Disneyland...The Cinderella Experience

Phil, my parents and I packed the girls up early Monday morning for the ultimate childhood right of passage....DISNEYLAND!

As I dressed the girls in matching homemade Mickey shirts, I could feel it in my heart that this was going to be a truly magical day. And I was not disappointed, in fact it exceeded my expectations and it will go down in my book as one of the most memorable experiences of my life.

Waiting to load the tram from the parking lot to the park.

Small glitch to start the morning, on the tram the tire on the stroller blew, literally popped like a balloon...that didn't slow us down, we still used it, flat and all!

 

Lined up, waiting to enter the gates

  Halloween is in the air...Fall was EVERYWHERE!

 

Family picture inside the gates with the postcard flower Mickey

The girls with Oma and Opa

 

Aunt Mallory

 

As we were taking pictures in front of Mickey, my dad asked Emrie who her favorite princess was.  No sooner had she finished saying Cinderella, when we looked to the right and she was standing RIGHT THERE!  It could not have been orchestrated more perfectly.  The band was playing Dixieland music and gathered right in front of the Mickey and we made our way over to Cinderella.

 

As Emrie walked up to Cinderella, she knelt down, fluffed her dress and held out her hands to invite Emrie closer.  They were both moving in slow motion, as if it really were a fairytale.

 

Cinderella read her name on her shirt and said, "Emrie, can I have a hug?"

Cinderella pointed to Emrie's shoes and said, "you have glass slippers too."  Emrie couldn't stop grinning, but managed to shake her head in agreement.  Then Cinderella told Emrie she looked beautiful and Emrie's response was, "thank you, you're dress is so pretty."

Emrie introduced "my sister, Aven" to Cinderella.

 

While meeting Cinderella was probably the best moment of Emrie's life to date, seeing her castle for the first time was a VERY close second.

 

 

 This little girl was absolutely on cloud nine after meeting Cinderella and seeing her castle. 

 

And the day was just getting started....

 

Hello California!

Saturday, September 28th we started our journey to Southern California for a two week adventure.  Over the next two weeks we would be discovering Disneyland, celebrating the marriage of Uncle Tony and Aunt Rowena, hanging out with friends at the beach, pumpkin picking, and enjoying many cherished memories with family.

The flight and jet lag are always the hardest part, but watching these little monkeys get so excited about the simple pleasures of travel made it tolerable!

Aven tried her foot at the moving sidewalk...be prepared to smile!

Looking at the cars in the airport

And she's off...

We landed in San Diego and hit up Casa De Pico FIRST THING!!!

 

The mariachi band gave us a very nice welcome to kick off our California adventure!!!

Check back and follow our California Adventures over the next few days!

September Recap

Wow, if I thought the summer was busy then I needed to buckle up for fall, because it has been NON-STOP.

Quick look at our September:

-Girls started pre-school (they both go two days a week, during that time I sew like the wind!)

-Bundle Up Buddy - I have been using literally EVERY free minute to sew, package, ship, etc. for the shop

-MOPS started up!  I have been getting to know my new table and mentor.


-IU Weekend - My girlfriends, Morgan and Lesley, who were my college teammates, brought both their husbands (and NO KIDS) to visit for a weekend.  The three of us couples went to IU for an alumni weekend.  We had a great time catching up, watching some field hockey and football, hanging out at Nick's, touring the new basketball museum and locker rooms at Cook Hall, and Morgan got to meet Cody Zeller and Victor Oladipo (She was star struck!).  It was so great to get to see them an re-connect even if it was just a short time.

-Apple Orchard - Of course we had to usher in fall with a trip to the apple orchard.  I made apple sauce from our harvest that was, in my opinion, delicious.  The girls wouldn't touch it! HA...the things us moms endure:)

September was wonderful, and October is already proving to be a BLUR! 

 

Check back tomorrow for our adventures in California!

Ready or Not....Preschool

I would say I am a pretty laid back parent when it comes to handing my kids over to other people.  It is easy for me to leave the girls with Nana or Grandma for a week while Phil and I go on vacation (I have maybe more faith in our moms' abilities than my own at times).  Judge if you must, but I eagerly hand them off to the child care at the gym, the nursery at church or MOPS, and when the neighbor kids ring the doorbell and ask to play with our girls outside, I can't get their shoes on fast enough!

However, today something is different!  Today I send Emrie off to preschool for the first time and I AM SO NERVOUS!

Her preschool is FABULOUS! Super loving, Christian teachers, literally right down the street from our house and it is only for 4 hours twice a week.

But in my mind this marks the beginning of a new chapter. A chapter in which I am no longer the only authority on all subject matter.  She will learn things from her teachers and from the other kids and this is just the beginning.  For the rest of her life she will go to school for larger amounts of time, and the influences of others will be greater and greater, and her experiences will be less and less in my control.

Sure, her dad and I will always be the constant from school year to school year and we will always have the responsibility of being her most influential role models.

But I am not sure I am ready to share that with someone else yet. I don't know if I am ready to give up that control.

Ready or not...

 

I packed her lunch up and prayed over it.

Then I packed up her backpack and prayed over it.

Then I packed her up and prayed over her.

Then we prayed together before she got out of the car.

Then we walked into the building and she said, "There's and owl in my lunchbox, that makes me laugh." The tears nearly started then.

Then she walked over as if she had been doing it her whole life and she put her backpack in her basket.

Then she walked in to her room, told her teacher her name and started playing with the dinosaurs.  She didn't even turn around until I said, "Bye Emrie, I love you."  I got a wave and then back to the dinosaurs.

Then Aven and I walked back to the car....AND I CRIED!

I couldn't stop the tears from falling.  I gave it 2 minutes, then looked back at Aven, who giggled and I knew we were going to have a great day, just the two of us.  And Emrie would have a great day with her new friends.

Emrie, I know you are going to have an amazing school year and you will be a light to others and fill them with as much joy as you do us at home!

Coat Closet Makeover

I just couldn't take it any more. The piles of clutter by the back door, the shoes piled up on the counter (yes, you read that right, the counter).  With the addition of backpacks and lunch boxes, I had had it!

(I know you think this is an exaggeration, but this is exactly as it looked on Thursday afternoon)

So I decieded to clean out the extremely underutilized closet by the garage and make it much more functional.

While I would love a full mudroom or some gorgeous version of a 'closet mudroom' found on Pinterest, I needed a fully functioning storage space. 

(In my dreams...thanks Pinterest!)

As much as I'd love to take the doors off the closet and display my beautiful mudroom, I am realistic.  We are a real family, with toddlers, and we make messes. Plus our bags and shoes don't always match and look uber great with the décor (I mean honestly, where do those people on Pinterest put their real coats and clutter?). 

So the doors will stay on to quickly hide our chaos when this mama gets tired of looking at it!  At least now everything has a place and I have the satisfaction of knowing that when all is tidy, it looks pretty cute behind those closet doors:)

To keep costs down, I did most everything myself.  I painted the closet with left over paint from a guest bathroom.

I made the bench out of plywood. It functions as extra storage shelf as well as a seat.

The coat rack was made from a 2x4 that I drilled the hooks into and drilled into the wall.

 A hanging shoe rack was quick and inexpensive.

Having a tack board and folder basket are essential in my mind for keeping school papers organized.

The laundry baskets under the bench were left over from my teacher days (hence the room 210).

The chalkboard number signs and the basket signs were cut out of an old foam poster board I had and painted with chalkboard paint.

Sure you could get much prettier baskets (think wicker or metal), I could make a pad for the bench (paisley fabric is my favorite), but that is the beauty of leaving the doors on, I am free to leave it functional.

Ahhh...now everything has its place!

The biggest thing about any storage space is thinking through your needs and providing a solution to those problems.  Sure, making it look nice doesn't hurt, but it can't be your goal, function is always going to be in style!

I HOPE THIS INSPIRES YOU TO GET ORGANIZED!!!

 

I can tell you that after using this for only a couple of days, it has made getting in and out of the door so much easier.  We know where everything is and we know where things go when we take them off.  Emrie was really excited to hang her Sunday school papers on the tack board when we got home too!

If you are wondering the price breakdown of everything here is what it cost me to make this stuff along with some suggestions for places to buy similar items if you don't want to spend time making it.  I will say, the advantage to making it is that everything is custom sized to meet your needs and cheaper of course.

Bench: Wood-$38  Paint and supplies- $18 = $56

Bench with storage from Target for $235
Bench from Target for $50 
Benches from Pottery Barn for $400

Coat rack: Wood- $6.50  8 Coat hooks- $32 = $38.50

4 Hook Coat rack from Target for $30
Coat rack and Shelf from Pottery Barn for $279

Shoe rack: $8

Shoe cubbies from Target for $34
Hanging shoe rack from Target for $13

Baskets: Free

Wicker from Target for $20
Pottery Barn baskets for $27

Pin board: $6.75

Same cork board from Target

Wire baskets: $12

Same hanging file basket from Target

My Total:  $122.25

Many Thanks to Our Military Families

One of the many blessings I have received from running my Etsy shop are the stories I hear.  It is always fun to hear that someone is receiving a scarf as a birthday gift, or a baby shower gift or as a finishing touch to family picture outfits.  I love being a part of people's life events.

But this Labor Day I received a particular touching order.  It was from a military wife who is participating in a 'Secret Sister' gift exchange with fellow military wives for the duration of their husband's deployment. 

Her message to her Secret Sister was this:

On this Labor Day, as I have my husband home, I look at my family and I am beyond grateful for the sacrifice of Military men and women and the families who support them.  While we have an extra long weekend, they don't get a break.  They are still missing their loved ones while playing the role of single parent.  It is encouraging to me how Military families support each other through their difficult deployments.  I am inspired to be more supportive and encouraging of my fellow moms even though we aren't facing the same difficult circumstances as Military wives.

Thank you Military families for all you do and sacrifice!!!