Blending

St Nick's Day

Winning!!

A visitor said, "Your place is just so full of LIFE!"

I couldn't have said it better.  We love it!

"Mom, I Can't Find My Robe"

Honeymoon Phase

Goosebumps

So, one thing that Melissa and I hope will work in our favor is this- we are scary similar.  And in ways we didn't know was even possible.  Have you ever wished there was another one of you to do all the things?  That's kind of us.  SO many conversations, preferences- even taste buds are almost identical.  Almost every conversation gets a jump start with "ME TOO!!"

Luckily she has brown eyes and short hair and I have blue eyes and long hair so our husbands and children can tell us apart.

As we've been planning this "social experiment" some mind-boggling conversations have surfaced. 

Such as,

"Kim.  I have a confession to make...I'm a secret hoarder..."
"Of what?"
"Gift bags. Tissue paper. Wrapping paper.  I...I just can't...don't ever...throw it away.  I have a box..."
"Would you like to see my stash?  It used to take up an entire closet..."


I was a little worried about a particular toiletry conversation that was inevitable.  I'm a kleenex snob.  I fully intended on putting forth the extra money to buy the Kleenex Doux soft tissues that I desperately prefer.
And then, while unpacking Melissa shyly confessed..."Kim...I'm going to be straight with you...I have to have a certain kind of tissue..."
I burst out laughing, had her try mine (she prefers the lotion kind) and she said she thought it would do the trick.

Luckily, the chores we like and dislike are complete opposites.  I loathe grocery shopping.  She loathes doing laundry.  What to guess what each of us finds relaxing???

Today, though, was the kicker. 
"Kim, what's your kindle password?"
"####"
"LOL, want to guess what ours is??"

Not even kidding!

Ta da!

Before

The handsome beast at work

Ta da!

This is how we (plan to) do it

10 people.

6 kids under 8.

4 adults. 2 of which are very similar their  idiosyncrasies. 

Here's the current setup:

Drink station. One cup a day per person. Each kid has a specific character cup. 3 in all, one for use, one that might be dirty, one for bathroom tooth stuff.

Each child has their own washcloth below their tooth items. It's our hope to minimize the germs, what with 6 school's germs being brought into the house.

 Tags for hanging and differentiating will happen as soon as I have time... Which actually might happen with the extra sets of hands and playmates around!

Closet doors- gone. They were horrible and had (huge) holes in them anyway. We'll replace them when we move.

Door trim didn't make it in before they came, but is an easily added finish after unpacking and holidays are done.

Two words: vertical storage

Also, back of the door is unused spaced that I didn't realize I wasn't using

Laundry is my chore, mostly because I'm anal about it and I really don't mind it. Melissa insisted on putting in this beauty:

It's like Mary Poppin's bag. The possibilities as to how much can fit in it are endless!

I've learned that a good way to help curb the "toss the clothes on the floor/couch/toy box" is to have laundry baskets in areas that might collect such items. Then I just pick out what goes in the load I'm tossing in. Currently the main laundry collection is on the top floor and the laundry room is in the basement. So as I carry the big load it's super easy to just make a quick pit stop at the random laundry baskets around the house.

Coffee station. 3/4 of us are coffee snobs

Also, bananas. Holy moly.

Each family of kids has their own room with plenty of floor space when personal space is needed

Bunk with stairs and drawers 

Triple bunk with Ikea storage units

.

Funny, their room has always been considered the smaller of the two, but since they brought what FIT (rather than us buying what worked at the time) they have a much more open space than our girls do. Just goes to show what maximum use of space can do! So far we have doubled the household and yet we feel like our house is bigger.

Blissful quiet time. No matter the age. 90 minutes of silence and aloneness.

(The other three were in their beds sleeping)

Next on the to do list:

Stay tuned for the after shot!

Doubling the household

So much has happened and I need to catch up. "Just blog from now and catch up later!" I keep telling myself. And then it is midnight and I crash after doing just what is needed for tomorrow.

What is going on?
The Hnoskos are moving back home!!!! And even better- to OUR home!

Multi family living for the win!
We've been getting our place ready and prepping both sets of kids. There was a basement to remodel, a bathroom to make more functional, an entryway to redesign, doors to replace and m about 100 trips to Menards.

And now, the count down begins. We've had Mr Hnosko living with us for a while now and the rest of the clan arrives Saturday. With only a few more projects left, we can all see the light at the end of the tunnel!!!

Basement before

Closet knocked out. That's Mr Hnosko, who we currently refer to as my second husband... Sometimes "the dishwasher"...

Framed

After

What I was sitting on when I took the previous picture. Ideas for decorating the wall are much welcomed!

The other side of the wall, now a non conforming 4th bedroom

Front entry way closet turned into Mini mudroom with a shoe bin.

 

Even has a touch light so the kiddos can see while digging

I moved the baskets to outside the mudroom

Laundry and toothbrush solution for 10 people

Wine rack used for towel storage. I've been introduced to the concept of vertical storage and am a little obsessed.

Lots of other additions and tweaks, but I'll try and update more as we go along and catch up the past 6 months another time!

Tumbling Weed

Any time she become inconsolable due to an inaccessible mother or restrictions are put in place due to the fact that she's not 3 or 8 years old we throw her on the couch and let her roll.

This time she found a friend.

And they started smooching...

"I think someone is watching us..."

"Oh the shame!"