Spring Cleaning & Random Thoughts

Oh, hello. {Waves hello.} :)

I feel like I just blinked and five days flew by. Is it really almost the middle of April already?

We did have a lovely weekend (baking cookies, bike rides, picnic lunch, sidewalk chalk) and I do have a handful of posts floating around in my mind, but I haven't had the time to upload pictures here or to pause long enough to collect my thoughts. Confession: it's taken me three days just to finish writing this post! My focus is just not on the ole' blog this week. But no worries... I will catch up sooner or later!

Holy wow! If ever I needed a to-do list to keep me on track, this is the month for it! {Seriously, how would I function without my lists, post-its and date book?} Between Sophie's birthday, Easter, spring cleaning/organizing, and just a million other things I need/want to do... April is going to fly by! I love when Easter is late like this, but I hope April doesn't always feel so busy... It's one of my favorite months!

I've been very productive the past few days (at the cost of my sleep, as usual), but there is still so much more to do. Sophie's party is coming together nicely and I'm really looking forward to celebrating her special day. My house is the thing that really needs some love right now and I've compiled a spring cleaning & organizing to-do list that I'll be attacking over the next few weeks. Have you ever noticed that writing to-do lists on cute paper (thanks, Amanda!) increases your interest in checking things off? Or is that just me? Awhile back, a couple of my favorite blog reads were doing a "40 bags in 40 days" project for lent. They made lists of 40 spaces in their home or areas of their life that needed reorganizing/clearing out. They allotted one bag to each space and worked on one space for each day of lent. Then they made donations or threw out the stuff that was cluttering up their lives and their minds. The idea being: this clutter is just another weight on our shoulders and burden on our mind that is taking up the focus we could be devoting to God each day. So simplifying and reorganizing our lives will give a fresh start for spring and open up more time in our days for Godly devotion. I love the idea! And I love getting rid of stuff we don't need/use. LOVE IT!! When I see a previously cluttered space in our house looking simplified and tidy, it brings a HUGE amount of satisfaction and happiness to my day and life.

My problems with this project were:

1) What a huge waste of plastic bags! Because in most cases, I would never fill an entire bag for each space.

2) I don't think I have 40 spaces in my small-ish house and life to come up with!

3) TIME! I need to find/make the time for this big project.

Nevertheless, I was interested in doing a similar version of this. I've collected some smaller (recyclable) cardboard boxes from work and made my list of areas to organize, simplify and clean. Speaking of organizing, I totally HEART this new blog I've discovered! It's called "I Heart Organizing"! :) (Sorry - you'll just have to type it in. You know how I feel about linking to blogs of people I don't know... especially when they have a million followers. Ya, I know - I'm weird.) Anyway, the girl is uber-uber-uber-obsessed with organizing... and I am totally a sucker for that topic. I love her! Check her out - she has some great ideas! I'm definitely going to do her meal planning binder... some day.

So I made my list (part of my list is just cleaning) and am currently working on one of the bigger things: my photo albums. Slowly but surely, I'm chugging along and getting caught up. But no way could I have finished in one day. Not even if I had an entire quiet day to myself. So I'm working in spurts amidst my party preparations, work and daily life.

The rest of the items on the list should be accomplished a lot quicker. Most of them are spaces (i.e. the kids' closet shelves, my freezer, the cleaning supplies storage, etc.) and I'm totally going to take before and after pics to share with you. I have a thing for before and after pics. They just make me feel a sense of accomplishment. I love looking at project pics on other peoples' blogs too so if you're doing anything around your house this spring (big or small), please share! Maybe you'll inspire someone!

Random thoughts for today ('cause that's just how my brain is working lately... on random overload):

1) I forgot to use conditioner this morning and my hair is driving me crazy with static.

2) Paper puffs (those tissue paper pom pom/flower things) are SOOOOO pretty! I'm making them for Sophie's party and I want them in every room in my house. :) These are definitely going to be a staple decoration for little holidays and birthdays around our house.

3) I loved catching up with Amanda last night and seeing her new place. We took her some cookies that Will and I made for her on Monday this week. That boy is really getting good at cracking eggs and he LOVES to bake!

4) This weekend through Easter is going to be so fun and busy! There is something going on almost every day, starting with Casey's birthday dinner this Friday. (Mon Ami - can't wait!) Our calendar is packed and it's going to be so fun!

5) I have GOT to schedule a haircut soon. I can't stand this blah, grow-out cut I've got going on.

6) I've had some really good days at my job lately. You know how working and being a wife and mom makes you feel like you are never able to do a really great job at any one of those things. Well, not never... but you know what I mean. It's hard to feel 100% everywhere when you wear so many hats. Anyway, I've just really felt good at my job lately and had some great heart-to-hearts with some of my patients where (shockingly) God's just given me the right words to say to make a difference in their outlook. Have I ever mentioned that a LOT of my job feels like social work a lot of the time? There is so much more that goes into doing a good job feeding yourself and your family - things outside of food that affect your ability to eat well and DO life well - and I frequently feel helpless about having the right words to say to someone who is struggling in life. Like I might be fully able to counsel you on proper nutrition, but maybe that's not what you really need to hear right now. I just don't have that gift of coming up with something profound to say when someone is hurting or struggling. Anyway, I've felt differently this week and I've (hopefully) brought a little optimism to the lives of some of my patients. It makes me feel happy and fulfilled in my job to be able to help people.

7) On that topic of people who are struggling, my heart goes out to the family of the four-year-old boy who drowned in his pond on Sunday. Craig and I were just beside ourselves with sadness for their loss and sick to our stomachs with thoughts on how we would ever survive the loss of a child - especially so tragically. I can't imagine the grief those parents must be feeling and my prayers are with them.

8) Hmm... I should end on a more positive note. Well, I guess I'm just grateful for my family and the blessings that I have. Oh, and the sun is shining today. :) So that's happy.

Spring To-Do List

The calendar says it's spring! But Mother Nature hasn't gotten the memo... I'd almost forgotten about making a spring to-do list! But there are plenty of things we want to do this season and this list will round out the year for me to look back on (since I started these lists last summer). Over the winter, we managed to accomplish 16 of 26 things on our list. It was a busy season! Here's what I have in mind for spring: 1) Return to the Farmer's Markets regularly!! Mostly downtown at the Erie Street Market, but also the newer ones at Fallen Timbers and Westgate and Thursdays in downtown Perrysburg. 2) Family story time at the library in June - I believe it's a class series and I called to late for the spring classes so I'm hoping to get into these. They're on Monday evenings I believe. 3) Visit Country Lane Tree Farm. We're already signed up for their Easter celebration and egg hunt for the kids - we're going with cousins and friends! - but I'd also like to take Sophie back by herself to see the animals at a leisurely pace like Will has gotten to in the past. 4) Bike trailer rides! 5) Teach Will how to ride a bike without training wheels and Sophie how to pedal the tricycle. 6) Visit the butterfly house. They reopen for the season on May 1st! 7) Run in the Dart Frog Dash {5K for me and 1K for Will} on May 14th, as well as many other road and trail races for each of us this summer. So excited to see how he likes it this year! He's already talking about running again. 8) Visit Schedel Gardens again. Also, we've never been to the Botanical Gardens - maybe that would be a good new venue to visit. 9) U-Pick strawberries... hopefully more than once! I've got to dig up all the recipes I want to try with our strawberries. Also, any other u-pick farms I can find in the spring (most are summer time). 10) Celebrate LOTS of birthdays!!! This month: cousin Cecilia. In April: our friends Mike & Jill, my cousin Molly, Casey and Sophia! In May: Great Grandpa King and cousin Cora. And in June: cousins Mya, Stella and Lincoln (all on the 2nd!) and, of course, Will on the 8th. Lots of parties and celebrating in the next few months! 11) Lots of cooking with the flavors of spring: asparagus, rhubarb, baby lettuces and strawberries. There's an awesome dip I want to try using watercress when that comes available. 12) Plant a garden... and keep it alive! ;) 13) Park visits and picnics. 14) Eat at Mon Ami. We're going there for Casey's birthday in a couple weeks! 15) Nature Tots programs at the ONWR. Not sure how many of these we will get to because they will conflict with our usual library and farmer's market outings on Saturday mornings, but they're free and educational so I'd like to get to a few. They're always on the first Saturday of the month. 16) Miniature golf? :) 17) Going for walks and runs outside! 18) Big Dipper - our local ice cream hot spot! 19) Day Out With Thomas & Friends - saw this and thought it sounded cool. 20) Make Easter cookies with Great Grandma Verna. 21) Take Will to see Kung Fu Panda at the end of May. I've had "Will's first movie in the theater" on my to-do list since last summer and we've never gone. But this is one he'll love so it's officially in the plans this season. 22) Easter/spring crafts, games and food. Easter parties and egg hunts with family. Easter morning with the kids! 23) Memorial Day picnic with Craig's family. 24) Homecoming parade in downtown Genoa (usually around Memorial Day). 25) Spring street fair and business open houses in downtown Genoa? 26) Get new mulch around our house and tidy up the "landscaping". I use that word very loosely. ;) 27) Plant new trees to replace the old Ash trees in the front yard? Not sure if that will happen this year. Now... all we need is a little warmer weather. What? You say it's supposed to snow this weekend? Last year at this time, it was a freakish 80 degrees outside and the kids were in shorts! At least Easter is late this year. :)

This Week's To-Do List

Okay, I know it's kind of late in the week to be making a to-do list (...for the week), but I actually started this on Monday (in my head - haha) and I'm just now getting around to writing it down to keep myself accountable. That's the great thing about announcing things like this to the world: I'm much more likely to follow through! :)

So here's what I need to accomplish this week in addition to the usual:

1) Wash up and put away all of the kids' new (or new-to-us) summer clothes. About 90% of this is Sophie's stuff because she's still in the growing stage of things not fitting her the following seasons. Hopefully, this next size of clothes will be the start of that change and perhaps she'll be able to wear some 2T stuff next year like Will did? In the meantime, we so appreciate the hand-me-downs from Cora. The two girls are a little less than a year apart and Sophie's catching up to her fast so I don't know how long the hand-me-downs will continue to work out. :( I'll show you some of my favorite warm weather clothes in Sophie's closet very soon - I can't wait till it warms up and she can start wearing all this cute stuff!

Will, on the other hand, can still fit into most of his summer shorts and shirts from last year. We'll have to try a few things on, but I really only got him a few new t-shirts, one pair of plaid shorts and some swim trunks. And as with most of my kids clothes shopping, it was done mostly at the end of the last similar season.

2) A couple, simple dining room refresher projects.

I'll post some picture updates when I'm done.

3) Keep working on Sophie using the potty!

She was in a pull-up for part of last weekend and I'm planning to do the same thing this weekend. But she's got some big girl underwear coming in her Easter basket and we are bound and determined to stop buying [so many] diapers in the near future. {$$$ Cha-ching! $$$} She's made the connection. She just needs to learn how to let me know so I don't have to bring her back to the potty unnecessarily every 30-60 minutes. We no longer have the low dresser in her room set up as a changing table. The pad is on the floor now and we are reading all sorts of potty books to reinforce. 4) Go through the nearly 900 prints I ordered from Snapfish (covering from May '10 - January '11) and date them against the files of pictures on my hard drive. I'm not even going to set the goal of putting them in the albums until later (next week?) but this week, my goal is to date them and sort them by their designated albums. I have clearly been so behind with my albums and this is my big come back. I'll update later.

5) Hang the vinyl wall decal in Sophie's room on Saturday so I can finally take and post pictures of what I've updated so far! 6) Take a bubble bath. It's been too long and a girl needs a bubble bath every now and again. 7) Finish making my spring cleaning and organizing list and start making myself some deadlines to get it done! 8) Rock painting with the kids. Details later. 9) Go for a walk with my mom to catch up and get some exercise. 10) Bake cookies with Will to defeat the purpose of the walk. I think that's it. What's on your to-do (or honey-do) list this week? Are you planning any spring cleaning?

Winter To-Do List

Just a little over two weeks until winter officially begins and we are really looking forward to it! So I thought it would be a good time to make our Winter To-Do List. I like making these lists, even if it would be impossible to complete them entirely, simply because it's a helpful benchmark of all the fun, seasonal activities available in our area. It will also be a useful resource for me to refer back to in future years. In fact, I think I'm going to add a couple things that I know we won't get to do this year just to use as a reminder for the future.

When making my Fall To-Do List, I didn't really think about the month of December as part of the fall season, so this list may include some things earlier in December before the winter season actually begins. Also, I looked back on that fall list to see how much we actually accomplished and I think it was about 16 out of 23 ideas. Last minute changes of plan and/or budget concerns were the main reasons for the unfinished items.

So here are my ideas:
1) Holiday Pajama Brunch with our friends! This will be our 7th annual brunch and I look forward to it every year. This year, the time crept up on me sooner than I expected and I didn't get my invitations out like I normally do. But it's a totally casual affair (obviously... since we're in jammies) and everyone already knows that it's always the second Sunday morning in December. The invitations are just for my own extra fun. :) There are four couples and now three kids. We've dropped the gift exchange that used to be part of it, but we get together for a late morning feast and it's nice that it doesn't interfere with any other holiday commitments. Just time to hang out with our best friends.
2) Lights Before Christmas at the zoo. Obviously, we've already accomplished this this year, but it's definitely a must-do in our area. This was there 25th year of the Lights!
3) "Paint" and bake Christmas cut-out cookies with Grandma Verna using Great Grandma Wasserman's sugar cookie recipe.
4) Drive around to see the Christmas decorations and lit houses after dark with a thermos of hot chocolate.
5) Caroling!! - I've never done this and I know it sounds totally silly, especially since I'm not boasting any talent... but I thought it would be fun to take Will caroling to a couple neighborhood friends houses this year. Anyone want to join?? :)
6) Holiday crafts and decorations - I have a bunch of ideas... We'll see how many we get accomplished. Our tree is finally up as of this past weekend, so that's a start!
7) Countdowns till Christmas. We have three different countdowns going right now! More on that later.
8) Sledding. Bring on the snow!!!
9) Ice skating. I'd like to go to Tam-O-Shanter in Sylvania for their indoor rink so we can rent skates. Craig's a pretty decent skater and said he'd feel comfortable holding Sophie while Will and I attempt stay on our feet. ;)
10) Snowmobiling. Craig's dad just got a new sled and we think Will is old enough now to go for his first ride in front of Craig!
11) Visit the indoor farmers market (downtown) at least once monthly through the winter. Hmm... I wonder what they'll even have the further we get into winter??
12) Noon Year's Eve celebration! We did this last year with the kids and it was so fun. Hopefully, Casey and Wes will host this year and we can expand on our celebrating ideas.
13) Imagination Station visit for some science fun. I like doing this in winter when there's not as much to do outside.
14) Bumper bowling with the kids. Ha! I think they would love that!
15) Take Will to his first move at the theater. He's old enough now that he would sit through it, I think. Hmm... what should we see?
16) Take a winter time ride on the North Pole Express and visit the Northwest Ohio Railroad Preservation, Inc. museum in Findlay. The rides are on quarter-scale train (which I think are like the open ones at the zoo) but the museum has model and full-scale trains on display and the ride fee is only $2 for adults and $1 for kids. That sounds like a great deal for a fun time!
17) Celebrate my 30th birthday on January 23rd!!! :)
18) Visit the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village. I'd love to see their Holiday Lights event, but I'm not sure we'll make it with our busy December schedule. Maybe next year we can try to get to their earliest day on December 4th? But even after the holidays, I think it would be fun to make a day trip out of visiting their exhibits and beautiful grounds. It's been ages since I was there last.
19) Speaking of busy December, we have seven parties on the calendar (including the family reunion we just attended yesterday and the PJ brunch I mentioned above). I am SO EXCITED to celebrate with the kids again on Christmas morning!
20) Frequent library visits and lots of reading!
21) A trip to the store to purchase some cold weather clothing items (hats, gloves, etc.) for the holiday bureau program and those less fortunate. They're collecting at school and Will and I have been talking about this and recently read a cute children's book that reinforces this message.
22) Celebrate Valentine's Day - making Valentines, lots of heart-inspired cooking and baking, hopefully another candle-lit dinner at home and some fun activities too.
23) Celebrate St. Patrick's Day - crafts? food?
24) Lots of other random wintery crafts/activities/food.
25) Visit the Ritter Planetarium and Brooks Observatory at the University of Toledo. I've had a flyer family events from them for over a year now and it looks like so much fun. I think Will would totally love it as he is very curious about "constellations" and "telescopes". The evening time are a little late beginning at 7:30 and the Saturday times are right at the start of his nap time (1:00) so I'm not sure if/when we'll do this, but I'm cataloging it in my memory and definitely plan to get there sooner than later.
26) Weekend trip to an indoor water park/resort with friends. I had high hopes of doing this this winter, but I doubt we'll be able to budget for this right now and I just think winter sounds like the best time to do this. So maybe next year?

Okay, that's all I've got off the top of my head. Looking forward to a fun-filled winter!

Fall To-Do List

I checked back on my summer to-do list and found that we have accomplished 20 out of 34 items! Not bad, I guess. But I love making lists, as you know, and I am certain that the weeks are going to fly by in the fall as they always do. So this will help me remember all the things I want to accomplish.

So, here it is...

Fall To-Do List

1) Fleitz Pumpkin Farm - At least 2-3 visits - we LOVE that place!

2) Country Lane Tree Farm - Remember we went there for Easter and last fall? Will loves it!

3) MacQueens Orchards - Pick your own apples plus a farmers market and lots of fall activities.

4) Susan Komen Race for the Cure - I think we're going to sign up for the one mile walk this year and have Will walk/run alone (if possible - that's a little far yet for him) and I'll walk with Sophie on my back.

5) Eat fudge and kettle corn and sip cider while browsing the shops and craft booths with my friend Jill at the Apple Butter Festival in Grand Rapids - October 10th this year!

6) Cooking & baking with the flavors of fall: butternut squash soup, pumpkin waffles, chicken & bacon roulades, stove top oatmeal cooked with cider and pears, dried cranberries and walnuts, apple crisp, squash ravioli with sage, etc.

7) Road races, including a 10K in October (hopefully!)

8) Fall Tot School themes and activities

9) Corn maze & hay ride

10) Monarch Release on September 25th at The Butterfly House

11) Celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary on October 2nd - weekend getaway??

12) Football games

13) Fall fondue party with friends

14) Street Fair and businesses Open House in downtown Genoa - haven't heard when yet, but they do this every year

15) Enjoy getting dressed in fall-ish attire: scarves, boots, hats, jackets, layers! My favorite season!

16) Celebrate Craig's 32nd birthday on October 18th

17) Halloween! - crafts, costumes, decor, pumpkins

18) Flea Market in Sylvania in September

19) Continue with the Nature Tots program at ONWR - we missed it in August because of his race and now I'm realizing we're going to miss the September one for the same reason - bummer

20) Weekly library trips

21) Walks and bike trailer rides

22) Take the kids bowling for the first time?

23) More date nights with Craig!

Okay! I think that's good for now. We'll probably add to it as we hear of new things.

What are your favorite fall activities?

Summer To-Do List

This seems to be a trend among several other blogs and I think it's a brilliant idea:

Make a "Summer To-Do List"!

That way, whenever you find some free time (Ha!) and are looking for a fun activity for the family, you can just refer to the list and start checking things off. Personally, I think this would be great for all seasons! So I plan to make a new list for fall at the end of summer. We're really into exploring our local venues for fun weekend trips. There's a lot to do around here!

I'm sure we'll add to this, but here's my (quite lengthy) list thus far:

1) Visit Amish Country in Kidron, Ohio - you may remember Kelly and I attempting this last summer and failing miserably. But with a little better planning and an older baby this year, I really want to go back!

2) A day at the beach - probably Maumee Bay.

3) Picnic

4) Walk/run at the park

5) Bike trailer rides

6) Big Dipper for ice cream

7) Water table fun with Mya & Stella

8) Golfing (Craig & I)

9) Bowling? - maybe we'll save this for fall?

10) County Fair

11) Zoo

12) Farmers Markets - Definitely Erie Street, but I'd like to visit a few others as well.

13) Fireworks

14) Road races

15) Swim in Grandma & Papa's pond

16) Swim in Nana & Papa's pool

17) Bake homemade bread

18) Newport Aquarium

19) Plane Fun

20) Put In Bay (Craig & I)

21) Back to Polters for raspberries and blueberries

22) Bake fresh berry cobbler

23) Back to Schedel Gardens with Sophie when she's walking

24) Nature Tots programs at the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge

25) Weekly library trips

26) Grill out with friends

27) Make homemade lemonade

28) Eat at Mon Ami (Craig & I)

29) Perrysburg Farmers Market & Street Fair on a Thursday evening

30) Eat at the new outdoor patio at Stella's Restaurant & Bar (my uncle's restaurant in Perrysburg)

31) Visit a different zoo

32) See a kids movie in the theater?

33) Miniature golf?

34) Visit the lighthouse at Marblehead

Wow! I'm not sure there are enough weekends in the summer to accomodate all this stuff, but it's still fun to have a list to work from. We can always continue it next summer or into the fall. We're actually going to knock off several of these items this weekend! And I think I'm going to print off this list and keep it on our fridge. :)

Woo hoo! Summer's almost here!