Pin-Love

not my kitchen

So, Pinterest was a mystery to me at first.  It wasn't that I didn't understand it.  I just didn't see the allure.

I dabbled now and then, but was never crazy into it like some are.

But then I started thinking about ways to redo our kitchen.  It's yellow.  No, not daffodil yellow.  No, not buttercup yellow.  I mean YELLOW.  We fondly (well, most of the time it's fondly) refer to it as "Spongebob yellow".  This was a bold choice to be sure, and like many bold choices it was wonderful at first.

Five years later, the wonderful has faded.  The yellow hasn't.  So, it's time to figure out what I want to do with this space.  I'm lucky.  Hubby really doesn't care as long as I don't go too feminine.  He's not a fan of too many flowers or pastels. 

So, I started looking at Pinterest a little more.  I found a lot of great ideas and gradually began to realize a few things....  I want to paint my cupboards.  I want to hang my pans on the wall.  I still want some bold color, but maybe not on the walls.

The biggest thing I realized was that I am hooked - to pinning, that is.

Here are my faves from this week... (in no particular order and not all kitchen related):

our kitchen table is very much like this one, except yellow (of course)

books as decor... always a winner to me

reminds me of my Mom  :)

comfy chair and sweet wall art.  win-win

i love collections

books again... and love the globes too

So, what are YOU pinning?

Find all the original images on Pinterest (they're on my "Cozy Home" board if you want to come on over and follow me there).

{this moment}

Inspired by SouleMama to share one moment...via a single photo - capturing a recent moment. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember...

Lots and Lots of Trains...

I love being Mommy to my boys.  They are funny and sweet and reckless and silly and curious.  They never cease to amaze me with their differing personalities (the wee one is only nine months old, but already has the will of an ox)...

And boys love their toys.  There are no dainty tea cups or baby dolls here.  Instead we have wall to wall trucks and trains and building blocks and baseballs and plastic dinosaurs and picture books about monsters and pirates.  Little Guy (our three year old) is especially enamored of trains.  He eats, sleeps and breathes trains.  We (of course) have a Thomas collection, and he has GeoTrax and other little miscellaneous train sets.  He plays with them all.  Even Baby Boy likes trains.  Now that he's mobile, he can't help himself.  If we put him down for even a minute, he crawls right over to the Thomas table and tries to pull himself up.  He's not quite able to get all the way up yet, and that's probably a good thing.  Little Guy isn't quite ready to share his beloved trains.
                                                                                                                         
Toy trains aren't the only ones around here.  Something else that our Little Guy is obsessed with are train videos.  I'm not referring to Thomas the Train (though he loves those), but I mean videos that are nothing but action footage of actual freight trains.  You might have seen the infomercials...

                                                                                                                        
Whoever thought of this concept is GENIUS!  They are probably rolling in the big bucks too, because I can't imagine ours is the only little boy who loves watching.  These are Little Guy's go-to nap time video and also what he gets to watch for a little bit before bedtime or really any time at all.  There's very little (if any) dialogue in these.  There's just clip after clip of trains (on mountains, on bridges, through the snow, in the rain etc) set to low-key music.  Oh, and when we bought the two DVD set (Lots and Lots of Trains) it came with a bonus CD soundtrack.  Guess what we listen to every morning in the car on the way to school?  Yes, that's right.
                                                                                                                           

We don't own this one, but it (and the other one below)
are regular favorites from our local library.

I get tired of Bob the Builder and Thomas the Train and Backyardigans.  So far, I haven't gotten tired of these.  They kind of grow on you after a while... especially if you get to watch them just about every day. 

I love my boys, and their silly train videos too! 

Thankful Thursday

God is so good.  He has truly blessed me and my family in so many ways.  We can never do those blessings justice with a simple "Thank You", but it's always good to take time to count your blessings. 

Here are a few of those many blessings I'm thankful for today....

• Sleep.  Sometimes (often, really) is fleeting.  Both of our boys like to wake up before sunrise and neither care to sleep through the night on a regular basis.  What sleep I do get - is amazing and refreshing and something I'm very thankful for.
• Boys who don't like to sleep.  Since I have an office job, my time with the boys is precious.  The bonus to having children who don't care for sleeping in, is that I can have special bonus morning time with them both.  I really am grateful for that quality time (even if it is way early).
• A Cozy Home.  Big?  No.  Trendy?  No.  Does everything match? No. Does it make us feel happy and safe to be here?  YES!  I love our little house and being here always makes my heart smile.

What are you thankful for today?

Wordless Wednesday

Find the original on Pinterest HERE

Kicking and Screaming

A toddler at bedtime can be the most incredibly persistant, annoying, clever and imaginitive little creature you ever could meet.  I adore my boys, but sometimes I just hate bedtime.  It pushes me to my limit each and every evening.  Our tiny one goes down easy and sweet like the little lamb that he is (for now anyway).  The big one is a different story.  He's three and a half - going on fifteen, and insists that he should be able to "stay up late like the growing-ups".

I say, "No."  Then I make sure he brushes his teeth and goes potty before reading him at least three, but not more than five bed time stories. This is followed by his bedtime prayers and a lullaby. Then I remind him (for what might be the hundredth time this week) that he needs to stay in bed until its time to get up.  He knows when that is because he has an alarm clock which looks like a stop light.  We have it set to go "green" at 5am*, and he is not to get out of bed before then.

When I leave his room that first time each night, the chances are 50/50 that he'll stay put.

Tonight I knew instantly that it wasn't going to go my way. 

First, he was thirsty - so I got him a drink (and tucked him in).  Then he needed to pee (of course).  He went potty and then I tucked him back in.  Soon he needed a new goodnight kiss because the old one had worn off,  I gave him the requested kiss and tucked him back in his bed, then he needed to poop - which he did, before being tucked back in.  Finally he needed to come out and tell me he was very bored and couldn't possibly go to sleep.

So, I got out the baby gate and put it in his doorway.

He promptly took it down and put it away where it goes in the closet.  I let this pass, and I'll confess it was partly because this made me laugh and I didn't want him to know... but then he came out and said he needed another drink.

And I lost it.  I took away his fire trucks and their assorted accessories as punishment.  He realized what was happening and came running down the hallway screaming like he'd been injured.  I said, "Get to bed this instant!" in my most authoritative voice.  He had a look on his face that told me he was deciding between defiance and tears.  Tears won.

That's about when Hubby took pity on me, and came up from where he'd been working in the basement to take our kiddo back to bed.  They are still back there, but everything is quiet, so I'm guessing he's having some success. 

Is it just me?  Or do all parents deal with this?  What methods/tricks did you use to make the process less stressful? 

*5am - I know what you're thinking... 5am does seem really early.  It IS really early.  It's not that we want him to get up then.  It's that we don't want him up BEFORE 5am.  Ever since he was an infant, he hasn't liked to sleep and if he had his way he wouldn't.  But that's another story for another day...

I Still Do

Five years ago today (can it really be five years?) we started our life together as man and wife.  It's been a fantastic journey, and I haven't regretted it once.

You know what?  Even after all this time - I still get all mushy inside when I catch his eye across a crowded room.  Sometimes we'll be playing with the boys and the moment will be so perfect, and my heart just swells and I know.
                                                                                                                
I know that if I had to do it again, I would.  Because it doesn't get better than this. 

I loved him then.  I knew he was the guy for me.

I still do.

{this moment}

Inspired by SouleMama to share one moment...via a single photo - capturing a recent moment. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember...

Book Sale Success: Joy Wilt Books

Hubby, the boys and I went to our local Book Sale.  We love book sales like this one... great books at great prices.  You really can't go wrong!
As I've mentioned before, I collect children's books - so that's always the section I head to first.  Little Guy was quickly on the hunt for train books, while I looked for whatever might catch my eye.  I found some great Little Golden books, a Jackie Robinson picture book, a stack of vintage Tell a Tale books, some workbooks (art and puzzle activities), two little Bible books for Baby Boy as well as several board books and some awesome puzzles.

But, the best find of the night?  A stack (seventeen, to be precise) of Joy Wilt books from her "Ready-Set-Grow!" Weekly Reader series (1978 copyright).

This series of books is awesome!  Each volume deals with an important aspect of growing up: personal care, sibling rivalry, money management, making friends, diversity, family issues, etc.  They are great.

I had one as a kid.  It was "Saying What You Mean", and I remember liking it a lot.  A year or so ago, I found a copy at a garage sale and snatched it up. 



The funny thing is that until tonight I didn't even notice it was part of a series.  The full series includes 24 volumes, so I still have six I'll have to find eventually to have the full set. 

I sure am glad that we went tonight and that I came across this awesome stack of books!  Oh!!  I almost forgot - these were only 50 cents each, so a total bargain too!  Woo Hoo!

The Joy Wilt books I got tonight:

• Mine & Yours
• You Can Do It
• A Kid's Guide to Managing Money
• Handling Your Ups and Downs
• A Consumer's Guide for Kids
• May I? Please? Thank You!
• Checking 'Em Out and Sizing 'Em Up
• Danger!
• The Nitty Gritty of Family Life
• A Kid's TV Guide
• Keeping Your Body Alive and Well
• A Kid's Guide to Managing Time
• A Kid's Guide to Making Friends
• Making Up Your Own Mind
• Surviving Fights With Your Brothers and Sisters
• You're Either One or the Other
• You're All Right

Missing

I read a lot of blogs from all over that cover a wide range of topics.  Some of my favorites relate to homemaking, parenting, crafting, quilting and home-school.  I often feel like I know these fellow bloggers.  It’s as if they are my real-life friends.  So it saddens me terribly when I realize a favorite blog has (without warning) been abandoned. 

I fret about it. 

Yesterday, I was reviewing some of the many blogs I follow.  I was just going through the list and clicking on favorites – catching up with them and enjoying it.  I came to one that always made me smile, and saw that she hasn’t posted in over a year.

What has happened to my “friend”? 

Has she moved to another blog, and decided not to tell her readers?

Has she decided blogging is too much work, and tossed in the towel?

Has she decided to be a back up dancer for Justin Beiber and doesn’t have reliable internet service on the road?

Has she died?!?

Maybe it’s just me, but when I see that a blog I love hasn’t been updated in months or a year or more, I start to wonder.  Usually the “final” post is something entirely benign about reupholstering a kitchen chair or trying a new cookie recipe.  There is never any foreboding, no warning of future absence.  Everything just stops.

And it makes me a little bit sad.

I hope that they’re just so busy, they simply have no spare time to write.  I miss them though.  Silly, right?  This is, I suppose, one of the downfalls to this virtual world we share.  We think we know someone because we are reading about their hopes and dreams, but when they disappear we realize maybe we don’t know them at all.

Maybe she was one of the three big winners in the Mega Millions a few weeks ago, and simply decided that she’d get a new hobby – like renovating an old mansion, or buying a baseball team.  I hope its something like that - something wonderful and not at all sad.  I wish her well, wherever she is, and I hope someday I'll see more posts from her again.

Spring Fever

Saturday night was frightful around here.  The wind howled.  The rain poured.  Lightning splintered the sky.  Thunder crashed.  You get the idea.

But then yesterday, the world woke renewed.  The sky was lovely and the breeze was soft and cool.  The sun shone between the clouds.  Everything was green.  It was a perfect day.

Little Guy was busy playing with trains and Baby Boy and I were watching the birds in our side yard through an open window.  When the air was still, Baby Boy sat at attention, his expression one of complete concentration.  He was one serious baby boy!

But then… the breeze would come through without notice, wafting through his wispy hair and cooling his rosy cheeks.  And just like that, he was transformed.  Gone was the stillness and the seriousness and the concentration.  In its place was sheer joy.  His squeal and grin were contagious.  His eyes danced.  His chubby little hands and feet swung and kicked with glee.  This was his first experience with Spring Fever, and he didn’t hold back.  He gurgled and laughed.  He made funny faces and ‘sang’..

Until the breeze was gone, and then he was still once again, waiting for the next thrill of Spring to visit through the open window.

9 Months

Our sweet little Baby Boy is NINE months old!  Wow.  The time sure has flown.  He makes our hearts melt, and we are reminded daily of just how lucky we are to have not just one - but two healthy, happy, fantastic little boys.
The past nine months in review....

In the beginning... a brand new Baby Boy

at 3 months

at 6 monts

Baby Boy - Now

Going Home for Easter

I just love Easter. I love everything about it (even the big bunny and the colored eggs), but most of all, I love the Christian meaning of Easter… For me (and my family) Easter Sunday has always been synonymous with church services, thankful, grateful worship and cherished time spent with family.

Easter memories are some of my favorite from childhood, and this year I was able to give my boys a taste of what I remember most about those long ago Easter holidays.  The boys and I went to my parents for the holiday weekend (Hubby stayed home to work on some house stuff), and we had a wonderful time.  The weather was perfect and everyone was in good spirits and feeling great.  We got there fairly early on Saturday, and the fun started right away. 

Little Guy had a blast.  He went bird watching with Grandma, and flew a kite with Grandpa.  He had chocolate ice cream and asked Grandma and Grandpa both to read him lots of train books.  He also went for a lot of walks, exploring the farm.  He chased the stubborn farm cat (who had no interest in being his playmate, though Little Guy was not deterred).  He sat on Grandpa’s John Deere tractor, smelled some Spring flowers and was excited (dare I say thrilled) to discover the old outhouse that is tucked behind one of the sheds on Grandpa’s farm. 

Little Guy exploring

Baby Boy didn’t get left out.  He got lots of snuggles and kisses.  He liked rolling a big ball back and forth with Grandpa and took a long cozy nap in Grandma’s arms.  They both read him lots of books.  Baby Boy didn’t get chocolate ice cream, but he did have his first ever taste of a Graham cracker (he’s a big fan) and also had his first taste of lemon coffee cake (tiny crumbs, but boy did they make him happy).

Baby Boy at play

And if that all wasn’t enough (and it would have been) we also went to a lovely early morning church service at the same church my Dad went to until he was in his twenties, and where my family had went together until we moved away when I was four years old.  I hadn’t been able to go to that particular annual service in close to a decade, and was very happy to go with my parents and my boys this year.  We enjoyed a beautiful little service, followed by breakfast and fellowship from folks we hadn’t seen in some time.  Then we went to Sunday School at my parents’ regular church.  Afterwards, we packed up all of our stuff, and headed home.  The boys both slept for the entire two hour return trip.  They were exhausted, but very happy.

My Dad, Little Guy and Baby Boy on the steps of our hometown chuch.

It was a wonderful weekend full of memory making (not just for the boys, but for me too), and I have to admit it was not easy getting back into the groove of real life today. 

One HAPPY Mama (ME) with her sweet little fellas