Christmas in September???

For those that know me well or even kind of know me, know I LOVE the holidays from Halloween thru Christmas. My husband and I share this love and enjoy shopping year round for Christmas. I don't like feeling overwhelmed when the holidays actually get here, so we make a point to start early. The challenge becomes where to store the gifts. They are usually just thrown in the top of our closet, and we cross our fingers that something doesn't get crushed or lost up there. In years past, I have purchased something and totally forgot about it. I would usually find it the next holiday. I can't be the only one?!?! Well, today I began working on a solution. My first step this year was to create an ongoing Christmas list on my computer. Every time I purchase something, I add it to the list with the name of the person and cost of the gift. I am curious to know how much we end up spending on Christmas every year. With a newborn in the house, we have lots of diaper boxes. I decided to use those to help with storage and organization. You can't beat free. In order to dress them up, I cut off the top flaps and wrapped them in wrapping paper. I then used some chalkboard clothespins I found in the dollar section at Michaels to label each box. I can easily see the labels even when they are in the top of my closet. So far, I have created one for kids that are not my own and one for the fabulous ladies in my life. I plan to make one for each of my boys and a family box for aunts, uncles and grandparents. Check out the finished product below. How do you organize Christmas?

Sweet Dreams Are Made of These

Well, it is hard to believe it has been a little over a month since we welcomed our third son into the world. We have all enjoyed soaking up every minute of this little guy. He is already such a blessing and has completed our family.

Our newest addition has made me start thinking about how different you are as a parent to your first than you are to your third. For our oldest, we registered for everything under the sun and quickly realized we didn't need most of it. Our third, who is just as loved, is wearing all his brothers' old clothes. However, there is one item we bought for Walter that we didn't have for my other boys, and it has been a game changer. My husband and I chose to co-sleep with all of our children while they are little. It's not for everyone, but it feels so natural to me to have your baby within arms reach. Not to mention, it makes middle of the night nursing sessions so much easier. We all know one of the biggest newborn challenges can be getting them to sleep without someone holding them, but Fisher Price now has a solution. The Fisher Price Deluxe Newborn Rock 'n Sleeper is amazing! It perfectly cradles a baby, so they feel as if they are being held. The slight incline is great for helping with any tummy issues baby may have, and the vibration provides the perfect amount of movement. When I first put Walter in it, I will make it rock slightly until I know he is good and asleep. He absolutely loves it and sleeps so well in it. Plus, it makes me rest easier too because I can put it right beside the bed and check on him often. I position it so his head is the opposite direction of mine, so I can easily see his face. I wish this was around for my other boys, but I am thankful to have it now. Trust me, it is $60 well spent!

                          

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Money, Money, Money

Some good friends of ours introduced us to Dave Ramsey. After listening to the cd's, we were hooked. Being the "nerd" of our finances, I love every minute of creating our budget and putting cash in our envelopes. We began our adventure in February, so I made some cute heart envelopes out of scrapbook paper, and I was going to change them out every month. Well, things don't always go as planned. I just threw out those heart envelopes yesterday because they were finally falling apart. I decided to be more practical and focus on durability instead of cute. Therefore, I used plain envelopes and made some labels for them. Click on the links, and you can download the labels for free: Cash Envelope Labels 1 & Cash Envelope Labels 2  Keep in mind that we do not use all of these. I just wanted to provide some variety. You have to figure out what works best for your family. Once I put my labels on the envelopes, I laminated each envelope using my laminator that I have for my classroom. I cannot tell you enough how much I love this thing. You can purchase your own here: Scotch Thermal Laminator I was able to fit three envelopes per page. Those laminating sheets are like gold, so it is important to fit as much as you can on each one. After laminating, I cut each envelope out. I then used a razor blade to follow along the seal of each envelope. That was the hardest part. You have to press down hard enough to break the seal, but if you press too hard it will go through to the front. Check out the pics below to see the process and the final product.

These are the envelopes after they have gone through the laminator.

Carefully cutting the seal.

Success!

The final product. Not as cute, but will withstand the wear and tear of "lots of cash."

Until we meet again...

It is hard to believe that there are still some schools in session! We got out about a week earlier this year, so I am on week number 5 of summer vacation. Of course, I have already been thinking about and working on my classroom for next year, but I wanted to share some end of the year ideas before I moved on too much. Two years ago, I gave each of my students a sand bucket with their name on it. I got the sand buckets from Michael's for less than a $1 each. Michael's ends up being a better deal than the Dollar Store because I can use my teacher discount.  In each bucket, I included an end of the year letter, their report card, a summer reading list, some sumer activities, a dvd of our class photos from the year and a compliment book. The compliment book is my favorite thing we do at the end of the year. I got the idea from TPT: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/End-of-the-Year-Class-Compliments-FREE-704033 The kids love reading all the nice things their classmates say about them, and it makes for a positive way to end the school year. I also did the candy bar awards, so their candy was in their bucket as well.

Since I have the same students for two years, I had to do something different for this school year. I had been wanting to try my hand at tie-dying, so each child got to tie-dye a shirt for their end of the year gift. It was definitely more intense than I thought it would be, but it was well worth it. They loved their shirts and enjoyed getting to wear them to our end of the year party. 

Everything is Awesome!!!

With the Lego Movie coming out this week (and yes, it is awesome), I thought a Lego post would be most appropriate. My husband, who sometimes reminds of President Business with his love and need to preserve toys, loves to incorporate Legos into his art classes. Those lessons tend to be his most popular with boys and girls alike. I know our house is busting at the seams with Legos and everything is awesome until you step on one. For our children, Lego creations are works of art that need to be on display, but they are also hard to store. Check out a couple of the solutions we came up with.

My mom had some old Pepsi crates, so we decided to use one to store some Lego figures. I hot glued one or two yellow blocks into each compartment. Some of the slots were broken, so I had to improvise. Then, Quintin got to pick the figures he wanted to put on display. For our many Lego pieces and instruction guides, we also found this cool storage at my mom's house. She had it in her carport, so it was in pretty bad shape. Let's just say lots of spiders and rust were involved. However, it looked brand new after a good cleaning, sanding, and an awesome Lego yellow paint job!

Pinwheel Spinning Around

With some inspiration from Pinterest, I created some pinwheel centerpieces this school year. Our school colors are blue and gray, so that determined my color scheme. I was able to find the perfect scrapbook paper patterns at Hobby Lobby. Then, I used the tutorial I found here: http://www.littleloveliesbyallison.com/2011/06/wall-art-light-airy-part-1.html  My pinwheels did not need to spin, so I stapled the center and hot glued a button over the staple. After my pinwheels were done, I hot glued each pinwheel to a wooden dowel. I had my husband use his saw to cut off some of the dowels, so the pinwheels would not all be the same hight. I then used plain mason jars to hold the pinwheels. A beautiful wedding I was lucky to be a part of used white beans in their centerpieces, so I borrowed their great idea. I also wrapped the mason jars with some twine using hot glue. For a finishing touch, I placed each centerpiece on a woodgrain piece of scrapbook paper to keep the rustic look going. I also made a thank you banner using a pre-made burlap banner I purchased from Hobby Lobby for around $5. I then took some letters I already had in my classroom and added them to the banner. First, I laminated each letter and then hot glued them to the banner. I really liked the way it turned out! Check out the pics below.

For the love of trees...

We love trees in the Miller house, but apparently we love making art more. Finding a nice balance is hard when our oldest son can go through an entire ream of paper in 1 week. Nothing makes him happier than when I bring him home a fresh pack. However, figuring out how to store all these masterpieces has been a challenge. He is his biggest critic, so he has no trouble figuring out which pieces to keep. The picture below shows about an hours worth of work. In order to save on space, the majority of his artwork I store online using ARTKIVE, http://www.artkiveapp.com. I downloaded the app for free, and all I have to do is take pictures of his work. You can also make books of their work, but they are pricey.  

Finding a solution for his artwork was only half our battle. We all know how much paperwork comes home from school as well. You feel guilty when you throw any of their cute work away, but I try to only save the best of the best or work that shows a major milestone in his development. Of course, you want to keep any awards or special recognitions. At first, I tried using a binder, but that got a little tedious and not everything I wanted to save would fit. Then, I decided to use the same technique I use for my students' work in my classroom. I purchased a hanging file folder box for each of my boys. I then labeled the files for each grade. So far, it works great. I just open the box and drop in anything we want to keep. I store the boxes in their closet, so they are out of the way. I made a cover for each of their boxes using a laminated sheet of card stock. The font I used is elise from Kevin and Amanda. If you have not stopped by and downloaded their free fonts, you need to now: http://www.kevinandamanda.com/fonts/freescrapbookfonts/ Check out the pics below to see how they turned out. I would love your feedback, so leave me a comment:)

Cover

Labeled files starting with preschool 

Work samples 

Finding Sunshine

This year I created a box of sunshine for an end of the year teacher gift. I got the idea and free printable off of Pinterest from this website: http://happymoneysaver.com/send-a-box-of-sunshine-to-brighten-someones-day/ The basic idea is you fill the box with yellow items. I was able to find most of my items at Michael's, Target and The Dollar Store. I did venture to Bath and Body Works for their Kitchen Lemon hand soap. For the box, I used a cake box from Michael's. Check out the pics below to see how it turned out.

Making room for a party of 5...

Baby boy number 3 will be here in a little over a month. Unfortunately, our house we bought almost 9 years ago has not grown like our family has. So my response to, "Do you have his nursery ready?" is "Yes, his corner is all done!" We co-slept with our other 2 boys when they were little, so that part will not be that different. The part that is becoming a challenge is figuring out where to store all of his stuff. Even though Quintin and Emmitt slept with us, they still had their own room. Our master bedroom is 12 by 12, so space has always been an issue. With a little help from Pinterest, I think we came up with some creative solutions. Check out the pics below. Here's to making the most out of small spaces!

For his wall, we included a picture of his big brothers and his
 namesake's Navy retirement plaque. 

For clothing storage, we found some drawers on a Facebook resale
page. The drawers fit nicely under our bed. We are hoping to add
some sort of wheels to the bottom of the drawers. 

We used the top of our dresser as a changing table.

I was able to move my out of season clothes
to our hall closet to make some room for hanging storage.
Our closet is already pretty small.

I added some baskets to our console table in the living room for
some toy and book storage.

I also put some baskets under our coffee table for more diaper
and wipe storage. On a side note, I am glad I got one last picture
of this bowl. Emmitt broke it about 5 minutes after I took this picture:(

No place like home for the holidays!

Since we completed the renovation of our kitchen and dinning room, we began working on our living room. The living room is the reason we bought our house. It came with beautiful hardwood floors and plantation shutters, but the L shape made it hard to maximize space. After 7 years, I think we finally got  it right. I still want to add some to the office area, but I will figure that out later. It is time to enjoy the holidays and stop working on our house!!!

Yes, Thomas is a regular show on our tv! We found our amazing entertainment stand
at a garage sale for only $50. 

I found our curtains at Target. We put some sheer white ones in the middle
to breakup the pattern. Of course, I got the idea on Pinterest. I really like the
way it turned out!

We found four of our frames at Hobby Lobby and painted a couple of our old ones.

Paul made me a trunk one year for Christmas. We recently painted it with
the chalk paint and decided to use it as our end table. Info about
the chalk paint is below. The lamp came from Hobby Lobby, and the
shade came from Target.

The table and chairs are from Target.

We found this console table at an estate sale and painted it. I wanted to use chalk paint,
but it is so expensive. I did a search on the computer and stumbled across an amazing blog,
I heart Nap Time. I used her chalk paint recipe, and it turned out great. Here is a link to the
recipe http://www.iheartnaptime.net/chalk-paint/. I just bought cheap paint from Wal-Mart. My
husband added the chevron stripes to our cork board. It is a great Christmas card holder
and display for children's work.

This is my office area. Paul added shelves for me, and I can't wait to fill them!!
We found the desk on a Facebook resale page. I added the cute owl knobs from Hobby Lobby.

Old Souls

So it has been a really long time since I have written a post. I keep a pretty detailed blog for my class, so it takes up a lot of my writing time. A lot has changed for me since the last time I wrote. Paul is still working at my school with me, and he is teaching 4 art classes after school. We finally got our kitchen, dining room, and garage renovated. It is wonderful, and we are so happy with how it turned out. We are currently on a hunt for chairs to go with our huge dining room table. Before and after pics to come soon! After we finished our renovations, my mom passed away unexpectedly. I am still in a fog of dismay. There are good days and bad days, but in the beginning it was feelings of pure trauma. We watch people deal with death in some way, shape or form everyday, but you truly never understand until it crosses your path. It is gut-wrenching and empty. The range of emotions you can feel in one day are unsettling and unnatural. I have always felt I have an old soul, but grief ages you tremendously. I am experiencing what they call compounded grief. I lost my grandfather only a year and a half ago. Anyone who truly knows me, knows what he meant and still means to me. I am now left to watch my grandmother age and suffer through this as well. She is amazing and strong, and I fear the day I lose her too. With each new day, my boys and wonderful husband push me forward. The pain changes and morphs, but for right now it is always there....

Welcome to EaselTown!

Welcome to EaselTown: population 4! In the fall of last year, I talked about Paul's decision to leave his full-time job with benefits to join me at my school as an educational assistant. It was difficult for us all to give up that security blanket, but it was a much needed change. The artist inside Paul was dying to get out. He has always done what he must to take care of his family, but when you are given a talent like the one he has it just doesn't go away. The change has been great for him. He is able to get the boys to and from school. He gets to paint more and teaches art after school. It is also nice for us to get to work together. However, money continues to be a struggle, but we know it will all balance itself out. We are still recovering from the year of maternity leave I took with Emmitt, so this new change has put some pressure on our pocketbook. We may have to give up things like cable, but we don't have to compromise who we are and what family means to us. Paul recently began a new venture that was inspired by our boys. He has been painting day and night on a series of children's paintings. We revamped his Etsy shop and named it Q-N-EaselTown. Q is Quintin's nickname and Easel is Emmitt's. He has really had a blast paintings these. Stop by and check it out: http://www.etsy.com/shop/EaselTown  Support the art community when you can!

Big Changes to Small Spaces

So after not having any success selling our house, we took it off the market. What huge relief it has been! It is not easy keeping a house with 2 toddlers immaculate everyday. After taking it off the market, we decided to start making our house work for us no matter how small it may be. Without any hesitation, we started moving furniture, cleaning out, and selling what we didn't need. Our yard sale was a huge success, and we sold lots of our stuff on facebook. We also decided to refinance and make some serious renovations. I am happy to say that our appraisal came in today at what we needed it to!!! Hopefully, we will be closing soon and getting started on the renovations. So far, the boys' bedroom is the only space in the house that is even close to being done. Here are some pics of some of the changes. Please keep in mind our master is only 12 by 12, and the bedrooms only get smaller from there.

We got the picture ledges at IKEA to display some of their books. I originally wanted to get the spice racks you see all over pinterest, but IKEA did not have them when I went.

We moved our old shelves to their room and framed Quintin's class photo.

We got them their own mailboxes to hang their coats and hold their notes from school.

I spay painted their old frame, and Paul painted the nightstand before Emmitt was born.

They now have bunk beds, and they are such a space saver! I love the extra storage in the stairs, and we got the trundle for when we have someone over. 

We also framed some of Quintin's art and put them above his bunk.