Wednesday, October 29, 2014

toy organization


I have recently made some efforts to keep the toysplosion in this house to a minimum (or at least somewhat contained). The best thing I did was separate the toys into super simple categories via an algorithm into upstairs, downstairs, bedroom, bathroom, and in storage.

 I found the awesome chalkboard storage bins at Joann's to house the girls' train collection. One of the best ways to keep things under control is through storing like with like and having one place for everything, so I further categorized their collection to tracks, trains, and tchotckes. I try to keep their collections in their designated bin, but if a wayward tchotcke ends up with the trains, so be it. My parents and I are also creating some super awesome seating for the train area, so stay tuned...

The family room is still a work in progress. I want to create a gallery wall (the girls looove looking at photographs) and do a few more updates. Extra blankets are stored in the basket next to their chair. Toys that we only play with on occasion (blocks, bowling balls, and wooden toys that could be used for bludgeoning) are stored behind the chair. The shopping carts get parked and the food goes back in the play kitchen. It not pictured, but they also have an indoor bike that lives on the wall across from the play kitchen.




They play kitchen is one of our favorite toys. Unfortunately, one of the girls broke off the faucet, but so it looks a little wonky, but once they are a little older and past the twin-nado stage we will be able to reattach it. 

I need to find a storage system for within the unit- they food just goes in their all willy nilly and it drives me bonkers. I want to find some cute little storage bins so I can separate produce, breads, etc. There are some cute storage bins at ikea, but Justin has swore off that place, so we will see what I can come up with. I also want some sort of decor above the set- I'm thinking a cute fabric banner, perhaps with mint, blue, orange, chevron, and polka dot (are you listening mom?) would be perfect. I also need to snag and spray paint a bookcase from my parents and repurpose it into a pantry (although my dad is the master spray painter...)


Another Joann's find was this utensil bin that I turned into an art caddy. I used to throw mega tantrums when my mom wanted to go to Joann's, now I actually really like going there! In the caddy I store crayons, markers (not sure what I was thinking with that purchase) and play-doh. The girls love play-doh! They call it "balls" so whenever they want to play with it they run over and say "balls! balls! balls!" until I dig it out. 


The toy dungeon. Where toys live until they are rotated in. I have big plans for this room long-term (think custom shelving) but for the short term I want to pick up a few more small totes so I can further categorize the little people (i.e. princesses, farm animals, airplane people, bus people, etc.)



The upstairs toys. The downstairs collection tends to be the most fixed- it is the upstairs toys that get rotated the most often. I try have themes- right now we are playing with tools and cars. The girls always have books, shoes, and dress up clothes in their bin as well. Next to their basket is their instruments. I had to confiscate the drum sticks (see bludgeoning, above) but they have a nice variety of percussion tools in their. 


Another standard is that we always have a little people play set upstairs. Several more farm animals are hiding out in the silo. The girls love opening the silo door and taking the animals in and out. This week, I have been living on the edge and allowed them to have not one, but two play set upstairs #YOLO.


And to touch on my shoe organization solutions. The girls have more shoes than most some adults. I have 2 larger totes on their closet shelf that keeps out of season and special occasion shoes. The two smaller totes are on a storage unit in the closet within their reach. Most days they proudly bring them over to me, exclaiming "shoes! shoes!" and we pick out the pairs they feel like wearing together.


The girls are very particular about shoes and pajamas. In fact some of their biggest tantrums have been surrounding shoes (I have no clue where they would have gotten that from...). Claire has had full on meltdowns when I have had the audacity to put her in something other than her first choice shoe selection. And yesterday when we were in Scheel's Audrey freaked out because I had her try on a pair of shoes and didn't let her keep them (don't worry, we bought them... I just wasn't going to let her hold them until they were paid for). A sales associate came over and was all "oh no, you should like shopping..." I laughed and told her that disliking shopping wasn't the problem. Anyway, I'll have to pick up another pair of shoes for poor Audrey because Claire has claimed the Sperrys as her on. She spotted them on the kitchen table right away this morning and insisted on  putting them on first thing. When I got home from work, she still had the Sperrys on (she usually goes through 5 pairs a day, so she must really really like them). As for pajamas, that is Audrey's thing. She picks out the jammies that she and Claire wear each night (lately she has been going for Christmas jammies... so much for respecting the turkey...). I have tried a couple of times to put her in my choice instead of hers, and that does not fly.

Ooh, but back to they toys. The other categories are bathroom (pretty self explanatory) and bedroom. I keep their babies and stuffed animals in a 3 sprouts bin in the bedroom. Although, their babies are allowed to be played with in any room in the house (and sometimes even spend the night in the shopping cart, or if Audrey is feeling particularly mischievous,  the oven).

At any rate, my best tips for toy organization are categorize, categorize, categorize, and rotate them out. Also- don't be afraid to donate or sell toys they don't play with often. I have toy purgatory in the closet, where I put things that the girls are starting to outgrow. I'll bring it out after a few weeks vacation and if they are interested it lives to see another day in our home, if not it goes on to the next home.


Friday, October 24, 2014

recent outfits

Audrey is showing promise as a fashion blogger (check out her poses!) so I felt it was fitting to share a few of the girls' recent outfits.









When I ask them to go to their picture spot, Audrey happily obliges and stands in the living room. If I am quick, I can get a picture of Claire, but more often than not she runs off with her maniacal laugh and hides in her room. Luckily, when she is boxed in with the crib I can usually get a decent picture.









Tuesday, October 21, 2014

best early christmas gift ever

Christmas came early this year! I have been pining over a stand mixer for quite some time. My mom delivered big time- not only did I get a Kitchenaid stand mixer, but it is the fancy schmacy professional model with the bowl lift. I wasn't sure if I would prefer the bowl lift or tilt head model, but I'm really liking the bowl lift- it fits perfectly under the kitchen cabinets! 

I've had the mixer just under a week and have used it to make blueberry muffins, banana muffins, and salted carmel blondies. I have a nice hand mixer, but there is not comparison between the two- the stand mixer whips up the batter in no time! I'm excited to try it on bread next- I have made a few batches of home made bread with my hand mixer, patiently holding it for 20 minutes as I kneaded the dough. Making dough now should be a breeze!

My mom also ordered The Homemade Pantry for me. I am definitely excited to try the recipe for granola bars and instant oatmeal (who knew that could be a diy project?)  There is a whole chapter on dairy products, which kind of skeeves me out, but I am intrigued by the butter recipe... basically you just whip heavy cream in the stand mixer until you have a liquid and solid- the solid is your butter and the liquid is buttermilk that can be used in baking recipes. 

With all this cooking I am also on the hunt for the perfect recipe box. I love using pinterest, but for those recipes that I use time and time again I think it will be handy to have a more permanent spot for them. Plus I did a spice cabinet overhaul (more on that later) so I have the space. I found an absolutely gorgeous specimen from sugar paper but the price is somewhat obscene. Paper source has a cute vintage inspired model for a quarter of the price, so I think that might just make its way onto my wish list.

Monday, October 13, 2014

20 months


The girls are at such a fun age- they continue to learn new words everyday! The really seem to understand a lot too. They are great at helping pick up- I'll ask them to put things back, then they will start putting things away while saying "back" the whole time, it is super cute!

They also will "pet" each other during diaper changes- they will rub each others' shoulder/tummy and say "nice sissy". They also know not to touch their dirty diapers and  say "icky" after their soiled diaper has been taken off.

In order to cut down on laundry, we tend to take the girls' shirts off when we are having messy meals. I can see this backfiring sometime when we are out to eat. When they are hungry, they walk over to their highchairs and start pulling off their shirts.

The girls are starting to show their opinions- especially with shoes! There have been days when they have flat out refused to wear the shoes I have selected. Thankfully we don't need to leave the house that often so they can wear whatever they want.

They love playing with their kitchens, trains, and play doh. My mom bought them a set of play doh about a month ago- I was worried that they would try eat it, so I held off from giving it to them. I recently let them have it and they absolutely love it! Trains are another huge favorite- often times the first thing they do in the morning is say "choo choo" and run downstairs to play with their train set.

Sunday, October 5, 2014

the most wonderful time of the year


Ah, the annual country tea, one of my favorite events of the year... second only to Christmas. The anticipation started when we received the lovely invitations in the mail. If you want a recap of last year's tea, check out this post.



The beautiful place setting. Notice the champagne saucer? This tea is complete with champagne. This year Pannier Brut was served, I must say this ranks right up there with my beloved Veuve Cliquot. Would it be blasphemous to say that I may have even preferred it? I would need to do a side by side taste test to be sure, but I will happily sip Pannier  Brut any day. 

The girls had their own selections which included cherry tomatoes and pane cioccolata with raspberry jam. 


The adults started with roasted vegetable soup- it was heavenly. And this is coming from a girl who until recently would only eat broth-based chicken soups. 


Next up was assorted tea sandwiches and savories. This year's selection included: pane cioccolata with goat cheese and raspberry jam, caramelized shallot and blue cheese honeyed swirl, curried egg salad with mango chutney, oven-roasted kalua pig with shoyu sauce, and delta chicken salad with spiced pecans.



My favorites included the caramelized shallot and blue cheese honeyed swirl and oven-roasted kalua pig with shoyu sauce. 

We then enjoyed ginger scones, Welsh scones, and crumpets with huckleberry jam, lemon curd, and double Devon cream. The ginger scone was the stand out this year- I tend to reserve second helpings for desserts only, but I needed seconds of this one! Last year we had key lime curd, which was phenomenal and the lemon curd is just as delicious. Donna sent some lemon curd home with my mom, which she kindly shared with me. I have big plans for it (aside from eating it by the spoonful) including parfaits, lemon-blueberry muffins, and pain perdu. 


Then on to the desserts. Chocolate cheesecake with chocolate ganache, South African melktert, carrot cake bouchon, and chocolate madeleine. The cheesecake and carrot cake were the standouts this year. 


Then the Dom Pedro. Nothing like a delicious alcohol-infused milkshake to cap off an evening of gluttony. I will definitely be making this again, forget eggnog, this will be a must have this Christmas! I suspect I could throw in some nutmeg to amp up the festiveness of the drink. And I must learn how to create those chocolate swirls within the glass...


Best goody bag ever. 


Audrey enjoying her cherry tomatoes.




We were up a few hours past the girls' bedtime. They did well, but got tired towards the end of the evening. 


Audrey loved the pane cioccolata.

Cameron had fun at the tea party too. 



I had been planning on taking the girls to tea at the American Girl store once they got a bit older, but I suspect that Donna's teas would make the event much less appealing. I could envision them turning their noses up at some of the selections (a sample menu includes pigs in a blanket and jello jigglers, there is definitely nothing special about that!).

My mom mentioned that my grandparents used to participate in the Country Tea- that would have been something to see! Apparently my grandpa would have coffee, but they happily dined on all of the offerings. I remember my grandparents wondering what on earth I was feeding them when I made them quesadillas, so I have a hard time envisioning them eating a few of the more adventurous selections.

There are a few things left in Justin's my goody bag, so I will enjoy them over the next day or so and anxiously wait until next fall.