The Boys' Room

Before and after we moved in, I made "finishing" the boys' room the first priority.  I say "finishing" because it's not finished.  But, I did say that I'd have pictures of their room up this week and this is a judgment free zone up in here, so I will post what I got, because what I've got is still pretty damn good for being in the house less than a week.

One of the things that I lovex10 is when people include the sources for pieces in their houses/rooms, etc.  So I will try and do that as much as possible and include links wherever possible too.

The look: Eclectic and easy.  I wanted to mix functional with cheap, with some Pottery Barn mixed in.  Originally, we had planned on painting the wall behind the headboards light green, but when we moved in and saw the light blue walls, Jim and I both agreed that we liked the color and that it'd work just as well.  (Jim was the most happy about this, since it meant no painting.)

Biggest success: Hanging the home-made names above the headboards.  I wanted a way to personalize each bed, but didn't know how I was going to do it.  Originally, the names were going to be hung on the walls on either side of the room, but at the last minute, I put them on top of the beds and loved them.

Biggest fail:  Not having everything functional when taking the pictures- hello green lamp.

Biggest bargain:  The night stand, the night stand, the night stand.  I'm obsessed with that thing.  We went poppin' tags at Goodwill and found this beautiful thing for $10... TEN BUCKS!

1.  Pottery Barn ABC Paper Mobile, on sale for $17.99.  Here is the link; however, it's no longer available.  Frowny face.
2.  Dog print, Marshalls Home Goods, about $15
3.  Arden sign was handmade by my Mother-in-law when he was born.
4.  FJELLSE Bed Frame from Ikea, $39.99
5.  Star Quilted Bedding, Pottery Barn, $129-159, here's the thing though, I would never pay that for bedding for a kid's room.  We went to the outlet closest to us and found it there for around $70.
6.  Dog print, Marshalls Home Goods, about $15
7.  Cullen sign was handmade by my Mother-in-law when he was born.
8.  Dump Truck Pillow, Target,  $16.14
9.  Two white curtain panels, Target, about $10 each
10.  Table lamp, Target, $15
11.  Dump Truck Night Light, Target, $14.24
12.  Night stand, Goodwill, $10
13.  Mustache wood hanging, Marshalls Home Goods, about $15
14.  I made the boys each a button letter on canvas about a year ago, I just need to dig Cullen's out of the box it's packed in and hang it up.
15.  Big Dill Art Print by Phil Jones, Urban Outfitters, about $19
16.  The I heart u artwork is from Target, I got it over 2 years ago and tried to find it on their website, but wasn't able to.  So maybe I should say something like, I heart u artwork, Target, vintage.

We Moved... And Here Are Some Cute Pictures

I already laid this out, but in case you forgot, we moved and so this blog is about to be somewhat taken over by new house stuff, or as Arden says, "new, NEW, house!" stuff.  Here's what we did well with our move: we packed up our cars with as much as we could the night before, we got all of our utilities straightened out at week or two ahead of time, we enlisted the help of family and friends, we rented a UHaul and drove it to Ikea... and that's about it.  Here's what we didn't do well: we were completely disorganized and didn't pack nearly as much as we should've, considering that we've known about this since March.  And that's about all I have to say, because moving is literally all about packing and being organized, there aren't any other steps besides those two.

As little boys tend to do, they wanted to help, which made me bust out my all time favorite saying from my mother, "you can be a big help by not helping."  That didn't work.  Our plans were thrown a little off schedule since both of the boys were sick and Arden couldn't go on a short vacation with the rest of my family to the beach, which is the reason that there's virtually no pictures of Cullen helping with the move.  All in all though, we didn't do too bad for ourselves.  I'm totally stoked to share some pictures of what we are going to do and what we've done.  Don't get too excited though, the only room that was a priority was the boys' bedroom, so we plan on finishing that tonight and I will post about it over the next few days... cause it's that f'ing cute, for reals.

Friday Short

First moments of officially owning our new house. 

A text from me to Jim.  

It was glorious.

He's Good

Cullen and I have never played the "what does that cloud look like" game, but I'm pretty sure if we did, he'd be the champion of the world.  This weekend, we were at a graduation party and I asked him if he wanted any cake.  He walked over and went, "no thanks, I don't want any Tick-Tock Crock cake."  At first I was like what?  But then I realized that when the cake was cut, there was a little smear of icing that looked exactly like the Tick-Tock Crock from Jake and the Neverland Pirates.

One for Cullen and zero for me.

Friday Short

Buy this app, it's worth the $.99; trust me.

Arden Dr.

Yesterday, I casually opened my very favorite of all the junk magazines; Pottery Barn.  I have a love for all things Pottery Barn, but I also have a budget for everything, which makes my love for all things Pottery Barn difficult.  The furniture is well-made and classic, but definitely out of my price range; however, it doesn't stop me from browsing through the magazine about twenty times before I finally decide that another one will be coming soon and that I can probably part with my old one.

This time as I was going through, I happened to notice something hung on a perfectly accessorized wall: an Arden Dr. sign and let's just say that I got an obscene amount of thrill.  Having a not very common name, meant that there was never a chance of seeing Me-Me Ln or a doll named Me-Me; the best I ever got was a whole bunch of people who told me that they called their Grandmother Me-Me.  So, when I saw this, I thought it was a sign.  As in, the universe sometimes recognizes you or your kids or someone you love in mysterious and different ways and happily plunks it in front of you so that you can take greater notice of the details around you.

Now, if I could just get that sign and all of the rest of the stuff on that wall and put it in my house...

Friday Short

One thing I absolutely love about this boy is that he never stops talking.  

Literally.  

And the level of pronunciation?  Forget about it. 

This kid is kind of spectacular and anyone who knows him would agree with that statement.

There's No Place Like Ikea

Since we're quickly approaching our move, most of our weekends have been filled with lack-luster attempts to get ourselves and our stuff together and prepare ourselves for the packing and moving and all that good stuff.  Here's the thing though, mostly Jim takes my lead and my lead on this has been... poor.  I'm all, "let's wait until next weekend."  Or "how about we not pack but watch Despicable Me on ABC Family instead?"  You all get the point, if it wasn't for Jim, nothing would be getting done.

However, the one thing that I will give myself credit for is that once everything is packed and decided, I'm the one who orchestrates everything.  I know when we have the money to buy what we want, that'd be within 24 hours after our pay checks clear (you know, before we send out the bills and pay for day care), I know what day we're going to settlement and what day the power and cable and water all need to be turned on.  I know which websites are free shipping and I know how to change our address at the Post Office; Jim and I are like the yin and the yang of moving.

As any good bargain shoppers will be able to tell, our house is going to be pretty heavily influenced by Ikea. Meaning that the bargains there are unbeatable and we've got little ones that can destroy nice things in two seconds flat.  (Don't even get me started about the rainbow colored spectacle that is my cream colored living room area rug.  I wasn't even sure exactly how much play-dough typical carpet fibers could hold, but I found out: it's a lot.)  And here's the beautiful thing about Ikea, while Jim and I are power shopping (getting in and out in an hour takes intense focus), the boys are running around and bouncing off of everything and it's fine, 'cause its Ikea.  We love that about Ikea, there's very little that's going to immediately break and what is going to break, most of the time the boys aren't interested in.

When in doubt and you're moving, or you need a good way to spend an afternoon that doesn't completely wipe out your wallet, head on over to Ikea and let your kids go wild.

It's Good To Be An American

There are pretty much blillions upon blillions of reasons that I'm grateful and thankful to be and live in America.  Here's just a few and also some pictures of our 4th of July 2013 festivities.

1. Grocery stores that sell cheap-oh fireworks.
2. Little kids begging to watch and set off the fireworks all day.

 3. Crappy lawn chairs that only get thrown away when they start to rust or the handles break off in jagged edges.

 4. Little boy shirts with capes on them.

5. Children goofing around on a hot summer afternoon.

 6. Boys stomping on things and thinking it's hilarious.

 7. The right to think something is scary.  All day the boys were hyped about the fireworks, but 10 seconds into the spectacular, spectacular, they were done.  Cullen spent the rest of the night inside watching an Extremely Goofy Movie and Arden spent the rest of the night either hanging out with Poppy or in our neighbors' yard.  It's a good thing that we all have the right to form our beliefs and act on them independently of others.  We are very lucky.

 8. We're also bounce back pretty quick as a nation.  So after we're scared or down, we get right back up and put a smile on and get back to enjoying other things.

 9. Like little wolverine popper thingies.

10. Traditions.  I think that's what I love the most about being an American, we're rooted in traditions that start of as nothing and then all of the sudden become something.  We have made this little lawn-chaired front row (only row really) fireworks extravaganza our something.  It's meaningful for us to eat Bubba burgers and deviled eggs and then sit around clapping as little kids brave their fears to watch the finale of the fountain fireworks.  There's something magical about that and this is what keeps us as an American family going, the magic of it all.

Friday Short

I'm taking responsibility for this.  

Clearly, he has my eating style, which makes a person wonder if he's even tasting his food.  

Don't. Touch. My. Crackers.

Bear's Missing

It's Sunday at 8:30 pm and the boys are cranky and tired.  We're winding down and getting everyone dressed and ready for bed.  Innocently enough, Cullen asks, "where's my Bear?"  To which Jim and I always reply, "where did you leave him?"  Asking a three year old where he left something is pretty futile, even if he did remember where he left it, he probably doesn't have the wherewithal to realize that we're about to go on a Bear-hunt (our equivalent of a man-hunt) and that he should speak up... NOW!

Five minutes into the search, Cullen is lounging on the floor, asking Jim, Arden and I if we've "looked under the couch."  "Yes," we say, prompting him to join in... he doesn't take us up on he offer.  10 minutes go by, no Bear.  15, 20, 25 minutes go by; no freakin' Bear.  We've looked everywhere.  In the bathroom, in the laundry room, behind every door and in every moving box that is strewn about our living room- no Bear.  Jim, Arden and I are getting desperate, Cullen is getting annoyed; why's this taking so long?

"Megan, " I ask, considering this a long-shot, "did you or Zeta or Joseph take Cullen's Bear with you when you left tonight?"  Nothing but laughter.  We're realizing that we've got a problem... it's worse than we originally thought, Bear is missing.

Sensing that things aren't going well, Cullen is starting to seem alarmed, "Mom! Where's Bear?!  I can't sleep without Bear!"  He's almost considering getting up to help, I mean it's has been 30 minutes and now he's realizing that we need all hands on deck around here.  I'm starting to think that he's either been inadvertently thrown away, or that he's been stowed away, because that's something a three year old would do.  On a total hunch, I walk over, pop the lid to his garbage truck and there he is, Bear all smashed in there, looking happy as ever to see us.

"Cullen, did you put your Bear in the garbage truck?"  "Oh yeah," he says, finally connecting the dots, "that's where I put him."  Moral of the story: check the places that you're sure a favorite toy or stuffed animal absolutely cannot be, because that's exactly where you're gonna find them.

Climbing and Sliding

Sometimes, when the weather is perfect (or even when it's not entirely perfect), we schlep the kids to a local park and let them run and play until we know that they are good and tired.  It's a win-win situation really; we get an opportunity to watch them do funny things and they sleep good, everyone's happy.

But there's always that initial hesitancy when we first arrive.  "Oh that slide's too high, Mom!"  Or, "I can't climb up, can you lift me up?"  Usually, we make them push through it, because almost always they do and they have a much better time because of it.  It's also pretty motivating for each of them when they see their brother doing something that they think is too hard.  Like this climbing wall thingy or that high slide.  Jim and I have learned over time that we just need to sit back and watch them figure it out, because most of the time, when we do that it works out just fine.

So, here's how our most recent trip to the park went.  At the end of the night, I literally had to pick them up and carry them to the car; we had to go home- Mommy was tired.