Organizing Legos
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Are you wondering where I've been? I've been MIA the last few days since my sweet baby Jett came down with a violent 24 hour stomach flu. A 15 month old with the stomach flu is absolutely horrid. I feel like I've done about 52 loads of laundry this week and at this point I just hope the Lysol gods are smiling on us now. I also finished the last of the vodka. It was necessary.
Since we confined ourselves to the house much of this week, Luke (my oldest son) and I decided to begin a major Lego organization project. He is really, really crazy for Legos right now and I don't see this obsession going anywhere soon so I think it's better we implement a system now.
Apparently, Lego addictions can spiral out of control very quickly based on the images that popped up after I searched Google for "Lego organization." Beware. If you choose to Google this topic yourself, some the images might send you into a mild panic attack. My son's room is by no mean spotless but some of these kid's rooms don't appear to have been cleaned since 1982! To save you the horror, I picked some of our favorite ideas for organizing Legos. You can thank me later.
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This wall storage system is cool but we don't have space for it in Luke's room right now.
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So for right now, I think we're settling on a tackle box system, sorting the Legos by type and size.
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I like this Plano 3-Tray Tackle Box
for sorting smaller pieces in the three tiered trays and keeping larger pieces in the bottom. Luke also said he likes this box because it's portable and he can take all his Legos to spend the night with grandma. Sounds good to me, I'm sold!
for sorting smaller pieces in the three tiered trays and keeping larger pieces in the bottom. Luke also said he likes this box because it's portable and he can take all his Legos to spend the night with grandma. Sounds good to me, I'm sold! 
For those of you with older kids and larger collections, this site has some great tips for organizing Legos. I don't think we're at that level in our household yet but I still love seeing efficiency at it's finest. It makes me really, really happy.
Also during my search, I found this great way to re-purpose the larger Duplo Legos that the kids grow out of so quickly. It's such a great idea for learning to spell and build sentences at home or in the classroom! You can see more details at Filth Wizardry.
See you tomorrow for The Friday Five!
Gallery Wall
It's no secret that I love photography and if you visit my home, you will find little photos scattered in every nook and cranny imaginable. I've been dreaming of a gallery wall for a while now because I love their clutter-free look and they make dusting much, much easier. Because, you know...I dust... a lot.
To be honest, I purchased a group of frames about three months ago and sat them in a corner of my dining room to be hung "at a later time." I've been somewhat intimidated to actually commit to the project for fear that my walls would end up looking like a shooting range target but after reading her post a few days ago on tackling the project, I decided it was far past time to get this done. And I'm pleased to say this project is no longer on my to-do list!
Before I reveal my final results, here are a few of my thoughts when creating your own unique gallery wall. After choosing your feature wall, decide whether your grouping will have an eclectic feel....
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Or a more symmetrical look?
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Next, decide how high and wide you want your display. In my case, I knew I wanted my arrangement to be no wider than my console and no higher than 48" from the top of the console. Then start to play with your frames within those measurements. I did mine on the floor right in front of the console that was anchoring my gallery.
After you decide on your final arrangement, you may want to photograph it as a reference during hanging.
Your finally ready to place the arrangement on the wall! This is where the left side of my brain so frequently loses to the right side of my brain. I did not arrange paper templates on the wall like most sane people choose to do and how this tutorial so wonderfully explains, instead, I winged it and referenced my photograph throughout the process. That's me in a nutshell.
Here's the final outcome which I absolutely love! I still need to fill the frames with my photos and touch up a few spots on the wall left from the previous piece of wall decor but overall very, very pleased.
How was your weekend? Did you tackle any DIY projects or cross something big off your long to-do list?
Strawberry Pie
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| Photos by YSP |
A few weeks ago a fellow yogi brought this pie to share after class and I've been wanting to make it ever since! I remember eating this pie as a little girl at Shoney's restaurant. Anyone else remember that place?
The one thing I love about this pie is that it doesn't require the oven. Can I get an amen to that with this heat spell we've been having?
Assembling this pie is easy. You do need to plan ahead to give it time to set in the refrigerator.
Here's what you need:
1 lb. fresh strawberries
1 cup sugar
1 cup water, boiled
2 tbsp.cornstarch
1 box strawberry flavored gelatin mix
1 ready made graham cracker pie crust
Instructions
Yields: 1 pie, 8 servings
1. Remove stems from strawberries and slice the berries horizontally. Place them into the graham cracker crust.
2. In a saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch and combine completely. Add boiling water and dissolve mixture. Next, bring mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently until slightly thickened. Once thickened, remove from heat and let cool.
3. Once cool, add gelatin mix and stir until combined. Pour mix over strawberries until filled just below the rim of the pie. (You will most likely have a small bit of mixture left over.) Cover pie and refrigerate for at least 4 hours until pie is set.
Marital Bliss
Coincidentally, we also met while dancing. Weird.
I dont' want to give you the impression that it's been all rosy since the moment we met because in the words of the priest that led our premarital counseling, watched us both shed an exorbitant amount of tears and eventually married us, "If you went through all of that and you still want to marry each other, I cannot deny you my blessing." (Insert sigh of relief.)
Without boring you with details, I will tell you that my husband and I agree that we both fell in love at first sight. We both just knew from the moment we met that we would marry one day, even at the young ages of 17 and 19. It only took us nine years to eventually walk down the aisle!
Are we a perfect couple? Absolutely not.
But the one thing we have learned in our short eight years of marriage and seventeen years of loving each other is that love is not about perfection. Not one bit. It is more about the imperfections and learning to love one another unconditionally.
Acknowledge your own imperfections. (Lord knows we all have plenty of them!) Accept your spouse's imperfections. Pray for one another. Live happily ever after. There's my eight year anniversary advice in a nutshell.
Thanks to all of you for your well wishes and congratulations. We're staying close to home tonight and hitting up our favorite local date spot for a casual dinner.
Now if I could only have that seventeen year old body back....
Intimate Details
It's Monday and today I'm sharing some random tidbits from my simple little life. As some of you may know, tomorrow is our eighth wedding anniversary so my husband and I did some celebrating this past weekend by staying here and dining here. Let me just mention the grit fritters. To.Die.For.
And no romantic celebration would be complete without some bubbly and chocolate covered berries! A sweet surprise from my husband.
I also took the first step towards "upgrading" our bedroom by purchasing this duvet cover from West Elm. I fell in love with the pattern and colors!
Last but not least, I'm really excited to be featured today over at Sincerely Cecelia. Click on over to see what's on my nightstand as well as what I'm reading right now.
Thank you Cecelia and thanks to all of you for sharing a moment with me today.
