while they were sleeping

This afternoon I found myself with a rare 2 1/2 hours to myself while the girls were napping. Due to a mysterious middle-of-the-night vomiting incident, I kept Scout home from school today. The planets aligned correctly around 11:30am when I put the girls down for a post-nap lunch (lunch was served at an early bird 10:55). They had both been awake through the night with Scout getting in and out of bed every 30 minutes from 3:30-5:30 (but who was looking at the clock anyway), so there was no negotiating the nap situation. I just couldn't believe my luck when I heard them both snoring five minutes after tucking them in.

I then set my sights on Catcher's room and "re-arranging" (i.e. de-cluttering, Goodwill-ing) his bookcase. I had to cart the giant box of items-to-be-donated out to the car while the girls were still sleeping because, you know, parents are sneaky like that. It will take them five months to notice that the puzzle with the missing pieces is no longer here, and by that time I can get away with an evasive "I don't know. I haven't seen that [insert 'lost' object here] in a while" reply when they come at me with their "Mom, where's the..." interrogation.

'tis the season for cleaning

Today was day three of this crazy cold front in Austin. By 1:00 this afternoon, cabin fever had set in and I had to do something. It's generally our MO to clean out the kids' toys prior to Christmas, so I figured today was as good a day as any. Catcher was still in school, but the girls were eager to help. It was very exciting for them to go through all the books and toys that we had decided to donate, and they were especially encouraging when deciding that most of Catcher's toys should go. Afterward the girls enjoyed the fruits of their labor by guzzling hot cocoa and noshing pumpkin bars (while I returned some of Catcher's toys slated for Goodwill to their proper home in his room).

sort, store, repeat

In the spirit of new beginnings and getting ready for the next big event (i.e. Kindergarten) Catcher and I organized his room and toys yesterday. We got rid of the wooden "baby trucks," as the big five year-old referred to them, that he no longer plays with and did some major Lego sorting. It's amazing how quickly those little plastic things take over your world...

hang your hat

It's no secret that I love a deal. To be fair, I probably enjoy the hunt for the deal more than the deal itself, but there's no denying the sense of accomplishment in finding a great deal. After working in retail for years, I find it virtually impossible to pay retail for anything. Unless, of course, I come across an incredible knockoff that costs less than $10 (as illustrated in the story below).

It all started when I saw these coatrack dots in the Design Within Reach catalog:

I wanted something to spruce up the blank walls in our little entryway--and honestly, a place to hang my bag--but I was not thrilled with the $149 price tag for a set of five wooden dots. Then the next day (literally) the CB2 catalog arrived in the mail, and I saw these...

a set of three dot coat hooks for $9.95. I couldn't believe it. I ordered two sets. The dots were backordered for two months, and I was sort of convinced they would never get here, but Saturday when we got home from the soccer game this box was waiting on our front porch:

Catcher couldn't wait to rip open the package to see what was inside. It doesn't matter what's inside. It's always exciting. Of course, more exciting than the coat dots was the bubble wrap:

This is what happened when Scout woke up from her nap on Saturday and thought there was no more bubble wrap left to pop. She cheered up after I brought out a piece I had saved for her, but we had to wait for Alex to get home on Monday to bring out the power tools and finish the project:

After selecting the right size bit, he handed the drill over to Scout. Two year-olds and power tools are a great combination. (Don't freak: Scout didn't really drill anything. She just looked cute holding it.)

And here's the end result. I like the look--kind of sculptural/artsy. I told Alex that although we technically have a place to hang "stuff" now, we (and I mean he) can't go junking it up with ESPN hats and dirty gym bags.

mission not quite possible

Yesterday morning was gray and drizzly, so I thought it was the perfect time to embark on mission:organization for Catcher's bedroom. After a Sunday afternoon where I found myself in the eye of a lego hurricane, I was desperate to organize something...anything.

It was this desperation that drove me to the Container Store on Tuesday morning after dropping Catcher and Scout off at school. I figured I could handle such a task with only one child in tow. Three minutes after stepping inside I remembered that I couldn't handle such a task. Ever. I spent the next twenty minutes pushing my cart up and down the aisles pretending like I knew what I was doing--like I had a purpose for every glass canister or lacquered box that I passed.

Stuck in an aisle of containers--literally, that's what the aisle was labeled--anxiety set in as I tried to think (but couldn't think) of all the things I have that need to be contained. By the way, do they really need an aisle labeled "containers" at the Container Store? Look at Tillie smirking at me. She's totally smirking, right? She knew that we were going to walk out of the store with nothing but two shipping envelopes.

In the "container" aisle I did happen to find lego storage that looks like a lego. But the boxes were ridiculously small. Were they really supposed to hold legos? Or were they designed to store other things for extreme lego-enthusiasts? This is why this store drives me crazy. I don't get it: what are all of these containers supposed to contain? I know it was my fault for going in there, but the last time I ventured into the Container Store was 10 years ago when the flagship opened in Manhattan. I thought I was mature enough to make a second attempt, but at the end of this little adventure I just found myself back at old reliable:

*Target, however, was sold out of the red canvas storage bins that were the backup to my backup plan for Catcher's room. That kind of annoyed me, but at least I found a new shower curtain and bath mat.