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The Kids’ Cubby in the Mudroom

November was a busy month for me.  It turns out, when you’re a voluntary spokesperson for the turkey industry during a month when everyone wants to talk about said industry, your time gets filled quickly.  Between tv and radio interviews, my trip to New York City, and the guest blog posts I wrote, there wasn’t much time for anything else.
So today, while Isaac and I were home for the morning, we cleaned and organized the entryway.  The transition from fall to winter has officially occurred here in Iowa, and the explosion of winter gear is proof of that.  Today, I put the “summer” toys in a tote in the basement, threw the lightweight jackets in the laundry pile so they’ll be ready for spring, and sorted through years worth of mismatched kids’ gloves and hats.
And voila! We have a an organized kids’ cubby in the mudroom!
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The kids’ cubby is an area that used to be an enclosed closet.  There were full walls, and a standard door to the area.  There was also a door next door (um, what?) to the basement.
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When we remodeled the mudroom a couple of years ago, we did away with all those light blocking doors and walls and created this little nook for the boys.
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See the stairs to the basement? Funny story about the concrete stairway.  We remodeled this space over a year ago.  We didn’t get the concrete painted that fall, and it got too cold (the concrete floor is downright nippy in the winter…too cold to hold paint) so we planned to paint it over the summer.  And yet, here we are, in December again with an unpainted stairway.

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But let’s entertain a short discussion on priorities.  Which is more important? Painted stairs or hooks and baskets for organization?  See…at least we have our priorities in line.
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(Disclaimer: The entryway looks like this now because I took this picture while Adam was at school and Isaac was working with his daddy.  That means we’re missing at least two coats, two pairs of boots, two sets of hats & gloves and one backpack. I’ll show you a real life picture someday, for comedic relief.)
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Shared at Motivational Monday at The Logbook, DIY ShowOff