A brand new closet

Our master closet was in need of a major makeover.  It was cheap builder grade shelving with no storage space.  We've been wanting to do something for awhile and we finally bit the bullet and the closet got a makeover.  We used Classy Closets because their price and design was the best I found.  I'm SO beyond happy with the outcome.  There is so much space for both our clothes and shoes.  We have drawers and so much storage space up to the ceiling.  I am a happy camper and it was a great excuse to do some much needed cleaning out for both of us.

They came on Saturday the 1st and the day started off really rough because Ryder boy started puking at 5am and threw up most of the day.  My dryer was broken, the laundry was piling up, and our closet contents were strewn all over the bedroom and living room.  It took them most of the day to finish the closet but it was so worth it when it was finished.  Reese was my super duper helper that day.  She was right by my side ready to help when the clothes needed to be put away and she gave me advice about how to arrange it all.  We did rainbow order for the shirts, of course.  She was also mildly obsessed with organizing the jewelry drawer we had put it.  It was great having so much help from my sweet baby girl!

Rachel babysits

 The kids love Rachel and beg us to have her over to babysit them.  I was downloading photos and I found these pics of their fun Thursday night.  Crazy kids!!

Neighbors

We love our neighborhood.  It's so fun to live in a cul-de-sac where the kids can run, bike, & play safely.  Lately we've had Juhi & Kira over a lot.  Juhi is in 4th grade and we love her.  She's so smart and such a sweet girl.  I love when she comes over to play. The other day she wanted to play with Reese & Ryan but I said they had to finish homework.  She came inside and helped both of them.  They thought it was the greatest to have a 4th grader helping them out.  

Kira's parents work a lot so she spends time at our house in the afternoons.  Sometimes we pick her up from school and she'll play for awhile.  The girls & Kira get along really well and she's so sweet to Ryder.  It's nice having her around.  

The other night we decided to Boo both Kira & Juhi at their houses.  Kira lives deep in the cul-de-sac so we had to hide in the bushes while Cory rang the doorbell and ran across the street.  I tell you what, it brought me back to my teenage days of TPing and was more fun than I've had in awhile :)  The kids had a blast and I think it's our new Halloween tradition.

House updates

Our house is due for some updates and we've picked out some things we like.  There's a lot of tile in our house and we're talking about replacing it with the two options below.  It's hard to see against the dark floor at the tile company but it's a 20" ceramic tile that looks like Travertine and the plank tile that looks like hardwood floors.  

Have you seen this stuff?  It's so awesome because it looks like hardwood but it's ceramic tile and so easy to maintain.  The guy told us it handles the beatings from kids and pets really well.

 I also love these cabinets.  They are white with a caramel glaze or chocolate glaze.  We won't be replacing our cabinets but painting & staining instead.  I want the majority of the cabinets to be white and the island cabinets to be a dark brown/espresso color.  Our painter came over yesterday to give us a quote.  We'll see.

We also tore out the BBQ in the backyard and relocated it to the side yard where we hope to build a patio area with new pavers and turn a window into a door.  Big plans. We'll see how soon it all comes together.

Pajama Day

Reese & Ryan were supposed to have pajama day at school today because their class won the Box Tops contest and the kids voted on PJ day for the party.  It's been a rough week because the girls got sick on Wednesday, came home from school with sore throats & fevers, and stayed home the past 2 days.  They have been crying about missing school and Pajama Day.  I tell myself that loving school so much that tears form when they miss is a GOOD problem to have.  We decided to have our own pajama day at home today.  They had their new matching PJs on and were in them all day until about 3pm.  It was a great day and I assured them that our pajama party was just as much fun.

Are you ready for some fun?!?

 Our sweet little girls.

 They have been really excited about their birthday and kept asking me how long.  We counted 63 days until the big day and made a paper chain with 63 links that they could tear off each day.  It's like waiting for Christmas :)

 Then we made a reading fort in Ryder's room and everyone enjoyed some good books.  It was some nice quiet time for everyone.

 There's the stinker face!

 Now we're a bit bored.  What's next?

Gammie's treasures

The entire family has been going through Gammie's possessions since she passed away last month.  Uncle Mike & Jared have been in charge and it's pretty much been a full time job for both of them.  She had SO much stuff.  Most of it has sentimental value and is worth keeping, but there is a lot of stuff that just needed to be thrown out.  Everyone in the family had a chance to go around the house and put their name on items they wanted to keep.  I didn't have a need for any furniture or big items but I got some little treasures that I'm so excited about.  

This bench has sat on my Gammie's front porch for as long as I can remember.  

It's got some rust on it but nothing that a little spray paint can't take care of.  

The hand stitched pillows were in a pile at her house and no one else wanted them.

 I couldn't wait to put them on the bench.

This pillow below is my most favorite.  

My great grandmother, Florence Ryan, made it and it has her initials FR on it.  

I'm kind of obsessed with heirloom items like this.  

 

 This eagle was in her garage.  

I really wanted it to go outside our front door.  

It looks patriotic to me and gives me some warm fuzzies.

 Uncle Mike just got out all the Easter stuff and this metal Welcome sign was in the pile.  

The girls and I really liked the flowers and the colors.  

It's on our front door now.

 I couldn't resist this rusted garden shovel with a picture painted on it.  

When you love all the rusty stuff no one is standing around fighting you for it.

 This little low table was all rusted up and held a planter.  

I spray painted it heirloom white and I'm deciding what to do with it.

 This might be the best yet and I haven't decided what to do with it. 

It's a vintage bird cage that was hanging on my Gammie's front porch.  

 The girls love the parrot inside and have named her Polly.  

The bird cage was in my parent's wedding and it's awesome.  

I have some ideas for it but haven't taken action yet.

I know one thing for sure...the fake bird has got to go.

 Doesn't get much better than a cast iron Dutch oven.  I plan to make lots of chicken and dumplings in this bad boy.

 I found 10 Tiki torches in the garage. 
Cory set them up in the backyard this weekend.
They look awesome.

 My Gammie loved windchimes and had six on her front porch.  

I share her love for them and I got four of them.

 I'm still waiting for Cory to hang the last two.  

They are big and make the most beautiful sounds.

An outdoor chair set w/ an umbrella.  The chairs recline and they are so comfy.

I also got some cookbooks, photos of my grandparents on their wedding day, and some other knick knacks. 

It's so nice to have some of her things that I can keep forever. 

Big boy bed

I have some pretty amazing friends.  My sweet friend, Nicci, gave us this adorable bedding for Ryder's big boy room and we've had it stored away for months.  

It was finally time to break down the crib and put up the bed.  I bought the mattress on Monday and Cory got it all set up last night.  I had a fit of insomnia from 12-2 last night and decided it would be a great time to make up the bed since Ryder was in our bed.  When the kids woke up it was all made up and everyone was so excited.  They couldn't wait to hop on the bed and test it out.

 It really completes the room and makes it look like the total surfer bedroom, perfect for Ryder boy.  Now we have to see how tonight goes with actually sleeping in the bed.  Fingers crossed!

12 in 2012

1) A trip for Cory and that consists of getting on an airplane and spending 3 days away.  We've been talking about it for awhile and I want to plan something soon.  I think Seattle would be a fun place to go.  Or San Francisco.

2) Save up a significant chunk of change in the next 4 months.  We have plans for our house and we're working hard on socking the money away that we need.

3) More one on one time with each kid.  We started doing some date nights with our kids but it was hard to be consistent with Cory's soccer schedule and my obligation to the twins club.  My term is ending soon and we should have more free time to spend with each kid.  The goal is one date night a month for Cory and I with each kid.

4) Learning my camera & Photoshop.  I have ordered my new camera and it's coming soon.  There was a Groupon that just came up for a class and I've signed up for March 4th.  I'm really excited.  After that I'm planning on doing the Photoshop class.

5) This one is a rollover from last year, but I want to visit somewhere new in AZ that we haven't been before.  Ryder was a doozy in his car seat last year when we took road trips, so we were NOT jumping at the bit to hop in the car for extended periods of time.  He's gotten much better so we'll add this one back to the list.  I'd like to check out Tubac, Bisbee, & Grand Canyon.  Maybe not all this year, but that's the list I've got.

6) This one can tie in with #2 but I would like to spiff up the house with either a new coat of paint on the inside and redo the carpet in our living room.  It's time for a few updates, but the money plays a big role in making this happen.

7) Stick with my gym schedule of going MWF to the gym at 5:15am. I've been doing really good but got a bit derailed with the holidays.  I'm back on track, but I have to be diligent about staying with it because it's easy to get off track.

8) Take a new parenting class.  There is a speaker that came to our twins club last year to talk about parenting based on the premise of 'Love & Logic'.  It was great stuff and I would love to take a 6 week class for a refresher.

9) Do a couples Bible study with Cory.  We just started going to a new church and we've been pretty happy so far.  I want to get more involved and one of my goals for 2012 is to take a class that we can do together.

10)  Get 2 new real estate designations this year.   Before the girls were born I was on the fast track to getting my CRS designation.  It's kind of like getting a master's degree in the world of real estate.  I'm about halfway finished and I really want to receive that designation in the next year.  The only challenge is that classes aren't offered very often.  I also want to try to obtain my ABR (Accredited Buyer's Representative).

11) This one may seem so trivial and I feel kind of silly writing it down, but I want to try to not buy anything new until I absolutely run out of the current product or item.  Example is shampoo, face products, makeup stuff, etc.  I have SO much of this and when something new goes on sale I find myself digging up a coupon and making up an excuse of why I need it.  Our bathroom is overflowing with crap that is begging to be used up.  I also feel this way about clothes in the closet.  I've received some awesome hand-me-downs from my dear friends and I'm not buying anything new for at least 6 months, maybe even the entire year.

12) SLOW down and smell the roses.  A cliche, I know.  But I tend to go about 90 miles an hour and I really want our family time to be #1 priority.  We only have about 6 months before the girls go to Kindergarten and are gone all day.  I have a bit of anxiety about this but I know they will be ready when the time comes.  I just want to soak up this time with them and enjoy every moment together. 

Just in case...

we didn't have enough girly stuff at the Whyte house.  We thought we'd add some more :)

 

Mimi was so sweet to buy this for the girls and let me tell you, it's a household hit so far.  Haley & Rome spent the day/night with us and we barely saw the whites of the girls' eyes because they were so busy playing with their dolls and the vanity.

 This is what it looked like about an hour after we set it up in their room.  It's a great addition to their mermaid/princess/fairy tale room.

Hoarders? I think not

I'm a sucker for garage sales and finding good deals on things.  We live in a decent area and people in the surrounding neighborhoods sell nice stuff for CHEAP.  Cory hates it and makes fun of me by calling me a hoarder.  He really knows what buttons to push because I truly hate crap lying around the house and if something doesn't have a place then it's sent to Goodwill right away.  My aunt and uncle sold their house and had a garage sale today with my 2 cousins.  They were selling some pretty good stuff.  I scored a JEEP single jogging stroller and all this stuff for $36:

• Silk daffodil plant
• 2 baby dolls and one carrier.  One is a boy Cabbage Patch Kid and that's going over big in our house right now.  We don't have any boy baby dolls.
• Big Elmo Board book
• DVDs unopened--The Holiday (one of my faves) & Shallow Hal
• 2 amazing kids books--Adventures of Frog & Toad (hardback) and Sideways Stories at Wayside School--one of the best kids books ever written.  Can't wait to read it to the girls at bedtime, one chapter a night.
•  2 Nike golf shirts for Cory
• Hannah Montana night light and rock star wall decals for Campbell
• Mega Bloks school bus
• Ceramic pears & apple for decor (I'm kind of a fan of fake fruit)

I really hope my husband will stop teasing me because I think I got some pretty good stuff today for around 30 bucks.

My kind of day

I love when it rains.  It's been a steady stream at our house this morning.  I'm soaking it up because I know it's only here for the day.  The girls spent the night at Grandma & Grandpa's house, Mr. R is napping, and Cory is working so I have the quiet house all to myself.  Such a great day.

What's the word, bird?

Our fine feathered friends didn't get the memo that I have a HUGE phobia of their kind.  They thought our pool & backyard looked inviting and they came to hang out.  I understand why.  We do have a pretty awesome backyard.

  I was SO bummed the girls were sleeping when these two guys showed up.  I had to take photos to share since they flew off before the girls were awake.  Ryder's scream of excitement scared them off.  I can't believe I'm saying this, but I do hope they come back soon for another visit.  The girls would love to see them in person.

 And then we have this lovely mama bird below.  She back for the second year in a row.  She makes a nest on top of our outdoor speaker each Spring and waits for her babes to hatch.  She's always there, protecting like a good mother should.  Last year we got to see her two little babies peeking out from underneath.  I'm sure we'll be meeting this year's babies soon.

My favorite four letter word....

is FREE.  We picked up this little sandbox and Tonka truck at one of our vacant listings.  The owners left it behind and we decided to give it a new home.  It was a bit crusty with dirt and mud as you can see, but we cleaned it out and it's good as new. 

 I had my little helper outside, all up in the mix.  He kept throwing things inside as I was trying to clean it up.  I took all 3 kids with me to Home Depot to buy sand and now it's all filled up and ready to go.  They've been having so much fun playing outside in the beautiful Spring weather.