Fall Happenings

It's hard to believe that the month of October is pretty much gone. Maybe it's from all my years working retail, but for me, after Halloween is over, it's Christmastime. I can remember working at the mall the week of Halloween and the back rooms of the stores I worked out were unboxing Christmas trees and all the trimmings to transform the store into a Christmas wonderland. For the record, I'm not one of those people who completely ignores the holiday in between, but I do tend to get panicky if I haven't started my Christmas shopping and preparations by the first few weeks in November.
My favorite time of year (Oct-Dec) goes by so fast and all I want to do is just savor the days. Here is a little peak at what we've been up to this fall!


Right before Cameron started school, we took a family vacation to Orlando. We had a great time, but BOY was it so hot- someday when we go back, we will pick a month other than August!

Jon and I are lucky to be able to go out on regular date nights, but it's also such a treat to be able to go on "family" dates. It may be just going to the pizza joint down the road, but the kids think it's so fun to come on "dates" with us. 

"Street art" by Cameron

I'm not sure what it is, but 99% of the time I pull out my camera to take a picture of my kids, they look directly AWAY from the camera the second I tell them to smile. Drives. me. batty. 

Our annual trek to the Kansas State Fair!

My bestie from college just got married and I was honored to be a bridesmaid in her wedding. It was such a beautiful wedding and amazing day!

Cameron has been absolutely loving school this year. A few weeks ago, he was star-of-the-week and among special privileges, he got to take his class pet, "mousie" home for the weekend. Behind him, you can see a snippet of a project we did- installing a flagstone path on the side of our house. I don't have a great picture of it now, but will share one soon! 

                     
We love spending our Saturday mornings with Grandma. Here Cameron was trying to get her to ride scooters with him!

                     
One of the reasons I love the holidays so much is that there are so many fun crafts to be made. In lieu of a fall wreath this year, Cameron and I made a little paper garland for the front door!

Yesterday we (along with about 25 people from our family) went to the pumpkin patch! Afterward, we hosted them all at our house for a chili feed, s'mores, and lots of fall treats. 

This picture needs a bit of work, but I love it. 

Kylie. And all her blonde hair. 

Also, she is so, so tall. Per our growth chart, she is already 3 inches taller than Cameron was on his 3rd birthday, and she doesn't turn 3 until January! 

I love my little family so much. 

Thanks for reading- I hope everyone is enjoying the fall season!

Cameron goes to school!

Not long after I started this blog, I found out I was pregnant with Cameron. It quickly became a place to document my pregnancy, life and adventures as a new mom. Also? I blogged a lot. Like several times a week. I took my camera everywhere and blogged about everything.  Five years and 2 kids later looks a bit different here- I've gone from a weekly blogger to a monthly blogger, and as of late, a seasonal blogger. I'm not ready to give up my little piece of the web yet- the archives of this blog are such a treasure to me and I want to keep adding to it whether it's 4 times a year or 4 times a month.

This last week, we had a pretty big milestone in our house- Cameron started school! He's had a great first week and I love hearing exactly what he did each day.


Yesterday, he came home and asked if we had baking soda in the house. I was puzzled by that question, but then he asked if we had "some water that wasn't water, but smelled like pickles".

"Vinegar?" I asked.
"YES!! Binegar!!" he said. "Do we have some?"
"We do."
"Ok, I need a tray, 2 cups, baking soda and binegar."  (he pronounces his "v's" like "b's")

He then showed us all at the dinner table the experiment they did in class that day, after reading a book about a mouse and a volcanic explosion.  He was so proud. And honestly? That moment was the best part of my day. I don't want to forget about stuff like that.

The last time I blogged I mentioned the bed I finished building him last year. I have always loved this Pottery Barn Kids bed and when it came to choosing a design, I knew this is the bed I wanted to build. Typically I get my plans from Ana White, but she didn't have these plans. I felt that since I had quite a bit of experience that I could draw up my own plans, and that's exactly what I did. I spent a bit of time drawing and measuring, studying the PBK version. I took measurements for a standard twin bed, and went from there. This bed is a result of some intensive thinking and math (which I am NOT good at) and I could not be happier with the end result- an identical bed to the one I loved from PBK.



I still need to build a pull out trundle (basically, a box on wheels) and I'll probably get to that this fall.



A lot of times when I build something, I save a bit of money (as opposed to buying a retail item) but that wasn't the case for this bed. It's solid oak which is one of the more pricier woods out there. I don't regret that decision because the grain on this bed is so gorgeous! And since it's oak, it will stand up to a few generations (hopefully!) of use.


I stained the bed myself but had it professionally finished (lacquered). When I picked up the bed from being finished, it took my breath away. It looked so amazing I could have cried. I honestly couldn't believe that it was something that I built!

Anyway, I have so much more to say after a summer of silence here, and maybe I will get to that, maybe not. =) Thanks to all who still read!

A weekend getaway.

Hello, there! It has been quite awhile!

Well friends, nearly two whole months have passed since I've sat down and typed a few words on the dusty ol' blog. Rather than rewinding and playing catch up, I'll just start by sharing a little weekend-vacation we just got back from.  Before I do that though, I will mention that I finished a big project on my list a few weeks ago- Cameron's twin bed- and it. is. awesome. I will be blogging about that in the coming days because it's way too good not to share (and show off!). 

So anyway, our vacation- we escaped to the beautiful, quiet, small town of Nebraska City. My Grandpa, Aunt and Uncle live there, so we took over their house for a few days and really had a great time. Internet was spotty- so I was completely unplugged from my fifth appendage (aka my iPad) and all my social network addictions. I needed that! 

While there, we drove up to Omaha to visit the Zoo. I've been there several times and of course, it did not disappoint! 

We spent Saturday in Nebraska City, and they had a lot of events going on for Arbor Day that weekend. Arbor Day was actually founded in Nebraska City, so it's no surprise that the city is covered in giant, beautiful trees. It's also home to the Arbor Day Farm, which is a totally rad nature/adventure park. 

There were so many fun things for the kids to do and play with! My one and only complaint was that I wished we had had more time (we were pushing through quickly to get to a parade) to do more of the nature walks and adventure ride. We also got a free tree (seedling) to take home with us. Jon and I are quite geeky about trees (we planted 11 trees at our old house and we've planted 12 at our current) and the outdoors so needless to say we enjoyed the Farm very much! I can't wait to go back.

We were able to catch the parade just in time. The parade had such a small-town "vibe" and the kids really loved it (and came home with a bag full of candy and little toys!). 

We also went to the Arbor Lodge State Park, of which I have many many memories from my teenage years.

We all had the best time- a little vacation is just what our family needed! 

Snippets.

Last week, we had a monster snowstorm roll through town (well, two actually). We got 20 inches of snow in under a week and we LOVED it! We've gone through the last few winters with just a dusting here and there, so it was awesome to be able to get out and play in it for several days! 

Kylie with our favorite neighbor-dog, Sadie

Cameron is officially enrolled in Pre-K! As excited as I am for him to start school, I really feel that my time at home with him is slipping away too quickly- and that makes me truly sad. I've made it a goal to really take advantage of my time with him by planning more activities, crafts, going more places, cooking more together- basically just having more fun and using our time together with more purpose.



Kylie has been quite the sassy pants lately. She is the queen of hilariously odd facial expressions- sometimes I look at her and think "She's a real person! A real, live, little person!" like I wonder how there's so much personality in a tiny little body. Any other moms ever think that about their kids?



I cannot believe it's March already. To me in feels like we were just opening presents at Christmas time, but here we are on the verge of Spring (yay!) and longer days (double yay!). As excited as I am about that, spring isn't here right now and I need some fresh green plants in my life already. I've gone to Lowe's a few times in the last week, getting a few potted houseplants and some herb and vegetable seeds to plant now. Several of them are sprouting and it's just enough to hold me over until things sprout outside. Spring come quickly!

A bed for Kylie & a finished basement tour!

Just days after I posted Kylie's 2 year update, she was climbing in and out of her crib like a pro. Nothing would stop her- not discipline and not even turning her crib around (so the highest part was in the front), so I knew it was time to get her a big girl bed.

When I posted the finished pictures of her room, I mentioned that I wanted to get her a white iron daybed when the day would come, so I've casually been keeping my eye open for the perfect one for her. Well, I found it, and she loves it! She has transitioned really well (only getting out of bed the very first night a few times) and thinks it's great that she's got a big bed.

I found her sheets at PB Teen and the comforter at Target. I think they are such a perfect match to her existing colors and decor! I love this room so much- it's easily my favorite in the house. 

Now, onto the basement! We finished it up right after Thanksgiving, and I honestly can't remember what it was like not to have this space finished. We hang out so much down here. 

When you come down the stairs, to the left is the bar area. It's really nice to have this space for secondary kitchen storage- things like off season dinnerware, wine glasses and serving platters all have a home here.

This undermount sink is a dream. If and when we replace countertops in our kitchen my sink WILL be an undermount! (hear that, Jen?)

{Floors: Crossville Buenos Aires Tango (polished); Counters: Travertine (durango, honed); Lights: Lowe's Allen + Roth; Cabinets: Local (not sure of brand), Cabinet pulls: Lowe's.}

The living room is the view from the bar. If the TV looks crooked, your eyes do not deceive you. I've mentioned it to the husband a few hundred times, but alas, it's still crooked. 

The space to the left of the bar will probably house a pinball machine or foosball table someday soon. (maybe even a dartboard?) 

The kids love having the train table here. To the right you can see part of my craft closet, and the kids play area is underneath the stairs there. 

I haven't done much with my craft room (in terms of organizing) but I'm glad to have all my stuff out of the linen closets upstairs! I can walk into the closet a bit (to the right) so I've got my wrapping paper, gift bags and fabric remnants on shelving there. 

The kids love having their own, designated (small) play place! It's also nice to have an area to throw toys into for a quick basement clean-up.  

In this hallway are the two bedrooms and bathroom.

I have plans for this room but for now, it's just functional enough for sitters who stay the night. 

The office.

This year my goal is to inject some personality and color into the basement! I have a giant abstract canvas print on backorder from Zgallerie for over the couch, but aside from that I'll probably start finding pictures I've taken over the years to hang down here (since they're essentially free!). I hope you enjoyed the tour- if you have any questions, feel free to ask! =)