Digging myself out

I've decided to post some before and after pictures of my cleaning and organizing endeavors. I'm looking for any motivation really, even at the risk of public humiliation! Its also just pretty cool to see what a difference a day or two of dedication can make.

This is the top of the stairs, and the entrance to our bedroom

It is also known as "The Place Laundry Goes to Die"

Here is my after shot. After I lost track of how many loads of laundry I've done that is.

As you can see, I no longer have to fear losing Ella to the laundry monster and never finding her again!

On to the next project! This one I will call: "Being able to open the dresser drawers again"

Token's candle

I've started a new bed time ritual with Ella. I got the idea from two books, my favorite parenting book here, and a cute kids book here. So every night we light Token's candle(Token being a giant blue cat), to wake him up. He comes and sits outside Ella's window and keeps her safe, brings her good dreams and chases away the nightmares. After we say prayers she blows out the candle. She is so into this that when I ran out of matches one night she started crying and saying she didn't want to get nightmares! Ooops, this was supposed to be comforting... I had to have a very one sided conversation with Token to wake him up. He was pretty grumpy about not having his candle lit, but Ella apologized and he felt much better.

 Token's Candle

Anyone want to give me a bigger bed?

You can sort of make out a funny redness to Ella's face in the last picture. She had a pretty bed allergic reaction to something. It's cleared up now, and hopefully we'll find out what it is when she goes to the allergist on Friday.

New Year's goals

This year I made a special calender for all of my goals. I have been slowly starting them, and giving myself a lot of slack this year. But! I've unpacked my last box for the first time since2004!

Here is Ella "Helping"

I'm also making progress making my room into a beautiful space. I even know where to go to get a hold of everything! I'm going to take pictures and post them up here as I get each area perfect.

Booboo approves of my bed area

Hopefully more pictures will be coming shortly!