O is for organizing

I didn't really make any New Year's resolutions but I did start The One Year Bible. I'm on January 9 so maybe it'll be a two or three year bible for me. I haven't given up on it yet. 

But also, and I feel really good about this, we stopped using our microwave! It's kind of a New Year's resolution I didn't plan. I've been wanting to stop using it ever since Dan did an experiment a few years ago with two plants using microwaved water and not microwaved water and the microwaved water killed the plant in like two days and the regular water kept the other plant alive 'till he stopped watering it. I'm sure you could google it and find out more about it if you really are interested. 

Anyway, so our microwave broke. That's why we stopped using it. I told Dan I want to experience life without a microwave and see how we do. So far so good. Angus still demands warm milk because he's high maintenance but I just heat that up on the stove. It only takes like 45 seconds so that's fine. The timer and clock still work on the microwave thank goodness. It just doesn't heat things up. Our stove clock only displays the first two digits so we can't really go by that one if we want to be somewhere on time. 

Our kitchen appliances are falling apart. They are all pretty old so they've lasted a good while. Our water dispenser on the fridge door broke last week so we're buying water from the store until Dan fixes it. Our dishwasher is barely working. We have to set it on the hottest pots and pans setting and really space the dishes far apart and not leave any piece of food on the plates. It might be the end of the dishwasher. Dan's already fixed it a couple of times. I always assume we need to buy a new appliance when ours stop working but Dan just buys the necessary part and fixes it for super cheap. He's so handy.

I've been watching "Tidying Up" with Marie Kondo along with the rest of the world. It has inspired me in such a good way. I already get excited about purging stuff and organizing so it's not like I need a whole lot of motivation. I don't follow her method entirely by the book though. I pick one area like a drawer or two in the kitchen or bedroom and go through it, get rid of stuff and put it back in an organized way with dividers and little containers like Marie does. I've probably gone through about 1/3 of the house at this point. Aint nobody got time to throw everything they own into a pile in the middle of the room and hold everything one by one and wait until you feel a spark of joy... or not. Not happening. But I do find little Marie super adorable. But why does she always wear black tights? I do have one drawer I dedicated to Marie. It's my Konmari tank top drawer. Everything else in my dresser is folded the way a normal person would fold things.

I love Angus's little boy body. Weird to think that one day he’s going to change and become a hairy stinky man. But until then, I'm going to enjoy the fact that he's soft and squishy and adorable... and kinda stinky.

I got a haircut and blondified...

And this is what I look like when I get out of the shower... It's a little bit of work to make it close to looking like the pic above. 

Dan and I took the littles down by the beach to hang out for the day last Friday. I snapped a few pics after we had an early dinner by the pier and they turned out amazing. I couldn't even see my phone when I took these pictures so they are even more impressive. I accidentally did some crazy photography trick where the sunset and shadows make it look like a black and white photo and it's actually not. Framing these for sure. 

Every time the kids are home all day, it looks like a bomb literally went off in our house. The floor is covered with barbies, play food, baby doll accessories, blocks, legos etc. But they have a blast creating the mass destruction that is our downstairs.

I take lots of pics. Obvi. Dan takes a lot of pics too. He has so many great ones. I had no idea. On his old phone they all turned out blurry and he didn't know how to fix the problem, but on his newer phone they actually turn out great. So I'll have to remember to have him send me his pics regularly to contribute to the blog. 

Here he is duck hunting with the unstoppable fierce beast Otter. 

Hangin' with a few of the kids...

Such a good one 💗

There's a pretty cool bike trail that loops around our "lake" in the back of our house. He takes the big girls every once in a while.

Monday, I was headed out to Costco by myself because Dan was home. He requested I take a kid so of course I took Mya. I had no idea how helpful she would be. Usually I like to try all the samples but I hate waiting for them. I feel awkward and ashamed standing in line for a bite of something. I'll grab one as I go by if it's easy. But Monday, Mya and I divided and conquered. She happily stood and waited for the samples while I shopped. It was awesome. Together we worked our way through the whole store, shopping and sampling. It was super busy because it was around lunch time on a holiday, but the busiest times are when they have the most samples. As we waited in line to check out, she said, "Well that was nice. It was like a little lunch." 

And it was. 

I love the 99 cent store. It is such a great place for coloring books, note pads, dish towels, party decorations and so much more. Angus always asks to ride the mini carousel out front but I always tell him it's broken and he believes my lie and we go in. There's also usually a lady asking for donations for the Salvation Army. I would feel bad saying no to her and donating money to the carousel for my kid. So I just avoid them both. But last time as we were leaving the store a little girl was riding the carousel and he yelled, "It working!!" I was in a hurry so we didn't stop to ride it. 

Yesterday, we went to look for preschool stuff so Angus can start learning his letters. I feel like he's behind in the game. Whenever Addie talks about the letter of the week, she'll say b b boat! Or c c cat! And Angus will chime in with d d police man! And everyone laughs. So I thought maybe he could benefit from an educational coloring book or letter flash cards. So Angus saw the carousel and asked if he could ride it and I gave in. The Salvation Army Lady wasn't there so it was my chance. I probably should be giving the Salvation Army lady a dollar. She's so nice. And she always says God bless!

Did you guys see the lunar eclipse Monday night? Dan and I accidentally watched the whole thing. We like to sit out front after the kids go to bed. I noticed that the full moon looked weird. And then we watched a shadow slowly take it over. Then we looked it up on our phones and found out what was happening. 

I have a random tip everyone may already know about. So, for some reason I often find my hands covered in oil or butter. I'm not sure what I'm doing to get a bunch of butter or oil on my hands but that's not important. I usually try to wash it off with regular soap and it takes a few washes to get it all off. BUT if I use dish soap, it works so much better. Because dish soap is designed to cut through grease. Duh. I can't be the only dummy that has been using regular soap to get oil off of my hands when the dish soap is located next to it... right?

Happy Wednesday!