Obsessive-Compulsive Organizing

The topic at our moms group yesterday was organizing your house. As you can imagine, this is a topic that I was almost drooling over (attractive picture, I know). I learned a lot of good tips, and was newly inspired to tackle some of our problem areas: our closets. There are 4 in particular that, while not totally horrendous, are a little jumbled. I figured if I could clear some extra space in there for other stuff, we'll have more room in general once the baby gets here! Space around here is getting to be a pretty hot commodity as the kids get bigger. The added bonus to my cleaning plan is that the upstairs in our house is a full 7-8 degrees warmer than the downstairs, and as our outside temperatures drop to around zero for the next few days, I'm doing everything in my power to stay upstairs!

So, the kids and I tackled the walk-in closet in the girls room that has always served as the landing place for junk. David got a head start on me here, cleaning out some of his electronics several days ago to sell on ebay. We dug all the way to the back, where I have been storing 5 boxes, mysteriously labeled "Anna-high school--do not open." Well, we opened them and found a treasure chest of goodies! The girls found old jewelery, prom dresses, prom shoes, mardi gras beads, and lace gloves to add to their dress-up collection. I found a million stuffed animals to throw away (ahhh--so cathartic!), in addition to a million high school trophies that have also now gone the way of the garbage truck. Don't worry-I did save the important ones. Carver found an old picture of Dad playing the guitar that I had thought was long-lost. I also found a piece of jewely that I had given up for lost--bonus! All in all, we went through 5 boxes, put 3 large bags out for the trash guys, 1 in the trunk of the car for goodwill, and put 1 small box back in the closet with diplomas and old pictures. Success!

Here are the girls in some of the mardi gras beads. Ellie also found 3 beanie babies (remember those?) that she took an immediate liking to.


Here's Ellie, trying on the procelain mask that I brought home from Mardi Gras in high school (also pictured: previously mentioned lace gloves):

Here's Laura, trying to drink out of a miniature china pitcher that we found. This, among a few other things, was one of the memorabilia items I saved to use to decorate the girl's room.

Coming soon: the 2nd half of this closet, and then on to Carver's closet!

2 New "Firsts"

...for our family, that is.

#1--We used two carts for our weekly Wal-Mart run yesterday. Ellie and Laura were in one cart, groceries in the other. We have reached new heights of parenthood. Pros: you can prettymuch take up an entire Wal Mart aisle if you stand side-by-side having a discussion about what product to buy. Cons: It is made painfully obvious to others that you have a lot of small children (and they often feel free to comment on that fact. When shopping alone, I find this discouraging, but with David, it's often more humorous).


#2--We had venison for dinner tonight! Actually, our first venison was several weeks ago when I accidentally pulled some frozen ground venison out of the freezer, thinking it was ground beef. It was well disguised in spaghetti though, and you really couldn't tell what it was. Tonight, however, we had venison stew, and it turned out very well. Here's Laura, grinning for the camera:

Here's Carver, taking a huge bite of the yummy meat. Oh wait, that's rice!!!

Carver did eat it, and thought it was very cool to be eating "deer." And here's David, being charming as usual!

Christmas in California

As some of you know, we spent Christmas with David's family in California this year. We flew out Christmas Day, and got back on Monday. We were able to spend about 4 total day with David's entire family--all of his siblings and their families. All total, it was 9 adults and 4 kids, and it made for a few zany days! Our kids got to meet their cousin Davy for the first time, and they loved it. He's only 9 months, and I think they were expecting him to be able to run around with them, so they'll have to wait until next time for that.


Here's the entire crew, including Grandma Talcott:


Here are the cousins!




Here's Joy with the two big kids, taking a break after running on the San Clemente Beach Trail for a while:

And, our last night there, Joy taught little Laura how to play Nintendo! (Actually, you'll notice her controller is different from Joy's--her's isn't plugged in, but don't tell :)

We had a wonderful week and a great Christmas, and we're looking forward to the next visit!

School Choice

Some have asked us what we're going to do for school for Carver. While there are many good options, we have finally decided on this...

"Occifer Philosophy"

Today we got out "Cars and Trucks and Things That Go," which we have not read in a long time. Carver and Ellie loved looking for Goldbug, but Carver especially loved watching out for Dingo Dog. Dingo is a bad driver who is speeding through the pages and knocking over innocent parking meters. Officer Flossy is dutifully following after him (on a bicycle, no less), yelling "Stop!" and trying to write him a speeding ticket. For some reason Carver, who really doesn't have trouble pronouncing words if you say them slowly to him once or twice, was really struggling with Officer Flossy. No matter now many times I repeated it for him, it always came out "Occifer Philosophy." I can't help laughing every time I hear it! Only a philosopher's kid would think "philosophy" an easier word to say than "Flossy!"

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

I love Christmastime! Not only do I get to decorate, bake, and enjoy the snow, but it's the season we celebrate the birth of the Savior! I love using Christmastime to remember the blessings that God has showered on us! Of course, this year we have the additional celebration of expecting a little one in the summer. And, today in particular, I can celebrate that God gave me a reprieve from the morning sickness I've been fighting!

Today we spent the day doing Christmas decorating and enjoying the few inches of snow we got early in the morning. David treated me this morning and got up with the kids to get them breakfast, letting me catch an extra hour of sleep. After that, I attended a Christmas Tea that the church was hosting and David and the kids got going on setting up the tree. When I got back, after some serious adventure driving in the snow and ice (I thought I remembered how to do it!), David took Carver sledding. As you can see, the amount of snow is just barely enough to make it down the hill, but Carver loved it anyway :)


The girls and I watched from the upstairs window.

When the guys came in, we had hot chocolate and snacks, and then got started decorating the tree. Laura quickly broke an ornament (fortunately, not one of the special ones) and was put on ornament probation. Hence the headband you see her chewing on.

After decorating, we went and visited some friends who have just had a baby. The kids were happy to come home and see our tree, all lit up and shiny!

David made us nachos for dinner, and then tucked the kids into bed. I don't think I'm too far behing them...

Something Old...

This is the quilt my grandmother made for me. It served a long and faithful life on my bed growing up, and now it gets to be displayed with honor in the girl's new yellow room.




Here are the girls, climbing into the bunkbeds, which now belong only to them. Ellie loves being on the top. In fact, when we told her that she would get to sleep up there, she came running into the room, climbed up on the ladder, and yelled, "Sweet!" Laura likes her bottom bed, though she still has a little trouble climbing up into it. She's a pro at getting down, though, and we haven't had any trouble with her falling off.