Week 2 Challenge - "The Launch Pad" - Update

After posting about this challenge on Sunday, my mind started to work and work and work on ideas for how to create my launch pad.  I laid awake Sunday night as the ideas really started to roll.  See I have this area next to the counter and between the door that is where I believe I have some very usable space that is right now "trashed" ;-) 

Yep, it has housed the trash can since we first moved into this house 7 1/2 years ago.  Now, it also holds that cart, my creative way to have a place to store mittens and  .. . the cat while she is sleeping.  I like the idea and it really was a test to see if that area was "usable" and it is.  As I laid in bed, I thought about what storage unit I could put there . .. and I thought of this:

That is my husband's current end table (which brings up another issue - we have NEVER had matching end tables and by "matching" I mean that matches our bedroom or each other!) This particular stand we got as a wedding gift and it has been used in every room from the kitchen to the bathroom to our bedroom (obviously)  It came with some wire baskets but I have put them to use elsewhere.  I loved this idea for my launch pad because it is tall but still slightly shorter than the counter top so it won't "become" extra counter space.  Also, it has that nice flat surface which is the right size to put a few basics but not too large to carry too much stuff.  With three cubbies (which I will find the perfect baskets for) it is the perfect space for mittens and gloves, cloth shopping bags and whatever else I can think of :-)  So I took this table and turned it from the bedside table to this:

I pulled the green baskets out of Josh's room and found the basket downstairs.  I still have a little work to do on it - I want to mod-podge some pretty paper on the top.  I got that idea from Organizing Made Fun - see her cool dresser-turned-launch pad - - -

Don't you just love the look of that music on top???

Shoes.  Gotta love 'em; gotta wear 'em.  We get a pile of 'em.  So I saw this really cute idea out in blog land:

I really love this idea but I haven't figured out quite yet how to corral our shoes.  There is not enough space next to the stand/launch pad to put this (which is why the trash can still sits there . . .) So for now the shoes are staying put - on our entry rug.
The other area of my entry way is where to put coats.  There is no coat closet in this house.  We actually added a closet rod to a closet in the bathroom for a place to hang our "extra" coats but none of us walk to the bathroom to hang up a coat when we get home - they just get thrown over the banister.  So, I saw this great idea for a peg board (sorry no picture :-( ) that is exactly what I had in mind but, as a "test", I've hung up some command hooks right here in our stair well.  This is better anyway because I will be painting soon and don't need to fill in MORE holes!.

Here is the nice open wall . ..

Now I added a couple of command hooks.

I LOVE these hooks that I saw over at A Bowl Full of Lemons, though.  If I can find hooks like this I may not build the peg board since it would be easier to just hang hooks!

I'm also thinking that this is the perfect place to add this:

The top step is very wide so there is plenty of room to stand without worrying about falling plus, I think it would be super cute as part of our "entry". 

So that is the basics - both some things I've done and some things I'm thinking about.  Before I conquer any more of this project though, I HAVE to get our bathroom done.  Maybe I need THAT to be a challenge ;-)

Too Cute Not To "Toot"

Lets just jump into the ideas!! First up is a super cute idea from Craftomanic for adorable homemade Valentine's.  How much cuter are these than the little store bought items you can get?

And, here's another idea from 24-7-365 for Valentine's as well.

OR, if you really want to go the extra mile, check out these creative Valentine's from FamilyFun.com

Over at Oopsey-daisy is a great tutorial for Rose Felt Trees.  These would also be a great idea for a bridal shower centerpiece or even at a wedding.  They are super adorable!

Ok . .my ideas are short today.  If you follow blogs that have "Linky Parties" you probably saw that they have had to pay for that service that used to be free so a lot of the places I find cute ideas either didn't have parties this week or they are much smaller.  I didn't have as much time as I do sometimes to search individual blogs so . . .hopefully these ideas help a little!  (And hopefully I'll be back next week with tons of ideas now that I'm a little more prepared for the search!)

Simplify, Simplify, Simplify

Peacefulness



As I work on trying to simplify my life, one thought keeps coming to mind.  Peacefulness.  Once I have simplified the areas that cause me stress, that sense of peace will fill in those corners.  I decided to type in the word "Peacefulness" into Google Images to see what popped up and this is what I found:

 This is peaceful - can you imagine waking up to that every morning?  Or relaxing in the evening and watching the sunset on the calm water?  It makes me feel peace just looking at the picture.

 And, of course, this picture (which I've used in other posts).  My dream would be to live on the beach like this and just be able to have windows open and sit on a porch listening to the water.  I can almost smell that salty air.

Or this . .. how nice would it be to relax on a summer evening with your feet hanging in the off the pier into the water? 

Do you sense a theme?

I sense peace no where better than when I'm relaxing by the water.  (no, we did not move by the water - how I wish!)

What these pictures do give me is that concept of how I hope to wake up feeling every day once I accomplish my list of simplifying tasks.  As I thought about this concept I had several areas that just kept popping up over and over; the more I thought . . dwelled . . obsessed over them, I realized that those were the areas that I needed to conquer this year in order to be able to look back at the end of the year and say, "Yes, I did simplify my life this year." 

So, what did I do?

I made a list.  You are shocked, aren't you? haha  Acutally, I put my computer away, pulled out my spiral notebook that my husband gave me in my stocking (because he knows me well and knows I LOVE paper), and started making a list of the areas that need to be made more simple.  While brainstorming this list, I kept the areas pretty general because I wanted no more than 12 areas to work on - that one a month idea so that there weren't too many ideas!  Also while brainstorming this list, I jotted down the first things that came to mind within those categories because, obviously, they wouldn't have been in my mind to begin with if I didn't have something that needed to be simplified, right? (I did not make comprehensive lists for all items yet)  I'm sure you are wondering if I came up with 12 areas and . .not yet.  Really.  I was kinda surprised myself.  But remember, these were really general so a lot of things sometimes fit into one area. 

What's on my list?

Are you ready?  I'm not going to tell you.  Really?  Seriously.  Nope, not going to do it.  At first I was, but I don't want to write out this whole long list; instead I picked the top two things that I'm focusing on first (partly because they are already in progress and because they were staring me in the face the most) and will share those items.  Once those are tackled, I will let you know what I'm working on next. 

So, the first general item was (drumroll please):

Grocery Shopping

The specific things I wanted to accomplish to simplify this area were:

1. Join AngelSavings.com and give it a trial run - Joined and so far, loving this!

2. Go through all of my recipes and make a master list of our go to favorites that we love I have my list and it is really helping planning meals!

3. Make a monthly meal plan - all it entails is 5 meals of the 7 each week from our list of favorites - not a complete menu but a guide to help with stockpiling groceries done for Feb.

4. Design a weekly menu sheet that fits our needs done and I love it!

5. Stick to the grocery budget by using the above tools

6. Type up all recipes that need to be filed and clean out my recipe books Instead, I created a new binder, which is much less stressful to use!!!

The second general item was:

My Working Desk

The specific things I wanted to accomplish to simplify this area were:

1. Completely re-organize my files so that they include files that are relivant to us today and to incorporate my monthly teaching units into the upstairs file cabinet.

2. Set up a desk top file that will house all of the day to day things that usually land on my desk.

3. Clean out my desk top/cubbies so that it is visually neat.

4. "Decorate" my bulletin board so that it is more visiually appealing

5. Modify/rework my daily/weekly routines so that they are easier to accomplish within the timeframes I have set

6. Design the "perfect" (haha) to do list

7. Keep up with my month to month goal list to accomplish those things which are most important I feel like I have a handle on this and am making good progress.  I don't accomplish all the tasks but I am able to cross at least half off each month.

Now you can see why I didn't want any more than 12 general areas because there are alot of sub-items in each category.  I've already marked what I've completed and will (try) to come back to this post and update the items; than when I link back to this post in future updates, you'll be able to see what was done (yep, I think you are THAT interested LOL) 

So, with all of that said - lets go SIMPLIFY!!! 

Week 2 Challenge - "The Launch Pad"

Time for the 2nd challenge from over at A Bowl Full of Lemons which is to create a launch pad. 

I'm thankful for this challenge because this is an area I've really struggled with in our house due to the fact that our main entrance is our kitchen.  There is no place for coats, shoes, purses, hats, etc.  We are constantly battling things just being thrown in this area.  Not only is it our entrance - it is totally in view of everyone that pulls up to our house and it often does not give a good impression. 

So, I have a few ideas I've been working/thinking about and I'm pretty sure I won't get them all done this week so instead my goal is going to be to come up with my plan for what I'm going to do; show you pictures of the things I'm going to implement and than, once I finish painting our kitchen, I'll show you the final product a little later this year.  For this project, I've had to think outside the box and have scoured websites, blogs, and magazines to find ways to practically have an entryway when you don't have one!! 

So, check back later this week for pictures of what I am able to do and the ideas I have to do soon!

I'm linking up over at:

Lemon Chicken Pasta Toss

This is one of our favorite pasta dishes!  It is super easy to make and tastes so good!

First, cook your chicken (about 2 cups) you can also use the precooked chicken or even one of those roasted chickens from the grocery store.  I cooked mine in some olive oil with seasoning salt. 

 The recipe calls for Radiatore Pasta which are these small spirals - but, of course, you could use any pasta.  Cook the pasta - maybe about 2 minutes less than normal.

 Cut up the carrot, onion and garlic; cook for about 5 minutes in a pan sprayed with butter spray (or in the pan you cooked the chicken in)

 Cut up the broccoli and the red pepper and place in a microwave safe dish; add salt and cook for about 2 minutes.

 (This is my favorite Alfredo Sauce to use for this recipe - the texture and flavor is fantastic)

 Add everything to the pan with the carrots and onions, stir in the water and Alfredo Sauce.

Once done, sprinkle with some cheese! YUMMY!!

Lemon Chicken Pasta Toss

8 ounces uncooked radiatore pasta

1 medium onion, chopped                     ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 small carrot, peeled                                    Snipped fresh parsley

3 garlic cloves, pressed                     coarsely ground black pepper

1 small red bell pepper

2 cups small broccoli florets

¼ teaspoon salt

2 cups diced, cooked chicken breast

1 cup prepared Alfredo sauce

½ cup hot water

1 lemon, cut in half crosswise

Cook pasta 2 minutes less then package directions; drain.  Meanwhile, chop onion and slice carrot.  Lightly spray a large skillet with oil.  Cook and stir onion, carrot and garlic over medium heat for 4-5 minutes or until carrots are crisp-tender.  Meanwhile, slice bell pepper into strips; cut strips in half.  Combine bell pepper, broccoli and salt in a microwavable bowl, covered, on high for 1-2 minutes or until vegetables are crisp tender.  Add pasta, steamed vegetables, chicken, Alfredo sauce and water to skillet.  Squeeze lemon halves over pasta; cook and stir until heated through.  Grate Parmesan cheese over pasta; sprinkle with parsley and black pepper, if desired.

Enjoy this recipe - it really is good.

(One note - more veggies, pasta , etc doesn't make the recipe better - if you increase the amount of "Stuff" you use - add another tub of Alfredo sauce; you need enough sauce to add the flavor!) 

I'm linking up with Janelle at Comfy in the Kitchen

Happenings in this House

Another week flew by!  We had lots of fun with a Blizzard and lots of play time!  Normally, I do a post on Friday's that relates to our learning activities but so much of what we did actually was part of family time this week, I've just combined the two so enjoy - The Happenings in this House!

 Don't you just love that hair??? I messed with that all day long and just made it more curly all day long!!

 Noticed how the puzzles are all lined up in a row?  Josh does them in order.  Also, this is a rare moment when Nate is allowed to help . .. or maybe he is just allowed to watch???

 Darryl taught Josh how to play in the toy box hahaha.  Now, he has figured out how to climb in it, empty all the toys out and than play inside it. 

 We started our countdown calendar that I mentioned in this post, this week.  Our first activity was to use a TP roll to listen to our hearts.  (Or look through like a telescope hahaha)  I just wrapped it in Valentine scrapbooking paper to make it look more festive.

 And, of course the "Blizzard of 2011" hit Tuesday night and Wednesday.  The best part?  We were all home on Wednesday with no where to go - just the four of us!!  We don't get days like that every often so it was sure nice.

 Josh went outside to help Darryl clear the snow.

 See the now flying??  Josh stayed outside for close to an hour before he decided he was ready to come in - he loved it. 

 Nate had to stay inside - we would have lost him in the 3 + foot drifts in the yard!!

 Another activity we did this week with our countdown was to introduce our February Sensory Bin and boy, did they have fun!!!  My "filler" was shredded paper and it ended up working well.  The texture worked well with the other things in the bin.  I was surprised at how intrigued Nate was with it.  Neither of the boys wanted to clean up at bedtime - they both wanted to play!

 Nate loves to sit on the furntiture . .but he has yet to figure out how to climb or get down (well, he gets down but it is more of a roll and he doesn't enjoy the trip to the floor!)

 My little reader - he loves letters and books and yes, he knows his alphabet so, when he looks at books I hear him saying all of the letters.

Finally, Josh learned something new today (Friday).  We have a toy area set up behind the couch and there is a big Fisher Price ramp back there.  He figured out first, that if he climbs on the ramp, he can sit on the bean bag chairs back there and look out the window . . . .than he figured out he could flip over the back of the couch from the bean bags.  Than he would run around and do it again until he figured out he could climb over the back of the couch and land ON the bean bags LOL  He did that for a good hour (and now, he has another window to look out!)

So there's our week.  As always, we had tons of fun with our boys!

Show us your Life - What do you feed your kids

Kelly, over at Kelly's Korner is hosting the "Show us your Life" series again and this week she is looking for What you feed your kids!  I've talked in previous posts about how much I struggle with figuring out what to feed my kids for lunch.  I followed all of the "good" rules and made my own baby food, introduced any and all fruits and vegetables (even the ones I did not like and make me gag to cook!) and my now 2 year old, ate every single one . .. until he turned 1 1/2 years old . . than he started to be a little pickier.  Now, he comes to the table, looks at the plate and says . . "Nooooo,  Thank you", and than smiles.  I can already hear some of you saying - don't give them a choice or serve them the food and they will eat it.  Well, this is what I've learned, every child is different!  My 1 year old would eat a cob of corn WITHOUT the corn on it but my 2 year old, well, he'd prefer cheese or . . . .cheese.  Don't worry, we don't have "kid food" in the house that is just for them or cook separate meals for them but what I do when I plan all of our meals is to try and include one item that I know each child will eat.  (For Nate, that is ANYTHING and for Josh - well, I have to be creative)  Than, when we fix their plates, we include a little of everything --every single time.  Sometimes he surprises us and sometimes, he just doesn't eat more than a piece of bread.  But again, guess what I've learned - when a kid is hungry, they will eat!!  So here are a couple of pictures and a few more ideas :-)

 A little while ago I posted about a great book called Funky Lunch and yes, I ordered it!  It is super cute and I made our first lunch using that book as a guide.  Ok, so I'm not an artist - this is NOT a letter "A" but rather a rocket.  I used ham and cheese for filling and than made the rocket flares from carrot and cheese.  Our Teddy Grahams were the Astronauts :-)  Did Josh eat it? NO!  He was NOT impressed hahahaha  But it is just a way to be creative.  Normally, I always include a fruit (apples or grapes our his favorites) but it just didn't happen today.

Another thing I've done is incorporate Muffin Tin Monday.  There are all kinds of websites out there but the concept is just to put foods in the tin.  This weeks theme was "Favorite Foods" so I did cheese quesadillas, black olives, grapes, chips and salsa, and white chocolate chips.  Notice the hand is grabbing the quesadilla???  I expected him to grab the chocolate chips first but he ate the whole tortilla first before moving on to the other things. 

Some other ideas for lunch:

1) Crescent wrap ups - Either wrap a crescent roll around the little mini-hot dogs and cook them up or, lay out the crescent dough, spread a little cream cheese mixture on top and than roll up and cut into slices and cook.  What to mix in the cream cheese?  Anything!  I use dry ranch dip and than will add chicken and veggies. 

2) Squished Sandwiches - take a slice of bread and cut off the crust (it is easier to roll) than roll it thin like a tortilla, spread your favorite filling (PB and J) on it and roll it up!  It is amazing how a "roll up" verses a sandwich tastes better

3) Quesadillas - you can throw anything in there - cheese, meat, veggies, the sky is the limit

4) Grilled Cheese - use cookie cutters to make it more festive and throw in some shredded carrot - it matches the cheese

** Again - I know that some people say "don't hide the veggies" - I disagree.  If you have a child who sees a veggie and turns their nose up at, there isn't anything wrong with sneaking veggies into places they can't see.  Trust me, as an adult, I sneak things into our food so we can't taste it too!!

5) Cheese and Crackers - again, use cookie cutters to cut the cheese into cute shapes and get fun crackers. 

I do believe in the mantra that says if you just keep putting it on their plate they will taste it eventually so don't give up.  Pick one fruit or veggie and use it every day for a month - your child may surprise you.  My kids both LOVE apples and grapes, as I mentioned, so I try to keep those on hand all of the time than I try to introduce other fruits/veggies along with those. 

The other BIG thing I've learned since planning lunches for kids - is that you HAVE to plan.  For myself I can just say "leftovers" but with kids - you must have food on hand that they will eat and if you make something for the adults for dinner that the kids really can't eat - make sure and plan something for them (i.e - something way too spicy or even a true soup - make homemade bread and give them a PB and J sandwich with the bread along with some fruit)

Enjoy :-)

For all of my regular readers (and non-regular readers!) I did a "ton" of posts today on everything from coupons to my Home Management Binder - just wrapping up some projects and getting some older posts finally posted so feel free to check those out as well!  . . click on the header and than just scroll down to check them all out!