Catching Up!

via here

Well... I'm *almost* ready to come out of my 2 month hiatus.  I feel like life really threw us for a loop the last several months.  In a nutshell... here's what I've been up to in my non-blogging life:

• HOMESCHOOLING:  Knee deep in trying to figure out this homeschooling business.  Few things are quite as humbling as starting something new and feeling like you have no idea what you're doing.  :P  Despite my 10 years of experience teaching in the public schools, little of it prepared me for how to do it at home.  Through a series of trial and many errors, I feel like we're coming around the bend and *most* of my days are enjoyable and manageable.  I've even gotten back to reading blogs, being consistent about my bible studies and catching up on a few shows from time to time.  :)

• OH BABY!  In November, we found out that we are expecting our 4th child in June!  We always left the door open for God, with little to no expectation.  Needlesstosay, He had a clear plan and after a couple weeks of shock, and several months later, we are now excited to welcome a baby brother into our brood of 3.  (I'll post a baby bump photo when I get around to it.  Who has the time?) 

I've been mentally collecting ideas of new things that I'd love to write about and share with you.  Many of them of course include home decorating ideas and ways to help us all live more simply and beautifully, but I'd also love to share more about the way God is moving in our lives and the things He has impressed upon me about life and parenthood. 

I hope to get back into the regular rhythm of blogging and the first step of anything is always the hardest... so here we go again.  Back in the saddle!  :)  Thanks for your patience.

Prime Real Estate - Everyone Has It

(all images via bhg.com)

Happy New Year everyone!  This is the first year that all of our Christmas goodies have been packed and put away before New Years.  We even swept out our garage and organized it so that we can actually park a car in there.  No small feat!  We have a busy January coming up, so it needed to be done.  :)

In the midst of all the reorganizing and redecorating, I started thinking about the concept of "prime real estate".  We all have it.  Prime real estate to me are the places and spaces in our home that are the most accessible and visible.  Kind of like shelves at the grocery store.  How are we using those areas of our home that tend to be the hotbed of activity?  For me, it's kitchen counters, drawers for paperwork closest to the kitchen, middle shelves in any closet, and most accessible toy storage areas.  What's there?  Do my MVP (most valuable products) or most used items get those spaces?  If not... we gotta edit and purge friends!  :)

No one has space to waste and I find if I approach organization and storage with that idea in mind, it makes it much easier for me to edit.  I'm not one to toss things easily, but if I find that it's negatively impacting the way I live, like clutter everywhere because all my storage space is full, then... out it goes!

Here's some detailed photos from that gorgeous kitchen above that has some great ideas on using their prime real estate.




YES!  We have these in our kitchen island and a pull out cabinet for
trash and recycle.  Best suggestion we ever got from a builder.




LOVE this idea of using the same surface for the sink as the countertops. 
No worry about grout!  Also, the little ledge is genius..
now THAT'S prime real estate!




How much more practical can this get?




Love the look and idea of maximzing vertical space in a kitchen. 
Sometimes cabinets make sense, but sometimes open shelves
are even more practical AND beatiful. 



Merry Christmas!

See you next year!

A Snowman Sock Craft - Too Cute!

When I was teaching, there was a kindergarten teacher who made these adorable sock snowmen every year for Christmas.  This year, I thought that would be our special Christmas craft too.  After a quick internet search, I came across this wonderful tutorial here.  Amy's snowmen were the cutest out of all the ones I saw, and her tutorial is awesome.  Very easy to follow!

So... I dug around the house and found several old tube socks that we were going to donate.  Amy was right, Target carries a ton of cute ankle socks in all sorts of patterns for just $1.  I used my little girls' hair elastic which worked great and we just needed a few buttons, googly eyes, beans/rice and we were good to go!

Here are the inspiration snowmen from here:

Here are our snowmen!

10 little snowmen in all!

We had a great time and I just can't help but smile when I look at these lil' guys.  Seriously, super easy, fast, affordable and you get a great finished product.  They make wonderful gifts!  Click here for the how-to.

Here are a few more pictures of our day:

Our supplies.  Socks, elastic ties and rice/beans. 

Of course, working over a rimmed baking sheet helps to keep all the rice and beans contained!

 Everyone was so proud of their little creations!

TGIF - A Great Deal from Mink Cards!

Hello everyone!

TGIF!  If you're like me, your weekends from now until Christmas are probably packed!  I hope you find some time to stop and enjoy the season and not be running around like a crazy person.  :p

Well, if you haven't finished up your Christmas card for this year, you're in luck!  I'm happy to extend a special discount to you from minkcards.com.  Last Sunday, I wrote about how I found mink through etsy and am so happy with our cards this year. 

If you go to their website, minkcards.com and use the couponcode MERRY15, you will receie 15% off your order PLUS FREE fedex overnight shipping!  Can't beat that!  Minkcards.com is a full service, design and print website.  Their customer service is superb and turn around time is fast!  Melody, the owner and designer, is great with follow-up.  In fact, most of the time, I got my proofs before the promised 2 business days.  You'll definitely get your cards done before Christmas.

**  Offer good until Dec. 15th!  **

(image via minkcards.com)

Have a great weekend!

Recycle Those Lights!

This is a purely practical post people.  Well... it's taken a couple of weeks, but our Christmas tree is *almost* done.  I don't know about you, but for us, the Christmas decorating process is never a one day deal.  I wish!  It generally takes at least a week for the boxes to come down, the decorations to go up, the clutter to be put away and for the boxes to return back out of sight. 

This year, I found several strings of lights that didn't work.  They've been sitting in a big bin, right next to our tree.  I haven't wanted to just throw them in the garbage, so I did a little bit of googling today and found an answer!

Did you know that Whole Foods actually recycles broken Christmas lights?  YES!  I called my local Whole Foods and yup, they've been doing it for several years and just set up a bin for collecting lights. 

WOOHOO!  I'm bringing my lights down asap!

OK... Happy Decorating (and Recycling) Everyone!  :)

Our Christmas Cards

One of my all time favorite Christmas Songs is Merry Christmas, Darling by the Carpenters.  The first line goes... "Greeting cards have all been sent... the Christmas rush is through...."

Well for me... my greeting cards have not been sent out, but they've been sent to the printers!  :)  I'm excited, this is way ahead of schedule for me.  This year, I tried something new.  We've done Tiny Prints cards in the past and have loved them, but I wanted to try something different this year and maybe save some pennies.  So I did some browsing around on etsy and of course, they have a ton of options!  I wanted something simple this year and found minkcards!

Here are some of their great designs:



(all images via minkcards.om)

 
I love that you can customize it and pay only for the jpeg and then can get them printed anywhere you like.  Plus, always love supporting a small business!  The turn around was great and Melody was fun to work with.

So, if you're still looking for inspiration for your Christmas cards, check out etsy and minkcards.  I'm sure you'll find something you like!

(all images via minkcards.com)