Hannah's room... mermaid inspired

Hannah's room was so much fun to do. She loves mermaids and PBK came out with a new mermaid line that inspired me. The room came together beautifully and Hannah absolutely loves it.

Isn't she cute?!? This octopus is as big as she is and when it first arrived in the mail she carried it around the entire house, including stairs which was very funny to watch, for days.



I love the picture above Hannah's bed. We were at the beach last summer with our photographer and friend, Jen. She snapped this pic of Hannah playing in the sand and sent it to me a couple weeks later. As I was decorating Hannah's room I remembered that picture and had it printed. It was perfect!

5 things somebody loves Tuesday (Lauren's edition)

I took a break from the "somebody loves Tuesdays" last week because it was way to warm and nice outside to be bloggin inside!! We had a blast last week as it made us yearn for those hot summer days where you play outside all day long, only to come in and eat and sleep. Ahh... it is just around the corner!!!

So this week I give you, Lauren Elizabeth!!

Lauren's favorite place to eat for as long as I can remember has been Chili's. I enjoy Chili's but after going so many times I so wanted to just go some place else. I got my wish about six months ago when her absolute fab, I am going to die and throw a fit if we don't go there place turned to Red Robin. She loves the mac and cheese and the fact that it is bottomless. Yep, they will refill that bowl of creamy mush as many times as her heart desires. We are the stick in the mud that keeps her at a 2 bowl limit. And yes, Red Robin is now the place I dread!

Singing and her stage room. We have this little room off of their play room that has this ledge that the girls quickly turned in to their "stage." As you can see we also have allowed them, with some serious hesitation from Dad, write on the walls in this room. They love it and so do their friends. This room has been a consistent source of entertainment this winter when it was too darn cold, or rainy as of late, to go outside. The girls and their friends spend hours up in the stage room singing their hearts out. And lucky for us, that room just happens to be above the garage!

Strawberries and Nutella! Lauren's all time favorite snack. Before we turned her onto Nutella she would unwrap a bajillion hershey kisses and we would melt those. Now we just scoop some Nutella into a bowl and heat it up for 30 seconds and she is good to go. She will eat an entire container of strawberries at one time with the help of that creamy hazelnut spread.

Her bike!!! Whenever Lauren is ready for a new bike we take her to Buck's Bike Shop here in town to pick out a new bike. Two bikes ago, she wanted this bike. It came in her size at the time and she wanted it badly. Her father, for what ever reason, had something else in his mind and did everything he could to sway her vote to the other bike. It worked. We went back last spring and there was the bike, now in a bigger size. She immediately went right to it and said she wanted that one. I gave Jamie "the look." Ya know, the "don't you dare try to sway this child yet again look." Yea, that one. She loves it, its her favorite color and it is super cute!

Anyone else have one of these little gems??? The GIGA BALL!!!!!! I bought four, yes FOUR of these this past spring and we were finally able to blow it up a couple weeks ago. You can't tell by the picture but there are two openings where you get in the ball. You roll around in the ball and it can even go on water! We have a hill in the back yard that has been a ton of fun. Lauren and every other neighborhood kid has been rolling around in this thing for two weeks strait now!

some things I know for sure about being a Mom

1. In spite of all we hear today, being a “good” mom isn’t about making sure my kids have the fancy toys, the newest stroller, the best pre-school, or private dance lessons. It’s not about reading the latest and greatest parenting book, or being able to recite up-to-date safety protocol. It is about spending time with my children, period. And that costs nothing and doesn’t require expert advice or expensive stuff. ANYONE can do it if they really want to. It just requires me being present, letting go of all the other junk in life, and getting down to the important stuff.

2. As a mom, I am my child’s best advocate. Who loves them more? Who knows them more? No teacher, no doctor, no friend, no one else. As they get older, the advocating needs to be handed off to them…but when they are young, I will be the one to trust my gut. Mother intuition is a gift that comes along with that baby. I’ve learned to never doubt mine-even if it makes me uncomfortable, even if it makes others uncomfortable, even if it makes me unpopular, even if it makes me the odd ball out.

3. TV, the computer, and video games are time-suckers, brain-mushers, and argument-inducers, and I learned that the hard way. I also learned to stop complaining about these things, whining is a better word, and just set rules…or throw them all up unreachably-high in a closet and call it a day. As my children have grown, I have found it necessary to grow a big strong backbone, a voice of authority, and use the famous, “Because I said so.” No guilt, back-pedaling, mushy-gushy.

4. I am, oh and this is hard, the spirit of my home. I wasn’t elected or hired into this position…it isn’t a paying job, that’s for sure….and often I lament these facts. But I have found, especially after having baby #2…I set the tone of the house with my mood. I determine the pace of the hours….calm or frantic. I determine the spirit of my home with the way I react to things. It’s all me. That means….

5. I have to take care of myself. And not in the mani-pedi ridiculous way we are told to. That never lasts long…I can snap right back in that bad mood no matter how long that spa treatment lasts. I mean the way that requires self-awareness and self-evaluation: Knowing myself, and my limits. Really it’s about little things…knowing how to schedule a day that will make it smooth vs. stressful, knowing when to say no and not feeling guilty about it, knowing what makes me be a good, present, consistent, cheerful mom. Stressed out, rushing, impatient, crabby-I have to pay attention to myself when I feel this way, and ask what I can do different the next time around. For me, it’s about running around as little as possible. It’s about maintaining a sense of order in my household, staying home with my kids, and bringing a sense of accomplishment to my day and theirs also. I have to accept my limitations, accept my differences, accept what I can handle day-to-day, vs. what it seems like every other mother seems to do gracefully.

Lauren is a giant experiment, I tell her. Hannah, maybe less so, but there is no other way to learn how to be a mother, than to be one. I have changed and have grown right along with my children. Each one teaches me something new. Each one teaches me to see something in a new light, with a new understanding. They have gifted me with patience, with compassion. Most of all they have shown me how fast time flies. When Lauren was young, I would be eager for her next stage-as soon as she gets out of diapers, sleeps through the night, goes to preschool-and now I resist the pull of the days. I know that soon I will work myself out of a job…a job that I love and treasure more than anything else…that of “mother”.

I bring you... the laundry room

Guess what was clean enough to take a picture of? The laundry room!!! Again, a room I put some serious thought into. I had a washer and dryer that were in a closet with a little wire shelf above them and that was it so needless to say, I'm in heaven. I've come to the conclusion that a laundry room cannot ever be "too big" especially when it doubles as your mud room. Jamie kept saying, "that laundry room is getting to be too big." And then I would give him "the look" and he would quickly apologize and duck. (just kidding, a little bit). The color on the walls is vintage wine by Benjamin Moore. Enjoy!!

Five things somebody loves Tuesday

So I thought I would try something new and fun for the month of May. Each Tuesday I am going to list five things that someone in our family loves. Fun!! I will start with the youngest member of the family.. Hannah Kate!

Her blankie! I just searched online to get a picture of her blankie and it's hard to believe it actually looked like this at one point. She didn't really become "attached" to her blankie until she was around the age of 2. I love that she has something that is soothing to her. It is so cute when she is weepy and gives me those sad little eyes and says, "mama, where's my bwankie."

Hannah LOVES ballet. She takes ballet on Friday afternoon and she talks about it all. week. long. She has taken gymnastics for awhile in a mommy and me class but I was nervous for her to start the ballet. It was not a mommy and me class and she wouldn't be able to see me during the class. For those of you that know Hannah know that she attached to me at the hip. So needless to say I was a little worried. She kept saying she wanted to do it and so we gave it a try. The very first day she walked into the class like she had been going forever and absolutely loves it. Every single day at home she wants to have on one of her ballet leotards and her ballet shoes. She even sleeps in them at times. (its just not worth the fight) The cutest thing is when she tells random people in her quiet little voice, "I take ballet."

Who doesn't love Fancy Nancy!! Lauren loved Fancy Nancy and recently Hannah jumped on the Nancy train. Hannah is such a girly girl to she loves to listen to all the things Fancy Nancy is up to. Almost every time we get done reading, or even sometimes before we are done reading, she is anxious to get all done up just like Fancy Nancy!! We even scored a Fancy Nancy dress up dress at Marshalls a couple weeks ago! Score!

TANGLED!! Along with every other little girl in America, right?! It is such a cute movie and I was happy to catch a break from "Despicable Me." Hannah's two favorite parts of the movie are with Flynn gives Rapunzel the "smoudler".. she cracks up laughing every time. Then of course she lanterns part. It is so purdy when Flynn and Rapunzel are out there on that little canoe with a million lanterns floating all around them. Every Mom's.. I mean girl's dream, right!

I know, I know. She is 3. She shouldn't have a passy. I get it. But she does. She loves them. She is actually sitting next to me right now and when she saw the pictures of the passy's she jumped up and hugged me and said "I love passy's. I love them. I love THAT passy. " Now who could deny a sweet little Hannah a passy after that!! Obviously not ME!

the house.... in pieces

People keep asking me when I am going to post pictures of my new house. I keep trying to get around to it but to be honest, what keeps me from posting them? Remembering to take pictures when its actually clean enough to take a picture. I tell myself I am going to take pictures as soon as my wonderful cleaning lady leaves every other Monday and I forget every single time. I think its because I am usually numb from excitement that the whole house is clean. Because it is the ONLY time the whole has is clean. So you are going to get pictures of my house in doses... as I can get it clean AND remember to take a picture. ;) Enjoy!

First I give you, my kitchen. This was my baby of the house. I put so much thought and time into designing this kitchen. I didn't keep track but we easily had 15 revisions of this baby. And I have to say, it was worth every single minute. I love it and it is exactly what I wanted. :)

An Earth Day Project

Lauren had to do an earth day project for school last week. They had to make something using recyclable materials from home. After some brainstorming (and searching the internet ;) ) she decided on making the tin can herb garden. It was a lot of fun and she loved working on the project.. especially painting the cans! And to top it all off, she got second place in her class!!! WAY TO GO LAUREN!! The kid that got first place made a disco ball out of cd's. To which Jamie replied "who the heck recycles CD's?" Oh my!