Spring Cleaning Part 2

Well, about five minutes after I posted last night, I started to hear a little someone making noises from the next room.  I guess my suspicions of her sleeping the rest of the night were way off.  With that change in plans, I thought it might be fun to go out.

What better place to go on a Saturday night than...Ikea!  I called the Meharry's to see if they were up for joining us and they agreed.  We met there and we had a great time.  It's hard not to have fun in that store.  The children's area at Ikea is like a huge play room.  Ezra and Monroe had a blast.  I wish I had brought my camera.  They got in every bed and played with every pillow.  It was so cute. 

Now, for your information, I went with every intention of buying Monroe's bed, but Mark wasn't on the same page.  If you know Mark, he takes weeks... months...years to make decisions on purchases.  I'm much more of a spur of the moment kind of gal.  Luckily, I had been talking about this bed for years, so it wasn't so spur of the moment and I was able to convince him.  We ended up getting the adorable white bed and the extendable mattress.  It is just darling.  I can't wait to set it up, although we probably won't do that for awhile.  It's just nice to know that it's in our possession.  It was great to see the bed up close again.  I hadn't realized how wide it was.  I love that about it.  I can totally see my two little girlies cuddled up together reading books.  I can't wait!

So, a very horrible thing happened to me today.  It really was terrifying.  Mark had basketball practice with some of the boys from HAA, so it was just Monroe and me at home.  It was time for her nap, so I put her down and decided I would go outside and start painting the branch for Impossible P's mobile.  I could still hear Monroe talking, laughing, etc., but I figured she would fall asleep in a few minutes.

I headed out the door and I did something I never do...I shut it behind me.   Our door stays locked, even if you open it.  I have really had to train myself to be super careful about not shutting it if I don't have a key, but for some reason, I wasn't thinking and just shut it.

I immediately knew what I had done and tried to keep myself from freaking out.  I went around to all of the doors in the house to try them out, but they were all locked.  I didn't have my phone to call Mark and I recalled that right as I shut the door, the normal, nice neighbors were pulling out of their driveway.  I don't know the other neighbor's very well, as they are super unapproachable and maybe a bit scary.

I tried the windows but I couldn't seem to get any of the screens to budge an inch.  I just tried to remain cool and think through the situation without overreacting.  I finally got some tools from the garage and started to try and remove the metal window frame from around the window in our bedroom.  It wasn't going that well, and I decided to try one last time to remove the screen.  This time, it clicked and I was able to slide it right up, no problem.  The window happened to be unlocked as well, because we had it opened last night.  Hallelujah!

Now, it was probably pretty comical seeing a pregnant girl trying to climb in through a window, but I didn't care.  I have never felt so relieved as when my feet hit the floor in my bedroom.  I feel so blessed that the Lord took care of me.  Mark didn't come home for hours and it really could have been a bad situation!

On a different note, I have gotten so much done today!  I know I have mentioned my 70's basement many times.  I also have mentioned that it is the home of my crafting area.  I probably didn't mention that it had gotten so out of control and cluttered that I could hardly get to the area.  I spent much of the afternoon organizing the whole place.  It feels so good to have it clean again.  I really hope it will put me back in the mood to craft!  I didn't take any before pics, well, because it was embarrassing, but here are a few of the after pics:

 You can actually see the top of my desk!  It's a miracle.  Don't you love the amazing wood paneling?! 

 Top Drawer: Sewing tools and notions.  This may still look like madness to some of you, but you really should have seen it before.  

 Ribbon and notions drawer.

 Card crafts, glue gun accessories and other sewing notions.

 The crafting bookcase-  Full of everything imaginable.  

One of my fabric storage areas.

 I love freshly folded fabric!  Top shelf...

And it's folded and nice all the way down!  Don't worry, I won't post every drawer. 

So, these were probably the most boring pictures ever for you all, but for me, pure joy.  I love looking at it all nice and organized.  

After finishing that, I got super inspired and decided to clean out my downstairs closet.  I don't know if I have ever mentioned that we turned one of the downstairs rooms into a closet for me.  The house doesn't have tons of storage space and my upstairs closet wouldn't house all my stuff.  Sadly, it was in worse condition than my crafting area.  You could hardly walk in it.

Now, if you knew me as a child, you know this is nothing new for me.  I was well known for having an atrocious closet.  I guess things never change.  I spent the rest of the night getting that closet in working order.  Wow, it feels good to be less cluttered.  I never feel completely settled when I know there is something like that looming.  I feel like I can breathe again! 

Here is a picture of our next door neighbor's Magnolia Tree.  It hangs over our driveway and for about two days every year it is absolutely gorgeous.  The rest of the days, it's the biggest nuisance.  Not only are the falling petals/leaves annoying, but this past year, it had some disease that made it leak this sticky stuff all the time.  It felt like it was raining when you walked under it and it covered our cars.  But let's forget about all that and just focus on the beauty for now:)

I'm getting very close to finishing up the mobile!  I made two more birds today and Mark and I both put a couple of coats of paint on the branch.  I can't wait to get it all assembled!  

 Here are the two additional birdies.  The little frame is something Ash got for Monroe when she was born.  I think I'm going to put it in little bit's room now.  

This is a little project that Nicole wanted me to help out with.  She bought this hat for Ezra, but isn't a big fan of the spider.  She wanted me to make a patch to go over it.  Tomorrow I will post picks of the finished product.

Well, my parents made it back from Puerto Vallarta tonight.  They had a rough time getting home (bad weather), but they are home safe.  They had a wonderful time and can't say enough about how much they loved it there!  I hope I get the chance to check it out for myself one day!  

Love you all!  I haven't 100% figured out my meal plan yet.  I'll be sure to post it tomorrow.