Pinterest Fail and Prevail/ Microwave Cleaning

I'm in a season of Pinterest addiction. It's sort of my unwind time. My get-my-mind-on-other-things time. I would consider the amount of time I spend browsing to be my FAIL if I wasn't finding such handy little ideas...

Like a post about microwave cleaning. PREVAIL!

You're looking at my microwave above, after the wipe down.  I am not going to be showing you the before picture because I have my pride, you know. But it was bad. Really bad.

I put a cup of hot water and a cup of white vinegar in this pyrex, set the cook time for 10 minutes and watched the water and vinegar boil and steam the whole microwave. Then I took a towel and wiped the baby down and everything came off like some glorious infomercial. It was so easy! (and boiling hot...be careful!)

Click here for more clever household helps.

home tour: little house on the grovestead

Oh goodness. A while back I said I would do a home tour. And I've heard from a few friends saying they've been waiting for that post.

This is a good blogging lesson. Never announce you're going to do a post like this before you get it put together. Because it sort of turns the post into uninspired homework. Like I assigned work to myself. Gross. But because I'm a great student, I will follow through. E for Effort.

A few things before we begin the home tour:
1. I'm trying not to post any pics of the outside of our house.
2. I'm not a stellar photographer.
3. When we first moved in, we got a few things on the walls, bought some curtains and then I ran out of steam in the decorating. And I haven't touched a thing in months. I have hopes and dreams to bedazzle it up a bit, but for now, the downstairs is pretty empty (though full of toys).

We'll begin with our bedroom. It's the smallest in the house, and is the walk through to the nursery. It fits our bed and a hemnes secretary desk and two dressers. It is tight. And when it's not picked up, if feels quite cozy. But it works. That heart on the wall is a favorite. It reads: Together is such a nice place to be. And it is.

We make our bedroom work because we wanted Ivar to have the big room so that it could double as the playroom. Eventually he'll be joined by siblings and there is plenty of room for that. I love Ivar's room. In the afternoon it is full of sunshine and we spend a lot of time playing on the carpet.

Elsie's room can be seen here. But I did want to point out that Elsie's window is the best one to watch the garbage man every Tuesday morning, a highlight of our day, and sometimes our week.

When we first saw this house I was thrilled about all of the carpet and the side by side living rooms. In the day of hard wood floors, this is sort of funny to admit. But I love our carpet so much.

The staircase is the only woodwork original to the house. It is beautiful. The railing is super short...like really super short, but it is perfect for Ivar. And notice the door at the bottom of the stairs. That door at the bottom of the stairs used to be the front door to the house, but the lane was moved when this farmland was subdivided, and then the garage was built on the backside of the house, which is now the front side. Confused? So are we. We have real troubles saying, "in the backyard" or "in the front yard" It's not so clear with our house...

Lately when I am in this room I believe I can hear the walls saying, "paint me! paint me!" So we'll add that to the list of when-the-spirit-moves projects.

Pictured below is sort of a second living room. We think it might have been where the original kitchen was, before the addition. We first used it to house Rory's office, then it held our Christmas tree. Now I use it as a crafting space, but we are super excited to be adding a huge picture window to this room (on the couch side) and front door to our house. Currently everyone enters through our garage. Even the UPS guy. Even the Jehovah's Witness.

There are a few pictures of the kitchen here from the day my aunts came to visit. And this post is omitting the bathrooms and the laundry room because, well, they're what you'd expect.

This concludes the home tour. I appreciate it when bloggers I follow let me into their home...sort of helps set the setting for all of their storytelling. But if you thought this totally self indulgent and weird, it probably was that too.

Have a happy Monday. :)

happy weekending

We are getting some good snow here today. Planning to lay low. And go to a fish fry for supper!
Happy Weekend!

quick meal idea

If you have followed this blog for any length of time, you know that I have some struggles with suppertime. I've gone through seasons of making up meal menu's, choosing 'kitchen table' as my one little word to focus on for the year of 2012, and in general had issues with planning enough in advance so that everything isn't still in a frozen state when it's time to start prepping the meal.

So when I find a quick meal that is healthy too, I sort of feel obligated to share the love. Because you've seen me through some mealtime highs (Sunday night grocery shopping is the new kick I'm on. I've also blogged enthusiastically about Once a Month Meal Making, which lasted for exactly one month...) even if they're short lived.

But this recipe is a winner. And it's easy. And the following can all be purchased at a Target that is not even Super. Heh. (Like the Targets that have the mini grocery stores in them...)

We've got four ingredients here: Turkey Kielbasa, Purple Onion, Sugar Peas and Sweet Peppers.

I cut everything up, put it in the electric skillet, adding no seasonings or sauces and waited until everything got a bit browned. We ate it with rice that I made with chicken broth and it was a huge hit. And so easy.

Enjoy!

play a game board!

Ivar has a way with words:
+He and Rory have a special bonding ritual sharing mandarin oranges right out of the can. Ivar calls them Mandaray Oranges.
+He calls chocolate Chlocklick
+He calls his step stool a Step Stoolul
+Stawberries are Strawbolies
+He says funny things like, "oh elsie, look at that smile!" and holds her chin
+And he was quoted saying, "I make the air poopie. I tooted!"
+His favorite nonsense word is saucy shooshoo
+A favorite pastime is to "play a game board!" Chutes and Ladders and Candy Land are favorites. In Candy Land, if a double red is drawn, your guy can pick any red place to land. Forward or back, there is no real end to that game. In Chutes and Ladders we let our guys play on the game board like a big playground. Again, no winning. Just playing. Up and down the slides, stopping for a snack by the girl who is stealing cookies out of the cookie jar, visiting the boy who is helping the kitty out of the tree.
+And just today I heard myself remind him, "Ivar, you cannot draw on your sister's feet."

Mashed-up Love

Our church is in the middle of a sermon series on love and marriage. It's been really, really good. The first Sunday they introduced the series with the performance above. Bree put the whole thing together and I was so impressed. I loved it and was excited when the video went up on youtube...wanted to pass it along!

date questions

The night Rory proposed to me was a complete surprise. I thought I was going dog-sitting. Instead, I was getting a diamond ring on my finger. Then he took me to my parents house where our families were gathered to celebrate. And when everyone left, Rory gave me a card with two airline tickets for Chicago. He said we would leave in the morning.

We flew to Chicago and stayed with a friend of Rory's from college. Tony and his wife Glenda had just had their first baby, Luke. Luke was little...like maybe a month or two old. We walked into their house with love and happiness overflowing, giddy with joy and dreamy thoughts of our life to come. And in the most perfect way I could ever imagine, Tony and Glenda sort of counseled us on what was to come. Not the bad and the ugly...but the real stuff. The exhausted moments, the rough patches, the stuff that gets forgotten when you're trying on big white dresses and taste testing beautifully frosted cakes.

I look back at that little getaway with so much thankfulness. Conversations were deep and honest and each night Rory would come into their home office where I was staying and we'd talk about our marriage that was coming after the wedding.

While on that trip we made a list of Date Questions. These have become a cornerstone in our marriage. Intended to be brought out once a month, these little questions were written in response to the honesty Tony and Glenda were speaking. 

Our first year of marriage Rory kept these questions in his wallet and we referred to them often. Eventually they were taped in a kitchen cupboard in Minneapolis. And we talked about them once in a while. But then we stopped using them. 

On Valentine's Day I opened my card from Rory and there was the little paper that has been with us for eight years now. 

So over heart-shaped sushi rolls and Hibachi chicken, we took it from the top and discussed all ten questions. It was so good. These questions are pretty awesome. They get you talking about things that might not come up naturally, but should be discussed. And they are proactive. They don't leave you stuck and frustrated. They help you make a plan for the month ahead. 

So here they are. (We decided we would look at them at the beginning of each month...even if we aren't out of the house on an official date.) 

Date Questions:

1. Does the way we spend our time reflect our priorities (God, each other, family, friends)

2. What have we done outdoors in the last month?

3. Did we speak each other's love language last month? 

4. Can we schedule in intentional downtime this month?

5. How have we served others in the past month?

6. Is there something unique we could plan this month?

7. Are there any special demands, deadlines or events the other person should be aware of? How can we support each other?

8. Highpoints/Lowpoints- Is there any way to avoid the low points?

9. Is there anyone in our lives who could use some special TLC + prayer?

10. Do we need to plan any getaways for vacations this month?

Elsie's smile

I have been trying to capture it for weeks. And in an awesome twist, my beloved neighbor girls got the Very Happy Elsie Smile caught on camera while babysitting.

Oh Elsie, you are such a joy. (And clearly you love your babysitters!)

two little cupids

Two Little Cupids are wondering why on earth their mother has them stripped down to their diapers and holding a bow and arrow. 

Two Little Cupids hope you had a very Happy Valentines Day!

Tiny Heart

My great grandma's name was Bertha. She came to America from Sweden when she was 19. She worked for a while and then went back to Sweden to get her little sister and her niece, Ebba. The story of these three women, coming to America has completely captured my imagination. There are terrible trials and hardships...and they were alone. Bertha's little sister died after just two years in America of typhoid fever and Bertha had to write a letter to her mom and dad back in Sweden telling them the crushing news.

I've been reading all about my family's history: from farming in Sweden to homesteading in Southern Minnesota. My Aunt Jan compiled numerous interviews, newspaper articles, and personal narratives into one incredible page-turning book. (Cousins. If you haven't read the Bredberg History book we all got at Grandma's party, get it out. Start at the part that begins with Great Grandma Bertha. You'll be so proud to be her great grandchild!)

Sadly, I'm years late in realizing what a treasure I have had in my possession. Aunt Jan gifted these books to all of us years ago. I never read mine. Now she's gone and I am spellbound by our family story. I wish I could call her and thank her. I wish I could sit down with my grandma and ask more questions.

In an effort to seize the day, I called up Ebba's daughter, Ferne. Ebba was the niece that my great grandma brought back to America with her. Ferne has always been a part of my life, at every Bredberg gathering I can think of. A great storyteller and a great big personality.

I took Elsie on Saturday to visit with Ferne and her daughter Chris in South Minneapolis. And we heard many more stories. I asked more questions. And I have a feeling we just skimmed the surface. I can't wait to go back and hear more.

But maybe my favorite new piece of history that I learned is this: Ferne, holding Elsie above, was best friends with Elsie Cash, my grandma's sister and my baby Elsie's namesake. Elsie was Ferne's maid of honor. Their farms neighbored each other and they had special signals to greet each other by flashing their car lights towards the other farm, or flicking the kitchen lights at the end of the day. Ways of saying "good night" and "hello." When they were young they did a demonstration speech together for 4H on making bread and Ferne said, "we can't remember who said it. I thought she said it, she thought I said it, but one of us said, 'You'll know your dough is ready when you can touch it and it doesn't stick to your hands or your feet.' Oh we laughed about that."

This was a treasure. To get to know a bit more of Elsie Cash and to watch 98-year-old Ferne hold my Elsie.

Ferne is a writer, speaker and poet. My dad sent this poem to me when he heard I was going to visit her. I thought it was the perfect poem to share today, on Valentines Day.

Tiny Heart
by Ferne Nelson, 2002

My tiny heart began with a gentle beat
Close to my Mother's heart

Upon my birth the beatings became stronger
Giving vigor to my infant body

Through childhood, youth years and adult life
There has been a steady beat

Increasing activities made demands
My faithful heart worked well

It has sustained me these many years
and I've had love and joy

Some days the gentle beat will return and take me
close to the heart of my Lord

life at the grovestead/ for the grandmas

I got a phone call from my mom saying she needed more pictures of her grandkids. So this post is dedicated to Grandma Margaret!

A few notes from the pictures above:

+Elsie loves to bounce in her exersaucer. She is getting so big! Rolling over, laughing at her brother, smiling with one goofy tooth on the bottom.

+When Ivar gets in the car he yells "Country Roads, Loud!" And as soon as John Denver is done singing that song he yells "Country Boy, Loud!"

+That pink outfit Elsie is wearing used to be mine. Donna Solomonson made it for me and now it fits my daughter. I love it so much. The top zips in the back, all the way up the hood. I love that it fits her perfectly just in time for Valentines!

+We had Annika and girls over on Martin Luther King day. It was below zero so we had a summer lovin' party. Swimsuits in the bathtub, smoothies, fresh pineapple and ants on a log for snacks, a swimsuit dance party and I may or may not have greeted them wearing my very own swim suit and dancing to Sonsurf Beach Camp, their favorite VBS cd. And that may or may not have completely startled the poor girls walking through the door.

+Sonna came over for a sleepover towards the end of Christmas break and helped me finish the stars for Elsie's room. And then she sewed this beautiful heart garland.

rhythm and routine: meal planning

I remember once reading on a blog about a mom who makes homemade pizza for her family every Saturday night. She had perfected her pizza dough recipe and was boasting of how easy this meal was, how she always had shredded mozzarella, pepperoni and pesto in the freezer. How once she learned how to make the dough, there couldn't have been an easier meal. How she suddenly felt off the hook to meal plan on the weekends, because this homemade pizza somehow scored huge points with everyone in the family.

I remember reading that and thinking Eeyore thoughts about how lovely it all sounded. How I wish I could have homemade pizza every Saturday night. 

I read that blog post years ago, so it only took me a couple years to snap out of it. And to realize that homemade pizza night could happen at my house too. Poor Eeyore. Makes everything seem so hard.

I started Pizza Saturday at the beginning of January and it only took me three failed pizzas to find the dough recipe my family likes the best. The rejects were edible, but the dough didn't rise, and we weren't excited about it. But last week we hit the jackpot with this recipe. (It's a breadstick recipe...) And this recipe for the sauce. 

I write all of that because I am afraid when you read this next part, your Inner Eeyore may flair up. But if you are a mom trying to figure out meal planning and prep, I think I might have just landed on something very handy.

And it begins at McDonalds.

Since the new year began, we have spent each Sunday night at McDonalds. While there, Ivar munches on his chicken nuggets and apple slices. I eat a Southwest Salad and Rory enjoys his value meal. And as I sneak fries from Rory, I write out the grocery list.

I choose three meals for the week ahead, based off of this meal plan:
Saturday night: Pizza Night
Sunday night: McDonalds and Grocery Shopping
Monday: Supper #1
Tuesday: Leftovers
Wednesday: Supper #2
Thursday: Supper #3
Friday: Leftovers

I combine the list that I made on the fridge all week (the things we ran out of) with the list of food I need for these three meals and add all the usual's as well. (dairy, produce, cereal, lunch stuff and snacks...)

For example, this week we are having Supper #1: Roast Chicken, Supper #2: Chicken Noodle Soup, Supper #3: Pork Chops.

I organize the shopping list in order of the store and then we head to Cub Foods.

When we get there, I rip the list in half and Rory takes Elsie to find the aisle stuff and I get the produce, meat and dairy with Ivar.

We are done and out of there in less than thirty minutes. No joke. And because everyone is well rested from nap time and has a full belly from Micky D's, we tend to be in very happy moods too.

The truth is, we come home, put the groceries away and I listen to my husband say how much he loves his Sunday night with his family. How he loves how much less money we are spending on meals never eaten and produce gone bad.

Stop! I can hear your Inner Eeyore from here! I can! Tell him to pipe down. Because this is a great plan.

As I listen to Rory, happy over the food we have in the house, I'll sit there and think, Three Meals! I am getting off the hook by making three meals a week! (The pizza meal doesn't really count because it really is as easy as that happy blogger years ago said it would be.)

I feel safe to report all of this now, because we have pulled this off for seven weeks. Going strong. Last night I was terribly ill with aches and shakes, so Rory took Ivar while Elsie and I stayed home and started season one of Gilmore Girls. And even still, Rory came through the door happy as ever telling me how much he loves Sunday night grocery shopping.

It may be that we are in the middle of a Minnesota winter and that a trip to Cub feels as exotic as anything. It may be that once the grass is visible again we'll again draw straws for who has to go. But for now, we're loving Grocery Sundays, Laundry Mondays, and Pizza Saturdays. (Not to mention Leftover Tuesdays and Fridays!)

a valentines tradition

I remember reading Real Love for Real Life by Andi Ashworth. (An absolute favorite, by the way). In there she talks about a tradition she started with her family when her kids were younger. She had each member of the family write a letter to every other member of the nuclear family. It was to be a love note, telling you mom why you love her, telling your dad why you love him, telling your brother why you love him.

Of course it took some doing, getting everyone to write those letters. But after the first year it became an annual tradition and one of the most anticipated nights of the year. She would serve supper by candle light and  after the meal each person read their letters.  She said as the kids got older there were often tears shared by all.

She saved the family letters in the three ring binder. Can you think of any greater family treasure?

So I broke the news to Rory last night. He's on board. I gave him six days notice. That's probably about right. Obviously our kids are a bit little to write their own letters, but I think I could write a note on Ivar's behalf, or have him tell me what he wants Elsie to know and write what he says word-for-word. Those are always funny letters later.

But as the kids grow, they'll enter in. What a joy!

the ipotty

Rory's friend pointed our soon-to-be potty training attention towards this advancement in human ingenuity. And I guess it made me a bit concerned for that ipad. Do the parents understand how very dirty it is likely to become?

 

You can get your ipotty on Amazon.

 

 

an update on the hymn cards

They are such a simple idea. I made my first set of Hymn Cards for Ivar's room so that I could sing these long lasting songs to my little baby growing inside of me. I remember sitting in my glider rocker, big and round, holding my hands on my belly and singing these promises to him. Each song serving as the perfect lullaby.

I had lots of family and a few friends ask for a set. And after there seemed to be enough interest, Rory encouraged me to see if they would sell on my blog. We worked hard together. He showed me around paypal and helped me set up an account. I tested a few different print shops and looked for the best quality and best deal. I tried to figure out a good price for the effort put into these cards, printing, shipping and my own time.

And it has been a blast. I was overwhelmed and so grateful for the response. So excited that these lyrics might be sung in so many homes all week long, and not just saved for Sunday mornings.

I got a lot of excited feedback and that felt so good. My favorite response was from my childhood friend Charlie and his wife Katie. Charlie and I literally grew up together. We did a group presentation in second grade that I remember vividly. And then we became percussionists in fifth grade and were good. This set us on a path to challenge each other for first chair for the next seven years of our lives. And then our senior year, I dropped out of band. (totally unrelated, but this is probably my #1 life regret).

Okey dokey. Back to the point. My third grade teacher, Mrs. Ice (here she is at Ivar's baby shower) gifted Katie and Charlie with a set of Hymn Cards and Katie hung every single one in their baby's nursery. She showed me the picture above on Christmas Eve when I saw them at church. Katie is a really gifted singer and I felt so glad to think of her singing these songs to their sweet little girl. She hung them so creatively (with ribbon and pop tabs!) and framed the rest.

It was such a cool moment for me. The whole experience has been so amazing. To see a very simple idea, something that I feel has worth, put out there into the world and then appreciated and celebrated. What a joy! It has me thinking of all sorts of other creative projects.

Each week I still get a purchase or two. It's so fun. Makes me excited to think of all the quality promises being sung in so many homes.

***
I added a handy little button over on the side there, if you'd like to order a set of your own. 

how to build a cabin in the woods

...and that is how you build a cabin in the woods.

quick trip to the farm

We took our southern most winter getaway this weekend to Welcome, Minnesota. It was a wonderful overnight filled with Sarah's homemade milky way cheesecake, Aunt Louie's caramel rolls (grandma's recipe) and Aunt Annie's rhubarb pie. (We were only there for twenty hours!)

Lots of snuggles were given. Ida and Elsie tried to take a nap together. Aunt Louie tried to climb over the back of the bench for lunch. (Which Ivar still is talking about, "Auntie Lou Lou get stuck. Laughing. So funny.") Uncle Jake handed off his latest issue of Machinery Trader to Ivar as well as a few tractor calendars. And Stella had a good rest with Elsie on the floor.

And the ice was amazing. That is gravel under the ice...but you'd never know it. It was as smooth as glass. Should have had ice skates.