Family

Family
You MUST Chase Your Dreams, For Your Dreams Will Not Chase You

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Monday, June 13, 2011

Nolee 18 months 2 weeks and 5 days

My how you are growing so quickly these days
You are in 2T clothing and some 3T as well

You RUN everywhere
and you have one of the cutest litle runs I've ever seen
you look like a mini little speed walker

You are funny
hiliarious actually
you can mimick most any facial expression
and do so often to get us to laugh

You loved to be tickled
and repeatedly ask us to do it again ("gain")

You love to give kisses
any type of kisses
big smooches
slobbery kisses
blowing kisses
 and just making kissey sounds

Your hair is finally long enough to put
it up in a partial ponytail
which is nice because you still won't keep barretts in
for more than 10 minutes top

Your favorite word is NO
and "uh" means yes (even though you can say "yes")

You love playing with your babies
and your sister
You guys make believe for hours
and get along most of the time

You sleep in a big girl bed
and can now climb out of your big girl bed
and do so every morning at 4:45
with a very proud big girl smile
and come in and wake us up
so you can climb into our bed

You can swing in the big girl swing
and will repeatedly request a "poosh"
and scare the crap out of me
when you lean back
and giggle

You run to me when I pick you up daycare
shouting "Mommy!"
which is the best part of everyday
then you run away when I tell you it's time to go home

You have two of the cutest dimples I've ever seen
and can con pretty much anything out of anyone
when you flash those

You like being able to do everything Lilly does

You are part monkey and climb on everything

You are getting into books more and more each day
and have even taken to "reading" them to us

You love being outside
and like swimming in Nana's pool

You have some of the best dance moves
and some amazing hip action
I can't wait to see you in action at Grant's wedding

I'm so sad that you are no longer a "baby"
but I'm so happy and excited to see you grow and learn
every day
I love seeing your face light up when you conquer something new
or your sleepy face when you first wake up
We are so blessed to have you!


Thursday, June 9, 2011

What do you want to be when you grow up?

So Lilly is like every other 3 year old
and "Why" is a very popular question in our household
especially when I'm telling her she has to do something

Most of the time I do try to explain
why I'm asking her to set the table
or pick up her room
or not pick on her sister
but there are times when I'm at the end of my rope
and I fall back on the tried and true response of
"because I'm your mommy and I make the rules"
which is only mildly better than "because I said so"

Anywho Lilly and I were having a conversation the other day
and we came upon the subject of what she wants to be
when she grows up.

Mommy:  "Lilly what do you want to be when you grow up?"
Lilly:  (typical answer) "I don't know"
Mommy:  "Do you want to be a farmer like Papa?"
Lilly:  "No."
Mommy:  "Do you want to be a teacher like Daddy?"
Lilly:  "No"
Mommy:  "Well then, what do you want to be?"
Lilly:  tilts her head and thinks for a second
"I want to be a mommy so I can make ALL  the rules
like you do"

Well I guess I asked :).

Dressing tips from an almost 4 year old

So this Sunday we were all over at my mom's
enjoying the nice weather
and getting ready to hop in the pool

Nolee, Lilly and I were in the guest bedroom
getting our swim wear on
when the following conversation took place
as I was getting my suit on

Lilly:  "Mommy you better put your top on
and cover up your muscles"

*as a side note - when I was breastfeeding Nolee
we decided to tell Lilly that I was feeding
Nolee from my "muscles" in order to hopefully
avoid very embarrassing public conversations*

Me:  "And why is that?"
already smiling in anticipation of what the answer
could possibly be to this
Lilly:  as she leans in and tells me in a hushed voice
"Because nobody wants to see you like that!"

I love that she gives me some of the best
belly laughs I have ever had in my life!

DIY Free Bedroom Decorations

Free decoration #1

We are still putting some finishing touches
on our bedroom renovation
and of course we are trying to do them
on a tight if not non-existent budget

So while browsing the web for inspiration
I found this


and thought Perfect!
I want a coastal/beachy feel to the room
and I just fell in love with this
I love the color and the way the
sayings make me feel

So I went out to the garage and rummaged
through some leftover door casing
from our dining/reading room
board and batten project
and I had just enough

Next I printed off my words
and grabbed my supply of craft paints



After painting my boards a mixture of colors
I white washed the dark ones
and glazed the lighter ones
then lightly distressed them all
to give them that old worn look
(instead of the I bought them at HD 2 months ago look)


I played with the different pieces
to come up with a grouping that I liked


Then I painted on my words
hot glued the boards together
and added some twine to hang it with
and ended up with this


I love that it looks old
and that it adds just a few more pops of color
to the room


Free Decoration #2

While in the garage I also spied
and old oar that my husband has had forever
It was broke in two
so I glued it back together
slapped on some paint
and hung it on our plank wall
with some hooks


Free Decoration #3

Next I found some tongue & groove
boards that were leftover from a previous project

I glued the two pieces together
with liquid nails



Added some paint
I mixed two blues I had together to obtain
the beachy blue that was in my head
then I white washed it
and painted on my letters

And now it hangs above the oar

Total cost for these 3 mini projects - nada :).



Monday, June 6, 2011

Pool Party

The weather here was absolutely beautiful
this past weekend.
So we decided to take a break from
projects and work and have a
pool party on Saturday

The pool party included
2 kiddie pools
1 with a whale slide
2 sprinklers
and 2 cute little girls














Oh yeah and this goofy guy :).


Friday, June 3, 2011

A Grown Up Bed

So since I have moved out of my parents house
which would be oh about 13 years now
I have never had a grown up bed

It's not like my bed is only a mattress sitting directly on the floor
I mean I've always had a metal frame under the bed
and there was a few year stint in there
where I had a head board that was purchased
on clearance for $60
that moved and made noise
everytime you rolled over in bed

What I am talking about is a headboard & footboard
that match and says
Hey I'm not in collage anymore
I'm a 30 something mother to two crazy girls
and I'm a grown up now
(I may be asking a bed to say a lot)

So when we started our master bedroom re-decorating process
a grown up bed was definitely on the list
So the big search began
I looked online
I scoured the local furniture stores
and went to every thrift store I could find
and after weeks of searching I found this online at Overstock

Stanley King-size Bed

The Stanley Kind size bed
for $342

It was exactly what we were looking for
The bed was going in front of a window so
we wanted metal so we didn't block out any of that
amazing natural light we get...at 6 in the morning
I may be crazy, but I love that the sunshine wakes me up
even if it is at the butt crack of dawn

So we hemmed and we hawed
but in the end we ordered
and on the day I ordered
the bed was marked down to $308
and I had a 10% off coupon
if that isn't a sign it is meant to be
I don't know what is :)

I have never ordered anything on Overstock
but after one time I think I may be hooked
Shipping was $2.95
$2.95 for a king size bed - that's just crazy!
and it arrived on my doorstep just 5 days after ordering
and the nice UPS man put in my garage for me
all the while looking at me funny
because I had this goofy grin on my face
and kept doing my happy dance
I think both the UPS man and Lilly thought I had gone nuts

The bed itself is awesome
it's sturdy and doesn't creak
even when the kids jump on it

It is a perfect fit in our bedroom
and it feels pretty good to finally have a grown up bed :).