Family Weekend!!

My parents and Justin and Tia came to visit for a weekend!

The weekend started off with my parents and I walking to the Farmer's Market. A little boy was making balloon animals so we picked up one for Addie and one for Erin. 

Doggy and Turtle

A close up of the turtle. 

We had to take my family to meet baby James! 

(A look into their future!)

Justin is so good with babies!

I was surprised at how quickly Erin took to Tia and Justin! 

We took at trip to Frederick Meijer Gardens

Whoops.. we didn't "see" the sign.. 

Getting ready to go on the Sculpture Bus Tour

We were super excited! 

AH!

Yeah.. I'm that strong! 

Seriously hilarious! 

Practicing for August 17th, 2013

We had a wonderful time together. It was the perfect combination of fun and relaxation! 

Happy 4th!

Happy 4th of July to you and your family!!

I have been on vacation since Saturday morning in Hart, MI! I spent so much time reading, relaxing, crocheting, swimming, playing in the water, eating delicious food, chatting with family, playing games and doing a whole lot of nothing! 


This evening Ben and I are back in Grand Rapids and enjoying our evening celebrating our country! We'll be picnicking in East Grand Rapids with watermelon, yummy drinks, and chips/salsa while playing a few games and relaxing before the fireworks begin. 


I hope you are enjoying your day with family and friends! Thanks to all who serve and make our country so great! 

The Great Campout

Summer has been crazy busy and so much fun! One week in particular was extra fun!

June 12th/13th - James' was born

June 14th- we celebrated our anniversary 

June 16th- The Great Camp-Out

Justin and Tia along with Danny and Chelsea (we all went to High School together) went camping for a night. Ben was working so I took a day trip to camp with them in Climax, MI!

I arrived first and took a picture of the huge campsite. 

Justin pulled up in style... look how close he was to hitting the picnic table!

YIKES!! Skill or luck?

Our morning beverages. Can you guess which one is mine and which one is Justin's? Coffee or beer? 

We all have the same style blue chairs. Ben and I got ours 2 years ago! 

Danny and Chelsea brought their fur-child, Moose! 

He really was a good boy! 

Lunch: sandwiches, chips and watermelon. 

We went on a walk to check out the trails. They were narrow, filled with thorny plants (and poison ivy!), and all of them dead-ended. Not too exciting. 

The beach was filled with people and no dogs or alcohol was allowed so we went and hung out on the boat docks instead. Moose loved playing in the water and we loved watching him. 

Daddy Danny playing with Moose. 

This is how we traveled around the campsite. 

The twins preparing for our fishing trip!

Chelsea was clearly super excited! 

Yeah fishing! We had so much weight in the boat we were taking on water and the motor barely moved us!

It probably didn't help that Moose and his cage joined us, but we couldn't leave him out of the fun!

Chelsea's first fish. She caught two! 

Fishy Love!

My one and only little fish! (I've only been holding fish for a year! I am so cool!)

XOXO

Tia and I were bummed with our inability to catch fish. Only 4 were caught by the 6 of us!

Danny's big catch!

Moose wasn't as interested as I thought he would be. 

After fishing the boys cooked us dinner, Tia made us popcorn, we made some smores', had a few drinks and ended the evening around the fire. I headed home as the sun was setting and made it home to see Ben when he got home from work!

Thus ends photos from The Great Campout 2012!

OH: Weeks 22 and 23

Organize Your Home: Week Twenty-Two

Laundry Room Organization

Steps for this week's challenge:
1. Consider The Functions Of Your Laundry Room. What do you do there - fold laundry, store laundry supplies, iron, pre-laundry activities (like soaking stained clothing) or drying clothes on a rack/line. 
2. Declutter Your Laundry Room
3. Organize Laundry Room Areas To Perform Functions Efficiently
4. Make Your Laundry Room Pretty and Inviting


For me.. 
1. Our laundry room is in the basement.. and I fear the basement.. many many many spiders live there and I fear them. In saying that.. I spend as little time there as possible. The only function for my laundry room is to wash and dry clothes. 
2. Our laundry area is already decluttered. The only thing around is our laundry detergent bucket and a trash can. 
3. I have laundry areas upstairs which I will show below.
4. Ideally we will have a pretty and inviting laundry area.. but again the spiders have taken over.. so I'm not decorating anything down there! 


Now for some pictures of our laundry areas!

Before

After

I cleaned off the tops of the machine. Emptied the trash and put in a garbage bag, got rid of the old Tide laundry detergent from a previous tenant and swept up a pile of gunk on the floor. See that big white bucket on the left side of the picture? 

Let's look inside...

I make our own Laundry Detergent! Get the recipe here! 

The rest of our laundry supplies are upstairs in our pantry. 

Iron, laundry detergent (I transfer it from that big bucket to an old bottle), dryer sheets, all the ingredients to make the laundry detergent and a basket with a lint roller, stain stick, fuzz buzzer, cloths pins and a Felz-Naptha bar. 

I have two drying racks in the closet in the dining room. The dining room/bedroom becomes my drying area. 

I use a bucket for my foot soaks but also for soaking clothes to get out stains, the bucket hides under the bathroom sink in the bank. 

See it! The tan thing in the WAY back! When I need to soak clothes I do it in the bathroom next to the sink. 

Organize Your Home: Week Twenty-Three

Laundry Organization

Steps for this week's challenge:
1. Consider Where To Place Laundry Baskets 
2. Put A System In Place To Collect and Sort Dirty Clothes
3. Put A System In Place To Put Clean Clothes Back Where They Belong When Laundry Is Done
4. Create A Laundry Schedule And Stick To It


For our family of two in a small apartment our laundry situation is an easy one. 

In the white basket: towels, whites, sheets

In the white hamper: everything else 

I do laundry on the weekends or the occasional Friday or Monday. Pretty easy! Usually two loads a week. I fold the laundry in the living room while watching something on TV and then jam out to music as I put the laundry away.