The BIG project REVEALED-

A little bit of background if you will: When we moved from our previous house in Lomita I was already 5 months pregnant- however- our current house had some major issues and had to be remodeled (aside from being only 750 square feet- the foundation was bad and the floors sat about a FOOT below the baseboards). That being said- we moved into my parents' home while the remodel happened and ALL our belongings were put into the garage. Our garage is HUGE. It's almost as big as our house. It could fit 2 cars and has a sectioned off office area as well- HUGE I tell you! Being 5 months pregnant with triplets meant that I was already on modified bed rest. I was not allowed to pack. So I literally laid on the couch while my wonderful family and friends packed our belongings around me. (if you know me you know that wasn't easy for me to do!). We didn't actually move into our house until the girls were 3 months old. At that point we were happy to just get the essentials in the house. So here we are- 4 years later (our move it date was July 5th, 2004!) and our garage looked like this:

Looking in from the alley:

Looking in from the office area:Looking from the washing machines: The washers/dryers- barely enough room to move- forget about carrying laundry baskets! The door is to the girls' bedroom...Next to the washers/dryers- this is where all the holiday boxes were- among other thingsNeedless to say- we had no idea where anything was. It was jammed packed! The rafters were full of boxes too. So I set out to clean sweep the garage this summer- and that's exactly what I did! Below is my backyard with the "clean sweep" area started...The beginnings of the project- where do you start with such a big task? My best friend Michelle came over for several days and helped me get everything out. My sister-in-law and mom came to watch the girls. Once I got things more organized, the girls were able to come out and help too. One of my goals was to get all the holiday boxes together- so the partition wall was cleared and all the holiday boxes were lined up along this wall... (they were originally stacked by that back window)The shelving units on the far wall were cleared completely and I reorganized the items. All items that will be used (winter clothes/camping/girls clothes in larger sizes etc.) were put back (sometimes in better containers) or put in the rafters. All other items were either placed for the yard sale/ebay or in the trash! The view from the office door; you can see more as the piles are shrinking!We both have a lot of STUFF- most of mine was on the office side and a lot of Rick's was on the garage side- starting to make a dent though- there are several pathways now!Woo-hoo! That engine is GONE!!! You can see the holiday boxes are in place and the extra bed frames are behind them now until they need to be used. The plywood will be used in the rafters to hold more storage.The almost finished project! The rocking chairs have homes to go to- the second row next to the holiday boxes are things rick still has to sort and the two tables that used to be at the front of the garage. Several of the boxes are waiting to go in the rafters! I've since cleaned the grease spot from the engine too. The washer/dryer area: Looking from the washers:
This is that corner that had all the holiday boxes. It now has all of Rick's tools in one location. So what about the office side you ask? Well- that's done too- but still a work in progress!

Here are the before, during and after pics:
No walking room at all!

Below- after some of the clean sweep to get things out...
(Did you see that episode of Jon and Kate +8 that showed Kate get her face stuck to the fly trap? Yep- been there, done that- I laughed so hard when I saw that episode!)

Lots of sorting to do over here- its mostly all my scrapbooking and ebay items.
The girls start to enjoy the garage! There was a TV and VCR in all that mess along with an entertainment center! We set them up and have brought several of the girls toys and books out from the house. (Did you know the 99cent store has 59 cent VHS videos??!!!!)Soon we add a table and chairs for the girls (yes-there is a fridge too!)The back tables are all items that need to be put on ebay (time to get crackin'!) and some scrapbooking. Under the table are all the lids to long lost or broken rubbermaid bins. LOL Call me crazy- but I plan to color code the bins- this way the girls will know what bins they can get into as they will have all the same color lid. I'll get there one day!Took these yesterday- i put down the area rug from the girls' room.This back corner is the only area I don't have a before picture of and I'm bummed because what a mess it was! LOL The dresser has board games and toys. The bookcase has books that are Rick's and mine. And there you have it! I never thought we would get it to this point! It still has improvements to be made (I've got my eye on some great enclosed cabinets and a work station at Lowe's for the office side) but I feel so much better when i walk out there! The girls ask to go out back to play.

At the beginning of the summer I came up with 2 lists- a fun "to do" list of activities I wanted to do with the girls and a not so fun "to do" list of things I needed to accomplish before heading back to work Tuesday. We did ok on both lists- but the BIG item on MY to do list- was the garage! And I did it! (To his credit- Rick had a "honey do" list also and did very well with his too! Thanks honey!!)

What makes a Triplet Mom Happy?????

Can you feel the joy through the computer? can you envision me doing the happy dance? Well after looking at this picture you just may! That's right folks, I'm easy to please these days, just give me 2 washers and 2 dryers and I'm a HAPPY woman! I was always behind on laundry I just could not keep up. So imagine my joy when we got a second washer and dryer!!!! I'm caught up! I'll repeat- I'M CAUGHT UP!!! YAAAAAAAAY!!!!!
PS- this is ONE part of the big project- for those of you wondering :)

Skirball Museum and Noah's Ark

Tinsel was packed and ready to go to the Skirball with us- but we decided last minute that it was probably better for him to stay home- phew!

Friday's trip to the Skirball was a big success (despite mommy coming down with the nasty cold everyone else had earlier in the week)! What a neat exhibit! If you live in the Southern California area I highly recommend it! You for sure need to purchase tickets in advance (we got ours a couple weeks ago), the restaurant there was lovely too and very accommodating (we fit 7 of us at a table for 4 and had a great time! I guess you can make a reservation there too). Here are some pictures to highlight the day!
Below is the entry to the exhibit- the elephant as a gong in him that the kids can turn a crank to set off. The entire exhibit is hands on- a haven for children!!

The ark!

All of the animals are made from everyday/re-purposed objects- can you figure out what they used for the different animals?Emily kicks back on a camel while Ashley sends animals up the ramp- two by two of course!
The exhibit is divided into 3 parts- the first section is all about building the ark and making the storm...Ashley makes rain...The middle section is all about life on the ark- taking care of the animals and each other. Above the girls look up into cubbies by pulling the rope- a door is opened to reveal supplies used or more animals (one was glow in the dark with spiders and bats- oh my!)The second area also had this neat overhead rope area- Emily climbed right up!Ashley really got into sweeping up after the animals- first it was just hay on the floor, I turned around for a second and someone had come through and put all this POOP out (yes- its fake), so she also got to sweep all that up. LOL

Relaxing on the hammock.

The final room was all about rebuilding and had construction projects/items for the kids to build with.

We found this "mist" area outside the exhibit and decided to walk through- we told the girls- oh you'll just get a little wet- Uh-huh- you get to about the part where Aunt Chelle is and you realize- you're SOAKED! And there's no turning back- you're already half way through- but did they call back to warn us to go back?NOPE!Soaking wet- look at the drop on Maddie's chinOh mom- my pearls! Yep- it was good Tinsel stayed home!