The evolution of a closet

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First of all, thanks to everyone who emailed, commented, texted, called, or Facebook-messaged me about Sunday night's post. My grandfather had passed away earlier that evening, and it basically brought a lot of pushed-down sadness to the surface for me. I appreciate the love, and I'm doing my best to deal with everything. 

***

In lighter news, how about a hall closet update? Yeah, that sounds fun. Remember back in October when I overhauled our front hall closet to turn it into a mudroom of sorts? Well, it needed a few tweaks. 

Here we go!

This is how disgusting our closet used to get. Ew, ew, ew.

Then I gave it this super-awesome makeover, and it was great. But as the kids grew, things needed to be updated, so it was time to revisit it!

The major change was that I took down the clothespins that held the cardstock labels to the red storage bins. The kids were constantly yanking off the clothespins and breaking them, and it made the labels all tattered.

So I made fresh labels from yellow cardstock, and used red embroidery thread to tie them on. Yes, the kids could rip them off -- they haven't yet -- but now when they grab the handle, they're not immediately dislodging a clothespin.

I kept the chalkboard label on the "Outbox" because that stayed the same. That box ROCKS MY WORLD, because it helps me remember things I want to take out to the van, dishes to return to people, borrowed items to give back, etc.

Back to the red bins. We originally had the bin for C's hats on the far left, but it was always a hassle to reach. Since she wears hats 100% of the time -- warm ones in the winter, sunhats in the warm weather -- it made a HUGE difference to make it more accessible.

D and C used to each have separate "Accessories" bins, but I condensed them into one bin. Really, how much room does a few pairs of tiny sunglasses take up? D also keeps his "spy goggles" (binoculars) in there.

The famous "Busy Bag" still has its own bin, but the portable DVD player got the boot (we keep it stored in the van now, so it's always there for long trips).

The Moby wrap never had its own bin before (it had a basket), so it got a little upgrade. I also added the toddler leash, since C is just about ready for it (she's taking a few steps, but not racing around yet).

Darling Husband also got his very own bin for baseball caps, since 'tis the season for lawn-mowing and other hat-requiring activities.

   

The shoe bins stayed the same, and that has been a GREAT system. No matter what the season, D can dump his snowy boots or sandy sneakers into his bin, and everything can drip onto the mat below. He is responsible for putting his shoes away every single time we come inside, as well as hanging up his own coat (hook is not visible in this pic), and putting his hat, mittens, sunglasses, etc. away.

Look up, look waaaaay up. I did some re-jigging with these bins. Now we have one for snowpants (way up high, since we won't need them until October or November), a straw bag I use for packing snacks for long car-trips, a bin for tote bags (we use these a lot for packing up clothes, diapers, etc.), a designated spot for me to toss my purse ...

 

... a bin for adult hats & mitts, a bin for kiddie hats & mitts, a bin for my scarves ...

... a bin for sunscreen and bugspray, and a bin for bubbles ...

Our custom key rack is still serving us well, although the hooks aren't strong enough to hold car keys (Darling Husband keeps his in his pants pocket/on his dresser, and I keep mine in my purse). We frequently use the loose house keys and the shed key, through, and we've been good about putting them back afterwards.

  

We only keep our "current" coats in the closet, and the out-of-season ones are stored in our master closet.  However, all snowpants, gloves, mitts, hats, etc. are stored in this closet regardless of season. 

Little C has so many pairs of shoes (mostly hand-me-downs) because her feet are so tiny and odd-shaped (she has meatballs, as Lindsey used to say about J's feet). We never know what shoe we can coax her feet into!

Our closet, as it looks today!

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Thanks for checking out our hall closet "tweak." We've been really happy with the space, and since we go into it about 56,132 times a day -- for shoes, coats, sunscreen, keys, you name it -- it's important to me that it's functional AND cute. That way I don't get cranky when the doors get left open! :)

xoxo

Something "real" on a Sunday night

When you're a "mommy blogger," sometimes it feels like there isn't really a place -- on your little corner of the internet -- for you to be sad sometimes.

We blog about recipes (and recipe fails). We blog about crafty projects and DIY projects. We blog about our babies' milestones and the funny things our toddlers say. When we show pictures of our houses, they're always taken immediately after we've cleaned and picked up the toys -- except for the occasional "messy house" photo we may post under the guise of "keepin' it real."

The closest we ever get to REAL-real is when we do those occasional posts about how we are overwhelmed and overtired. When we're fed up with the constant housecleaning or burdened by our careers and can't handle the stress of "having it all." When we want sympathy or empathy or a pat on the back.

These posts are few and far between -- posted when we really are at our wits' end -- and then we go back to our sunny Instagram-y happy posts about glueguns and slowcookers and toddler antics.

There have been so many times lately when I wanted to post something real, but didn't. I will freely admit that this blog feels different than it did four years ago, when I started out. I was just a newly-married professional, desperately waiting for my time to have a baby. No one knew about the blog, because it was my secret space for writing about my dreams of starting a family. I could say anything I wanted. And I did. And it was liberating.

Now, my husband and I have two amazing children that make us unbelievably happy every single day. My career has gone in the direction I wanted (writing, self-employment). And the followers of this little blog continue to amaze me with their support. But it's no longer a secret, private blog. It's become an extension of my freelance career -- and, as much as I hate it, that comes with a filter.

A post about sadness is not exactly Pinnable. It's not easily Tweeted about, or teased with an Instagram photo. It's hard to fit a post about sadness in between a sponsored posts about teething necklaces and a cheerful ditty about your latest Pinterest recipe fail. It just doesn't fit. So we don't do them.

I hope this doesn't come across badly, or like I'm living/sharing a lie (I'm definitely not). Social media does a very accurate job of depicting my day-to-day life -- what I wear, what I cook or bake, what activities I do with the kids, where we go, how I decorate or organize the house, what projects I'm working on, how my work is going, what Darling Husband and I are doing. It's all right there. That is truly my life, and I love it. I love that it's documented. And I love keeping up with the lives of my friends -- both IRL and virtual -- through these channels.

The trouble is, sometimes it's easy to forget where that "social media" persona stops. It's also easy to forget how to deal with feelings that you can't put out there. Can't Tweet about it. Can't blog about it. Can't Facebook about it. Certainly can't Instagram a photo of you staring into space, as you realize that you can't say any of the things you are thinking.

Talking to a friend sounds like the clear answer, but that's not so easy, either. So much of our communication today is through texting and emailing and Facebook-messaging and Skyping. Even phone calls are kind of archaic now. When we're together in person, there are zillions of our babies and tiny children who need to be fed and cleaned and kept alive. It feels like we never get to have real, uninterrupted conversations. Even if we could, who's to say the shiny, tidy, "social media presence" would actually take a backseat? Who's to say we could stop talking the easy, fun conversation about our kids, and talk about anything deeper? I honestly don't know if I would want that, or if I could do it.

It's just that it's a strange feeling to share so much of your life -- with friends, family, and total strangers -- and still have leftover feelings that you have nowhere to put.

It's poising your fingers above the keyboard and realizing you'll censor yourself if you even try.

It's staring at your phone and realizing you definitely can't Tweet right now, because what could you possibly say?

It's listening to the hum of your computer and typing out a post like this one.

(Thanks for listening)
xoxo

... and then she was one

On Thursday, my baby girl turned one year old. 

I still can't believe it. A year ago, I was in the hospital having her? A YEAR?

How can she be one? As I tell her all the time, she's just brand-new ... 

We threw a cupcake-themed family party for our little princess -- to go with her cupcake-themed nursery -- and it was everything it should have been: pink, pink, and more pink. 

(I'm still finding showers of silver glitter on every horizontal surface in the living room.)

Party aftermath

We'll celebrate her birthday again in May, during a huge bash for our/their friends that she'll share with her big brother, D (who's turning three in June). So her actual birthday was just a small family gathering.

She got a dollhouse from us, a wooden airport set from her brother, babydolls from her grandmothers, a wooden cradle from her grandparents, and a slew of gorgeous, unbelievably cute clothes. (jeggings! heart-print jeans! #canwesharewardrobes?)

And you know what the best part was?

Her very first pigtails ...

I swear, those pigtails represent everything truly DAUGHTERY about having a daughter. I felt like for the past 365 days, I've had a baby -- a sweet one that wears pink a lot, sure, but just a "baby." She didn't seem very different from her older brother, honestly. For an entire year.

But when I saw her in those pigtails, my heart melted. And then my heart reformed and exploded in a shower of glitter and sparkly gems.

I saw painting her nails. And taking her shopping on girly mother-daughter dates. And passing on my collections of Babysitter's Club books and Barbies.

She's one, now.
She's not a baby.
She's a little, tiny, perfect girl.

Happy Birthday to my little daughter, my tiny Rosey-Posy. You make my heart feel things I never thought it could feel, and you will always be "brand-new" to me.

xoxoxo

Give your playhouse a makeover with spraypaint

When I first saw the idea of spraypainting a plastic playhouse on Pinterest (where else?), I was immediately obsessed with finding one. A little mini house that could match OUR house? YES x 1,000,000.

I searched Kijiji for weeks, and finally came across a good one for $40 -- and my father-in-law graciously agreed to pick it up for me.

It was torturous to wait for the snow to melt so we could get our spraypaint groove on! But finally, the weather cooperated, and the whole project was done in a single nap-time.

Here's how we did it ... 

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Here's our "Before" shot, with my little cuties inside! As you can see, the playhouse was very faded and weathered. It needed to be freshened up! (Plus, I wanted it to match our house, of course)

Darling Husband unscrewed the roof, and I gathered up my gear (four cans of beige Krylon plastic spraypaint for the house, two cans of brown for the roof, and one can of red for the door and shutters -- we're painting our own front door red this summer, so ... how cute will that be?!)

Because the roof was a nice flat surface, the paint went on beautifully. One can was almost enough!

We took turns spraying the walls beige -- inside and out -- and the paint seemed to go on streaky, but it dried fine.

Last came the red shutters and front door!

Home, sweet home!

D was thrilled with the change. He kept saying "Paint da house! Ooh, nice!"

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The secondhand playhouse was $40, and we probably spent about $30 in plastic-approved spraypaint, but this project was definitely worth $70. The kids play in it ALL the time (as does our next-door neighbour), and I'm happy every time I look out the kitchen window at it.

If you have a plastic, faded eyesore in your backyard, don't hesitate to spraypaint the heck out of it -- trust me, spraypaint makes EVERYTHING better.

xoxo

Menu makeover

Super inspired by this chalkboard menu from Oh H'Evans. Love the red!

I've been chattering lately about my (lack of) cooking skills (and few successes), and I've decided (to try!) to do something about it (how's that for a lot of parentheses in one sentence?).

Here are my basic problems:

• I don't go grocery shopping alone EVER (see: cart rage), which means I only get to tag along on occasion (with the kids in tow). This means I have to plan EVERY DETAIL in advance, on a list for Darling Husband, or we don't have what I need.
• I hate making grocery lists with a PASSION. I don't know what it is about it. It seems fun in theory. Making lists! Writing! Food! Buying stuff! But somehow I hate it.
• I also hate meal-planning. Darling Husband and I both hate trying to decide what to make for dinners. On his days off, we start this discussion at lunchtime, and we're both just so darn BLAH about it. "What are we having for dinner?" "Ugh, I don't know. Do we have any meals in the freezer?" "I think we made the last baggie of slowcooker chicken yesterday." "UGH! I don't know!" Deciding just sucks.
• Neither of us are very interested in cooking. We'd both LIKE to take a cooking course (if we had the time, babysitting, you name it). We'd both LIKE to be better at cooking. We just have other stuff that seems to get in the way (see: life, a baby, a toddler, crazy work schedules).

Several years back, when I only had one child and apparently had TIME FOR WRITING STUFF DOWN AT MY LEISURE, I started an awesome Google Doc that assigned each day of the week a category with a cute name, and put all different meal suggestions. I did absolutely nothing with the document, BUT now I think I'm going to try. I think.

My (genius? insane?) idea was to basically make it easier for us to meal-plan, write grocery lists, and grocery shop, because it would all be very formulaic. We aren't fancy cooks/eaters, so we don't particularly care if we have a crazy variety with our meals. We just need to stop this day-to-day BLAHNESS over meal-planning and list-making and grocery-shopping.

(Plus, I also like the cuteness of knowing what kind of meal we'll eat on specific days -- kind of like a family tradition, you know? As a kid, we had a routine-centric live-in nanny, and I remember being very attached to having specific meals on specific days)

So ... drumroll, please ... here are my proposed categories for our family:

• Mexican Monday
• Homestyle Tuesday
• Sandwich Wednesday
• Barbeque Thursday
• Pizza Friday
• Pasta Saturday
• Slowcooker Sunday

I have ideas jotted down for each day of the week (i.e. tacos, quesadillas, enchiladas on Mexican Mondays; baked chicken, meatloaf, or roast on Homestyle Tuesdays; chicken wraps, Sloppy Joes, clubhouses, etc. on Sandwich Wednesdays; burgers, steaks, grilled chicken, etc. on BBQ Thursdays; various homemade pizzas on Pizza Fridays; spaghetti, meatballs, etc. on Pasta Saturdays; and stews, chillis, and casseroles on Slowcooker Sundays).

I'm not sure which day we will grocery shop on (right now it's just whatever day we happen to go), but I'd like to have one specific day a week -- and I'd like to fine-tune the system so that the meals we eat right after getting groceries involve more fresh produce, meat, etc. and the meals towards the end of the week require more pantry and frozen items.

So what's the verdict? Is this the most insane post you've ever read -- keeping in mind that I wrote an entire post about how to put your makeup on while dealing with your baby? -- or do I have some interesting ideas here?

More importantly, how am I going to sneak more Mexican dishes into the week???

xoxo

Countdown to 1

My baby girl is going to be turning ONE in just over a week (a week tomorrow, to be exact).

And ...

... I'm kind of freaking out about it ...

For several reasons:

• She won't be "a baby" anymore. I'm so used to thinking of little C as my babbbbbyyyy. But at the age of one, she'll technically be a toddler. But D is the toddler?!?! Nope, he'll turn three in June, and then he'll technically be a preschooler. So I guess I'll have TWO toddlers for about six weeks? Well, that sounds ... terrifying?
• She seems so YOUNG. She isn't walking yet, which seems bizarre compared to his running-at-nine-months milestone. She's taken a couple of steps, but only a few times, and doesn't seem to be able to really hold herself up on those teensy tiny little feet. This in itself makes her seem impossibly young. Although looking back, I think we almost treated D like he was older than he really was, simply BECAUSE he was running around and looked older. For example, we took him to a science center on his first birthday and let him eat an entire Happy Meal, and with C, neither will be happening.
• But she also seems so grown-up. She is talking a bit, which is a HUGE change from her formerly-hearing-impaired big brother. He barely said anything until he was over two. She says "Mama" (sounds more like "Baba"), "Dada," "Dahhh-er" (her attempt at D's name), "Bay-bee," and "Dahhh" (which means "Thank you."
• The time has gone by far too quickly ... Having two kids makes things feel like a blur. (Well, sometimes. There are also lots of times when time seems to stand still, and you have to stick your head in the freezer and sneak cookie dough just to keep yourself from screaming/sobbing "JUST STOP CRYING AND WHINING! BOTH OF YOUUUU!") This past year has been the absolute best year of my life, but also the fastest -- and most insane.
• ... and it's continuing to fly by. When I look at C's crib, I start thinking about when it will be turned into a toddler bed. D was in a bed at 18 months -- does that mean she only has six more months in a crib? How much longer will we use her booster high chair? I'm trying not to think ahead, but I can't help but feel panicky at how quickly it's all happening.

I'm trying to be calm about it, and to focus on the plans for her birthday. We're having a family dinner on her actual birthday (for about 20-odd family members) and a "friends" party that she'll share with D (whose birthday is six weeks later) in May.

But I still can't believe she'll actually be one so soon. 

I think I'm in complete denial.

One is still LITTLE, right???

Five quick ideas

Happy Monday, guys!

I've been sitting on a ton of blog photos lately (those JPEGs are pointy, ow!) because I haven't had the time to write up the posts to go with them, so I thought I would give up on the wordiness (you're welcome) and just try to get them out there ... you know, before the internet fades with old age.

So here you are -- five easy little ideas/projects I've done recently that you might want to try ...

1. Make a beer cake

Our lovely next-door neighbours just had their second child (a baby boy), and I had bought a chic nursing cover for my friend, as well as a cute skull tee for the baby (I can never resist skulls), and a Big Sister present, of course. So I asked Darling Husband what he thought a second-time dad would like, and he immediately said "Beer." Inspired by the popular diaper cakes, I taped a bunch of beer cans together, added a few scrapbook paper flairs, and we had a beer cake just for Dad!

2. Make veggie skewers

D is funny about vegetables -- sometimes he loves them, sometimes it's a battle. I was amazed when Darling Husband got the idea to make these cute little skewers about a month ago. D positively GOBBLED them down, while we watched in awe. We've done this trick since then, and it doesn't always work, but it seems to have pretty good results.

3. Organize puzzles in plastic containers

D loves doing puzzles, but I quickly got tired of the ratty boxes (which would sometimes "eat" pieces because they would get stuck under a flap). So I bought some containers at the local Dollarama (LOVE Dollar Stores, love 'em) and got to work snipping out a little "preview" to tape on the top, as well as a larger "preview" to tape on the inside of the lid. Works like a charm!

4. Make BabyLegs from old socks

I bought these socks a couple of years ago, and they were one of my fave pairs. Hot, hot pink with grey stripes -- and KNEE-LENGTH at that? Amazing. (Don't worry, I only wore them under pants). I didn't want to part with them when the toes wore out, so I cut off the feet to make BabyLegs for C. She's already worn them a few times, and they're awesome!

5. Make a laundry bag and a plastic bag dispenser from old T-shirts

We have a set of hooks just inside our basement door (off the kitchen), and I used to hang a grocery bag there for all of my "kitchen laundry" -- dish towels, dish cloths, bibs, baby washcloths. I also had another grocery bag there to hold -- wait for it -- empty grocery bags. It looked pretty crappy. So I grabbed some old T-shirts one Sunday during naptime, and threw together a laundry bag and a tube-like bag dispenser. (I still use a plastic bag INSIDE the laundry bag, so that I don't have to wash the laundry bag) I'm not crazy with how the appliqued letters turned out -- stupid stretchy T-shirt fabric -- and now that the basement is painted, I may make a different set, but it's still a big improvement from plain old grocery bags.

Little projects are sometimes the most satisfying, because you can do them quickly and start appreciating the results right away -- don't you think?

xoxo

A modern-day tale of loaves and fishes

You know the Bible story about the loaves and fishes? 

Well, I've found the equivilent in real life. It's called Making Breadmaker Hamburger Buns and then Making A Bazillion Other Things With The Same Dough.

You've read about my Pinterest recipe fails, but this was a clear culinary victory!

When I put the kids down for naptime a few weeks ago, I reached into the deep freeze, grabbed the first baggie I felt, and hastily threw some frozen Sloppy Joe meat into the slowcooker. 

Then I realized I didn't have any hamburger buns, so I nabbed the first recipe in the Google results, threw some ingredients into the breadmaker, and ran down to the basement to do my freelance assignments.

When I popped back upstairs to roll out the buns an hour and a half later, I realized I didn't need that many buns -- it wasn't a huge baggie of meat -- so I decided to make little mini pizzas with the rest. But there was still MORE DOUGH (MOARRRR), so I also "invented" tiny pizza bite thingys. It was glorious!

Let's look back at my awesomeness ... 

Homemade hamburger buns OMGGGGG

Sloppy Joes fit for a Queen!

Teeny tiny pizzas are a favourite around these parts

 

They were delicioussssss

 

I just put dough-balls into my mini-muffin pan, brushed them with melted butter, sprinkled them with garlic powder and parm, and let them work their magic!

Heavenly little pizza bites, hot from the oven!

We ate these dipped into leftover pizza sauce. Little D went nuts over them!

One breadmaker dough recipe = three delicious dinner options!

I have to say, I get a LOT of use out of my breadmaker -- and we almost never, ever use it for bread. Ours is this one -- the Black and Decker All-in-One -- and it makes the bread kind of strange-shaped. It doesn't fit into our toaster, anyway.

But it's awesome for making cinnamon buns, pizza dough (our recipe makes THREE huge pizzas), hamburger buns, rolls, demented bunny/cat buns, and any other carb-y deliciousness you could want. (And yes, Lindsey, you really should buy one! I know you're reading this and thinking about it again!)

The breadmaker? Yeah, I've got it mastered.

But that's about the height of my culinary talents at this point!