Get Ready To Organize!

Last week I went to Wal-Mart and saw the rows and rows of back to school supplies.

Yes, my heart skipped a beat. 

I LOVE back to school supplies! I could spend hours

and money wandering the school isles at any store.  

I love the fresh boxes of sharpened pencils, the bright colors of the Crayola markers, 

and of course the yellow and green box of beautiful sharp crayons.

Then, I realized something.  I need to be more organized this year.

I always feel I can be more organized with my kids when my house

is in order, so I created these "Get Organized" sheets. 

You can find them as a pdf. printable in my shop here.

This one is for the kids.

I wanted to create something for them, and other kids that would help them

establish routine.  This list for kids can be printed as a 5 x 7 and then laminated

for every day use, or sent somewhere like Vista Print and printed as a pad of daily lists.

Then I made these 8.5 x 11 so I can be more organized at home, especially with meals!

and this one

You can find them HERE and print them as many

times as you would like for personal use.

Ah, I feel much better. Now, if I could just figure out a way

to keep my closet organized.

Feature Friday!

  Today, I am so excited to introduce you to Bonnie from Simply This and That.  I first found her blog on Pinterest and it is now one of my favorites.  She is so sweet and has a blog full of great ideas.   Here's a little

more about her and check out her blog here.

Hi, I'm Bonnie from Simply this and that. My blog name pretty much says it all. It's a little of everything I enjoy doing. I'm a mother to 5 wonderful kids who keep me pretty busy but in my spare time I enjoy blogging as a way to  share with others simple fun crafts, yummy recipes and various projects around the home. I hope you'll come on over and and say hi.

I LOVE these cute onesies here.  So fun & easy too!

And don't these look so yummy!

Thanks for sharing your talents Bonnie!

Important Family Dates

I have seen a lot of different ways to display family dates

and finally got a minute to create my own.  I LOVE how it turned out.

I created it in Photoshop Elements, but you could create it in 

any digital scrapbook program as well.

First start with a blank 8 x 10 canvas or page.

For the blue stripes, I used some digital scrapbook paper I had

and erased the parts I didn't want and then copied it and moved it to the bottom.

I then drew a yellow line, but you could also use digital ribbon or any 

other elements you like.

For the fonts I  used Pea Hannah Vanilla (size 40) from Kevin and Amanda

for the Yellow and for the Grey, I used Champagne & Limousine (size 44.62)

(my new favorite font)

Then, I merged it all together and saved it as a jpeg so I can print it at

Costco.  I am so excited about it!  I can't wait to display it in my kitchen.

Have fun creating your own Important Family Dates

& follow along on the side.  Thanks!

Sharing at these parties:

Lil' Luna, House of Hepworths, Delightful Order, Somewhat Simple,

It's A Hodge Podge Life, Tidy Mom, 504 Main, & TaterTots & Jello

Mama's Wisdom for Monday

I decided I want to get to know my readers better, plus, I am sure I have

a lot to learn from each of you, so here is something new for Monday's.

For the moment my friend and reader, please act as though your name is Reader "Reada"

 and it is your wonderful job to write answers for this advice column every Monday.

(In other words, I need we all need a little help) :)

         Dear Reada,

               I have a 7 year old boy, whom I absolutely adore!  He is full of fun and laughter and always makes me smile.  However, recently we signed him up for tennis lessons.  He enjoyed them so much that we decided to take him and his sister to play one night as a family.  As we began playing he was excited to show us everything he had been learning.  I began playing with him, and that sweet little boy turned into a cocky and arrogant little tennis player.  He began saying things like, "Come on Mom! Give me your best shot!"  Then, when my husband played a game with him he said, "Dad, that wasn't a very good shot!  You need to hit it like this!"  How can we help him to play well in any sport, and, have good sportsmanship so others will want to be around him?

                                                        Sincerely,

                                                             Tennis Mom

Swimming Suits

The other night my sweet sister in law, Janelle,  brought over the

best enchiladas  for dinner & to meet her new niece.

(It just happened to be the same day my van wasn't working, so 

dinner was even more appreciated!)

While dinner was cooking, she gave me a white bag with blue ribbon handles and 

a blue owl on the side. The words on the bag read "Baby Gap."

I remember when Meg Ryan says in "You've Got Mail" something like "walking by a Baby

Gap is depressing".  Of course I can see why, when Brian and I were trying to get pregnant

it was very depressing to see pregnant women and anything that had to do with 

babies- especially cute little baby clothes.

However, now, a gift from the Baby Gap is exciting.  

I usually don't shop at Gap unless I find something on sale.  Yes my friends, I am a bargain shopper.

I was so excited to pull out the orange and pink checkered tissue paper and see the 

adorable gift Janelle had found. She always has great taste in clothes & fashion which made the

gift for Brynlie even more exciting.

This is what I found for Brynlie.

Is that not the cutest swimming suit ever!  I LOVE it!

Janelle even got the toddler size so Brynlie can wear it next summer.

I guess I should start planning a beach vacation now- we have to have the ocean

in the background for her one year old pictures right?  :) 

I just wish I had a matching one!  Of course I think the baby will look

much better in it!

Answers

Imagine...

You are exhausted because of your new love affair with "Downton Abbey".  You stayed up late the night before with your wide-a-wake baby to watch the series that everyone has been talking about, while your handsome man next to you is in dream land.  He's been asleep since 8:30, it's 9:30 and you have a choice-

'Stay up and watch another episode' or ' Lay the baby in bed & hope that she too will drift off to sleep'

My Your choice-

Well, of course it is to "Stay up and watch another episode"

The movie ends, the baby is finally asleep, and you are ready to sleep too, when all of a sudden

you see the door slowly open as though a ghost is walking in.  You wait to see someone and there is no one there, but, you hear soft movement on the ground as though a snipe hunter is coming to attack.

Within seconds  you see the blonde head of your now 7 year old boy peeking over the foot-board at the bottom of the bed.  You ask what he's doing and why on earth he is still awake and of course his response is that his sister is bothering him.  He admits he was in her room because there are spiders in his room.

Spiders- Hah!  When you were little, there were cockroaches!  You begin to tell him how terrible the 

cockroaches were when you were a girl and that a spider is really nothing to be scared of.

Soon, you realize that you are being watched from the doorway and that his sister has come to join in

on the stories of the big and scary cockroach. 

They both sit on the bed with full interest and all of a sudden their dear sweet Daddy says in a sleepy voice, 

"Welcome, Welcome"

You all glance over, you start laughing and your little kids look really confused which makes you laugh

even harder.  They have never seen their Dad sleep talk before.  However, you are used to it.

You try to get Daddy to talk more, but all he will say is "Yes" when you ask him if he loves each of the kids.

At 4:15 the alarm goes off, and now you are the one in dream land.  Your husband drags himself out of bed to go and work at a job he doesn't love, but does because he knows he needs to provide for his family.

He kneels by the side of the bed to pray with you for your day to go well, and that you will both 

continue to have the patience you need.  For three years now, he has been looking for a new job.

Six weeks ago he applied for one, interviewed, had a second interview, was offered the job,

and is waiting for the board to make the final decisions.  

And so, week by week, you wait.  And wait. And wait. And wait.

After all that you and your husband could do, the future of your path is in the 

hands of God of course, but also in the decisions of a board of people neither of you 

have ever met.  And so, you pray- a lot.  For that final answer is where your destiny will lead.

The new morning moves on with it's normal routine.  You shower while the oldest gets breakfast for her

siblings. You feed, change the baby, and put her in her car seat and then realize the two year old is still in 

his pajamas. You grab clothes to change him into and will change him before you actually go into the store.

You are running late for the reading class you signed your two oldest kids up for.  You are finally all in the van with your half banana and granola bar waiting for you to eat on the road.

You put your key in the ignition, turn it, and brrrrrrrrrvrrrrrrrrr

It won't start.

You try again

Brrrrrrrrrvrrrrrrrr

Nope... nada

You think to yourself- ah now the car.

And then, your oldest says,

"I'll say a prayer."

She quietly prays to herself, and you ask her 

to pray out loud for you all to hear.

You know that at this time, the faith of your children

may be stronger than your own and you rely on their strength.

She ends her sweet prayer, and that cute 7 year old boy who was 

sneaking in your room the night before, with faith says,

"Mom, try starting the car"

Again you put the key in the ignition,

and once again the van does not start.

You make other plans. The kids are excited to ride their

bikes to the school and stick together like a team.  You have your sister

drive over & watch the kids, borrow your Dad's truck, and run your errands

for the birthday present for the friend's party today and to buy bread.

As you drive home you hear George Michael's song "Faith" on the radio
and you think how ironic it is when you hear the chorus,
"Cause ya gotta have Faith, Faith, Faith, you gotta have Faith!"

You come home and explain to your oldest that 

sometimes our prayers are answered right away.

Other times we have to wait for the answers

(as you know this yourself)

But God, you tell her, will always answer when you have faith.

Content With My Family

    At the end of the hall, a basket of clean clothes is waiting to be folded.  

The kitchen floor needs to be swept for the 4th time this week.  

The Angry Bird game that was just given as a birthday gift is all over the living room floor 

waiting for the unexpected visitor to drop by.  

The bikes are being washed by four enthusiastic kids, while their Daddy takes a much 

needed nap with our newest little baby, Brynlie Hope.

Yes, I could go and clean, but instead I am enjoying the cool breeze from the

screen door of the recent rainfall.  I hear the soft humming of Morgan as she washes her bike,

& then her laughter as she spins the bike tire and water sprays her unexpectedly.

For the moment, they are all getting along and working together to clean their bikes.

For me, it means a couple of minutes of quiet.

On June 7, we welcomed our 5th little baby into the world.  She is beautiful, healthy,

& everything I could hope for with our last little baby.  I hope she likes us.  :)

I thought for sure that 5 would be hard, and trust me it is. I am behind in a lot of areas, and still haven't quite figured out how to make dinner for 4 little mouths and 2 adult mouths  while nursing a baby, but I am

optimistic that one day I will get it down.  For now, I am trying to enjoy the moments.

The moments of happiness, laughter, extra hugs & kisses, and being together

with the family I always dreamed of having when I was a little girl.  

They are here, and they are mine,

and oh what a blessing!

(These big grins make me smile every day.)

I saw this quote the other day and knew I had to make a printable of it.

After all, family is the most important.

I hope you enjoy!

(download any or all of the 3, save to your computer and send 

somewhere to print as an 8 x 10, please email me if you would like a pdf)

The fonts used are
Scribble Box, Champagne & Limousines,
& Dawning of a New Day

Linked to Lil Luna, Tatertots & Jello, Positively Splendid, and I Heart Naptime weekly parties.