04/22/2013
Have you ever made your own bubble solution? It’s cheap, very easy and makes awesome bubbles! I’ve seen a lot of pins on Pinterest with homemade bubble recipes but this is the one I tried. I cut the recipe in half and used Dawn dish soap and light corn syrup. I found it to be too thick so I added more water.
With one breath and a simple little 1″ bubble wand, I can make 20-40 bubbles! Ali is thrilled. We’ll never be wasting our money on the “miracle” watery bubble solution at the store again. I’m hoping to try this out with a bigger bubble wand soon. Even with my little wand, I can get a bubble about 4″ in diameter.
Usually we do bubbles outside but sometimes if Ali is well behaved in the tub (in other words, not soaking me with splashing…) I’ll reward her with bubbles in the tub.
Dog photo bomb! (By the way, Ali is not crying in the background, she’s gasping/laughing because of the bubbles popping around her face. No children were harmed in the making of these photos. 😉 However… Warning: it’s soapy and it will sting the eyes. She tends to get it on her hands from exuberant bubble decimation and then sometimes rubs her eyes.)
4 Comments | 
Art, Art: crafts, Family, Family: Precious/Ali | Tagged: bubbles, child, crafts, DIY, homemade, kids, parenting | 
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Posted by mahlbrandt
03/21/2013
This is the only room in the house without any windows (aside from closets) making it an excellent safe room for tornado warnings. It also makes it harder to photograph. I was using a wide angle lens that I think it not very good quality…or else I just don’t know how to use it very well. Anyhow, sorry about the poor quality photos. This room needs some art. And a shower curtain. And new towels. It’s not very done. I’m not sure why I’m giving a tour of it at all…
…
FYI, our architect is Ryan Thewes.
Related Posts:
New Home Tour: Kitchen
New Home Tour: Living Room
New Home Tour: Dining Room
New Home Tour: Den/Playroom
New Home Tour: Nursery (Alianna’s Room)
Room to Grow: Making a Bedroom for Foster Kids
New Home Tour: Master Bathroom
4 Comments | Art, Art: house tour, Art: interior design, Art: mid-century design, Art: modern design | Tagged: bathroom, hall bathroom, home tour, house tour, kids, spa | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
02/28/2013
Depending on the angle of the photo, it looks like a den…
But 98% of the time it’s a playroom. (Technically, it’s a guest room, too, though it hasn’t been used as such yet. Someday it’ll be a bedroom.)
The closet is full of books, toys and games.
A few things to note about this room:
The sofa is vintage. We’d like to reupholster it someday but it’s not in bad shape and the pull out mattress is in excellent shape.
The rug is from Urban Outfitters. I purchased it for a staging project right before we moved in. We had it in the living room for a little while but it was way too small in there. It’s perfect in here.
This room is the smallest bedroom in the house but the super high ceilings make if feel big and the high windows and concrete wall make it very unique. I’m hoping a teenager will love it as a bedroom someday.
The play stove is second-hand, hand made but someone. I got it at a yard sale. It was Ali’s adoption day gift.
Ali’s navy table was a Christmas gift from Grandma and Grandpa. The metal folding chair is vintage from an estate sale in my neighborhood. I got it when I was putting together our first room for future foster kids.
The small guitar was a baby shower gift before our first placement. It’s still a bit too complex for Ali but she likes to bang on it, August Rush style. The blue guitar is really special to me. It was the guitar Jason first learned to play guitar on…it deserves it’s own post.
The TV is not attached to anything except power. Eventually we plan to get another Roku box for this room (which we use for Hulu and Netflix) and attach a DVD player. We’ll also need some kind of shelving for that.
The robot decals I won from a giveaway on Design Mom. Ali loves to give them kisses.
Ali’s favorite activities right now are the slide (going down and sending toys down) and sitting at her table to play with stickers
…
FYI, our architect is Ryan Thewes.
Related Posts:
New Home Tour: Kitchen
New Home Tour: Living Room
New Home Tour: Dining Room
Leave a Comment » | Art, Art: house tour, Art: interior design, Art: modern design, Family, Family: Precious/Ali | Tagged: den, kids, new home tour, new house, parenting, playroom, toys | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
02/26/2013
Oh, but not a foster placement. Boy did I confuse a few people on facebook! On the foster care front, our case worker is coming out on Thursday to check out our new home and move us back into open status, assuming all goes well. (GULP.) We could potentially start getting placement calls this weekend. (DOUBLE GULP.) Our home is as ready as it’s going to be, which made it easier for us to agree to watch our friends’ little boy Jaron for 4 days/nights with less than 24 hours notice. We joked that it would be good practice for life with two kids but dang… it was good practice! We learned a lot. It was almost as big of an adjustment as suddenly being parents to a toddler (our first placement). That was encouraging on two levels – 1. It was not as big of an adjustment. (We’re experienced now! Woot!) and 2. With our first major adjustment it got better after a week or two so I know that it would get better with two kids, also. The major difference, of course, is that we already knew and loved Jaron and his parents and we knew it would just be a few days. They also gave us a ton of directions on how to care for him, clothes, food, toiletries, etc. All of those things made it easier. It was still very stretching to have two almost-twin toddlers, and I know it was hard on little Jaron, too. One of the biggest things I learned: Being out numbered by munchins is no joke! It was much easier when Jason and I were both there to split the duties. He’d put one kid to bed, I’d put the other to bed. He’d carry one kid into the store, I’d carry the other. We both had at least 1 day where we were solo parenting both kiddos. Oy! But again, I know it would get better the longer we had to settle into a ruetine and get used to each other. Ali did really well sharing her parents. I hardly noticed any jealousy. There were a few periods when both kids wanted the one-on-one adult attention that they’re used to and I wasn’t able to meet both of their needs at once. They weren’t upset with each other but at one point while I was trying to warm up some leftovers for dinner (no way I was going to be able to cook!) and I had one kid clinging to each of my legs. It would have been comical if the shrieking/crying/whining wasn’t making me lose my mind. I even attempted to take a photo so I could laugh about it later but it don’t turn out. And I realized…What am I doing?! Just get the dang food in the microwave so I can sit on the floor and hug both kids at the same time.
So on to the fun stuff. These two are so sweet together.
This boy is a messy eater! Lord, have mercy…He’s so stinkin’ cute though. Smiles and laughs easily.
They two both get kissed a lot by their parents so they love to kiss each other as well. So cute!
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Ali thought the chalk would make good lipstick…her latest obsession.
Hi, Lucy! Yes, I still love you.
Flashback… one year ago:
2 Comments | Family, Family: Extended Family and Friends, Family: Me, Family: Precious/Ali | Tagged: adoption, Ali, buddies, friends, Jaron, kids, parenting, toddlers | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
02/11/2013
These three blog posts rocked my world last week and I wanted to pass them on to you.
Look at Me When You’re Talking to Me!
You want me to look at you, even when you are very angry and I don’t want to look at you. And you want me to wait my turn for talking, even when I have something very important to say. So why don’t you look at me when I’m doing my very important things before you tell me to stop? And why do you get to interrupt what I am doing without waiting until I’m done?
Written from the perspective to the child, this totally humbled me as a mama. It brought tears to my eyes as I realized how often I fail Ali by not giving her the attention and respect she deserves. The day before I read this, I had scolded Ali for demanding “Cacka! Cacka! Cacka!” from the other room. I told her she needed to say “Cracker please” in a nice tone. Then a few minutes later, I caught myself toning out her voice as I was preparing dinner. “Pease. Pease. Pease.” she was saying in the sweetest little voice as she pointed to the package of crackers. She wasn’t rude, loud or demanding…and she totally did not get my attention. Sigh.
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For the Foster/Adoptive Dad
My friend and mentor says there are only 2 emotions; fear and love. They are intricately and inversely related. Foster or adoptive children live out of fear, they are afraid that at the drop of a dime they will be picked up and put out of the home they are currently in. It does not matter how old they are or how long they have been there, fear is often the primary emotion that is shaping everything and anything about these children. … God says He is love, and thus far I believe Him. No matter how many moments we want to respond in fear, fathers must ferociously pursue the presence of God…the presence of love.
I don’t come across a lot blogs written by foster/adoptive dads so I thought this one was pretty cool. This father discusses 3 things that he feels very foster/adoptive dad must force himself to lean into daily.
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3 Things We Forget
In most cases lying, stealing, selfishness, and the inability to empathize will surface again and again. Get ready, because they all come with the territory. All of these are symptoms of a human being who has been forced into survival mode early on in their little lives.
From the same father as the previous post, here he addresses 3 things to keep in mind when parenting “hurt” kids—behaviors that result from fighting to survive, not to expect gratitude from a child who didn’t choose this life and the long term investment beyond a kid’s 18th birthday.
1 Comment | Family, Family: Adoption, Family: Foster Parenting | Tagged: adoption, child, father, fatherhood, foster care, kids, mother, motherhood, parenting | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
01/28/2013
Apparently I’m nesting. After getting the news that we had a February 28 deadline to reopen our home with DCS, I spent most of my free time during the weekend while Jason was out of town hanging pictures, unpacking those last few stubborn old boxes, sorting, organizing, hanging curtains…
We also got the door lock for the hall closet and our new home phone line set up.
I think maybe Jason is nesting too, because he’s patching up spots on the wall where we had some nicks and scratches as I’m writing this. We still need to assemble the monster KURA bed, install safety locks, cover the outlets, secure the TV to the wall in the den, rugs need to be “secured” with antislip pads…we also need to get a booster car seat, another twin mattress, night lights…Sheew! Is my list getting longer instead of shorter, or it just me?
Leave a Comment » | Art, Art: graphic design, Family, Family: Foster Parenting | Tagged: children, expecting, foster care, foster parenting, kids, nesting, parenting, preparations | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
11/13/2012
Sources
1. Sherwin Williams Greek Villa
2. Exposed concrete block wall
3. IKEA TROMSO day bed and pull out trundle $80 each (This is a big fat maybe. I was hoping our vintage gold pull out sofa would fit in here but it’s too big. We need some comfy seating that would ideally work also as a guest bed or maybe even a bed for a future child. No futons.)
4. Basketball hoop. $33 on Amazon. The top priority of this room is fun.
5. Natural hickory wood floors, like the rest of the house
6. Black chalkboard wall
7. Jason’s first guitar, which is now wall art. Second priority of this space is creativity and musical instruments will definitely be part of that.
8. Urban Outfitters zig zag rug, 5×7, in gray. Another big maybe but it’s my current top choice.
9. Pop & Lolli Build-a-Bot decal set. I won these on Design Mom’s blog and I’m pretty stoked to play with them… I mean, let some kids play with them.
10. Some kind of bookshelf to store toys, books, instruments. Vintage and metal painted a bright color would be nice. (This one is from UO.)
11. My old Apple iBook from 2002, which is still kicking, sort of, and hopefully has enough juice left to play some kid’s DVDs. Eventually we might add a small LED TV into this room.
12. Vintage footstool
13. Metal storage cart (painted a funky color) for toys and things
14. Child-size seating, like this metal folding chair, and maybe eventually a child-size table.
1 Comment | Art, Art: interior design, Art: new home build | Tagged: children, den, family room, hang out space, interior design, kids, mood board, new home build, new house, play room, playroom, room plan | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
11/07/2012
I’ve seen some really creative and intricate play tents and teepees on Pinterest and other blogs. I was inspired but looking for a simpler alternative. My solution was a light blue twin flat sheet from a discount home store for $4 and a pack of fabric markers for $5. For less than $10 and in the time period of two Saturday afternoon naps for my toddler, I came up with this:
Here’s what I did:
1. I laid the sheet over the folding table and it covered the top and three sides.
2. I pinned the sides together and sewed seams up the corners of the sides and cut off the excess. (I”m no stranger to the sewing machine but this is pretty simple stitching.)
3. I used the excess (two squarish pieces) to make overlapping door flaps for the remaining side. The only unfinished edges were on those door flaps, which I pressed and sewed to make neat seams. That isn’t necessary but I figured I’d keep it somewhat crisp looking.
4. I added two velcro pads to hold each door flap open using hot glue.
That’s as far as I got during the first nap time. In a few spare minutes on a different day, I sketched out what I wanted to draw on each side of the house.
5. Once it was sewn, I ironed it.
6. I drew my design on the fabric, using the table as a drawing surface and a yard stick to make straight lines. I realized the design would show through on the inside of the house but I don’t mind. Potted plants work inside or outside.
7. I tumbled the fabric in the dryer to heat-set according to the fabric marker directions.
DONE!
The appeal of using a card table and a sheet as a play house is that it’s compact to store. At our last house our folding card table lived under our bed. The rest of the play house folds up into a 6″ x 10″ x 1″ cube.
2 Comments | Art, Art: crafts | Tagged: DIY, fabric, kids, play house, play tent, teepee, toddler, toy | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
10/10/2012
If you know me in “real life,” you know I’m a tea drinker. (Hot black tea—not herbal, not green—with a little sugar, to be exact. Republic of Tea Mango Ceylon is my all-time favorite and I’m currently out in case anyone is interested.) So naturally, I must teach my daughter all about tea. With a gift card from her adoption day, I decided to order this Green Toys Tea Set.
I was not familiar with Green Toys prior to this Amazon order but I’m very impressed. They’re made from recycled milk jugs, BPA, phthalates and lead-paint free—believe it or not they’re made right here in the USA. And they’re inexpensive. I think this set was a great value. For $19.99 we got a tea pot with lid, sugar bowl with lid (same as teapot’s), creamer, four saucers, four tea cups and four spoons. My favorite thing about it is probably the mix of colors: pink, purple, blue, green and yellow. It’s like Fiestware for toddlers!
I opened the package one evening after Ali had gone to bed and I was so excited that I set it all up…
and, ahem, had a tea party with Lucy…did I just admit that?
Thankfully, Ali redeemed my craziness the next day and indulged me in several tea parties. She seriously played with these toys for hours. She’s not totally getting the tea concept yet but she loves to bite the saucers and take the lids off the tea pot and sugar bowl.
The tea set was such a big hit with Ali that I sent her cousin Iris a set for her birthday. I hope she enjoys it too, and they’ll be ready to have a tea party next time they’re together.
1 Comment | Art, Art: Cooking, Family, Family: Precious/Ali | Tagged: children, green toys, kids, play, tea, tea set, toys | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
09/19/2012
Besides checking out the Sign Museum, we also had some time to just chill out and hang out with our friends Sean and Renata and their crew. Their house is so cool! It’s like an MCM showroom. It’s fun to share that interest with them.
We also had a very important little dude that we were anxious to meet. Little Jonas and Ali are birthday buddies! They share July 20 and are one year apart.
Renata and her dad with Jonas. (Her mom was there also but not feeling well, so no pics.)
Ali and Olivia are very close in age and this is the first visit where they’ve really been able to play together. “Play” meaning mostly taking toys from each other…we’re working on sharing.
Ben has a special place in my heart. He was one of the first babies born to any of our close friends, right after this dear family moved away from Nashville. He’s a cool kid. My two favorite Ben quotes from the weekend:
1. Sitting around the table eating breakfast: “I have a lot of babies! Baby Olivia, Baby Jonas, Baby Alianna!” Yes, Ben, you have a lot of responsibility!
2. After his dad asked him if he wanted some coffee. “Noooo! I’m a boy! I’m not a man!”
A few more cuddles with our buddies before we left go to IKEA and then home to Nashville.
Good friends are a blessing from the Lord! We love you guys! Thanks for having us!
2 Comments | Art, Art: mid-century design, Family, Family: Extended Family and Friends | Tagged: buddies, Cincinnati, cousins, friends, kids | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
myMCMlife.com 