a few milestones

Mark this on your calendar...I went running this morning.

When I say "running" you need to interpret that as mostly walking, with short periods of rapid leg movement thrown in.

I am slow.

The double jogging stroller is heavy.

My subdivision is really hilly.

But, I am happy I did it. Now I need to do it again tomorrow, and the next day. This really needs to become a habit.

Other little milestones around here:

* I took the rails of off Mr. Three's bed a few weeks ago...he hasn't fallen out and it is much easier to make the bed.

* On Sat we took a big step and cut the tip off of his binky. Nap time was full of tears. Bedtime was a little easier. The next day was easy. He still talks about his binky, he likes to remind us that the binky fairy came and took it away, but he knows he's fine without it. Life is good!

* The baby man has graduated from the high chair to a booster seat. I pushed it because he kept crawling out of his seat and standing on the high chair tray (scary!), and I felt like he wanted to be at the table with us.

* Baby also went to bed just fine for Daddy on Tues night, which means more freedom in the evenings for me! Now I just need to get some friends...

Exciting post about my laundry room later today!

I know you are on pins and needles ;)

hitting the (kitchen) wall...getting settled, day 4

After finding a little bit of inspiration for the kitchen, I was super excited to get started.

So I sat at the kitchen table for a minute and then looked to my right.



AAAAAHHHHH!

Vile vertical blinds. Almost enough to distract you from the intensely ugly light fixture.

Almost.

In case you missed the amazing pattern, here it is:



Awsomesauce. For real.

So, I really want to rip them down but I am unsure of what to hang in their place.

Normally I would just pick out a rod and hang some drapes, but there is very little space (maybe 4 inches) between the right side of the sliding glass door and the kitchen cabinets...so the drapes all need to stack on the left side in order for the door to be functional. And it must be functional, it leads to the deck, which leahttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifds to the hot tub (and the swing set, which is not as important because I don't drink margaritas on the swings).

So help me out! Do you know of any curtain rods that don't need a center support? Or a super awesome idea which doesn't include vertical blinds?

How about some other ideas for my kitchen? I'm all ears!

Thanks!

I'm linking up at Amanda's Weekend Bloggy Reading Party!

a real mall!...getting settled, day 3

In case you haven't noticed, it's terribly hot out.

Too hot for me to play outside. Sorry kids, enjoy the AC and TV.

I decided to throw the giant double stroller into the Jeep and head to the nearest mall.

Reasons I was excited:
a) Hello. Getting out of the house.
b) 20 min car ride = 20 min where a child is not attached to me (remember, it's hot
c) PB, C&B, and RH under one, glorious, air conditioned roof. Thank you Baby Jesus.*
d) The anchor stores at the mall in Ohio were Best Buy and Dunhams...for real.
e) High potential for an Orange Julius.

I found some inspiration in C&B.

Meet my kitchen...in dishtowel form.

source

It's good to have a starting point, right?

I skipped the Orange Julius. Next time it will be mine!

Are you guys on Pinterest? Come and join me, it will be fun! You will be addicted!

Seriously, it's a really fun way to organize all of the stuffs you find online that you just can't live without. Instead of in a mile long list of bookmarks...you can have tidy little thumbnails with a personal description. Like the dishtowel up there? Totally pinned it. Ahhh...happy place. Join me!

If you'd like an invite to Pinterest just let me know, I'm happy to send you one :) And no, I'm not being paid to talk about Pinterest, I just want a few more friends to stalk.

*Most evenings, Mr. Three says grace at the dinner table. Some days it is the sweetest thing ever, and some days it goes like this "Father, Son, Holy Ghost, I love Jesus, Hiya! Hiya! Ninjas. Amen."

a new couch...getting settled, day 2

My couch is plaid.

It has also been peed on, puked on, slept on, and moved 4 times.

So naturally I am excited to replace it!

Also - we really need something to sit on in the basement...and the plaid will work great in the dungeon playroom. (and I am totally having it steam cleaned next week)

We've been stalking couches since we moved in, and decided this was the week to buy (sale!).

These were the swatches...

solids for couches and patterns for pillows
p.s.- the geometric is totally named "Takin it to the Streets"

We wanted to make sure the furniture would fit, so we mapped it out on the floor with painters tape.

I have given up on trying to keep the kids away while I take pics...
get used to seeing tiny men in my photos

And the kids quickly ripped it up ;)

I'm going to pretend he didn't walk around with tape stuck to his foot for most of the day

Tonight we ordered it!

I decided to go with the dove grey instead of the darker grey (coincidentally both swatched were labeled "charcoal" but in different patterns), and the geometric for the accent pillows.

By the middle of September we will have a new sectional and love seat! I am so EXCITED!

Also - I keep singing this song. Thank you Michael McDonald.

half bath love...getting settled, day 1

I spent last weekend sewing, and because I thought it would be a quick project, I only set my trusty Husky Star up on the kitchen island.

It's totally still sitting there...

At any rate, I needed to carve out a teeny little spot in this house that felt like me. Mr. Three is newly potty trained, so we spend a fair amount of time in the half bath, plus it's a little space and didn't require new paint.

I decided it was a good place to start.

Here's the before...



The biggest problem (besides the fact that this is my only before pic) was the window treatments. The ugly brown valance needed to come down and unfortunately the wooden blinds were broken (permanently in the "up" position), offering no privacy. I don't think you could actually see into the bathroom, but it felt really open...so I wanted something that would offer privacy, yet let in the light.

I hit up a flea market right after we moved here and I picked up a chunk of old lace, I immediately knew I wanted to use it in the bath and that gave me my direction.

Here's the after...I call it the Granny Bath ;)




I've been wanting to do hoops with fabric for awhile so that was a no brainer for art. I had the basket and flowers, and they seemed to work well so I tossed them in.

I used an old sheet to make the curtain...and I used the same material to add a ruffle to the towels.

It's far from truly done, and not really exciting, but it feels nice to be able to say a room is done for now.

Tomorrow...we order new couches for the family room.

introducing...

My new house :)

It's been whirl-windy.
And happy.
Sometimes frustrating...mostly just plain BUSY!

I need to get back into this blogging thing. I'm thinking 30 days of projects from the new house...let's start tonight.

Be there or be square.
Yep, I totally just said that.