A Little Sit

I find the idea of child-sized chairs around the house so charming. I can't really put my finger on why I'm obsessed. Maybe someone told me it was cool. I'm not sure. But, I have really been wanting some little chairs for my little people to sit in. I found the small chair in this picture on craigslist. I imagine my little ones finding themselves in this corner wondering through the pages of books. (Maybe after they're finished flooding the kitchen. :) )

I won?!?

Guess what!?! I won a magazine subscription to this great magazine on DesignMom! I can't believe I actually won something. Hooray! Thanks DesignMom!

So, I did it!

So, I did it. I actually went to the modern dance class yesterday. I was a little worried I was going to chicken out. But, I didn't. And it was fun. I mean, sure, my face was literally PURPLE, before the class was half over because I'm SO out of shape. And, I had to sit down for a couple of minutes toward the end because I thought I was going to be sick. (You have to give me some credit, the combination we had been doing involved MANY cartwheels-yes, cartwheels!) Anyway, it felt good. And I'm going to do it again. The class was small and the instructor was very encouraging, and I think it will be a great fit.

Oh man, speaking of dance. My friend, Tahna, sent me this link of an AMAZING performance. Seriously, AMAZING! (I would have posted it here, but I've yet to figure out how to post a video from YouTube.) You really should check it out.

Dance Dance Crazy Pants

Don't you just love to dance? Oh man! I love to dance. Really, I love all sorts: modern, ballet, ballroom, etc...And for the first 2/3 of my life, dance played a major role. I took all sorts of classes, performed and even taught classes. But, I'm sad to say in recent years there really has been no formal existence of dance in my life. Of course, I dance with my kids, and in the car while listening to the radio, (oh, c'mon you know you do to!) but, I haven't really done anything to develop my "dance talent" per say. I guess I've just been too busy.

For the most part, I'm pretty happy with the things I fill my time with: family, church service, design. But, I have been spending oodles of time lately on our house & yard, decorating etc...something I love, but when all is said and done I could be happy at the end of a life with house that is not picture perfect. However, I will be very sad if I don't get myself in gear and do something with this desire of mine to dance. So I have! I found a couple of classes for adults, a modern class & a ballet technique class, that are flexible and affordable and I'm totally pumped! I'm sure I'll be totally awkward at first, but who cares!?! I'm excited and going to class starting Tuesday.

As a side note: A couple of other things I really want to do in this life of mine are travel more and learn to play the guitar. (I've always thought it would be such a great thing to be a guitar-playing mommy. I have these funny visions of me playing fun songs while my kids fold laundry. I know it's a little silly, but I'm determined make it happen. :) )

This sweet pic was taken by one of Gracie's grandparents at her dance concert a couple of years ago. Can you tell which one she is?

Repurposing

Man, it's been a while hu? I've been in a small nothing-terribly-inspiring-to-post-about slump, I guess. Or maybe it's because I've been thinking, and I feel like I have so MUCH to say that it's just easier to say nothing. Shrug. Who knows. All I know is I have a fun idea. (And yes, the idea does involve these seemingly random pictures.)
Recently, I have found myself with a big room. Okay, so maybe it wasn't quite so easy as just "finding" it, it actually took quite a bit of effort to make this room in our home available, but now it is--and I'm loving it! I have big ideas for this room. It's going to be an art/play/office-ish room, a room everyone in the family can use, and I have some ideas for decorating it. One of the ideas involves a shelf already hanging in the room (see seemingly random pictures). I thought it would be a useful storage center for craft/art supplies. Initially, I was wanting to go to Ikea and buy all matching clear jars to contain the craft supplies. But Ikea is quite a distance from here and there are lots of other things I'd rather spend money on. So, I started rummaging through the house to see what I already had that I could use. I was pretty excited with what I found. What do you think of the final result?
Anyhoo. All of this put me in a mood--a sort of a money-saving, using-what-you've-got-to-make-it-work mood. And it helped spawn my fun idea, which I really am getting to. I'm going to redecorate this room using only things I currently have. It'll be a big project based solely on the idea of repurposing. Excluding money. That is, I can't use the money I have now. But, I will need some money. So the rule is that I can only use money I earn from selling things I already have. AND I've already got $25 from selling a child pack on craigslist this morning. Hooray! I'm off and running. Now, I sort want a name for this project of mine...

Daddy Fest!

Yesterday, Nate took the kids to the mountains for a few hours of quality Daddy time. (Leaving Mommy alone at home to get some things done around the house. :)) It was our first Daddy Fest! The kids had a blast. They climbed and jumped off rocks, had a picnic and splashed in the creek. Nate's so brave, he even took Gibby! Grace asked if we could have Daddy Fest every time Daddy doesn't have work.

A Clean Spring

Cleaning is always on my mind. Mostly because my place is always a wreck. Therefore, I have been working on establishing routines for myself to help keep the house in order. This is something I learned from the FLY Lady and, from my minimal experience in the business world. In the land of business I was taught to establish systems or, again, routines.

Below is a list of rules and routines I have set up for myself that seem to be making a difference. In no fancy order here they are:

1. NEVER PUT CLOTHES IN THE WASHER IF THERE ARE CLOTHES IN THE DRYER. I know it seems a little annoying, but if something comes up (or I forget) and I don't have time to fold the clothes in the dryer and put them away, where am I going to find time to dry and fold the load I just put in the washer? I won't. They'll just sit in that washer and get stinky. And then I'll have to wash them again.

2. ALWAYS FOLD THE CLOTHES STRAIGHT FROM THE DYER. Don't let clean clothes pile up in baskets or on the bed.

3. DO ONE LOAD OF WASH EVERY DAY. This was a tip from Sink Reflections, written by our friend the Fly Lady. And when I have laundry piled up (because I don't always follow my rules) it makes the task seem less daunting and more manageable.

4. COOK SOMETHING EVERY DAY. I read this on a blog somewhere, I wish I could remember where. I haven't done it yet. But I sure have been thinking about it alot! :) And, I really think it would make a difference for me. (I sort of hate to cook. It's something I've got to get over!)

5. START THE DISHWASHER BEFORE I GO TO BED EVERY NIGHT-even if it's not totally full. I know it's not the "greenest" thing to do. But, otherwise, halfway through the next day I've got a full dishwasher and my dishes start to pile.

6. UNLOAD THE DISHWASHER 1ST THING EACH MORNING. Again if the dishwasher is full--even it's full of CLEAN dishes--the stacks of dishes appear.

So, those are my rules. They probably sound a little silly to most of you. Do any of you have "rules" you set up for yourselves? I would love to hear them.