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Kole
07.15.11

copy cat

Someone at our house is getting too smart for his own good.  Kole has started copying whatever the rest of us are up to.  He loves sneaking the remote and turning on the TV, grabbing my cell phone and holding it up to his head to “talk”, and his latest trick?  Climbing up the girls’ bathroom stool and finding their toothbrushes so he can “brush” his teeth.

Here I go!  Tippy toes to reach the toothbrush.  My sisters never put them away where they belong.
Oh just look at me.  I am HOT STUFF up here on this stool.  
Stop the party.  It’s grandma and mom.  Wait a minute… grandma’s smiling and mom’s taking pictures. 
 Looks like my adorableness has saved me again.  Who’s the man?  I’m the man.  Party on!  
:)
Have a great weekend everyone!  May it be fun and full of good hygiene.  
xoxo, Erin
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Feeling Creative
07.14.11

Rainbow Love

Hi everyone!  Hope you’re having a good week so far!  I’m loving having my mom in town.  It’s like having two me’s around here.  My kids are getting ample attention, the house/laundry is in order, Kole is taking naps when he actually wants to sleep.  Plus we just have a lot of fun together.  I love having a bit of adult company during the day.  We’ve also been able to do a little shopping together during the girls’ summer camps and I’m so excited about all of our finds!  Love shopping.  Love having help with my day to day.  Love my mom.  :)  
Ok.  Switching gears now.  A couple of weeks ago for Addison’s graduation I arrived super early (Kenny came later with the kiddos).  I’m always the first one to arrive at events like that because Kenny and I like to shoot for the best seats in the house.  We’re annoying that way.  Anyway, I was so early that I was able to help the teachers set things up and get the post graduation treats ready.  

They made the cutest little cupcakes topped with fruit in rainbow colors and the kids all loved them.

My girls and I especially loved them because we are big rainbow fans around here!

This was one of my favorite bulletin boards when I was teaching 1st grade.  (Excuse the terrible photo – it’s a picture of a picture because I’m too lazy to scan tonight.)  Remember the tissue hearts we made for our Valentine mantel?  I did the same thing with my 1st graders for the rainbow.  The whole thing was made out of little tissues.  I set a center up in the back of my classroom and my little 6 year olds worked on it on and off for about a month.  I added a little quilt batting for the clouds and wa-la!  A beautiful rainbow for our “Rainbow of Wishes” display for the month of March.  I’m planning on making one with the girls when I can muster up some time to cut all of the tissue into little squares.

Here are a few other fun rainbow ideas I’m planning to do with my girls.  (Ideas from Pinterest of course!)  First a few fun rainbow snacks —

Source: flickr.com via Erin on Pinterest

Source: tumblr.com via Erin on Pinterest

I thought this was so much more fun than a regular veggie tray.

And a couple of fun and easy rainbow art projects —

My girls would love these!  They are perfect little projects for them to work on during our “down time” each afternoon while Kole snoozes.

And just to prove our love of rainbows, here are 4 beautifully illustrated rainbows that are displayed in my house at this very moment…

RAINBOWS.  We are fans.  :)
xoxo, Erin
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Uncategorized
07.12.11

CDO

I finally discovered the technical term for what I’ve been suffering from for all of these years… 

AMEN and AMEN.
CDO baby.  And proud of it.  :)

xoxo, Erin
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Ellie and Addison
07.11.11

a few things we’ve been up to…

My mom is visiting.  It has been LOVEly and my weekend felt especially fabulous.  The reason?

Three kids + three adults = sanity.

Seriously.  What a difference two more adults make!  One adult is in charge of Kole (full time job), one adult is in charge of the girls (they are a package deal), and the third adult is in charge of the cleaning, laundry, and cooking.  Things are so MANAGEABLE.  Mom is staying the week and I’m already so not excited for the following week when she heads home and Kenny heads back to work and I am completely out numbered again.

Just a few things we’ve been up to — 

Took the kiddos to a local Farmers Market this weekend.  Love Farmers Markets.  I would have taken more pictures (so many fun things to see) but I was too busy managing daughter #1 —

who decided she needed to pet EVERY dog we came across.  Seriously.  Every dog owner at that market Ellie introduced herself to.  “Hi! I’m Ellie — can I pet your dog?  What kind of dog is it?  What is its name?”  I was just along for the ride saying over and over “hi!  I’m sorry…is she ok?  Thank you so much! She’s kind of obsessed right now… beautiful dog… so where are you from?”  Met some really nice people.  And Ellie was in heaven.   
My cute mom with the kiddos.  What is up with Kole in this picture?  Mr. Serious.  You can’t really tell, but he is crossing his hands.  He does this ALL the time.  Whenever he gets in the stroller or car seat he crosses his little hands and his feet.  His way of saying, “I’m ready to go mom — my time to chill.”  I get the biggest kick out of it.  

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El finished up her lifeguard camp at the beach.  She had such a blast!  This camp will definitely become a new summer tradition.  The kids learned about ocean safety, did exercises, played beach games, swam, and spent a day snorkeling at La Jolla Cove.  She made a lot of new friends and is so bummed it’s over.  So is mom.  I loved seeing her have so much fun at the ocean every day.  Although I won’t miss the sandy mess that exploded in my car each afternoon as soon as I picked her up.  You’d think after living by the beach for nine years that I’d be more chill about the mess that always follows a trip to the ocean.  Nope.  Maybe in another nine years?

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A little bunny has been living in our front yard.  Every time we pull up to the house my girls spot him and hop out of the car to try to catch him.  Of course he scurries away as soon as he hears them.

Finally the girls ran in the house and grabbed Ellie’s dog house she decorated for her stuffed animals.  Then they sprinkled a few carrots around it…  

and carefully crept away leaving a perfect bunny trap.  

We check every day to see if we’ve caught the bunny.  Nothing yet, but I’m sure it’s just a matter of time.  Cross your fingers for us.   :)

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p.s.  Grandma,  thank you so much for the new dresses and for coming to visit us in San Diego!  Thank you for playing with us in the yard, fixing us snacks, taking Kole so we can play without him knocking all of our dolls over, watching princess movies with us, and showing us dogs on the computer (again and again and again).  Also thanks for helping mom.  She is much more relaxed when you are here.  :)

xoxo – Ellie & Addie

xoxo, Erin
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organization2
07.08.11

DVD organization

Dog owners!  Thank you so much for your advice!  Seems most of you are in my camp and agree that owning a dog is too much work.  I am validated.  I showed Kenny your opinions/advice for some back-up support.  His response?  “It was your decision to have a third kid.  You got your boy, so now Ellie and I get a dog.”

Yes, it was my decision that we needed one more child.  And yes, it is my decision that we don’t need a dog.  13 years of marriage and he still hasn’t figured out that it’s all about me and my needs.

 ;)

Ok.  Moving on.  While the kids have their summer to-do list, I have a list of my own.  Just a few minor areas in my house that need to be straightened up a bit.  So a few days ago, Kenny went to find Little Mermaid for the girls and Tinkerbell was in its case… and so he searched high and low to find the Tinkerbell case only to discover Barbie and the Three Musketeers in its case… and he had a minor FIT because “nobody puts movies back in the right case around here!”  It was then that I decided to move DVD organization to the top of my list.

First thing I did was to round up all of the DVD’s from various spots throughout the house.  And yes, I’m aware this is a ridiculous amount of DVD’s, but if you know us, you know that our whole family enjoys a good princess/barbie movie now and again.  And while we’ve no doubt wasted an obscene amount of money on these movies, when I think about the countless hours of peace and down time they have brought me over these crazy years of raising littles I say to myself — well. worth. every. penny.
Moving on… 
 Kole was a DVD organizing maniac.  I didn’t expect anything less.

I went through EVERY DVD case and made piles.  Piles of cases with the correct movie in them, piles of cases without the correct movie in them, piles of movies for the kids, piles of movies for us, piles of movies we don’t watch anymore and can get rid of… piles, piles, and even more piles. 

And then Kole came a long and destroyed all of my piles.  I didn’t expect anything less.  
This is my “movies are in the wrong case” pile.  I know.  It’s a problem.  I’m working on it.  Admitting it is always the first step.  

And finally, the end result!  A drawer full of DVD’s for the kiddos that are not only all in their proper cases, but are also in alphabetical order!  With room to spare!  And all of this will last about a nano second!  But at least it’s done!  And for one weekend Kenny can find DVD’s with incredible ease!  And I’m clearly excited! Because I’m ending every sentence with an exclamation mark!  So I’ll stop that now.

But I am happy about having a check mark next to this little project on my list.

**And let me go on record as saying that while Kole may not actually be the best DVD organizer out there, he sure beats having a puppy.  And at the end of the day, I think his daddy would have to agree.  :)

xoxo, Erin
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Ellie and Addison
07.07.11

Dogs and Graduation

{a word on DOGS}

So yeah.  Ellie’s never ending quest for a dog has been going on for FORever now.  She wants one so badly.  She has a four step plan that we hear about daily.

Step 1:  Wait until Kole gets older (since mom won’t even THINK about getting a dog until Kole is older)
Step 2:  Take Addison to the doctor and find some medicine he can give her so she won’t be allergic to dogs (yes – Addison’s allergies are another obstacle Ellie is desperately trying to surpass)
Step 3:  Make a home for my dog  (she has crafted a cardboard home for her stuffed animal dogs -complete with drawings and stickers – and now plans to set aside some time in her busy schedule to construct a home for her new real dog)
Step 4:  Get my dog
It’s quite a well thought out plan.  In fact, her pro-dog arguments have been so compelling lately that she even has her dad convinced that yes — we do in fact need a dog.  
Mom, on the other hand, is NOT buying it.  I know all to well who will end up taking care of said dog and quite frankly feel like I am already stretched pretty thin taking care of others’ needs around here as it is!  I told Ellie to present her four step plan to me again in three years and we’ll see how I feel about it then…
{PRE-SCHOOL GRADUATION}
Sharing a few pics from Addison’s graduation.  

Here she is getting ready to “cross the bridge” when they called her name.

And across she goes, with a confident walk and her little tongue out of the side of her mouth in true Addie fashion.  

I’m so proud of my sweet girl.  I was also so proud of myself for making it through the whole graduation ceremony without tearing up.  
I waited until the car ride home to cry, just like I did two years ago after Ellie’s pre-school graduation. 
 My girls are growing up.   

Following our post graduation tradition, we took them out for yogurt after the ceremony.
They both got their favorite flavor.
You’ll never guess–

Vanilla.  :)

This week Addison started her pre-Kindergarten camp and she has loved it so far.  On the first day of camp she went through several outfits before deciding on “the one”.  I saw what she was wearing and said “you decided on that outfit huh – well you look cute.”  She said “Mom!  This is Kindergarten camp.  I don’t want to look cute.  I want to look REALLY cute.”  And then headed back into her room to change her shirt.

Oh boy.
Good times ahead.

xoxo, Erin
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Ellie
07.05.11

ONE more to-do…

Hi everyone!  Hope you all had a great 4th!  We did.  In fact, we’ve been having a pretty fun summer so far.

We’ve been drinking lots of lemonade around here (always tastes better with a straw) and working hard to check off our summer to-do’s.
Ellie decided to add ONE more thing to the top of our list…

I have a feeling we may not be checking everything off our list this summer after all.  :)
xoxo, Erin
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Mom Adventures
06.30.11

Three kids vs. Two kids

A prime example of how things have changed around here since I had my third child…

Exhibit A:  Star Behavior Charts (made when I just had my girls)

— Time spent on planning and prep work (measured lines, bought supplies)
— Hand cut and laminated stars with velcro attached to each one
— Color coordinated, symmetrical, pretty
— Every letter was hand stamped for the title & days of the week
— Clearly defined and thought out goals
— Clearly defined and thought out reward system

Exhibit B:  Star Behavior Charts (made last week with three kids in tow)

— No time spent on planning or prep work
— Star stickers grabbed from the craft drawer (happened to be on top of the pile)
— No thought on color/appearance, crooked names with now crooked lines of stars
— Quickly hand scratched names (written with baby #3 on my hip in a moment of insanity when all I wanted was for my girls to STOP FIGHTING!)
— No goals
— No reward system
Life with three.  Things sure have changed.  
Want to know the funny thing?  The new not-so-cute version of our star charts?  
Working like a charm.   :)
xoxo, Erin
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organization2
06.28.11

Organization Solutions

Hello everyone!  Sharing some fun organization solutions I’ve found on-line.  Thanks to Pinterest I now have a perfect place to save all of the inspiration I find all over the web.  Have I mentioned how much I love Pinterest yet?  It’s like a drug.  And I am BEYOND addicted.  But it’s a good addiction.  I think.  Maybe Kenny would tell you otherwise since I can’t carry on a conversation with him each night because I’m too busy “pinning” ideas for our next home.  But in my defense, we are watching the Bachelorette (I know – it’s a train wreck I can’t pull myself away from) and Kenny is making so many lame wise cracks about this show and all of the people on it that our conversation is one I feel totally justified tuning right out!  So Pinterest it is.  And what better to pin than fun, creative ways to organize!  Here are a few solutions that just make me smile —

Source: bhg.com via Erin on Pinterest
These are CD racks used to hold tupperware lids.  Genius!

Love this mini shelf inside a cupboard drawer to hold cutting boards/cookie sheets.

I also REALLY love this solution for baking sheets.  These are just tension curtain rods!  I think I’ll add some to my next kitchen.  You know.  Because baking is such a passion of mine.

Source: bhg.com via Erin on Pinterest

Shower rings in a closet to hold purses – SO CREATIVE!  I love to buy new purses and then I can never part with them.  I will need a lot of shower rings…

I was so excited when I came upon this idea because I never know where to put the girls lunch boxes each night.  So smart to have a place to hang them – especially somewhere out of sight like in the pantry or by the back door.

How fun and handy is this built-in gift wrap station!?
Source: budgetwisehome.com via Erin on Pinterest
And if you don’t have room for a whole station – here is a great way to store gift wrap supplies on the inside of a closet door.  Perfect.

This is SUCH a clever idea for all of the random kid stuff moms haul around in their cars all day.  

This picture made me want to immediately run to the Container Store to find baskets for my fridge.  Then I realized I didn’t really need baskets for my fridge – but they sure look good!  :)

Speaking of looking good – I can’t get over this clever and fun way to store first aid supplies.  These little tins would also make great containers for jewelry…they would be great to house anything small.  I love them.  Love the green too.

Source: bhg.com via Erin on Pinterest

Another great way to make good use of the inside of a closet or cupboard door.  

Source: kitchens.com via Erin on Pinterest

This is so fabulous!  If my pots and pans were this organized and pretty maybe I’d want to cook more.  
Nah.  I’d probably want to cook less.  No reason to mess with this perfection.  

Source: re-nest.com via Erin on Pinterest

Egg cartons for Christmas ornaments.  So so clever.  

My heart skipped a beat when I first saw this little “command station.”  The only thing I’d change is white erase boards instead of the chalk boards.  I don’t do chalk boards.  

Source: flickr.com via Erin on Pinterest

This shelf is such a fun way to store, display AND organize books and magazines.  Plus I love the pop of color it brings into the room.  So so fun.

Is anyone else feeling the need to organize something?  Or the need to watch Bachelorette?  Or the need to put a muzzle on my husband?

Guess that last one is just me.

xoxo, Erin
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Ramblings
06.27.11

Summer Schedule

It’s summer!  Time for easy breezy, low key, go with the flow days!

Well.  Sorta.  This is my summer we’re talking about.  So I thought I’d share my summer schedule.  Yes, I do have a summer schedule.

Surprised?  
I didn’t think so.    
But in my defense, it really is an easy breezy, low key, go with the flow kind of schedule that can change at a moments notice.  If I want it to.  :)
I have learned a few things over the past few summers with my little ones that can make or break our sometimes long days together.

1)  It’s best to have an outing planned for the morning.  While it’s tempting to stay home in our pajamas all morning, it seems to set the tone for the day.  I may be enjoying getting housework or other to-do’s done, but before long my kids are all fighting and going stir crazy and then I’m getting upset at them and the next thing you know, we are all in a bad mood.

2)  It’s best to NOT have the TV on in the morning.  Again, this seems to set the tone for our day and we start out unproductive.  There is a time for TV (I’m not one of those anti-TV moms – I couldn’t survive without a daily half hour of Little Bear or Max and Ruby to save me from going completely nuts!) but I’ve learned that for us, it’s best that it doesn’t happen first thing in the morning.  
So!  With those things in mind, this summer I signed the girls up for some summer camps that start in July and go from 9-12 each morning.  Addison is doing a “Kindergarten prep” camp and Ellie is doing a lifeguard camp at the beach along with some other just for fun camps – painting, dancing, theatre, etc.  Three hours every morning – just enough time to give the girls an outing and to give me a break to run errands with one child vs. three.  
2011 summer schedule:
6:30 – wake up (yes my kids are up early because I put them to bed early — even in the summer).  
morning routine – breakfast, get dressed and ready for the day.  If the girls are ready early, they play with their toys while I feed and get Kole ready.
8:30 – Take girls to camps.  Kole and I head to the gym.  
9:45 – Run any errands I need to – grocery store, etc.  If time allows, run home and feed Kole, shower and get ready.  Most days I’ll be running around all morning, feeding Kole in the car, and the shower won’t happen until evening.  Just keeping things real.  
12:00 – Pick up girls from their camps.  Go home and put Kole down for a nap.  This is a stretch to hold him off this long!  Poor kid has just had to learn to sleep when we’re home.    
12:30 – 3:00 – is going to be our “down time” at home this summer so Kole can nap.  Planning to feed the girls lunch and then spend 20-30 minutes on school stuff (just like last summer).  We’ll also have our DEAR time.  Then it’s time for some of the “indoor activities” from our summer list or maybe a TV show.  The girls will also play in the yard during this time.  We don’t have a big yard, but it’s big enough for simple activities like painting with water or taking a dip in our “pool.”  :)   IF the girls are entertaining themselves and getting along then I’m hoping I can squeeze in 30 or so minutes on the kids’ scrapbooks.  Fingers are crossed! 
3:00 – 5:30 – Time for an outing!  This is when we will head outside and have fun together.  Time for the beach, the pool, the park, a friend’s house…whatever we’ve planned or whatever sounds appealing at the minute.  
5:30 – Head home and throw the kids in the tub – start my cleaning routine.  Scramble to do some laundry, clean the upstairs, and bathe the kids.  Then head downstairs for dinner and some more cleaning.  Kenny comes home around 6:30 and reads stories to the girls while I put Kole to bed.  Lights are out upstairs by 7:30.

8:00 – way too late – Hang with Kenny, watch our summer shows, blog, veg, recharge!  So that I can wake up the next day and do it all over again.  :)

I know that someday things will be different.  My kids will be older and in the summer we will all sleep until 9:00 (can’t even imagine that one!) and then have an empty day ahead of us with no need for camps and naps and schedules.  But for now, this schedule is what works.  It’s what keeps my kids happy and their mom sane.

For the most part.  :)

What about you?  Do you like a schedule even in the summer time?

xoxo, Erin
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Addison
06.24.11

It’s all about the shoes

Since I just shared Addison’s pre-school teacher gifts with a bit of a “shoe theme” I thought I’d also share this simple layout I put together for her PL album.  
That Addison — such a shoe girl.  Once a shoe girl, always a shoe girl!
Here are a few shoes from Nordstroms I’ve had my eyes on lately…
Steve Madden Marvillis Sandal – I would buy these tomorrow except they look like five pairs I already have.  Love a good wedge in the summer!
Aren’t these UGGS with the knit overlay fun?  Clearly I’m loving this tan/brown color scheme.  These take me back to my childhood leg warmer days.  

Love this gray bootie by Prada.  IF I had $850 in my shoe budget and IF I didn’t spend my days chasing a one year old at the park, then this shoe and I would be fast friends.  

I think these Fendi platform boots have showed up in my dreams a few times.  Aren’t they beautiful!?  Jaw on the floor beautiful.  For a mere $1,300 they can be mine.  All mine!  (Can you imagine spending that much on a pair of shoes!?)  Wonder what Kenny would do if I added these to my 2011 Christmas wish list.  I think I’m going to add them.  Just to see his reaction.  I’ll simply explain that Addison starting Kindergarten is a big milestone for the both of us.  And she and I need a little something to celebrate that milestone.  
This should be fun.  :)
Enjoy your weekend!  May it include a great pair of shoes.  
xoxo, Erin
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