Shower Time

I was cleaning out the linen closet today while Lauren took a shower and it was the cutest thing listening to her sing and talk. Evan was up next, but I went on to doing other things so I didn't listen in on him. However, in the past just sitting in the tv room I have heard him being really loud as he fights his enemies in the shower. It is just so funny. I know when I was a kid I did the same thing, now my shower time is a great opportunity for me to chat with God, so that's what I do. People are encouraged to have a "prayer closet" or a set devotion time; those things for me are whenever I take a shower because I am alone (most of the time--there's sometimes that knock on the door from two kids...).

Organizing

I have been reading a book called The House That Cleans Itself and I love it! It has helped me really start going through our house purging, organizing, and cleaning. Boxes of stuff have been taken to Goodwill and things have been kept to sell on Ebay. So far in a week Lauren and Evan's rooms and the hall coat closet have been completed. It is an awesome feeling. I can't wait to go through the entire house. Check out these pictures....

Lauren has the bigger room and bigger closet between the kids' room. Unfortunately I did not take a before picture, but trust me when I say her shelves and dress up box on the bottom shelf were overflowing with toys. The only thing we did with this closet was go through all of her stuff and get rid of a lot of it. Doesn't it look clean and neat?

This is Evan's closet--smaller than Lauren's. What was done to this was more purging and I bought some blue fabric cubbie boxes (can't think of the technical name right now). Again, I didn't take a before picture. As I look at these pics I can see how someone might look at these and think that is still a messy closet but it's not. Everything is now stacked neatly and the boxes hold lots of toys that couldn't be stacked (nerf guns, light sabers) and helps it look not so messy. The top shelf was full of stuff and now it's pretty empty.

I am really excited about this project. This is the coat close by the front door. Look at how crowded it is with all of the coats, and all of the things piled on top of each other on the shelf, and all of the mess on the floor. Yuck!
Now look at the after pictures! There were a few changes to this little project. One was buying a shoe organizer and hanging it on the inside of the door and I put hats, scarves, gloves, ponchos, and umbrellas in it. There's even empty pockets still. Yes, you can see the organizer in the before pictures, but that's because I added it and then thought to take before pictures. It hangs over the top of the door but Roger felt it was warping the wood so he actually screwed it onto the door so we could take down the hanging hardware. This tip was one I read from the book and I loved it and knew it would work for us. I put two of my jackets that I only wear occasionally into my bedroom closet and Roger took a lot of his hunting gear downstairs into the storage area under the stairs.

I can't believe this is the closet floor. It has bowling bags on it and now I have a place to put the vacuum cleaner.
See the shelf with the boots on it? It didn't exist before. I talked Roger into making it for me and he took care of it within an hour. Yeah, it's not painted or stained, but that can happen at a later date. For now it's a huge help in getting the closet organized and it worked perfectly for our boots. For the other shelf I bought a clear plastic tub to put extras into, and made sure it was clear so that I could easily look at it and know exactly what was in it. If it was solid colored it would take more time having to open it up to remember what the contents were. Next to the tub are our camera bag and portable dvd players bag. This closet is now spectacular (in my eyes). What a huge transformation for such a small space.
I'm not sure how long it will take to continue organizing the entire house, but as I accomplish more I will be sure to post. Stay tuned....

Moms Night Out

Wow! A mom's night out for two months in a row? No way! Yep, we broke the every 3 months cycle and I am so glad. Maybe we'll even be able to do it again next month. Our cute, petite, blond friend took this picture so she wasn't able to be in it, but the 5 of us are the loyal ones who seem to make it to every single moms night out that we have been doing for 2 or 3 years. I love these ladies.

Most of our nights are simply gathering at a restaurant for dinner and dessert and closing the place down. Ask Roger--I always tell him I'll be home early and he always replies, "I'll see you at midnight." When I tell him, "No, really I'll be home early," he says, "Okay, I'll see you at 11:30 then." He's always right.

Last night I was getting a little concerned because I was the first one at the restaurant at 7:00, the next person arrived at 7:15, and then the other three came at 7:40. Once we were all together though, the talking and laughs really began. When 8:30 arrived and we were done eating, we couldn't stay to close the place, though, because the cute, petite, blond friend had printed out 40% off coupons for all of us to use at the girls store Justice to buy clearance clothes for all of our daughters. We did close the store down and it was a first for us so we had to have a picture of it.

After that, I did end up going home, but I guess a few others went on to Target to check out those sales, and then went for a little run in a neighborhood. I honestly can say that this is one time I went home early because let's just say that I am not a fan of running (I hate it)! No matter, I was just so excited to get out of the house and hang out with my mom's night out buddies.

Evan's New Bed

See this cool race car bed? Roger made this for Evan when he was two years old and this is what he has slept in for over 6 years. For the past two Christmas's we have been searching for a loft bed for Evan--just a bunk on top with openness underneath--because he has the smaller bedroom and we wanted to give him more play room. Most loft beds usually had a desk area so Roger even thought of making him one, but we went searching for beds last weekend and discovered a bunk/futon for a really great price. We had to order it and Roger picked it up on Thursday. The first thing Friday morning before even eating and getting dressed (Evan was so excited), the kids and I started the process of taking apart the race car bed and building the new bed...

Evan did a great job with the electric drill taking apart the old bed.
Beginning to put the new bed together.
Swinging like monkeys on monkey bars.
We had a little difficulty with a screw not fitting quite right so we stopped in the morning and waited for dad to come home and finish the bed.
It's done!
I had to climb up on top to put Evan's planet decorations higher on the wall.
Learning how to put sheets on his bunk bed.
Lounging on the futon--it really is quite comfortable.
These pictures don't show it very well, but there are blue Christmas lights strung around the bed.

Evan is very excited and on the weekends Lauren will get to camp out in big brother's room on the futon!

More Ice Skating

Okay, I am having such a good time watching the kids with their ice skating lessons. This was the second week and they both did much better--this means hardly any falling down, and they started to glide more instead of walk on their skates.

Evan decided with a friend he has met in his class to chase some girls around with bean bags and then pool noodles that were light sabers. Who knew that would be the catalyst to get him improving on his ice skating? LOL

Lauren is one of the best in her class. She has befriended a little girl who unfortunately just can't seem to stay up on her skates, but Lauren is patient to wait on her to get back up again.

A couple of adults are also taking lessons and it is fun watching them learn to skate. Maybe the next time the kids have lessons I will take lessons too? I have always wanted to do that.

Ice Skating Lessons

The kids are now taking 8 weeks of ice skating lessons on Tuesdays. They start at 2:00 with 30 minutes of lesson and then get 30 minutes of practice. This is Evan's second time on ice skates, but the first was over a year ago; this is Lauren's first time. Before class we talked about how there would be a lot of falling down, and there was, but they just jumped back up and kept going. They both had a lot of fun, and I had a lot of fun watching them. I've never been on ice skates before, but I think we will all have to go as a family soon.

The Shower Drama

When it comes to shower time for the kids, it's always a battle of who went first last time. Considering they take showers about every 2 days, I honestly can't remember all the time who went first last time, and such was the case today.

I told Evan to go take his shower, and he insisted he went first last time. I think he is right so I proceed to walk Lauren to the bathroom to help her with her shower and she is crying that she went first last time. I set her on the counter and hug her and talk to her about why I think Evan was first last time. She argues and is yelling and crying to the point where she is starting to cough. I know that if she doesn't calm down she is going to start throwing up. I decide to give up and calmly tell her that she can go for a week without taking a shower, all of her friends will start to call her stinky because she will start smelling, and then I walk away leaving her in the bathroom to calm down. As I am leaving I hear the coughing turn into gagging and I'm sure the throwing up will start, but I leave anyway, head downstairs for a few minutes so I can decompress from the drama, and decide to check email and facebook and wait to see if she changes her mind and asks for help.

A few minutes later I hear the shower turn on. I am thinking Evan has decided to stop being stubborn about not taking his shower first today and has decided to go ahead and take it. Then I hear singing--it's Lauren! I walk upstairs and into the bathroom and she is in the shower. I'm thinking okay, maybe Evan helped her get the shower started because she has never done that by herself before because dad or I have always made sure the water temperature is just right before she climbs in. Also, we have a shower head that has the hose so you can take it down to Lauren's level and wash her. I peek behind the curtain, and she is happy smiling washing the shampoo out of her hair!

She informs me that she started the shower all by herself! She did a good job checking the water temperature before entering the shower, and standing up with the water getting in her face (because the shower head is not lowered) isn't bothering her too much. I'm thrilled! She finishes her shower all by herself, but when she gets out she still needs some help with the detangling spray and brushing her hair.

I tell her over and over that she has moved into big girl status. We have a book called Little Big Girl about a girl who is little enough to do some things, and big enough to do other things. This has been a special book to me and Lauren and she has loved it when I call her my little big girl. It occurs to me that she really is entering big girl status, but I'm going to keep clinging to that little girl status as long as I can!

P.S. I was informed by Evan that yes, Lauren did end up throwing up a little bit into the bathroom sink, but she cleaned it up. Wow! What a big girl! Yay, and boohoo.