Handsome's First Party

My handsome baby boy is turning two, so naturally we are having two birthday parties.  We had one two weeks ago while my grandmother and my parents were visiting.  We ordered pizza, had salad, and red velvet cake.  And of course we opened presents.  He only had two, but that's enough.  

Most of our pictures are of Handsome and legs.  So basically it was a leg party.  I tried to show minimal leg.  

We had to get out the power tools to put together his toy.  Seriously.  Maybe because we had two engineers working on it.

 It was even complicated enough for my dad to read instructions.  Amazing.  And I even got a picture.

This is Handsome feeling a bit lost and overwhelmed.  He couldn't understand what was taking so long.  All he wants to do is play cars.

Finally!  Everyone gets to play!

Penguin and Princess

Here is my baby penguin:

And my Princess: Hubby dressed her in her Christmas dress from last year.  It also had a pink and black tweed long coat to go over it.  She was hiding in her room (in the dark!) for this picture.  Hubby used the flash on the camera, and she thought it was funny.

I had to work on Halloween (12 hours! yikes!), but Hubby took the kiddos to a local shopping area.  Princess thought it was a big birthday party.  She kept telling people "Happy Birthday!"  Isn't that adorable?  Anyway, I hope you enjoyed your Monday!

Fall Closet Remix

It's finally that time of year here at the beach.  You know what I mean.  The weather is cooler.  Like 60s.  That's what fall is here.  With the occasional 76 degree day.  At least that's what I am told.  The breezy ocean air chills things off at night to the 40s.  I like this kind of cold.  I haven't switched from iced coffee to hot at Starbucks, yet, but I have thought about it.  I'm even itching to bake something with pumpkin in it.  But I'll save that for another post.  This weekend, however, I tackled the closet.

I have actually been excited about this.  I've been waiting in anticipation.  I love fall clothes.  Especially when I haven't been able to wear them in 8 months or more.  This autumn is a bit different, because  I boxed most of these up early.  As you may recall, we moved in June.  I started packing in January.  At the first hint of Spring, I sifted through my winter and fall clothes, purging anything I didn't wear, anything with holes, too stretched out, anything that didn't fit, anything I didn't want to take.  I basically only moved my favorites.  And I've missed them.  Clothes that you love are like good friends.  I think fall clothes are my best friends.  Anyway, the point is, that I have been looking forward to the season changing and bringing out my fall boxes.

I smartened up a bit this year.  I've been staying away from browsing the online clothing stores and the mall.  Usually, I fall hard for a cool weather must-have and decide I need 10 new shirts and 5 new pants for the cold weather before I open up my boxes.  This year, somehow I've been busy and haven't had the time to look.  I "went shopping" in my closet as I switched out the seasons.  And I am delighted.  I think my Hubby will be too once he realizes how much money I saved.  Don't get me wrong, I'm sure I buy something to update my wardrobe, but it will be a smarter purchase since I already know what I have currently in my closet.

 These totes had to be unpacked, then re-packed, with the appropriate clothing.  First things first, I had to take inventory of closet.

I am afraid of commitment, so I can't put away all my short-sleeved shirts.  I kept a few favorites.   Everything else I threw on bed.  All baskets and piled clothing, you guessed it, thrown on the bed.  Then, I tossed all worn out clothing and clothing I didn't wear at all this summer.  The remains were packed up.  Finally, I dust-mopped the closet.  Deep breaths and apple juice rounded out stage one.  (what?  I have toddlers)

I unpacked THREE tubs of clothes.  Seriously, do I have this much?  Thank goodness they aren't all full.  Then, I separated out the real winter stuff.  It hasn't froze yet, so I shouldn't have it taking up precious closet space.  I set aside clothes I don't remember wearing last year.  I know I did this before I moved, but there were several shirts I remember having reasons NOT to wear them.  Organized chaos abounds on my bed and spills into baskets on the floor.

On to the juicy stuff of hanging up shirts, organized by color, in order of the rainbow.  Yes, we have already established I'm weird.

 

Then socks, panties, and belts were placed in separate baskets.
 

Pants were folded and place in drawer,  plus camis/loungepants/nighties were folded and place in drawer. 

Cardigans and bras on hooks.

Fold sweaters, place on upper shelf alongside cold-er weather pants and skirts.

Hang scarves on back of bathroom door.

Pack up clothing reserved for cold-er weather.  Pack up clothing to be donated.  Re-dust floor.

I like to label my storage totes with duct tape and black marker.  As long as I remember to stack them all the same direction, it works out rather well.  And I can't say enough for wicker baskets.  I purchased the ones seen here from Pier 1 my junior year of college.  They have moved with me numerous times, stored many things, and kept me sane.  I love the look they lend.

Anyone else tackle a project this weekend?  Perhaps you got to experience some fall weather?  Please tell me someone else gets as giddy over a freshly organized space as I do?

Grandma and the Beach

In mid-October my Grandmother made the trek from the midwest to the beach for a visit.  We hadn't seen her since June and we missed each other terribly.  I was lucky enough to have a three day weekend.  The first afternoon we had together we walked to the beach.  It was a beautiful afternoon and here are some of the lovely pictures we took.

Grandma and Handsome making a sand castle.

Group pic.  Sorta.

Don't remember what he was pointing at, but we have about 5 pictures of it.

Princess did a lot of jumping.  The tide was out, so there were a few tide pools.  She enthusiastically jumped in ALL of them.

Meanwhile, Handsome took a break and chilled out.  Literally.

Then, he worked on exfoliating his feet/legs.

Finally, he ran around yelling "I gunna gistchu!"  In actuality, we had to get him.  Thank goodness I didn't have to carry him home. 

Aren't my munchkins adorable?  Thanks for visiting Grandma!