January Birthday #2

Today we are actually celebrating our third January birthday. I've written about our first birthday of 2014, but haven't even mentioned the 2nd one yet.  Not to get ahead of myself, I thought I would quick get a post together about Dan celebrating his birthday last week.  The big 3-6. I say that he's in his "late 30s;" however, when I turn 36 in September, I will say I am in my "mid-30s."  No need to rush things around here! 36 is 18 times 2. (I know, I am brilliant!) I remember when 18 seemed so old and monumental, now Dan is literally twice the age of an 18 year old. Yikes...that seems old. Especially when kids turning 18 were born my senior year of high school. Eeh, how will we handle 40!?!

Anyway, enough about how old we are, on to the birthday boy.  I think it's kind of funny when we talk about our birthdays with our kids. They always wonder why we don't make bigger deals about our birthdays. I told Dan that he was having spaghetti bake for his special birthday dinner not because it's his favorite meal, but that's because that was on the menu for that night. I really know how to make my man feel loved, don't I? :) He opened some cards and only had one present from his mom (thanks mom!). We did sing happy birthday and tried to make him feel loved.

36! See what I did there? :)

What a guy!

Now for the real reason why I wasn't able to post about his birthday right away. I had to wait until he wrote about it on his blog first. We actually celebrated his birthday on the 11th, and were a little wild and crazy...well, Dan was wild and crazy. I was just there to witness it.

Yes, this happened. And, no, I won't be getting one. Refer to the part in the post regarding the conversation about the "Pinterest Special." Yes, the guy really said that and, no, it wasn't a good thing. If you have absolutely no idea what I am talking about...go to Pinterest and type in "wrist bird tattoo," and that's pretty much it. NO offense to those who have already made that choice. After all, there's nothing you can do about it now, but to own it! ;)

Even though we didn't make a big deal out of Dan's birthday, it doesn't mean that we don't make a big deal about what a great guy he is. He's driven, passionate, funny, sexy (sorry, mom), trustworthy, diligent, handy, friendly, athletic, my biggest cheerleader, and ...(I could go on and on). I love 'im a lot!!

Happy Birthday, babe!! Here's to another fantastic year ahead!

Spicin' it up

It all started when Dan and I decided that my rack was too flimsy.  It needed to be firmer, because being wobbly just wasn't cutting it. It started with a new rack. Then, once we saw how great it looked, we decided to do a whole makeover.  I am talking about my spice rack, of course. What did you think I was talking about?!

Yes, my spice racks were wobbly.  Granted, I did buy them from the dollar store, so I should have kept my expectations low. Every time I would take out one spice, a domino effect would take place and 5 or 6 spices would fall over and out of the cabinet.  Just a bit frustrating. I told this to my engineer husband. Mistake, but a good mistake in the end. I told him that I needed something different. I went to my husband's favorite website for inspiration: Pinterest. Or, is it his least favorite website? Can't remember. :) Since I love my nice sized pantry, I thought I would move my spices into the pantry. These photos were my inspiration:

My doors are double doors, so it wouldn't work on my doors, but on the space on the wall next to my shelves.  Kinda like this:

I thought a few wire baskets screwed into the wall, yada yada yada, and we would be good to go. Quick and simple.  Did I mention I am married to an engineer? Nothing is quick and simple! No easy-peasy here! "If you are going to do it, do it right the first time." I should also mention that he is very much like my dad. He measured, wrote stuff down, used levels, paint, saws and drills.

This is where my spices were before:

Note the spices fallen all over the place. Boo-hiss!

And this is the kick-butt spice rack Dan built for me:

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Such a nice firm rack! I even saw him staring at it in admiration last night. Hee hee, sorry for that.

Since my spices were so organized, I looked at the rest of the pantry and decided it needed a little redo as well.

Before picture:

During...it got worse before it got better!

After pictures... a lot of it was just going through things and tossing items that were well beyond their "use by date." I didn't want to spend too much money so I used some containers I had in my cabinets, basement, closets, etc.

Such a successful makeover, don't you think? What's next!? Off to "pin"some more ideas. I am sure Dan can't wait!!

At My Wit's End!!

Do you know what that saying means? It means "to be at the end of your mental resources."  Goodness, I should have named my blog that since it seems with 4 kids between the ages of 9-3, this is a recurring state! :)  The current reason for me being at my "wit's end?" The bathroom that my girls share.  Yes, they are only 9 and 6 and don't wear makeup or "do their hair," so I know that it will only get worse.  But, since they don't do either of the aforementioned things, you would think that their bathroom wouldn't be so crazy. Well, it is.

Last Friday, the cleaning lady came up to me and said, "Something needs to be done about the girls' bathroom! The amount of toothpaste on the counter was amazing.  It takes true talent to smear that much paste on the counter."  So as I, I mean, she, was scraping off the hardened bright blue "glue" off the counter, I, I mean, she came to a revelation. O.k. enough of this, I don't have a cleaning lady, but if I did, I am sure we would totally have this conversation.

I am done, done, done with the absurd amount of toothpaste that gets on the counters, towels everywhere, and, seriously, how hard is it to flush the toilet?! I've got 4.5 bathrooms to clean in this house and it takes me just as long to clean theirs as the others combined! My revelation?! Make it visual!!!

The state of their bathroom last Friday. Really, the pictures don't do it justice, because in this picture you can't see the white hardened and dried up toothpaste on the light colored counter.

On to my revelation of "Making it Visual!"

These signs are currently up in their bathroom...

It's been a week, and how does it look? I just went upstairs, and took this picture.  No lie, didn't change or move a thing.

After the last time the girls took a shower, I heard Taryn say to Annika, "O.k. now we have to hang up our towels like in the picture." Aaahhh! The skies parted and I think I heard angels singing!!

The pictures have been up for a week, and it takes 30 days to make a habit, right? Here's hoping for the best during the next 23 days!!! I am sure the cleaning lady will thank me. :)

January Birthday #1

We call January our "Birthday Month." Simon's is on the 12th, Dan's is on the 23rd and Taryn squeaks in on the 31st. Therefore,  you can all assume that my posts in January will be mostly birthday related. :) Helps with the "writer's block!"

On to our first birthday...Simon.  He turned 3 on Sunday.  Goodness that doesn't seem possible!  This is the longest I have gone in the last 10 years that I haven't been pregnant, trying to get pregnant, or nursing. Thus, the New Year's goal of working out 3x a week. No more excuses! But, that's not what this is all about.  It's all about "Simes" today.

For the last month, he's been requesting a "Daniel Tiger" Birthday cake. So, naturally, I have been planning on a Daniel Tiger birthday cake. But, like a typical pre-schooler, Simon changed his mind on Friday. Birthday is on Sunday, changed his mind on Friday. Fantastic! So I asked him "Are you excited for your Daniel Tiger birthday cake?!" His emphatic response? "Don't want Daniel Tiger, I want Jake!!!" Wha?!?!
I had NO idea where that came from!!

My solution? A very simple cake. Theme would be a game day decision. Come Sunday, what did Simon want?

Yep, he was back to Daniel Tiger. As you can see by the printer paper characters, we could easily have changed the theme if we needed to. :)

We had our normal Sunday-after-church-pancake-lunch.  Apparently, the birthday boy didn't want any pictures taken.

Because mom didn't get the hint...

Best part about birthdays? Opening presents!

Taryn said "Cards are the best because you get money in them!" As you can see, this card didn't disappoint. :) 

Thanks Grandma E!

His new "Take Apart Plane." So fun!

Our little Simes is a stinker to the core.  He makes us laugh on a daily basis, usually because he's saying something he shouldn't.:/ He's too lovable for words. He adores his sisters and tolerates his brother. ;) He likes to be in the middle of things and competes with his brother constantly. "I beat you!" is one of his favorite phrases.  Wonder where that competitive streak comes from? We love our little caboose!! 

Happy Birthday to our little guy!!!

Welcome to 2014!

I need to get this post in before the end of the day (you will read about why in a bit)! We are 10 days into 2014. How's it treating you all so far? We are doing well out here. Cold, very cold. But, hanging in there.

We rang in the New Year with our dear friends, Matt, Emily and their kiddos. We kept it very low-key. Dan and I decided that we would let the kids stay up until midnight this year. Except for Simon, he went to bed at 8. :) He celebrated the British New Year? We let the kids run around crazy and didn't have anything planned except pop a balloon at a random time about 15 minutes apart. It actually made the night go by fast (the good company and wine might have helped with that too) and the kids looked forward to each taking a turn.  When it came to Landon's turn, he was faced with a dilemma: "How can I plug my ears and pop the balloon at the same time?" Hmm.

You can see the first string of already popped balloons in the other archway
...these balloons were at about 11 p.m.

We got the kids into playing some games with us. It was either that or them spying on our conversations. :) Remember when you used to do that with your parents? :) Parents talk about such exciting things!

Wits and Wagers!

Landon just about made it...the time stamp on this picture is 11:57 p.m. :)

Midnight!!

K had the honors of popping the last balloon!!

Getting ready to go outside to shoot off some poppers!

Only God knows what is in store for Our Plain Life in 2014. I know that we are looking forward to it. If you know me, you may know that I am not what you would call a "Goal Oriented Person." That is my husband. But, to put myself out there and for you all to hold me accountable, here are my Goals for 2014 (drum-roll please):

Reb's 2014 Goals (in no particular order):

*blog at least once a week (see barely got this one in for this week!)

*workout 3x a week (so far thanks to this awesome place, I am going strong on this one)

*get new family pictures taken (photographer recs appreciated!)

*go camping with friends at least once this year (if you want to join us, let us know!!)

*Simon potty-trained by Summer (egads! I think working out 3x a week will be easier!)

*clean out computer files (now, that's gonna be a good time)

*get Simon's first year pictures in some sort of scrapbook (yes, he's going to be 3 on Sunday...don't judge!)

O.k. there you have 'em so now you can hold me to them!!

What is a goal that you have for 2014?! Don't be shy! Share 'em! 

2013 Honorable Mention

There are more things than I care to admit that didn't make the blog this year. But, that doesn't make them any less important or exciting, just passed over because of laziness. :) Therefore, I will call this "Our Plain Life's Honorable Mention List of 2013." Just a few things I want to get down in a post before I move on to 2014.

In January, our sweet little goofball, Taryn, turned 6! We had a fun "Friend Birthday" Party at a local self-serve yogurt place. It was a crazy lot of fun...just like Taryn. :)

Two other friends (and their hubbies), with Dan and I, offered up a Western-themed Murder Mystery Dinner at our school auction. It was lots of planning, lots of food, and lots of fun. It helped that those who attended really got into it.

It snowed in May. That's all I got to say 'bout that. 

This summer the kids loved fishing at our neighborhood pond. It helps that the fish bite the bait (hot dogs) even before the line is in the water. I even caught one.

Thanks to our "kids-swap couple," Dan and I were able to have monthly date nights. One beautiful evening we ventured out to the Liberty Memorial.

A selfie. It looks like Dan has a huge growth coming out of his head!! Nope, that's the memorial.
Poor placement, but I really like this picture of the two us!!

Dan's company had a family night at a local farm league ballgame. So, Landon went to his first "real" baseball game. He was ready for any foul ball that came his way.

In August, Annika turned 9! She had her first sleepover. I think they fell asleep at 11:30? Not too bad.

She wanted a campout. That wasn't going to happen in Kansas in August.
Next best thing? This beast of a tent in our basement!

Landon got a lot of use out of his gator this summer. Have to say there were many times that he hauled things around the yard for Dan. Dan was putting him to work without Landon even realizing it! (Best dad ever!!)

He even masted reverse...bringing the corn husks to the compost pile.

Our fall was taken up by a lot of Dan's races...as they say on Seinfeld....yada yada yada...then it's December.

My baby sister came to visit me. She set up a spontaneous trip out to see us before she packs up in a few weeks and heads out to East Asia and Europe until July!! Kansas is really just as exciting. Especially when you go on a Boulevard Brewery Tour at 11:30...in the morning...on a Thursday. Great times!

Which brings us to "now." Annika was the innkeeper in our church's Christmas Presentation, and we have had a bit of snow.

"Joseph, I shall direct you to my stable."

All in all, we had an fun and busy 2013. Now it's on to 2014!!!

Happy New Year everyone!!!