"November came and went..."

 I knew it got too quite in there.

 Oh, my heart.  

 A typical morning for me

 This is what a mom sick day looks like.  

Brynn's self portrait

Extreme Makeover: Playroom edition

I couldn't take it anymore. 

Every time I walked into the playroom my stomach churned.  I vowed that my girls would never get another toy in their lifetime.

Santa was hereby banished from the Walker house. 

So on a chilly Monday while Caroline was home from school (Yes, I made her work during her day off.  I'm a big meany.) we conqured that mountain together.  Brynn's only job was to stay out of our way and not make a bigger mess.  I give her a B-.

Here is the playroom before.  Can't you just feel your blood pressure going up just looking at it?

 I had a system all in place.  The first item on the agenda was all the art supplies.  I took all of it out of the playroom and into the living room and we sorted, organized, tossed until it all fit into the 3 drawer plastic storage it was spilling out of. 

Next we took all the canvas boxes you see into the living room and sorted through those.  I set up a laundry basket away from our project.  I told Caroline that if she could fill up the basket with toys she doesn't play with anymore, that are broken, or that she is too old for I would let her go with me to the Goodwill to donate them to kids who could really use them and she could pick out one "new" toy to bring home.  She got down to business.  Now let me remind the audience out there that this is MY daughter Caroline.  The child who can't let go of ANYTHING!  She usually panics at the thought of getting rid of toys, paper, books, you name it even though it hasn't seen the light of day in a solid year.  But on that day, she was amazing.  She honestly thought about each item and realized that to make her playroom better and to make room for more toys she had to let things go.  By the end of the day she filled not one, but TWO laundry baskets and one storage container full of toys to go in the garage to use later.  I was so proud of her and I told her so.  I also kept asking her if she was proud of herself.  I want her to remember this feeling of accomplishment to help motivate her. 

We sorted through books, games, puzzles, the toy box, etc.  After SIX hours, 2 HEFTY bags full of trash, 2 Goodwill baskets, and one garage box later...MOVE THAT BUS!!!

I am so proud of that girl!  She literally danced in the open space after we were finished.  She was able to sit at the table and color.  She also found a lot of toys she had forgotten about.  Later that night we went to the donation store and she picked out two toys that she loves.  It was the best $6.58 I ever spent. 

My little Corner of the World: 3pm

I am not sure if anyone is still reading this blog, but I don't mind.  This is just my corner of the world where I can document my simple little life.  Maybe one day my girls will stumble upon it and know that I loved my simple little life.

I have been working on a project.  Well, let's be honest I will continue to work on this project for a while because I love it so. 

Here is my little corner of the world at about 3:11pm.

kids were here...

 I promise

I'm still here...

 

 and so are my girls...

Cookies

 I know it is cliche but I wanted to have warm cookies and milk waiting for Caroline when she got off the bus after school.  She loved it.  Now when we have a few seconds to spare we whip up a batch, back a few and freeze the rest of the dough.  Now when she is almost due home I just scoop out a few and they are piping hot when she comes in. 

DC

We had the opportunity to go to DC for a graduation. Since it was so close to our anniversary we decided to travel on up I 95 and visit the temple.  Yes, I drove, basically, 10 hours to get this picture. 

 There is a picture of Kevin and I on our wedding day in this exact same spot.  It took 2 different people four different tries but we nailed it!

 I do not know what children find so fascinating about a hotel room.  It is a big bedroom with two beds same as at home but something is different. 

These girls, at once, make me happy and make me crazy!

An explanation...

August...

It was the best of times.  It was the worst of times...

That is my excuse for being hit and miss with the blogging.  We had some really good times (family reunion, Caroline's birthday, first day of school) and the lowest times (death of a dear friend). 

I am back at it and I will make up for it with pictures.  

 Family Portraits from the family reunion in Utah.

 Oh! This girl!  I could just eat her up.

The twin cousins