Diaper Bag Dump

With my first baby 6 years ago I carried it all. In a huge, sorta ugly brown corduroy diaper bag (thankfully not one with Winnie-the-Pooh-I still had a small amount of fashion sense in me!)

Why do they made diaper bags so ugly anyway? 

 "I have a little baby and so now I would really prefer to carry a giant bag with cartoons and pastels that screams DIAPER BAG" - said no mom ever.

Part of the reason for the huge bag was the dilemma of what to put inside.

I was a little clueless on what exactly I really needed on my person at all times to run errands. 

Because really, to run to the grocery store you totally need 3 burp cloths, 2 swaddle blankets, a bottle of tylenol, 3 changes of clothes + one shirt for yourself, 5 toys for a baby that can't hold anything yet and a nursing cover even though you will hide in your car should baby have to nurse in the 45 minutes you are away from home.

3 kids later all I really need is this: wallet, keys, phone (duh), 2 diapers and wipes.

These days I carry a large purse, lately a crossover is my favorite. I try to keep it organized to be efficient, but let's face it- most of the time this is what it looks like.

Exhibit A: the contents of my purse this morning after approximately 3 weeks since the last cleaning.

(no old rotten food or nasty sippy cups! I'd call this pretty tidy)  

I do carry some other items on a day to day basis including- 

a change of clothes for the baby (explosive diapers happen people!), 

wet ones for wiping nasty tables or shopping carts,

 a hairtie (someone ALWAYS needs a hairtie when you have 3 girls!) 

It's helpful to have some snacks- 

mostly for my 3 and 6 year old because they are eternally hungry at the most inappropriate times. Typically as soon as you are pulling away from lunch at Chick-fil-A 

they began clamoring from the back seat for a snack. 

It's like the humming of the engine makes them hungry. 

Here we are cleaned up and ready to pack it all in again.

Usually there's always a bright lipstick (for a quick put together look), EOS lip balm (#addicted),

 and mints (these work double duty as breath freshening + kid bribery)

bathroom selfie of my target clearance purse

Obviously trips to the zoo, or long days spent entirely out of the house require a bit more loot. Typically I keep a tote in my car with a change for the 3 year old (accidents happen) and some extra diapers, snacks and sunscreen. 

Today I'm linking up with these fine blogs in order to hopefully win a luxurious Lily Jade bag! 

Coconut Robot

Mom Diggity

Cedars and Tiny Flowers

and Babies don't Keep

DIY Entry Way Shelves

Our home, like many others, lacks a lot of storage space. One spot in particular that we were lacking was a coat closet. The previous homeowner was nice enough to build a lovely little sunroom addition to the front of our house, but lacked the foresight to add a closet for storage - not to mention make the sunroom wide enough to actually become a usable space for anything other than walking through. Ok, enough complaining...moving on....

Last November, when the hubs was on a business trip I got the itch to solve our coat storage problem. Or, at the very least, lessen the problem and make the sunroom look a little nicer. In came pinterest. Followed by countless hours of searching for the perfect way to make our room look like a mudroom, complete with board and batten, beadboard, and built in cubbies for everyone. Then I stepped away from the computer long enough to remember that I have a 3 foot walkway to work with, one that has the front door opening into most of it. Dreams.Crushed.

Ahh...dream space! source

Yes, I could still have done the beadboard or board and batten, but our home is very southwestern in architecture, inside and out. It in no way resembles a craftsman, victorian, or even traditional style home. So I kept it simple. I wanted hooks to hang coats and backpacks and I wanted shelves deep enough to hold small pots of succulents and some artwork for display.

Off to Home Depot with 2 small kids in tow! (really, that should not have an exclamation point at the end, but I have to keep you positive here...or I had to keep MYSELF positive about it at the time) My shopping list included several 1" x 6" boards (I think I got 6 foot long? Depends on your project wall length), Wall hooks, long screws, and a good primer and paint in white.

Before the project (cell phone pic)

I measured my pieces, made my cuts and primed and painted the boards on day one. Then on day 2 I started by finding the studs so I could secure the bottom boards, placed the board and leveled it, drilled pilot holes into the studs, and finally screwed in using a nail long enough reach into the stud well. Then I placed the top boards and drilled from the top back edge (where the two boards meet) into the bottom board, and placed screws. After that I touched up any paint and evenly spaced my hooks. DONE.

I've enjoyed decorating the space for the seasons and holidays, and my succulents love the southern indirect light they get all day. As long as we only have the coats we use on a daily basis out in the area (the rest are tucked in a bedroom closet upstairs) then it serves as a clutter free space to enter the house.

Menu Planner Printable

Another organizational tool I've been using lately is a menu plan.

The concept is nothing new, but I love the weight off my shoulders when the old 'what's for dinner?' line comes up. Check the fridge! If that doesn't sound good, skip to the next day!

 I go through the weeks circular, as well as our calendar, and plan out 7 meals before shopping. Usually I try to keep a rotating 'staple' or two on the list, something that I can almost always whip up with ingredients in the pantry, fridge and freezer, no matter when I last visited the grocery store. This helps when we have an unexpected change of plans, something that usually happens at least once a week around here. 

Today I'm sharing with you another FREE printable, click the link below to download, print, and place into a page protector or frame and you are set! 

Download Free Printable Here

Printable Chore Lists

My life is in need of some major organization lately! Do you ever stop and take a step back and wonder how things got so messy? I have a pretty good idea of when my order turned to disorder...it's was the moment a became a mommy! Since there's no going back, there's only moving forward with better organizational tools to keep life on track and hopefully keep me sane.

I've been searching the depths of pinterest and google for ideas to sort order from the disorder that is running a household of four, and my first stops were simple and pretty papers to keep me on track with cleaning.

In the past I always did laundry on Monday, Shopping on Tuesday, Cleaning on Wednesday, etc. But with 2 munchkins life sometimes gets in the way of that strict of a schedule. I've been trying to do a load or two of laundry daily to keep that overwhelming laundry pile at bay, and I've recently found that one day for all the errands isn't always feasible when one munchkin needs a nap and the other decides to pretend she is the spawn of Satan in Target. It's life. You gotta roll with the punches sometimes.

So this little list was born in an effort to keep things orderly and make sure they get done on either a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. When placed into a frame under glass or a simple page protector on the fridge, a dry erase marker is an easy and reusable way to keep track of tasks.

I'm currently using the teal chevron print because it matches my kitchen/dining room, but I was nice enough to put together some other pattern & color combinations for those of you wanting a FREE download!

Grey/Teal Chevron                       Green Chevron                           Grey/Yellow Chevron

Tan Damask                                 Yellow  Moroccan                                   Grey Damask

Ikea Envy

Just a quick post so that I can share a great giveaway from one of my favorite blogs. We have been working on some reorganizing of the house and moving the girls back into one room together to free up some office space for the hubs new job. I'm having a drool fest over all the functional pieces at affordable prices from IKEA.Too bad the closest store is 6+ hours away in either Denver or Phoenix. Somehow the hubs thinks it's a little too far to travel just to shop at one store. I beg to differ. Right about now I am wishing we still lived in Seattle.

Here's the link to the fabulous Busy Budgeting Mama and her Big Girl Room Remodel!

Fingers crossed I win!

Free Printables: Kids Storage Labels

In recently re-organizing my oldest daughters very small room, I used a variety of bins, baskets and buckets to keep sets of similar items together for her. At almost 4 she needs to get better about putting her toys away, so in an effort to help her in the process I designed some simple labels for her. The ones that she will be able to reach on her own (and be expected to put away on her own) have labels with pictures, the ones that are kept high out of her reach (and her little sisters) have word labels. 

Nothing fancy, nothing new, but I thought I would still offer them up for free to anyone who needed a little labeling in their life! Click each page to download and enjoy!

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