Stuffety Stuff

Let's catch up on some Cazier adventures and the randomness that follows us from day to day.

First, shall we rewind five years or so? I went to a garage sale and found some wooden hearts on posts. I bought five thinking it would be really fun to paint them and put them up around Valentine's Day, outside maybe. I was going to paint one for each child. (Hmm...at the time, I may have been planning on painting four for the children I had, and one for myself. Either way, it worked out.)

But I kept putting it off and then they got hidden somewhere in the garage.
And then we moved.
And then they were hidden in our current garage. (Really, when I went looking for them, they were in the attic storage above the garage.)

It seemed it was about time to get them done. (Who says I procrastinate projects?) However, now the girls were old enough that they didn't want me to make one for them. They wanted to make them themselves.

Fair enough. Out came the paint and brushes and creativity and this was the end result.

Awesome huh? I never would have made them so different and original. I'm so glad I waited for the kids. Left to right, who painted them: Ivory, June, Robyn, Daisy (of course) and Pearl and Mom did the last one. I really love them and can't wait to put them up next year.

I have mentioned whined in the past about all the projects June has to do for school. I see some things she works on head out the door, but other things she will just tell me about because they are finished at school. Today I stopped by school to bring her a mathbook she forgot and it was fun to see some of her projects on the wall.

This one is built from assignments throughout the year, starting with the self-portrait that was done months ago to the writing assignment finished last week.

This next project was done in art, I believe. The dessert stand was a somewhat 3D project, followed by the clay project in which they made cupcakes. They looked so cool.

Here is June's a little closer.

Here is another wonderful rendition of a skeleton child done with dominoes, except this time Dad flipped out because Pearl had been sick and he made June sanitize all the dominoes. Less fun. (Even less fun was the week that she couldn't keep anything down. Hate throwing up.)

Some wild turkeys live near Ivory's gymnastics. We took a picture of them before. But this particular day, they were in the parking lot, and right outside the car.

Ivory jumped out and told me not to move because I would run over a turkey. One just circled my car for a while. Not the brightest bird in my opinion, and I heard they were clever.

Finished another dessert plate. Five down, three to go.

This is a great picture in my estimation. It proves that I curl hair every once in a while and take the kids out for treats.

June kept telling me Costco had three Gelato scoops for only $1.50. I finally caved. I think everyone approved of my moment of weakness.

Here is my carpool buddy. She is a bit sassy, but usually I don't mind her company.

March is annual flip flop buying month. I'm sad to say that they aren't $2.50 anymore. The price increased a dollar. Blah. Stupid inflation. But flip flops must be bought.

Things change too quickly. Just last year, my flip flops were the biggest. (Barely.) This year, June's are bigger and Robyn's are the same size. Crazy.

Several of my friends are building houses right now. Thankfully, I am not jealous at all. I love my house and I know we are where we are supposed to be. But as I get occasional tours, I still see things that remind me that I want to make some changes around here. One thing I desire is a mud room. In our entryway, there is no place for backpacks and jackets. We do have a standing coat rack, but it gets overloaded and the backpacks just get shoved in the closet in the most haphazard way. Yikes. It is awful.

I asked Tyler about letting me take over some space in the garage. I could build some locker type area where kids could stash their backpacks and coats.

He said "NO!" (Something about not wanting me to take over more space in HIS garage. Blah, blah, blah.)

Next, I thought about redoing stuff in the closet. I took out the top part of the little bookcase. But I couldn't fit five backpacks on there. I just wasn't feeling it. This is the picture mid project. It doesn't begin to show how awful it was with all the backpacks piled in front, plus coats and such hanging from above. (Which I had already removed.)

I had mentioned putting some hooks inside the closet, but I wasn't sure how I wanted them, and there is always the problem of support and making sure they aren't going to just tear holes in the wall. (I am not the best at finding or caring about studs unless you count the one I caught fifteen years ago.)

Suddenly Tyler was in project mode. He got out some wood we had in the garage and put the kids to work.

(The paint choice was mine. When you have girls, you just embrace pink.)

Boards finished, he bought hooks and assembled. Look how fantastic!! (And those babies are secure!)

I took out the shelf and let backpacks take up space at the bottom.

And now for the final reveal...

It is so nice. The kids don't have to stuff their backpacks in. Everyone has a hook. The coat rack isn't overloaded. The organized section of my brain is smiling.

The moral is to adapt. I think we did pretty well this time.