Storage Boxes!

Last night DH took the boys out to play at the park and walk around the lake so that I could have some time to prepare for this weekend. The boys are staying with my in-laws Saturday night (the first time for the baby!), and I'm spending all day Saturday with 2 of my sisters and 2 of my sisters-in-law doing crafty things. We're all bringing whatever we're working on and doing it together- two bringing scrapbooking, one is going to finish her gift bags for her wedding (which is 3 weeks from tomorrow!), one is bringing her cross-stitching, and I'm going to be sewing like a maniac. All of our brothers and husbands are going to be doing a bachelor party type thing for the afternoon/evening in honor of our future brother-in-law. Basically because they are all gaming geeks, they're going to go out for an early dinner and then go back to my brother's house and have a giant LAN party.

So Last night I went to Target for a few things and then to Joann's Fabrics to get a few notions and fabric for our get together tomorrow. Here was my exciting find at Target:



The yellow cloth bins were on clearance for $3 each. The 3 long tins were in the dollar spot section and were $2.50 a piece. The cute little striped bucket was $1, and the splurge for me was the cream/blue/green cloth storage box at $14.99. The yellow bins are for in our minivan to keep some of our things under control. I leave a few books and toys in there all the time along with my baby wrap and I don't like to have them rattling around on the floor, so 1 bin is for those things. The other bin is going to be my "emergency" bin- a few extra diapers, wipes, hand wipes, hand sanitizer, some bottled water, 1 jacket per kid, and 1 change of clothes per kid- basically all the kid stuff that I very likely might accidentally leave behind or need suddenly for them.

The other bins were purchased to curtail the disaster in the space behind the couch:



Awful isn't it? There are a few stacks of laundry, bags holding my next few sewing projects, my couponing binder and a few unfiled coupon inserts, a box of random stuff, homeschooling materials, random kid toys.... I want this space to be neat! I'm putting a desk back there that will help me keep organized with things like coupons and homeschooling up on top, and I'm going to store my sewing things under the desk. The laundry shouldn't even be back there at all!

And just for fun, I want to list all my projects I'm hoping to accomlish this weekend:

1. Finish the denim and pink Apron I started last week (probably about 1 hour)

2. Nemo pillow case for DS1 (30 minutes, MAYBE)



3. Pink and green shirred dress for myself. (about 1 hour)



4. Blue flowered apron as a gift for my sister's wedding (I haven't made this pattern before so I'll guess 4 hours, but I'm hoping it will be more like 2.)



5. My Dollar spot Apron- I found these 2 cloth placemats at Target in the dollar store, and I'm going to reconstruct them into an apron. :) (about an hour, maybe 2, depending on how technical I want to get...)



6. PJ's for myself (about 4 hours)



7. A brown flowery dress for myself. (I won't venture a guess. I've never made anything like this before!)



I know that's a lot of plans- I want to get through the 3 aprons and the pillow case for sure and I'm pretty sure I'll get the shirred dress done also. I want to at least get the pattern pieces cut for the nightgown and the brown flowery dress, but I won't be heartbroken if I don't get to those. I know I'm already asking a lot of myself!

What We've Been up to..

I've been online very little in the last week or so unless it was work related or checking in briefly with the boards that I moderate. Here's what we've been up to around here:

Baking:



Off to the Park...



Playing around the house:



Sorting Summer and Winter Clothes and doing mountains of laundry:



Watching my husband play softball (his passion)



Getting back into couponing and watching my older son do magic tricks (don't ask why his "magic hat" is a baseball cap- no idea on that one!):



Teaching Big Kid to use scissors and working on our ocean:



I've been working a bit more than usual too, in preparation for a vacation we're taking at the end of the month. I think the bulk of my extra work load is over now thank goodness. Now I just have to pack and organize for vacation!

Monday Meanderings

All I can say this afternoon is how thankful I am for my mom. I woke up very sick in the middle of the night, and my mom came at 7 a.m. to pick up my boys and let me rest. I'm feeling somewhat better now after sleeping much of the morning, but still queasy and tired. Hopefully better soon.

Monday Meanderings



1. Bible: I'm continuing my study through John Piper's When I Don't Desire God. With my 2-year-old we are working on praying before meals and bed- how to sit still, and keep focused for that short amount of time. Daddy has been teaching him about things that we say while we pray, right now focusing on thankfulness. Our memory verse for the next 2 weeks is Jeremiah 10:12- "But God made the earth by His power; He founded the world by His wisdom and stretched out the heavens by His understanding."

2. Organizing: This week I'm trying to sort through summer and winter clothes for everyone. We have limited closet/dresser space around here, so seasonal things get boxed up in big plastic totes. I'm also going through all of my and my husband's things to see what can be donated.

3. Education: We were going to start our ocean unit today, but with me being sick it will wait until tomorrow. We have several activities planned, so we'll see how it goes and what he thinks. He's going to be 3 soon and he needs to be busier than he is right now, so we're going with a bit of a unit study.

4. Projects: I have 2 sewing projects I'd like to at least start- shorts for my 2 year old, and an apron for myself. I want to at least get pieces cut by Friday.

5. Must Do: I need to get the leftover boxes out of the living room and upstairs hall, get the boys in for pictures, and get the baby in for his well-child visit.

Our weekend

My husband has been out of town since Friday, so the boys and I have been doing our own thing. I took pictures, but my husband took the external hard drive that I use to store pictures so you'll have to wait. I will put up the pictures from our weekend once I'm able to get them all loaded- there are some great shots!

On Friday we made bread and did lots of housework. Exciting, yes?

On Saturday we ran errands in the morning, went to piano lessons, then to my parents house, where I sewed my very first pieces of clothing from a pattern- pajamas for my preschooler. :) My boys stayed overnight with the grandparents, and I came home intending to stay up a bit later than usual to get a few things done. I laid down while talking with my husband on the phone, and hung up the phone at quarter til 10. I remember telling myself I'd lay there for 5 more minutes then continue what I was doing.. I then woke up at 11:30 to turn off the light. :)

I slept for 10 hours and I have felt wonderful today. I got most everything done this morning that I had wanted to do last night. I went for lunch at my parents, picked up the boys and got them home in time for naps. The baby's nap only lasted 40 minutes (he really does not sleep much during the day- he is so different from my older one!) so I set him up with some toys while I sorted out his summer and winter clothes. It felt good to get that done! One more thing checked off of my project list. I also cleared out the expired coupons in my binder to be ready for this month.

Here it is, Sunday night, 10 p.m.- the boys are asleep, the kitchen is clean, the sink empty, laundry is folded and put away, and I have a good book. I wish my husband were home to cuddle with, but he will not be home until tomorrow. It is a good night, and it has been a great weekend.

Pictures tomorrow. :)

Today

Borrowed from Sandra over at Family Corner

Outside my Window... crickets and night critters.

I am thinking... about schooling/educating my son who will be 3 in the fall. I think part of his behavior problems lately have been boredom. I'm also unhappy that t.v. has become a daily thing and that every single day turning off the t.v. is an earth shattering event for him. *sigh*

I am thankful for...my husband. He has been such a blessing to me this week. He works overnights, and gets to bed around 6 a.m. and the boys and I wake at 7 a.m. Every morning this week I have woken to an "I Love You" Note written on the bathroom mirror, or laundry already started for me, or this morning's great present- a single rose. Love that man. :)

From the kitchen... Crockpot Chili was for dinner tonight, tomorrow's kitchen endeavor is going to be muffins to last us the next week or so.

I am going...to stop working for the night and get to bed!

I am reading...Sabrina by Lori Wick. I was in desperate need of a light read, and this has been a nice easy Christian romance. :)

I am hoping...that my work obligations will magically take care of themselves! I've been really wishing to be a stay-at-home mom lately. I do work from home, but starting in the fall I'll be up to working 30 hours a week, and I am really not liking that idea. I'm praying though for the leadership of my husband. This is the lesson I have been learning for a few months now, but I am really having to bite my tongue on this one and wait for him and wait for God.

I am hearing...the hiss of the quiet baby monitor, and listening to Fernando Ortega.

Around the house...all is quiet. It is long past bedtime, and my husband is already gone for work. I should have been in bed about 30 minutes ago!

One of my favorite things...warm strawberry rhubarb pie!

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week...finishing my work week tomorrow, taking my boys for 9 month and 2 1/2 year portraits, piano lessons on Saturday, and then spending the rest of Saturday at my mom's house learning how to follow a sewing pattern.