Mastering the Art of Being a Cookie Mom

My baby girl is a kindergartner and a very proud Daisy scout - her first year!  When the call was made to find a cookie mom for the troop, I excitedly volunteered (I know, I had NOOOOO idea what I was getting myself in to!).  I love Girl Scout cookies as most everyone does and I really wanted my baby to experience this.  I was never a GS so this world is very new to me.

So while everyone in blogland is busy organizing and cleaning their homes this week -- I have been trying to get my self organized for cookie sales which began TODAY!  Here in Arizona we do cookies on demand, so instead of taking your order and then waiting for them, we get the cookies up front and sell them cash & carry!

Yesterday my husband and I went to pick up our initial order for our troop (17 girls).  I had pre-ordered 64 cases but since we had room in the truck (wasn't sure what would fit) we picked up 42 additional cases.  Yes, at one point yesterday, I was in possesion of  1272 boxes of girl scout cookies - YUM! 

**1/23 update - you can fit more than 110 cases of cookies into a Honda Pilot and I now have over 2000 boxes of cookies at my house - YIKES!!!!**

So my organizing included breaking up the boxes so each girl would get their intial order.  I made a spreadsheet to help me keep track of what everyone has and to master my inventory.  I can tell you now, I will be headed to the cupboards tomorrow to pick up another 100+ boxes!  Crazy stuff!!!  (The cupboards is where we go to pick up additional boxes of cookies throughout the sale - as there is no way we could get them all up front - can you say warehouse.) 

I am just glad that we have a big open room in our new house that has not been given a true purpose yet - great place to store those cookies!!!

S & I had fun creating her Cookie Mobile too!  We repurposed the canvases that I had painted to match her bedspread at our other house as the colors were perfect for the big cookie sale!  Everyone loves her mobile cookie store!

** If you are in Tucson, let me know if you need some cookies!  My girl would love to get you the boxes that you need  want!!!**

Conversation ♥ Cones

I have been inspired in 2011 to do more crafting and decorating of our new house.  I love being creative and the excitement of completing a project or two.  So a friend of mine shared her new craft blog Simply Crafty Blog on facebook where she had just completed a wreath using conversation hearts.  I loved it but decided to do a little twist on it.  So (as she said) off to Dollar Tree I went to pick up a few bags of hearts and a couple of styrofoam cones.  I had to hit a couple of stores as the first store I went to did not have the cones but I knew I had seen them at one of the other locations - near my favorite new Goodwill store but that is a post for another day.

With glue gun in hand, I burned a few fingers and completed two awesome cones.  The extra hearts went into my favorite vase (from Goodwill of course) and the subway art printable I found at eighteen25.  Here they sit on the hearth.  Happy Valentine's day!

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On The Menu

2011 is our year to get our family eating habits back in check.  Our plan for the next couple of months is to focus on the basics - more fruit and vegetables (atleast 5 a day), more lean meats and less white flour.  So, here is the menu plan for the week...

Monday - Pot Roast with roasted vegetables

Tuesday - Taco Tuesday (chicken)

Wednesday - bbq pork sandwiches

Thursday - Hawaiian pizza on the grill

Friday - Chili

Saturday - leftovers

Sunday - dinner at the in-laws

Framed Monograms

I was looking for a way to use some of the beautiful holiday ornaments that are now on clearance.  Many of the ornaments are very holiday specific however there are some that can translate year round. 

A few years ago I was looking for some art to hang in our master bathroom.  I had picked up some pearl monogram letters at Christmas time and that is when I got thinking.  Why couldn't I frame them.  I went to my stash of picture frames and found a couple beautiful wood frams that I had picked up at Pottery Barn on clearance and they were perfect.

The frames had 3 different mats inside that you could choose from.  This was perfect because the thickness of the mats created the perfect amount of space between the glass and the back of the frame to account for the dimension of the letters.  I found a nice corresponding piece of scrapbook paper for behind the letter and thus some beautiful and romantic artwork for our master bath.

Note:  Since we just moved last month, we haven't begun to hang up our artwork so I had to dig these out of a box to snap a few pictures. 

On the Menu

2011 is our year to get our family eating habits back in check.  Our plan for the next couple of months is to focus on the basics - more fruit and vegetables (atleast 5 a day), more lean meats and less white flour.  So, here is the menu plan for the week...

Monday - Chicken Cordon Bleu with stir-fried veggies

Tuesday - Taco Tuesday

Wednesday - Sweet & Sour Pork with stir-fried veggies and brown rice

Thursday - Pot Roast with Carrots & Potatoes

Friday - New Year's Eve - Pizza on the Grill

Saturday - leftovers

Sunday - dinner at the in-laws

Day 1: The Play Room Purge

Today was day 1 of the 7-day dump and decrapification and I spent the morning upstairs.  Sorted through the pit that we call the playroom and did a bit of sorting, organizing and purging. 

{BEFORE}   ...yikes, what a mess!

We had pulled a bunch of toys at the time that we moved but it seems that there is always a few things that can be pulled out.  Today's boxes included a bunch of happy meal toys, cheap plastic cars & trucks, wood puzzles and the Mega Blocks (which have been replaced by a huge tub of Legos).  The toys will be put on the yard sale or included in the Just Between Friends sale in the next couple of months.

{AFTER}     ...this should last about 5 minutes...enjoy!

After a couple of hours in the play room, I moved on to the kids clothes.  Christmas stockings always contain new socks and underwear at our house so it was a good time to purge that drawer.  I also was able to pull a small box of shorts, pants, shirts and shoes that no longer fit too.

{TODAY'S PURGE}  ...feels so good!!!

While cleaning up stairs we were also able to open the windows and let in a little fresh air (gotta love AZ winters).  I also washed the sheets, vaccuumed, and mopped the bathroom floor. While I was cleaning, organizing and purging...Gary had the kids outside.  Z got a new bike from Santa and is loving his big boy wheels!  S is become a pro at riding her bike without training wheels (she mastered it in just a couple of hours over Thanksgiving break).  Since it was such a beautiful day, Gary also started sanding the desks I found at a flea market last month.  Will share this makeover project in the future!

All in all, today was a huge success!  See you tomorrow for Day 2!!!

Countdown to a New Year!!!

The benefit of moving just over a block is that you don't have to carry anything very far.  The detriment of that is you don't really pack.  This makes an intersting dillema when you keep your same "systems" in place that worked (or maybe didn't work) so great in your old space - but just don't seem to as effective in the new space.  We packed up cabinets and moved them from one space to another without really having a plan.  We moved dressers without emptying drawers which meant, no purging was done.

Now, factor in that today is Christmas day and our living room appears that a toy store and half of Target have exploded right here in our new home.  It is time for a serious 7-day dump - it is time to rid ourselves of the unwanted, unused, and unneeded.  I want to start 2011 with a clean slate - so this week some major decrapification needs to happen.  Thus, is born....

We will dig through drawers, comb through closets, purge the playroom and more!  The countdown to a new year starts tomorrow morning at (well, whatever time I decide to drag my booty out of bed)!!!  Good night!