Elf on the Shelf

This year we're starting a new tradition, one that I'm so excited about. We're introducing Elf on the Shelf to our oldest son, Red. Red is two and a half and I think this was the perfect age to bring one into our home. He arrived one morning with a hot cocoa party and his book. There was also a letter from Santa explaining everything to the boys.

At the end of the Christmas season last year I scooped up holiday paper goods at 90 percent off at Target and put them away with our Christmas gear. When I opened the boxes this year, there they were. A party in a box! Red was stunned when he woke up that morning.

So far our elf hasn't done too much around the house, as I'm not sure Red would really get it this year. Pinterest is chock full of ideas though, so I look forward to using some of those in the years to come. We also thought Red was too small to really name our elf, so Husband and I named him Griswald.

You never know where you might find that Griswald!

Thanksgiving

This year I'm thankful for a lot of things. First, my health. The pregnancy with the twins was hard, and I'm so glad to be feeling like myself again with a working body. Speaking of twins...

 I'm thankful for these little boogers.

I'm also thankful for my first born baby and his immense patience with us this year.

And I would be remiss if I didn't mention husband. He took such good care of our family this year. He's a great dad and a wonderful husband.

I hope you have a great Thanksgiving!

Ps. I didn't forget the dachsie. I'm thankful for him too.

The Kitchen Tools Drawer

One of the first drawers to get junked up in my house is the one that holds all of the "tools" I use in the kitchen. This drawer houses items like the can opener, cheese knives, ice cream scoop and our reusable chopsticks. This is what it looked like before:

Yikes. Nothing was very accessible, the organizing tray was haphazardly thrown in there, and there were some items that clearly didn't belong (ahem, painting supplies). I dumped everything out and started fresh. After giving the drawer a good wipe down, I lined the with the shelf paper that I've been slowly putting in all of our drawers and cabinets.

I edited out the items that didn't belong, put the organizer in correctly, and added items back into the drawer in a way that made sense to me. I put like items together as much as possible. For instance, all of the entertaining items, such as the tiny ladles and cheese knives, went in the same section.

Everything is now in an appropriate spot and easy to find. It should make finding the right tool much easier in the kitchen.

Golden Pumpkins

Red and I spent a quick few minutes crafting the other day with our Thanksgiving table in mind. I have a bunch of mini pumpkins all over our house, remnants from Halloween last month, so I decided to jazz them up a little bit for Thanksgiving. This was a very simple project that took only a few minutes of my time and used what I had in the house.

I had some Valspar spray paint in Gold in the garage, so we ventured out into the backyard with our pumpkins and got to work. I was a bit concerned that I would need to prime the pumpkins first so that the orange color from some of them would not bleed through, but it wasn't needed. One thing I would do differently is to start by spraying the bottom first. I sprayed the top first and I had a couple of places stick to the newspaper even after letting them dry for a bit. On the bottom the smudges wouldn't be noticeable.

Once I sprayed the top, we went upstairs and had a little almond butter and apple snack. It was a hit with Red.

We let them dry for about thirty minutes, flipped them over and repeated the spraying process. Quick, even strokes make for a smooth finish. We let them dry for another thirty minutes and they were done.

Easy peasy! Now I just need to figure out how I'm going to use them in my Thanksgiving tablescape.

Target Finds

Mr.Mr. had a couple of doctor appointments yesterday, so we had a bit of time to kill between them. Imagine that, we found ourselves at Target! Look at some of the cute finds from the dollar section for the holiday season coming up.

The pillow was $3, and the two signs and candy dish were only a buck each! I'm always looking for little ways to add holiday magic to our house  and I love the idea of putting these signs on our bookshelves.

This silver tray isn't necessarily only for the holidays, but I'm sure I'll find a place for it shortly. One of the best parts is that I found it on clearance! The endcaps are great places to find a deal.

Dining Room Organization

I will go ahead and admit it. I have a Target problem. I don't think that I'm alone in my addiction to all things bullseye, but I was pretty sure for a while that Red's first word was going to be "Target." Thankfully it wasn't (it was Dada), but I do love that store!

We have a very open floor plan on our main living level, so everything has to flow from room to room.  When I found this little table, I knew it would be perfect addition to the room. It sits right next to our dining room table and holds our paper recycling as well as some eating essentials. The pop of color it provides ties in nicely with the rug in the living room.

On top of the table is a small lamp to add ambiance and the caddy that contains salt and pepper, Tabasco and washcloths. After using waaaaaay too many paper towels cleaning off Red at the end of a meal, we decided to invest in some reusable washcloths. 

The baskets are another Target find. The left one holds paper bags and the right holds our paper recycling. 

 I like the drawers on this piece of furniture because it helps hide some everyday items at arm's reach. The one on the left holds extra bibs and overflow washcloths.

The right drawer contains our casual cloth napkins and napkin rings. We have fancier napkins, but since they're not used as much, they're kept a bit more out of the way.

I love this table so much I want to find another one for our bedroom. I've recently decided to put a little coffee bar in our room because sometimes I'd love to have a cup of coffee before heading downstairs. My littles can sense the moment my toes touch the hardwood in the hallway and it would be nice to have that as an option.

A Family, A House, A Blog

Hi,  I'm Jill. I'm going to use this blog to document our family, our house and any other projects along the way. By way of introduction, I'll show you my little family.

We clean up really nice!

In the back row is me and my husband. We met in college in 2003 and were married in 2008. The front row is the next generation. From left to right are "Hen," "Red," and "Mr.Mr." Red was born in April of 2011 and the twins came along in June of 2013. Not pictured above is our wire-haired dachshund named Charlie. He joined our fledgling family way back in 2009.

That dog is a sticker magnet!

We bought our townhouse in the autumn of 2012 in a suburb of Washington DC. Luckily husband doesn't work in town, so his commute isn't terrible. We're slowly but surely making this place our own.
I hope to show before and afters, updates after we've lived with things a while, pinterest inspired crafts (and flops of course), and a snapshot of what life is really like with three boys two and under!