Vacation Binder and Exercise Log

 If you've spoken to me at all in the last 5 months, chances are that I've mentioned my latest obsession. It's a blog called A Bowl Full of Lemons . This lady is who I want to be when I grow up. She is completely and totally organized and I've been studying her every move and implementing many things in my own home. Something Toni is big on is binders for corralling paper. She has budget binders, planning binders, cleaning binders, etc. This week I instituted my own binders and I wanted to show them to you. The first one is my exercise log. I found a great printable online here and I printed out many copies on cardstock and I've found them to be simple and really all I need.  

Every day I log my miles, calories, time and incline on the treadmill in the basement.

  Here's the sheet where I can see how many days in a row I've exercised. I love checking off the day on this sheet post-workout!

 I hauled out my 1" wide label tape for the binder spine.

I got my binders at Staples (because I had a coupon) and while I was there, I found this handy thing. It's like a wall pocket for binders and office papers, but it's smaller than letter size. It's called a supply organizer.  It fits my mini binder perfectly! My treadmill is set up in the basement next to the heater and all of it's duct work, so the magnetic mount organizer is just what I needed! I throw in my favorite mechanical pencil and I'm good to go. Tracking my cardio consistency is such a motivation for me!

My other new binder is a vacation planner. We'll be traveling this summer and as I was printing out itineraries and flight confirmations, I was trying to find a place for all of my paperwork.

 I made a quick binder cover with old scrapbook paper and brought out my handy label maker again to print out the necessary divider labels. My labels are Transportation, Accommodations, Packing, Itinerary, Calendar, Food and Maps. 

 Now I have one place to stash all of my packing lists, mapquest routes, hotel confirmations, maps, brochures, EVERYTHING!

 I also bought the Vacation Planning Kit for CleanMama on Etsy. I love her printables, but I haven't filled these out yet. That's one fanstastic thing about printables~ once I buy and save them to my computer, I can print these out for as many trips as I'll ever need.

 In the "Maps" divider, I have a clear plastic binder pocket where I keep road maps and brochures.

 Here's the "Calendar" tab. I have a few months included (even before and after vacation) so I can be fully prepared and see more of the big picture of how vacation fits into our life.

 I get excited to add all the goodies like travel details to my vacation binder! Summer just can't get here fast enough.

Overall, I love these binders and how they are working out for me. I'm pretty sure that's the key to organizing well~ finding what works for you and fits into your life.

I finally did it!

This May will mark our 8th year in this house, believe it or not. We moved in just after Baby #1 turned a year old, and I was about 6 weeks pregnant with Baby #2. Of course, being a first time homeowner, we had a lot of builder-grade everything and I woke up every morning with the burning desire to paint every wall in our new abode a deep, rich color. Fast forward almost 8 years, and I'd like to think that I have matured and mellowed quite a bit. Our walls are much more neutral and we have marks and scuffs of much love from living as a family of seven in our sweet, albeit shrinking, home.

Now, I'll be the first to admit, I am a home junkie.  I think growing up as the daughter of an architect and touring great homes and building sites had a fantastic affect on me. The smell of drywall is easily one of my favorite smells ever.  Anyway, I've noticed a growing trend of painted cabinets on HGTV, on Pinterest, in home magazines, etc. (Check out my Pinterest page for some of my favorite home ideas.) My kitchen cabinets were a medium oak-y color, but the finish was not wearing well with our large family dynamics. I knew I had to face my fears and help my poor cabinets a little. Why "face my fears"? Well, like I said, I grew up around a lot of spectacular homes and the term "resale attributes" is something I think about everytime I bring out my hammer or the paint or my drill. "What if I screw it up?" What if it looks terrible?" "These are solid wood cabinets! What if I'm ruining them forever?"

Well, 2 weeks ago, I put the "what if's" behind me and dove in. I sanded, primed, sanded, painted and repeated. I still haven't sanded after the first coat and applied the second coat, but it's coming very soon. My family was really tired of not having drawer fronts and cabinet doors and they wanted their dining table back, so I'm taking it one step at a time.

 Can you see the huge difference? It is almost like night and day! It is spectacularly bright in our kitchen and so much more cheerful than that oak-y brown stain. You can also see that old brown color in the above shot where I haven't done the spot under the cabinets, but believe me it will be done soon.

I used Kilz oil-based no-odor primer (highly recommended) and Olympic oil-based semi-gloss in 'Horseradish'. My original paint chip was Valspar's 'Bay Oyster' ~ I love that name~ but 'horseradish' was the closest shade that Olympic could match.

I even picked up some better cup pulls for my drawer fronts when I was they were clearanced at Target.

(Clearly I also need to use my camera tripod more often.)

So there you have it. The mini kitchen make-over that cost lots of hours and hard work, but only about $40 and gave new life to the hub of our home.

I Ikea-fied our bedroom

 

Last month, my family and I trekked northward for our first Ikea experience ever. And let me tell you it was everything I had imagined, all at once. We had made plans to hit up a few of the other stores we don't have in our town, but we didn't actually get that far. We twisted and turned our way through the Ikea Marketplace, not even venturing up into the showrooms, and that alone took almost all of our time. I loved the kitchen wares and the textiles, frames, planters, lighting and the furniture section (which is another post all together) but my very favorite was the self-serve fabric counter. My mind began spinning when I saw that gorgeous blue floral pillow back in textiles. I knew our bedroom would never be the same.

  I love the backs of the pillow almost as much as the front. Almost.

 When I ventured to the cutting table, I found coordinating navy /tan stripe clearanced for $3.99 / yd and almost had a heart attack right there. I bought 6 yards of the stripe and 2 of that fantastic blue check (because that was $8.99/yd). Then the Map Pillow. My poor husband. He must of thought I was crazy because I think I was shaking with excitement at that point.  

We had a cash budget set aside for this trip and I had a piece of furniture that was on the top of my list, so I calculated all the yardage for the duvet cover carefully and realize that it would be more economical to back the cover with that blue bedspread I had just passed up in the linen section. I was in love just looking at everything already coordinating in my cart, yet also not being matchy- matchy, which is exactly what I wanted to avoid.  I picked up that ruffle pillow and I that point I couldn't wait to get home and finish my new bedroom.

This whole project was so super simple. How simple? Simple enough to not even use a pattern. I cut my huge 6yd cut of stripe in half, matched the edges and sewed the panels together so that you can't see they were pieced. I used my old pillow sham dimensions to make the new navy check shams. I made the duvet ties from some torn scraps from that navy check.

(A word about the chicken pillow. I was not anticipating putting a chicken of any sort on our bed. However, I found that our Ikea has a clearance section off to the side of the warehouse right before you get to the checkouts. I took a peek and found a large plastic bag of fabric scraps stapled shut. I saw quite a bit of that navy check in the bag and decided to take the $2.99 gamble. I check out, make my way to the car and open my goody bag: that piece of blue check was actually this 19" pillow cover. For now it lives on our bed, but I haven't decided it that is the permanent home. Feel free to give your opinion in the comment section.)

Housework is not always my favorite thing, but I guarantee you that I smile every day when I make our "new" bed.

Christmas Construction

(I'll turn the pictures around and add some actual words soon. We're out the door for now, but I'll be back later to tell you all about how I bite off WAY more than I can chew and then impose impossible deadlines on myself!)

Oh, yeah. It's our new floor.

After!

Just in time to watch my Phillies!

(Please ignore the cables~ I'm currently devising a scheme to conceal them.)

Before

Do you like my tv console? In a past life, it was a nasty, nasty beaten up dresser with carvings and stickers all over the outside and one of the top drawers was missing. The hardware and finish was hideous.

It was perfect.

It was listed on Craigslist for $15.

I emailed the owner and asked if I could take it for $10 if we picked it up in an hour. She said yes. Yeehaw!

I sanded and sanded and sanded, bought beautiful new hardware (for an incredible price on eBay) and hauled out my trusty can of black paint. After I moved my piece de resistance to the living room, I removed the other top drawer and drawer tracks and placed in my satellite receiver and dvd player. I went to HomeGoods that night and found a small wooden tray just big enough to fit next to the dvd player to hold those ever-missing remotes. The drawers are now lined and hold my Snuggie (yep, I said it) and blankets (see the red popping out of that drawer up there?) and cds and dvds and those other things that you'd rather keep out of view.

See that fancy, high quality, large, state of the art tv up there?

Stay tuned....

So, I've Been a Little Quiet

Yes, I'm still here. I guess it's time for an update.

I'm still pregnant. 38w 3d to be exact. I guess I'll confess that I had been hoping that our little bundle would have arrived by now, but I'm trying to be patient. Actually I'm more than happy that it looks like he truly will be a May baby; I'm not impatient to hold him. The truth is, I've been having contractions (some easy and some debilitating) every 25-45 minutes since Wednesday at 7am. I am in pain. My muscles are very sore. And on top of that, it's a little frustrating that the contractions aren't exactly speeding up yet either. Let's change the subject.

On a doleful note, Tim's dad passed away early on April 17th. Tim and his brothers had had the opportunity to visit him just last month as he exited the hospital for the last time and we're so thankful that Tim was able to be there to visit that last time. Although his passing wasn't sudden, it was definitely shocking and terribly sad. Tim drove up a few days later with 3 of our kids to be with his mom and brothers for the funeral. (I wanted to write about last week, but I think it would have been terribly unwise to tell the internet that I was home alone and my husband was very far away.) My husband and big kids returned from their long journey on Easter Sunday night. Adam and I were anxiously awaiting them with a good Easter dinner and Easter treats for everyone. I wished I had been able to go, but in my condition, it really was pretty unwise to travel by car so far away. Adam stayed with me and we rested and relaxed for the days the rest of the family was away. It was really quiet around here with just the two of us~ I was so happy to be able to finally squeeze my little joyful noisemakers when they returned.

While my family was away, I had a doctor's appointment and the ladies at church threw a sweet baby shower for me and Aaron and for another friend and her little pink bundle of joy. We had a great time and afterward my friends took me along on an expansive tour of all of the formal dresses throughout the nearest mall. I was super exhausted, but we really did have a great time together.

Oh, I also made new curtains while Tim was gone.

This time that I have on my hands have been filled with little last minute things for baby's arrival. The infant car seat is in the car, the bassinet is set up about 4 feet from my side of the bed, pacifiers have been ordered and delivered. And since Adam has all but adopted his baby brother's blanket, I ran out today to JoAnn's 1 day sale to buy more fabric for another blanket... or two.

Did I mention that we converted Adam's crib to a toddler bed a few weeks ago and he loves it? And I love it because I can tell him that it's time to get in bed and he goes and does it.

(Ok, he's on the couch in this picture, but you get the idea...)

And lest you forget, I actually did get the labels done for Adam's little bookshelf drawers. I didn't make them from fabric like I had planned, but I printed out the tags on paper and then laminated them and attached them to the handles of the drawers with some kitchen twine.

Monday's "to do" List

Whew! Monday is here again and the list of work keeps growing! I don't know about you, but my life would be absolute chaos without a daily and weekly to do list. Usually I begin with the daily list and add things that I'd like to have done by the end of the week.

• LAUNDRY [x]
  
• inventory kids summer clothes [x]
  
• pack hospital bag [x]

• clip, sort and file coupons from yesterday's paper [x]
  
• gather papers for pre-admission this week [x]
  
• dinner plan for the week[x]
• hospitality menu for Saturday [x]
  
• begin to pack away freezer meals for baby week
• find an out of the way place for 3 extra mattresses (details to come) [x]
  
• finish trimming the laminated Latin/English flashcards [x]

• remove diaper hook and loop tabs from remaining unconverted diapers
  
• iron Tim's shirts before they begin to multiply [x]
  
• finish new baby wipes

(Um, how long did it take me to figure out that brown wipes are the way to go?)

• order shorts for David using Gymbucks (poor kid has 1 pair in size 5!) [x]
  
• hem Tim's pants [x] (Hooray!)
  
• purge and de-clutter linen closet
  
• make fabric labels for Adam's new clothes bins

So many books in a room with 3 boys trying to nap was too much temptation. Now Adam has a perfectly accessible place for his clothes. Much better.

Oh, and some of this...

And all the while, I must keep this crazy, dirt attracting child out of trouble.

What does Monday look like at your house?

Monday, Monday

We had a wonderful weekend here at our little cozy hole. Tim and I got to sleep in on Saturday (very rare) and were able to start our weekend slowly with a nice cup of coffee. I dropped off a few garbage bags of stuff for Goodwill on the way as I headed off to Lowes to get the supplies I needed to finish off my really big laundry shelf.

(As you can see, I still need to sand the first coat of paint and apply the second.)

I also relisted the old washer and dryer on Craigslist and they sold within hours! Praise the Lord! There is nothing like selling things that you don't need and clearing out clutter at the same time. Seriously love it. After the man came to claim the washer and dryer, we made a nice trip to south Denver to The Container Store and a few other places. We really enjoy our trips to Park Meadows. It's far enough to be a treat when we get to go, but close enough to not take up our entire day.

A few months ago, we switched exclusively to rechargeable batteries. We are very much in the thick of "the little years" with our kids and that means toys with batteries, baby swings with batteries, even puzzles with batteries. This little investment cost a bit upfront (though I got a great deal from Amazon.com) but we are already reaping the benefits. To keep all of our rechargeables organized and put away, I bought this battery organizer at The Container Store. I'm not one to spend money on "uni-taskers", but I searched high and low for a battery organizer and this one just takes the cake. Did you notice the battery tester on the top?

And, Voila! My "new" laundry room!

Upgrade!

Hello world. We've been sick. Our days this week have looked exactly like the above picture with me sprawled out on the other couch. And this week has really knocked me for a loop. You can definitely tell that my immune system is compromised. Thankfully, yesterday I had an ob appointment (30 weeks, baby!) and I was diagnosed with a sinus infection. I can barely breathe and when I can breathe, I cough. :(
Anyway, I am now plugging away on my new prescription and seriously loving Tylenol cold for nighttime. Our baby is doing great meanwhile. Dr. Skiles put the doppler up to my tummy to catch his heartbeat and within a half second, he kicked the doppler really hard. Another strong little Giedd on the way. Also, I have to make an appointment within the next week to pre-register at the hospital. Isn't that crazy? Where did this pregnancy go? And, I'll be seeing the doctor in another 2 weeks, then for the weekly appointments! Wow!

The highlight of my week came yesterday though when our new washer and dryer (and 15.5" pedestals!) were delivered and installed.

I cleared out the old machines (we're selling them on Craigslist) , deep cleaned the floor and touched up the paint. I had big plans for the new machines! I bought 2 - 10' inlet hoses and an extra large discharge hose because...

See what I did there? Since the doors open out I didn't want them facing the other wall the way the old machines did.

Did I mention that my husband also bought me the pedestals too?! I love them! They raise the machines to the perfect height and they hold all of my laundry things~ my iron, detergent, starch, dryer sheets and so much more!

So, dear blog readers, I need your help. How would you advise me to maximize the remaining space in my laundry area? Personally, I'm thinking I should add 1 very large shelf the width and depth of the new machines for more storage. Dad, feel free to weigh in! (I would mount a frame of 1x2's around the perimeter where I want the shelf, maybe 2" above the washer and dryer, and then screw down the big piece of particle board.) Whaddya think?


P.S. Nancy! It was so good to hear from you! I'm sorry I never got back to you! Yep, it's boy #4 in a row for us! (You can pray for me~ and I'm not being funny. These boys are wonderful but they wear me our very quickly.) I can't wait for Baby Aaron to arrive and for me to reclaim my body! I would like to feel like myself again. I can chase kids a lot better without a child stretching and kicking from within me.
How are you coming along? Did you peek at your ultrasound? Are your other kids excited? When is your due date? My technical date is 5/13, but I'm placing my bets on the first weekend in May.

My New Whiteboard

Ok, This one was really easy, guys.

My mailbox is down the street from my house. I hate that. What happened to the days when you can keep your cute mailbox on it's post at the end of your driveway? Seriously, is crime so bad that you have to keep your mail locked away in a cold, ugly, metal, communal box?. Ugh, sin. Anyway, I walk to my mailbox down the street everyday. On the upside, I also get to say hello to my neighbors and remove myself from our property everyday, too.

A few weeks ago, walking towards said mailbox, I noticed a house nearby whose occupants were obviously booted from the premises. The house had been for sale for a while, and the outside had been trashed. Literally. A crazy mountain of stuff was out by the curb. I scanned it but saw only one remotely salvageable item. This large frame. It's made of MDF and very heavy. It had originally been used as a mirror ~ I know this because there was still a shard lodged inside. It is almost 4 feet tall and as soon as I saw it I had an epiphany. I knew exactly how I could use it. A whiteboard! A huge, substantial, practically free whiteboard for our home school, that wouldn't look half bad! Look at those ledges! They are perfect for holding dry erase pens and erasers! I lugged it back to my house with my car. There were two ugly metal geometric medallions flanking the sides, which I promptly removed, then filled the holes with wood filler.

A few days later I went to Home Depot with my right hand girl. We bought a 4' by 8' enormous piece of tile board/panel board (mention that it will be used for dry-erase purposes and they'll know exactly what you need) and had the nice man at the store cut it with the giant wall saw into a 29x30"piece. That cost us $12, but I used less than half of that giant board and I have huge pieces left over in my basement now. So I estimate that the exact piece of tile board/ shower board set me back about 5 bucks. I pryed open the top of the back of the frame and slipped in my new whiteboard and voila. Couldn't be easier! And now look at what we have~ a substantial piece for our schoolroom that cost almost nothing. I love free stuff. And I'm not ashamed.