Everyday Moments

Life...unedited. 

These random iPhone photos are dark, blurry, and untouched,

but they capture everyday moments from the last couple weeks.

While I got ready for church in the bathroom, Hadley hung out with me and played inside Tal's bathroom vanity:

Hadley loves the sound and feel of a hair dryer:

My library is the voting precinct for our neighborhood. The good news is that I can walk across my library and vote during my lunch break:

On October 10, Tal and I voted in my library. We voted as conservatives. We voted pro life, for religious freedom, for traditional marriage, and for lower taxes. Unfortunately, none of the candidates that we voted for won the election, but we exercised our right to vote nonetheless:

On October 10, Hadley played in the mall play area after I got a school iPad repaired at the Apple store:

Hadley's crazy hair after a bath:

Hadley ate a snack, while Tal got a new phone at the Verizon store:

Hadley loved wearing her Halloween outfit (from her cousin Harper) to church on Sunday:

This week we finally had some cool fall weather. Savannah was excited to wear her new fall shirts from Grandma Barbara:

On Tuesday, I worked in the morning, and then Savannah and I had a girls date in the afternoon (since Savannah is tracked-out from school). We ate lunch at Moe's because kids eat free on Tuesdays: 

Then, we shopped for fall shoes. Savannah was excited to buy these black boots:

She loved trying on these red high heels:

The Pirate Book Fair is coming to my library from November 1-17, and our PTA did an amazing job decorating the outside of my library to resemble a pirate ship:

Our goal is to sell over $20,000 in books at the Book Fair, so I can buy 200 new library books, as well as new technology and equipment for our school:

On Thursday night, our family went to the Fall Festival at our school:

Savannah and Hadley enjoyed playing games, seeing everyone's Halloween costumes, and trunk or treating with their friends. Also, since our school surpassed our fundraiser goal and raised $56,000 for our school, our principals camped out overnight in a luxury RV (not pictured) at our school:

For the last 7 years, our family has had a family closet...meaning that nearly all of the girls' clothes have been organized in our master closet. This system has worked great for us because the girls take showers and get dressed in our bathroom. It's also been easier to put away laundry since everyone's clothes are in the same closet. 

However, today Savannah and I moved her clothes to her bedroom closet (at her request). Tal and I are glad that Savannah wants to be responsible for maintaining her clothes. For years, Savannah has done a great job putting her dirty clothes in the hamper, making outfits, and setting out her clothes for the next day. Over the last few weeks, Tal and I have been teaching Savannah how to wash/dry and put away her clothes:

After

Today Savannah and I pared down her size L/10-12 clothes to 10 short-sleeve shirts/tank tops, 10 long-sleeve shirts, 10 shorts, 10 pants, and 5 dresses:

After

In her closet, Savannah also practiced sorting and hanging her clothes in categories, as well as organizing her socks and underwear in the labeled drawers in the plastic container on the floor. Then, she sorted all of the extra clothes by throwing away stained clothes, putting good-condition clothes in a box for Hadley, and giving away unwanted clothes to Goodwill. 

After

Savannah is sooo excited about her clean and organized closet!
She is embracing her new independence and responsibilities!

Savannah put her size M/7-8 clothes in a storage container for Hadley and put them in the attic. In our attic, we have 22 storage containers that are filled with girls' clothes and sorted by size from newborn to size 7-8.  Savannah, Hadley, and their cousin Harper share these clothes. Storing and sharing clothes has saved our family a ton of money over the years!

After we decluttered Savannah's closet this morning, our family ate burgers, fries, and milkshakes for lunch at Steak 'n Shake: