When Life Hands You Lemons...Organize Something!

I have recently learned about myself that when things start to feel hectic and chaotic, my mind decides that it must make order out of something...a fight for control, no doubt. So, while I dislike that we are constantly going 90 miles an hour and there is always some minor conflict going on, the happy consequence is that I am organizing like crazy and getting jobs done!

Please take a look at the evidence of my control-freakishness:

Project 1: Organizing and Displaying School & Activity Photos
I am not a scrap-booker. My lovely mother-in-law is a master scrapper and so I leave the heavy scrapping to her. But I did however, want to do something with all those school pictures instead of just stuffing them in a shoe box, so I got an album solely for those pictures.

Each year I will add her school picture, class picture and any dance (or whatever activity) pictures.

Nothing fancy, but hopefully when she's graduating high school, I'll have all her pictures in one happy place.

But we can't hide all those pretty pictures away in an album. Some had to go on the wall!
Grabbed a few coordinating frames at Target. Done.
(I can't wait to have a hallway that's longer than 3 feet!)

And while we're on the subject of school and organization, I thought I'd show you what I do with all the school and art work. (This isn't part of the post. It's just for free.)

Last year, when Braelyn started school and I started having panic attacks over all the paper and art work piles, I bought a plastic accordion folder with enough pockets for each month. Then, when Braelyn brought special work home I put it that month's pocket. The system has worked great ever since!

Now we have two folders. With labels. Because the label maker is the most fabulous invention ever, after the flat-iron.
A year's worth of Braelyn's best work all contained in one compact, organized, convenient place.

Okay, back to the original post.

Project 2: Organizing the DVDs

I don't have any before pictures because it was too embarrassing. But trust me...it was a disaster.
Now, all the DVDs are in categorized, labeled, uniform black boxes.

Isn't it beautiful!
(Jessica B. I was thinking of you the entire time I was working on this! :)

No more pulling out every DVD to find the one I'm looking for!
No more loose discs scattered around, getting scratched and ruined!
No more closing the cabinet because I'm too ashamed of the mess!
See...life is already so much simpler!

Organization makes me so happy!

Now, if the world comes crashing down all around me, I can look at my DVDs and think, "It's not so bad...look how organized my DVDs are!" And, when life gets a little lemony in the future, I will see it as an opportunity to:
1. Worship Jesus.
2. Grow my character.
3. Sort, print, and put in albums the thousands of pictures that are trapped in my computer.
(And the way this year's goin'...this might just get done by the end of summer!)

The Recital Video...as promised

Here it is, folks! Braelyn Nicole in Puddle Stompin'!
Enjoy! (Braelyn is the last little dancer to come out on stage.)

This Moment: Staycation

Lunching by the pool.

The last few weeks have been crazy for the Cease family, and the weeks to come promise to be more of the same. So, a vacation was quite in order for this long weekend. However, we are also trying to save up for house (hopefully this December!!! fingers crossed) so we are staycating instead.

We spent a good part of the afternoon out by the pool, and had planned to stay out there well into the evening until poor Braelyn was stung by a bee. Very, very sad. She swears she will not go back to the pool ever, which really throws a kink in our staycation plans, as sitting out by the pool was our only plan. Hopefully tomorrow she will find the courage to face to the bee-infested waters again.

Until then, we'll be blogging and watching Barbie movies and reading and wearing our junk clothes and doin' a whole bunch of nothin'.

(And I will try to persuade my sweet hubs to put Braelyn's recital video up on the blog. I haven't forgotten! :)

Have a great holiday weekend, y'all!

A Preschooler No Longer

First day of school:

Last day of school:

Apparently sassiness is something you learn in preschool! :)

To see last year's first and last day of school pictures, go here.

This Moment: Backstage

I am crazy proud of this girl.
Crazy crazy proud.

I'll get the video of Miss Braelyn's performance posted tomorrow.
Tonight, I'm wiped out!
Being a stage mom is exhausting! ;)

The Making of a Stage Mom

Okay, under normal circumstances I would resist any urge to display stage mother tendencies. But when my daughter is rocking my face off with her awesome dance moves...well, I don't know what I am expected to do!?

So at the beginning of the year, when her class would perform the Thanksgiving dance or the Christmas dance for the parents, Braelyn would have nothing of it.

Just one semester later, she is smiling and shakin' and showin' that dance who's boss. Seriously, she works it!

Performing her recital dance for the parents:

OKAY?! COME ON!!!!!

So you think you can dance?
Well her mama sure do!

Yesterday was her last class, so we grabbed a picture with her super sweet teacher, Miss Carol. She was the best! Just what B needed. She never pushed, but just let Braelyn do what she felt comfortable with. So grateful for that!

Braelyn's big recital is this Saturday! I can't wait.

I am so so proud of her and it's been a blast seeing her come out of her shell.

Before she was saying that she didn't want to do dance again, but yesterday said that she did want to try it for another year, which I am tickled pink about.

So for the future and for your own peace of mind, here are my stage mom ground rules:
1. This stage mom will not put her dancer on a diet.
2. This stage mom will not be rude to other moms or dancers.
3. This stage mom will not demand that her dancer be front and center in every performance. (Just most performances.) (Kidding! ;)
4. This stage mom will never botox her daughter's face to hide nonexistent wrinkles!
5. This stage mom will not yell at or scold her dancer for missing a step.
6. This stage mom will not make her dancer continue dancing should she decide to try something else.
7. This stage mom will cheer vigorously for her daughter and tell her she's awesome.
8. This stage mom will likely shed tears of joy at all performances.
9. This stage mom will love and encourage her dancer for who she is and not just for what she does.
10. This stage mom will likely take lots of pictures and brag about her dancer on the blog just a bit. Sorry. That's what stage moms do. It cannot be helped.

This Moment: Game Night