Week #2 Project: Simplify--Paper Clutter

I haven't posted anything in ages! But doing this new project over at simplemom.net has me quite inspired on many fronts and so here goes something new!

First of all I have to confess that I haven't finished the challenge to go through all the paper in my household. The first area I tackled is the area right next to what we affectionately call "the trash cupboard" this is where our junk mail accumulates. Next was the area next to my

recipe box where various recipes and often pictures and things similar in size to recipes accumulates and finally I'm tackling the desk in our office that gets all of the rest of the paper. The first two projects are complete. The desk will need more TLC tomorrow but I'll post my before and after pictures of the first two areas and my before picture of the desk now.

Incidentally, actually taking a picture of an area is a very good exercise for me for a couple of reasons: 1) pictures don't lie! Honestly these areas looked even junkier in the picture than they did in real life. I guess its the clutter equivalent to "the camera adds 10 lbs". 2) I'm not good at comparing things visually from one time to the next. So, if you go on a diet don't expect me to notice every time I see you how dramatically different you look.3) I actually feel like I'm accomplishing something!

Toy Organization

Toy organization really is the ultimate oxymoron and I am by no means perfect at it but a couple of things I try to do are as follows.
1. Incorporate the things my children use everyday into our decor. I have an antique hutch in the dining room that has a special place for crayons and markers so that it is easy for my children to put away their writing/drawing utensils as soon as they've finished using them. Also, I have a few cute vases that I use for storing colored pencils and paint brushes. They look sweet all grouped together on the shelf but can also be pulled down at a moments notice to be used. Finally, I have a basket of baby toys in the bottom of one end table all ready to go with toys to keep my boys busy for hours. My goal is to rotate toys in and out and that happens sometimes, naturally, but I want to be better about it. I do not store anything in this basket that wouldn't be okay for children of all ages to use.
2. We've made a rule that our kids (3 years and 5 years) are not allowed to watch anything unless their room is clean. They think twice about dumping baskets of toys now!
3. I also try to keep all of the toys in one place with a couple of exceptions.
That's all for now!

Creative Memories Inspirational Video

Dislocation

Yesterday was my dear hubbies 27th birthday!
All he wanted was a really clean house and I thought that was something I could certainly do since I'd been doing a pretty good job keeping up on everything this week. My grandma had come on Thursday for our big laundry day and I faithfully kept up on dishes and tried to keep up with the 18 month old messes (which is a formidable task). So, I felt like I could handle having the house really, really clean when Caleb got home from work.
What I didn't count on was that while shopping for one last bday gift for Caleb, Aubrey, who was holding my hand, would drop and dislocate her little arm. I spent the next two hours or so at my in-laws house trying to comfort her and care for her and suddenly she got better. So, when I got home I rushed to clean the girls room and before I knew it he was pulling up in the driveway. I was excited to see him but my heart sank because I wanted it to look really nice when he walked in the door and it didn't. So, I quickly went to the door to warn him before he walked in and of course he was all grace and concern for Aubrey but I still wished I had been able to finish everything before he got home. The thing was that after dad got home I finished up the girls room, put them down for naps and the birthday boy decided to take a nap as well so I had a couple of hours of quiet time to work like a wild banshee and so the house did get clean, the pizzas and brownie were made (the best whole wheat crust I've ever made) and I was reminded (by a very gracious God) that I can't do things in my own strength and why would I even want to when I have access to His strength? I'm so thankful for this reminder right before we're leaving for the Philippines. The stress of getting everything ready, the flight, the time change, not to mention the busy days when we're there are all completely under control when I'm resting in my Lord's will and His strength. But these next few weeks would be impossibly difficult if I tried to rely on my own resources.
Anyhow, I thought I'd post a few pictures that a very kind friend took the other day for us so that we could make a prayer card for our trip.

Mondays, runny noses and hidden pictures

So, I haven't really written any blogs about what is going on in our lives. I feel a little overwhelmed like I should write a book but really I know that isn't necessary. Let me just cover a couple of things.
Sophie
She cracks us up all the time. Yesterday she was commenting on how Uncle Kritter calls Aubrey "Crusty" and she doesn't like it. Caleb told her it's okay that's just his nickname for Aubrey and Sophie said "oh, you mean like Nick" (a guy who was over at our house Friday night).
She said something else last night that I can't remember.
Aubrey, well, she just walks around most of the time with a big grin on her face and her hands going up and down in the air. She thinks she's jumping when she does this.
They both love the sandbox Great Grandpa Cattermole set up for them last week and they both have extremely runny noses at the moment.
As for me, I'm excited about us going to the Philippines this summer (probably if God continues to open doors). We applied for passports this weekend. Boy, was that a big job. I finally got all of the birth certificates and everything all taken care of and we got to the post office and saw we had a rather long wait so we decided to take the girls over to my in-laws to take their nap and Caleb and I could wait in line and get everything taken care. Unfortunately, we didn't realize the girls had to be there for their passports. So, I went back to my in-laws woke the girls and brought them over to the post office. The whole process took from 1 until 4pm. But the girls did surprisingly well. I guess with all of our travel plans flexible children is a must.
I'm wanting to get a bunch of stuff done as usual today. Mondays are always an ambitious day for me. And I'm ready for my household to be healthy once again. Thankfully, it is at least clean.
I'm going to make the whole Corned Beef and Cabbage meal tonight for dinner. Maybe I'll try to do something fun and green for the girls, too. We will see. Oh, I highly recommend the Family fun magazine website. It is great for good, wholesome ideas for families.
Oh, speaking of that, when I was a kid we always got Highlights magazine and our 'highlight' of the magazine was the hidden pictures thing. Well, a couple of weeks ago we got a trial hidden pictures magazine geared for kids Sophie's age so we subscribed and this weekend we got the first one. It is so much fun. The new improved version is still black and white but you put colored stickers on the pictures when you find them. We've already had a lot of fun with it. You all should try it!

#71 Completed but not here

I forgot that ordering business cards was on my 1001 list. I did this last week. They're not here yet but I finally did it. I've had my Creative Memories business for two years and this is the first time I've actually done real business cards. I'm excited!

#27 Take the girls to the snow

I combined two of my goals last week and took the girls up to Wrightwood with my friend Elsie and her daughter. The other goal of seeing my grandma more regularly was accomplished as well. We went to visit her, had lunch and then headed up to Verdugo Pine's Bible camp where there was plenty of snow. We had a blast! We borrowed an inner tube from the Moss family and on Sophie's first trip down the hill she had a terrified look on her face but every trip after that she giggled and carried on the whole way down the hill. Then, we put Sophie and Soren in the inner tube together and they loved it. Next, Aubrey begged, signing 'please' repeatedly, with great enthusiasm pointing up the hill whenever the girls would ride the inner tube so we put Sophie and Soren on the bottom of the inner tube with their arms around each other and Aubrey on top. Sophie and Soren each held onto Aubrey with their free hand and all three girls rode down together giggling delightedly. It was so much fun! Elsie and I talked on the way home about how much fun it is to see your child having fun. I could never imagine that before I was a parent but I get it now. I suppose this trip was as much for me as it was for them.