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Posted on July 29, 2011
When I started my planter garden I didn’t really think anything would come of it. Well, we’ve now been able to enjoy two strawberries and two tomatoes! Yeah! For me that’s a small victory! There are many more tomatoes finally starting to grow bigger and turn red. The kids love going out there everyday to see how the plants are doing. We may even get a cucumber to enjoy as well. Not sure how the red peppers and the long-neck yellow squash are going to do but it’s fun to just watch them grow. If you’d like to compare my planter garden now to where it used to be check out this post and this one to see the very beginning.
Posted on July 28, 2011
Look at this mess! Ugh! Looks like an episode of hoarders doesn’t it? Well this mess is was our garage. When we first moved to Jackson we were able to park the van in the garage (for like two days)…until the second truck came to bring the rest of our stuff (LOOOONG story), and then it got overcrowded, the house was already full and we had no idea where to put everything. We made a few paths to get from the house to the van through the garage but there wasn’t room for much else. The bulk of the mess was my big corner desk which you can see the edge of in the middle of the picture. The kids loved to crawl in between the boxes and under the desk and just had fun like it was a fort. But I didn’t let them play under there because it just wasn’t safe. We tried and tried to do little bits at a time but that just didn’t work. When Greg’s parents came down a couple of weekends ago we asked them ahead of time if they’d watch the kids so we could clean up the garage. Of course they were delighted to do so. So Saturday morning at 10am (after we saw some of our friends from Texas) we got started on the clean up process.
It’s a little embarrassing to share this photo…but it makes the after photo that much better!
We started out by completely emptying the garage and sorting things into three main piles. This process was the easy part and took us about two hours. People were driving by and had to slow down to look, I’m pretty sure some of the neighbors thought we were having a garage sale. We would have gladly sold them some stuff! The thing is, since we’re just renting and we don’t know what our home will be like when we buy we’re reluctant to get rid of stuff because it may fit perfectly in our new home….that is, everything but my big corner desk. I loved that desk. We tried to sell it in San Antonio but I didn’t list it early enough. We tried to move it but the movers couldn’t get it back together and we didn’t have all the hardware. Major BUMMER! We did save one of the shelving units and the main table that attached to the desk, so hopefully when we buy a house I’ll be able to set-up my home office with that nice table for my clients! (I’ll just have to find a new desk). For now it works well in the garage to hold “stuff”.
This is the pile of stuff that went into the attic. Mostly the kids clothes that don’t fit, seasonal decorations, books, and baby items that we no longer use. Greg even got the six black chairs that you see in the picture above this in the attic…needless to say the attic is pretty full! But that’s okay, because it makes the garage pretty empty…or at least van parkable!
The big cardboard box that you see on the left was full of packing paper and the garbage men took it. Then you can also see part of my desk there which the garbage men were also willing to take. Awesome. We’re so glad they took it and that we didn’t have to borrow a truck and find a dumpster just to get rid of the desk. We still have garbage men that walk the route dump the trash, etc, no automated things here…which is nice when you have more trash than can fit into our can!
We still have boxes in the garage and not everything is organized yet, but it’s like a huge sign of relief to be able to WALK in the garage and PARK in the garage! yay!!! The kids won’t be able to climb under my desk anymore but they’ll be able to find their toys easier and everything will get put away and not just thrown on a pile! We’ve even got a CD player out there so we can crank some tunes while playing outside!! So excited to have this eye sore cleaned up and useable!
A momentous occasion…parking the van IN the garage!!
Posted on July 27, 2011
{Jackson, TN lifestyle photographer}
Do you ever see a great idea implemented somewhere and think “I can totally do that!” ? I say that to myself all the time. I think in my head that certain projects will be simple to pull-off, take no time at all and come out better than the inspiration itself. My head is very generous and kind, but my reality is very different. On a whim I decided to try something I saw once. Kids on a bed in between white sheets, easy enough right? Well, it wasn’t terrible. The outcome is not perfect. I’ll want to try again. I had to push my ISO pretty high so the shots are grainy and not clear. But in my trial and error I find that I don’t mind a little grain once in a while. It’s not really my “style” of photography, but it’s good to try new things now and again.
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Posted on July 26, 2011
I had a vision in my head. I knew what I wanted to accomplish. I thought it through for a few days and worked out the kinks in my mind. When I started to get to work it came together just like I had envisioned. That doesn’t happen every time I try something new but this time it worked! When we go on vacation we drive. I mean, really, who can afford four plane tickets these days? We usually end up eating quite a few meals in the car and try to keep the kids busy with coloring, small games, watching movies, etc. Eating always ends up being kind of tricky, especially with Micah. The kid doesn’t eat a sandwich like a normal person, he takes everything apart and usually doesn’t eat the crust, BIG MESS. We’ve usually just had them put their travel pillows on their laps but they don’t sit right and then the messy boy ends up getting lunch on his pillow. So, I was thinking about buying some lap trays for the kids. I remember having one as a kid. But I’m not sure if they make them anymore and I was thinking they may be too big for the kids in their car seats. So, I thought about how to make my own. And it turned out great, I can’t wait to see them in action with the kids.
Supplies:
White erase board
Fabric, ribbon, batting,
rice, beans, or peas
needle, thread, hot glue,
pencil pouch (optional)
I found the white erase board at Walmart in their back to school section for $1.67 (or something like that) and the pencil pouch I got from dollar spot at Target. Everything else I had already so the total cost per travel lap tray was about $3. I had leftover rice and beans from an old sensory table so I just used that for the inside.
Measure the fabric to be a little bigger than the board
Sew the pencil pouch to the right side of the fabric a few inches down on one of the long sides. I sewed a running stitch to one end and then back to the first end.
Then I just started gluing the fabric to the back side of the white erase board. Make sure that some of the fabric reaches to the cardboard since hot glue can peel off plastic pretty easily.
After gluing down three sides of the fabric I stuffed in a piece of batting and then added some rice and beans. Make sure not to fill it completely, you want to have a little wiggle room so it forms to their laps.
Then I glued down the fourth side and decided that Micah would probably pick at it. So, I decided to glue a ribbon around the whole thing that covered the edges and the back of the fabric so that there wouldn’t be any exposed edges and thus less picking by Micah and Naomi, hopefully keeping the rice and beans inside the fabric and not all over the van.
He was very excited to try it out!
Not perfect in craftsmanship but perfect for my little kiddos in the car and hopefully it’ll contain the mess a little better and give them a better table for eating on!
Does your hot glue gun fall over a lot? Does it leave beads of hot glue on the table? Well, here’s my little hot glue gun tip…
I used an old ribbon spool and tore off the paper from one end, then cut a little notch in the spool for the glue gun to rest in. No more glue gun falling over or leaving little beads of glue on the table.
sorry for the blurry photo!
Let me know if you make a travel lap tray, I’d love to see how you do it!
Posted on July 25, 2011
A baby is born with a need to be loved — and never outgrows it.
Frank A. Clark
People who say they sleep like a baby usually don’t have one.
Leo J. Burke
A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor’s book.
Irish Proverb
A day without a nap is like a cupcake without frosting.
Terri Guillemets
If one feels the need of something grand, something infinite, something that makes one feel aware of God,
one need not go far to find it. I think that I see something deeper, more infinite, more eternal than the ocean
in the expression of the eyes of a little baby when it wakes in the morning and coos or laughs because it sees the sun shining on its cradle.
Vincent van Gogh
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