21 Day Organizing Challenge

7 weeks of maternity leave have come and gone and I've learned something...THE CLUTTER HAS GOT TO GO! I go back to work in 20 days, and the thought of juggling two kids, a full time job and a husband with a job that requires him to be gone in the evening a lot, made me realize I need to streamline some things. I was recently browsing through Pinterest (my new obsession) and came across a blog that featured a 21 day challenge to whip things into shape. The blog is A bowl full of lemons and I fell in love immediately! The challenge requires you to address one hot spot in your home daily. They are small areas of your home, but when you add them up, it makes a huge difference in the look and feel of the space. I started 2 days ago (I had to skip a day due to holiday travel, so today I'm addressing two spots) but already I can feel a little (a tiny, little) bit of weight off my shoulders. Below are the challenges, with some editing on my part because either I don't have the spot mentioned, or it's a shared spot between my husband and I and would require a little more work on both of our parts. My final goal with this challenge, since I haven't been working, is to not have to buy a ton of new storage. I'm looking to reuse/repurpose/upcycle anything I can, making my budget virtually unnecessary!

21 day Organizing Challenge: (areas in red will be substituted)
Day 1: Junk Drawer
Day 2:  Computer Desk (I will be working on my desk/scrapbooking area)
Day 3: Tupperware drawer
Day 4: linen closet
Day 5: under kitchen sink
Day 6: dresser drawers
Day 7: pantry (I don't have a pantry per say, so will tackle my lazy susan cabinet where I store dry goods)
Day 8: Coat closet (again, no coat closet, will hit basement stairwell and coat hooks where we store those items)
Day 9: Toy organization ( work on Riley's art area in our office)
day 10: Laundry area
Day 11: Freezer
Day 12: Spice cabinet
Day 13: Medicine cabinet
Day 14: Under bathroom sink
Day 15: Medicine/vitamin storage
Day 16: Fridge
Day 17: Mail (instead will tackle storage in basement for extra kitchen appliances)
Day 18: Keepsakes
Day 19: Master closet
Day 20: Photos
Day 21: You pick!


I was able to knock out the junk drawer in about 30 minutes.

BEFORE:

 AFTER!

The biggest problem with the junk drawer was that it had collected 4 years worth of junk that actually had homes else wear. Once those items were relocated to their proper homes, it was actually quite easy to straighten everything out!

This is my desk/scrapbooking area. As you can 

see, it's a "work in progress"

Part 2 will reveal the organized desk and the 

tupperware drawer!

If you're interested in following the challenge with me, leave a comment below!

July 4th layered pie

We are heading to a July 4th party tomorrow and I've been looking for a new recipe to try. I wanted something that was simple, cheap and as few ingredients as possible. I been using the Kraft website for many years now because all the recipes meet those above criteria! I was excited to find this new recipe and I made it today. Here's how it went!

A layer of blue jello in a graham crust

A layer of whipped cream

A layer of red jello. I did have some trouble transferring it to the fridge 

and had some spillage up on the edges.

This is what it'll look like once it's cut

I decorated it to hide some of my spillage. Whipped cream, strawberries 

and raspberries hide a multitude of sins!!  :o)

EVERYONE HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY 4TH!

HERE'S THE LINK FOR THE RECIPE!! ENJOY!!

Kraft easy Jell-O patriotic pie

Preparing for a new sibling.

As we get closer to Peanut's arrival, I've been looking for ways to involve Riley in prepping for the new baby. We talk all the time about how Momma has a baby in her tummy, and now that we know it's a boy, we talk about "Brother" (As soon as we decide on a name, we'll call him by name instead of brother) I know that as a 2 year old, it's impossible to understand a new baby coming into our house. But we've been practicing! Here are some things we've been doing/plan on doing in the near future.

1. Big Brother Scrapbook-I found this book a few weeks ago and actually just ordered it. It should arrive this week. It's a scrapbook for the Big Brother (BB) to do as we prepare for the new baby. It has pages for the BB to color/draw pictures/glue pictures in. The last page has a spot for BB to add a pic of him and his new brother. I'm excited to get started on this with Riley!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1550746391/ref=ox_ya_os_product

2. I had a brilliant idea today (it does happen sometimes!) Now that we've decided on a theme for the nursery (elephants) I wanted to have Riley create a piece of art to hang in the nursery, something framed and special. Then the great idea went further and I thought I'd purchase a canvas and have him create a painting to hang. I'll keep brainstorming!

3. Something that I've seen families do (though we won't be doing) is to involve the older sibling in choosing the name for the baby. The child is given a list of potential names and is allowed to make the final decision.

4. One article I read-trust me, there have been tons!-suggested having the BB bring the car seat to the hospital and being able to help bring the new baby home. That way he's not just waiting at home for the new interloper to show up and throw his life into disarray. He's helping and involved.

5. As we go garage saleing, which is a favorite past time of ours, Riley helps me choose clothes for Peanut.

It's a short list but I'm sure I'll think of more as we get closer. But it's a start in making the transition from a family of 3 to a family of 4!

You know you live with a 2 year old when...

About a month ago, my Mom was in town and she was helping me prepare pizza dough for Riley's birthday. She asked me where my rolling pin was and I went to the cabinet where it should have resided. Long story short, the said cooking utensil ended up MIA for about 4 weeks-my expensive Food Network rolling pin, endorsed by Paula Dean and Bobby Flay, that we received as a wedding gift. It showed up behind my couch yesterday-one guess how it got there!

Needless to say, that story inspired me to create this list.

You know you live with a 2 year old when...


1. rolling pin. couch. end of story.

2. You find random sippy cup at the bottom of the toy box, full of what was once milk, now cottage cheese.

3. There is a candy jar sitting on the back of your toilet-for potty training duh!

4. You can't walk 6 inches without stepping on hot wheels. Or legos. Or tractors.

5. You have tiny fingerprints all over the doors, windows, stove, mirrors. Basically any reflective surface in the house.

6. When other children (who do not belong to you) misbehave, you feel the STRONG urge to yell "Momma said NO!"

7. Toys manage to find a way into your bedroom...I'm pretty sure they walk in there of their own accord at night.

8. In my expensive Coach purse, you'll always find the following: baby wipes, hot wheels, crayons, teddy grahams, some elmo toys, hand sanitizer, baby tylenol, baby motrin and an elmo notebook. I feel like I'm break some unwritten law by carrying all of these stain magnets in a Coach purse.

9. The sink is always full of sippy cups, Take and Toss dishes and snack traps, half of which have been chewed on by my garbage disposal at some point.

10. You have diapers and wipes stashed around the house on the off chance that said offspring will need a change and you'll only have a microsecond to hold him down (in the middle of play/exploring) before he protests strongly enough to make the neighbors think you may be beating/scalding him.

Today is Monkey's Birthday! 2 years ago at 12:17pm, R entered the world screaming. All 9 pounds, 9 ounces of love and joy! I'm so proud of all he's learned and accomplished already. 

Elmo was a hit!

Saturday was R's party and it went off with only a small hitch, one that I had no control over-the weather. Last year for his 1st birthday, we were able to have it outside, preventing an overcrowding of guests in my house. After watching the weather diligently for a week and a half, it looked as though the weather wasn't going to pull through for me again this year. I moved the time back a bit, hoping that it would warm up a bit and the rain would hold off. Of course, the rain held off until exactly an hour before his party was scheduled to begin! So we moved everything inside and still had a pleasant time.

His cupcake tower

Fishbowls all filled!

The fruit Elmo (I wish I knew how to rotate pictures!!)

The paper lanterns

Happy Birthday Monkey! Blow!

Elmopalooza 2.0

Finished up some work on R's party yesterday after a much needed/mildly expensive trip to Hobby Lobby. (That store is seriously like my own personal crack) Here's what I've been up to!

I took fishbowl vases that I found at the dollar store and glued rickrack around the top to give then some extra "Omph"

I also found some "Happy Birthday" ribbon for one vase

HERE'S HOW THEY TURNED OUT!

I'll use them for holding treats. Two will be for Goldfish crackers, one for Elmo crackers, and one for the chocolate pretzel rods.

I was super excited when I found these Elmo crackers at the grocery store!

My sister, Alyse also lucked out one day and found a ton of Elmo stuff at Acme, which is a store we don't have in our neck of the woods. What can I say, his Auntie Lysee spoils him rotten! Here's a small sampling:

I store bought "2" toothpicks for the tops of the cupcakes, but I discovered that I have Elmo stickers that fit over top of the number 2 perfectly. I may cover one side of the pick with a sticker to keep it within the theme.

We are 2 weeks and counting until the big day! I've still got some tricks up my sleeve and I'm PRAYING that it doesn't rain because I'd really like to hold his party outside. My house just isn't big enough for everyone! Now that I've finished up the fun stuff, I should really start the not-so-fun cleaning part...which would involve me getting off Facebook and stopping blogging. <sigh>