Productive Memorial Day Weekend

I had an If You Give A Mouse a Cookie weekend...Micah fixed the ceiling in our TV room where we had had a leak (like two years ago, but who's counting!?!). While he was doing that I thought it would be a good idea to caulk the trim in the TV room which turned into doing the dining room & kitchen. Micah painted the ceiling of the TV room. Since he was on the roll of tackling overdue projects (he's very busy & works VERY hard for our family so these are not overdue to laziness at all!) he decided to paint the doors to the cupboards that Ash had decorated with Sharpie. (Yes, Sharpie! It was awesome. In the really bad way.) The doors looked so fresh and clean that I decided to paint the "faces" of the whole built in; which lead to painting all the trim in the room. This lead to painting all the trim in the dining room and kitchen, including the toekicks which I'm SO thrilled about because they were really bad. Then Micah took my paintbrush away so I guess I'm done for the weekend. I want three more days so I can do more!

Ooh! I almost forgot! I also painted the first completed handrail panel for our back deck. I almost lost a toe helping install the beast. It was worth it because I love it! I can't wait to get the others done & up!!! Okay, that was really it...well minus organizing the laundry closet. Now that is really it. Ahhh...I love productive weekends!

When Gray thinks of me....

I asked Gray what he thinks when he thinks "mom" and these were the things he said:
1. Rap music (He's talking about dance/pop stuff. We like to shake our booties around here!)
2. Creative, always has fun projects for me to do.
3. Loves salty french fries.

I guess it could be worse. I think I'm going to write this down and ask this same question again every year. What a fun thing to look back as he grows up. I should start asking Asher, too.
Oh my babies are growing up! Tear...

Oprah Shindig

I'm going to an Oprah finale shindig tonight with some mama friends. Everyone has to bring a "Favorite Thing" for $5 or under tonight. (Well, actually we have to bring 5 of the thing.) I'm bringing lip gloss from the NYC brand. It's not goopy or super sticky so it's a win for me. I can't wait to see what everyone else is bringing!

Cleaning Games

There are a lot of things that I have learned from my mom, but some of the most useful to my day to day life are her cleaning games. These are the sort of thing that I call "our brand of crazy" because to us to seems perfectly normal, but when I mentioned these games to some co-workers they looked at me like I was totally nuts. Just incase someone else out there has the same brand of crazy I thought I'd share.
Let the games begin!

Bonus Cleaning Game: Basically you race around the house in between getting dressed and doing your hair or make-up, or any other morning routine and quickly clean whatever you can (sinks, mirrors, laundry, etc). The rule to this game is that anything you can do in the morning before work doesn't actually count as cleaning. Its all just a bonus. This is my favorite way to do laundry.

Commerical Cleaning Game: While watching your favorite shows you hop up during every commerical and clean. Once the show is back on, you stop, watch, and repeat. This makes me feel better about watching all the trash on Bravo that I so love. At least my time is productive. *For an added bonus round, I fold the laundry I threw in the dryer in the morning.

Beat the Clock Game: Got an extra 10-30 minutes before you need to leave the house!?! Set the timer and find a place to start cleaning. I literally look insane as I am running around trying to clean as much as I can before the timer goes off, but it's effective and I feel good when I leave the house. I had an appointment at 11:00 am on Wednesday so I had the morning off. I knew that if I didn't do a round of Beat the Clock that I would fritter away my morning leaving the house mad at myself for not taking advantage of the time. So I played a 30 minute game got both bathrooms cleaned top to bottom, Ash's room picked up, load of laundry in washer and one from washer into dryer, living room vacuumed, and dishes in the dishwasher. Then I rewarded myself with some time on Pinterest.

So there you have my cleaning games. I hope you enjoy playing as much as I do! (Giggles)

Potty Training Woes

*swarovski crystal studded toilet*

My hobby is sitting on the edge of the tub waiting for my little one to go poo poo in the potty. My poor booty will be forever changed due to this position. We've tried the big party (WAHOO!) after he's gone, the get a prize from the treasure chest, the sticker, the no big deal you're just supposed to go in the potty,  Micah even brought out his ipad and let him play bug squash (bad idea because now if he wants to play with the ipad he says, "I have to go poo poo. Get the ipad." Sorry kiddo that's a no!) and I'm exhausted. Praying for a potty miracle tomorrow! Fingers & toes crossed!

Coffee Filter Roses

Aunt Peaches made these beautiful coffee filter roses. You can find the tutorial here. Little ones could paint the coffee filters and then you could make the flowers to make this a kiddo activity. While you are there check out her other stuff...so creative.
Hugs to my dear friend, Jessica, for introducing me to this blog!

My Favorite Vase

Asher made this at preschool last year and I have to say it's my favorite vase. The colors are perfect for me (orangy red, red, and yellow), its made from a re purposed container (very creative), and its abstract. It sits on my window sill above the kitchen sink and it makes me smile everyday. This vase is my favorite kid arts I own.
Here are more pictures in case you want to make one with your kiddos...
You will need:
acrylic paint
empty plastic or glass container with a good vase shape.
All you do is let the kiddos paint their hearts out on the outside. Easy peasy.

Pinterest

Oh my goodness! I am obsessed with Pinterest! Click here to check out what I've pinned so far! If you don't know about Pinterest yet and would like to join send me a message and I'll send you an invite. Happy Monday!!

Summer Dreaming...

It's been POURING for the last 21 hours so I'm doing a little summer dreaming...

Yellow Pattern Votives from Terrain

Can't you just see the romantic evenings after the kids have gone to bed or quiet dinners with good friends!?!

These would look perfect with my bistro cushions *also from Terrain

 Sipping on Rosemary Lemonade on those hot afternoons. This is Gray's favorite! *Picture from HERE

Mason Jar Candle Holders because you can never have enough candle light. *Potterybarn

What I'm watching...Soul Surfer

Tonight I went to the movies with the girls from my high school small group and we saw Soul Surfer. This is such an inspirational flick. It talks a lot about perspective which is something that I frequently lack. I get so caught up in the stupid stuff sometimes. It's a great movie to see with big kids, such fabulous talking points! I highly recommend it!

Brunch Ideas

Happy Mother's Day to all you Mamas out there!! Nothing says Mother's Day like brunch so I guess brunch was on my mind while looking at Pinterest. I found these two ideas that I am gaga over...

Okay so these pancake appetizers are so stinking adorable! I love the blueberry and mint garnish. Cute, cute!

I l-o-v-e, love strawberries! Wouldn't a bag like this be such a fun goodie bag for brunch guests!?!

Seating Inspiration

I saw this on Pinterest and loved it! I want to do something like this in our dining area, but while Micah liked the idea he didn't really see it in this house. I did suggest something like this for our back deck and he did his sideways smile telling me that he loves the idea and is really excited about it. Yes, a simple sideways smile says all of that. Micah isn't the type of guy who shows excitement in a big way. His sideways smile is equivalent to me yelling, "Wahoo!" and jumping up and down. Sometimes it drives me crazy because I want him to "Wahoo!", but that just wouldn't be him.

Parade of Homes

One of my favorite things is seeing where/ how people live. I love seeing their style, pictures, and all of their stuff! If this is the sort of thing you love too, you must check out A Bowl Full of Lemon's Parade of Homes. I am staying up way too late tonight touring these fabulous homes!