Accessorizing

Yesterday all the toys and the big TV that was consuming my living room moved downstairs. Today I cleaned like a mad woman. And now it looks like this... EMPTY!

I haven't had a toy-free/baby-stuff free room in 4 years. So, now that the room is not the kid zone, what should it be? Honestly I do not know. Well obviously it is a living room, but there are NO accessories. None. The snowman lamp will stay out for awhile, but other than that I've got nothing.

They (the proverbial they- that is) say you should look in your closet for inspiration when it comes to home decor. Since my daily stay-at-home Mama attire mostly consists of scrub pants and fleece zip ups, I'd say that is not the best inspiration. Hospital meets the artic? No thanks. They also say you should think of accessories for your home like the accessories you wear, like jewelry I suppose. Again, a miss, I don't wear accessories. What exactly do you accessorize scrub pants with? A stethoscope? Although I do love me an old fashioned medical cart for a bar, and once upon a time I owned a set of speciman jars {it was college and I think they were used as drinking mugs} I don't particulary love the idea of fashioning my home after a hospital. The last time I was in one the color scheme was mint green and dusty rose.

A room just doesn't look complete until you accessorize it... and clutter doesn't count! I think that might be why I love Christmas so much, all the decorations. I don't have any for any other season or holiday. My great aunt Lulu was into that, she had boxes labelled for each season and changed the decor accordingly. As a kid I thought it was weird, my Mom didn't do any such thing.

I've never bothered to buy many accessories... maybe because of my fear of it looking cluttered. It is my belief that if you have too many things you don't see any of them.  According to Style at Home Mag:

Accessory overkill


"There seems to be a general feeling that if one accent piece is good, 10 are better," says Sue Bennett of Bennett Design Associates in Uxbridge, Ont. Wrong! "Stick to the KISS principal -- keep it simple and stop," she advises. Display single items of larger pieces or groups of three for smaller ones, otherwise you create a "cluster of confusion," she says. "If you're creating a theme room around an item -- like birdhouses, for example -- find one wall to display them on and then stop." That means no birdhouse patterned throw cushions, or birdhouse-themed wallpaper.

We once had an aquaintance that had so much stuff it was hard to be in her house, you were overwhelmed by the stuff. Your eyes needed a reprieve. I vowed never to allow that to happen in my home.

Or maybe it is directly related to the 4 little hands that seem intent on being into everything. Yes, it must be the 4 little hands that deter me. The thoughts of all of those pretty jewels being broken.

Now though it almost looks like a model home, I'm not saying my house is pretty enough to be a model home, it just has the lack of personality that comes with model homes. So off I go on the hunt for cheap, unbreakable accessories. Bite the bullet.

Those days

Today was one of those days. We have a lot of those days lately. My two boys don't ever seem to want to do the same thing, unless it happens to be getting into things they're not supposed to. They're in cahoots then. Partners in crime. Like with the pouring of the coffee cream into my couch. Yeah.

There's a lot of whining. A lot of fighting over toys. A lot of chasing. A lot of falling down and bangs. No is every other word, both said by me and them. We have entered the talk back stage with Dylan, and the terrible twos are in FULL swing with Dawson. (I have Mommy amnesia because I don't remember the twos being THIS TERRIBLE). Brotherly love is not the theme in this house. More like brotherly rivalry. All.The.Time. I'm sure someday they will grow out of this. I hope.

Someday I will look back upon this and feel a longing for the early years, despite how overwhelmed I feel these days...I know it will happen. Lord, please let me survive until then!

Jacquelyn

Rewind

I kind of sort of stole borrowed this idea from Shawni's blog Life. A verbal snapshot of the year. A scrapbook without the pictures (because I am still using the laptop, which doesn't have 90% of the years photos).

Dylan has a pretty amazing grasp on the English language for a 3 year old. His vocabulary is stellar, but he has trouble with f's and l's still... the word off comes out oss.

Speaking of speaking, Dawson too has a pretty broad vocabulary too, he was so quiet for so long now he's always saying something... he has his own language too... here are just a few Dawsonisms:

Dacey=his blankey
Dapchies=chips
Pobbiedoo= Ski doo, for the longest time I was sure he meant scoobie doo, but apparently I was wrong
Memona= oatmeal- which he will eat EVERY morning for breakfast
Tawson = Dawson. Or more commonly he refers to himself as baby

Dawson rarely says please unless proded, but ALWAYS says thank you (and now your welcome)

We are now in the superhero stage in Dylan's life. I will have to get that boy a cape, and something tells me he may never take it off... just like the pajamas that need washing EVERY day so he can wear them again the next night. In fact he would rather wear pajamas all day instead of clothes. Pajamas and a cape. Cute.

Dylan hates socks, he never keeps them on his feet. They are all over my house.

I hate socks too, not the wearing them part, but trying to match them after they've been washed.

There are a million dinky cars in my house, some which I'm sure the boys don't even know they have. Well I'm pretty sure Dylan does... he has a memory like an elephant! There are firetrucks, and lego, and tools everywhere too... frankly the boys have too many toys!

I am sure Dawson will be a mountain climber someday, the boy climbs everything. He's resourceful too; dragging boxes, baskets, chairs you name it he drags it to the kitchen to climb onto the counters. I can almost always find him on top of something he shouldn't be.

Dylan has become a better eater- though still very picky. Dawson has decided he doesn`t really like to eat anymore.  Dylan now sleeps much better, Dawson not so much. Ah stages.

Bruce was diagnosed with diabetes this year. The positive? We all eat a little better now.

We finally finished our bathroom, well almost after not having a sink for way too long. We redid the basement... twice thanks to the flood.

Bruce and I finally (after 6 years) set a date for our wedding, and have since changed it 3 times. I agreed (after a very long standoff) to change my name, he agreed to marry me. Well at least now I get to monogram stuff.

I don't take enough pictures. When Dylan was a baby I was always toting the camera around, the last couple years... not so much :(

Jacquelyn

Fabric

I have this um... love affair with fabric. It's one of those obsessions that doesn't even make sense considering I CAN'T SEW. One of my goals for this year is to learn, but I think I might be setting myself up for failure... remember the patience post? Yeah.

Already I have purchased kits from Sweetwater for next Christmas, and I am eyeing more and more fabric everyday. I blame it on having a Mom who can sew, and loving unique and handmade items. My newest obsession?

My almost 2 year old is at the stage where he has outgrown his crib. It's sad and happy at the same time really. Sad because since he is my last baby I think I would like to keep him that way forever. But a baby he isn't, and so a big biy bed he needs. Happy because it means getting to redo his closet er...room, since it is all based upon his baby quilt right now. However, it's a small room so I can't overwhelm it in color... and since it is already painted blue and white I thought why not add brown to the mix...  now if only I can convince my Mom to make yet another quilt...

Being Present

It's been a zoo around here since Christmas. With 2 preschoolers it's always a bit of a zoo. It has occured to me that the kids really do follow my example, perhaps more than I even realize (or care to admit). When I'm in a foul mood, they respond in kind. When I am upbeat and energized about the days events, they respond in kind.

It dawned on me that I may have choosen the wrong word. I thought I needed to be more disciplined, and while I know that is true in many cases, (financially, cleaning, organizing, purging, eating right, etc) when it comes to the kids and what they need most isn't about Mama being disciplined, it's about Mama being present. In mind, body and soul. About living in the moment with them. Seeing the world through the eyes of a child is enlightening. It brings me back to a time before innocence was lost.

When I had Dylan I convinced Bruce that me being a stay-at-home Mom was important. It was not something we entered into without thought. I was convinced that my model was better than daycare, and while I understand that it's not the case for everyone it was what was right for us. I was present with Dylan, we were engaged everyday in activities. We both learned a lot in the 2 years that it was just the two of us everyday.

The year Dawson was born everything changed. That January, Bruce bought a bankrupt company, and while he wasn't aware at the time of the poor financial situation that came with the company, it didn't take long before we were snowed under. Dawson was born in February, and by the end of that month Bruce was away 4 days a week and locked in the office the other 3. It was just me, a 2 year old, and a newborn. We were broke, beyond broke even. I was exhausted. I didn't have enough energy to do the normal everyday chores, let alone find fun, engaging activities to occupy my 2 year old. I was no longer really present. Sure I was here everyday; feeding them, making sure their clothes were cleaned, running around doing chores. Chores, that's what my life felt like, like everyday was a chore. My "job" of being a stay-at-home Mom became nothing more than a JOB, and I was a disgruntled employee. Underpaid and definitely overworked.

That year almost split us apart, we almost became a statstic. Thankfully eventually Bruce realized that we could no longer survive that way. So he got a haircut and a real job. If it sounds like I'm making light of the situation, rest assured I am not. We are still feeling the after effects of that year around here, we are still trying to recover. I have yet to bounce back and be the Mom I once was, the one who was present. It's what my kids deserve, even if it's hard I vow to be there this year and from now on. No one ever said it was going to be easy, this parenting thing.

A Give Away

Traci over at Beneath My Heart is having a give away! Go check out her blog, Traci has great ideas, and they're thrifty too! I look forward to reading her blog everyday, and wish I had a Goodwill around here to peruse and find such great deals that I could make over!

The give away is for one Lisa Leonard's designs. Lisa Leonard makes the most beautiful jewelry and goodies! I'm such a sucker for handmade, personalized stuff! I think my favorite might be the Heart Strings Necklace... because my boys definitely tug at my heart strings! Or the baby spoons, or maybe the 2009 ornament (because I collect pewter ornaments you know!).

Thanks Traci for introducing me to such a wonderful designer!

organizing we will go...

There's something about January that makes me want to organize, happens every year. Perhaps it is all the added stuff that has come into the house from Christmas, maybe it's because every flyer and magazine starts talking about finding storage space, and organizing your crap. Right now my focus is on the playroom, kids toys have a way of ending up all over the place. I found a great idea from "Happy Helperz".

Happy Helperz makes three organizational products that enable children of all ages to learn to take responsibility for themselves and their belongings. They foster independence by empowering kids to do things on their own. That, in turn, builds self-esteem, confidence and happy children—who help their mom.

Sounds like heaven! These labels are pictograms which help kids visualize where to put things, and they velcro to the box. The package comes with 22 lables, for $15. I could probably make them myself with some cardstock, a few clipart pics, a laminater and some velcro... but I figure that by the time I purchase all my supplies I will not have saved myself any money.

Now, what to do with the bins...

A word

I am not one to make resolutions, I suppose because when you can't fulfill them you wind up disappointed in yourself. However, there are a lot of changes that need to be made around here, and they all go back to one word. Discipline. No, not the iron fist kind but the self kind. That ONE word sums up what I need to be in order to make the changes we need. We need to exercise fiscal restraint (that's going to take A LOT of discipline!), we need to have schedules and budgets and routines and actually stick to them.  We could all use a little more discipline in our lives this year!

My biggest pet peeve is clutter, it makes my brain feel cluttered. I need to have enough discipline to clean it all up before it gets cluttered, before it overwhelms me. The kids need to be taught self-discipline before they wind up having to make resolutions!

Jacquelyn