A Little Elbow Grease

The boys are all about helping... Usually it's helping themselves to making a bigger mess, but every once in a while, they pitch in and get things done.  It's so refreshing when they tackle a little project; they're proud of themselves and I'm happy just that things are gettin' done up in here!  This weekend, we tackled their bedroom.  It needed a good vacuuming and the cups of milk that accompany them to bed were piling up.  I think some sort of a happy little circumstance happened where they had the attention and desire to be helpful and I had the patience to let them.

These pictures crack me up, they really did do a good job and now that I know that they can do a good job when they want to, it's surely something that I will be having them do more often.

And I couldn't resist reminding everyone of another time when the boys were showing off their vacuuming skills, albeit when they were much younger and not as skilled with the vacuum and it was really more work for me... But at any rate, they were cute and working together and it was freakin' cute, so eat it up. 

It's All About The Milestones, Baby!

We're hitting those milestones, left and right.  In a few weeks, Cullen turns five.  F-I-V-E.  I cannot believe it.  Cullen is wonderful for so many reasons, he's happy-go-lucky, he's hilarious, he has the best laugh, but he lacks a little bit of discipline and focus.  So, we signed him up for karate.  The first class was rough, he spent the majority of the time falling on the floor; apparently, he already knows what karate is all about- hitting, he's seen it on Power Rangers.  But the instructor had patience and made sure that he was focusing on the actual sport of karate and not just the action-shot highlights. He did a lot better during his second class, his focus and participation was much more refined.

Arden got signed up too.  He's a natural athlete and needs to harness some of his athletic skills for screaming, "watch 'dis!" as he jumps off of any spot that he can find. Arden has taken on the role of the younger brother: you fall, I fall; you laugh, I laugh; you make fart noises, I make fart noises.  Karate helps Arden harness some of his energy and also find constructive ways to show his talent, rather than just jumping from surface to surface.

And finally, the baby.  She's getting teeth.  Not going to lie, I thought for some reason that maybe she wasn't going to get any teeth, like they hadn't formed or something, so I was real happy when she started cutting the bottom two.  And as luck would have it, girl likes to eat.  She gets that from her Mama.  We started off small, baby food and what not and we've now moved up to anything Gerber that doesn't require teeth or small pieces of anything that's soft; bread, cake, pie, you name, she's tryin' it.

It's a very exciting time for our family, we're all learning and growing together.  The boys are becoming more athletically inclined old boys (Cullen yells at me when I say that he's a young man) and Jameslyn is chewing and once there's chewing there's talking and then there's everything else...  And that's what I'm looking most forward too: the everything else.

#targetprobs

I go into Target for one thing and this is what happens...  Why?  Because I whiz down every aisle on the hunt for red stickers, who doesn't love a good 30% off end cap?  If I were on Project Runway, Tim Gunn would take a look at it my cart and kindly, but firmly remind me that most of the success of anything comes down to the editing... In other words, put back the ORANGE CREPE STREAMERS, I don't care if they're only a dollar.  And yeah, that hot pink duct tape for fifty-eight cents can go back too.

Now being the creative genius that I am, I will say, "thanks for that feedback, Timmy, I will take that into consideration."  :wheels squeak as I plow ahead to the checkout line:

A Girl's Gotta Eat Her Cake

Do you like cake?  Probably.  Do you like the freedom of eating that cake whenever and however you want?  Probably.  Are you a baby?  Probably.

The other night, Sissy had her first cake eating extravaganza; it went from a nibble to a full blown chow-down.  It's cool though, she rocked the 80's look with flair, darling.  And much to my delight, I feel like this will be a preview of how the 1st birthday smash cake will go, which would be fantastic, since my boys just looked at theirs and then over at me like, "and what I am supposed to do with this?"

Fall 2014 Must Haves

Here are some of my Must Have things for Fall 2014.  Enjoy!

Red Flannel Pajamas
$44.50 +personalization cost

Pottery Barn

Lovbacken Side Table

$59.99

Ikea

Girls Sweetie Sweatshirt

$9.95

H&M

Karlstad Loveseat and Chaise Lounge

$1479.00

Here's my only qualm about this piece: really Ikea, the legs leave a lot to be desired.  Can you step it up?

Ikea

This jacket; so chic.
$245.00

Amazon

Carriage House Chandeliers

$149-$299

Ballard Designs

Terrace Bar Cart

$339

West Elm

Gilded Rim Stemware

$18 - $20

Anthropolgie

Crosley Record Player

$79.95

Amazon

Fujifilm Instax Mini 8

$62.99

Amazon

Studio Mucci Fringe Banner

$40

Studio Mucci

If I Could

Cullen asks me at least once a week, "what are you going to be when you grow up?"  Besides being so flattered... when I grow up (?!) how cute is that? I also wonder if I had to make a career change now, what would I do.  I've narrowed it down to two things: party planner or photographer, or a party planner who sets up and then photographs your party; kind of a two-for-one-deal.

Honestly, a career change would be thrilling; owning my own business would be good for me.  Ain't nobody that can boss people around like me, and ain't nobody that can be my boss.  I would love to be able to work from home, create my own schedule, do what I interests me, because that type of work would be good for my soul.

When I ask Cullen what he wants to be, he says a police officer.  He is a kind-hearted young man who will go far in life because of his nature and so I encourage him every chance I get; he deserves to live out his dream, it will be good for him.

Sissy's New Bling

Babies are cute.  Girl babies with earrings are the cutest.  Naturally, Sissy is the cutest girl baby with earrings.  Ever.  I didn't ask anyone for opinions beforehand because I realize that this debate can get a little heated, but the girl was a champ.  Literally.  I was so nervous for her; piercing hurts and I don't want my baby to hurt, but she cried for maybe 10 seconds and then she was over it.  And I do mean over it.  She hasn't pulled at her earrings or shown any signs that they bother her.

Doesn't my girl look so cute?

George, She's Pulling Herself Up!

There's this movie, maybe you've heard of it: Father of the Bride (Part 1).  As I'm sure you can extrapolate from the title, the movie is set from the viewpoint of George Banks, Annie Banks' father.  George recounts the fiasco that is Annie's wedding and all of the goings ons around it.  As Annie returns from Rome, George's secretary announces over the loudspeaker at the sneaker factory that George owns, "George, she landed!"

That line has really stuck around with my sister and I.  Every trip we take or important milestone, we exclaimed, "George, she landed!"  Or "George, she sitting!"  Or "George, she's crawling!"  Well, "George, she's pulling herself up!"  Can you believe that; pulling herself up and then standing?!  This girl is something else.

I'm not sure exactly who she's going to be; maybe funny, maybe serious, maybe carefree or maybe by the book; but no matter who she turns into, she will be standing.  Standing at 7 months, standing at her wedding... You get it, right?  I'm being Mrs. Sentimental 2014; but for real, this is kind of a big thing.  And being the good mother that I am, I had to document it all.  So, here she is, George; standing!

Happy To Be Three

About 7 months ago, give or take a few days, Arden turned three... And about 7 months ago, give or take a few days, Jameslyn was born.  Both were very special moments, and both of them involved me being tired, huge and pregnant/not pregnant.  Arden definitely got the short end of the stick on his birthday.  We just got a grocery store cake, had over our parents, sang and called it a day.  It was totally a legit birthday, but it also could have been better.  For the next 7 months, I talked frequently about the party that I was going to have for Arden.  Themes, food, people, etc.  Well that talk never materialized into an actual party...

Guilty mother that I am, I decided that I just needed to have the damn party and that no matter who showed up or what decorations I actually managed to make/buy that the party had to happen.  It was a nice party and he was happy to be three, because, well because he doesn't have a say in the matter.  We got a bouncy house, I made a cake (I think that's sorta my thing now...) and we ordered food.

The day started off with a knock on our front door at 6:45 am; the bouncy house was in da' house!!!  (Or really the back yard)  Despite being 3 hours early, we were all like: awesome and there was bouncing and sliding before 7:00 am.  The party ended when the birthday boy laid down on the couch and fell asleep; party over.  I know it wasn't over the top, or jaw dropping, but it was legit fun, something that cannot be overlooked and certainly the number one priority to a three year old.

Is It Too Soon?

No, it's never too soon to talk about Christmas and if you think it is, then you should stop reading... NOW.  I've gotta say that this sweater is like the best sweater ever:

Amazon

Not only is if from the best movie ever, which if you don't know what movie that is, I would think that you've stopped reading by now, but it's reasonably priced at about $25 +shipping and handling.  I wish that I could QVC model the ish out of this right now, because that's how much I want it.

So let's say that we all start thinking happy and merry thoughts and work on getting into the holiday spirit!

...And I'm Back

It's kinda like the Backstreet Boys' Everybody, when they proclaimed Backstreet's back, alright!  And I was like, wait... where did they go?  Well that's what I did.  An unannounced (clearly) hiatus for the summer and you know what, it felt kind of good.  We had some lazy summer days and then some totally crazy, non-stop summer days.

There was lots of rollin' and sittin' and gigglin', courtesy of Jameslyn or else there would be no need to mention these things, since the rest of us have been doing them for years.  We went to the beach and to a the boys started swimming in my Mother's pool for the first time; they're naturals.

Jim and I did some fancy-pants stuff like go to weddings and the Billy Joel concert, we had two (that's right count 'em up!) nights to ourselves this summer, both were glorious.  And as I'm recapping it I'm starting to think, perhaps I didn't need that break after all... but then I realize that I'm typing this whole post like this:

Well whatever, I'm making my official return and it's gonna be fabulous.  We've got some fun things coming up: a trip to my old stomping grounds, Jameslyn's first Halloween (spoiler alert, her cosutme's gonna be sweet!) and so much more.  Until then, enjoy the highlights!

J Slash K

Remember when I said that I was going to do 30 Blogs in #0 Dayyyyyyyyssssssss!!!  (said like Oprah), well clearly, it's not happening.  This blog is a passion of mine, but it's not something that I can commit as much time as if it were my full-time j-o-b.  What happened after I made that announcement is that life called up and was like, "Hey, do you want to work overtime in every other area?  Yeah, it's not an option to say no."

What this means for me, although it's a little personal defeat, is that I'm not going to be writing posts every day and that "Announcement"?  I guess I was just kidding, j/k.   I'm going to try to be more consistent, posting about 2-3 times per week and continuing to talk about things that are important to me.  Also, it wouldn't be right of me not to say that my sister, Megan was totally right, this is not going to happen (frowny face).

It's Father's Day: Hooray!

Obviously, yesterday was Father's Day, which means that today, I'm sharing my social media shout outs to my husband in honor of his big day.  

I'm enjoying this very special Father's Day. Jim has given me three wonderful children and he has given them years of stability and knowing a father's love. His love is priceless, and gives them the ability to have a positive male role model guiding them through their lives. He's grooming our sons into future fathers and teaching our daughter the qualities that she should seek in a man, so that she can have a wonderful father for her future children. Plus, he's keeping money in their wallets since they won't need therapy to complain about an absentee dad. Happy Father's Day, Jim you're the best!