Fave Five for Friday 2

This week has been a real stretch to come up with 5 favorite things. It wasn't my best week, it started on Monday with a "short" dentist appointment that lasted over an hour. I should have been concerned when the dentist started working and asked if I was up for a challenge. My dental work is finished! The temporary crowns are off, the new crown is on, the filling is in and I can chew on both sides of my mouth.

So, on with my favorite things from this week...

1. Docking Stations. Honey put 2 new shelves in our under used hall closet. These are the kids docking stations, landing strips, whatever you want to call them, for their school bags, books and supplies. They are working great! Both kids have been putting away their bags and we haven't had to hunt for lost books. And the best part...the clutter is off my living/dinning room floor. I got this inspiration from the blog I'm an Organizing Junkie.

2. Reusable/recyclable shopping bags with handles. These are so great for grocery shopping. The handles are actually usable and they don't multiply in the cabinet like the cheap plastic bags do. I have store brands for the two stores I go to the most and pink one for other shopping.

3. Mail! I got mail with real stamps. I have to admit I do love to get snail mail, this week so far I have gotten 3 cards and a free vitamin sample. Yippee!

4. Quote. "Don't let what you can't do interfere with what you can do!" This came out of a fortune cookie, inspiration can come from anywhere.

5. Too funny. Yesterday saw an ad for Miche Bags on the side of a car, and being a purse girl, thought I'd better check this out, but just didn't get to it. This morning when I went to Living to Tell the Story, there was a link to these bags!! They are very cute, and are on the short list to replace the "Mommy Bag" when the time comes. They also come in pink.

Fave Five for Friday

I came a cross a blog early this week called Living to Tell the Story, and last Friday Susanne wrote a blog listing her favorite 5 things from the past week. I thought this was a great idea and this week she invited everyone to join in so here it goes.

1. TWO great first days of school. Lauren thinks 8th great rocks and her teachers are awesome! Caleb is very excited about kindergarten they get snack and 3 recesses!

2. Lunch out with the girls. A group of us moms went out to lunch. Our kids all went to preschool together last year and started kindergarten this week. So we went out to lunch at a restaurant that didn't have toys with the meals. It was a lot of fun.

3. Date night. Philip and I had 3 hours without the kids, we went out for coffee and were able to carry on a conversation that didn't involve super heroes, or cartoon characters.

4. Quilting. Once a week I get together with 2 friends and we quilt and talk and laugh...a lot!

5. Flowers. Caleb and I planted sunflowers seedlings in the spring and not only did they not die they are blooming!

Ready or Not

Kindergarten here he comes! Today way Caleb's first full day of school. He was very excited about his first day, especially when he found out they have snack! And three recesses! He did a great job going to school until we reached the gym where they wait for the bell to ring, the gym was very loud and Caleb got a little over whelmed by it. We didn't have any tears and he had a great first day.

School Day

Today was Lauren's first day and if it is any indication of how our year is going to to it will be a good one. Apparently "8th grade ROCKS!". She only had good things to say about her teachers, she has friends in her classes, her locker is the first one in the hallway, more elbow room, and she has P.E. last hour. I am very glad she had a good first day, I hope we have many more like today.

Assembly Required

One of the N.U.T.s I wanted to finish before the kids went back to school was to get shelving for their rooms. What prompted this "little" project was the crash heard round the block, Lauren's shelf fell off the wall, back at the end of June. Since then her trophies have been sitting on her floor in a laundry basket.

So, as a family outing, the last weekend before school started, we were going to get shelves! I decided free standing was the way to go it has a better flexibility factor, Lauren likes to move her room around a lot! The plan was hatched before Phil hurt his knee, so after a slight adjustment in my plan, I strapped on my fit flops, credit card in hand and headed out on my mission - shelves! Or in the event of failure - chocolate.

Success at the first store! I love Target! They had two bookcases, 72" high by 23" wide with 5 shelves, when these are full it is time to get rid of "stuff". They required assembly. I can do that I assembled my 2 shelf bookcase. After finally getting both shelves in the house, they are a bit longer than I am tall, I started working about 3:30. I got the first shelf done, fixed and ate dinner, then started on the second. I got 2 shelves put together, grouped my other pieces, pulled out the long sides and piece 8N was broken! Not a problem, well, yes it was but now that the boxes and shelf parts were all over the house there was no option but to finish the project, somehow. Half an hour of phone calls later another shelf was found and they would replace just the part I need, I didn't have to start all over! Back to Target (the newest one "in town" has a Starbucks in the store!). It was now 8:45, very close to my bedtime, I put my screwdriver in my pocket and went to work.

I finished the shelves, had them in place and ready to fill at 10:00 only 6 1/2 hours after I started. What I learned in the process, other than how to use a drill, was that deciding I could do this was the most powerful tool I had. At any point if I would have said "I can't do this" I would have been right and I the shelf parts would be scattered all over the house. Instead the kids have nice bookcases and they are starting the school year organized. That after all was the mission - mission complete!

Just For Fun

It's in the bag, the mommy bag that is. That's the nickname for the bag that holds everything from my essentials to other peoples gum, candy, toys, phones, sunglasses and sometimes I think maybe the kitchen sink is in there. The mommy bag is now one year old. From someone who is an admitted purse junkie that is a long time for one bag, but I finally found a bag that I like the look of and love the function! I bragged on this purse so much my sister and my sister-in-law are both using the same purse in different colors. Just in case I can't find another one when this bag wears out I have a back up in my closet, and I got that one on sale!