Augusts Playroom

I am back at it.....

After taking a nearly 9 month hiatus I have gotten the itch to start doing something a little more creative. If you follow me on Instagram you know that my days are filled with chubby thighs (mine and his), sweet kisses, story times and the best giggles. We suffered a long, excruciating, at times debilitating 4 years of infertility.  Our sweet August James (Auggie) was born on March 27th, 2018. My life has since not been the same. I have never been more tired or more happy in my life. He simply makes the good days better and the bad days.... well with him there just aren't any. (we have yet to cut teeth, so I'll report back once that starts)

In the uncontrollable phase of life that I was in during our struggle to get August here - this was the creative outlet I needed. I meticulously planned each section, all the while picturing a sleeping bag filled floor from sleepovers, table and chairs for coloring outside of the lines, growth chart to see how big my child was getting, piles and piles of corn and tractors, a TV center for all of the screen time that I swore I would never do ;).... During my hardest of hard days, that was the kind of stuff that got me through. And here we are.

SO enter the sweetest of sweet playroom.

A coloring and craft section..... When we host functions that have a lot of kids I bring this table and chairs downstairs to double as a kids table in the kitchen - that works perfectly.

 

 

The table and chairs are from Pottery barn Kids (here)... I knew I wanted them for a while so I waited until they had one of their really good sales. And I am not just saying this just in case my husband is reading.... I very rarely buy something at full price. Something will ALWAYS go on sale. For instance currently the table is on sale - the chairs are not.

 

I love to put sweet messages on the white board. I will change it out weekly and always smile as I walk by. Fitting it currently says "Happy Harvest". Coloring sheets colored by our cousins from Augusts baptism that I had on the kids table. Love these.

 


a wooden farm set, naturally.

ABC alphabet wall.... I made this... talk about time consuming! Turned out the cutest though. I do love the pop of color that it brings to the room.

A majority of Augusts books are in his room on his bookshelves that we easily can get to when we read after bath time, but there are a few books here on the end table. I try to stock up when I see cheap ones - we love books!

 

TV Entertainment center is also from Pottery Barn Kids (here). My sister in law has this same piece in her playroom and I loved it. Plus you can customize it to your own needs and make it as tall or long as you want. Each piece is individual so you can build your own wall system. (See me sitting on the couch taking a picture ;)

Storage baskets with chalkboard labels.....

One of the best things about this room upstairs is the view.... You can see miles and miles out of the second story windows. It might always be a room filled with too many toys, movies and (eye roll)...video games. But this view is where we are centered. This is where we always come back to. I can not imagine August wanting to play up here with toys when he has endless access to this beautiful farm.

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January Organization Update

I see so much posting on social media about the amount of organizing and purging that people are doing. It certainly makes my little "type A" heart happy. A lot of you have reached about about wanting updated on each area that I am organizing and what I really do to organize my home.

So this post will be short and sweet, and if you follow me on Instagram - I post most of these tips there too.

My January 1st - January 7th schedule that I posted last week was bathrooms (downstairs only) and living rooms (upstairs and downstairs).

I pair bathrooms and living rooms together because the living rooms are easy peasy. I don't need to dedicate an entire week to them, although I did throw my front foyer and back hallway in that mix. If you have a busy week try a little something each night, or if you have a couple of certain nights that are busy but not the rest of the week, hit it hard those "off" nights. Here is my room by room cleaning agenda.

BACK HALLWAY/POWDER BATHROOM:

•  I wipe down all trim work and cabinets with a combination of warm water and Murphy's oil soap. I LOVE Murphy's on my woodwork, it does a great job and has such a clean smell.
• Take away everything that does not belong. Throw away or put it in it's place. Anything that you notice that gets out of order a lot find a new solution for.
• Stock up on items. For instance in my powder room I stocked under the sink with toilet paper and replaced some of my dingy hand towels with new. I always buy white (big surprise) towels, you can bleach them and when you have a husband that works in dirt for a living - you need bleach.
• While I will wait to "wax" my floors when I am ALL done and can clean the whole house once its all organized, I do wipe up each floor on my hands and knees. And I can promise you that this is the only time all year (unless something is really bad or has been spilled) that I do that.
• Organize linen drawer in back hallway; straighten napkins, etc....

MASTER BATH

• Again wiped down all woodwork and cabinets.
• Replace the shelf liner that I have in each drawer.
• Restock on items needed (and threw away my husbands disgusting razor/trimmer ;))
• Our drawers (actually mainly mine) get messy pretty quickly so this year I invested in some clear drawer organizers. So far I am loving them. Literally everything has a place.
• THROW AWAY what you don't use. I don't need 12 tubes of little lip gloss... They went in the trash.
• I do this often times throughout the year but I took this opportunity to scrub my shower really good too along with other bathroom cleaning.

LIVING ROOM (downstairs)

• Wiped down all trim and woodwork
• Clean and organize lower built in cabinet storage (when doing this I am making room for baby items. I will keep diapers, wipes, etc all downstairs too so we don't have to go upstairs every time we need to change a diaper.

LIVING ROOM UPSTAIRS (playroom)

• You guessed it - wiped down all woodwork.
• Obviously doesn't get too disorganized yet - did typical cleaning and straightening up of toy bins.

There you have it - that was my first week back. it wasn't too bad and those rooms now feel so good. I know it seems like a lot of work, but I don't do this the rest of the year - at all.... Sure I clean, but I don't spend a lot of time doing it again until next year. I stay on top of things by being organized and staying organized.

Take a look at some of my photos from the past week or cleaning and organizing..... see you next later this week with bedrooms and closets.

I stocked up on baskets at target after Christmas.

These are great and now I have a space for Molly's toys, the babies toys and diapers.





The baskets will help me stay organized and they look "tidy" if the doors are open. 

I didn't get any photos of my master bath organization, 

but this is my hall Powder Room.

 

 

Replaced my game fowl prints with these beautiful citrus and botanical prints.

 

 

 

Back hall/mudroom floor as all wiped up.

 

 

 You guys..... My husband loves movies. These are in a corner by the sofa, so not as easily accessible, but we don't get into them very often.

They are however all categorized by comedy, family, action, etc.... I am picturing a cute blue eyes baby boy having a hay day knocking these all out of order. ;)

 

 

 

 

That's all for this week.... I will be back maybe later in the week for bedroom and closets. Where the real work begins. 

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January Organization

My favorite post of the whole darn year.

January to the rest of the world is long and boring. To me, it means cleaning and organizing and getting everything back on track and ready for our year. It's so very good for my soul... and the function of my family for the coming year. In a couple of very short months we will welcome our sweet baby boy to the family. That has me on a whole other level of preparing and organizing. "Nesting" as the pregnant women call it is a tad different when using a surrogate, but I have no doubt that it's starting to kick in on this 'not so pregnant - but also 28 week pregnant mamma.'

Trying to figure out new things that make my families day to day life run more smooth and enjoyable gives me great satisfaction. I want to enjoy life, I don't want to always be stuck inside doing "chores" once the nice weather hits. Next year I will choose playing tractors outside over laundry any ol day.... BUT with that being said, laundry still has to get done, I still have to cook dinner, the house has to be clean. Keeping the rest of your home function able and organized helps those day to day things run more swiftly and smoothly.

This is my January Organization Schedule.

Spring House Cleaning Schedule:

·         January 1-7 (Bathrooms (downstairs only) and Living Rooms (upstairs and down)

·         January 8-14 (Bedrooms and Closets)

·         January 15-21 (Kitchen and Kitchen Pantry)

·         January 22-28 (Laundry and Laundry Pantry/Closet)

·         January 29-Feb 4 (Augusts Bedroom and Bathroom)

I take an area of my home and work on it all week. That way I don't feel like I'm cleaning all.month.long. And I can still come home from work and enjoy cooking dinner and chatting with my husband, then get in and get a little bit done each night. And that keeps me from getting burnt out the second week when I still have a lot of house to do.

Follow me on Instagram for weekly (and possibly nightly) updates on how everything is going.

 Have a very safe and happy New Year!

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Farmhouse Holiday Cheese Board

 

Cheese Boards! My go-to for Holiday parties. They're delicious, easy, a tad fancy and festive with fresh greens or berries. If you follow me on Instagram then you saw my stories of making this exact cheese board.

 

 

 

 The great thing about a cheese board is that there are no rules. You can add anything you want, and more importantly anything you have in your fridge/pantry. Sometimes I add fruit (fresh and dried).

 

First things first - you need a great wooden board. My sister-in-law got me mine several years ago for a wedding present. Add a piece of fresh greenery.

 

 

 

Cheese comes next. I like several different kinds, mix it up a bit. Something sweet, something savory, maybe something a little spicy.  Lately my go to's are (from left to right) crème brie, blue, blueberry, Dill Havarti and lastly Morel and Leek.

 

 



 

 Look at how pretty....

 

 

Add a couple of different kinds of crackers and salamis..... Be messy, make it look rustic, you don't want everything lined up perfectly.

 



 

 

 

And another picture because its just so darn pretty.... ;)

 

 

Next up I added jalapeno stuffed olives for some heat, sliced herb roasted baguette, and breadsticks for some dimension. 

 

 

 Sprinkle shelled pistachios for a little more of a "messy" look and add fresh herbs. For this one I did Bay leaves, but for Christmastime Rosemary is perfect too.

Wintertime pie crust cutouts to make it a little festive.

 

That's it..... You can whip this up in about 15 minutes. Depending on my crowd and if I am able to get "fancy cheeses" I have even sliced up sharp cheddar and added to the board too. Take a look at my cheese boards throughout the years. I have something different in each one.

Have a blessed and joyous Holiday Season.... I have some fun posts planned for the blog, now here's to actually doing it. Things have been pretty busy around here getting ready for our sweet boy.

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Aunt Lora's Dutch Apple Pie

I spent two weekends ago at my aunts farm in Warsaw..... I live in the country, but there is nothing as peaceful as being deep in the woods surrounded by...nothing. We laughed, we rode four wheelers, we had warm campfires and cold beer. It really was exactly what I needed during this busy time of the year.

Saturday afternoon we baked a dutch apple pie and immediately I knew I wanted to share this recipe with you. Apple Pie and Fall on the farm go hand in hand.



All ready to go..... Look at how pretty those apples are.








Combine pie filling in a bowl













Stir all together.












Add to a pie crust (there is more to be desired with the look of my crust- but it sure was tasty).













Ready to pop in the oven.












Delicious.... Perfect with a fall mulled cider or sangria.

Recipe:

Filling
Preheat oven to 350° and bake for 1 hour (I baked mine for one hour and ten minutes)
peel and slice 6-8 apples (6 cups)
3/4 - 1 cup of sugar
1 tsp. of cinnamon
2 tablespoons of flour
a dash of nutmeg (just a dash, a little bit goes a long ways)


Crumb Topping
1 stick of butter
1 cup of flour
1 cup of sugar

Take a look at some of my favorite photos from that weekend.

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