An organized play room...and a couple Ikea hacks

Toys. Toys. Toys.

Sometimes they save my sanity. And sometimes they make me lose it.

I love them because what would I do without them on those long car rides? What would I do without them when little bodies become bored or rambunctious? What would I do without them when I'm trying to teach sharing, encourage fine motor skills and all of the other great stuff that learning through play provides?

But on the other hand, sometimes they can make me feel like I've lost. my. mind.
Tripping on them in the kitchen. Cleaning up millions of little ones on the floor millions of times a day. And clutter. CLUTTER, I say.

Too many toys becomes just too much for me, in every sense of the word.
Too much clutter. Too much stuff. Too many options, and ultimately less appreciation and gratitude for the things that they have.

So we decided to de-clutter our toys, keeping only the ones that Mya and Carter play with regularly (or that we thought they would play with when they're older) and we donated the ones that have been sitting collecting dust--because really, excess of anything is never a good thing.

Our main floor toy area now has only three toy baskets in which we rotate toys throughout the months (these baskets were from Canadian Tire, for $3.99 each on sale the other week--score!).

 P.S. They always come on sale for this price (we've bought a few of them before to store the kids books in each of their rooms), so keep your eyes open in the flyers each week if you want any yourself.

And our toy room in the basement? Well, now when two little birthdays roll around in October and the new toys (which one little girl is VERY excited about already) start to fill up our house once again, we'll be ready to add some more to our now (very organized) pile in the basement.

   
     So we started by bagging up some of the toys that we decided weren't played with much. Then we asked Mya which toys she wanted to give to some kids who didn't have as many toys as her, and she picked out a few. I'm not sure that she really understood fully at this age what we were doing, but as we continue to do this throughout the years it's our hope that she and Carter will start to understand that donating to others is better than having too much. Always.

     So after assessing the new amount of toys that we had, we got started on really organizing our playroom.

Now, let me start off by saying that Ikea is getting some HUGE free advertising here with this little post of mine...I have no connection to them though, other than I just love that store. But hey, Ikea...feel free to cut me a deal next time I pop in, cause honestly, everything in this post is all about you!!

Alright..here's how we did it.

So if you're overwhelmed by toys and losing your mind over piles everywhere, hopefully this will give you a bit of inspiration:

We started by organizing our books and bought some spice racks from Ikea which we turned into cute little book shelves (kudos to Pinterest for the great idea).

A bit of white paint, and they look as cute as ever. We throw little board books here so that the kids can easily grab any book that they'd like and we're not worried about little fingers ripping pages.

And a bit of paper taped to the table means endless hours of colouring and drawing (and saves the table from scratches and marks).

Terry and I then bought a new shelving unit (also from Ikea) to store what we had left over from our toy purging and we bought some fantastic fabric-covered baskets from Ikea too which fit perfectly.

How did I actually organize the toys? Well, I made a huge mess. I dumped all of the toys all over the floor and started sorting them into piles, setting aside the ones that I knew we'd donate and setting the other ones in common piles (ie. all the dolls and doll accessories in one pile, all of the trucks and cars in another). I then put them all in the fabric-covered baskets that we bought.

This is what it looked like once we got it home and put the black and green baskets in.

And here is what it looks like now.

When we bought these green and black baskets I wasn't in love with the lack of pattern on them. So, I bought some fabric and got to work on covering the fronts (scroll down to the end of the post to see how I transformed these baskets from this...

to this.

After covering the baskets, I then took pictures of the different toys that we had, printed them off of my computer and made cute little labels for the bins. I laminated them so they'd last, and used velcro to stick them onto each basket, which also allows me to switch up the labels as the toys change over the years.

I then bought some white storage boxes (also from Ikea) where we now store colouring books/paper, craft supplies, extra markets etc.

These little white beauties are from Dollarama (can you believe it??)--I love them.

This room isn't quite finished yet though--it's been a work in progress over the past few months since everything takes a million years to get done when you're doing it only at night once little people have gone to bed. But I still have big plans for that coffee table, want a fun rug for the floor and still need to get some artwork for the walls. But it's coming. The Ikea shelving unit is off to the right of the picture below and the rest of the larger toys (large ride-on cars, dress up costume bin etc are all tucked away under the stairs).  

And don't be ridiculous...it's barely ever that neat and tidy. You caught me on a good day.

So, back to the baskets:  If you want to cover your own baskets, here is how I did it:

After measuring the fronts of the baskets, I cut my fabric to size and started gluing my fabric on with my hot glue gun.

Pulling it tightly, I made sure that the fabric was perfectly lined up and smoothed out nicely.

I cut the top flaps to size, and glued them on as well, tucking the edges under.

Lastly, I bought some fabric ribbon and glued it down along the edges so that there were clean lines.

So here you have it. All wonderfully organized and makes me so darn happy every time that I look at it.

How does everyone else organize or store your kids toys??

Happy organizing!

Erica xo

Cottage Love

It looks so peaceful and calm doesn't it?

Well, I'm sure it was...

before we got there. 

Holy geeze, we learned a lot about having little kids at a cottage this past week. 

We had a great time, yes we certainly did. And I'd do it again in a heartbeat. But man, we really weren't prepared. Since we went to the cottage with three kids under the age of 3, we knew we were in for a busy, loud, chaotic week. But we also just figured that we didn't have to worry about bringing much to entertain the kids since, well...the cottage would entertain them, wouldn't it? Wouldn't they just play outside or swim all day? That's what kids do at a cottage. 

So we brought a few toys, and figured that the rest would just work itself out. 

Well...it didn't, exactly. 

With cold weather, the lake wasn't exactly appealing to little bodies for too long. And playing outside worked for a while, but then playing with a few toys and some grass and sticks got old pretty quickly for a two year old and one year old. While leaving a 10 month old to crawl on cottage grass meant that a 10 month old is now trying to eat sticks, rocks and anything else that he could get his hands on. 

So we learned a lot. 

Our kids are still super super little and need more planned/organized activities..or they'll spiral downhill QUICKLY. 

Meltdowns? Oh yea. There were plenty. 

Oh, and the kids had some meltdowns too.  

But hey, we braved the cold water, even if it was only for a few minutes. 

     

And memories?  We still made plenty of great ones.

These little siblings cousins experienced things this past week that they'll never forget, which is really what it was all about.

Campfires and s'mores.

Ice cream by the water.

And moments with Nana and Papa that remind us all how lucky we really are to have parents who love our kids so very much--chaos, noise, meltdowns and all.

So when babies napped on their daddy's chests...

and hide and seek made us laugh with the great hiding places that were chosen

(because if I can't see you, then you can't see me...right?)

 

it made us realize that cottage life doesn't just have to be relaxing and calm in order to be wonderful. 

Through the noise and chaos, we learn that day trips were critical to keeping little ones entertained. So we took off to find new adventures...

and brought the kids to Santa's Village (an amusement park designed especially for little ones)

where airplane rides that went round and round were the biggest hit of the day

and climbing up the huge rope wall was pretty much the greatest moment of their lives.

So as we're home unpacking, unwinding and doing millions of loads of laundry, we're exhausted but fulfilled. It was a great week. An exhausting week. A busy week. A week at the cottage that we all won't ever forget.

Terry and I are already mapping out where we'll one day buy our own cottage so we can experience this wonderful chaos for years to come.

Thanks Arthrell family for sharing your amazing cottage with us--you've given the little ones in our family (and the big ones!) memories that we'll never forget.

Erica xo

Cottage Bound

We're in complete cottage-mode this week. My parents have rented a cottage for all of us and we're furiously packing, grocery shopping, packing...packing and more packing. Why do people who are so little need so much stuff?? Our entire van will pretty much be full of kid stuff, while a little duffle bag each will be allotted to Terry and I. But I love it--I love the stuff. Because it's cottage stuff, and as I pack away the hundredth pair of little shorts, t-shirts, blankets, sleep-time lovies, bathing suits and sunscreen I picture what each day ahead might look like.

Peeling your eyes open early in the morning to the sounds of babies crying and toddlers getting out of bed doesn't feel so bad, since...well...you're at the cottage. Everything is better when you're at the cottage. Bacon is on the stove. People who are still in their jammies start sauntering into the kitchen and the cool morning air just feels so so good as you step out onto the deck. Early mornings at the cottage are beautiful. I love walking down to the dock in the morning to watch the still of the water and hearing nothing but the sounds of birds around you.

These memories are, though, from before we had kids. So add in a few squealing kids and panicked moments of each of them falling into the water and I swear, it'll still be beautiful. Maybe not as calm. Maybe not as quiet (okay, definitely not as quiet). But still wonderful.

We've never had our own family cottage, but we've rented them throughout the years and been lucky enough to visit friends at their cottages. But somehow this time it feels different. All of a sudden I'm not excited for myself. I'm excited for my kids.

Mya has only been to a cottage once before when she was a baby, so she really doesn't even understand what she is about to experience, but she can't stop talking about it regardless. We've been telling her about what we'll do at the cottage and so every morning she asks if we can go, and every night she tells us that she's going to go swimming at the "cot--igg".

"Fire?" she'll say.

"Yes, don't worry..we'll make sure to have a campfire...and roast marshmallows and make s'mores and get dirty and go swimming, and eat lot's of treats and stay up late and make more memories than you can even fit into that little head of yours".

She smiles from ear to ear, and I realize in these very moments why parents work so hard to give their kids experiences in life.    

All of a sudden it isn't about just Terry and I anymore. And thank goodness--because honestly, these experiences (although more stressful in some ways and definitely more exhausting), mean so much more to me being able to watch my kids experience life in this way.

Before having kids, my main goal of spending a week at a cottage was to relax, sleep in, have a few drinks with friends and soak up the sun--which is what cottages are really all about.

But now? Well, my main goal is to make as many great memories as we can for our kids. I want to fill up their childhood memory bank with some great stuff--so I figure that time away at a cottage is a good starting point.

It'll be a week of  "Sure!".

You want to go swimming again? "Sure!"

You want to have another s'more? "Go for it".

You want to stay up late? "Sounds good to me!".

You want to eat three helpings of chocolate chip pancakes in the morning? "Here ya go!".

Sometimes it just feels good to throw away the normal routine and fall into vacation mode. And although the reality is that sleepless nights might still follow us, toddler meltdowns don't simply vanish since you're on vacation and long car rides with little ones aren't always a piece of cake, I'm still anticipating an incredible time.

This is what I found when I went into Mya's room to put her to bed last night.

"My baby's sleeping", she told me. "One more sleep 'til cot-igg".

I'm just as excited as she is.

**
If anyone has already lived and learned about what to bring (or really, what not to forget) when bringing little ones to a cottage please let me know. Or tips for long car trips??

Anyone? Anyone??

If you need me anytime soon, I'll be on the dock...chasing after little ones.

Erica xo




 

The Secret

I have been completely inspired. By one single book.

I haven't been able to put it down. My tiny book light is straining to power even a glimmer of light anymore since it's been on for such long periods of time late at night. My eyes are puffy and sore from forcing my eyelids to stay open for longer than they know they're supposed to. And I can still hear Terry's voice repeating the exact same words to me each night as we lay in bed, my fingers dog-earing the pages that move me, inspire me and make me want to come back to re-read it again.

"My love, it's time for bed...put it down".

"One more page", I say, as I quickly roll over to hide the glow of my book light. "Just one more page".

It's called The Secret by Rhonda Byrne--I'm sure you've probably heard of it before. Oprah did an entire show on it years ago and I heard people speak of it when it first came out...but I never picked up the book myself, until just now.

There haven't been many books that I've read that have really made a huge impact on me. But this one has.

It's a book about life. A book about one of the secrets of life. It's simple, really. The secret that they speak of is the Law Of Attraction. The entire book explains it in full (and much better than I could ever attempt to do here). But the idea is that whatever we think about we are essentially attracting to our lives. Our thoughts are so incredibly powerful--life changing, really.

"Everything that's coming into your life you are attracting into your life. And it's attracted to you by virtue of the images you're holding in your mind. It's what you're thinking. Whatever is going on in your mind you are attracting to you."

Powerful stuff.

It's like how on those days when your alarm clock doesn't go off, so you sleep in, and you wake up in a panic and stub your toe on the door...and everything spirals downhill from there. The book tells you to stop for a moment--change your thoughts to positive ones. Say thank you (out loud) a million times before you even leave your house in the morning (to get your thoughts focused on all of the wonderful things that you're grateful for already in your life), and things will turn around for you--you will start to attract good things to you for the rest of the day. Keep your mind on negative thoughts? You'll attract even more negative things to you.

"Man becomes what he thinks about".

"If you see it in your mind, you're going to hold it in your hand...If you can think about what you want in your mind, and make that your dominant thought {and believe that you already have it, FEEL that you already have it and believe that you already have it}, you will bring it into your life...Thoughts become things".

Your thoughts create your life.

Have you ever noticed that if you feel sick or have pain, that if you talk about it or think about it a lot it just keeps getting worse? Your thoughts are powerful. Whatever you focus on will become reality. Good or bad. Switch your thoughts to positive ones and amazing things will start to happen.

BE happy.  You will then become a magnet for even more happiness.

BE unhappy. You will then become a magnet for even more unhappiness.

"A person who sets his or her mind on the dark side of life, who lives over and over the misfortunes and disappointments of the past [will end up attracting even more] misfortunes and disappointments in the future. If you see nothing but ill luck in the future...you will surely get it".

I have written and deleted at least three paragraphs at this point, trying to explain it...trying to get it right. Trying to not miss something. But if it took an entire book to explain it completely, one little blog post certainly can't do it justice.

Reading it yourself is really the only way to understand it fully.

As I was reading this book I just GOT it. I understood it. I believed it. I always have believed it. My dad has always said that whatever you think or say to yourself will become reality. As I just wrote in my last post, he had told me before I even had a spouse to "Wake up every morning and tell yourself that you love your spouse and want to be with him--whatever you say and think will become reality".

We ultimately have the power to create our life to be whatever we want it to be. No one else can do it for us. No one else can make us happy. Your thoughts determine and control your life. So choose them wisely.

 Has anyone else ever read this book? What did you think?


Erica xo

35 Lessons From Mom and Dad

I wrote this list a few years ago--long before I even thought of having a blog or documenting our life in writing for my kids.

I had, though, the same intentions when I wrote this list as I have now as I write in this little blog: to write it down so that I don't forget.

If I were to write this list again, after having kids, I'd add a million more great lessons that they've taught me since Mya and Carter were born. But there are still SO many great things here that I will pass on to my own kids, remember for myself, and pass on to anyone willing to listen. They're all lessons that either mom and dad have taught me directly, or indirectly--some of the greatest lessons from parents come from simply watching them live.

So, here you go.

If it's in writing, I won't forget.

Pass it along if you can, share it, tweet it, 'like' it--because seriously, my hope is that at least one great little lesson might be passed along to someone who needs it.

Enjoy!

35 Lessons From Mom and Dad: 

1) Don't expect that since your children are full grown they don't need you anymore. If anything, they need you even more than ever as adults.

2) Being happy is a conscious decision that you make on a daily basis. Wake up and decide each day to be happy.

3) If we were all the same our world would be a very boring place.

4) Fill your house with laughter, don't fight in front of your children and say 'I love you' at least twice a day.

5) Some men cheat--but not all. Keep searching until you find a man who you can trust in ALL situations in life and never settle for anything less.

6) If your partner brings drama to your life and makes you cry a lot you are with the wrong person. Your partner should not bring drama to your life--he/she should be your safe place to fall. There will be so many other negative, dramatic, uncomfortable, hurtful situations brought into your life by the rest of the world--your relationship with your spouse should be loving and calm. Life is stressful enough--your spouse should not contribute any more to that.

7) As a parent, you (and you alone) have the ability to make your children's lives stable and secure, or chaotic and unstable. It is forever your responsibility for the entirety of their lives, to decide to do whatever it takes to make sure that their lives are stable and happy.

8) Two people cannot fight if one person refuses to.

9) Eat together as a family every night.

10) At Christmas, decorate your tree with the family while Christmas music is playing in the background and while drinking hot chocolate with mini marshmallows in it.

11) Always have a measuring tape on every floor of your house.

12) Keep band-aids in the junk drawer in your kitchen--when you need one you'll appreciate it.

13) Do as much around your house as you can to save money, but know your limits--hire someone for certain jobs.

14) Pick up your kids from school one day unexpectedly and take them to Mc Donald's for lunch. They'll never forget it.

15) If you sometimes don't have time to actually clean your house, just keep it tidy. It's the trick to making it appear clean.

16) Go for ice cream to celebrate after your kids recitals/performances/games--it'll make them feel special, regardless of whether they won or not.

17) Live a balanced life. Make sure that you maintain your health, body, mind, spirit and social life. If you're doing too much of one thing, the others will suffer.

18) Wake up every morning and tell yourself that you love your spouse and want to be with them--whatever you say and think will become reality.

19) When having guests over always keep an eye on their wine glasses and refill when necessary.

20) Save, save, save your money. But don't be afraid to spend it when appropriate.

21) Don't buy anything that you can't pay for in cash (except a house).

22) Love is showing up. You can tell someone that you love them all you want, but you need to be physically present in their lives on a daily basis and show up for all of the little moments and big moments for them to truly feel loved by you.

23) Take your kids to live theatre. It teaches them to appreciate different forms of entertainment instead of just watching TV, movies, etc.

24) Teach your children to say "sorry" by saying it yourself to them when needed.

25) When it's raining outside, put your kids in their bathing suits and dance in the rain together.

26) Have frosted beer glasses in your freezer at all times. Everyone loves a good cold beer.

27) Buy your kids random, unexpected (but cheap) things that they like throughout the year for no reason--it'll make their day.

28) Cut up your kids sandwiches into fun shapes and put little love notes in their lunchboxes for them.

29) Force your children to take swimming lessons--through all of the levels. Being a strong swimmer or not is NOT their choice to make--there are too many situations that they'll encounter in life where swimming is necessary and it can ultimately save their life one day.

30) When eating at a restaurant with your family, order water if you want to save money. You can save as much as an entire extra meal would cost by not buying a pop/juice etc for each family member.

31) Live below your means. You never want to be house poor.

32) Don't put white carpet in your house. It will look beautiful, but you'll spend a fortune on AAA cleaning bills (true story).

33) If you have more than one child, make a point of making sure that you do everything as equal as possible for them. Children (even adult children) need to feel like they are loved equally...down to the last penny or dime or time spent on/with them.

34) People don't change unless they really want to. Instead, change the way that you react to them and change your expectations of them so that you're not constantly disappointed, frustrated or angry.

35) Surround yourself with successful people and you will become successful too.  

Thanks mom and dad...the list could go on and on, but my bed is calling me.

Love you mom and dad.

Erica xox