Let's get organized

Lately I've been an organizing queen. At the beginning of the year (conveniently corresponding with New Year's resolutions) I began to feel the house was imploding on me...thus began my mission. I've been straightening out every drawer, shelf, and closet I can get my hands on in the free time I have, and it feels GOOD!

In the middle of this flurry, I've been toying with the idea of what to do with several boxes of old photos I have. They're organized, but later on, the names and places will be unknown to Jake if he ever decides to look through them. I came across this photo album/scrapbook concept by Becky Higgins that looks pretty tempting. The photo page inserts come with sections to include cute cards that you can write details about the photos. Seems easy, and like a great, complete package that would actually be fun to put together.

Although the binders she has are really cute, they're not my taste for long term. I'd prefer a more classic look, either covered in cloth, or leather. These binders from the new Martha Stewart line for Avery are really nice, and perhaps would be the same size? Anyway, must get the house together before I tackle this one!

How charming!

I've been toying around with some party ideas for Jake's upcoming birthday. I'd like to keep the party small, manageable, and preferably at home. Usually when I search for party ideas, I find decorating ideas. That I can come up with, but mild panic sets in when I try to think what to actually DO with all the little ones and keep them happy and somewhat chaos free for a couple of hours. If I could have the party outside, it would be great, but his birthday is in early March, so the weather is iffy at best.

During my searches, I came across this great little company called One Charming Party. Conveniently, they have a themed "Super Hero Party" which is right up our alley. They provide you with party ideas, activities, 3-D invites, super hero certificates, and a guide to all the party supplies for $25. I'll need to do a little more thinking about our party, but I'm definitely intrigued by this kit!

I also came across this pretty awesome Super Hero party ideas via Hostess with the Mostess. Don't you love the idea of the kids popping out of a phone booth in their costumes?

If you want to see more ideas I've found, visit this pintrest board I created...

Chores are Fun?

Last night, after we read a book about Fozzie Bear learning to do chores, Jake decided we should make a chore chart for him today. This morning, he remembered his plan, and dragged me to the computer so we could whip this up. He came up with all the chores himself. Now he's running around the house, earning stickers. Could it be this easy? We'll see how long this lasts!

Time to cut bait

(Print by Dekanimal via Etsy)

I've been slowly, but surely trying to beautify our guest bedroom. I fell in love with Caitlin Wilson's new line of textiles, and used the "Mustard Fleur Chinoise" fabric to make roman shades which are almost complete.

I wanted to use this color palette as a base to paint the room. The room has been daunting to tackle because it has yellow trim on the doors, windows, closets...ugh. And yellow beadboard. I'm really not a fan of colored trim. It's just a total pain in the neck.

I settled on a paint colors; Palladium Blue by Benjamin Moore for the top half, and White Dove by Benjamin Moore for the beadboard and trim. I had some unexpected free time over New Year's weekend and started to slowly paint the beadboard, and work my way around the room. I've been working on it here and there throughout the week. After taping up one of the windows to paint, I realized that with my limited time, completing this job was not going to happen anytime soon. So, I gave in and called our handyman. He'll come later this week, and it will be a relief to then be able to just install the roman shades I've made, and work on the fun part of decorating the room.

Now, who's going to be our first guest?

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! I haven't come up with any life altering resolutions this year, but I would like to try to write in Jake's diary more frequently. I messed up Jake's baby book when I started it way back when, and gave up pretty quickly. Instead, I started a diary for him, thinking I could always go back and enter the facts at a later date. In the beginning, I would record when he ate, slept, when, how much, how tall, how heavy, etc. But as he grew, so did our adventures, and the entries became more detailed. Now I jot down the fun things we've done, and the cute things he says, etc. I just ordered Jake's diary for the new year. I don't get to it every day...and I wish I could and would, but I've got a lot of his life recorded, and I'm grateful that I have. I think someday he's going to love looking back on his early years (or at least his wife will!). I also record mom advice for future years and keep little mementos throughout the year. What prevents me from writing sometimes is actually a LACK of space. When I get going, I find I have a lot to say. This year, after much searching, I ordered this Cavallini daily planner from Jenni Bick Bookbinding. I splurged, and got his name embossed on the front, and I let him chose the color, so of course, it will be pink this year!

So, how about you? Any great resolutions this year? If you need some inspiration, check out Marc and Angel Hack Life. Or, if you'd like an inspiring love story, read about Mara and Danny's adventures...you'll probably read the whole thing. And, if you'd like to declutter your life, take on the Clutterfat Challenge and see what happens!

Best wishes for a Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas to all!

Best wishes for a happy, healthy, and FUN holiday filled with lots of love!

Nighttime Fairies

I've been working on a "shadow" book for the last couple weeks. Are you familiar with "shadow books"? You shine a flashlight through the acetate window in the book, and the image appears on the wall or ceiling as you read the story. My sister, created the adorable illustrations, and I can't help but seeing the resemblance between this fairy, and my cousin's daughter Kendall...can you? I wonder if it was a coincidence. I keep forgetting to ask her, but maybe she'll let us know when she reads my blog!

I had fun writing the text for the book...about the magic fairies scatter in the night while you're sleeping. It was great to see my words come to life as my sister illustrated it. I'll post an image of the cover soon. It just went into production yesterday, so should be out early next summer!

Are you tired too?

Such a fun weekend with family visitors, and so much to be thankful for. And I'm tired!
I hope you had fun too!

Print found here.

Black Out

During a recent freak snowstorm in our area that left us w/o power for FIVE LONG NIGHTS (poor pilgrims!), my husband was convinced we had an animal in our house. I told him it was a miniature pony. Naturally, he didn't believe me. But, when the power came back on, look what I found in our bedroom:

And guess who was hanging out in the kitchen?

InstaCharleston

Last weekend, to celebrate my husband's (big) birthday, we jetted off to Charleston for the weekend. We had grand plans while planning this trip, which involved Turkey or Prague. As if! On the way to the airport (and our flight which had already been cancelled) and sadly leaving Jake behind, all we could think was, "Thank goodness we're not going to Turkey!" As much as I would love to go, it would just be waayyy too stressful at this point in our lives, and I'm glad we kept it simple.

Charleston is great. I decided to be super-hip and use my husband's iPhone to take Instagram photos. Probably admitting how difficult it was for me to get them off his phone makes me a little less hip, but anyway, here are a few shots of our fun-filled weekend.

One cool filter Instagram has is to make the photo look like it was taken in 1977. I had Rich take a photo of me, and added this filter to see if I looked like my mom in 1977. I don't.

And, I love making this weird face in coffee shops. So wistful, like I'm thinking deep thoughts, right? I'm really drinking tea, and trying not to laugh. I don't think anyone else thinks it's as funny as I do. You can see what two different filters do...

We had lunch at Jestine's Kitchen, took a Civil War history tour, and a historic home tour, went for a sail, ate a lot, ate pralines, bought a Bozo the Clown blow-up punching bag thing for Jake, and went to a fancy brunch with my pretty cousin and her two beautiful daughters, who are absolutely great. I'd like my cousin and one of my best friends, Melinda to write a book together about how to raise lovely, smart, interesting children. The world needs this book. Their children are a breath of fresh air.

Of course, I was smitten with the houses in Charleston, and we immediately started envisioning what our lives would be like if we lived there. How cool would it be to actually live in your own house in a city, with a garden, and walk to yummy restaurants, and cool shops? Pretty nice, right? Here are some charmers I took photos of.

Actually, this one's mine...(don't I look good in front of it?)

I owe a HUGE thanks to my sister, and her daughter Avery for playing with Jake while we were away all weekend. He had a great time, and keeps telling me stories about all the things they did. So, now we're back. It's been a busy week, and up until this point at home, I can't say I've managed to do anything more than recharge my phone, and play with Jake. I have my priorities...the suitcase can wait!

I've never had so much fun in a box!

Today was a Jake and Mommy Day (my favorite), and we started Christmas shopping in attempt to avoid pre-Christmas angst which usually sets in the Monday after Thanksgiving. I can't stand the shopping pressure, and the endless to-do list on top of everything else I already have to do. I'm no grinch. I love Christmas, and really like to buy/make gifts for friends and family, BUT, you know how it gets... I try to avoid the last minute stress every year, and perhaps this year I will succeed. I'm convinced it's all about organization and condensing errands. Except, when I enter a store, I become overwhelmed, and having Jake along today, I realized that I'd be buying at least two of any gift I got. Which, is how we ended up with the most awesome toy ever...

This cool, recyclable, color-yourself toy house is beyond great. We got it at JC Penney, and it's on sale for $15.  It's fun to color, (Jake told me he was "decorating"...wonder where he got THAT from?) VERY large...big enough for both of us to cuddle up in and read books, and fight bad guys, which we did all afternoon. So, I recommend getting two. One for you, and one for whoever else you have to get a toy for under the age of 6. For $15, the fun factor can't be beat!

And, speaking of beating, it did withstand several whacks with the sword from this pirate costume which we also had to get today. It's adorable, and so is Jake, but as soon as we got home, he put his Spiderman costume back on, and morphed into a sword-carrying super hero. Ironically, he got the pirate costume for completing his "No Hitting" chart (which has only taken us about 2 months to complete the 10 days necessary to get a prize, and I think we cheated).

P.S. That's not me in the photo, and these aren't my children!