A finished project....finally.

Do you ever solve one of those organizational issues at your house and it just makes you happy? (Okay, maybe not everyone gets as much joy out of organization as I do.) Almost a year ago Faith knocked over our hall tree trying to get her own coat down. It is an antique and she damaged it. I was very bummed. This piece works great for our coats and bags, but it wasn't a good fit for our kiddos. They weren't tall enough to hang up their own coats so I had to help them or have them lay them on the floor by it. Not a great set up. However, we hadn't taken time to fix the problem. But, with the girls going to school we now had coats and book bags plus their "Bible bags" they take to church to keep organized. So, I decided it was time to work on a solution.

Way back in the day when we lived in our first home we had an awesome red barn. It was storybook cute. So, when we went to leave I decided I wanted something to remember it by. So, I went out and secretly took a piece of that rustic red barn siding. I knew I'd figure out something to do with it eventually. I tried putting it in a plant and letting a vine grown up it, but that didn't work out and I am so glad. I found four old hooks in our odds and ends that came from my parents and TADA our coat solution was born:

Combined with this bench made out of someone else's great red barn that used to be in my kitchen it is a perfect fit. We now have a one-stop-shop for the kids' book bags, coats, shoes, and assorted items. Hooray!! Now if only my kids had coordinating coats and shoes in lovely shades of brown and plaids it would look all Pottery Barn don't you think?

And as my friend Stephanie likes to point out.....there is an extra hook. ;)

P.S. If you report my missing piece of barn wood I will totally deny all involvement.

"I can't. I've got a sore finger."

" I can't. I've got a sore finger."

Do you know what movie this "famous" quote is from?

If you guessed the Sound of Music you are correct! It was the adorable baby of the family, Grettle. And we had our very own sore finger at our house.
The Tuesday before Thanksgiving I hurried off to my Children's Ministry meeting while Jeremy kept the kids. Twenty minutes into the meeting my cell phone began to vibrate. Before Jeremy spoke a word I knew I was headed home. Faith was wailing in the background. He calmly told me Faith had fallen and cut her pinky finger pretty badly. Faith had been running along the couch trying to get away from her brother and fallen with "treasure" in her hand. (a silver square off a coaster) It put a good slice in her finger. I arrived home to her and our house covered in blood. And my helpful first child taking wet paper towels trying to clean in up. Since we were leaving soon for a trip and swimming was on the agenda we decided we definitely needed to take her to urgent care. They glued & steri stripped it and gave her a sticker and we were good to go! Then we headed home to finish cleaning up the blood trail from the coach, across the folded laundry on the ottoman, up the stairs, along the wall, and all over the carpet along the way. Faith seriously knows how to bleed.

But, we are happy to report her finger her finger has healed nicely and the "I can't. I've got a sore finger." excuse is no longer valid. Did I mention this happened the day after I had to call poison control about Titus drinking children's pain reliever?? Oh, the adventure of being parents of little ones.

Java Jive with Jennifer

For "J" week at preschool I got the opportunity to take Wyatt and Faith on a little field trip. Each day their snack coordinates with that week's letter. I took them to a coffee shop downtown called, "Java Jive." I was a little bit nervous since they don't really cater to the 4 year old crowd, but it went great. Wyatt choose a cinnamon twist and Faith choose chocolate ice cream and they both shared with each other. They thought it was fun sitting on the couches and eating their snacks. I even splurged on a white hot chocolate for me- yummy!