Organization 101: Bathroom Closet

Our bathroom closet was pretty organized but still a little cluttered. I had everything grouped together and some stuff in boxes but it still lacked the "WOW" factor or the "it's so beautiful it makes me cry" factor. While at a friends house a few weeks ago, she showed me her newly organized bathroom closet and I LOVED IT!!! So, I copied her. Thanks Debbie for the idea!

Here are a few pictures.

This is the before picture. Not too bad.

In the middle of organization.

Done! How it looks now!!

This is what I got rid of. The left is the recycling. The garbage can is full
from the closet but the charmin bag is only part full with stuff .

Most of the stuff I got rid of was expired medicine. I think the best thing was taking stuff out of weird shaped or bulky boxes and putting them in containers, which cut down on wasted space. And all the small stuff piled around on the shelves work much better in a container too.

This was the following conversation between Tim and myself when I was done:

Me: "How do you like our bathroom closet?"
Tim: "I don't."
Me: "Really? Look at it."
Tim: "I don't li......(he finally looked) I like it!"

Me: "It does look nice doesn't it."
Tim (sarcastically): "It's so beautiful it brings a tear to my eye!" (then seriously) he said, "I mean look at the labels, the containers. Ahhh, beautiful!"

Me: "This is how Debbie organized her closet. I loved it, so I copied her."
Tim: "This is how I organized the shed! Just like this! Labels, containers and everything! Have you not 

         looked at the shed?"  

Me: "Well, that's the shed. The house is a totally different thing, so I didn't think about how you organized 

        the shed when I did this."

Tim: (silently gave me an exasperated look) and then said, "I'd like to do that to the whole house! Especially   

        the kitchen!"
Me: "Ya, I don't know if it would work in the kitchen...... Anyway, glad you like it."

I didn't get much else done today but I'll say it was worth it. I love our new bathroom closet!!

Pics of the Boys

Grandparents have been bugging us for more recent pictures of the boys. So to oblige them, here are some random pictures of the boys.

All playing quite happily together with .....
LEGOS!
The toy that brings brothers together!

Bacon sleeping.

Bacon makes this face A LOT! I've tried numerous
times to get a good shot. This is one of the best.
Usually he hams it up and smiles when I pull
the camera out.

We don't actually have any type of pool......

Pach and one of his monsters.
He LOVES to draw them.

My happy little baby. He adores the camera!

L to R: Pach, Aunt Hannah, Bacon, Pickle and Uncle Matt.
(Emily's sister and husband)

L to R: Pach, Uncle Sam, Bacon and Pickle. Not sure
what sign Pach is making or where he picked it up.
(Emily's brother)

I just love the faces in this one.

Mean old pirate No. 1!

Mean old pirate No. 2!

I think he was cold but I'm not sure. We were
in UT and it was about 30 degrees out.

My happy little baby!!! Ok, happy big baby (for us)!
He weighs more at 9 mo than Pach did at 18 mo!!!

I just really like this face too!

Nothing, I mean nothing slows him down.
He does everything on the go!

Bacon had so much fun playing in it,
Pickle had to try it out too.

Pach and his beloved Dino.
Yes, Dino has a shirt on. He got it for Christmas.

We were taking silly pictures.

Sometimes I'm not really sure how they actually
get any sleep......

Maybe it's easier to sleep cramped up
surrounded by pillows, blankets and animals
in long pajamas in 80 degree weather?

Another picture of his look. He looks slightly
amused to me. Normally he doesn't.
Usually his face is all business and no fun.

Stuff

We've done a lot since I last posted about their bathroom. I did make some curtains and put them up in their bathroom. I have plans for the garbage can just haven't gotten to that yet.

They really like the new curtains.

We went to the zoo a couple times and even managed to see more than one of the new elephants! The boys always love going to the zoo, even Bacon.

Mostly we've just hung out and played. Here are some pictures to enjoy. 

He LOVES the water!

We left them alone for a few minutes after Tim had put
water in the container. This is how we found them.

Killing two birds with one stone. 

Pach likes the boat too.

We joke the vacuum is his best friend. In truth,
 he does love it! If it's out, he's playing with it.

Eating an ice cream cone. It's a green one and
he loved it!

Putting the stickers on paper that Grandparents Parker
sent them. It kept them busy for a few hours.

I was in the house and Tim yelled, "I need help!" I ran out to this!
We can no longer let him play outside alone! Or so I thought.
The bench is now somewhere he can't get too!! Hahahaha!

All enjoying an evening playing in the sandbox. 

And Pickle sharing his pink ice cream cone with Bacon. It was so sweet and I didn't even prompt it!

Mother's Day

I guess I should blog about Mother's Day. Tim got me season 1 of "The Lucy Show" and the boys got me flowers. I also got a chocolate bar with a specially made Mother's Day wrapper on it at church. Cadbury Chocolate Bar with toasted almonds. Tim brought me home another one with caramel inside.

1st bouquet of flowers. I liked them but a
 lot were wilted, bent and fell apart. I was pretty upset.

The note from the boys.

The 2nd bouquet of flowers. I called about the horrible
condition of the first one and this got sent out.

The Boys Bathroom

A conversation between Tim and myself a couple weeks ago:
Me: "I want to redo the boys bathroom."
Tim (with a VERY concerned look on his face): "What do you mean REDO?"
Me: "I thought I would get a new shower curtain, rug and a couple other things."
Tim: "That's it? No paint?"
Me: "Yep, that's it."
Tim (with a much more pleasant look on his face): "That's not a redo that's just changing the shower curtain."
Me: "OK. I want to change the shower curtain, rug and maybe get a couple other things that all match."
Tim: "Fine."

I think the boys will really like it. I did everything after they went to bed. I'm just wondering when we'll hear screams of joy and delight. If one of them goes potty or gets a drink and is awake enough, we'll definitely hear something tonight. One will probably get woken up out of delight. If not tonight, I'm not sure when. They don't always go to the bathroom upstairs when they get up. Both seem to prefer the downstairs bathroom.

Anywho, I picked a CARS theme and here are the before and after pictures. I don't think I'm done. I have to decide if I want to get the toothbrush holder, soap dispenser and trash can. I think the boys would LOVE that but I haven't decided yet. What do you think?

We've had this shower curtain since we moved
to Tucson in May 2005. The plastic rings too.

It was in our apartment, townhouse and
this house. It's been around.

L to R: Mater, McQueen, Francesco and Max.
Not seen: Raoul and Shu.

This shower curtain is about 4 in. longer
than the last one. And I would say a lot
more fun!

The McQueen rug. I was going to put it in front of the sink
but since there are stools there, McQueen was hidden.

Out to lunch

I hosted a baby shower this week and in order to make things more festive and fun I loaded up my little men into the van and took off for the party supply store. They had a blast! Everything was fun and exciting for them and they were slightly less fun and exciting for me. Ok, A LOT less fun and exciting for me. I'm just thankful no one else was around us in the store. If there had been I am pretty sure they would have been plowed over by 2 very happy and energetic little boys. 

Then it was off to get Pickle more new shoes. Both he and Pach needed new shoes for this summer so an earlier trip provided them with new sandals for Pach and bright yellow Sponge Bob crocs for Pickle. Yes, bright yellow which he proclaimed "they are my favorite mom" meaning he really likes them a lot. In fact he "likes" them so much he wouldn't wear them. They "hurt his feet." So we walked down a store and took another look at some shoes. Guess what we found? BLUE Sponge Bob crocs. Guess what Pickle said? Yep, "they are my favorite mom!" I quickly told him if I got these new ones he would have to wear them all the time. He couldn't wear anything else. He agreed and off we went. It was a good thing we got them too. Pickle was wearing the highly sought after and always fought over blue Diego crocs Pach got last year. However, they are no more (Hallelujah!). While at a friends house I noticed the picture of Diego was coming off, so they ended up in the garbage. And wouldn't you know, suddenly the blue Sponge Bob crocs are wonderful. "They don't hurt my feet mom! I love them!" Amazing what color can do!

So after that exciting trip it was around lunchtime and since we had more stops to make I decided to drive them all across the parking lot to The Village Inn for lunch. They were so excited and happy, even Bacon. I let them pick what they wanted and surprised me by eating more than I thought they would. They even helped me eat my piece of pie. The whipped cream was the favorite part by far. And they all had fun and they weren't too crazy and loud so I had a nice time too.

Though he refused to dip the fries in the ranch,
he found the saltine dipped in ranch to be "delicious".

He loved that burger!

There was a TV right above us. Bacon enjoyed
 looking at it and smacking his hands on the table.

What was left of my Keylime Pie. 

"Heaven Is Here"

I recently finished reading a book entitled "Heaven is Here" by Stephanie Nielson. In August 2008, she was in a little Cessna flying with her husband, Christian and his friend/flight instructor Doug. They were in a horrible crash. Their friend Doug passed away but Christian and Stephanie survived. Christian had a broken back and both were badly burned though Christian not nearly as bad as Stephanie, who flat-lined a couple times in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. She would be in a medically induced coma for 3 months and would barely survive. The book is written in parts and the first part recounts their life before the crash. The rest of the book recounts from the time Stephanie woke up from her coma through her first year of recovery. It is an awe inspiring book and although Stephanie is LDS (Mormon) it is a book about faith, hope, God's love for us, acceptance, tolerance, healing, true love, etc.

It got me thinking, really thinking about a lot of things: life, death, obstacles, family, traditions, what I am teaching my children, love.....and more. I haven't quite sorted out all my thoughts. However, I do agree that Heaven is here. I once heard someone say, "I know what hell is. Hell is when you are separated from your loved ones." I've actually heard that said more than once by people who have lost a loved one much too soon. Heaven is here because family is here.

I'm not sure I am completely done with this topic but am for now. At the age of 8, I was baptized and I received a plaque with a poem on it from my grandparents. It is actually part of a song. For the full lyrics http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/w/h/whatgodh.htm  However, I leave you with only the part that was on my plaque.


God hath not promised skies always blue,
Flower strewn pathways all our lives through;
God hath not promised sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow, peace without pain.


But God hath promised strength for the day,
Rest for the labor, light for the way,
Grace for the trials, help from above,
Unfailing sympathy, undying love.