My Serious Painter

Kaylin loves to get out the paints and do a little creating. The other day I turned around and caught her standing on the bench creating one of her many masterpieces. I got James to quickly take a few pics. Unfortunately he missed her in full excited face mode but these pics are still pretty cute.

Helpful Hints 1

When I come across a helpful hint that's actually helpful I want to share. Life can be so crazy and anything that helps me gain some sanity (or just a few extra minutes in the day) I want to try. I've listed a few below. If any of my friends out there have helpful ideas to share - please do!

1-My mom emailed me the other day with an old newspaper posting from Heloise regarding housework. The theory revolved around the number 5. One idea was to do things for 5 minutes at a time. For example - spend 5 minutes tidying up or give the bathroom a five minute refresher. Another idea was to choose to do 5 things a day. I actually had a friend years ago give me this idea as well. So that is the one I am trying. Today my five included bathroom cleaning, thorough kitchen cleaning, laundry (I counted this as two items because I washed 2 loads and folded 4), and posting in this blog. Since I am doing the last one now - I have completed my tasks. Yeah. I can relax now and enjoy precious time with my family (without worrying about things I didn't do). Other chores will be there tomorrow.

2-When I get out an onion to chop up for some recipe. I tend to go ahead and chop up the whole thing at once. This way I can throw them into any other recipe whenever I need them. For example - sometimes I fry up some frozen hashbrowns for breakfast. I toss in a few chopped onions for extra flavor (with none of the extra work). I could do the same with bell pepper. Sometimes if they're chopped already I'll add a yellow or orange one to my salad. Adds a nice flavor.

3-When I have two small loads of laundry that can't be washed together I'll still combine them in the dryer since there is plenty of room. That way the dryer only has to run once.

4-I like looking through magazine for all sorts of ideas. I used to keep the magazines laying around. Now I just rip out the pages I want (recipes, decor ideas, etc) and get rid of the rest. Saves lots of space. I put the pages in a file or recipe book.

5-For easily adding a paragragh space in your blog type the less than sign, p, than the greater than sign.

I'd love to hear any hints you may have to share.

Christmas photos 2009

Hi everyone - It's obvious from my blog that I'm either a slacker or the holidays have been a fairly busy time for me. I prefer to think it's the later. We had a nice, mellow Christmas here in Colorado with the Gage clan. Santa was very generous and Kaylin had a great time. Below are a few pictures of our day.

The first picture is of Kaylin in her new twirly whirly dress. It's one of the specific things she asked Santa for when he visited her preschool. Fortunately her Aunt Shelli has a direct line to Santa. She loves it (as if you couldn't tell).

Mommy and Kaylin in their matching shirts. Ahhh! How long do you think I'll be able to get away with that?

Kaylin with Grandma. Kaylin's wearing a necklace that Santa got her (the other item she specifically requested from him). I'm glad Santa's on top of things.

I hope you had a great Christmas and a happy new year. May the future hold many many blessings for all of you.