Really...Already?!?

Scott has begun coaching for junior high boys track season

and since Lilly is going to school this year

he has a new assistant

a short one, who may spend more time

in the sandbox long jump pit building

castles than actually helping, but hey beggers

can't be choosers ;)

I was asking Lilly yesterday how she liked track practice

and she told me this...

Lilly:  I like it.

Me:  Do you get to hang out with a bunch of kids?

(she LOVES hanging out with the older kids after school)

Lilly:  Yes...(she kind of blushed here)...especially the one I LOVE.

Me:  first my jaw just dropped and as I tried to gather my wits I was able to

mutter... "Oh...really"

Me:  So who is this guy you love?

Lilly:  I don't know his name (as she rolls her eyes at me)

but I play games on his iphone all the time

Me:  Well that is nice of him...  So how do you know

you love him?

Lilly:  Because he is funny and goofy...just like me!

So at 4 we have her first crush

I really didn't think something like this would hit until

at least 4th grade (and was hoping for 5th or 6th)

Scott assures me that it's more of a she really likes him

as a big brother type crush rather than all that kissy mushy type crushes

that hopefully come MUCH later.

I find this hilarious (but I have a weird sense of humor)

at 4 relationships are all about the gadgets

but names don't matter

and I'm kind of proud that she is more into personality than looks

 (although this unnamed iphone owning guy may be hot as hot can be)

I am laughing, proud & totally scared for what our future holds

(and what Mommy will have to handle) with this one :).

Neutralizing

While over at my parent's this Sunday

Lilly and I were in the bathroom washing our hands

when this conversation took place...

Lilly:  I really like Nana's soap

Me:  Me too - it smells so good

Lilly:  Yes it does, plus I like that when I rub

my hands together the soap neutralizes

any germs on my hands and gets them really clean.

Me:  (mouth agape & staring at her)

Yes...yes it does.

Can you tell her dad is a science teacher???

2nd Session of Gymnastics

Lilly is in her 2nd session of gymnastics

and loving every minute of it

Scott took her to "watch" night and was able

to get a ton of great pictures

She was such a ham and waved at every opportunity

She was SUPER competitive when it came to the races

here she is checking to make sure she is ahead

seriously she HAS to win - yesterday we went for a walk

with the girls in the stroller and she would tell Scott to hurry up

(he was pushing her) if Nolee & I got ahead...

and since I am SUPER competitive as well...this just makes me smile

and makes Scott shake his head :)

Going in for the high-five

She however needs to work on skipping

which with the weather being beautiful & 70s

(in March, in MI, which means we dragging out our shorts)

we should have plenty of opportunities to have some skipping

races of our own outside

She had a little difficulty getting up on the horse

This by far is my favorite picture

Her coach is showing her how to "finish"

She loved the ball/box pit

Hamming it up again

Here they got to jump off the un-even bars into another box pit



From Beast to Beauty

I have been loving the look of wrapped canvases

and since we had our pictures taken last fall

I have been looking and pinning ideas

on how to achieve this look for less

When I saw two of these beasts

for $1 each I knew it was time to start

implementing some of those ideas

They were each 16 x 20 and just plain ol ugly

if you are not into pastels & flowers...which I'm not

So I snagged both of them up

 and ordered two 16 x 20 prints from Shutterfly

(which I was very impressed the their shipping and the fact

that both pictures arrived with no damages or creases)

First I had to disassemble the flower pictures

The canvas was just held on by some staples

so I removed a bazillion of those little buggers with my screwdriver

The pliers came in handy for some of those stubborn little buggers

After I was done this is what I was left with

Next I flipped the canvas over

and stapled it back on

I wanted the blank side up so I had a smooth surface to glue my

picture onto

This is where I stopped taking pictures because I needed both hands

I put a coat of mod podge on the canvas and laid my picture on top

I had a few minutes to make sure the placement was perfect

and then started gently rubbing out all the bubbles.

After this dried I put a few coats of mod podge on top of the picture

just to seal it up nicely.

*Note I actually had too many bubbles the first time I did it

and I was able to carefully remove my picture after the mod podge

dried and start over - because I cannot do anything right the first time!

I then added some scrapbook paper to the sides to help hide all those

unsightly staples and used a sponge to paint all edges

I also sponged just a bit onto the picture itself hoping it

would make it look older/like it blended into the sides

...note to self - next time wear gloves :)

You can see the strips of scrapbook paper in this next picture

This picture makes it look very messy and unprofessional

...which it is :) but once you don't zoom in it looks great

See?! 

I was able to do one for each of our little girls 

And here's how they look up on the wall

Completely out of order really, but here is a picture of the corner

looks a bit more professional from this angle :)

Total cost for each 16 x 20 canvas was $19

compared to $72 each for a gallary wrapped canvas print

which means I saved a total of $106 :).

And canvases from JoAnns aren't that expensive

especially when you catch them on a 40% off sale

so I can see myself repeating this process again



Almond Milk

Since the girls have gotten sick

with the Norovirus a couple weeks back

they have problems digesting dairy products

As in I give little Nolee a tiny bit of cheese

and almost immediately afterwards her tummy gets bloated

she says it hurts really bad & we end up in the bathroom

sometimes to the point of tears because of the pain

I know that after a stomach bug this isn't that uncommon

but it sure seems to be lingering for quite some time

this is one wicked bug

To ensure they are still getting the needed

nutrients for growing bodies

we have started buying Silk Almond Milk

It's lactose free and it's non-dairy

and so far does not appear to bother their little tummies

Lilly loves it and Nolee is kind of on the fence

When we were up at my parent's cottage

we brought our special milk & Papa asked Lilly what she was drinking

and Lilly immediately answered

"It's nut milk Papa"

In that isn't it obvious voice

Needless to say we all got a pretty good laugh

out of that (and yes all our minds are in the gutter)

Oh How We Grow

I've always liked the idea of having some kind of

measuring device to mark our kids growth

over the years - something that can move

with us, if that were ever the case

I have been seeing the DIY life size rulers

all over pinterest and knew it would be perfect

One 1 x 6, some stain, paint/stencils & a sharpie later

this is what we have to happily record how

much we grow

I made it so we could hang it a little higher

because when your husband is 6'7" you need a BIG ruler 

So far I think we have measured the girl's height every day since it

has gone up :)



Storage Oh Glorious Storage!!

After we painted the living room/kitchen

and re-arranged the furniture set up,

the cabinet that housed our TV

DVDs, and all that good stuff

felt dwarfed and out of place

Plus it kind of just blended into the white half wall

mehhhh & blah are the words that come to mind

I still love that little antique cabinet

with all it's curves and details

and plan on finding a spot for it downstairs

I know that I could have re-painted

to pop against the white wall

but for all it's prettiness & curves

it doesn't have a lot to offer in the storage department

and with 2 little ones under the age of 5

we were in dire need of storage

and I wanted pretty storage...if that was possible

We talked about built ins

we talked about Expedit Shelves from Ikea

or even Billy Bookcases made to look like built ins

like this lovely lady did at MiniManor

We liked all these ideas, but the main problem is

we live 3 hrs from the nearest IKEA...and with gas prices

that would kind of defeat the cost savings

and to be honest we don't get 6 hrs we can blow

without the kids very often...and the idea of 6hrs

in the car with the girls kind of makes me shudder

as they think the ride to town (25 min) seems long

We talked about building them ourselves

and both really liked the idea...but didn't know when

we would have the time as I'm taking a class

and after I work all day, then spend time with the girls

put them to bed, I study...

and of course as soon as my class is done

Scott is starting up coaching for track season

which means his extra time will be nil

One day while browsing the aisle in Target

I found the solution with their 6 cube Horizontal Organizer

I liked the look, loved the baskets & oh man just look at all

that wonderful storage and best of all - it's pretty!

After work on Friday I convinced Scott

and the girls to go to Target with me to "just look" at it

(yeah just look totally means BUY with me...but I have to

ease Scott into going to the store first before I do my pitch)

Scott actually really liked the look of the cubes

and even found this while we were browsing the aisles

He liked the idea of the electronics being covered & protected

from dust and bonus for me that it offered even more storage

So we did the math while standing there

trying to contain 2 kids who were absolutely DONE

with Target and sitting still in a cart in the same aisle

while Mommy & Daddy hemmed & hawed over furniture

WARNING - never do math in this situation

According to our "math" we could just fit

2 horizontal cubes & the entertainment center

so we loaded it up and got it home...

measured with an actual tape measure

& realized we were waaay off.

But my lovely husband volunteered to run back to Target

after the girls were in bed to switch out the horizontal cubes

for the vertical cubes

(cuz you can't just flip the horizontal ones

up...they don't work that way).

Wow...long story but in the end this is what we have

Just look at all that storage!

I was pleasantly surprised by how sturdy these cubes were

they are heavy!

These baskets are awesome and offer so much "pretty" storage

apparently I have an obsession with Nora Roberts books...

I love that the girl's toys are now readily at hand

but so prettily hidden when not in use

Oh and I put the TV stand together all by myself and it was

by far the best store bought put together piece of furniture I have

encountered.  The directions were awesome, it's very sturdy

(like I can sit on it without worrying about breaking it sturdy)

and best of all they included EXTRA screws, bolts, etc!

And the drawers hold a crazy amount of DVDs

Now I just have to work on the "art" for the walls

cuz the picture above the TV now looks pint sized