Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Ducks
We just got back from a week at my parents' house. One of the boys' favorite things to do is feed the ducks. They will eat right out of your hand. We even witnessed a big cat (don't know what kind, but bigger than a regular housecat pounce on a goose and drag him across the street by the neck. yikes!
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Will's 5th Birthday
Will turned 5 on July 11th! I'm slightly behind, ha! Here's one picture I took of my big 5 year old. He keeps asking me when he's going to turn 6. More birthday pictures to come. This is the first year we haven't done a friend birthday party and he was just as happy to celebrate with our family and his grandma Nancy.
Will's adorable birthday outfit was made by Heather. She made the 4th of July star t shirts and I just had her make him a shirt that matched the same shorts. Her website is Momma Said Sew and her etsy site is http://www.etsy.com/shop/hbmcinteer. She has a lot of new, cute fall outfits and she is adding new ones everyday. Check it out!
Saturday, August 07, 2010
New Hobbies! Sewing and Distressing Furniture
I have two new hobbies that I am loving! This summer I have had the urge to spruce up my house a little bit. It all started with looking at these three blogs...Pure & Lovely, Young House Love, and k.f.d. designs.
After my week without kids, I really got motivated! I painted my bathroom, bought a sewing machine, thought~how hard can it be? and made this fixed-flat Roman shade (different fabric I found at Brentwood Interiors for on sale for $4.25 for 1 1/2 yards! I haven't taken pictures of it yet. I have a few tweaks I need to make on it. It was harder than I thought, but easier than I thought too... does that make sense at all???
Then I used Pure and Lovely's playroom for inspiration on my kid's upstairs playroom. I even stalked Ashley (P&L blog owner) for the paint color but ended up using a slightly different color. I found like fabrics on Etsy and ordered 7 different yards of fabric. I kind of made up my own pattern for these window treatments. They are NOT PERFECT, but good enough for me. I misjudged a few measurements (which has been the hardest part of sewing for me) so they are a little bit off. Then I started painting. I sanded, painted and distressed the boys toybox a bright red (who needs P90X when you are sanding all of the furniture in your house)?? and repainted one of the chairs yellow. Then I made three cute little pillows and the playroom is still a work in progress. I still have a bookshelf (found on the side of the road for trash) to paint and bulletin boards, etc to add. I had painted these pear paintings on canvas about six months ago and didn't have a place for them and the colors match great!
(please excuse the mess, it's a work in progress!!)
Then I WENT ON A HUGE PAINTING FRENZY. I painted a bed I got for Walker~ $10 at a yard sale(thought it was a twin, but ended up being a full) so it's now Will's bed, painted his rocking chair, our end table, coffee table, an antique desk I got at a yard sale for $30, and now I'm repainting our kitchen table and chairs. Our table was my parents first table when they were married and was handed down to us several years ago. We painted it black when Will was a baby and 4 years and 2 kids later, it was looking AWFUL with lots of chips in the paint in a not so distressed kind of way, never mind the fact that our kitchen and den are all one big room and our den is in brown and neutral tones. This always bothered me, but I didn't have the energy or desire to fix it. The table has been a BEAST to sand and I'm still working on it and still working on the coffee table. It's been a lot of hard work, but very rewarding! If you are still reading this I applaud you! Here are some pics of the bed, rocking chair, and other things.
table in progress
whew....I am sore and tired, but love my new hobbies! This has been such a creative outlet for me and has helped me to get back a little piece of myself. It has been very rewarding for me to have a new outlet and something to look forward to.
After my week without kids, I really got motivated! I painted my bathroom, bought a sewing machine, thought~how hard can it be? and made this fixed-flat Roman shade (different fabric I found at Brentwood Interiors for on sale for $4.25 for 1 1/2 yards! I haven't taken pictures of it yet. I have a few tweaks I need to make on it. It was harder than I thought, but easier than I thought too... does that make sense at all???
Then I used Pure and Lovely's playroom for inspiration on my kid's upstairs playroom. I even stalked Ashley (P&L blog owner) for the paint color but ended up using a slightly different color. I found like fabrics on Etsy and ordered 7 different yards of fabric. I kind of made up my own pattern for these window treatments. They are NOT PERFECT, but good enough for me. I misjudged a few measurements (which has been the hardest part of sewing for me) so they are a little bit off. Then I started painting. I sanded, painted and distressed the boys toybox a bright red (who needs P90X when you are sanding all of the furniture in your house)?? and repainted one of the chairs yellow. Then I made three cute little pillows and the playroom is still a work in progress. I still have a bookshelf (found on the side of the road for trash) to paint and bulletin boards, etc to add. I had painted these pear paintings on canvas about six months ago and didn't have a place for them and the colors match great!
(please excuse the mess, it's a work in progress!!)
Then I WENT ON A HUGE PAINTING FRENZY. I painted a bed I got for Walker~ $10 at a yard sale(thought it was a twin, but ended up being a full) so it's now Will's bed, painted his rocking chair, our end table, coffee table, an antique desk I got at a yard sale for $30, and now I'm repainting our kitchen table and chairs. Our table was my parents first table when they were married and was handed down to us several years ago. We painted it black when Will was a baby and 4 years and 2 kids later, it was looking AWFUL with lots of chips in the paint in a not so distressed kind of way, never mind the fact that our kitchen and den are all one big room and our den is in brown and neutral tones. This always bothered me, but I didn't have the energy or desire to fix it. The table has been a BEAST to sand and I'm still working on it and still working on the coffee table. It's been a lot of hard work, but very rewarding! If you are still reading this I applaud you! Here are some pics of the bed, rocking chair, and other things.
table in progress
whew....I am sore and tired, but love my new hobbies! This has been such a creative outlet for me and has helped me to get back a little piece of myself. It has been very rewarding for me to have a new outlet and something to look forward to.
More Swimming
Warning-very long post ahead. Trying to catch up since I've been a terrible blogger lately.
Walker LOVE, LOVE, LOVES the slide. You can just see his excitement in these pictures. It is so funny to see the look on his face when he comes out of the water. He is grinning from ear to ear and his eyes are always wide open. Here's a little play by play of him on the slide.
This is one of my favorite pictures of the summer. It really shows Walker's personality. He gets so excited about things and makes a fist, puts his arms together, squints and grins so big.
I love my daddy!
He loves being thrown in the air. We toss him back and forth until our arms feel like they are going to fall off.
and the smile as he comes out of the water.
Will looks so big in this picture. sniff sniff He is growing up. You can't really tell in this picture, but he is so tan. He was lucky to get his daddy's pretty skin and complexion. Walker is more fair like me.
Loves the sprinklers and spray things at the Y. I on the other hand, don't care for being sprayed constantly from all directions.
Will was terrified of swimming by himself at the beginning of the summer. He would NOT take off his floaties. He is a very cautious child and scared to try new things, but once he gets the courage to try, he doesn't turn back. The fear of the unknown is very real to him. Usually if I can just talk him into trying something new, he is very surprised at how easy it is. We were planning on putting him in swim lessons this summer, but the time got away from me and my procrastination resulted in filled up swim lessons everywhere. He started off scared to take off his floaties, then traded them for the kickboard, then the noodle, and one day I made him swim to me and kept backing up and he did great. He was so proud and has been swimming every since and gets better and better every day. I mean, he would claw me and hold on for dear life just 2 months ago. I'm so proud of him!
Walker LOVE, LOVE, LOVES the slide. You can just see his excitement in these pictures. It is so funny to see the look on his face when he comes out of the water. He is grinning from ear to ear and his eyes are always wide open. Here's a little play by play of him on the slide.
This is one of my favorite pictures of the summer. It really shows Walker's personality. He gets so excited about things and makes a fist, puts his arms together, squints and grins so big.
I love my daddy!
He loves being thrown in the air. We toss him back and forth until our arms feel like they are going to fall off.
and the smile as he comes out of the water.
Will looks so big in this picture. sniff sniff He is growing up. You can't really tell in this picture, but he is so tan. He was lucky to get his daddy's pretty skin and complexion. Walker is more fair like me.
Loves the sprinklers and spray things at the Y. I on the other hand, don't care for being sprayed constantly from all directions.
Will was terrified of swimming by himself at the beginning of the summer. He would NOT take off his floaties. He is a very cautious child and scared to try new things, but once he gets the courage to try, he doesn't turn back. The fear of the unknown is very real to him. Usually if I can just talk him into trying something new, he is very surprised at how easy it is. We were planning on putting him in swim lessons this summer, but the time got away from me and my procrastination resulted in filled up swim lessons everywhere. He started off scared to take off his floaties, then traded them for the kickboard, then the noodle, and one day I made him swim to me and kept backing up and he did great. He was so proud and has been swimming every since and gets better and better every day. I mean, he would claw me and hold on for dear life just 2 months ago. I'm so proud of him!
Catching Up-Summer
The boys have LOVED the pool this summer. Will is swimming so well now and our goal is to pass the swim test by the end of the summer. They have to swim the distance of an olympic sized pool! He is so proud and loves going to the bottom of the pool to "fetch" his pool toys. He is my stubborn child and refuses to wear goggles or a mask. I keep telling him how much fun it will be to see everything under water clearly, but he won't budge. Walker is swimming like a fish. He wears his floaties and loves to jump in over and over, as well as go down the slide. People stop me all the time and ask me how old he is, and then comment that he has NO FEAR and they are right! Sometimes he scares me to death. He even loves to jump in backwards and this was his favorite activity until the lifeguard nixed it. Len has been taking them to the pool alot when he gets home from work. I join them occasionally, but sometimes this tired mama needs a break at the end of the day....
Walker and Drew at the pool.
A little break for some lunch.
Our Sunday School class tries to get together once a week during the summer for a playdate. On this day, we went to Miss "Bekah's" pool. Walker loves Miss Bekah and talks about her all the time.
Will, Jackson, Walker and Libby
Will and Frances. He looks unhappy in this picture, but the sun was just in his eyes.
Love this picture! Trying to get this many kids to sit still for a picture is almost impossible.
Walker and Drew at the pool.
A little break for some lunch.
Our Sunday School class tries to get together once a week during the summer for a playdate. On this day, we went to Miss "Bekah's" pool. Walker loves Miss Bekah and talks about her all the time.
Will, Jackson, Walker and Libby
Will and Frances. He looks unhappy in this picture, but the sun was just in his eyes.
Love this picture! Trying to get this many kids to sit still for a picture is almost impossible.
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