This Is Organized Hoarding...

This weekend, we moved our two oldest boys downstairs so our fourth could have his own room and cry it out.  We got tired of him waking up in our bedroom, seeing us, and crying for me (he's not yet weaned... help me!).  With the move, came the opportunity to downsize our toy collection dramatically.  At first, I thought I could get rid of one entire toy storage unit, but instead (and after much pushback from my kids and even my husband who said I might be going too far with minimizing...) I decided to limit it to whatever they could fit into our two storage units.  With shelves and tons of fabric containers, we actually had a lot more storage than our Ikea Kallax (4x2) shelving unit and the Trofast that looks like a step L.  I digress.... You would NOT BELIEVE how many toys we have four years living in Salt Lake near a ton of family.  Trust me when I say I was one of those moms who only had one box of toys for my child for the first two years of his life.  We were in Spokane, not near family, and it was easy living in a small rented space, to limit the toys and enjoy the few we did have.  Or so I thought.

Fast forward to moving to Salt Lake where we were near family.  With generous family living nearby, our kids toy collection quickly grew.  You know how they say growth can be organic?  Our organic growth SKY ROCKETED, and with our family growing from one to four children, there was even more reason for everyone wanting to give us more.

This experience has taught me that despite being an organized person, masked under those OCD neat freak tendencies is actually just a basic hoarder.  Because instead of donating stuff on a regular basis, I thought my "boxes inside of boxes" and "organized self" was doing fine, when in reality, I was just accumulating more storage units.  Cute baskets, wire baskets, white baskets, pink baskets, purple baskets.... clear containers, translucent containers, fabric containers, clear boxes, pull drawers, pails, ... I can't believe how long I could go on for!  Basically anything to help my organized hoarding continue to hoard on.  And that's kind of what happened to our toy collection.  They found new homes, organized homes, and .....

I guess along the way, without life changes forcing you to declutter (going away to college, moving out of my parents' house, getting married, moving to another state for new job opportunities with said husband, etc.) it's easy to just keep everything.  For me, I'm also very sentimental.  I still have old movie ticket stubs that I had to finally throw away when the writing rubbed off and it was hard to see what movie and dates were even on there.  I was really sad when I noticed this.  And my parents weren't any better, I just finally threw away a bundle of hair wrapped in tissue paper with Chinese characters describing it as the first hair my parents ever cut off of my head as a baby.  I am 35 years old.  They gave this to me when I was about 22.  I have kept it until now!  Why?!  I dunno, I guess if my parents kept it for that long, it must have been special, so I just continued the tradition.... so when I look at toys and think about how every single one of my children have played with this, or that they got this for this birthday or that Christmas (yeah, I have a weird memory that's only applicable for useless information like this), I hesitate and then.. I just put it off and here I am.... with tons of toys!

So I guess what I'm trying to say is that this experience so far, of decluttering and organizing my home, has basically taught me that I was a hoarder disguised as an organized person.  An organized hoarder.

Upcycling Baby Toys You Probably Have Lying Around....

Unless you already donated it.. in which case, I'm sorry... but you can pass this along to your friends to do the same!

So when the whole geometric trend started showing up on everyone's shelves about 3 years ago (that's when I noticed it, I may be behind the trend... wouldn't put it past me...), I really wanted one!  Something gold and geometric would look so great on my books!  But when you have kids and are cheap like me, you kinda have to weigh the opportunity cost of money in my pocket right now versus having a wonderful design piece that will ultimately and most likely get destroyed by your kids...

As I was surveying all the baby toys that were put away to be taken out again when I had my fourth (and last) child the end of 2016, I started to see potential in some of the baby toys we had.  Specifically, the Manhattan Toy toys!  Their Skwish classic rattle and teether had been gifted to me from a coworker before I had my first child.  She said this was, "the best toy ever" and I believed her.  My son LOVED it, he would watch the attached wood go from one end of the stick to the other, all while grasping onto the elastic parts, and admiring the colorful sounds.  My firstborn was also lucky enough to get some pretty nice gifts from Aunties who visited, specifically my BFF who knew nothing about kids, but went perusing in a Manhattan Beach boutique for a special toy for my son.  The saleslady told her the Manhattan Toy's winkel rattle and sensory teether was top of the line, so she bought it.  Both toys retail for about $13-15 on Amazon, but purchased from any boutique, is normally $20-25.  My son loved it again!  This one has softer loops he could hold onto and a more prominent rattle in the red dice that sat in the middle of the cloister.  And to be honest, all my kids enjoyed these two Manhattan Toy classics, which is why, I knew, as soon as baby was done playing with it, I would do my upcycle project.

I could already see it.  Gold spray paint.  Gold tights while I painted it (I own a pair... seriously).  Short sprays.  Lots of layers.  Ohhh, the build-up was intense.  I could NOT wait!

To be honest, I had forgotten about the two toys in all my recent decluttering and organizing frenzy, and though I had already spray painted a bunch of stuff recently, I hadn't yet done the Manhattan Toys!  As we were getting ready to move our boys downstairs to the basement, I found the two toys, and put them aside, excited for the prospect of spraying it gold!

I'll be honest.  It was not easy.  It took about 7 coats because the angle to get around each piece of wood and loop, as well as the sliding wood pieces on the Skwish classic, all made it hard.  But give up I did not, and a gold display piece I did get!

I think looking at the photo of it, you wouldn't even recognize that it's a children's play toy.  The bright colors are gone, the geometric shape is still intact, and it's a lovely trendy gold.  Gold!!!    So if you have any of these two Manhattan Toy toys, hang onto them, and do yourself a favor once your kids are done with them... spray paint them gold!  Upcycle win!  For less than $4 (the price of a can of spray paint), I got two amazing pieces!

Pro Tip: use gloves if you don't want a little sparkle on your fingertips, it washes off pretty easily if treated immediately.  

Here are my two Manhattan toys before the spray paint fun. 

I had to move the little balls and spray paint from all sorts of corners to get every nook and cranny. But I did it!  Virutal HIGH FIVE!!

Ta-da!!!  

Next project: use that clear liquid I bought four years ago to solidify fake water and freeze my fake flowers from the Dollar Tree .... 

So what do you think?  What color are you going to spray paint your toys?  Gold?  Rose Gold? Copper?  I think I may be in the mood for some copper upcycling next week, so stay tuned!  

Dagny's Cake Smash Fail

I first got the idea of cake smash photos from my sister-in-law.  We had always done a cake smash but we never took photos of it, in fact we only have short video snippets of Jordan and Bubba's cake smash.  There are definitely a lot of perks for being the third child... whereas some people do less with each additional child, I seem to be flipped and do more with each successive child.  

I wanted to make the cake myself, so I actually had a trial run a few months beforehand.  I also made Dagny a small black tutu, and decided to pair her bow with some black tulle also.  Pretty clever on my part, eh?  

We couldn't get Dagny to sit still, so we gave her one of her gifts, a toothbrush so she could join her brothers for morning and nighttime toothbrushing rituals.  It seemed to work for a bit...

 She didn't last very long.  Instead of digging into the cake, as we thought she would given her excellent independent eating habits, she refused to stay still or smash the cake as we had hoped.

Her sitting and slight interest soon turned to anger in the form of tears pleading for us to pick her up.  But with that cute cry on her face, I couldn't help but take a few photos first.

The toothbrush brought her back again and she seemed intrigued again.  But all we got were a few photos of her barely touching the cake.  Oh well.  I'm sure she'll appreciate the photos in the future.  

Do You Wanna Build a Snowman?

Well, that was the idea but the snow was quite fresh from a small dump yesterday and it's still dry and not sticking quite right.  But the boys were excited to go out and play (I don't usually offer for the record, but I felt like we ought to a few times before we left for DC), and Dagny was about to nap.. so it felt like good timing.

After the eternity of getting the boys both into their snow gear (and Bubba taking off his really hard to put on gloves once before realizing, oh I should keep these on and me learning, boots first then mittens), Dagny kept screaming from her crib that she wanted in on the action.  The boys were so excited, just itching at the door to get out.

As for Dagny... I swear, she is the best napper and sleeper and normally doesn't care if there are people outside, but she has this sixth sense for when we are doing more than just playing in the living room.  She wants IN on the fun stuff and knows when it's happening, so today was no exception.  She refused to nap and so we got her dressed as well.  At first, I put her mitten underneath her snow suit, but then it was so tough to get back into the snowsuit, I put her other mitten over it.  Jordan said she looked like Darth Vadar with one hand only.  HA!

the crew ready for action!

Dagny couldn't figure out how to move in her snowsuit

So we ventured out and probably hung out in the cold frigid weather (despite the sun being out, don't be fooled.. it was about 26 degrees) for about 25 minutes.  The boys loved running around in the snow, finding sticky snow that could be made into snowballs (they seemed to have more luck at this than yours truly), and throwing it at each other.  Dagny, meanwhile, was figuring out exactly what to do in all of this.  She stood for a bit, looking like a miniature snowman, but then she sat and observed her brothers play.

It was at this precise time that Bubba decided throwing snowballs at his little sister would be fun.  Poor Dagny didn't even flinch, she just sat there and looked slightly bewildered, slightly amused, not sure if she was supposed to cry or laugh.  I dusted the snow off her and she continued to watch the boys.  She got quite a quick out of when Jordan threw snowballs.  I imagine she will be quite the sassy snowball thrower when she's physically big enough to get around in snow gear.  

Bubba made some snow angels, ran around throwing snowballs at me, and Jordan went about digging some of the snow and looking for rocks underneath.  He hiked around the snow, threw snowballs at me, Grandma (who came after we started and hung out with us too... perks of living near grandparents!), and Grandma's car.  I suggested getting the sled out but they didn't want it, they simply wanted to play in the snow at their leisure so I happily obliged.  

picture perfect snow statue

after being assaulted by gege 

snow angels, rolling around, snowballs, etc. 

We finally decided the rosy red cheeks indicated it was time to go in.  The boys were not pleased, it took some serious bribing (at one point Jordan said, "Mommy, I don't want to watch a show later, I just want to play in the snow!), and finally ultimatums from Mom.  It was fun though, I'm glad I got outside of my comfort zone and maybe we'll do it again while our snow clothes are still drying on the carpet in the living room.

Who said there aren't perks to living in snowy Salt Lake City?  We got a playground of snow just outside.  But seriously, how many more times do you think we'll make it out again this year?

When Your Husband Can't Stand Being Home

When it snows pretty heavily and the roads are a mess, most people try to stay home.  My husband is not most people.  He loves his weekends with the family and is always itching to go do something. He's definitely not a homebody when it comes to spending time with the kids and is always looking to do something "fun" or as I like to explain, "expensive." 

So of course, this past weekend, we had to do something "fun" on Saturday!  We ended up at the Classic Fun Center which is about 20 minutes away.  I was a bit nervous since it was snowing and the roads weren't great, but he seemed confident that it'd be great.  

So we ventured off to the Classic Fun Center, aka land of feet smell.  It was Dagny's first time and she just wanted to be pushed around on the scooter the entire time.  She went around about 10 times and was anxious for more.  We also watched a magic show which Bubba lost interest but Jordan was absolutely captivated with.  

might be time to get her a scooter for DC!

The boys spent quite a bit of time playing together in the jungle gym, it's amazing what a difference a year or two makes.  I remember the last time we came, I was still pregnant and Bubba was still not quite able to navigate the scooter.  The time before, Jordan was a bit nervous on the jungle gym...even with his cousins with him there.  This time, he was confident and excited to play and Bubba, being the great little brother, just followed him along without fear, and the two had a great time.  My boys are so lucky to have each other, it makes me so happy to see them having a grand time and watching out for each other. 

Dagny had a great time in the baby section sliding down over and over again.  She is walking so much more now and avoids crawling if she can.  I can't wait for her to bigger so she can play with the boys on the big jungle gym too.  

We also went into the bounce houses, one of which had a huge foam pit with a large jump down!  I did the jump once with Bubba, and let me just say, I am a huge wimp.  My heart was beating for about 5 minutes after the jump, talk about an adrenaline rush I do not want!  I kinda hope my girls are as big of wimps as me, maybe that will make them goody two shoes like mom and keep them out of trouble hehe.  I guess I just really need want my kids to have a desire to do good, regardless of whether or not they're wimps, at the same time, when I look back at my own childhood and wonder why I didn't go to the dark side, it's mostly because I was a huge coward! I didn't want to go clubbing at the age of 15 with all the girls.  I didn't want to go raving when everyone was doing it.  I just wanted to read a good book at home.  Maybe I was always destined to become LDS.. ha! 

I digress.  So a bunch of Star Wars characters were at the Classic Fun Center when we first arrived, but we weren't really sure if it was for a party or what, so we didn't ask for a photo.  I know now that we could have and should have!  The boys kept asking if we could take a photo (there was Kylo Ren, Chewbaca, Princess Leia, Darth Vadar, and a Storm Trooper!) when I suggested we go take a photo with the Disney villains.  They didn't care for it, but I thought it'd be funny to get a photo with Ursula, who Uncle Ray is still a bit scarred and frightened by to this day (I may have had something to do with this.... ).  We took a photo and sent it to Uncle Ray.  He didn't respond yet.. maybe he wasn't amused.

So it was a good time.  I'm glad I trusted Andy's instinct that we should get out.  Despite the snowy roads, we made it safely there and back and the kids had a great time.  Andy went off to watch a BYU basketball game that started at 8 PM with his parents and aunt, while I put the kids to sleep at home and had some girlfriends over for a crazy girls night out (okay, yeah.. we just chatted and ate hummus with crackers), but boy was it fun for all.  I'm sure the trip to the Classic Fun Center helped set the mood for our weekend.  Sometimes, you just have to agree to your husband's suggestions even if at first you don't think it's the best idea.  

5 Ways I Keep Toys Under Control

I love organizing.  It's one of those things that just automatically triggers happiness in me, both the act of doing it and also the after comparison and satisfied feeling of where everything is.  In fact, it's scary but I know where almost everything is in our home.  When I tell Andy something is lost, it 99.9% of the time is indeed lost.  Other times, I obsess over where something is because I know where I left it but it's not there because I've reorganized and moved it (oops).  Much like my maternal grandmother, I can be known for hiding valuables in odd places and then forgetting about it later.  That said, the basic approach of boxes inside of boxes, organized by category, and labeled, are my favorite things to do.

When it comes to toys, it's inevitable that they will be everywhere with three kids ages 4 and under in the house all day everyday.  However, I have a few rules that the kids abide by and though we don't always keep it super strict (who says I can't have fun?!), the guidelines help us clean up and keep me and my feet sane and happy (have you ever stepped on or worst, tripped over kid toy?  so painful!).

1. Use Categories
My kids love this, and recently, I even busted out actual labels and wrote words.  I've seen some super organizers use photos but since I used vinyl stickers and a black sharpie, it was easier to use words.  Despite not knowing how to read, my kids can easily understand which box is for what based on the themes or categories that we use.

Here are some of our categories for baskets/bins down below: cars, planes, wood toys, Marvel, Star Wars, train tracks, car tracks, action figures (loosely ones that don't fit into our Marvel and Star Wars categories), guns, and Octonauts (their big ships).

Labels on baskets/bins below that are smaller than toys that can sit atop the shelf

From left to right and top to bottom: Train stands (for Chugginton sets), Nerf guns, Octonaut ships, car tracks (another set), wood toys, cars, action figures not Marvel or Star Wars, planes

more train tracks, girl toys (small but growing), Star Wars, train set (another one), pirates, marvel, and more train tracks (for Chuggington sets)

For smaller toys, I use clear boxes (obtained from Walmart) that snap close to contain smaller toy parts by categories like Octonauts (the smaller figurines), trains, cars, larger cars by sets, duplos, legos, music toys, puzzles, etc.

The rule is - they must have an adult help them get these down.  Of course, there have been times when they climb up, but more often than not, they'll ask me nicely to help.  We have boxes for legos, trains (that go with Chuggington set tracks), bullets for Nerf guns, cars, Octonauts, and more cars (they have one box with Hot Wheel type cars and another with larger ones)

2. Include Kids in Clean-Up
It does take more time, I am definitely better at quickly cleaning up than my kids.  But even if it's a tiny effort, I include them.  They can put toys into one box and be done, or help me move all the toys that have found their way into the rest of the house back into the playroom.  Jordan will alway tell me that "it's so much work!" or "it's so hard!" but that's the perfect time to remind him of the next rule of one toy at a time (or themed toy) or to clean as he goes so it's not torture at the end of the day.  My kids never ask my why they need to clean up when they're just gonna mess up again, because they've stepped on enough toys to know it's a painful process and they enjoy having the room to spread out and play.  Bubba is a lot more keen to help clean up than Jordan, he knows all the categories quite well for a 2 year old and it's mostly just because of the routine he's become accustomed to.

3. ONE Toy At a Time
I heard this from a friend once before I had kids.  I thought I'm definitely doing that but at the time, I actually envisoned ONE single toy.  Obviously, they don't always have ONE single toy  at any given time, but I encourage them to always have ONE box or ONE bin, so they're able to zone in on ONE theme and it's super easy to scoop up everything and return it to its rightful box.  There are exceptions, I'm not always around when they're playing unsupervised while I cook dinner, but they're surprisingly good at picking a theme and sticking to it.  Lately, it's been a lot of Star Wars toys or their new Marvel toys or dressing up.  The guns will find their way out about once a day too, but the point is - my encouraging them to consistently have one toy at a time is understood and when friends come over and want to play with something new, I've overheard Jordan advise them that they must clean up before they take out something else!  Once while playing with his friends, one of his besties asked me why we have to clean up all the time.  I just told him it's so we can play more without worrying where everything is!  It might suck during the process, but I've never heard any of my kids complain, Mom, why does everything have to be so easy to find? ugh, I was really hoping we'd lose our toys and not know where stuff is.  

4. Pick Up Throughout the Day
How many times do you sweep the floor with kids?  I'd say about 5 times a day, once after each meal and a few times between for snacks.  It's a constant battle, but it's one that's easier to win when broken down into little shifts.  I feel the same about toys.  I don't like to go to sleep with toys everywhere, I like to wake up with them all put away.  But throughout the day, there's also periodic times when we will just pick up and transfer stuff downstairs.  It makes the nightime task a bit easier to tackle and the kids get it.. it's part of the day and we don't let our toys take over.  Done and done.

For example, the kitchen toys love making their way into the rocking train.  No prob Bob, just make sure it all goes back into the kitchen before other toys come out and get muddled together and make it harder to clean up!

The tool table is popular and super easy to clean - all the tools just go into the shelf below or the space below that shelf.  Larger toys that don't fit into bins can sit atop the shelves without looking super cluttered because everything else is put away (Note: Star Wars toys)

5. Rotate Toys
I donate or throw away toys that are no longer being played with.  Some toys are great, they're just not currently age appropriate for the active boys, or they are just too excited about newer toys (Christmas just came), so for these, I rotate them by storing them neatly in the closet hallway.  Again, we try to use clear boxes so we can see what's in each box, and stack large toys at top.  When they toys are rotated back into the mix, it's like Christmas again because they haven't seen the toys in so long!

closet with rotated toys currently out of commission

So those are my top 5 ways I keep toys under control.  I understand that it's part of my current place in life, and I welcome toys in the home... but I don't need to step on one in the dark when I'm roaming around.  I also don't generally allow them to have toys in their rooms.  Of course, there's always about one or two, but we keep books and stuffed animals in the rooms only.  It helps keep the clutter down, especially when I dump all the clean clothes on their floor before I fold and put them away.

Yes, now is also a good time to talk about the elephant in the room.  We do have a CRAPLOAD of toys.  But having them organized and knowing that they get worked into the daily routine at least once a day makes me feel good about having so much.  My kids' playroom is a haven that I only dreamed of growing up, and we love hosting playdates and having friends come over to enjoy the space and toys with us.  My mom and brother will be the first to criticize that we have too many toys, but I was in daycare as a kid and my kids are not!  I didn't have a mom at home until the second grade and by that point, a box of Barbies and extra clothes and lots of books were all I wanted.  I am at home with my little kids ALL DAY LONG.  I also work part-time from home and it's pretty cold in SLC right now, so having a place to roam at home is important to me so I can check email periodically, make homemade meals (or heat up frozen stuff), and take calls as necessary.

Our play room is happy place for the kids to meander about, but it's also a relaxing place for me to sit and observe, sometimes catch up on a few work emails, or get on the carpet and play with them.  We're grateful for the space, and we're happy to fill it up with lots of organized toys!  

Some larger toys just can't be put away.. they sit out nicely in the space 

Dagny also knows exactly where things are that she wants to play with (the Star Wars bath toys)

Jordan found an old computer and it's in his train so he can use it to navigate when he's in the train, also do you like my polka dots?  Got bored one day and used my circle punch and vinyl sheets Andy gave me a few years ago...

Best Toilet Cleaning Tip EVERRRRRR!

You might recall upon getting married, I finally got down and dirty with cleaning the bathroom.  I admitted to having been quite spoiled up until I was 28 back here.   Since then, I've learned the art of cleaning the bathrooms frequently to prevent a massive deep cleaning hot mess.  I actually do clean the bathroom once a week, sometimes a little bit more if there's a bit of a need (you know....).

So imagine my frustration when I started noticing a weird ring around the toilet water in our basement bathroom.  We don't normally use the bathroom much downstairs so at first I thought it might be because Jordan forgot to flush and maybe the acidity in the pee left a ring.  But I wasn't sure if that was a legit scientific explanation.  I made sure to flush the toilet periodically downstairs in case Jordan forgot, but the ring persisted.  I couldn't figure out how to wash it out, the Clorox toilet bowl cleaner didn't seem to do much, Clorox bleach left overnight also didn't do much, and even the magic eraser didn't do any magic.

I was stumped.  And irked.  If I put effort into cleaning the effort once a week and it still looks like someone rarely cleans it, what's the point.  What's the point in life?  Or anything really?!  Oh pity party for one.  Woe is me.

And then, I missed the weekly bathroom cleaning in our master bedroom a few times, and then I noticed these weird black lines and just like the basement bathroom, it was too late... the stain stuck and I had no clue how to get rid of it! UgH.

And then, we went off for vacation in California, and though I had cleaned the bathroom before we left, it wasn't on the day before we left as I normally do when we depart for vacation... when we came back, the boys' bathroom had a weird yellow rim near the bottom where the water normally sits.  I couldn't believe it!  Three bathrooms?!  I was without a clue what to do.

After months of no improvement, I finally made the smart decision that we definitely needed some new toilets and maybe a professional cleaning crew to visit our home once in a while.  I quietly added it to my list of "things we will buy when Andy starts his real job post residency in 2017" (so far, there's also a tufted headboard, a nice garbage can that opens automatically with a sensor or a push of a foot, a new Tupperware set or two or three, and a full length nice mirror that won't fall on my kids), and thought there isn't much else I can do.

I thought about the cleaning ladies who used to come to my parents' home.  I tried to recall if there was something used that I didn't have in my repertoire of cleaning products.  Did I just have the wrong tools?  Or did I do it wrong?

Since Wednesdays are for cleaning the bathroom, I looked at the toilets in dejection after my weekly cleaning rituals.  Depressed, I wondered if there was something out on the world wide web that might have known something I didn't.  I quickly googled "clean toilet water stains" and came across a YouTube video of a real woman cleaning her toilet with some Bar Keepers Friend.  She had some pretty insane hard water stains, hers looked brown in fact.  She scrubbed and the stain came off, I couldn't believe it!  And the product she used?  Something I recognized immediately!

Back in 2012, while we were cleaning up our LA apartment and getting ready to rent it out, I had complained about some dirty shower parts I couldn't quite get clean (I actually have a solution for this too, will post later....)  Andy's Uncle Ike had suggested I get a bottle of "Bar Keepers Friend," he claimed it was a miracle worker.  So I got some, applied it to the dirty spots, and nothing happened.  I put it into our box of cleaning products and it made its way to Salt Lake with us.  I knew exactly where it was, and was so excited to try it.  I had nothing to lose anyway...!

I excitedly took a before photo and then while my kids were in school and/or napping, I put on my sleak awesome bathroom yellow rubber gloves, pulled out an old bathroom generic Scotch-Brite wanna-be green scour pad, poured some Bar Keepers Friend on it (after shaking it of course), and went to town on the bathroom water stains I haven't had any luck with.   Before I started scrubbing, I turned off the water, scooped out all the water so the cleaning product would be able to attack the stain without being diluted.

BEFORE: it's not awful, but it's just faintly got a yellow rim 

AFTER: amazing, I could feel the grim rubbing off with the solution 

Our bathroom BEFORE: weird black lines that won't go away

Our bathroom AFTER: gone! O M Goodness!

I haven't yet approached the basement bathroom because it's so cold down there, but if an opportunity arises while the kids are occupied tomorrow, yellow gloves, scour pad, and Bar Keepers Friend and me are on our way to clean that rim!  Is it odd that I am quite excited about the prospect of removing the stains and another before and after evidence that this stuff works?  I wish someone had told me about this earlier, but maybe not everyone knows about it yet.... so here I am screaming it at the top of my lungs....
BAR KEEPERS FRIEND is AMAZINGGGGG!!!

side by side comp: our bathroom

side by side comp: boys' bathroom

POUND IT!

Third Child Privileges

My first born didn't get to eat any candy until he was about 2 years old.  My second born had his first taste of candy around 18 months.  My third had her first taste at 14 months.

As you can see, she is beyond mesmerized...

Yesss sucka!

They weren't kidding when they said the first borns loosen up the parents and make it easy for the younger ones.  Personally, I just feel like with so much in the world to taste, why waste it on candy, something that will definitely be enjoyed by all?  I want to encourage my kids to have an inviting palate of foods ranging in texture, tradition, and tastiness.  And I need just one child to enjoy sushi with me (Andy isn't a huge fan, but he'll do California rolls, cream cheese rolls, and is always up for a good teriyaki chicken or bowl of ramen).  I've had real sushi twice in Salt Lake, once when my parents came to visit and once with some girlfriends for a birthday celebration.  Beyond that, I've had my fair share of Costco sushi, Dan's sushi, and Smith's sushi.