spring=parks & recreation

last friday while we were painting, aj & his dad took the boys to the park & hiking trails.
the boys had a blast.
aj took some pictures for me so i could see all the fun my sweeties were up to while i was up to my elbows in latex paint.

sawyer is a crazy climbing maniac these days. 
it's all i can do to keep him off the top of the picnic table or even avery's top bunk.
that child scares me.
he L-O-V-E-S to slide.
he just stands at the top and throws himself down it face first, laughing all the way. every time.

avery is such a great big brother.  he loves sawyer so much.

i love this picture.

 have i mentioned i love having 3 boys??? 


oh, and i'm working on another project. i know you're shocked.
here's a sneak peek.

ooooohhhh, the suspense is killing you! Pin It

almond joy

so i want to show you my beautiful new wall color. . .however my house is a wreck right now.
i'd be mortified if you dropped by right now.
and i am not putting much of what i had back up on the walls.
a lot of the decorative items i took down, we had since we first got married.
you know i fully believe in using what you have, but i am really enjoying this blank canvas.
so i'll show you what i can.

the color is toasted almond by olympic.
i love it.
it turned out a little lighter than i thought, but still, love.
i had a bunch o' paint samples on the walls forever and this is the one i kept coming back to.
super light and airy, not the exact same color as our trim, not too fleshy or greeny or yellowy, with a hint of gray.
i love the airy, light feel it brings.
here's our fireplace before:

that green really wasn't all that dark before, but it still seems so much brighter in here now.
the walls & ceilings have been that green, flat paint since we moved in 5 years ago. 
don't paint your walls with flat paint!!!!!!  it looks dirty in 5.2 seconds of living with it.
we've painted most of the other rooms in the house.
we haven't done these because with the tall ceilings and the fact that the kitchen, hallway & living room are all connected, it's a big job.
here's a little close up so you can see how dingy the walls looked before:

that picture doesn't do it justice.  there were lots of little boy smudges.  again, the flat paint. no bueno.
here's a photo so you can see the new color up against the white ceiling in the kitch.

i totally failed at picture taking during the process because i was focused on getting. it. done.
i do have one of pam and i right before we got started.
really hoping she doesn't mind me posting a picture of her with a do-rag on the world wide web.

if it makes her feel any better, i look like i don't know how to open my eyes all the way.
wake up sara!
here's a little shot of doug (aj's dad) rolling the ceilings for us....THANK YOU DOUG.

that's not an easy job.
i can't believe i didn't take any pictures of my man. 
he was awesome.  he generally does not enjoy painting.
however he was such a trooper.  he worked so hard for me, to bless me. any free moment he that he was not taking care of the boys, he had a paint roller in hand.
this was really just supposed to be my & pam's job, but the guys saw how much work it was and pitched in to make it go sooo much faster.

 we were so thankful!

oh and on an unrelated note, i am so digging these guys:

 [that's the old wall color]

  they look more mercury glass-ish in person.  I got them at 90% (!!) off at Hobby Lobby.
They were $3 and $3.50 respectively.  I just had to grab them up at that price.  so pretty.


now i must go outside and enjoy this 75 degree spring day!!! Pin It

monday.

i'm not sure where to start.
today was a monday.
whenever i have extra time with aj, it's always extra hard on the first day he goes back to work.
i seriously wish he had a job from home.
i can't get enough of that guy!
i just feel more at peace when he's around.
i so enjoyed spring break last week. 
it was nice to have a break from our schedule.
it made today a bit rough though.
it's hard to get back into the swing of things.
on thursday aj's parents arrived.
for christmas i asked for one thing.
i asked that pam (aj's mom) would come down and help me paint our living room, kitchen & hallway. 
i knew she likes to paint and i was intimidated by the huge job that it would be.
they did me one better and paid for all the paint and supplies.  yay!
they arrived around 2 and pam & i started prepping immediately.
aj's dad got home with the paint and we were painting by 4:30. 
we painted until about 11:30 that night.
then we worked all day friday and finished up around 10:30. 
aj took off friday to help with the boys and help us paint some.  doug even got in on the painting action.  
 they really couldn't have given me a better, more sacrificial gift. 
i love it.
i still don't have my house back in order and that is annoying.
but i am so so happy it's done.  i've wanted to paint the walls since we moved in 5 years ago.
i'll post pictures soon. 

until then,  i'll leave you with some pictures of our little easter egg hunt we had today with some of the wet cement kiddos.

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a spring wreath

so i really wanted to make a spring wreath.
for free.
because that's how i roll.
i thought the christmas wreath on our door in march was looking a bit lame.
i dug around my box o' easter stuff and found these eggs.

i plucked the ribbons out decided to try to spray paint them
i used my caramel latte spray paint which is a really pretty, shimmery, goldish-silverish color.

 [ignore the ginormous basketball in the background. thank you]

i thought they would look sparkly & fresh against my white wreath (grapevine wreath spray painted white).

this is the result.  i'm embarrassed to even show you.  but i am a good friend. and honesty is the best policy.

 i know. i know. it's hideous.

okay, do i get an A for effort? 
no, i do not.  

and that is just sad.  a sad, sad, little easter wreath.
1st of all only 2 of the 3 eggs made it because did you know that spray paint eats styrofoam???
it does.  which any person with a brain would have thought of.
i tried to balance it out with the burlap bow.
but no, it's just not happening.
plus it looks a little vulgar if i'm being honest.


moving on.

i won't be deterred by one failed attempt. 

soooo, i dug around in my fabric stash and made these pretty little flowers.

i love them.
i just quickly cut some circles out of springy colored fabrics and hot glued them together.
i did not try to be perfect at all.  i think they look cuter that way.
i added some buttons on top and hot glued the whole cute mess to the wreath.

then i took 10 pictures of my wreath because i love it so much i want to marry it.
i think it's simple and nice and it makes me happy.
and it took me 10 minutes.
and i like any project that requires a glue gun.

okay just one more.

sometime i would like to learn how to make some like hers.
i like how sticky-outy they are.
but i didn't have time to google that today.

want more easter wreath ideas?  click here. and here. Pin It

lazy days

this week is spring break.

i am enjoying it way too much.

sleeping in every day until 7.  

no schedule, no school work to do.  it really is a nice break.

i'm continuing with my spring cleaning kick.

i got our office totally done.

now i'm working on our laundry room. 

yesterday we met some friends at the Jones Center for some free Spring Break activities.

it was PBS day so they had several different characters walking around, free gifts, snacks, craft stations, etc.  

we were actually mainly going to see the Mad Science show but when we got there the tickets were all gone. 

so that was a bummer.  avery was really bummed.  

he loves that kind of thing.

i wanted to take a picture of the boys with their masks they made.

they weren't really smiling so i cocked my head to the side of my camera to show them a big smile.

and this is what i got.  so funny, those boys.

saw had his first popsicle.
he was a fan.

that's one way to keep a busy boy strapped in his stroller.

afterward we took all our kids to the park.
it was crazy because there was snow all over the playground, yet it was 70 degrees outside.
it felt really weird to be stepping on snow with my flip flop.

oh spring weather, please stick around. Pin It

what do you do all day?

this is for all those people who say they could never be a stay at home mom because they'd get bored.

 

3 crazy kids, a nearly crazy mom and mac's photo booth.

avery wanted to make silly faces.
whenever i try to make a bunch of goofy faces, aj says they're all the same face...with just a slight variation....like my eyebrows slightly raised. 
i guess he's right.

it really is good to be queen.

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in which you learn just how exciting my life is.

in an effort to not forget more of my life than i already have, i'm posting my facebook updates as of late . . .

March 17: 

*making granola with Meliyah. she LOVES to cook with me and she's a good little helper. :)


*"For Christians, St. Patrick's Day is an opportunity to celebrate the moving story of a missionary who dedicated his life to the very people who had enslaved him. It is a time to recognize “how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" (Romans 10:15)." from http://www.celebratingholidays.com/Saint%20Patrick%20History/index.html

*Top o' the mornin' to ya!

March 16:

* did you know that mama vampire bats regurgitate the blood they've sucked from their prey for their baby to eat? this tells me that a mama will do anything for her child.....even read really gross wildlife explorer books.

March 15:

*Taking a walk w/ my sweet boys. Thankful for the sunshine.

* So loving a mama & boys day

March 14:

* Making breakfast burritos. So glad to have AJ back. It's a good day. :)

March 13

* miss my man. ready for this manly retreat to be over now.

March 12

* missing my man but looking forward to girl's night!

March 8

* just overheard aj say: "there's no burping in hug-o-war." :) oh the joys.

* as heard at our house today: AVERY (bringing me his stapler): this piece of crap is broken 
ME: wha? where did you hear that?? 
AVERY: napoleon dynamite

March 7

* high of 68 degrees today!!! i am so excited i can hardly stand it. i plan to spend the entire afternoon outside. mama needs some vitamin D.

just an FYI, i don't do twitter, because i really do not need another addiction.  when i asked someone what twitter was, she said "it's a time suck."  that was all i needed to hear.  my personality combined with "time suck" would not be a good thing.  ;)

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basketball, babies & Jesus

AJ is so excited about this.

march madness plus helping orphan babies with aids find a mama & daddy.

if you know anything about march madness, which i don't, you need to check it out!

you could help a sweet baby and win an awesome shirt like this:

or this:

or this:

If you know anyone who loves basketball and babies and Jesus, send them here!

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sometimes i like to pretend i live in the woods.

i big-puffy-heart-love this rug.
high-ever it is too expensive.
but i'm really really fond of it.
i scoured the internets yesterday for one for a steal and none was to be found.
but isn't it lovely?
there are several different versions.

 there's a pottery barn version and martha stewart version (here & here)  and i'm sure other fancy-pants versions.
i love the modern/woodsy/clean/airy look.  love.

i'm a huge fan of all things faux bois (“fake wood” in french). 

etsy has loads of fun faux bois.  here's some of my faves:

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade 2blondeboys.etsy.com

also digging this pillow from ikea....why oh why do we not have an ikea anywhere close?!

if you want some great faux bois inspiriation, check out  it's knot wood. 

do you hate that rug and think i have no taste for liking it?
that's okay, i'll still be your friend. :) Pin It

my thoughts, in lengthy bullet points

•  I've been in the Spring Cleaning Mode the last few days. I love to organize...it is actually fun for me. I'm not however, great at keeping things organized. So Sawyer's closet had gotten out. of. hand. And under the boys' bed was also a frightening collection of random lego pieces, dust bunnies, pieces of avery's "projects", rocks (don't ask), marbles, etc. I have been feeling overwhelmed lately by my lack of time to do anything more than keep my head above water. I kept telling myself to take a deep breath and just tackle one thing at a time. Which is hard for me because I want everything done. right. now. Yesterday, on my one morning (2 hours) a week with no children,  I decided to come straight home and tackle something.  So I got busy on Sawyer's room.  I worked hard and fast and got it done.  I organized his whole closet, got out all of his next size up clothes and cleaned the room.  I even had time for cleaning up the kitchen and bathroom and a little vacuuming.  That felt so good. In the afternoon while Saw napped, Fin & I worked on his room.  That was an even bigger job but feels so good to have it done.  I threw a trash bag of junk away and filled another box with stuff for Potter's House.  That always gets me just plain giddy.  I love getting rid of stuff we don't use or need.   Now I just need to find time to tackle the laundry room, my car, the office, the garage.

•  Sawyer (who is 1, by the way) has 12 pairs of shoes . . . that fit him right now. Ridiculous, I know. I am ashamed of myself. But, in my defense only one of those pairs are new and they were a gift. Most of them are hand-me-downs from Avery & Fin and 2 were bought from Rhea Lana's. Still, when I realized that I needed a big ol' plastic bin to hold all of my babies shoes, I just shook my head. No child should have that many shoes. 

•   I'm not enjoying these dreary, cloudy, cold days.   Spring weather, you are such a tease.

• We have been dealing with a big spiritual battle  in our home lately and it is not fun.  But we are learning to fight.  We are learning even more what it is to look beyond the thin veil of this world.  Trials are a blessing because we are drawn nearer to our Helper.  

•   Sawyer is a busy little bee.  I love that sweet little, arms-in-the-air tottle.  

bye bye Sawyer, have a nice walk, see ya later!

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