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!

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!

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! 

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!!

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!

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.