Our Prayer Corner

Just a sweet and simple post to share our little prayer corner.  It is generally in a state of some disarray (Colette takes great pride in knocking over all of the wooden Saint dolls), but I snapped a few photos several months back when it was nicely straightened up after my father-in-law made us this beautiful Bible stand. Isn't he amazingly talented? 

Ah, here we see it a little more in it's natural state.  either way, I really enjoy having it there.  While we actually sit on the couches to pray (right next to the prayer area), I love having a spot at the girls' level where they have those tactile links to our faith. 

I have always wanted a prie dieu, but I'm not sure how that would fit in this space.  However; my darling sister has promised me some cloths in liturgical colors when we visit her next... which I think would be a fabulous addition to our little space!

Some people renovate their own kitchen...

We, apparently, just renovate our little ones' kitchen.  Three Christmases ago, we got Anni a little play kitchen.  We kept it small, because we were living in an apartment, on a budget, and figured her imagination could make up for what it lacked in size.  Throw in some ikea pots and pans and we were set.

For most of the time we lived in the apartment, it lived in a variety of angles in a corner by our kitchen/eating area (I'm still completely unsure as to why apartments feel the needs to put carpet in the dining area, but that's neither here nor there).  At some point (a point I, of course, have no photos of) I bought a stack of ikea spice racks and we managed to get one hung before we moved. 
 

When we moved to the house, it took a few months, but we finally got that one lonely shelf back up.

 
It was good, but it definitely wasn't quite enough.  We had added play food, dishes, and some empty spice bottles since the original purchase of the kitchen, and I got really tired of finding places to stuff everything.  I had had other simple organization plans for awhile, but it took a day of Daniel's parents coming down to help us with other, more important, things (mainly a leaky kitchen pipe) to get our rears in gear and get it done.
   

Ta-da!  It's one of those things that the girls really don't care about either way, but this mama is very happy that there is a place for everything.

We added a second shelf, and, on the first shelf, we added a row of hooks for the tea cups and hot pads.  Then, we (I say we, but Daniel and his dad actually did the work... I just directed) added several "s" hooks the the little bar over the sink so that the pots and pans had a home of their own.  Maybe I should start thinking about some upgrades to my own kitchen now...

Day #9 & 10: Getting Organized Challenge {Toy Organization & Laundry Room/closet}

I know, I know, you probably think I quit and fell off the face of the earth.  Well, kind of.  I pondered these two days for awhile, mainly because I was too overwhelmed and lazy to get the pictures I needed for the post.

We're going to start at the end, here.  Our laundry closet, because it really is a little closet, doesn't have a before picture (okay, neither do, today).  For the most part, I needed to clean empty bottles out and scrub away the laundry detergent that has been slowly dripping all over the shelf and floor since I bought the economy size (seriously, I thought it was awesome until that started... now I can't wait to finish the darn thing!)  A little vinegar and some elbow grease... things were a lot less sticky!  I also scrubbed what part of the floor I could reach.  Anni likes to try to squeeze next to the washer, so until I can wrestle it back to the center so she can't do that, at least the floor is clean.

Now, toy organization.  This is probably the wrong word to describe how we do things around here.  Recently, I went through all of Anni's toys, gave away the ones she didn't need/ didn't use/ were not on the approved mommy list (okay, almost all of those... there's one that is most likely going to disappear before her birthday).  While they aren't categorized and labelled, they do each have their place.


There's a cubby just for baby toys, which makes it easy when our littler friends come to visit.

The cars park next to Miss Anni's brand new toddler bed...

And, speaking of that toddler bed, because of it's unexpected arrival, there are a few things that probably will find new homes in the next few months, but it will be a slow process.

The bookshelf houses mostly, well, books.  The top shelf has the paper pages/ more easily ripped books, the next two shelves have all of the ones she can reach, and the bottom shelf holds her favorite wooden toys.  The blocks have almost always lived next to the shelf, Anni likes to use them as a step stool to look out the window.  I should probably consider a better place for them... ideas?

The tea set lives on the lower shelf of her night stand...

And, yes, there are a few toys that formerly lived under the crib that I moved to under the toddler bed.  These are mostly her musical instrument and puzzles.

There are more, but I think you get the gist.  Things have their place, and that's where they go at the end of the day.  The one thing I want to try is finding a couple of planters and hanging them for stuffed animal storage.  There is a basket in the closet housing them now, and I think they would probably enjoy being out in the open a little more :).

Happy Monday!

 

Day #8: Getting Organized Challenge {The Coat Closet}

Anni loved today's challenge.  Why, you ask?  Well, because our coat closet has a little shelf in it, and when the closet was alllll cleaned out, she could roll around, take a little snooze, and otherwise enjoy closing the door on herself.  Life was pretty good.  Oh, plus she found her favorite jacket from one size ago, making it that much better.

So, moving on to the before of the coat closet challenge:

 

 

Yep, pretty bad.  Things pretty askew, what plastic bags we have (we realized the other day that we are actually running low!  I'm finally remembering my cloth bags more!), the lovely spiced rum box from moving (liquor stores always have lots of boxes!), plus just a whole bunch of randomness.  I took everything but the tool box out (it's hard for me to lift of that shelf... and, well, it's there) and sorted things into a "keep" "give away" and "ask Daniel if I can give away (because it's his).  Anni sat in the closet the whole time and even as I filled it up.  In fact, this is the best "after" photo I have, but there's still room for her to sit in there, so as you can see, things are much tidier!   

Day #7: Getting Organized Challenge {The Pantry}

I think you're going to notice an emerging pattern here.  We, um, don't have a pantry.  They don't come standard in the apartments we live in (or any that we've ever lived in for that matter).  We do; however, have a few cabinets that house such things as might go in pantry.  See what I did there?  I organized those.  Again, didn't use any additional organizing tools, just cleaning, sorting and stacking.

Before:

After:

Before:

After (I found so many cookbooks I forgot I had buried in that pile!):

Before: {Yes, there were a surprising number of empty things... and one poor little Christmas candy.  Oh, dear.  Made me glad we have recycling on our complex!}

After :

And that, my dears, is that.

Day #6: Getting Organized Challenge {Dresser Drawers}

Hi, friends!  I know I'm a couple days behind, but I gave myself permission to go at whatever pace I'd like, so no worries :).  Last night I took care of Day #6.  Technically, the instructions are to go through all of your drawers and clean/sort, etc.  However, this dresser is almost brand-spankin' new as it was a Christmas gift, so I didn't feel it all that necessary to show off our drawers as they're pretty recently organized.  The top of the dresser; however...

was pretty sad.  The dresser is tall enough that anything that needs to be set out of Anni's way gets put up there... plus other randomness.  We spent the evening watching old Bones episodes and sorting through bills, books and putting things where they belonged.

The after isn't necessary pretty yet, but it's clean.  I did leave the poster waiting for a frame up there, but things are much happier and more organized now!  The end!

Day #5: Getting Organized Challenge {Under the Kitchen Sink}

Alrighty, Day #5.  If you want to see some awesome organization ideas, go back to that link right there, because she has some great organizers!  Unfortunately, we can't screw anything into our cabinet drawers (including toddler proofing locks, yikes!), so my change isn't anything very dramatic.  I keep a few cleaning supplies in there, but for the most part, my vinegar and dishwasher detergent always lives there as well as my trashcan... annd... that's about it.  Besides the fact that Anni could get in there if she wanted (she used to be obsessed with it in our last apartment), our last apartment had a leaking issue, so we stopped keeping much of anything under the sink just by habit. 

For the most part, everything just needed a good scrubbing, especially the cabinet itself and the trash can.  Kind of embarrassing, but it's just not an area of priority,  so I'm lucky it was on this list so I could take care of it.  There was some clutter behind everything, a couple of bins from Anni's hospital stay that we don't use anymore and the bag that the trash bags were in.  I ditched all of that, gave everything a good scrub (there are a lot of marks that won't come out, but it's clean) and oi-la!  Under my sink is complete.

We actually did do some other organizing throughout the apartment today.  Hubby had a snow day (the highway up the mountain was actually closed part of the morning!), so in between work, we cleaned, sorted, set up some cubbies that had been waiting for us and vacuumed the whole apartment.  I love a clean place, I feel like it's just a little easier to breathe (plus, what mom/wife doesn't feel just a little better about herself with a clean house?). 

Again, head back over to A bowl full of lemons for some really great tips on organizing this space for yourself!

Day #4: Getting Organized Challenge {The Linen Closet}

Okay, so I've mentioned I live in an apartment right?  So, the term, "linen closet" in this challenge will be a little misleading in what you see.  Anni's sheets etc are kept her own little closet, so the few things we have are here.  Except, we have some blankets out in the storage closet, etc, etc... you get the idea, right?  Linens, cleaning supplies, maybe my husbands poker chips...  You can see what it mostly looked like before - as you can see by the green sheets on the ground, Anni decided she was going to help empty everything out. 

I'm not sure if it's obvious by the pictures, but it really is much cleaner, things have their place and that was the goal.  Despite the fact that it will leave us without the "two extra sets" rule, I decided to donate the black sheets.  They're nice and soft, and I bought them on a whim as extras right before or after Anni was born, but then realized that they show everything.  Lint, spilled milk (I used to pump a lot in bed), they just always looked dirty, even when they were perfectly clean.  The other extras are a bit worn, but they'll do until we can replace them.  I even kept the set for the air mattress that is now gone, but if my brother lives with us this summer, we'll have to replace that (nothing but the finest for you, brother, dear).  The sheet piles are a bit clunky, because I stuffed them into their pillowcases so they aren't as easily pulled down and apart by an adorable little toddler I know, but I like them nice and contained.  I think maybe I should add a little yellow bin for all those miscellany things you see on the second shelf.

Whew, okay... sorry, my OCD kicked in and I to go do it and then prove that I had done it.  Yep.

 I realized as I cleaned that I had a ton of cleaning products... some of which I use and some I've been phasing out.  I decided to keep them all for now (I'm not sure what the proper way to dispose of some of these is) and kept the ones I use more on the lower shelf for easy access and the others a little more out of reach.  Keep in mind, I'm doing this challenge on an almost zilch budget.  Because we're going to Ireland, there's just not extra money elsewhere for cute organizing.  I bought a few bins at the beginning at Big Lots, but that's probably going to be it, so I'm sure you can manage much cuter things if you try!  (Speaking of which, those cleaning cloths would look so lovely in a little cloth basket... someday.)  

There you go.  Day 4: dominated.  (Can I say... this was way my least favorite.  I hate cleaning randomness, and this closet is a whole lot of that!)

Day #3: Getting Organized Challenge {The Messy Tupperware Cabinets}

Alrighty, getting to the organizing stuff in just a moment.  But first, thank you for all your understanding and sweetness.  I'm thankful for all of you!

And... on to organizing.

Day three's challenge wasn't too bad, really.  It was to organize that tupperware cabinet... and lucky for me, I haven't accumulated that much plastic ware during our marriage.  Here's the before:

Mostly, it's just a mess.  The tupperware really only takes up half the cabinet, but there wouldn't be room for anymore, thank you little apartment kitchen :).  It's never going to stay perfect, because my sweet 21 month old loves to help in the kitchen, or bring them to her little kitchen to "cook" with.  If it makes her happy and keeps her involved, I'm all for it.  That being said, it was time to restack and re-organize.  There were a few pieces in there and we don't use a lot, so we set those aside to donate. (I'm saying we, but I was really the only one working on this.  My hubby has dish duty, so we was plugging away at those.)  And the after - all stacked and ready to go.  And yes, the bowls did multiply, as I said, my hubby was working away at the dishes.   Oh, and nothing was said in the challenge about keeping Nugget's magnetic letters off the ground... so, just focus on the lack of clutter okay?  Focus :).  

PS Can we ignore that there are canned tomatoes and other possibly embarrassing things stored in the background?  I promise we're working our way away from them... we've found a great alternative in Pomi, but I'm still weeding out the cans and trying to find a steady supply of the other. 

Day 2: Getting Organized Challenge {The Computer Desk}

As I mentioned, I'm doing a little 21 day challenge.  Day 2 was the cleaning of the top of the computer desk.  Ugh.  Okay, here's time for honesty.  I hate my desk, like a lot.  It's hard to move (we've been in three apartments in three years), it's clunky and there are a whole lot of spots for me to stuff random stuff.  I'm a bad random stuff stuffer.  I like things to be organized, but am not very good at following through.  My desk becomes the place to put everything I don't want our long-legged, long-armed little Miss to get into.  It gets ugly.

Case in point:

Apparently I couldn't even be bothered to try to take a decent picture of it... my apologies.  Those two glasses, by the way?  Um, I collect water glasses... I just pick up one everytime I walk through the kitchen.  This is pretty good, of course, I took this earlier in the day, so I think I added a couple more before I was done.  My big issues always come from the random stuff.  I just don't know what to do with it, and some of it I just can't pitch!  I did take everything off the desk; though, even the computer, so I could scrub remnants from whatever had been sitting on the desk away.  That printer?  Well, as much as I love printers... this one has been on the fritz for a while... it works, but sporadically.  We decided we should move on and consider finding something smaller, but useful, when we can afford it.  LOVE having that space back.  The printer didn't sit all the way back in that cubby, so I was always losing things behind it. 

I worked hard to sort the random (that took me into the evening... sorting random things doesn't work with a nearly-2-year-old who wants all the random things).  I even weeded out my overflowing mason jar of pens, moved some pictures around, put the cleaning supplies away and added that little tower of drawers.  I'm not sure it looks that organized in the after picture, but trust me, it so is.  It feels SO nice to sit down and work, now.  I kind of love it, I even tried to get a better picture of it, I liked it that much.  I'm not promising it will stay this awesome, because I just don't work like this.  But I promise I'll keep returning it to this awesome, because I do work better like that :).  My hope is to replace the desk someday, but in the meantime, I can be happy with an organized hand-me-down (except, ahem, for the drawers... luckily today didn't include those!).  Happy Friday!

You can find Day 1 here.
 

21 Day Challenge: Day 1

So, our apartment is a bit of a mess.  Part of this is because we're busy and I'm an awful sorter, and part of it... well, no, that's pretty much it.  Oh, and we have a two year old.  I saw this 21 Day Organization Challenge {she had a button, but apparently too many people have used it, because I couldn't get it to link, so go to that link right there to check it out!) through pinterest and decided I would try it... baby steps, right?  Yesterday was Day 1: The Junk Drawer.  Well, we have a whole lot of drawers... with junk in them, but no specific junk drawer, so I chose a few drawers in my kitchen.  They weren't necessarily rife with junk, just messy, disorganized and in need of a really, really good scrub down underneath everything.

Here are my befores:

As you can see, the top drawer is kind of the catch all - crumbs, scissors, random utensils and cookie cutters that didn't make it to their home.

 
This drawer really just needed to be straightened, the cookie cutters to find a collective home and to move those aluminum pans somewhere else (I needed one once and now have the leftovers forever!)

annnd... After!  They aren't perfect, but much happier.  Random utensils moved to another, less opened drawer, all the drawers got scrubbed and silverware washed (just in case).

Here the cookie cutters found a home and all of our boxes got a straightened up a little.  While we're trying to cut down our use of all the plastic baggies, we're not quite there, so they need a place for now.

And, I don't have a before of this one because I didn't know I was going to do any organizing... but it's Miss Anni's drawer.  Pretty much imagine all of those spoons (I'm not sure how we have so many, but we do!) and other little parts scatter everywhere!  I got this little organizer while picking up some other organizing bins at Big Lots yesterday, and she was pretty excited to un-organize and sort everything!  It's nice having a place for things :).

A little craftiness

So, like many, I discovered the fun of pinterest a few months ago.  I am determined to actually use the fun things I find; though, and not just make it another place to dump ideas that will never come to fruition.  We've used a lot of recipes and a couple of crafts... this one was one of my favorites.  You can find full directions here.  My project was even simpler (not that the original is hard), because we bought larger blocks that are sturdy enough to hold pictures by themselves with no weights.  So, honestly, my father-in-law did this project and we watched.  Whenever I send him a project, he always tells me to bring it up to grandpa's woodshop and we can make it happen.  It is such fun!

We made a set for Anni's room and a few more for some other littles in our lives ;).  Don't forget to check out the original post at plumpudding and make your own (she also tells you how to make them magnets)! 

Nugget's Room

This is the one room in our little apartment that has a complete feeling.  I like to go sit in it during the day and daydream, with the yellow curtain open and sunlight streaming in to touch all of the sweet little things we've used to make Anni's room special.  Putting her room together was very important to me.  Her due date was going to be after we had moved to a new apartment (the one that we lived in before this one), where she would have a room I could get all ready for her.  However, when she came early, we were living in a garden level one bedroom apartment, and when she came home, we were still in that apartment.  At the time, it wasn't a big deal - we had other things to worry about, and I wanted her in our room for a little while, so we certainly didn't need the extra room at that point.  Sometimes it's okay to want something; though, right?  And a sweet little room for my sweet little baby was one of those things.  Since she came home, it has felt like life has moved so fast that I can barely keep pace.  This was important to me; though, so for over a year I've been slowly gathering bits and pieces and ideas for her room.  And, as complete as it may ever be: our nugget's room!

A note before you look - I know a coat of paint can transform any room.  Unfortunately, we live in an apartment.  And while we actually are allowed to paint, we'd have to paint it back before we moved out, which may be less than a year from now, so the trouble wasn't worth it.  Therefore, we found the sweet little decals.  They probably won't be a part of her room in the next home, but for now, they make up for the drab walls a little bit :).

Noticed the crazy mix of woods we have?  See... the crib is a hand-me-down from my wonderful sister, the bedside table is from Daniel's childhood room, the bookshelf is my college bookshelf and the rocking chair is the one new thing in the room.  I originally wanted dark wood in the room, but I think we'll transition to a lighter wood as we move some of the baby items out.  (On a funny note, the next room theme I have in mind definitely calls for dark wood... why can't I just pick one?!)

Did you notice the riotous flowers on the right-hand wall?  My nieces were in charge of that lovely meadow :).  It makes me smile and miss them every time I look at it.

There it is :).  Now for a few favorite things (okay, pretty much everything is a favorite thing, but I narrowed it down).

On the left: the yellow rocking chair Anni's grampa made for her.  I can't even tell you how special it is to me that this is in her room and that she will have it long after she's grown out of it.  I also love the square pictures above it.  I really wanted some at Anni's level... because this room is about her, right?  They are easily replaceable (I used velcro to put them up) if Anni gets a little too interested and not too expensive to that.  I got the idea for these on one of my favorite blogs.

On the right: the canopy!  Oh, how I love it!  I always wanted a canopy, and I love that this one was affordable and not too fussy.  I got it from ikea, and they even have an even cheaper one that I think it also darling.  And, just because it is one  of my favorite Anni blankets, the sweet quilted blanket lying over her crib was a gift when she was born.

Anni's cousins keep us company :).  We like to say good night to them, because we wish we could in person!

I loved the idea of letters on the wall... but wasn't too thrilled about the cost or look of the wooden ones.  Luckily, my sister is uber talented, and whipped these up for me.  Perfect!  In case you want some of your own quilted letters... she sells them in her etsy shop.

I just love this collection of books.  Some are Anni's, some are being borrowed from cousins, some were mine when I was little... I have always loved reading, so I want to give Nugget the chance to fall in love with it, as well!

Ah... Organic Bloom frames, you just make me happy :).  While I feel like I need something more on this wall, I've been just a-waiting for this frame to share the room with you... because it was the mark that the room was "done enough" to share.  This darling picture was taken by the lovely Jenny Hanlon.  It is definitely a favorite.  And, by the way, the frame is a 16x20 Lucy in buttercup.  In case you care about these things ;-).
 

This has always been a favorite piece.  Anni was so tiny when she was born and used to make a very birdlike face.  An artist local to the college I went to (in fact, the daughter of my choral instructor!) makes and sells beautiful cut paper art.  You can find her here, and I strongly suggest that you do.

So, there it is.  Definitely a labor of love, and one that I don't think will ever be finished.  I like changing things, adding things and moving things.  It's not perfect, but it's her very own.  I like to think she likes it (except for the crib, she has emphatically informed us that naptime should disappear).  I like it.  It's home.