Messy Mittwoch: Its the little details...

... that make a difference.  So in an attempt to remind myself to think positive, I've started printing out and putting up quotes and verses.  This one's above the dining table, a good reminder as we start the day with breakfast.

Go here for the printable (and more verses too!).  The roses were chosen by Junior J during our supermarket trip, and he paid the cashier and carried it all the way home.  I love how the flowers come thoughtfully packaged with a little pack of powder for mixing into the water to help the flowers stay fresh longer:

Oh, and these Easter eggs from a friend are sitting on the window sill of our dining room (yes, we are still slowing going through them!).  The colours make me smile:

Do you have little corners in your house that make you smile?

PS: Thank you for your encouragement and prayers after my previous post.  I realize I need to keep looking and hoping in Him!

Messy Mittwoch: Our washi vase

Hello!  I've been desperately trying to catch up on housework after our trip (there is a HUGE pile of clothes waiting to be folded as I type this), but I hope to be back to blogging soon.  Meanwhile, here's one of my favourite corners of our currently messy house, the window sill which has been designated our nature corner.  Junior J places all his findings here, and to house his twigs we used a tin can.  And we washi-taped the can to give it some spring-time colours!

Gotta cook, I hope you've been having a blessed week!

Messy Mittwoch: Today...

:: The toy tornado has left a trail of destruction around the house, and this is probably the neatest part of it:

:: The hubby and kids are sleeping in because everyone's schedule got rather messed up from the trip.  Junior J has been coughing off and on, and he threw up his dinner all over his bed and blanket and pillows and toys on Monday night, so his bedtime was pushed back even further.  We figured we might as well let them wake up later, since we do have to start getting them used to Europe time!

:: There is a whole load of laundry from the Penang trip waiting to be folded...

... and there's still unpacking to be done:

:: I'm rather overwhelmed by the kids clothes, and have no idea how to pack for the move.  I spent yesterday sneezing my head off, and sorting the boys' clothes by age.  Junior J's wardrobe is more straightforward, since he won't grow that much.  But for baby J, there's the 3-6, 6-9, 9-12, 12-18 month clothes to factor in!

Oh well.  Gotta sort more and continue packing now!

Messy Mittwoch: You know you have kids when...

:: You constantly trip over toys and stuff scattered all over the floor.  (Stepping on lego is mighty painful, btw.)

:: You find a scorpion lurking next to your computer, and a wombat staring at you in the shower.

:: You get a literal breakfast in bed, involving a lumpy pillow because toy fruits have been stuffed under it.  And steak on the bed head.

:: You spend half your life washing something: a poopy butt, a potty accident, dishes, spills, clothes, little grubby hands.

:: You spend more time swinging and less time working.

:: Your sofa has green stripes on them.  Permanently.

:: Your bed is constantly being un-made, as the pillows and blankets are needed to form deserts and volcanoes, and the bolster is needed as a roller coaster ride for Daffy duck.

:: Your study shelves have suddenly been overrun with Curious George books and learning materials, which are so numerous they are piling up in boxes on the floor.

:: You and your spouse have a standard list of descriptions with regards to the size of poop, like nugget, pisang and pellet.

:: You hear the pitter patter of feet coming to greet you when you come home.

:: You make-up silly songs about everything and anything, such as apples, wombats and zebras!

Anything else to add?

PS: The toy tornado has been driving me nuts, so yesterday I enforced clean-up time, which resulted in a massive tantrum... but we're going to make the little boy pack up every day (we used to do it, but I think it lapsed after awhile).  Meanwhile, we've just gotten an Expedit bookcase to house his books.  Just looking at those neat little square compartments makes you want to get organized!  (You can take a peek at some examples here...)

Messy Mittwoch: Dustballs, out!

I've been swinging like a pendulum for the past two weeks.  Ping-ponging between the two extremes of feeling extremely tired... and having these crazy bursts of energy where I start these cleaning frenzies in the middle of the night.

So since I've not been able to sleep, I've been able to turn this:

... into this.

This was our bedroom dresser.  Atrocious, wasn't it?  It used to be a dumping ground for stuff that had to go elsewhere, plus receipts and whatever else the hubby would empty from his pockets (those things sorta never got cleared!).  Now the dresser surface is clear, and I can finally use the CD player again!  There's also space for two more baskets, one for Baby J's toys (which have all been soaped and washed, yay!), and another to catch the normal pocket "debris" that comes out of the hubby's pockets (loose change, receipts and whatever else).  I hope the surface stays clear!

Messy Mittwoch: Simple solutions

Hooray!  We're finally a little more ready, room-wise, for Baby J.  The cot in our room has been cleared of stuff (it used to hold piles of clothes, plus odds and ends), and the baby things we need to use for the first few months have all been dug out and washed.  Now I'm just waiting for a sunny day to sun the mattress, and to figure out what to hang up for this little boy's mobile.  Junior J had a flock of paper cranes and a hot air balloon... and I'm wondering if I should hang this and this up for his little brother.  (Am thinking it'll look more balanced it there are three, but I'm not sure if I have time to fold another!)

And on a not so related note, we've had quite a few friends remarking on our little shoe rack for Junior J when they come over, so I thought I'd just share it here.  I've always found it hard to store his shoes, since all those small footwear seem to get all jumbled up in a regular shoe cupboard, so we just lined them up on a sturdy shoebox near the door.  It more or less fits 4 pairs of little shoes/sandals, and the boy can get at them/return them easily.  Nothing fancy, but I love how it works out!

Ok, I need to go and put in a few more things into my "hospital bag" for D-day.  You'd think packing the bag this round would be easier, but I can't seem to remember what were the things I packed/needed last time!  Guess the good thing is the hospital tends to provide many essentials (like baby diapers!), but do share, what were your essentials in the "hospital bag"?  (Ours would probably include the teeniest, tiniest onesie possible, since the last time Junior J was just too small to fit into the stuff his clueless parents brought along!)

Messy Mittwoch: Art supplies, arranged

Junior J's art supplies have finally been packed!  These used to be scattered and stored in various parts of the home, but over the past 2 weeks I've managed to sort them into some semblence of order.  I thought it'd be useful to have them easily at hand, so that we can pull stuff out in a jiffy for a project, especially when we'll be extremely busy when Baby J comes along.  

So now, the supplies we regularly use are in little basket (from Arab Street), which is just the right size to fit 4 of those Ikea plastic cups containing varying materials like markers, crayons etc.  Each time Junior J needs to work on some art piece, we just need to pull out one or two of these cups, and return them back into the basket at the end.  There's also some space to store his art journals, watercolour set, playdough mat, scissors, and a whole bunch of stickers.  

All the remaining supplies have been kept in a shelf in the dining room (which is where most of his art gets done).  Most of the stuff we don't frequently use (other types of markers, puffy paint etc) go into clear plastic boxes (from Daiso).  Playdough and clay-making materials (eg. a mini-rolling pin and cookie cutters) have been stuffed there too.  I've yet to find a suitable box for some things, so I've resorted to just stuffing them on the shelf or putting them in a ziplock.  

So far, this system has been working well for us since I can see everything I have at a glance, and get stuff out quickly when I need them.  The basket also allows Junior J to see his materials, and he has been enjoying being able to choose what kind of materials he would like to use during normal drawing/doodling sessions.

How do you store your art materials?  

Messy Mittwoch: Packing for baby

Hello!  I won't hang around for long today, since I've loads to pack for baby.  I've finally gotten down to getting the baby clothes out of storage, washed, and the newborn stuff packed into some sort of order (I tried to get Junior J to help today, and was showing him how tiny the baby will be... he was interested at first, but then decided the most fun thing to do would be to fling all my neatly folded piles everywhere!).

There's still loads to do though, since there's still bags of clothes to be sorted: Cold clothes for both boys (donated by friends, for the move next year), all the other clothes for baby J (who has quite abit of stuff since we have hand-me-downs from friends, plus his brother's stuff, PLUS gifts), and Junior J's clothes that he's outgrown, or has yet to break into.  Its quite amazing how much clothes they have, and I'm very sure Junior has more clothes than I do!

One of my headaches is storing the tiny stuff for Baby J, like the bootees and mittens.  We had a shallow drawer with compartments for those when it came to Junior J, but that drawer is now overflowing with art materials.  In addition, I'll have to store baby's stuff in our bedroom, since baby will be rooming with us before we move next year.  So I've just stuffed them all into one compartment in the drawer for now.  Any ideas or tips for this?

Messy Mittwoch: Crafty storage

More packing has been going on, as usual.  One of the areas I've been tackling has been the study, since my craft materials have experienced an explosion (for some reason, most scrappers seem to experience this... scrap stuff seems to take on a life of their own and multiply like mushrooms after a rain!).  Guess its time for another scrappy giveaway soon!

Anyway, a problem I've had is trying to store my tools in an appropriate place.  Everything used to go into plastic boxes into a cabinet in the study, but that meant I had to walk over from the table and dig them out every time I wanted to craft. Half the time I didn't use things, since I either forgot I had them (out of sight, out of mind), or was too lazy to dig it out.  Packing up after each project was a pain, since the table was scattered with tools and bits and bobs and I had to gather everything and put them back in boxes in drawers (hubby was always complaining as well, since he'll have no space to work when I was in the midst of a project!).

I've found that having things at hand, in view, would be most ideal...  As punches rank as one of the most frequently used tools on my list (since I use them for Junior J's and my own craft), I dug those punches out of their box (they were bursting out of the box anyway!), and planned on getting one of those little metal racks meant for storing stuff in the kitchen.  I chanced across a rather pretty white one, in one of those shops that sells all the random stuff like buckets and batteries, and was quite delighted when I managed to squeeze in all my punches neatly into two shelves (after some shuffling here and there of course):

The top shelf houses the smaller punches, like the Daiso ones that I frequently use with Junior J,
while the bottom level holds the border punches and the larger punches.

Now cleaning up is much easier, since I can just put back the punches immediately after using them, instead of leaving them scattered all over the table!  Its also a bonus that I can easily get to any punch I want, without having to rummage inside a box...

For more ideas on storing your stuff, take a peek at my pinboard on smart storage, and if you're searching for craft storage solutions, check out the Crafty Storage blog... those pictures of organized craft studios can really send you into a packing frenzy!  

How do you store your craft materials?

PS: Speaking of crafting, have you taken part in the Cup Critter giveaway yet?  You just need to hop over to the Facebook page and leave a comment! ;)

Messy Mittwoch: Some progress

I've been using little pockets of time here and there (of 10 minutes or so) to clean and declutter when the hubby is away.  When the in-laws were here last week, they voluntarily helped with some of the kitchen cleaning, and my FIL also helped me to clear up my really messy garden (he's the one with the green fingers).  And finally, I think we're seeing a little bit of progress here and there.  Here's one area that took a blasting:

This was our really messy piano top, which had all sorts of bits and bobs scattered on it.  I cleared everything off, gave the cloth runner a wash (but decided to do without it finally, to allow for easy dusting), and this is the end result:

Little boy brought back flowers for me from a trip to the market with his grandparents. :)
And I love our calendar, which features different artwork each day based on Bible verses.

The other side of the piano has a lamp and this phototray (one of my fav projects!).  All clear!

Have you been decluttering too?  Which areas have you been working on?

Messy Mittwoch: More recyling ideas

We've had a tiring day thus far (with a trip to the National Museum in the morning, where the boy walked alot, and still had to walk all the way to the MRT station after that) and I gotta go and peel a whole bunch of potatoes, so its gonna be a short post today.  

Anyway, after reading the great ideas shared by all of you in the previous post on using recyclables for play (thank you for sharing!), I realized there have been quite a few more ideas stashed away in the archives, so here they are:

:: Making music instruments like rattles ...

:: Making other instruments like drums ...

:: Treasure bottle activity (also pictured above.  Now they have become part of Junior J's kitchen, and he pretends he's cooking the rice, or uses these as salt and pepper shakers!)

I realize these bottles are gems in the play department.  Do you use these too for your child's playtime?