House declutter challenge

Money Saving Mom is having a decluttering challenge. Her first assignment was to declutter and organize the living room and closets. Here are my before pictures.

Here are my after pictures.

I ended up getting rid of one coat, several gloves that were missing the mate, some mittens the boys will outgrown next year and some odds and ends for a total of 8 items

SwagBucks

Did you know you can get paid to do what you are already doing? By using SwagBucks as your search engine, you earn points. The more you use it and refer others, the more money you can earn. If you do sign up, please use my link above so that I can earn more points. There is a link below as well as on the right side. Please check it out.

Family Vacation

Last week we went on a family vacation to Florida. It was a fun trip. We drove down there in a Chrysler Town and Country. That was a very nice ride and the boys enjoyed it, as much as they can for a 23 hour drive.

We spent the first 4 nights in Orlando. We went to Magic Kingdom for one day. Here are some pictures.

This is where we parked in Magic Kingdom.

Brady and I on his first roller coaster.

Isaac & Brady being silly. (Especially Isaac)

Buzz Lightyear ride. We got stuck on the ride a couple of times, so we were really able to score high.
Shawn maxed out at 999,999 points.

Isaac & Daddy on the Buzz ride.

Brady and Mommy on the buzz ride. As you can see, Brady spent a lot of time with mommy on the rides.

Isaac with his new "mouse" ears.

Isaac & Brady waiting for the parade to start.

Cinderella's Castle at night.

Family picture

We were also in Orlando with Grandma and Papa Neuser. Unfortunately, they had to cut their trip short because Grandpa McCabe passed away on St. Patrick's Day.

After our 4 nights in Orlando it was back on the road again for a short ride to New Smyrna Beach (near Daytona Beach) where we spent the next 3 nights. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures from this part of the trip. We spent most of the time on the beach or in our condo.

The weather overall was pretty nice. We had low to mid 70s most days, but there was a strong wind that was cold. Because of that, I didn't spend a lot of time in shorts. I wore mostly capris and I made sure we all had long sleeves for the nights. We had one not so nice weather day on Thursday where the temperatures were in low 60s and cloudy. Then Friday the temperatures were in the mid 70s and sunny. The beach came to life then.

Shawn and I didn't care too much for the beach because you could drive on the beach. So we were always watching out for cars and making sure the boys watched out as well. The boys loved the ocean. They loved playing in it and we had to drag them out, even though it was freezing cold. They didn't even ask about playing in the pool.

Organizing

At our March Mother of Multiples meeting, Shelly showed us ways to get organized. She has really given me some inspiration to get organized. I started with my kitchen, and especially my pantry. Below are some before and after pictures.

Before

After

This pantry is actually only a small sampling of the food I have. Most of my extra food is stored in my basement on shelves. I have so much food thanks to Shelly teaching me about using coupons. I have saved well over a thousand dollars by using some of the tricks she has taught me, so now I don't pay for a lot of my health and beauty products and know when to stock up on groceries to get the most for my money.

I also cleaned my cupboards and organized my upstairs bathroom cupboards. I didn't get a picture taken of that area.

Happy 5th Birthday Isaac & Brady

A couple months ago during my Mother of Multiple's meeting we were taught how to decorate cakes professionally. I decided I would give it a try with the boys' cupcakes. Here is the outcome of that try. They turned out pretty good and the boys were able to bring them to school.

On the weekend, we gave the boys a party at Chuck E Cheese. Michelle brought Megan and Logan, and my neighbor Megan brought her Brady. The boys had a great time, until Chuck E came out. Then Brady didn't want to have anything to do with him, which is why you don't see him in the picture below. I've decided that I will never have a party there again on the weekend. It is just WAY to crazy busy and they rush you off the tables before you really get a chance to do anything. You only have an hour and a half and then they need to table for the next party. I really didn't like it at all.

At least the boys had a good time.

Christmas 2009

Here are some pictures from Christmas 2009.

Whaccha doin'?

The boys were very engrossed in whatever it was they were watching or doing on the computers.. Brady looks so cute in daddy's hat.