Audrey's Newspaper

Audrey came home yesterday in the goofiest mood.

She was giggly and happy and secretive.

She had a piece of paper and pen. She was hard at work on something, giggling as she wrote.

Then she proudly asked "who wants to read my newspaper" and she handed this to me when I said "me".

I love the minds of children. She's always had a great imagination. Loves writing stories and comics : )  

She's so sweet, when she wants to be. All five kids ran around on a "Wild Goose Chase" all evening, which was a scavenger hunt that her and Zoe created.

Fun evening, sitting back watching them . . . and watching the twins try and keep up.

When she went to bed and told me that I could put her newspaper in my blog, so I did.

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Whole different topic.

I can't seem to keep clothes on these two.

Every time I turn around, they are down to their diapers.

Emmitt undresses himself when he wakes up from his nap, I usually only find out he's awake when he's squawking for help because he has a shirt stuck around his neck. He's actually tried to get redressed and put the shirt on completely upside-down, squeezing his entire upper body through the neck hole and his arms in the sleeves, he couldn't figure out why it wouldn't stay on his shoulders.  : )

He's starting to figure it out. I hear a lot of "I do it", trying to be independent these days.

Here's a couple clips of Emmitt trying to help out Castiel after getting his own pjs on . . . notice that Castiel has no interest in trying, or even helping.

And we have to work on my "Little Monkeys jumping on the bed".

Check out Castiel's forehead : (  Thankfully no doctors were needed this time.

They are definitely acting their age, the dreaded 2 year olds.

Partner's in crime.

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Up early this morning because Zoe made it into 5th grade band. Today's the first morning. She's a little nervous, because she knows she'll be quite a bit behind. This is Zoe, I know that she'll catch up to them in no time, because that's what she does  :)

Have a good day!

The Smurfs Help Me with My Frustration

I have heard Cameron say, "I don't like you. You're not my friend. I'm not going to play with you. I'm going to beat you up."

Then it is quickly followed up by, "I'm just joking, it's opposite day!" He's learned this technique from his sisters . . . ugh.

It is a quick excuse for a sudden streak of anger, or a correction when he says something he knows he shouldn't have.

It usually doesn't work, but he tries to get out of trouble.

It's National Opposite Day today, and it feels like an opposite day today for me.

The last two days have been non-stop crying. Crying about everything. Crying about nothing. I am working on getting the twins to use their words instead of whines. Some days go better than others.

We have a "crying stair" (the bottom stair) and whenever there is crying for no good reason, that's where I send them until they calm down.

The last two days, all three of them have spent more time on the stair then playing.

The house has been tension fulled the last two days and nights.

When I have days like that, the Smurf theme song plays in my head. Seriously, I hum it in my head.

It's been my, about to scream at a child but don't want to, song that I use to calm myself down.

I'm not sure why the Smurfs. Maybe I'm relating to poor Smurfette surrounded by boys all day, imagine the pain . . . I don't have to, I live it 8 hours a day :  )

For two full days, I hummed that tune "la la la-la-la-la la la-la-la la" and I know it's really bad when I start humming it out loud. I find it drowns out the crying and craziness, and it brings my blood pressure down.

And today was definitely "Opposite Day" . . . no crying. Happy boys. Playing boys. Calm boys. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I'm just hoping it continues this way until bedtime. Please. Please. Please.

I could use a few more opposite days this week : )

HAPPY OPPOSITE DAY, LOL! (make sure you use it if needed)

My 40 Week Plan

I wanted to share my plan for thoroughly cleaning my house this year.

I just have to say, that when we moved, we filled up a 26 foot U-Haul one and a half times, had a 16 foot Pack Rat, and a corner of my sister's basement.

I know I can do better than that. My goal is to fit into one 26 foot U-Haul in a year when we move again.

I've seen lots of ideas on the web. I researched and came up with my plan.

I've decided to create a 40 week plan.

If a baby can form in 40 weeks, I can clean my entire home in 40 weeks  : )

I'm not placing any order to the list. Just going to work on whatever I feel like for that week. I'm sure to have a month of the least-desirable left at the end of the year, but that's kind of how it always works out, right?

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40 WEEK PLAN (in no particular order)

Kitchen
1. silverware, cooking utensils, glasses, water bottles, plates & bowls
2. storage containers, pans, pots, appliances, counter tops
3. towels, hot pads, cleaning products, spices, candy, pantry, liquor
4. cookbooks, magnets, decor, baby items, junk drawers

Dining Room
5. Top of curio and drawers
6. Bottom of curio and decor

Family Room
7. movies, cds, games, entertainment center
8. Decor and plants in entire home

Living Room
9. Orange chests, other storage boxes
10. Decor, picture frames

Closets
11. jackets, winter gear, shoes, umbrellas, all bills and paperwork

Master Bedroom
12. kc-shoes, tshirts, polos, dress clothes
13. kc-boxers, pjs, socks, jeans, shorts, bike clothes
14. mel-shoes, pants, top drawer, perfumes, bags & purses
15. mel-summer, sweater, dress clothes, pjs, bureau, jewelry

Master Bath
16. kc stuff, toiletries, cleaning supplies
17. mel stuff, decor, product

Bathrooms
18. towels, toiletries, beach items
19. hair ties, decor, bath toys, extra bedding

Laundry Room
20. cleaning supplies

Zoe's
21. hanging clothes, dresser clothes, shoes
22. decor, bedding, furniture, treasure box

Audrey's

23. hanging clothes, dresser clothes, shoes

24. decor, bedding, furniture, treasure box

Cameron's

25. hanging clothes, dresser clothes, shoes

26. decor, bedding, furniture, treasure box

Emmitt and Castiel's

27. hanging clothes, dresser clothes, shoes

28. decor, bedding, furniture, treasure box

Garage

28. garden tools, seeds, pots, chairs, camping gear

29. bikes and parts, outdoor toys, balls, tools

Toy Basement

30. boardgames, puzzles, books, art supplies

31. toys, stuffed animals, storage units

Basement

32. computers, books, extra furniture

33. Christmas holiday

34. All other holidays

35. KC and my memory boxes

36. Zoe's school papers 

37. Audrey's school papers

38. Cameron's school papers

Art Supplies

39 + 40 (and this is what I will be working on throughout the year too)

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I am serious about going through every single thing.

I will ask myself (or whoever the item applies to) - - -Do I love this item? Do I really use this item? Can I live without this item? Do I really need this to form a memory or will a photograph work?

Everything will be given a home or packed away neatly and labeled.

If it makes the veto list I will decide if it's worth selling or if I should donate it. If I go about this right, it should be fun. And a relief! Gotta start somewhere . . .

I'll be starting this next week. I just had the Rat Pack dropped off and a hundred more boxes placed into the house. I'm working on getting all that going in the right direction this week.

I'll try and show the before and after of the week's accomplishments.

Time to C-L-E-A-N house!!!

I will also be making a Christmas list. I know, a little weird . . . . . but I always have a hard time coming up with anything, and I'll really have a clear picture of what's needed, when all the extras are gone  : )

Cleaning Out the House THIS Year, because I'm Not Moving All This STUFF Again!

I believe that if the producers of "Hoarders" showed up at my door, they would start filming and the 1-800-GOT-JUNK trucks would pull into my driveway.

Okay, I might not be that bad, but I could definitely be put on the watch list.

I know that I save too much stuff. The artist in me can see the potential in too many things. I can make a list of what I'm prone to collect and store away, but the list is too long and ridiculous.

It's not like I am ambivalent. I am well aware. But like the hoarders I see on t.v., these things make me happy.

The move has helped me realize the amount of "stuff" we actually have, and I actually have. When you're forced to place everything into boxes, it opens your eyes to what you actually have. It can't be pushed in the back of a cabinet, stuffed into a corner or slipped into the attic.

I apologize to everyone that helped us move. Too much stuff, I know. And I knew during the move, but I was too overwhelmed to think and make decisions.

I have always had the excuse of an infant that I wasn't able to complete the projects that I wanted and go through everything. It was a very valid excuse, but the excuse has grown up.

It's time to create or recycle.  To use or trash. To sell or to donate.

This is a year of simplifying our life.

I always envy the people that have a more minimalist style. I imagine how much easier that must make their lives. I think about what it would be like to have a place for everything we own.

Maybe someday.

The abundance of "stuff" in my house ranges from baby items to bike items to craft items to 5 children's childhood memories and school projects to too many bill files to crates of shoes to vhs/cds/dvds to knick knacks to hundreds of frames to memories of my and KC's childhood  . . . all that I plan to go through this year thoroughly.

I am planning to use Craig's list for the big items, eBay for the shippable items, Goodwill for donations, garage sales in the Spring and Etsy for the creations that I am able to make from my piles of supplies.

I want to go slow and steady. I don't want to get overwhelmed and stop.

I'm going to see how many days in a row I can go this year listing at least one thing on Craig's List, eBay and Etsy.

Day One is complete. Feels good to get started. It'll feel even better when the year is over.

I can do this  :)  It'll make the next move SO much easier.