The Week Before Vacation

Our last “vacation” with the baby was when he was three months old. We flew from Kentucky to Arizona where dear hubby spent two weeks in a training course for work and I traveled back and forth between the hotel and my grandparents’ house. I was scared as hell to fly with Mason at that age, but it turned out to be totally fine. He slept through both flights there. It was awesome. Look ... there he is, sleeping on the plane.

This trip, however, he’s at the age where he’s like a real person with feelings and thoughts or whatever, so we’re going to have to keep him entertained. Oh, and did I mention that we’re dropping off the dogs at a the kennel, driving three house to Louisville, spending the night in a hotel, flying out of Louisville the next day to Vegas for a two-hour layover and then flying to Reno? There we are renting a car, and hubby is dropping me off for the bachelorette party. Rehearsal dinner is the next night. Best friend’s wedding is Labor Day. Tuesday morning we fly out of Reno back to Vegas for another short layover before going to Spokane where hubby’s parents are picking the three of us up. Then we drive two hours to Hope, Idaho. Jesus freaking Christ.  So, this week is packing, cleaning and baking (to get rid of food).
 
Therefore, I implemented the following rules for the week before a long, far, vacation:

1.) Cookies are an acceptable breakfast. Especially if you make three batches of dough for friends and co-workers. Hey, that butter and eggs shouldn’t go to waste! 

2.) Set aside a few hours for a facial and a pedicure. Not a manicure because your nails will probably look like shit before you even get on the plane with all the packing and cleaning.

3.) Have a mini fashion show. That’s right. Put those kids in those clothes and make sure they fit. But then quickly take them off so they don't get dirty.

4.) Clean. Because nothing sucks more ass than coming back from vacation to a fifthly, smelly house. And if you need to take a break from cleaning for some yoga, that’s okay too.

 

Okay, I’m sure I’ll put up another post about traveling with an almost two-year old when we get back, but I’m gone for like two weeks or something. I don’t remember. 

xoxo

Jessie

Cleaning the Cleaning Closet

Before

After

Today I took little guy to the Dollar Tree. We were on a mission — A mission to clean the cleaning closet. It was getting out of hand as you can see …

Most of the plastic bins that I remembered seeing when summer began had been raided through already, but I found a bunch in different areas of the store. I was determined not to spend over $20 and get a butt load of plastic bins. 

Naturally, I left with a $37 receipt. 

Because … ya know … it’s the Dollar Tree.

It sucks you in like that.

I got a bunch of different style and sized bins because I wasn’t really sure how I was planning on organizing everything. I’m glad I did because even the bins that didn’t get used in the cleaning closet found homes in other closets.

Anyway, when we get home the mission is on! I pulled everything out of the closet one thing at a time. Okay, maybe I threw some shit away, but it had to be done.

Believe it or not, there was some thought behind the madness of this organization project. My dear 6’6” hubby is super tall. Because he is super tall, he doesn’t enjoy having to bend down to get certain items out of the cleaning closet. He actually doesn’t like getting certain items out of the cleaning closest at all. About six months after moving into the house, I wasn’t really sure he even knew we had one. No, that’s a lie, but you get the point. So, I decided on putting items that he uses up on the higher shelves; light bulbs, extension cords, tools, hardware, etc. I also put items I don’t use as much on the top (where I can’t really reach anyway), and the sides of the shelves, which are more difficult to get to.

The main things I use are the Clorox wipes, plastic gloves, dusting supplies, magic erasers and my cleaning bucket (which has a bunch of cleaning items that I can take with me from room to room).

A side note … I have this weird need to label things.

Like everything.

It’s a problem.

Obviously, the bins in the organized cleaning closet had to be labeled as well. I had some leftover Avery Ink Jet white Business Card stock which I use for labels. I love these things – I use them for business cards, mommy cards, luggage tags, household labels, thank you notes … so many uses! Just download the free online template, type up your labels and print. Highly recommended.

I hole-punched the top, put some reinforcement label stickers over them and added some leftover blue string to tie them off. They’re cute, functional and (hopefully) durable. 

I had already cleaned, organized and labeled the medicine cabinet a few months ago.

And the pantry.

I may have OCD. 

Anyway ... if you're cleaning out the house (maybe getting things ready for back-to-school?) I recommend going through your cleaning closet as well. It makes life so much easier when you know where the damn Lemon Pledge is. 

xoxo

Jessie

Three “Thank Yous”

It is so easy to take people for granted in today’s full scheduled, fast-past world. So last week I made a pledge to thank three people for their help with something special. I know that when I'm appreciated, I'm more willing to help others and something tells me that other people feel this way too. So here it goes ...

Thank You # 1 

The first “Thank You” went to a customer service rep from Home Depot who went out of her way to really help me deal with a contactor that the company hired out. She could have just as easly ignored my calls and emails, but instead she stayed in constant contact with me, even providing her personal cell number.

So I sent her this email to thank her:

Dear Rachel,

I just wanted to thank you for everything you’ve done for us. We really appreciate all your help dealing with (Contactor). You’ve made a very difficult process much more tolerable and I think it speaks volumes for Home Depot. They should hire more people like you; especially their contractors. 

I am so grateful to you for being available to come by when the installers were here and for all the great communication you provided. I know how busy you are and it meant a lot that you were always able to make time for us.

You’re a great person and I enjoyed getting to know you throughout all of this.

Thank you again,

Warmest Regards,

Jessica Ard

Thank You # 2

The second “Thank You” went to my mom. She flew out from Arizona and stayed with me for a week during which time she helped me install our kitchen backsplash. She also made a lot of super awesome, delicious food. And she babysat so dear hubby and I could go on a much-needed date.  

My beautiful mama and her grandson. 

Her and I have this thing where we send each other Sheri’s Berries for birthdays every year because we both enjoy those juice chocolate-covered strawberries. They’re seriously amazing. The card message thanked her for all her help in the kitchen.

Shari's Berries = Best. Gift. Ever.

Thank You # 3 (sort of) 

The third “Thank You” wasn’t really for anything particular. In fact, it probably was more of a “Just Because” than a “Thank You.” It was for my dear mother-in-law. This woman is amazing. She never stops. She takes care of so many people All. Of. The. Time. She lives with my equally awesome father-in-law on a lake house in northern Idaho and they have company all the time. As soon as one group leaves, another shows up. And she does all the cooking. All the cleaning. All the preparation. She called the other day to get a list from me of groceries she can buy so they are ready for when we visit in two weeks. So I wanted to do something special for her. We sent her a Cheese and Snack Board gift from Cherry Moon Farms. 

Cheese & Snack Gift. Yumm!

She had mentioned that she has plenty of wine in the lake house, so I thought, well, wine goes well with cheese.  

The card message said, 

“Dear Nana, Please remember to take a break from taking care of everyone else and take care of yourself. We love you so much. xoxo.”

So if you're reading this, I challege you to thank three people this week. It doesn't have to be expensive ... a simple email will do the trick. 

xoxo

Jessie

Stalking a Butterfly

Little guy and I are in the kitchen yesterday eating a late lunch when out of the kitchen widow I notice this giant, beautiful, yellow butterfly. It was gorgeous.

Naturally, I spend the next 30 minutes stalking it while humming the tune to Every Breath You Take. “Oh can’t you see, (what I think is a shallowtail butterfly), you belong to me.”

Of course my neighbor is outside mowing the lawn and sees me lying down in the grass taking photos of not my child. I think he thinks I’m super weird.

Mason and Max have no idea what I’m doing either, but they follow my lead anyway. Good boys.

A Fairy Garden

After I discovered Pinterest and learned a new way to waste a disgusting amount of my time on recipes I probably won’t make and workout routines I’ll defiantly never use, I found these amazing things called “fairy gardens.” Now, I have this strange fascination with tiny objects. 

Here’s a tiny potty, for example. 

And my tiny dog. 

And this tiny person that likes to stick his tiny, sticky fingers all over my camera. 

Anyway, I’m not sure how I’d manage to live life as long as I have without having heard of a fairy garden, but once I was introduced, I obviously had to have one. Pinterest has a million great ideas for them. So I spent some free time in March making miniatures for my fairy garden out of polymer clay. The gnome, mushrooms, bunny, turtle and snails are all polymer clay. 

Naturally, my fairy garden wouldn’t be complete without the Lorax to watch over the truffula trees. The Lorax himself took some time with the clay, but the truffle trees were easy. Just twist white and black strings of clay together, bake and hot glue some colorful fluff balls found in the school craft section at any craft store. Look how cute he is …

Lowes sold a black plant stand and I used it for my fairy garden for the front door area. Unfortunately, my house doesn’t have much of a front patio, so a thin, long stand would give me the most area for a garden without taking up much room by the door. I taped some cardboard together and stuck it on the bottom of the stand and hot glued some faux moss. The “river” is blue marbles that are also hot glued down. 

The white bench, vine arbor, birdbath, watering can and welcome sign came from a fairy garden kit that I purchased at Michales when their spring stuff came out. I also found it online here. 

So there you have it … my very own fairy garden. I hope you find some inspiration to make your own too because it’s so wonderful to have something so darling to see every time I come home. Of course, I do have an ongoing battle with this one bird who thinks its okay to steal my moss. Little bastard.

  

xoxo
Jessie