Nail Polish

Have you ever let a two-year-old paint your toenails?



Did, I mention the two-year-old is eternally wearing a ballet skirt and donned some serious gold bling for the occasion?



I figured, since she let me paint her fingers and toes, I could at least let her paint my toes. Its not like I do a much better job. Do they have mommy school for how to paint a toddler's toes?


She didn't do too badly for a first-timer!

Favorites

A few of my favorites:

These are my darling kiddos all dressed up for Easter Sunday. My Grandma made the beautiful quilt Seth is on.


This is Kyla in her new dancing dress from her Great Grandma. She was crying, but later looking at the picture said "Look, hide and seek!" So maybe that's what she's doing...


Kyla reading stories to her brother


Daddy falling asleep with Seth. He would like me to point out that its Seth's drool not his.

Little smiles from Seth, in his jail bird pajamas.


Kyla's new goggles that make her look special. She has impressed me with her underwater diving skills!


Big smiles from Seth.


Seth is a lover of tummy time. Hooray!


What are your favorites? You are welcome to share some of mine!

Four Years and Counting

Today marks Kyle's and my fourth wedding anniversary. Does time fly? Yes, yes it does.
Here is a little countdown for you:

5 years of knowing each other


4 years married


3 states lived in









2 children









1 amazing life together

One of my favorite memories is a trip to Oregano's. We went for The Original Pizza Cookie. We ended up with an awesome server, an appetizer, pizza, bread sticks, non-refillable drinks, and the previously mentioned dessert. Our server informed us that this qualified him to be entered into a drawing that night as he had served a "perfect ticket" -appetizer, main dish, side, non-refillable drink, and dessert. When you are not married you think you can afford all that stuff. Our server was stoked and thanked us, but here is the best part. Kyle has always been a great tipper, its me always saying "Twenty percent is fine Kyle, twenty percent is great." On this occasion we had a great time and Kyle wanted to show him. He tipped at least fifty percent! We quietly walked out and I still remember the look on the server's face as he ran across the courtyard after us yelling "THANKS GUYS!" as we got into our car. Best dinner EVER!

I am grateful for my loving and giving husband. Often when we've had little, he has still given much wherever we've seen a need.

I love you Kyle! May we continue to face the world together forever!

My tip-top tidy home

Recently a lot of people have been asking me how I keep my house so tidy...

Okay, so reality is that no one has ever mentioned anything about my house being tidy. I attribute this fact to the following three reasons:

Number 1. The word tidy is a bit outdated.

Number 2. I am always so embarrassed that my house isn't in tip-top shape, I don't invite many people
over. (tip-top - also an outdated term.)

Number 3. My home really isn't all that tidy.


This is my fake-tidy room that I cleaned to photograph and post here so I can win a Vintage Revivals makeover from Mandi. Vote for me here starting on May 1. I'm number two - not hard to find.

My grandparents were reminding me the other day about when I was a kiddo...how did Granddad say it..."We couldn't find you in the three foot towers of stuff in your room." And Grandma "Yes your room was always a huge mess darling." (I love how the word "darling" negates the negativity in the statement.) The words were spoken with love, and I can't fault anyone for speaking the truth as painful as it may be. So it turns out, I am naturally a bit of a slob, but I'm a recovering slob.


Here is another fake-tidy pic to shamelessly plug the contest I'm in. Vote for me here starting on May 1. Again, I'm number 2.

My friend Jamie posted this link on Facebook and its pretty much changed my life. Every month I fill in my calendar with all the tasks I have to do each day. Really the monthly tasks I haven't much touched. Its a process people, baby steps. The weekly tasks are what save me. So if you come over and the laundry is in the front room, or there are Tootie Frooties under the table, please know that I'm at least working on the laundry and the Tootie Frooties will get swept up on Thursday. I love knowing that even if something isn't perfect at the moment it has been or will be cleaned at some time in the week.

My new goals are:

Number 1. Bring back the word tidy (and tip-top while I'm at it.)

Number 2. Invite people over, because I love having people over, and here's the clincher - I'm going to stop making excuses, apologizing, or being embarrassed about the tidiness of my home. Take me as I am people, and I will to.

Number 3. Continue working on and succeeding at my Home Organization Plan.

Wish me luck! Old habits die hard, but die they do.

Vintage Revivals

Mandi,

I am a newly obsessed blogger and have recently fallen in love with your blog. I love that you are completely open and honest about who you are and the realities of life good and bad. I love that you said I don't have to sand my dresser to paint it and can just use primer instead. I love that every piece of furniture you've refinished makes my heart stop. I love that you chose to make your blog not only about your amazing design (and it is amazing!) but also about the amazing you. Oh, and I am going through boxes of Depends just thinking about your current giveaway!


My fam moved into our new home for Christmas. Since then I've more or less figured out most of the rooms except for my bedroom. I haven't so much as a picture up. Remember the dresser I mentioned up there...the good news is, it was free. I thought you'd like to hear that. The bad news is:



Yup there it is... I have been wanting to refinish it to match all of this:


(Also all free)



But heck, is matching it to boring dark wood really necessary? After seeing your refinishing skills, I have new vision for the levels of beauty this dresser could achieve. Lets just you and I refinish it all, or find great pieces that are smaller and fit better in my space and refinish those.

...And did you see my blank white walls? What a beautiful blank canvas for your crazy good voodoo design magic!

Let me tell you about the quilt.


Its running on its 10th year. Its the only quilt I've made and I was so proud of it -tie dyed each square, sewed it up, and made my mom bind it for me. (Thanks mommy.) The reds are now pink, the binding is unraveling, and my poor husband still sleeps under it with me. I want to get/make something new and I can't decide on a color scheme. Help!

Hold on a sec, my window has a message for you:


Yes PLEASE help me. I need my bedroom to look like a room only you can create.

Loving your Vintage Revivals,

Laryssa

Maybe now is not the time...

Two weeks after Seth was born I took Kyla to story time at the library. I came home with the following:

After starting each of them...


I took them back, but took a picture so that in 20 years, when my kids are grown, I can try again (I'm sure the baby signing book will be beneficial for grandchildren.)


Instead I went to Amazon and purchased these:



At least the material is more relevant to my current situation. I am determined that Seth will sleep through the night by 3 months and thanks to the Baby Whisperer feel I might be on track for that. I'll let you know. I recommend this Baby Whisperer who (I will warn you now) died in 2004 of Melanoma. I tell you this because when you read her book, you will want to call her and invite her to stay in your home. Then when you find out she's not around anymore you might feel like crying, because the conversational tone of her book made you feel like her close friend. She even referred to you as "Luv" and "Ducky" and your wacked hormones from recently giving birth will throw you. Be warned.

The most helpful parts of the book to me are about sleep and routines. The routine: E.A.S.Y. Eat, Activity, Sleep, and You time. (You mean I don't have to feed my child every hour??? Where were you with Kyla?) Also, there are some very helpful sleep suggestions. Everyone told me to put Kyla in her crib awake, but drowsy. This book explains how to successfully do this.

***

Today I also learned, that when my children both have yuck oozing out of their nose holes and they are acting cranky and sleepy, maybe now is not the time to leave the house as important as it might seem. Instead I can let them watch a movie and sleep.
...And take a few moments to blog.

One Year in Rangely

We hit our year mark. I always give myself a year to feel at home somewhere, and it just didn't take that long in Rangely. Here are some brief highlights of our year:

We did some hiking...

Learned about rock crawlers...

Kyla rode the coolest train EVER! over and over again...

We saw some dinosaurs...

Kyla turned two and had an awesome party with her friends and Dora...


We learned about cold weather...

Celebrated Christmas in our new home...

And finally, we welcomed baby Seth to our family.


Here's to another great year!