Three Girls and a Guy...

Bathrooms on the Brain

2010-03-15T15:50:00.007-04:00

We desperately need a redo in our main floor bathroom. I started peeling the wallpaper off the walls several years ago and, due to extreme lack of decisiveness, there it sits. I'm sort of glad I let it sit there so long though, because I finally know what I want to do in there. It will need to be on a budget though, and by budget, I mean as cheap as possible.

When I saw this, I knew I had a jumping-off point. Swooning.........

But it will need to be a slightly smaller version that we'll do ourselves. The chrome legs can be purchased separately, and then we'll have to have a piece of marble cut for the top. This one is from Restoration Hardware (that means $$$) and is too big for our space anyway.

I hope to do a classic, all white bathroom, like one that you would see in an old house. Our house isn't new, but it isn't old enough to be considered an old house, and I love old houses.

I've been collecting some images for inspiration, here are a few:

above three images all from the Waterworks showroom

Elle Decor

Elle Decor

A more budget-friendly version of the dream sink, still cute though.

Another option. I think this one's from Pottery Barn.

small bathroom...just like ours.

...and gray. I love how they used smaller tiles on top here.

A little bit of trivia: the above photo is Miranda's bathroom from the set of Sex & the City.

Ours is the main floor bathroom that we use and that people see and use when they come over (or the Powder Room if you're Southern!) But it's a full bath since we have a bedroom on the main floor...so we have the tub/shower to redo also.

I'd like to do the 1-inch hex tiles on the floor with gray grout. Either porcelain:

or marble:

And plain white subway tile on the walls. These ones are from Lowes, 22 cents each:

I love the tiles in a herringbone pattern too, like this:

I picture it with an oval mirror above the sink, something like this:

This one's a medicine cabinet, even better! Why don't houses have medicine cabinets anymore???

And a bridge faucet, like this one:

With sconces on either side of the mirror, I like these ones from Bellacor ($70 each):

and a glass or marble shelf above the sink, something like this:

Some other accessories on my list:

basket from shoestring home ($40):

chrome soap holder for tub from signature hardware ($42):

Ahhhhhhhhhh....a girl can dream, right????

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T19:52:00.004-05:00

I gave you a sneak peek of our Valentine picture in the last post, but here's the official card that we sent out. There were lots of cute pictures of the girls, it was hard to choose. Below is Jane's Valentine that she passed out to her friends in her class.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Hearts for Hair

2010-02-11T09:29:00.005-05:00

Here's a quick how-to on those cute felt heart hair clips that you see in my girls' hair above. This is for all of you who don't sew...this is a really easy beginner project that just requires some simple stitching with a needle and thread. There are so many possibilities with embroidery thread and it's the cheapest craft/hobby out there and also the easiest! Not to mention how happy it is to look at all those colors together:

So for those little hearts, you'll need:
felt scraps
contrasting embroidery thread & needle
snap clip or barrette
polyfill stuffing (optional)
superglue or fabric glue

Start by cutting out two hearts of the same size & shape. Mine was smaller for Kate than Jane. Heart size depends on head size of kid.

Using a running stitch, sew the two hearts together. Don't tie a knot at the beginning, just leave a long tail.

When you're three-quarters done, use the tiniest bit of polyfill to stuff the little guys. This is optional. It would be super cute not stuffed too. Use a chopstick or straw to stuff the stuff in.

Then continue stitching the rest of the way around and tie the two long ends together and snip (don't snip too close, we'll go back and snip closer later). See the knot at the bottom? This side will be the back.

Sew the snap clip onto the back of the heart using strong thread (I used upholstery thread) or you could also separate three single strands from your embroidery thread and use that. Two stitches for the fat end and one stitch through the hole in the skinny end. When you're done, use a dot of superglue or fabric glue on each knot and also on the knot on the bottom of the heart. Those knots won't hold otherwise. Let glue dry before you put the heart in small fry's hair (hahaha!!!) After glue dries, go back and snip the threads as close as you can.

Done!

Crayon Shaving Heart Garland

2010-02-09T14:03:00.006-05:00

Remember making these as a kid? Fall leaves or butterflies? Well I got the idea for hearts from Martha. Hers came out prettier than mine, doesn't she always do everything better than everyone else? Stinking Martha. Here's hers:

We had fun making them...Jane did all the sprinkling and I did all the ironing and cutting.

Kate was busy with stickers, but when I got up to go to the bathroom, she pulled the entire tablecloth off the table and all the crayon shavings were on the floor. Stinker!!! Jane helped me clean it up and we started over.

Then we strung them with a needle and thread and hung them. It was hard to get a good picture in front of the window, but you get the idea. Do you like our extremely sad, gray weather out there??? I do not.

I'll be back tomorrow with another Valentine craft! If you need directions on the crayon shaving hearts, click here.

Almost February!!!

2010-01-29T21:08:00.003-05:00

I think January is my least favorite month. All that post-holiday sadness and crappy gray weather. I remember the day Jane was born (May 18th), John's brother Jim was driving to the hospital to see us and said he heard on the radio that May 18th is the happiest day of the year. Of course we thought so with our perfect new little girl..........but then they said the saddest day of the year is January 7th. Do you agree? I do......other than the fact that that's my mom's birthday...I had to laugh at that. Sorry, Mom!!! Anyway...I think that's why I love Valentine's Day so much. The end of January means I can start to craft/decorate for Valentine's Day. Don't get me wrong....of course I hated Valentine's day during my teenage/college years just like every other girl. I love it now that I have kids partly because I know how much they love it and look forward to every holiday. To me it's really more about the kids and not all that romantic roses/chocolate crap that it's been commercialized as.

Sorry for rambling. Remember how long I've been away from the blog? Now I have lots to say!!! I know you're out there listening, my blog traffic software says that you are...not to mention how many people told me I needed to post! So if you're reading this, please take a minute to post a comment...especially if you never have....just so I know you're out there! Your comments are what keep me going, and up until now I mostly get comments in person but I'd love to have more on here. If I can get more feedback I will start having contests and giveaways!!! Yay! You know you want something free! Leave a comment!

I will be back very soon to show you how to make a 30 minute (or less) personalized shirt for your favorite little loved one!

In the mean time, click here to take a look at my post last year about a very easy and sweet Valentine garland that you can make to remind yourself how lucky you are to have love in your life (and how happy you are to be done with January!)

If you want to make your own click here for a quick tutorial!

Happy 2010!

2010-01-27T21:00:00.005-05:00

Once again, this is old news, so I'm going to attempt to post everything I've missed without too many words. I need to use some words...it's just been way too long!

Santa brought Jane a Tinkerbell dress. She hates it. She said it's "for Halloween". We're going to try to return it to Disney World this summer. :(

Jane got a scooter too (a Mini Kick....it's awesome). Kate rode it when she wasn't looking:

Grandpa Bob's famous Kitchen Rides:

Of course there was a Snuggie:

Great Grandma Fang was here:

Then, a week at my parents' house in Detroit:

Noah reeeeeeeally wanted to get in the picture with the girls...so cute!!!

We spent New Year's Eve at my brother Steve's house with my good friend Gena and her family. It was her son Avery's 6th birthday.

Steve & Tina had trick candles so the kids got to blow them out many times!!! See all the smoke?

We took a trip to my Uncle Mike's farm in Adrian, MI. My mom's ENTIRE family was there (almost). The house was filled to the brim. So much fun and so great to see everyone!!! Everyone wanted to explore all the barns...below is the old outhouse. It was 347 degrees below zero that day, otherwise I'd have lots more pictures of the outside!!!

The kids got to meet cousins they didn't even know they had. This is only about one-fourth of the kids. Did anyone else get a better picture of everyone together?

I got to see my cousins too! Almost all of them!!! But I only got one picture...me & Lynnie.

See that tree behind us??? Uncle Mike has the best Christmas trees and ornaments!

Oh, and one more thing...Jane tried Coke for the first time. She had no idea why she had been missing out on this delicioius sweet liquid for so long!!!

Sorry, I should have posted this weeks ago. I know no one wants to look at Christmas pictures anymore. I promise to be a better blogger in 2010! I'm working on some more time-appropriate material to share with you...Valentine's Day stuff!

Be back soon!!!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T01:30:00.002-05:00

Be back soon with more Christmas pictures...
I hope everyone has a very special Christmas Day!

Thanksgiving in Chicago

2009-12-18T20:34:00.007-05:00

Now that it's time for Christmas, don't you think it's time I finally share our Thanksgiving with you? Sheesh, sorry I made you look at that picture of the turkey for so long. We had a great visit with all of John's relatives that was long overdue. We started with a trip downtown and remembered how much we love this city. Especially John, since he grew up there and doesn't get back much. Any visit there is just not long enough.

We started with John's all-time favorite, Gino's East.

Then we just walked around the city.

Hey! I made it into a picture! Disregard my weird beehive-ish hair though. I'm not really sure what's going on up there. Blame it on that Windy City wind. Or something like that.

We always go to this German Christmas Market (Christkindlmarket) at Daley Plaza when we're in town for Christmas. This time it was all set up, but not opening until the next day. Bummer! The big tree wasn't even lit up yet, but Jane still loved it.

The next thing we saw is still a sore spot. Stinking Macy's. Which used to be Marshall Field's, a Chicago institution. Now it's Macy's...so sad. It still sort of feels like Field's. I still call it Field's anyway. Macy's sucks. But they kept the Field's Christmas decorations, so I'm happy about that.

We wanted to show the girls the Marshall Field's Christmas windows. The theme this year was "Letters to Santa" and they told a story about what happens to your letters after you drop them in the mail.

Then we went inside.

Here's a window from the other side of the building:

And the American Girl Store window was cute too:

More sights:

In front of the Chicago River:

These are all real Christmas trees in front of the Wrigley Building. And they were HUGE.

Water Tower...so pretty:

The tree in front of the Hancock building was so pretty, these pictures don't do it justice. There were billions of colored lights.

Wednesday we went to another one of John's favorite spots, Weiner Take All. He used to ride his bike here when he was little.

If you've never seen a Chicago hot dog, this is what it looks like:

After lunch we visited John's Grandma Cookie, but precisely at that moment the battery in my camera ran out. I was *really* MAD. So I didn't get any pictures at her house.

We stayed with John's Aunt Nancy, Uncle Dick, and cousin Megan. Jane and Kate loved it. They were ready for us and had tons of toys, books, crayons, etc to keep the kids busy. They are the best houseguest hosts you could ever wish for. Thanks so much for everything, guys! Here's Uncle Dick coloring with Jane:

They did a very fancy Thanksgiving dinner and, as always, everything was perfect.

Our wonderful hosts and chefs:

in the kitchen:

Grandma Huffy (Uncle Dick's mom) and Grandma Cookie:

Blurry pictures:

Everyone had surprises for the kids.

Jane with her new BFF...Aunt Megan:

We spent Friday with Grandma Fang. She had crayons and coloring books waiting for Jane at her house. I'm sure the coloring books would be considered "vintage". They were so cute. First, we went to lunch.

Then we stopped at John's Uncle Gary's house where he was preparing his Clark Griswold-style Christmas extravaganza. SO AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!

And later, Grandma had everyone over her house so we got to see all the aunts, uncles, and cousins.

It had been three years since we'd seen most of these people and we were so happy to get to spend some time with them and for the kids to meet them. Jane loved everyone and is still talking about the trip. We hope to not wait so long until our next visit.

I'll be back soon to post on Christmas stuff...only 5 more days and it's here!!!!!!!

Off to Chicago!

2009-11-22T23:35:00.002-05:00

We're off to the airport in the morning for a much needed Thanksgiving getaway to Chicago! Have a great Thanksgiving week!

Old News

2009-11-13T14:46:00.005-05:00

This is a really long post and by now this is all old news, sorry. I really wanted to document our great visit with my family here and the amount of pictures to go through was daunting, plus I didn't get one good one of the kids in their costumes, which I'm really sad about. But we had a great Halloween, the best ever! My parents came:

We played in the leaves a lot. We have A LOT of leaves. At this point, most of them hadn't even fallen yet. There were still a ton.

Kate was not at all sure about all of this...she stayed like this with her arms up the whole time. Pretty funny!

The weather was really nice and the girls had so my fun playing with my mom outside...

...and my dad inside.

{hiding in a bucket and playing peek-a-boo}

And then, Steve, Tina, Noah, and Seth came to celebrate our little Kate! The Baptism was in the morning and then we had everyone back at our house after. The whole family was here: All four grandparents, Uncle Mike, Aunt Carly, Uncle Jimmy, Aunt Lauren, Aunt Bonnie, Uncle Bill, Holly, & Little Luke!

Godfather Uncle Jimmy and Godmother Aunt Tina:

Kate's behavior during the ceremony was described by the priest as "spirited". That's an accurate description. She kept pushing him away when he tried to get near her! I guess that's why usually 2 month-olds are baptized, not 15 month-olds. We did it our way though and she was pretty funny.

The Baptism was on Halloween, so when it was trick-or-treat time, everyone suited up!

I made Jane's mermaid costume. My first attempt at making a costume! I didn't use a pattern, just winged it. I was very nervous that it wouldn't turn out and I'd be scrambling for something at the last minute, but it actually came out good!

And Kate....Kate was a gnome. I made her costume too. Very homemade-looking. We couldn't get any good pictures, she moves too fast. We were just happy that she wore the hat and the BEARD!!! HAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!

This blurry shot pretty much sums up how much our gnome roams...everywhere...

Noah was the UPS man...hilarious! This is the only picture I got.

The kids had SO MUCH FUN trick-or-treating! Here's Jane with Holly in the Minnie dress.

I was so disappointed in the pictures I got because we were very rushed to get the kids dressed and get started, plus all the kids were so excited and didn't want to stand still for pictures. I really wanted to get one of all the kids together....but that probably wouldn't have happened anyway...they're 3, 2, 1, 1, and 1!!!

The next day there was more leaf-jumping:

We are very lucky that everyone could travel all the way here to celebrate our sweet little Kate's Baptism and Halloween too! It was so much fun to all be together. We are spending the week after Christmas in Michigan so we can't wait to see everyone again soon!

Easy No-Sew Halloween Party Flags*

2009-10-25T16:17:00.006-04:00

*actually, I did sew them, but you can make them without sewing...I want my friends who don't sew to try this!

*and there doesn't have to be a party either.

Just so you know...this was not my idea. There are TONS of flag garlands out there in the blogosphere and I was inspired by one I saw out there somewhere. For lots and lots of inspiration, click here to check out the Flickr group, Ga-ga for Garlands. I have made many (will share more later!), they are so quick and such a cute and unique way to decorate for kids' birthdays and holidays, and also to hang in kids rooms. The possibilities are endless and you can obviously use fabrics to suit any occasion. I was walking through Pottery Barn Kids last week and saw this felt leaf garland for SIXTY dollars...

...and I think I can make something similar. I try to hang a seasonal one in the kids' playroom so maybe I'll try to copy this.

OK, so for the Halloween party flags, you'll need:
assorted fabric
bias tape
cardstock
pinking shears
sewing machine or fabric glue (I recommend Fabri-Tac or Liquid Stitch)

You can use as many different fabrics as you like. If you trace them close together, you should be able to get about 12 triangles out of 1/4 yard of fabric. I had three different fabrics, so with 1/4 yard of each, I could make a banner with 36 flags, or about 18 feet long (that's pretty long...mine only has 14 flags).

Cut a template from cardstock to trace your triangles with. My triangles are 6" across the top and 7" from top to bottom. To make a perfect triangle, first make a 6X7 rectangle, mark the midpoint on one of the short ends, and then draw a line from each of the opposite corners to the mark you made.

Trace the triangle on your fabric, alternating upside-down ones to get as many in without wasting fabric.

Cut out with pinking shears.

Now you'll need your bias tape. Use extra-wide double fold.

Sandwich the triangles in the fold of the bias tape and sew through all layers with a zig-zag stitch, alternating your flag colors however you like.

Or, open up bias tape and apply a thin line of glue to the bottom half and place a flag on top, working one flag at a time. When all flags are glued down, use more glue to glue down top flap of bias tape.

All done!

I also made a mini flag banner that I hung across the mirror in our entryway. For this one, my triangles were 2" by 3" and I used the thin bias tape instead of the extra-wide. It's little and cute!

Ohhh...let's get a better look at that candy...

Yum! I hope the Great Pumpkin brings you many treats this year. And speaking of the Great Pumpkin, LOOK at this fabric I found!!! I love it!

I think I'm going to make a tablecloth with green pom pom trim for the kids' playroom. They won't know who these characters are and when they're old enough to watch the Peanuts specials on TV, I will force them to watch and they'll probably hate it. So the tablecloth is really for me!!!

Anyway, back to Halloween...have a great one!!! Be back soon, hopefully to post pictures of my homemade costumes!

Make it: Fall Hair Ribbons

2009-10-13T15:12:00.005-04:00

I found these felt leaves at Hobby Lobby and knew I could make something cute with them!

I decided to do cute hair thingies. They will work for all of October & November, Halloween & Thanksgiving.

You can make these too (in about 5 minutes!) with these supplies:

ribbon
felt leaves or other fall decoration from the craft store
giant needle or tailor's awl (I used a dollmaker's needle {no, I don't make dolls...not yet anyway...hmmm}, but just use the biggest needle of any kind that you have)
Fray Check or superglue

Here's what you do:
Poke the needle through the leaf. Go back & forth a bunch of times and move it around in circles to try to get your hole big enough for the ribbon to go through.

Cut at least 18 inches of ribbon for each one. My girl has skinny hair so 18 inches was enough.

Make sure your ribbon is cut on an angle and thread just the very end of it (not the whole ribbon) through the eye of the needle.

Poke needle through leaf and try to pull ribbon through. This part is tough. It took me a few tries. Once you can get just the tiniest bit of the ribbon through,

you can now grab the ribbon with your fingers and pull it through to center the leaf on the ribbon.

But now the edges of your ribbon are screwed:

So cut the ends off

and grab your Fray Check (or superglue).

Put the tiniest bit on the ends of your ribbons...

...and you're done!

Now tie them in that cutie's hair...

...and let her frolic outside in the leaves!

{once they start falling!}

Happy Crafting!

FUN dinner for a fall night

2009-10-05T14:52:00.006-04:00

I've been making this pizza for a few months now and can't stop thinking about it. If you know John, you know he deems some foods "fun" and others "sad". For example, if I made a pot roast with vegetables and mashed potatoes on a Saturday night, he would want to cry. Not that I ever made pot roast, but just an example. Most things would be considered sad, actually. Anyway, it mostly has to do with the day of the week. I can't make a "sad meal" on a Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday night. And now John is gone every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday night, so do the math. I must come up with 100% fun meals 100% of the time. Anything in the pizza or Mexican family is fun. That's pretty much it though. So I have made about 237 varieties of tacos, quesadillas, and the like. I make pizza a lot too, and our old standby used to be one that we tried to copy from one of our old favorite restaurants from when we lived intown (pre-kids), called fritti. Theirs, called pancetta e cipolla, is with carmelized onions, pancetta, and hot pepper flakes. So perfect in every way. Mine was carmelized onions, ham (pancetta is obviously way better, but I use ham to keep the calories down), and hot pepper flakes. It's super good and I highly recommend you try this sometime. Let me know if you want more details on how to make. Now that's what brings me to my point here. I have made that ham and carmelized onion pizza probably about 100 times. But then I discovered my true pizza love...pear & gorgonzola pizza.

Yummmmmmmmmmmmmm.

This one I copied from California Pizza Kitchen. Every time I make pizza now I want to make this one. I love my fritti knockoff, but it does not compare to this. This is probably a bizarre combination to many people, but you must try. Here's what I do:

Carmelize a red onion. Start with a small red onion or half of a large one (or whatever you like...I like onions so I might use more). Cut the onion in half and then slice it into half-rounds. Throw it into a pan with a little olive oil and about a half teaspoon brown sugar and cook it on very low until it's all sweet and perfect, about 45 minutes (I know, that's a long time, but just plan ahead. Sometimes I do this in the afternoon so it's ready).

Roll fresh dough out to desired size and bake on pizza stone preheated to 500 degrees for about 5 minutes, or until it just starts to brown on top. If you don't have a pizza stone, that's OK...just do it on a round pan. You'll have to prick the top with a fork all over about 2 minutes after it goes in. You could do this before it goes in, but I don't like to because it screws up the shape of the dough that I just spent 5 minutes rolling out.

While the dough's in the oven, get the pears ready. I use 2-3 pears...peel them, core them, slice them. The onions should be done, so take them out of the pan and set aside. Use the same pan for the pears, just throw a pat of butter in there, melt it on medium and then cook the pears until soft, flipping them over once. You probably don't have to use the butter, but c'mon people........this is Saturday night! You didn't get to go out because you have two little gremlins up in bed....so have some fun here!

OK...now the dough is out and has had some time to cool. You could brush it with a little olive oil around the outside crust, but I don't always do this. Cover with mozzarella cheese (half the amount you want to use), then cover evenly with the pears, onions, & the other half of your cheese. Now sprinkle it with some chopped walnuts or hazelnuts. Oh my gosh.

Put it in the oven for about 10 minutes. Watch it closely, I don't want to be responsible for all your chopping, slicing, rolling, carmelizing, and assembling coming to a blackened, fiery end. Mine is usually in there about 10 minutes, but that's at 500 degrees...so it's hot in there.

When it comes out, it looks like this:

Then, you toss some field greens (or some people call this spring mix?) with a little bit of blue cheese dressing (!!!) and throw it on top of the pizza. I use Ken's light. You probably don't have to do this if lettuce on pizza is just too weird for you, but if you're making a pear pizza to begin with you might as well just go with it. Sprinkle evenly with crumbled gorgonzola cheese.

And there you go. Heaven on a plate on a Saturday night (or a Thursday, Friday, or Sunday, but definitely not a Monday). Let me know if you make this and how you like it. Just remember to have a cocktail while you're making and eating it. And you can definitely come over and I will make it for you so you don't have to do any of this. Because then I get to have some too. But poor John, well...he'll have to have fish sticks.

Pumpkins

2009-10-04T20:23:00.006-04:00

Jane can barely wait until Halloween...she was SO excited to go to the pumpkin patch today and was jumping and dancing with joy when we got there. It is so cute to watch her and so fun that she's finally at the age where she gets it. She informed us MONTHS ago that she would like to be a mermaid this year and we thought she might change her mind by now, but she's stickin' to it. I'm making her costume (and Kate's) so please pray for me, thanks. Will definitely show pictures of the creations (or abominations?) when I finish!!!

And this is what her face looks like when she gets candy. See it there in her hand?

Kate had fun too...climbing all over the pumpkins....even though there are signs everywhere that say PLEASE DON'T CLIMB ON THE PUMPKINS. But how much damage can a sixteen-pounder do???

Checking out the pumpkins for the first time with Uncle Jimmy:

The Hayride:

And a tractor to sit on...

My mom sent their outfits...Thanks Mom, they're adorable!!!

Jane is so funny how she imitates us. All day today after we left, she kept saying, "Did you have fun on the hayride today, guys???" She kills us...

We did have fun, Jane. And Happy Birthday Lauren, Mike, & Carly!!!

Nobody puts Baby in the corner...

2009-09-15T23:34:00.007-04:00

So sad...

This is one of my favorite movies and of course this is my favorite part. Watching this takes me right back to 1987.

R.I.P. Patrick.

And of course this one is a classic too, although NBC does not allow the skit to be viewed online, so all I've got for you is a very grainy photo.

Hahahahahahaha!!!!!!!! Just so you can picture it in your head, the song they're dancing to is, "Everybody's Working for the Weekend". To this day I cannot hear this song without thinking of these two guys dancing! So funny.

They Came!

2009-09-09T20:59:00.009-04:00

Steve, Tina, Noah, & Seth came for a visit last week. Sadly, John was working in Pensacola for the first part of the week and missed part of their stay, but we had lots of fun without him and had even more fun when he got back Thursday.

We took Jane & Noah to the playground...

And went to Yellow River Ranch to visit the animals...

I couldn't believe this squirrel climbed right up on Kate's stroller! All the animals there are so tame and will come right up to you...

This pig was Steve's favorite....the poor thing. It was so ugly. We laughed so hard at its crooked teeth.

Sorry about the underpants shot.

Seth is the sweetest, happiest boy.

Jane played suctionball with Uncle Steve and was loving it.

We went outside to play in the pool and Noah spotted an airplane.

And everyone had popsicles. It was Seth's first one ever!

Jane rode her car down the big hill and Noah supervised.

Then we had a little birthday party for Seth.

I love baby hands.

We ended our trip with an Atlanta tradition...The Varsity.

Jane had her first milkshake, an orange one. She was in Heaven...

They needed to get to the airport, but after we said goodbye, we drove around and saw some more Atlanta sights.

Thanks so much for coming, guys...we had so much fun!!! We miss you already and can't wait to see you again next month!

A doll bed for Janie...

2009-07-15T12:10:00.004-04:00

I never shared the doll bed that John and I did for Jane's birthday...

John painted this little bed and I made a doll quilt:

and a little pillow:

Do these fabrics look familiar? Some of them are the same ones I used for the curtain in the laundry room.....that's what reminded me that I needed to share this too!

Now, what do we get little Kate for her birthday (coming up in 10 days)??? I have no ideas.......

Laundry Room: Before & After

2009-07-14T20:20:00.008-04:00

I mentioned our laundry room makeover before and I know you're on the edge of your seat!!! First, let me start by saying that my laundry room was always my favorite room in the house:

Just kidding. It was vile.

It has bugged me since before we moved in to the house. And because I hated it so much, I just let it get grosser and grosser until it was so gross I couldn't stand it anymore. So, with John being out of work, we decided to take it on. Here is what it looks like now:

John took a tile class at Home Depot and did the new floor all by himself! Before, the floor was a fake green "marble" linoleum floor. It had holes in it...and I do not even like to think about what sort of disgustingness that floor had met in its days. When he ripped it up, he sanded the plywood that was underneath:

And then laid a concrete subfloor (I forgot to take a picture of that part). Then he was ready to lay the tile. We decided to do black grout so it wouldn't show as much dirt.

...and then it was done!

Next, I painted, we removed the old wire shelf (I hate those things...raise your hand if you have them in every closet in your house.....and they leave lines on your clothes and things fall through them, etc.....not to mention they're ugly....ugh! HATE THEM!!!) and we put up some white cabinets from IKEA. We painted and hung a dowel for hanging clothes to dry, hung hooks for our bags, and finally, I made a little curtain for the window.

Done! What do you think? Now I actually enjoy doing laundry. That won't last long though.

Still confused......

2009-07-14T12:51:00.002-04:00

I am still learning about my new camera, and also changing things a little so I can upload pictures here directly from flickr...it's taking me a while to get it all figured out. Meanwhile, here's my new favorite picture of Jane, with the new camera. The laundry room post is next...check back very soon to see all the pictures!!!

Little Choppers

2009-06-09T21:32:00.007-04:00

Here's our little bunny rabbit in all her glory with a pile of Cheerios and not even strapped into her seat. She was feelin' special. Of course Jane was right there too, but she's not in most pictures because we're potty training and unfortunately she was nekked from the waist down. But check out Kate munching on the green chair.

She really thought it was delicious.

And even though she won't let us get a look at those two upper teeth, here's proof that they're there:

John says it looks like she's smoking a Cheerio here:

The worst part about the Cheerio stage is that this happens:

And then this happens:
(Look at that hilarious foot!)

And today, even this happened (gross):

Anyway, I am so sorry for being gone from this blog for so long. I really do not know what happened to me. One thing, I was in a photographic slump and really wasn't getting any good shots. I was so sad about the pictures I got at Jane's birthday party. But whatever. I don't know why else. I know how annoying it is when you go to check a blog and that same stinking picture is there for months and months. Sorry I did that to you. If you're still there. I really will be shocked if anyone is still there.

Yesterday we went shopping with Carly & Holly. Here's some shots of the girls...they are always cute together.

Thanks for sticking around and I'll be back soon, I promise!!! LOTS more to share...including a very exciting (for me) full laundry room makeover with before and after shots! Just putting some finishing touches on it and then I'll share.

Three

2009-06-09T20:55:00.005-04:00

Jane Scarlett is three! She is sweet, thoughtful, bossy, stubborn, and musical. She has a great sense of humor and has already mastered the art of, "Just Kidding!" She loves her sister and is very much a mother hen, not only to Kate, but to all of us. She knows what she wants. She knows how things should be done (ha!). She loves all her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins soooooo much. She expresses concern for others. She is very possessive of her alone time with especially grandma, but also me and John. She loves to help John outside. Like, as soon as he polishes a section of his car, she slops more soapy water on it to help him out. Or when he stands on a ladder, she stands at the bottom and shouts, "BE CAREFUL, DADDY!" Or when he plants a flower, she dumps 46 gallons of water on it. And he truly loves having her help. She also knows about clothes matching. If I try to throw a garbage outfit on her because we're not going anywhere, she often informs me that the pieces simply don't work together. She had a scary dream about cats last night. She hardly eats anything. She's a really bad dancer. We love her. So much.

We had an octopus party with a hilarious octopus cake. And candy galore.

Kate (10 months), Holly (17 months), and the birthday girl.

Kate thought the presents were the greatest. Especially this one with pom-poms on top. How do you spell pom-poms???

She couldn't keep her fingers out of the frosting. I didn't care.

Let's just pretend she doesn't have a curler in here hair in this picture.

Can't believe that little stinky is three.

Eggs & Bunnies

2009-04-13T10:31:00.010-04:00

We started Easter weekend with an egg hunt in our neighborhood on Saturday morning:

And then later we dyed our eggs:

Jane did a great job and had lots of fun...

She "ooohed" and "ahhhed" over the finished eggs:

The Easter Bunny came! After we checked out our baskets, I wasn't paying attention to what Jane was up to and this happened:

And then this....poor Kate.

Later, at Carly & Mike's house, another egg hunt!

By this time, Jane was a pro.

Grandpa helped her open a special Easter gift.

More treats from Grandma...

And there was a bunny!

Kate napped during most of this, but when she woke up, she spent some time with Grandpa.

It was a great day and the weather was beautiful. I don't think Jane ate any "real" food at all yesterday. Every time I looked at her, she was eating candy or cookies. But isn't that what you're supposed to do on Easter???

Spring Chicks

2009-04-11T22:02:00.001-04:00

I sewed up some sweet momma & baby chicks for my little niece and nephews for Easter. I found the project here.

Library Tote

2009-04-06T14:32:00.004-04:00

I made Jane a simple tote for her library books adapted from an idea I saw here. I was originally going to embroider the bag, but I don't have a thimble and, yipes, would those be some sore thumbs when I was done with that one. Then I saw Cindy's post and changed my mind. I wanted the letters to be in the middle of the bag, though, so I used heavy duty Heat n' Bond and skipped the machine sewing. We've been using it for a month or so and the letters are still going strong without peeling off. The only problem is that Jane will only carry a bag (any sort of bag) that weighs over a few ounces for about twelve seconds before I end up carrying it. So I know you were picturing her, all cute, skipping along and toting her bookbag, but you were wrong....you'd have to picture me, toting purse, baby, diaper bag, and library tote while Jane runs off in the wrong direction toting nothing. We'll work on that.

Crayon Roll

2009-03-26T15:26:00.004-04:00

I made Jane a crayon roll for Valentine's Day...and I'm just getting around to posting about it now, sorry. It was really fun and easy to make, and it is definitely a hit! I made it from a tutorial that I found here.

Each crayon has its own little pocket and then it all rolls up and ties.

Charles

2009-03-24T22:29:00.012-04:00

Do you remember this show?

Well, we started calling Jane "Charles" recently, because she thinks she's in charge. It's always, "Stand up, mom!", or "Sit here, mom!" or "No, not that way!" (when I'm driving the car... as if she knows how to get there) or "Do this one now!" (when dad is lovingly drawing happy and/or sad faces on her hot dog slices with mustard, as seen here).

Notice the furrowed brow and the frustration with the mustard artist.

Sorry, Jane, but I think I'd rather have the real Charles bossing me around.

Dining Room: Before & After

2009-03-24T14:58:00.005-04:00

Above, our dining room chandelier is all dressed up and ready for the Easter Bunny to come. That chandelier makes me swoon. It was a gift from my groom on our first wedding anniversary and I will always love it. He got it here. That poor chandelier hung in our dining room for four years until we finally made up our minds about how to decorate the room. And here are the results. But first, I have to show you the "before" picture. Yikes. Those drapes made us so sad, I think we took them down the day after we moved in. And that fright of a chandelier that you see below was passed up by everyone in every garage sale we've ever had and we finally threw it away!

And here it is after:

Here's a close-up of the paper:

Spring Forward

2009-03-09T12:22:00.003-04:00

We went from snow in Atlanta last Sunday to this 70 degree blue sky gorgeousness this weekend. Jane is soooo happy to be back at it in the great outdoors.

Kate got in on the fun by sucking away on her pacifier with the breeze in her hair and on her toes (she takes her socks off). See her back there?

And then yesterday, a visit from the ice cream truck! Isn't that Dora the Explorer ice cream hilarious? It had creepy gumball eyes.

Hopefully spring is here to stay!

Chubby Hands

2009-02-20T15:04:00.003-05:00

I love these chubby little hands.

And now, these chubbers are always grabbing at everything. It's the cutest. When I try to take pictures of her, this is what I get:

She really wants that camera.

From Kate, With Love

2009-02-13T21:26:00.003-05:00

Here is my sweet, sweet girl (6 1/2 months already!!!) smiling for her Valentine picture. Love her!

Pretzels

2009-02-11T15:31:00.005-05:00

John is out of town this week, so I put my loneliness to work last night and whipped up a quick batch of these chocolate covered pretzels for Jane's teachers. I usually always use pretzel rods (and the rods are easier), but this time I wanted to use the twists because I thought they'd be prettier for Valentine's Day. Also, the chocolate-to-pretzel ratio is higher on the twists, which I know John will like. Tonight after the kids go to bed, I have two major projects that I need to do before Valentine's Day. GAH! I just remembered another one....make that three. I'm thinking I'll be lucky to get just one done though. But hoping for two. Or maybe I should just hope for one because the reality is that it will probably be zero..........I'm tired and TV might be calling............

From Jane, With Love

2009-02-10T14:58:00.006-05:00

I made picture valentines for Jane's school friends this year. They're having a little class party tomorrow. Stay tuned for the picture of Jane and Kate together!

Should I do it?

2009-02-06T11:00:00.003-05:00

I love this turquoise door from a past issue of Domino magazine. I want to paint our front door this color (on the inside only). Should I do it? It's only paint.....

It's Love Month

2009-02-02T15:57:00.004-05:00

...so I made this felt heart garland for the girls' play room. Our house is filled with so much love, and we are very thankful for that.

Kate's Room, Finally!

2009-01-29T12:52:00.012-05:00

This angel mobile was given to my mom by my grandmother at my mom's baby shower in 1974. It's made by Irmi and you can find some similar ones on ebay. This one spins and plays "This Old Man".

The lighting is really bad in this shot, I'll try to get a better one.

The paint is "light touch" by Benjamin Moore.

I made the drapes when my mom was in town and she did all the hems (the hardest part...thanks, mom!). This girl made the bedding. All the fabric is by the very talented Heather Bailey. The drapes, outside bumper, and skirt fabric is "Pineapple Brocade" in ice and pinkypurple , the bumper ties are "Swirly Buds", and the inside bumper is "Peonies".

The butterflies are from Pottery Barn Kids.

The side table is from PB Teen and the vintage chenille dog was a gift from John's mom. She found it here. There's a better picture of it in my previous post if you're interested.

The drum pendant is the "Eden" from CB2. I covered it in "Zag Stripe", also by Heather Bailey. I still think it needs something more...so when I figure out what it needs, I'll add it!

John and I made the glittery "K" on the door with a paper mache letter I found at the craft store.

This letterpress print is one of the best parts of the room. San Francisco is one of our favorite places to visit and was one of the stops on our amazing honeymoon. It was made by the very nice people at Lab Partners.

Jane always wants to "GO WOOK" at Kate in her crib.

And who wouldn't want to? What a sweet angel.

Thanks so much to all the friends and family who gave us gifts of money or gift cards when Kate was born. All of that went to the things you see in her room. We love you all!

Kate's Room

2009-01-23T14:45:00.006-05:00

I know I promised to post pictures of Kate's room this week, but there have been many puke/poop incidents which have prevented me from having all the necessary linens in place for a photo shoot!!! So here's a peek. And now I head to the laundry room. This is the first time I have sorted laundry by "barf" and "turds" instead of "light" and "dark". Fun.

Pink Elephants

2009-01-15T18:17:00.007-05:00

This would be so perfect for Baby Kate's room. I've been looking for a pink elephant for her shelf that I haven't put up yet. Speaking of her room, I'm going to take pictures on the next sunny day and post them. When you see, I think you'll understand why this pink elephant should be hers. I found it here.

A Pile of Happy

2009-01-14T15:50:00.004-05:00

Here's a peek at something I'm working on for the girls...any guesses what it is?

I'm still here!

2009-01-13T14:08:00.002-05:00

I am slowly digging myself out of the Christmas hole. I realize January is now half over. How did that happen? My sweet baby Kate has been really sick with a respiratory virus (RSV), which is apparently sweeping Atlanta. I think she will be back to herself in just a few days now though. Here is my new favorite picture of her. And below, meeting her new cousin, Seth, for the very first time! They were so cute together.

Here is Jane feasting on hot dogs with her cousin Noah (this is the best picture I managed to get of them). Steve and Tina were in town for the new year and stayed through the weekend so we had a great visit with them and the kids.

I have lots of fun stuff in the works which I will share with you as soon as I'm done, but I just wanted to let you know I'm still here!

Getting Ready...

2008-12-18T19:53:00.004-05:00

I made my own Christmas tags this year... I'm sick of those cornball stick-on tags. This project took a cheap box of office store tags (and I like the old-time office-y look), some stamps I got at the new Atlanta Paper Source, and a little red ink pad. And it took about 15 minutes. And if you know our family, this pile won't be enough...

If you don't want to make your own tags, but want something really cute and unique, you can download these free printables and either adhere them to tags like the ones above, or just cut them out and stick them to your packages. I especially love the snow bunny.

Image courtesy of Ohdeedoh

Christmas Card Rejects

2008-12-12T21:26:00.004-05:00

I took 274 pictures (so far) for our Christmas card and didn't get one worthy yet. Christmas is less than two weeks away so I need to figure out something fast. Although I didn't get the perfect shot yet, I did get tons of cute ones. Forget about getting one of Jane and Kate together...I've decided separate shots is the way to go this year. Anyway, I thought I'd share some of the reject shots with you.

Do you like all the needles on the (just vacuumed) carpet from our dead-one-day-after-purchased tree? And the extension cord spaghetti visible in the background?

Or how about the random fallen ornament/pacifier/two year-old's bracelet in the background of this shot??? Lovely.

Sugar Shack

2008-12-11T15:27:00.003-05:00

When my mom was in town a few weeks ago, we were shopping and I spotted these adorable illuminated cardboard houses at Pottery Barn...for $70. Yes, I said they were cardboard. Anyway, I turned to my mom and said, "ya know, I could make that."

So I bought this cardboard cottage at Hobby Lobby for $2.40.

And with some paint, glitter and some other fun things in my stash, I turned it into this for my sweet niece, Holly, who turned one on Saturday. Complete with a hand dyed pink bottle brush tree and a sweet snowman in the front yard. You can't see it in the picture, but I also added a little light inside ($3) just like the stupidly expensive Pottery Barn one has. And mine is cuter, right???

A little doormat embroidered with Holly's name...

And here she is, the beautiful birthday girl. Happy Birthday, Holly!

Welcome!

2008-12-05T12:36:00.000-05:00

Not that I need something else to eat up my time, but here I am, starting a blog. You know, so I can avoid laundry and cleaning and other sad tasks while my kids are napping...and so I can post pictures of those two cuties. So anyway, this is us...

The three girls:

The guy (John):

My hometown:

John's hometown:

Our home together (Atlanta)

Thanks for looking, bookmark me and come back and visit soon, and please leave comments!