junk drawers

15th October 2019

Yes! I believe in junk drawers! We have one in our kitchen and it’s a catch all for random things that don’t live somewhere else in the house.

I remember rummaging through the junk drawer we had in the kitchen as a kid. It was kind of like a treasure box, you never knew what you would find, and if something was lost it was the first place you would look. 

BEFORE

This client was proud of their catch all drawer. It was kind of like a “wait till you see this,” kind of thing. Since it’s such a large drawer there was quite a bit of stuff; tools, hardware, phone accessories, art supplies, etc. I was impressed! But most things simply belonged somewhere else in their home which was an easy way to purge the drawer. To complete the project, I purchased three drawer organizers and sorted things into categories. Dividing up a large drawer with compartments makes a big impact on looks and function.

AFTER

This project inspired me to tackle my own junk.   Do you have a junk drawer? What is the most random thing you find in there? Mine is a used tissue! ew!

Madeleine is ‘growing’ up-a birthday party

6th September 2018

We celebrated Madeleine’s 5th birthday with a flower themed birthday party.  You know how we love a good theme:)  We decorated flower pots and planted flower seeds then sang happy birthday before digging into some dirt cake.  What a happy, and hot day celebrating our big girl!  Here are some of my favorite pictures from the day and some of my favorite party details…

baby #3

28th August 2018

Our family is excitedly anticipating the birth of our third baby just about any day now.  We cannot wait to meet the sweet little boy that we found out was on his way in early January.  Madeleine and Joseph have been so excited to welcome a new brother into the family. Even though Madeleine really wanted a sister, she is confident it will be a girl next time;)  Joseph is just eager to be older and bigger than someone…lately he is not a fan of being the youngest/smallest.

As with my first 2 pregnancies, the first trimester was full of nausea and food aversions, but luckily those went away around 12 weeks this go round.  My cravings have included Caesar salad, french fries, fruit and fruit flavored things (especially banana bread and banana pudding), Big Red, red meat, and Honey Bunches of Oats, especially late at night.

It is so precious to watch Joe and the kids love on my growing belly and very exciting when they feel his kicks and rolls.  Madeleine says they feel like little ‘heart beeps.’ My favorite part is laying in bed at night feeling him move.  Throughout the night, whenever I roll over, he always readjusts his position and I just imagine him snuggling in tight.

We have our bags packed, nursery set up, and I’ve washed pretty much anything I can detach and fit into the washing machine.  Now we are just waiting for his arrival and praying for a safe, happy, healthy delivery and baby.

3 year old joseph

20th August 2018

Joseph is almost 3 1/2 and I wanted to document some of his favorite activities, habits, and quirks before he moves onto the next level of cuteness.  How easy it is to forget their tiny little voices and take for granted their personalities at each stage!!

Speaking of voices, Joseph has the most high pitched little boy voice, especially when he is talking about something very exciting, like a passing firetruck or seeing a bug.  I know someday his voice is going to be deeper and more manly and I just want to record every adorable inflection!!  Lately he has been asking/telling us ‘you copy me,’ and then proceeds to make the silliest sounds and we just repeat after each other until we can’t understand the next one through all the giggling.

Some of Joseph’s favorite activities are sliding cars down a wooden ramp Joe made for him.  He props it up on the stairs and races his cars down over and over, excited every time for whoever wins the race.  I love that he plays with all the Disney Pixar ‘Cars’ characters but he only knows some of their names.  It doesn’t slow him down tough, he just makes up names like ‘Reddy,’ ‘Busy’ and ‘Rainbows’ for the ones he doesn’t remember.  Another activity is riding his balance bike and scooter, which would terrify anyone watching for the first time because he is SO fast.  Lately, Joe has been taking him down to the end of our cul-de-sac, which is at the bottom of a pretty steep hill, and they throw balls of all sorts up the street and watch them roll down.  It’s extra fun if they go down into the drainage ditch and they have to ‘explore’ to find them.

So Joseph has some imaginary friends and they’ve been around since he was about 2.  Deedee, Stony, and Deer Deer are their names, don’t ask, and they come up when we are telling stories about our day or something from our childhood or the news.  Deedee reminds me of the DosXX most interesting man.  No matter what, he tops our stories, scores a little higher, or just simply outdoes us.  I think it’s Joseph’s way of being included in ‘big’ conversations.

This summer, Joseph’s obsession with the water hose has continued.  He could literally play for hours with the water hose.  He likes to make waterfalls and rivers in the rocks and dirt.  I like to send him out in his pajamas in the morning and then once he’s soaked, we get dressed for the day.

Joseph hasn’t napped since a few months before his 3rd birthday.  The only time he naps is if he falls asleep in the car and we can transfer him to the couch.  But, honestly, he wakes up so cranky that I try to keep him awake:)

Joseph is mamas boy!  He told me the other night after his bedtime story, “Mama, I love you to all the numbers. And did you know they never stop?  They just peek on going.”  Whenever Joseph gets hurt, he only needs a kiss from mama and he immediately stops crying and all is well again.  At bedtime he kisses Madeleine goodnight and hugs her so BIG and then races to beat Joe to his room.

These are just some of the special parts of Joseph as a three year old I never want to forget.  Below are his answers to his 3 year old interview that we did the week of his birthday.  Joseph you are such a sweet boy!!


What is your name?-Joseph Charles Pawelek

What is your favorite color?  Blue, blue and red

What is your favorite snack? Fruit Snacks

What is your favorite song? Old McDonald had a Farm (Joseph calls McDonald’s the restaurant, Old McDonalds)

What is your favorite toy?  That toy…up there

What is your favorite drink? Root beer (The kids love to get root beer and Joe always teases them that they too young to have beer)

What is your favorite Restaurant? Taco Cabana

Who is your best friend? Madeleine

What do you want to be when you grow up?  A priest

Where do you want to go to college?  Texas

What is your favorite thing to do at the playground?  Go down the slides

Do you like your bike or scooter better?  Bike

Who do you love? Madeleine

What is your favorite movie? Dora

What is your favorite book? Goodnight Goodnight Construction Site

What is your favorite Breakfast? Peanut Butter Toast

What is your favorite dinner that mom makes?  Sausage Pasta

What is your favorite hat to wear?  Cowboy hat (it’s really his Astros cap)

Where do you like to go for fun? Chuckee Cheese and ChickfilA

GIT Ideas-Puzzle Storage Solutions

7th August 2018

GIT Answers: What is the best way to store puzzles and keep them organized?

One of my friends asked me how I store all the kids puzzles.  We don’t have that many, maybe 10 or so, and they all happen to be Melissa and Doug board puzzles.  Once we had enough that we couldn’t stack them in an organized fashion, I got online and started searching for a solution.

At our local library, there are wire racks that store hundreds of toddler puzzles and I was able to find one smaller but similar, made by Melissa and Doug for around $20.  What I like about it is that it is larger on the bottom and smaller on the top to accommodate whichever puzzles you have.  If you have more than 10 puzzles, you can easily buy a few and put them on a shelf for easy access for the kids.  We also have 2 Melissa and Doug dress up puzzles that come in their own wooden crates, but we can stack them nicely on the puzzle rack.

Puzzles are an activity we do on rare occasion, so if we ever get too many I will donate the ones we have grown out of to avoid having to store more;)

What do you do for puzzle storage?  Do you have any toy storage advice or creative solutions you have really liked?  Let me know at casey@letsgitorganized.com

joseph is 3, it’s an emergency!

5th June 2018

Joseph recently turned three years old and we celebrated his birthday with one of his favorite things, emergency vehicles.  Here are some of my favorite ‘action’ shots and decor from his special day…also, a growth chart photo shoot with Madeleine’s ‘rediginal camera’ at the end;)

Joe teaching Joseph how to use his first nerf gun that his uncle Michael picked out for him

 

Growth chart measuring time!!  I love how Joseph shows ‘three’ with his fingers.

family business

9th May 2018

My sister-in-law, Elizabeth, is recently married, and she and her new husband, Matt, settled into their first nest together in Denver, Colorado.  After an out of state wedding, an overseas honeymoon, and the crazy whirlwind of Christmas celebrations, she asked for help organizing and combining their things into their 600 square foot house.  Um, yay!  We decided to make a trip out of it and my other sister-in-law, Becky, flew into CO with me for a weekend of work;)

Matt and Eli were very prepared for their small space and had done a lot of purging of the things they didn’t need.  No trash bags or donation bins required for this project!  Way to go guys!  The major tasks:

1. Arrange furniture to maximize space and functionality

2. Hang/stage decor


Duh!  Denver is cold and Matt and Eli were in need of some coat storage, without a closet.  Solution: A shelf from Hobby Lobby with heavy duty Command Hooks underneath and matching baskets for his and hers shoes.  A bowl on the shelf holds keys, phones, and wallets.

Entry Before

Entry After

Entry After

You won’t find a built in pantry in most older homes so Matt and Eli purchased this skinny metro shelf to fit in their laundry room space right off the kitchen.  Adding bins and storing ‘like’ items in each one makes it easy to utilize the hard to reach spaces in the back and tote everything you need to the kitchen counter.

Pantry Before

Pantry After

We would be embarrassed at how excited we were to discover a fold down leaf in the center of this dining room table, but what an awesome space saver!  We bought some fabric and recovered the dining chairs for a little face lift.

Dining Before

Dining After

I just LOVE the transformation of the living room!  We moved all the bulky furniture into the detached garage and in the process found a dresser turned TV stand and an adorable green chair out there. Score!

Living Room Before

Living Room After

Living Room Before

Living Room After

For the master, centering the bed in the wall to the left allowed for the big dresser to live on the other side of the room.  We dressed up the space with a wall collage of crosses and artwork that Matt and Eli already had.

Bedroom Before

Bedroom After

We tidied up the closet with a plastic three drawer unit and hat hooks up top.

Closet Before

Closet After

What a great weekend!  I know most people don’t consider organizing and staging very much fun, but for me, it is a ton.  Add in staying up late, girl talk, and eating out and it was pretty wonderful.  Happy home Matt and Eli!!


If you’re interested in organizing assistance and want to hire me, check out my services page and email me for more information at casey@letsGITorganized.com

mermaid hair don’t care, madeleine’s mermaid birthday party

19th October 2017

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We recently celebrated Madeleine’s 4th birthday with a mermaid pool party.  I love organizing parties for the kids because they love everything about them…the cake and presents, yes, but even the invitations, party favors, and decor get my kids pumped up.  And me too.  We’ve been known to play pretend parties at home where the kids will color invitations, wrap their toys and sing happy birthday just for fun.

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I’m not sure where she got the mermaid idea, but Madeleine made up her mind almost as soon as she turned three! The whole ‘mermaid’ thing was extra fun with a summer birthday.  We made a game out of collecting seashells from our annual beach trips and then turned around to use them as party decor.   Warm temperatures + the in-laws pool = fun party activity!  We bought some extra large floats that went with the theme and the kids tried not to fall off while Joe pushed them from one side of the pool to the other.

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The birthday cake was a personal victory at this party haha.  I am always drawn to the beautiful cakes that go along with party themes but I feel silly spending a lot of money and my baking, plus decorating, skills are unreliable (revisit Becky’s baby shower blueberry cake and Joe’s german chocolate birthday cake).  But even so, I decided to tackle a diy cake.  I even let the kids help;)  It didn’t turn out exactly like the inspiration picture but it sure was close and sure was good. Madeleine was proud too #designassistant

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Some of my favorite party details were the party favors (water bottles with swirly straws and juice powder), the goldfish in a large fish bowl, and the pirate/mermaid bathroom signs.  Oh and all the pictures that Madeleine and her cousins colored for her party decoration and personally hung up all along the patio.

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Happy Birthday Madeleine!!  I can’t wait to party with you again next year.