Organizing the Front Entry

Our front entry way was a total hot mess. For probably 4 years. We had such a small entry way in our place in Tallahassee, so having a place for shoes was almost impossible. We had an old bookshelf that was narrow enough to fit in that spot and be able to fit a few select shoes. 

And when we moved last year, we kept that same ghetto bookshelf by the door for shoe storage. It has been such an eyesore for me!! ahhhh! I really had no idea what to do for storage by the door, but when my bestie Julia posted about their entry way bench and shoe storage, I KNEW I had to have a bench. I had to have it!

So while Brinley was at school this week, Ellie and I went to Marshall's. I found a wood bench that I loved, but I had to convince Ryan about it because it was still $99, and with the additional foam pillow to sit on that I would have to make, and the extra bins underneath, it would be closer to $150. 

As the day went on, I was thinking about this bench idea on-stop! Overstock, Amazon, furniture stores, I could not get this bench idea out of my head! After lunch, Brinley got home from school, Ellie took a nap (for almost 3.5 hours!), and I made an early dinner for us so that we could go to Home Goods to see if there were any other bench options. 

When I saw this beauty, it absolutely was love at first sight.

I sent Ryan this picture and he said, "buy it!" So in the back of the Volvo in went! I was so excited!

The before, YIKES!

Isn't it wonderful!? I could only find one of the bigger bins (the one in the middle) but I think it balances the smaller bins just fine. 

I still need to find a rug in the front entry way, maybe a round one? something fun and colorful for sure. It has been such a pleasure to get shoes out of the storage bench, and both Brinley and Ellie are so excited to open it to find their shoes, and even put them away!! 

First Day at VPK

The day finally arrived! Brinley has been asking "Mommy, how many more sleeps now?" for about 3 weeks and it was so exciting to tell her on Sunday, "Brinley, only ONE more sleep!!!"

Ryan's family had a tradition growing up that the night before school started, everyone would get in their first day of school outfits and have a fashion show. I don't have any pictures of the fashion show because we were skyping with both parents, but it was so hilarious I couldn't stop smiling and laughing. Brinley was working it, and Ellie was running around like a crazy person saying "pack-pack!! pack-pack!!!!!"

After we got the girls calmed down after walking the runway (ie. walking out of their walk-in closet), we got them in jammies and Ryan gave Brinley a back-to-school Father's blessing (more info here). I couldn't help but open my eyes a few times during the prayer to see what Brinley was doing. She sat still the entire time and her eyes never opened. Afterwards, she said "Mommy, when daddy was giving me that blessing, my body was all warm and it helped me be excited and ready for school. I'm going to take that blessing with me everywhere I go." Isn't she the sweetest? I am so grateful to be married to a wonderful husband and father that has the ability to give me and our children Priesthood blessings when we need them. Getting a school blessing from my father, and same with Ryan's, was such an important moment in our childhood, I am thrilled to see that tradition carry on into our family.

The morning of our first day went so smoothly! Everyone was up and about by 7:15am and we were out the door without any problems just after 8:00am. Brinley is in the VPK program, which means that in the state of Florida, the state pays for 4 year olds to go to preschool for 3 hours, 5 days a week for the entire school year before kindergarten. The preschool Brinley goes to also offers hour-by-hour rates for her to stay longer if she wants to. Of course on the first day, she wanted to stay for lunch, so I happily made her lunch the night before.

shirt dress: H&M, leggings: H&M, shoes: KEDS

I'm not going to lie, our first morning without Brinley was weird. I quickly realized that without Brinley around, our house is very very quiet! I mean, Ellie is "talking," but conversationally, Brinley is constantly commenting, asking, screaming, yelling, laughing, at just about everything that happens in her life and inside our home. Ellie and Brinley are such pals and without Brinley around Ellie just kept saying "Bin go? Bin go sool?" Poor girl. We were pretty bored all morning, but I tried to keep us busy with going to Marshall's and the post office. I need to figure out a better routine for us, exercising, grocery shopping, park time, and play dates. Let me just say this, running errands with only one is amazing. It makes my busy errand days much happier and smoother. 

Brinley had a great first day and I could not get her to stop going on and on about it! She loved staying for lunch and eating with her friends. She talked about this girl who wore a My Little Pony shirt and how she was labeled the "cat shirt" girl. HAHA! So, my kid is the weird cat kid now? It's only been one day!! 

I hope everyone's first day went smoothly! So far so good over here! 

Steele Family Reunion: Pirate Treasure Hunt

Probably the most exciting night of our reunion was the Pirate Treasure Hunt. My parents had been planning this outing for weeks. They prepared everything! Hats, swords, booty bags, eye patches, and a treasure map! Ryan and my brothers went out the night before and made the different points in the neighborhood the treasure map had the kids go. The made arrows out of sticks they found to point the kids in the right direction. We put the treasure box on the front doorstep and when we were all ready, we let them loose. Benjamin, the 7 year old, took the lead and helped the other kids get suited up in Pirate gear and figure out the treasure map. 

The kids had no idea what was going on when we had them walk outside the front door! Ellie was pretty anti-Pirate hat and pretty much everything to do with the treasure hunt, but the older kids had SO MUCH FUN!!

The map lead the kids down to the lake. The treasure was found at the beach front (by X marks the spot!) and we had a weenie roast and bonfire. It was a perfect night. The humidity was way low which made it a bit more comfortable to be outside, and be near a bonfire. 

Sometime during the bonfire, Ellie weaseled her way out of the umbroller and into the lake. She is such a fish! She would not get out of the water. Her diaper soaked in so much water I swear it alone weighed 5 pounds. I totally flaked about bringing towels and extra clothes down to the lake so poor Ellie was shivering going back up to the house. I guess Miss Ellie is going to be our designated "kid that always falls in water no matter where we are." My younger brother Jared had that title growing up and it rang true almost every time we were outside! If there was water, he would find it!

After baths, my mom presented something for each of the grand kids. She decided on a new tradition for them to have for reunions, birthdays, and holidays. Just something simple to remember them by. Pillowcases! It was so fun! The kids were obsessed. And to kick it off, she made the perfect Pirate pillowcase!

Mom and Dad, you hit this one out of the park!! Thanks for making this such a fun night for the kids! (and adults too!)

Next up, more boat adventures!

Steele Family Reunion: Hawaiian Luau

Monday was our first real play day in North Carolina. The men played golf in the morning and the women went for runs and got everyone ready to go on the boat the minute the men came back home. Before we left, the adults had a talk about the kids and boat safety. Each adult was assigned to a kid and like at Topsail Island last year, we had to do the verbal hand off if we needed a break or to switch kid assignments. This worked fabulously. It was Ellie and Dylan's first time on the boat and they were a little nervous at first, but both settled into the boat life pretty quickly. Baby Nora wasn't allowed on the boat, so we took turns staying back watching her so Jared and Cassandra could have some boat fun too. 

My parents neighbors quickly became the best people on the planet. They offered almost everything to my parents while we were there. They loaned us their 2 sea-doo's for the week, let the kids play on their backyard playground whenever we wanted, a double stroller, life jackets, and I'm sure there are more things! They are the most wonderful people and the sea-doo's were the perfect thing to offset the amount of people we could have on the boat. The 3 big kids loved to ride! Brinley kept wanting to go faster and faster! I learned afterwards, but Auntie Jilly took Brinley on her first ride and went almost 45 mph because Brin kept screaming to go faster! Jill's response, "she said faster, so I went faster!" My little timid girl loving speed and thrill! 

After we got back from the boat, and got cleaned up, next up was our Hawaiian Luau!! My dad cooked up ribs and shrimp on the grill and we had lots of fun salads for dinner. Everyone had their Luau gear thanks to my mother and her creativity. I put Hawaiian music through the bluetooth speaker and we loved to get down with our hula! I learned that Brinley is very talented doing the hula! She shakes those hips and gets her arms moving, it was pretty funny to watch. 

We had so much fun!! Perfect way to kick off our reunion week!