Phase 2 - Spare/Junk Room

Ok....spare room done. For now. Its really just that, a spare room. We don't have a bed for it, so it just stays empty. We have laptops so we don't really need an office. BUT, regardless of what we do or don't use it for, there is no excuse for THIS:

I mean really? This just catches everything...
What color is my carpet? my walls?

It didn't start this way....and it won't get like this again!

Nice! All that stuff was either purged or taken down in the basement to put on those shelves! Guess now I'll have to fill it up again....shopping is in order!

Yay, there is a floor! Baby swing is for niece....that sucker is too hard to put up and take down over and over....

Some odds and ends....they will have a home at somepoint!

NOW, time to make chili, take a nap and relax a bit before we head out to a friend's house for New Year's and the VT game!!!

Phase 1 - Basement

Phase one of the purge/clean/organize mission is almost complete. It might look like it is finished based on these photos, but there is another load of stuff coming down from the spare/junk room to fill up the empty spaces. I started very early this morning and got all this accomplished before 9:30. LH was up at 6:30, so after a big cup of joe, I dove right in. Hubby helped me last night get rid of lots of stuff and put a few things in the attic, so I had a head start. He slept in and by the time he was up, this was all done!

Junk from finished side - waiting on floors...
Hubby's work bench...if you look closely - it's there!

My arts and crafts area....

WOW....I can see what I'm doing and find what I need. Over on the shelves is my glasses, gifts, and wrapping supplies, ect.

All detergents and cleaning supplies in one place...

Finally, I see the wall. The bookcase will be moved eventually and the shelves will get more stuff!!!

Now, he can work at his work bench. Or at lease find his tools when he needs them.

Next - spare room.

Purge, Clean, and Organize

This is the master plan this weekend. Hubby and I are off for another long weekend and will be working feverishly to get our house in some sort of order! I loathe clutter and it is starting to put me in a mood!

The basement is still "in progress" - meaning that nothing else has been done since we've taken up the carpet and moved everything in the unfinished part. We have a shell of a living room - tv, couch and toy chest. That's about it. We hit a snag and are trying to fix that problem but it's close!!!! I know it. Plus, we were setting aside money every month in our budget for the supplies but we found out we are getting bonuses in our January checks, so we opted to use some of that to finally finish everything up in there - quick!

The unfinished side will get an overhaul as well. Ever since moving my crafting station in there, I have now decided to add to it. It will now be a painting, crafting, and wrapping station. There is a peg board already in place above the table, so it just needs some dowls and a small shelf to hold odds and ends. Check out this from Sippycups - great inspiration! The other shelves that were purchased months ago will now hold all those bulky kitchen appliances that are used far and few between as well as some entertaining dishes, napkins, etc. I want to have easy access, but I want it out of the way. The other shelves that are down there will hold stuff like coolers, toilet paper, paper towels, and cleaning supplies!

Upstairs will be more of an issue, especially in LH's room. I try to do this type of organizing when he is not there, but he might have to be witness to toy parts getting trashed, old "baby" toys getting stored, and making room for all his new items!

Onto the "spare" room, aka office, aka junk room = MESS! Even hubby thinks its bad! It's really bad. There are piles of whatever we needed to get off the kitchen counters or wrapping supplies to baby stuff from where we kept my niece! ALL of it will be cleaned out. There is a closet in there with shelves that hubby so graciously put in for me when we moved in almost 4 years ago. Originally they were for those miscellanious kitchen and entertaining items previously discussed, along with wrapping supplies and gifts thrown in that has now turned into a catch all from extra easter eggs, baskets, etc. Well, now that I have a place to put all that stuff downstairs in the basement, I should be able to utilize it more for other things - like extra sheets/towels that are spilling out of the linen closet.

We have a plan. It has to go in a certain order or we will get frustrated and it won't work or make any sense! It's almost like a domino affect. In order for one area to be cleaned out, another area has to be prepped! We will get this done. I will document the progress...BEFORE and after!

I'm on a mission!

It's exactly what I askeded for!

This is what Little Hauss kept saying after every single thing he opened on Christmas morning. It was so cute. He is so appreciative for everything and seeing the joy on his face was priceless, even when he got socks!

He really is a super special kid. He just lights up our hearts and helps us remember what this time of year is all about. We enjoyed Christmas Eve service with our family and all the kids sang Jesus Loves Me during their children's message. It was sweet and I shed a tear or two. Then, we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus twice on Christmas day!

He was perfectly patient all day. He sat through opening gifts and breakfast, more opening gifts at my parents, and then took a good nap only to go back over to my parents for dinner, but then he was done. He had barely finished his meal before asking to go home to play on his new toys. We obliged and had the best time playing the Wii until our arms hurt. Mommy is not so good and very competitive, but we had a great time!

Now, we are in training so we are prepared on New Years Eve. We will be going over to our friend's house to play games and watch the VT/UT game! It should be a fun night.

I promise to post pics of Christmas soon!

Santa was good....really good

Santa was good to us this year.....I didn't realize I was such a good girl! HA! This is what he left for me!

HP Mini Notebook

Real Simple Magazine Subscription

Wii

YUMMY!

My new favorite CD!

AND then I had some money and gift cards, SO, I treated myself to THIS:
Finally, I have a camera that works! It was great deal because I can use my old battery and memory cards in it!!!!

Wii are ready, are you?

So excited we are getting a Wii for Christmas! Well, Hubby went and got it this morning and it will be our gift to each other as well as Little Hauss - a family gift if you will. I refused to pay full price for it and have been seeing deals here and there, but I couldn't get to the store in time to get one of the 10 they had or by the time I did go, they were gone.
Luckily, I got an email last night from Toys R Us and they were offering a gift card when you bought the console TODAY! Lucky for us that Hubby could go after he got home from work about 7:30 this morning!!! He also got very lucky and was able to use the gift card right after purchasing the Wii! Usually, they make you wait about 6 hrs or so before it will be activated. I guess the store clerk was in a giving spirit!
So, he walked out with the Wii, extra controller and an extra game!
Little Hauss will be so excited! We are thrilled because we've both wanted one for about a year now. I guess now we'll be asking for games and Wii Fit!
Family Game Night here we come!!!!!

A few more pics...

Some more pictures of the beautiful day we had! This snowstorm was a blessing for us during this busy season. It allowed us to slow down and spend some real quality time together all weekend.

Everyone waiting their turns
Gorgeous mountains that we are surrounded by- I take them for granted sometimes but I shouldn't.

Piggy and Reggae taking a break

Their little brother Pootzie all bundled up going for a ride

LH and his girls

O'er the hills we go....

Laughing all the way!

We took Little Hauss to a local golf course infamous for sleighriding when it snows this morning! He wasn't 4 steps out of the truck before he was trying to slide down the hill!!! It was an absolute blast! I took lots of pictures. We met some friends there and all the kids (and parents) had so much fun!
He did so well going down and walking back up - even carried his sled a few times. Most of the time he convinced a dad at the bottom of the hill to carry it up for him!!! Sneaky!
Here are some of the pics from the day!

Ready to Go!
Saucer was FAST!!!!!

Love my boys!

His daddy carrying the sled back up!

Proof I was actually there!!!

Once in a lifetime

I did it! I not only went out in the snow, I went sleigriding with the whole family! Excuse the video! I guess I had the camera on the wrong setting when I asked my friend to take the picture, but you get the idea! Proof for all to see that I did it! It was fun, and I'm not saying that it wouldn't be, but I'm still not a fan of the white stuff! Cold, wet, and did I mention cold and wet?
So, here it is.....Not sure when or if I'll do this again anytime soon!

Winter Wonderland

Have I mentioned my love of snow? Nope, because I don't love it! I think it is beautiful and nice to look at, but I don't want to play in it. That is not the case for hubby and Little Hauss. Hubby has always liked it and loves to ski, have snowball fights, etc. I prefer to sip cocktails, sit by the fire, and watch from a window!!!

Well, we are in the middle of the mother of all snowstorms ever since I've lived here. We had a big one back in 1996, but I don't think we got this much (this fast). The record was in 1969 at 14 inches (in December) and we are well on our way past that now. Last night on the late news we were already at 10 inches and it is still falling! Our little town has made the national weather (Gigi called to tell us that we were on the Weather Channel). It will definitely be a white Christmas.

This is about an hour and a half after it STARTED....I swear the sky opened up and we endedwith about 3 inches in 2 hours or less!

He is going to have so much fun today!!! The dogs wouldn't come in last night. Our baby girl Zoey has always loved the snow!!! I'll try to get some video of her today!

Now, this is all fun and games, but let me tell you how scared I was coming home. My plan was to work all day yesterday, but after learning of the weather, I was going to leave early (the school was going to close at 4) and it was expected to start at 12. I thought if I could wait until 2 (after nap) I'd be fine! Oh my!!!! I have a subaru and its all wheel drive, but nothing prepared me for the drive home!

The snow started around 2:15. By the time I left work, made it to the daycare and we were on our way, it was nasty outside. Cars were slipping and sliding and wrecking! I was nervous. I went one way and there were cars just stopped (on a gradual incline) but it was around the curve, so I couldn't see what was going on. I turned around and then went the other way. I didn't think that all the way through because there is a steeper hill and a curve that could be dangerous! That was a mess and I finally made a decision to go for it...THANK GOODNESS the car in front of me kept going! I didn't attempt to turn on my street and pull in the driveway. I parked in front of our neighbors house and let hubby go get it! He loves driving in this stuff! LH did a great job and I didn't let on how scared I was. He was more worried about his toys he got at the Christmas party - so he was content! I got home around 4 and will not be leaving anytime soon! Thank goodness I have painting and cooking to keep me busy. AND we have tons of movies to watch! I think this will be a great family weekend! We need it - a chance to slow down after how busy we've been! So, for that I do love the snow!

Oh, and even though I didn't get to my girls night out, I did have my White Christmas Cosmos!

A little sappy

This will be Little Hauss' 5th Christmas. I can't believe it! He has grown and changed so much. He's becoming such a great little boy and teaching us how to love him even more than we did before. He is letting us be giddy and full of excitement and joy as this Christmas comes around as we experience this special time through his eyes.
He had his program at school today and I got teary as I thought of next year - he will be in Kindergarten! Wow how the time has flown! Not only did he shine as he sang all the words to 4 beautiful songs, but he listened to the Pastor tell the wonderful story of Jesus' birth and answered quesiton after question. Later the Pastor told us how bright LH was and how much he has learned in just a few months (they have a weekly Chapel and music) and how much he's retained! I'm sure if you were looking on, you'd realize we were busting at the seams with pride! We are sharing in the joy of Santa and the excitement of gifts this time of year, but it makes is extra special knowing that we also share with him the true meaning of Christmas and he's loving every minute of it! Here are the last four years with him. A total blessing!

Breeding Ground

So all the pregnancies and baby showers I've talked about over the past 6-8 months are coming full circle finally!!!

Had a sweet baby boy born last night and a little girl should be here by tomorrow, then 2 more kiddos in January, followed by a couple more in the Spring! Its so exciting!! I can't wait to meet all of them!

White Christmas Cosmos

This wil be your new favorite festive beverage after you try it!!! It's mine! I enjyoed them with friends last night and I will now be making them for my girls holiday party on Friday! I bet Carrie Bradshaw would love to have this recipe for her Sex and the City girls.

Ingredients:

Vodka

Sanding Sugar

1/2 cup White Cranberry Juice*

3 T Vodka

2 T frozen limeade concentrate, thawed

1 T orange flavored liqueur

Cranberries for garnish

Directions:

In shallow dish, add small amount of vodka, in another, add sanding sugar. Dip rim of chilled cocktail glass in vodka and then in sanding sugar. Set aside. Fill a cocktail shaker half way with ice cubes. Add juice, vodka, liqueur, and limeade concentrate. Shake vigourously for 5-10 seconds. Strain mixture into glass and garnish with cranberries. Makes 1 serving.

*We didn't have just plain white cranberry juice, so we substituted with white cranberry peach juice! Delish!

Enjoy!

Roll Tide Roll

Last weekend, Gigi and Pop were here and we all hung out to watch the Alabama Game, complete with outfits for the whole family! We also got LH to sit and smile at the camera.

This is a cheese....oh well, still a good pic of the cousins!

Blessed and then some

Wow!
Hubby and I volunteered this afternoon at the Christmas Store. It is a local charity that provides clothes, household items, food and toys for families in our area. I have heard about it but never really knew much more. I am so glad we went. My mother in law asked us to help with some people from her office and we had nothing going on, so of course we were willing!
It was such a great experience. We helped individuals and families shop for themselves and others. They get to really "shop" and choose what they want for themselves and their kids.
I used to volunteer in College all the time but have gotten out of the habit in the last few years. I'm so glad that we got to do this and especially right now during the Holiday season. It really puts life in perspective! As much as we gripe about life, it really isn't that bad especially when compared to who we helped today!
So, make sure you kiss your kids and your loved ones and thank God everyday for what you have!

A visual!

This is the result of the car door slamming incident! It looks really bad and for the first day, it felt bad too! BUT, as of right this moment, he is wrestling with Hubby and doesn't notice it much anymore. He is more fascinated with his nail being black and that it will fall off and another nail growing back than anything else! I guess this is a typical boy!

Boo Boo

OUCH!

Little Hauss slammed his hand in the car door catching the tip of his ring finger on his right hand! First, I'm pretty sure the 100 mph winds had something to do with the shutting of the door on his poor finger, and second, I've never heard a scream like that! Poor baby!

Half his nail was purple before we even made it in the house! After ice, hugs, lots of kisses, a golden oreo and motrin, he calmed down enough to take a bath and somewhat forget about the throbbing pain. He would have little bursts of tears every now and then, but overall he seems to be okay now!

Even with all of that, he and Hubby still managed to decorate the tree while I was out tonight. We usually do it together, but haven't had the time, so I guess LH just got sick of waiting so took it upon himself to get the ball rolling! It is the most beautiful tree ever! There are clusters of ornaments here and there but overall, it is wonderful! He is such a sweetie to want to do that for me!

Whatcha Say

Is LH's new favorite song. It's on the top 20 pop hits and it's by Jason Derulo! He sings along and thank goodness he doesn't know ALL the words because I'd be answering some questions (like what is lust and others), but for the most part, he can keep up!
We sing it as a duet and if I try to sing along with the boy, he tells me that I can't sing the boy part, but only the girl part! Ha!
Along with that, he likes Miley's Party in the USA, Down by Jay Sean, and Lady Gaga's Paparazzi! We enjoy our time singing together in the car! He asks for the music to be turned up so he can rock out! It's very cute!

My favorite song he sings however, is Away in a Manger! He belts it out all day long! They must have learned it at preschool because he's been singing it for a week or so. I was so proud of him at church because his Sunday School Teacher told me that he was the only one who knew all the words to it!!!

Tis the Season

I'm slowing down....mentally that is! I'm on the verge of a breaking point! Nothing horrible, but my brain is not functioning at its normal speed lately. It might be all the office luncheons and holiday gatherings that I've been trying to juggle (and it's only just begun)!
Don't get me wrong, I love this time of year, even the hustle and bustle, but it's starting to take a toll on me!

I was ahead of the game as of last week and now I feel like I'm barely going to finish. How in the world does that happen so quickly? I got my cards early, addressed the envelopes, but they haven't been mailed yet....just got stamps today! I knew I needed them, but it was just an issue as to when to find time to actually get to the post office! Hubby did it this morning! Thanks to him, we can now send out our cards tomorrow or Friday!

The lunches are nice - no cooking, no thinking of what to pack, just going and enjoying company of fellow co workers in a relaxed setting (and most of the time lasting a little longer than the normal hour), but it is interfering with my errands and other things I need to cross off my ever growing to-do list! I hardly ever take a real lunch...its always a working (personal) lunch. It's my time to get things done so I don't worry about it in the evenings, because you guessed it, they are already full too! Parties, dinners, meetings, and such (um, tons of painting) are being squeezed into every free moment we have! Mostly my moments. I know they are coming and I enjoy them, but I feel like sometimes I don't fully enjoy them because my mind is always preoccupied of what I should be doing instead of enjoy where I am.

SO, that is my motto. Enjoy the moment I'm in! If I can't do that, then obviously I don't need to be out doing whatever it is I'm doing.

So, even though I have finished my shopping and addressed my cards, here are the things left to do: (this is more for my sanity so you may stop reading now if you don't care about my to-do list)

• Stamp and mail Christmas Cards
• Wrap both Grandmother's presents and send back to TN with Uncle by Friday
• Make appetizer for Church Circle Christmas Gathering tonight!
• Walgreens and Kroger for small items that I forgot over weekend
• Wrap birthday presents for 2 little boys this weekend
• Purchase 2 gift cards for Hubby's work function on Saturday
• Paint, paint, and paint some more....(finish orders for this week and prepare for 2nd open house on Sunday afternoon)
• Wrap coworkers gifts for Monday
• Decorate tree....yeah, its up and has no ornaments
• Pick up pictures that I ordered online
• Fix lights on garland on porch that went out the other day
• Continue baking/cooking/preparing meals and such to stock up my freezer
• Try to find a FREE babysitter for next weekend....2 events, same night, no money to pay a sitter (well, we really do, but I'm just being cheap so if I find someone willing to watch LH, great, but if not, we are homebound)
• Paint some more...I'm sure!
• AND find more time in the day.....sheesh!

That's just this week and through the weekend....there is more that follows for next week! I'm sure you're lists are just as long and schedules just as hectic! Tis the Season!

He's at it again....

Little Hauss is just the funniest kid I know! I know he's mine, but seriously all those things I read years ago about Kid's Say the Darndest Things really is true!

• I told him I was sleepy yesterday and he matter of factly told me that I needed a longer nap and that he wasn't sleepy because he took a long nap the night before!
• I told him we were going to Sam's and Michael's the other day and he asked who they were and if we were going to stay there so he could play with them!
• He was in the tub with 2 of his giraffe toys and I could hear him saying "Daddy Giraffe, what do I do now?, Well, baby giraffe, you need to take a bath. Get your hair wet and wash your body with soap. Okay daddy giraffe" - I guess beacause that's our conversation in the bath everynight.
• He told me his leg pit hurt the other day....WHAT? Ya know, my leg pit as he pointed to the place behind his knee! It does kind of make sense!
• He told me that I couldn't use the blue soap in the bathroom because it was man soap! (Hubby had refilled the dispenser with men's body wash for what reason I'm not sure), but that since it was man soap, girls couldn't use it!
• I told him somthing was cool the other day and he told me that it was cute. I asked why it was cute and he informed me that girls say cute, boys say cool! And now he can spell cool!

Open House Tonight

I'm so excited about my open house tonight for my crafts! I have been frantically getting things together today and yesterday because there are so many little things that I didn't even think of! For instance, a mailing list, tablecloths, change for cash sales, a calculator, etc. I've been busy making price lists and tags for all of my items. Also, I printed some photos of stuff that I've made in the past so that people can see all of designs. I was fortunate enough to borrow a beautiful ornament tree from Southern Living at Home to display all of the ornaments I've painted recently. The same friend, Daycare Daddy's wife, has let me keep almost everything I've made for her so I could display it tonight. I've even had to go pick up 2 items from her that I gave her not realizing that I needed it back! She'll get them back soon to give away for Christmas!

I think I'm ready! There are 3 hostesses and we will be modeling hand made necklaces while sipping wine from pretty hand painted goblets! At least I will build my client list and have fun doing it!

25 Days!

Until Christmas!!!! I love it! I'm super excited about this Holiday season. You wouldn't really know it from my lack of decorating this year, but really, I'm loving it!
Hubby drug out all the decorations and he put together the tree, then went to bed! Little Hauss and I put the rest of the stuff out and even decorated his tree in his room with all of the ornaments he's made over the years, complete with a strand of red lights! Now, I honestly don't know where these lights came from. I have acquired a diverse collection of Christmas decor over the past 12 years from various sources, so who knows. I've never used the red lights, but never thrown them out either...I guess they came to good use! His room has a glow that reminds me of the red light district in Nawlins'! I can't say that around him though, because he will ask way too many questions that I'm not prepared to answer.
Oh, and the questions we are fielding these days are incredible.
LH is asking about Santa, where he lives, what he lives in, the reindeer, how he flies, how can he be in every store and the parade, and about all the elves. The elf is the big one. Nelson finally graced us with his appearance over the weekend. Not to be missed by LH - he was asking where he was when we were decorating. Thank goodness I was in the right mind to store him separately from the rest of the decor! I informed LH that he would probably come that night while he was sleeping because we now had the tree up and he knew we were ready for Christmas. He just has a knack about these things and would come see us. Well, you would think that would be enough...notsomuch! He wants to know how he flies back to the North Pole every night, why his eyes are always open, when does he sleep, how can he really see LH all the time even when we are not home, why he doesn't have shoes, and all other sorts of crazy questions only a 4 year old can come up with. It's exhausting. AND, he's so literal and inquisitive, that he doesn't just let you answer "because it's magic"!
As anything else, we are super busy, but it will be fun! Friday is the parade and it will be a perfect start to a fun filled month!
So, as we prepare for this time of year, we are also talking about the true meaning of Christmas. LH is very aware of what Christmas means and why we celebrate it. We are not going to let him forget that and teach him that the extras are just that - just another way to celebrate the birth of Jesus!