fall nesting

I don't know what it is about this time of year, getting ready for winter I suppose, that makes me just want to stay home, organize stuff, make things and do boring things like clean up my family notebook.

But that is what I have been doing lately. Staying home alot, making food, and reorganizing things. And I don't really feel like doing much else.

It has been cold, snowy in some parts of town, which makes me just want to stay home even more. We've had our fireplace on and we've been doing a ton of snuggling the past few days!

I have been doing some canning the past few days and I don't think I am very good at it. You have to really be organized, which I normally am.. but I seem to be having things boiling at all the wrong times and stuff all over the place! My kitchen is a serious mess. And, hubby is home from work with a whacked out back, so his turn to do the dishes I don't think is happening. Bad timing on his part to hurt himself, doesn't he know that all those dishes piled up are waiting for him?

Anyway, we have some yummy peach jam, zucchini salsa, apple butter and jalapeno jelly waiting to be gobbled down in the future. I think that is all I can handle this year. Sometimes, I have silly farm girl dreams of canning a whole ton of food every year, but I don't think that is ever really going to happen. I'm not a farm girl, ya know?
Enrique has been busy in the kitchen as well. There is a whole new independence streak happening with him right now. He does not want help with ANYTHING!

His new trick is to go into the kitchen to make something "all by myself." The other day I wandered in to discover him making peach and apple muffins "all by myself." He had used a real knife to (sort of) chop up the peach and an apple. Then he poured a TON of baking soda on top, a little sugar, and some salt. "I got all the ingredients all by myself!" When I came in, he was up on a stool putting the muffin tin into the oven, trying to figure out the timer.

Yeah, he can eat these all by himself!
(But oh, how cuted out am I seeing him becoming his own little person!)

staying organized

With Don back to work, I have had to get my head around "being a housewife" again. There is lots to think about, keep track of and pay attention to. Not to mention that I have a website I am building, a wedding I am planning and our toy business to mind.

I have read about and even used in the past a Home Management Binder for keeping track of all this stuff, so I thought with me "going back to work" as a SAHM, it was time to get myself organized again.

I put together a new binder to keep me organized and top of things. And, I have to say that so far it is working! My house is cleaner than it has been in months, I have started to confront our finances in a new, powerful way, and lots of new ideas for my work stuff have started flowing.

The binder is just a 1 inch 3-ring binder. I put a little fabric in the front of it to pretty it up. Personally, when things are pretty and neat, I have a tendency to use them more.


I set up tabbed sections for all of the things I need to find easily.

Here is a peak inside:

1. The Daily Plan.. I made a sheet that holds 2 days worth of daily todo lists. They are specific to our life and the things I like to get done on a daily basis.


2. The Weekly List.. All the stuff that needs to be done every week like mopping the floors, paying bills, going shopping, etc. I refer to this list when making my Daily Plan.


3. Meal Plans.. I only plan one week out.

4. Grocery List.. I made a standard list that has most of the things we get each week and space to add other/misc items.


5. Budget.. A place for me to print our monthly budget and keep track of things like debt we are paying off.

6. House Projects.. We have lots of things we want to do with our house, this is where I jot down ideas, plans, etc.

7. Craft List.. A list of all the things I want to make.

8. Kid Crafts.. Ideas for art projects or other cool things to do with the kids.

9. Thrifting.. We go thrift store shopping almost every week. I always forget what I'm hunting for, so I started a list to write things down that we need so when we go I know what I am looking for.

10. Honey Do.. Things that I want Don to do around the house.

11. Holidays.. I have Birthday and Christmas plans for what we are going to make for everyone.

12. Tabs for work stuff.. I have one for wedding planning, one for Chubbas 'n Boop and one for my Cloth Diaper site. I just have paper here for me to jot down notes and ideas as I think of them. Sometimes I will have to-do lists here as well.

13. Notes.. Just some extra paper for me in case I need to write something down that does not fall into any of the other categories.

14. Inspiration.. quotes, pictures, etc.. things that inspire me and remind me of what I am committed to creating in my home.


I am such a list maker! I totally dig crossing stuff off, it makes me happy and helps me to stay sane.

I have seen lots of ideas for books like this out in blog land and the one thing I can say about them (in case you want to make one yourself) is to really think about what works for you and don't get stuck with it having it be a particular way. My way of doing it probably won't work for you, it takes a little time to figure out a system that you will actually USE. Tools like this to stay organized only work if you use them!

laundry - the old fashioned way

All last summer I kept wishing we had a laundry line to dry our clothes on. Call me silly, but I watch my neighbor take her clothes out to the line and I feel a little jealous! I am one of those people that actually kind of likes doing laundry. Yes, the clothing stacks up from time to time, but I do enjoy the rhythm of folding laundry. I find it meditative and relaxing. Does that make me strange?

And, for the record - I am not such good friends with doing the dishes!

Well, a couple of weeks ago, I asked Don if he could rig something up for me to hang our clothes up on.



I love it!! Most mornings I start a load in the wash first thing and then head out to hang it up to dry. Being out on my patio by myself in the quiet of the morning feels so peaceful. I am enjoying starting my day with this little ritual that has me stop and appreciate how pretty it is where we live, how much I love taking care of my family and, and how wonderful it is that a simple thing like laundry can put a smile on my face.

my new craft room

I finally got my craft room put back together after our big room rearrange! It is SO much smaller, but it feels nice and cozy in here and I am happy that I miraculously found a home for everything! E has been spending lots of time making stuff and I am about to get cracking on our Christmas presents.

So a little tour for you...


An art wall with a mounted easel and a place for paintings to dry:Other side of the art wall:

E's "making stuff" desk:

All of our craft making supplies:
My sewing area and a nice little window to give us some light.

We anticipated this room change when we first moved in, that's part of why both rooms were painted orange. We just didn't know we were going to do it so soon. This is what we do, though! Seems we are always rearranging the furniture in our house. Both Don and I do it, so good thing we married each other! Never boring...

bathroom remodel

When we moved into this house, the bathroom was way totally disgusting!! I'm talking gross, dirty blue carpet (yes, carpet in the bathroom!) and weird blue trim everywhere. The wallpaper was pealing off and moldy underneath. So ugly and very not clean! It completely freaked me out to have my kids in here.Well, we decided to redo it, which ended up being so much more work than we bargained for...can you say layers of nasty wallpaper and many different tiles under the carpet. It took many weekends, but so worth it! Of course Don and I had to pick bright and fun colors to make it a happy room!
We still need to get some art and a few other details, but so far we are loving it!

bathroom remodel

When we moved into this house, the bathroom was way totally disgusting!! I'm talking gross, dirty blue carpet (yes, carpet in the bathroom!) and weird blue trim everywhere. The wallpaper was pealing off and moldy underneath. So ugly and very not clean! It completely freaked me out to have my kids in here.Well, we decided to redo it, which ended up being so much more work than we bargained for...can you say layers of nasty wallpaper and many different tiles under the carpet. It took many weekends, but so worth it! Of course Don and I had to pick bright and fun colors to make it a happy room!
We still need to get some art and a few other details, but so far we are loving it!

cuz we're cool like that...

A few months ago, I finally broke down and bought Amanda Soule's book, The Creative Family. Such a great book! So many easy, fun ideas to get the creative juices flowing around here. My favorite thing in the book was her family's banging wall. I decided we HAD to have one of our own. I planted a seed in Don's brain about it and this is what we ended up with...

E is so psyched! "for me?!" he says. How cool is that?? I love that it is not only a fun, loud (sorry neighbors!) music maker for the kids - and us - to play with, but it is also a super funky looking art sculpture hanging out in our yard. Yay for creative juices flowing around here!

cuz we're cool like that...

A few months ago, I finally broke down and bought Amanda Soule's book, The Creative Family. Such a great book! So many easy, fun ideas to get the creative juices flowing around here. My favorite thing in the book was her family's banging wall. I decided we HAD to have one of our own. I planted a seed in Don's brain about it and this is what we ended up with...

E is so psyched! "for me?!" he says. How cool is that?? I love that it is not only a fun, loud (sorry neighbors!) music maker for the kids - and us - to play with, but it is also a super funky looking art sculpture hanging out in our yard. Yay for creative juices flowing around here!

show and tell

Ta Da!!



I finished my very first ever knitting project! An adorable little wool soaker for Boop. I (kindof) used the Ottobre free pattern, but made adjustments along the way to make sure it would fit my chunky baby. I think I did a pretty good job if I do say so myself. It took me awhile, only because I didn't work on it everyday. If I would have, I'm sure I would have finished it a month ago.


It is still a little big on her, but we are good in the diaper department for now, thanks to E's hand-me-downs. But, she is so much bigger than he was as a baby. We never made it to the large sizes with him, so I am working on our large stash - we will be there very soon.



I am so in love with the colors of this yarn.



The whole time I was making it, I was super worried that I would not have enough yarn. I did, but just barely...

And here she is modelling it for us...

A little more show and tell...

I finally got my craft room all set up and unpacked! We moved into this house in March and this was the one thing that kept getting bumped to "tomorrow." Well, I dug in and got it done this weekend. I am so happy to finally have some "me" space. A place to create and chill. A place entirely devoted to the creative spirit. I am excited to see the things that get made in this room. More importantly, I am excited to see who I become out of spending time in here.