Fall Fancy

Fall is my favorite season. I love the colors changing, the crisp fall air, and the decorations that come from all of it. My front porch was something I have been wanting to make fancy for a month now. It was looking pretty drab. 

Now, it looks fab. Ha. No, but really. These mums were on clearance for $0.15 each. So, I got 8 of them to fill my planter boxes. The boxes are actually old ammo crates that I got from a ski resort. They were free! Really, after $1.20 and a little bit of grunt work- sweeping- and we have a fancy porch now. I'm happy with the results. 

So are the girls. And yes, there is dirt on Kaitlyn's chin. She is such a good helper. Before this picture was taken, there was dirt all over the porch because she wanted to help mix the dirt up and sweep it around...and around. 

We even ran into this guy while working on this. That's a snail. I thought it was a slug at first, but Ben notified me that it is a snail because it has a shell. 

Who knew!?! He's so smart. 

After we finished with our flowers, the girls and I collected some pine cones that have fallen in our yard. 

With those free pine cones, I filled a vase I had laying around and put in on display in my living room on my console with my other decorations. 

Like I said, fall is my favorite. I tried waiting until October 1, but with that being on Tuesday, we did it all this weekend. With the fall decorations come Halloween decorations and Emma has not stopped talking about Halloween. She is going to be Ariel and she CANNOT wait. It's both cute and obnoxious. Let's be real here. 

Happy Fall!

Dear Diary...

Ever since I was a little girl, I have written in a journal. My mom was really good about having us write in our journal every Sunday. This was one thing I didn't mind doing. 

I enjoyed it then. I enjoy it now. I enjoy putting my thoughts down on paper. 

However, now it is quite a bit harder to actually sit down and write things down. 
When Emma was born, I started a journal that I try to write in for her. 
It is my plan to continue this until she's 18 and then give it to her before she starts college. 
I plan to do the same thing with Kaitlyn. 
Why yes, Kaitlyn is already 14 months. I'll get on it...Eventually. 

I write about all kinds of things. Back in the day that included crushes, friends I had, things I did at school and church, and sometimes I went so far as to write down what I wore.

 And I put stuff in it as well. Tickets, cards, pictures, anything I had at the time. 

Some might call me a pack rat. My husband certainly does. I kept everything. 

I kept every single letter my grandpa wrote me. These are things I'll cherish FOREVER.

Thanks mom for forcing having me write in my journal every.single.Sunday.

I feel like it's made me a better person. 

Kingdom of Chaos

I am a working mom. I have two small children. I have a busy husband. 

I am a daughter, sister, aunt, niece, and cousin. I am a friend. 

Sometimes I don't have time to do a lick of cleaning. 

This is what my living room looks like. 

What does yours look like? Do you let things go?

I do so I can have dinner with my family at the kitchen table. So I can play with my kids. So we can all have tickle fights because the tickle monster has come out to play. 

Showcase Your Kids

It's no secret I love my kids. I do whatever I can do to make them feel  special. 

I feel it's important to make sure your kids know you are proud of them 

and you appreciate what they can do themselves. 

When I was a young child, we had a wall in our dining room that we had dedicated to art work that came from school. When we first moved into our house, I knew this wall would be dedicated to our children's art work from school. 

This is the wall. 

Isn't my kid artistic?

It's perfect because there are little metal clips that hold the papers up.

This way, you can change out the art as quick as your kid draws it. 

And in my house...there are about 10 new pictures each and every day. 

A New Art Frame of Mind

At this point in our lives, home projects consist of spending little to no money. So, when I can incorporate something new into something I already own, well that's what I call luck. Today, the girls and I went to Ikea. If there's anyone who's seen the movie "A Night at the Roxbury" and can recall the scene with Will Ferrell and Molly Shannon...that's me. 

I LOVE it. It is my all time favorite store of all time. 

Anyways, enough about my love affair with Ikea. Geez. Get a room. Ha. Get it. 

While we there, I saw some beautiful posters that were only $10 for a pack of two. 

I already had the frame. 

Where there used to be children's art, we now have something a little more adult. 

Now, don't get me wrong, I love Emma and I love Emma's coloring. I was just as proud as she was to have her picture donning our wall. But, now that I have something a little more adult, it seems more simplistic and therefore more clean. 

Here's a little tidbit about me. Right now, I am trying to simplify my life.

 I feel like this is a step in the right direction. Have things be more streamlined. 

I'll probably find another frame to put Emma's art in a new frame somewhere else. :)

Running is My Frenemy

I come from a family of runners. My dad ran track and cross country in high school and college. All four of my brothers ran. My sister, Carey, ran too. It's in my blood.

 I ran one season of cross country in high school. I hated it. 

However, now I enjoy it. These days, I like to think I'm a runner. I go to a gym sometimes pretty regularly and I run til I can't run no mo'. I am signed up for my second half marathon for next April. I have done quite a few races in the last few years. 

I am competitive by nature and I like running against other people...and dogs.

I am not a pretty runner. My clothes don't match. I wear mismatched socks. 

Sometimes I forget my water bottle and I have to fill my empty coffee mug with water so

I am able to fend off exhaustion and that little voice in my head that's taunting me to stop. 

I give it everything I have. And I don't care what I look like. 

This is the only way I can get through the week sometimes. Sometimes I claim it is my drug of sorts. Meaning, I need it, I want it, I have to have it. I almost crave it sometimes. 

Other times, I literally talk my self out of it.

Here's the thing- I don't do it for only me. I do it for my girls too. I want to be a healthy and happy mom who can play with my kids and have energy to keep up with them. I want to live a long life so I can be with them always. As in, I never want to leave their side. As in, I live in their basement when I am old. They'll never be able to get rid of me. Not if I can help it. And if that means, heading to the gym twice a week. Well, so be it. 

Silver-Where?

I come from a family of 7 children. That means I have 6 siblings. That means my mom was 'with child' for 63 months. What? Whoa! So, while I come from a large-ahem- very large family, I only have 2 children. Two girls. Two beautiful, independent, clever girls. The oldest, Emma is almost 5. She is such a great helper. 

In fact, she's usually looking for things to do, to be responsible for. 

Enter...the dishwasher. Dun. Dun. Dun.... Just kidding. 

Because our plates/bowls and cups/glasses are in our upper cabinets, I have given Emma the chore of unloading the silverware and putting it in the drawer. It is just her height. 

She does a wonderful job. She also takes it very seriously.

Her sister, Kaitlyn, also likes to help...in her own way. I will give her credit though- she did hand Emma a few spoons for her to put away.

As a kid, my brothers and sisters and I thought our parents strictly had kids so they didn't have to clean the kitchen, mow the lawn, and clean the bathroom. When I was a child, my parents gave me chores. I earned my allowance. And, yes, I complained about it every chance I got when i was a kid. Now, I kind of appreciate it. My parents gave me responsibility. With that came a sense of accomplishment.

 I just emptied the dishwasher.

 I just swept the floor.

 I just painted the exterior of the house. Wait, just kidding on that last one. Barely. 

It's funny how before I had children, I just thought my parents were- well- mean. But, now that I'm a mother, I can see where they were coming from. I want my children to feel like they're a part of making our house a home, keeping it clean, and keeping it functioning. Because, let's face it. You can't have a dance party in the living room until the living room is cleaned up. Nuff said.

Giving the Rast More Roar

Recently, I purchased these super cute, super cheap dressers from Ikea. I knew exactly what I was going to use them for- nightstands.

Right now, we have TV trays flanking our bed. Not too classy or sophisticated if you ask me. It sort of screams broke college student. Which is exactly what I was when we purchased them. Now, I’m graduated and 6 years older, so I figured it was time for a change.

Enter, the Rast.

They are versatile and have you seen some of the Ikea hacks done on these puppies. Me-ow.These are great at only $34.99 a piece. 

So, they sat in our room like this for awhile, but they weren't doing it for me yet. We had some leftover stain from a different project so I got that and a foam brush and got to work on staining these guys. Now they look like this…and I love them.

Now, to get some kind of headboard...