I've been featured!

What a lovely surprise to find this morning that I've been featured on the blog "The Cutest Shops Online!"

I'm so excited...and honored!!



Check out the post

HERE

Her blog is super-cute!

To celebrate, I'm offering $1 off every set of file folders ordered through the end of the month, PLUS two free bookmarks with every order! Enter code CUTE at check-out and I will refund you the money!

Exploring

Andrew is hooked on his new "Franklin" video and in one episode, they go "exploring" while on a camping trip so he's been asking me to go exploring with him all week. Today we finally did it. I don't take the boys out much because of the heat but we were brave and headed to our neighborhood park.

Andrew loves to push. Ethan seems to like it, too!



Taking time to watch the birds and planes overhead.



Ethan seems to like being outside, too.



Can't go to the park and not slide!



Relaxing in the shade.



Pointing out the birds.



Showing Ethan the pine cone he plucked off a tree.



When we arrived home with pine cones and a feather, I got to thinking that it would be nice for Andrew to have a place to keep his exploring treasures. I just picked up a few of these trays for $1.31 each at the store the day before--perfect!! So we got to painting!!



I'm going to add scrap booking paper to the sides to jazz it up. He was pretty proud--and it matches his bedroom!



All in all, a fun morning!

Friday's Fave Five #20

Read more entries over at

Living To Tell The Story

1. My husband and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary on the 6th! Here's us only a month after we met. We were introduced over Thanksgiving weekend 2001, were engaged that February and married August of 2002! Talk about a whirlwind romance!



My mom came over to watch both boys so we could enjoy a leisurely dinner together--the first since Ethan was born! It was lovely to talk uninterrupted and enjoy each other's company!

2. I got lots of organizing done this week! Besides looking sooo much better, I'm amazed at how much better I FEEL, too! Check out that post

HERE

3. I actually sat down at my craft table and made some cards! I haven't made time for that in quite a while and it felt great!





4. Speaking of crafting, I got a $40 order in my Etsy shop this week--all the way for Canada!! That's my biggest order so far and the first time I shipped internationally--pretty exciting!

5. Two play dates this week, which definitely helps the days go by faster when you're "stuck at home" all week! One day, my friend Jen brought her boys over, including her 3-week old. We were "pregnancy buddies" and it's fun now to compare babies instead of pregnancy symptoms! Here's the boys together--that's my Ethan on the left. Isn't he huge???



And for good measure, here's the latest picture of the boys:



It was a great week--we are truly blessed!

Organizing projects

The Fly Lady (www.flylady.net) says that the reason we put off projects around the house is because of our perfectionism. We don't begin because we don't think we can make it perfect like "Oh, I need to buy some stoarge bins first," or "It'll take too long and it won't be just right."

I've experimented with this idea. The bottom line is, imperfect is certainly better than it being the way it was...and it almost never takes me anywhere near as long as I think it will. This is why I do one project after another in "spurts," because my success gets me motivated to do more!

This closet seemed totally daunting. It was literally stuffed to over-flowing and wasn't really functional at all. It took me...get this...half an hour to clear it out and put it back how I wanted!! I was amazed. Granted, it took me maybe another half an hour to put things away where they belonged and gather the giveaway stuff, but still. An hour?? Why did I put it off for so long???

BEFORE:





After:



Now my diaper bag and pool bag are in the closet and off the couch when you first walk in and we even had room for the vacuum so it doesn't have to take up space in the office anymore! Hooray!

Since I was on a roll, I finally cleaned out my junk drawers and added these baskets to keep things seperated and more accesible.

This took about half an hour, too, even with consulting my husband on what I could toss!





And before I lost momentum, I tackled my craft area. This BEFORE is actually the picked-up version of the real before, but it gives you the general idea!! I didn't even have space to work!



AFTER:



I know, this still looks like a before! :) But I know where everything is and my most-used items are more accessible now. I even worked on my bookcase to get it functioning properly!



Here are some other projects from this week!

Revamping my coffee and tea station.



Clearing out my "hot spot" and putting out this cute lamp. I love the glow!



I moved my desk supplies into the cabinet above so it wouldn't clutter up the counter. I love it!



Then I moved my tray with my vitamins over and added toast-making supplies. This makes a lot more sense.



I even went through all my books and magazines and put back the ones I use the most. Muuuch better.



It feels to good to get this stuff done! Phew, I need a cup of tea now...