A Living Room Feature: Involving Color

Today I had the honor of having my living room featured on the blog Involving Color.  You can see the feature here.  On Jena's blog, she shares paint colors and room galleries from real homes as well as her own decorating and diy projects in her lovely home.  It is a great place to search for paint colors if you are planning a painting project or to find some inspiration.  

Stop by if you like and check out her blog.  You'll be glad you did!

Thanks for the feature, Jena!

Some Updated Toy Storage

These little toy crates were looking a little shabby.  Not the good kind of shabby though.  They were begging to be made over.

After a couple of coats of spray paint, they're not perfect, but much better.  Is it crazy that I'm already rethinking the color?  I'm just not crazy about how it looks with the wood tones in the room.  I just don't know.

This room feels like a never ending process.  I'm thinking a new paint color on the walls, some new hardware for the dresser and desk, and some new curtains are in order.  They're inexpensive and quick fixes that can pack a punch and change the look of the room.  In keeping with the rest of our house, this room would eventually have the doors and trim painted white.  We'll see how quickly these updates happen!  Stop laughing.

In my dream world, I would paint the dresser, desk, and bunk beds.  I would also have enough money to buy a new rug.  It is really too bad that rugs are so gosh darn expensive...

Henry's First Day

He did it!

And I only cried once!

Those Old Ladies Were Right After All...

After I gave birth to Henry, I recall many sweet little old ladies peeking into my shopping cart or stroller.  They would comment about how cute or tiny my little bundle was, as most sweet old ladies do about any tiny baby they see.  Before they would walk away though, without fail, they would say in their elderly wisdom, "Enjoy it!  They grow up so fast!"  It seemed to happen so often that I would beat them to the punch and say something along the lines of, "Yes, I am enjoying every moment of having a little one because I hear it goes too fast".  It was getting a little old to hear it all of the time.

But gosh.  It does go fast.  If you're a momma or long to be one someday, listen to those old ladies.  They're right.

*****

Tomorrow my Henry starts Kindergarten.  Thankfully, he is ready and so very excited.  And I'm excited to spend some special time with my Oliver.

If This Summer Had a Title, We'd Call It "The Summer We Took Up Camping"

I never thought we would be campers but here we are.  I blame our good friends, who invited us early this summer to go camping with them.  We bought a tent large enough to fit our family and the rest they say, is history.  For the record, I don't think I've ever seen my three boys as happy as they are when we are camping.  That could have something to do with all of the space that comes with camping and being able to hit a baseball without having to go around our fence and through the alley to retrieve it from the neighbor's yard.  But to be perfectly honest, I'm happy too.  There is something about the smell of a campfire and being outside, surrounded by trees, water, and God's creation.  Despite the dirt and the occasional bathroom inconvenience, it is just plain fun.

We have one more camping trip planned before Fall sets in.  We'll be camping with two other couples who also happen to teach at the same school as my husband.  

Also, school starts next week already.  No, I don't want to talk about it.  

I'm.Not.Ready.

A Sweet Baby Boy Shower

My baby sister Amelia and her husband Ryan are expecting a sweet baby boy this October.  To celebrate his upcoming arrival, we threw her a small shower in my parents back yard with family and some close friends.  Here are are few snapshots of her day.

We chose not to have a theme and kept things simple and classic.  We did however choose the colors we wanted to use that day:  baby blue and white with some accents of gray and red.  Since the shower was held at two o' clock on a Sunday afternoon, we chose to serve desserts and flavored waters.

My Mom was in charge of the menu and the majority of the food.  My sister Liesl took care of the invitations and Gretel ordered the gift we gave to Amelia and Ryan.  That left me to handle the decorations and the chocolate cake.  The garland was inspired by this fabric garland by Creature Comforts.  It was cute, quick, and easy! 

The chalkboard drawing was inspired by this sweet baby shower invitation by Yellow Button Studio.  I added the wreath because Amelia frequently draws them.

The sweet pacifiers were made by my Mom out of Lifesavers, jelly beans, icing, and ribbon.  For favors, we handed out cookie cutters, cupcake liners, and kitchen tongs in keeping with the dessert theme.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a picture of the favor basket.

We love you, Ryan, Amelia, and baby boy!  God's blessings to you all!

Now, hurry up, October!