mommyhood | mostefinitely

October 19, 2021October 19, 2021

All about our complete kitchen remodel

Back in January, we began the first of two major remodeling projects at our house. From January to March, All in One Kitchen and Bath transformed our main bathroom from a white-tiled 90s paradise to a gorgeous oasis.

It was during the early stages of the bathroom project that we asked our designer Cara to come up with a design for our dream kitchen. While well-appointed and with some great features, our kitchen was head-to-toe oak, the floors matching the cabinets, with earthy tones throughout. Very 90s/early 2000s. We dreamed about white cabinets, darker floors, a backsplash similar to the subway tile in our new shower, and making the space more functional. We never used the small bar sink, the microwave was below counter level, and we wanted a narrower island to help open up the space.

Here’s how our kitchen looked before the renovation

Knowing that All in One’s schedule was already filling up for 2021, we locked in a summer start date. We figured that between time away at the lake and a couple of planned trips, it wouldn’t be so bad to live through another renovation.

October 11, 2021October 14, 2021

Check out Jack O’Lanterns Unleashed at Ingham County Fair

As you can probably tell, it’s been a minute since I’ve written on my blog. We had quite a summer and I have a lot of backlogged content I’m hoping to get to soon, especially as both of our girls have been back to school in person.

While some of that content to come is a bit more evergreen (including our recent kitchen remodel), I’d be remiss if I didn’t take a moment to write about a fantastic fall activity we just experienced that is perfect for families.

Last Friday night, we attended the first evening of the Ingham County Fairgrounds’ Jack O’Lanterns Unleashed, a walkable Halloween experience in Mason, Michigan that includes thousands of hand-carved pumpkins with multiple themes and installations. 2021 marks the first year for Jack O’Lanterns Unleashed, but I’m certain it’ll be a must-do for families every fall to come.

I was starting to see targeted ads on my Facebook account for the experience in September, but didn’t know what to expect. It sounded like a fun Halloween activity that would be good for all ages. We invited my in-laws to join us and bought tickets for the first time slot of the first night, figuring it will only get colder as we get closer to Halloween.

Ticket information

Tickets range from $8-12 for children and adults; kids under 5 are free. When you visit the ticket page, you’ll see $30 VIP tickets listed at the top. These tickets allow visitors to do the experience any day and time slot of their choice, but as you scroll down the page, you’ll see the dates and tickets at the lower price point. Tickets are also available at the gate, but will be a slightly higher price and are dependent on availability.

February 24, 2021February 24, 2021

The hats I used to wear before the pandemic

I’ve been feeling a general sense of malaise lately. Haven’t we all?

It might be because of last week’s cold weather, those days of oppressive snowfall and gray. It might be because our oldest daughter is facing the fact that we’ll be ringing in her eighth birthday in the same subdued way we ended up celebrating in March 2020; her birthday party was one of our first planned events canceled due to COVID concerns.

Maybe it’s the fact that we are almost approaching the one-year mark of this pandemic we all trying to cope with. Even with the onset of warmer weather and in-person instruction on the horizon (any change to our routine or opportunity for new activity outside of our home is a welcomed one), I can tell this year is really, really wearing on us around here.

I told a friend that I’ve been feeling rudderless. It’s a feeling that used to creep in when I left my job at MSU and was deeply into the stay-at-home mom life: who am I beyond a mom? What parts of my life are just about me?

It felt like I was getting back into a groove the last couple of years, with different writing opportunities and both girls attending school. I had time to myself, however brief, to recharge at least a few times a week. It felt like I was keeping my foot inside the door of a place I’d be getting back to one day.

COVID changed all of that; feeling rudderless in this storm of a year has been overwhelming.

As I shared with my friends Momfaming in their Moming through the Pandemic series, my job has been to keep us all going during this time. Holding down the fort, I often say. I’ve learned to understand and appreciate the fact that I’m the glue holding things together around here, and that it’s enough.

But this week I realized something that’s been missing. I’ve been wearing my mom hat and wife hat for such a sustained amount of time, and the opportunities to swap in my other hats are few and far between. In some ways, for right now, non-existent. But last night I got a glimmer of the person I used to be, or still am, I guess.

Let me explain.

October 28, 2020October 28, 2020

DIY: Branch from “Trolls” Halloween costume

I’ve always loved, loved, loved Halloween, especially planning out my costumes and every detail surrounding the day(s) of celebrating. It’s partly why some friends affectionately refer to me as the Mayor from “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” That enthusiasm must be genetic, because our girls are just as into figuring out their Halloween costumes, even going as far as saying “for nextyear I want to be…” when the current Halloween hasn’t even happened yet.

It’s been beyond a strange, scary, and disappointing year with COVID, so I was game for doing WHATEVER our girls wanted to do in terms of their costumes. Even though I’ve had a blast making costumes for my girls in the past (especially Stella’s Dani from “Hocus Pocus” costume and Tamatoa from “Moana”), I’ve succumbed to the fact that sometimes, picking out a complete costume at the store is more exciting for them and easier for me.

Stella wanted to be Mal from Descendants this year, and considering she won’t be able to celebrate Halloween in her classroom with all of her friends this year or go trick-or-treating, I was fine with getting her the coolest Mal ensemble from the Disney store online.

Margot decided she wanted to be Branch from “Trolls,” but when we looked at the costumes at Target, I knew I could do a DIY version that would be brighter and a lot more fun than the costume they had. So began my quest to create the Branch of her dreams!

October 18, 2020October 18, 2020

Coping with COVID: My favorite masks for all tasks

Hello! It’s me, your delinquent blogger. My last post was in the springtime, and since then I’ve completely fallen off the writing wagon. In some ways it feels like I’ve had all of the time in the world and no time at all, or maybe no bandwidth to think about sitting down and writing. Maybe it has felt like anything I could write about is supremely trivial compared to the hellscape we’re all experiencing in 2020.

Either way, with an encouraging push from my favorite Whitmer comms team women, here I am. I’m going to have to skip past the post I planned to write over the summer about our long weekend away to the west side of Michigan and why it was the best staycation we could have asked for, because that’s a post for another day. Instead, I’m going to focus on a topic that I feel I’ve become pretty well-versed in over the course of 2020 COVID times: MASKS.

Masks are so important to our own safety and the safety of our friends, family, and local community. Unfortunately they’ve become a source of debate and frustration. There’s the battle to get people to wear them in the first place. The next part is getting people to wear them properly (OVER THE NOSE AND MOUTH PLEASE AND THANK YOU).

Back in March, my in-laws gave us each a disposable mask to have on hand, just in case. That fact feels sort of quaint now. I also ordered a few handmade masks from our friend Shana for myself and the girls, so we’d have another option. Who could have anticipated that months later, I’d have stacks of different kinds and brands of masks at home. It’s been a lot of trial and error, figuring out which masks work best for which tasks. There’s the additional challenge of finding masks my kids will wear without complaining. I honestly wish there could be a safe way of trying on masks before buying them.

Still, it’s worth it to me to have a stockpile of masks, particularly as we are all accepting the fact that we will be masking up in public for the foreseeable future.

Here are some of the favorite, tried-and-true face masks I’ve bought this year.

April 20, 2020April 20, 2020

Quarantine Eats: Favorite takeout options and recipes I’ve tried at home

It’s been weeks since I updated my blog, and the last post was pre-quarantine times. So much has changed in all of our lives in the last month. I’ve wanted to blog about how we’re handling things, my fears and worries, etc., but in some ways I’ve had all of the time in the world and not a free moment.

For awhile I was thinking I’d just post a quarantine scrapbook of sorts, with a collection of photos of how we’ve adjusted our lives, passed the time, handled grocery shopping, and kept the girls occupied. But for the sake of having something with a bit of a theme to it, I wanted to focus on one major thing: food!

We’ve been very fortunate that we are still able to access the grocery supplies we want and need, while also being able to support our favorite local businesses providing carryout options. If anything, this whole scenario has made me much more aware of our consumption as a family, not letting things go to waste, making detailed lists for grocery runs, and trying new recipes.

Here are some of my favorite local takeout options (maybe you’ll get some good ideas as we continue to stay home and stay safe over the coming weeks) and also some recipes I’ve been making!

this way to food

February 18, 2020

Visiting the Air Zoo in Portage, Michigan

This Presidents Day weekend, we had the opportunity to spend a lot of time together as a family and enjoy the places that our state has to offer. Michigan winters can be long and brutal, and the feelings of cabin fever are very real. I’m a homebody as much as the next person, but there are only so many times you can watch “Frozen 2” (we’ve been averaging 1.5 times a day since buying it last week), break up arguments between two sisters, and keep a new puppy from chewing up the house or your hands.

Having plans outside of the house helps break up that routine, and until the weather warms up and sun starts to shine with some regularity, indoor activities are essential for survival.

On Monday, we made the drive to Portage, Michigan to visit the Air Zoo for the very first time. I’ve seen photos from friends’ visits there, and it’s even mentioned in our girls’ Goodnight Michigan board book. But truthfully, I had no idea what it was all about.

Earlier in the weekend, we had visited Impression 5 Science Center in Lansing, a favorite spot of ours for exploring and getting some energy out. I still remember going there when Margot was a week old because we had been spending weeks in the house celebrating the holidays and waiting for her arrival that we needed to get. Out. Of. The. Damn. House. We love Impression 5 for visits, summer camps, you name it. We bought a family membership during that visit, and used it quite often with family and friends. After that year, we ended up letting the membership lapse with Stella starting full-day school.

We decided to renew our I5 membership on Saturday’s visit. At $75, it’s a really great deal for our family to visit the museum throughout the year, and it also gives us a discount on summer camps. On top of that, my friend Brittany alerted me to the fact that an Impression 5 membership means free admission to the Air Zoo for the month of February. What a deal!

General admission to the Air Zoo for adults is $15.95, $14.95 for kids 5-18, and free for 4 and under. That means we saved almost $50! Beyond the free admission, our visit to the Air Zoo was well worth the drive toward Kalamazoo.

January 31, 2020

Celebrating Margot’s PAW Patrol birthday party

Earlier this month, we celebrated Margot’s third birthday with a PAW Patrol-themed party at our house. Margot’s love for PAW Patrol, and her favorite pup Marshall in particular, has been a life-long obsession. After last year’s wonderful Frozen-themed party with Anna and Elsa, I didn’t know if we’d be able to top it.

Margot’s early January birthday is challenging if only for the fact that planning a party within weeks of the holidays can feel overwhelming. It’s hard to think ahead to her birthday when we’re in Christmas mode, so that is why we’ve ended up holding birthday parties for her later in January.

Thanks to a wonderful face painter and balloon art duo, fun party favors, and several friends and family members braving yet another Margot Party Winter Storm, it was a great day.

January 11, 2020

The start of my Invisalign journey

I’ve been a pretty delinquent blogger for the last few weeks, although I chalk it up to a lot of things going on with the holidays and the back to school frenzy. There are a lot of exciting things on the horizon for our family, including a new furry family member (my Christmas present from Zack… introduction blog to come soon), attempting potty training with Margot now that she is 3 and seeming to get the idea, and prepping for her PAW Patrol birthday party later this month.

But in the true nature of celebrating a new year and starting a new adventure, one of the biggest personal lifestyle changes began this past week when I started Invisalign.

November 15, 2019

SnowStoppers, my new favorite children’s snow mittens

My holiday decor inside our house would suggest that it’s fall, but looking outside there are some serious winter vibes happening. We got our first big dose of winter in Michigan earlier this week, with several inches of snow falling on Monday and very chilly temperatures.

We had our first big snow play session with the girls after school on Monday, and it gave me a major revelation: we needed a better solution for winter gloves, especially for Margot. Her hands are still so small that most gloves slip off easily, making for very cold and wet hands very quickly. When we were at Target the next day, I tried to scope out a better option, but wasn’t finding what I was looking for.

Thankfully, my cousin Liz started a thread on her Facebook page the other day asking for recommendations about snowsuits. In that thread, our family photographer master Annmarie posted about her favorite snowsuits, but also included a recommendation for her favorite winter mittens/gloves: SnowStoppers.