Been Busy Lately

You probably all thought I'd disappeared...

But actually, I was just a little busy.

Busy remembering.  Busy celebrating.  Busy hosting family.  Busy having fun.

Let's recap.

First up was party time.  It's not everyday your boy turns 5!!!  He had his ultimate dream birthday party-- Safari Kids Zone.  There were lots of crazy kids, lots of energy burned on the jungle gym, lots of food consumed... and one happy birthday boy.

Moving along.

I've also dealing with an independent almost 2 year old who wants to do everything herself.  The left picture is "I can put on my own pajama shorts"... and the right picture is "I can put on my own shoes".  Sure wish I had a picture of the many instances of "I can blow my own nose"-- so many innocent rolls of toilet paper unrolled and destroyed in the process.

My sister and parents were out visiting over the past week... we hit up a couple of the local spray parks in the area... and tried out one of Caleb's birthday gifts.

And we had some family time today walking along the river enjoying the peace and quiet-- while trying to keep the kids from falling into the river and biking off the side of cliffs.

This week's going to be busy too... busy preparing for next weekend when we throw the kids into the truck and head out of town on the ultimate road trip.  A 16 hour drive?  Can't wait!

Big Girl Rooms

Tis the season of birthdays around here.  On Saturday Caleb turns 5 (yikes!!) and in August Emerson turns 2.  Turning 2 means it's time to move on outta your crib.  So far she hasn't really attempted to climb out yet... but this afternoon I heard her yelling from the dining room "HELP!  MOM!  HELP!"  And I discovered this...

And because I'm such a great mom I laughed, grabbed my camera to snap a picture, and THEN helped her down off the table.

Somebody around here sure likes to dance on table tops... but can't seem to figure out how to get off the table.  The days of climbing are upon us... which means it's time for a big girl bed sometime soon.

So!  You know me... I'll probably want to switch up her room a little bit too.  Lately I've been drawn to kids rooms that have some hits of bold pattern... on the floor, on the bed... so fun.  Here are some of my recent favorites...

anthropologie

design sponge

amber interior design

house to home

apartment therapy

bliss

apartment therapy

Elle Decor

Finishing up the kitchen is definitely going to be priority around here... but once that's off my radar, Eme's room is next.  In the meantime, I think a trip to Anthro is definitely in order :)  Anyone wanna come with?

Making Progress

After 3 days of washing dishes in my bathroom sink... I've got quartz countertops, a sink, and a functional faucet!  Now we've just gotta get that dishwasher up and running...

The cabinet doors have all been made-- Doug has to get all the finished parts ready to go and it can all be sent out for spraying... slow and steady wins the race, right?

On the Menu Tonight...

Tonight we were eating Italian style.  I walked into the grocery store this morning and instantly knew that I wanted a taste of our Italy trip from a few months ago-- so I decided were were going to grill ourselves some pizza on the BBQ and throw together some caprese salads...

I've never cooked pizzas on the grill before but it was AMAZING.  I used this dough recipe-- and it worked great.  Thin crispy crusts, spicy salami, cherry tomatoes, olives, and tons of cheese-- it tasted just like the pizza we ate along the canals in Venice and the streets of Rome.  Delicious.

We also had yummy caprese-ish salads and warm focaccia bread with lots of balsamic vinegar and olive oil... the perfect dinner on our warm deck.

Even the kids were fans of our grilled pizzas...

We will definitely be repeating this menu again :)

Busy Busy Busy

Life's been busy these days... but busy with good stuff.  That's what happens when the sun finally decides to come out-- you find yourself hosting pool parties, shopping for popsicles, coordinating BBQ's, cleaning the deck, washing mountains of towels and bathing suits, heading to the lake, applying endless amounts of sunscreen, packing picnic lunches, and bathing exceptionally dirty children before bedtime... so much good stuff.

And... we've also be slowly making progress in the kitchen.  It may not look like much to you... but the addition of TEN drawers and a lazy susan is pretty exciting to me.  My un-renovated kitchen had a measly 3 drawers-- 1 small drawer and 2 teeny tiny ones-- I now have 10 and am having trouble figuring out what's going to go in them!  And might I add-- my husband decided to give me the expensive soft close drawer glides-- and glide like a dream they do...

Just found out today that the countertops/sink are being installed on Saturday!  I can hardly wait to have new countertops in my kitchen-- I've been dreaming of them for so long now...

Oh, and I bought another 10 pounds of fresh strawberries and have been freezing a ton and making batch after batch of strawberry fruit leather.  I inherited my mom's food dehydrator and have introduced my kids to a delicious treat from my childhood-- home made fruit leather.  They LOVE it.  The first batch was ready just in time for breakfast and we may have consumed a whole lot of it first thing this morning-- just can't stop eating it...

The next batch is in the dehydrator right now and smells as good as it tastes!

Today

I may not have a sink or countertops in the kitchen today...

But I do have tons of fresh strawberries and raspberries-- picked (not by me) from the fields near my house this morning!

Yum-- they are AMAZING.  Berry season has started around here and I, for one, am a huge fan.

Now I've just gotta find a way to wash and freeze some of these berries...

Oh, and the kitchen was measured for countertops today-- hence the fact that my sink and makeshift counters disappeared. :)

Wanna take a little tour?

A friend of mine has the cutest little boy... who has the cutest room!  When they moved into a new house a little while ago I got to help out with a few of the details in this room-- so fun.  My friend happens to be an awesome photographer and snapped a few pictures of her son's room for me to share!

(my friend is not only great when it comes to photography-- but she's pretty crafty too-- check out that mobile she made-- isn't it so awesome?)

I offered my sewing assistance and used my tutorial on how to make your own fitted crib sheet to make up two different sheets in some fantastic fabric my friend purchased.  Loving the preppy prints!

The bedroom has a really fun layout-- there's a little nook off to one side that is just the right size for the crib.  My friend found these dark navy drapes at Ikea and put them up on the window (great for blocking out light during sleeping hours) and I suggested picking up a second pair to separate the space from the rest of the room.  It turns the area into a cozy tent-like sleeping space-- I love it!  I also thought the moravian star light I used in my bedroom would be perfect above the crib-- and it is!

A view of the other side of the room... loving the fun details...

I'm always a fan of keeping crib bedding simple-- instead of using crib skirts, bumper pads, and all the other "stuff"-- I like the way a fun and interesting crib sheet looks on its own.

Hope you enjoyed this little room tour!