Reston Mom

a little fall decorating

I love to decorate for the seasons.  A few touches here and there just to celebrate - but this year I've been keeping it pretty simple.  Here are few things I've done:

I used to have something different on this wall, but was craving a change. The two white frames were in my basement and used to be a hideous gold color, but I liked the detail so I decided to paint and use them.  I had bought a straw wreath form last year and wanted something that said "warm and cozy" so I made this knitted creation.  I didn't have a picture for the other frame, but I had a $1 black mat from the dollar store, a black sheet of construction paper and a white art pencil - so...I penciled in a few words that characterized fall.  The three frames at the bottom cost $1 each on clearance at Michael's Craft Store.  I painted them the light green color left over from the accent wall in our home and trimmed them in the same white as the other frames.  The leaves are real leaves that I pressed.  Since I had most of the materials, it cost me next to nothing.  I haven't decided if I love it, but I definitely like it and it is all easy to change out for other seasons.

I spent a moment updating the girls' container play garden in the backyard from summer to fall.  The mini-pumpkins are obviously fake - they have to be or the squirrels eat them.  I also spent some time with the girls earlier this season making these rainbow webs from yarn and some sticks to hang from the playhouse window.  

Guarding time for our children

Really appreciated this post: http://jenwilkin.blogspot.com/2010/10/guarding-sabbath-for-our-children.html and know that myself and a lot of other NOVA moms I know would benefit from it.....

Mama exposed - vacuum bags

I love my vacuum.  I really do, it works great.  I also love to vacuum, it is by far my favorite chore.  I was a little sad the other day when I realized that it wasn't sucking too well anymore.  I noticed it first when I was trying to use the hose.  So, I poked around a bit and saw the clog in the tube.  No big deal.  It took one minute to clean it out and I was back up and running - except, still poor suction.  

In the meantime, we've been rearranging some rooms in the house - my husband used the vacuum to clean up a bit in one area.

Later that evening:

Matt: The vacuum wasn't sucking too well before.

Me: Oh yeah.  I know.  I had meant to mention that to you.  I noticed it with the hose.  I cleaned it out but it still wasn't working too well.

Matt (smiling): That's because the vacuum bag was so full it had overflowed into the hose.

Duh.  Why had I totally spaced on the fact that I needed to replace the bag?  That should have been the first thing I did....it looked like I should have done that say, back in January.  Oooooooops.  

The vacuum works great again. My brain? we'll see...

No comments about the Dyson please.  I love my vacuum. :)

to do before baby

We have just about everything that we need - I pretty much started giving stuff away by the third kid, you really don't need as much as you think you do.  So, there isn't a lot of shopping to do.  Nevertheless, I've tallied up a to-do list for the summer months before the birth of #4.  We've already accomplished so much - it is very exciting.  These are the big ones:

To-do:

purchase a minivan - check! (lovin' our new Odyssey, boy does it make a mom's life so much easier! grateful!)

move Matt's office to the basement - check!   We had to get creative with this one, but you know what? It was well worth it and actually an upgrade

move Hope and Maddie's bedroom to the old office room - check!

move the playroom upstairs to Hope and Maddie's old bedroom - check! It turned out so nice!

turn the old playroom into a schoolroom - check minus?  It is all moved, but there are some odds and ends

finish painting the upstairs hallway

paint the girls' bedroom and the playroom

paint a chalkboard wall - yes an entire wall, I'm so excited! - in the schoolroom

paint a bench

buy a new double stroller 

pick baby names

I've got the urge to move

Lately I've been dreaming of a new house - sort of.  It isn't that I don't like my home now, or my neighborhood or town or anything like that.  I just kind of want to start over again.  Maybe it is spring fever that is making me loathe the areas in my house that aren't absolutely clutter free, bright and clean or that is growing a desire within me to just throw (give) a whole lot of stuff away.  I guess my spring-cleaning tactic might be summed up as "run away!".  

I wouldn't say that I have wander-lust, just change-lust.  You can ask my husband - I drive him totally crazy with practically never fixing the same dinner twice (and absolutely not within the same week - eeek!) Last time we went out to eat, I ordered the duck burger pretty much just because it was the most exotic thing I could find on the menu (and it was absolutely fabulous, I must say!).  Even as a child, rearranging the furniture of my room was a favorite past time.  And still now I sit staring into the rooms of my current home considering every possible arrangement (the downside being that we've got a small place and there really isn't a better arrangement than what we've got for most of the rooms - boo, no rearranging).  I don't have time to repaint and once you've been in a place for a while you just get into certain habits, so I know that super spring cleaning will only last momentarily before we go right back to our ways again.  I don't have a budget for redecorating and in a rental home, it seems pointless anyway.  

Sometimes I just have a yearning to run away from all the stuff - to overhaul my surroundings.  But perhaps I'm just feeling cabin fever because of the season.  Maybe when we can better get outside to the playground and the farm and the zoo and anywhere but stuck in the house, and when I can get a little more sunshine on my face...maybe my craving for a change of scenery within my house will wane. 

Christmas cleaning

While I was scrubbing the kitchen floor today I was dreaming of a couple of cleaning tools that I'd really   like to own.  Then it occurred to me that instead, I could have been dreaming of someone else to do the work for me.  At least my daughter Hope was in there helping me - and doing a great job at it.  I'm proud to say that she will know how to clean a house well.  

Anyway, as my thoughts traveled, I realized that I used to think that stay-at-home-moms who had hired help through a cleaning service or whatever to clean their homes were ridiculous and lazy.  Pay someone to clean your house and then pay for a gym membership? Why not burn some calories by scrubbing your own home and save some money.  Before I moved to Reston, I didn't even know that having someone else come clean was an option for regular people - just the obscenely privileged.  At least, I had never personally known of anyone who actually did that.  But, now - though I probably wouldn't apply the term "obscenely privileged" to myself, my adult worldview has led me to count myself at least among the "ridiculously privileged."  And here in Reston, it seems very common to have a house cleaner - even for a small home, even for a stay-at-home-mom.  

But, now with three children and a full-time job of homeschooling - a different reality hits me.  Where before, I was totally able and willing to do the cleaning - it just doesn't really get done now.  My reality now is - honestly - I legitimately don't have time for cleaning.  It gets done here and there when I can and when my wonderful hubby helps out, but a lot that I would like to get accomplished goes neglected. (that answers your question as to why I would spend Christmas break scrubbing floors)  

Even if/when there is extra time, my time is a precious commodity.  And maybe, I'd rather read a book to my children or invest in relationships instead of spending that time cleaning.  So, where time is short and precious, I see what a real gift it is to have that help.  And, if I had the extra dough, I would probably strongly consider it.  

I think that my judgement of other SAHMs was partly rooted in pride anyway.  Because I do take a lot of pride in being able to manage my household well.  But maybe sometimes, good management means knowing when to delegate.  In the meantime for me, it means time management that says that having sparkling floors may not be a priority above the education and care of my children and investment into keeping a fantastic marriage...though I will look forward to delegating some help to my kids in the future.  I plan to educate them in the great lessons of contributing as members of a family team (wink, wink,smile!)

Tuesday's Tip - foil boxes

I don't know why I missed this for so many years - a long lapse in attention or care, I suppose.  But, if you get annoyed with how the aluminum foil (or other roll) keeps popping out of its box and making things difficult for you, then here is a tip: direct your attention to the ends of the box where there are little tabs to push in which will keep the roll in place.  Brilliant! How did this escape me for so long? 
 

Tuesday's Tip - organizing kid's paperback books

We've got a bunch of those floppy square picture books - the kind on the racks at B&N that you can buy for under $5.  The thing is, they don't stand up very well on a bookshelf - they just slide all over and because they are floppy, it is more difficult for the young 'uns to get them back in the bookshelf too.  Similarly, we also have a bunch of those early reader books - taller and thinner, but just as floppy.  So, I've found that a great remedy is to use magazine holders to keep them all neatly in one place. The kids will always know where to put them away and it makes it easy to take them and go as well if you just pull out the whole holder. 

You can spend a little bit to buy sturdy ones that will look cute and last a long time - otherwise you can do as I did and pick up a package of 5 white cardboard fold-it-yourself holders at IKEA for under $3 and tape the bottoms with packaging tape to keep them from unfolding then decorate them yourself if you like.

our fish lives...again

In the archives of this blog you can find posts which testify to the crazy experiences we've had with our little starter fish tank.  Here's the latest.  We have been down to one fish for a while now - Twitchy, by name.  The tank was turning green and gross again so I needed to clean it and proceeded to do so with care.  I was very gentle with the fish and careful about timing and the water, following the directions of pet-store guy, but nonetheless about 10 minutes after returning Twitchy to his cleaner home, I found him motionless and floating belly up at the top of the water.

I relayed the bad news to the girls who took it pretty well.  They decided that they really wanted to bury the fish in the yard and I gave in.  So we headed upstairs with some tissue paper to wrap the little fish in. But, when I placed Twitchy on the paper he began to..well...twitch.  So, I put the flapping little fish back into the tank (after a little effort to unstick his body from the tissue paper) - where he sank to the bottom. A short while later we decided to check on him again and found him laying completely on his side on the bottom of the tank.  But, as Maddie so kindly pointed out, his mouth was moving ever so slightly.  So, we decided to wait a little longer until he would finally and irreversibly kick the bucket.  

Another short while later I hear Maddie calling from the top of the stairs "He's swimming around mom! Twitchy is swimming around!"  Sure enough, like nothing ever happened.  Wha?????

When I told Matt, he said to me - "don't you remember? don't you remember how Twitchy got his name?" Actually this is the second resurrection of Twitchy.  This all happened the same once before, only that time he came back to us with a slight tilt to his swim and a tiny twitchiness - hence name.  

My guess is that I've got the temperature in the tank still off or something and have now sent this poor creature into total shock twice - from which he has twice revived and survived to swim on among his glow-in-the-dark plastic plants.  

Unfortunately, I have to say I was kind of looking forward to that fishy funeral.  But he's a fighter, that Twitchy!

(by the way, if you are interested, I think Twitchy is some kind of Gourami fish)

Tuesday's Tip - cleaning your lampshades

got this one from Martha Stewart - but it is a handy one.  You can use one of those cheap sticky lint rollers (the likes of which you may find hanging by the checkout aisle at Target or your grocery store for grabbing lint/hair/pet hair etc.. off of your clothes) as an easy and effective way to clean dust off of your lamp shades.  I think it also comes in handy for a quick dust to the tops of window drapes that are difficult to remove and clean regularly. 

Tuesday's Tip - tackle that mess

Fishing tackle boxes are a great solution to containing and organizing some of children's favorite collections.  Most are designed with a large compartment at the bottom in conjunction with pull out or accordian style trays with divided compartments.  Plus, they have a handle on the top which kids love since they can take their collection with them. They range in size and number of trays. You can find inexpensive ones at places like Wal-mart or similar functioning storage boxes at some craft and container stores. Here are some ideas of where a tackle box might be well used:

• tiny legos
• Barbie clothes and accessories 
• art and craft supplies 
• small toys ie: polly pocket, littlest pet shop 
• "outside only" collections of rocks, acorns, etc...
• girls hairbrushes and hair accessories 
• dress-up jewelry 
• matchbox style cars 

Tuesday's Tip - wrinkle free clothes

I'm terrible with laundry.  It's probably my least favorite chore and having the machines down in the basement doesn't help any.  Often our laundry gets left in the dryer or unfolded for a good while.  This is so simple, but If your laundry has cooled down in the dryer and you want to save yourself some time and wrinkles, an easy tip is just to run the dryer again for a few minutes before pulling them out and folding or hanging right away.  The quick spin will fluff and lift out wrinkles.

Tuesday's Tip - school clothes

Here's a great back-to-school tip to help out your morning routine.

Purchase one of those hanging shoe organizers for your child's closet - the kind that has separate boxes or large pockets for each pair of shoes.  On Sunday, check the weather report with your kids and then pick out an outfit (that you both agree on?) for each day of the school week.  Assign a day to each slot and place each outfit in it's day. Use an additional slot to store an "alternate" outfit in case of unexpected inclement weather.  For younger children, this will empower them to be more successful at getting ready independently and will help any parent/child rule out frustrations over choosing outfits in the rush of the morning.  

Print your canvas

I love this site, printyourcanvas.com- where you can send in a photo and have them print it on canvas in one of a variety of styles.  If I could afford it right now, I'd totally do one of each of my kids - though I'd have difficulty deciding between Opie and Che styles (both of which I think my girls would look totally cute in!) - though I do also like the Obama and for more traditional tastes there is also the option of a nice hand-done oil painting (among others). I think it would be really fun and very unique to do a wedding portrait in one of the contemporary styles too. 

carpet cleaner that works

Three words - light.  beige.  carpet. 

Ours has been besieged by young children, coffee spills, rainy-day sneakers, various foods, etc.   Generally, I don't like using a lot of chemical cleaners - I'm all for the vinegar and baking soda approach to cleaning. But, sometimes you just need a miracle cleaner.  Spot Shot is my miracle cleaner. It hasn't failed me.  I don't know what is in that stuff but it works better than anything else I've found. I'm just sayin' - our carpet would look crappy without it.  

awesome help for your money

Here is a link to a terrific podcast - it will be the first in a series titled "Making Cents." (click on the link and then the button on the right)  I'm going to straight up tell you that the information that will be presented in these podcasts is super insightful, informative, and valuable.  This guy - Doug - is a friend of mine, a fantastic financial planner, and full of wisdom.  I learn some little golden nugget every time I talk to him.  And the best part is...I can vouch for the fact that he actually lives out what he talks about - that it works and he is a great personal example. He's extremely up to date on all the nuances of the stimulus package and everything else that might be beneficial to you and to me.  I recommend listening to these podcasts as they continue to be produced. This first one is especially pertinent to home owners and future home owners - which covers you and just about everyone else.  Find some time and listen.   

the nursery

Our nursery is nearly finally pulled back together and I love it.  It a tiny, peaceful room with great sunlight - but most of all, I feel like it expresses something unique about us.  Think more Anthropologie than Pottery Barn, more eclectic than catalog.  Our personal touches make it feel more like the home we've made together and less like the "home" we've brought home from the store. I can't wait to bring Ami home and share it with her.

I have this little thing for birdies...so there is a small theme here.  The room is so tiny that it is impossible to get an angle for the camera which captures everything together.  And these pictures don't quite capture the brightness of all the colors and mix of patterns.

I saw this pattern at Spool and decided to revamp it a bit - I couldn't pass up a chance to incorporate those cute little birdies somehow.

I had an idea for a night-light and put my husband's creativity to work to make this bird-house-on-a-post with a rustic feel.  It gives off the perfect amount of light for a middle of the night feeding and I love the unique design he came up with.  The base is a wonderful slice of tree-stump and the pole is composed of many individual sections of natural wood as well - I love all the textures!

We've used this rocker for all of our kids - it was a hand-me-down with bad cushions, but I love that it is fat and wide, perfect for getting really comfortable.  We covered the cushions and I decided to make a few little felt and crochet pillows for interest.

Also, we're using an antique desk as a changing center.  I love this piece of furniture - it was Matt's Nanny's, then his father's, then used by him, and now we enjoy it.  I did have Matt anchor it to the wall and there is some special anchorage happening with the pad too for baby's protection.  

best laid dinner intentions

This is last night's dinner  - lemon-butter chicken, spinach, and garlic/herb cous cous.

There's nothing like basting with butter to achieve that oh-so-yummy golden crispy skin.

There's also nothing like being pregnant to persuade a woman to throw out all her healthy dietary intentions and eat skin-on chicken basted with lots of butter and pasta.

Alas, there is also nothing like spoiled chicken to ruin a meal.

Don't know what went wrong, but the chicken was definitely bad.  So we tossed it and went out for fruit smoothies.

vinegar is a super item

Found this article which is a seriously long list of uses for vinegar in and around your home - 9 pages long!

Print it out and put it in your kitchen or somewhere - vinegar is a great alternative to chemical cleaners or expensive non-toxic, environmentally friendly cleaners.  Cheap and friendly can't be beat.

the nursery

I'm finally starting to think about pulling a nursery back together.  There are a few projects in the working stage but not much to do really.  Still, I'm excited to see it all come together.  There is just something peaceful about a nursery room.  So anyway, here are a few textile shots from the room - I'll let you guess about what they are and how they will all fit together and I'll post some shots of the finished room later.

I'm not afraid of the basement anymore!

Our home has an unfinished basement.  It has been used for storage since the early seventies...places like that just aren't clean and friendly.  

Aside from our laundry machines, for us it has been home to a ton of musical and stage equipment, personal storage, storage for Matt's job, tools, craft items, clutter, and trash...and a lot of crickets.  I used to despise it.  It was the bane of my homelife experience, a totally and utterly depressing, frustrating, unsafe place. And like most things that remain hidden, it just seemed to fester.  

BUT recently we gave it a major overhaul.  There is still a lot of stuff that needs to be removed - but those piles are designated and waiting transportation.  Now it is more organized - I mean you can actually walk down there instead of climbing over stuff!  And...oh blessed and!...and there is now a LARGE area just for crafting!  A few huge and old speakers and half a ping pong table have been creatively fashioned into a large project table in the middle, surrounded by a plethora of shelves for organizing all my arts and craft materials.

The girls have their own bookshelf of materials - thank goodness for a place to store all those crayons, markers, paper, stickers, etc... And since the basement isn't so unsafe anymore, they are free to go down there anytime to color, glue, cut, playdough, glitter whatever!  This designated spot keeps the craft mess out of my house and gives the girls a ton more freedom to explore their creativity as they feel like it. The makeshift table means no worries about paint or glue or glitter and the concrete floor is easily swept and cleaned.

Now, I actually smile when I go down to the basement.  My hidden secret is no longer a dark and dangerous dungeon...but a factory of fun and creativity!  Hooray for well used spaces!  

real vs. artificial Christmas trees

Although most of you who intend to, probably have already chosen and decorated a Christmas tree, I found this article interesting.  We've always been a "real" tree family...not necessarily because of greener implications, but honestly just because I like the smell and the idea of having something "living."  When we are finished with it, we recycle ours to a pile in the woods along with other neighbors, as a natural habitat providing winter shelter for the local wildlife, which I like too.  However, we've also known people with allergies to evergreen trees, so for them artificial is a must.  What is your preference?  And would it make any difference in your decision if you thought one option was "greener" than the other?

something is still fishy....

I was all ready to follow up my past posts about the failure of any fish to thrive in our starter fish tank and my efforts to rectify that, with a glorious post about how our fish tank has been successfully housing four fish for a good while now.  That is, until I realized today that one of our fish was missing.  Bummer that I discovered the miniscule little remains of the tiny neon tetra lying at the bottom of the tank.  For the time being, the other fish seem to be doing well.  From the looks of it, this one may have been the casualty of another hungry fish.  In the meantime, we are down to one red fish ( I can't remember what it is), one neon, and "twitchy" - I also cannot remember what kind of fish this is, but it is so nicknamed as the sole survivor of our previous attempt to get this tank running.  All the other fish at that time died, but twitchy survived - except that since that episode he twitches a little bit and swims slightly leaning off kilter all the time.  Hmmmm....

what I love in my kitchen

Right now we are renting.  I can't pick out my appliances, countertops, or cabinets...but still, I feel like the kitchen is one of those places in our home that does a decent job of expressing things I like.  We're getting ready to refresh it a little with some yellow paint and hopefully a new table...but I was just thinking about all the little bits of me in there and thought I'd share with you a few of the things I love.

Found this antique bench at a flea market...eventually it will be pulled up to the table I want, but for now it is tucked underneath a chalkboard I made out of a frame I liked.  I love them both!

There's a little shelf that runs around the top of one end of the kitchen which I've used to display some inspirational words.  I always wanted there to be something in my dining room that said "come together" to express the necessity and joy of family and friends eating and being merry with each other. 

I love these retro sugar jars that I got from my mom - they remind me of my own childhood and now I use them for sugar and lollipops and decoration.  Love the bright orange - so cheerful! Also, I love the weird and funky design of these chunky retro pieces too.

I painted this little watercolor over my stove after a picture in a children's book one day when I was desperate for something creative to do.

I love this magnet rack with all of our aprons, including Hope and Maddie's...makes me want to grab up the girls and do some baking everytime I pass by.

Here are just a few more odds and ends that have gained my affection: a rabbit cheese board that we got for a wedding present - I have no idea why we were given this, but it always makes me smile.  A little metal wind-up bird toy from a friend in bright colors, my cow creamer which I wanted for so long, and this little metal heart hanging rack that I got from Matt's mom's kitchen and which is over my sink...I stuck this recipe for Green Tea Bread on it a couple of months ago because I wanted to try it out, though I haven't yet. 

creative bath caddy

I was staring at the tub yesterday wondering what the magical solution to storing all the toys was. Feeling tired of all the cute hammock style organizers that a) don't have enough room b) don't drain quite well enough and c) don't stay stuck to the wall, I came up with all kinds of crazy alternative inventions.  And then I thought, wait a minute! You know those three-tiered fruit baskets for the kitchen? That would work really well!  You can hang it from the shower head (or where ever is convenient), three levels for storage and lots of drainage...no little suction cups...of course! So, I went online to The Container Store (man, I love that store!) to see what I could find.  Sure enough, a nice adjustable chrome fruit basket - and the realization that I hadn't been the first to think of this, since it says right beside the picture: "It's also a fabulous convenience in the bath for accessories, toys, loofahs, larger soaps, sponges, etc..."  Still, I'm totally grateful for an easy new option!

sunflowers

The girls and I planted sunflowers from seed this year...and they are huge! Seriously, there must be a record-breaker here - do you see how that one reaches up to the second story of our house? It's been so much fun to watch them grow - at times more than an inch a day!!! Can't wait to see the blooms!

fish die

Some people say they just don't have a green thumb...everything planty that they touch seems to die. Transfer that sentiment to my fish tank and you can see the predicament I'm in. I just don't have a blue thumb? Honestly, I'm so frustrated right now over this whole thing that it's making me laugh - ever been there? Laughing at how worked up I am over something so small and stupid...because the only other alternative to release it to just pick the starter tank up and heave it right through the nearby sliding door.  Wouldn't that be a sight for the neighbors?
Welcome to my fishy saga: rewind back two years ago to a perfectly wonderful Christmas gift for my daughter - cute little starter tank, graceful goldfish (named Dorothy after Elmo's own)...ah, such great intentions!  Not so long later...yup, belly up.  So, I find myself suddenly standing at the precipice of exploring the great topic of death with my two year old, grasping for a sensitive manner that is both understandable and not life-scarring to a toddler, and like so many before me - instead of jumping right in, I simply orchestrated a secret run to the pet store to replace Dorothy in an impressively classic lie.  In my stroke of genius deception, I directed my husband to choose one fish that looked just like Dorothy and a friend who looked different, so that any suspicions might be allayed by the distraction of presenting a new friend (named Spotty). It was a brilliant plot, except for one thing.  Dorothy II outlived Spotty, but not long.  Of course, I had to give in and just tell it like it is to my daughter (because eventually the multiplication of fish would get overwhelming)..."sorry honey, Spotty died. Sometimes fish do." That apparently sufficed because my daughter only said "okay," and went on happily playing, and didn't seem to care when Dorothy followed suit.  But after three swift deaths, I wasn't ready to buy another fish without figuring out what was going wrong.  Of course, the tank sat empty of fish and full of water in my daughters room for a minium of six months thereafter...likely more.  Eventually it got emptied and moved to a closet...but it never left my mind.  I still retained hope for a lovely little successful aquarium for the girls.
At one point I went and reviewed with a nice, well-informed pet shop employee everything I needed to achieve this success, because surely I'm missing some key aspect...and then another three months later: fast-forward to yesterday: Bought a new filter and asked again what I could do to make this work...feeling good, this is going to be it this time!...get home, restore the tank to it's former glory (imagined glory) and prime it for today.  Today we went to the pet store and bought two new fish...not goldfish. The girls were adamant about this...and I was told that they are kind of "dirty" so you have to change the water frequently - more work for me, not an option.  We proudly brought our new friends home and placed their bags in the tank to acclimate...but not before I once again asked a store employee for tips about how to make sure this works.
One hour ago....dead fish.  One down.  Can this really be happening again?  We've followed all the instructions, all the preparation.  As soon as the other one dies (isn't that so pessimistic?), I'm going to dump the entire tank out, waltz into several pet stores and demand an explanation.   I just can't leave my girls education about fish at this...."so what do you know about fish, girls?"  "they die."

cute nightlights

I adore these nightlight lamps from White Rabbit

I think I have the strange potential to become a collector of unique and antique little lamps and lights.  My girls have a lamp in their room which was my grandmother's.  The base is a porcelain girl in a full dress, that I think my grandmother may have painted.  Now it is chipped and worn, which gives it that much more appeal.  Another friend of mine told me of an antique table lamp found by her friend that has a little cottage at the base with a separate built-in nightlight and is being used in a nursery.  I wonder, do you own or remember any unique lamps/nightlights...or know of any other places to go for unique and cute ones like White Rabbit?

Mama Exposed, 4

I got disgustingly tired of the lack of organization which once was my hall closet - especially the mountain of shoes that congregated in the bottom.  So eventually I bought a 4-drawer plastic storage container.  It has two large drawers on the bottom and two shallow drawers at the top.  Each of my girls is designated one of the large bottom drawers to contain their shoes.  This has been tremendously helpful! It makes it so much easier for them to locate their shoes and to put them away.  And, they are stored near the front door which is very convenient.  The very top shallow drawer holds sun hats and sunglasses and things like that. But the second shallow drawer holds all the kids' socks.  And here is where this solution either turns brilliant or totally breaks down.  Storing the socks right next to the shoes and right near where shoes are put on and taken off is perhaps one of the smartest organizational things I've done.  However, I just have the girls put the socks back in the drawer after they've worn them.  Yup - that's right.  Not into the laundry, but back in the drawer to be re-worn probably several times (unless they are truly noticeably grungy or really sweaty).  Then, every so often when I realize that the socks are looking a bit dingy, I just empty the drawer into the washer and wash them all at the same time.  Thus, I do not have to chase after stray socks or dig them out of the larger laundry, they do not wind up on the floor or lost.  So, my kids may not be wearing the cleanest socks around town all the time, but it definitely does buy me a little more sanity. 

hip wall graphics

I love the idea of graphics for the walls and I've looked at several sites and companies that offer a range of ideas and products.  There has been a lot I liked, and a lot I didn't.  I loved some of the things (pictured here) that I saw at WallCandyArts.com.  I especially adore this chalkboard - I totally want it and can think of a ton of places I could put it!  If we ever have another baby, maybe I'll consider some graphics for the nursery.

grocery shopping

I've put it off for as long as I can...tomorrow is grocery shopping day.  Everybody has a different system for this, I thought I'd share my own just because.  I am not a stock-the-pantry kind of shopper and I grocery shop once every week.  I plan the week's dinner menu in advance, order my list by department, then take my week's budget in cash to the store.  Our budget has often in the past been very limited, so it has taught me how to shop with a smaller amount of money.  Which means, I don't get suckered into spontaneous buys or buying a lot of junky foods because I simply don't have the money to do that - and what I have is in cash, so I also don't overspend our budget.  We don't have any food that goes bad in our refrigerator, because I only keep a week's worth of food in there and by the end of the week it has all been eaten.  In fact, shopping becomes a must because there simply isn't any food in the house anymore.  Not just that there isn't any food that we don't prefer or feel like...there really is very little food at all.  (Of course I have flour and sugar and oil and stuff like that in the pantry...) This also means that our family eats all the healthy stuff I buy, because the options are limited.  So, by the end of the week you either eat what is there, or you go hungry.  If there is something that I buy in more bulk than we eat in a week (something like rice maybe) then I'll try hard to work it into the menu for the next week.  This system works for me and I like that it isn't wasteful.  I also like that I can go more with my moods.  I often check the weather before planning my menu because I know if it will be 80 degrees I'll feel more like something fresh and light than a hearty cold-weather meal. 

in-the-bed storage

I recently saw this blanket from funkymoose - it has pockets on the side! I immediately got this - and I'm sure you will too if you have the kind of child that must have a ton of stuffed animals, books, or other items accompany them to bed. Aside from the fact that these items inevitably end up all over the floor, under the bed, twisted in the covers, shoved between the wall and the mattress, or slept right on top of....I thought this would be a great incentive to limit the amount of items that could be brought into bed...three pockets? three items! And what kid doesn't like to hide things in pockets and pull them out over and over again?  For a child who is slightly older, this would be a great idea for hiding a book and a flashlight or a journal.  It makes me want to go and sew fun little pockets all over my girls' blankets!

non-toxic interior paint

Finally, after 3 years of living in this home, there is color on the wall! We started our project to paint the entire downstairs today, knocked out one room, and are so pleased with the results.  The kids enjoyed helping us too. For my living space, it's got to be airy and natural colors - so our palette is a sandy neutral brown, a very light natural green, and a pale yellow. In my planning, I discovered that Home Depot just launched Freshaire Choice - a zero-VOC paint (truly non-toxic).  The great thing about this paint is that even the tints are VOC-free.  If you buy an all-natural paint, the VOC's are just added back in when the color is mixed - so this line is really great.
Another thing to keep in mind when you are painting is the finish.  Flat looks nice but doesn't clean well, semi-gloss doesn't always appear as nicely on the wall...so we decided to go with an easy-to-clean but lovely "eggshell" finish.  I'm so grateful that we'll be able to wipe it down better than the flat paint that was previously on our wall!   

household tip #274

I just learned this one from a good friend of mine: borrow the C and D magnets from the alphabet set that is littering your fridge and stick one to your dishwasher to help family members know when the dishes are either clean or dirty. 

Planning with kids

I am an organized person - I feel better when everything is in a designated place, typed, arranged, filed, planned, alphabetized, categorized....you get the picture.  Then came motherhood - and let me say that I've had to let go of a lot of my expectations for remaining organized and neat at all times.  Now, some hybrid form of organized chaos now fills our days.  Nevertheless, I do find that a little bit of effort in planning ahead can go a long way toward maintaining a mother's sanity...and helping her to feel like she is making and employing good decisions for her family instead of simply being pulled along by the massive weight at the other end of the leash.  I'm still trying to figure out how you find the time to plan for things that you already are having trouble finding time to do.....but nonetheless, I do manage to plan some things - like my dinner menu for each week, though planning other things that I'd like to like a regular routine for my housework, I cannot seem to pull off.  Anyway, I found this site - Planning with Kids, and I think it's great.  So whether you are a Type A personality who is just constantly looking for more ideas and better ways to plan or whether you are looking for some help to just survive another day of this adventure with kids - or if you are just looking for ways to make family life more simple and fun..it might be worth checking it out. 

Home Ec 101

Here is a great site that I like called Home Ec 101 - lots of great answers to all kinds of home questions, tips, chore lists, everything you wish your mama (or your home ec teacher) had taught you. 

odeedoh

Love this site - odeedoh from apartmenttherapy.com.  Especially great if you live in a smaller space (I know Reston and the neighboring areas are spilling over with townhomes, condos, and apartments.  One great feature is that you can tour real nurseries - and they are really beautiful.  A great place to gather some ideas and just to have fun.  Check out the other branches too...kitchen, technology, and going green - all with great tours and tons more!

stuffed animal storage

I've been wishing for a long time for a suitable storage solution for the stuffed animals that seem to just keep adding up around here.  We have a couple of tall collapsible mesh bins that work pretty well - especially since they are semi-transparent so we can still see what is in there to play with.  I generally don't like this solution because it is bulky (like the stuffed animals themselves) and doesn't encourage playing with the toys that are contained there.  I also don't like those toy hammocks that you can hang in a corner of a room and fill with stuffed animals for the same reasons and the fact that I just don't like how they look.  A long while ago, I posted on this as a really fun and interesting alternative storage solution - but it has some of the same faults.  But.....hooray!....this I like!  A stuffed animal organizer tree, for just over $30 at organize.com. I really, really want this.  There is also this chain option.  And I must say, I love organize.com - it's a great and helpful site and like The Container Store, holds very strong attractions for my inner type-A organizational neediness.

I'm hung up on P'kolino!

Continuing my obsession this week with really cute toys and items for the kids, I have to include this. Love it! It would make such a great item in our play room to hang dress-up clothes on, or brilliant in the winter for all those hats,scarves, coats, snow gear and things that seem to be floating around the house, or just every day in the bedroom for miscellaneous apparel. Any little boys out there with growing ball cap collections? Totally cute! Clothes tree from P'kolino.

Why I don't like toy boxes

I agree that toy boxes seem like a really great idea, because we know the accumulation of toys which begin to take over the homes of small children and the inevitable lack of storage solution.  But I'm a big proponent of staying away from the toy box idea and aiming towards anchored shelving, drawers, cabinets, and smaller bins. Here's why:

• toyboxes can be unsafe - if it is large enough for a child to climb into, it requires some kind of holes or ventilation for breathing and a lid which is light enough for a child to push open or remove from the inside. Small fingers can also get injured in hinges. Ideally, the lid should fully lift off but if hinged, made of a very lightweight material that won't injure fingers or necks or heads should it come down upon them.  The safest idea is to purchase a box that is specifically designed for this purpose instead of substituting another piece of furniture which may suit your decor better.
• toyboxes don't promote play - because the toys are piled on top of each other and jumbled together, they are frequently difficult to access and often just get left in the box and not really played with.  Toys can become broken, separated, hidden and forgotten.  Finding and playing with toys can become frustrating and not enticing to the child.
• toyboxes don't promote care and responsibility - while it is easy for parents and kids alike to clean the room by tossing everything into a toybox, it might actually thwart your attempts to teach organization.  Kids learn to toss toys around which may then get broken - both in the pulling out and the putting away process.  Kids may miss out on learning to group and sort, assign organized placement, and be respectful to their belongings.  They may also learn to "hide" messes instead of cleaning up as they go along.
• toyboxes gather more than just toys - toyboxes need to be cleaned out as crumbs, dirt, dust, bugs, and more can get trapped in and sifted down to the bottom.  Often times other items from around the house get mixed in with the toys if the box is in or near a common area. 

theme rooms for kids and more....

Love this site....especially for the artwork and also the storybook rooms.  If you've been meaning to pull together a cute room around a theme, then go browse in nursery, boys, and girls sections for the storybook rooms.  You'll find fully furnished, decorated, thematic designs all pulled together in a detailed illustration followed by the individual items within the room for purchase.   Even if you don't want to spend the dough to recreate the rooms you see there, it might be just the inspiration you need to personally create a fun space for your favorite kids. 

I heart Eureka!

I was so excited today when a gift from my hubby showed up in the mail - you'll never guess what it was!
A Eureka "The Boss" smartvac vacuum! Wahoooo!  You really can't understand my excitement until you know the following:

1. I LOVE to vacuum - I do it everyday just to see those neat little lines on my carpet (and because it is relaxing and there are immediate results - but mostly because I like those lines, weird I know.)
2. I HATE the vacuum I was currently using - well, hate is a strong word, but for the cheap vac it was it worked great, until it got old and overused and pooped out on me.  So I've spent several weeks sadly trying to vacuum over little strings and cheerios, back and forth a billion times until I finally bent down and picked them up (I was so resistant to admit my friendly little vac was slowly dying a tragic death)

But my amazing husband did all the research himself and ordered me this amazing vacuum! It is the only vacuum which has a sealed HEPA filter system.  It also has the Good Housekeeping warranty, won Consumer Digest's Best Buy award, and is advertised to outclean Dyson by 60% (at half the price, no less). Plus it has a really long cord, so I can vacuum my entire downstairs without switching outlets.  Anyway, all I have to say is it really, really works great and for that reason I am really, really happy with my new vacuum. 

smart shopper

Have you seen this gizmo?  The Smart Shopper - is an electronic device that helps you make your grocery list.  It works by voice recognition technology...so all you do is press the button and record what you need.  When you're finished making your list, hit print and it will print a list categorized by grocery department, ie: "produce" or "frozen foods."  You can keep in the kitchen and add items whenever you like, then print just before you head to the store.  Of course, you could just do like I do and just keep a handwritten list...I organize mine by department too before I leave to save me from running back and forth across the store and keep me on budget.  I'm not sure this has anything on my old-fashioned methods...but gadgets are cool, so why not let it do the work for me? But watch out - soon your spouse and kids might be making their own "additions" to the list without you even knowing.  Hope can't write yet, but I'm sure she'd soon learn to press the button to remind me for "popcorn" or "marshmallows" !

What to expect guide to a healthy home

From the best selling author of "What to Expect When You're Expecting" comes a new guide: "What to Expect Guide to a Healthy Home."  You can go here to order a free copy while supplies last, or you can download it for free as well. 

resolutions

While I can't say I made any specific resolutions this year, there are many things I'd certainly like to do better.  I read this article from iVillage - ten simple mom-alutions and how to keep them, and thought - gee, I'd like to do them all! My biggest momalution is just to be less distracted by things that just don't really matter.....what's yours?

Children's murals

I always thought I'd love doing murals for children's rooms.  If we owned our home and I could paint the walls, I'd love to do murals for my girls.  At one time several years ago, I did a full wall Noah's Ark theme for a children's room at a church (there's a few pics below, unfortunately the wall was so large we never got any of the entire mural).  Right now I have a few small watercolor paintings done on the walls in my kitchen.  I think if I were allowed, I'd be painting stuff all over the walls - it's just too much fun!  Here is a woman who does a really good job with murals - you can check out what she's done in some kids rooms.  What better way to personalize your child's room and make it special than with a life-size painting of something they like - whether you hire someone or have a talented friend! Or, if you're brave enough, why not give it a shot yourself or let the kids help! It doesn't have to anything complicated, of course!
   

Knee-deep in your child's artwork?

While there are so many creative ideas for tackling that great sentimental chore of storing/preserving/cherishing your child's artwork....eventually the overwhelming evidence points directly to the fact that you just can't keep it all.  Here's a few ways, though, that I liked to help hold on to those priceless moments and special talents:

• Totally Out of Hand - preserving your child's artwork forever in sterling silver. LOVE THIS! so cute, and would make great family gifts too!
• Little DaVinci Art Cabinet - store and display your child's art in an instant (amazingly can store up to 100 pieces of art!)
• Creations by You! - professionally produced keepsakes. Turn that artwork into a museum poster, or have it printed on real canvas and put into a wooden frame.  There are also customized kids clocks, watches, mugs, plates, etc....
• Mandy's Moon - gifts featuring your child's art (I especially liked the coasters and key hanger)
• My Little Rembrandt - create custom t-shirts, sweatshirts, aprons, note cards, party invitations, and more! (I love the idea of sending out party invitations or Christmas cards featuring your child's art!)

The death of perfectionism

I was born the kind of person who was obsessively neat. My mother would come into my room while I was away at school to dust and I, returning to find a knick-knack replaced and turned a fraction of an inch to the left or the right, would quietly and proudly readjust it to it's perfect designation. I was unable to sleep or study if my room was not clean and ordered, and even now I have a passionate fondness for those little lines which prove that the carpet was just vacuumed. This continued until college when I was made to room with two utterly challenging, but friendly, gals - one who was the queen of clutter and the other who was less than clean with her environment.  That was the day my perfectionism began to die.

My children ought to be grateful for the succession of roomates who over the years softened my compulsion to clean and my obsessive neatness - and I will be grateful for the lessons my children have taught me about the really important ways to spend your time and energy, for patience and laughter in the midst of a messy house. 

I am thinking about this now, because maintaining a house with one child was not perfect but quite manageable and now that I have two... well let's just say that the dirt has been shoveled on top of Mrs. Perfectionist's coffin. May she rest in peace while the rest of us go on playing and living and getting on with it despite the piles of dishes and the bathroom floors that need scrubbing and the cheerios all over the carpet.

Cleaning out the closets

With the change of seasons comes a task that I long to have completed for the sake of organization but inevitably put off for various reasons, including just not wanting to put out the effort.  I'm talking about cleaning out the closets - putting away the summer things and pulling out the cold weather digs.  I can't really complain though, because due to the generosity of a friend and the ability to pass clothes down from one kid to the other, I can skip the shopping and just pull out the giant storage crates from the basement. And since my best friend has a daughter a year behind Maddie, I can box up everything she's outgrown and pass it along where it is useful and not just taking up room somewhere in my house. 

So, the major process is taking the time to do that, then to figure out what fits the girls and will be useful over say the next six months, organize it into the closet they share using a system that four people can readily make sense of, and put Hope's clothes from this past season into storage for Maddie in the future.  All this while completing all of their laundry to make sure I haven't missed anything. It's got to be done, and I don't look forward to the process - but I do look forwarded to task completion.

Luckily, my best friend's daughter has a birthday this month and since we'll be traveling to the party, I intend to bring a couple of boxes of Maddie's stuff to pass along... thereby I have impetus to get the job done. So here goes! Cheer me on as I tackle this seasonal chore...I've definitely got my sights set on finishing now so that I can enjoy all the great fall weather when it arrives instead of sitting on a pile of clothes staring into the closet. 

With the change of seasons comes a task that I long to have completed for the sake of organization but inevitably put off for various reasons, including just not wanting to put out the effort.  I'm talking about cleaning out the closets - putting away the summer things and pulling out the cold weather digs.  I can't really complain though, because due to the generosity of a friend and the ability to pass clothes down from one kid to the other, I can skip the shopping and just pull out the giant storage crates from the basement. And since my best friend has a daughter a year behind Maddie, I can box up everything she's outgrown and pass it along where it is useful and not just taking up room somewhere in my house. 

So, the major process is taking the time to do that, then to figure out what fits the girls and will be useful over say the next six months, organize it into the closet they share using a system that four people can readily make sense of, and put Hope's clothes from this past season into storage for Maddie in the future.  All this while completing all of their laundry to make sure I haven't missed anything. It's got to be done, and I don't look forward to the process - but I do look forwarded to task completion.

Luckily, my best friend's daughter has a birthday this month and since we'll be traveling to the party, I intend to bring a couple of boxes of Maddie's stuff to pass along... thereby I have impetus to get the job done. So here goes! Cheer me on as I tackle this seasonal chore...I've definitely got my sights set on finishing now so that I can enjoy all the great fall weather when it arrives instead of sitting on a pile of clothes staring into the closet. 

Snack shack - now open for responsible toddlers

I've always made it a rule in my house that food should never become an issue. I fed my babies not as much on a highly regulated schedule as learning how to identify when they were indeed hungry and letting that dictate their eating. I don't get uptight about meal schedules. I do provide healthy meals at regular times during the day, and though we are not members of the "clean plate club," I do expect my kids to try what is provided.

There is no food after dinner (if Hope chooses not to eat what is prepared for dinner, she is simply left to a healthy appetite for breakfast the next morning) but if she becomes hungry at other times, I do allow her healthy snacks. When my friend Emily recently mentioned something she was implementing in her own household, I thought it was a great idea and decided to do likewise. Hope now has a special drawer in our refridgerator that is all hers.

I've stocked it currently with healthy items including a few individual portions of carrots, cherry tomatoes, and ranch dip cups, yogurt, raisins, apples, blueberries, cheese, two juice boxes, and a cup for water.

Whenever she needs something to eat, she is now able and responsible to go choose whatever she likes from her own special drawer and eat it in the kitchen. Actually, she was very excited about this. And it works well to give her a sense of responsibility and choice, while freeing me up from being interrupted at inopportune times. Plus, while I was preparing things for her, I made sure to prepare a couple of things for myself to ensure that my own snacking habits are filled healthily and with the ease I appreciate. 

Posted by Tricia Morgan in

I've always made it a rule in my house that food should never become an issue. I fed my babies not as much on a highly regulated schedule as learning how to identify when they were indeed hungry and letting that dictate their eating. I don't get uptight about meal schedules. I do provide healthy meals at regular times during the day, and though we are not members of the "clean plate club," I do expect my kids to try what is provided.

There is no food after dinner (if Hope chooses not to eat what is prepared for dinner, she is simply left to a healthy appetite for breakfast the next morning) but if she becomes hungry at other times, I do allow her healthy snacks. When my friend Emily recently mentioned something she was implementing in her own household, I thought it was a great idea and decided to do likewise. Hope now has a special drawer in our refridgerator that is all hers.

I've stocked it currently with healthy items including a few individual portions of carrots, cherry tomatoes, and ranch dip cups, yogurt, raisins, apples, blueberries, cheese, two juice boxes, and a cup for water.

Whenever she needs something to eat, she is now able and responsible to go choose whatever she likes from her own special drawer and eat it in the kitchen. Actually, she was very excited about this. And it works well to give her a sense of responsibility and choice, while freeing me up from being interrupted at inopportune times. Plus, while I was preparing things for her, I made sure to prepare a couple of things for myself to ensure that my own snacking habits are filled healthily and with the ease I appreciate.