I Love Containers!!!

Most who know me have found out I LOVE containers. Boxes, tubs, jars and baskets just to name a few. I might not be the neatest person, but I like to "contain" my clutter. I went shopping on Sunday afternoon with my son, Ryan. We went to Goodwill, Tuesday Mornings, Cost plus World Market and Pier 1. We had the best luck at Tuesday Mornings. I found the perfect box for what I wanted. The townhouse we live in is great, but the bathroom is not laid out ideally. I like to keep my feminine products near the commode and trash, that means keeping them in the open. So, Ihave been looking for the perfect container to house these items and found it!I now can keep these within reach. Yes I have lots of variety, I get samples and keep stocked up based on sales!

Speaking of bathrooms, what about TP? I have a couple of solutions. the first one I did for our bathroom was someplace to keep a few rolls in reach and a place to keep the reading materials. (We all have reading material in the bathroom!) I found a wicker magazine rack at a yard sale. It holds what I need it to and looks good doing it! Then the 1/2 bath, only need TP but easily found by guests. I found this tall metal flower can to work perfect.

The boys bath, their sink is close enough to keep it under that. Then came the stock-pile TP
storage, I am known to have lots when I find a good deal I stock up! The kids moved this need up the priority list when they ripped the packaging to shreds and left a pile of TP sitting in the hall. We don't have a linen or storage closet in this place. At Goodwill I found this box, no lid but it will work for the open shelves we have in our hall upstairs. I did find some great Plastic wicker containers at Tuesday Mornings after I found this one. I decided this would work just fine for what I wanted and it was only $3.00, so a great bargain!
 


 

 Now, since I was covering my favorite storage solutions, I thought I would share a few more! For those neat little laundry drop-in's, you can never get the bag to "zip" back closed and when less than 1/2 full they like to fall over. I bought this plastic container at Walmart in the food storage aisle. It holds 4 or more bags of the drop-in's and/or will hold the powder later on if I want. A word about the powder, when you store it in the box it comes in, it clumps or the kids spill it easily when helping. The container has a locking lid, so it reduces those risks.

 I even have a tub that I keep light bulbs in. Never worry about them dropping out of their packages, getting smashed when something gets stacked on them, and the kids can bring you the tub while not touching them. (The oils on your hands can make them burn out faster.)


 Next to the open shelves upstairs, I have a small chest. Andy has lots of medical supplies that he doesn't use on an everyday basis but he needs to be able to get to them. Also the first aid kit, ace bandages and medical gloves can take lots of room on a shelf, and look disorganized. All this stuff has found a home in this chest.
 

Another storage solution I have, those "over-the-door" shoe organizers. Mine has everything from peperoni packages and muffin mixes to bags of pasta and Ice Cream mix in it. But the best part, the bigger pockets at the bottom hold granola and protien bars for the boys. They can not only reach, but they can see in to choose. Any snacks that are for them, I put in the bottom pockets. I also keep gum and breath mints in upper pockets to grab on the way out the door for church or long car rides.

So, there you go. Some of my storage solutions and maybe an idea or 2 for you. If you have any other ideas, or need some ideas, let me know. I enjoy finding solutions!

How we do Back-to-School Photo's and Home Schooling!!

Everyone has been posting their back to school photos for the last few weeks. I don't have any since we home school. The boys have their assignments, they take care of their work on their own, and ask for help when needed. We "teach" more on the fly, when the opportunity and location is presented, our classroom is the world.
This morning, Ryan had his work done and is back outside riding his bike. Andy is a bit slower, he slept in later, so he is still working on his work. They both have done their bible studies and some chores are already done. We'll work on making lunch soon and then enjoy spending the day together.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy seeing the back to school photos and yes we are missing out on some of that. But what I do get????? All day with my boys and I wouldn't have it any other way! So, here are our Back to School photos.

Yes, we like to have fun. We might have Nerf gun fights..... I win alot since they tend to bring me all the bullets! I find an educational experience in everything. Nerf, hand eye coordination and awareness of surroundings, comes into play when they learn to drive! Lego construction; building a strong foundation, following directions, and other physic's lessons. Even riding a bike has lessons to learn; rules of the road, awareness and avoiding accidents (or thinking fast!)
We go to the store and learn price comparison, price per unit and other math. Standing in a line we learn patience, thoughtfulness of others. We learn time management skills and project planning skills from the independence I give them. (They plan out how to get their work done and still play outside before it gets too hot!)

Going to church we learn that God is with us always and we must always behave as if today is Judgment Day. We will have to answer for our actions, the good as well as the bad.
We can learn from anywhere and everywhere if we just look for the opportunities. Ok, getting off my soap box now! I love my days with my boys. They always want hugs, they would never go to sleep at night if I didn't still tuck them in. I love watching the joy on their faces when they figure out something, or complete a hard assignment. I get to hear their conversations, and hear them tell each other that they love them. I get to be the first one they ask questions of, and am able to decide if it is something they need to know yet or should they be older!

I hope you get a chance to find those moments with your children, even if you send them to public school. Look for the fun and the educational times. Enjoy them, the kids will not stop growing up. And one day, they'll be gone!

Our Vacation!!

Yea, life is still going on and keeping me from posting more updates! LOL

So, we have been having some fun the last week. We packed up last Tuesday and hit the road by 6:30am on Wednesday morning. Headed up to Chama New Mexico, through some rain and lots of elevation changes, gas mileage went from 300 miles a tank to only 160 mile a tank. We pulled in around 8:30pm Mountain time. Not a bad drive, just long!
Got everything unpacked and settled in at our friends home. The kids bounced off the walls for awhile and then settled down to sleep. The parents sat up talking til after 1am! The next morning the kids were up and ready to go by 7am.... not the parents!
Had a great time visiting, exploring the sites, enjoyed some great food and even all went out to dinner 1 night! Monday morning rolled around with sad faces and breaking hearts.... it was time to pack up and start heading for home. The rounds of good byes had some tears and then we were off around 10am.
We had decided to make a few stop and see things on our way home, we didn't feel like rushing. We also planned on finding a hotel and spending the night somewhere around 1/2 way. So, the 1st stop we decided was a truck stop, to buy a power inverter, to be able to charge the tablet's that were keeping the boys entertained!
Then around 6pm, we stopped at The Cadillac Ranch. It's just west of Amarillo, TX and has 10 Cadillac's 1/2 buried in the ground, standing on end. These cars are covered in spray paint. You are allowed to be creative and graffiti the cars. It was a really neat site if you stopped to look at where the paint had changed the texture and stopped the rusting/ weathering of these cars. I had a lot of fun taking some neat pictures. Yes, somewhere along the years I have always gotten a kick out of taken pictures of textures. There are more pictures at the end of this post!

After that stop we decided to head for the Giant Cross and we thought we would find a hotel near there. The Cross and the display around it were amazing. The kids really enjoyed it. There is a gift shop, but the selection is limited to general religious items and had very few souvenirs for their location. I also was disappointed in their prices, a CD of the builder talking about the Cross was $20. Too much for so little. They also only had about 4 other items for souvenirs, none very good and priced very high. Anyway, I got some pictures just before the sun went down, we went into the gift shop before they closed, then took a few more after dark.
We then decided since it was after 8pm, it was time to find a hotel and dinner. Well, we ended up not finding a hotel until 10 pm, dinner was McDonald's... not very good one. There is not anything around the Cross, so if you want to go, do what we SHOULD have done, plan on staying in Amarillo for the night.
We got up late this morning, Marty around 7:45am, me around 8am and last up was Andy around 8:30am. Went down and got some breakfast and was back on the road by 10am. We drove through town and by an old Route 66 gas station/ restaurant that was refurbished by 2003, and was the basis for Ramon's car paint shop in the Disney Car's movie. It is listed as a historical place and now is used to house a museum and the local Chamber of Commerce. This is in Shamrock, TX.
We continued our drive home, with lots of gas stops as the gas mileage seemed to drop the whole trip! Stopped in Denton to grab some lunch and made it home around 3pm. It's not 6pm, and I already have the second load in the washer, Marty has washed the bugs off the car and the kids have ridden their bikes some. The plans for the rest of the night is to eat some dinner and watch some TV before the kids go to bed early.

Marty is back to work tomorrow at 6am, and then we have church in the evening. Everything is going to be back to normal and the usual activities. I'll check in later this week, or I'll try to! Today's post was a quick one, and an excuse to post some of the pictures I took. I hope you enjoy!

Don't forget to keep scrolling down to see more photo's!

More texture photos.