Easter holiday

Brian has a 4 day weekend for Easter, so he's still home today.  It's fantastic having him around after a week of him working til 7 or 8 pm.  The littles are having a blast hanging out with him, mostly outside.  It's finally that Spring weather that I can get behind- 60s during the day, and very cool at night.  I like it. 

I also liked our Easter yesterday.  We skipped mass (shhh... don't tell my mom) because it is so insane to try and take littles to church on Easter.  It's insane enough any other day of the year, trust me.  But we said our prayers, and tried in a very stumbly sort of way to explain Easter to Fletcher.  I don't think he got it.  Especially since you tend to speak in broad strokes to a 3 year old, anyway.

We did the baskets, and a little egg hunt, too.

{that was an easy one, eh?}

You know what I love about Fletcher?  He went straight to his basket, pulled out the 2 books, ignored the new toys, and started reading.

He got to the toys quickly, but he just couldn't resist looking at the books first. 

You know what I love about Rowan?  She went straight for the chocolate.

They are my children.  For certain.

Brian made a big breakfast of pancakes and sausage.  Rowan decided she needed to touch each sausage before settling on one.

Fletcher ate all his pancakes, and Brian got to sit down and enjoy them, too.  Along with a strong cup of coffee.  And we listened to Handel's Messiah, which I love.

We played outside all day, worked on a few projects, and I worked on dinner.  On the menu:
Grilled garlic/rosemary rubbed lamb for Brian
Hotdogs for the kiddos
Balsamic Honey glazed brussels sprouts
Salad
Fruit Salad
Grilled garlic/rosemary bread

{the lily-of-the-valley is going crazy around here!  the scent of just this little bouquet fills the house}
The brussels sprouts were AMAZING.  Go make them NOW, even if you think you don't like them.  Cause you will. love. these.

We ate every last one.  And we listened to Jesus Christ Superstar with dinner.  Cause we're very cool like that.  Rowan liked it, and we had quite the dance party!

I hope your Easter was just as fun and relaxed as mine!

diy painted shoes

While we were still in South Carolina, I picked up a pair of Converse from Target for $8 on sale.  I love my Converse.  I have a few pairs, and my kids wear them now.  Back in high school I used to draw all over them, and so when I picked up this basic pair, I thought it would be fun to do a little design on them.

I love the navy and mustard yellow on the insoles, so I got inspired to use that color on the outside, too!  First I started by lightly drawing a design freestyle.  If you're an exact person, you could measure and all that, but I am obviously not an exact person.  I used a silver gel pen so that I could see the lines on the dark navy.

I went with an easy Chevron pattern.  After this, I apparently put down my camera and didn't pick it back up until I was finished painting.  Sorry about that!  I can tell you that I used basic acrylic paint (not fabric paint, but that would definitely work) and a very thin brush.  And I just took my time painting over the lines.

{Hand-knotted rug is a recently found treasure at a local antique store.  I sure adore that mustard and aqua together!}
And there you go!  I thought about doing the toe-box of the shoe, but decided to keep it to the sides.  The star strip on the sides and the backs of the shoes are suede, so I didn't really want to paint on that, either.  I like the way they look like a cross between oxfords and old-school Converse now!  I have a pair for Rowan I've been meaning to paint, and as soon as I figure out what design to use, I'll share those with you, too.

Next up, some new Toms to paint!

the things he says part 2

A while ago, I brought you this post, about all the silly things Fletcher says.  Well, he's still the same entertaining little boy, and we have daily laugh fests at the things he says.  I've been trying to write down the funnier Fletchisms for the past few months, and these are my favorite.

*Me: Stop putting your hand down your underwear!
Fletcher: But Patrick does it!
Me: WHO is Patrick?
Fletcher: Patrick is a starfish!
(And that was the end of Fletcher and Brian watching Spongebob Squarepants together.)

*Me: Oh, we forgot to bless our dinner.
Fletcher: What?  That's silly, Mama.  Food don't sneeze.

*Fletcher: Mama, I want you to sleep with me tonight.
Me: But then Papa would be lonely.
Fletcher: Alright, alright.  He can sleep with us, too.
Me: But there's no room in your bed.
Fletcher: Alright, alright.  He can sleep standing up over there (points to corner of room).

*Fletcher: Mama, what does God look like?
Me: I don't know.
Fletcher: Does He have a mouth?
Me: I'm not sure.
Fletcher: Maybe He just talks out His bum (full on earnest here).
Me: Maybe (full on trying so hard not to laugh).

*Fletcher: Mama, I'm very tall you know.  And I loooove you.
(This is especially funny to those of you who know us- Brian and I are pretty short, and Fletcher is a hulk.  Brian thinks he was trying to woo me away here.)

*When I was making these potatoes the other day, Fletcher was asking about the jar of mayo.  I let him lick the spoon after I stirred the mixture.
Fletcher: Mama, I want to have some more of that!
Me: Ok, I'll let you have another little taste on the spoon.
Fletcher: No, no, no, no.  I'm going to need a bowl AND a spoon.

*Rowan was crying before bed the other night, in a very loud, screamy way.
Fletcher: That girl is disturving me, Mama!
Me: You mean disturbing?
Fletcher: No, she's definitely disturving me.

And just to show that Fletcher can be kind of deep and thoughtful, too, I bring you this conversation.:
Me: Fletcher would you like Mama and Papa to have another baby?
Fletcher: You don't have a baby.  The doctor gives you the baby.
Me: Oh.  Well, where does the doctor get the baby?
Fletcher: From the store, of course.
Me: Oh, I see.
Fletcher: Except the broken babies.  They are put on the beach where the water takes them to the sea.
I have no clue where Fletcher came up with that deep thought.

limbo-land

Yes.  We are technically unpacked.  But we have stuff hanging around where it doesn't belong, and pictures and mirrors leaning against walls, and half-day searches for that one little thing that doesn't have a place yet.  So we're in limbo-land.  What does not help the situation is that the littles and I are currently stranded without a vehicle.  ("We" forgot to renew the plate before it expired on Brian's car.  So Brian is driving my car.  And I am driving NOTHING.  But the littles are driving me CRAZY.) We have cabin fever.  Much, much cabin fever. 

We took a long walk around the neighborhood this morning, and that alleviated the problem for about a half an hour.  Rowan doesn't want nap, and has started having 3 hour conversations with God-knows-who in the middle of the night.  Since she's supposed to be alone in her room, I'm trying hard not to think too much about this.  She took an hour long nap today.  Not great.  It makes it hard to get any unpacking/organizing in. 

This is our dining room table.

Thank goodness we have a kitchen table, or we'd be having picnics in the living room.  I don't even know why half of this stuff is sitting here.  I didn't even know that a pro-doweling kit existed until I took this picture, let alone that we owned one.

We have only the very most important things organized in the house, but everything else feels like chaos.

YES.  Wineglasses qualify as the very most important things. 

And then there are the everyday things that are falling by the wayside.

Stainless steel appliances look beautiful.  Until a toddler finger stampede goes through the kitchen.  Every five minutes.

And now?  I'm trying to just enjoy what's going well.  Like the bulb garden my parents sent as a housewarming gift.  Growing fast!

Only a 2 day difference!  I can't wait to see the tulips, daffodils and hyacinth blooming.

And I'm trying to keep this at a minimum.

Not easy, my friends.  Not easy.

big city

We went on a little road trip to the nearest big city.  Which if you are familiar with Jefferson City, is not actually all that big.  But!  It does have a Target, so it's pretty big compared to our current hometown.  And it is also a very pretty little city.  The Capitol Building is impressive, and there are lots of historic homes and green spaces all around it. 

I took the opportunity to wear a dress(!) and also wear a new treasure from the local trading post.

{The thunderbird necklace is from the local trading post.  The birdy necklace was a gift from my parents bought on one of their trips to the southwest.  Little disks necklace that says "rowan" and "fletcher" is my everyday-never-take-it-off necklace bought here }  

Rowan got all fancy, too!  She's wearing vintage- one of my dresses my mom saved from my baby days (thanks, mom!).  Jeggings are from current days- Target.

She's such a lady, right?  We took advantage of the last legs of the wisteria and did a mini photo-shoot before hitting the road. 

The wisteria is pretty much blown away by now, which is sad.  But every day there are new beautiful things blooming in the yard, so I can't be too sad!  Then we got on the road, and headed straight to the train station- a request that could not be ignored by Fletcher. 

Rowan has to do EVERYTHING that Fletcher does.  She follows along behind him saying, "Rowan, too!"

The littles didn't even mind that we didn't see any trains go by.

The train station is right next to the Governor's mansion and some historical buildings, so we strolled around the beautiful grounds. 

Fletcher is checking out his shadow in the picture above.  Brian and Rowan marveled at the beautiful Governor's mansion.

And when littles started getting the hungries, we raced down the grassy hill towards the car!

And of course when Fletcher took a tumble, Rowan had to throw herself on the ground, too.  So we picked ourselves up and all took a little trip to Chipotle to cure the hungries.  Oh, a big city has to have a Chipotle, too.

8 ways to ruin a family photo - by a 3 year old boy

1.  Cry.

2. Stick out your bottom lip.

3. Become easily distracted.

4. Be a big ham.

 5. Become very easily distracted.

6. Smile winningly now that you've distracted everyone else.

7. Do this when the photographer asks you to smile nicely.

8. Be sure to make a funny face in the only picture in which little sister is smiling.

This is probably the winner of the bunch.  Out of roughly 100 pictures. 

This was all in about 5 minutes time, too.  Oh my.  My brother may have a better one on his camera, but I'm pretty sure he was seeing the same thing through his lens. 

We all had a wonderful visit with my brother, sister-in-law, and my nieces, Ariel and Angelique.  Fletcher was sad all yesterday after they left.  Until we took him to the train station, that is.  My nieces were so great with the littles, and everyone babysat while Brian and I had a date night!  We played a lot of cards, played outside, and everyone pitched in to help us settle into our new home. 

And my brother helped solve a mystery that has been plaguing me for years.  Growing up, my father's alarm clock would be set to the Chicago classical station, WFMT.  And every morning, it would go off to the song that would start the morning program.  And I have been half-heartedly trying to track down that song for the past few years, just to hear it again.  I have a big memory connection with music, so I love to hear songs/pieces of music from my childhood.  Anyway, we found out that the song is an old English folk song.  And although we couldn't find the exact recording used, we found something similar.

If you're interested, here it is: Early One Morning

Thank you, Paul, Jenni, Ariel and Angel for the fun visit!! xoxo