To say that Livvy is amazing- an understatement. She is stubborn, unique, self-confident, and self- assured, and so talented. But then, I may be biased :) We have had to create a rule- she can wear whatever she would like to in our home, but when we leave, Mom gets to pick her clothes. That is why when you see here in pictures she has mis-matched and always summer clothes on. It's always Summer in Livvy's world :). But she is so happy and outgoing that she constantly makes me smile. Here's a clip of her singing at the tops of her lungs to a Taylor Swift song while she bugs her little brother- just another day in paradise :)
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Iker's Giggles
Shane and his girlfriend Aspen came to visit us last Friday for the day. The kids absolutely loved hanging out with them and playing all afternoon. I loved the below video of Ike laughing his head off while they chased Wyatt around the room:
Organization Baby!
I have been motivated. I recently discovered the following blogs:
www.orgjunkie.com and abowlfulloflemons.blogspot.com
To say that they have inspired me- an understatement. They really have lit a fire under me. Last year- I had my sweet baby #3. And I was ALWAYS overwhelmed. I never really felt like I had enough time for my home, my calling, my children, my work.....yup- overwhelmed. And it showed. But not this year baby! I'm kicking 2011's trash so far this year- and you know what? It feels amazing. I have vowed that I am taking back my home, taking back my routines...and it is such an invigorating feeling! So here are a few projects that I have tackled- maybe they will motivate you as well!
Most recently- the freezers. We are expecting a half of a pig from the butcher soon and I was not just going to shove it in and make it fit. No sir. No more throwing away freezer burnt food- we are using it all from now on. But man- defrosting and organizing two freezers is a ton of work!
All the food out:
After: I decided to put all of the meat and produce into my stand-up freezer along with my extra loaves of bread and homemade jam. Then I put everything else into my freezer in the kitchen. This way when I am making my menu- I can pull it out and see what needs used without having to consult both freezers.
I also tackled my back pantry (or should-be linen closet) and my kitchen pantry. I'm a little into couponing (you may have heard :)- and my stockpile is way too big for one pantry. But after I organized this back pantry- I started on my main one and found that alot needed to be changed. So this back pantry has since changed. It mostly only holds non-food items like diapers, toilet paper, cleaning supplies, etc. but still has my home canned goods as well.
This is my project cupboard for the kids (this is the after in case you could not tell!) I have so many craft supplies for the kids and therapy tools for Wyatt that I moved them into my office and organized a 3 drawer container to keep them in. This is just those that we use on a daily basis.
My new idea- a snack cupboard. Now when the kids whine that they are hungry, they just grab a stool and pick something out of the snack basket. One less job for Mom! however, they do have to ask before they swipe something out of here :)
The before kitchen pantry- look at how all over the place everything is. There are cleaning supplies, bags of flour on the floor- it did not flow well. But I was delusional thinking that it was actually organized pretty well considering how much stuff was in there. But Ike made a mess of it all one too many times- so a makeover was in order:
After: I organized all canned goods together and by type. Containerized and labeled everything, put all those packets together in a box, and stacked my surplus food on the top shelf so I can easily rotate it. It's really bothering me that all the boxes I used to organize don't match, so when I get a second I'm going to cover them with something.
I also decided to get my lists and calendar in order. I have a master calendar that I use in my office for work and home stuff, but it was soo full and since it was all the way in my office I often didn't take the time to consult it when making an appt on the phone- oops! Now this is hanging on my pantry door and it makes my life so much easier! I have an ongoing grocery list that I can't lose and my favorite part is the to-do list at the bottom for Shelby :).
I've now tackled nearly every cupboard and closet in the house. I only have my closet, my bathroom, and a few cupboards left that house Shelby's stuff in the kitchen! I see such a difference in how I feel as I work about my house. It's much more enjoyable to clean and do projects in an organized home. Plus I feel much less stressed. Below is a picture of my happy little helper: I love this girl!
www.orgjunkie.com and abowlfulloflemons.blogspot.com
To say that they have inspired me- an understatement. They really have lit a fire under me. Last year- I had my sweet baby #3. And I was ALWAYS overwhelmed. I never really felt like I had enough time for my home, my calling, my children, my work.....yup- overwhelmed. And it showed. But not this year baby! I'm kicking 2011's trash so far this year- and you know what? It feels amazing. I have vowed that I am taking back my home, taking back my routines...and it is such an invigorating feeling! So here are a few projects that I have tackled- maybe they will motivate you as well!
Most recently- the freezers. We are expecting a half of a pig from the butcher soon and I was not just going to shove it in and make it fit. No sir. No more throwing away freezer burnt food- we are using it all from now on. But man- defrosting and organizing two freezers is a ton of work!
All the food out:
After: I decided to put all of the meat and produce into my stand-up freezer along with my extra loaves of bread and homemade jam. Then I put everything else into my freezer in the kitchen. This way when I am making my menu- I can pull it out and see what needs used without having to consult both freezers.
I also tackled my back pantry (or should-be linen closet) and my kitchen pantry. I'm a little into couponing (you may have heard :)- and my stockpile is way too big for one pantry. But after I organized this back pantry- I started on my main one and found that alot needed to be changed. So this back pantry has since changed. It mostly only holds non-food items like diapers, toilet paper, cleaning supplies, etc. but still has my home canned goods as well.
This is my project cupboard for the kids (this is the after in case you could not tell!) I have so many craft supplies for the kids and therapy tools for Wyatt that I moved them into my office and organized a 3 drawer container to keep them in. This is just those that we use on a daily basis.
My new idea- a snack cupboard. Now when the kids whine that they are hungry, they just grab a stool and pick something out of the snack basket. One less job for Mom! however, they do have to ask before they swipe something out of here :)
The before kitchen pantry- look at how all over the place everything is. There are cleaning supplies, bags of flour on the floor- it did not flow well. But I was delusional thinking that it was actually organized pretty well considering how much stuff was in there. But Ike made a mess of it all one too many times- so a makeover was in order:
After: I organized all canned goods together and by type. Containerized and labeled everything, put all those packets together in a box, and stacked my surplus food on the top shelf so I can easily rotate it. It's really bothering me that all the boxes I used to organize don't match, so when I get a second I'm going to cover them with something.
I also decided to get my lists and calendar in order. I have a master calendar that I use in my office for work and home stuff, but it was soo full and since it was all the way in my office I often didn't take the time to consult it when making an appt on the phone- oops! Now this is hanging on my pantry door and it makes my life so much easier! I have an ongoing grocery list that I can't lose and my favorite part is the to-do list at the bottom for Shelby :).
I've now tackled nearly every cupboard and closet in the house. I only have my closet, my bathroom, and a few cupboards left that house Shelby's stuff in the kitchen! I see such a difference in how I feel as I work about my house. It's much more enjoyable to clean and do projects in an organized home. Plus I feel much less stressed. Below is a picture of my happy little helper: I love this girl!
Monday, February 21, 2011
The little menace
Ike is no longer a baby. He wants everyone to know- he is now a big kid. He is constantly into everything. He knows how to open up the toilet lid- NASTY! He loves to play in the bag of flour that I used to have on the floor of my pantry. He would hide things in there all the time- I would scoop out a cup of flour to use in a recipe and would pull out his magnets, Ritz crackers- you name it. He made a royal mess out of the flour the other night and thus I decided to redo my pantry (post coming soon). So here's some cute pictures of my little menace:
And then every once in a while I will catch my little angel like above. Awww!
And then every once in a while I will catch my little angel like above. Awww!
Big Red Ball
Mom bought Wyatt this giant red ball that you can climb into and roll around in for Christmas. It is a wonderful tool to help him blow off some energy when it is too cold to go outside. They have loved it literally to pieces. Ike was scared to climb in it....so after a week or so when he finally did, I was able to take the cutest pictures of him.
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