So Many Projects, So Little Time!

So on my list of to-do's was our closet. I had been putting it off for awhile but it was starting to get really bad! The hanging clothes were somewhat organized but the rest had definitely gotten out of hand. I had a couple boxes in there that had baby clothes and other items to sort through and sell/give away.
The ironing board added an extra shelf to the space, which is super handy when trying to get items behind it.
These shelves were stuffed with shoes, bags, boxes and lots of little items on top. All of my pants, shorts and sweaters are folded on this set of shelves with purses and bags haphazardly thrown on top.
Suitcase storage, tons of junk and many shirts still in dry-cleaner bags.
First I went through everything and got rid of a ton! My thought was that if I hadn't worn it in the last year, then I wasn't going to wear it again. Todd did the same thing with his clothes. Then I took everything out of the closet. Superman Bryson surveying the damage.
There was a bunch of shoes and clothes scattered throughout the room!
With a HUGE pile on our bed.
The closet getting cleared!
The amount of garbage that was in our closet!
The boys thought the freshly cleaned and vacuumed closet was a new play space.
This happened after Christmas:( I was taking a bath, Todd was downstairs and the boys were playing hide and seek. Suddenly, Bryson comes into the bathroom crying and his finger was red. I asked Jaden what happened and he said it was the iron. I jumped out of the bath, ran into our closet and the iron was on our carpet! Todd accidently left it plugged in, it does have an automatic shut-off but when it is tipped over it heats up again. We think that it fell over while the boys were playing hide and seek and then Bryson went to pick it up and burned his finger! Poor little guy:( Todd and I felt awful and were extremely thankful that noone got hurt worse and a fire didn't start! This melted piece of the carpet in our closet is a reminder to us, to put away the iron everytime now! After some cool water and cream for burns Bryce felt a little better, and it was completely healed a week later, thank God!
On to the closet clean out, doesn't it look pretty;) It was like we just moved in!




Now the "After" pictures: As you walk in my clothes are straight ahead and Todd's are to the right. I hang long-sleeve shirts on top (with vests and Sounder's clothes), short-sleeve and tank tops on bottom. Todd's side is done a little differently depending on what he wears most.
The ironing board has a home! It tucks away nicely right next to the safe, iron and spray on top in a plastic container. The other 3 small plastic containers hold buttons, change, and those little plastic thingies that hold the collar straight in men's shirts.
I took out a few shelves to store my boots
I got rid of a ton of shoes when cleaning things out, I bought some clear plastic shoe boxes to hold the rest of my shoes that are not stored in the garage (mostly off-season and dressy shoes). I'll buy more as I add more shoes:) The larger box holds my slippers.

For Todd's section I bought him some clear containers to store his hats.
Shared section, holds 3 suitcases and 2 storage boxes which contain Todd's knife collection and other mementos of Todd's. Todd's dress shirts/pants hang here as well as belts and ties. My belts, scarves, dress slacks and dresses hang here as well.
My shelf for folded items: the top plastic box contains purses and bags. Then I have pants, capris, shorts, work-out gear and sweater on these shelves as well.

I made this centerpiece for our dining room table this month. I followed directions from this blog. I had little red hearts in it for Valentine's Day. I'm still looking for some fabric to cover the glass, but I can't find the exact one from that blog (I love it so much I want to copy it exactly;)
So right now it's just glass cylinders on a mirror with electric candles in it.
Another one of my to-do's was to repaint an armoire that I bought at a garage sale in May 2008! It was already black, but it had a lot of scuffs on it. I bought some cheap black paint at Home Depot, brought it home and put 2 coats on the bottom portion. It turned out horrible!!! The paint felt smooth but looked very splotchy and it wasn't even a true black, more like a black-gray.
This picture truly shows how bad the paint dried!
So then I had to sand it down (this is a step that I had wanted to avoid in the first place but everyone who I asked told me I should do it). Luckily, I was able to borrow some good belt sanders from Gramps which made the job go a lot faster although it still took a few hours for just this bottom piece. Since it was a gorgeous sunny winter day I didn't mind too much.
I'll show pictures soon of how it turned out and also what I am doing to our bed frame, dresser and mirror.

Oh Sunny Day

We had an absolutely gorgeous day in Seattle today it felt like spring! Todd and I took the boys down to the beach so that they could ride their bikes.
B's too cool with the fauxhawk and aviators riding his trike:)
Poor J with his sensitive blue eyes (yet he refuses sunglasses most of the time) has to stand in the tiny amount of shade from Todd's truck for a squinty picture!
Jaden on his bike with Puget Sound and the Olympics behind him.
Bryson usually hates it when Todd or I attempt to help him out and give him a push, but since he rode down so far this time he was tired of pedaling and happy to accept some pushing.



Jaden and Todd played frisbee while I took pictures and hung out with Bryce.

Bryson practiced a lot of balencing on the driftwood.









Such a fun, beautiful day now I can't wait for spring!

j and b update

The boys are growing so quickly, I feel like that is a bit of a cliche but it is true. Jaden has a busy week with school, swim lessons and of course a hopping social life with lots of playdates. He is such a smart boy and I am amazed at how grown-up he seems some days. Jaden has had quite a few questions about God recently. I answer what I can, but some of his questions are difficult! I really need to find a good children's Bible that we can read together and/or find a church to go to as a family--but I've been saying that for a few years!

He is a wonderful big brother most days (but who can be all the time;) helping Bryson or scheming with him in some game that they are playing. J is extremely competitive and has a really hard time losing. We are having him work on being a good sport even when he doesn't win. He'll do it but you can tell that it isn't his favorite thing! We had to talk to him about letting his brother win occasionally. Even in make-believe games I would constantly hear him saying, "I won, you lost!" and "I'm the winner, you're the loser" and "You lost again!" Now when Jaden asks which guy Bryson wants to pretend to be, Bryson says, "The best guy!" or "The guy who's gonna win." Jaden agreed that Bryson needed to win every once in awhile so he's getting a little better at that.

Bryson is at the challenging age-THREE! I always feel that the saying, Terrible Two's is so wrong as I think age three is often more difficult, although I wouldn't call it "terrible". He is a stubborn little guy and is mostly but still not completely potty-trained (only a couple accidents a week) . . . he stays dry if I remind him at least once and hour to go pee. Poop training is on and off, he'll go for a week with no accidents and then go in his pull-up during a "nap". We are using the wii as an incentive to go poop in the potty, so now sometimes he'll squeeze a few out several times a day just so he can play Mario Cart, LOL!

Mornings are hard for him and he often doesn't want to go to school:( It is hard for him to get dressed, hard for him to leave the house, etc. It definitely doesn't help when I am running late and in a hurry. He also often uses the excuse, "I'm tired of walking" to get out of many things including but not limited to: going potty, washing his hands, going upstairs for bedtime, getting dressed, going to the car, picking up toys, finding his shoes, etc.

At school he is really into cutting with scissors (ie. snipping), he brings home lots of paper snips and crowns that he lovingly cuts out. His teacher was concerned that he needed to be seen for hearing problems. I took him to his pediatrician and he had a double ear infection, I had no idea! We are still going to take him to a hearing clinic, but his ped. recommended waiting a month or so to make sure that his ear infection completely healed before going.

Bryson still can't say the sp/sm blends, for instance he says "feedy" instead of speedy, "foke" instead of smoke or spoke, and of course his favorite candy, Smarties, he calls "farties". He can finally reach the button to roll down the windows in my car and he absolutely loves to do this. I often have to lock it. I told him that he cannot ever roll the window down when it is raining so he often will ask when we are driving, "Mom, is it raining?" It usually is obviously not raining yet I never expect why he asks this (I'm slow like that) and have often said, "No it isn't Bryson". Within a second he's rolling his window down, even when it's 30 degrees out and we are on the freeway!

Now for a few pictures, all of which I have taken on my phone.
The boys and I went to the Museum of Flight on MLK Day.

Bryson in a bounce house at Brody and Jackson's 3rd birthday party.
Snipping away in his classroom.
He was concentrating so hard that he didn't even notice me for awhile.
Super B at Jack Block park. Jaden and Bryson had a blast running up and down this grassy knoll.

B (in yellow trunks) about to jump off the diving platforms in swim class.
One afternoon I had to take Todd to a PT downtown for some major dizziness that he was experiencing. I wasn't sure what the boys and I were going to do and then Bryson fell asleep in the car. I saw a place that sold frozen yogurt and Jaden and I went inside to share a special treat (Bryson is in my car right outside the window). It was a fun mommy and JJ moment:)
Chinese New Year celebration at the school. The Kindergartners get to be in the dragon, so this year Jaden got to help. He was pretty excited but afterwards told me it was really hard and squishy in there!
He's in there somewhere!
I just have to share this picture from over the holidays when Rachelle was in town. A group of us went to the Spaghetti Factory, Seth ordered a meat lovers dish and this is how it was presented. I could not stop laughing!!!