Christmas Wish Lists!

I saw this idea on Pinterest to make christmas wish lists, where the kids can clip pictures! I thought it was super cute, and attempted my own Christmas Wish List for the kids! Its not super amazing or elaborate, but its cute and I think the kids will really love it! And look, the youngest member already has a picture clipped!

For an additional option, snap a picture of the completed list and email to grandparents!

ps. My husband asked where his list is

Kitchen tools that are essential!

Do you like to cook and bake a lot? Maybe you don't necessarily "like" to, but being a mama or wife, puts you in that role?! Here is a list of my have kitchen tools, that are essential! Take a peak at Sweetlifeaswife for other ideas!

Pop over to my cooking blog and check my latest recipe; Apple Ginger Pork chops found HERE

1. My Crock Pot. I don't really use this a lot, but I use it for soups, roast, and bbq. My husband and I aren't really a fan of chicken in the crockpot, so I don't use it for chicken recipes!

2. My super large skillet. I use this ALOT. Its ginormous. I use this when I'm frying pork chops or chicken, and need all the meat to fit in 1 pan!

3. My gorgeous red mixer

4. Tons of spoons. I routinly use 3 or more spoons while making dinner. When you have multiple pots or skillets going, you need to make sure you have enough spoons!

5. My wonderful stainless steal, gas range. LOVE

6. My Red Dutch Oven. This is great for things that need to simmer (like soups, rice, etc)

7. My hand meat tenderizor (found at bed, bath, and beyond). You really need one of these if you don't have one. I use it every time I'm cooking meat.

8. Plastic cutting boards. These are super easy to store, use, and clean

9. My huge food processor. These babies are expensive, but so worth the investment! You can put a whole onion in; love it!

10. My family griddle/grill

I hope that might help if you're looking for some cooking inspiration! I"m linked to Welcome Wednesday from Take It From Me. Hop on over if you're looking for more mom's!

Photos; Spring Decor & Ikea

I've done a little whooshing (the art of redecorating within your own home!) for spring...and small purchases. BUT, before I show those pictures, here are the pictures from our Ikea outing! I know you're dying to see them. HA. We also bought a pub table off craigslist. Here ya have it!

Here is our pub table and chairs we just got off Craigslist. The kids already love playing games on it! The vase and whispy stick thingys, came from Ikea. Edwin really wanted them and put them in the cart. I'm serious. I want to hang that mirror up over the table. 

Here's the bookcase! It's perfect for a playroom. I have to buy some baskets for it still. 

There used to be a bar/sink right here. Edwin demolished it and got rid of the entire thing in like 30 minutes! We need to fix the dry wall where it used to be.

BAM! Our big mirror. 

Here it is on our wall! Every time I walk in the room, it surprises me. That's probably because the old mirror seems so small, compared to this one!

And a little whooshing...Now that its spring and warm, I fold up our comforter at the end of the bed, for a fresh new spring look. 

I bought another little bag of eggs at Michaels (ya know, because the whole hard boiled egg thing doesn't really go over well!)

I bought these flowers at Michaels on sale, and they're now on my dining table. I told you I change my table up all the time. These flowers used to be at the top of our TV armoire. 

This is my bell jar I got for $8 at Michaels, and birds nest for $2.99. The bell jar was on sale and then I used a 50% off coupon!

 

Organizing kids clutter

The Shaby Nest, is having a little organization "party" for kids clutter! Check her out to get some more organization ideas! My biggest eyesores lately, have been the upstairs playroom, Keira's room, and our black armoire (which has become a storage unit for books, Keira's coloring and scrapbook materials, and our printer and shredder)! I love baskets and bins, but they're just usually too expensive to buy a bunch at once! I"ve purchased a few here and there when I've seen a good deal, and have begun to organize some of our kids clutter! Here's what we've done.

This is our upstairs playroom. Edwin has done a lot of work in this room for me! It's kinda been the furniture storage room, and he helped me get rid of some of the clutter; although, we still have some stuff to get rid off to clear it out to sell! I really wanted to paint and make it more "fun", but since we're not staying here, I"m not going to bother. 

I bought these red canvas bins at Target and the small blue baskets (yes; they still have the tags on them!) at Babies R Us. I really want to paint this bookcase, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

This storage bin mainly holds Kai and Kade's "little guys". 

This is Keira's shoe organizer inside her closet! The girl's got some shoes!

This is here little white stove from Pottery Barn. She has so much kitchen stuff! I put a few baskets on the inside to help organize some of the stuff. 

I love this dollhouse bookcase from Pottery barn. I bought some cute baskets from Michaels and organized her books, hair stuff, and small toys.

I love this shelf with hooks (from Target). It holds a special picture the kids and Edwin made for me when we were dating long distance! The kids also hang their backpacks here (Keira and Kade are both at school, but Kai is home sick so his backpack is still hanging!)

This is a laundry basket from Target and it has all our blankets inside! 

Oh my lanta. Yes, this is our black armoire that has become a storage unit. 

This is the after. I love this green Canvas box from Target. I also used this Pottery Barn vase to display the crazy amount of crayons. It's on the inside of the armoire, but I still wanted it to look pretty.

Inside the green box, are two more storage bins I bought at Target. The clear one holds all of Keira's scrapbooking materials. The coloring books are underneath in the green bin. Also in the green bin (can you see the blue lid on the far right!?), is a three tiered storage box. Genius. One layer holds markers, another layer has crayons, and the top layer has colored pencils. 

I love this red bin and bill organizer (to the left of it). I can't remember where it was purchased. It's kinda a "junk drawer" with random papers, but at least its a pretty red bin, right?!

This is my file organizer that I use for the kids school papers (they each have their own tab and folder). Everyday I go through their papers and file them, and on the weekend I go through them again before school on Monday starts. Otherwise, there's random papers all over the kitchen counter and I can't keep up with it all! (IE: "Thursday is wear green day. Please send your kindergardener to school in green." "Friday is our 100th day party. Please make a shirt with 100 items glued on it!" "Friday is our cake party. Please send your child to school with one of the following items..."

Seriously

Last but not least; here's my sick Kai!