We Said We Would Never Adopt a Kitten

We are definitely a cat family. At one point we had four cats living with us. It proved to be way too much work and it has been much easier being a two cat family. Hubby and I have both volunteered at animal shelters and we've always said we will only add adult cats to our family. Kittens don't have trouble finding homes. Adult cats are often overlooked, even though the right cat can be the perfect addition to a household. Last week, though, our no-kitten policy flew out the window.
Hubby's parents own a storage unit business. About a week ago Hubby helped his dad with maintenance work on some of the units. It involved a loud crane and cement blocks, but I won't bore you with the details. Four days later a customer asked my in-laws if they were missing a cat. No, their two cats were accounted for. The customer said he kept hearing a cat while he was in his unit and it sounded like the cat was under the neighboring unit. After hours of digging and moving cement blocks, Hubby and his parents finally found the source of the noise... two kittens had been trapped under the unit. They were dirty, scared, dehydrated and hurt. Both kittens had sores on their heads from trying to dig out, plus they dug their nails to the quick. 
The day after their rescue they received a clean bill of health from the vet. One is a boy, the other a girl. The boy is a feisty little thing and is quickly learning how to play. His sister is a little timid, but is slowly coming around. And, long story short, this is Murray:

Yes, Murray is a kitten and yes, Murray will soon be joining our household. My daughters are very excited about the prospect of having a new furry friend. We are excited about the playfulness he's about to bring to our house. He goes against our "no kitten policy," but we couldn't bring ourselves to not bring him home. I feel better knowing his rescue story and knowing we didn't overlook an adult cat to add him to our house. Murray is definitely ready to come home with us, but his sister is still healing and not ready to be separated. In another week or so, though, Murray will become a permanent part of our family! I hope our two other cats are ready!

They Want to Do Different Things

I knew this day would come, I just thought it wouldn't happen until middle school or high school. My daughters are starting to figure out they have different likes and dislikes. They excel at different activities and they want to do different things.
I think this is probably the final summer that I can enroll them in the same activities. All four are in swim lessons. That won't change. They will stay in swim lessons until they have mastered swim strokes and have confidence in the water. However, one of my daughters has expressed interest in joining our local competitive swim team. She likes to swim. She likes learning new strokes. She has watched swimming competitions on TV and says she wants to do it. One of our swim lessons a few weeks ago happened to take place during the swim team's practice. She's not ready for the team just yet, but I think by next summer she could be. 
All four of my daughters are also in a gymnastics class this summer. They have been begging to take gymnastics and I found a class that fit our schedule. One of my daughters is quite dedicated to the class. She pays attention to the coaches and works really hard to master each task. She's already asking to take gymnastics again next summer (I'm not telling her the classes are also offered in the fall). Her other sisters enjoy the class, but don't take it as seriously as she does. I don't see the rest of them moving on to the advanced class.
And so it begins. I am destined to be a chauffeur, indulging my daughters by letting them take part in the activities they choose to participate in... and trying to figure out how to get everyone from point A to point B without running myself ragged!

I Can't Trust Movie Ratings

It's a rare treat for us to go to the movies as a family. A matinee will cost us at least $30, which is a splurge we don't often indulge in. Instead, we wait for family movies to come out on DVD and have movie night at home. Unfortunately, it seems if the movie isn't animated or rated G, then it may not be a true "family movie."

My daughters now have the attention span to enjoy live action movies. A few months ago I rented We Bought a Zoo, thinking it would be a fun movie night flick. It was definitely a cute movie, but I almost turned it off mid-movie. The movie is rated PG. I expected a few questionable moments. I counted several uses of "sh*t" and Matt Damon's character even calls one of the animals an "a-hole," except he says the actual word. We happened to be watching the movie the weekend of Easter. Matt Damon and his older son have a conversation about how they live in a house with a young girl who still believes in the Easter Bunny. Oh brother. Fortunately, my daughters somehow didn't hear that part.

The other night Hubby and I were watching a movie (without our daughters) that was rated PG. One of the characters said "a-hole." When exactly did that become a PG word?

I say bad words, but not in front of my children. I fully expect them to hear these words and some day use these words (and then we'll have to talk about whether it's appropriate, etc., etc.). However, when I watch a PG movie, I don't expect to hear such extreme swear words, especially if the screen where they tell you why the movie is rated PG only says "mild violence." Yes, I understand PG means "Parental Guidance," but if the material is that unsuitable for someone under, oh say 13, shouldn't the movie be rated PG 13?! I'm starting to think I need to pre-screen our movie night movies to make sure they're truly PG.

Ask a Simple Question...

Yesterday my daughters had their first orthodontist appointment. (Yikes!) It actually went better than I thought it would. Three of my girls are now on an "observation track," meaning we'll go in every six months or so and see how things look. They'll likely be on this track for several years as we pull teeth and try other things to make space for their adult teeth. One of my girls goes back in six months and will probably need braces at that time due to a crossbite (what I would call an underbite). I guess if we do this one at a time it won't seem like such a financial blow, right?!
It was really funny watching them interact with the orthodontist. My normally shy daughters were talking over one another to get his attention and he thought they were all hilarious. I found myself trying not to burst out laughing at the following conversations:


Orthodontist: "So your mom says you like to swim. Where do you like to go swimming?"
M: "At the pool."


and then later....
Orthodontist: "You like to draw? What do you like to draw?"
K: "Pictures."

My husband summed it up best: my daughters are smartasses without even trying.

Let the Games Begin!

I love the Olympics. I enjoy watching most of the competitions and find it thrilling when either the USA takes the gold or an underdog comes out of nowhere (regardless of what country the athlete is from). In the summer games, I like to watch gymnastics, swimming and diving. I used to be able to tell you all the athletes on the women's gymnastics team, but now I'm not sure I could name one.
This week, my daughters have actually been very excited about the Olympic swimming trials. An athlete from our area is competing and we are all eager to see how she performs. I've had to set a reminder on our TV to make sure we don't miss anything. Last night, Michael Phelps competed in a semifinal, so I was able to explain gold medals, records, etc. to them. 
I'm looking forward to the games this summer. Instead of arguing with my girls about why we're not going to watch some mindless TV show, we can watch the various competitions and root for our favorites. One of my girls has expressed interest in competitive swimming... who knows, maybe one day we'll be rooting her to the Olympics!

Busted! (With Photographic Evidence)

When my girls were born, they received an abundance of blankets and stuffed animals. We moved to a different state shortly after their first birthday, so many of the stuffed animals ended up in boxes. Over the years, I've pulled out those stuffed animals to give my daughters on their birthday or Christmas. It has been nice to give them these gifts when they're at an age to actually appreciate and use them. Unfortunately, yesterday my scheme began to unravel.
This past Christmas, Santa left a stuffed bear in each of my girls' beds as she slept. They thought it was great to wake up and immediately find a gift from Santa. They all still play with these bears (which most parents will agree is an accomplishment, since stuffed animals tend to get tossed aside fairly fast). Yesterday I was purging an area of the house that was long overdue for cleaning. (It's part of the purging I started in January. I said it was going to be a slow process). I found a cute photo book I made from birth to age one and knew my girls would enjoy looking at the pictures. Soon after looking at the book, R approached me and said "Aren't these the same bears Santa gave us for Christmas?" Busted! Um, why yes, the bears you are posing with at your first Christmas are indeed the same bears you just received! I took a deep breath, avoided eye contact with Hubby so I wouldn't laugh and said "Well, look at the picture. The bears are bigger than you! Santa realized you weren't ready for the bears, so he saved them and brought them back when you were older." She seemed to buy my story.
I don't mind that my daughters may have figured out my regifting error. What I'm not ready for is for them to figure out who Santa really is. The excitement leading up to Christmas morning is always so much fun. I'm not ready to give that up just yet. So I guess I'll need to go through my picture albums and see if they have any more secrets to tell!

It's Time for the Orthodontist Already?!

When my daughters went to their first dentist appointment, the dentist told me all four would eventually need braces. This didn't surprise me, as Hubby and I both wore braces. I was lucky and only need mine for about a year and a half. Hubby wore his a bit longer and needed one of those palette cracking torture devices. What did surprise me is that at our last check up the dentist said he wanted me to take all four of them to the orthodontist... now. 

What?! I wasn't prepared to take them this young (age 6). In fact, I've really been in denial about the whole thing. I'm just not ready to think about sinking thousands of dollars into my daughters' mouths.

The most common reactions I receive when I tell people I've scheduled orthodontist appointments for my daughters is "Get a second opinion" or "They're too young." The thing is, I actually think the dentist is right. My girls all have tiny mouths. Their teeth are "crowded" in there. As they lose their baby teeth, their adult teeth are bigger than the space allotted for them, so they're knocking out other baby teeth. Case in point: Q had to have two teeth pulled this week to make room for her adult teeth. 

Several of my neighbors recommend the orthodontist we're going to see. He will apparently tell you if it's easier/better to have a few teeth pulled versus putting on braces. One of the neighbor girls who is going into third grade only has braces on her two front top teeth because those teeth were hitting her bottom teeth and could have caused major damage. Our first orthodontist appointment is in two weeks. Wish me luck... my wallet and I are going to need it!

Not My Dryer!

A few years ago my husband's cousin gave us her front loading washer and dryer. She was upgrading and her set was still in good condition. It was such great timing as our own washer conked out the day before our new-to-us set was delivered. Since then, laundry has been so much easier. Having a large capacity washer and dryer is such a wonderful thing when you do laundry every other day. Unfortunately, it looks like our dryer has reached its breaking point.
In the last few months, clothes haven't been dry when the dryer buzzes. A few weeks ago Hubby cleaned out the vents on the dryer and outside the house. Ewwwww. With as much lint and dirt as he pulled out, I was confident my dryer would start running like new. It still didn't help. In the last week I've done some research and suggested he use our leaf blower to blow out the vent. He did this the other day and we expected a cat-size ball of lint to blow out of the vent. Nope. He clearly did a good job pulling out the clogs with just his hand. Then he unscrewed some things and thoroughly cleaned the lint trap. This resulted in a lot of lint and dirt, so, once again, I expected my dryer to back to normal. Nope. We also cleaned off the sensor, but it didn't help.
This, of course, means I'm probably going to have to bid adieu to my dryer and get a new one. (sigh) I would love to be one of those people who hangs her laundry outside to dry but a) I would need a clothes line as long as our block due to all the laundry I do, b) our HOA has restrictions on clothes lines and c) we all have seasonal allergies. 
We've had a good run with this washer and dryer. The washer is starting to give me some trouble, too, but I'm in denial. Unfortunately, I'm running the dryer way too much to get my clothes dry and I'm not looking forward to the next electricity bill. So, it looks like I need to start doing some research on our next dryer and searching the couch cushions for the spare change to pay for it!

The Hair Battle

I've blogged in the past about my bad hair cuts as a child (my mom insisted my sister and I have short hair). I try not to traumatize my daughters when it comes to hair. Typically they get a haircut just before school starts (either shoulder or chin length) and then again in January or February. Usually they're all fairly excited about their haircuts. Unfortunately, M is starting to try to take control of her hair.
When the beginning of the previous school year rolled around, she asked if she could skip her haircut. Since her hair was between her chin and shoulders and not really in need of a cut, I agreed. Then mid-year she begged to skip the cut again. We talked and I told her she could forgo a cut if she worked on growing her hair out for Locks of Love. I explained to her what the organization does and she was really excited at the prospect of helping another child. 
But now? Now her hair is reaching an unmanageable stage. It's tangled every morning. I have to actually, gasp, style her hair every day or it ends up in her face. Oh, and did I mention that she no longer wants to cut it off when it reaches the acceptable donation length for Locks of Love? It's not that she is no longer interested in helping, it's just that she wants hair down to her bum!
That, my friends, is not going to happen... at least not until she is old enough to take full control of her hair (washing, combing every day, styling, etc). We're still discussing her options. My goal is for her to cut her hair to her shoulders when school starts. She's slowly coming around to the idea, mainly because she's tired of me having to comb out all the tangles!

Adventures in Camping

Apparently when we go camping it's always going to be an adventure! Last year Hubby and I took our daughters on their first camping trip. We went with several families from my moms of multiples group. The campground we stayed at was beautiful and had great views of the mountains and a nearby lake. The weather during the day was fantastic. Unfortunately, the weather at night was cold. I'm talking in the 30's, near freezing cold! We made it through both nights, but it was miserable. (The days were fun, so I can't complain). My girls still talk about how cold it was on that trip.
This weekend, we embarked on another trip with the moms of multiples group. We went to a different area and another great location. We set up camp Friday and spent the night visiting with the other families in our group site. The night was a tad chilly (in the 50's), but nothing like the freezing temperatures of last year. We were in shorts by 8am and knew temps would be in the high 80's later in the day. 
The area was under a fire ban, so no campfires, but we planned to try making S'mores with our camp grill on Saturday night. We spent Saturday morning checking out the nearby river. Three of the girls were brave enough to wade in an area stoned off for a kid's swimming area. They lasted about a minute with their feet in the water before deciding it was too cold. (We're guessing the water was maybe in the 40's). We hung out at the kid's fishing area with some of the other families from our group. The area by the river was cool and relaxing. We planned to head back down to the river after lunch and a hike because we knew it was going to be a hot day.
During lunch, one of the moms asked if we had cell phone service. We didn't. Why did she need to use the phone? She was concerned about this:

What is that, you ask? Why that is a wildfire! The man in the golf cart assured us we were fine and claimed the park rangers told him the fire was contained. We all went about our business, but hung close to the campsite. The smoke started getting heavier above those trees and someone in our group with a radio said at least 500 acres were involved. Most of us started doing a precautionary pack-up. We made sure all of our clothes were packed and put away anything we weren't currently using. Eventually the adults realized it was better to leave on our own timeline than to risk having the park rangers wake us up in the middle of the night and force us to pack in a hurry. 
By the time we left, approximately three hours after the above picture, this is what we saw:

As we drove out of the campground we realized we were driving into the smoke. The highway ended up being closed about 8 hours after we left. We spent the ride down the canyon under an orange haze. When we reached the bottom of the canyon, we passed news crews setting up their live trucks. (Yes, the journalist in me wanted to stop the car and tell them what I knew about the fire. The mom in me just wanted to get home!)
As I write this, the fire has destroyed more than 36,000 acres and is nowhere near being contained. Our campground never ended up being evacuated and three families from our group ended up staying Saturday night. The mandatory evacuations stopped just 13 miles from our campground.
Were we ever in danger? No. Did I feel as though we were fleeing for our lives? No. At some point, though we had to make an executive decision. Would I have liked to stay Saturday night? Yes, we stayed at a gorgeous location and were all looking forward to a potluck dinner that night with all the families in our group. But given the choice of leaving mid-afternoon with plenty of time to shower, eat, etc., or risk being evacuated in the middle of the night, driving down the canyon in the dark and arriving home exhausted and dirty... well, I picked the one that gave me peace of mind. We were all disappointed to leave, but we salvaged the night with pizza night and spent Sunday visiting various parks in our neighborhood. Oh, and since we couldn't have a campfire, we baked S'mores in the oven. It wasn't the camping trip we envisioned, but it was still a good time! My girls have all said they can't wait for school to start so they can tell all their friends about the fire that ended their camping trip!

Summer Homework

I've become "that" mom... you know, the one who makes her children continue learning during the summer. In the spring, our school sold summer homework packets. I ended up buying the math and language arts package to work on with my girls. The packets are designed to be worked on three days a week. They actually don't take that long (about 15 minutes), but when you multiply that time by four... it takes a little longer than I wanted. 
Still, I want to make sure my daughters keep up with all the progress they made during the school year. They had a great year, but not without some struggles here and there. It's my hope that by reinforcing what they already know, they'll be ready to go full steam ahead when first grade starts. Plus, they'll learn a few new skills along the way.
Lest you think I'm one of those moms who takes all the fun out of summer, keep in mind that even though we're doing summer homework, our neighborhood pool has been open 11 days and we've been to it 9 of those days (sometimes twice a day). Do I want my daughters to keep learning this summer? Heck yes. Do I want them to have fun, as well? Absolutely!

When Was I Voted Neighborhood Babysitter?

We spend a lot of time at our neighborhood pool. My girls love the water and it's an easy way to wear them out. There's no lifeguard on duty, so you really need to keep an eye on your children... or not. Every summer I feel as though I 'm one of the only parents who understands swimming pools can be dangerous.
To use the pool without an adult, you need to be 14 or older. Anyone under 14 has to be accompanied by someone 18 or older, meaning a 14 year old can't bring guests. The pool opens at 8am, but the pool monitor doesn't show up until 2pm, and I'm always amazed by the number of families trying to skirt the rules. You can argue that a 14 year old can be responsible for a 10 year old. It doesn't really bother me when a teen under 18 is there with a younger sibling. It does bother me when an 8 or 10 year old shows up with no adult supervision. Basically you're saying either you don't care what happens to your child, or you expect the rest of us to watch your child. What happens when there aren't any other adults there? 
The other day there was a woman at the pool who brought several guests with young children. They let the kids loose while the adults sunbathed. At some point, the adults moved to a different spot so they wouldn't get splashed. A young boy with them, who was two or three, didn't see them move, so once he tired of playing on the pool steps, he had a meltdown, screaming "I can't find my mommy! Where is she? I miss her." Mom's reaction? She never even looked up to see what was going on. I finally went over to him to calm him down and show him where his mom was. The pool monitor came over and took him to mom... and the chewed mom out for not watching her kid. As the woman next to me said "Thank goodness for other moms at the pool."
It's not just the pool where I feel like I'm the only one watching my children and everyone else's. We went to the park last week and a woman showed up with two kids, who appeared to be 4 and 6-ish. She let them out of the car and then walked to the outhouse, which was about a block away. Was I supposed to be watching her girls? This particular park is in a remote area, but there are tons of cars driving by, plus there's a lake nearby. I'm glad I look like a trusting individual, but what exactly do you want me to do if one of them tumbles off the monkey bars? I'm already watching four of my own!
I recently took two of my daughters to a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese. I was the only parent who stayed with their kids. The other parents camped out at a table with their backs to the game area. Granted, Chuck E. Cheese has a pretty good system in place for making sure children leave with the same adults who brought them, but the idea of my 6 year olds running by themselves wasn't my idea of a safe time. I've seen kids grab other children's tickets, push to the front of the line, etc. Why put your children in that position. Half the games I had to explain to my daughters (and the other party attendees) how to play. We were all having fun, but it was a little overwhelming to be the only visible parent, since all the kids would come to me when they needed help.
I swear I'm not a helicopter mom. I don't hover. At the park, they play while I watch from the bench. At the pool I no longer feel the need to be right at the edge, but I still watch them. I'm not willing to sacrifice my daughters' safety.

The Graduation Picture Blunder

Our school uses a nationally known company for pictures. All through preschool we received wonderful pictures from this company. In kindergarten, not so much. I realize in elementary school the photographers are dealing with a lot more pictures within a limited time. Still, you think when you take a picture of a child wearing glasses you would check the shot to make sure the flash isn't visible in her glasses. Overall, though, this year's school portraits were still decent. Unfortunately, when the kindergarten classes did their cap and gown photos for graduation, my daughters got hosed.
I had asked the photographer if he could do a shot of all four in caps and gowns. How cute would that be? He only had three caps and gowns. No big deal. So he did a picture with two and two. The turned out pretty cute. But...... on the day of their graduation, each student was given a nice binder with their graduation picture and diploma. My girls received a crappy folder with a picture of themselves with a sister. Why? The photographer never bothered to take an individual picture of them in their caps and gowns... and no one bothered to tell me.
I was angry, to say the least. They share enough, shouldn't they have something of their own to remember this moment? Why should they have to be left out of this? What kind of photographer, who knows his company puts together this keepsake, leaves out four students? The school secretary offered to sneak my girls in during next year's cap and gown photos, but they'll change so much in a year, what would be the point? My girls all noticed that their classmates received something different and much nicer than they did. Life may not be fair, but is that something you have to learn in kindergarten or because of someone else's mistake? Yes, you could argue that I will face much bigger battles on their behalf, but in some ways, this picture blunder screamed "You will always be seen as an entity and never as an individual!" It just didn't sit well with me. I would have preferred the photographer simply skip the group photos rather than forget to do the individual pictures. Even the teachers were surprised because the photographer told them he would do their individual pictures after the group shots.
Once I gathered my thoughts, I sat down and wrote an email to the company. I was polite but clearly expressed my displeasure. Yesterday, a local representative called me. She was nice and apologetic and invited us to the local studio to do the individual pictures. 
All in all, the session went well. However, I was greeted at the door by a woman who said "In the future, you should make sure you tell the photographer you want a group shot and individual pictures." My response: "Since he was there to take individual pictures, it never occurred to me that he wouldn't take them." She then switched tactics: "I know. When the folios came back and theirs weren't included, I couldn't believe it. I called the lab and they said the individual pictures hadn't been taken." Ummm, I'm sorry, you knew they weren't taken and you didn't call me at that point to come to the lab to fix this?? Imagine what we could have avoided if someone had bothered to fix this from the moment they knew a mistake had been made. Instead, they clearly waited to see if I would complain. (Notice none of that is in quotes. I wanted to say that, but since everyone else was kind to us, I let it go).
I am really glad this company chose to make this right. It shows they see their customers as people and look beyond the dollar signs.

Off to First Grade

We had a wonderful kindergarten year. Choosing the full day option proved to be a great decision. All of my daughters are already doing first grade work and one of them is reading at the second grade level. This was the first year that I split my daughters up in school. They were divided among two classes. We could have easily had one great teacher and one not so great teacher. Instead, we had two great teachers. They have different teaching styles, but it worked. One of the teachers is moving to second grade and I'm hoping some of my daughters will have her when we reach that grade!
Kindergarten, of course, didn't come without stress. Homework every night was a new experience for us, but I managed to figure out a routine. Kindergarten also provided our first ER visit for a possible broken bone. One of my daughters was pulled off the playground zip line by a classmate. Fortunately, it turned out to just be a sprain (and the kindergarten classes were banned from the zip line). I'm glad our first broken bone visit turned out to be a false alarm!
Just one week ago we sat through Kindergarten graduation. It was a really cute event. All the kids sang songs and then received their "diplomas." Thank goodness they won't have another "graduation" until fifth grade, because all of my girls wanted to know why we didn't host a graduation party!

I'm Baaaaaack (At Least For Now)

Phew! My preschool job has been done for a week and already this summer is hectic! I must say, preschool was a lot of fun. It had its challenges, especially since I was hired to work in a Special Education room and some of those kiddos needed one on one support. Plus, I think I was sick at least once a month, including a doozie of a case of bronchitis during Spring Break. That's what happens when little ones pick their noses and then want to hold your hand! Overall, though, I had a great time. Sadly, I will not be returning to preschool when school resumes. The good news, though, is that I will move into the elementary building and work as a paraprofessional with the mild/moderate Special Education program. I'll miss preschool, but I think this will be a good fit. Instead of worrying about what happens to the preschoolers moving on to kindergarten who still need help, I'll be one of the people helping them!
At the end of April I decided to quit my part-time retail job. Working two jobs (even if they were both part-time) was becoming too much to juggle and really taking away from time with my family. Since I only worked in the morning preschool session, often times I would sub for other paras in the afternoon, which made for long days if I had to work my retail job that night. It was a great decision to quit. For the first time in five years my husband and I are both off on the weekends. It's a nice feeling to have the entire weekend for family time. Plus, I'm not working during summer break, so I'm really trying to enjoy this time with my daughters.
My goal is to get back to this blog, at least for the summer, and I hope that's something I can manage!

So Much Going On

The new job is great. After a month I feel like I'm finally finding my groove. I really enjoy working with preschoolers and (so far) they seem to like me! Now if this can just become full time, I'll be happy!
Things are obviously a little different in my house now. Instead of getting four kindergarten girls ready in the morning, I'm getting them ready plus myself. So far we've made it out the door on time! (Some mornings it's quite a challenge to get out the door on schedule). 
The downside is that I don't get to spend as much time volunteering in my daughters' classes, but they seem to have accepted that. I see them every day at the end of the morning preschool session. I walk by the cafeteria with my class while my girls are eating lunch. They and their friends all wave and shout at me. I feel like the rock star of kindergarten!
I really hope to have more time to spend on this blog, but I have a feeling that won't happen until the summer.

Too Much on My Plate

Over the last few days I've come to the conclusion that I have too much going on and something has to give. I recently accepted a new job (Yay!!!) and I'm thrilled. I'll be working as a Special Education Paraprofessional in our local school district's preschool program. The best part is that I'll be working at my daughters' elementary school. For now I'm only working in the morning session, so I still have to work a few days a week at my retail job. It's a foot in the door, though, so I'm very excited about this new chapter. Unfortunately, I just don't have the time to keep up with this blog. I'm hoping I can simply take a few weeks off of blogging, clear my head, figure out my new routine and get back into things. We'll see!

The Organizing Has Begun

I'm slowly but surely get our house back in order after the chaos of Christmas. All of our decorations are put away (except for a few lights) and the tree is ready to go back in the basement. (My allergies prevent me from having a real tree, much to Hubby's disappointment). Hubby and I spent most of the past weekend sorting and organizing the girls' toys. During a visit to Target, I checked out an organizer that I had been eyeing online. Hubby and I talked it over and decided to buy it... and when I went back it was on sale!

It may  not look like much, but this has made a huge difference. Since all the "little things" now have a place to go, it's so much easier to keep the toys organized. (We have the stuffed animals in large tubs and the dress up clothes in mesh totes). The girls understand that things need to be put back in their proper places and (so far) they've been really good about putting things away. Hubby set up the storage rack while I was at work, so I have to keep asking my daughters where certain items go!
Now I'm on somewhat of a cleaning frenzy. I'm trying to tackle one room/area at a time. We never seem to have time to organize, so it's easy to wind up with clutter. My goal over the next few weeks (yes, it's going to take that long. No, we're not hoarders) is to tackle all the areas that we keep saying we'll get to when we have time. Wish me luck!