Let there be storage

We loved the look of the arches,  but our house was seriously lacking in storage. The arches also made our house feel like one big room. We needed separation and storage in a bad way. 

So we went from this:

(a few steps in between) and then to this...

 And finally... to this. 

I am amazed at how much storage there is. It has been fun putting everything away now that there is a place for things to go! We also really like having the division between the living room area and the kitchen/family room area.

I love having everything I need for canning all in one place. It's nice to see what we have left and even have a place to put the empty bottles. I have a lot of work to do, but the inner organizer in me is having a blast. 

Teach a family to read...

...and they will collect way too many books. We love to read and we have a lot of books. I love them, but they were all over the house and it was hard to know where a particular book was. For the new wall in the family room we really wanted a huge wall of bookcases. Unfortunately the budget was more IKEA than Pottery Barn. 

So here is what we did: 

4 IKEA Billy bookcases 

+ 8 IKEA height extenders

 + crown molding and trim 

+ black paint

 = Huge bookcase wall that was in our budget.

One of my favorite parts of the process was the styling. It was so fun to finally have a place to put some of the fun and sentimental things I have wanted to display. 

I had some work done...

 No it's not what you are thinking... I wish I could have a few things tucked, but alas I will settle for some work on the house.  Here are the before pics: We had these huge arches between our living and kitchen/family room areas. Pretty, but not functional. No storage and really it turned our home into one big room.

 So down they came! It was a dirty messy process. There was dust everywhere.

 In goes the new wall. They framed a new opening that was wider and lower than the first arch.

 Here it is all drywalled and painted.

 It has been a month long process, but we are very near the end! 

My Garden Helper

 What would I do without this little guy?

Ready or not...

I can't believe summer is here again. I have been gathering my thoughts trying to prepare. Our family does best with a plan. The kids seem to like the order and structure of knowing what is expected and what they need to get done. It's pretty much a chaotic house after that... :)
Here are some of the ideas we are going to use this summer.

The kids loved the"Summer to do list" from last year so we are doing it again.


We are going to try a version of the "I'm bored Jar" that I saw on Pinterest.
I just wrote the ideas on big craft sticks. I printed the label from this website. I also included some fun things we like to do as well as some of the fun activities I have pinned on Pinterest.



Loved these "Good Deed Punch Cards".


Found these big charts at Dollar Tree. I thought it would be a fun way to track the books they read.


Will continue with the job charts, this is a good way to make sure everything gets done.

 Jobs include things like practicing piano, practicing typing, practicing a skill (diving, shooting baskets, math pages, something they are working on from "The Plan", etc.) reading scriptures and books, an act of service, cleaning job for the day.

Type to learn again for the 11 year old and 7 year old. The older two are now proficient keyboarders.



Last year I bought a bunch of Chuck E. Cheese tokens and used them for rewards for different things. We had a fun time at the end of the summer redeeming all the tokens. We will probably do something like that again.

Sounds like a plan right?... I think I need to make me a chart. I get a smiley face for being "calm, nice mom". A sad face when "crazy yelling can't stand this crazy, messy house any more mom" rears her ugly head.  I'll let you know how I do.

My Guilty Pleasure...

A few weeks ago I gave in to my inner organizer. 

My name is Angie, I'm addicted to Diet Coke and I love to label. 

There I said it. I feel much better now. I really have to stop myself from labeling things. It's been a lot easier lately, because I really just don't have the time. But if I could I would print out a cute label for everything that didn't move.  

My darling 1 year old discovered the drawers in our coffee table. They were full of random card games, Nintento DS stuff, Leapsters and who knows what else. He would take out something, drop it somewhere in the house and then go back for more. I would just shove it back in and this was repeated about a dozen times every day. You can imagine what it looked like. (I wish I had taken a picture) A couple of weeks ago I remembered that oh yeah... I used to be organized and maybe I could even bring some order to these drawers. I found these containers at Wal-mart for about $1.50 each. They all fit perfectly, it was so exciting!!!

It was so fun... I forgot how much fun it is to have a project like this. I know I'm strange, but it made 

me happy to organize this little piece of my life. (Meanwhile the rest of my crazy life got a little less organized but it was totally worth it!) I even gave into the little voice in my head that said you should print off pictures of what is inside and laminate them and then label everything.

My kids are very impressed and have even played the games more now that we now where they are!

While I was at it I tackled my dresser of junk drawers where we keep all the random stuff in the house. It was a huge mess. No labels this time, but I love seeing everything so tidy. It wasn't even very hard or expensive. (The dividers are about $1 for 3 at Wal-mart) When I was done I showed everyone where everything went. So now it will stay like this forever, right? It is so nice now not to have to rummage through every drawer to find what we are looking for. 

Before:

After:

Family Goal 2012

 Over the years we have developed a pretty good habit of family scripture study, but I have struggled in helping my kids to develop their own (and my own) habit of daily personal scripture study. This year we decided to make it our family goal. Just to keep it simple this year, that is it. That is the family goal for this year. We have different ways we are tracking it and encouraging it. I think that is going to be the trick, just keep helping them remember until it is a habit.

This is what we are doing right now to help us remember. This chalkboard is right in our busy hall. We all pass it several times a day. It has been a great reminder to all of us. And besides...we like a little bit of friendly competition in there to see who can be the first to read their scriptures that day.

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