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Uncategorized

Our Favorite Toys! (2014)

**Comments were lost on this post when I switched my blog to WordPress!  I read them all and was thrilled to hear your kids love so many of the same toys!  Thank you! 

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! Such a fun holiday. Hard not to enjoy an excuse to eat and hang out with family. We’ve had such crazy warm weather here lately that after we ate Thanksgiving dinner we all went for a swim. Something about it just didn’t feel right! But we did it anyway. :) Continue reading “Our Favorite Toys! (2014)”

xoxo, Erin
Uncategorized

Favorite Children’s Books

**So sorry!  Comments to this post were lost when I switched my blog to WordPress.  I read them all!  Thank you!

Earlier today I was making a list of our favorite toys to share with all of you to give you a few gift ideas (coming soon!). It occurred to me while I was thinking about the toys my kids love and play with again and again that books should be at the top of that list. Continue reading “Favorite Children’s Books”

xoxo, Erin
Uncategorized

Creative Turkeys

Happy Turkey week everyone!  Such a fun one.  My kids are out of school all week and I’m thrilled.  Low key mornings and no homework.  YEA.  Plus such a fun holiday to look forward to!  This will be a different Thanksgiving for our little family because we are on our own!  We usually visit family in Utah, but because of activities my girls can’t miss this week we are staying put.  Which means I’m on my own to cook Thanksgiving dinner.  Which means I will be working hard to find a delicious, affordable pre-made meal that I can order and pick-up.  Kidding!

Ok.  Not kidding.  :)

Continue reading “Creative Turkeys”

xoxo, Erin
Favorite Things

My FAVORITE Things from 2014!

 

YEA!!  It’s that time of year!  If you’ve read my blog for long you know that I love sharing my favorite things.  When I find something I’m excited about, I get even more excited to share it with all of you!  I post random favorite things often throughout the year, but each November/December it’s especially fun to round up my top picks.   Continue reading “My FAVORITE Things from 2014!”

xoxo, Erin
Christmas1

Christmas decor ideas (and my thoughts on early Christmas decorating)

The kids and I decorated our Christmas tree tonight.  We just couldn’t wait one. more. minute.  In fact, I have been slowly adding Christmas touches to my house for the past few weeks.  This is a time of year and a season that I enjoy and look forward to all year.  For me it’s not about Thanksgiving Day or Christmas Day (although I cherish those as well) but more about the whole season together and what it represents.  Thankfulness, gratitude, love for our Savior and love for each other. Continue reading “Christmas decor ideas (and my thoughts on early Christmas decorating)”

xoxo, Erin
Favorite Things

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday everyone!  Popping in to share just a few favorites before the weekend!  My girls and I did a little Christmas shopping together and these fun furry friends just HAD to come home with us.  I let my kids pick out a new ornament for our tree each year and my girls fell in love with these little woodland “friends” from Crate and Barrel.  They do NOT go with my Christmas tree decor at all.  Actually, nothing coordinates on my tree.  It’s always just one big mish mash of past ornaments my kids have made and picked out along with red and silver ball ornaments.  So come to think of it, the deer, raccoon, and porcupine will fit in just fine.  :)

Continue reading “Friday Favorites”

xoxo, Erin
Organization

Organized Wrapping Supplies

My house is so quiet right now!  Always such a strange feeling after my kids have been home with me for a couple of days (they were out of school for Vetrans Day).   While I loved having them home – I think my happiest moments are when my kids are all home with me and we have no schedule we have to follow – it does feel nice this morning to have a few hours of peace to get something done.  Like post these pictures that I have been dying to share with all of you!

Continue reading “Organized Wrapping Supplies”

xoxo, Erin
Home Decor

Take a tour of my new office!

So excited to share my new office with you all today!  I kept waiting to take pictures of this space thinking I’d share it when the room was actually decorated and the cupboards were more organized, but neither has happened yet and I got tired of waiting for myself to finish everything.  :)  Plus I’m planning to take you all along as I decorate and organize this room so I might as well show you what the space looks like in it’s current condition!  Quick warning: this post is a LONG one.  So like I always say before overloading you with pictures – this might be a good time to grab a snack.  Pretzels and cheese anyone?  :) Continue reading “Take a tour of my new office!”

xoxo, Erin
Thanksgiving

Gratitude thoughts

Why not?  Why can’t every day be the best day of the year?  I found this quote months ago and every day since it has been on my mind.  Every day is filled with ups and downs and every day I have a choice.  I can dwell on the things that go wrong and cause stress, OR I can choose to find joy in the little things – the blessings that are right in front of me.  Things like:

comfy pajamas
a phone call from mom
kisses from my little boy
an extra hour in the day
popcorn
anticipation for the holidays
reading a book I can’t put down
my pumpkin spice candle
a funny conversation with a friend
hearing my girls say “sure!” when asked to help out
the sound of the dishwasher humming in a clean house
a quiet evening with my husband
a new day tomorrow

Why can’t every day be the best day of the year?
In my heart I believe that most days really can.
Happy November friends.
:)
p.s.  We are adding to our gratitude journals this month!  You can read all about them here.
xoxo, Erin
Halloween

Happy Halloween!

Twenty minutes to midnight so I’m popping in quick to say Happy Halloween!  My Eskimo girls and Abominable Snow Monster tore it up tonight.  It was magic for them which made it magic for me.  A day full of non stop partying – delicious food, perfect weather, and time spent with wonderful friends.  So grateful for another fun Halloween with these four.
Also so grateful that the time has finally come to sleep it all off.
Praying my little Snow Monster sleeps in tomorrow.
At least until 7:00.
That would be success at our house.
:)
Happy Halloween everyone!
xoxo, Erin
Uncategorized

Everyday pics (insta round-up)

You guys.  I love Instagram.  Love it so much.  Blogging used to be more of an on-line journal for me.  A peek into our every day.  But now that my blogging time is so limited (partly due to two girls who are getting older and staying up too late!) I’m not able to share as much as I wish I could.  Instagram has been such a fun way to quickly pop in with friends and blog readers and share a peek of what’s going on around our house.  I decided towards the end of each month I’ll do a quick Instagram round-up on the blog so that those of you who aren’t on Instagram can see what we’re up too also.  I like everyone to be invited to the party.  :)  And if you aren’t on Instagram – join!  I hesitated for so long thinking it would be one more social media thing sucking up my time but it really isn’t!  It’s so fast and easy.  I can quickly see what my friends are up to while I’m waiting in the school pick-up or grocery store line and post something in one minute while my kids are getting their shoes on.  Ahh — modern technology!  So here are a few pics from October – complete with hashtags.  Because they’re fun.  :) 
Saturday thoughts
#pillowloveatnordstroms
#pickingupagiftandgotdistracted

Girls party!  Fun afternoon having the girls from my girls’ classes over to swim.  Kids had a blast.  Kenny and I are comatose on the couch.
#wheredoestheenergycomefrom
#kolewaslivingitupwithallthosegirls
Sitting down to eat my favorite lunch.  Salad with fruit followed by purple skittles.
#wouldn’twanttobetoohealthy

Puttering in my pantry
#imsurethereareotherthingsishouldbedoingrightnow
Sporting my Fall bags… at the swimming pool.
#fallinsandiego
#swimlessonsallyear 

After school snack is ready to go!  We ate so badly on our trip.  Jeans are tight today so I’m whipping us back in shape.  If I have this ready when my kids walk in the door and are STARVING I have a much higher success rate getting them to eat their veggies.
#tricksofthetrade
#ilovesugarsnappeas
#butiloveskittlesmore
Unfortunately I’m sporting a not so cute accessory this Fall.  :(
#plantarfasciitis
#stuckwiththisbootfor4weeks

Popping in later with a post but for now I just wanted to say happy Monday to all my friends.  Grateful to have all of you in my life!

#freshflowersmakemehappy
#sodoallofyou

Whole family got flu shots today.  Then this little guy got 4 more.  Holding my kids while they get shots never gets easier for me.  Keeping him home from pre-school.  5 shots deserves a day off!  And lots of ice cream.

#hardtoseemylittlebuddysad

 Halloween picture banner is up!  Fun to see past Halloween pics and reminisce.  Happy October!

#finallyfeelslikefall

Our after school routine.  Shoes off in the mudroom.  Then El feeds the turtles while this little one spills EVERYTHING about her day.  And then some more.
#shetalksandtalksandtalks
#iloveraisinggirls

Ellie just presented me with her Sunday to-do list.  Complete with pictures and a box for the check mark.  I gotta say… this just warms my heart.

#appledoesn’tfalltoofar
#myworkhereisdone

Enjoying an unexpected child free stroll through Target.  Such a luxury!
#lovingthesesnowflakeplates
#thisstoreissodangerous
And that’s a wrap for October!  Aside from all of the Halloween fun that will be shared today and tomorrow.  (You can follow my instagram feed at erin_sunnysideup)
Happy Halloween everyone!  Have a safe one!  
And save some skittles for me.
:)

xoxo, Erin
Organization

Organized art supplies (a new solution!)

Talking organized art supplies today!  I know.  We’ve talked about organized art supplies before.  That’s because I have a thing for art/school supplies.  And for keeping them organized.  :)  Just before school let out last June I got our art supplies under control with this fun wooden bottle caddy.

It worked great for a few months, but I realized my kids were reaching for the markers, colored pencils, pencils and crayons the most often.  Our crayons were in a different container in a drawer and it didn’t make sense to have them separated from everything else.  I knew once school started and the kids were living in the craft room I needed a better solution.
These are the things that keep me up at night.  ;)
So this is what I came up with!  I found this cool wooden tray at Tai Pan in Utah over the summer and bought it thinking I’d use it on my dining room table.  But then I came home and decided to try putting pots inside of it to hold our most often used art supplies.
Perfect solution!  I still use the other wooden organizer to hold scissors and brushes and supplies we don’t use as much, but the pencils, crayons, markers and colored pencils that we use over and over every day are right out on the table – easy to reach.  I might paint the black pots another color – or switch them out at some point, but for now (until I figure out the direction I’m going with decor in this room) the black works great.  I almost borrowed the wooden trey to put some pumpkins and fall accessories in it for the living room, but I knew we’d miss it too much in the craft room.  The kids use this every single day.  Problem solved!  Whew.  Now I can sleep.
:)
When I took these pictures I snapped a few of the craft room so I can finally show you one of my favorite rooms in the house!  It’s empty and not decorated yet, but coming soon anyway.  Is everyone having a fun Halloween week?  It’s always a busy one!  I’m holding off on Christmas decor but am having a hard time restraining myself.  I promised my husband I’d wait until Halloween is over but then all bets are off and I’m turning this place into a winter wonderland!
Just minus the winter.
xoxo, Erin

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