"When you think your love story is boring"

When you think your love story is boring...

Read this article on a friend's facebook today.  Take a minute.

Beat the Heat.

This week summer magically transformed into fall with daily temps reaching no more than 75 degrees!

Thank you, God, b/c for the last 2 weeks we've hit 90-95 degrees every single day.  We did the beach a few times, but it was so humid that unless you were completely immersed in water it was miserable.  

(Silas' face says otherwise...)

SO I did what any bored mom does and went on Pinterest to steal someone else's creative idea and fool my kids into thinking I'm the Wizard of Fun!

I pinned this idea when we still lived @ Gephart, but the stairs there were in a twisty alcove and had no crash zone at the bottom.  A crash zone is essential b/c you go (sometimes dangerously) fast.

It's just a giant, heavy duty cardboard box duct taped to the stairs.  At the bottom we piled up 6 couch cushions and pillows.  It stayed up for 4 days... definitely worth the 15 minutes to put it up.

Poor Siley... it was too fast for him.  But he enjoyed messing up the cushions.

We put the box away a few days ago to wait for winter... or for the next time some reckless little boys & girls come over to play :)

18 weeks

Baby foot with toes!

(From left to right) Head, arm & cute baby hand, bent knee :)

We did get a few videos, but I'm having trouble uploading right now.  Will attempt again later!

DIY!

Yesterday I finally took a Julie-moment and put together this shirt for #1 that's been on the back burner for awhile.

It's hardly a creative endeavor, but right now things happen fast, or they don't happen at all!

A few months ago I saw this shirt on a favorite character of mine from an equally favorite TV show:

It's such an appropriately descriptive word for my boy.

I also saw this flossing detail @ I Am Momma- Hear Me Roar and wondered why someone with my stash of floss never thought up such an easy & genius embellishing trick.  

I planned on freezer paper stenciling this bad boy (b/c that's what I had on hand) until I saw these iron on transfer letters in Walmart.  They worked beautifully... and I completed this shirt in 20 minutes.

It's weird how gratifying that was!

Big giant breath... 

Today I completed another quick project for #2.  This one wasn't quite as fast, but I finished the overall construction in about 45 minutes and the embellishments in another 40.

I pinned this hat tutorial a little while ago and let it stew in my brain for a while.  I ended up using an old orange sweatshirt for the hat (keeping upcoming cool weather in mind) but instead of cardboard as suggested for the brim, I used a plastic potato salad container cut to size.  It worked perfectly, having just the right amount of bend to it.  I used one of the same iron on letters I used for Eli's shirt as well as some old t-shirts & floss to make it kind of "scrappy".  

Then I tried it on the model.  (See below)

The sweatshirt I used was a bit stretched out around the bottom making the hat the tiniest bit loose... but other than that, I am super proud of myself :)  I've NEVER made a brimmed hat before, and definitely never with recycled materials.  Totally free dose of cuteness.  

Just to be fair to all my children (those outside AND inside the womb) I did make baby #3 something too... but that's just for me right now. :)

Evening Swim.

84 degrees @ 6pm?  Swim.

(Siley following big brother on all fours...)

What to make of a Rainy Day.

At some point the 3-4 rainy days a week thing began driving us all a little nuts.  At another point I just flung open the door and said "go!"  

Turns out, everyone would RATHER play outside in the warm rain than the hot, dry sun. 

This can definitely count as a bath :)

The Day When Art was a Bad Thing.

9:00 AM.

 Bleary eyed little boy trots up the stairs while an unsuspecting father is folding clothes in living room, and an unsuspecting mother is still passed out in bed (pregnancy).

Confusion followed by horror nearly overcome the father, but he is able to momentarily regain composure and grab a nearby camera to snap this photo.  In his mind he tells himself "someday... this will be funny".

By now the paint fumes are beginning to drift upstairs.  He bites his lip; braces himself for the worst.

He takes the stairs 3 at a time and swings open Picasso's door.

He dies a little inside as he watches new-ish carpet soaking up a half gallon of white paint.  

His eyes follow a carpet streaked and dotted with patterns up a decorated dresser, over a dip-dyed stool, and across an unreadable Bible...

... and then drops to his knees uttering fervent prayers that Toy Story is not real.

So what the heck happened?

I've been working on a mural for Eli & Si's shared bedroom for the last few weeks.  It's a perpetual work zone with several gallons of primary colors, brushes, paper towels, pencils, erasers, etc.  This is not an unusual environment for our children.  We are a "project" family.  We are a "paint" family.

At the same time, my eldest has never been a kid who "gets into things".  Teetering stacks of laundry left untouched.  In progress mommy-paintings avoided.  In all his 4 years I have zero photos of a memorable mess... including food-related ones.  In other words, I felt relatively safe leaving the art supply section of A.C. Moore overnight in his room.  We used to assume it was just his laid back personality, but 2 years ago found out that his disdain for mess and disorder were related to autism.  And strangely we spent a significant period of time in mourning as we watched other children eat food with their hands and play in the sand and learn to swim- not b/c we wanted the mess, but b/c we hurt for our child who was afraid of all these new experiences.  

I know most of you reading this are rolling your eyes at the idea of longing for mayhem...  but after a steady stream of "this isn't normal"'s from professional after professional,  seeing your child feel comfortable enough to paint his own body and then allow it to harden and dry on his skin and not care?  That's progress.  That's therapy working.  That's my FEARLESS boy.

Yeah- he still got punished though. :)

4th!

Happy Fourth!

Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom. ~A.E.

(To be fair, this photo was actually taken a few weeks before the 4th... I'm taking a break from the constant documentation of life... sometimes feeling the need to capture EVERY SINGLE MOMENT sucks the fun out of it!)