Organize the home - organize the mind!

I heard once (from a completely reliable source such as the television, Internet or women's magazine) that the state of your external living environment is a reflection of the state of your internal environment.

Complete generalization in a magazine headline used to convince the average women waiting in the check out line that her life is a mess and the purchase of this magazine and the contents it holds will change her life before it completely falls apart: YES!

A grain of truth at the center of this theory: YES!

I have many idiosyncrasies, as we all do. I do however; have one that is quite unusual. I love to shop for/buy organizing materials. The office supply and storage aisles are my favorite nooks and crannies of any local retail store. Now, as a wife and mama of two under age three, this gift could be used as an asset to my vocation and my family.

Unfortunately, what makes this idiosyncrasy unusual is that I am the least organized person I know. Ok, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but most of these "splurge" purchases sit in shopping bags in the corner of my living room until I "clean" and then they sit in the corners of my bedroom. In other words, I'm all talk (shop) and no action (organization)!

Maybe I'm lazy. Maybe I'm too busy, stressed out, tired or full of excuses. Maybe I'm such a perfectionist about things I care about; I can't bring myself to organize until I know it will be done perfectly. Don't worry about me, I'm working on that - and will be until the day I die. I'll more than likely have to work that one out with Jesus.

Regardless, trying to make a small place a home/office with two little girls, 86 dolls, 5 billion books, 98 1/2 pairs of shoes and many other countless unrecognizable toys is enough to drive any women crazy - and to organization! Well, all those things and a trip to IKEA on a much needed "girls weekend" away with her college girlfriends.

So, for the sake of documentation, and the intention of promoting some of my favorite products for you to look for on the clearance racks of retail stores, please enjoy the following pictures of the gals' room!

if you've got children, you MUST have a handy and cute storage area for baby dolls, animals and all things "stuffed" that tend to multiply in your home the second you bring baby home!

This frog is from IKEA and was $9!
my advice: put the ones that sing or cause fights in the top pockets!

These toy bins have saved our home from being completely taken over by our children and those who like to buy for them! May I add, I think we have purchased a total of 2 toys since the day we became parents! We don't bring things in, we only take things out. The bins have been a great system for teaching the girls to clean up after themselves (everything must go in a bin before we ------ (fill in the blank with something little girl friendly). Also, Joseph and I have a rule that if there are too many toys to fit in the bins - then there are too many toys and we purge!


We waited for this system to go on clearance at Shopko for $26.


The flower stickers are wall appliques. They have them at Dollar Tree! These all came together in one sheet for: you guessed it - $1!



We placed a coat hook on the wall right by the door to the gals' bedroom. This hook can be easily accessed from our main hallway. Now book bags and sweatshirts can be hung up and their contents can be kept out of the bathtub and sweatshirts don't have to be washed 5 times a week because they were found in the corner of the kitchen floor with macaroni on them!


I found this wall hook hanging at Hobby Lobby or $3


We have a low book shelve that the girls can reach. This way we are able to keep the same rules as we do with the bins! I don't care how the books go on this shelf (they'll just be all over the floor again in the morning) but they MUST go on the shelf!


Cost: FREE from the garage of my MIL via the college apartment of my SIL!



This is my favorite organizational tool of all time! As a mama of little girls, we do a lot of crafting over here! And, our crafting involves glitter and sequins. As hard as you try to contain these things, know it is impossible. I once noticed glitter in Joseph's hair from a project we did earlier that week - while he was at work!
These items need to be easy to access as to encourage me to get them out and use them with my littles - yet out of reach to prevent marker on my sofa. These pouches, hanging right inside their bedroom, are perfect!

This was found at IKEA on sale for $3. I loved it so much I bought one for a friend who is a homeschooling mama!

A Day at the Theatre

My father thinks I MUST be rich and famous since my name is in a book and all. He keeps asking me when I'm going to be on Book TV and reminding me that when that day comes, I need to ask them to "send a car" to pick me up. I haven't asked him who "them" is and why on earth they would send me a car.

The fact that he gets so excited about such things is why he is such an amazing dad. I keep telling my husband I need to sell a few more essays before I'll be convinced the one about my dad wasn't just a fluke. He is such an interesting character and it surly didn't take much skill to write a worthy essay about this more than worthy man.

Still, I decided to do something "fun" and more importantly, out of our normal budget with the money I earned from the essay about my father.

As my writing has slowly (but surly) taken off over the past year I have taken to using the profits for family fun time. The rewards of this are many fold. Firstly, not having to budget in family entertainment to our normal monthly budget leaves more room for other things and, I don't have to feel badly when using this "writing fund" money for FUN!

So what does the sale of a 1000 - 2000 word essay buy a family of 4? Here's the answer in picture form:

2 plain (pink) T-shirts on sale for 50 percent off at Hobby Lobby.
2 child size shirts (from the gals' closet)


1 package of iron on transfer paper for our printer. (Dora images were found FREE online)
1 package of fabric markers (purchased with Hobby Lobby's weekly 40 percent off one item coupon)

4 Dress Circle Tickets to Nickelodeon's Story Time Live! show.

(Dress Circle Tickets were purchased due to the young age of my children, I thought they needed to be close for the 90 min. show to hold their attention.)

1 $6 drink with a straw that could be taken into the theatre (this was a MUST as the knowledge of having something that could bribe the girls to hold off a melt down was needed for this mama!)

2 adults meals

1 child meal

1 milk shake from Fuddrucker's

The chance to take our girls to their first live show was worth a million dollars! Joseph and I are both huge lovers of the arts and especially, the theatre. It was amazing to watch them run about the lobby, exploring this grand place full of so much creative energy!

Anna Clare screamed with joy and threw her hands in the air every time a character she recognized began to sing.

Tessa was out of her seat and dancing and singing along with the entire show. And, although the place with packed with little girls, we received many comments from the ushers on how happy Tessa was to be singing and dancing.

Not only did I get to witness my girls falling in love with something so dear to my heart, I got to watch the joy their daddy had in his face as he watched them watch the show. He did it all with a huge grin of pride, love and joy and he did it all in a PINK shirt with a silly Monkey on the front and Dora and scribbled pictures from his gals on the back. The best part, I didn't even have to ask him to wear pink. He said if everyone else in the family was doing it - he would have it no other way.

Family Olympics Project

My husband and I are both big fans of the Olympics. He's got a competitive spirit and I love all the human interest stories they tell about the athletes. I love to sit, night after night, and cry about the hardships people have overcome to appear in the Olympics. It's so cool to witness someones "big moment" in life, where their hard work and sacrifice pay off and they have a moment of pride. So, although I am proud to be an American, I usually end up cheering for the athlete with the best sob story. I'm a sucker for sob stories.

The winter Olympics hold a special place in my heart because the last time they were held, Joseph and I had just started dating and we were able to watch them together. Our first valentine's day was spend in front of the TV, cheering on team USA and splitting a pizza. We're low maintenance like that.

This year we were invited to watch the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver with some family friends. We said we'd bring dessert. So, we decided to bring the winter Olympics to the Rutchik home and make a family project out of it!



First we made a cake.


Then we made another cake. I'm a firm believer in layered cakes and never split a cake mix to make them. 2 layers, 2 cakes.

Then Joseph sorted a large family size bag of M&M's into separate cups. I'm so blessed to have an amazing hubby who never has to be talked into family projects such as this. He jumps right in without being asked, and I love him so for it!

While we let the cakes cool, we took some time to practice colors with Tessa. A little tip for parents of 2 year olds having trouble with colors; being able to eat an M&M after correctly identifying its color was a brilliant idea! Little miss Tessa now knows her colors, and has eaten a lot of chocolate this weekend!

Here are our cups of M&M's!

Miss Anna Clare wasn't too into the family project. She expressed her displeasure with busy arms unable to hold her with screams and pleas for "UP!"

We bribed her with M&M's and she was back on board for a family project!

I then made my famous homemade peanut butter frosting and Tessa enjoyed squeezing the red food coloring in and watching it change colors. Being able to actually SEE that something she was doing was having such an effect while cooking was a joy to her.

As the cakes continued to cool, Tessa and I filled a brown ice cream cone with broken pieces of licorice to create the Olympic torch. We then filled the cup with red and orange M&M's to hold our "flames" in place. Because as everyone knows, if the flames go out, it's bad news!

Joseph punched a hole in the bottom of the cone with a toothpick to insert into the cake and hold our torch in place.

We created the famous Olympic rings with M&M's, sprinkled some white sugar on to to look like snow and finished the cake off with a blue and read border of M&M's to show our support for team USA!

Here Tessa and I pose with the finished product. The look on her face is her reaction to being caught eating the frosting red handed. She's not doing a great job of hiding the fact that her month is full of frosting, is she?

Over all, I really enjoyed this family project and the cake turned out just how I was hoping. I know we aren't Ace of Cakes over here, but I so enjoy making cakes and decorating them for special events. I often dream about really getting into it, but fondant and fancy cake tools cost a lot, and it just isn't something I'm willing to invest money in. So, I do the best I can with what I can buy at the supermarket.

We had a wonderful time at the Opening Ceremonies party. In my excitement over the Winter Olympics I forgot that it was - well - WINTER. When we got in the car and turned the heat on our cake melted and started bleeding the red frosting from its middle. I was proud of myself for letting it go and not letting it ruin my night! By the time we reached our destination it was a bit of a mess - but is tasted GREAT!

Happy Olympics! if you're looking for Joseph and I this Valentine's Day - we'll be watching team USA and sharing a pizza (and maybe a piece of cake)!

One of THOSE Moms

One of THOSE Moms

So here I am! I’m back. This month has been the longest, and hardest, of my life. I will never again complain about being stressed out and busy in life, unless I really am in one of these situations again. God willing, I won't be. In reality….it’s something to prepare for.

I heard once that people who struggle with stress, anxiety and worry should ask themselves this question:

Is this going to matter in five years?

If the answer is “yes” then one can feel justified in allowing these emotions to consume them. I’m not sure how I feel about it, but it has crossed my mind in the last month.

I have so many things to work through with what we have been through, and don’t think the blog is the best place to do so, at least not right now. I will give this update though:

Joseph is doing well and seems to have recovered well from his surgery and set back. The process is taking much longer than it did three years ago when he had heart surgery, but the doctors say that is to be expected with having to go into the chest a second time. His spirits are high, and his doctors have said if he feels able, he should be able to resume his graduate program in September! Thank you all for your prayers and messages, they really meant so much to me and I will get around to addressing them. This brings me to a question for my fellow writers out there:

I’ve been writing a lot lately, big life events tend to do that to a writer. I’m using some of these things for some pieces I will be submitting, so I don’t know how much to share on the blog—thoughts—rules of the writing/blogging game? I would love to hear about how the rest of you wordsmiths deal with this.

Now, onto more important things – my children, and the reason for the title of this entry.
I always told myself I won’t be “one of THOSE moms.” I said this in reference to many things. One of these things has to do with art projects and general creative F-U-N. It is so very important to Joseph and I to nurture and affirm the creative development of our children. In doing so, I don’t mean that I want to “do” their projects for them, like SOME moms. I really want to provide them with the opportunity to be creative and to teach them, form a very young age, to create. I know some of my friends and family think I'm nuts for giving art projects to 6 month old babies, but I don’t want then to ever remember a time when they didn’t create! So, we WILL do projects in this home, and I WON’T be one of THOSE moms who directs/does the work for the child. They don’t need me, they are brilliant just being themselves.

Anna seems to take to the painting much more than Tessa. I remember doing projects with Tessa when she was Anna’s age and she tended to like taking apart and putting together the materials more than she liked actually using them. She also would rather play in the water bowl that I always have on hand for a project. We are realizing how very much she LOVES anything that has anything to do with water. She even talks to water, when she sees it and when she is laying in her bed at night talking to herself—it is all about water. She loves to swim and even goes under the water already. Joseph (a swimmer himself) is so very proud!

Anna LOVED the painting. She seemed to like how it felt on her hands and enjoyed moving it around on the paper. Like all things Anna does, she was very focused and pleased with having a task at hand—while Tessa screamed and danced and splashed in the “WAAAAAAAAHHHHHHYAAAAAARRRRRR”

Aunt Karyi and Daddy were here for the memory making day. It was very close to a perfect weekend! It was the first time, in a long time, we have felt semi-normal – like a family – not a “sick” family.

It was so needed.