bears this month

just wanted to show off Garrett's latest school project :) i think he was a little disappointed as he said "i only have a list and poster this time". He's been a busy skier and swimmer though so i told him to cut himself a break. I still think it's A+ material. i'm not biased... lol.



this month he read a book about bears..
full of facts that spill out of his mouth on
a regular basis....
we all learn.



























Skiing Heavenly with dad.
lake Tahoe in the background.

static to stunning

i think Addison will be penning the next Fancy Nancy book....

static. that's a fancy word for "sticky up hair".
















stunning. that's a fancy word for "beautiful".

and the winner is.....

Thanks everyone for checking out organizethewholeshebang.com
i hope you continue to visit krista there... & continue your own quest to organize your shebang!

I'm going to try to keep plugging away .. baby steps... at getting our house ready to be packed up again... with the hopes of an Easy and Less stressful UNpacking!! I'll keep you updated & let me know what you are up to as well. Lets share tips!

so the winner of the giveaway is...... Aubrey Barela!!
my lovely assistant chose a name from the cards we put in a bucket. she was happy to help!
































like her outfit? rockin it!

a craft closet

well, i wanted to post my new "Mail Center" tonight.... but alas... as Micah took a super long nap this morning and another this afternoon.... Not that i'm complaining about that! but i was so annoyed with myself because i couldn't finish because of a mistake of my own. i thought yesterday things were moving along too smoothly. ha! well, today things could have continued to sail along.. but apparently i measured wrong. all those little lines between each inch on a tape measure... i don't always pay so much attention to them.. oops! so now i need to do a little adaptation :)

so i thought i would show you something else i just organized last week. i needed to do something with the CRAFT stuff... my stuff... kid stuff. it was all over the place. so i decided to use the hall closet because all of the crafting is done at the kitchen table so i wanted to be able to get to it quickly and easily. not like before when i had some things upstairs (not smart, but probably better for a little extra exercise).

it has already proven to be much more user friendly... or maybe it's the user that is more friendly because i know where things are!!

it's nothing fancy. i didn't buy anything new. i'd love to have those cute matching organization boxes .. but really? is that necessary? or practical? i kind of like that i used things i already had... that were not being used well anyway!

I am sure there is a better way to do this.... but i'm going to let go of that this time. Over analyzing how something should be organized is my first big stumbling block to getting anything in order. There are always things that do not fit into any specific category!! that drives me nuts. But in an attempt to move past that.. and make the system better than it was (and i know i did!) ... this is what i came up with. :)

Project Started. Project Completed!......... feelin good!































check it out! an empty bottom shelf!!
room to grow :)

a little Encouragement

Tonight we were reading our little devotion book after dinner... I'd like to say we do this every night.. but we haven't opened it for a while :( but tonight proved to be a good time.

Encouragement.

i started reading and right away Addie interrupts me. "Mommy what's encourage?" I want to say "stop interrupting and you will find out." but, i encourage her to listen a little longer and then we will talk about it. wow. i was affected, maybe more encouraged by God, to suppress a quick response & cultivate a kinder one.

after reading i asked them if they could think of anything that was encouraging to them today.We talked about how teachers encourage them to keep working at something even if it is hard. Then sort of out of no where, Garrett responds he was encouraged that he didn't get 3 strikes at school.
"What?? you got strikes? What for?"
"Talking. Sometimes the 1st graders talk too much during times we aren't supposed to. It's not just me."
****
Encouragement.

i realized that Garrett was feeling comfortable right now. He felt encouraged to tell me what happened. He didn't need me grilling him about when it happened, how much, or why he hadn't told me before. He needed encouraged in this situation and to feel that encouragement to do so again. Honestly, i don't think i would have had that realization had it not been for what we just read.

So, feeling the encouragement from God, i asked him what he wanted to do about this. he said "not get strikes."
"ok. so what do you need to do."
"i can ask God to help me."
"good! so what should you ask?'
"to not get strikes??" he knew that wasn't quite right.
"well yes, you don't want to get those strikes.. and that's good. so you need to make a change in what you are doing. "
"like talking."
"yes, so you can ask God to help you control your talking when you are not supposed to."
".... and then i can encourage the other 1st graders? except brady, he never gets strikes." ;)

Encouragement.
Lesson learned.... till next time we need to encourage each other to watch either how we talk.. or how much!!

newsletter for organize the whole shebang

here's an example of a news letter Krista sends out if you are a SHE VIP. awesome tips. easy and quick to read through. links. check out the Giveaway!!! from Krista Colvin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SHE'S BACK AT IT! I'm back working with clients. I love helping them get their groove back on and for that matter my own. My clients just need to get their organized life back. One "SHE-CLIENT" let me know I shaved 10 minutes off her morning #woohoo!... Another loves walking into her closet now + feels cleansed after her move + divorce. #helostagoodoneshegainedaHUGEcloset-bonus! Being Organized helps you get back at it. Back at doing the things you love. It really doesn't have to take long either... take a peak at my latest posts + tv segments on how to turn those piles into something fabulous or learn about some great lil' apps to help get you organized. Scroll down a bit more and check out my new LARGE + IN CHARGE Weekly T0-DO List... she may just be what you've been looking for! If you're looking for someone to come in + bust it out...let me know. I have room for 2 new clients in March. Cheers! Krista P.S. for up-to-the-second ideas + tips + giveaway details join me on twitter + facebook + pinterest! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Organize the Whole Shebang! Organizing those Piles.... it's easy peasy [As Seen on AM Northwest] Hi, I'm Krista and I'm a Piler.... Organize The Whole Shebang... AS SEEN ON AM Northwest! sooo... just how do you KEEP IT ALL TOGETHER? I'm Smitten... a NEW FAVORITE thing THE 5-DAY POWER-PURGE! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

SHE'S GOT IT GOING ON.... [The Smart Woman's Pocket Guide to Doing it All] $7.95 *Price includes Free Shipping BUY NOW [WA states residents] [because I have to charge you sales tax] BUY NOW [non WA residents] A Little Bit Larger Now... THE 8 1/2" x 11" DOWNLOAD Same Content as the Pocket Guide, with more Color + Larger Pages, Available Right Here, Right Now.... DOWNLOAD YOUR COPY! BUY NOW And INTRODUCING... [The Weekly To-Do List] "I soooooo needed this!" -elida field, artist SHE'S LARGE + IN CHARGE! 8 1/2 x 11" Use each week to capture your To-Do's + Prioritize them. Ony $2.95 Download Now! BUYNOW

an Organizational Giveaway!!

you may remember i listed a blog i found in a previous post about getting organized. i also rambled about my lack of natural tendency to organize in a post should you be interested.

Organize the Whole Shebang with Krista Colvin. If you didn't check out her site before.. you have to now! I'll tell you what... if we were moving to Washington instead of Florida... i would be hiring her for sure! I love her site and her approach to organizing. "You can do it all... just not in one day, week, or month". That is where so many of us get frustrated and give up. We expect to get organized in a quick weekend and then be forever happy and organized. But things change and we need to adapt everything.. even our organization.. according to our crazy lives!

i totally identify with Krista when she labels herself a "piler". i am too! piles everywhere. i like to be able to see things. if i put it all away. it's out of sight and out of mind. however matt is a "piler" too.. and that's not good when it comes to our paper piles. mail. uh, how i hate to go get the mail. i never do it. when matt is gone for a week.. yep.. it piles in the mailbox unless garrett gets it. so when i ordered Krista's "the smart woman's pocket guide to doing it all"... i was actually excited to get the mail. i checked for a full week (even with matt out of town!) Confession: i didn't even know what mailbox was ours.. i tried a few before i found it! So you know i was excited to get this. Finally I emailed Krista about it since i figured it shouldn't take too long to get from WA to NV. She got back to me right away.. and what a great gal! apparently i had ordered the downloadable copy.. but i like the print in my hand for something like this... so she changed it and sent it right out. a few more correspondences and she offered to do a giveaway on this here little blog!!

you Need to check out her site !! it's great. tons and tons of ideas, tips, things to download.... i've been camping out there lately.

GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!!!
Krista will send you a pocket guide!!! All you have to do is: leave me a note saying what you are organizing... what you want to organize.. or what you love about organization! (i know some people read via facebook.. so leave me a note there if you would rather. but make sure you do so i get your name in the drawing!) then bop over to her site and sign up to be a SHE VIP. (you can do it through this link as well). You will receive awesome updates and tips!

I'm working on Creating a Mail Center this week. check out what Krista has to say!

we'll announce the winner this friday!

Quest to organize!

hello!!!! hope everyone had a great weekend. i did... it was up. it was down. i have some fun things to share.. but i'm going to hold off on that.

right NOW i'm going to tell you about my quest... my quest to get organized. i think this is a quest i've been on for .. oh.. forever. through the years i have realized: i am not very good at it. i think i'm an emotional organizer.. so i start off ready to go.. but get all swept away with the memories and find it hard to put things away, give things away, and throw things away. i think back to high school and all the notes that i kept! seriously what was i ever going to do with all those.. "we are bffs, i can't believe she said that, i'm so upset, he is a jerk, i love him..." kind of notes!?! and i know even younger than that i kept everything.. pictures, magazines, notes, etc. It's just Me.

i think of me in college. finally having a space completely my own (well to share with my roomie). a few things come to mind.
* my desk. it was always a mess with tons of things piled on it. not just work, but pictures and things too. organized clutter .. if you will.
* my room. after moving from the dorms to a house with some friends i had my own room. hummm.. thinking back .. it was not like the other bedrooms in the house. LOTS of stuff. just stuff. lots of pictures. dried flowers because if i threw them away i guess that meant i never got them. the list goes on... but i will stop there. i'm getting depressed!

i think of me now... as an adult. as a wife trying to make a home. as a mom. truth is i love my place in life right now. i just don't love what is surrounding me sometimes. I tell matt all the time that being in the house stresses me out. anxiety. it's cluttered. there isn't "a place" for everything. it's cluttered.

ok... i need to give myself one pat on the back! i've been told that my house (our different homes we've had) feels "homey" and i love that compliment. my house is well decorated. or at least always a work in progress. i enjoy working on new things. i like changing things & moving things around. i like lots of things on the walls. ........ but....... i don't like clutter.

so back to that. i'm trying to find a happy medium. i'm trying to find a way to get organized. i don't want to always compare myself to my military friends that seem to have the ability to move from one house to another..effortlessly. i don't want to compare myself to friends that have their house happily under control. i know everyone does not have it together all the time. but somehow they do at least sometimes. i feel like i'm always playing catch up.

always trying to find a better way to get organized.

we are months away from another move. another home. i want to use this time kick start the organization process. i know that it can't all be done before we move. but it's the perfect time to start! i have started some things around the house already.. and it encourages me to keep going!

so.. this is not what i planned on posting! ha! but it feels good to spill that. spill my dirty laundry so to speak. anyone else feel this way? would love to hear from you. and then check out my next post ... it may be the jump start you need too!

R is for remington :)

here's the "R" i did for my sister. love how it turned out. the picture doesn't do it justice.
the glitter, called "bling", really pops out

I painted it with martha stewart acrylic satin paint.. "aarowhead"

wrapped it in black yarn....

i'm still figuring out how to best wrap these "difficult" letters. too bad her last name isn't "T" or "L"


so i hadn't planned on leaving parts unwrapped...

but to keep the wrapping uniform, it worked better. then i decided to put glitter on it instead of felt flowers like i had planned. "bling" is much more my sister :)


i love when projects take a turn in the middle & they turn out better than to original idea!!



linked to Today's Creative Blog
Skip To My Lou
Someday Crafts
firefliesandjellybeans

our heart day

just a few shots from our valentine's day



garrett made this for his teacher completely on his own (ok, i did the bow) but he came up with the idea, glued all the hearts on, and picked out the candy. he wanted to fill it but i told him girls don't really want a lot of candy, just a little :)

to which adddie yelled "what! i want a lot of candy!"











again, this was on his own.

i thought it was precious.














Addie and i did a little craft..













.. heart strings.













and my littlest valentine gave me hugs and kisses!










hope you had a day full of love :)

one moment in time

thinking back to music i grew up with .. i undoubtedly think of whitney houston. in the wake of her untimely death this weekend I was talking about her with matt, telling him things i remember like it was last week. aside from the "Annie" soundtrack, the first whitney album just sends me back to being a kid... and singing loud.. pretending it sounded awesome. that first whitney album, the one with her hair slicked back and she had that peach flowy dress on (i know at the time i thought it was beautiful because it looked like "peaches n cream barbie" but i reserve the right to change my mind now..). i Earned that cassette tape as a prize for completing a sticker chart (aww.. my first behavior mod chart!) i think it was for finally putting a stop to sucking my thumb. yes, i was in 2nd grade. ... i wonder what cd addie will work for!

i remember belting out "i believe the children are our future .. teach them well and let them lead the way" (you know you are singing it now!) with Meg on our swing set. gosh i hope someone was cutting the grass that summer morning and drowning out our song!

then when her second album came out.. the one with the crazy big curly hair.. my sister, my best friend, Jamie, and i tore it up! we sang every song on there like it was our j.o.b. all summer in the pool we made up dances. i remember going camping at cedar point and serenading the lovely folks in their tents as we walked back to ours (i'm sure they loved it). and then... we got to go to a whitney concert!!! i will never forget my first concert. Ohhhhhh, i wanna dance with somebody!!

my dance recital song one year was "I get so Emotional". not only did i love that song, but i also loved the costume! it was the kind that usually only the baton girls got.. the kind with the cool fringes! i was so excited. and wouldn't you know it.. i got the chicken pox the day of dress rehearsal and never got to do the lindy in those fringes.

seoul, korea. 1988. janet evans... every one of us at the PHS pool wanted to be her that summer! i'm pretty sure i sang "One Moment in Time" during practice after that song claimed the NBC nightly recap song. i'm a sucker for sports moments... and i LOVE the Olympics!

loved "the Body Guard" .. it was one of the big movies during my senior year. so, yes "I will Always Love you" makes me think of fall 95.

a little trip down memory lane.
thanks for the memories :)

a few faves this week

this was week two of matt being out of town. He was home for 2 days in between.. a short respite. the kids keep me busy.. sometimes too busy! but it helps the time go fast. so of course my first fave is.. He's Home :)

Micah has found his new ability & strength. he can climb our stairs.. all 17 of them! he is so proud. he gets to the first landing and turns around to make sure i'm still there and smiles his big smile. yes, i too am proud... but sad too. i have to remember to put a large bin in front of the stairs because both of the tension gates we have will not work due to the lack of anything to tense up against!

Micah also just makes me laugh! he is so happy (if not teething). the other day we made some Valentine's cards by stamping the kids thumb prints in a heart shape.. cute.. wish i would have taken a pic. Anyway, i left the stamp pads out and one ended up on the floor (thank goodness not the carpet!) It also ended up on Micah!! i walked into the kitchen and just started laughing! then i said "ok, first things first.." and Garrett said "yep, we need a picture!" i'm glad the kids know that i like to capture these messy moments! lol!



















this thursday was my birthday :) i know facebook reminds us when it is a friend's day.. but it was so nice to hear from so many friends! that made me smile.
Addie made me an adorable card and gave me my gift from her.... one of her purses! LOL

a little love

I don't think i have ever really decorated much for valentine's day.. but matt's been gone the past 3 nights so..... why not! I knew i didn't want to do all red and pink though.. a splash of color is what i needed. and a black heart! lol! i wanted to make one of those pretty felt heart wreaths that are all over pinterest... but lack of time & stores to find the form i decided to redo something i had already.






and once again.. my tumble weed and snow man appear again!












i had a grapvine heart that just needed something done to it or thrown out.. i'm glad i kept it! i just wrapped it with black yarn and mad a few ribbon flowers. they look cute!










While watching some of the most love filled show.. the Bachelor (so kidding!) I made the LOVE squares. I traced the letters on some cardboard and then heated crayons over a tea light and dotted them on the squares. i used four colors per square to look sort of mosaic. i think it's so fun!







Addie helped me.. she made this cute button heart. but i think she's going to take it back. she said now it's for her teacher. but it looks so cute!
she also colored some hearts for the vase. she said i can keep them :)






so if she's going to take back her heart.. i may not give her the black clip back! haha :)






This post is linked to Today's Creative Blog Get Your Craft On Tues!
& Skip To My Lou Mad by you Monday!