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organization2
09.13.10

A quick trip and a quick tip

So as soon as school got started we decided we needed one last summer vacation! Just got back from a quick camping trip with my family. We had a great time and I’ll share more of our trip later when I’m caught up on laundry, have groceries in the fridge, and have had time to sort through the 200+ pictures I took.

For now, I just wanted to share another fun Container Store find.

I bought this simple divider a couple of years ago and it has proved to be a great little home for all of my nail polish, files, clippers, etc.

I don’t use it much for me because I live for pedicures, but my girls love it! I pull it out whenever they are in the mood for their own little pedicures. Makes it so easy to have everything we need in one place.

Rainbow pedis are a favorite around our house.

{I think I was in the mood to post this picture because it’s such a contrast to the smell of dirt and camp fire smoke surrounding me right now} :)
Happy Monday!
xoxo, Erin
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Ellie
09.09.10

First day of First

Lunches are packed! Working on doing them the night before because our mornings are crazy. Ellie insists I draw pictures on her napkin notes. I did it one time last year and she has requested pictures ever since. I think they are appealing to her because my artistic talent is on about a first grade level. Next year she’ll have surpassed my expertise and probably won’t be requesting napkin note pictures anymore.

I could NOT get Ellie to stop posing. She reminds me so much of me at this age. She was beyond excited to start first grade. Couldn’t wait to get to school and see all of her friends.

Just like last year for Kindergarten, the whole family took her. Yes, she’s our first.

And again, getting Ellie to look at the camera and smile was just too much to ask. She kept seeing one friend after another and was way too busy with social obligations to stop and smile for mom.

At her new desk! Nothing like a classroom on the first day of school. All those new pencil boxes, new crayons, new backpacks, excited and nervous kids in new clothes, excited and nervous parents who don’t want to walk away. When I was the teacher I remember thinking… “ok parents…any time now you can leave…it’s just school…you’re kids will be fine…” Now I’m the parent. And I didn’t want to leave.

And then one of Ellie’s best buddies from Kindergarten walked in the room and happened to be assigned the seat right next to her. The two of them LOVE to chat. Kenny and I looked at each other both thinking the same thing – poor teacher – this won’t last long.

Quick picture with mom. My face tells such a lovely story. It says – I went to bed too late, was up twice in the night with a baby who had a stuffy nose, then up at 6:00 am to get three kids dressed, fed and out the door by 7:30 for school. Hair straight out of bed and very little make-up. Teeth brushed? Questionable. {This year just might kill me}

One last picture of the backpacks and one last peek in the window of her classroom and we were off. Just like that. My baby is in first grade.

As you can see, we were excited to pick Ellie up at the end of the day. She was missed.

Side note*** Ellie came home from the second day of school and was so excited to tell me that her table was winning for table points. I said “oh…you must be trying really hard to be good and not talk to your buddy during class. Great job!” Then Ellie says “oh actually mom, I don’t know why but yesterday after lunch the teacher moved him to the other side of the classroom. He’s not even on my table anymore!”
I smiled. Hmm….imagine that. :)
xoxo, Erin
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Family
09.07.10

Kenny & Erin – 13 years

{WE MET}

High School drill team practice was over and once again I was waiting for a Senior to give me a ride. The girl who offered to drive me home was taking forever – flirting with some guy. The guy she was flirting with also had a friend who was waiting around. That friend turned to me and asked if I wanted to drive down the street with him to get a drink. I said ok. Not because I was thirsty, but because he was a buff Senior (I was just a 15 year old sophomore) and I was scared to say no. We chatted in the car and I was surprised at how quickly my nerves went away. He made me feel at ease. He had a quick wit and he made me laugh. He offered to buy me something to drink at the gas station we stopped at and I remember thinking that aside from being really cute he was also really polite. (At the time I was naive and mistook smooth for polite.) We went back to school and went our separate ways with our friends. The next night that buff, cute, polite Senior called me. My dad answered and after the Senior asked “is Erin there?” my dad whispered to my mom “there’s a MAN on the phone for Erin!” (Guess the voice was a little different from the 15 year old boys I usually hung out with.) We talked on the phone that night for over two hours. He told me he thought I was “so fine” and immediately I felt my cheeks burn. We talked on the phone again the next night…and the night after that and the night after that. I found out that he was the captain of the football team and suddenly I cared a lot more about watching the game instead of just dancing at half time. Weeks later we went on a drive together. Months later he took me on my first date (parents made me wait until I was 16 to go to the movies, but a drive alone with him in his car was ok?) Years later he proposed to me.

dating

engaged

married

newlyweds

{US NOW}

13 years of marriage – 18 years of knowing each other and here we are. I think he’s too intense. He thinks I’m too low key. I think he has too high of expectations for himself and everyone around him. He thinks I don’t know the value of a dollar. I tease him about his spreadsheets. He teases me about…well…everything. We disagree often but never stay mad at each other very long. We laugh at something together every single day. We make date nights a priority and would rather be with each other than anyone else. I watch the kids every Sunday afternoon so he can take a nap on the couch (preferably with football playing in the background). He puts gas in my car every weekend. We never hang up the phone without saying I love you. I get annoyed when he doesn’t immediately rinse out his cereal bowl. He gets annoyed when I don’t pay attention to our shows because I’m blogging and then expect him to explain everything I’ve missed. We both want what’s best for our kids, but have very different parenting styles and have to work hard to meet in the middle. We text and call each other often throughout the day just to say “hi…how is your day going?” Our favorite part of the day is the evening when the kids are in bed and we are alone together. I always pop the popcorn. He always runs the remote. I love what a hard worker he is. He loves that I am happy and content. He is extremely protective of me. I am fiercely loyal to him.

He makes me feel happy. He makes me feel frustrated. He makes me feel beautiful. He makes me feel safe. He makes me feel lucky.


Has it really been 13 years!? 

They have been the best.
Bring on 13 more.
xoxo, Erin
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Kole
09.03.10

R&R

Yea! Friday is here. And it’s a three day weekend. And a date night is planned. And I’m REALLY needing one this week. My to-do list for the weekend is growing by the minute, but I’m still hoping to get in a little R&R while Kenny is home to help with the kiddos.

Hope you’re able to kick up your feet this weekend too! :)
xoxo, Erin
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organization2
09.02.10

Toy Organization

Time and time again it seems I am re-evaluating our toy situation. By “toy situation” I mean trying to figure out a way to keep my girls’ toys from completely taking over our house. A lot of our little toys are stored in these bins in the playroom…

but they always seem over stuffed and within ten minutes my girls seem to find a way to have everything dumped all over the floor.

I bought several clear bins at the Container Store to help me tackle the toys. After doing some serious down sizing (when the girls weren’t around, of course) I categorized everything in groups.

{animals and dinosaurs – Ellie went through a dinosaur phase when she was three}

{barbies, cooties, and magnetic dolls}

{little people, polly pockets and their clothes}

{doll clothes}

{and I already had this little suitcase for barbie clothes}

Isn’t this a beautiful sight! Everything so neat and tidy and organized. Kole loves our Container Store purchases almost as much as I do. He wanted to label everything, but I explained to him that there was no need. I bought clear bins so that the girls could easily see which toys were in each container.

Another thing I love about these particular bins is that they are stackable without the lids. A great option if I choose to store them this way in the future. They also make a great peek-a-boo tower as demonstrated by Ellie and Kole. :)

For now I am storing these beauty’s in some extra space I realized I had at the bottom of the girls’ closet. Making the most of what was unused space before. This is a great spot for toys because it is easily accessible. When organizing toys I’m always thinking about how I can keep them easy for the kids to get into and easy for them to clean up when play time is over.

I’m really liking this system so far! It seems to have even changed the way my girls play. They pull out a bin (or I pull one out for them when we are going to be home for awhile) and actually stay focused playing with one group of toys instead of just pulling out one toy after another and not really playing with any of it. Funny how just re-arranging toys in a different way makes them seem like new. Clean up is easy. Toss everything back in its container.

And now I have more room in the playroom bins for paper, coloring books, stickers, etc. so the girls can create a masterpiece when inspired. Or at least keep themselves entertained long enough for me to feed Kole and do a load of laundry which was my true objective.

But masterpieces are always appreciated. :)

xoxo, Erin
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Birthdays
09.01.10

Happy Birthday Shari!!!

Just wanted to give a quick shout out to my darling friend Shari who turns 40 today! Ok…did I really just type that? I CAN NOT be friends with someone who is 40! Sorry Shari. It’s been fun and all but it’s time to part ways.

Kidding. Totally kidding. :)

I love this girl to death. Let me tell you a few things about my friend Shari. She is AMAZING. She has six kids. Yes, I said six. Ranging from ages 4 to 18. She somehow manages to be there for each and every one of them and stays sane (mostly) in the process. She is a huge support to her husband. She cooks homemade meals each night. She exercises and looks amazing (you would NEVER know she is 40 and has six kids – seriously. It’s unreal.) She is blunt and to the point. She tells it like it is and I love this about her. She is down to earth. She is real. She is a great listener. She is ALWAYS thinking of others. Always. She is the type of friend who will pick up your kids and take them to the park to give you a break (you who has half the kids she does and way less on your plate). She is the first person to bring a meal, call, send a note, drop off a treat, come by for a visit if you’re having a rough day…and sometimes even if you’re not. She is like this with all of her friends and we all look at her in wonder and amazement asking ourselves and each other…how does she do it? When I started my blog she was (and still is) my biggest support. I think she has left a comment on every single post I’ve written and I always look forward to her sweet and witty commentary. She has laughed with me and cried with me. She has been there for me more times than I can count. I love this girl so much. She is loved by everyone who knows her.

{lunch with my mom and Shari at our favorite pizza place. Shari and I live at this place. We always share the mushroom pizza and the grilled balsamic chicken salad. We crave it daily. Yes – the two of us eat the whole pizza. Never a bite left over to share. My mom adores Shari too. Shari brought my mom diet cokes and helped with Kole while I was in the hospital last April and they bonded. :) }

Happy Birthday Shari!

When I grow up and turn 40 (way way in the future) I want to be just like you. ;)
xoxo, Erin
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Birthdays
08.31.10

Kenny’s b-day week

Last week we celebrated Kenny’s birthday. I’m a firm believer in making birthdays last at LEAST a week long (I have a high success rate for making mine last a full month) so we had lots of fun in store. I wasn’t great at taking pictures of everything, but here’s the week in a nutshell…

Monday – Kenny came home from work and we gave him a note saying that since he’s our “favorite” guy we would be giving him some of his “favorites” all week. Then the girls sent him on a treasure hunt to find a basket of his favorite treats. Chocolate chip cookies were one of the treats and Addison was so excited when he found them that she immediately grabbed them and started shoveling them in Kenny’s mouth. He was mumbling “thank you so much!” and trying to eat them at lightning speed. Pretty amusing. :)

Oh – and since I know you’re DYING to know my recipe for mouth watering chocolate chip cookies I guess I’ll share it:

Nestle Toll House.

Tuesday – It’s a “favorite” for Kenny to have a clean car. In fact, he’s a bit obsessive about taking the family car to get it cleaned inside and out every weekend. I don’t get it. Is it because of all the polly pockets and their tiny clothes hiding in every seat corner? Or maybe it’s the assortment of cracker crumbs covering the floor? Could it be because of all the beach sand that finds a way into every crack and crevice? Mystery. Anyway, we washed it for him so he could take the weekend off. Actually, I paid someone to wash it for me and the girls scrubbed the mats.

Actually, Addison scrubbed the mats while Ellie rode Addison’s bike.

Wednesday – we sent Kenny on a treasure hunt around the house to find a gift card to one of his favorite restaurants for lunch.

Thursday – another treasure hunt to find a new beach umbrella since hanging out with the girls at the beach is another favorite.

Friday – Kenny woke up to a note on the bathroom mirror that said to come home from work by 6:00 because the girls’ favorite babysitter was coming so we could enjoy dinner with some of our favorite friends. He was excited and we had a great date night!

Saturday – August 28th – Kenny’s actual birthday. We woke him up singing happy birthday and gave him two gifts. (I couldn’t wait! Had to give them to him first thing.) One present was from Kole – a mini Chargers outfit so he will be ready for the Fall. Bring on football with daddy! The other gift was from me and our families. We all went in on an iPad for him. It was SO HARD hiding this purchase from Kenny because he handles our finances and nothing gets past him. I had to get pretty creative at stashing cash. Luckily, I’ve had years of training from a highly skilled expert on how to hide money from your husband. {Thanks mom for the life lesson you taught me that has come in handy time and time again. ;) } He was so excited and surprised. Loved it! Now he can play with his new toy at night and when he’s at work all day…you know…I’ll take good care of it for him. I’m nice like that.

The girls wanted to make daddy a cake all by themselves. So after the baking took place, I handed them the icing and let them have at it.

Mmmmmm. Good stuff.

I know. Your mouth is totally watering right now. Mine too. Lucky for Kenny I had one more surprise for him that included another birthday cake (although truthfully I think he liked the girls’ cake best).

Our ward (church group) was having a party at the beach Saturday night so I sent around an e-mail to everyone asking them if they would help me surprise Kenny.


I brought out the cake and a huge group of people we love sang happy birthday to him.

He was so surprised — had no clue that was coming. Mission accomplished. :)

Thanks to my cute friend Ann who brought the cake to the beach for me so Kenny wouldn’t see it.

Also thanks to my cute friend Ann for taking this ever so lovely picture of me highlighting my post baby belly. I know. That’s what friends are for, right? (not about to make this picture large)

I cut the cake for everyone (my girls were first in line) and we had a great night celebrating Kenny’s special day with friends.

Happy birthday babe! It was a blast celebrating with you all week. And don’t worry about making it up to me… you have plenty of time to make plans for all of next March. You know. Just in case you want to get started on that… no pressure or anything…. but it will be here before you know it….

Love you most. :)

xoxo, Erin
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Addison
08.27.10

Morning routine

Getting ready for pre-school…

6 outfit changes.
5 different pairs of mom’s shoes.
4 different colors of lip gloss.
3 disagreements (at least)
2 different hairstyles.
1 VERY tired mommy.
All to get Miss Addison out the door for pre-school.

And she’s only 4….
Lots to look forward to. :)
xoxo, Erin
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Ramblings
08.24.10

Tuesday Randomness and a Retreat!

Hi everyone! Hope you’re having a lovely Tuesday. We’re having a good day so far, but I can’t deny…I am SO EXCITED for school to start on Monday! It has been really fun having Ellie home with me, but I’m starting to feel like we have done the pool, beach, playdate, reading, craft, lemonade stand, tea party, in and out of the house, snacks ALL DAY LONG thing for long enough. I’m craving more of a schedule and to be honest, I think she is too. Summer always seems to be just the right amount of time. Just long enough for everyone to enjoy, but just short enough for everyone to avoid going completely crazy. Kole seems to be thoroughly enjoying summer. He is always just along for the ride and ready to flash his adorable smile at anyone interested in looking his way. Here we are on his first trip to the beach..

He loved it. Wanted to surf SO bad. I said, “no way buddy! You need to be a lot older. We’ll give it a go next summer.”

I have to say I’m in the best mood today! I put on this pair of skinny jeans that I haven’t been able to wear for about a year now and they fit! Well…kinda. I look like a sausage spilling out over them and I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing them in them in public yet. BUT…I was able to zip them up and THAT is making me really happy.

Another thing making me really happy is the possibility of an upcoming trip. I wanted to let you all know about the Power of Mom’s Retreat next month in Southern California. Have you heard about these retreats? They sound amazing! This one is called “Get Organized” — become the mother you want to be. (I heard the title and was sold) :) It’s part “professional development” in the field of motherhood and part slumber party. The retreat is being held at an amazing resort on the beach in Dana Point on Friday, September 17th – 18th. The last retreat was held in my hometown of sunny St. George, UT, but I couldn’t make it because it was so soon after my surgery. This next retreat is close to my now home of sunny San Diego and it sounds like so much fun! I’m trying to work out details so that I can attend… and by details I mean “honey, can you please take work off on Friday, Sept. 17th and give me some money so that I can go stay in a sweet hotel on the beach with other moms to laugh and learn and generally just have an amazing experience that I’ll never forget while you stay home and watch ‘Max and Ruby’ with the kids???” Then I’ll bat my eyelashes that will be unusually long and flash him my sweetest smile. Just need some time to work out those details…

If you’re interested in attending this retreat you have to act quickly because this is the last week to register. Click here to read more about the Power of Moms Retreats and here to learn more about the upcoming retreat “Get Organized” located in Southern California. AND because you are one of my beloved readers, if you decide to go you can register here to get $20.00 off!

So. I’m thinking you work out the “details” at your house, I’ll work out the “details” at mine and if all goes as planned I’ll see you there. :)

xoxo, Erin
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organization2
08.23.10

Scrapbook room organization

Finally! My scrap space is back in order. I know this room doesn’t look much different than other pictures I’ve posted of it, but let me tell you…it is totally transformed! I went through ALL of my supplies and re-organized them in a way that makes much more sense for the way I’m scrapbooking right now. And I got rid of A LOT. Felt so good! Here are a few pics of the changes:

First a quick picture of my new paper cutter. {Hello love. Welcome to your happy home.} I destroyed my other one last fall when I went a little crazy making 200 Christmas Cards. Why is it that a new paper cutter makes me feel all giddy inside!?

So this is the little beauty from the Container Store that inspired my scrap space makeover. It’s just a nice little box…

that opens up like this. I needed something to hold small embellishments and other odds and ends that I’ve recently purchased and want to have right in front of me to use. I don’t have a lot of storage in this room so I love that it opens to hold quite a few supplies and then folds up in a nice little box I can throw under the table when I’m not using it.

Why is it that a plastic box with compartmentalized sections makes me feel all giddy inside!? Why is it that just typing the word compartmentalized makes me feel all giddy inside!?

Ok…on to some organization. I moved Kole’s clothes around to free up some more drawer space for my supplies. I know. Poor kid. Anyway, I’m working on four different albums right now. The girls’ scrapbooks (Project Life), {Ellie’s PL & Addison’s PL} Kole’s baby book, an October/Halloween album, and a Christmas album. (You can read about my scrapbooking plan here.) Since I work on these albums randomly, I wanted the supplies for each book located in one spot all together.

The top drawer is all Project Life stuff for my girls. Journaling cards, recent pics I’ve developed that need to be put in their books, and random art/school stuff that may or may not make it into their books.

Next drawer is all stuff for my little Kole’s book. Info from doctor visits, cards, baby scrapbook supplies, etc.

Next drawer is random. Halloween supplies in the box on the left and the rest of the drawer will be used for paper scraps that are worth hanging onto.

Last drawer is all stuff for my Christmas album. Why is it that seeing Christmas supplies makes me feel all giddy inside!? (102 days until December, but who’s counting?)

Under my scrapbook table: more supplies, boxes of my school kits, and a Mickey Mouse riding toy that is waiting for a certain little boy to be old enough to play with it. (It may just be the only boyish toy we’ve ever owned…better keep it around)

A few pics of what is stored in the drawers below the table:

Latest pictures waiting for a home.

I went through all of my paper and organized it. Then I gave the girls stuff I didn’t want anymore. They have been in hog heaven with new craft supplies! Ellie spent an hour making Kenny a surprise birthday card this morning. Then she just couldn’t wait until his birthday next week to give it to him so she gave it to him this afternoon. That girl can’t keep a secret to save her life! I’ve learned this the hard way. This year she knows NOTHING of the plans I’ve made for her daddy next week.

This is the reason I’ll never be able to convert to all digital scrapbooking. It’s all about the supplies. I’m way too in love with buying and organizing them… and then taking pictures of them… and then blogging about them. Not to mention scrapbooking with them. I’m so happy to have a clean, organized place to work on my books!

Even if it is in a corner of Kole’s nursery.  :)

p.s. Why is it that this post makes me feel all giddy inside!?

Happy Scrapping!

————————————————————————————————————————-
 ***Update:  I created a new system to organize school work before it’s placed in my albums along with a new way to keep Project Life supplies organized…

xoxo, Erin
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Ellie and Addison
08.19.10

Play time

Ok…I have so many things to blog about and no time to do it! I’m so busy right now. The last few days I’ve reached dinner time and realized that I totally spaced eating lunch. I can’t even pin point what it is…a million little things taking up my time. Just life I guess! I’m really looking forward to school starting in September when we can resume a more normal pace. On second thought…maybe this craziness is just my new normal! Three is a juggle, that’s for sure. The only thing that is saving me lately is that my kids are playing together so well. Sure, sometimes they fight and we definitely have our moments, but for the most part they have been really good for me this summer.

The girls love to entertain Kole when he’s awake….

and when he’s sleeping (and we’re actually home for a few minutes) they can’t wait to pull out all of their dolls. Then they play play play while I attempt to get something done.

If we need to mix things up a bit I turn on a show and let them have a blanket picnic (or in this case a towel picnic) in the play room.

(Thanks for being so good sweethearts — mommy would be losing it right now if you weren’t!)
xoxo, Erin
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Ellie and Addison
08.17.10

A lovely mess

Yesterday was a busy Monday! Aside from shuffling kids around to preschool and play dates, taking care of my baby (who has an eye infection right now – poor little guy), meal planning, getting groceries for the week, and exercising (which didn’t happen until 8:30 at night), I somehow manage to find the time to make a lovely mess out of my scrapbook room.

One of the items I bought at the container store was for scrapbook stuff and it inspired a massive re-organization of my supplies.

Kole was unimpressed with what I did to his room. Especially since he couldn’t lay on his changing table and look at the trees – his all time favorite hang out.

My little progidy was a huge help as always. :) Speaking of my little Miss Ellie, we have been noticing quite a few changes with her lately. She is becoming much more independent and starting to do things by herself that I used to help her with. Things like fixing her own snack, turning on her favorite TV show (with permission), doing her own hair, etc. She is also becoming a lot more picky about choosing what she is going to wear everyday. I can’t decide if I like the changes or not. She’s growing up and in some ways it’s so refreshing to have one child that doesn’t require as much assistance. On the other hand, I’m having a hard time giving up some of the control. I’m suddenly seeing flashes of waving good-bye to her from the door while she takes off driving by herself, heading to who knows where with who knows who!

(modeling her new nightgown she HAD to have so she could put a shirt under it to look just like DW on Arthur)

Give me strength for what’s to come with this one!

As for my other sassy pants, when I picked her up at pre-school yesterday all of the teachers were cracking up over a conversation that happened while she and another little boy were washing their hands in the bathroom. —

Griffin: “I like you.”

Addison: “I’m sorry. You can’t be my husband because I already have one. His name is Mitchell. My sister Ellie has a husband too named Evan.”

HA!

Here is a picture of her with her soon to be husband Mitchell who has since moved and is very missed:

ah….young love. :) Apparently I’m going to need strength for what’s to come with this one as well!

xoxo, Erin
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