Funny

Oldest daughter: "Mom, I lifted up my arms and my shirt just purped up!" (Meaning, I need to buy her longer shirts; interesting way to say it though ;)).

Middle child: " I ate all my lunch and didn't leave a single chuck." Hmm. Okay.

I just love the things kids say.

Speaking of kids, my due date is July 28th. So my current youngest and this one will be 2 years apart by a few days. Hopefully they won't share the same birthday. That stinks for a kid. :)

:)

#4

I Love...

...Finding little toys on the tree branches that have been added for more decoration, a certain middle child's fingers sneaking into every dish I am preparing (she just can't help herself), except for when she touches the raw meat; a baby boy's obsession with opening and closing doors and constant movement and clapping to music, an oldest daughter's love of wildlife (almost every night she picks out our "Encyclopedia of Animals" as her bedtime story), and a hubby's habit of taking off his shoes six feet away from where the shoe basket is placed. ;)

Halloween, Stitches, DIY, and Craigslist

A fun day at the pumpkin patch/petting zoo chasing the turkey. It kept fluffing itself up trying to look all big and impressive. Cute.

Little man kept peeking into hubby's face and laughing. I sure have two handsome fellas.

Little sis was allowed to walk with big sis in the Halloween parade at school. Big sis wanted the "real Cinderella do" and said that everyone at school thought she was the real Cinderella, because she had the same hair, except her friend knew that it was her because the real one doesn't wear glasses. :)

Little man was a basketball player for Halloween, courtesy of my sister Mary.

First stitches: running at recess and tripped over a boy's leg, headfirst into the pavement. Ouch.

I finally realized (don't know why it took me so long) that if I want my decor to look and be the style I want it to, I am going to have to be a little more proactive about it. I kept thinking that years down the road when we have the money, I could then start purchasing all the antiques and other decor items that I have been pining after. So lately I have become a little obsessed about tackling projects myself. Here are a few of the projects I have been working on (and items I have found on Craigslist).

I got this bench at a yard sale for 5.oo and decided to try my hand at a first redo paint project and distressing job.

These gold frames I got on clearance at Home Goods. I love the look of antique gold frames but they are hard to come by in decent condition and at a good price, so I decided to try a little antiquing myself. The one on the left is the one undone.

Sorry about the sideways pic. I love the look of these lamps but when pricing them discovered that they were way more expensive then I was willing to pay (cheapest was 60.00 at Target, and that was a deal), so I decided to make 2 of them on my own. Cost me 30.00 a piece. Why are lamps so expensive?

Found this beauty on Craigslist. Not only did I love the style, but when I went to pick it up, I found out that it had been in the family for 20 years, and was the father's grandmother's dresser before that. It had the original stamp on the back and so I looked it up and found out it came from a company based in San Fran that was in business from the late 1800's to the 1930's. NICE!

This old thing also came from Craigslist for FREE (it is obviously in pretty rough shape). The man said that it was from the 1920's and he just didn't have the heart to throw it away. On a bit of a whim, hubby and I decided to take it off his hands and have a go at our first reupholstery project. We priced out how much it would cost to have it done professionally and were given an estimate at both places for 1200.00. We calculated out the costs and figure we can do it for under 300.00. Now if it turns out is the question. :)

Ideas

This post is mainly for my sisters who have been asking to see pics of the new place we moved into (well 8 months ago now). I would love any ideas or advice on how to decorate better. :)

Master Bedroom





Kitchen



Girls' room



Little Man's room


Living room

Enjoy

Inseparable sisters

The child above likes to get as sandy (and dirty, sticky, messy...) as possible...

and the one below, not so much. :)

Why can't life be so simply enjoyable for all of us?

Exploring the world around him.

Things I Love

*Peanut butter
*Spring blossoms
*Fall leaves
*Homemade bread
*Listening to my girls sing "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" over and over in the car
*Pickles
*Journal writing for myself and kids
*Spinach fruit smoothies
*Fall decorations
*Tuna fish sandwiches
*Taking walks on the trail
*The sound of running water: water falls, rivers, streams, creeks...
*"Reading Rainbow"
*Reading books to my children
*Listening to my girls play together
*Sunsets
*The tide pools at the beach
*Ice cream (a little too much of a love there)
*Drawing
*Having picnics
*Snuggling
*Books, books, books
*"Pottery Barn" magazines
*Shopping for vintage and antiques
*French bread pizza
*A slight breeze coming in the window
*Cheese
*Thunderstorms
*The scriptures
*Birds chirping
*Movie night with hubby
*The Cheesecake Factory
*Camping at Hobble Creek
*The sound of my sisters' voices on the phone
*My one-toothed 27 lb 8-month-old
*All the cuddles and kisses I get from my little 31 lb 3-yr-old
*My singing, dancing, non-stop talking 5-yr-old
*My strong, hard-working, teasing 28 yr-old
*There is so much to cherish in this life. My list could go on and on. What else could I ask for?