What happens with Mom cleans things up.

When I find random burst of energy I like to seize them- for example I'm catching up with blogging while Jake naps.
One Saturday morning (while Nate was actually home) I returned from a run and Nate and the kids were still out on a bike ride. I was feeling good so I decided to clean, totally clean the porch. Toys and all. It really makes me feel good when I accomplish something that isn't even on my list. Sometimes when this happens I will write the accomplished task down just so I can have the satisfaction of crossing it off.
Well I had it looking GOOD.
Then the kids came home.
I have this sad potted morning glory that tries to climb the sticks and things I put in the pot. Jake likes to remove the sticks and the dirt...daily. Mostly the dirt daily. Sometimes he attempts to clean it up. I think he puts it on the ground so he has something to sweep or rake.
Then he also likes to transfer the dirt to different places.

This was several weeks ago- I have sense had to add more soil to the pot and occasionally move it out of 2 year olds reach... but I like it better on the ground.

storage

We live in a small town house with an outside storage room. We have begun to out grow our house and have this one for sale. Although I currently have some of our belongings in storage at family members homes. I really think that, if needed, we could fit it all here.

I just cleared some stuff out so that potential buyers could see the storage potential- and I have some treasure furniture that calls for a larger home.

I love to organize things into totes, baskets and files... and then look at my work.
Strange. Prideful.
Although you would probably never see my home in a design magazine, I am pretty Happy with what we have done.
Here are some areas of our home. It will be fun to look back at this in 10 years when we fill out our next home and see how I lived in this smaller space.

Here is our work space in our bedroom:

• We don't have a large room, and a book case would take up needed floor space, so shelves hanging on the wall are a perfect solution. Over the desk avoids any head trauma from walking under a low hanging shelf.
• one day I'd love to have a big wall of shelves to put all of the books on. But for now the ones that we might need are on this pair of shelves. The shelves have been in Nate's family for a long time. They were his mother's when she was a little girl.
  
• I have a basket of important papers (bills, pay stubs, warranties, directions to electronics) that await being filed in the cabinet. I always resolved to file things right away- but they end up in the basket for a few weeks.
• Handed down in the box from the mother in law was this big eagle. He got it because he earned his eagle. Never know what to do with a big eagle, but we got a buffalo after he completed wood badge. They will be perfect one day in a boy's room. All rustic and manly.
  
• I made a teapot of Nate, and a silkscreen print of my dad.
• Nate gets me cd's every year for Christmas. This year: Damian Jurado, Rosie Thomas, TMBG.

I opted to have Maesyn and Jake share a room that houses their clothes, beds and small treasures and then used the extra room for a
play room.
My treadmill is also in here.

• We put the bikes up on the wall in the kid's play room. Not enough room in the storage room and I don't trust them outside on the patio.
  
• I am a little anal about where things belong. That basket is for all stuffed toys that are not dogs (Jake's favorites) or babies.
  
• Tin boxes: Finger puppets and the old home of the "littlest pet shop" until we got too many.
• Small chairs. Small people.
• Hooks are great to keep things off the floor. Especially dress ups.
  

• Baskets. Baskets. Baskets. 2 for musical instruments, one for bead blocks, and one for wooden blocks. The round one on the bottom shelf is for small board books and the larger one in the corner is for dogs and babies.
  
• I've been waiting for my kids to do art work that I could frame. I currently have two photos of the kids up here and a framed drawing of a cat by maesyn. As an Art teacher I would see kids do some amazing stuff. I have frames in my class room to display some of the student work.
  
• The art teacher in me thought an easel would be a good idea (and the sale price did not hurt). So here it is..But why now? I have no room. I move it over about 10 times a day to get into the closet. But it currently is part of a great fort in the playroom as I type.
  

my kids do really well dealing with my crazy desire to have a place for everything and everything in its place. They seem to put most things back where they belong. I try not to get upset if things are in the WRONG place- as I understand I am a bit crazy. I have another shelf full of totes and baskets, as well as a closet of totes and toys (we have a lot of toys- some are being rotated in and out of storage). Barbies in the barbie tote, ponies in the pony tote, cars in the car tote, small plastic animals...train set, mega blogs, tools, play food. A tote or basket for it all.

The Kitchen.
Big for our house.
Lots of Storage Potential.

• Although our house has been up for sale I could not resit the addition of this gold shelf. I needed a place to hang the ever growing apron collection that the kids and I have and decided to go with a shelf too (Jake likes to get into our clay pieces and squish them).

So storage and more storage for me!!!. As long as we still live here I need a place for everything and everything in it's place. Before we move I'll post more of my happy storage solutions.. Like where I keep all of Nate's Mission treasures.

backyard.. oh back yard...

we don't have a back yard yet.. but if we did it might look something like this. jake and his friend.. sharing a few bites of sand.

house for sale

Our condo is for sale... any takers?