Church Halloween Party

I didn't take any photos myself, but these came from a friend...sorry Isaac, none of you (or me for that matter--but I wasn't in much of a costume). I'll get some of Isaac on Halloween.

(Brent's peace sign is dangerously close to an obscene gesture!)

 "Three Amigos" Sumo Wrestlers - Ethan, Tyler & Cole

Julia (cat), Morgan, Taylor & Maddie - Ninja Babies (obviously, right?). 

Pumpkin Carving 2013

Somehow the entire summer slipped by without a single blog post. Instagram has taken over. I need to go through my phone and back date a few posts. Tonight was pumpkin carving night and that is always a night worth documenting around here. We found some great inspiration photos a few weeks ago so we were excited get carving. I'm hoping they don't rot before Thursday! Ethan's was the baby-eater, Isaac's was the baby-pumpkin eater, mine was the toothy grin, and Brent's was the scary sharp-tooth guy. ...and Morgan's? Morgan had homework to do and couldn't break away to join in (this high school thing is a lot busier than Middle School). Maybe tomorrow we'll update with one from her.

Finally Feels like Summer is Coming

Ethan's soccer team had a tournament in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. After shivering at games last weekend, we lucked out with a beautiful 70+ degree day. We took advantage and celebrated my 41st with Potbelly Sandwiches for dinner at the lake after the games. Perfect night! I love the beach! 

Sand people, sand stunts, and skipping rocks

May 2013 - growing up way to fast!

July 2009 - One of my favorite photos of 2009 :-)

Happy Mother's Day to Me

Brent had to jet off to Europe on Saturday night for work, but never fear the boys took over with breakfast in bed. This was their first ever attempt at pancakes (from scratch no less). They made me a beautiful perfect pancake. It tasted great too (even despite the lack of butter or syrup :-). Brent did a good job of letting his friends know I'd be home alone. I think maybe he offered to pay them or something because three different nice friends invited the kids and I over for dinner. We ended up at our friends, the Walker's, home (thanks Melissa, Paul & Uncle Troy). I'm a lucky mom. So grateful for my job with this great crew.

The Magic of a Mudroom!

Before Photo--photo taken during our home inspection :-)

I say magic, because yes, it really is that (in my mind anyway). Our last home had no place for coats and shoes and bags. Everything ended up in a heap at the backdoor that we then tried to contain by dumping in a huge basket. It was a constant battle--and tripping hazard. The new house didn't have a mud room either. Right inside the garage door was a very small cramped laundry room--or laundry hall. Not really even a room in my mind. When we bought the house we wanted to figure out how to incorporate a mud room into the laundry hall. We wrestled with many ideas and designs but nothing felt quite right. Finally my brilliant mom hit upon the idea of moving the laundry room upstairs. We had space with a wide hall, linen closet and large walk-in closet on the other side. It sounded expensive and messy at first, but over time the idea really just made sense. With the laundry room conveniently re-located upstairs (where the laundry is anyway--so much more convenient!), we had a fantastic space for a nice mudroom.

This room really is magic because it keeps all the clutter magically contained in one space. Each kid has their own dumping station. And it's easy to ask them each to clean up their own locker space when it's chore time. Yes, shoes and coats still overflow at times, but it's contained and that makes me very happy.

We started by drawing out our own plans with helpful advice from That's My Letter and Ana White. Ours looked like this.

We purchased sheets of plywood from the hardware store and had them cut them down into strips at the store. We used one sheet of oak for the bench top and a second sheet of birch for the painted pieces (we painted the remaining oak and used it too in less conspicuous areas). The two top sections are built like any cube type shelf and stacked on top of one another. The lower two sections are the same thing without bottoms. The back wall was covered in bead board before we started building the cubbies, the cubbies are backless and the beadboard shows through. It took a weekend to put it all together. A lot of bang for a weekend project!

The baskets are Smith and Hawkin from Target ($25 each). I made the mistake of taking Brent with me to purchase the baskets. After building the cubbies for about $200 he couldn't believe we were going to spend $200 on baskets. When I suggested we could build and paint wooden bins instead (like That's My Letter used), he quickly agreed that $200 in finished and ready to use baskets sounded great.

We knew we wanted some type of wash station in the mud room. But, were concerned that a typical laundry washtub would block off our small closet used to store mops and brooms and extra toilet paper. After much deliberation we decided to make the closet into a little shower station. It's been fantastic! We don't have a dog, but we do have little boys who often find themselves with muddy feet. They walk  (acutally, I usually make them crawl so they don't leave footprints :-) straight to the shower and rinse off. It was also wonderful during the winter to hang all the wet snowpants to drip dry--and the boots conveniently drained off on the floor. The shower seemed a little unconventional, but we love it. We don't have a dog, but I imagine we'd love it even more if we did. (I didn't take a photo, but the closet goes back about 2 feet to the right--where brooms and mops still hang on the wall and high shelves still hold storage items)

I settled on slate for the floor. I was never a big fan of slate, but I once heard Candice Olsen on HGTV say that slate was the perfect mud room floor. I hemmed and hawed and looked for other options because I didn't think I'd like it. Finally I decided to go with Candice's recommendation (because let's be honest when does Candice ever fail to deliver?). I'm so glad I did. The slate is great. It hides everything and never looks dirty. We chose a very (I mean VERY) inexpensive variety from Lowes. It was a bit of a pain to instal (crumbled easily when cutting), but once installed, grouted, and sealed it's been great. I'd use slate again in a heartbeat. I read some reviews about slate flaking and being a pain to maintain, I'm happy to say I haven't had that problem (it's been almost a year). But, I did grout and seal it very thoroughly, so I think that has helped. 

The chevron stripe indoor/outdoor rug runner is from Ballard Designs, $49. The door paint is Martha Stewart, Gray Squirrel (mixed in Sherwin Williams ProClassic). The wall paint I can't remember--I think it was the lighter grey on the Martha Stewart Gray Squirrel paint chip from Home Depot, it is very similar to HGTV Collonade Gray from Sherwin Williams. The trim is Swiss Coffee in Sherwin Williams ProClassic.

Pantry Perfection!

It's high time I document some of the projects we've done around the house in the last year and a half. First off, the pantry. I was inspired by the pantry at House of Smith's blog. While most projects around here are my brainchild (um, well, with inspiration from Pinterest) and Brent's brawn, this one was actually executed by me entirely (Brent was busy using his brawn to instal hardwood floors at the time). I started off with wallpaper from Lowes. I love the taupe/champagne colors and the arabesque pattern. Although you can't see the wallpaper very well in the photos, it adds a great element and also protects the walls from scuff marks. 

I bought the wood at a local hardware store. I bought a plywood sheet and had the hardware store cut down into 12" deep strips. I laid out the boards and painted them before cutting down to size and installing. I placed my shelves about 12" apart. The spacing is good--works for everything I have.

After the shelves were installed Brent routed around the front edge that wraps around in a u-shape. Master carpenters might be aghast that we routed the edge of plywood and painted it. Yes, an extra trim piece would have been more professional, or paintable iron-on edging would have worked too. But, truthfully I think the routed edge looks just great.

The door--I love the door! I bought the door, hinges, and crystal knob from an architectural salvage shop located in Rockland, IL for $65 (plus gas to drive out there--about 1-1/2 hours from me). I found the shop on craigslist.com. The shop is huge and has lots of great salvage stuff at much better prices than I saw in the Chicago salvage shops, they'll ship too - Frank 815-964-3785. I purchased the door before we finalized the dimensions of the pantry (we gutted the whole kitchen, so we had the luxury of determining the size of the pantry opening). I knew I wanted a narrow opening so I could have more wrap around shelf space. I also knew I wanted a door with a glass window. Frank sent me photos of the choices he had that met my requirements and low and behold we found one that worked perfectly (he had hundreds to choose from, two of which met my requirements). We finished the pantry opening to meet the dimensions of the door. I refinished the door myself and had frosted tempered glass installed from a glass shop in town for $65. 

I'm happy I went with a narrow door (23-1/2" wide) because a wider door opening would have elminated the wrap around shelving. The wrap around shelving literally doubles my storage space. What would have been a standard smallish pantry, actually has a lot of space because of the wrap around.

The glass jars came from Walmart (about $12 each for the glass lid variety, less for the metal lid variety), the chalkboard stickers and tags were a one-time deal from GroopDealz, but there are a lot of choices on Etsy (I'm also told there might be a Martha Stewart brand at Michaels--but I didn't see them online). The can racks on the lowest shelf are CanRack brand from Amazon ($20 each, I used 3). The baskets and bins were repurposed from other projects around the house.

So there it is! The pantry. Surprisingly it stays fairly well organized and doesn't require a lot of work to keep it looking pretty. Truly one of my favorite rooms in the house.

Kitchen wall color is Restoration Hardware Silver Sage (mixed in Sherwin Williams Superpaint), Cabinet color is Benjamin Moore Linen (with gray detail glaze), floors are Asian Walnut (Acacia), walnut color, from LW Mountain (purchased from Floormart in Lake in the Hills, IL), lights over the bar are from Overstock.com, cabinets are custom made by Heirloom Woodcraft in St Charles, IL, countertops are Bianca Romano from MSI via Newport Designs. 

Morgan's Gymnastics Meet 2-18-2013

UIC Western Invite - 2-18-2013 So proud of Miss Morgan! I love watching her compete.

May the Force Be With You

Ethan's Valentines cards are done! Thanks Pinterest for the clever idea we copied from www.inchmark.squarespace.com. Brent and the kids are Star Wars nuts. So I was a little surprised that Ethan was okay with Luke Skywalker's blue light saber (since every enthusiast knows Luke has a green light saber). But since the pack of Pixie Sticks had no green he was fine with any other color. Phew!

Back when Morgan was 3-1/2 years old she was Cinderella for Halloween. Brent spent Halloween day visiting every costume store in the city of Chicago tracking down long white gloves for his little girl. Morgan was very particular about her costume exactly matching the movie character and without long white gloves Cinderella just wasn't right. Good thing I liked sewing her costumes because she really disliked the costume store varieties that were not exact replicas of the real thing. When she was Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz at 2-1/2 years old she would examine the cover of her VHS video and compare the real Dorothy's costume to her own. She was aghast at how the ready made variety costumes lacked authenticity (really, at 2-1/2--I'm not even kidding). She's a details girl (still is)--every detail must be perfect. Thank goodness she wasn't doing light saber Valentines--she would have had us running around town in search of green Pixie Sticks. Lucky for her she's our only girl (a very sweet and charming only girl) and we are usually happy to oblige her crazy quests.

Stationery card

Wishing You Merry Holiday Card

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View the entire collection of cards.

Kitchen - It's Getting Close

The kitchen is coming along! It's still waiting for a few finishing touches (backsplash tile, pantry door, curtains, bench cushion, and chairs--and in these photos we were still waiting for a few drawer fronts), but all the major stuff is done. I must say that I do love it very much. Our cabinet maker, Tim Pollard from Heirloom Cabinetry in St. Charles, IL was amazing. He does incredible work and is so delightful to work with. Thank you Pinterest and Houzz for all the beautiful photos of beautiful kitchens that we could gleen ideas from. It's so fun to see it all coming together.

 Pay no attention to our yucky old barstools. We've got plans to spruce them up so they look a little better.

 Same goes for my old pine chairs that don't match so well anymore. A little paint project is on the docket for them.

 Still wating for the backsplash tile to be delivered. Here's the sample:

Foyer

The mudroom is the current project we are working on:



Winding Down Summer at Wrigley Field

Brent came home from work with a few Cubs tickets, so off we went tonight for one last ball game for the summer. It was a beautiful summer night at Wrigley Field and great way to spend a Tuesday evening with the family before weeknights become dominated by homework and kids sports. Next Tuesday night will be our first "School Night" of the year. Yuck!

 Ethan, our Sox fan, broke down and bought a Cubs t-shirt after the game was over. It remains to be seen if he'll actually wear it.

The final score was sad--but the Cubs aren't having a great season, so we weren't expecting a win anyway.

I Love to Braid

It's true, I really love to braid hair. Especially when I can do something fun and different. About seven years ago our family was waiting (and waiting) for a Memorial Day parade to start. To pass the time I played with Morgan's hair as she sat on the curb. That day we invented the spiral braid. Since then the spiral braid has made me very popular at girls camps. And I'm happy to oblidge all the girls who'll let me practice on them. Today I'm chaperoning Morgan's team to gymnastics training camp in Kalamazoo, MI. Lucky for me the girls were excited to have matching spiral braids. It took about 90 min to braid all six girls. Well worth it for all the oohs and awwws they got from other girls (and strangers) today.

(Props to Sheree, Rebekah and Rachel, my three little sisters who allowed me to hone my braiding skills on their heads)

Make It or Break It

Today as I cleaned-up heaps of papers scattered around the office I discovered a folder with Morgan's name on it. Inside was a whole year's worth of writing assignments that she never bothered to share with her parents (probably because she knew her mom would embarrass her by gushing and even shedding a little tear). Growing up my my mom always told my siblings and I that the best present we could ever give her was the gift of our writing. I couldn't agree more. This folder was indeed a gift. Here is my favorite (coincidentally well-timed with the Women's Olympic gymnastics competition coming up tonight):

Make It or Break It

By Morgan 4/25/2012 (7th Grade)

I stand and wait as I hear familiar voices

Shouting my name.

I look at the four-inch beam

Wondering ho I have the courage each day

To trust my arms to support the weight of my body,

And trusting my hands to find the beam,

After flying four feet in the air.

I wipe my sweaty palms on my thighs,

Impatiently waiting for the dreaded salute.

I breathe deeply and close my eyes slowly,

Trying to calm myself down.

Quickly, I say a prayer in my head

Asking for confidence and strength.

The judges organize their notes,

Take a deep breath,

Smile at me,

Then one of them raises her hand in the air.

"Morgan?" she calls out.

I shoot her a fake smile

And salute.

I let my mind relax,

And let my body do what it does most:

Gymnastics.

I begin with the mount.

Heart racing,

Palms sweating,

Muscles shaking.

Switch leap to a straddle jump-

Stuck.

Toe turn-

Stuck.

Here comes the flight.

Back-handspring, back-handspring-

Connected, though a slight wobble at the end.

Split jump to a three quarter jump-

Stuck it.

My round-off to layout dismount

Is what stands between success and me.

I take in a whiff of cool air

And begin my run.

I hurdle,

Lay my hands on the beam,

And hope my feet don't slip off.

Clearly, my feet made it on because now I am off the beam

And flying in the air.

I prepare for the squishy landing.

My feet find the ground and stay there.

I stuck it.

I smile to myself,

For I know that I did a great routine.

I lift my chest and give the judges a real smile and salute.

They smile back at me,

And quickly consult with each other to find the right score to describe my routine.

I walk back to my team with a huge grin on my face.

I give my coaches and teammates big hugs

As they tell me how well I did.

I sit down and patiently wait for my score-

Though I don't care because in my mind I already got a 10.0

A Visit from Friends

Our friends Carson and Amber Dickson came to visit last week. We've known them since early in our California days. In fact Brent and Carson worked together at Ernst and Young and Amber and I were job share partners at Palm. They did a 2-yr grad school stint in Hyde Park just after we finished and moved to the burbs. In fact they lived in the apartment right across the hall from the apartment we lived in while there (we wished that timing would have coordinated better and we would have been there at the same time). They've since moved out to the East coast so it was fun to have them in town for a visit. We had fun with all the boys in Chicago (Morgan was at gymnastics camp).

My Builder

One of the most used toys in our house is the Jenga game. We've played it as intended a few times, but more often it's used for building. Last week we were wandering in Chicago and stumbled upon the Target family tent in Millennium Park with many fun stations including a Jenga block-like building corral. Isaac was happy to show off his building skills to an audience of onlookers. As his tower's height increased, so did the interest of onlookers. Finally it got so tall he really couldn't reach the top any longer and it came crashing down. Other kids tried to recreate Isaac's tower but they just didn't have his awesome touch :).

Go Chicago Fire!

Isaac spearheaded the super fan effort. Both boys are hoping for a cameo on the jumbotron. My little soccer fans are clearly excited to be at the game. Well worth the hour drive (even though we just got home last night after two days of driving home from Utah).

It's Easy to Make a Friend

I intended to post months ago, just rediscovered it today. I love how uncomplicated it is to make a friend in first grade.

"It's easy to make a friend. First, you find somoen. Next, you ask the prsin. Last, you play tgather. Making a frand is fun." -by Ethan