Boy or Girl...

My sister's having a baby!!  What are we at now-- 5 days overdue?  I can hardly wait-- every time the phone rings I jump (not literally) and run (not literally-- knee surgery, remember?) to the phone hoping that it's THE CALL.  Until then-- I'm waiting... and online shopping for baby stuff :)

An Auntie's gotta make a baby blanket for the little one-- right?  So-- I thought I'd share some of my favorite flannel picks from Fabric.com.

Here are my favorite boy flannel options...

1.  Baobab Flannel Geometric Shapes White/Coco  2.  Timeless Treasures Tailor Flannel Herringbone Cream  3.  Timeless Treasures Tailor Flannel Tiny Houndstooth Black/White  4.  Zoo Menagerie Flannel Blossom Blue  5.  Amy Butler Loves Flannel Sunspots Mint  6.  Claire Bella Flannel Links Blue

And girl...

1.  Della Flannel Flora Blossom  2.  Claire Bella Flannel Links Pink  3.  Amy Butler Loves Flannel Tumble Roses Pink  4.  Bliss Flannel Birds Tangerine  5.  Amy Butler Loves Flannel Cypress Paisley Mint  6.  Zoo Menagerie Flannel Blossom Pink

Boy or girl... I love surprises :)  Can't wait to meet my new niece or nephew!!

Thankful

I really love Thanksgiving-- I love how the holiday kind of sneaks up on you-- you're enjoying summer, heading back to school and then before you know what's happening a pumpkin explosion takes place.  Is it just me or is everyone a little too obsessed with pumpkin these days?  I do love me a PSL, but I mean really... pumpkin pizza?  Sometimes you just shouldn't mess with a good thing.

A couple of days ago I excitedly said to Caleb, "Guess what!  It's Thanksgiving this weekend!!"  His response?  "Awwwww!!!! I HATE turkey!!!"  I think we're going to have to work on that Thankful Tree a little more before the weekend's over :)

But I really have so much to be thankful for-- my always entertaining and awesome kids, my wonderful loving husband who cooks, cleans, and takes care of everything while I'm recovering on the couch, my amazing family, all of my fantastic friends,  a wonderful home for my family, food to eat (turkey included), health and safety.  My life is so full.  But more than anything-- I am thankful for my loving Heavenly Father who is the giver of these good gifts.  Year after year-- no matter what the circumstance-- He never changes.  He is all that I need.

So on this rainy Thanksgiving Monday-- we're cozying up in our sweaters, drinking some coffee (I am-- not the kids) and enjoying life together.

These kids.  Melt my heart.

Do you ever look at your child-- post meal-- and suddenly feel so overwhelmed at the task of cleaning them up?  Food on the floor, on the wall, on her face, on her clothes, in her hair, up her nose.  Seriously.  I love it.

And this picture was not taken this morning (there's no sun today!) but it's too cute not to post.  For a someone who refuses to learn how to walk-- Eme is remarkably skilled at wreaking havoc on my house.  She is determined to get into EVERYTHING... and she's pretty proud of her accomplishments. Cutest troublemaker ever.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Thankful Tree

 On the non-preschool mornings Caleb sits there looking at me with a bored expression on his face and says "What are we going to do today Mommy?"  The things I come up with usually don't compare to the excitement of preschool.  Well, yesterday morning the question came-- I quickly scrambled to come up with an activity-- and suddenly I thought... "Thankful Tree!!"  So Caleb and I made our way to the backyard-- clad in pajamas and rubber boots-- and found the perfect tree branch and a bunch of rocks.

We "planted" our tree in a pot and made some leaves!  We cut our leaves out of orange, yellow, red, and brown construction paper and then used a hole punch along with a few pieces of twine to turn them into hanging leaves.  Caleb was particularly thrilled with the hole punch.  He specifically asked to keep the hole punch in his craft drawer for a few days :)

Then we wrote the things we're thankful for on the leaves and hung them on the tree.  We made lots of extra leaves so that we can keep adding to the tree over the next few days.

Can you read what's on that red leaf?  Caleb's thankful for Emerson.  I decided that it was definitely picture worthy-- I need to remember this leaf during those moments when the kids can't seem to co-exist peacefully in the same room.  We are thankful for each other...

An Owl and a Deer

So as of the weekend I am officially crutch free!!  To celebrate my new found freedom last night I left the house on my own and went shopping.  I'm still moving pretty slowly and am not the most graceful walker out there-- but I can definitely do a lap or two around Home Sense :)

Last night I came home with two little things for the kids rooms.  I have wanted to find a cute white ceramic owl for Emerson's room but haven't been able to find a cheap one.  I really loved these owl bookends from Indigo...  but they were $29.99 plus shipping.  Way too much $.  And now they're sold out.

But last night I found this cute little owl for $4.99.  The color isn't exactly what I want-- kind of bronze-- but I might spray paint it white.  What do you think?

White would look good in her room... I think.

How can I resist throwing in a picture of Eme in her new jeans.  They've made me smile all day :)

And now for Caleb's room.  I've been wanting to get a cardboard deer trophy for his room for the longest time.  How fun would one of these be in his room?  I found a small one at Cardboard Safari for $12-- but after paying for shipping the total was almost $30!!  Way too much for a couple of pieces of cardboard.

But, I found this metal one at Home Sense for $14.  I was a little unsure of what Doug would think of this find-- but he actually liked it!  Caleb calls it his Moose.  Now I've just got to find a spot to hang it...

So that's what I bought on my first post surgery Home Sense shopping trip.  An owl and a deer.  Just call me crazy.

The end of a weekend

A fire at the farm + dinner with family + the cutest kids ever = a pretty great end to the weekend

Honestly... there's nothing better than snuggling with a smore eating cutie pie named Silas :)

Eme was playing shy tonight-- but Grandpa eventually won her over.

This kid-- cracks me up.  We pull up on the yard to find this kid making his way down the stairs into the backyard shouting-- "Auntie Da-wesa (that's me)!!  Look at my sunglasses!!"  He proceeded to jump his little heart out on the trampoline-- sunglasses firmly in place.

This kid likes to tell silly stories.

And then he laughs and laughs and laughs at his own jokes.  He likes being the centre of attention.

Guess what I had for supper!!!

Poor Eme-- at this moment she was pretty sure we'd forgotten all about feeding her dinner.

This kid is SO grown up :)

And I honestly can't get over how pretty this little lady is-- Keziah, you are too adorable!!

Today

Today is just one of those days.  We're stuck at home.  And the kids have been extra mischievous.  I mean look at this face.  Trouble.

And this little lady may look innocent-- but she's been taking after her brother this morning.  Trouble.

Here I caught her dismantling all the piles of clean folded laundry in her room.  G-u-i-l-t-y.

Anyhow-- that's what's new in our house today.  That and some new throw pillows I made for the living room.  I mentioned a while back that I was tired of the temporary ones I had-- so I made these new (also temporary) covers until I can figure out what I really want.  I used last year's christmas tree skirt fabric to make two covers.  They feel kind of fall-ish.

And they work with my chair in the corner.

And I guess there's one more new thing.  I added another new piece to Eme's art wall in her room.  Caleb painted this hot little pink number the other day during our painting marathon.  I was pretty shocked at how great it turned out.  (FYI-- I picked up a bunch of these super cheap canvases at the dollar store in several different sizes-- they were really fun for him to paint on) 

I don't think Eme's noticed.  I don't think she really cares.  But I like it.  Great job Caleb!

And now they are finally napping.  All is quiet... hopefully for another hour or two.  A few moments of peace and quiet is all I need-- then I'll be ready for those super fun post-nap pre-dinner hours :)

So now I'm going to do something wild and crazy and eat a bowl of granola or something else that's equally interesting.  And then I get to end the day with an evening out-- at my physiotherapist's office :)

Hanging out with Caleb

Today's a home day.  Caleb was sick over the weekend (he's now feeling better) but Emerson woke up feeling a bit under the weather.  So, we're sticking close to home.  But-- the morning was still pretty fun.  It started off on a high note when my fabulous sister in law brought me the most amazing Pumpkin Spice Latte cupcakes.

She brought me EIGHTEEN mini cupcakes-- I'm not going to tell you how many I've already consumed... but let's just say there aren't too many left :)

Caleb and I spent the morning painting.  He takes his art very seriously-- and painted for over two hours.  We had the best time ever.

After spending the morning with him I thought that I really need to document all of the crazy and funny things that he says and does.  I don't want to forget all these fantastic moments I have with my four year old boy.  So I figured I might as well share a few of Caleb's shining moments from the past few weeks with all of you...

• He's been working on his vocabulary.  The other day we were doing a bit of grocery shopping.  He asks me: "Mom-- what's that word-- you know... when you really need to drink something?"  I say, "Thirsty?"  Caleb: "No... it MEANS you're thirsty... hmmm... DEHYDRATED!!  Mommy, I'm feeling dehydrated right now."  Um, wow.  I would have just used the word thirsty myself.
• The other day, as I try to feed him the last spoonful of yogurt left in his container he shouts "IT DOESN'T TASTE GOOD WHEN ADULTS FEED IT TO YOU!!!!"
• He's become a crazy counter.  I knew he was good to count to 50... but 100?  Sure I had to help him on 70 and 80... but 100?!!  Of course he then asks: "Mommy, what comes after 100?"  "101".  "101, 102, 103..."  and away he goes all the way to 200.
• While he may be a smarty pants, he has become quite conscious of germs-- kind of.  He's had a bit of a runny nose this week so he will often bring me a kleenex and ask me to help him blow his nose.  Of course I offer my assistance.  When I try to hand Caleb the used kleenex so that he can throw it in the garbage he gives me this look that says... "you've GOT to be kidding me."  Then he makes a big deal about only touching the tiniest corner of the kleenex-- and with complete disgust-- takes it to the garbage holding out in front of him as far away as possible.  Then about 10 minutes later I catch him picking his nose like a typical four year old.  Go figure.
• How about this... "Mommy, do you know what camoflauge is?  (I of course say no-- I'm intrigued-- to say the least!)  It's when dinosaurs blend in with the background so they can hide from creatures that want to eat them."  Nice definition-- Dinosaur Train loving encyclopedia kid.
• At bedtime Caleb says..."I don't need to go to bed.  I could stay up for days, and days, and days, and days, and days.  And I wouldn't get grouchy."
• Lately, when Caleb's really upset with me (like when I've taken something away from him for disciplinary reasons) he angrily glares at me and says-- "Mom, you are NOT FANCY!!!!"  I have no idea where Caleb got that from, but apparently it's the best he can come up with when he wants to say something extremely hurtful to me.  I try not to laugh-- but I'm not always successful.
• And today-- as he's in his room for his afternoon nap I can hear him shouting... "I'M ALIVE!!!"  over and over.  Do you think he's trying to tell me something?

And in conclusion-- you know a four year old lives in the house when you discover dried spaghetti stuck to your stylish cream herringbone patterned bathroom hand towels.  Oh spaghetti night-- it's like the gift that keeps on giving.

I love four year olds :)

How hard could it be?

So on a quite regular basis, I look over at Doug, smile, and say as sweetly as possible... "Hey honey, I have an idea."  And he knows... I've dreamed up another project.  Here's my latest idea.  This one's for the bathroom...

Now what's the common element in all of these pictures?  A super awesome one of a kind vanity.  Honestly-- it can't be THAT hard to build a base, throw down a slab of countertop or paint/stain and seal the top, and finish it off with a great sink like this...

This sink is only $70 from Ikea.  Yup, it would pretty much be the coolest and cheapest bathroom vanity ever.  Now, I know that I would be losing quite a bit of under the sink storage-- but maybe I can scheme up another way to store and conceal all of our bathroom junk.  Our upstairs bathroom is a long narrow room-- so I think that having a vanity with open space underneath would really open up the room and make it feel more spacious.  Well, that's my bright idea for a rainy Monday morning!

All images from pinterest

Sunny Yellow

It is one rainy rainy day.  Welcome back fall!  While it's been raining like crazy outside-- the kids and I have been cozy at home.  I put socks on for the first time in oh, like 6 months.  Don't ask me how I got that sock on my left foot-- still not sure how I managed to get it there.  I am now convinced that I quite possibly could have been a circus performer in another life.  Anyhow... it's been a day of coffee, play dough, snacks, naps (insert happy face :), snuggling on the couch, oh... and pinterest.  As I've been pinning away, I've discovered that I am quite attracted to anything with yellow-- specifically sunshine-y yellow.  Wonder why, eh?  Here's a few of my favorites...

Okay-- these barstools are ah-mazing.  You know those cheap honey oak barstools that you can buy just about anywhere?  Paint them a sunny yellow and hello fabulous!!

Sunny yellow towels and bath accessories-- if only bathtime was this beautiful at our house.

Oh, hello most awesome yellow settee.  I would allow you to live at my house if you really wanted to.

Oh Sarah Richardson... this is the most beautiful sunny bathroom ever.

Nothing says fun in the sun like a little yellow pom pom trim.  Seriously now... does it really get any funner than this?

And yet another beautiful awesome sunny bathroom.

All these images can be found via my pinterest.  If you haven't already started to pin-- you really should start.  It's quite a lot of fun.  And then you can go ahead and follow me too :)