Parade of Homes: House #5

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Parade of Homes Event

Extreme Makeover: Playhouse edition! {Part 1}

Our playhouse is SO cute!  It is...my hubby decided, a few years back, that he wanted to make our daughter a playhouse.  But, the time and cost was a lot!  Instead, he found one on Ebay and trucked it to our house!  Funny thing is that it cost less to do it that way than he could even buy the supplies for it!

Playhouse: Circa 2007

Our master bedroom: tricks to make it feel bigger & organized

Welcome to our master bedroom...sounds a little weird, but quite honestly, we've had lots of people come in there to check it out. It is one of my favorite places in our home and I feel so warm and cozy just looking at it!

Soft and fluffy...warm and inviting!

Autism: What can YOU do?

I hope this month has brought many of you awareness, encouragement, and understanding of autism.  You will indeed meet autistic people in your life - since this is so epidemic.  Let me tell you some things you can do to help with autism. 

First book I read about autism. It was truly helpful!

Complete FAIL!! With a capital "F"

So, not wanting to be wasteful.  Not wanting to BUY more paint...I decided to do a little self mixing of some paint I had around here just to paint my entry a cheery, pretty color!  

How I organize: my spice cupboard

 So, I have a spice cupboard...it's not that big of a deal!

Parade of Homes...

I am SO excited to share something with you!!  I have been invited by my friend, Toni @ A Bowl Full of Lemons, to be a part of her "Parade of Homes" tour.  It's like getting to go and tour someone's house, only virtually!  Isn't that exciting?  There will be lots more houses to see too!  Mine is just one stop on the parade...

Autism: How Organizing Can Help

So, continuing with our "Monday theme" for April I'm going to tell you how we have used organizing and scheduling to our advantage with having a child with autism.

Laundry Room finished up!

How I organize: A Tea Cupboard

A tea cupboard?  Yes, some of us enjoy tea.  My hubby is actually the tea drinker!  I drink only occasionally, but he loves Earl Grey and he uses his own tea leaves....it's a manly tea!  So, here is what the cupboard looked like before.  Notice, I also had way too many left-over containers. I really don't need this many.  

Autism: Our Story

Last week I told you a little bit about autism and directed you to Autism Speaks website to learn even more.  Today I want to tell you our story.

My husband and I did not get pregnant right away. It took awhile but I was pregnant after we were married almost 4 1/2 years.  I did not have a great pregnancy...I get VERY swollen and gained a ton of weight. 

Me, at six months pregnant - 1999!

Project laundry room: Under the stairs

My basement is so wonderful, honestly.  How many Southern Californians can even say the HAVE a basement? Not many, trust me.  Ours is used for laundry, pantry overflow, and lots of TOOLS!  My hubby's workshop is down there in that 300 square feet of wonderfulness.  

Before, table in the way and no color!

How YOU organize: Laundry

I recently received an email from Krista, from Life with Both Hands Full. She told me about her great way of organizing her laundry.  

Autism Awareness Month

This month, each Monday, I'm going to highlight autism.  April is Autism Awareness month.  I personally am touched by this as my precious son has autism. I want to make you aware of what autism IS - go there now and see the list of symptoms.  I also want to show you what we have done to help our son.  Some kids are high functioning - as our son is - and others are on the other spectrum and low functioning.

Autism has grown rapidly since my son was first diagnosed 9 years ago.  He is nearly 12 years old now.  Nine years ago the statistics were 1 in 500 children were diagnosed with autism.  NOW, the statistics are 1 in 110!!  That is epidemic!  Can you believe the difference in a few years?  AND, 1 in 70 boys!!!  It's a 600% increase in the last 20 years! I am getting these statistics straight from Autism Speaks website.   

I'm not trying to scare you.  I imagine many of you even know of a child with autism - friend, grandson, son, nephew, niece, granddaughter, neighbor, etc.  But, it is actually better to KNOW that your child has autism than to live in denial of this fact.  Trust me, I KNOW! The sooner that you can begin helping them through therapies and various techniques, the better they can be for life!

Next week I'll share with you our personal story...our ongoing journey and how we manage right now.   


I'd love to have  HUGE list of bloggers joining me, so won't you?

Autism websites:

Autism Speaks

Autism Speaks Blog

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Change it up! Moving around!

Are we all alike?  Do we all constantly move stuff around and re-arrange things?  I do...it's fun and keeps things fresher and newer.  Well, my hubby recently purchased a surprise {Valentine's Day} gift for me when we were in Big Bear back in February on vacation.

This is what it looked like in the store...