Trish's Dream Week! (I mean, not really but really.)

 I am 100% fired for not taking "before" pictures this week.  Because when you look at the after photos, you don't really get a good feel for what took place around here this week.  I do love organizing.  I mean I love it. 

But here's a summary.  Garage: mess to tidy (as close as it can get anyway.)

Cellar: mess to tidy.  (I did avoid one shelf of tools that I didn't want to deal with.  But I got rid of 8 cans of paint we don't need, and some other things we don't use anymore--and this is after I already got rid of my shoe box stash and some other things to make room for Libby's ceramics area.)

Attic: Huge overhaul.  Got rid of lots of stuff we were storing that didn't make sense anymore.  Acknowledging: It is hard to make decisions on some of this stuff.  I did a lot of pausing (physically and pausing my book) for some deep thinking. (Do I really need a t-shirt to prove that I did something? Kinda--but no--ultimately no. Will I do a better job of putting things away if bins aren't stacked 3 deep?  Hopefully yes.  Should I reorganize so stuff I use often is closer to the door?  Yes.  Are my knees wrecked from kneeling in here for 3 days?  Yes.  Should this be good enough for a few years?  Hopefully.  Do I love the Husky holiday decor right when I walk in? Yes.  Did I reward myself with a pool/nails afternoon when all of this organizing was done? Yes I did.)

This is such a first world privilege problem to be having to solve.  But I feel so happy to be blessed enough to have the problem and to have made the time this summer to tackle it.  And to have that behind me because teacher work days START. THIS. WEEK.    

Garage storage closet.  Looking so tidy!  Also got all camping stuff put away in (hopefully) a better sitch for next year.  The key to a garage clean up is "there's nothing to see here." 

Cellar: so much paint we didn't need.  Full disclosure there is one paint can left.  I ran out of paint hardener.  It's sitting the garage waiting for me to get that done this week.  Also the hazardous waste people are tomorrow.  So yeah, check back next week to make sure I got rid of the wallpaper stripper liquid. When I poured out the fabric softer I used to strip wall--paper the first few times I almost vomited.  So many hours and memories and yuck.  That was tough.) 

First view on attic entry.  Derek has a coworker that loves to give us holiday Husky stuff.  Sadly (?) the giant Husky snowman made of wood broke during the reorg and was laid to rest in the compost bin.

Found extra carpet and some rugs so knees won't be so upset with attic work in the future (also hoping it'll encourage me to go all the way in and put things away in the future.). Costume drawers/bins labeled and organized.  Stuff for my future grandkids stored in the least accessible areas since were a few years off.  (Note the empty bins--cause--you know, I'm a realist, they will get filled up.) We did send a box of costumes that no longer fit to Utah.  Enjoy cousins!  (I love that the girls wanted to keep the dance costumes though.  They are in those grandkid bins tucked back there.) 

Luggage. Right inside the attic.  (I also added the shelves so stuff isn't stacked and cascading.  It all has a place.) 

Frames and art organized and accessible.  Got rid of some stuff that I figured I would never hang.  May regret later.  Oh well. Smaller holiday bins. (Christmas has its own section that I didn't mess with. It all comes out at once, so why organize? 

I have been keeping dishes over the years for when the kids go off on their own.  So one thing I won't have to buy.  

Crafty things/decor/scrapbook. 

A closet that was full of things that I was too lazy to move into the attic.  Either went to DI (so many throw pillows that Buddy had been dying to sink his teeth into) or got into rightful bin in attic finally! 

Girls Camp 2024

 I love our church tradition of Girls Camp.  I've been involved many years as an adult.  This year I took on the role of camp cook.  No big deal, I thought.  How hard can it be?  I thought?  Haha.  It's hard.

Of course I did the Trish and made it harder than it maybe could have been---with lots of variety on the menu.  I worked hard all week and was very tired.  But it was so fun to be there (I love camping!) and to use my new tent again.  I also got to paddle board and use the floating island again too! 

I included a menu with the schedule (it was Sarah's job to put the schedule together for everyone--but I did a fair amount of helping with that so it could fit in a cute little lanyard).  Salad bar wasn't enough calories.  Hot dog kabobs weren't a big hit with the kids, but they loved spaghetti leftovers.  I should have used all my pots to boil the omelets.  But basically everything else was a hit!  I also had a make your own trail mix bar that I brought out each morning.  (For next year, more coconut, craisins, chocolate covered pretzels, and peanut mnms.). My variety for smores made it fun too. 

I didn't know most of the girls, but was so happy I felt inspired to throw in a bottle of jalapeños.  I had a girl ask for them at basically every meal.  I felt like that happened with several things where the Lord had me thinking for the one.  I am happy I got the literally feed his sheep. 

I am also happy I got to be there with my girls.  Libby had a cold starting on day 1 and wanted to go home.  But she hung in there (with just one really late sleep one day) and played a powerful leadership role.  Sarah did awesome too.  I'm sad I missed her group's skit--since I was checking on the cobbler. 

It was a whole Norton family affair!  Geneva came and helped to the first day.  Derek was there for Thursday and Friday and helped us come home Saturday. 

I didn't get a ton of pictures, but I got a few from our "lake day" which was actually the Puget Sound at Tolmie State Park, and a few around camp. 

Using the handcart to refill the wood--Libby was the firemaster for most of the time. 

Doing trust exercises on the ropes course.  This was a good one. I did it with Sarah.  You have to lean in really hard to make it work.  (And use some core strength.) 

Water balloon launching! 

Love Sarah's face on this! 

Craft time! 

Song time! 

Libby's skit.  Kinda dark! haha.  

My quilling.  

The whole crew--3 of the girls were only there for the afternoon we took the picture.  2 more left the next day and one left on Friday night.  So we were a small bunch.  I made the shirts based on a design by Libby and with the help of the circut images.  It was cute. 

Libby got a huge crab. 

Sarah and crew playing on the floating island--Queen of the Island. 

I am already brainstorming for next year!  

The shirt graphic

Lake Easton Camping Trip 2024

 We had another amazing year at Lake Easton.  Our numbers were much smaller than last year, but we still had a great time!   We had awesome weather (a bit hot when we weren't at the lake on one of the days, but since we spent most of the day at the lake--it worked out just fine.)  The biggest bummer was that Libby and Andrew couldn't join us this year (especially since this was the be the inaugural run of the floating island--our big Santa gift.). But they had fun with Andrew's family in Chelan...and I guess we'll have to get used to life without Libby since she's starting her senior year!  Yikes. 

The kids took over our big tent.  Sarah and I slept in a borrowed one from Maren & Cara. 

Cards at night.  They played Phase 10, Mantis, Skipbo, Go Low and others too. 

Day 2 at the lake was all about building this rock fort.  They dove for these rocks and brought them in on the paddle board to the beach.  

Living our best life! 

My fav pic of Ben. 

Bridge jumping kept them busy for a long time--they tried all kinds of tricks.  Cara gets the award for backflipping.  Maren gets the award for overcoming fear to go in (and had a swimsuit malfunction that luckily happened underwater.)  I kept my face out of the water to try and keep my eye irritation at a minimum. Sunscreen and my face don't get along.  But burns don't either--so I didn't jump this year. 

These pics are out of order.  The first people on the floating island were the kids, of course.  And Jed was the first to fall off. 

Aunt Maren for the win! 

Cards in the morning too! 

She looks so good in the hat! 

Aspirations for next year.  This was someone else's floaty called "Camela."  She was awesome until she popped. 

Traditional photo from the overlook. 

The "grown ups."  

The big win for me was that I paddled all around on the paddle board, hiked a couple of miles each morning and didn't get a headache or neckache.  My hip felt great.  It was awesome to feel so strong.  I think it's all the bodypump I've been doing with Sarah (no weight, but just moving my body has helped me feel stronger.)  Anyway, the trip was pure summer bliss.  And Derek stayed home and worked insane hours.  Just how summer is around here!