Musical furniture

After many years of denial, I have finally accepted the fact that the kids have overrun our home. We have kid stuff EVERYWHERE! I know that its just a part of parenthood and "in twenty years I'll wish for my kids to be this age where they leave toys any old place." I know all that, I just cant stand it anymore! Kyla has her craft stuff in the office, the kids have their own kitchen, they have toys/books/who knows what in the the tv room, their bedroom is packed to capacity, the gathering room is being overrun and the living/dining room always is cluttered. Chad and my bedroom holds no immunity to the flood of kid paraphernalia and I have to repeatedly had to drag/push carts, chairs, strollers out of MY kitchen. It has got to stop!

We've come up with a plan, a really good plan:) Chad and I have given up the fight and released the tv room for the kids enjoyment. Chad has almost finished up the closet remodel making the room kid friendly again. We've taken out the tv and love seat and added a shelving unit that I've been saving for from Ikea for months. Now our sweet little mess makers have their very own room... of course, toys leave the room, but so far, they always go back:) Jolina will be so proud! I can't say that the room is pretty and/or organized, but the kids love it!

I've always dreamed of a little sitting room off of the kitchen. Now we have it! We put a nice comfy chair (in dire need of recovering) and a little table and lamp and I'm good to relax:) I ate my breakfast there yesterday morning while enjoying the show that the multitudes of birds provided. The kids can play outside and I can sit and read inside. (Hah! that's the dream anyway:) )

Where is all the rest of our stuff, you may be wondering? Well, I've made another startling revelation...my studio is wasted space. I use it for photo shoots maybe once a month, sometimes once every couple of months. It's a big space that it's being used. We moved the love seat, all my sewing paraphernalia, and the tv out there. I picked up a second shelving unit from Ikea and now we have a dedicated family room. Don't worry, Everything easily moves making my studio a more comfy reality. Pictures will come after a couple more days of much needed organizing out there:) Movie night anyone? We have a great place now to watch:)

The Waiting Paid Off

Our garden has taken off! Our fruit trees and bushes have as well. This summer will be filled with glorious, yummy fruits and veggies.

My green beans, carrots and beets
Lettuce, peppers, and cherry tomato
Can't forget the strawberries:)
Blueberries
Raspberries
Gooseberries

Apple on our tree planted last spring

I have found several of these invaders in my garden this year. I just couldn't figure out where they came from (they are some type of pumpkin, gourd thingy). Then it hit me, the interlopers are from the compost bin! We filled up the two new raised beds with dirt from our compost bin. I'm not sure what I'll do with the uninvited guests just yet, we don't have the room in the beds this season. Think, Think, Think...

Oh, and here's the latest on the hot dog loving boy:) He's recovering just fine and only looks a bit worse for wear:)

Our day ended with a bang!

My banging on Gavin's back that is. We were eating dinner and he started choking. I had recently deemed him ready to eat hot dogs uncut. It seems that I made that call a bit too soon. I assumed Chad knew what he was doing as he grabbed the gagging, choking boy but the right stuff wasn't getting done. My friend Jolina "Asked" me to take an infant CPR class a couple of years ago before babysitting her daughter. I'm so thankful that I did! I got the huge chunk of hot dog out of him and he happily finished eating the rest of his hot dog (cut up, thank you very much). With only petechial hemorrhaging around his eyes and on his cheeks and bit of extra drool, he is clueless as to how horrible that could have turned out. My heart is still pounding a bit.

Before the action at dinner, we filled our day with fun in the sun. My niece had her b-day party at a park in Wilsonville were the kids played in the water feature. We then hit the speed boat races in Newberg for an hour. It was our first time and the kids LOVED it. We'll have to make it a tradition.

The kids are off to bed and I can only thank God for my baby boy. I'm sure the whole episode was only a tiny bit of time but it seemed like time just stopped as I watched him fight to breath. To think that something as little and unimportant as a hot dog could change our whole world. That's it!!! No More Hotdogs!:) Okay, that's not really reasonable now is it? How about, That's It!!! No More Uncut Hotdogs for a While!!:)

Happy Birthday to Me!:)

Well, I turned 29 yesterday. Okay, that was my friend Kristel's idea. She decreed that there will be no more addition on our ages:) I'll be truthful, I'm now 31. Wow, how did that happen so fast? Chad jokingly commented last evening about my 29 wonderful years. It made me think, are there two years of non-wonderful, time that I would want to forget? Nope! I am so wonderfully blessed! I have an amazing husband and two great children, a stable home life and a super supportive extended family. I've experienced some lows but they are always, always followed by joy. I have a comfy home, a car that works (and a husband that can make it work if it stops working:) ), a small but successful photography business, and friends that are always available when I need them. My kids wake me up with sloppy kisses and we end the day with eyes, nose and ear love:) How does it get any better?

Oh yeah, how about a new sewing machine!!! Chad, my grandmother, and all the parents went together and gifted me with a new sewing machine, a Brothers Innov-is 80. My old machine is a rebuilt Morse from the 50s. It's been a great machine but with all this sewing I've been doing, I was ready for something that can handle more, much more:)

So, as I sit here contemplating how I got to 31 so quickly, I realize that my life is just right, perfect even. I proudly shout that I'm 31 and I wouldn't change a day of it!

Slip, Sliding Along

Chad picked up a slip-n-slide today and we set it up after nap time. It took Kyla a little while to get the hang of it but now she slides like a pro with just a couple of strawberries on her knees:)

Gavin on the other hand did NOT take to the slip-n-slide. Chad pushed him a bit too hard on his first time...

and now Gavin just isn't sure about it:)

This is now how he does the slip-n-slide.

Chad being Chad had to have a go at it. After a stunning belly flop to start out with, he was successful in his attempt to relive his childhood. I don't think he'll be doing it again:)

Splash on!

I'm Famous!

Okay, well not really famous. But a project of mine is:) I recently made a backpack for Gavin to wear on our coming plane trip to IN this summer. I constructed it out of an outgrown pair of overalls and a knit turtleneck. I didn't have a pattern, I just came up with something that happened to work out:)

I blogged about it on the Wardrobe Refashion website fulfilling my weekly commitment for my pledge. The backpack has gotten rave reviews:) I've now been asked to make a tutorial and the backpack was just highlighted on the craftgossip.com website! How Cool! Here is the link...

http://sewing.craftgossip.com/lookie-what-she-made-backpack-from-overalls/2009/05/19/

It's funny to me that my penny-pinching nature and a simple idea have gotten such a response!

Here is the Famous Backpack.

Tractor Time!

My brother was down for a quick visit this weekend sans wife and baby boy so we hung out at my parent's house on Saturday. During the day, my Dad and Josh left and came back hauling a huge tractor. My dad has alwasy dreamed of being a farmer:) They are now the proud owners of a barely used tractor with a mowing deck and scoop. You can only image how excited the kids were. The truck had barely stopped moving and the kids were up on the trailer crawling around like wild monkeys.

Kyla decided to dig a hole to China (with Grandpa's help). Thankfully, Grandma and Grandpa hadn't planted the garden yet:)

Gavin closed up the hole (Again with Grandpa's help)

Couldn't resist taking pics in the field.

Budding Photographer

At the beginning of this month, I made a two month pledge to not buy anything new clothes wise. I can only make things from scratch or re-fashion them. I've done several things for the kids but this was my first attempt at something for me. As part of the pledge, you have to post pictures on the wardrobe refashion website and I needed some pics of me in my first creation. I asked Kyla is she would be interested in taking my pics. She said she'd love to do a photo shoot:) Off to the park we went and here are the results. I was quite proud of the bossy little photo taker:)

Some of the pics have quite the interesting angle, I'm not sure if she was going for an artsy/edgy look or if the weight of the camera just did her in:) A few of the pics aren't perfectly focused and I did some work on a couple of them centering wise. She did an awesome job! Here is the amazing photographer herself...

A quick note: this shirt is a refashion that I purchased at Goodwill for a couple of dollars. It was too big but I loved the fabric. Here is the original...

Famous Authoress...

Kyla brought home a book from school today, her very own book. She illustrated it and wrote it out all by herself. She was so excited! She did a pretty good job sounding out the words and spelling them, so fun to see her learning how to spell!

I Ride My Bike - By Kyla

I ride my bike to the park. And

I swing on the swings. And

I sit on the bench.

The End

Swinging Away

Yesterday afternoon, Chad's dad stopped by and played with the kiddos out back. He ended up staying for dinner and the kids enjoyed every second with Grandpa G:)

Loose Teeth Vintage Inspired Sundress with Petticoat GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Loose Teeth Vintage Inspired Sundress with Petticoat GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Love this! I may have to try to make one:)

Now we wait...

I planted our four raised beds yesterday evening. We had our moms over for a mom's day lunch and then I headed outside and got dirty:) We have tomatoes, peppers, beets, carrots, green beans, lettuce, cucumbers and some flowers. I can't wait for all the yummy goodness:) Our strawberries are looking good, shouldn't be too long before we have strawberry shortcake.

After I finished up, I took some pics of flowers around the yard. I LOVE flowers!