Snippets.

I wish I had a few more (uninterrupted) hours in each day to spend time on crafts and projects, like these little wood color matching peg dolls I made for Kylie. As much as I love a more complex, labor intensive project, I almost enjoy something as simple as this even more- especially since I completed it during the course of just two of her naps. How cute are these?
 



Cameron just finished up his first year as a Cubbie at Awana Club! I honestly wasn't so sure we'd make it until the end because he got pretty sad when I left him for the first few weeks (back in August). After the first month, it was smooth sailing and he couldn't wait to see his friends and teachers each Sunday!




My little Kylie has developed the curliest little blonde hair these last few months. It must be the humid weather- but I'm loving her curly tendrils. When I was pregnant with her, I wished for a baby who looked just like Cameron- one with dark eyes, dark features and dark hair. God must have laughed when I said that because she's the complete opposite with her light blue eyes and light golden hair. Really, I think the only similarity between them is their skin tone and nose. But darn it, they are both so stinkin' cute.

 

On a sad note, we lost our duck Cinco last week. Now that they are full grown, we've been letting them out during the day to roam as they please. They always stay together, mostly staying around our house with the occasional dip into the lake. We came home one day and Cinco was missing, so we're pretty sure he was taken by a snapping turtle. This was just a few days after an incident where Howard was attacked (again, most likely by a turtle) and got part of his upper bill torn off. It was pretty awful looking at first but he is much better and seems to be thriving as much as the others. I wish we could always protect them!

Easter bits.

Hello! I hope that everyone is having a wonderful spring! We certainly are, and I can already see our social calendar filling up for the summer with birthdays, graduations, weddings and weekend BBQ's. It's definitely going to be a busy season for us!

I know that Easter was a full week ago, but I thought I'd share a few pictures from the holiday. We had a fantastic day, with the highlight being 4 baby ducklings we got for the kids! Jon and I had discussed getting ducks for the kids for Easter after we moved to our new house and realized that there weren't any ducks that lived in the small lake in our backyard. We lived on a lake at our old house as well, and it was so much fun to see all the baby ducklings being born every spring.

 All four ducks, about 2 days old in this picture

And with that, we are officially raising ducks! The type of ducks we got are more of a domestic breed and won't migrate during the winter. Right now they are in a large crate in our garage with a heat lamp until they get their feathers. We also have quite a few predators that frequent our neighborhood (we've seen a coyote and a prairie rattle snake just this week) so we'd like them to have wings and be full sized before we let them go on their own. 



How cute are they? This little guys' name is Cinco (as in the Spanish number for 5)

As you can see, they've already grown SO much so it won't be long! The ducks (named Howard, Webster, Cinco, and Nibbles) are quite fun to have and Cameron often describes them as his "best friends". He likes to "duck sit" them all day and loves holding them. I hope our neighbors will grow to enjoy them as much as we have!

Bathroom business.

Progress in the basement has been much slower than we planned for (shocker, right?). We wanted to have a mostly finished, functional and carpeted basement after the New Year, and that just hasn't happened. Admittedly, we have been total slackers lately and when it comes to our free time we've been spending it camped out on the couch, watching our favorite shows after the kids go to bed. I don't know about you guys, but with an extra hour of daylight each day, I haven't felt as tired in the evening time. In fact, I've been diving into more productive things rather than parking my bum on the couch for the night!

Last weekend, we got our basement bathroom finished and fully working- a huge task off our to-do list. Jon and I installed the tile ourselves and I am LOVING the choice. I picked out a tile that resembles wood planks both in color/texture (it has a very subtle grain) and in shape (6"x18"). I really wanted slightly darker grout than we ended up with (the color on the bag looked darker) but I actually am really liking the contrast between the dark, almost ebony tile and the lighter tiny grout lines. After it all cured, the toilet and vanity went in. All the bathroom needs is trim, a shower curtain and towel fixtures, which probably will happen when we're closer to finishing the basement as a whole.




Next up, the bar tile (which I haven't decided on)! On a sidenote, can I just say that I have the most awesome husband? He lets me do whatever I want with this house regarding all the design choices. From big things like choosing the style of our concrete patio and bar cabinets to smaller things like paint colors and bedding choices, he lets me have free reign. A lot of times I ask his opinion but for the most part, he just likes what I pick out and trusts my judgement. I love that!

A very fine house.

Maybe it's in my blood, or maybe it's just a passion, but I love building things- seeing a concept on paper (or in my head) come to life. For me, it used to be about saving money- why would I buy something that I can make myself, and at better quality, at that? Nowadays, I don't really think about DIY'ing from a money-saving point of view. Its more about a challenge and a love for making things for my family and my home.
This dollhouse bookshelf just about wiped my love for building things, as it was one of the most difficult projects I've ever built. For starters, I didn't have the right tools. That fact alone added a lot of time to what was considered a "weekend project".  I had to use someone else's band saw because my 10 inch miter saw was not going to cut it (haha, get it?) for this project. To this point, I've build everything from a mitre saw, jig saw, nail gun and power drill. Also, I've never cut out holes from wood- so that was a first. There were a lot of set backs and a lot of frustration and I was thisclose to throwing in the towel. My husband wasn't about to let me do that- he encouraged me to keep going and stick with it, so I did.

Did I mention that this project was considered a weekend project? Let me just clarify that little tidbit by saying that there are new construction homes being built in my neighborhood faster than I built this doll house (slight exaggeration there). I spent roughly 30-35 hours from cutting the lumber to my last coat of paint.

All this to say, I'm so happy that this is done and I'm really proud of this piece. When I was newly pregnant with Kylie, I remember saying "If I have a girl, I'm building her that bookshelf!" If you've read my blog for some time, you know that I love everything Pottery Barn Kids and I always loved the dollhouse bookshelf they used to sell (for $399!). I know that Kylie will love this piece for years to come!
I'm getting really close to the point where I'm happy with how her room is shaping up. I drew a little watercolor flamingo (got this inspiration here)to put over her crib, and I just need to finish putting pictures in some frames that hang as a gallery over her dresser.




I'll post pictures as soon as I'm done. We also tiled our downstairs bath last weekend and are installing the toilet and vanity today! I'm loving how it's coming along and I'll post pictures of that soon as well.

Snippets (from the last month).

A few weeks ago we headed north to Kansas City for our annual little trip to the Great Wolf Lodge. This time, we invited our niece to tag along so that Jon and I could ride some rides together, and also go on a date one night on the Country Club Plaza. It was awesome to have the luxury of a babysitter on our trip!

 

Last weekend our basement bar cabinets were delivered and Jon and his friend spent the day installing them. Originally, we had planned to install the exact same cabinets as the ones in our kitchen, but they were going to set us back about $5,400. We weren't quite ready to settle for that price tag, so we looked around and found custom cabinets at a smaller family-owned "box" store in town for $2,000.

Not only are these cabinets gorgeous, but they are such amazing quality and I'm pretty sure I like them better than the ones in our kitchen! I'm so glad we shopped around for other options.


Kylie has been taking LOOONG afternoon naps lately. While it's a nice little break I struggle with trying to keep Cameron quiet for that length of time. I try to do several crafts with him each week, and one of our favorites lately are these homemade birdfeeders. Pinecones+peanut butter+ birdseed (3 bucks for a giant bag at Walmart), that's it! Cam and Kylie both love to look out the windows each day and see the birds stopping by for a snack.




I am really, really close to finishing a building project I've had plans to build since, well... forever. Before we knew Kylie was a girl, I knew I wanted to build a dollhouse bookshelf. I've finally gotten around to building it, and it has been the most challenging project I've build thus far. I almost quit but my husband wouldn't let me. More on that as soon as I finish- but for now a sneak peek... =)

The Birthday girl.

My sweet Kylie is one year old today! She entered the world on a day where snow was falling beautifully from the sky, covering everything in sight. I'll never forget it. It took us nearly 2 hours to drive to the hospital (a drive that usually takes under 15 minutes) and I feared we would be late for our 8:30 am check-in. A small part of me wishes that there was snow falling today, on her birthday, to make it that much more special. I suppose there will be plenty of years for that, and I should be grateful for the 60 degree weather we've been having on the regular!
I love this girl to death. I cant stop kissing her squooshy (yep, it's a word) little cheeks. She isn't walking just yet, which is OK by me because I love seeing her bum shake when she crawls. I'll miss that. In the last month or two, she has really started to pick up semi-recognizable words and become quite chatty. Her word for fish (and most other animals for that matter) is Pshhhhh! Pshhhh! Im really enjoying her personality! I remember Cameron being such a ham at this age and I see her following in his footsteps. I can't wait to see what these next few months bring!

House updates: a finished bathroom and basement progress

Long time, no post! I hope everyone (err... everyone that still reads) had a wonderful Christmas and holiday season. I really can't believe it's a brand new year! One of my big goals this year is to blog on a more regular basis. I really enjoy looking back at old posts about special events, projects, and my growing kiddos and last year I slacked big time.

Ever since we moved at the end of last summer, we've been working on some sort of house project. Though our house is new, there has been quite a bit we've been doing to inject a bit of character and make it our own. The main level is all one color: a basic builders beige. While I don't hate it per se, there's a heck of lot of it. So far, I've painted 3 rooms and the end result of each leaves me so amazed at what a can of paint can do! Most recently I tackled the kids bathroom (small rooms first!). I finished painting just before Christmas and the little details the week after. Here's the before, when we first moved in:


And the after:

I knew i wanted to do fun stripes (and what a pain in the butt those turned out to be) with some sort of whale artwork. I ended up settling with white (Behr's Polar Bear) and grey (Behr's Dolphin fin) for the stripes, and found this great Etsy seller for the whale print. I love that it isn't overly juvenile like some artwork I had looked at. Nothing wrong with that, it just wasn't what I was going for.
I also switched the towel bar out for individual hooks, which I like a little better. I think the colored towels and soap dispenser add a little more color and make it playful. I do think that the print would benefit with more white space around the artwork, but finding a square frame has proven to be difficult, and holy crap custom framing is expensive ($73 dollars, to be exact). Overall, I am extremely happy with how this room turned out! It looks so much brighter, cleaner and bigger.

Our other main concern is getting our basement finished. I may or may not have mentioned that over half of our stuff is still in storage since the basement of our old home was finished and fully furnished. When we moved in:


And now:

The bar area

The living room

Storage closets outside the hallway- one will be my craft closet, the and the kids will have the area under the stairs for a play area/hide out!

The office

full bathroom

Guest room

We framed, ran electrical and plumbing, and had drywall hung (which we hired out- best decision ever). Most of the painting is done, and the bar cabinets are on order. Our next goals down here are to make this space livable- trim, tile in the bath and bar and carpet in the living room and bedrooms. Then we'll get counters in, and install stone on the back bar wall! Hopefully we will have the whole basement completed in the spring. Since we are doing the work ourselves, things progress quite slowly since free time is, well... limited. =)
Thanks for reading! My baby girl is turning ONE in just a few days (crazy!)- I'll be sure to share some pictures with you!

Three!

My sweet Cameron turns three today (though I feel, from how big he looks in these pictures that he should be turning 5)! The amount of joy he brings to my (our) life is immeasurable. I wish he only knew.
The other day we were running some errands, and as we got out of the car, a nice elderly gentleman who was approaching the car next to ours asked Cameron his name. He responded "Cameron! What's your name?" The man matched Cameron's enthusiasm and told him his name was Frank.
The two went on to have a conversation lasting about a minute, with Cameron telling Frank his sister's name, informing him of his upcoming birthday, even telling him about the drywallers that had been working at our house that day.
I don't think Frank was ready for quite the earful that he got, but it was apparent that he was quite delighted by the conversation they had. I mention this story because I think it says a lot about who Cameron is: sweet, charming, smart and chatty. He is such a great kid and my life is truly enriched having him as a son!



Happy Birthday, Cameron!

DIY wall ledges.

Decorating our new house has been a very slow process. I've got all these big ideas but when it comes to actually executing them, the time to do so is nowhere to be found.
We've got this great little area off the kitchen and dining area that's meant to house some sort of buffet or hutch. We don't have either of those pieces, and even if we did, we don't have any special china or dinnerware to be stored in it. I needed to come up with something to put in this space, because it was just staring me in the face every time I looked at it. I've always loved the look of wall ledges for displaying photos and small decorative items, and i figured that would be the perfect solution for such a large space.
My go to source for ideas and inspiration has always been the ever-so-pricey Pottery Barn. While my style is gravitating away from that particular style, I still find things I like from time to time. Such was the case with the PB Holman wall ledges- loved the idea, not the price. So being the DIY'er I am, I decided to make them myself. A trip to Lowes, $14 in lumber, and 30 minutes (not including staining time, of course) was all it took for 2, 6-foot custom made wall ledges.



I still need a few more frames, particularly in the top right corner where I had a picture fall and shatter everywhere (a wind gust came through the house, and slammed a door shut which made the house rumble a bit. Surprisingly, nothing fell during the earthquake we felt last Saturday!). I also need to swap some of the photos out, as I'm aiming for an all black and white gallery. All these photo frames were hung in different areas in our old home- and I like that they match only by color. I'm really happy with the way these turned out for just a few dollars!

A little Halloween fun.

Last night we partook in a little Halloween fun by taking the kids trick or treating in our new neighborhood. Cameron was a little shy at first, but really got into it when he started seeing all the other kids in their costumes. By the end of the night he was nothing less than a pro, saying "trick or treat" without being prompted, and even yelling "MOM! DAD! I GOT YOU GUYS CANDY!!!!" as he ran away from each house. Awesome.

The Super Hero, cape and mask made by yours truly:



And the ballerina/baby in a tutu, also made by me:
When we got home for the evening, we were looking forward to passing out candy, but by about 7:15 there weren't many people still trick or treating. Needless to say, we have much more candy than we know what to do with!

My little artist.

It's always been a hobby of mine to paint, color and draw. For as long as I can remember, I've loved coloring in books and been obsessed with crayons and other mediums. (Heck, my favorite field trip when I was in elementary school was to The Crayola factory, which I still remember very well.) I took my passion to college and earned a degree in graphic design, but to this day I really enjoy getting off the computer and designing pretty things on paper.
Someone else seems to be sharing my passion- my little Cameron. As soon as Kylie goes down for her morning nap, Cameron is usually begging for the art box containing all of our art supply goodies. Most days we color. Some days our arms are completely covered with paint and cleanup involves a bath. I've really gotten past my "oh, lets not get messy!" attitude and let Cameron explore whatever he wants as long as he's sitting at our dining table.


Recently I was looking for ideas for art to hang in the hallway of the kids bedrooms, when I realized the best art source was my little artist that's been painting up a storm. Enter some cheap frames from Michael's, and up went Cameron's artwork on display.

I hung four frames so that when Kylie is old enough to join in, they can each have two. I love that Cameron has his own little gallery here (instead of taking up real estate all over the fridge doors) and I love that we can switch it whenever the mood strikes or a new masterpiece is made.
Who knows if he will grow up and have a passion for art as I do, but for now, I enjoy that I can share my hobby with him!