He Did It

Woohoo, Cameron is now a licensed driver!  Admittedly he was eligible 2 years ago and his lack of desire to get this card has been a bit confusing to us. Then yesterday with the very patient Jim taking him out before his test, and the use of this student vehicle instead of our larger truck to take his exam he passed with only one point missed on his scorecard - YAY!!!

As I said the lack of excitement to aquire his license has been something I just can't relate to. I was the polar opposite. At  15 as soon as I was eligible for it my permit was in my hand. Then on my 16th birthday I pulled up to the DMV in mom and dad's Vista Cruiser station wagon and got my license.  Even stranger is Cameron is not alone in his peer group. I'm amazed at the number that are his age and share the same lack of enthusiasm.  He is relieved to have done well, we knew he could.

So another one down and 7 more years until Hannah is eligible to begin this process- Oh my, if her current excursions in her Barbie Jeep are an example of what's to come WATCH OUT WORLD!!

Another Mess Conquered

Okay this one I was dreading - my closet!!!  Admittedly I did NOT take as many before pictures as I should have because it was just too embarrassing.  Both Kevin and I had to spend time trying things on to see what still fit, look at what we haven't worn in ages or just won't wear again.  Sort the stuff that had managed to accumulate on the floor of the closet and almost made it impossible to move through without stepping on something.  I seriously had one of those "how did I get here ?" moments.

Clothes clutter without organization I purposely won't pan down to floor and show the mess : (

General shoe disarray and floor clutter

Generally messy shelves

I have 3 large bags of clothes to go to charity. Two storage tubs of winter clothes I've labled and put in storage on the shelves in the garage, and two trashbags of stuff that just needed to go.  I seperated and labled shoes, purses, belts and sweaters by colors and style in order to actually be able to find them when I need them!!  Then organized Kevins shirts by colors for the same purpose.

Cleaned up, cleared out and organized by style and colors

Belts and shoes and shelves organized and labeled

Purses in storage boxes, clothes organized clutter free floor!!

Shoes stored and labeled

We will live with and keep these changes and in time do another purging of the items we find we really don't use so we can maintain a sense of order and cleanliness.  I am determined not to go backwards after all this.

April Showers

What a difference a day makes!! Yesterday it was sunny and we had temperatures in the 80's. I took this picture on the front patio of a morning dove sitting peacefully on the block wall. We enjoyed some time checking out progress in the garden and the girls played in the yard.

Thankfully Kevin and Cameron got the last rows of shingles done on the roof and flashing last evening, because early this morning the rains started. The new roof will get a real test these next few days. So far it's doing great!

I was out before the sun to chase off some ducks that are trying to nest again!!  For the last 3 years they've shown up.  We have a rock scaped pool that looks like an inviting private lagoon to them. Last year we thought we'd chased them off only to be surprised  by finding 12 little ones with momma swimming around.   They are cute, but ohhhh sooo messy!!!

So this year we have been really trying to discourage them by running out and chasing them off when we hear them.  I took a photo of them 2 days ago lounging near the jacuzzi before I ran them off.

This morning I heard their quacking as they foolishly announced their arrival as they flew in.  I ran out and they flew off before I could take a photo of them swimming in the pool. SO, here's a shot of an empty pool with the rain coming down : )

I then took the opportunity to walk around and take a few shots of rain on flowers and the fog that is so thick you can't see the lake in the distance.  It's a good day to hunker down inside, have a fire and maybe do some baking.  And hopfully as the title states, these April showers will bring May flowers to the hills around us. That's always so beautiful.

Have a great day!!

Photo Ops

After church yesterday Amber, Eddie and Eddie's sister Erika joined us for dinner.

Then it was time for baskets for the girls and Cameron.

As the girl's looked through their treasures the older "kids" headed outside to hide eggs around the front yard.  Then it was "let the hunt begin"!!! 

It's bright out here!

They ran around giggling with Eddie and Cameron helping to guide the hunt. All the while Eddie had an egg in his pocket waiting for one of them to notice. Lauren finally did and got that one.

As we got down to the last one it became a game of clues, until Hannah guessed it and found it on the tire of Eddie's car.  Needless to say our very competitive Lauren wasn't so thrilled with being outdone with this last find or falling short on the number of eggs found.  So we had to emphasize that it was the thrill of the hunt RIGHT?? 

It was a fun day and the weather was absolutely great for our time outside.

Rejoice

From our family to yours, have a blessed Easter

Clutter

As I determine which project to move on to next I have to admit I know how these messes got here in the first place, ugh this is not the way you want to spend a day!! As I clean out one mess I seem to create several more piles I now need to sort through to determine to keep the items or not.  It's as though stuff just breeds on it's own and before you know it a small group of random items has grown into a major pile of stuff!!!  And even once sorted and you've determined to keep it, now the challenge is where to put it so you can actually find it when you need it?

Container cupboard in disarray

Cleaned and straightened so I can find and retrieve items

Admittedly it is embarrassing to show my "before" pictures, because I realize what a mess this really is and how long I've been living with it and watching it grow with absolutely no desire to make the time needed to straighten things out. After starting small with a much needed cleaning of my container cupboard. It was on to what used be our laundry room.

Old chair, file cabinet cupboards and dog food container in the trash container

Shelf and junk piles along with laundry baskets that have built up over time.

Upper cupboards that need organizing.

We moved the laundry to the opposite end of the patio addition when we built that out, so it enabled us to easily connect to a grey water system we'd assembled. The old laundry room we eventually plan to turn into a small storage area and additional half bathroom.  In the meantime it's served as a storage area for the dog food container, laundry basket area and sadly a general catch all space that has grown in size and stuff over time.


So to work, and with a couple new shelving units and a few storage containers. The space for now is an extra pantry area, a neater laundry basket area and will function better until we can recreate the space into the purposes we'd eventually like to use them for.

Upper cabinet cleaned and organized.

New shelf unit and tall cupboard straightened.

New shelf and items organized,  minus all the extra clutter.                      

Sheets and towels in closet straightened .

Projects and a Visit

 

Had a short visit with my parents, nephew and brother yesterday. Baba and Grandpa came down this direction to pick up my nephew for his stay with them during Spring break.  They stopped by our house to bring the girl's their birthday gifts, then after lunch at Chili's we headed off to Lowes for more building supplies and they went to an award ceremony where RJ (my nephew) received an award from a State Senator for an essay contest.  It was a brief, but nice get together.

Then again as the guys worked to make more progress on the roof, I finished Hannah's room as the second in our effort to seriously get organized this month.

Since I  bought alot of organizer's when we redid the room's in preparation for Lauren, it was a bit easier to clean out her room.  Just a matter of reorganizing and thinning out the number of toys.


Going through drawers and closet to remove clothes that no longer fit. I did some of this before Christmas, so there wasn't as much to really remove. 

Another productive day - YAY