual response is “ELLIE PUT HIM DOWN I CANNOT DEAL WITH A TRIP TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM TONIGHT!”  But Kole was laughing hysterically – I mean really laughing – so I grabbed my camera instead.  

I didn’t worry about lighting.  I didn’t worry about aperture, I didn’t worry about backgrounds and shutter speeds and ISO.  And this one time, I didn’t worry about the possibility of an emergency room trip.

 I just snapped pictures not really worrying about anything at all.  
The lighting isn’t great and the pictures are blurry (I was really laughing too).  

And they are some of my favorite pictures to date.  
I think the biggest lesson I’ve learned about photography over the years is that while the technical camera stuff is cool to learn, it really doesn’t matter much.  Capturing a moment like this one that I will now have to cherish and remember forever outweighs a “perfectly planned” picture any day.  
Even if the moment captured was taken with the flash.  
(which these pictures weren’t because my walls are intact and I’m still here)  
:)
xoxo, Erin
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organization2
02.21.12

Organized Laundry Room Cupboards

So I mentioned a while back that I tore apart my closet and by doing so a minor project turned into a major project.  My closet was a catch all for extra home decor and since I wanted a lot of that stuff out (to actually restore order for my clothes) I needed a place to put it all.  In an ideal situation I’d have one closet or room or area that could house all of my extra decor, but in our current house I just don’t have a place big enough for it all.  I’m sure Kenny would say that isn’t the problem.  He might be inclined to chime in right about now and say that the problem is that I buy too much home decor.  But he would be wrong.  The issue is clearly that I don’t have a place big enough to store it.  :)  So I’ve chosen a few locations around my house to be a home for my home decor.  Several of these spots I’ve shared before (Christmas decor in my trunks, Fall/Valentine decor in my hutch) but most of it was residing in my closet.  The cupboards above my washer/dryer were such a mess – I don’t think I’ve ever organized them.  I’m rarely in them and just never made them a priority.  I knew if I straightened things around I could come up with some more space for decor.  Plus these cupboards were on my “to organize” list for 2012 so the time had come for a mini makeover in the laundry room!    
{BEFORE}

{AFTER}

Ahhh… much better.  And they are holding so much more now!  The left side (seen above) is for random extras – humidifier, baby monitors, light bulbs, envelopes and candles.  The right side holds extra home decor, sewing supplies, and cleaning supplies.

Now you all know I don’t sew.  Sewing is about on the same playing field as cooking for me which is why most of the time I head to the tailor and spend more to get a shirt mended than I did to buy it in the first place.  My grandma was an amazing sewer/quilter and every time I do this I feel her disapproving eyes looking down at me down from heaven saying “seriously Erin?”  They are the same eyes I used to see whenever I ate too much candy out of her candy dish or fought with my cousins even though I was the oldest and was supposed to be “the one setting the example.”  I never liked those disapproving eyes.  But I sure love my grandma.  So for her sake I do own a few simple sewing supplies.  I keep thread and other odds and ends in small containers from Target.  Extra buttons that come with clothes fit nicely in mini draw string pouches.

I organize my glue guns/sticks the same way. 
And I just bought this cute little green basket (also from Target) 
to hold extra laundry items.  I also have a little brown basket I use for dryer sheets.
My laundry soap is in a big box that I keep out on the top of my dryer for easy access.  
So there you go!  These cupboards only took me 20 minutes to straighten and now not only are they holding more supplies, but they make me smile every time I open them to do some laundry.  Or to change up my decor.  Which in my house happens about as often as the laundry does.  :)  

I’m happy about this mini makeover!  And I think my grandma would be too.  Right up until I head to the tailors to get a button sewn on.  Kidding.  
Sort of.  
:)
Enjoy your day!  
xoxo, Erin
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Ellie and Addison
02.17.12

A mom moment

Last Friday I experienced a “mom moment.”  You know those moments you have as a mother every once in a while when you are suddenly overwhelmed with the love you feel for your children.  When you realize in an instant how much they mean to you.  For me, moments like this seem to happen at the most random times.  I was at the girls’ Elementary school.  The school was having its annual Jog-a-Thon (kids all jog laps around the field and the parents donate money to the school for each lap their child runs).  I had volunteered to bring orange slices for the runners and had planned on just dropping off the oranges and leaving.  I knew I wouldn’t be much help with my little shadow to chase after and I had errands to run and a long list of things I needed to get done before Addie came home from Kindergarten at noon.  But it was such a beautiful morning.  Blue skies, sunshine, and there was a smell of spring in the air.  Birds were chirping and I found myself pushing Kole’s stroller onto the field thinking that maybe I’d just stay for a minute.  Just long enough to see my girls run a lap or two.  

Kole was of course busting out of his stroller within minutes so I did my usual trick to hold him off a little longer…

I gave him a peeled apple.  

It takes him a good five minutes to eat the whole thing and a peeled apple has saved me literally hundreds of times when five more minutes was all I needed.  Five more minutes in the grocery store, five more minutes in the car, five more minutes to keep him quiet in church.  And this morning – five more minutes so I could watch for my girls.

There were so many kids out on the field.  I didn’t know if I’d be able to spot them so I started looking for their teachers/classmates.  I noticed that the kids started off with their class but when Addie’s Kindergarten class came around I didn’t see her.  I looked and looked and then suddenly there they were.  Running around the corner.  Both of my girls – holding hands.  I saw them together and it took my breath away.  They were laughing and talking and with a group of Ellie’s friends.  They were excited to see me and both waved.

I snapped this picture of them running away and soon after realized I had tears streaming down my cheeks.  I quickly wiped them away – grateful I had on sunglasses.  But I couldn’t help crying.  I kept thinking over and over they found each other.  In all of those kids, they found each other.  
They ran/walked 14 laps and never let go of each other’s hand.  I stayed the whole morning.  Figured the “to-do’s” could wait.  I cheered my girls on and when the jog-a-thon was over I told them how proud I was of them and how happy they made me.  I knew that they would go about their day and not think much about the morning they spent together running and holding hands.  I knew it was a morning I’d never forget.  

I was in such a good mood I didn’t even mind staying after a bit to let Kole have his day in the sun.  A big open field – Christmas morning for my little boy.

This past week has been a typical one.  Full of carpools and doctor appointments and homework and cleaning and activities and meal time and bath time and story time and all of the times in between.  The days have been the same but I have been different.  This past week when I felt tired or overwhelmed I pictured my girls running in the sun together holding hands.

And remembered that it’s all worth it.  And how blessed I truly am.  

xoxo, Erin
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organization2
02.16.12

Cords and Cards

Sharing how I organize cords and cards today!  I’ve shared these pictures before, but several people have asked how I organize these items so here they are again.  You can never have enough cords and cards.  That’s my motto.  Actually, that’s not my motto, but it sounded cool so I went with it.  
This kitchen drawer is kind of our catch all for random things.  Cords/chargers that we use every day are in a simple organizer from Target.  Then I found this little black beauty…
(also from Target)

It sits in my “catch all” drawer too.  It doesn’t hold our every day cords because I didn’t want to have to zip and unzip it every day, but it’s a great solution for those cords you just need once in a while.  
My yellow living room hutch is another place I store cords.  One drawer is our battery/flashlight drawer and where I also store certain cords Kenny wants separated from the others – for what I don’t know – if it were up to me half of these cords would be in the trash.  

I also have a bin full of larger cords in the bottom of my hutch.  Right next to the remotes we never use since we have everything programed into one remote.  Again, we are hanging on to these cords and remotes why Kenny?  :)

At least they’re all in one place.  If you can’t beat em’ organize em’.
Now that’s my real motto!

The other side of my hutch is where I store my cards. 
 I don’t keep all of the cards I get (I would need another hutch!) but the cards that are really special I keep tucked away in a red box labeled “Erin’s cards.”  I know.  My creativity with that title is killing you right now.  Kenny also has one and it’s labeled…wait…you’ll never guess…”Kenny’s cards.”  (How do I do it, right!?)   His is full of cards that I think should be special to him.  Like all of his cards from me.  ;)  

We aslo each have our own box to fill with keepsakes from the kids.  

All of our keepsake cards have a happy home.  
Christmas cards are a different story.  I select a small handful of cards (I try to choose different families each year) and then cut the pictures out of the cards and complete a layout for our Christmas album.  Every layout looks the same.  Nothing fancy, just the pictures in a collage on red paper.  
Here are the full posts if you want more info. on my hutch organization or how I save our Christmas cards:   
Hope that helps those of you who are looking to tackle cords and cards soon!  
Week is winding down!  I’m so excited for tomorrow morning because I have no where I have to be until noon.  First time that has happened for a couple of weeks and Kole and I are going to take full advantage.  I’m thinking pajamas until 11.  A little cleaning, laundry, organizing, and Yo Gabba Gabba.  DJ Lance and I love a good cleaning party.  Exciting stuff in our neck of the woods.  :)  
Enjoy your day!  

xoxo, Erin
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