Laundry Organization

So I love to organize..yes I am weird.  I get great satisfaction from getting my house in smooth running order, so that it practically takes care of itself...well, not really, but MUCH more manageable.  Well, I take for granted that I either know how to do it or implement other ideas well to work for me...there are others, like one of my dearest friends, who I wont mention (but you know who you are), just lack the skill to organize.  I thought I would share today what has done wonders for me in the laundry room.

First, just in case you haven't noticed...I have three girls.  Rewind back to March of 2011, and my husband was returning home from deployment and the two older girls are now only separated by one size.  Sorting their socks and underwear had become quite the challenge these days, but I had gotten used to it.  I knew which color belonged to which girl (most of the time).  With my husband returning and getting my helper back (I have been blessed with the most helpful husband...when he's home.  He will even tell you that he tries to be SUPER helpful when he's home, because he is away so much...I got a good one!) and one thing he does help with is wash and fold the laundry (putting it away is not his thing..so I'll take what I can get and really the girls can do it themselves).
So one day as I am sorting socks and the girls underwear, and getting ready for the upcoming reunion I stare at the socks thinking...this is going to be tough for him.  I am having a hard time how is he going to fare?
So he comes home...

and I actually have a minute to look through one of my Better Homes and Gardens magazines that I had piled up over those months, in hopes that I would get to look through them.  So I grabbed the latest issue and there it was.  The answer to my problem in the March 2011 issue of BHG.

I couldn't wait to get on this project! (now it has almost been a year of using this method and I have to say it has been great).  It consists of mesh bags to collect socks and underwear and a sort station (not that it's a new concept but the bin was the correct size and multi purpose for those like me who move a lot..things have to do double duty depending on space available).
 So I went to Target and picked up a couple of packages of lingerie bags for the laundry.  And deemed a colored ribbon for each girl and got to sewing.

First you have to determine how long you want your bag to hold from you hook.  I ended up attaching the hooks the door of the laundry room because I didn't want my kids reaching for them over the laundry bin and pulling or yanking on them.  So I got my 3M detachable hooks (from a move ago) and first eyeballed how they would look with two over each other.  Once I determined the placement of the hooks (cant be too high or too low) I figured out how long the ribbon should be.

One thing to note is that I needed to have 3 sets of bags on the door so I staggered them.  I put two sets at the same levels on the outside edge of the door and then the middle set up higher (and the oldest child would use this).

I cut my ribbon and slid it through the zipper and pinned so you could see where I was planning my stitch.  My ribbon didn't have sides, but if yours does put right sides together.

You don't need to use the machine but I had it out so I used it.  So I did just a plain simple straight stitch trying to secure the ends with a back stitch (it is not easy for me to use the machine on such a small piece of material).

Once I had finished and turned the ribbon inside out so that the right side of the ribbon is facing out (if you have a right side). Then straight stitch 1/4 inch to secure it again.  This doesn't have to be pretty it just needs to hold.

 Then I ordered the Canvas mega sorter from Land of Nod.  At the time the blue one was out of stock, so I had to wait.  It was so worth it.  I made some quick labels (seeing that only one kid was reading at that time) but trained the girls to put their clothes into each bin.  Whites, colors and darks.

They were to hang their socks in one bag and their underwear in the other.  I am having to change that since some of their underwear is colored and some isn't (same with the socks).  So I am making a colored one and a white one.  You just do what works for you.
This works so well for me because my laundry is on the same level as the bedrooms.  So my kids just get undressed on their way to the shower they sort their own laundry (even Juliet is starting to do it..she's two).  They used to have bins in their room but I would get so overwhelmed with the laundry because all of a sudden I had 5 loads to do.  I got turned on to flylady.net during deployment because I was struggling keeping my house clean and one of her tips is "a load a day keeps the CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome) away".  Boy, with three girls and a husband who's shirt and pants make one load, this was life saving advice.  Now with the laundry sorter, I walk by and can see one of the bins getting full and just throw it in.  If you go back to the first picture of the clothes sorter you will see that my darks are going to need to be done soon and that the whites were just recently done.
With the bags, if it is a white day, I just find the bag that has whites in it, close it and throw it in with the wash.  When I am done I can either be nice and fold it all for them, OR have them do it.  I just hand them the bag.
This last step has saved me so much time.  I would dread doing the socks..I swear it would just be a pile of all these mismatched socks staring at me.  Now I just open a bag and there are only a few pairs to match up instead of a dozen.

I also put a bin in the laundry room for missing socks.  If I don't have it's mate I just throw it in the bin.  The other day I cleaned out Juliet's drawer and found TONS of the other pairs.  So now my sock bin is at it's lowest level but I am sure (with the way my kids leave their socks all over the house..my next obstacle) it will fill up again soon.
You too can be the master of your laundry..happy washing.

Cinnamon Scones

A few weeks ago, my hubby ran to the grocery store to pick up a few item and came home with some cinnamon chips that were on clearance.  I am all for getting a good deal, but I had no idea what I was going to make with them.  I had never heard of them (which is surprising because I love cinnamon), so I was clueless.  Then a few days later I found a recipe for cinnamon scones...perfect!  But not today.
So fast forward a couple of weeks and I keep telling the girls we are going to make them, so I figure Saturday morning would be perfect...only problem, I can't find the recipe anymore.  So I take to the internet to search and I think I have found it, only to realize I don't have all the ingredients so we make pancakes instead (plus I have never made scones before and am not sure if I am up to the task this particular morning).  I am still not sure if I found the right recipe, and then I stumbled on the perfect one (here).
So, Sunday morning, we rush off to church, me and the hubby haven't eaten yet so I think after church would be perfect.

I assemble all the ingredients...

Cinnamon Chip Scones 

from how sweet it is

makes 16 scones

3 1/4 cup flour

1/3 cup sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

3/4 cup cold butter

1 cup buttermilk (recipe to follow)

1 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup cinnamon chips

In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients.  I put all my spices in first because I thought the girls were going to come help me put in the flour (but they were having too much fun singing and playing with daddy so I did it).

Then cut in the butter with 2 knives, a pastry blender, and in one post I saw someone recommend using a food processor..but this was too much flower for mine, so two knives and two little hands would do.

Jenevieve wanted to help

When it was close to resembling crumbs I repaired the buttermilk for the next step.

To make buttermilk

1 Tbsp of vinegar (or lemon juice)

almost 1 cup of milk

In a pyrex measuring cup, put in 1 Tbsp of vinegar and then add milk to the 1 cup mark and let it sit for 5 minutes

That's it!

Viola...buttermilk

Once the flour mixture resembles crumbs (I started preheating my oven here..425 degrees..it's a game for me to finish just as the oven comes to temperature so I don't "waste" heat) 

add the buttermilk and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla and combine.

not quite combined yet
  

Once combined fold in the chips (I started just using my hands). 

Once chips are folded in, place on a lightly floured surface (I just use my clean counter) kneed gently and roll out into a rectangle.  I just eyeballed it but I cut my rectangle in half the long way and then basically made squares and then cut a diagonal through them.

I lightly greased my cookie sheet and placed my triangles on there and then put in the 425 degree oven and baked for 12-15 minutes until the edges turned golden brown.  

Some recipes called for either an egg wash or butter, but I decided to put a yummy glaze one recipe called for on mine (here)

For the Cream Cheese Glaze
from my bakingaddiction
1 (4 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon butter, softened
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract extract
2 tablespoons milk

So while the scones were baking I started assembling my ingredients for the glaze.  In a large bowl I just put in the butter and cream cheese to sit out and soften.  By the time the scones were done baking, I felt they had softened enough (I wanted to finish to go to the park...could have probably waited) added the powdered sugar, vanilla and milk and mixed.

 Once the scones have cooled, I just used a spoon and drizzled it over (I could have used more milk in mine..thought about that after the fact while cleaning up).  You could use a pastry bag and pipe it over, but I am not graded in presentation, but in taste in my house (most of the time...sometimes my kids "taste" their food with their eyes and decided they already don't like..but I don't think I have to worry about that with these) so I don't care about how pretty it looks.

I couldn't wait to taste these because they smelled wonderful.  I just love nutmeg and cinnamon together (many of the recipes didn't have nutmeg..that is one reason I picked this one).  I tried one scone before the glaze and these easily could stand alone with out the glaze or with melted butter and course sugar on top before baking, but now they are sinfully good with the glaze.

Come over and have a cup of coffee and chat..

Hydrangea Wreath

Hello again.  It has been a LONG time since I last got on here (because hubby has been home) so I decided I would just put on here all the things I love to do/make/think/read on a regular basis.
For my new years resolution (usually I use a move to make changes, but we don't have another move for another 1.5 years, so I actually made a resolution this year) I decided to live more simply and more frugalishous and pay CASH!
So for my first day back I am posting this wreath I made today.  I absolutely LOVE hydrangeas!  All the wreaths in stores are sparse and still $20 - $30.  So before Christmas I fell upon a tutorial for a hydrangea wreath here and I KNEW that I had to make this.

So I had checked out Michaels the other day looking for ribbon and noted that their stems were on sale.  So this was going to be the weekend...I needed to first go home (shopping with a very busy 2 year old makes it difficult) and research the project (and would go back on Saturday).

This is what  I needed...
10 hydrangea stems
1 - 14 inch grape wreath
glue gun
wire cutters (or tin snips as you will see and a VERY strong husband)
and a Michaels coupon for 40% off (the wreath because wasn't on sale...for a coupon go here)

So Saturday morning was here, and once I looked at the budget and made sure I had enough money left in the household envelop (part of the new years resolution) I could hardly contain myself...I NEEDED to go now!  What if all the stems they had yesterday were gone?!?!  I was irritable until we loaded up the family and headed off to Michaels..with my freshly printed coupon in my sweating hand.

It is a cold rainy day here, perfect for crafting.  So I hop out of the van while my dear hubby parks the van and unloads the crew (in the rain) and go to Sears...brave man..love him!

I already had the glue gun and "wire cutters" so I purchased the stems and wreath and spent approximately $35.

I assembled my items

According to the tutorial, she said to cut off 3 inches, so my handy husband came to my aid and easily cut all 10 of them for me.

He tried using the smaller red cutters but it couldn't hack it, so he used the tin snips..not the best but got the job done.

Next I started placing (no glue yet!!) the blooms.  I tried to either put them in the middle of the wreath or in the top third.  Each stem was place about 3-4 inches apart (I just eyeballed it, but you are going to push some of the bloom out of the way when placing the next bloom).  

To insert into the wreath gently separate vines and gently push it through until the base of the bloom is resting on the wreath. This took hardly any time at all.  I was super surprised.  

After I finished placing the blooms I took a look and then started fixing some areas I thought could be spaced better.

This is how it looked

In following the tutorial and leaving 3 inches of stem this is what I was left with...

See the excess here...

My kids were excited about it standing on the table..me not so much

So I had the hubby come and trim off the excess to make it flush with the back of the wreath.  

Now it is time to glue.  I was thinking that you probably don't really have to glue (depending on where this is being displayed)  Then you could just change out the blooms for the season but I LOVE it so I wanted it to be permanent.  So next I plugged in the glue gun and waited..

Then I lifted up the bloom (once the gun was ready) and found the base of the stem and placed a glob of glue around the base and if some dripped down the stem I thought it would help secure it more.

The stem

The glob of glue

I could only wait two minutes before I HAD to hold it up and check it out but I was dry.  I was in shock at how quickly and painlessly this took and I think it is beautiful..you must do this!!

It's done..not in it's exact home, but this is close to what I am thinking in my mantel redo..this would be step two

Love me, for me...

The other week at MOTS (Mothers of Toddlers), we were discussing our husbands.  How to honor them and in that discussion our speaker was talking about not trying to make our husbands act like women.  They don't think the same way, they are designed differently and thank God!  He knew what He was doing... if you don't believe be, go watch the Harvard Sailing Team post I have.
It was a big realization for me.  It is something you know, but don't really get...and more importantly get frustrated by it.  I always wonder how, why or what my husband is doing sometimes.  I tell him how to drive, I get frustrated at the way he does things,  all those little things that you love about him, but then drive you nuts too.  That make you act, like you shouldn't act.  Then one of the wives at our table was talking about her son.  She said, with tears in her eyes, that she wants her son to be loved.   She wouldn't wish a life of a nagging, distant wife.  She would want her son to be appreciated, loved and respected.  She was pretty sure her Mother-in-Law didn't want her son to live with out love.
Sometimes it takes that perspective, to get out of your own self centeredness, to see the other side.  To realize that MY way isn't the only way...it's just my way.  That my husband wants to be loved, to be appreciated.  He wants affection and acceptance.  Don't we all?
It is one thing to strive for your best, want the best for those in your family, and it is another to change who they are.  Losing the essence of them,  squashing their spirit and in the end driving a wedge between them and you.  I am not talking just about husbands but our children and other loved ones.  Those that know me, know my struggles with Jillian.  My sweet girl who makes me cry with laughter and cry with frustration.  I want what is best for her, but am I trying to change her to fit into MY world?  My right brained, scheduled, and controlled world?  Expecting my husband to think and react like me....a girl????
I heard this song, that is playing on the blog, on the radio and the chorus really spoke to me.  Who will love me, for me??  Not for what I have done, or who I'll become.  Well this is just a few things that my husband is...

Protector and provider:

Father:

Friend:

And my sweet Jillian...

Daughter:

Dreamer:

Sister:

Fashionista:

Silly:

Trying to love them, for them..

Harvard Sailing Team - Boys Will Be Girls

Writer's block

Well, it has been a week and a day since my last post and I am trying my hardest to update the blog at least once a week.  It is after all for my husband.  Who can't be with us and share in the daily chaos that I get to enjoy (there may be a bit of sarcasm there).  I want him to see what the girls are doing on a daily basis and to see how they are growing and basically what we are up to.  The problem is, to start writing.  I don't really have anything to say other than I am tired.  We had our usual week, busy and filled.  I think up until about a week ago the daily grind was quite manageable but enters in Christmas.  My favorite time of year, but the most exhausting.
The week starts off by running to Target to get lights, that I bought last week, that are now even more on sale.   Followed by a trip to the Commissary on Tuesday and another trip to Target on Wednesday (oh and Jimbo's on Monday night during dance).   Juliet is starting to figure out (or trying to...it doesn't always work) that when she is done sitting in the cart that she can throw a huge fit, and mommy will vacate the store.  So shopping trips have to be efficient.  So what would you say if you found out the commissary had been recently totally redone?  So my efficiency was now reduced to controlled chaos.  Oh did I mention it was the day before a pay period??
So after three days of shopping, the housework neglected, dance and gymnastics, we find ourselves at this very cool park (Old Poway Park) where we are to meet a photographer who has offered to give us a free portrait because our spouses are deployed.  The architecture and lighting are beautiful here and I got some great shots of Jillian.  Thankfully for me she loves to pose for pictures.  It makes practicing easier.

After meeting with the photographer, we head home for a quick bite to eat and then off to AWANA.  After getting home and getting the girls in bed I am thankful that we don't have anywhere to go on Thursday and I am worried that Juliet may be coming down with something.  We have the Farmer's Market but we don't HAVE to go.  Thursday is our normal day.  Early dismissal (almost forgot) and playtime outside, then Farmer's Market.  It is a beautiful day so instead of having Jillian do her homework first, I decided to let the girls play.  It is just too nice to be inside.
So I was wrong, Juliet wasn't coming down with something, Jillian was.  I was suspicious because her behavior this week hasn't been her like her "usual" self.  She was much more snippy and whiney.  So no school for Jillian on Friday.  Which I am actually happy about....kind of.  I still need to clean this house up and I wanted Friday Field Day.  It was nice not having to rush off in the morning and just relax (plus Juliet had me up between 2:00 - 2:45 and Jillian at 5:00 and I was beat).

Of course, after giving Jillian some Advil, she was bouncing all over the walls.  Doing cartwheels and acting like herself...until the medicine wore off and she actually took a NAP!  Later in the night it was quite evident that she was SICK, but it wasn't until Saturday morning that I knew with what.
Bark, Bark went Jillian this morning.  Croup...great!  How long before the others get it.  Once again the Advil, makes things all better and off we head to pick up our Christmas tree at the elementary school.  When we arrive, the PTA president and one of my neighbors, says...we were going to bring your tree to you!  It is so nice to have people look out for you while your hubby is away.  We pick out our tree and I realize that it isn't too heavy and I think I can manage this just fine on my own.  After getting the tree loaded on the van by some nice dad, we head home.

We had a full day of putting up the tree, hanging the lights on the tree and getting out some of the Rudolph village..

Then I got out the Nativity.  That was my favorite job growing up.  I would play with it for hours.  Rearranging all the pieces and wondering where my mom hid the Baby Jesus.  So now, with delight I watch as Jillian unwraps each piece and sets them in the manger that my dad built.

Jenevieve, seeing the Nativity set up asks if we can pray in front of the Nativity.  Of course!  It took me a a minute, but Jenevieve wanted ME to say the prayer.

While Juliet was taking a nap I decided to tackle the outside.  I had most of the bins down and want to clean them all up at the end of the day.  As I look through them, I am realizing that I am missing a lot of stuff!  Theses are the moments that I am unhappy about being a military spouse.  I started the morning off being proud about being able to mange most things while my husband was away, but now I am frustrated.  Too many moves and not being able to communicate with your husband was trying my patients.  Press on!!  I start to hang the lights, while Juliet couldn't dismantle anything else..and I have to move quick.

So after getting up some lights outside, and hearing Juliet up, I bring her downstairs to see.

I think I took a hundred photos today and I am thinking of a creative way to put them together.  To include my husband in our holiday adventures, so that he doesn't feel like he is completely missing out.  That he can be there by proxy.
Well, with nothing to really say, and lots to be seen I am beat.  Tomorrow will be filled with decorating the tree and hopefully getting the house picked up.