Organizers Anonymous

I'm placing all my cards on the table.  I'm sure you all know this about me.  I L-O-V-E organizational items.  Plastic boxes, wooden bins, fabric bins, bookcases, etc.  LOVE them.  They make me happy just looking at them.  Seriously, I like to cruise the organizational item isles at Target and dream of the possibilities...

I think I have a secret desire to have everything in my house to have a "home."  A place where it belongs.  The new house brought many new (and exciting!) opportunities for this.  However, I struggle to convince all the PEOPLE in my home to return THINGS to their "homes."  That's a story for another day, though.

Today I want to talk about this:

The "this" would be that cute little black shelf at the bottom.  New today.  To organize my junk.  Best part about this little part of my house: it's not seen by anyone but the family coming in through the garage.  It's a quick reference for all the happenings in our life.  Now there's a handy-dandy place for the incoming and outgoing mail, the scout books, the returns-to-the-stores, markers for the white board, etc.

Why does this make me SO happy?  Cuz I'm a squirrel who likes to make piles, but now my piles have an organized place to live.  AND that makes for a happy and content squirrel.

Thank You Blogger

Thank you Blogger for making better backgrounds.  Thank you for fixing some of your painful processes.  I wonder if I will be able to post pictures without wanting to throw the laptop across the room.  I ignore blogs for awhile and look what happens to blogger.  I couldn't be happier.  So far...

Don't Wanna, but I should

Why don't I want to blog?  Laziness?  Out of the habit?  You take your choice.

Can't believe it's been over a month since I last wrote.  (Actually, I can!)

School got out on June 17th.  THAT day, we started the week long Smith Family Reunion.  Then, Boom!  Father's Day, VBS, Basketball camp, and we were off to Utah for 10 days.

We got home from Utah a week ago.  Matt has been at cub camp this week.  However, it's been nice to find our new normal, meet some of our neighbors (this neighborhood looks great for summer fun!), and fall into a summer routine.

This week cousins come here for a visit while Trevor heads to scout camp.

Next thing you know, summer will be over.  Crazy!

Oh, big news:  We got bikes yesterday.  We are (finally!) a family of bike riders.  Jenna is still on training wheels, but she can truck along nicely.  I forgot how good it feels to ride a bike!  I quite enjoyed it.  (Although, a softer seat could have advantages!)

The Secret Room

(Also Known As: The Club House)

We capitalized on a secret space in our new house.  There was a little cubbie door leading to the space under the stairs.  When we added a built-in entertainment center, it made access to the cubbie door impossible.  No worries.  Chad had a plan.  We asked our Master Carpenter friend (who was building the entertainment center) to build a little door that would lead to the hallway behind the entertainment center that would lead to the space under the stairs.  (Did’ya follow that?  Here’s some pictures to help:)

Here’s the “Alice in Wonderland” door in the closet.

The Hallway behind the Entertainment Center

Inside the “secret room.”  Hope you have the “signal” so you can get in.  The kids were getting nervous that I added shelves for the art supplies.  They didn’t want me taking THEIR space with “storage.”  We had kept the extra carpet from our old house.  We pieced it so the secret room would have a soft-ish feel.

The “room” continues under the stairs.

You can see the kids have taken it over.  You have to give a “signal” to enter.  If you don’t know it, no worries: Jenna will tell it to you (much to the disapproval of her brothers).

Now we can be just like Harry Potter.  We’re just not sure which kid should have to live in the “cupboard” under the stairs.

Sundays

What is it about Sundays that brings out the crazies?  I remember MANY times as a child having to run around the house to get out our "energies."  Today, that same tradition was desperately needed at the Hancock House.  I didn't care that it was raining.  That's what coats are for anyway, right?

The truth was this: The Hancock children were exploding with extra energy.  It was crazy.  It was loud.  It didn't feel like a Sunday.  They were sent out for laps.  There were several who needed additional laps.

In the end, it was just what they needed.  A little fresh air mixed with moving muscles.  Funny how that can work the "crazies" out of them.  The house is back to an acceptable state of ...Sunday.

Is This For Real?

Can it be that my little girl is turning 5? My baby is 5. Wow! Where did those years go? Man, I feel old. Yet, I’m really enjoying this stage of our lives. Life is good. Here’s some glimpses of my growing girl.

Happy Birthday Sweet Jenna! Our world would not be the same without you. You add a little more sweetness, a little more fashion, and a little more laughter to our home. Enjoy your day!

Graduation Day

My little girl graduated from preschool today. She was thrilled! She was ready to move on and ready to have an excuse to have a party.

Chad informed me that I graduated too. No more kiddos to teach preschool to at my house. Eight years of the past nine years have been spent teaching preschool. In the "off" year, I was developing preschool curriculum (spending WAY TOO much time attached to a laptop). It was "decade of preschool" for me.

Pretty crazy. I think I'll miss it.

Book Fair

Somehow I got myself roped into being in charge of the school's book fair. I'm like a kid in a candy store in a book fair...especially when it's a BOGO fair (Buy One, Get One Free). I really enjoy the book fair! Love looking at the books, being around the books, dreaming of buying the books...dangerous place for a book-a-holic.

It takes up a lot of time. I feel that I am living at the school. I'm wondering if I should just move my bed there. At least it only lasts a week.

Hypocrite

Here I sit Sunday after Sunday peeking in on blogs. Lately, I haven't had much time to enjoy this past time. However, I did today. I found myself thinking, "Oh, man! She/he hasn't updated her/his blog in a long time. Why? They really should keep updating..."

Then, I have to pull the beam out of my eye, because I clicked on my OWN blog. I haven't posted for a month and five days. Shameful!

Chad mentioned to me this week, "Remember when you used to blog. You used to blog, blog, blog, blog, blog and now...all we hear are crickets."

I guess it's time to light a candle under my "therapy by blogging" lifestyle.

H-E-R-E

Well, we're in. We're here. All of our belongings are under one roof. We've found "homes" for most of the junk, yet still have boxes with contents yet to be revealed. (Frankly, there are some that I don't want to open...)

Now that "my" belongings are taking up space in the new house, I have to say: I like the house. It has a great floor plan. It fits our family nicely. It feels nice.

We still have many adjustments to make, but that's to be expected.

I did take my youngest (my baby, if you will) to the Kindergarten Orientation this week. I'm not sure which was more disturbing: the fact that I was taking my youngest to kindergarten OR that I was being introduced to a school where I didn't know the people and they didn't know me. I gladly went on a tour of the school that was offered.

One part of the change I wasn't expecting: enjoying the drive from the "old school" with the kids. Fifteen minutes in the car right after school gives us plenty of time to catch up on the daily happenings.

It's been a crazy week. Often I wasn't sure what day/time it was. I've learned that living without a phone can be painful, but survivable (curse you, phone service that starts with a C!). We've had many angels/fairies busily at work on our house. For everyone's physical & emotional support, I've been extremely grateful.

Conference is back on. Time for some spiritual inspiration...

Change is a Comin'

Today is the calm before the storm. Maybe a hurricane. Not sure how many days of calm left.

This I do know: one week from today, my life as I know it will look like an explosion. An explosion of boxes, junk, things, and stuff here, there, and everywhere.

As organized as I try to be, the facts are these:
1) I own too much stuff (better said: too much stuff owns me)
2) I have 2 days to move all said belongs to another venue.

I've packed up most of the non-essentials. I plan to be living "hotel-like" by the weekend. So today, I'm enjoying life in this house. Nine years of memories stored away here. It's been a good home. A safe home. A home that is still standing despite my lack of knowledge or my lack of time to properly care for it. It was our first "family" home. We walked in with a 3 year old and a 1/2 year old. We walk out with a 12, 10, 7, and almost 5 year olds. Moving in, we had to "child proof" everything. Moving out, we don't need to child proof anymore. Crazy!

I've loved this little cottage. It took 9 years to finally rid this house of blue, but it was accomplished. The previous owner liked blue: bluish gray carpet, blue trim outside, blue bedroom, blue kitchen, blue counter tops, blue bathrooms, etc. Funny thing: I've changed everything to various shades of brown. Guess everyone has their color?

Lots of good memories were made here. Glad I've documented some of them with pictures and scrappybooks. This has become HOME. Remind me why I'm leaving again? (I'm obviously NOT a fan of change, yet the change is a comin'. Buckle your seatbelt, Julie girl, you're headed on a rollercoaster. AND I don't really like rollercoasters.)

You Know you're O-L-D when...

You know you are O-L-D when your oldest turns 12 years old! Seriously, that's a decade plus 2! You can no longer be a "young" mom if your kid is past a decade, because that means you are also a decade plus 2 older! Gulp!

Today my "old" son was ordained a deacon in our church. This means he has new priesthood responsibilities. (If I was "cool" and knew how to do it, I would paste a link to lds.org explaining all about deacons. However, I haven't reached that level of "cool" yet.) It's a big responsibility and a "coming of age" process. I'm very excited for him. I just can't believe he's that old. (And thus, that I am as well!)

It's a Crazy Life, but it's my Life

Wow! What a month! A month ago: we found a house, put an offer on a house (offer was accepted), put our house up for sale, got an offer on our house, had the flu crash through our household, and still maintained our crazy typical life schedule (except for when we quaranteed the house during the "FLU.").

We've definitely been blessed. In fact, in it own painful way, the flu ended up being a blessing in disguise (long story).

Poor Chad, though. He had to celebrate a "Happy Barf-day." We ended up celebrating 4 days later when all of us could look at cake and WANT to eat it. The flu made it easy to diet, but definitely not a recommended diet method. Not fun at all.

Now I have to think about moving all my junk. I'm pretty sure I have TOO MUCH JUNK. We've lived in this house for 9 years. That's a long time to collect junk. No matter how well I've organized the junk. Moving it just proves how much junk owns me. It's not going to be pleasant. Oh well.

Things that needed to be remedied...

I had an interesting conversation with my daughter the other day. (Truly it was a bit horrifying if you know anything about me...). Here is goes:
Girl: Mom, I want Dad to teach me how to use the basket.
Mom: What basket?
Girl: The one in the backyard. Hey, Mom, can girls play basketball?
Mom: Of course!!
Girl: Well, what do girls wear when they play basketball?
Mom: A uniform.
Girl: Like a cheerleading uniform?
Mom: Gasp, choke, gasp!

Clearly, my daughter has seen too many boys basketball games (and never a girls basketball game). How could ME of all people have never show my daughter a girls basketball game? Oh the shame! Guess what got added to the top of my "to do" list?

Puke!

In the last 90 hours, I've seen my share of puke. What we thought was food poisoning for Jason on Friday night has begun to look like a virus. It seems that you feel yucky for about 8 hours (with puke and the big D) and then your done. That's the blessing.

The bad news is that it seems to be contagious. About 41 hours after Jason, Matt suddenly got sick. His was the sweetest smelly puke (he had just eaten sugar cookies and valentines candy). Sorry, probably TMI, but what's a blog for if not to tell-it-like-it-is.

About 30 hours after Matt, Jenna started to puke. Four hours after Jenna, Trevor joined in the fun. That was a LONG, "fun" night. I think I got 3 1/2 hours of sleep.

Needless to say, I kept them home today. No more spreading germs. No more puke. I hope the school appreciates that. (AND I hope we didn't pass it to someone unknowingly when we didn't think it was a virus!) If so, I'm sooooooo sorry.

If You Had Told Me Then...

Hello little long lost blog. Yes, you have been abandoned. In fact, it's just not you. The laptop has been abandoned this week. The children may also be feeling a bit on the back burner.

You see, it appears that we are moving. Why? Well, that's a long story. I started to type it out and realized how late it was. Too late for long stories. Too late for stories that bring the emotions to the surface. It's a good kind of move in that we are choosing to do it (not being forced into it). However, it's a sad kind of move in that we are putting distance between our dear friends, ward family, and neighbors.

It's a decision that has been building for about 3 years. I can now see in retrospect how I was being prepared for this change...especially in the last 6 months. However, it did all fall together quickly in a matter of days. If you had told me a month ago that I would be on THIS path, I would have NEVER believed you.

I've spent the past two weeks getting my cute little cottage ready to sell. I've been granted "working" angels who made this all possible. I cannot even begin to tell you of the generosity and work ethic of my sweet parents. They have spent nearly everyday working on my house. There is no way I would have survived this week without them. What an incredible blessing they have been!

We will finalize more details this week. There is a large path of "unknown" in my way, but I am amazingly feeling peace. (SO unlike me! I'm not particularly fond of unknown paths.)

I'm grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who cannot always remove our obstacles, but can grant us the tools to make it through.

Although I feel good about the move, I still feel pain/sorrow in accepting the "change." So for now, I stock my car with tissues, because that's when the tears seem to surface.

More later...

READYMAN (and WO-man)

 

Good thing Matt and I went to scouts this week.  Good thing I’m the Den Leader, so I HAVE to learn in order to teach.  Good thing we are working on the Readyman Activity Badge.  Our scouting skills were put to good use today.

Matt felt down the stairs (backwards) with a chair (did a few flips on the way).  His head hit the wall.  We have a huge hole in the drywall where his head hit.  He has a nice goose egg to prove it.  His head hit between the baseboard and the window ledge.  On this window, it’s a small space.  It really quite a miracle that his head didn’t hit the window ledge.

So, how does one fall down the stairs with a chair?  Let’s just say his" “fade away jumper” on the nerf hoop (on the outside of his bedroom door) led to a disappearance down the stairs.  The chair was an innocent bystander that was brought along by accident.

We heard the thumps and the screams.  Tompa saw the legs flailing in the air.  I was quickly going into panic mode.  It’s what I do best in these situations (just ask Chad), especially when I saw a heap of my son at the bottom of the stairs.  Matt had hit the panic button before I could.  The wind had been knocked out of him and he was struggling to breathe.  Then, the READYMAN kicked in.  (If you don’t know what Readyman is, then you haven’t been/known a Webelos Scout.)  We had just learned in scouts what to do in an “emergency:”  Be Strong.  Be Calm.  Be Clear.  Be Careful.

I swallowed my panic and engaged my “calm mother voice.”  I reminded Matt of his Readyman skills and he instantly started to calm.  We started to review the steps and he knew what to do…  (Thank you scouting!!).  He calmed, gained his breath back, and we were able to assess the situation.

In the end, I think that kid is one watched over kid.  Two inches in either direction could have ended in a much different result.  The  chair fell beside him instead of under him.   His head hit the drywall instead of the wood ledge.  No blood.  Nothing broken.  His muscles and ligaments will definitely feel it tomorrow.  Tonight, we feel blessed.