Welcome, Spring!

It may be Spring, but my exterior thermometer begs to differ.  Lows of 15 degrees tonight.  Puhhleasseee!!!  What happened to some of that fabulous weather we were blessed with a week ago??

It inspired me to get out in our breezeway and take some pictures of the changes.   For one of my birthday presents, Scott sprung the idea on me that we would redecorate the breezeway.  Hearing the words "redecorate" from a man is very exciting!  Hours on Pinterest, trips to Ikea, Target, and JoAnn Fabrics later, and we had a plan!

We would take a great space that leads from our garage into our house and out on to our deck and turn it into a place where we could store all our shoes, some coats, dog accessories (leashes, collars, etc.), and our recycling in a an organized, yet aesthetically pleasing manner.

When we first moved in...3 years ago:

It quickly became a dumping ground for anything and everything on our way in the house.  With a random couch with a faded slipcover, mismatch storage pieces, a metal shelving unit, and piles of shoes, we knew it needed an overhaul.

Our Ikea/Target shopping list included:

• Kallax Shelving Unit
• 2 Billy Bookcases (mint green and orange)
• Drona storage boxes
• Rubbermaid Shelves (for shoes)
• 2 Pillows
• Room Essential storage boxes (brown)

We made a makeshift mudroom with cubbies for the boys' shoes and hooks for their coats.

We turned a Billy Bookshelf on it's side and filled it with their shoes.  We haven't found any storage bins that fit with it turned on it's side, but I don't mind their shoes sitting in there without bins for now.  The two hooks for coats came from Home Depot and the shelf above the coats came from Home Depot as well.  We are storing hats, gloves, scarves, and all the winter essentials in the orange bins.

The shelving unit on the right is another Billy Bookshelf.  The brown bins are Room Essential bins from Target.  We have one filled with dog accessories, while the other two are vacant for now.  I plan to move the fake logs for our fireplace down to the bottom shelf and shift the bins up so they are all in a row.

I plan to buy a galvanized drip pan filled with small rocks for the winter boots/rain boots to sit on.  It will look great, but also keep the water/slush off of the floor.

We turned the Kallax shelf on it's side and filled it with some of the Drona bins.  My mom helped me by buying a foam piece and cutting it to size.  We picked out a heavy duty fabric from JoAnn's in fun colors and covered it.  The pillows were a cheap buy from Target!  Now the boys have somewhere to sit to put on their shoes.

I should add the mint green bins are filled with sandals.  Each person has their own bin for extra shoes and sandals.  

So where do all of the other shoes go?  In Rubbermaid organizing shelves from Target!

It certainly doesn't hold all of mine, so I have a shoe overflow in the office's walk-in closet.  But, these are the ones I wear the most.  Excuse my obsession with Uggs.  Can you tell my husband is a P.E. teacher?

To keep the cost down, we left the walls, the floors, the windows, and window coverings as they were.  We played off of the "terra-cotta" look and used fake plants to decorate.  I found this outdoor area rug on clearance on Home Depot's website in the Fall when everything was off-season.  I think it plays well with the colors of the room and it helped hide the dirt, mud, snow, and everything else that gets tracked in.

While it's not perfect, it was definitely an upgrade from the mess it was before.  Everything has a place and it looks clean and orderly.  I don't mind showing people into our house through the garage now.  I'm hoping warmer weather is coming our way so we can stand being in the breezeway long enough to put on our shoes and coats.  It's a fun space!

I think we're in the clear...

I can't believe I'm typing this.  On one hand, after some of the most difficult winter seasons we've ever experienced with illnesses up the wazoo and hospitalizations, I'm in disbelief.  On the other hand, I feel like I'm going to jinx us and we'll all wind up with the stomach flu next week.  But, I'll take my chances.

This has been our healthiest winter since Sean was born.  We did not have one single sick doctor visit this winter.  Not one (I'm not counting Evan getting one of his ear tubes re-done.  We had no control over it falling out).  I'm in shock!!!!  No stomach bugs, no ear infections, no medications, nothing.  Nada.  And considering it's March 11th, I feel like we're in the clear.  I can officially say we survived this winter and made it our healthiest yet.  Anything that happens now, we can blame on the fluctuating weather and the changing of seasons.  Right?

I feel the same way, buddy.  Cautiously optimistic.

With spring on the horizon, it's time to get out of the house and get active.  We took the winter months off from swim classes and gave the boys a break.  Aside from Scott coaching and that monopolizing our Saturday mornings, I knew that random ice skating trips and skiing would be sufficient.  March brought on the start of gymnastics class.  I held my breath the entire first class.  After multiple attempts and multiple sports, Sean really put us on edge.  Other than swimming, he hasn't shown much interest in sports.  But, alas, gymnastics has been a success!  We are 2/2!

Evan has been excelling at gymnastics too!  The kid is fearless.  Handstand using the wall?  No problem.  Running full speed toward a vault?  You got it.

Of course, the favorite parts for both boys are jumping in the foam blocks and getting their stamps at the end.

It's weird how busy the winter can be.  I mean, you expect the spring and summer to be filled with activities and going outside.  But, the winter?  It's relentless at work.  Third card marking is a nightmare.  Snow days, cold days, ACT testing for juniors, collaborative meetings with the middle school.  Aye!  And because I enjoy torturing myself, I applied to be a part of the Aspiring Administrator Academy through the county.  It's an intense training for those that are considering moving toward a leadership position.  Evening meetings, Saturday morning meetings, and a 3 day internship at a different school.  I'm exhausted.

But, it's been incredible.  I don't know that this is in my near future.  But, it's certainly something to consider when the kids get older.  I'm not quite ready to leave the classroom yet.  However....when there's a full moon like there was last week, I might be singing a different tune.  I swear, there has to be some data linked to full moons and student behavior.

I finally put some good use to my tripod and zoom lens last Thursday night and read a few tutorials quickly to get this shot.  It's not perfect, but it was easier than I thought it would be.  I love putting to use the money invested in having a nice camera.

Now I just need to remember to turn the camera on me every now and again.  Proud of the hard work and dedication that went into losing 37 pounds through Weight Watchers, I wouldn't mind being in a few pictures.  I was pretty impressed with this shot of Scott and I on our way out to a Plymouth Whaler's hockey game to celebrate his birthday!

Looking forward to another date night with this hunk Friday night!  And of course, to spending the weekend with my babies and my nieces!

Is it June yet?

Seriously.  So over this winter.  And I say this on a day that we have a winter weather advisory with snow, freezing rain, and sleet.  Pure Michigan.

We are running out of things to do in the house.  We've gone as far as making the "F" family band.

Sean is content building Legos in isolation, since Evan is known to come by like a tornado and destroy everything in sight in mere seconds.  The play room and basement are old news.  It's all about his bedroom where he can play in peace.  Not to mention he's got a bed tent that he calls the "bear cave" that he likes to hibernate in and have long talks with mommy or daddy about life's big questions, like "What's your favorite color?"  or "How does God have super powers?"

He's also spent all winter practicing writing letters, numbers, memorizing sight words, attempting to read some "Bob's" books, and hone his drawing skills.  We're so proud of his progress!  While he's still not very interested in sports, we have been able to catch a few rare moments where he's interested in playing t-ball in the basement or catching the football with Scott.  Perhaps it's watching Evan have interest and wanting to compete, or it could just be the boredom of staying indoors all winter.

We're anxiously and cautiously signing him up for Young 5's Kindergarten next week that will start in the fall.  This hasn't been an easy decision since his birthday falls at a really awkward time, but we've finally come to the conclusion that, while he's not ready for Kindergarten, Young 5's will be a great move for him.  It's 5 days, all-day with no naps at one of the elementary schools in Plymouth-Canton.  It'll be a big change for him, but one that we're confident he can handle!  And because this is his last year in daycare/Pre-K, can we discuss how adorable these graduation pictures are that they took recently at daycare??

I can't even.

Nope.

Evan has kept us on our toes this winter too.  Despite being stuck inside, he's managed to learn how to ride and peddle a trike in our basement (one of the only benefits of it not being finished and not having carpet).  He's definitely our sports guy!  From dribbling a full-size basketball to hitting underhand pitches from Scott, he's go-go-go and very interested in sports.  He'll start gymnastics this week just to get out some of his energy!

We're working hard on getting his colors down pat.  He can definitely identify blue, purple, and orange.  He loves shapes and his shape sorting game!  We're starting on identifying letters and numbers now too.  Luckily, he loves the iPad.  So, we've stocked it up with new games that will help him learn these skills.  Sorry buddy - we can't watch nursery rhymes on youtube all day!

He's been potty trained and in undies all day since September.  We've been very lucky in that department.  So, now we're working on naps and nighttime.  He managed to go 4 nights in a row without going in his pull-up last week, but we weren't so lucky after that.  I know there's no rush, so we'll just keep encouraging him to stay dry.

I think the one thing we're all holding on to this winter is our countdown to Disney!  The boys are more than pumped!  I'm busy planning our schedule so we can make our fastpass reservations next month in April!  I can't believe that we'll be 60 days away next month.  It's really starting to sneak up on us!  Lots of hours have been spent on Pinterest, scouring the internet for articles, tips and tricks, and products we "must" buy before we go.

In the mean time, we're enjoying Friday night Disney night.  This past week was Big Hero 6.  What an awesome movie!  One that we all enjoyed - even Evan.  Sean is loving reading his fairytale book about Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and others.  I refuse to believe that boys can't be interested in princesses.  Sean has already told me that he wants to meet Sven, Tow Mater, and princess Ariel.  Well, alright then.  Not sure on Sven...

Let's see.  Other news?  Scott re-did the breezeway back in the fall as a birthday gift to me.  Pictures and a post to follow once we don't have salt stains and winter boots taking up the nice space.

The boys were inspired by Scott's handiwork.  So, we started going back to Lowe's and Home Depot for the kid's workshops.  What better way to spend Saturday mornings when there's nothing else to do!  The Monster Truck one was a big hit...

I'm looking forward to Tiger's tickets going on sale Saturday morning.  The mere thought of spring being right around the corner has me elated.  It's been a long, but tolerable winter.  I'm more than ready for what's to come!