Aloha!

Our camera has been broken since Christmas and we are still waiting to get it back from the shop...so I won't have pictures to share of my new laundry room (which I'm so excited about), OR the pictures of our Hawaii countdown chain taped to our wall OR pictures of the kids' luggage already packed with swim suites and flip flops! But I found this image of how we all feel about the recent trip we planned:

We are SO excited for this winter getaway! We knew we wanted to do something, but didn't know what. We knew we wanted to do it before the new baby came, but not sure when it would fit. Our kids are all at a good age where we can do something a little more fun and not worry about nursing infants or nap schedules. Who knows when the next opportunity will come?!?

Just so happens, Brian's work schedule had a short window open up and we took it! We decided to go all out, and so we are leaving on February 9th to Oahu for 5 days (Ko Olina area) and then flying over to visit the little Island of Molokai for 5 days. The flight for the whole family (5 seats) costs us a whopping...da da da...$10 (Thanks to all of Brian's work travel-- we finally get a little 'payback' for having him gone so much)! He has worked so hard for so long, he could really use this vacation. He'll be doing a little open ocean fly fishing on the side- who knew? He found a captain who can do it and so he's going to try it! I'm excited for him...can you catch mahi on a fly?

Here are some pictures of the place on Ko Olina we've decided to stay for the first half of the trip (try not to drool :)

The place we found on Molokai is super awesome! I don't have pictures, but we'll take some while we are there! We get a private beach right outside the home...literally. The backyard is the beach. Awesome!

Our winter hasn't been too bad this year, but being somewhere tropical for 10 days sounds sooooo nice to me right now! Jackson and Zoey asked me to print pictures of Hawaii for them to hang in their rooms..and they literally already have their bags packed!  We are just counting down the days! Can't wait! Can't wait!!

"The Organized Home"

This past month, after cleaning up from Christmas and getting over the flu, I've had the bug to organize every nook and cranny of our home. I'd attribute it to the unusually warm winter we are having and say it's the "spring cleaning fever" but Brian would attribute it to nesting and getting ready for the new baby.

I've found the energy and time to clean out and organize every room and closet, sift through and sort cabinets and drawers, wash walls and baseboards, compile a new cleaning schedule, organize the toy room and make new list of "house rules," come up with better solutions and systems, finish projects that were started 3 years ago and never finished...and it feels really good! It's like the new year has given me the excitement of having a fresh new start and I'm taking it and running with it!

My next project is making a functional and beautiful laundry room....I found an awesome armoire on ksl classifieds for $100 that I want to refinish to use as extra shelving in our laundry room. I also found these great ideas below from tip junkie: make-your-own drying rack, re-purposed candy jar for laundry detergent, check your pockets sign...great ideas! 

I also have plans for the kids' bedrooms since we'll be doing a little switcher-roo with everybody as we make room for the new baby. 18 weeks left! Let's see what can be accomplished!