Organized

One of the goals I continually set for myself is being more organized. That and keeping a clean house, but I've solved that problem for the time-being. And having a clean house motivates me that much more when it comes to putting away all the junk that we seem to accumulate daily.

A week ago I came across this insanely organized home, and it inspired me instantly. And very quickly I managed to do some of the things that have been on my list all summer. Check it out!

Creative uses for a pool noodle.

This doesn't really have anything to do with organizing, but it's one of those things that needed to get done and finally happened. This kitchen countertop brace has a really sharp edge, and Violet was bound to slam into it any day now. So Matt and I decided to slide on a pool noodle. Success! Plus cheap and easy, my two favorite words.

No more junk drawer!

 Our junk drawer has been getting out of hand lately. Everything ends up in there, from keys to stamps to rubberbands and tape measures. Now we have an easy-to-see over-the-door organizer (originally made to store shoes) in our pantry. Everything has a place, quick to see, and all I have to do is close the door and the junk is out of sight. Eventually I might even get crafty enough to make cute labels for all the pockets!

Jewelry organizer courtesy of the dollar store.

Finally I went and  bought some suction cup hooks from the dollar store and now have all my long necklaces hanging up on the mirror in my bathroom. Now they won't get tangled and I might actually remember to wear them since they're hanging prettily in view and not jammed in my jewelry box. Plus, my mirror is so huge, it's actually nice to have something on it to break up the space. Again, easy and cheap!

So, they're just small things, but I think they'll make a big difference around here. Of course, one of my biggest hurdles remains untackled - a mail organizer. We tend to just bring it in and put it on the counter. Then when it's my turn to cook dinner, the pile gets shoved in a corner and just grows bigger, more disorganized, and dustier. What I covet is this pretty and simple hanging mail organizer. I even found the right files at Target, but they cost 15 bucks each! There is no way I'm making a 45 dollar mail organizer, no matter how pretty it looks! So this project is on hold for a while until I can come up with something cheaper. Any ideas? How do you stay organized?

Playroom

The sun room got a little more playroom today with our new rug!

Posted via Blogaway from my Droid

All in the Gang

I love that my friends love my daughter. Having Violet has so transformed our lives and I can't always do the things I used to (have an uninterrupted book cub, for example). But my friends have never once complained. They have fit her into their lives seamlessly and I love watching them together. (Now if some of them would just hurry up and have kids of their own!)

Renee and Violet have their own book club!

My pals!

Animal Sounds

Violet knows a ton of animal sounds, but here are the few I finally managed to capture on video. Note the elephant trunk gesture at the beginning. Such a smartie.

Incognito

Kids. They grow up so fast. One minute they're just little boys running around the backyard.

The next, they've sprouted facial hair and intimidating glares. Oh to be young again!

Who, me?

You messed with the wrong dude.

What, there's something on my face?

How you doin'?

There goes the neighborhood!

My neighbor Amy gave me permission to post these pictures under the stipulation that I give her full credit for the invention and creation of facial hair tape. It should be duly stated that the use of hair tape can also be applied to other body parts, including but not limited to arm hair and underarm hair (classy!). Violet even sported some eyebrow tape (but alas, she moved too fast for me to capture it - probably a good thing, girlfriend needed some serious threading).

I know I generally have a policy of not posting pictures of other people's kids, but I figured there was no harm in this case, seeing as the boys are in disguise. (Also, I have their parents' permission. They don't seem nearly as concerned about privacy as I would imagine. And also, their boys are in disguise.)

Happy Friday!

All the Fixin's

Is it just me, or does Cracker Barrel make the cutest clothes?

Of course, the kid's not too shabby either...

Water Park

Well, I'm celebrating my last full week of summer and we're going out with a bang. Check out what we recently discovered:

via City of Cumming

Remember Violet's only other trip to a water park? Yeah, it cost me over 20 bucks and she alternated between sleeping and hating it. Well, the Cumming Aquatic Center was a blast, and it only cost us a grand total of five dollars. We (the neighbors included) played for four hours yesterday and Violet loved every second. There were plenty of shallow places for her to hang out and splash in, we both enjoyed the lazy river (which is actually not so lazy, fair warning!), and short of a few older boys who over-zealously manned the spray guns, we had a fabulous time. I was very impressed. Side note: did you know that Cumming, Ga is the "Gateway to Leisure Living"? I did not.

Juice break!