decluttering maddness!!

the sad before shot....

 most families have one junk drawer.

 i've even heard that there may be a family out there that doesn't have even ONE.

 gasp.

 must have just been a rumor.

but here at the liks, we like junk drawers.

we like um so much we need two.

not really NEED but, ok, we NEED two.

i won't even tell you about the room in our house that we call an office.

in reality, it's just one big junk ROOM!

no, really, it's all true. that room will be saved for a whole nother blog post. i'll post that one when i have a little of my pride back. after all, i did show you my two junk drawers.

my pretty after.....

 i love mugs.

i especially love Starbucks mugs.

love the different shapes, sizes and colors.

i love that a company can come up with really cute LIME GREEN mugs!

Wednesday was my stay at home, purging ALL day, day.

you have no idea how much i love those days.

i covet and appreciate them.

my cup cupboard was high on the 'must do' list.

so the best way to organize is to take EVERYTHING out, then put back in only what you NEED.

just for the record, i put them ALL back in. every girl NEEDS 35 mugs, right??

 one of my favorite parts of my Starbucks mug collection is my stash of City Mugs.

lots of these cities i have never been in. (i have nice people pick them up for me when they're someplace i'll probably never get).

here's what i have....just in case one of YOU nice people want to send me a mug! :)

MEMPHIS

LAS VEGAS

WHISTLER

MAUI

PHOENIX

ORANGE COUNTY

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

CHICAGO

CANADA-OLYMPICS

SAN DIEGO

 here's the whole team!

 mother, not that you haven't already put a big dent in my collection but since you're there, i thought i'd remind you of the ones you've already bought me, JUST IN CASE you were thinking of getting me another one.

tiny, little  hint. i'd LOVE another one. :)

 DONE. DONE. DONE. DONE. DONE.

 snicker doodles! my fams fav!

 recipe book, shopping list & the stack of coupons that will probably never make it to the checker.



purse cleaning. yes, most of this was actually in there. except for the laptop, of course.

and the plant.

and the green tray.

and the bench.

and the chair...

ok, just the papers came out of there.

dang, i need to go to bed.

good night.

WII-WASTING-WONDER-WOWSERS!!

 I'M TRYING TO DECIDE IF THIS NEW WII IS A BLESSING OR A CURSE?

LOT'S OF FIGHTING, DEBATING ABOUT WHO'S THE REAL CHAMP. 

"STOP DEBATING CHILDREN. YOU'RE ALL WINNERS TO ME." 

CAN'T YOU JUST HEAR THE EYES ROLLING FROM THERE?

THAT'S WHAT THEY SOMETIMES DO WHEN I ENCOURAGE THEM WHEN THEY'D RATHER I JUST LET THEM HASH IT OUT.

I'M WORKING ON BITING MY TONGUE. REALLY, I AM.

************

i made a pretty dinner last night. i anticipated that it would even taste good.

after looking at it for awhile, i noticed that it could use a little color and a tad more seasoning.

over to my cupboard i go, pick out my MOST favorite seasoning, the one that i can ONLY get from Wyckoff, NewJersey.

ya, that place my sis lives.

she sends me this stuff whenever i ask. she even packs it in her suitcase every time she comes.

and what do i go and do???

THEN, sadly,i dumped half, yes HALF the bottle on my pretty little steaks.

i had a moment of insanity, i was actually going to lick it off the top of the meat so it wouldn't be lost.

i refrained.

i was sick. (not from eating it, duh) but because i wasted this dear,hard to come by Sassy Salt.

sister, have mercy on me.

i've suffered enough.

please, don't yell at me for wasting. it will never happen again. (probably)

pretty, pretty please pretty sister, could you spare me a bottle??

or 9?

thanks.

BTW....the steaks were awesome. we all just needed an extra helping of milk/wine to wash down all the extra spices. 

 i'm terribly sentimental.

now that i know, when the boys are in the 5th grade, they make me a nativity set, it brings me to tears. how sweet are these????

sam's is on the left. he's got the whole crew there.

max had a Shepperd ditch the group.  probably went looking for his lost sleep. OR most likely, he's somewhere in the art room at LC. yup, i'm going with the latter part.

i don't care. they are both equally important and precious to me!!!

i keep them up year round.

come see them!

my baby had his 9th birthday last month and just tonight we pulled the HB plate off the stand and let him actually eat off it.

he would have rather had a big fat piece of chocolate cake on it

but this mean old mom MADE him eat meat and veggies on it.

can you believe i'd do such a thing?

well i did.  

on my other camera i have a picture of him, forcing a smile with his full plate. post it later.

happy birthday big boy.

next time you'll get cake.

i promise.

mom and pops....

 these are my parents.

these are my children.

i love them.

i love them much.

these are my crazy parents.

these are my cooky children.

they are all geeks.

yes, they are all geeks.

lucky for me, we all live under the same roof.

which must make me crazy, cooky and a bit of a geek too. 

that's ok. i'll keep um!

this picture was taken on Sunday. Monday morning they left on their yearly trip to China, to do God's work!

we are SOOO proud of them.

i, for safety reasons can not get into the exact reason for their trip on the Internet but if you'd like to know more specifics, please email me. i'd be happy to share their stories with you.

those who do know, here's an update in code. :)

please be lifting them up to their 'coach'! they need support.

their 'games' aren't going as good as in years past.

the 'grumpy coach' doesn't want them winning, obviously!!! 

but hey, we WILL WIN. 

maybe not in this lifetime...but our team rules. :)  

STORM THE THRONES OF HEAVEN FRIENDS!!!

Gonna Be a Bear......

to my dear sil, cindy. this one's for you! :) thanks for a fun day!

in this life i'm a woman. in my next life, i'd like to come back as a bear.

when you're a bear, you get to hibernate.

you do nothing but sleep for six months.

i could deal with that.

before you hibernate, you're suppose to eat yourself stupid.

i can deal with that too.

when you're a girl bear, you birth your children (who are the size of walnuts) while you're sleeping and wake to partially grown cute, cuddly cubs.

i could definitely deal with that.

if you're a mama bear, everyone knows you mean business. you swat anyone who bothers your cubs.

if your cubs get out of line, you swat them too.

i could deal with that.

if you're a bear, you mate EXPECTS you to wake up growling. he EXPECTS that you will have hairy legs and excess body fat.

yup, gonna be a bear.