by christine victoria alexander

Wednesday, December 16, 2020

WATERCOLOR DREIDELS FOR HANUKKAH

People assume because I post pictures of painted dreidels and colored pictures that I am an arts and crafts mom. I am not. I love the arts, not so much the crafts. Over here we do all the painting, drawing, watercolors, pastels and crayons, but you won't find any Elmers glue or popsicle sticks at my house! I am so excited to see my love of the arts being passed down to my girls! Olive is an incredible artist - I just bought her two new sketch books to fill during nap time. I have stacks of her pictures saved to frame once we paint her room. She loves drawing and her pictures are so happy! Rosie enjoys drawing too, but I think she might lean more towards music. She recently discovered the piano and doesn't even change out of her pajamas before sitting down to play in the mornings. She can't wait to take lessons from her aunt when she gets a little bigger. It makes me so happy to have a home filled with music and drawing and laughter all day! It's like living in a toddler version of Little Women! 😂



Today we didn't have anywhere to be, so we pulled out our watercolors and painted dreidels for Hanukkah! I was a little nervous it might be a huge mess letting paints loose with three children under 5 at the table, but I was pleasantly surprised! We spent about an hour painting away and then cleaned up for lunch. The watercolors were a lot more manageable than acrylic paints and aside from the little bowls of water my only cleanup was wiping the table down after we finished. I let the dreidels dry on paper towels while we ate lunch and then used a black sharpie to write the Hebrew letters on them. I know these will make me smile every year when I pull out our Hanukkah bin! 

Hope you are all having a wonderful Hanukkah week! Tag me in your photos if you try painting dreidels! xx

SHARE:

Friday, December 4, 2020

20 SMALL BUT IMPORTANT THINGS I DID THIS WEEK

Sometimes a week will go by and someone will ask me, "So what did you do this week?" and I can't seem to think of anything really significant I did all week. There's an awkward pause as I fumble around in my head for anything more exciting than "I cleaned the bathroom and cooked dinner every night." Does this happen to you, too?

Even when you break down the most exciting careers, they are all just a series of small tasks and actions that come together to create something that we view altogether as "exciting". This morning, as I made breakfast for the girls, put in a grocery order, wiped up my kitchen and put a load of laundry on, I realized that all these not-so-noteworthy tasks add up to me being a successful wife and mother!  

If you are in a similar place, maybe reading through this list will remind you that you are not alone in your motherhood journey. The little things are sometimes the things that matter the most. 

20 SMALL BUT IMPORTANT THINGS I DID THIS WEEK

1. I read books to my girls.

2. I washed my sheets. 

3. I cooked dinner every night.

4. I had lunch with my mom. 

5. I tucked my girls in and prayed for them every night. 

6. I sat at the table and colored with Olive and Rosie while dinner cooked. 

7. I gave my girls a bath.

8. I listened to my Hypnobabies audio and visualized my birth. 

9. I brushed Olive's hair.

10. I kissed more boo boos than I can count.

11. I hugged my girls. 

12. I sang songs with Rosie.

13. I helped Olive practice her handwriting.

14. I cleaned the dishes in the sink.

15. I washed and folded the laundry.

16. I took the girls on a date. 

17. I vacuumed my house.

18. I rocked Madeline when she woke up in the night. 

19. I planned activities to make our holiday season memorable. 

20. I took a nap. 

Charles Spurgeon once said, "You are as much serving God in looking after your own children, and training them up in God's fear, and minding the house, and making your household a church for God, as you would be if you had been called to lead an army to battle for the Lord of hosts." 

The next time someone asks me what I did all week, I might just point to my clean home and my healthy, happy children and say, "I did THIS!" and leave it at that! 

SHARE:

Wednesday, December 2, 2020

THE GREAT KITCHEN MAKEOVER: STORAGE & ORGANIZATION

We still don't have cabinet doors but that's not stopping me from tackling the heap of kitchen items in my dining room! I am slowly, and intentionally, finding new places to store everything. When we moved into this house the kitchen was as big as out entire downstairs at our old townhouse. I'm being serious. I think I filled up maybe 3 of the kitchen cabinets with all of my cookware. 4 years later... our family has grown, my cookware collection has grown, we entertain more, and it's time to start filling these cabinets! I never really liked using the lower cabinets because they were so dark and the idea of reaching around in one to fish out a mason jar for a smoothie sounded gross. I mostly used the uppers and stored odds and ends like booster seats or placemats in the lower ones. As we start to put the kitchen back together, I really want to utilize the space a little more, be more practical with my storage, and really make my kitchen work for me

We (literally Isaac and I - I am SO proud of us for doing this ourselves!) installed sliding drawers in almost all of the lower cabinets and they might be THE most amazing part of this kitchen renovation! I love that I can pull them out to see what's in the cabinet! Talk about feeling like a new kitchen! Paint is one thing but being able to USE my space more is so rewarding! I'm storing tea, coffee, mason jars, mugs, glass-locks, vitamins, coloring books, diapers, wipes, pots and pans in my lower cabinets now and all of that used to be somewhere else - somehow!

I bought this Canvas Drawer Liner to line my shelves and sliding drawers. I had tried the sticky adhesive kind of shelf paper when we first moved in and had a really tough time with it. I only got one drawer lined and it was so hard to use. This canvas liner, on the other hand, is wonderful and incredibly easy to use! I could not be happier! It's rubbery on the back so it doesn't slip and the canvas feels so nice and soft. Putting away pots and pans has never been so quiet. 😁 I would use it in every drawer and cabinet, and I just might! 

I have two of these madesmart Lazy Susans to store spices in my cabinet, but had never thought to use them in the pantry for my condiments until I saw this photo on Pinterest! Brilliant! 

Another area that needed a little love was the higher shelves in my upper cabinets. It was a a graveyard of baby supplies: baby bottles, pump parts, milk storage bags, a bottle warmer, mesh feeders, baby food containers, and did I mention baby bottles? To clean that space up I used a few of these Water Hyacinth Storage Bins. One bin held all the baby supplies so the other two large ones are actually hiding Christmas gifts right now. 😂 I used the smaller tray to hold cold medicine and teething droppers. I have a bunch of the hyacinth baskets in my pantry as well - they're a great size and very sturdy. 


Once we get our drawers painted I'll be tackling organizing those next! I'm pretty excited about it! I'm not a super neat and tidy person but when I do get something organized I am soooo much better at keeping it that way. Also, it has been my experience that cleanliness = sanity and sanity = a peaceful home. Hugs to you all and thanks for reading along while I share about these little parts of our life right now! xx
SHARE:
Blogger Template Created by pipdig