Exhilarate - to make (someone) feel very happy, animated, or elated

Few things exhilarate me more than getting organized.

I love to have a place for my stuff.

On the flip side, few things make me feel as frustrated as being unorganized. And that's exactly how I've felt since moving here two years ago.

For a year and a half, we were renting, so I kept pushing the anxiety aside, realizing I couldn't really do a long term fix until we had a permanent residence.

That decision was made in February, and since then, I've been chomping at the bit to get things in order. My friend calls it "the order disorder." I have it bad.

After three months of remodeling, things are starting to shape up.

Here are some of my favorites:

I love tools.

And, I don't mind doing a lot of the handyman work around here.

But, I can't tell you how frustrating it is to do a project when our tools are strewn all over the house and it takes more time to find and gather them than do the project itself.

So, today I decided to change that. And here we have our new and improved tool bag. I don't know who's more excited about it- me or Brad?

Yesterday, Sawyer and Charlie were gone to Cub Scout Day Camp. While Ruby was napping, Spencer helped me put together these ball holders.

I’ve spent many hours out in the garage at night thinking about how to organize it.

So, to finally get these babies up was a huge thrill.

The thing I like about them is that you don’t have to take all the balls out to get the one you want. They can be taken out in any order.

I keep the kids’ sport shoes below it and have hooks for their sport bags.

Brad has been in serious organization mode as well and got our shoe racks up.

Then he put the coat hooks up, which eliminates a huge part of the mess around here. I think we'd both agree that the mudroom is key to helping things flow around here.

And he didn't stop there. We now have hooks in the garage as well for all the swim stuff in the summer and snow stuff in winter.

Every time I walk past these hooks, I smile.

This is what exhilarates Lucy.

And, I'm pretty sure the highlight of scout camp for Charlie (and all the other boys) was catching tadpoles.

Is this for real?

Yeah, that's what I thought when I found him. But, he really was sound asleep!

10-month check-up

Ruby's "routine" visit for immunizations turned into quite a dramatic affair. On the way into the appointment, her foot got caught in the van door, and was bruised and swollen by the time we made it up the elevator.

So, instead of getting shots, Ruby got an ice pack and an order for x-rays at the local children's hospital. (Which I thought was unnecessary because they wouldn't have done anything about it anyway.)

Fortunately, nothing was broken and she's fine.

It was one of those "please don't give me one more thing to do or worry about" kind of days.

But, I did learn two things:

1) Ruby weighs 19 lbs.

2) She's terrified of elevators. We had to ride in four elevators and she was visibly trembling each time.

flower sales

One thing I've always loved about Spencer is his eagerness to try new things. When he turned eight, he was so delighted to start Cub Scouts and got right to work on passing things off.

As a new Boy Scout, he still has that same eagerness. To earn money for camp this summer, his troop sold flowers and vegetables.

I personally really dislike fundraising and really discourage activities that require door to door sales. I don't like people coming to my door, and figure most people feel the same way. Nobody likes to feel obligated to buy something they don't need or want.

I was leery of the flower sales, but figured it was something many people are interested in this time of year and a worthwhile way for him to earn money.

Since he was new to this whole thing, Brad and I did a little coaching about how to approach people, what to say, etc., but left the bulk of the project up to him.

I'm learning to let go more and more and let the kids take on more responsibility for themselves. I believe that is key to building confidence and empowering them to excel.

I believe kids need to learn how to work and earn the things they want. It helps them be less impulsive and really think before they act. They start to calculate what it's going to take to buy something special and analyze how bad they really want it.

Spencer spent over four hours just pulling the order once it arrived and then got to work at delivering.

I was really proud of his "stick-to-it-tiveness" and enjoyed watching how he handled the process from start to finish.

I think this boy is going places and I just want to shout and cheer (and usually tear up a little) when I see him work at and accomplish his goals.

He's setting a great example in so many ways for his younger siblings.

I loved listening to he and Charlie talk about what their favorite flowers were (which they're holding below) and what they wanted to plant in our garden.

Ruby, tulips, and my Mother's Day wish...

The past few times I've driven by this place, all I could think about was how I needed to get Ruby over there and take her picture in her cute black dress, surrounded by all the tulips. So, I carved out time to really do it.

We actually went three times because I never felt like I got the perfect picture. The two major obstacles being:

1) We were by a busy street and she was so mesmerized by the cars, she'd never look at me.

2) We had a limited window of time to shoot before she wore out and started to cry. All three days ended in tears. But, I know we'll both look back someday and say "I'm so glad we did that."

This whole experience has made me realize my new Mother's Day wish.

This year, when the kids ask what I want, I'm going to be ready. They're not going to get the usual, "I just want everyone to get a long and not have any contention today..."

Nope. I've got a new one. I want each of the kids to give me a "whine free" photo shoot each Spring.

There are so many gorgeous places to take pictures this time of year. I want to start a tradition of taking them one at a time and just have fun capturing them at that age.

The girls may go for it, but I can already hear the boys litany of reasons why that's just "way too hard!"

But, that's ALL I want. Just give me yourself for two hours and pictures that will help me remember.

Oh yeah, and the one thing I want from Brad is a new camera...

Happy "40th" Birthday!

Yesterday was a big day for our family. Brad turned 40!

We wanted to make it extra special for him, so the kids and I came up with some fun ideas.

I am not a last minute person. I don't like to feel rushed, and I really try to plan things in a way to minimize chaos (which is really difficult with five kids who are very loud and energetic, especially when they're excited).

So, I gathered the kids and told them my ideas and each of them decided to focus on a different part of the celebration.

We started brainstorming on Friday, shopped on Saturday, made clues on Sunday, made the banner, French Silk pie, and tied up loose ends on Monday. It was wonderful to see the kids enthusiasm and participation in all of it.

Rather than do one big thing that equaled forty, we divided it up into four parts:

1. A ten clue treasure hunt (Sawyer).
2. Ten of his favorite things to eat. (Lucy, Charlie, & I picked them out and then Charlie wrapped them).
3. Ten things we love about Brad or our favorite memories with him (This actually ended up being way more than ten because we had family and friends send theirs as well).
4. Ten minutes of massage. (Brad loves to have his back and feet massaged. Sometimes that’s the consequence the kids earn when they haven’t obeyed. We ran out of time last night for this, but he’s happy to take a rain check).

We had a yummy dinner of taco salad (Nana’s recipe), which is a family favorite. And then went on the treasure hunt. Just as Brad finished opening presents, another surprise came. Someone came to the door with our new Suburban, which the kids have affectionately named “The Birch.”

We bought it through an auction in Utah and one of the college students in our ward drove it home.

The kids have been so eager to finally get it (especially Sawyer and Charlie), constantly asking “when will it be here?”, that Brad couldn’t refuse taking them for a ride when it came.

Brad's mom sent a shoe box full of chocolate chip cookies. I guess one thing we all know about Brad is how much he enjoys treats.

We finished the evening reading all the memories people had written about Brad. He was very touched and appreciative. Of course, we had to finish the night on a sweet note for our "sweet tooth", enjoying French Silk pie (his favorite).

I’m so glad we could make Brad’s birthday special because he’s one special guy!

P.S. Ruby was enjoying the celebrations from her bed...