Sunday Pins

Yes, I am addicted to Pinterest... but look at all the cool things I found!!!

                      Source: photojojo.com via Connie on Pinterest

Photoshop Magnets!!!!!

                                               Source: cupcakesandcashmere.com via Connie on Pinterest

Cute side-table ideas

                                                                  Source: sleekidentity.com via Connie on Pinterest

Road Tape!

                                         Source: iamthegirlanachronism.tumblr.com via Connie on Pinterest

Love this quote!

                                                    Source: keikolynn.com via Connie on Pinterest

Hmmm... Hallloween for Klint and I?

                                                                Source: comicsfornerds.net via Connie on Pinterest

Can't forget a costume for Moira!

                                              Source: stylemepretty.com via Chelsea on Pinterest

          Love this hairstyle...

See... now wasn't that fun?!

Home is Where You Hang Your Tutu

I have been on a decorating kick lately... the need to clean, rearrange, paint is pulling at me. We are very lucky in that even though we rent our house, we have a pretty free rein to paint and decorate. Every year when our lease is up we talk about living somewhere else and we stay because it is a great house on a really nice street in a city we love.

sitting on the steps, watching the kids play

 Still, there are always things about the house that we wish we could change- the teeny backyard that is too small for a swingset, one bathroom (that is going to be a HUGE issue in a few short years with 3 girls & myself in the house), a garage that is too small to fit the van, and a sidewalk that is butt up against the street.

Well, a good friend of mine and I were talking the other day and she mentioned that she would love to move and just rent out her house. She then jokingly said that we should rent her house! Um... yes please!!!!  It just so happens that she has an awesomely big house complete with a ginormous backyard, a laundry room that is not in a scary basement, 2 full baths, and a room that serves as an office/family room.... love, love, and more love.

She is looking to move in the spring, which is when our lease is up- again perfect! Let's just say that we met a couple years ago and everything just flows between us, from Usborne to having our kids play together. It was meant to be!

So, I am not going to make any more changes to our current house in the expectation that there is a gooood chance that we will not be here past April. But, I am seeing inspiration for the rooms everywhere! (I just saved a vanity table from the trash and am trying to find the perfect color to paint it!) Here are some decorating things that I am loving:

                                Source: twinkiechan.com via Connie on Pinterest

How easy is this? 

Just take a wooden base, a cheap garden decoration, glue them together then spray paint!

                                                                        Source: remodelingcenter.com via Connie on Pinterest

Maybe I can get the hubby to go along with these colors...

and oh the backyard that I would have!!!!

Source: 4.bp.blogspot.com via Rebecca on Pinterest

Source: punkrockbarbiedoll.tumblr.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

I love this idea of movies hanging out in the backyard!!

So yeah, that is what is on my mind... I am so excited and hope that everything works out and we can get into a space that is more suitable for us. Happiness!

Project Simplify

 

On Monday I will start something called Project Simplify over at Simple Mom. Over the years I have gotten progressively more organized and... well, cleaner, but there are still areas of the house that continue to elude my efforts. What attracted me to the project is the fact that it is only 5 weeks, you have 1 week to tackle the problem area, and that it is very focused. Personally, my problem areas are my area of the bedroom, the kitchen counters, the dining room table/craft area, our coat area, and the desk. All areas of complete chaos and clutter most of the time. And even when company comes over and I clean those places, within the week they are back to their usual disarray.

Today I got a head start by attacking the craft room/ dining room. This is a dual purpose room because it is actually a three season sun room. It gets quite chilly in the winter so we do not eat in there, but I bundle up and craft, knowing that my projects will not be disturbed. However, because I have that knowledge sometimes my supplies and such take over the space, I attribute my crafter's ADD to the messiness, lol!  Tomorrow I will post the before and after photos because it took my allll day and by the time I was done it was night.... yes my friends, it was THAT messy!

So that starts Monday. But over the weekend we had a starter assignment- create a family purpose statement. This is something that Klint and I have discussed before, but more along the lines of what we hope for the girls, how we want our family to live, etc. Never have we put something down on paper. I am sure that there will be more or something we want to reword.... but for now this is our Family Purpose Statement:

Not too bad huh? I can't wait to see what is the first hotspot for Project Simplify.... anyone else out there doing this as well?

Getting Organized #2- Digital Photo File Overload!

Another goal for this year is to not only keep a hand on the massive amounts of digital photos stored on the computer, but to also create some books so that everyone can actually enjoy the photos! Last night I started step 1 of tackling this huge mess- go through every folder and delete bad photos, photos we don't want, and multiples. Wow! I had no clue we had this many photos and sooo many of children that I cared for years and years ago...

I went to How to Organize Photos the Easy Way- by Small Notebook for some tips and tricks on how to best organize the files since we do have so much. After I get all the photos sorted I plan on dragging the ones that I want in a photo book into a folder, editing them, and then using a photo book program like My Publisher to create a couple awesome books to share with friends!

This is definitely a huge challenge because almost every day we add to the stack, plus there are many folders within folders... I believe that last night I had to have deleted hundreds of photos and there are still sooooo many to weed through. It will all be worth it though when I have some pretty books to show friends and family!

I know that there are tons of companies out there that offer Digital Photo Books and everyone has an opinion about who the best is. If you want a really good comparison though, check out this article which looks at 12 different companies from Blurb to Shutterfly.

One of my goals is to have keepsakes for the girls to look at and share with their own families once they are grown, as Klint and I have very little to share about our own pasts. It is something that we really wish we had, but since we can't create the past we are going to make sure we preserve the memories for the future!

Some Monday Love

Most of the world hates Mondays I have discovered, thanks to Facebook. So here are some things that I am loving on this very chilly (outside!) Monday morning!

I ♥ this inexpensive book display! 

Of course they are from Ikea....

get more info here!

Oh how I would ♥ a front door this color! 

See how this awesome lady did it here!

Sometimes simpler is better....

I ♥ how easy they are to make.

Get the tutorial here

I really need a better way to get my day started...

I ♥ how easy these five steps are to jump starting your day!

We ♥ prayer flags at our house!
What a great way to recycle some cloth and send those well wishes out into the world!

Find out how to here

Finally, I told you about how I fell in ♥ with Picnik here...

well, thanks to a great friend and very talented Photographer 

I have discovered I don't need Picnik if I use actions in Photoshop.

Genius!
Here is a great list of some really cool ones....

Baby It's Cold Inside

I can honestly say that I was glad to see the end of last week. Most days I can see the sunny side of life, but on Wednesday that sunny outlook disappeared. Our furnace broke. And it decided to break in the dead of winter, when here in Ohio it gets into the teens with the windchill in the single digits. Not good.

This, dear friends, is why we rent. When we discovered that the indoor temp was quickly dropping and the furnace wasn't lighting, we quickly called the landlord who called a furnace company. Then ensued the drama... apparently a part needed to be ordered, it wouldn't be here until Monday or Tuesday, and until then there were various solutions. Solution  #1 involved pushing the reset button on the furnace to kickstart it into lighting....every 10-15 minutes.....yeaaaah, that wasn't working out well because at night I definitely wasn't going to wake up to push a darn button. So we woke up Thursday to a 43 degree house...bbbbbrrrrrrr!!! So again we called the landlord. He talked to the furnace guy and was told how to hot wire the furnace to bypass the reset. Well that worked out for a few hours, then the fire wouldn't light so again we had to call. So out came tons of space heaters.

Now we are Friday morning.... I wake up early to get space heaters going downstairs. I plug in three of them since the thermostat says it is 41 inside our house. 41 degrees!!!!! I go upstairs to get some more clothes on and come downstairs to a pitch black house. Of course! I blew a fuse with the space heaters! And who is too short to reach the box? ME! AHHHHHH!!!!! So I had to call Klint home from work and was definitely crying tears of despair when he came home.

We fix the fuse and decide to head out to grocery shop (and get warm), and give the space heaters a chance to warm up the house. What happens when we come home?? The house was COLDER!!!! AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! So another call was made and finally the HVAC guy comes and properly hot wires the furnace for us. FINALLY we have heat that is consistent.

By Friday evening the house was warm again, I was in better spirits, and had a new appreciation for having a warm house. We still have to get through when the furnace is being fixed this week, I am dreading having it turned off again, but at least there is a permanent solution in sight. I am thankful as well that we are not having to pay for the repairs, a swift reminder of why we prefer renting to buying a house.

So that was our furnace drama, hopefully never to be repeated.

The Great Laundry Debate

Ah! I wish my laundry space looked like this!
via here

One of my goals for the new year is to get a handle on our laundry. Right now we just have baskets in the rooms and bathroom upstairs, let them fill up, and then on Sunday do like 5 loads of laundry. It is time consuming, a pain to sit down and fold all of that at once, and is really a challenge since Gabby and AJ share a lot of the same clothes. So I am trying to come up with a new solution.

My idea is to assign each person a laundry basket and only their clothing goes in there, Then each day of the week one person's laundry will be done, making the sorting of laundry no longer an issue and allowing Gabby to be able to fold and put her own clothes away. One load a day is a lot nicer sounding to me than 5 or six. Plus I can keep an eye on AJ, who has many outfit changes throughout the day do no reason at all.... her clothing pile is always the largest and most of it was probably perfectly clean.

How do you handle laundry at your house? What is the easiest ways to tackle all the kids clothes? Mommies with little girls, do you have a "costume changer"?

Nesting at It's Best

I know I am nesting when I drag my poor husband into the fray and demand that EVERYTHING be removed from rooms so I can rearrange things. This weekend was a major nesting time for me, especially since we went to IKEA and I got my little hands on some fun things to help control my household clutter.

I didn't take "before" photos because well... I wasn't going to expose your fragile minds to the horrors of a house with 2 resident little girls. 3 "borrowed" little girls, 4 cats, and a giant shedding dog.... seriously, you would be in a state of shock! So what all did we do? Here is the breakdown of the crazy nesting-ness by room.

Playroom:
1. Took out all furniture
2. Removed toy box that the kids never used, it was filled with junk toys anyhow!
3. Put up hooks for play clothes extravaganza
4. Put up "Art Wire" from IKEA
5. Arranged all the books and took favorites upstairs for bedtime


6. Brought in Papasan Chair for reading space that is welcoming

Entryway:
1. Removed lots of shoes that were missing partners or out of season
2. Flipped shoe box onto side to discourage shoes from taking over
3. Removed all the random bags that were filled with crap stuff from the car
4. Swept up a Labrador's worth of hair that was clinging to every surface
5. Removed chair that was broken and collecting things

Desk Area:
1. Got new desk (thank you Craigslist!)
2. Removed rubbish and more crap
3. Swept up more hair.... can build some extra cats with it if I wanted to!

Product Review: Rubbermaid Reveal Spray Mop

If you are a regular reader of this blog you know I usually don't do product reviews.... but once in awhile I come across something that I feel like if I don't share it would be a shame. So here is one of those products- the new Rubbermaid Reveal Spray Mop!

So why do I LOVE this Spray Mop??

1. No more batteries to buy

2. No more toxic chemical cleaners to buy

3. No more disposable pads that don't really clean that well and are pretty pricey

4. My floors are a LOT cleaner when I use this compared to my old Swiffer Wet Jet

Basically, this is an eco-friendly, way more effective spray mop that has impressed me from Day 1. I like being able to make my own floor cleaner (A squirt of Seventh Generation Liquid Dishwasher Soap and warm water!) and the floors are never sticky after use. I have found that I don't have to work as hard to get the crud off and I like not being dependent on batteries for the squirt to work. And when the pad looks like it needs to be cleaned I just toss it in the washer and dryer.... although I went about a week of cleaning the floors everyday before it needed to be washed! 

So if you want a spray mop that is really cheap, good for the environment, and actually works... this is THE one for you! Cheers!

Cleaning With Kids

I think one of the biggest challenges that stay at home moms face is the thought that since we are home and "not working" our houses should look immaculate all the time. For me this is nonsense and in no way possible. Plain and simple. But, while I don't mind a smudge here and there and will admit that there are rooms (like my dining/craft room) that fall to the wayside, it does bother me that my house doesn't look like a page out of a magazine. Isn't that nuts? I mean, I know in my head that a) I am very pregnant and don't have the stamina to clean 24/7, b) I have a home daycare AND lots of pets, and c) we live here!

Mrs. Meyers said that you need to find a balance between perfection and lived in and I am finding myself chanting those words as I go throughout the day. Those magazine photos definitely don't look homey and lived in for the most part. And while they are pretty, you know the kids weren't allowed to jump on the beds or eat PB & J on the couch, and forget about having animals!

I just read this poem today and am going to print it out and put it on the fridge since that is where I stress about the condition of my house the most. Definitely a good reminder about what is more important at the end of the day!

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth, 

Empty the dustpan, poison the moth, 

Hang out the washing and butter the bread, Sew on a button and make up a bed. 

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking? 

She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I’ve grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue 

(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo). 

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due 

(Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo). 

The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew 

And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo 

But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo. 

Look! Aren’t her eyes the most wonderful hue? 

(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo). 

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow, 

For children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow. 

So quiet down, cobwebs. 

Dust go to sleep. 

I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.
                            by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

An Anthropological Discovery

I usually am not an Anthropologie shopper, especially for home decor. (Pottery Barn type of stuff is my usual cup of tea) But I was checking out their site after seeing a cool tutorial for a tank knockoff here and fell in LOVE with a few things....

This quilt is calling my name... the colors and the Gypsy feel of it... 

Our old house had these awesome maple leaf knobs on all the cabinets...

I think this house needs some crabs in the kitchen!

I think meditating on this rug would be sooo much fun!

Strawberries.... in French... need I say more?

Yes, it is a shower curtain! And would make me want to dance every time I got clean! 

So there ya have it... I may be spending all my fortune at Anthroplogie if I ever win the lottery...

Where would you spend all your fortune to decorate your nest? 

My favorite room...

was a complete and utter disaster!

Craft supplies had taken over the dining room table,

ribbon and papers everywhere,

something had to be done! 

Meanwhile, while I was sorting, tossing, and reorganizing....

welcome to the BEST cat entertainment EVER!!!

$3 from Walmart... sticks to the window for days and days of fun!

See!

Prince can't take his pretty blue eyes off the cardinals that visit us!

As I started reclaiming my space I remembered why this is my favorite room...

the color is such a pretty yellow,

I love how much light is here so my plants can grow,

and it is covered with my craftiness and strawberries!

Finally, after about an hour and a half... clean and organized!

I even tackled my crazy craft armoire, which was overflowing 

with half finished projects,

paint, wooden doll pieces, and lots of rubbish!

Happy Organizing!