Joseph - 12 months old

1. Poor Joseph has come down with aย cold this weekโ€ฆ all of his sniffling, runny nose and coughing is so sad :( ย However, being sick doesnโ€™t really slow him down much โ€“ he still plays non-stop, is doing tons of walking, and is in a great mood!

2.ย About a month before Josephโ€™s birthday, my husband and I were talking about what to get him and we had decided on a nice toy box. Then, a few days later, my husband said heโ€™d like to try to make one. He hadnโ€™t ever done anything related to woodworking, but did some research, watched some YouTube videos, and with his dadโ€™s help, he built this:

Homemade Toy Box

Itโ€™s absolutely gorgeous! I was so proud of him and hadย to brag :)ย Joseph loves standing over the side and pulling out the toys he wants to play with.

He just finishing a bookshelf for Josephโ€™s bedroom โ€“ Iโ€™ll share that as soon as itโ€™s done!

3.ย Iโ€™m on the hunt for a gallon-size glass pitcher (with lid and spout) to replace our plastic iced tea container. I canโ€™t seem to find them anywhere! Any suggestions?

4.ย Lovely advice from people who have been there.

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5.ย Iโ€™ve been working on being more organized with what I need to do around the house and have been keeping a rough laundry schedule for a couple of months, but Iโ€™m loving how this is broken down [via]:

Good Home Cleaning Schedule

6.ย Iโ€™m going to be doing a reader survey within the next week (itโ€™s been so long!) so keep an eye out! I always love to hear what youโ€™re looking for from the site, and this will be your chance to give me tons of great feedback :)

7.ย Last week, I mentioned that I was going to use a Cookโ€™s Illustrated method to clean out a neglected cast iron skillet. That method (heating oil and adding salt to create a paste) wasnโ€™t enough to get the layer of caked-on crud off, so it looks like Iโ€™ll be stripping it entirely and reseasoning it.

8. If youโ€™re a hockey fan, youโ€™ve probably heard about the John Scott drama surrounding the all-star game last weekend. For those that arenโ€™t โ€“ quick recap: heโ€™s been in the league a long time, but isnโ€™t really a skilled player, more of a fighter. He was voted into the all-star game (fan voting), but the league tried to put the kibosh on it. I hadnโ€™t paid much attention to it until I read a piece he wrote in The Playersโ€™ Tribune: A Guy Like Me. Super read.

9. Itโ€™s Super Bowl weekend! Are you having a party? Who are you rooting for? I would be happy if either team won, but Iโ€™m pulling for Peyton Manning to win since this will probably be his last game.

10. TGIF! Einstein and Duke got groomed this week, so theyโ€™re soft, fluffy, smell great, and I just want to bury my head in their fur โค๏ธ

Duke - February 2016