My boys willingly posed (nicely) for a 5 second photo-op and I was actually able to capture a few good ones. The only way to get them to smile naturally is to make them laugh and to make them laugh means Jack will inevitably have his mouth wide open. Anywho, this picture reminded me of another photo I took long ago, but not that long ago...you know?!
As I hinted yesterday (I'm sure you were dying to know..wink-wink), I finally created something with my Martha Stewart stencils. Last week, my friend Sara pinned this adorable DIY coat rack and I immediately felt the need to make my own. I knew I had just the place for it too!
We have a very functional mudroom with a lot of storage and dump space, but it has been needing something. This something relates to the fact that my boys are old enough to hang up their coats, sweatshirts and backpacks by themselves, but they are not quite big enough to reach our hooks. A majority of the time, all of their things are laying on the floor of the mudroom and then I am constantly picking them up. Not fun.They needed a cute and functional rack that was just the right size for them.
This Pinterest Challenge inspired me to get going on actually creating something I have pinned while also solving a small organizational quirk in my home.
Disclaimer: These photos are awful. This space has no natural light and it's too tight of a space for me to take an accurate picture of how the space is laid out.
Here is our mudroom...
On the exact opposite wall from the built-in is a closet door and an empty wall. This empty wall was just the place for my kiddo rack.
I bought an inexpensive piece of MDF from Lowes had them cut it down to the exact width of my wall. To add a pop of color to this space as well as continue on with my goal of adding yellow to every room in my house, I painted the board Pale Butter by Valspar. I had a random sample of this from another project so it was perfect and no added cost.
I then added my stencil with Martha Stewart acrylic paint in the color Wedding Cake. Now this was my very first time stenciling, so it is no where near perfect. You live..you learn!
After the painted dried, I gave it a good sanding to distress it. I had some knobs laying around that were to be used on a different project, but I had changed my mind. I bought them at Hobby Lobby probably one year ago on a trip to Green Bay. Please Hobby Lobby come back to Minneapolis/St. Paul!. Anyway, I thought they would work great, but I was dreaming of Anthropologie knobs for this project. The boys and I even went to Anthropologie (a feet in itself..not the best place for small children, but they actually were totally into the knob search) and I purchased some. But, when I got home I had major buyers remorse over the fact that I spent $12/knob when I had perfectly fine knobs at home that cost me $1.25/knob. So, I returned the knobs and went with the ones I had. The beauty of this project, is that I can change it up down the road if I want to..knobs included.
Anyway, here is what I came up with. Oh and please disregard my disgustingly dirty walls. They are G-ross as the boys have managed to touch every wall in this house with their sticky, dirty fingers. What can I do/say...we live here.
I like it and I'm happy with it.
Most importantly, to see my boys hang up their things makes me ecstatic!
1. In just this last week, complete strangers have started making comments to me on the fact that I'm pregnant. When I say, "making comments", I mean one of two scenarios....1. they either congratulate me or 2. they ask the standard triple question..."how far along are you?, when is your due date?, do you know what you're having?". I don't mind this at all because it finally means that I actually look pregnant and that I'm not just carrying around a growing beer belly. Also, being that this is my last time, I may be reveling in it a little ; )
32.5 weeks!
2. Strangely enough, in just this last week while I have been out and about with my boys, I have noticed an increase in this following comment as well from complete strangers, "You sure do have your hands full!" I'm not too sure how to respond to this or if it's even worth it for me to do so. But, I always politely smile.
Yes, I know they are a hand-full, but they are little boys! My two little boys who are super outgoing, rambunctious, lovers of life and interested in everything and how it works. They are a lot of work, but the best kind of hard work. I'm not willing to not take them places as they need to experience life and learn how to be when we are around other people or running errands or eating at restaurants. Before I know it, this precious time will be gone and they will be all grown up. A sweet older couple came up to me after church on Sunday and commented on how cute they thought the boys were. They told me that they also have two boys, who are all grown up now. They said that seeing our boys reminded them so much of their own children and they reminded me about the fact that it goes by so fast. It was heartwarming listening to them.
I have also read this blog post a few times as it makes me feel as though I am not alone in this adventure we call raising children!
Okay, moving on!
3. If you are a mushroom lover like muaw, then you must make this soup! I made it last week and we all enjoyed it. Yes, even my boys...well, Owen loved it and Jack liked it. I doubled the recipe to make four servings and we still had enough for leftovers, which I ate right up the next day for lunch. It was even better the second day.
4. Do you watch The Walking Dead? Pat got me hooked on this show season one-episode one, simply because he could not bring himself to watch it alone. I never thought I would watch a show like this let alone actually enjoy it. Now here I am two seasons in and loving it. I may cover my eyes a few times (those zombies are creepy), but it's sooo good.
5. Jack did get back on his bike sans training wheels today. He rode it for about 10 minutes up and down our street. I held his bike while he hopped on and as I pushed him off to pedal on his own, I could hear him saying under his breath, "I think I can...I think I can". So freak'n sweet! I love this little boy so very much!
6. I whipped out my Martha Stewart stencils, finally! It's only been like eight months since I bought them...sheesh! Here's a little sneak peak...
7. We played outside this afternoon for 3 hours...new bubbles, new bubble wands and a new pack of chalk can be quite entertaining! So can the neighbors you haven't seen since November.
8. I am absolutely LOVING my new TOMS. They are so comfortable almost like wearing slippers all day long! Now, what color to buy next or maybe a wedge for summer?
9. Looking at this picture makes my mouth water...
10. I did watch bits and pieces of this latest The Bachelor. I could never bring myself to sit down and watch an entire episode as I found it to be quite boring. This however, it quite funny...
As I watched Jack ride his bike yesterday, I realized how confident he had become over the last year. So today, I mentioned to him very nonchalantly that maybe we should take off his training wheels. Surprisingly, he was all for it! Before weall could give it a second thought, Pat was taking off the training wheels while Jack was grinning with excitement. Here we go...there's not turning back now!
We took him to a school park by our house that has a perfect place to teach a 5 year-old how to ride a bike sans training wheels...a soccer field.
Pat's advice to Jack was "just keep pedaling" and my advice to him was "just keep telling yourself, I think I can..I think I can..I think I can".
And he's off...
He got up on his first try!
He rode until he got to the soccer net and then wasn't sure what to do, so he hopped off his bike.
But, he got right back on his bike and rode to the opposite soccer net with Pat, Owen and I cheering him on.
He was doing so well that we decided to move to the empty parking lot so he would have a harder surface to practice on. I watched him do a couple of loops and my confidence in him was souring, so I let Pat take over and I took Owen to play on the playground.
But wait...
About 5 minutes later, I heard a crash and a loud, screaming cry. Jack's loud, screaming cry to be exact. He had turned a corner a little too sharp and ran right into the light post just hard enough that he fell off his bike and scrapped his elbow. He was upset, scared and D-O-N-E with the bike riding and there was no convincing him otherwise. Luckily, there was the playground to take his mind off the crash for awhile because we were standing by our, "you have to get back on after you fall off". He wiped his tears, played and laughed with Owen and quickly got over it. Ufta!
Then we bribed him (you just have to sometimes!) with anything he wanted from Dairy Queen if he rode his bike one more time. He took the bait happily and rode his bike all around the parking lot a couple of more times.
He regained his confidence in riding his bike and was able to enjoy his triple scoop ice cream cone with a cherry on top.
Although I was not looking forward to being alone with the boys for that long, I was super pumped for him to have such an amazing experience. And from the sounds of it, that is exactly what it was for him plus three new watches.
2. We checked out the Arboretum with friends. It was great to be outside watching our boys be one with nature, but maybe going there in the Spring/Summer/Fall would be a better idea. It was worth it though.
3. I kept uber busy while he was gone which made the 10 days just fly by. One of my best girlfriends, Sara and her kiddos came for a visit for a few nights. Two Mommas plus four kiddos made for a hectic yet kid-fun time with good heaping of girl talk in between. For example, we made a trip to the MOA and after rides, Build-A-Bear and lunch, we decided that us girls deserved a little treat for ourselves. Our treat just happened to be these. Our kids may have destroyed the store, but as long as we were holding new shoes in our hands...we were okay with it.
Mr. Sully aka Best Baby Ever
They made the whoopie pies and we I snitched small bites of them.
4. I made these brownies and with the help of a few other peeps (okay-okay, mostly me), they were gone pretty quickly.
5. I struggled and continue to struggle in finding a way to cure Jack's chapped lower lip. He's constantly licking it which makes it red and chapped which causes him lots of pain. Any remedies?
7. I reached week 32 of being pregnant and I am at the peak of constant bathroom visits. This baby must be using my bladder as a pillow.
8. I have been laughing at Owen's cute antics! This boy is a dramatic yet goofy one. He's constantly telling me he's hungry, however, when I give him something to eat, he maybe will eat half of it and then get distracted by whatever Jack is doing. Then, 15 minutes later, he tells me he's "soooo hungry".
Just yesterday, he told me, "Mommy, I so hungry...my tummy has a headache cause I sooo hungry".
