Taken Over By Toys- Part 2

Well, I told you I would get Andrew's room done today and guess what? I actually did! This was the absolute worst of all the messes from the toys. Andrew actually plays with his toys pretty much constantly. I love that about him! He loves to act out books he has read and movies he has seen using his toys- Thomas the train, Cars, and Toy Story are his loves. I enjoy seeing his comprehension skills as he plays. Nothing beats dramatic play! So, I had to figure out a way to keep this going, while organizing all the toys in his room. I think I have rearranged his room about 3 times in the last year, but I think this time that I got it! I almost moved his room and Madelyn's room around, but Jason suggested I measure first and low and behold the rooms are exactly the same size. So, no luck! Here is what I did:

He got a train table from his Nana and while it is huge, it really contains his trains much better than before. I put the train table under his window. This was a strategic move, because his toys tend to travel down the hallway and end up everywhere. This keeps them on the opposite side of the room and the bed is in the way, so they are contained in his room!! Yea!! I was using his dresser as a nightstand, but decided to switch those around and go back to the nightstand by his bed. I also moved his book shelf to the wall by the door.
Here is another view of his room. It really looks a lot better. I didn't do a close up of his tree, because it still isn't finished, but it is a Razorback tree!

I had most of his toys in his closet in plastic storage bins- one for each type of toy. Well, that wasn't working out for me, so I got three bins that go under his bed. One for cars, one for trains, and one for toy story. If it didn't fit in one of those boxes then it went upstairs to the playroom (which is my next battle!). I moved out the shelf that was in his closet and put it in Madelyn's closet. I put his small brown shelf in his closet and the bins hold shoes, winter stuff, and a couple of special toys. The bins at the top hold keepsakes and school work. His games are also on the top shelf.

I am so happy to have the kid's rooms organized! It has really been difficult trying to figure out what to do with everything. Next up, the playroom...but not for a few more days!

Taken Over By Toys- Part 1

If you haven't noticed, there hasn't been much blogging from me over the last few months. Here is why...I have been in the middle of a hostle take over by the toys in our house. We had toys coming from all directions. Covering the house. I tripped over several dozen cars and trains, slipped on the books that were all over the floor, stubbed my toes on ride-on toys, and wouldn't dare walk through the house at night. It didn't matter how many plastic storage bins I bought or how much I tried to explain the importance of "putting things back where they belong" no one seemed to get it and I was beginning to wonder if Toy Story was true, because I was just sure I put things away. Anyway, I decided something had to be done, but I didn't have any idea what it was and everything that I tried just seemed to make more of a mess and cause things to become even more disorganized. So, I have decided that instead of letting these toys take me over and possibly cause me to end up on an episode of Horders that I was going to do something about it! In the meantime, we have had both kid's birthdays and Christmas is coming, so I knew it was about to get crazy around here! So today, I got started and I accomplished part one- the kid's rooms. This post is about Madelyn's room and Andrew's will come next. I still need to finish his closet and he went to bed early, so I am waiting. He never goes to bed early!

There was a lot that needed to be done in Miss Madelyn's room. The first thing was starting on her "big girl" room. I had found some fabric I loved and wanted to center the room around this fabric. My grandmother had these wonderful curtains made and used the birds in the fabric to make pictures to go above her bed. I love it! We are not ready to convert her crib just yet, but we do have a few pillows to use when we search for her bedding. I think that the curtains really change the feel of her room. And in the corner you can see her adorable little tree! Yes, I am decorating for Christmas early.
I changed her shelves up a little too. I had baskets on them that I used when she was littler, but they just didn't look right on the shelves. They kind of looked to messy, so I moved them to her closet where they are just perfect! I am still putting up a little Christmas stuff in her room and I plan to put some other things on her shelves later, but for now, I am happy and I think they look much more organized! Also, her kitchen is in the corner. I decided that one way to corral the toys was give the kids two things to play with in their room. Madelyn- kitchen and baby doll stuff (that Santa is bringing) and Andrew- trains and cars. That solved a lot of my toy takeover problem. Everything else is going to the playroom, although right now it is in my dining room!

A close up of her little tree. I am loving some deco mesh this year! Maybe a little too much!

And her closet. Ahhh! It just makes me happy to look in here! It is so organized! The bins are not all full to save room for Christmas toys and everything has a place. Who knew how much happiness could come from an organized closet?!

So, my first battle has been won and tomorrow I will finish battle number 2, Andrew's rooom!

The Rainbow Fish Mystery

Ok, this was just to funny not to write down. This is more for me to remember than anything else!

This morning, I went into Andrew's room to get his clothes out of his drawers and noticed two shiny rocks on the bedroom floor. I then saw water splattered on top of the dresser. I peeked into the fish bowl and there was no fish in sight. I quickly shook the fish bowl and again, no fish. I turned on the light to explore the situation further and still no fish. About that time, I glanced over at Andrew's bed to see a streak of fur jumping off and darting away.

I went to tell Jason that there had been a death in the family. He did not believe me right away, so he went to check it out. Being a male, he is very observant, so when he also didn't find a fish I knew Rainbow was hanging out in fishy heaven...or the belly of a very large cat.

I was already running behind and this tragedy just set us back about 10 more minutes. I loaded the kids up with intentions of heading to Wal-Mart during my lunch break to purchase a new fish. I went home to eat lunch and checked the bowl. Still no fish. I ate my lunch and then got sucked in to a very powerful episode of The View. My hour was wasted, so I didn't get a fish.

I got a text from Jason asking if I got a new fish. I hadn't. I hoped that we would get him and Andrew just wouldn't notice. I let him eat a can of Pringles and watch all the Handy Manny he wanted as a distraction. He went into his room and I followed. The kid didn't notice that there was no fish! Success!

After he left his room, I checked the bowl again and I see the body of Rainbow Fish. I am quickly planning his funeral, burial at sea, as I see him start to wiggle. I shake the bowl and he wiggles some more. Then he starts swimming. I walk out of the room, walk back in, check the bowl again (I have pretty terrible vision, so my eyes could have been out of focus) and there is the fish.

I have no clue as to how the fish got back in the bowl. Or where on earth he has been all day, but I am glad to know that my cats are not fish eaters...or at least that I have one very cleaver fish, who I am considering renaming Lazarus.

It's been six years...

...and I still haven't properly displayed our wedding pictures. Until now! I have had a few wedding pictures displayed, but there were so many that I liked and wanted to do something special with, but I just couldn't find the right way to do it. I am re-doing our bedroom (along with every other room in this house :)! I sold our furniture (and we are sleeping on a mattress until the new stuff comes in) because I wanted something that took up less space. I always felt like our room was too crowded. We had our dresser on the wall in our bedroom between the windows, but I don't want the dresser to go there this time. So, I started googling ideas for what to do with this wall. It's not a big space, but I couldn't decide what to hang there. I was going to do some sort of photo collage, but I have them all over my house and I wanted this one to look more unique. So this is what I did...

I bought 9 cheap ($4.00) frames from Wal-Mart. (Have I mentioned that I am trying to be crafty, but not spend a fortune on it?) These two pics got out of order! I ran out of tape and used band-aids to attach the pictures!

I had mats cut at Hobby Lobby for the frames, some vertical and some horizontal.

Oh, I am using my t-shirt quilt as a bedspread for our mattress...it makes me feel young again!

I arranged the frames how I wanted it to look when it was on the wall.

I found these command picture hanging strips at HL and used them. They worked great!

These were the most expensive part of the project!

I started by hanging the first frame in the center of the wall and then just lining the rest along with it. Kind of like a puzzle!

Ta-da! The finished product! I am in love with this!

A better shot! It took me about 30 minutes to do the whole project. Easy and inexpensive!

Another view. Our room is blue and brown, so that is why I choose the blue mats. I like the way they look. I tend to do black and white for everything, so I wanted to add some color!

It's A BIG BIG Calendar!

I have this massive wall in our laundry room and every day when I come home I look at this wall and think "I need to do something with this." I tried several different options and nothing ever looked right, so the wall just turned into a big mess of holes. I thought about having some sort of organizational tool on the wall, but I didn't want anything that would stick out to far. It's not a tight squeeze, but it's not wide enough to have anything really sticking out from the wall, so I was kind of at a loss. I saw a thing in Southern Living where someone had made a cork board wall and turned it into a calendar. I loved that idea, but didn't like the idea of cork board (because it was pretty expensive!). Another battle I was fighting was the fridge. It is always over run with invitations, artwork, etc. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE all of those things, but I just wanted some way for it to look more organized. And then I saw the ad for magnetic paint! I knew that I could do something awesome with that stuff and so the BIG BIG Calendar was born!

So, this stuff is great! I used the whole bottle of this stuff. It is the best glue ever! I googled all kinds of adhesives and this was the winner...Liquid Nails!
This is the fabulous magnetic paint!

I bought some moulding from Lowe's and painted it black to make the frame for the calendar. I believe it is 5 feet long and 8 feet wide. Yeah...BIG!

And the paint roller, just for show!

My big, blank, hole covered wall. I guess I could call it my "muse"!

The first thing I did was make the frame. I had to use the leveler to make sure that it was completely even. I used the liquid nails to adhere the moulding to the wall.

This was the most difficult part. I had to measure each space and make sure that the lines were even. I used blue painters tape for this.

I had to paint about three coats of the magnetic paint. I honestly could have done more and probably could have done thicker layers, but it is what it is and I am not re-doing it!

I painted over the magnetic paint with blue paint. I just like the blue and it matches the curtains. Once the whole laundry room is done I will share those pictures!

I pulled off the painter's tape after the paint had dried. I was so proud that the lines were straight and even!

I used the liquid nails again to attach ribbon to the wall along the grid lines. I wanted something fun that matched the curtains. I knew that changing the ribbon each month was not something that I was going to want to do.

I made days of the week signs and hung them up at the top.

Close up of the days of the week.

I used chip board letters from Hobby Lobby and decorated them for each month. I decided that these would be specific to the holdays or seasons that are in that month. August doesn't really have anything, so I just made it pretty and bright for summer! I got scrapbook paper to cover the letters and stickers and embellishments to go on them. I cut ribbon to hang them above the calendar.

A close up of the letters. They are really fun to do! It made me miss scrapbooking (now mine are all digital) but, I don't want to get into that at this point of my life! Too busy to do that!

Here is July. I am doing each month as it comes. I think that it will be easier that way and I won't get board and just throw them together. At least that is the hope!

And here it is! I love it! I can hang invitations on the date of the event. I also plan to make little signs for different things- appointments, birthdays, holidays, school, church, etc.

These are the number cards. I want to do something different and probably have them laminated. Madelyn has torn up the bottom ones, but I plan to use this as a teaching tool also!

Close up of one of the squares. It has the invitation and date (that M tore up!). I used velcro to attach the numbers so I can move them around easily.

So that's my calendar. It's pretty fun! I love walking in and seeing it on the wall. There are still minor adjustments to be made, but this is it for now!

Making It Work

There is a lot of behind the scenes planning that I have to do to make things flow for our family. Thankfully, planning is one of my favorite things to do! I've had many people ask how I make things work and how I am able to do so much with the kids while working full time, so I will let you in on my secrets!

Step One: Divide Your Year
Yes, I do know that there are seasons that do that, but I follow my own seasons! As a teacher (and now preschool director) I divide my time a little bit differently than most. My "year" does not begin in January, it begins in August. I have four seasons in "my year," but they are not necessarily the same as winter, spring, summer, and fall. My seasons are divided like this Start of School- Christmas Break, January-Spring Break (mid-March), Spring Break-End of School and then, Summer Break.

Step Two: Plan Ahead
I try to plan my "seasons" before they begin so that I am on track. In order to do that, sometimes I will take a vacation day from work and make my plan. I'm telling you, my one vacation day to spend some time by myself and think makes a world of difference for me! I take all of my calendars out and start compiling a list. You will learn that I have a great love for list making! I take the school calendar, the church calendar, my personal calendar and start planning. I break down the planning into different areas: Work, home, kids, church, holidays, appointments, and other (there always has to be an other- I can't stand stuff without a category!).
Work: I think about what major projects I need to accomplish, work out a timeline for completion, and then put it on the calendar with tasks needed to accomplish each day. I take big events- programs, parties, etc.- and figure out what needs to be done for those and get that on the calendar.
Home: I like to do random projects around the house, so once again, I make a timeline of how to complete each task.
Kids: This is where I include anything that is pre-scheduled (well-checks, dentist, etc.). I also include when I need to do shopping for clothes, birthday, Christmas, or other holidays.
Church: We know that we are there Sunday am & pm, and Wednesday nights, but there are other occasions that we attend, as well. I also make sure that I know what is going on around the church during the day for scheduling purposes, etc.
Holidays: I like to make a plan for what we are going to do and have it set, so that we can make sure that Jason gets off work if he needs to, etc.
Appointments: This should explain it itself!
Other: Anything else that we do that I need to make sure I have included.

Step Three:
Review, Review, Review! This is where I make sure that I didn't leave anything out!

Step Four:
Compile a master list. I love to make tables and charts, so this is fun for me! I put all my projects, etc. on to the list for me to keep during the "season" and make sure I get things finished.

Step Five:
Fill out the calendar. This is the hard part. I try and schedule things on the calendar that it does not get too overwhelming for me! I try and leave one day a week empty for my "catch up day" this is usually Thursday. I don't schedule anything big for Tuesday, because that is our staff meeting day. I like to make sure that each day I accomplish something and have time to catch up, without totally feeling overwhelmed before I even start!

Step Six:
Take a nap!

I know this sounds a little excessive (or maybe crazy), but this is how I have to do things so our schedules run as smooth as they can. Now, I don't panic when things come up that I didn't plan for...ok, I do panic, but having the plan makes things easier. I don't forget what I need to do or get sidetracked too much! If Jason hadn't taken my camera to be cleaned, I would take pictures of the charts and stuff (but, you would probably be bored to tears!). So, if you actually finished reading this post, maybe there is something that you can take from it to make your life easier!

Big Blogging Breakthroughs!

Since I seem to be changing, updating, and organizing most things in my life, I have decided to attack this blog! I have wanted to do this for quite a while. I just feel like I can maybe give you a glimpse into our "real life" and show you how we do things. By we, I really mean me! Being a mom is a hard job, being a wife is a hard job, running a home is a hard job, and add in a full-time job (which is actually the easiest of all the jobs) and you have mass chaos. Or at least I do! It is a battle every day to try and keep things calm around here and if you've been around my sweet little family, calm would not be one of the adjectives used to describe us!

I have done some tests on my strenghts and mine are:
Strategic- I always have a plan and I am always planning what my next plan should be!
Discipline- I set my own deadlines, I make sure I get things done, etc.
Belief- My core values are the most important and they cannot be changed
Responsibility- I feel responsible for each thing that I am held accountable for. I also bite off more than I can chew sometimes!
Focus- I can concentrate on a single task until it's done

So I want to use my God given strengths to His glory in all that I do at home, at work, everywhere. So that is what this blog is going to become. And yes, there will still be plenty of pictures of the kids!

Everything's Bigger In Texas

This summer, Jason and I decided to do a small vacation with the kids and a big vacation to the beach by ourselves. I have to say, traveling with children should be considered "business travel" and not a vacation! We had a great time, don't get me wrong, but it is just work to keep everyone happy! We thought flying would be the best option for us and it would be a really short flight from Tulsa to Dallas. The only problem was the hour delay at the airport. This caused us to be flying right about their normal naptime, so it was meltdown time! Thankfully, we made it to Dallas in one piece!

Madelyn didn't want to sit in my lap, she wanted to sit on the floor. The stewardess gave her a coloring book, so she colored for a while.
Then, she laid down to rest! Yes, my child is barefoot and no, I do not care! She got a good scrubbing later!

Andrew passed out right as we started our descent into Dallas. Of course!

Clearly, the nap was not enough. Andrew threw an enormous fit while we were getting in line for the rental car.

We got checked in to the hotel and relaxed for a little bit and then headed to the Grapevine Mills Mall. We did a little shopping and stopped at Build-A-Bear. The kids had never done it before and I was just sure they would LOVE it. It wasn't the dream that I had pictured it to be where they were running in and every so sweetly choosing their bear and quietly watching as it was stuffed and then picking an adorable outfit to dress it in. It was chaos, but such is life!

Andrew chose a bear that he named Lovey Bear and Madelyn chose a cat that she called Kitty. Andrew really got into the bathing and dressing part, but I couldn't really watch him since Madelyn was running all over the place trying on little tiny bear shoes. What can I say? She is a shoe girl!

Andrew and his bear in Cars 2 pajamas. He had to wear his Cars 2 pjs that night just like his bear! So sweet!

After Build-A-Bear we ate dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. I love that place! It is so loud and my kids just fit right in! We sat right next to the elephants.

The balloon lady made them each a balloon elephant.

The next morning we went swimming, well Andrew and Jason went swimming, Madelyn and I walked up and down these stairs about 85 times. She is not into the water this year AT ALL!

Andrew, on the other hand, is loving the water! He won't get in without Jason or I. It's funny the things that he is cautious of. I am thankful water is one of those things!

Later that afternoon we went to the Galleria. We did quite a bit of shopping! Jason got him a birthday gift...did I mention he turned 31? They had a great playground on the top floor and the kid's loved it! They were able to burn some energy before they had to get back in the stroller.

Andrew on the elephant.

You can't tell in the picture, but the crocodile has a head that is separated from it's body to look like it is peeking up from the water. Andrew took one look and ran to the back to try to push it together. He said, "this crocodile is broken." I am so thankful for his humor!

That evening we took the kids to see Cars 2. Andrew LOVED every minute of the movie. He was so good! I see many more movie trips in his future. Madelyn did great through the previews, but the moment the movie began she was done. I took her to get some milk (that was $4.10) and she took a bottle and fell asleep on Jason through the whole movie!

Andrew brought Lightning McQueen and Mater to the movie with him. He dropped them about 6 times and I had to climb under the seats to get them. It was pretty gross!

Day 3 we headed to Legoland. It is in the Grapevine Mills Mall, so it is a lot smaller than the theme park in CA. It was great for the kid's ages, but it was pretty crowded (and expensive!) so we didn't stay all that long. The kids did have a good time while we were there.

Madelyn's favorite thing was the slide. She climbed up and went down over and over again! She has no fear!

The Miniland part of Legoland was pretty neat. They had all kinds of landmarks from Dallas/Ft. Worth made out of legos. I thought the Cowboy's Stadium was really neat. The football players moved on the field.

After Legoland we headed down to the Stockyards. We ate lunch and Andrew ate tons of salsa and cheese dip! He loves it, just like his mom!

And just because she is so stinkin' cute! My Madelyn!

We watched the cattle herd. It was HOT!

The Texas Longhorn Cattle!

The biggest hit of the trip...the $1.00 petting zoo! The kids loved it!

This baby goat was 2 weeks old. I could've taken it home with us...if it would stay that size forever! Madelyn kept saying "baby, baby."

Andrew did a great job feeding the animals. He made sure that each one got the same amount of food! He has to be fair!

Madelyn wanted to feed the animals, but she didn't want them to lick her hand, so she just threw it on the ground and said "here go."

That evening we went to the pool. Madelyn would rather watch Mickey Mouse on the iphone.

Andrew swam with Jason!

We had a really great time. It was the perfect amount of time for the kids to be gone. Now we are counting down the days to Grand Cayman...and planning next summer's vacation. I am thinking a Disney Cruise!