Laundry Room - Final Version

I have posted about my laundry room before (here and then again here).  But in the great flooring project of 2013, the laundry room was included in the love.  And now I love my laundry room even more than before.

I wish I had a picture of what it looked like when we moved in 4 years ago.  The door didn't even open all of the way because the previous owners had installed large shelves along the one wall that were too big to even be useful.  I literally sawed those out one afternoon when an 18 month-old Jude napped. And now our laundry room is very functional for our family and a pretty place where I spend time every day!

Here's the old floor...

And here's the new tile.  

Also loving my new little rug from Tarjay.

Happy Monday!

Five Favorites

It's Wednesday and I'm linking up with Hallie...

1. New healthy babies!  New nephews to be exact!  2!  Born one day apart!  We are loving getting pictures and videos and ichatting with our new cousins!  I'm actually quite impressed that Ellen knows baby Nate is Aunt Katie's baby and baby Wesley (she pronounces it Wes-A-lee) is Aunt Mary Jo's baby.  We can't wait to meet them soon!

2.  Onto something not nearly as amazing...  A big thanks to whoever posted the 20 minute Peppa Pig video on You Tube...and the 50 minute one, and the hour long one.  (We ditched cable in March...and Peppa went with it.)  The 5 minute clips weren't allowing me to be nearly as productive as the 20+ minute gems are!  It's the little things.  Really.

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3.  Fall clothes!  Call me crazy, but I love going through clothes for the kids (and myself) for each approaching season, making a list of who needs what, and then getting me some dealzzz on what everyone needs.  I scored big time shopping online at Old Navy.  Extra 15% off and free shipping?? Yes, please!  Everyone looked very spiffy in their new Sunday best at Mass this weekend!

4.  Pumpkin everything!  Ellen and I made pumpkin bread yesterday afternoon while Michael took a 2 hour nap (there's a favorite inside a favorite!) and an entire loaf was almost devoured after dinner.  Tis the season.  (This recipe is our fav.)

    

5.  This quote from St. Bernard that I recently came upon:

"In dangers, in doubts, in difficulties, think of Mary, call upon Mary."

Happy Wednesday!

Phone Photo Dump

I'm cleaning and caulking and dusting and reorganizing our entire first floor....but here's what else is going down...

School is in full swing and my kindergartener leaves his beloved magnetic belt carefully laid out on his dresser every afternoon.  Instilling good habits here.  One magnetic belt at a time!

Someone took the scenic route in phonics...

This is one of our favorite Mad Libs to date.  Enjoy a laugh on us!

(Some spelling errors here with speed typing...)

Enjoying the swing outside - such a big boy!  And big sister helper! 

Two top teeth are f-i-n-a-l-l-y in!  Although those suckers have messed up our former quiet nights big time!  Boo!

Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow....

Our new floors will start going in tomorrow!!  

Love the carefreeness of subfloor (bonus: crumbs hide well on subfloor), but ready for some long-awaited for hardwoods!  

And tile!  

And not having my house in disarray!  

And finding tomatoes on my dresser!  

And storing my sewing machine on my bedroom floor!
And using my bedroom as a coat closet!  

And climbing over boxes of hardwood!  

(Although they do make good barricades for a mobile 6 month old...)  

And finding dust drawings everywhere...although I think there are going to be many, many more of those before things are done!  

6 Months Old

Michael officially reached the 6 month mark...I can't believe he's half-way to being 1 year-old!  

celebrating Ellen's birthday

Moves: Rolls, scoots, arches back, kicks, wiggles.

Latest Accomplishment: 3 new teeth!  He cut his bottom 2 and is p-a-i-n-f-u-l-l-y working on his top 2 teeth.  And has already figured out how to grind those itty bitty teeth together.  

Sleeps: Still likes to nap 3 times a day.  

Diet: Wasn't too sure about cereal the few times he has tried it.  

Hangs out: In the exersaucer or any place he has a good view of the action.  (He liked watching football this weekend!)

Favorite Toys: Starting to broaden his horizon and reach for "big kid" toys.  Likes to "play" Transformers with Jude.  Also was found with R2D2 this weekend.

Talks: Babbles a lot!  Says "Da-da."

Disposition: Still very pleasant although his teeth can quickly turn his mood.

Happy Birthday Boo-boo!

*disclaimer - Ellen was nicknamed Boo-boo long before the Honey Boo-boo epidemic.

With her hair straightened ("long and gorgeous") the other day.

Our dear Ellen Anastasia is turning 3 years-old today!  Her self-esteem knows no end...she loves her "curly yellow hair" and wearing "beautiful dresses."  Every morning she likes to stand on the bathroom step stool and watch her hair be brushed and done into a ponytail, a bun, or braids like Rapunzel.  She loves painting her nails, choosing her shoes, and adding in a bag as an accessory.  She likes to play Barbies, but can also entertain herself with a pair of anything...receipts or charging cords are favorites...with one as the "mother" and one as the "girl."  She is a huge Peppa Pig fan, and loves Dora and Minnie Mouse, too.

We love you, Boo-boo!  Happy Birthday!!!  

Five Favorites

Happy Wednesday!  Linking up with Hallie today for five of my favorites right now...

1.  Sherwin Williams cashmere paint.  This paint spreads like butter and covers very well.  And it has a great washable finish to it.  We helped ourselves to a gallon for some painting over the weekend and, bonus, Sherwin Williams was having a Labor Day sale!

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2. Garnier Skin Renew Dark Spot Corrector Kit.  I have my share of dark spots on my face from the sun and acne scars and pregnancy and everything else and have been using the dark spot corrector and peel and am noticing the dark spots fade and a more even skin tone on my face.

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3.  College friends.  One of my housemates from college stopped by with her family over the weekend while they were in our neck of the woods and it was so nice to see them and catch up!  Of course I took zero pictures of our 7 kids playing nicely together.  Thanks for making the trip, Theresa!  

4.  Mad Libs.  My kids have been L-O-V-I-N-G the Mad Libs app and obviously think some of the stories that come out of it are H-I-L-A-R-I-O-U-S!  The "headless bathtub" is topping the list as most comical.  And I'm thinking Jude is one of the few kindergarteners that knows what an adjective is, even though we have to remind him every time!  

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5.  My crock pot.  School is in full swing and it's so nice when dinner is 99% ready at 5 o'clock!  

Apple Cinnamon Slow Cooker Steel-Cut Oatmeal

School mornings can get a bit hectic here.  And in doing a lot for everyone else in the morning, I'm usually the last one to eat breakfast.  A friend shared this recipe and I made it earlier this week.  It was nice to have my own breakfast "done" and ready to enjoy.  I started my crock pot at 11 PM and when I woke up with Michael at 4 AM (to the smell of baking cinnamon) I turned it off.  Mostly because my crock pot cooks very fast.  The next time I make this I might do it during the day when I don't have to worry about it overcooking/burning and then just store it in the fridge for the week.

Apple Cinnamon Slow Cooker Steel-Cut Oatmeal  (Recipe found here.)

2 apples, peeled and cored, cut into 1/2 pieces

1 1/2 cups milk

1 1/2 cups water

1 cup uncooked steel cut oats    

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1tablespoon ground flax seed

1/4 teaspoon salt

Coat inside of slow cooker with cooking spray.  Add ingredients and mix together.  Cook on low for 7 hours (this time varies).  Can be stored in fridge, just mix 1 cup of oatmeal with 1/3 cup of milk and heat in microwave.

{Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real}

Linking with Like Mother Like Daughter with some pictures today...

{Pretty}

My MOPS group started up for the school year and since I didn't enroll Ellen in any preschool this year, MOPS is as close to "school" as she is getting this year.  She has been very eager to go "to my MOPS s-kool." She carefully chose her outfit and hairstyle for the big day, then asked me to "text my picture to Daddy because I'm beautiful."  

 {Happy}

This boy turns 6 months next week, just cut his two bottom teeth, and I just noticed his two front teeth ready to make an appearance!  And he's still all smiles even when teething!

We are in the process of getting new floors and some people have realllllllly enjoyed my carefreeness toward our current flooring.

{Funny}

Ellen is not a fan of loud anything...so carpet tack removal the other day was "a little noisy" for her.  (And I like the father-son demo team in the background here.)  

{Real}

New floors = so.much.chaos.  I can do this!  

Week in Review - Quick Takes Style

Linking up with Jen!

1. 

Our drama last week was that Jude chipped a tooth.  He and Ryan were rough-housing a bit and when Ryan walked away, Jude lunged at his calf and somehow chipped his bottom tooth.  (We are very-odd-accident-prone people.)  It chipped to the nerve and Jude kept telling me it felt "weird."  I took him to the dentist last Monday and then Tuesday night woke up and told me his tooth had chipped again.  (Most likely the result of teeth-grinding...)  So we went back for round 2 after the first day of school on Wednesday and things have remained in place since then.  And Jude is very proud of his "new tooth."  

2. 

Speaking of teeth...Michael cut his first 2 teeth!  I had a feeling something was going on when he was up once at night as opposed to his usual full night of sleep, and when I peeked in his mouth he had one tooth cut and the other one wasn't far behind.  Such a big boy!

3.  

This book = funny book.  

And sadly probably the only book with more words than pictures that I've read this year...  

4.

Clare has been writing newspapers for Ryan to update him on the events of the day.  One particular day (before school started) Ellen was a bit whiney.  She made the paper that day with this headline:

It was fair and balanced reporting! 

5.  

I took said "Miss Fussy" to her own Story Hour at the library this week.  She loved it and it was nice to enjoy a one-on-one activity with her.  

6.  

We are under a bit of construction on the home front.  We are working on closing up the wall between two rooms on our first floor and the funny thing is that it has actually made those rooms seem bigger. Now I'm working on paint colors...the only fun part of painting!

7. 

We survived our first f-u-l-l week of school and I feel like I earned Friday's hot lunch "Pizza Day" right along with the kids...it certainly is nice to get a break from packing lunches even though they still need water bottles and snacks today!  Happy weekend!

The Things He Says Bonus Edition...

At the grade school open house when he saw the computer lab for the first time:

"Hey, it's like an army of computers!" 

Thoughts on the flies that came in the house one night when people were in and out and in and out and in and out and...

"Don't put the dead flies in the recycling or they'll turn alive again!"

And Clare's thoughts on what was in the Roku box (the size of a baby shoe box) we recently got:

"It might be a puppy in there!"  

Speaking of Clare, she has become quite the reader and writer!  Here's a journal entry I love that she wrote on her own a few days before school started...  

I love that she "wrote this by heart!"  

Baked French Toast

No one eats the ends/heels/butts from a loaf of bread around here.  And that's actually fine by me.  (I don't like them, either.)  I stash them away in the freezer and make this French toast when I have about 6 loaves worth of crusts, about 12 pieces of bread total.  (Can you tell my grandparents lived in the Depression?)  I made it as a "special" breakfast for the first day of school last week.  

(I made this in an 8 x 10 pan and it made 12 pieces.  I also made it the night before.)

Ingredients:

12 end pieces from loave(s) of bread (or just use 12 pieces of bread)

6 eggs

1 1/2 cups of milk

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Grease baking dish.  Tear bread into dish.  Mix remaining ingredients and pour over bread, soaking it.  Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.  Serve with syrup if you wish.  

My kids gobbled this up and headed out the door with full bellies!       

1st Day!

Clare - 2nd grade

Jude - kindergarten

1 day down!  Many many more lunches to pack in my future! 

New Deck!

To sum up a long story (2+ years in the making), we just replaced the (damaged) floorboards on our deck after sending letter after letter to the supplier to honor a warranty (again, long story).  Anyway, we are glad that is all in the past and so VERY grateful to Ryan's uncle who replaced everything while we were at the beach no less!  He did an amazing job and we are so very thankful for his skilled help!

The floorboards and facade of the deck that we inherited were warped and were badly disintegrating.  We were beginning to feel it was a safety issue and not just a cosmetic one.

Friends generously helped Ryan demo the old floor.  (It always looks worse before it looks better!)

Through the window screen.  Some joists needed replaced as well. 

And then we came from the beach to this!

Mud from our amazing workers!  

We are so very thankful for our friends and family for helping is with this huge project!!  We have fallen in love with our deck all over again!