Organized Storage Spaces

While Ryan has had projects going on around our house this week, I had a chance to catch up on some much needed organization. My in-laws gave me some great organizers and it inspired me to go crazy around the house!
Have you guys seen the spice rack organizer on TV? It's the Swivel and Store and I got one for Christmas. Usually I don't order things from TV ads because they never seem to work well for me. Since I was given one, I got to try it out. It is actually as amazing as it claims to be! I love it beyond belief!

I was fairly skeptical when I first opened it. There wasn't much to it so I didn't expect much. 

This is the mess I was dealing with before: 

Everything had overrun and my poor lazy susan just wasn't cutting it....

I took everything out and wiped down the cabinets. I then went through expired spices and organized what was left into my new toy. 

Everything looked great at this point, but I wasn't quite sure how it would work once I got it in the cabinet. 

I loved it! It is the neatest thing ever! It works perfectly and is so compact. It takes up hardly any room and I can always see exactly what is on hand. 

I used my lazy susan to hold the taller items and grouped everything neatly together. Look how nice it is now!

After this, I was on a roll. I cleaned out my small cabinet that holds various items. I dedicated the top shelf for all of our plastic and paper plates and bowls. I kept our extra napkins here too. I have never dedicated a whole shelf to these items before, but I think we'll find it very useful. I always forget I have these things and they never get used. I do a lot of dishes and I think this will help cut back on that now.

Then I moved on to my other cabinets. This is where I keep most of my baking supplies. It was a huge mess before I got to it and it looks a million times better now!

I used my new sliding metal baskets I got for Christmas to organize my pantry. This small pantry was a disaster and this is how it looks now:

So much better!

I realized it's time to stock back up on some things this week!

I told you we have been crazy busy the past few days! Wait until you see what's next....

Installing an Attic Ladder

On Monday, Hubby and I started another much needed project around the house. Since moving in, we have dreamed of attic storage. We have one large closet on the first floor of our home, but it's never enough since Caleb has a growing arsenal of toys. Combine that with my Christmas decor and we're quite cramped! Ryan and I have discussed doing this project for quite a while and it finally happened this week! We are beyond excited to share it with you. 

Our first move was for Ryan to shimmy into the tiny hole in our attic to check out where we could cut a hole. We had to make sure the air ducts and any electrical wires were not in our way. It's so important to not start cutting a large hole into your ceiling without checking first! I know how extremely exciting it is to jump right into a new home improvement project, but this step is necessary. Had we not checked, we would have cut a hole into the ceiling that had some electrical wires and air ducts. We shifted our position for the hole slightly and it worked just fine!

We had a hall light that would get in the way and we had to remove it. We relocated this slightly down the hall and it actually works much better for us now. We checked the dimensions of the ladder and marked our square on the ceiling. We used a chalk line to make sure everything was nice and straight. 

Ryan carefully cut out the hole and we had a mess! We quickly cleaned up the insulation with a Shop Vac. We closed off all the doors to the bedrooms so dust didn't get too out of control. Caleb was also at daycare, so we didn't have to worry about him through this process either. That helped a bunch!

What a hole!

Ryan cut out the sections of joists in the attic and made a frame to hold the new ladder. 

Ryan made two "T's" out of 2x4's and climbed into the hole. I moved the ladder after we got the heavy attic ladder into the hole with Ryan. I then set a "T" on each side of the hole and used a dead blow hammer to secure them. I then used a tie down strap to hold them together and stood pretty far back! 

Ryan positioned the attic ladder into the hole while our "T's" held it in place. He then nailed the attic ladder to our newly framed box. 

At this point we had to take a break!

When we got home, Caleb decided he wanted to help. He got out his new tools from Christmas and got right to work!

He was thrilled to help Daddy....

He was so focused and intense. It was hilarious!

We have a few pieces of plywood to lay in there tonight and we will have sooo much more storage! 

Christmas 2011

We had a wonderful Christmas with our family this year. I have tons of pictures to share, so bear with me!
On Christmas morning Caleb was so excited to see if Santa stopped by our house!

He was talked the entire time coming down the hall!

Daddy helped open gifts and Caleb couldn't wait to take everything out!

He looks so big here!

I love how sweet he is!

When we got to Granny and Granddaddy's, Caleb couldn't wait to open more!

He couldn't sit still at all!

Caleb got his very first welding set!

And tools with a tool belt to help Daddy around the house...

He got a forklift like Brian and Daddy drive. He has not put this down since....

It was complete chaos! 

Mom and Dad lined us all up to get a picture. 

They gave us one more gift....

Ryan and I realized we got an amazing Christmas gift! You can see how shocked we were....

Me and my mommy....

Me and Daddy

Me and Tara

My hubby was so sweet! He got me the most thoughtful gifts. It's so true that they get better as they age! Ha!

The last presents were hidden in the garage...

Caleb and Zoey got their Jeeps!!!

My mom put their names on them and stocked them with goodies for the road. 

Caleb had no idea they were out in the garage and he just kept opening gifts....

We finally took the kids out to the Jeeps and they were so surprised!

Daddy showed Caleb how to push the pedal and steer...

Zoey preferred to ride along with her best friend. 

They had the best time!

After a nap, we all went over to Nana and Pappy's house. 

Caleb gave Nana pretty pictures...

And Granny too!

Caleb got an awesome tool set!

After we got home, Hubby couldn't wait to put on his Tennessee gear! Isn't he the cutest in orange and white?!?

He is loving his new smoker and is preparing to cook all kinds of stuff in there! Looks like I'll be free of dinner duty for quite a while....