Merry Christmas

Yesterday we enjoyed the day with our family. It was a good day. The kids got more than they need. Isabelle said "This is the best Christmas ever!" We are truly blessed! 

Home Organization 101 Week 12

This week I am focusing on the bathroom. Your day starts off better in a cleaned and organized bathroom or at least I think it does.  We are also starting school this week so I am praying to complete my organizing tasks. Happy organizing! Here's your inspiration!

Our Recent Visit to Memphis

Dillan's checkup at the end of July was turned into a mini family vacation. We took all of the kids and my parents so we could enjoy some fun in Memphis. We traveled up on Saturday, July 27 and took our time getting there. Once we arrived in Memphis we enjoyed a yummy dinner at On The Border in Germantown. 
Sunday we had fun walking the entire Mississippi River at Mud Island. Isabelle and Ethan loved it and wanted to stay all day!

We enjoyed watching leaves and stick boats make their way down river. After our walk over the same bridge Tom Cruise ran on in the movie The Firm we rode the monorail back and headed to lunch. For lunch we decided to try The Spaghetti Warehouse. It was delicious! An added blessing for us, it was National Lasagna Day and their yummy lasagna was on special :) (I love a good sale)! 

After stuffing ourselves we decided to drive to Arkansas. Memphis is on the edge of the state line so it's literally just crossing a bridge on I-40. We drove to West Memphis and stopped at Walmart. I totally forgot to stop at the Welcome to Arkansas sign and take a picture of the kids :-/We wanted the kids to see the Loraine Motel so we drove back to downtown Memphis. History takes on a different meaning in person. To see where Dr. King stood and was killed is heartbreaking. 

Dillan's first appointment was Sunday evening so after our visit to the Loraine Motel we headed over to the hospital. Tim, Dillan and I got checked in at the Memphis Grizzlies House and we let the kids play for a little while before walking over to the hospital for the dreaded blood work appointment. Chandler decided to come back with us and I think it was good for him and Dillan. Chandler was able to see how hard this is for Dillan (he was very supportive and helpful when we had to hold Dillan down). Dillan appreciated his brother showing he cares :). We made it through getting the dreaded IV and walked back to the MGH to enjoy the family area a little longer. Unfortunately a game of air hockey was a little too much fun and Dillan accidently pulled his IV out. He was distraught to say the least. We stopped the bleeding and walked back to the hospital.

Nurse Ron took amazing care of Dillan and had him smiling again (Dillan said he did such a good job he'd let him put an IV in his other arm). Ron is an amazing and caring person and even checked on us the next day as he was coming into work and passed by my parents in the front lobby.After all that excitement we drove to the hotel to get our things for the night. Dillan wanted Gammy to sit with him for his MRI so Gamp stayed with Chandler, Ethan and Isabelle while Tim drove us back to St Jude's. (we booked a hotel in Germantown which is about 20 minutes from the hospital). Our day of appointments started with his 12th MRI at 6:45am. After it we grabbed some breakfast in the Kay Cafe (Kay Jewelers is a big supporter of St Jude's). Then Daddy, Gamps and the kids arrived so we headed to turn in the tabs and donations we had collected since our last visit in March. We had a little time before Dillan's next appointment so we played air hockey (this time without an IV so no worries) and Isabelle had fun on the playground at MGH. Dillan had a heart echo scheduled and he wanted Gammy and Gamps with him. I had to walk in with them for any questions but when I was going to leave he asked me to stay (rare moment that he wants me). The results were normal! Yay!! We headed to our next appointment which was OT. He did fine. She reminded him to take his time when writing so he can regain proper letter formation. Overall he's doing good :) For dinner we rode the trolly to Beale Street to Dyer's to try their famous burgers. They were good. We rode the trolly back to the hospital so we could enjoy craft night at MGH (some nights various local businesses, churches, etc.will come with dinner and/or something fun for families to do). Isabelle made a lightening bug while Dillan and Ethan made little aquariums.

Afterwards Dillan wanted to take everyone to one of his favorite places Menchie's (it's a frozen yogurt place similar to Chill). We all enjoyed a yummy dessert and played on the game table (a Samsung touchscreen smart table). Then daddy, Dillan, Ethan and I dropped off everyone else at the hotel and headed back to St Jude's. Our last fun thing before heading home was a yummy lunch at Memphis Pizza. Isabelle enjoyed it so much she asked to be excused to find our server and order another cheese pizza (she's one independent 5 year old). Before we started our drive home we dropped Tim off at the airport to fly to DC for work. 
Now for Dillan's MRI results. Dr Wright is always such a pleasure to talk with as is our entire medical army :) His MRI shows slight growth (1 millimeter). Since there was growth his past scans were reviewed and they were able to determine it took about a year and a half for this amount of growth. At this point he will continue to be watched and closely monitored for any further growth. The neurosurgeon did not feel surgery was necessary at this point. This is a minor bump in the road and we keep our faith in God and His amazing plans for Dillan. As always we appreciate the love and support everyone has shown us throughout this journey. We could not make it through this without all of our prayer warriors.

Home Organization 101 Week 11

We live in our living room and sometimes it really shows! I try to keep clutter at bay by having a place for everything. Nothing is ever perfect... Here's some inspiration! Happy organizing!

Home Organization 101 Week 10

We need a Mudroom! I have been looking at ways Tim and I could carve one out in out in our happy little home. He built a very small unit when we had two children but it doesn't really work with four. For the time being we'll keep making due with what we have... Here is an amazing mudroom! Happy organizing!

Home Organization 101 Week 9

Maybe this week's target area will be an easy goal to accomplish. The dining room is not typically a difficult area of the house to organize and keep clean. My sweet little darlings love to hide in the dining room so ours may see a tad (as Isabelle says) more action than normal. I am blessed with a beautiful china cabinet Tim and I found on clearence when we bought this house eight years ago. I keep our china in it and a few pretty knick-knacks from Ukraine (my family heritage) and a pretty Disney platter.

Check out BFOL's dining room!  Happy organizing!

Home Organization 101 Week 8

Are your kids' closets out of control with clutter? Finding a way to organize their closets in a way they will keep it organized is challenging. We have four to contend with and the organizing challenge of it is overwhelming to say the least. We are planning on building organizing systems ourselves rather than spend $$$$ on custom designed closets systems. This will be a work in progress. Here's my inspiration. Happy organizing!

Kid Keepsakes Clutter taking over?

With four kids keepsakes have taken over our house! I would love to get it under control. As I'm looking at Facebook, instead of focusing on what I should be, I see a blog update from ABFOL on organizing your kids keepsakes. I love this so I had to share!  Happy Organizing!

Home Organization 101 Week 7

Each week is a little closer to my goal of an organized home! (I am WAY behind but refuse to say uncle!) This week my focus will be the Linen Closet! I divided ours by shelves. The top shelf is for bathing suits, beach bags and beach towels. The next shelf is for medicines and first aid needs. The rest of the shelves are for this bathroom's towels and everyone's bed sheets. I keep a laundry basket in the bottom for the kids dirty clothes. Periodically I have to go through medications to check for expiration dates to keep it organized. Here's an interesting take on a linen closet and some inspiration! Happy organizing!

Home Organization 101 Week 6

The master bedroom is supposed to be a sanctuary for mom and dad. A messy and unorganized master bedroom is not a sanctuary. If your master bedroom is overflowing with stuff (like mine) then it's time to purge! To be organized everything needs a place and if it doesn't have a place then quite simply get rid of what you don't need to make a place for everything. I feel like I have too much and my sentimental ways have created chaos in our master bedroom and throughout our home. Maybe it's inherent because I keep things for fear of not having it one day and needing it. I'm working towards overcoming my irrational "keeping" and creating a calm, happy and organized home. My inspiration comes from here. Happy organizing!

Organizing...WHERE DO I START?

I truly want an organized home but get very overwhelmed when I look around at all the excess stuff we have in our house. Where do I start? I really like the encouraging way this blogger puts it... It took you years to collect all this excess stuff so it will take time to get rid of it and organize (hopefully not years). Set small goals and enlist the help of everyone. It may take me time to get it together but I will do it! Happy organizing!!

Home Organization 101 Week 5

Laundry rooms typically unorganized looking on laundry day which at our house is almost every day... We have a very small laundry room (more of a hallway than a true room). I try to utilize the space well and take advantage of the cabinets for storage.

I tried to find a place for everything and use baskets to keep cleaners together. Here's some more inspiration. Happy organizing!

Home Organization 101 Week 4

I think an organized home is a good thing. It cuts down on the chaos. With six people in our house it's easy to let things slip and then clutter TAKES OVER very quickly! I am trying my best to get more organized and stay that way. It really makes me happy to have everything put away and for my home to be an example of how much I appreciate God providing it for our family.
This week the area to work on is the office. Since we gave up our home office for the children to have a much needed playroom, I will focus on organizing our office supplies. Here's a little inspiration! Happy organizing!

Home Organization 101 Week 3 ALREADY?!?

No worries if you're still finishing week 1 like me! At least we're trying to organize our houses!! For week 3 the pantry is the prime target. I organized my pantry through a similar challenge summer before last and have maintained it for the most part :) We have to work at it regularly to keep it fairly organized. About every other month we dive in and make sure everything has a spot. Here's the inspiration pantry. Happy organizing!!

Father's Day 2013

Today we celebrate dads! Not as much attention is placed on Father's Day as is Mother's Day. I guess the old saying "If momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy" plays a part in the massive amount of attention for moms. 

I am blessed with a wonderful dad who has always been there for me. He's a fantastic grandpa and excellent carpool driver whenever we need help. He worked very hard all of his "working" years and shares the fruits of his labor with all of us. 

The kids and I tried to make Tim feel special all weekend. We made a Father's Day banner. 

We bought him the one thing he mentioned he would really like to have...an electric smoker to replace the wood burning one he's had forever. 

Yes that's Valentines wrapping paper because that's what I found :)  Life's too short to sweat the small stuff. Overall he had a good weekend even though I talked him into a furniture building project. 

Maybe Father's Day doesn't get the attention Mother's Day does but we all love our dads, grandpas and uncles. My grandpas were two of the most wonderful men you'd ever meet and I miss them. I hope all the men enjoyed a wonderful day! Happy Father's Day to everyone! 

Camp Rap-A-Hope was AWESOME!

Dillan attended Camp Rap-A-Hope this year for the first time. He wasn't sure if he wanted to go so being the mean mom that I am I decided for him. I absolutely do not regret my decision. He was a nervous-wreck on our way to drop him off.

Once we arrived and went thorough the check-in process I could tell Dillan's nerves were beginning to settle a little. We ran into one of his classmate's big sister, Sydney.  She's been before and was ready to show him the ropes. 

Then two of his counselors, Matt and Will, came over and told him he better be ready for a week of fun!  Ice cream before bed every night, fishing, horseback riding, no chores, swimming and many more things would make this an awesome week. 

As he went off ready for fun (with a little anxiety on being away from home) we left to head home without him. I'd be lying if I said I was perfectly fine with all of it but in my heart I knew he needed this experience and forced myself to drive away. Every once and a while I allow myself a weak moment and that Sunday was one of them. I knew Dillan was going to be well taken care of and he was going to have an incredible week but I cried just the same. 

Monday morning I receive a phone call from Melissa, Camp Rap-A-Hope's Executive Director, to check on me and let me know Dillan was doing great! I was touched she called to see how I was doing and extremely happy he was having fun. 

Tuesday my friend and fellow Gifted Ed Teacher, Talia, was at camp and checked on Dillan. She snapped a picture of him having a good time. I appreciated another update and cute picture of him with one of his favorite counselors, Brandon. 

Dillan knew a friend of ours from church, Whitney, would be making breakfast for all the campers and USA Children's and Women's provided breakfast on Wednesday. Whitney said he ate really well and gave her a big hug. From what Dillan said they had very good food throughout the week provided by many local businesses and groups. The Pilot Family, the owners of Camp Grace, not only donated the week at Camp Grace but also cooked something very yummy, too!

Two of our local news stations came out and filmed the campers enjoying a week of fun! Fox10's story Camp Rap-A-Hope is Underway and WKRG's story Summer Camp Inspires Children Diagnosed with Cancer! 

On Friday in the mail a very sweet surprise arrived. The postcard from Dillan made me so happy and the postcard from his counselor, Joe, made me very proud. 

The week flew by and when Saturday morning arrived I was up bright and early, ready to pick Dillan up so we could hear about all the fun he had. We pulled up to find him running around and enjoying spending his last morning with the counselors he grew to love over the week. These special men and women came from various parts of the country to spend the week with Dillan and the other 77 campers and ensure they all had a fabulously fun week. I am in awe of them. We snapped a picture or two before we gathered Dillan's belongings. 

He wanted to make sure we took pictures with as many camp counselors and staff as we could before he left. 

He had an amazing week including a visit from the tooth fairy! As we were hearing about his week he remembered his newly lost tooth and showed me where he has a new temporarily empty space. When he told me the tooth fairy visited him I was overwhelmed. Words can not convey how much everything everyone did to make his week special means to Tim and I. I know "making" him attend camp was the right thing to do. He knows he is not alone and other kids understand what he's going through. We all wish all types of cancer could be cured but until then I am thankful God inspired everyone associated with Camp Rap-A-Hope to do all they do to have "Fun for Kids with Cancer!"

Home Organization 101 Week 2 is already upon us!

Never fear my week one task of organizing my kitchen is not complete, however, for my friends who stay on top of the task at hand. Here's the inspiration for week two! Happy organizing!

Father's Day is almost here!!

I always want to make Tim feel extremely special on Father's Day. He is an amazing father! This year he mentioned something he'd like which doesn't always happen. I also really like these cute printables for a banner, gift tag/wrapper and cupcake toppers plus they're FREE! I wanted to share.
Very cute and FREE printables!!

It's that time again!

Here I go again! It's time for Home Organization 101 Season 3! Maybe this time I'll make it through the organization challenge...
I will say when you have plenty of space it is easier to find a place for everything. I have to use a little creativity when organizing or purge more to make room.  
Check out my inspiration! Happy organizing!

Operation Organization: More Than One Way to Organized :: Laundry

With four kids my husband and I are constantly trying to tackle the mountain of laundry. One thing I do during the school year is keep a separate laundry basket for uniforms and school related clothing. When it's time to wash them all I have to do is separate the whites and colors. I think #2 might work for me.
operation organization: More Than One Way to Organized :: Laundry: This is the first in a series of articles chronicling the multiple ways one can keep organized with routine home maintenance needs.   In ...

Mother's Day

As this day came to an end I reflected on how blessed I am. I have my mom and her mom to help me become the best mom I can possibly be. I have all four of my children here with me (almost two years ago I was told we had about a month before we could have lost Dillan by the ER doctor). I have a husband that loves me unconditionally and is an amazing partner in life. My heart and prayers go out to my friends that are traveling this road alone. I pray for those who have moms in heaven that today you felt their embrace throughout the day. I pray for those who have experienced the loss of a child that today you feel their unconditional love throughout the day. My day was special not because I was showered with gifts or because my children were angels (they were actually worse than usual today), it was special because I chose to focus on the blessings God gives me every day...

I am blessed with a teenager that hugs his great-grandmother and gives her a kiss on the cheek at every family gathering. 

I am blessed with a preteen that is with me daily as a living example of God's amazing miracles and a testimony of His love. 

I am blessed with a young curious boy that has a precious and sometimes mischievous personality and is very loving to all of us. 

I am blessed with a daughter who is very sure of herself. Her confidence at five years old is mind boggling. 

My grandmother, Ethel Baggett

Four Generations

My mom, Sue Saviak

My little princess

Mom and her mom

Love him

My blessings, when I remember to focus on them, are overflowing. I am thankful and grateful He chose me to have this life and be mom to Chandler, Dillan, Ethan and Isabelle. 

Happy Mother's Day everyone!

Where did April go?!?

It was just Easter and the end of March. I blinked and April disappeared! The kids had a pretty good spring break and I had a great birthday including a surprise birthday party planned and completely pulled off by my 4th graders! Isabelle played T-ball and Ethan is playing soccer with SLES. Dillan's Robotics Team competed at the State level and placed 3rd! Chandler is a typical teenager ready for school to be out. Tim was busy traveling out of town almost every week but thankfully my parents were able to help me with our crazy schedule. All in all April flew by but it was a great month full of blessings!

PBK Easter Baskets on a budget!

I love the baskets PBK sells 

However, with four Foster children the price is TOO high for us! I decided to search for Easter Basket liner patterns and found a few websites with info. Like with most things in my life I thought of this a little too late for this year but maybe I'll make my way to Hobby Lobby tomorrow and get a fabulous deal on nice baskets for next year! 
I think this is a project even I could tackle with my VERY limited sewing skills. Here's the link for one of the sites I found with great directions!

IHeart Organizing: Labeling 101: Print & Laminate

I LOVE labeling and organizing our house!! It makes clean up a little easier and everything has a place. This is a great blog on EVERYTHING to do with labeling and organizing.
IHeart Organizing: Labeling 101: Print & Laminate: I'm baaaack! Did you miss me?  I missed ya'll like crazy!  It's amazing what a little time away with the fam will do.  It was ...

Where did all this come from?!?

It constantly amazes me when I look around our house at all the "stuff" we've accumulated! Obviously with six people in our family there's bound to be stuff but when is it considered excessive? When do I need to admit there's a problem? I mean really do we need twenty pairs of pajamas, T-shirts, candles, et cetera? If I really truly want an organized and less cluttered home I have to learn to not be so sentimental and hoarderish. Now that spring has arrived and spring cleaning is on all of our minds I have no choice but to force myself to PURGE! We need to scale back the amount of our belongings to ensure a somewhat uncluttered and slightly less messy home. I do feel as though I'm always in a state of needing to organize and declutter around here. Maybe one day I will get it right but until then we'll just keep trying to organize this messy Foster house.

Spring Forward, Really?!?

I am not ready to spring forward with anything around here! I find myself wanting to "pin" more organizational ideas than I will ever get around to doing. I have recipes for any cleaning product I could ever want or need! I have an entire 3" binder full of DIY furniture building ideas! You might think that I have it all together. Obviously my Pinterest boards show a lady that is organized and makes fabulous meals while concocting her own cleaning products. A person with a plan for everything... In reality I am not nearly as motivated as all the various social media makes me appear. I constantly think "Move over Jesus" I got this and can drive...if He wants to end up in a ditch! Thankfully Jesus keeps the wheel steady even when I think I am driving. Maybe I don't accomplish every organizational challenge or successfully cook every recipe I find but I live in the real world and am far from perfect, so... Ready or not we must spring forward (unless you live in one of the states that does not participate in Daylight Savings Time)! I think I will spring into what ideas I can find on spring cleaning and organizing my extra hour of daylight in the afternoons. Happy almost Spring!

Dillan is participating in a St Jude Fundraiser

I am super proud of Dillan for wanting to give back to a place he loves and takes super good care of him! Here's a link to his fundraising page.
Dillan Foster's Page

Mardi Gras 2013

We love going to the parades and catching lots of stuff!

Woohoo!! Finally Gamp and Uncle Bubba's parade night. They always throw bunches!

Where's our dinner?

Dillan FINALLY made it on the balcony!

Ready to play in the band

Grandparents Day

Love Ethan's smile

Another sweet smile

Our favorite Headmaster, Palmer Kennedy, sitting with the students 

Mrs. Downing's Band

Big Brothers and Gamp are ready

The Marshalls

 She blew her horn the entire parade and had a fantastic time! She is becoming a big girl.

Isabelle LOVES Mrs. Downing

 Where is Verna Dean? We love to go to the MOT parade.

Uh-Oh they were stuck

Mardi Gras Day was celebrated at the beautiful and historic Battle House Hotel. 

Our room was in the corner 

 Our budding pianists

 Sleepyheads...

Ethel reprimanding me for snapping pictures

 Mobile's amazing giant moonpie

 More sleepyheads...

  Mardi Gras Day in the rain

 The Battlehouse is beautiful!

We had a fun filled Mardi Gras season! We look forward to enjoying next year!