Showing posts with label Photos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Photos. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Living Room Organization
This week I am sharing what I did last week in my home! I focused on cleaning & organizing The Living Room! To get ideas for your own "Tackle It Tuesday" project or to see what other bloggers are sharing, check out Tackle It Tuesday at 5 Minutes For Mom!
Last week (Jan. 28 thru 31st) was a time to focus on Zone 5 (FlyLady.net). Each week FlyLady has a different "zone" or area of the home that you focus on for decluttering or deep-cleaning. So this I a big part of why I focused on my Living Room last week!
This week's organization was also inspired by the Home Organization 101 Challenge at A Bowl Full of Lemons! Check out this awesome livingroom and see where I got my inspiration and see what other bloggers did in their Living rooms as well!
First of all, my Living Room was DUSTY! One of the joys of living in the desert! Dust gets everywhere and builds up very quickly! I had neglected dusting in here for awhile as you can see with the following before and after pictures!
I loved using Shaklee's Basic H2 for dusting! Just a little spray on a towel and I was able to get all my surfaces super shiny, without any chemical smell, and with the peace of mind of knowing I used a safe & healthy product!
Moving on... the shelves under the tv were a bit cluttered!
I sorted through the books and got rid of quite a few that the kids had outgrown. Some of the books were moved to the girls' bedroom. What was left all fit on the bottom shelf, leaving the middle shelf open for video games and a few DVD's. The canvas caddy box with blue spots on it now serves as a storage bin for remote controls and game controllers.
This corner was very cluttered! A lot of papers and miscellaneous stuff, but most of it was my hubby's guitar stuff. (Guitar strings, picks, supplies, and books) He has been teaching himself to play guitar over the past couple of years.
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I straightened up the table, and put all hubby's guitar related stuff in a basket!
Now it looks like this! Hubby's two guitars, Miss Z's Guitar. The window unit A/C is tucked under the small table for storage until summer when we need it again. I even framed and hung up a picture above the table to add some more decoration to the room!
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Onward - a couple more areas needed dusting and straightening....
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Yeah. The ceiling fan was gross! I used a duster with an extension handle on it to reach it. Funny how those things get so dusty when they are constantly moving!
Anyways... that was my living room project! It's nice to know that there are specific "homes" for things in my living room now, and easier to maintain with specific places to put things. If it doesn't have a home in the living room, out it goes!
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Thirteen Vacation Memories
It's time for another Thursday 13; a list of 13 things (anything!) on a Thursday! (Yeah it's not Thursday yet! But I missed last Thursday because it was Thanksgiving and we were ON this vacation!) Since we just got home from our wonderful family vacation, I thought it would be cool to share with you 13 of my favorite pictures/memories from our trip!
more fun at Cabrillo Marine Aquarium!
Daddy and Daughter in the ocean!
Exploring the tide pools at Cabrillo Beach! We found some really cool shells, starfish, sea-slugs, and had a great time!
Our Thanksgiving Family Vacation! 2012
Brother & sister reading books in the car! this was the longest road trip they have ever taken! 6 hours in the car is a LONG time!
Along the way we stopped in Cabazon, CA to see the big dinosaurs on the side of the road!
We arrived in San Pedro, CA and settled in to our cottage where we spent the next 3 nights! It was so lovely! Plenty of room for all of us! The kids played kick ball in the front yard for awhile, they needed it after the long drive!
"Girl Time Bonding" with my mom! We traded socks, now she has one of mine and I have one of hers. Our "mismatched" pair of socks will always remind us of this vacation!
Thanksgiving Day, we walked to a park where some very fat squirrels would come right up to us for some bread crumbs!
There was a beautiful pond with lots of ducks to watch and feed! And some very noisy geese as well!
Taking a walk around the neighborhood with my uncle. My youngest son really bonded with his great-uncle, it was so sweet!
Waiting for the Thanksgiving Feast!
Day after Thanksgiving; Cabrillo Marine Aquarium. At the "touch tank", petting some starfish and sea anemones!
We had some car trouble on the way home! But it's just another memory... an "adventure"! All worked out okay! Being stuck in the desert was no fun but it just made us all the more grateful for our wonderful, safe, happy family vacation!
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Xander's Birth Story & the past 7 years
Today we are celebrating the birth of my 3rd child, my son! I can still hardly believe that it has been 7 years since he was born! 7 years ago at this time, I was checked into the hospital and going through the process of induction.
I had been having Braxton-Hicks contractions on a regular basis for the past month, and at my last check up I was already 4 cm dilated. My doctor suggested that I be induced because I was steadily and continually dilating which meant a couple things; 1) I could "pop" at any time and then we would have a mad rush to the hospital while in labor. 2) being dilated left my cervix open and increased the chance of infection... to both me and Xander. So I (happily) agreed to go in and be induced 2 weeks before my due date.
When I checked in, I was already 5 cm dilated, which is considered "active labor" even though I wasn't having any contractions. They hooked me up to a low IV drip of Petocin to get the contractions started, and then took me down the hall to get my epidural, which I had opted for. My oldest child was born sans-meds and I am sorry, but once was enough for me! Unfortunately, the anesthesiologist had trouble getting the epidural in, and it must have been crooked or off center, because the left side of my body went numb, but not my right. I could move my right leg, but not my left. I couldn't feel the contractions on the left side of my body, but I COULD feel them on the right. Very strange sensation! We gave it some time, but nothing changed and I could still feel contractions on my right... though the contractions were very mild. By this time I was 7 cm dilated and they felt it was too late to try and fix the epidural so we all just agreed to move forward.
My doctor came in and told me she was going to break my water, and then she was going to go have lunch. I told her I didn't think that was a good idea. She said she would be right downstairs and not to worry. Lady, this is my 3rd child! First of all, with my previous two children, once my water was broken, things moved along very quickly! Secondly, this is my THIRD child, so I am expecting things to go a bit faster than before! But she insisted that I would be fine, AND that she would have time to eat lunch. HaHaHa! As she left the room I told her, "You're not going to have time to eat lunch."
She broke my water, checked my cervix and everything again, (still 7 cm) and left the room. Right after she left, I had three HUGE contractions. I knew he was coming. My husband went and got the nurse, who came and checked me... and guess what? 10 cm dilated and the baby's head was crowning. They paged my doctor, who had just gotten off the elevator on the lower floor at the cafeteria. When she came back into the room to find me surrounded by delivery nurses who were scrambling to get everything set up, she said, "Wow, you weren't kidding, were you?"
I only had to push 3 times, and Xander was born. 7 lbs, 0 oz, and 19 1/2 inches long. He was just beautiful! We looked at the clock and it was 1:00 pm... only 15 minutes had passed between when my doctor broke my water and when my husband cut the umbilical cord. I realize I am blessed with quick, easy, uncomplicated labors! And I continue to be blessed in many other ways in my life every day! Here is a look back over the past 7 years of Xander's life....
I had been having Braxton-Hicks contractions on a regular basis for the past month, and at my last check up I was already 4 cm dilated. My doctor suggested that I be induced because I was steadily and continually dilating which meant a couple things; 1) I could "pop" at any time and then we would have a mad rush to the hospital while in labor. 2) being dilated left my cervix open and increased the chance of infection... to both me and Xander. So I (happily) agreed to go in and be induced 2 weeks before my due date.
When I checked in, I was already 5 cm dilated, which is considered "active labor" even though I wasn't having any contractions. They hooked me up to a low IV drip of Petocin to get the contractions started, and then took me down the hall to get my epidural, which I had opted for. My oldest child was born sans-meds and I am sorry, but once was enough for me! Unfortunately, the anesthesiologist had trouble getting the epidural in, and it must have been crooked or off center, because the left side of my body went numb, but not my right. I could move my right leg, but not my left. I couldn't feel the contractions on the left side of my body, but I COULD feel them on the right. Very strange sensation! We gave it some time, but nothing changed and I could still feel contractions on my right... though the contractions were very mild. By this time I was 7 cm dilated and they felt it was too late to try and fix the epidural so we all just agreed to move forward.
My doctor came in and told me she was going to break my water, and then she was going to go have lunch. I told her I didn't think that was a good idea. She said she would be right downstairs and not to worry. Lady, this is my 3rd child! First of all, with my previous two children, once my water was broken, things moved along very quickly! Secondly, this is my THIRD child, so I am expecting things to go a bit faster than before! But she insisted that I would be fine, AND that she would have time to eat lunch. HaHaHa! As she left the room I told her, "You're not going to have time to eat lunch."
She broke my water, checked my cervix and everything again, (still 7 cm) and left the room. Right after she left, I had three HUGE contractions. I knew he was coming. My husband went and got the nurse, who came and checked me... and guess what? 10 cm dilated and the baby's head was crowning. They paged my doctor, who had just gotten off the elevator on the lower floor at the cafeteria. When she came back into the room to find me surrounded by delivery nurses who were scrambling to get everything set up, she said, "Wow, you weren't kidding, were you?"
I only had to push 3 times, and Xander was born. 7 lbs, 0 oz, and 19 1/2 inches long. He was just beautiful! We looked at the clock and it was 1:00 pm... only 15 minutes had passed between when my doctor broke my water and when my husband cut the umbilical cord. I realize I am blessed with quick, easy, uncomplicated labors! And I continue to be blessed in many other ways in my life every day! Here is a look back over the past 7 years of Xander's life....
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| Me, Hubby & brand new Xander |
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| Little Baby Boy! |
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| 6 months old - chubby crawler! |
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| Age 1 - swimming |
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| Age 3 |
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| 4th Birthday |
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| Age 5 - doing some preschool homeschooling |
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| Age 5 - starting Kindergarden |
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| Age 6 - Graduating Kindergarden |
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| Age 6 - this picture was taken just a couple weeks ago. |
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