Temple Yay!

We went to the temple yesterday and Kinsey was very excited about it. She would point and show us the temple. I cut the video off too soon cuz she kept saying "Temple Yay!" and clapping. And as we drove away she waved and said "Bye Temple". I sure love my Kinsey!

Show or Phone?

Kinsey is a little parrot. She will repeat everything we say. Well almost everything. She will not say "phone". She actually argues with us saying that it's a show and not a phone. And boy does she love phones. She's always trying to snatch a phone to call Mama.

Cool Stuff

I told you in my last post that our fridge died on the weekend. Tim was working nighshifts so he didn't get a chance to look at it until yesterday morning when he got home. He found out that our fridge wasn't a complete write off and it could probably be fixed.

Kinsey was very interested in what Daddy was doing to the fridge and had to get right in there with him. (Please ignore the crazy morning hair.)After watching Daddy for a bit she wondered away and came back with a little step to sit on. But watching wasn't enough, she grabbed the screwdriver and got right in there with Daddy.

The repairman came later that afternoon and got our fridge working for us. (Nothing that $$ can't fix right? haha) Thank goodness cuz it was really inconvenient using coolers out on our back deck for our food. The guy was here for about an hour fixing our fridge and the entire time Kinsey had to be there watching him. He had the fridge pulled out on an angle and he was kneeling behind it. Kinsey had to go around to the other side of the fridge where there was about a 6" gap between the wall and the back of the fridge. She peeked at the guy through the little gap. She kept saying to him "Fridge? Fridge?" I guess she was wondering what he was up to. But she was also very polite and kept offering him a cookie or a drink. She'd say "Cookie? Ya? Drink? Ya?" Over and over again. It was really cute. I wish I took a picture of her peeking through the gap at him.

I took "advantage" of our fridge being empty to give it a super good cleaning. Every corner is sparkling and it's all nice and organized. The freezer had to be cleaned as I had melted popsicles all over in it (it sucks when your stuff thaws). Kinsey loved the clean fridge. When I'd turn my back for a second she'd climb right in, but kept telling me that she was "Freezing!" (She makes tight fists and shakes her head and arms when she says "Freezing". It's so funny. She does it when we're in the freezer section at the grocery store too.) Ya, it's supposed to be cold Kinsey.

Even with the shelves put in she pulled out the crispers and tried to climb in there. She was very upset when I put the food back in as she no longer had a "cool" place to hid. :)

My Kinsey even makes me laugh while cleaning the fridge. I'm so lucky to have her. She makes everything fun!

One of THOSE weeks...

So last week stunk! (Is that even a real word?) We had some bad luck. I found myself walking around saying "Seriously? Seriously?" after more things kept going wrong. (I think I watch too much Grey's Anatomy.)

First, our check engine light in our car came on so we had to take it to town to find out what's wrong. The problem can be fixed under warranty but it still cost us from them to look over the car. But on the way to town a stupid bird flew into the car's grille and broke it. That was Thursday night. So I guess that was 2 bad luck things.

Then we headed to Jaffray for the weekend and had a bunch of fun, but when we got home on Monday we found out that our deep freeze wasn't closed tight. Yep, a bunch of thawed food. What a waste. I had to throw up so much. More bad luck.

Then Kinsey woke up Wednesday morning with a rash that covered her from head to toe -- seriously. Back to the doctor we went. She has a viral rash and an ear infection. No fun! (I checked out the calendar and since her cracked elbow ER visit the very end of October we've been to the doctor every two weeks since. Each for real things too. Not just a paranoid Mommy. Man!)

Then on Thursday night Tim was backing out of our driveway to head to work and he backed into my sister's car. Tons of damage on Britnee's car and our bumper is all cracked. Ya, $$$$! And we don't want to put it through our insurance cuz our insurance rates would go sky high for the next 6 years. Not cool!

Then Friday night I kept hearing a clicking noise coming from the kitchen. But I couldn't find out what it was. Well Saturday night I figured it out when I noticed that my freezer was completely thawed. Yep, our fridge has now died too. It's only 5 years old! Sheesh!

I had an appointment for lasik eye surgery for this weekend, but I had to cancel it after all this stuff happened now. I'm bummed. I hate wearing glasses and I can no longer wear contacts. What do ya do though? Gotta fix cars and fridges instead.

Yep it's been one of those weeks where I'm nervous to go outside cuz something may fall from the sky and land on me. haha. Gotta laugh or else I may just cry. Ya that was one awesome week. But it's all okay cuz none of that is a big deal right? I have all the things that really matter. The rest is just stuff. However...

Seriously? Seriously? Ya, seriously!

Get Organized

I know, I've so been neglecting my blog. With good reason though. I've been working on my new years resolution. Normally I don't make them. Okay actually I've never made one before (shocking I know). But I did this year and it is to "Get Organized!" And I've been doing it. It's so refreshing.

So this all started because I have been told by many that it's really time to move Kinsey out of our bedroom. Fine! But moving Kinsey out of our bedroom caused a domino effect. You see, to move Kinsey into her bedroom would mean that I would have to clean out the spare bedroom. And to do that would mean that I'd have to sort through all the baby equipment, baby clothes, and clothes that Kinsey still hasn't grown into yet and move them to the basement. Which also means that all of our papers/filing that in that spare room needs to be moved to the basement as well. Which means then our basement needs to be organized as it is totally junk/clutter chaos down there! See... It's not that easy just to move Kinsey out of our bedroom.

Anywho, we started....

PROJECT #1: Actually this has nothing to do with moving Kinsey to her own room. It was to make sure my 2009 Journal was completely done. Printed! Saved! Burned onto a CD! CD placed in our fire safe! First thing crossed off the "Get Organized List" that I have taped to my kitchen cabinet.

PROJECT #2 and #3: Kinsey and I spent a couple days sorting through all baby stuff and clothes and organizing it into LABELLED bins for storage in the basement. But while I was doing this I thought it was also about time that I sorted through mine and Tim's closet/clothes and donate a bunch of those too. We donated a ton of clothes. Feels so nice to be rid of all those. So now the spare bedroom closet and our closet both look fantastic. Well Kinsey's closet has turned into her toy room now, but it's still pretty fantastic as it's not baby stuff storage. Two more items crossed off the list.

PROJECT #3: On Tim's days off we tackled the insane basement. There were seriously boxes down there that were unopened from the day we moved here 3.5 years ago. Junk, clutter, garbage, and more junk! Two full days down there and we emerged with an amazing basement. I spent $200 on bins to store everything and boy was that money well spent. Everything is where it's supposed to be and in LABELLED bins. We did take an entire pick-up truck loaded above the cab with garbage to the dump. Can you believe we had that much junk, clutter, garbage, and more junk in our basement? Well if I had a before picture of our basement you'd believe it. We have a food storage area (stuff like you'd put in your pantry - soup, KD, flour, sugar, etc.), our actual food storage (the stuff like wheat, beans, etc. that are supposed to last 30+ years), our emergency kit stuff, an exercise equipment area, TV area, a guest bed, and office space. Crossed off the list! (This "before" picture of our basement is actually from a few months ago and it wasn't quite this bad anymore. It was organized chaos instead. Yikes!)

PROJECT #4: While dejunking the basement I also dejunked my "junk" cabinet in the kitchen. Much nicer! Crossed off the list!

PROJECT #5: Papers! Ugh! I swear I have way too many. But we've moved them from the spare room and they are now in my new office space in the basement. My filing cabinet is now all organized, but I'm still working on filing some papers and doing some (okay a lot) of shredding. Kinsey doesn't like this project very much (or really she messes up my piles of papers and scatters all the shredded paper around - so helpful) so I save it for when she's napping and I have all the house work caught up. It waits for me patiently in my basement. Almost done that one though.

PROJECT #6: Move Kinsey's crib to her own bedroom. Done! Well her crib and clothes are all down there. But that deserves a post all on it's own. Crossed off the list! (Someday I'll actually decorate her room - it's just not on the Get Organized list.)

PROJECT #7: Organize the garage. This was actually one of the first things done. I don't remember exactly when cuz I didn't do it. Tim did it! Maybe he did it when I was finishing up my 2009 Journal. I dunno. But it's done. Crossed off the list!

PROJECT #8: Move all our fixed bills over to be paid by our credit card. Hey, we're paying them every month anyways. So we might as well use our credit card and get the points then pay it off. Right? More points on the credit card equals more free groceries. Nice! Crossed off the list!

PROJECT #9: The pantry! Kinsey and I tackled that one yesterday. Okay, I organized it and Kinsey tackled it. A pantry has way too many things for little hand to get a hold of and make a mess with. First she dumped some of those Little Graduates finger foods (kinda like cereal) and then walked all over them crushing them into the floor.... I cleaned them up. Then she got some mini marshmallows and dumped them on the floor and then stepped on them.... I cleaned them up. Then she got the raisins and dumped those on the floor and then stepped on them.... I cleaned them up. Then I finally was able to finish up the pantry. I can actually see the floor in there now and everything is back in its place. Lovely! Crossed off the list!

PROJECT #10: Submit our benefits. Ya, I've had a clip on the fridge holding all our benefit stuff from 2009. Yikes! I wasn't really worried about submitting it (even though it was on the list) as it didn't think there was too much money there that we'd be reimbursed for. I was wrong. I did it all up yesterday and we are going to get a really nice cheque in bit here. Okay, a REALLY REALLY REALLY nice cheque. Ya, looks like prescriptions, vision care, and chiropractic appointments really add up over a year. It's gonna be sweet getting that money back into our pocket. Crossed off the list!

So I know these don't seem like a lot, but it has made HUGE changes in our house. We're getting closer to being totally organized and it feels like I can breathe again. I swear the disorganization was drowning me. Mostly the junk and clutter was drowning me. The other stuff is just nice to have organized. We've been busy as this is all being done while still having to do normal, everyday housework. It's a lot of work, but I'm loving it! Still have lots to do (it was a long Get Organized list), but I'm just glad things are getting crossed off.

Church Day

Is it brain washing when I say "Church Day! Church Day!" and Kinsey replies "Happy! Happy! Happy!" For real, that's how it works around here on Church Days.

Our Church is at 9:00 and for us girls that don't usually wake up till 9:00 that's early. So morning comes and I'm rushing to get me and Kinsey dressed, hair done, and fed. As well as snack for Kinsey as sometimes she doesn't eat her breakfast quick enough and Nursery snack. So to keep the two of us (and Daddy if he's home) motivated and "running" to get to church before 9 then I keep saying "Church Day! Church Day! Happy! Happy! Happy!" I honestly say it all morning while getting ready and not on purpose. I just say it now out of habit I think. Well now all I have to do is the "Church Day!" part and Kinsey finishes up with the "Happy!"

Nursery is really coming along. It feels like my nursery now. I have 10 kids -- the junior nursery. They're all 2 and under. But it's good. I actually really like being the nursery leader. Totally exhausting though. I feel like I'm standing on my head for two straight hours. So when I do the Church Day Chant it's probably more for me than anyone else. Keeps me going! Try it next Sunday. It totally works. And you can even get your kids on board with the chant, but probably not your husband. (Tim said yesterday morning as I was running around getting everything ready that I was like a "junk yard dog". Oh yes, he did. And it was so true. Whatever, 9:00 church is early and we got there with no time to spare. See...... haha)

CHURCH DAY! CHURCH DAY! HAPPY! HAPPY! HAPPY!