One thing I’m majorly loving this week is all of your advice for our new home build! Your comments have already proven so helpful and have prompted a few conversations with our builder that have led to additions and changes. Examples: Exterior outlets on the roof for Christmas lights, interior outlet conversations (in the floor, discreetly under cabinets, in closets for vacuums, etc.), raised vanities, rethinking white grout in bathrooms because of the upkeep and so many more! (Also, are heated bathroom floors really worth it? They sound amazing and a few of you recommended them but I’d love some elaboration on this one!) I’m sure a lot of our weekend will be spent doing more house stuff since it feels like we’re inundated with a lot of decisions at once right now but we always manage to focus on family fun, too.
I hope you’re all staying safe and healthy and appreciate you making my blog a part of your Friday!
Things I’m Loving Friday
-
Rhett’s Busy Board
My sister knocked it out of the park with Rhett’s Christmas gift this year! Leslie and I are admittedly obsessed with Etsy when it comes to finding unique gifts for each other’s children (we gave Callie this personalized stepping stool this year which was also a hit!) and Rhett’s personalized busy board was her latest find.
It was truly the hit of Christmas morning for Rhett and has proven to be a toy I’ll find him fiddling with over and over again. We also packed it in the car during our road trip to Florida and it kept him entertained for nearly 20 minutes which is an eternity in Baby Land.
-
Snip & Sketch Shortcut
This is a tip that some of you may already know but since it was new to me, I’m thinking some of you may be in the dark about it as well. It has been a GAME CHANGER for me, especially as someone who is constantly screen-shotting images and then opening up Microsoft Paint to crop and save them. NO MORE! If you do the same, you must try this shortcut!
Hold down Shift + the Windows icon + the letter S at the same time and then you can crop around an image and transfer it directly into a document or save it to your computer. This has been a gigantic time saver for me when it comes to making collages for the blog but also for organizing images for the new house in one place since I need to SEE things together feel like they’ll work well from a design perspective. I love this shortcut so much!
-
Ryder’s One Liners
The one liners coming out of Ryder’s mouth lately have our whole family cracking up. It feels like every single day he says something that makes us laugh out loud and some of his one-liners have now become family jokes we say on repeat. A few recent favs:
- I asked Ryder if he wanted to do a puzzle with me and he enthusiastically yelled, “Right on, Chief!” (I know this came from the Rudolph’s Christmas Party CD we listened to last month and it cracked me up.)
- Ryder was eating an ice cream cone that had a little piece of candy in the middle of it. He pointed to it and said, “Mom! There’s candy in there. I’m goin’ for it!” And then he took the world’s biggest bite.
- Ryder is a sweatpants-loving kid, but one day Ryan laid out jeans for him to wear and when he picked them up to put them on in the morning he said, “Ooooh! Cowboy pants!” Jeans are now forever “cowboy pants” in our house.
- Standing all by himself in the hall, I overheard Ryder saying aloud, “I like picking my nose.” Cool, cool.
-
My Favorite Half-Night Stand by Christina Lauren
After reading and enjoying In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren, I added the author (actually a two-woman team!) to my list of authors to check out again in the future. They seem to have really honed in on the lighthearted funny romance genre and have been a go-to for me lately because I’ve had NO desire to read anything heavy right now.
The second Christina Lauren book I selected was My Favorite Half-Night Stand and it was great! I am now about halfway through The Soulmate Equation and enjoying it a ton, too. But more about My Favorite Half-Night Stand…
The book flip-flops back and forth from the perspectives of Millie Morris and Reid Campbell, academic thirty-somethings who are platonic best friends and run in the small, tight-knit five-person social circle. Friends for years, the pair are equally shocked when one night a never-before-considered sexy line is crossed.
When Millie and Reid’s friends decide to make a pact about finding dates for an upcoming university gala, they all agree to try their hand at online dating, something the pair is okay with because they agree their hook up was a fluke and their friendship is better off staying in a platonic space.
As their foray into online dating takes off, Millie is frustrated by the creepy messages she’s receiving and creates “Catherine” an alter-ego that allows her to be more vulnerable than she would be in real life. When “Catherine” and Reid match online and begin exchanging messages, Millie finds herself increasingly open and conflicted… an worried about what will happen if Reid ever puts two and two together. Is their friendship — or the possibility of a relationship — worth the risk?
-
Friday Flashbacks
Favorite Books for Four Year Olds (A roundup of books we always look forward to reading that our boys absolutely love!)
Four 30-Minute Workouts (Great to keep on hand for a sweat session when you’re limited on time.)
Question of the Day
What is one thing you’re smiling about this week?
![\"Quantcast\"/](\"//pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-1e3-7hOJ_U8Bg.gif\")
I think heated floors are worth it, although we live in MN and it is cold! Although they are most loved in the winter, we also love them in the fall and spring when we aren’t quite ready to turn on the heat yet….they somehow make you feel much warmer. My husband is not one to spend extra money on things, but he absolutely added heated floors when we redid our basement.
Reason to smile: It’s my daughters 8th birthday today! She is having her first friend birthday party and seeing the girls in her classes excitement (I teach at her school) is too cute!
Love the busy board. I may add this to my list of good gifts for nieces and nephews. Thanks for the workouts. Do you ever miss cardio workouts like elliptical or bike?
Happy Friday Julie! 400 is amazing!
Sorry if you’ve already posted this and I somehow missed it but where are your boys adorable holiday jammies from?
I adore Christina Lauren’s books & think I began reading her from one of your recommendations! Be sure to add The Honey-Do List to your “need to read” list, as it’s one of my favorite books of hers (theirs? LOL). Enjoy!
Definitely agree with all the comments on home building tips. I just realized last month (moved into our new home in Sept as a cookie-cutter new build) that we didn’t have any outlet near or in our master closet. The closest outlet was on our vanity which my vacuum isn’t long enough. But I typically use our robot vacuum and our cordless stick vacuum so it’s not a huge problem but still annoying!
If you know the size TVs you’re using and have the TV mounts – make sure they work with the outlet placement and studs. We just got the Frame TV and my husband was complaining that the holes on the Frame’s mount isn’t measured for typical stud placement (common issue I’ve read people complain about). Also recommend cord tubes from behind the TV to where all your peripherals will reside to hide cords behind the wall.
I personally hate small tile in the bathroom because it’s more grout lines to clean. Definitely recommend a darker grout or Grey grout since white does dirty quicker.
Make sure you have 3 way light switches everywhere! Think thru how you want to turn lights on/off in a room. We thought we caught them all and had our builder add more – but we are realizing we missed a few or we didn’t put them in the right spot (at the base/top of stairs are a must!). Install smart switches if you’re able to – they’re a lifesaver especially with kids and you don’t know if they turned lights off. But also a lifesaver in being able to control the timers on all your Christmas decorations around the house and not having to mess with the old school timers – and from a safety perspective if you do travel and want to be able to remotely control lights to make it look like you’re home – a lifesaver. Also make sure you have PLENTY of outlets behind your bed for lights, charging, etc. we have a sleep number bed, lights, phone charger, humidifier, wake up light, and we added an extra outlet and I still needed a surge protector… oh and extra outlets in the home office for ALL the cords!
Electrical lights in the eaves is a must! We did that and it was great! Recommend that these are smart switches so you can use the associated apps to control the timing without needing to add a clunky outdoor timer. That was a miss on our end. But we also just decided to install Gemstone lights (permanent outdoor lighting for year round custom lights).
I would recommend for landscaping to think about outdoor lighting and if you put Christmas decorations outside. We put blowups and stuff out so we wish we added more outlets so it cut down on extension cords and daisy chaining them.
If you’re getting a sprinkler system – think about if you’re going to put in a vegetable garden now or in the future. Will want to have at least a stubbed out connection for a drip system for wherever you do put it.
I’m assuming it’s too late but sound reducing insulation is really nice between rooms that have running water, laundry room, etc and the bedrooms.
If you’re going to put a outdoor security system in with cameras – recommend hardwired cameras so you don’t have to charge them but also you will want your electrician to pre-wire where you want them so you don’t have to do it later.
My dream was a HUGE sink and I absolutely love mine. I’ve seen some people post that they have 2 dishwashers. I wish I had that especially at holidays or when I’m entertaining. Since you’re putting extra appliances in your pantry – I’d look into a second dishwasher too especially with your 3 littles!
We weren’t able to get drawers in lieu of cabinets in our kitchen but we were able to get rollouts instead of shelves. Absolutely worth the cost because I can put so much more in the cabinets and they stay more organized without having to stack everything.
These are wonderful tips! *takes notes*
Two dishwashers! I dream of this. Great tip 🙂
I’m renovating a bathroom and decided to do a heated floor. The bathroom designer we hired explained that the extra heat helps moisture dissipate, which is so important, even with a ventilation fan, to stave off mildew. If you have a window you can crack and really good ventilation, maybe you don’t need it. My bathroom is windowless, so the heated floor is a must! If your new house has multiple full bathrooms, you could maybe get away with heated floors only in the most heavily used ones (the one attached to the primary bedroom and the one intended for the boys, presumably).
Congrats on 400! I loved Christina Lauren’s The Unhoneymooners. I also liked Teagan Hunter’s I Wanna Text You Up (but CL reigns supreme).
For house (if you haven’t gotten maxed on suggestions!): we have a built-in HEPA sealed vacuum and love it. Standard vacs can be HEPA sealed too though. Branch Basics has great info about why this is important.
Extra insulation in the attic (and outside walls if you can swing it) makes a house more energy efficient = lower energy bills. Extra insulation between rooms = a quieter house. If it came down to heated floors or extra insulation, we’d go with insulation (we’d also choose the built-in vac over heated floors).
Windows on all four sides on the first floor means you can see what’s happening outside. Sounds obvious but not every home has them.
If your only stairs are in front of the master door, it can be a bind when someone knocks unexpectedly and you’re not dressed. We also like not having our kitchen visible from the front door because life happens and sometimes it’s messy.
A deep sink in the garage is bomb for yard work and messy cleaning.
Hope you all have a happy weekend!
We had radiant heating in the floors (basically piping below floors with water flow to control heat). It’s a luxury purchase but we lived in mountains /snow so had very cold winters.
Look forward to you sharing more about your new build…so exciting!
Ryder’s one-liners crack me up! I love the things that come out of our 3yo’s mouth and constantly wonder what goes on in their little active, imaginative brains.
This Friday, I’m smiling about the fact that my 3yo does NOT have COVID. He was exposed at school late last week, so has been home all week and got sick. His COVID test came back negative, and he’s on the mend. I’m grateful that it was just a cold/other virus and we are looking to a healthy weekend where we can get out of the house and enjoy being outside.
The heated floors are a luxury for sure, but man are they amazing! Some friends I housesit for have them in their kitchen & they are oh so cozy!
Yes to outlets anywhere you’ll want to charge a vacuum! And get the outlets with USB ports in offices and bedrooms. For the outlets hidden under the counter….do not put those where you plan to permanently keep appliances on the counter (for your coffee machine, toaster, whatever else you always leave out). What looks worse than an outlet on a backsplash? I big black toaster cord reaching up to your cabinets. For tile, I agree with everyone’s comments about large format tiles, no white grout, make the grout lines thin. But also, if you’re picking your own bathroom or outdoor tile, be absolutely certain that it’s textured and won’t be slippery! It is so nerve-wracking and hard to have tile that gets slippery when wet with toddlers! Showers with handheld nozzles in kids bathrooms. No glass shower doors in kids bathrooms.
Christina Lauren was one of my favorite finds last year! Love & Other Words, The Soulmate Equation, In a Holidaze, Roomies, Twice in a Blue Moon, The Unhoneymooners, and the Honey-Don’t List – all awesome in their own ways. I loved The Soulmate Equation for a fun science spin on things – and the main character is the epitome of an amazing male lead! Roomies and Twice in a Blue Moon have a theater/acting spin that I absolutely loved as well. They have all been fun, clever and lighthearted, and I haven’t wanted to leave the characters by the end!
We love our heated floors! We live in Canada so it’s quite a bit colder but it’s so nice getting out of the shower or just anytime you’re in the washroom. Im glad someone mentioned the grout. Our grout is grey and such a pain to keep clean.
I don’t believe it costs a lot extra and it also helps to heat up the house.
I didn’t mention this the other day and might be too late but a metal roof will last you much longer and require a lot less upkeep than shingles. It might be too late for this decision but if not, metal is the way to go, at least where we are in rainy Vancouver 🙂
What an exciting time for your family!!
My parents did a heated bathroom floor when they added an addition to their house in 2001 with a new bathroom. I love it for winter. The bathroom was also large enough that I have put my yoga mat in there and did a yoga flow with the heated floor.
One of my little girls loves her boogers too, and happily told her babysitter how much she likes to eat them (insert face palm here)
I am loving the new house! Yes, you really should consider heated floors. My parents live in Franklin NC… and my dad just actually made a comment the other day that that was the best decision they made when building the house. Explore your option on that one for sure!
We put hidden outlets under our kitchen cabinets which was a good idea in theory but the electrical box has to go somewhere and that somewhere is in your cabinet which reduces the storage space and creates an awkward rectangular box that you have to work around. I personally wouldn’t do that again, however, undermount cabinet lights are the best, if you haven’t planned for them already.
Highly recommend heated floors. We have them in our WA home and it is so nice to wake up and step in a bathroom floor that is warm. Ours are on a timer so easily set to warmer temperatures in the morning and evenings!
I had no idea about the snip command! I only thought I could do it on my Mac. You saved me a few times this weekend.
we live in an iold building and I will say this time and time again … ONE CAN NEVER HAVE ENOUGH ELECTRICAL OUTLETS!!!!!!
WE HAVE CORDS GOING EVERYTHWERE .. there is only a one plug/outlet in the kitchen..try prioritizing a coffee maker, an instant pot and a toaster without all the unplugging….the microwave is in the dining room!
And if your boys are readers,m there can never be too many bookshelves…and a bookshelf for cookbooks is awesome, too. On the side of an island, it works really well.
I’m a kindergarten teacher and NTI has taught this ol’ broad a few cool tricks on my Chromebook. One of the neatest besides my “snip tool” is “Remove Background” https://www.remove.bg/ You can take snips of a picture and then basically “white out” the background! It is such a fun tool to use with my students! We made a picture of each child inside of a virtual box. I took a picture of each child pretending they were stuck inside of a box. I snipped the picture, uploaded it to Remove BG and then placed the new picture inside of the box. I did one for each child and made a single sheet with all children on it. Each student received it as part of their holiday gift from me.
You have got to read the Beautiful series and Wild Seasons series by Christina Lauren. My favorite books ever!
Keeping these on my radar!
My 4 year old told me her nose was like a covid test because it is always in her nose 🤦🏼♀️ Kids sure do say the funniest things! (Also, how tragic she knows a covid test! Ha!)
I must’ve found Christina Lauren through you, and thank you! I have now torn through all of her books I can get my hands on and have a hold at the (digital) library for the rest. I was in a bit of a reading slump after I finished The Night Circus (which I loved) last summer. Everything I picked up was either too dark, too heavy, or just bad writing. But her books have been a welcome respite of light reading.
Snip shortcut is a gamechanger for me too. I couldn’t remember it today so I tried googling it and I couldn’t find it. Had to come search your page again. Thanks!
Thank you so much for the snip shortcut!! I used to use another app but it stopped working right so for the longest time I’ve been taking screenshots and copying into a PowerPoint to edit – LOL!! This is SO SO SO much better. Thank you!!