Organization

OK.

Wonderful people who may read this blog from time to time- I (once again) need your help!

I HATE, hate, hate to admit it, but I am T.E.R.R.I.B.L.E. at organization.  

It's like a gene I was born without.

And yet, I CRAVE it.

Desperately, passionately, CRAVE it!

My biggest problem, what "trips me up" the most, are all the "little" decisions involved in organizing.

You know, like- okay, the bedding is all washed, folded, and sorted by bed size.  Now where do I put it?  This house has no- literally- NO storage space.

There are no linen closets.

There are no "extra" cupboards.

There is nothing but a single shelf and hanging rod in each closet.

And, the closets are tiny.

Compounding this problem is that I need to use things we already have- we are on a TIGHT budget, and there's no extra moolah for nice organizational systems.

Bedding is just one example, out of so very many.

Anyway, my point is that, lately, my house is looking a lot more like this:

(http://brasilmagic.wordpress.com/)

than this:

(http://maruschak.net/page/3/)

SO, help me out!

What's your best organizing advice?  

Got pictures?  I wanna see them!

It's nice to look at beautiful "show" homes, but this is the real world- I'd love real examples of how you've done something.

I'm still plugging away over here.

Trying to pare down, throw away, donate, sell, box up and store in the basement.

But, there are days- more often than not lately- that it just feels hopeless.

Sigh...

So, give me some hope!

:)

Help Me, Rhonda (or anyone else, for that matter)!

Okie, dokie.

After living in this house for, oh, about 6 1/2 years, it's time to PAINT!

Truth be told, I did paint not long after we moved in, but I bought cheap Wal-Mart paint (and picked some, shall we say "interesting"?, colors) that hasn't held up over the years.

So, after much deliberation (sigh... you have no idea how painstakingly difficult the process of picking- and committing to!- a paint color is for me!!!), the color palette has been chosen!

(Drum-roll please........)

The walls:

Pinon Seed

The trim:

Bright White

The "accents":

Forget-Me-Not

The question is, the floor.  

The poor, un-finishable, uncovered wood floor.

We've decided to paint it too (one day laminate "wood" will take it's place, but until then...).

So, the question is this- should the floor become "Forget-Me-Not" blue, or some kind of blondish-oak brown?  Or, what about a gray?

Would so much brown with brown be too, I don't know... blah?

Would the light blue or gray be a major hassle to keep looking clean?  

Would such a light shade show every scuff and scratch?

Here's an idea of what (I hope) it might look like with gray or the blue paint (minus the cool stuff, hehe- and with brown walls)...

(Granted, we will be using actual floor paint, so no matter the color it should hold up fairly well-
at least, we hope.)

Thoughts?  Comments?  Talented decorators willing to work for free?

Again I say, HELP!

A Rose By Any Other Name...

Would still smell as sweet, right?  ;)

And, so, I've been thinking of changing the name of the blog.

"Just Another Day in Paradise" is fun- I like it, and it kind of is what we're living here (I reference the song, not literal paradise!), but it's already taken.  More than once, actually.  Just look at all of these Paradise's:

here , here, here, and here- just to name a few.

The problem is, that I'm not coming up with something I like...

I'd like the new name to reflect what this little 'ol blog is about- family life, learning to live more simply, being real, the ups (and downs) of parenting, and learning the "home arts".

Any suggestions?

Desperately Seeking Sleep

The Small One, who may very well be known from here on out as The Sleepless Monkey-Tyrant, is creating havoc with my sanity.

I am not capable of staying sane with little to no sleep.

And, the child's average bedtime these days is 1 a.m.

Exaggerate I do not.

I am desperate for your help.

How do you get your little one's to sleep?

I am not expecting her, at nine months, to sleep through the night.

I don't mind a night nursing or two- in fact, I enjoy the closeness and the cuddling.

I just want to know how to put her to sleep.

Once she does go down, she usually stays that way (at night anyway- daytime naps are a whole 'nother thing) for a couple of hours.

What is your bedtime routine?  What works for your children?

Our "usuals" (rocking, nursing, singing, patting, etc.) aren't working anymore.

It was literally a two-hour plus fight tonight- involving a kicking, bucking, crying, refusing to be rocked, nursed, shushed, sung to, or patted baby.

Sigh.....

Dear Lord, give me strength.

Help! We're Being Attacked!!!

By "Murphy" and his/her "law".

SIGH.

Current list:

-Dryer is dead. Price to fix it is almost what a new one will cost. Hmmm, perhaps we should price clotheslines?

-Printer is possessed by demons. We've given up the fight against them. Do not have the extra cash to buy a new one right now. Headed to the library on a regular basis these days to pay 10 cents a page for copying and printing.

-Taxes (that we had to file an extension on) are due at the end of the month, and we still haven't had the chance to get started. Darn to morning sickness, crazy work schedules, and appliances breaking down!

-The bedroom remodel project is still un-started. Darn to the same things listed above!


So, any extra peace and tranquility vibes you've got laying around would be much appreciated if you sent them our way! :)

(10 weeks- or less?- to go today!!!)
:)

Testers Needed

Hi there!

Well, as I've mentioned before, my mom and I are creating our own little Etsy shop called, Mama & Nonni Handmades. We'll be creating and selling items mainly for mamas and their babies and young children. Most of these items will be made from cloth- some might eventually also be knitted. We're starting off with bibs in size small (young infants- 0-6months old), medium (older infants- 6-12months old), and large (toddlers 1-3years old). We'll also have cloth building blocks (very very cute, if I say so myself!), children's placemats, and children's napkins.

This is only the beginning! We have plans for lots more items to come over the year- such as handmade ring-style slings, a cloth diapering friendly diaper bag, cloth wipes, cloth "Robeez" style booties for babies and toddlers, and much more.

So, that brings me to my point (and I do have one) ;) -
We need some product testers!

We are looking for mamas and their babies or toddlers that would like to receive some of our products for free. All we ask in return is that you use them frequently so you can give us feedback on them. How can we make them better? What part of the product does or doesn't work for you or your children? What types of color combinations or fabrics would you like to see them in? Etc, etc. We've already got two mamas on board, but a few more would be great! We're working on creating a feedback form for you to fill out with your comments and recommendations. Once that's done, the mamas who've signed up to be our testers will have our products and some feedback forms mailed to them. Easy-peasy!

Email me, or leave me a comment if you'd be interested in being a tester.

And have a great day!

Please Help Take Action

Please Help Save Handmade


Much thanks to CoolMomPicks for all the information in one location.

Save Quality Handmade Children's Toys

Most of the toys I provide in my childcare program have been either handmade or made by a small (usually family-run) company in either the USA or other trusted countries like Canada or the European Union that have high standards for toy safety and have very good toy safety protocols in place.

Unfortunately- because of all the toy recalls we've seen coming from unsafe toys made in China- the government is considering putting into place a system of toy safety control that will put these proven, and trusted, smaller handmade toy companies and makers out of business.

Please read more about it here, and do what you can to help.

We should have safe toys for our children- by all means!- but there is no reason for that to cost these toy makers so much that they are forced out of business.