October.

This year, I'm trying to embrace October. I think this would take far less effort if I actually lived in a location where ... say ... LEAVES LANDED ON THE GROUND for some other reason than being crunchy from SUN EXPOSURE ... or ... October meant LONG SLEEVES and JEANS. But in our neck of the woods, the only change that comes with October is that my favorite bulk toilet paper store carries PUMPKIN PIE!!

So, this year ... we decided to add a bit of orange and black to the inside of our walls ...

And well ... no toddler wants to do a craft project without glue or glitter ...

So we added a bit of that in as well ... er ... maybe a lot of that!

And ...

I added a bit of holiday flare to the playroom!

WELCOME, OCTOBER!

Six Degrees. Or Shall I Say ... Almost Famous?

My mom's cousin has two children, John and Allison. Both are SUPER talented! Allison got her degree in interior design and can work magic in just about any room (she did wonders with my downstairs) and John ... well, he has an eye for photography. A pretty good eye. Okay, a great eye.

Check out his latest project!

Nice work, John!!!

So does this make me ... almost famous??? Can I say the same cousin who snapped our wedding photos took that picture? Hope so ... because I'm going to :)

Our Decorated House.

I've mentioned, numerous times, how I truly LOVE Costco. I love that you can go into Costco ... only wanting pizza ... and leave with enough toilet paper to supply to entire block's needs for a good month. I love being enticed by the sample ladies to buy a 16 pound bag of banana chips. And I love that within the walls of Costco, my non-eating children, will eat whatever is placed before them ... as long as it is served in a plastic cup. But when the above mentioned item is taken out of the store ... and presented under normal eating circumstances ... you are left with ... well, a 15.8 pound bag of dried banana chips.

But Costco and I are about to have a few words. Because last time I checked, it was still September. A solid 100+ days before December 25th.

But there ... in front of our eyes ... was a gingerbread house.

Joshua: Can I look at that house. That house needs to be in our cart.

Me: Joshua. That's a cool house but buddy ... it's September.

Joshua: I want to eat that house.

Me: No one should be eating that house for another 90 days. And then, I'm not sure anyone should be eating it then. What is in this that it can last that long?

Joshua: Can I PLEASE have it?

We did manage to leave the gingerbread house at Costco with promises of taking it home when the calendar hits DECEMBER ... but the wheels were turning in Joshua's head. He NEEDED to make a decorated house.

And he was in luck ... because I needed an evening activity to keep the crazies occupied.

Oh ... and our Bella came over for some much needed architectural support.

I think more candy was consumed than placed on our cracker house ...

But ... that's the whole idea, right?

And the crazies were happy, happy, happy ...

To eat and eat and eat ...

And to pretend as though they couldn't see me ... taking pictures ...

Now ... if I can just avoid the toy aisle for the next 90 days ... then we'll be in good shape!

Cool Moves. Getting Dressed. The Great NorthWest.

At our house, rock concerts are a daily happening. They happen at dawn. They happen at dusk and sometimes, you'll even get serenaded with an original tune at bedtime. Those are my favorite. But is it strange that the other day, when How was practicing his music gig as I sat on the couch and watched ... he looked a bit disgruntled and said, "Why don't you have your camera?"
"Would you like me to get it?"
"Well, you'd better because I'm doing some pretty cool moves."
"And people will want to look at them." We'll start working on humility next week. But for now ... I hope "you people" enjoy looking at the moves!
And as for the other brother ... well ... he's as determined as ever ...
To accomplish the "getting dressed by yourself routine" before Joshua.
He's not particular about what clothes he attempts to get on his body. He'll snag them from just about anywhere.
I try to tell him that he's attempting to put on a shirt here ... and shirts go over your head. But he just looks at me .... and says, "No. Feet."
And it's pointless to argue. Have you ever tried to reason with a 23 month old? I wouldn't recommend it. Especially over something as concrete as shirts and shorts. Because clearly ... any limb can fit through any opening. And it's just boring to wear them the "correct" way.
Until ... well ... they figure it out for themselves!

And ... I'll be turning in my "mom keys" for the next few days. I'm off to the great NW ... to see my dear friend (and shoe supplier), Emelye. This trip was planned back in the spring ... but my spring was a bit more exciting than I had anticipated ... so we rescheduled. A whole 3 days with Em ... the beauty of the NW ... coffee shops ... antique shops ... NO SALES TAX! And I'm packing a sweater. Maybe two! I can hardly wait!!!

Like Father. Like Son.

We'll Call Him ... Nemo.

I Give You ... My Laundry Nook.

Our first house.
Our first house was yellow. And it had a green front door. I never wanted a green door, I always wanted red. But ... the one thing this little yellow house did have was a laundry room. A full on, step inside, close the door, fit a twin bed in, room to twirl around ... laundry room. And I didn't know how much I loved it ... until we moved to our second house (that, by the way, still doesn't have a red door. It's blue).
Our second house came equipped with a laundry closet. Mind you, I did have my pick of washing machines (you can see I was determined to add red into the picture somehow!!) and I was happy as a toad ... pushing buttons and making my laundry sound like a spaceship was taking off. But ... what girl wants to do laundry in a closet with tan walls?
So ... when our friend Andy came to town ... I made lavish pizza dinner promises and put the extra muscle power to good use. They removed the washer and dryer from their pedestals and set them down on solid ground. And this is what remained:
A mostly ugly laundry closet with two ... now very low to the ground washing tools.
But soon ... the tan was replaced by blue. Not CBB blue ... but a slightly darker shade.
And a cabinet door I found at IKEA for $9.99 in the As Is section. A perfect fit for my new folding surface.
And then Handy Man Mike came to the rescue ... with lots of power tools ...
And just like that ... he added an "L" shelf, sawed the cabinet door to fit and added a back.
Three months later, I regained my motivation to finish the project. With newly framed artwork (ahem ... paper from Michael's) ...
Baskets, baskets and more baskets ... and a letter "B" that still needs to find the perfect fabric ...
And a new home for my beloved silhouettes ... (and a soon to be added fabric covering that will be hiding my enormous supply of toilet paper) ...
And of course ... LABELS ... I can now forget my longings for my laundry ROOM ... and be content to wash, scrub and fold in my laundry NOOK. (I think nook sounds way better than closet, don't you?)
Oh ... and this past weekend ... I didn't get around to making that pillow but I did make this bird "painting" ... I moved the hand prints of the kiddos upstairs. That little spot just needed a bit more color!
Finally ... this project is complete.