The closet....

When we moved into our townhouse a year ago...we loved that we had so much more closet space than we ever had before.  There is a huge closet under the stairs that we decided would be Alison's closet.  We could keep her clothes, toys and even play in that closet since there was so much room....it could be her own little hide out.  The only downside to this....  The mess!!!

(disaster)

Clothes, clothes and more clothes everywhere!  And underneath all those clothes?  Random toys!!!  I was on a mission on Saturday to straighten this mess up!!  It was so easy to ignore the mess by just closing the door, but alas, I couldn't ignore it forever!   So the clean up began!

I started with all the clothes that we will donate.  I ended up removing three garbage bags full of clothes that she either didn't like to wear or that were too small.   I had one bag full of clothes that were either too stained or had holes and were not suitable for donating!  

Next came the toys!  That basket with the yellow trim is a laundry type basket that my mother-in-law gave me.  I put all her toys that were scattered about into it!  I also threw away a garbage bag full of random toys that were broken or just not worth donating.  

On the right hand side of the photo are the family coats that are hanging there but there were just too many, so I took the coats that we do not wear all that often and moved those to the hall closet.  

The final result...  

(wow, there is a floor)

Amazing!!   You can actually walk into the closet now.  She can find exactly what she is looking for. The top shelf is separated into two piles, short sleeve and long sleeve shirts.  The 2nd shelf is all her skirts and dresses.  The 3rd shelf is pants and shorts that she wears under the skirts and dresses and a bin with all her socks and underwear.  The bottom shelf is all pajamas and a basket with hats, swimming suits and gloves (so random stuff).  It took me over an hour to clean up the mess but the results are amazing and now we can open the closet without fear of getting lost in the disaster!!!

Snow!!!!

A couple of weeks ago we got a ton of snow!  Almost a foot in fact and for the Pacific NW that is a lot!  Of course, compared to other parts of the country it isn't a lot but for us, it was a bunch.  We had a great time playing, sledding and going for family walks in the snow!  The puppy loved it and Alison had so much fun!

The snow started on a Tuesday afternoon and quickly escalated to this!!!   It was amazing to watch and the snow just kept piling up!  

This was at about 6:30 in the morning!  She just couldn't wait until after breakfast to get outside!  That is the one thing about not getting snow very often, you have to take advantage of it when it happens!  While she played outside with daddy, I made bacon and eggs!!  And watched from the window with a hot cup of coffee!!!  

(happy heart)

Daddy built the snow up into a big pile for sledding!  Mama even tried it although, I don't remember sledding being quite as painful as a kid as I do now.  ;)

All good things come to an end however and the snow has melted, all except for the few dirty piles about town that were from plowing.  I must say, I really do enjoy the snow and I am hoping that since it is only the end of January...that we get a couple more snow days before spring.  :)

A new year and a huge update!!

I have not posted in a really, really, really long time. But I decided that a new year means it is time to start blogging again!!! So many good and bad things happened in 2016.

 I will start with the two very bad things!!  We lost these two precious fur babies.  Miss Mew had a stroke in May and we had to put her down as she could no longer walk.

We also lost Beastie.  My big dog that had been my best friend and protector before I even met my hubby.  She had turned twelve on January 8th and started going down hill very quickly and passed away on February 1st.  She lived a lot longer than most giant breeds.  We always joked that because she was English Mastiff/Lab mix that she was living on Lab time.   My heart really does hurt daily missing her!!

Now onto the good stuff!!  Alison started the 1st grade and absolutely loves it!  It is amazing that she can read and write now!  It seems just like yesterday she was a tiny baby!!!  She amazes me every day by what a sweet and kind little girl she is.  We are so very blessed that she is ours!!  

Another very exciting thing that happened in 2016 was the addition of this little fellow!  He is a Golden Shepherd (Golden Retriever/German Shepherd) and is now 7 months old.  He is a very, very busy guy.  I had forgotten how very buys puppies are as Beastie was 12 years old.  His name is Hicks and is quite the precious little guy.  Although busy, he is always good for a snuggle which I love!  He certainly doesn't replace Beastie or Bailey (our other dog that passed before) but he does make a great addition to our family!  

(we shall see if he grows into those ears)

We are hoping that 2017 will be a great year for our family.  Many goals are in place such as paying off debt and starting a new business!   And many other awesome things which will be blog posts in their own right!!  My goal is to post at least once a week!  Maybe even twice if something exciting happens!  :)