TGIF: Little Things

Happy Friday--OH Happy Friday!!!!  With the hubs working a regular weekday schedule, I have come to covet our time with him on the weekend.  Some running on the weekends is inevitable for us, but we always try to have at least a little laid back, relaxing time together as a family.  This often involves a movie, or the Hubs & the Big Girl playing video games.  I'm always just sooooo glad when Friday rolls around!

Today one of our good buds stole the Toddler and I away from the house and it was DIVINE!  Some adult conversation intertwined with wandering around Tuesday Mornings & Home Goods.....  I swear I have product induced ADD in these places...  I cannot focus.  So much to look at!  Household goods--sooooo shiny!  

And I grabbed these pretties!

Yeah, that's right!  Rainbow flower dishwashing gloves--EEEEEE!!!!

The rainbow flowers just make me giddy happy!  I've been struggling with the weather change and doing dishes causing my hands to feel so awful and several friends suggested rubber gloves.  I've never used rubber gloves--I knew I wanted some pretty ones but they didn't have the pretty ones at Target so I started with blue Clorox ones.  They felt really short and they discolored quickly.  However, I DID like the grippy fingertip parts!  These pretties don't have grippy fingertips but I don't care--those cute springy flowers make me smile!

***Around the same time I accidentally knocked our friend in the face with a mop....  Ah, guess I should have warned her of the hazards of shopping with a household-product loving blind chick (sorry friend... more sorry that I'm still laughing about it!  That's not very nice of me!)***

A few small bits of work in progress.....

I know it's not yet Thanksgiving--but I dislike the rushed process of decorating, and frankly I ADORE the decor of the holiday season.  So, we're getting started around here....

The ledge decoration is incomplete, but it's off to a good start.  The large gifts atop the ledge are both just empty boxes wrapped in pretty coordinating paper we all picked out together.  The "JOY" letters are made from pizza boxes!  The "J" and "Y" are made from the top cover of two large take'n'bake pizza boxes.  The "O" was made from the circular pizza piece--the take'n'bake pizzas we buy are wrapped in plastic and we place the cooked pizza on a baking stone, so the circle stays nice and clean!  I cut them to size and shape, and wrapped them with the same paper to coordinate with the large gifts.  

Putting this lovely large ledge to good use!

 It makes me smile just bringing out some of our annual traditional holiday decorations.  I love how bold red and gold are together.  We haven't determined exactly how all holiday decorations will be done around the new house yet, but we're getting there.  I'm so excited to have our Christmas tree in the large picture window in our living room and garland on our upstairs banisters!  Almost everything about this season makes me as giddy as a little child!

Red & Gold--Beautiful & Bold

Now, off to watch a movie with the family.....

Enjoy the little things this weekend friends!

-Nic

Love Thursday: Little Fingerprints

I haven't written a "Love Thursday" post in years....  probably a good two plus years.  So, here's some background....

Love Thursday:  I try to write a post of thanks, appreciation...  of love.  It may be about our family, my husband, something in our home or community, or something we have done or people have done for us.  A couple of years ago, I used to give my husband a card each week on Thursday, with a handwritten note inside, typically relevant to whatever was going on in our lives or relationship at that time.  We have a lot of cards in our memory boxes!  :)  So, that's the story.

And here's what I'm loving today...  Little Fingerprints.

Last night I was cleaning up from our fancy pants dinner of brie & cranberry chutney crostini and creamy sweet potato & carrot soup, talking to the hubs, and listening to him play with the Toddler.  Making sure she's never far from the action, the Toddler came into the kitchen, played in "her drawer" taking things out and putting them back again, and looking at the stove and dishwasher.  Our appliances are stainless steel--which the Hubs said he really never wanted because there's basically no way to keep them free from fingerprints very long.  He's right, but as I pointed out, the Toddler won't be this little for very long...  and soon, her fingerprints won't be all over everything.

Little Fingerprints are Curiosity
Everyday she looks at the stove and dishwasher, and the water dispenser on the fridge, with great curiosity.  You can almost see the gears turning in her mind--how does this thing work, what does it do?  The buttons beep when I push them!!

Little Fingerprints are Energy
I often wonder how I will keep up when she goes from being a toddler who naps, to a toddler who is awake All.  Day.  Long.  Some days this sweet peanut wears me out as it is!  She's so full of energy and life--she finds a way to look at her toys and our house with a new vision every single day!  It's amazing to watch!

Little Fingerprints are Fleeting....
Someday, she will be bigger.  She will know what the stove does, what the dishwasher does--and the novelty and mystery she finds in these things right now will not be replaced with knowledge and awareness.  She will turn into a big kid, a teenager, a young adult, all before our eyes and yet it will seem like just yesterday...  that she was leaving Little Fingerprints all over our house.

The Big Girl is eight--and I love her Little Fingerprints too...  but already, just a few years older than the Toddler, the Fingerprints the Big Girl leaves are so different.  They are Littlest Pet Shoppe toys all over the floor.  They are books laying around the living room.  They are dirty clothes left laying around her bedroom instead of in her clothes hamper!  Someday, the Fingerprints in our house will only be the Hubs and Mine--the little Toddler giggles & Big Girl screeches of laughter will not sound through our house as they do now.

It's those Little Fingerprints I love.  It's those Little Fingerprints I want to remember.

Wishing lots of Little Fingerprints to you all,

Nic

Baking Cabinet Revamp & Warmth in the Winter Oatmeal Goodness!

A friend asked a while ago what was up with my blogging (or lack there of)...  The truth is, I've let everything but the hubby, kiddos, and house slide to the wayside for a while.  I've taken on a number of projects and while they're going well, I realize my poor time management skills simply by the dust I'm having to Swiffer off of the blog today.  :)

Some of the things I've been working on around here--posts coming soon!

--Family File Organization:   We've never shared a filing system, and both of our filed records had gotten out of hand by the time of the move.  Upon completion of this process, it is likely I will Never Want To Shred Another Document---EVER.  Actually, I'll get back to myself and love my shredder, but this has been a rather tedious process with a slow visual change sort of outcome.  There were documents from the 90s in our files folks...  and we're not talking birth certs or social security records.  We're talking receipts from the grocery store and checks that cleared the bank.  LOL  We hardly even USE paper checks anymore!

--Utility Room Makeover:  This will be a work in progress for a while, and that will drive me crazy.  It is a test of my own patience though and I have to work on acknowledging that some things take time and will not be complete in a couple of days.  We have a substantial amount of space in our utility room and will be utilizing that space for storage.  Right now it's an open space with no shelving or real functional options for organizing.  Boxes are stacked on one another, and while we know what's there right now, the room being what it is now is like inviting clutter to take over that space.  It will happen easily, and very quickly.  I got to paint the concrete floors in that room a fun blue color though!  It's lively and I love it!

While these are two major projects taking place around here, we've had painting and decorating going on in the Big Kid's room, repeated attempts at finding what works for US in our laundry room and our rather small pantry.  And, we're still unpacking...  There are only about four boxes that are not completely emptied BUT they're sitting in our master bedroom just glaring at me day in and day out.  We'll get there.  Everything else in our home has fit so well and become "ours" in such short order that a few boxes are nothing at this point.

So, we have a small pantry with wire shelves which houses the vast majority of our dry and canned goods and an upper cabinet that we have designated specifically for baking.  Both of these areas are a constant source of frustration.  The pantry is too small, but when it's well organized it works find for our needs, the problem is it tends to only "stay" organized for about 24.75 hours before it explodes and the snacks are with breakfast foods and the pasta has randomly traveled from it's "home" to hang out with our extra bottles of juice and such.  

I'll leave that space for another time.  I know I need to address it, but I'm still not sure how.

I neglected to take a pic of the baking cabinet before I got started emptying...  Impulsiveness got the best of me as I opened that cabinet this morning, nearly got conked in the head by peanut butter that ought not even be in there, and decided today was the day!  No more of this!  I took EVERYTHING out of the cabinet, wiped down the shelves, and got to work grouping things that should be in that cabinet.  Perhaps a pic of all the crap that needed to be taken into consideration may help....

Baking cabinet junk

More baking cabinet junk!

Even MORE baking cabinet junk!

I moved the bottom shelf to accommodate the OXO storage containers we use for flour, sugar, powdered sugar, brown sugar, and now chocolate chips.  This way I'm able to stack two small containers on top of one another.  I also noticed that most of the baking supplies that belong in this cabinet are SHORT.  The container of salt, baking soda, corn starch, various types of extract, and boxes of Jell-O.  They're all super short and fit perfectly in the now much smaller second shelf.  The largest bulk containers of oats and raisins found a home on the top shelf, which is fine because they're not used so frequently that this will be inconvenient for me.  

Here's this lovely, more organized, and much better.  Assuming this setup works for us, this cabinet should no longer drive me bananas, or threaten a concussion from falling peanut butter.

While emptying the baking cabinet I realized this would be a perfect opportunity to make the first batch of oatmeal breakfast bars my husband typically takes to work for breakfast.  Prior to moving to this house, we made these all the time!  I guess it's easy to get out of the habit.  I LOVE these things though and want to share the recipe because they are truly one of our favorite and most convenient breakfast foods!  The freeze incredibly well, so I will often make a large batch of them and freeze them in sandwich size ziplocs--two bars to a bag, and pull a bag out each evening so they're thawed and fresh for the hubs in the morning.  LOVE them!  You can also throw in craisins instead of raisins, or in combination with raisins.  We've made them both ways and they're equally as delicious!

I began making these bars after it was featured on "Cooking During Stolen Moments".  You can see the original post here.  I have made the bars with both 3/4 cup canola oil and 1 cup canola oil--I think I prefer the lesser amount just a little bit, but both are fine.

Oatmeal Breakfast Bars

• 4 c. dry oats (old-fashioned or quick cooking)
• 1 1/2 c. flour
• 1 c. brown sugar
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1 t. cinnamon
• 1/2 t. salt
• 3/4 – 1 c. canola oil
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 c. raisins (or your preferred combination of raisins and/or craisins)

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl (I use the bowl for my Kitchenaid mixer, because I do not mix this by hand.)  You can mix all ingredients by hand just until mixed or use a mixer on low until all ingredients have just mixed together.  

Press mixture into a greased 13x9 baking dish--I have typically used a well-greased glass pyrex baking dish for this and greased with Crisco.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.  I check for the edges to start to brown, it gives the bars a bit of added texture.  

My confession....  while these are fantastic for kids or adults to take for a quick on the go breakfast, my absolute FAVORITE time to eat them, is just a couple of minutes after they've come out of the oven when they are still quite warm but have already set fairly well.  A large glass of cold milk and a couple of wonderfully warm oatmeal bars on a cool winter day--not much better!

Three cheers for a productive day!

Until next time,

Nic

Tisk, tisk! School Organization Binder

This girl hasn't written in a couple of weeks...  whooooops!

In my defense, I haven't written because I've been knocking out projects left and right!

I'm nearly done with our garage clean-up and organization.  I'd say it's "done" but I'm really hoping to add a mudroom locker type space in the garage next to the door.  That's not done yet.  And, we're seriously discussing what to do with the walls and floor in the garage--floor more seriously.  I'll share the progress on that space in the next few days.

School started for the Girl and she's loving it!  With the start of this school year, we also implemented some new organization strategies with her schoolwork.  I'm remarried so the Girl spends one week with us and one week with her dad.  Last year, we had some trouble sharing and organizing things like spelling words from week to week.  Things appear to be a little more consistent in her new class, with things like spelling words coming home every week instead of "sometimes, but not always".  Each household keeps a binder to organize each week's work.  This is helpful not only for organizing and sharing between houses; it's also enabled us to practice more at home with copies of sheets that were sent previously.  I also made a spelling Practice Test that we do each day as part of homework time.  I'm having her take practice tests for Math Facts every couple of days--the timed tests seem to be a challenge for my kiddo.

I use the front pocket to keep quizzes or worksheets that I am having her do throughout the week.  These are in addition to whatever homework she brings home from school.  I keep the colored pens in the purple pencil case--The entire binder is color-coded by week so they stay in there for writing on the index, calendar, and for scoring/correcting the quizzes and worksheets she does here at home.  You can see the spelling Practice Test we use, thrown together in Pages based on the layout of her real test at school.

I made the index in Pages based on the number of weeks the Girl has before winter break.  I couldn't find the Avery ones at Target and I wasn't running around to a bunch of stores looking for them (despite my LOVE of office supplies, I'm not so fond of carting around a cranky toddler just for an index and dividers).  Each section corresponds to a week and is color-coded red through purple.  We write the major assignments that were sent home that week and note upcoming tests and skills that need practice.

Monthly calendars follow the index and include week's that the Girl is with me and weeks she is with her dad.  Holidays and no-school days are also included as well as school events/activities that are scheduled.

Color-coded and dated dividers with plastic sleeves keep the original blank worksheets and her graded tests contained and organized by date.  I couldn't find dividers in the exact colors I wanted either so these are simply made with scrapbook cardstock and pieces of index cards.

And, some of the homework...  The spelling words actually come to us in a different format, but I like to type them in to a template in pages to keep them this way.  I'm not as fond of the format they are sent home in (it's like a box/grid and it's copied so the print isn't always ideal).  This way I can make the print as large as I want and they're in great condition to keep.  The continents and oceans page on the left is just one I pulled off the internet for the Girl to practice leading up to their test on that material.

When I started putting this together the Hubs said, "Do ya' think ya' might be going a little overboard here?"  I realize it's a bit meticulous, but this has turned out to be a great way to maintain communication between households, and a better way than expected to carry her school lessons through when she comes home.

Until next time.......  when we talk SHOP (garage kind-a shop, not shoppING.... boo!)

-Nic

A Little Link-Up: A Few Free Printable Lunchbox Notes

Linking-up to some other blogs & sites for a few adorable free printable lunchbox notes!

Those of you as nerdy as I am who enjoy sending little notes in the kiddos' lunch--enjoy!

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Personalize these super cute printables from Chickabug Paper & Printables

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These free printables from papercoterie give LOTS of opportunity for your own special notes!

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These notes from getbuttonedup may be  a little bit "kiddy" for the Girl's liking, but they are SOOOOO cute!!!!  I don't care if the Girl is in third grade...  I'm going to send some cute kiddy notes!!

And, to end the little link-up, the Girl had a great first day, and even made a new friend who lives just down the street from us!!!!!

Until next time,

Nic

In a School Daze

We're late to the "starting school" party--I know, I know!!

We're in Minnesota and around these parts MOST kids don't start school until AFTER Labor Day!  The "Great Minnesota Get-Together" ended today and school begins tomorrow!

The Girl is starting THIRD grade (time flies!) at a new school because of our move.  She's excited and nervous...  I'm excited and nervous...  I know it's going to be a great year for her but it's always hard to be the new kid.  She hasn't met many kids in our new neighborhood either so we're hoping, REALLY hoping, that she'll make some great friends quickly at school.

I admit--I LOOOOOOOVE the start of school!  

I love shopping for school supplies!!!  (a strange quirk that my older daughter certainly inherited from me)

I love the routine that the school year brings.  I'm a BIG fan of routine (hah.... imagine that!!!), and order, and stability in general.  I like planners and schedules and calendars (Oh My!).  The school year just brings with it a consistent routine--everyone knows what to expect and when to expect it.  Everyone has their own responsibilities and obligations to get it all done and make it all work.  Yes, I'm a sucker for routine!

Lastly, I LOVE fall!  Crunchy leaves, crisp air, sweatshirts, pumpkin patches, apple crisp, Halloween candy (I'm not a huge fan of Halloween--I know, I'm sorry!), apple cider, CARAMEL APPLES, bonfires and s'mores....  Oh My Gosh people I have to say it again...  I LOVE FALL!!!!!

So, the past couple of weeks have included a bit of preparation for start of school and the beginning of fall!  

We went through old clothes for the Big Girl, donated those that she has skyrocketed out of height wise, and found jeans that will fit her this year!  Yeah, that took a few stores and a LOT of trying on.  

In an effort to become a little more "green", and to send lunch with the Mister & the Girl more consistently, I purchased Easy Lunchboxes for both of them.  The Mister got a black box & the classic lunchbox colors.  The Girl got a pink box and the bright lunchbox colors.  Both of them will get four home lunches per week and one floating "meal-out" based largely on the school lunch calendar and what sounds good to the Girl.  

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Four of our Easy Lunchboxes ready to be packed!

The Girl loves Gogurt so we're trying DIY "Gogurt" using these silicone popsicle pouches.  She's pretty picky about types of yogurt...  Boring, predictable, plain vanilla!  So this weekend I spooned some yogurt into these new pouches (after washing by hand and in the dishwasher--just my preference with silicone prior to first-time use).  We decided to freeze them, knowing that they will thaw before the Girl's lunch (which isn't until ONE O'CLOCK!  Eeeek!) and this way they can serve as a small cold-pack.  I love, love, love the colors, but I feel a little bad for the Mister should he take them to work...  heh....  they're just a little girly!  

Silicone popsicle molds are perfect for DIY yogurt-to-go!

We really slacked this summer on meal-planning.  We didn't have anything going on though, I mean really, what with moving, and surgery, and the Toddler's Big First Birthday.  So, I took some time and whipped up a new weekly meal planner for the 5-day week (Monday through Friday).  I mainly did it this way because we will be packing lunches only on school/work days, and we seem to end up running a LOT on the weekends!  In any case, here's a glimpse at that!  I will add a free printable in the next couple of days if anyone is interested. 

Weekly Meal Plan

This meal plan is based on how we live and eat, and how the Girl's schedule is at school.  It's very important that she have an AM snack because her class is assigned the last lunch period---at One.O.Clock.  I'm an early lunch eater so that seems suuuuuuper late to me, but with a good breakfast and a good snack, she'll be just fine!

Finally, I made some yummy stuff today....  I had great plans to accomplish more than I actually did, but in my defense, Home Depot was calling...  and I answered!  "That's the power of the Home Depot" I guess....  I just can't pass up a trip when the opportunity arises!

That being said, here's what I made today (with more cooking and baking fun to be had tomorrow!)

Chewy Granola Snacks

Good Mornin' Strawberry Muffins

So, the chewy granola treats resulted from my attempt at this recipe for No-Bake Chewy Granola Bars posted by Carole at My Kitchen Escapades.   They were too adorable NOT to try!  Truth is, I'm not even sure what I did wrong--I could have salvaged several "bars" but decided to break them apart into bite-sized "snacks" because several broke apart on their own.  They may be bite-size instead of full-size, but they are PURE yum!!!  

Though the photo only shows 6 of these lovelies, I actually froze a whopping EIGHTEEN more for an easy breakfast for us to take out before bed and have ready to eat first thing in the morning!  I doubled the recipe knowing I had a lot of berries and I wanted to use them all with one recipe!  I haven't tried these yet, but I plan to try and thoroughly enjoy them tomorrow morning!  I followed this recipe from Acceptance with Joy.  It appears the original recipe comes from the Rainbow Children's cookbook by Gold Medal.  While I haven't tried any yet, the smell wafting through our home while these were baking was absolutely heavenly!

I did some scouring of Pinterest & the interwebs for free lunch note printables.  I'll share those tomorrow.  And, I may just have been inspired to create my own!  I love sending notes in the Girl's lunchbox, but they're usually handwritten on notecards with an envelope that I draw on.  Not so exciting, perhaps, but she seems to appreciate the thought.  I'm hoping she'll think these are pretty fun and silly--lighten things up for her as she's feeling a bit nervous starting this year.  

Happy First Day of School Friends!

Until Next Time,

Nic

Tuesday Tip: Keeping it Clean with Vinegar!

Happy Tuesday!!  

I should note that there will be times I will back-track or jump forward between our moving process and day-to-day life and projects in the present.  Dishes are a multiple-times-a-day sort of chore around here.  We have a toddler who LOVES to eat!  My friends, that toddler is MESSY!  The dog loves it when she sees the toddler get strapped into her high chair--she runs over and sits with great attention to any crumbs the toddler drops or hands her way.

At some point I will do a larger post on the many uses of vinegar.  The stuff is amazing!  I have come to appreciate it greatly in our day to day cleaning routines, and while I don't think it smells that great initially, the smell dissipates quickly and it serves as a great deodorizer!  Seriously, the stuff is Amazing!

So our most frequent everyday uses of vinegar come into play in doing dishes, laundry, and deodorizing.

An Empty Sink

Doing Dishes

Typically, I do dishes three times a day.  Once in the morning after breakfast and the toddler's morning bottle, after lunch, and again in the evening.  I find doing dishes to be a relaxing task and I generally enjoy it with the exception of washing dishes after a large party.  When there's not enough room between filling the sink and the dishwasher that's just too many dishes and I find it overwhelming!  The Mister & I are a pretty great team when it comes to household things though, so we tackle those together.  

I change our kitchen linens daily.  This is likely a pet-peeve for the Mister but it's a routine that I have taken to and appreciate largely because I feel like each day I have a fresh, clean start.  We try to always leave a clean sink before going to bed--it doesn't always happen but when it does it makes my day SO much better!  We keep one towel for hands and counters, and one towel for dishes, as well as a washcloth.  

Our Dish Towels:  Not quite ROYGBIV, but close!

Dish towels are a rainbow starting with Red on Monday and ending with Blue on Sunday.  I wash kitchen linens once a week together with the Toddler's bibs.  

Since moving to the new house, I noticed our washcloths were getting a musty smell after just a couple of hours.  I had never had this happen before and it seriously grossed me out.  Initially, I was changing wash cloths multiple times a day because I couldn't stand the thought of washing dishes with a nasty smelling washcloth.  I'm fairly certain it's just the composition of our water here that causes it.  Knowing that it wasn't likely to end on it's own, and that anything I did with the laundry routine wasn't helpful...  we needed to find a solution, and I think we have!  I keep a small bottle of dish soap and a small spray bottle of vinegar next to our sink at all times.  After washing dishes I drape my washcloth over the middle of the sink and I spray it with a few squirts of vinegar.  I do this every time I wash dishes.  At the end of the day, I hang anything that is wet over an indoor drying rack to dry before placing it in the kitchen linens laundry basket.  

The vinegar has completely resolved the musty-smelling washcloth problem!!!

In the sink area, I also spray both sides of our sink with the vinegar spray bottle after doing dishes.  I run lemon, vinegar, and water ice cubes through the garbage disposal once a week or more often if needed to keep it fresh and clean as well.

Doing the Laundry

There are two main ways we use vinegar in our laundry routine.  We have a top load HE washing machine and a front load dryer.  HE washing machines have been known to develop a bit of a musty smell, especially if left closed between washing cycles.  While our washing machine is very new (purchased in spring 2013), I do a couple of things to avoid the musty smell and generally maintain the cleanliness of our washing machine.  Our owner's manual calls for a monthly tub clean cycle to deep clean the washer, so we put that on the calendar (typically as something for our Once a Month Family Deep Cleaning Day).  I keep a spray bottle of vinegar next to our washing machine just like I do the sink.  After each load in the washer is complete and moved to the dryer, I lightly spray the tub of our washer with vinegar, including inside the top door.  I wipe down the top door with a clean, dry cloth but I keep the lid open and let the washing machine air dry.  The next time I'm in the laundry room I close the lid to the washer.  It actually drives me nuts to leave the lid open on the washer.  I think I'd hate it if I had to leave it open ALL the time just because it's an HE.  

Getting Rid of Stinkies!

I don't care who you are or how detailed a cleaner you are--we ALL have to deal with stinky stuff!  Garbage is stinky!  Sweat is stinky!  Baby diapers and Doggy Doo--they are STIIIIIIIINKY!

I know a lot of people spray vinegar in the air as a deodorizer by itself.  I haven't really had reason to do this.  But, I DO use vinegar in deep cleaning our garbage bins.  We have a roll-out garbage and recycling area which is fantastic for many reasons, but we've noticed that the bins we inherited from the previous owner develop the stinkies VERY quickly!  Even before our move here, I have maintained a routine of deep cleaning all of our garbage bins once a month, or more often if they get gross or particularly stinky.  Trying to deal with the stinkies of the new garbage bins, I have done this same routine but the improvement only lasts a week or so.  Today, I deep cleaned the garbage bins with my typical soap and water, but also with a pre-treat of spraying pure white vinegar on the entire interior of the garbage bins and setting them in the sun to dry.  Then I thoroughly washed them with original Dawn dish soap (another item that has a wealth of uses!!) and rinsed with hot water.  Lastly, I sprayed the interior again with white vinegar.  I have been placing an Arm & Hammer deodorizer in the bins as well as a small paper towel with lavendar oil on it between washings to help fend off the stink!  I think I'm going to try this Arm & Hammer deodorizer instead, however.  Here's hoping the vinegar comes through for me on this as it has everything else!

Do you use vinegar in household cleaning or care?  What are your favorite uses for vinegar?

Until next time,

Nic

Seven Days to SOLD

The decision to put our townhome on the market was not an easy one.  We have developed a close knit group of friends and a wonderful system of support in the neighborhood we lived in.  We were close to public transportation, which we used regularly.  And we were walking distance from shopping, medical services, the library, even restaurants!  We knew that leaving our townhome and moving to a single family home would mean letting go of most, if not all, of those amenities.  Our townhome offered plenty of space, and it was beautiful.  The Mister had it built and made all of the choices regarding materials and style when he was a single guy, so while he never said it was a particularly emotional decision to move on from that house--I don't doubt that it was.  It was his first home.  It was "our" first home.  We brought home our youngest daughter to that home.  And we figured out how to live together, cook together, and work together in that home.  But, that home had it's drawbacks and we were getting to the point where the drawbacks were beginning to outweigh the things we loved.  We had a great deal of noise, often late into the night.  We were frequently frustrated with snow removal services, and when you live in Minnesota, high quality snow removal services are up there with the right kind of coat, boots, and snow tires!  And we wanted a yard....  our kiddos are 8 and 1 now and I think we wanted the yard as much for us as for them--to enjoy the outdoors together and to make family memories without going to the park.

The decision to put our house on the market was really more a series of discussions and a process of back and forth, maybe-we-will and maybe-we-won't.  Our poor family and friends...  talking to us was probably like watching old reruns of "Days of Our Lives".  One day we were SO SURE we were putting the house on the market and then twelve hours later one of us would freak out.  And then we were so sure we were staying, we'd call a vendor for quotes for hardwood floors or some other home improvement and then the other one of us would make the most tantalizing argument for selling and there we were again--SO SURE we were going to put the house on the market!  One day the cycle stopped with the Mister saying he really thought it was the right time and we should go ahead and go for it.  And, instead of freaking out or playing devil's advocate, I agreed, only saying that if this is what we were going to do, by golly, THIS IS WHAT WE WERE GOING TO DO.  There was no turning back and we needed to give it our all.

So we did.

And we had a offer at full asking price within a week.

WITHIN A WEEK!  (Ohmygoshwhatarewegoingtodonow?!?!)

But, I'm jumping ahead.  I'd like to share with you what we did to prepare our house for the market, what I think worked, and what I probably wouldn't put as much effort into with hindsight being 20/20.

∙  We went all "Clean Sweep" on the place!  We purged, threw, donated, and packed everything we could.  We wanted the house to look like it was being featured in a magazine--at least that's what we told the 8 year old about why she was temporarily losing some of her toys.

∙  We rented a public storage locker and moved all of the "unnecessary" things there.  Ultimately, when it came time for the move, we hired a moving company and we paid them a set fee to grab the things from public storage also.  This was one of the BEST decisions we made in prepping the house for sale.

∙  We repaired any dings or holes in walls and made sure that mechanically the entire house was in top shape, and we gave a fresh coat of neutral paint to a few rooms.  Most of the house was previously white.  The spaces we painted were done in an off-white/ivory and really suited the spaces well.

∙  We removed ALL personal/family elements:  school papers and coloring pages from the fridge, family photos from the entry hallway, and our daughters' shadow boxes off of the walls.  We replaced the family photos with black and white photos the Mister had taken on a trip to Paris, making for a perfect, neutral, yet stylish set of artwork.

∙  We cleaned EVERYTHING.  We did not hire a cleaning service or someone to come in, although that sure would have been nice!  Think of Spring Cleaning on Steroids...  That's what we did...  obviously, there were no steroids involved BUT I'm telling you, we put the Merry Maids to shame!  From behind the fridge and stove to cleaning the grout lines to oiling all of the wood.  We did it all.  And we maintained it by generally keeping things picked up, but also by doing a brief run-through of teh house each evening, especially if we had a showing scheduled the next day, so that the finishing touches wouldn't be such a rush on the way out the door.

∙  We made good use of our selling season.  We put our house on the market in the spring, so our proximity to the library, shopping, and friends enabled us to be out of the house as needed for showings.  I only managed to leave part of Baby Girl's bottle at home once in the process but THAT, folks, did not go over well.  (In my defense, her bottles have both a ring and a seal and I had NO clue what a disaster it would be without the seal--ooops!  Lesson learned!)

∙  We ate at restaurants almost every night of the week that our house was on the market.  You'd think that would be great, right?  Hah!  It was great for a couple of days, after which you have two cranky parents kids who just want to be at home and who don't really understand the upheaval going on in their lives or it temporary nature.

I truly believe that ALL of these things together helped us to sell our house quickly.  And, I think it was just the "right" time.  The market was good, ours was the only traditional sale in the neighborhood, and we worked our butts off to prep the house to appeal to a potential buyer.  The ONLY thing I think I would change is that I would be a little less concerned with the everyday, full-on, clean-up.  I felt like we had to keep the place spotless so we pretty much did.  But, I don't think we needed to do AS much cleaning before every showing as we did.  I also think we would have been a little bit more selective with showing times.  We said yes to every request for a showing.  Having an infant and a child, it would have been wise for us to keep their bedtimes sacred and to have had a bit more structured plan for how we would handle all of the "we're kicked out of our house for a showing" eating out at restaurants that we did.

If you're trying to decide whether to put your house on the market--good luck.  Truly, it's a huge decision and there are SO many factors to consider.  I'm thankful that we both came to the same decision at the same time with no regrets.  We would not have moved forward if one or the other of us was not on the same page.

If you're in the selling process--good luck!  Remember--this too shall pass.  Someone will walk through the house you called home and they WILL see themselves there.  It just takes the right person at the right time--be patient.  And try to keep living your life through the showing and selling process.  Remember that you and your family NEED your time, space, and normalcy.  Make sure that you allow yourselves that.

Next up--going, going, GONE to the bidder one week in!
Until then,
--Nic

A (new) Place to Call Home

Welcome!  Whether you've happened upon my site through Facebook, Pinterest, or at the recommendation of another home, organization, DIY, and/or cleaning fanatic--I hope you enjoy what I share here!  As you can no doubt tell, this is my first post, and the site will likely change a fair amount over time.  I welcome your feedback and comments, especially if you have tips, suggestions, or ideas to share on a given topic!

I'm writing to share the things I enjoy!  I'm an at-home parent to two sweet girls and over the years I have developed a love for organizing, cleaning, and finding ways for those things to be a source of joy in my life.  I love to incorporate art, color, and nature in our home while embracing the benefits of my label maker!  (It wouldn't be "me" if I didn't mention the label maker, for which I get much grief from good friends, and which was, in all honesty, a favorite gift from the Mister).

Our family recently moved from a three-level, 2,500sf townhome to a single family home of approximately 3,000sf with a yard.  Our townhome sold in ONE WEEK and we purchased our new home when it had only been on the market for one week as well!  Our process was nearly flawless--something we can only be immensely grateful for!  In the next few days I will share our selling, buying, and moving experience and what I learned from it.  My hope is that this home will be ours for the foreseeable future; that this will be our "forever home".  Many of the things about this house fit us perfectly, but there is still much to do including creating and organizing spaces in our home that allow us to live the way we like to live--we are a busy family and we love to spend time together playing games, watching movies, and entertaining friends.  We are looking forward to creating a space in which we can fully enjoy and embrace our backyard for outdoor living and small-scale gardening.  

I hope you will enjoy what I have to share here!  Please feel free to join my Facebook page, link up any future tutorials or posts on Pinterest, and share your thoughts, feedback, and ideas with me here!  

THANKS for joining me and my family in this house that's Becoming Home!

-Nic

Welcome!

Welcome!  I hope that over time this blog may be a source of information and inspiration, perhaps a bit of comedy, as my family and I move to our "forever home" and make it ours.  I am a stay at home mom with a passion for all things household--organizing, cleaning, and fearlessly (or not so fearlessly) taking on DIY home improvement and design projects.  Though our new home is nearly perfect for us--it still affords some room for design changes and plans for improvement projects that will make it truly "ours".  Join me on this adventure!  And if you join me--share your experiences along the way!