Capture the Everyday: A Sign that Summer is Coming

Couldn't wait to post for this today - my picture would have also been appropriate for last week's theme, if only I had been that organized...

Had to post a cucumber pic - These are what started my gardening passion

& I managed to grow about 50 of them last summer!!

Gardening has really become a new passion of mine (although as evidenced by the photo above, weeding is still not my forte...) - I was born with a black thumb, but I seem to be turning a corner this year. Not only have I been able to keep our orchid alive for 9 months (long enough for it to get new blooms people!!), but my garden has grown by leaps & bounds compared to last year. Here's what we're currently growing around here:

-lettuce

-sugar snap peas

-pole beans

-spinach

-arugula

-roma tomato

-cucumber

-squash

-raspberries

-strawberries

-sunflowers

-sage

-lavender

-basil

-cilantro

I won't bore you with all of the photos, but the best part is that everything I have listed above is actually growing at this point!! I have planted in larger numbers, in hopes that if several things die off we'll still end up with something. We have been eating salads every night with the lettuce - it's awesome! And, if all the plants die in the next few weeks, which I am hopeful they won't, I can at least say I have had fun trying my hand at all of this.

Want to participate in 'Capture the Everyday' as well? Head on over to Adventuroo & link up!

Fishing with Papa & Dad

This past weekend presented several opportunities for outdoor fun, which is one of our favorite things in this family. Seth & Wyatt took Papa out on the fishing boat to see what they could wrangle with the Scooby Doo fishing rod, and wouldn't you know it was quite a successful trip! All were thrown back, and Wyatt might have had the most fun with the worms, but a successful trip all-in-all!

Snacking with Papa - Wyatt's other favorite pastime

Casting the line with Dad

What did I tell ya?

My favorite pic of the trip

Capture the Everyday: Your Child's Favorite Part of Your House

This one was sort of a toss up between the basement & the swing set in the backyard. With the recent addition of the basketball hoop on the basement, it won the tie here. The basement was also one of the features of our house that sold me on it when we looked at it - I always had one growing up, and made so many memories down there. It was sort of like the one place in the house that didn't have to get cleaned up regularly, and anything goes! In this case, one half of the basement is for Monkey, Bean & myself (or my crafts & wrapping paper rather), and the other side is the "man cave." I don't pretend to know what goes on over there, but it houses all of my husband's stuff that used to be on our garage, meaning I can now park my car in there, so Mama's happy :)

Want to link up? Head over to Adventuroo to join in the fun!!

The Business of Updating

It's been a while since I have just posted some pics in here, unrelated to any challenge, meme, or the like. Here's what we have been up to on these recent sunny (and not so sunny) days - enjoy!

Loving baby food!

Ice cream with the cousins

Can I just tell you how much Bean loves Monkey? He's hung the moon...

After finishing a 5K - wishing I had been the one riding in the stroller... :)

Bean's first adventure in the backpack!

Doughnut date with Mom after church one Sunday

Dad & Bean enjoying the Spring weather in the sun porch

I love this pic - as I took it, Monkey was saying "I LOVE Duke Gardens..."

Capture the Everyday: Modern Technology

Wordless Wednesday: Wagon Riding

Stream of Conciousness Sunday: I'm Turning Into My Mother

I have decided that when it comes to all things "I'm turning into my mother," I'm just going to begin embracing them. Not even so much the "turning into my mom" part, as much as the "I'm a grown up - now responsible for two children" part. You see, I used to be cool - at one time I was a concert going, beer swilling, free spirited college gal who probably made $20 last two weeks, and didn't have too many cares. I mean, for three years straight pre-kids I attended a music festival with my younger brother that involved me going without a shower & sleeping in a tent for 5 days... My, how that all can change when you hit THE REAL WORLD.

So, I just have to laugh at myself now when I freak because my phone might have lost all the "sleep logs" I have been keeping for the baby. And I'll still chuckle a bit when talking about a situation in the car & I begin spelling names, or referring to people as "you-know-who," so those big toddler ears in the back don't go & embarrassingly repeat something to others. Last night I had to hold back my surprise when the boy announced mid-board game "OMG, this game is so hard Mom, right?" - they really do listen to everything.

I am a grown up now, one who is "turning into my Mom" - but you know what? She is a great Mom, so I'll embrace it & laugh about it along the way.

This was my 5 minute Stream of Consciousness Sunday post. It’s five minutes of your time and a brain dump. Want to try it? Here are the rules…

• Set a timer and write for 5 minutes only.
• Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.
• Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.
• Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post.
• Link up at All Things Fadra
• Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love.

Capture the Everyday: My Favorite Home Feature

Boy, Melissa over at Adventuroo must have read my mind with this week's assignment! MY husband & I just completed a serious backyard project - there are LITERALLY blood, sweat & tears that went into this thing - but it has been just perfect timing with this weather!

This combines a few of my favorite things about our fairly new house (moved in last year) - the new patio, the sun porch & the wooded backyard. (Side note - the chairs actually have cushions, but were put away before last night's rain...)

Everyone's Losing Weight & Guess Who's Finding It!

Bean had her 6 month visit this morning, and I had a feeling she was going to come up tiny on the charts - here's where we stand:

Weight: 13 lbs, 14 oz - between 10th-25th percentile

Height: 24 3/4 inches - between 10th-25th percentile

The doctor said to just keep doing what we are doing for now, feeding & schedule wise, and they'll check on her again in a month to see if we need her to gain more weight. I went through the same thing with my son...ugh.

In addition to my daughter being slim, a neighbor commented the other day that our Lab was looking thin & she wondered if he was sick. After taking a second look at the dog, it occurred to me that several people mentioned he was looking thin lately. I took him to the vet yesterday, only to find out he has lost about 17 lbs in 7 months. We switched dog food about that time, and apparently he needs to be eating more of it. At this point they are ruling out any major health problems since he is as healthy & perky seeming as ever - just starving apparently.

And to top it all off, my husband put on a pair of pants this morning that we bought for him just a year or two ago - wouldn't you know it, they were as baggy & loose as ever. Need I say more? I'll just be shuffling back down to the scale, which I keep in the depths of my basement, only to see that it has not moved in weeks from my current weight. Apparently Mama is the only one getting fed around here - sorry folks!

My Friday Frills - Installment 5

Wow! These past two weeks have really flown by, but here we are again at the end of another week. We have been building a flagstone patio this past week, lugging each & every piece of stone into the backyard. There was a stone the other day as big as the hood of my car, so needless to say my arms & back are taking a beating. We are really looking forward to enjoying it this weekend though - we are in the homestretch!! Here is what has made those sore muscles more bearable this week:

1. Baby Portraits: I am fortunate enough to have a few photographer friends that have captured some beautiful shots of my children over the past few years. I have their work hanging all over our house, and truly

enjoy it every day. However, the other day I felt the need to drop into the $9.99 portrait studio for a few shots of the Bean at 6 months. She is so smiley these days, so I felt like the pictures could be pretty cute.

3. Impromptu Dance Parties: With the boy's naps becoming more & more scare these days, it is nice to have a way to get out some of that extra energy at the end of the day. I have been enjoying the workout as well! Our current favorite dance song - Justin Bieber's Never Say Never - don't lie, you know you love it as much as we do ;)

3. A Good Laugh: Do you ever get in one of those moods & just start looking on the Internet for a funny video that has been mentioned by someone and the next thing you know you are looking up every hilarious clip you can think of? My husband & I did this the other night, and ended up watching this video again which I still think is hilarious (big fan of Chris Parnell).

There you have it! Here's to a great weekend!

Capture the Everyday: Your Child's Favorite Toy

Another Thursday to participate in Adventuroo's weekly photo assignment. Today's task was your child's favorite toy. This was easy for us - for Bean, it is the Exersaucer, since it is her latest & greatest discovery and a chance to use her new 6 month old skills.

For the Monkey, it has always been his stuffed animals (well, really his "soft blankie" but I suppose that's not really a toy...) - yes, he does sleep with all of these. They also get to take turns playing a variety of games with him, or participating in everyday activities such as eating breakfast, watching a show or going for a ride in the car. Most of them also have names :)

Want to participate? It's easy - head on over to Adventuroo to link up!

Stream of Consciousness Sunday: It All Goes By So Fast

This is my first time doing this, but I actually had 5 minutes to myself this morning so I thought - what the heck! I love to read all of these, so here goes!

As I sit here typing, I can hear my husband down in the basement with my son, teaching him how to ride his first "big boy bike." Funny story behind the bike, and I'll try to keep it short. Rewind to about 3 years ago, when the boy was roughly 6 months old. Hubby & I went to a bike shop with our bikes, hoping to trade them in for some cash towards new ones. Turns out they weren't as valuable as we thought, and the credit wouldn't go far towards a brand new bike from the bike shop. So, there we stood with our $125 credit, wondering what in the world to get from this bike shop. Then I spotted them - the kids bikes! And wouldn't you know, they were $125.00. I was never planning on spending that much on my child's first bike, but with a credit in hand, we decided to get one for the boy & save it. (Funny side note, as we were making the transaction, my son's pediatrician walks in...I had to explain why we were buying our then 6 month old son a brand new bike for a toddler...)

So, long story short, we have had the bike in an attic or basement for years - and now he is downstairs riding it. It always seemed like it was going to be such a long time before he fit on it. Excuse me while I go wipe a few tears away.

This is my 5 minute Stream of Consciousness Sunday post hosted byallthingsfadra.com. It’s five minutes of your time and a brain dump. Want to try it? Here are the rules…

• Set a timer and write for 5 minutes only.
• Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.
• Publish it

Capture the Everyday: What's On Your Nightstand

I'm am loving this little weekly challenge from Melissa over at Adventuroo! This week's assignment? Capturing a picture of what lies on your nightstand. Already a sore subject with me - I have no "nightstand," only my dresser, which is next to my side of the bed. I have been wanting a new set of bedroom furniture for about 8 years now, but alas other things always come up. Until then, here are the contents of the "nightstand portion" of my dresser - enjoy!

- a note from my son telling me that he found a penny on the floor of his room & wondered if it could go into his piggy bank (but I'm sure you got all that just from reading the note - you can translate "toddler," right?)

- the Kindle that I gave my husband for his birthday a year ago, which he quickly replaced with the iPad. I was happy to call it my own and am currently reading 'The Help'. Attached to it is the book light I use every night - he can't sleep with the light on, and I am a bit of a night owl

- my iPhone, which I keep handy for when I can't sleep & use to keep up with baby's eating & sleeping schedule

- my baby monitor, which I just keep on for the video screen, no sound. We sleep with our door cracked open, or I would never sleep with that thing so close to my head

- my cup of water

- my "bible" - Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child, which I refer to quite often, even with #2

- the stack of magazines that I keep telling myself I will read soon - appears I have some serious catching up to do

- the TV & Apple TV remotes

And there you have it! What's on your nightstand? Head on over to Adventuroo to link up!

My Friday Frills - Installment 4

So, I missed last week because we ended up going out of town for a few days. Here's what's been on my list for the past two weeks - TGIF!

1. The Beach House: I am lucky enough to have in-laws with a

beach house that they so kindly let us frequent. With some of the warm weather we have been having, I am so looking forward to spending many Spring & Summer weekends down there. Monkey is at the age where he is really excited about it as well, and has taken to both the ocean & the boat (and more importantly, the

life jacket because there was a time when we thought we could never boat again with the tantrums that ensued when putting that blasted thing on!!). I have so many memories from growing up of spending time at the NC beaches, so I look forward to creating some with my kids.

2. Swim Lessons: Oh, my son will learn to swim this Spring - he has no choice :) I say that jokingly because the thought of managing two children at the pool who cannot swim is a bit overwhelming at this point! Swim lessons start next week at the YMCA - this will be his first time with a group lesson, which I actually think will suit him better than the private ones he took this past summer. He loves the water, just hates putting his face in - We'll see how it goes...

3. Top Chef All-Stars: Have I mentioned how much I love this show? And, it's just a bonus that this season it has all of these wonderful past chefs on it. It is what I look forward to watching most during the week - I seem to always walk away from it feeling inspired, and somehow I manage to create at least one excellent dinner a week because of the inspiration. Do you watch? I'm rooting for Carla or Richard.

Capture the Everyday: Something You Can't Live Without

Thanks to Melissa, over at Adventuroo, I have another reason to try to blog at least once a week! This week's challenge - capture something that you can't live without. I'm pretty sure the photo below needs no explanation, and if I had to guess I would say a few more like it may grace today's posts for the Challenge!

Head over to Adventuroo to link up & participate!

My Friday Frills - Installment 3

Coming up with this list this week has seemed exceptionally hard - just been one of those weeks, you know? I'm totally ready for it to be warmer out, and some of these nice days have been a real tease.

1. My New Bed: We recently purchased a king sized bed, and I haven't looked back since! It has been so nice having the extra room - it's practically like having a Tempurpedic the way it doesn't move when the hubby gets in & out of bed. There's plenty of room for snuggling with kids, on those mornings when you just aren't quite ready to get up yet, and for my 6 foot hubby to stretch his long, long legs!

2. Little Girl's Bathing Suits: Why are they so darn cute? I have purchased 5 bathing suits for the Bean, and it's not even close to summer yet! In my defense, I have found that all the time we spend at the beach can really do a number of bathing suits, so I suppose it's good to have variety. Oh, who am I kidding - I really just like the idea of having something cuter than boy's bathing trunks! Here was a favorite purchase thus far - got a similar one for Monkey & we have loved these for the boat at the beach. Let's face it, when your kids are as pale as mine, you need all the SPF you can get!

3. Morning Coffee: I have come to terms with the fact that I simply cannot live without it. Lately I have been trying a few varieties from Trader Joe's, and with a hubby that isn't picky it makes it nice to switch things up a bit. Ironically, I ran out of coffee this morning and am home alone with a sleeping baby so mama will just have to wait to get her fix...

My Friday Frills - Installment 2

Here's what has made my life easier or more enjoyable this week:

1. Free Time with the Bean:

I forgot how carefree life seemed with one child, and especially with one baby - all the things we used to get done!! Dad took the Monkey for some much needed "guy time" yesterday, and Bean & I just strolled around the mall, ran errands & just laid around & played together. It was nice to have some alone time to enjoy all the new things she's doing at 5 months!

2. Self Control:

This week I have made the decision to try to finally lose some of this baby weight. Let's be honest - as much I have have enjoyed my love affair with ice cream each evening, swimsuit season is

creeping in. Last summer it was a nice excuse to be pregnant & not have to worry about fitting into summer clothes. I have one good week under my belt of trying to just be more conscious of what I am putting into my mouth - damn if it isn't hard though!

3. Smiley Faces:

Monkey is finally showing his crafty side & been sitting with me

at his table in the playroom to draw. He comes to me throughout the day with little surprises & pictures - some of which leave me guessing, and others which are getting easier to figure out. This was a recent favorite that I put up on my side of the bed to make me smile in the morning.

Owls & Birds & Cowboys, Oh My!

I can't even begin to tell you how long overdue this post is - it has been sitting in my box of posts to edit for quite sometime now. The baby is sleeping & daddy has taken the Monkey off for an adventure this afternoon, so here I sit trying to get this out!

I'll start with the boy's room - I am the type of person that will find one thing that I like, fixate on it & then have to decorate an entire room around it. Now that I have put that out there, you'll better understand my thinking for both of my children's rooms. It all started with this fabric I liked, called "Johnny & Buck" - did I mention I found it, and then found out it was discontinued? My obsession for things that are discontinued is almost as great as my previous obsession I mentioned. When told I cannot have something, it then must be mine! Okay, back to the fabric - I found this fabric online & was able to order the last bit of it to make a crib skirt, throw pillow & put some in the back of a bookcase. Well, now that Monkey is 3, we have moved on to a big boy bed, but I still wanted to be able to use the same themes & fabrics so as not to change everything out. Here's what I came up with...

The room now sort of has a camping/cowboy theme - his night light lantern & vintage "W"

A rope mirror that I found at Pier One Kids when it was going out of business -

added my own rod iron antique stars from a flea market

Curtains made by my sister in a ticking red & cream -

cowboy fabric in the back of the bookcase (pardon the mess :))

The fabric that started it all!! Both of my children's gliders came from the thrift store - at different times, and they happen to be the same brand! Paid $30 for each, then had the cushions recovered at a local upholstery place with fabric I bought at Not Just Linens.

An antique lamp my Mom had lying around seemed to fit in with the curtain rods. The rope name was another online find that I thought went well with the theme for the room.

The Monkey! Don't ask me how he sleeps amongst this mess, but somehow it happens!! The wall bookshelf has been a lifesaver for keeping things out of the bed.

Hmm...some days this is doubtful ;)

Now for the Bean's room. I'm not the girliest girl out there, and I knew two things - I didn't want a pink room, and I didn't want to have to buy too many things. The theme for her room started about a year ago - I was at a local craft fair, and found these adorable handmade owls. My sister even said right then & there "You're going to plan the baby's whole room around those owls, aren't you?" - ahh, she knows me too well. There is a lot more owl stuff out there now than there was about a year ago, but I knew again that I wanted it to sort of be a mish-mash of things I could collect from different places. Here's what I came up with:

Found these pink curtains at Pottery Barn Kids & thought they were a good deal.

The mobile was my son's, and the print was a find at Target.

I found these book ends to put inside the shelf on a random trip to Home Goods - at $4.99 each, I couldn't resist!

This cute lamp was another Target find!

This quilt was sort of an impulse buy for the room - may have been the most I spent on anything, but I thought it made for a cute & large wall decor piece. (There's the Bean's feet!!)

The owls that started it all!!

A mobile that I found somewhere online & was given as a gift, a crib bumper donated by my sister, and a sheet again from the Pottery Barn collection. It didn't make the photo, but the crib skirt is a twin blue & white checked bed skirt that I cut down to fit the crib - it was $10 at PBK!

A vintage mirror that belonged to my grandmother - it seemed like a nice girly touch!