The Art of Homemaking: 10 Years in Our Home

This month's installment of TAOH will be a little different. I want to make mention of a special anniversary for Justin and I. 10 years this week we bought our house.

Here's what two 23-year-olds who have no idea what they're getting into look like.

For the first 15 months of our marriage we lived rent free in my parent's house in Mapleton while my parents were living in Alaska. Before they returned home that September, we needed to find a place of our own.

These are the photos I took on our second walk-through.



When we moved in we brought a bed, cedar chest, computer desk, two nightstands, and a TV. That's it! Well that and loads of wedding presents that we hadn't needed until then. That week we bought a sectional and dining table. We didn't have a dresser for months!

Luckily we didn't have to build the retaining wall

Here's a few more of our first month here.

Pretty sure having two cakes and cinnamon bread was the best birthday decision ever.

Behind these cute boys is a magenta wall that I'm embarrassed to admit I didn't paint over for 4 more years.

First major project was painting the yellow kitchen a more soothing brown.

Thus began a long list of home repairs (too many for Justin's taste) and home improvements (not enough for my liking). Over the past ten years we have finished a basement that added a bedroom, bathroom, family room and storage room. We've replaced carpet and linoleum with laminate. We're on our second table and second microwave, second washer but still first dryer. We've repaired the garage door, the dishwasher and the icemaker. Cleaned up one minor flood caused by the washer overflowing. We've added garden boxes, planted 4 trees, sprinklers, and planted dozens and dozens of flowers and killed a bazillion wasps. And painted the front door.

And added four more occupants.

Although we've been here longer than we planned, and there are maybe only 5 families in our ward here longer than us, it is our first and only home together and the house I brought all my babies home to and where they will all learn to walk. Every night at dinner we give thanks for our home. We may be outgrowing it but we have made it ours.

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And just for fun, here's some more pictures of us at that time. Three of those kids are in high school now and one is leaving on a mission soon. Holy moly!

First Day of School

I don't know how to say this without seeming like a mean mom but I love back to school!!!!

Maybe it's because I loved school. I also love routine. I love new clothes and lunchboxes and seeing the aisles at the store full of school supplies.

Plus I don't love taking 4 kids with me on every errand, endless snack requests, long hot boring days. I just love fall so much and sending the "biggles" (if Erica is one of my "littles" she says Henry and Sarah are the "biggles") back to school is the first step to getting there.

After the eclipse on Monday we got to meet their teachers and see their classrooms. Sarah is in 3rd grade with Miss Neilson. Miss Neilson is new to Rees this year so we don't know anything about her but she seems nice and fun and everything a 3rd grade teacher ought to be like. 

Henry is in Mrs. Searle's class along with his best friend Myer. Mrs. Searle seems very experience and capable so I'm hoping she can handle any shenanigans Henry may try this year (his kindergarten teacher said he was a sweetheart but I know what he's capable of).

Henry was completely dressed with his lunchbox in hand at 7 am. Sure hope this enthusiasm continues. He's always been a morning person though.

Sarah is wearing one of my bracelets on her left wrist. She was nervous about missing me. What a sweetie.

Sarah's report on the first day: "It was awesome. I can't wait to go back!" Tuesdays are PE so now we know not to send her in a dress and sandals on Tuesdays.

Henry's report on the first day: "It was the longest day of my life!" He was up early and dressed again this morning with no prodding from me.

I spent the first day feeling my blood pressure return to normal levels, mopping the kitchen since it may actually stay clean for a few hours and hanging out with this girl. We went to the library and bought the kids sugar cookies as a first day treat.


She lasted until 8:52 before she asked when they were going to be home. Then around 11 she asked how much longer. "About 5 more hours" I said.

"Five more minutes?"

"No, 5 hours."

"Is that like 5 minutes?"

But this morning as I was getting James up, I said to Erica, "Let's go get the kids ready for school." She replied "And then it will be just you and me again!" I think she'll get a little bored most days but overall I think she'll like not having Henry teasing her all the time.

Last school year up until James was born our day was like this: Sarah off to school, run errands with the other 2 or do chores, Henry off to afternoon kindergarten, Erica and I take a nap until Henry and Sarah got home.

After James was born: Be super sleepy from being up all night with baby, get Sarah off to school (sometimes forgetting to pack her a lunch or doing her hair because I overslept or because James took forever nursing), get stuff done or not while James slept, Henry off to school, Erica nap, James nap, Sarah and Henry get home from school.

Since James slept so much and inconsistently, there were many days where there was literally no time to leave the house before someone else needed a nap or a bus would be there to pick up or drop off. Or their naps overlapped 6 hours. Newborn + Napping toddler + Afternoon kindergartner = You're never gonna leave the house.

This year? Huge change. James sleeps all night and so do I so I am up an hour before breakfast, no problem. Get biggles up and out the door. It's pretty hectic doing breakfast/making lunches/keeping James happy in his highchair but Sarah and Henry can do a lot themselves and we'll get better at it. Erica doesn't take a nap anymore so I just have to plan my errands and stuff around James's morning and afternoon naps and be home at 3:50 for when they get off the bus.

One last thing:

I bought these reusable juice boxes from Amazon and I am already loving them. I was looking for a water bottle just the right size for their lunchboxes. The opening is big enough for ice cubes too. They look so retro, like something I would have had in my lunch as a kid. Erica just saw this picture and said "I love those cups. They're so cute."

Total Eclipse of the Sun

I was so excited for the eclipse! I bought 10 pairs of eclipse glasses like 6 weeks ago but then Amazon said they were no good. So then we waited in line for an hour to get a couple of free pairs from the library. I wasn't willing to do anything more than that. It was going to be cool but there are limits to my efforts.

Two pairs were plenty. I even shared with the UPS driver and a few neighbors.

Here are our photos and videos.

The glasses were a little too big for Erica. If she could see through one side, her other eye was covered by the center.

We were exaggerating but only a little.

I loved the look of the shadows of the leaves.





Sarah made these cool punched out papers.





Hooray for eclipse day!

Will our glasses still be good for the annular solar eclipse on October 14, 2023? I don't want to stand in line again.

James at 9 Months

Last update, I was so sad because James was in the midst of a nursing strike. Luckily he gradually (very gradually) came out of it. It was the most emotional, nerve-wracking experience with any of my babies.

For 3 days he didn't nurse at all even though I kept trying every time he woke up and before bed. I basically had to stop caring if he nursed or not because he'd sense my frustration and that made it worse. He didn't even want to be held anywhere near that position. Finally he'd let me hold him and rock him like that but only if there was a blanket between his face and me. I tried not to take it personally.

On the fourth day I got him to nurse only because he was so distracted by my necklace that he didn't even realize he was doing it. We were late for church but it was worth it. I kept track for 2 weeks of what meals he would nurse and what meals he would flail and arch his back away from me. There was no pattern and I have no idea why he'd nurse fine one time then freak out the next. (I'd have to pump if he wouldn't eat and I hate that.) And even when he'd nurse, it would only be for like 5 minutes. But slowly we went from once a day to twice a day and now we're at three times a day. He still won't nurse before bed which is so weird considering that used to be when he would nurse the most and longest. Bedtime went from 1 hr + to maybe 10 minutes. Now we just get jammies on, look at a couple of books and then all he wants is to be laid down. So weird.

I forgot how hard it is to take a picture of a crawler! I basically had to set him far back from where I was and snap away while he crawled forward.



This is the only one I got out of like 50 that he's looking at the camera and smiling.

He made it to the door!

I can't tell if I like this photo or not. It doesn't really look like him but man, those eyes.

And that hair. I'm still not sure what to do with it. I don't like it when babies' hair looks all ragamuffin but I don't want him to have a haircut look. I think we'll just let it grow until he's one. I've never had a baby with this much hair so young so I've never had to face this decision.

Likes: Exploring the library, grandparents' houses, and church on all fours, playing in the basement with the other kids, outside, eating off mom's plate, knocking down block towers, putting tiny things in his mouth, baths, popsicles, swings, soft blankets,

Dislikes: Waiting .04 seconds for his food, life after 7 pm. Sometimes everything makes him mad.

He crawls everywhere but he doesn't go very fast yet. He can pull himself up to standing against the bottom step and in his crib but he doesn't know how to lower down which means he just starts crying. Some nights he gets himself stuck several times before he goes to sleep.

Overall I like him. He's still a grump but he's also funny and snuggly and he loves me.

Erica at 3 1/2

Erica is now 3 1/2 which is a big deal to a 3 1/2-year-old. She cracks me up and drives me crazy every day. Just so I don't forget all the funny things about Erica, here are a few.

Her favorite topic for discussion is when she's a mom. She usually starts out with a question like, "When I'm a mom, will I wear your clothes?" "When I'm a mom, who will be the dad?" "When I'm a mom, will you still be my mom?" "When I'm a mom, will James be my baby?" She says she's only going to have girls and she's not going to move very far away.

She's terrible at cleaning. Just today I got after her for all these little pieces of tape on the landing. I told her to pick them up and put them in the garbage. Later I found them thrown all over James's floor. If I tell her to take her things from the living room to her bedroom, she just takes them to the upper part of the stairs that I can't see.

She asks for food and doesn't finish it. I have a firm "eat what you ask for before you ask for anything else" rule. She has a firm "eat one bite of stuff and walk away then 10 minutes later ask for a popsicle" rule.

She loves blueberries, grapes, bananas (just about every fruit actually), yogurt, meatballs, crackers, candy, and juice.

I get along with her the best out of all my children right now. She just likes to hang around me, watch and do what I'm doing. I don't cook for very long before I hear the sound of her pushing the stool up right next to me so she can "help."

Since she never finishes her chores each day she spends a lot of time indoors with me rather than playing outside with Sarah and Henry. She hates cleaning and she likes me so it works out well for her.

She is super chill for a 3-year-old. With Sarah and Henry, 3 was the year of "you don't do anything right, Mom" tantrums and "I want to do it by myself" fits. I don't think she's ever done any of those. I can count on one hand the number of fits she's thrown this summer and they were related to Henry teasing her or being tired.

Even as a baby, she was so content and pleasant and I never got tired of her. She's much goofier and noisier now but she's still very easy to be around.

If she gets a time-out, it's only for not doing her jobs.

She loves to sing and dance. She usually sings "Let it Go" and her dancing is more like a gallop in a circle. Her favorite movies and shows are Frozen, Little Mermaid, Inside Out, Daniel Tiger, and Little Bear.

She loves to wear her princess nightgown and her striped shirt with her blue skirt. She'd wear them every day if she didn't get so dirty.


She loves to take long baths. "Is this a play bath or just a get clean bath?"

I'm not sending her to preschool this year because I want to keep her all mine for as long as I can.

This is the face I got when I asked her to sit up straight.

You can kind of see in this picture where she cut a chunk of her hair on her right side last week. Luckily the top part of her hair was pulled up at the time so I can hide it when her hair is down. The sides of her hair has grown in so slowly and it was finally evened up enough to let it grow out and she went and cut it. Sigh.

Her golden hair and freckles are pretty much adorable and an Erica trademark.

She's my little buddy. Heavenly Father sent her to me because he knew I'd need a kid like her.