Organized Playroom

Before...I am very ashamed to actually post these pictures!




























I accepted the challenge from Organzing Junkie to try to organize the playroom. Here are the after shots. I am not happy with the set up, so please make suggestions!

Organizing the laundry/mud room

Inspired by the Oranization Junkie I am working on finally getting this house set up and organized. With homeschooling starting soon, we need some order around here!

The obligatory "before" picture. Here is the mudroom/laundry room before. This is not anywhere near the worst is gets.



With 6 of us, we needed some way to keep track of shoes, book bags, coats, etc. Each girl and I have a hook. The girls each have a backpack on theirs, and a jacket. Some have epi-pen holders hanging there too. Mine has a sweatshirt and a jacket.

Below the hooks, you can see the drawers. Each of us has one, and each person knows which is their's by color. All shoes, hats, gloves, scarves, etc go into these drawers.

This alone has saved us at least 15 minutes every Sunday morning when we need shoes for Mass.

Brownies

Today the girls and I made 3 batches of the richest brownies ever! We used our family recipe, they stirred (Diva had a bowl, the twins shared one, and CG had a bowl) while I measured and poured - assembly line style. We even added mini M&Ms, yummy!

But I could not find the camera :( so no messy girl faces, and there were 4 at the time.

What's Your Challenge? GIVEAWAY!

Go over the Reluctant Entertainer and enter to win this beautiful apron and fun picnic items.

P is for...

P is for pokey-pine. Curly Girl reading to the wondertwins. :)

Summer is Here!

My 4 sweeties playing on the slip-n-slide.
C, Diva, Curly Girl, A

We decided to "wash" the van today. The girl had a blast smearing the dirt around on the van. They did a wonderful job considering their sizes and the fact that we did not use soap!
C, Curly Girl and Diva above
A (behind) and C (in front) below

This is...

This is why you do not leave 2 2 year olds alone with Spaghetti!

Big Changes

We have made so pretty major decisions lately. First of all, Teen will be returning to her family and public school in the fall. It was too hard for her to be away from her Mom and Dad for long periods of time. Second, we have decided to homeschool Diva and Curly Girl. We were all set to send them to Catholic school, when things fell apart, we dicerned that God was telling us to keep them home. Lastly, the Wondertwins will be attending 1/2 day preschool at the public school down the street.

So pretty big changes going on around here.

Things I have said this morning..

...and it is not even 9 am....

- please do NOT stand on the guitar
- Curly Girl if you break you arm, we cannot go to the pool
- yes, of course, you may have 2 shokwit chwips for pottying
- C, where is your night night diaper? (she took it off, dry, in her bed)

- C: Look Mommy a ball poopy.
- M: Yes sweetie, it is a ball poopy.
- C: Can I pway wif it?
- M: No, you cannot play with it, even though it is a ball.

Ok, not really that funny to others, but I thought it was odd that I have said all of this before my morning coffee!

A picture just for fun:

Grandpa Ed and our Lives

Grandpa Ed was married to Grandma Betty for over 50 years. I only knew him for less than 10 years. In those years he became a very big part of our lives.

Just 2 examples:
1- our wedding day - Grandpa Ed had had a stroke before we met. This cause different medical problems and various hospital stays. One of those stays was on our wedding day. Since he could not make it to our wedding, we decided to visit him. After the wedding, on the way to the reception, we detoured to his hospital bed. He cried. That is one of the most clear memories of that wonderful day.

2- twins - He was able to meet Diva and Curly Girl. He knew we were pregnant. He knew we thought I was pregnant with twins. On the day of his visitation, we had our sonogram. We confirmed it was twins. I was on cloud nine and at the same time very sad. It is really difficult to he ecstatic and mournful at the same time. We did not want to tell people at the visitation, it seems wrong somehow. But, we knew we would not lie. The first thing Grandma Betty did was ask if it was twins, and then she told everyone else about it. We knew that Grandpa Ed knew we were having twins before we did. It was wonderful to be able to cheer everyone up with our wonderful news.

There were other times, that I cannot remember now, where Grandpa Ed had a huge impression on our lives. Maybe the Dad will chime in and post.

Happiness is...

.... to a 4 year old, happiness is...3 snails washed up in the storm, fun to watch, sadly the camera had dead batteries.

.... to a Momma, being able to send her 4 year old with severe food allergies to day camp, where said child, can see bugs

Definately Like her Daddy

My 6 year old (Diva) is obsessed with HISTORY and POLITICS. The 2 classes I avoid like the Plague. Her daddy just told her that we are going on a family vacation to Springfield IL, where she can see A. Lincoln's Museum (and burial place) and she did a cheerleader jump and yelled "YES."

She also mentioned wanting to be president. And mentioned something about Barack Obama won last night. She was a little confused about the outcome of last night, but what 6 year old even knows the name Obama!

One reason that this is a problem, we are more than likely homeschooling. She will know more about politics than me, before the end of this election. And, more history than me by the end for first grade.