looking like a library around here...

I was a reader as a kid.  I loved to read.  Still am-- when I have time to sit down for an extended period of time.  As you can imagine, that almost never happens.  Over the past year I've tried to make a conscious effort to show my kids how awesome reading can be.  It all started when I saw our property tax statement from the previous year-- I noticed that we pay over $50 a year for library services.  $50!!  My menno instinct kicked in.  I pulled out my library card and started dragging my kids to the library weekly.

Over the past few months my kids have learned to love the library too.  Sure, a huge part of the library's appeal is the wheelchair button you can push to automatically open the doors, dropping the books in the slots at the front entrance, and the water fountain... but they are learning to love checking out books too.

Caleb has been signing out books with his own card now for the past few months.  We've been borrowing the "learning to read" books-- in September we started with the pre-level one books and he's now graduated to the level one and two books.  Initially the books were pretty challenging for him... you don't learn to read overnight... something I had to keep reminding him.  But once they started focusing on learning the sounds of letters in kindergarten everything started to click.  Suddenly Caleb was reading signs, and menus, and newspapers, and magazines-- sitting down and reading one of his books from start to finish was a breeze.

 A few days ago I took the kids to the library to sign out a stack of books.  Emerson picked her own book-- a book about trucks.  Not sure what she found so appealing about it, but she was pretty pumped about it.  This time around I decided to try something different for Caleb-- reading chapter books.  I figured it's about time he graduated from "picture" books.  We've started reading "The Jesus Storybook Bible" to him (fantastic kid's bible-- I'd highly recommend it) and was noticing that he was fully focused on what we were reading, not the pictures.

 So I picked up two of my favourites from my childhood... "Charlotte's Web" and "The Boxcar Children"-- the first book of the series.  He is LOVING it.  We started with the Boxcar Children and ended up reading almost 2/3 of the book on the first day.  Caleb snuggles up with me on the couch and listens to me read the story.   I try to get him to read a sentence or short paragraph here and there to give him confidence in the fact that he'll be able to read chapter books one day too.

Since we've been focusing on reading more around here, I've started picking up secondhand books at thrift stores for the kids.  I'd like to have more books accessible to them around the house.  Growing up, my Dad was an elementary school teacher (and still is) and had a huge collection of books that I could read.  I would like that for my kids.  There is something about having shelves full of books and stacks of them around the house that I find so appealing.

So... that got me thinking... maybe I could find a way to store some books in the older kids room.  Space is very limited, but this inspired me...

designed by Elizabeth Sullivan via Made By Girl

And this...

designed by Amber Lewis via House & Home

So I picked up a few shelves from Ikea and had Doug put them up in the kids room.  Initially I thought we could make them ourselves-- and we could.  But sometimes the money saved is not as important as the time saved... right?

The kids have obviously loved arranging and rearranging the shelves in their room.

We put up four of the shorter ones... they can actually store a whole lot of books.  And I've been putting some of the kids artwork up so that they have another spot to display their artistic endeavours.

Doug made sure they are fastened very very securely to the wall.  Like any mom, I have visions of the kids climbing up the shelves like a ladder.  Pretty sure it's going to happen one of these days.  But at least the shelves won't be going anywhere...

So... if you are in need of some book storage in a small space, pick up some of the Ribba picture ledges from Ikea-- we're loving them.

Crib Sheet Confession

I've made a few crib sheets in my day.  

Example #1

When the crib belonged to Emerson.

Example # 2 & 3...

(pictures not by me... obviously.)

** sidenote-- eating chocolate and typing at the same time is seriously difficult and messy.

Anyhow.  Back in the day I even did a little tutorial.  Sewing your own crib sheet can be a cheap (and more stylish) alternative to buying a pre-made crib sheet.  So when Sawyer arrived and he was a boy-- Eme's girly floral sheet just wasn't going to cut it.  I decided to do something boyish and started hunting for fabrics.  I wanted something more small scale so that it would be a contrast to what I did for Emerson.  I fell in love with this fabric from Spoonflower.

Indian Clover via Spoonflower

But alas, at $18 a yard it was going to be a little more $$ than I wanted to spend-- on JUST the fabric.  So, I decided to see if there were any pre-made options out there that I liked, because really-- with 3 kids, who has time to sew??  Serena and Lily had some great options and even sent me some free swatches.  Love that.  They were all great-- but not exactly what I had in mind originally.

But then Dwell Studio had a 30% off baby event.   And I found the perfect crib sheet for my little man.

With that said, Sawyer says:

"Welcome to my crib, yo."

It's pretty darn close to my original vision...

And considering that Sawyer slept for a full 10 hour stretch in his crib last night, I'd say he likes it alot.

Cutie.

This post was NOT brought to you by this pajama clad munchkin who's new favourite game is to climb into Sawyer's crib and "help" him wipe his nose.

So busted.

You can imagine how much the little guy appreciates her efforts.

projects are my love language

The other day Doug made my top secret hidden spice drawers look pretty.  Instead of looking at the melamine boxes when I open the cupboard beside the stove I see these pretty drawer fronts decked out with the left over drawer pulls from the rest of the kitchen.

They match the rustic wood open shelves Doug put up in the kitchen.  

They make me happy when I cook dinner.  

Little details like this make me happy.

Wishing for...

Today I'm wishing for:

The end of this round of flu at our house (going on day 11)

Adult conversation... Doug was out of town for several days... talking to a 2 and 5 year old just isn't the same...

Uninterrupted sleep would be nice.  So would a shower.

Sunshine and spring-like weather!

In the meantime... Caleb (home from school sick) and I decided to craft up a pretend spring.

Mad cutting skills... I know.

Enough Said

How much coffee is too much??

Just some pictures...

Waking up early (of course).

Charming mama during diaper changes.

Picnic in the park two days in a row.

Boogers going rogue.

Sunbathing.

This week had its exhausting moments.  But in the end, these kids sure know how to make my day when...

... Emerson decides to call me "Hon" instead of Mom for most of a day.

... Caleb offers me $10 from his piggy bank so I can go to Red Robins for dinner and have a "break from the kids."  

... Sawyer not only smiles, but gives me a little chuckle when I tickle him under his arms.

Yay weekend.  Yay sun.  Yay flip flops.

Gonna need to book myself in for a pedicure pronto.

Just a bunch of randomness

Spring sprung today.

I felt energized so I went grocery shopping.  First time I was outnumbered in the grocery store 3-1... I shudder just thinking about how terribly that could have gone wrong.  But we survived.  

Then I went to the park.  Picture me attempting to teach Caleb how to pump on the swing, while trying to keep Eme going on another swing, while repeatedly running over to the stroller to pop Sawyer's soother in to stop the squawking.

We got home and the doorbell started ringing.  All the kids in the neighbourhood love playing hockey with Doug and Caleb.  At about 1:00 they start ringing the doorbell every 10-15 minutes asking if Doug's home so they can play street hockey.  This goes on ALL afternoon.  No joke, my doorbell rang about 300 times today.  And you can imagine how a 7 year old would ring it-- ding! ding! ding! ding! ding!-- as many times as fast as possible.

Evenings of street hockey are now becoming a regular occurrence around here.  Emerson likes to think she's one of the boys.

Smiles have also been springing up around here too... Caleb and I spent a solid chunk of the afternoon doing anything and everything necessary to keep this little guy grinning...  can you blame us?

Made a trip to Home Sense.  They are always my go-to for awesome baskets (I seem to collect them) and lately they have not been disappointing.

I don't really keep toys in the kid's shared room as it tends to make things a little too crazy in there... but  they needed a place for their bed time stuffies and a few special items.  This basket seemed like the perfect fit...

And over the weekend we hung up a picture above each kid's bed.  They look cute-- but are also strategic.  We put them right over the switches for their lights... now they can't easily turn them on and off and on and off when it's bedtime without parental intervention.

I found a funky little print at Ikea for Caleb's side.  I didn't have anything for Eme so Doug painted her a big pink heart.  Makes me smile.

In other important news... my washing machine broke.  Not good.

Doug was sure he could fix it.  Just needed to order a part.  After walking into the garage to discover my washing machine (at least that's what I think it was) in many many pieces... unrecognizable-- I was worried.

But.  The part came.  Doug put it back together.  It worked.  Doug saved a bunch of $$ fixing it himself.  My hero.

While it was nice to have a legitimate excuse to ignore my laundry pile for 9 DAYS... I am now BURIED under a pile of smelly laundry that needs to be done.  Not sure if I'll be able to dig myself outta this... seems like the kids can make things dirty a whole lot faster that I can clean.

Wish me luck.

Sleep Much?

No... not so much.

These two beds are not holding my two kids nearly as much as I would like.

6 am rolls around (after I've finally put Sawyer back to bed already for the 3rd time)... and they are up, running, screaming, jumping, laughing, giggling, fighting.  Thank goodness for time changes-- because what is now 6am, formally was 5am... every. single. day.

You can imagine how friendly they are to be around by dinner time.

You can imagine how friendly I am to be around by dinner time.

Sidenote-- I think their messy beds are kinda cute.  Don't tell them I said that.  Don't tell the hubby I said that.

Today, after a morning of sling wearing (lunch would not have happened without it)-- two of the three kids were asleep.

I thought about taking a nap... and just as I was about to close my eyes... I rolled over to discover these two (very awake) kids.  I am quite convinced that my kids have a 6th sense-- the "mom just fell asleep let's go wake her up" sense.

I'm sure all you moms can relate.

Well... here's to the weekend.. and the possibility of catching up on a little sleep.

Going to go brew myself some coffee now.

Sometimes I call him Bearcat

Sawyer's a pretty even tempered little guy.  But when he gets too tired or too hungry he has quite a vicious, piercing growl.  Sometimes I call him bearcat.  My sister Trish is the original "bearcat" in our family-- you'll have to ask her why...

When I saw this Red Bear print from Banquet Atelier Workshop I knew it would be perfect in Sawyer's room.  It fits perfectly into an Ikea Ribba frame... and I love it.

I haven't really had much time or energy to do any more things in Sawyer's room, but I thought I'd share a little progress report!

And, thanks for all your kind words about my kitchen!  I'm definitely loving it too.  So, it sounds like everyone wants to know how the wood shelves are being supported.

I'm actually the wrong person to ask-- Doug's the mastermind behind these shelves.  The quick answer is that they are secured to the back and left wall (into studs) with screws that are each rated to hold a crazy amount of weight.  They are also secured to the cabinet on the right side too.  Doug assured me that each shelf could hold the weight of a full grown man-- I'd sure like to see that!  A kreg pocket jig is used to hide the screws-- it's almost impossible to see where they're hiding.  Installing these shelves are not really for the average DIYer... it takes some experience and the right tools.  If you want your own set of shelves-- give me a shout-- I know a great cabinetry guy :)

Rustic Wood Shelves in the Kitchen

We made some major progress in the kitchen over the past couple of weeks.  

First of all, the open shelves Doug build for the space beside the window were installed.  Originally I had planned to do white painted shelves to match the ones on the opposite side of the kitchen, but I kept seeing pictures of  rustic looking natural wood ones and just had to give it a try!  Turns out it was a pretty good option for the budget too since they were free-- instead of buying more materials to construct paintable shelves and then pay to have them sprayed Doug was able to use wood already sitting in the shop to build these two shelves.  I wanted a wood tone that contrasted with the dark floors so I opted to seal them with a clear coat and skipped the stain.  I love the tone of this wood-- they're maple-- in case you're a wood nerd-- like my hubby.  Bet you wouldn't be surprised to find out that Doug in a huge fan of the natural wood shelves...

Once the shelves were installed the tiling could continue.  Like the open shelves on the other side of the room, Doug took the subway tile right up to the ceiling.  It looks so great.

The shelves are so awesome for our everyday dishes and cups... I unload the contents of the dishwasher  below and put it all up on the shelves... so quick and easy to put everything away :)

After getting those shelves in and the tile work done I figured we'd be waiting a while before the grouting could happen, but Doug randomly had some time off during one afternoon this week and he was able to get it all grouted in a few hours with the help of his brother.  I mentioned in an earlier post that I'd decided to go for a light grey grout-- and the colour/brand we ended up selecting looks exactly like I wanted.  It's not too light, not too dark, not too beige-y, defines the tiles without drawing too much attention-- pretty much perfect.

I love my tile backsplash.

Got a few more things to finished up and then this kitchen will finally, be completely and totally done.  The end is near.  I can't wait.

And on rare days when I have a little bit of sunlight streaming through my kitchen window, I get pretty excited to enjoy this beautiful (and finished!!) kitchen this summer!!  A sunny and warm kitchen is one of my favourite things...

5 Weeks

Wow... tomorrow Sawyer will be 5 weeks old!  Crazy.  How have the last 5 weeks been?  I'd be lying if I said they were totally smooth sailing--  the combination of sleepless nights, another round of colds/sickness for everyone, kids that insist on starting their days at 5:30 am, and copious amounts of rain can be a wee bit exhausting.  But on the bright side, I feel like I've recovered pretty quickly this time around and Sawyer is a pretty great baby-- he eats well (and quickly!!), usually goes to sleep after feedings at night without a problem, only really cries when he's hungry or has a dirty diaper, and doesn't spit up-- it doesn't get much better than that!

Anyhow, I thought I'd just share a few new things I've learned along the way over the past few weeks, and a few things I've "re-remembered" from past experience...

1.  Babies who don't hate their carseats is a priceless gift

2.  Youtube videos on my phone are way way funnier during 3 am feedings than any other time of the day

3.  2 year old big sisters love love love their little brothers.  They can also be major smother-mothers-- Eme is constantly shoving the soother into his mouth, she loves to "play" with Sawyer in his crib, she makes sure the baby swing is always rocked extra vigorously, Eme thinks he must be covered with blankets at all times, and the other day I caught her peeling his eyelids back with her tiny little fingers as Sawyer was sleeping-- she was shouting, "He's awake Mama!!  He's looking at me!!"

4. On the other hand, 5 year old big brothers can be surprisingly super helpful.  Caleb has been so great with his little brother-- he's always willing to hold him, is very gentle, doesn't get irritated by crying, is willing to fetch things for me around the house, and is actually quite successful at calming Sawyer down when he's crying in the car-- turns out Sawyer really likes Caleb's rendition of the itsy bitsy spider.  It makes my Mama heart so proud.

5. My mom deciding to start potty training Eme the day I went into labor with Sawyer?  A priceless gift indeed.  I will admit that it is a little crazy taking a 2 year old to the potty 50 times a day when you've got a newborn in the house, but not having to by 2 sizes of diapers is so fantastic.

6.  Keurig machines are an absolute necessity if you are ever faced with a time when you need to live and survive on almost zero sleep.  Seriously-- best invention ever.  In the morning I'll be lying in bed hearing little feet running down the hall at 5:30 am and start to feel defeated-- and then, I remember that I can have instant hot (and awesome) coffee in about 15 seconds at the press of a button-- and suddenly the prospect of crawling out of bed is not so daunting anymore...

7.  Mini vans-- yup, I've got one now.  The jury's still out as to whether or not I'm going to love driving one for the next 15 years, but I must say that being able to strategically place your children in separate quadrants where they cannot reach each other is pretty fantastic.  Just saying...

8.  In the past 5 weeks I've started watching Duck Dynasty-- and I'm not afraid to admit it.  At first I was a little concerned that the lack of sleep was beginning to affect my sense of humour, but the more I watch it the more I laugh uncontrollably...  I feel like the Robertsons are very familiar to me... I feel like I know them in real life... I'm fairly certain that I know people like them back home and possibly in my family... it just makes it all the more funnier...

9.  The fact that Eme still cannot open closed doors is a rare and precious gift.  It is the only way that Sawyer can be completely safe in his crib...

10. Receiving sweet little notes from my 5 year old completely melt my heart.
 

 11.  Friends who stock your freezer with yummy (and dairy free!!) meals are lifesavers.  They are also wonderful, and thoughtful, and awesome, and pretty much the best thing ever :)

12.  French fries at Wendy's are also awesome... and so are photo ops of Caleb and I about to enjoy said french fries.

13.  Having Doug around during the day at times is the best thing ever.  I love that he's always willing to help out with the kids.  And last night he was totally willing to hang out at home with Sawyer so that I could go to my bible study without the distraction of a newborn-- it was so great.

14.  And to follow up on number 13-- babies that take a bottle on occasion so that you can leave the house for more than 2 hours at a time is pretty great.

15.  And to follow up on number 14-- my 5 1/2 year old electric medela breast pump is still going strong-- best investment ever.

16.  And finally... there's nothing better than a little sunshine.  The promise of springtime?  So exciting...

And there you have it-- a little glimpse into my life over the past 5 weeks.

It was kind of nice to take a little blogging break-- but I think I will be back soon-- there's been some progress made on a few projects around the house that I need to share!