My Beautiful New Pantry

A few weeks ago, Jon called me up at night, eager to tell me about this 'new' website, Pinterest. Well, it turns out it's been around for a while, but being that I'm a stay-at-home mom and my communication skills are generally limited to that of a 1 to 3 yr old range, I'm thankful that I finally found out about this glorious website. And Jon couldn't be more happy that he told me about it. Our home (or really any place we have lived prior) has never been cleaner or more organized (even prior to having children).

If you are unfamiliar, Pinterest is a wonderful website to get 'inspired' and the concept is so simple. It's merely pictures. (And really, who doesn't love pictures?!) What you can do is 'pin' any picture you see on the website (or on the web) to a self created virtual pinboard. There are so many creative people out there who pin their ideas, style, crafts, DIYs, baking tips, etc. Basically, you can pin your personality on your pinboard through everyday photographed moments. It's quite fun.

Moving on...

While browsing Pinterest one night I saw this picture of the most wonderful kitchen pantry I had ever laid eyes on. I couldn't stop staring at it. I would be hanging out in my pantry all day long if only it were as colorful and organized!

The next week, Jon was itching to do a home project on his day off, and I was still longing for my future beautiful kitchen pantry. Together (I won't take all the credit) we combined forces and within 24 hours, we had ourselves a brand new gorgeous and organized pantry.

Jon- who is turning out to be quite the handyman- built me this amazing customized spice rack:

Here it is up close and personal:

Oooo la la

To get a better view of this transformation, here are some before and afters:

Before:

What a mess!! And that support bar in the middle made it impossible to get items located in the corners.

Now:

The middle bar is gone! Baking items, tea, and snacks have their own bins. And even though you can't tell in this picture, it is painted! The color is called Banana Cream. How fitting for a kitchen pantry! :)

Finally, here is the picture that started it all:

This pantry is by far more organized, but I love mine more because of my new spice rack. Thanks Jonny :)

And if you were wondering what the kids were doing while we accomplished this, here is a photo:

I bet she was dreaming about her new snack bin. 



Pumpkin Patch 2011

Since today was such a beautiful day, after morning mass we took the kids to the pumpkin patch at St. Paul's.

Madison was intrigued by every large pumpkin she saw. She would try to pick each one up, but being that the pumpkins probably weigh as much as she does, she would just end up 'hugging' them. The girls each got to pick out a pumpkin of their own (they both opted for ones they could carry themselves), and we got a large pumpkin for outside our front door.

While uploading these pictures I came across our 2010 pumpkin patch photos...

My, how things have changed. It feels like those newborn days were a lifetime ago, and as I look at these photos I realize time goes by too fast. Nonetheless, I'm a very lucky to have two awesome kids. We are truly blessed.

Arts and Crafts

Jon and I have a list of projects things we really, really want that we would both like to see completed acquired in the near future. Currently, mine is an arts and crafts room. Jon wants a giant fish tank. He thinks the kids would get a kick out of it and that if he goes fresh water, it will be a lot less maintenance for himself. I'm not completely sold on the idea, therefore I do not plan on partaking in any maintenance of this future fish tank. He also wants to put this giant fish tank against the first wall you see walking in through our entrance way. I don't know why he insists our home look like an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet.

I don't know who will get there 'wish' first, but in the meantime the girls are I have started crafting together. The girls LOVE to craft, and they love to make a mess doing it :) Here are a few of our projects:

 Fall Leaf Garland

Kaylee's Halloween masterpiece...

and of course, Madi's. (It did say Madison at one point.)

Now that I look at it, I bet Kaylee had something to do with that floating 'K' at the bottom.

  and finally, a leafy letter 'R'. This one is my favorite.

Here is what I hope my future craft room will resemble:

 Scraproom 

Isn't it beautifully organized?!!?



Taking Our Kids to Church

There is no doubt, motherhood has certainly changed me.

Over the last few years I went from being an avid Catholic and involved parishioner to more of the unfamiliar face sitting next to you at Christmas Eve mass, Palm Sunday, Easter Sunday, etc. (One might refer to them as the twice-a-year Catholic.)

However, my world has turned since we now have two children and our 3 yr old is a preschooler at our Catholic church's childhood enrichment program.

I know many people who regularly do not attend weekly mass, or belong to any church community, or believe in 'organized religion' and I understand. I had my doubts too. Maybe church isn't for everyone. And yes, some kids will lose faith, but in order for them to actually 'lose' their faith, they have to learn their faith first. You simply cannot be a lapsed Catholic without first becoming Catholic. Same goes for any other religion.

I hope my children never lose their faith, but I do know that by taking them to church week after week, they will learn what our faith really is about and know that if they ever did drift away, the Church would welcome them back with open arms. And they would know what they are going back to.

Of course taking the kids to church is no easy task. I feel my children are programmed to constantly want to play and be loud, curious, and silly. And when the young ones really act up, you see the parents quickly escort their child to the back of the church. The 'old' me thought this defeated the purpose of actually going to church. Why show up if you can't even get to enjoy the homily? But if you look closely, you will notice that the little ones are learning about mass on a whole different level. Some parents might bring their child over to the stained glass windows, where they can become familiarized with the Stations of the Cross. Other parents might bring their children over to the baptismal fountain and talk about how they were once 'born' into the church. I personally take Madison over to the statues of Mary and Jesus, and introduce them to her as if they were my friends.

I know Jon and I have a long time before the kids actually 'get it', but I truly believe that as much of a hassle and prep work that goes into us attending mass as a family, our children will only benefit from it. And isn't that what parenting is about?

Not So Cute

"Time to wake up Kaylee! It's a school day!"

"Can I wear a super cute outfit, Mommy?"

"Of course."

And so I picked out what I thought was a super cute outfit. Cuffed cropped jeans from Gap Kids, her favorite pink shirt, and matching socks. All which would compliment her everyday non-negotiable, Disney princess light-up sneakers.

Later on my husband picks her up from school and comes home to tell me Kaylee can no longer wear her Gap jeans to school.

"Why?" I asked.

"Her teacher said they kept falling down on her."

"Oh." I thought for a second. How could these jeans be falling down on her? For starters, they are a 2T- a size below her age. I had carefully adjusted the elastic bands in the waistline that morning. My daughter is tall and skinny. Of course pants are naturally going to hang slightly lower on her. But 'falling off' her? That's a bit of an exaggeration and I wasn't buying it.

A few days later, I received the weekly newsletter from Kaylee's teacher. The weekly theme was 'Fire Safety.' Kaylee is the one demonstrating 'Stop, Drop, and Roll.'

For now, those Gap jeans will be worn exclusively at home.