Miles' Debut Performance

I am seriously behind (again) on the home blog. I am going to attempt to catch you up for the month of November this week. Miles made his stage debut this month when he performed with his class at my Mom's N More Bible Study brunch. He is the adorable little boy on the front row with the blue polo - and showing his abs off to the entire audience.
Growing up, after every performance - choir or piano recital or whatever it was - my grandmother would tell me how proud she was. I blew it off but I now know that feeling. I was beaming! Miles you sang beautifully and did all the motions perfectly! I am so proud of you!

Fall Fest...

I am so behind on this blog. Instead of trying to play catch up, I am going to just pick up starting right NOW.
Here are pics from one of our halloween festivities. We do a little trick or treating at our friend's (gated and safe) neighborhood on Haloween night, but really a two year old only needs so much candy and his little legs only go so far. 5-6 houses down a street seem like miles to him. Our main event is our church's fall fest out at Lake Nixon. It was perfect weather - not too hot, but not too cold; the leaves were turning; and it wasn't raining, which seems to be a near miracle considering we have had 20 inches of rain this month (no exaggeration.)

Miles with Daddy on the paddle boats.

There is a new sheriff in town. Miles and Grant were both cowboys. He wouldn't wear his bandana in the front like a tough cowboy so it's turned around here.

Playing one of the many games - chicken toss.

Tough stuff. This is my favorite pic from the night. It was also the only two seconds he wore the hat.

I participated in Trunk-or-Treat. This was my trunk. After agreeing to participate I realized that I don't have very many halloween decorations so I stuffed the boy's skeleton pj's.

Potluck chili supper

Bonfire with s'mores.

Miles and his loot.

Office Potential (Fall Nesting Giveaway)

I am somewhat mortified to post this for the world to see. I don't let guests see this room. I close the door. I don't clean this room either because - well, look at it! You know those reality shows on HGTV where you can't possibly believe someone is living like that and that they must have just made it up so they could be on that show. I have one of those rooms but unfortunately, it is not made up.

Then I find the "Get Inspired for Fall" makeover on The Inspired Room. When they said "show me the room you would like to work on this fall," I didn't have to think about it. I really could use that Home Goods gift card as inspiration to turn my office into something useful - other than a storage facility. It has potential but it hasn't been unleashed yet.


Can you believe this is where I work? You would think the need to de-clutter my office and mind would be incentive enough to do something, but I have one thing working against me. Time. I generally take care of my two little ones all day. I get a moment here and there but no large chunks of time to take on a project like this. I cook dinner, clean up the kitchen, and then head back to this room that is called "my office" to work, but if this was at your place of employment, I'm not sure how long it would be until a harsh reprimand would be directed your way.
This room has potential. We have several great pieces to put together a great office/family room but we can't see the trees for the forest. Maybe I should turn this into a 4 step rehabilitation program.

Step 1. Admit you have a problem.

My room is a big mess. Clutter is attracted to me. We are spacially-challenged as a family of 4 living in 1300 sq.ft. And piles- yes, I use the pile system.
I have a problem. It's obvious. In my defense, I will say that all the junk the middle of that room will be gone in a week. I am working on preparing these items for a consignment sale because this is the room where I work -whether it be tagging items, or crafting, or blogging, or doing my graphic design work. Maybe that is why my head seems to be in a cloud. I'm swimming in clutter.
There I admitted it. Big breath. It's going to be Ok.


Step 2: Take inventory - the good and the bad

There is a lot of potential in this room. This desk is good. It was my mom's desk from her childhood bedroom set. I LOVE it. You just can't find new furniture like this. That lamp on my desk would be super cute if I could ever spray paint it. That box on top of my printer - great colors, so cute. You see that painting in some of the other pictures - that was Mason's and my joint gift to ourselves on our first anniversary. It reminded us of the river next to where we went to college together. We have a sleeper sofa in this room that no one can ever sit on because it is always crowded with junk. I even have a slipcover for it that I am not smart enough to figure out. And who would want to sleep in this room anyway since it is such a black hole?? There is a piano too - however out of tune it might be! (I want to schedule the tunning but have been embarrassed by the mess.) This could be such a fun family room, but no one but me spends any amount of time here. And who can blame them?

The bad is simply the hodge podge of junk that ends up in this room because it has no where else to live in our house. We need designated places for things. We need a plan so that just the odds and ends of crap that no one wants doesn't land here. And if no one wants it - let's just get rid of it.

Step 3: A Plan
The first matter of business would require a large garbage can. Then homes need to be made for all the stray matter. This room is an orphanage of junk. We obviously have some storage and organization issues that could be fixed with things like baskets and maybe a storage ottoman. I would like some new curtains. The ones in the top picture don't really go. They were leftovers from my college dorm room - 12 years ago!!! I need a color scheme to tie all the stuff I love together. I might just use that cute colored box next to my desk for a starting point. A smaller office chair would help make the room seem more airy. I also think some furniture reorganization of the room is in order as well. The piano and my desk are fixed real estate but I would like to make a cozy reading/playing areas with floor pillows. And wall hangings. I have a mix of wall hangings that could go up if I would decide on the furniture arrangement. I have committment issues with wall hangings. That is a whole other story.

Step 4: Stick with it.
I have attempted to clean this room out before. I had a great start just a month ago. I occasionally clean off my desk vowing to never let it sink to the previous level of absurdity and yet it seems to spiral into the likeness of a storage facility. If there is a clean surface all those little pieces here and there that don't have homes start accumulating since it is the easiest fix. "Company is coming over? Lets just shove everything in this room and close the door." That is a habit that needs to stop.

With my luck, I probably will not win the gift card. But even if I don't I am trying to set myself up for success because there is the factor of accountability. I hope that in a few weeks my friends out there will ask me how the office is coming along. And instead of rolling my eyes and saying, "Oh its a mess." I can say, "Fantastic. You should see it now!"

Photo Fun

He is going to hate me for this when he is 14 but how could I not show this off? Every great tennis star needs monster rain boots. He put the boots on all by himself and on the correct feet as well, and then came tromping down the hall singing/screaming at the top of his lungs with his tennis racket swinging (which is actually a No-No here at Hazelwood house.) This picture also shows off Miles pre-haircut.

Here is Miles post-haircut. He looks like a big boy now. We were practicing for naptime at school by sleeping on his mat on the floor of his room. Even though he did go to sleep that afternoon, it didn't help his first day of school. He was the only kid in his class that did not take a nap at all. Boo Hiss.

Grant and his cousin Dylan. They are 3 mos apart. We did not call and coordinate their outfits. I promise. Grant looks like he is going to crawl over Dylan to get to his mommy. "Get out of my way!" They are both very busy and fast little boys.

Grant's shaggy hair after a really good nap. It is getting time to get his hair trimmed so he doesn't look quite so unkempt. It is long around the ears and in the back, and ALWAYS wants to stand up right in the middle on top. I hope the Dennis the Menace hair does not indicate anything else.