Operation Andy || Toy Organization

You guys.  I've been wanting to do this project ever since I began working in Preschool!  Talk about drowning in a mess of toys since Cam was mobile enough to dump them out of his toy box!  Yea.  That was the end of any trace of neatness around us...

What is "Operation Andy?"  I'm glad you ask:)  

Just a way to help Cam better understand how we are changing the way we treat our toys.  Right now, all he does is dump them out & pile them up (if I'm lucky) when I ask him to do his chores.  The o n l y way to help his little three year old mind make sense of our new organizing system is to relate it to Toy Story! :)
  

You know how all of Andy's toys had a special place in his room?  And when they were not in their special place it made them sad?  Andy wasn't able to find them when he wanted to take them somewhere or play with them when they weren't in their spot- was he?  We are going to make your room like Andy's & give all of your toys a special place so you will always be able to find them!  

*I think it's important to give credit where credit is due SO -I got this genius-ness from the Pre-K teachers;)

Back to the Pre-K rooms... the toys all have a labeled place (picture & word to assist in print awareness*) for kids to know where they belong when the clean up song starts playing.  This absolutely solved my problem with Cam!  When I would say "let's clean up" he just started chucking toys in a pile in the corner because he had no idea what to do with the madness.  Where did his toys belong besides the storage bin(s) or toy box?  And then, when the bins/box were full...we definitely had a dilemma.  

Y'all, the truth is...I didn't even know where to put them!

So, here is my version of the preschool toy organization at home:)  This idea has me feelin like a rock star #justsayin

1.  I've had this Ikea Cube Shelf for a year now...

2.  I finally was frustrated enough with our mess to make organizing the toys a priority in our budget.  I ended up at Target & found these cubes on sale for $5!  There are lots of cute colors & fabric combinations:)

3.  After I got the cubes, I took pictures of the toys with my phone, labeled them with the app "Rhonna Designs," printed them, glued them to a pretty silver poster board, & laminated!

4.  I punched a hole in the top & tied the picture to the storage cube with twine through the hole in the storage cube.

5.  Before I put the toys in their new home, I went through & wiped down the ones we were going to keep, & (shhhhh -keep this a secret-I guess this isn't a good time to channel Toy Story, huh?) trashed or donated others that were messed up or those we weren't playing with anymore.  Cam has a thing about keeping ALL the toys e v e n if they are messed up or missing parts...

5.  Now, all our toys have "a home" just like "Andy's" toys!  AND I can almost guarantee you, your kids will think it's Christmas again because toys are so much easier to find.  BOOM:)

Another idea would be to switch out a box or two seasonally! 

You know me & the holidays;)

Wouldn't a Halloween or Christmas box be fun?

I bet those of you reading already did this decades ago, but nevertheless, I had to share...I'm proud of my hard work & our solution to what has been a never ending mess!  Cam has rediscovered so many new toys since I finished this project-which is even more worth it:)  How do you tame the toys at your house?  
(Besides donating & trashing...oops did I say that out loud again;)  

*print awareness: ability to recognize words as distinct elements of oral and written communication. Both skills are acquired in the child's natural environment.

six on saturday

I cleaned & cleaned & CLEANED yesterday.  And have n o t h i n g to show for it except a start to organizing the boy's toys (which I hope to share this coming week!).  My mom & dad's house is massive & I am overwhelmed to say the least.  

I'm getting more & more ready for a nest of my own again.  It's been a year exactly since I moved in with my mom & dad after coming back from North Dakota to be on bed rest.  

HOW has that been a year???  

While we are working on the nest thing, I can't help but scratch the feeling that an extra pair of hands to help keep it clean is going to have to ease it's way into being a top priority in our budget.    

I don't really know why I shared all that.  I guess just to share my excuse as to why I didn't post yesterday?:)  

ANYway.  Here a six things I loved about this week:

one.

No cavities & a great dental check-up for my 3 year old.  The staff, as every other person on the planet, swore he was 4 or 5 years old and then, while in the chair, he and the hygienist had a little conversation that went a little something like this...

"Alright Mr. Cam, I'm going to count your teeth now."

Cam: "Akkkkkk-ward." 

(awkward:the word he uses every other breath because it makes people laugh) 

Everyone in the office lost it.

two.

Fall.  Autumn.  Halloween.  It's in the air!  

Well, I guess it's still 90 degrees outside so maybe not the air, but it's in the stores.  And I am soooooo excited.  I ordered the boys matching Halloween tees this week & grabbed a few things for Conley's first birthday party at Home Goods.  I also grabbed a pack of Halloween Oreos while grocery shopping, because, it is the best junk food of all time.  I'm telling you.  If you get in the Fall mood, just go out & browse the stores!  You will be in the spirit in NO time:)

three.

I f i n a l l y got the opportunity to go through the boys clothes this past weekend & I made 90 bucks at once upon a child!  Such a great way to give us a kick start for their fall clothes.  See what a great helper I had? Can you sense my sarcasm?:)

four.

As of this week, my Conley is in the double digit months & my Cam is one month a way from hitting the 3 and a half year mark, y'all.  I don't know how I feel about this...

More on this to come later.

five.

Coconut Milk Mocha Macchiato Iced Coffee.  Don't walk, run to Starbucks.

Meanwhile, I'll be over here trying to figure out a recipe for how to make it at home;)

six.

Speaking of our own nest again...I'm just going to leave this little teaser here.  

My Mr. is going to caution me on getting excited until we have the keys in our hands (rightfully so with our recent experiences)... Yet, we got some exciting news this week-(more exciting then we have in the past at this point in the game) so I wanted to share a little sneak peek of what might be in the near future.
  

No matter what ends up happening, I am so looking forward to sharing our whole house buying experience one day-it's been a doozy:)

I think (& I say this with my clenched teeth face because you just never know) that things are falling into place for me & my little family.  Regardless, I can always say that God is good & he gives us what we need & allows everything to happen for a reason.  So thankful & cherishing every moment of this life.  

I hope you all have a great weekend!

*Peaches & Pearls: a blog that goes from light-hearted chatter to deep thoughts in a matter of milliseconds.

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Back to School || My Survival Story

I did it!  I survived my first week back to my "typical" work week with kids.  All I can say is, thank the good Lord ABOVE I only work the first three days of the week!  Conley isn't sleeping, we are in the middle of searching for a house/selling our house, our department is preparing for an audit at the end of September, & Cam has been sick this week yet still wants to play super heroes 24 hours a day ESPECIALLY the moment I walk in the door.

"Come on mom!  Let's go save the day!"  

"Can we go save the day now, mom?"

So.  Stinking.  Precious.

But absolutely annoying at the same time:)  LOL

I love that big brother so.  

  The PTA (or whatever they identify themselves as these days) made "chill pills" for all staff this week...aka skittles.  Though I've been trying to avoid sugar & processed foods lately, I completely scarfed down my jar this evening after having to dive into editing, no REediting, IEP's.  Yep.  That's right folks.  I guess you could say this week had me "ODing" on chill pills?

The only way to end this week & celebrate this joyous weekend (Wednesday is my Friday) occasion is to cuddle up & watch my old VHS of Meg Ryan talking about a bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils in "You've Got Mail."  Maybe that along with my pumpkin candle & some popcorn will make me feel a little better about summer being over, beginning a new school year, & scarfing down that jar of skittles?  Couldn't hurt!  

I can't end this post without taking the time to thank as well as contribute my survival of this week to Jesus, large teas, & my new Boy Mama mug:)

Hehe.  But for real about Jesus...

 I couldn't have made it without constant prayers with Him!

How has the first week back (give or take for some of you!)  been for you guys?

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Conley Scout || 9 months

Weight: 23 lbs 7 oz. lbs

Birth: 7 lbs 14 oz

Width:  (not captured this month)

And TOMORROW, I will be updating you on his tenth month of life.  Juuuuuust kidding.  

Such. a. slacker.  

How is he going to be ten months this week?  STOP!  It's impossible to do anything but fall more in love with this baby day by day.  Even when he is crying, it is precious for the most part.  Unless he's mad.  His cry face is my favorite.  He has the cutest big pout lip ever.  I want to press the pause button on my life with these two munchkins like right. now.

whats new...

1st carnival, 1st haircut, 1st time to Panama City Beach

LOVES

car rides, bananas, gummy grins, peek-a-boo, eating, brother (bu-ba), eating paper

HATES

sleep, teething (so does momma), not getting what he wants (dum dum dum)

play & cognitive development

This little dude is loving to stand.  He didn't crawl at nine months, though.  Who needs to crawl when you can just bum a ride?  He's got the smarts, y'all.  He is very interested in whatever big brother does & whatever mommy has to eat.  For the first time in probably his little life, he is getting to tag along for things big brother is doing (like sitting in a car on the playground).  SO much fun;)

eat

we are eating most everything aside from strawberries, cows milk, meat, and any other textures that might be tricky.  He loves any kind of bread & ketchup so we K N O W he & Cam are totally twin brothers.  He is loving having his snack container full of cheerios, but it's important to keep him on his toes about changing up the flavor of his cereal choices;)

sleep

Hmmm.  At 9 months, he was definitely NOT been what I would call a great sleeper.  He often woke crying to the point where nothing soothed him.  I feel like I deserve it as both boys sleep with me.  I just can't make them sleep away from me right now with their dad gone.  A couple of nights I sneak to the couch to try and rest a little better.  I am the lightest sleeper of all time so that lasts about .5 seconds.  Okay, lets just call it how it is- I'm a walking zombie.

nine month photo dump

I eat everything in sight

Conley Scout, it is i m p o s s i b l e to not adore you (& of course your crazy sweet Bubba). 

Love you always my little darling,

Mommy

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The Week with Daddy

We began this week so very thankful for a wonderful week with daddy...

We were either Transformer Robots or Super Heroes the entire week, so you could say 

we were covered up with saving the day E V E R Y D A Y.

The week was a super sonic blur as usual but I'd say we learned a few valuable lessons;)
  1.  We found out that having a date day is a must (even if we ate at Chick-fil-a in the midst of running around like a couple of headless chickens).

2.  Going to the movies with Conley Scout isn't always a piece of cake.  He would rather sit outside the movies staring people down until he catches their attention with his gummy grin & gets a "oh, look at that cute baby!"  

3.  It's important to say "Let's go save the day, guys" at least 5 times a day to make sure your best super hero motives are in check.

4.  Never sleep in a room with three members of the male species.  They will fumigate the room in synchronization.

5.  We have laughed at Olympic memes & tweets all week!  If you haven't, do your self a favor & google this topic.

Speaking of Olympics.  Note to self:  Yes, there is a 41 year old woman still competing in the Olympic Games.  BUT.  You cannot make the 2020 U.S. Womans Gymnastics Team at 32 after birthing two, who knows? maybe three children with a background of a few years of small town gymnastics & cheer as a girl.  The dream has to die.  (Laughing)  Who else is inspired by those girls & into the games this year? :)

Watching Olympic gymnast vault...

Dad: I used to be able to do that.

Child: What?  A double twist layout Amanar vault

Dad: No, run really fast. <<totally me>>

I wish I could remember more about last week, 
 but this week- it's all about trying to get back into the swing of the school year... 
Bare with me guys:)

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Beach Days

It had been almost two years since we had been to Panama City Beach.  The last time we were blessed enough to make the trip, Cam was about one and a half & not old enough to truly appreciate it.  He was a blast just as he was on the cruise.  You just never know what is going to come out of that little mouth of his!  The things I always want to remember about this little trip include...

one

Every time we got in the car to go somewhere Cam would say, "What do ya wanna talk about guys?"  It usually involved sharks or tornados:)

two

We played super heroes e v e r y w h e r e we went.  Iron Man was the superhero of the week.

  

three.

The bath tub story you can find below;).

four.

The perfect picture of Cam & going places is this.  He wants something every. where. we. go.  He has allowance but it always burns a hole in his pocket & he spends it first thing.  He gets so mad at me for saying no.  "Mommy, you are mean!  You don't like me!"  Y'all, the last thing he wanted was a camouflage charger in Walmart.  He doesn't even have anything to charge!  

five.

-He had to pee on the way home & after he finally got to go...he said, PRAISE THE LORD, PRAISE THE LORD, PRAISE THE LORD!  I'll amen to that.  The Lord is worthy of praise...e v e n when urinating is being discussed.

six.

Cam found some little boys at the pool he was dying to play with.  The sad thing is the only thing he knew to talk about was what he had just heard me talking about...the rough waves.  He trotted over to the hot tub & sat down with the other little boys & said, "Man, the waves are rough!"  Cue the crickets.  Then yes, he said it again.  "Man, the waves are rough!"  We may need a little work on our social skills...:P  

seven.

Conley did not sleep a wink the entire trip...that is, unless it was in the middle of the day & he was laying on a float in the middle of the ocean.  Ahhhh, to be Conley Scout.

eight.

Cam rode an electronic lion in the mall for twenty minutes.  In that span of time, he managed to run in to every glass store window as well as drive through Shoe Show with the workers yelling "You can't bring that thing in here!"  

Yes, I was piggy backing him on the lion at the time.

The things I don't want to remember about this trip?  N e v e r sleeping...Thanks Con man!    And attempting to carry my 55 lb son around in the sand!

On to FALL of the year!  

It's too hot here:)