Christmas Packed Up, and Ready to Ring in the New Year!

I packed up all of our Christmas decorations today. As much as I've tried to wait until after the new year to take them down in the past, I've learned that I would much rather start out each New Year clean and fresh, so I have officially made it a new tradition to take the tree and all other decorations down on December 31st of each year. I'm quite excited about the packing job I did.

 

First I put all of the shatterproof generic ornaments in large Hefty zip bags.

 

 

 

I placed all of my treasured keepsake ornaments in a sturdy box, to be covered with tissue, and placed in the large bin.

 



 

 

I'm most excited about the way I stored the lights. I got this idea from "Auntie Martha," better known as Martha Stewart. My friend likes to call her "Auntie Martha," and we've all just become comfortable with it. It just sounds right and normal to me! Ha ha. Anyway, I just took cardboard about the size of the storage box, and I cut a slit at the top and bottom of the cardboard in opposite corners. I put one end of the light strand in one slit, wound it around the cardboard, and placed the other end into the other slit. These cardboard pieces stack so perfectly in the storage container, and no tangles, no fuss for the next time they're needed. Brilliant! Why didn't I think of this before?! Thank you Auntie Martha.

 

 

Now everything is packed away, and ready to go for next Christmas. And now, I have 50 minutes left until 2013. Happy New Year everyone. I'm going to finish watching a movie with my family as we ring in the New Year!

Post Christmas Savings

My dad gave my kids cash for Christmas. He usually does this and wants me to get for them what they need. Usually I put the money away, and spend it as needed. This time, I took the cash with me straight to the store. After having cleaned out my boys closets (a long awaited project), I was able to get a better feel for what they needed. I went to The Children's Place, and to Kohls and took advantage of the major after Christmas clearance sales they had going on. I got some serious loot. I can't remember the last time I bought so many items at one time! The sales were so good. I purchased $724.90 retail value in clothing, but only paid a total of $241.56 for it! It gives me a little high when I score at the clearance racks. This was a good score! Here is a picture of most of what I got for the kids. Some items were not included in the photo as the boys were wearing their new pj's at the time, and had the other sets folded and put away. I also got myself a little cardigan that I wanted, and it ended up on clearance. I used my Kohl's cash for that one.

 

Christmas Week With Loved Ones

I've had an eventful, busy week thus far. First of all, Santa came and dropped off some presents for the kids. They were quite happy. "Santa" put a lot of thought in making sure the children didn't receive a bunch of stuff they didn't really want. Quality, not quantity, was the goal this year. I think that goal was met. The kids were happy, and mom is happy. No need to spend unnecessary money and add clutter.

 

 

 

I don't think it's too late to share some of my holiday decorations in my home:

My fireplace setup. I love all of my household's stockings with their initial pin!

 And here are a couple of close ups of some of the ornaments on my tree.  I love my ornament collection.

I bought this table cloth, kitchen towel, and door mat on big clearance at Kohls. I love me a good clearance sale!


My holiday table cloth.



and a more closer look at the details. I love holly and pine cones.

 

Also, my husband's birthday was on Wednesday, the day after Christmas. At this time of year, I've got Christmas presents, and my husband's birthday on the brain. This year, I surprised him with a grill that he really wanted. I think we'll be having some grilled meals in the future!

 

 

A couple of nights ago, we had good friends over for dinner. I am still elated from the joy I received from having them in our home. I said on a couple of occasions, "I should have you guys over some time for dinner." I got sick of hearing myself talk, and decided to act on it. I'm so glad I did. This has been a challenging year for me, with the life change of a new baby, along with still caring for a toddler and two older kids. As I've said before, my house is certainly not put together the way I would like it to be. Add to that the flood earlier this year that has things out of place. The thought of having people over in spite of this is usually cause for increased anxiety for me. I've really made an effort to not let such things get to me as much, and I'm so glad I have. I don't want to waste opportunities to nurture my friendships. I know they don't think less of me. Things will get back in order in due time, but the joy that friendship brings, especially these friends, is priceless. Here are some photos of my table setting:

I made this arrangement from a flower bunch I purchased at Trader Joes.

I used the fine china that I inherited from my mom, and charger plates given to me by my mother in law...

...and these Princess House crystal drinking glasses, also inherited from my mom.

 I never really cared about any of these fancy table settings and such. I probably wouldn't even have any were they not given to me. Now that I have them though, I do like them. It's nice to use pretty, fancy things at times. I think it's important to use our nice, fancy things, even if it's with a bunch of people (including myself), who are normally super casual in nature. We owe it to ourselves to treat ourselves well. Hope everyone had a good week. I'm winding down from this week, and looking forward to 2013.


 



December Time

Happy Friday everyone. I really should say Happy December, and Happy Holidays. I've been mia on here for too long now. I completely let my "thankful for" posts in November fall by the wayside. I was gonna try to play catch up on that because I can not stand to start something and not finish it. I've decided to forgive myself for that one though. I've been crazy overwhelmed with life as a super busy mom of four. I'm trying to stay positive though. Some days, I have to try harder than others. Today happened to be one of those days, but after taking a moment to cry it out, I feel a little better. Stayin' positive!

Ok, so here's just a couple of highlights from my month so far. My husband and I went to his company Christmas party earlier in the month. I like to joke that it is our one out of two dates we get to go on per year. It's actually kinda true. Perhaps in the future, that will change. That being said, I look forward to it every year. His company goes all out to make the party super fabulous, and this year was no exception. It was a 007 theme and it took place at an auto club. I can't remember the name of the place, but it was cool. They had some really nice sports cars, and muscle cars, and antique cars on display. So fun. Anyway, what's a girl to wear to such an event, you ask? I wanted to go sparkly, and I didn't want to spend a dime, so I pulled out an old dress that I couldn't bear to part with because I always had certain "plans" for it. This was the time to carry those plans out. I wore this dress as a sponsor in my cousin's wedding over 11 years ago. I always wanted to chop it off and make it a cocktail length dress for such an occasion as this. I did it! How I found the time to do it, I'm still wondering myself. I ended up having to do it the day of the party. All I know is I did a sloppy rushed job, no measuring or careful cutting, all while my toddler thought it would be great fun to roll around on the dress as I had it laid out on the couch to cut. A very comedic memory, I must say. Here's the dress before:

And here I am in the dress, posing in front of my future vehicle!

Although it was a sloppy job, I was very pleased with the outcome. In addition to raising the hem, I also pulled it up at the shoulders for a bit more coverage. I may not be completely done with this dress yet. There may be an addition of cap sleeves one day. I'll keep you posted.

 

And, here is a photo of me and my hubby at a local restaurant after the party. So in love with this man!

And in other news, a young friend of mine got married also earlier this month. That was quite the happy event for us all. She's a young lady that I've known through the church since she was a child. She met her, now husband, in mid October, and just a couple months later, they are now married! Sounds crazy, but she's not crazy. She has such strong Christian character, as does her husband, and I'm so excited for their new life together in service to the Lord. I had the honor and privilege of doing the bride's hair for her wedding. The style suited her well, and I was pleased with the final outcome. Most importantly, she was pleased with the outcome. And, here are photos of the beautiful bride and her lovely hair!

 

 

I have had the privilege of knowing all of these lovely young ladies since they were small children. They've all been my bible class students as young kids.

The back view of her hair

 

The bride and the groom off to start their new life

 

Well, that's it for now. I'm happy to finally have posted after some time. I'm hoping to post a couple more times before the end of the year, so stay tuned. My downstairs work is almost finished. I can't wait! Until next time, happy December everyone.

Crazy!

Life has been a little crazy, still. The repairs resulting in the downstairs flood are still underway. It's exciting, and really coming together, but it's got me a little thrown off. Not to mention, two babies in diapers at the same time, and two elementary age children leaves not much time for anything else. I'm so motivated to get things better organized though. I keep remembering the quote I read from Jen at IHeart Organizing, about how each minute spent organizing gains you an extra hour in time. I'm all over it! I definitely value time, and am constantly making an effort to use my time more wisely. Since time is money, I also believe it's true that time well balanced coincides with money well budgeted, both of which are very important to me. I've been gathering all kinds of inspiring ideas from books, and from the blogosphere. Tiny little changes I've made here and there are definitely motivating me to keep going, because I can feel my time slowly increasing already! I can't wait to share my projects as they get completed.

I need to catch up with the my "Thankful For" posts, so here goes.

Day 14: I'm thankful for my house. In this economy, it's a blessing to have a house to call home.

Day 15: I'm thankful for my "baby emergency fund." If you follow Dave Ramsey at all, you know what this is. Basically, it's a small savings for the unexpected emergency that may come up, in this game called "life." Well, this year has brought us quite a number, and we haven't gone in debt yet, in order to take care of them.

Day 16: I'm thankful for my Crock Pot. I'm not big on cooking, but it's a necessary evil! Ha! Just kidding. About the "necessary evil" part that is. I have tonight's dinner cooking in my Crock Pot right now. I love how this tool makes this task easier.

My Man

Day 13: Today, I am most thankful for my husband. I can not say enough about how much I love this man. Though imperfect as we all are, I think he comes pretty close to perfect... at least for me. The Lord guided me his way, and I've been a better person for it, from the time I married him nearly 12 years ago. Since I can't figure out how to talk about how awesome he is without writing a novel, I'll just leave it at, I'm thankful for the man of God that I have chosen to be my husband.

Company Christmas party 2011



Thankful in November day 12

Today, I am simply thankful for another day. We are certainly not promised tomorrow, so each day is a blessing. Today happens to be one of those "bleh" days for me, but I'm thankful for it still. Although I have piles of laundry to fold, and a huge pile of dishes to do, and my house is out of sorts due to the repairs being done, all of these things are indicators of all the wonderful blessings I have living in this house.

Girlfriends

Day 11: Today I'm thankful for my girlfriends. I mentioned a bit about a couple in yesterdays post. I love my girlfriends! Once a month coffee talk is a day to look forward to. Been spending time with my younger girlfriends too, taking walks together, and movie time. It's all time well spent. We need our girlfriends. It's so important to nuture these relationships, and practice being loving and not catty, the way us girls can have a tendency toward.

Mermaid Run

Day 10: Today I am thankful for my physical health. I make an effort to not take for granted that I am in great physical shape. I also make a strong effort to take care of this fairly strong body that God has blessed me with. I try to eat right, meaning limit processed food, and consume food in as close to its natural state as possible. I eat organic food when possible, and try to limit the junk food. I don't deprive myself of the occasional treat though! I just make an effort not to be excessive. I also have always enjoyed keeping my body physically fit. Running is something I've recently gotten more into. I've been blessed with a new friend, and a great motivator and inspiration in this renewed love. My friend Judy, along with her family, just moved here a couple of short months ago, and she's become an instant friend. She's an amazing athlete who has done several tri-athlons and marathons. She invited me to run with her one time, and that was the beginning of my renewed love for running. I had been leery of running on my own outside, thus I haven't. It's been great to have a running partner. She's also motivated my friend Peggy to run too. The three of us have enjoyed running together, and have enjoyed being girlfriends. Also, I've gained increased strength, and improved physical health. Today I ran my first 5k, The Mermaid Run in San Francisco, along side my two girlfriends. What an amazing experience it was! It definitely will not be my last. I'm thankful, once again, for my physical health, so that I can continue to enjoy such things.

The view for about 50% of the run. Our beloved Golden Gate Bridge.

 

 

Traditions

Day 9: Today I am thankful for new traditions that I have begun. I started taking my kids out every Thurday after school to get some sweet treat, be it ice cream, or pie, or cupcakes, and the like. This started as an incentive for them to finish their lunch each day, but it has been more of a blessing to me than I expected. I've been enjoying this time with them, and I like a sweet treat every now and then too! Now I need to prepare for my first race since high school. Tomorrow I run a 5k with a couple of my girlfriends. I'm really excited about this! Perhaps another new tradition.

"Thankful For..." catch up

I've been too busy to get to my computer this week, so today, I'm going to post three "thankful for" posts.

Day 6: I'm thankful for moments of inspiration. As of late, I've been reading Jen's blog at "I Heart Organizing." It's been very inspiring to me. This girl gets me! Anyway, I read something in there that she wrote, that really hit me. Goes something like this: "On average, we spend 40 minutes a day trying to find stuff. However, for every minute we spend organizing, we gain 1 hour." I truly believe this. Exactly why I'm striving to get better organized. I want to be able to maximize on my time. Now, I'm the more inspired to take the time to get this place organized, stat! It will be so worth it. I'm getting there!

Day 7: I'm thankful for great organization tools.  Inspired as I have been, I purchased these cool refrigerator decals from the Martha Stewart line at Staples. They are adhesive, but removable, and can actually stick to many surfaces, including on the refrigerator. They provide space to write on, with a dry erase marker. I like to plan out my meals for each week, and shop for my needed groceries once a week. Shopping this way keeps me from accumulating food items I just end up forgeting about, and it keeps my pantry cabinets from getting cluttered. It also helps me stay on budget, which is the best part.

I like to write my dinner meal plan for each day

I like to have my shopping list in plain view.

 

Day 8: I'm, oh so thankful, for the rain! It's raining today nice and good, and I love it. Sure, it poses some inconveniences, but the best part is, it waters my plants for me! I love my garden, but it's a bit of work. When the rain comes, I get a break! And, it does a far better job of watering my plants than I can.

 



Happy Feet

Day 5: Today I am thankful for good running shoes. I was reflecting on this while encouraging my friend, Peggy, as she is training to run her first half marathon. She is very new to running. She's doing awesome at it, by the way. Being new at it, she's been discovering some of the ways running can take a toll on our bodies. Good running shoes make all the difference in terms of performance, and in terms of physical preservation. I love my running shoes. I've been putting miles on them lately, as I've been running more, and preparing to run my first 5k (3.1 miles) this Saturday! They've proven to be good to me. They are Asics GT 2160's. Yay for my happy feet!

Love Sleep!

Day 4: Today, I am most thankful for that extra hour of sleep I got. I've been dragging all of the previous recent mornings, because it was still dark at 7am! Now that we set our clocks back, and I got that extra hour, it seems to have made all the difference for me, at least today. I got up, got myself and the kids ready for worship, and we were early! Yay for the time change. I'm optimistic that my mornings from here on out, will be much better, and more productive.

Thankful in November, Day 3

Today, I am thankful for my new washing machine and dryer. I got these earlier this year, during the summer, after my old dryer died. They are Whirlpool Cabrio machines. They clean so well, and use up less water. They also have a larger capacity than my old machines, which makes so much of a difference when you're doing laundry for a family of 6. They are also great for washing all those cloth diapers that I mentioned in yesterday's post. It's so nice to have new machines, because I have never, until now, had new washing machines. What a treat. Sorry for my lack of photo, but they reside in my garage (for now), and I'm not too happy with the state of my garage. Maybe one day, you'll see a picture of them in my new laundry room (just dreaming a little!).

Thankful in November

So, yesterday, I realized... it's November! I did a "thankful in November" thing last year on facebook, but I thought I would try to do it this year, now on my blog! I've noticed several people doing this, and I've been inspired to do the same. Each day in November, I will post something in which I am thankful for. Since it is already November 2nd, I'm going to do yesterday's and today's thankful post together. Here goes!

Day 1: Be pre-warned that this post may be a little gross for many. As for me, a lifesaver and big relief for sure. I am thankful for my Swedish snot sucker! "What's that?" you may ask. It is a simple little tube attached to a recepticle for receiving snot that I suck out of my baby's nose! Sounds gross, I know, but this little tool is very effective. My baby has been getting over a cold, and has had excess mucus the last few days. This thing works so well! Being able to help my baby breath with ease makes this so worth it!

 

 

 

Day 2: I am thankful for my cloth diapers! I didn't use them for my older two, but have been using them for my two current babies. Love them! I use Little G cloth diapers. "G" for Green. These diapers have a cloth insert with a soft microfleece surface that touches baby's skin, and a back surface made of hemp, that sucks moisture away from baby's skin. They also come with a flushable liner to place on top of the cloth, so that when they poop, clean up is easy! It also makes it less gross to launder them. The covers are so cute and come in various colors and designs. I've been quite happy with them, and happier for saving money due to not having to purchase disposables often. 

 

Bye-bye Halloween!

Well, Halloween is over, and it's time to gear up for the snowball effect of the Holiday season and the end of the year! I had a fun Halloween, and no matter how busy I am, it doesn't seem right unless I pull something together for a costume. Even if it's a simple hat... or not so simple! I decided to be a rice farmer this year! This hat was my grandmothers. I think it came with her when she first arrived from the Phillipines when I was 5. I've always wanted to use it for a costume! Sorry for the funny pose. I look like I'm about to bust out in a Filipino folk dance!

Happy October!

I could not let yet another weekend pass by without getting some Halloween flair up! Last year, I was uncomfortable and pregnant, and just did not do my normal holiday decorating set up. I gave myself a pass, but my boys were kinda bummed. I promised myself that I would make every effort from now on, to continue with our holiday traditions, no matter how much I may not feel like it at the time. I really do love decorating, especially during the holidays. Halloween time is a definite favorite in our home. Everyone meet Bones and his trusty pets, Sticks (the dog) and Stones (the cat)! These three are beloved Partylite characters. I used to be an active consultant for Partylite, but life is too busy these days. Still love Partylite, and will pick it up again in the future.

It's kinda hard to see, but these are bat window clings. I let my boys put them up on our back sliding door window to our patio. In the background, you can see a partial view of the mountain behind our house. I love my backyard view! Happy October everyone!

Conquering the paper clutter... again

Well, I've had it! My life is too crazy and cluttered, and it's starting to bring me down. Two little boys, (friends of my boys) were talking to my sons while they were seated in our minivan, and they couldn't stop talking about how horribly messy our van was. I admit, although they're just kids, it kinda got to me! Fed up as I've been, I decided to do a little something about it.
      I've done this in the past, so I thought I'd do it again. I decided to assign small attainable tasks for each day this week. Monday's task was to put magazine boxes in my office cabinet to organize my boys' school work. This is one thing that piles up fast, and I'd like to keep it all together. I did it!

In my office cabinet with the other papers!

I've had these for over a year now.They are for their homework for the week, important papers such as permission slips, and their library books. This way, we dont' lose track of these things, and its on my console table, in easy reach for my boys. This system has worked out well for us.

I found this at Staples. It's a two pocket organizer for letters and such, by Martha Stewart. I've decided to use it for my coupons. One pocket for food coupons, and one for miscellaneous items. I'm not an extreme couponer, but I do like to use them when I know its an item I normally purchase, however, sometimes, they get lost in my drop box that I leave on the counter, and I end up not using them. This way, they're handy, and posted right under my shopping list white board, so I can check if I have any coupons I can use just before a shopping trip. So hopefully, my paper clutter will be better under control. I do feel less cluttered in the head at least!

Flood Damage Repair

Remember when I posted a couple months ago about how our basement flooded? Well, our friend has offered to do the repairs for us, and things are now underway!

 

Here you can see how he cut the sheet rock on the bottom of the walls, prepping to replace it. They had to drill holes all around the base in order for the big blow dryers to reach in the walls to dry the sheet rock.

 

Here, we have a cluster of closets separating the bedroom and the family room area.Really, they were not very functional for us, and quite annoying. My husband and I have been discussing tearing them down to widen the room, and when he mentioned it to our friend, he insisted that now was a good time to do it since there was all this repair needed to be done anyway.  So, he convinced us that it was more possible than we thought, and offered to do this project also! This is one of those things that we thought would not get done for years down the line. I'm so excited. He's been coming by and getting this done steadily. It's really coming together. I can't wait to post more pictures of the finished project. I still have to go through the pile of stuff in the garage and elsewhere, that was displaced during this ordeal, but for now, I'm so excited that this is getting done, and thankful to our talented friend for helping us do this.