Due to coronavirus, Mom and Dad decided to play it safe and sit it out this year. Tim's sister and her family were supposed to come as well and they ended up cancelling. Since we were hosting just Whitney and Tim, Brent and I had a frank discussion about what we really wanted for Thanksgiving dinner, and not just what was tradition. Turns out we all love the side dishes and aren't crazy about the turkey itself! We cancelled one of the 2 turkey orders and focused on the stuffing, mashed potatoes, homemade applesauce and desserts. It was delicious!
We also had a couple of helium tanks with just a little bit left and so Tim obliged by helping us to (ahem) empty them so they could be discarded.
The girls had a lot of fun with that.
Even Brent got in on the action.
I could talk all day about how much the girls adore their Uncle Tim and Aunt Whitney but I think this picture gives you a pretty good idea. We love having them visit and of course Dakota as well.
Honestly, I think Tim and Whitney partially came just so they could jump on the trampoline. I have to laugh seeing Dakota there on the side because she did try it, and immediately crouched down, I'm sure trying to figure out why everyone was on this crazy thing was going through her mind because she would quickly scramble off and then try it again only to crouch down and scramble off again. Tim and Whitney had so much fun and of course the girls loved being bounced by them and playing Crack the Egg.
I decided to try a ginger and eggnog trifle which was pretty good but ended up having a touch too much ginger in it. At least it looked pretty!
Gita's Danish ancestors would be proud to see her eating the leftover rudkal (red cabbage) for breakfast the next day!
Leading up to Thanksgiving, I have to say President Nelson's prayer on our behalf absolutely put me to tears. It's been a hard year and his gentle pleadings were just what I needed to hear. I loved his gratitude challenge and decided to take it up like so many others.
One of the things I'm so grateful for is the lamppost out front. Doug fixed it when he was visiting for Brigitta's baptism. Something that was looking sad and old suddenly sparked to life. Our home is one of the brightest in our neighborhood now and that lamppost makes it look so charming and inviting. I can't wait to see how it will look when the ground is covered in snow!
I hope that when this pandemic is over, we can light up again. In the meantime, I'm so grateful for all we do have!
Around our house, Brent does the lion's share of the grocery shopping and the cooking. It's definitely the part I least like about motherhood and he actually enjoys the challenge of finding the best bargains and isn't as bothered as I am when the kids complain about their meals. It stands to reason then that the kitchen was largely organized in a way that made sense to Brent, not to me. I still cook, and I definitely do most of the baking but I was hitting a breaking point with the way the cupboards looked. Aside from struggling to find basics (where is the baking powder again?), everything just looked cluttered and it was driving me crazy.
We had a meeting of the minds and finally came to an agreement about how to most optimally use the space in the cupboards. We pulled everything out, I used a Magic Eraser sponge to clean and disinfect everything, cut new shelf paper and then Brent helped me rearrange things. The kitchen make so much sense now! I couldn't be happier and so of course I'm going to blog about it. Here we go:
This is a tiny cupboard over the doorway to the dining room (which is currently being used as a playroom). We used to have the odd baking supplies in here and decided to move things we really only use a couple times a year: bread pans, popsicle molds, ramekins, pie dish, cupcake and trifle stands, etc.
Top: Before
Bottom: After
This corner cupboard alone was enough to make me want to tear everything out and start over. Even though it has prime placement in the kitchen, there were a lot of things we hardly ever use taking up space. Mostly china that we bring out just for Christmas. Furthermore, the cooking supplies were shoved to the side and don't even get me started on storing a pitcher sideways! I hated this cupboard but thanks to a couple of lazy susan's, it now functions beautifully. When I purchased them, the saleslady pointed out the middle was just the right size for a roll of paper towels. It occurred to me that they would be perfect for a pitcher as well!
Before: Left After: Right
The cupboard right next to the stove and oven was packed with cooking utensils which seemed to make sense at the time but a couple of shelves were full of things we hardly ever use. Those had already been moved and after a lot of discussion, we decided to move the spices to this cupboard. Previously they were taking up space in a huge cupboard so we moved them here. We do have a lot of spices compared to the average household, but not enough to take up a huge cupboard.
Before: Left After: Right
This cupboard is on the other side of the stove and oven and is right above the toaster and cutting board. This was stuffed with baking supplies, tea and hot chocolate. It just didn't make sense. I think the best decision we made here was to move the bread. It's right next to the toaster and makes life so much easier! This cupboard was just choked and I couldn't find anything in here.
Before: Left After: Right
The last cupboard we tackled was the biggest one- between the stove and the sink. It was pretty much just filled with spices and there was a lot of wasted space on the very top. We decided to move tea and hot chocolate which ended up being the smart move because it's one smooth motion grabbing a mug, filling it with water and then getting the tea/hot chocolate out of here. I love it. As previously mentioned, we moved the spices closer to the stove which also made a lot more sense. When cooking, you really want those things at your fingertips. Aside from all the baking supplies, we also had enough room for the girls water bottles and snacks. Again, this made so much sense because they need to fill them up in the sink and then run out the door. Moving those things here made it a one and done. No more rifling through the pantry.
Before:
After:
Supplies in the kid desk were driving me crazy as well. Every year the school sends their list of supplies and at the end of every year, the girls bring home whatever they haven't used. Then the next year there is a new list and at the end of that year, more leftovers and well, times four girls ends up being a lot of crayons, colored pencils and markers. I pulled out the drawers, bought lots of containers and another lazy Susan to divide everything up and enlisted the girls to help me organize them by color.
I don't think the picture really does it justice- we have so many coloring supplies!
Remote learning just isn't going anywhere so we decided to invest in proper desks for Brigitta and Ireland. I'd had my eye on one that was girly but substantial and when they went on sale, we pulled the trigger.
Good thing too, because just a couple of days later they were back at full price. Eventually we are going to get a matching mirror for Brigitta and then there will be a reflecting image here. I can't wait!
Here's the girls reaction to their new desks!
The mud room closet definitely needed an overhaul and in my organization frenzy I figured, why not? How long could this take? It was an absolute mess and to make it worse, different length shelves were overlapping so it was hard to really have an effective system in there. It was dirty and depressing.
As long as I was painting the inside of the closet, I decided to go ahead and paint the upper portion of the mud room. It seems the previous owners really love this sickly beige color because I've painted over it in numerous places and I was happy to see it go here.
Before:
After: much brighter, and happier!
There was an odd board screwed into the wall on the left side of the closet and when I took it down this is what I found. Good thing I had plenty of putty to fill on all those holes!
Who would do that?
I feel strongly that any closet or cupboard should be pure white. It's the brightest and easiest way to see an item the way it truly is, not colored by the shade of light around it.
Before:
After:
The shelves ended up being quite the project within the project. Brent and I debated quite a while about the shelf depth and length. To have the shelves span the entire closet was actually extremely expensive because we had to get them cut to fit. It was starting to make sense why the previous owners had all those overlapping shelves. Finally we came to an agreement that only the very top shelves needed to fit perfectly, the rest of them could leave a space on the left side where we could hang brooms, mops, etc.
Initially I screwed the shelved into the studs as was done previously. However, there was a section right in the middle where the stud finder would just beep at me and the drill would bounce right back. Whatever is behind that section was going to prevent a traditional installation. I decided to have the shelving hang from a top bar and then screwed in where there were studs. For the section with no studs, the shelving could just hang from the top bar and still support the shelves. It basically meant taking out everything I had installed and that was a little demoralizing. However, I wanted this sucker to last so even though it was a setback, I set to work. The shelves no longer sagged in the middle and finally we were in business!
Well, mostly. Then there was the issue of the baseboards. Again, I don't know exactly what happened, but what was there was very poorly installed. There was a huge amount of kitty litter popping out behind one section and there was another section where it didn't even come close to properly meeting. Before painting, I ripped it all out and threw it away. We'd have to start fresh. My dad generously offered to bring his chop saw and nail gun. In the space of an afternoon he showed me the ins and outs of installing baseboards and with my Mom for moral support, the baseboards inside the closet were looking better than the baseboards in the rest of the mudroom. I caulked and painted those bad boys and we were ready to put everything back.
Well, mostly. I didn't just want to arbitrarily put things back, I wanted a system that would make sense going forward. I envisioned the mud room being like a mini-mart, with all of our household back stock (yes I've binged The Home Edit on Netflix). I dropped a pretty penny at The Container Store (again) and really, really, we were in business. This project had dragged on a couple weeks longer than I thought it would but when we had everything in its place, suddenly it became incredibly functional. It just made sense. Like it should have been this way all along.
Since I had leftover paint from the mud room closet, I figured I might as well use it on the inside of the hall closet- again, I firmly believe the inside of every closet and cupboard should be pure white! Usually my energy is long gone after 5 PM but I blasted some 80's and 90's music through Alexa and knocked this one out. It's a small space, but it made a HUGE difference!
Liesel's door was sticking every time she tried to shut it so I pulled out the sander and we worked together to get that fitting better. I'm a big believer in girls learning to use some power tools!
Finally, in our closet there was a really sad cardboard shoe divider. It was collapsing and dirty and I wanted to just install shelves. I tried to just grab some from Home Depot but they were too short. After some investigation, I found the shelving supplies were sold at Lowes and I was able to order some lovely, white shelves that perfectly fit.
Man, before writing this post I knew I'd been on an organizing bonanza but I guess writing it all down helps me to see that I did A LOT! There were so many spaces in the house that weren't working well and I'm so very glad I put in the time and money because it makes such a difference!
A lot of things didn't quite go down like we thought they would in 2020 and Sydney's birthday was no exception. Luckily, she is little and after a bit of regrouping, we came up with a Plan B. Fortunately, she's young and adaptable and well, she had no idea what our original plans were anyway. We decided to pull the trigger on an American Girl doll. Sydney really wanted the one with pink hair and she was pleased as punch with that.
She couldn't even wait until dinnertime to open it, she wanted to see that doll as soon as she woke up.
Whenever we go to Iowa City, we get a turtle pie because I loved them growing up. Turns out Sydney loves them too because she requested one for her birthday cake.
We waited until Saturday to do her breakfast in bed so she could relax and eat at her leisure. She requested a classic farm breakfast with pancakes, eggs, bacon and sausage. It was Liesel's idea to include the Friend magazine on the breakfast tray- so cute!
While a lot of parents tend to baby the youngest child, we don't let Sydney get away with much. Aside from nixing the baby talk, we also make sure she's just as responsible with her chores and schoolwork. Having said that, I do enjoy the pictures she colors for me and reading with her- something her older sisters have long outgrown. She's fun to tease and snuggle and when things get really tense, she manages to make everyone laugh. Every now and again I'm reminded that she is the youngest and therefore, most bossed around. When she gets a little authority, it definitely goes to her head. But she's pretty sweet-natured and eager to please.
As it was Election Day, and we'd voted early, and the girls had no school, and our floors were getting a polishing, I decided to take the girls downtown to have some fun. I had to take them to the Starbuck's Roastery for some steamers and snacks.
There are only a handful of these in the world and while I'm sure most people are drawn to the specialty coffee selection, I'm just happy with the foam art they make in my hot chocolate.
This is a view from the top floor down. It's just such a cool, hipster kind of place to go and everyone was really kind to the girls.
Since there's currently no indoor dining, we had to take our treats outside to nosh on. We spotted this sign which I thought was pretty cool.
The twelve year old did too.
The Disney store is always so much fun and today it was pretty quiet. All of downtown was- I'm sure a combination of pandemic shut downs, looting and riot aftermath and Election Day.
For some reason, whenever I plan to take the girls on a fun day out, they kind of turn into monsters. They squabble and whine but this time they were really bad. I mean REALLY bad! They were fighting loudly enough for strangers to hear and I was getting more and more livid. I was ready to throw everyone back in the car and go home. The girls promised to turn it around and I decided if I could easily find a parking spot near Millennium Park, we'd do Take 2 on this day. The floors still needed time to dry but man, I was pretty fed up. When I was a kid we didn't do fun stuff like this because of money and logistics constraints. I would have been on my very, very best behavior, I'm sure and I was so mad at the girls for being so ungrateful. As luck would have it, I found an off road that had loads of parking. I took a breath and decided to give this another try.
The last time we went downtown, Millennium Park was barricaded off so we couldn't even walk around. I was so happy to see it was open again! Lots of trees were already completely barren but there were brilliantly fiery trees that were just too perfect a photo op to pass up. We ended up having an impromptu photo shoot.
First some of Liesel's individuals:
Ireland:
I'm not sure why, but I like this profile pic better than the previous full frontal shot.
That streak was just the sun streaming through the trees. It truly was beautiful!
Brigitta:
Of course she would laugh manically at the leaf!
Sydney:
Sydney didn't toss her leaves up very high so they kind of came right back down in a heap right on her head.
Of course I wasn't expecting to take so many pictures and I could just kick myself for not doing something fun with Sydney's hair, but the sun really makes her smooth skin glow so it turned out ok.
In a way that escaped tendril is kind of sweet!
All my girls!
I thought it might look cool if I dropped some leaves as if they were falling right that second. Turns out throwing stuff in a kid's face isn't the best idea for a photo- haha!
We headed over to Pritzker Pavilion where the grass was still green and cool. The girls kicked off their shoes to run and play.
Liesel showed off her scorpion.
She's getting pretty good at that move!
I actually recorded this walkover and cartwheel in slow motion but can't figure out how to keep it that way when it loads to the blog. I've watched this over and over. These girls blow me away with the things they can do!
One side effect of the intense family time during this pandemic is that these two have finally, FINALLY become the good friends I've always hoped they would be.
The only downside...
...is now sometimes they can kind of gang up and mean girl the other two.
Watch what you wish for.
Still, I love the coordinated cartwheels!
Given the rocky start, it ended up being a glorious day. Fall poured forth her golden glory in such a stunning display that we momentarily forgot about this troubled world and drank in the bliss.
For me, this is the money shot. Gita is so happy and free and there's her mask loosely hanging from her fingers. The fall colors of those trees and an unusually empty Bean in the background. This is my favorite photo of the day.
