Twice in One Week

Yep, you read that right.  I've organized two rooms in my house this week.  I'm pretty sure I must be losing it.  I typically survive in organized chaos.  It might not look like I know where anything is, but I can find anything (not including my keys) pretty quick.  But, after being home all summer and looking at this mess, I decided to do something about it.  Go figure that I waited until the week before I head back to work to get it done.  I never said I was speedy.  In my defense, I have completed more projects this summer than any other summer, ever.  Here's what I was working on today.  

Welcome to my laundry room.  I couldn't close the door if I wanted to.

Sadly, this is improvement...I got rid of tons of towels and rags earlier this week so this was just what I had left.

Yep, insanity.  How do I let things get to this point?  Well, here's what I accomplished (all in one nap time!!)

Look!  I can close the door!  Why this makes me so happy, I do not know.  But it does!

Yes, there is still a lot of stuff up there.  BUT, it is all organized according to its function. 

Wow!  I can see the top of my washer and dryer!  hehe  Here's hoping I can keep it this way!

Carie

On display

This week, Kelly at Kelly's Korner's topic for Show Us Your Life is picture displays.  I'm looking for new, great ideas because I have tons of pictures.  It makes my happy to have friends, family, and especially my babies all around me.  I've done some groupings with black frames and some with mixed frames.  I'm finding great ideas on Pinterest...it's just a matter of the time to get them done.  

Most of my groups are in hallways.  This is the little hallway as you come into my bedroom.  There is absolutely no good angle to take a picture from for this.  I love the black and whites mixed with big and small.  On the far left is an artists' rendering of our engagement picture.  I LOVE it.  I've just gotta talk him into doing one of each of my girls!

This is down the hallway to the girls' rooms.  I used black frames, brown frames, and silver.  This is where we have friends that are family and family mixed together.

Please excuse the treadmill in this picture.  This used to be over my desk, but since I've started running, I needed a permanent setup for the treadmill.  I'm not a huge fan of running, so the idea of my running in 100 degree heat with 100% humidity is ridiculous.  I'll take my treadmill with a fan in front of it any day.

I found this on Pinterest here.  I love the idea of the shelves lined with pictures. 

I found this idea here.  I'd love to try this!

And this one is here.  Isn't it fabulous, especially with that pop of color! 

Carie

A little of this...

Today's post is random.  I mean, it's more random than my normal posts, if that's possible.  I've been trying to enjoy my last few days with my girls since I go back to work on Monday (barring a HUGE promotion for my husband or a lottery win, that is).  It's just too hot to do anything fun. We hibernate in the air conditioning.  Even trips to Target, my favorite place, sound like work at this point.  

This is what I woke up to this morning.  Kayt decided to play dress up while her sister and I were sleeping.  I'm going to miss sleeping until 9am.  Six is going to come awfully early.  I should probably get back on that schedule before Monday, but I like my sleep so I'll just suffer next week.

Kennedy is teething right now.  This is one of her rare happy moments.  I think it's worse that she's waited this late to get her teeth.  It seems to bother her more than it does little ones.

The girls were walking in circles together this morning from the living room, through the dining room, into the kitchen, and back again.  On one of the passes, they had on backpacks.  Kayt said she was dropping Kennedy off at school before she went to her 5th grade class.  I guess she sees the older kids do that at school.  I think it's hilarious that the backpack is almost as big as Kennedy.

This is how Kayt occupied herself at the doctor's office today.  Kennedy had her 18 month appointment.  She weighs 25lbs and is 32" long.  She's SO much smaller than Kayt was at this age.  I know that's not tiny, but compared to my first one, it is.  Kayt hated hearing Kennedy scream when she got her shot.  Luckily, it was only one that our previous doctor's office had forgotten. So glad I changed doctors.  And the nurse handed her a cookie right after her shot.  The screams didn't last long! 

Another random thought, but I'm working on my Christmas shopping this week.  How early do you start yours?

Carie

A little organization

Today was "pantry re-organization day" at my house.  Doesn't that sound like fun?  I know you're sad you missed it!  Ha!  I wish I'd have missed it.  Here's what I started with:

The above picture is the floor once I decided to take pictures of this process.

 

This is what I had already pulled out from the floor.

Sad, isn't it?  Well, here's what I wound up with:

The whole reason this was a "must do" before I go back to work is because I couldn't close the door to keep Miss Kennedy out of here.  Now I can!!!!

 

I'm loving my dollar baskets from Target!  

I can't have a post without a picture of my girls for my mom!  They were watching Finding Nemo together this morning.  They actually shared a chair!  I just had to document it.  What have you organized lately?

Carie

So sweet!

One of Steve's best friends has a little girl 2 months younger than Kennedy.  They came to visit recently, and Addison and Kennedy had a blast.  Kennedy was so excited to have a friend who was her size to play with.  She's so used to having Kayt's friends around that I think she was in shock when Addison walked through the door.  Hugs were definitely part of their game plan.  It was so cute!

Aren't they precious???

And I just love it when Kennedy lets Kayt read to her.  Sweet girls!

Carie

New tricks

Kennedy has been busy learning new tricks this week.  Some of them are great...some not so much.  

We started using a fork this week.  She LOVES it!  She's almost gotten to the point that she refuses to eat if I don't give her one.

She's getting better each day at stabbing the food.  She'll even say "stick it".  Too funny.

She does get tired of how long it takes her and switches to her fingers at times.  Trust me, meal times are twice as long as they used to be!

She also decided it would be fun to pull out her dirty clothes basket, empty it, pull off the liner, and climb into it while eating a cheetoh she stole from her dad.  Cute yes, but such a mess!

Carie

Bathroom update

I finally finished my bathroom re-do.  Well, sort of.  I still have to gloss my ceramic thingy (yep, that's my technical term) that I have in the window.  Otherwise, this is how it's gonna stay...until I get bored again.  My mom found these towels in this fabulous color.  I had to change out all the stuff, but I think it was totally worth it!  I'm apparently horrible at taking pics of my home...maybe if I used the cheap camera it would be better??  You'll get the idea.

Isn't that color great?  Or maybe it's just that my bathroom has always been beige/cream with a touch of red that makes this seem like a lot of color.

I saw a lamp at Hobby Lobby (LOVE that store) with a flower on it and thought, "I can do that".  So, this is what I got.  I'm pretty proud of it. 

Here's a pic that includes the bench I recovered that I talked about here. 

We had originally done these hands and all of the blue was red.  Luckily, Kayt loves painting and jumped at the chance to re-do hers.  I'm just loving color!  What's your favorite color to decorate with?

Carie

Show Us Your Foyer

I'm linking up with Kelly at Kelly's Korner this week for her Show Us Your Life series.  This week, it's Show Us Your Foyer.  My front door opens to our living/dining room, so there's not really much of a foyer.  There is a little alcove beside the coat closet, though. This is what I've done with it.

Funny how I think I like the way things look until I take a picture of it.  This needs some more work!  I love the family rules, though. 

I also love this table.  My mom found it at an antique mall.  She sanded, painted, and distressed it for me.  I can't wait to see what everyone else has to get new ideas for mine!

Carie

Too hot for anything else

It's just miserable outside.  My husband recently asked my why anyone would choose to live in this part of the country.  We're not sure why Hawaii and California aren't more overloaded than they are.  In my opinion, it was too hot to even go to the pool.  My kiddos didn't agree with me.  Kennedy was not in the greatest of moods, so she doesn't look overly happy in any of these pics.  I still think she's too darn cute, though. 

This is what she does....she walks back and forth along the edge of the pool.  This pool is great for little kids...the deepest it gets is 1ft, 6" before the rope where the slides are.  It's a huge area to play in.  

There she goes.

She does take "sit" breaks as well.

Kayt is my "brown bear".  She LOVES the water.  She's not the greatest swimmer yet.  We're working on it.  We're going to dive, pun intended, back into swimming lessons next year.

She thinks she's so brave when she goes under the mushroom.  Kennedy wont go near it because it's really loud with all the water falling down.  

I'm pretty sure the kids are setting up a club in there.  What are you doing on these hot, miserable days?

Carie

A little face-lift

I re-did the blog tonight.  Kayt went to bed 30 minutes late because I got wrapped up in my task.  Oh well...that's what summers are for, right?  We had a lazy day today.  I took all the pictures that I have been stuffing in a huge drawer for years (years, I tell you, years!!) and put them in picture boxes.  Not a huge advancement, but I'd have to go through hundreds of albums if I did it that way.  Six boxes sounds much more reasonable to me.  And just because I hate posting with no pictures, here are my girls loving each other today.

Carie

A touch of COLOR!

My bathroom has always been the same colors...beige, cream, and burgundy.  My mom found these fabulous turquoise towels, and was nice enough to get them for me.  So....the bathroom has been in a bit of a remix this week.  I had this old bench that I was going to throw out.  But, my counter looked so empty with nothing under it.  

I thought if I trimmed of the tassel and recovered it, I could make it work.  The girls and I headed to the fabric store yesterday and I found this fabric on sale half price.  My sweet five-year-old "helped" me while the baby was napping, and this is what we got.

Go me and a staple gun!  I'm pretty impressed, and no one got hurt!  I'll show finished pics of the bathroom when I get them.  The light comes in from the window in this crazy way that makes it impossible to get a good pic in the daytime. Isn't it crazy how a little color can make someone so happy? 

Carie

Kennedy is 18 months old!

Wow!  That's all I can say.  I cannot believe that I've been blessed with this little angel for 18 months (and 10 days....yes, I'm late) already.  I'm also thankful for the job that I have which gives me the entire summer to spend with my girls.  I couldn't imagine life without this special time.  I will not lie and say there are not days this one makes me want to pull out all the hair that I have.  But while I'm screaming inside, I'm also thanking God for my girls and the time I have with them.  How lucky am I that they love each other so much! 

Kennedy, here is what you are up to these days:

You have some of the sweetest moments when you just want to snuggle.  I'm so thankful for this.  When you were in daycare, we rarely got hugs, kisses, or loves.  Now you give them freely. 

You still LOVE your paci.  You have been teething (finally) and refuse to teethe on anything else.  We used to make you keep your paci in your bed, but it really seems to help you, so we have let you keep it lately.  Don't worry...when those teeth come all the way in, it's going back in the bed.  And when you hit the grand old age of two, you're going to learn to throw it in the trash.  (Mommy has high hopes, huh?  hehe)

You are learning to share.  You'll even share your paci's (eww!).  You are getting much better at interacting with your sister and friends.  However, you are VERY possessive of certain things, and when you want it, it's yours no matter what we tell you.  Stubborn little rot!

You are in to everything!  Things we never had to put up or out of reach with your sister have been up for a while.  You are determined to have anything that you're not supposed to.  And you're so proud when you get it.  You're full of energy...I know you don't feel good when you actually sit with me for a while.  You love to be outside.  You always ask to go "side".  It's so hot and miserable right now that you get told "no" a lot.  You really don't like that word.  (Who does?)

I am still loving these blue eyes.  You have much more hair than you did before, but it's so light that you still look bald.  You shock people when you start running around because they think you are younger than you actually are.  You have your top two teeth, your bottom two teeth, and all four of your one-year molars have finally broken through.  Those were tough!  We took you to the doctor for a cold last week and you were 25.7 lbs.  I'm figuring after the week you spent at your Marme and Poppy's, you gained at least 3 more.  You're eating all kinds of things now that you didn't before.  I'm so thankful for that.  I felt awful for always giving you the same thing over and over.  It was all you'd eat for a while, but you're branching out now.

You are so expressive.  I can tell by the look on your face what mood you are in...and it changes by the second.  You are using so many words that I can't keep up.  You put two together, but not three yet.  You are down to one nap a day, but it's usually 2.5 to 3 hours.  You sleep for about 12 hours at night.

You are majorly routine oriented.  You like things to happen like they always do.  You know when we brush our teeth, when we fix our hair, when we take a bath, and you make sure you sister follows the routine.  You will holler "a-tee" for your sister constantly to  make sure she's keeping up.  You have even started telling us when you are wet or poopy.  I predict potty training will come WAY earlier than I am ready for.  You are also obsessed with shoes.  You always want to have them on, and you make sure everyone keeps up with theirs.  If you can get your daddy to start putting his in the closet, I'll give you a special prize!  You love to sing, dance, and read.  It melts my heart to watch you when music comes on!  

We love you, little biscuit, and are so blessed to have you with us!

Carie