Alphabet Photo Art Found

Not only did I find the wonderful flickr site of numerous letters and numbers (Leo Reynolds), but I stumbled upon the blog Full of Great Ideas which featured a how to. I am itching to get modge podging!

Art on the Cheap

I enjoyed this simple project so much. I think that's partly due to the low cost, high awesomeness factors. The idea came from All Things Thrifty. The canvas we already had as well as the light blue paint (from Bruce's table). I bought the dark blue craft paint and a paint brush for $4. I spray painted the canvas, then with the truck image for reference I drew it on the canvas. It took two coats of each. This brings us one step closer to completing the decorations for Bruce's room. I am very satisfied with the look of it.

Notice the collage of family photos? I ordered it for free through a Walgreen's promotion a few weeks ago. A few days after getting it I was reading this article about displaying family photos in your child's room and gave myself a pat on the back because I wanted those photos to be a reminder to Bruce of his value to our family and help him see that he is loved. Wahoo! Plus I am so in love with our family pictures that I want to display them in every room.

Alphabet Photo Art

I have a iron scroll easel sitting on my end table in the living room. It used to be here, but now feels empty and alone since an 8"x36" plaque doesn't fit well for the space. I love the look of alphabet photo art. Heard of it? Here's a quick snippet to describe it...

Alphabet photography is a new and very interesting way of seeing the world through pictures. Basically, an alphabet photograph is a picture of an ordinary item or bit of architecture that looks like a letter. Usually used to spell out words, phrases, or names, alphabet photography is a unique and special gift or décor for your home.

And what that means in picture form...


I found this idea and a great flickr collection with letters a few months ago, but lost the bookmark. Does anyone know of the awesome collection I am referring to? If not, no worries. It may be more fun to photograph my own letters.

Now, on to my idea. I'm going to make a 12x12 plaque that says...

my last name
E S T .
2004

It will be all nice and lined up and be perfect. What do you think?

This Is Photobomb

Wait a second. This is Prom! Yeah, that's right. Kirk and I had a great time dancing and hanging out with our pals.

(this one needs a great caption...any ideas?)

Those guys can dance!

Family Farm Trip

I love little outings like today's to the pumpkin patch. It's gets us out of the house and is a fun adventure for the boys. Bruce had fun crawling through the tunnels and running around in the maze though I think he most enjoyed playing in their sandbox. Go figure!

Not sure what to say about this picture...

We brought home one small pumpkin, one gallon of apple cider, and some fresh produce. I was hesitant to purchase the pumpkins we'd like to carve because I didn't want them to rot by Halloween. Does anyone know how long pumpkins last?

A Whirlwind

My biggest worry about our trip was how the boys would handle the extended car time and topsy turvy schedules, but they did fantastic. They were so well taken care of by family and friends that we had time to breath and relax.

Stop #1 Wedding in Jerseyville
It was great seeing my extended family. Aunt Cathy, I'm so sorry we forgot Barney!


Congrats to Nathan and Katie!

Stop #2 Visiting My Parents and Brothers
Who am I?? I didn't take any pictures!

Stop #3 Hanging with the Reids



Stop #4 Visiting the Rowleys
We got to see Baby Sophie!
Getting family pictures taken
Checking out house. Still for sale. Increase in showings. Offer coming soon?
Once again, I forgot to take pictures. Grrrrr

Stop #5 Chilling at the Severinsens

We took the scenic routes while at the St. Louis Zoo

Stop #6 Meeting a gaming buddy and his family

When Centipedes Attack!

In apartments there is usually some type of pest issue. This time it's the old house centipede. We're not infested, but I freak out after seeing one. Doesn't it just give you the heeby jeebies just looking at it?

Love Him Lots

Another day out, specifically attending playgroup that I am in charge of, was ruined due to having the car that didn't have the carseat. Kirk has been traveling for work and we don't know if the other vehicle can take the extra wear so he takes the car that I usually drive. A few emails like this are very welcome.

Lunch was DELICIOUS! Thank you so much for making that last night. Even the little candies and the PB with the animal crackers had Ninny written all over them. As if I didn't think about you enough during the day. Thanks love!

followed by this...

Reinforcements are heading your way at 17:00. Force consists of (1) personnel carrier, (1) two-man "Shock Troop Relay On Linear-Localized Rollers" (a.k.a. double STROLLR), and a certified field commander to provide backup/relief. Upon arrival, they will be under your command. Adjust your strategy accordingly to provide enemy distraction until approximately 19:30, whereon the fatigued enemy is expected to begin falling back to quarters.

ETA 17:20. Hold the fort until that time. I repeat - HOLD THE LINE.

- General Wing

New Designer

Blogger has some great new features in blog design. I highly recommend checking it out!

My Birthday

Just thought you'd like to know there was no pumpkin to be found, but the cherry cheesecake was a nice substitute.

Henry at 9 months

Henry has the fluffliest/can't stop myself from rubbing my face on it blonde hair. He just went in for his check-up and was surprisingly below the average on his weight, height, and head size. He's healthy though and that's all that matters. His eczema is clearing up, thankfully. Within the last month he's started crawling and quickly progressed to pulling himself up on whatever he can find. He jabbers and one of my favorites is him sticking his tongue out while he does so. He is usually happy and pretty predictable if not.

Henry sleeps great at night, usually from 8:00 till 5:00 then eats and sleeps till 7:30. He is still breastfeeding and trying new foods every week. He started on solids at around 7 months. He has 2 bottom teeth.

Bruce loves to crawl with Henry and often mimics his behavior. He can make Henry laugh just by looking at him. Bruce is still rough with Henry at times and doesn't like to share, but he has definitely made an improvement.

All You Need To Know

about spray painting. Check it out here. This is by far one of the best sites I've found for decorating and design inspiration.

I secretly want to change up my bedroom by making a duvet. The comforter set I have is the only source of color in the room and it's almost too matchy for my taste and too blaise. It's a project on the back burner for now.

The author is a fellow Twilight fan. This is where I got my shirt design from.

She shares helpful tidbits like how much fabric you need to upholster different sized objects. And here's one about decorating without painting walls. That's my current dilemma.

One project she shared on her Feature Friday was by my good friend, Meredith, and her desk re-do.

This truck art would be perfect for Bruce's room. Anyone have a projector??

See what I mean? I love this site!

Mark's Ark

Our apartment complex is great at hosting events for us to take advantage of. They hired Mark of Mark's Ark and he brought a hedgehog, king snake, some tree frogs, a Jersey Giant rooster, and my favorite was the baby alligator. He was letting each child hold Irwin (the alligator) and had some very specific instructions on how to do so. I wasn't sure that Bruce could handle it, but Mark presented him to Bruce and he did great. How cool is that!

Kirk and I looked through the pictures I took and noticed some hilarious facial expressions in this one. What is going on here?!?

My Chi! My Chi!

It's broken. The cord where it attaches to the plug doesn't work. Apparently this is a common problem, especially when you wind the cord around the appliance when not in use...guilty! There is a company that sells the cords. This is what it looks like when you take it apart. I am getting a bit frazzled. Well, actually my hair is getting less frazzled (less heat damage), but more so mentally...anyway, I need to go order a replacement so I can get my Chi on!

Priceline FTW

Our fantastic ward arranged a trip to the Chicago Temple, complete with willing individuals watching children while we were there for a session. We drove up Friday afternoon. The boys slept most of the trip. Kirk bought us an I-Pass, which was worth it with all the toll roads. Chicago has a lot of congestion, seriously. Hooray for priceline...I bid low, then a little higher, and a bit higher and finally scored us a room at the Hilton for about half what they normally cost. Our room worked out great. It had a long hallway/entry which was perfect for Henry's pack and play. Bruce slept on a rollaway and we were in a comfortable king size bed. That morning was a rush to get breakfast, the kiddos dropped off, and get to the temple but we made it and had a great time. Panda Express was our farewell meal. What was daunting before is now do-able.

Love having a great hair day!

An Appropriate Work Surface

Bruce gets to play with
When he
But the carpet is not suitable for such play! I priced some
but couldn't find what I wanted. I found this and had a vision of a solid table that could serve many purposes and match his room.


I messed up the paint job. And don't love the black glaze. It's in Bruce's room and will stay while I decide whether to start from scratch or leave it as is.

Yumm-O

Henry is finally ready for baby food. Unfortunately his bowels don't love the carrots as much as he loves eating them.

Confessions of an unkempt housewife

Our bedroom truly feels like the family dump. Any miscellaneous stuff usually makes its way there. Of course today's collection includes laundry, Kirk's guitar and amp, my crafting/decorating supplies, gift wrap, Wii guitars, boxes of clothing, stationary supplies, and more clothes. Its drabness has put it next on my decorating list.

Exhibit A...displays said room after an hour of picking up and folding. You'd never realize from the looks of this room that I love an organized space. Earlier in the week I felt like moving stuff around from our entry closet to a hall closet so our coats and shoes would be easily accessible and our games could be unpacked.

Exhibit B...see, I can be orderly. Order definitely takes time. Or maybe I just take a lot of time getting things organized. I get lulled into complacency living in a mess and then bam! I have to do something about it, now! Thank goodness for those jolts of clarity!

Front Row Seats

Hooray for the fourth of July! I love singing patriotic songs at church. I wish we could sing them ALL year! We barbecued with some friends. It's inevitable that Christy will end up holding Henry. That's fine by me, we're happy to hand him over! On a serious note, Bruce adores Christy. Even to the point of shrugging me off at times. I'll admit it hurt my feelings at one point. This particular interaction was followed only a few days after Bruce only wanted daddy to play with him, get him a drink, etc. Now that I've had time to think about it I'm okay with it. I should be glad that there are people in my children's lives who are kind, generous, and loving. Of course I want those types of interactions for them. Talking with Kirk helped me recognize another point. Henry does the same thing to a certain degree. He is all smiles for me if Kirk is holding him and vice versa. It's not extreme by any means, he's smiley to us as we're holding him but I see the correlation. I can take it. I get em forever!

A college campus adjacent to where we live puts on a great fireworks show. We made it home just in time to see em. It was nice sharing that little moment together.

And Kirk, why are you stringing a bunch of firecrackers together??


So the moral of the story is that one mortar lighting up the sky is better than two mortars lighting up the sky and one lighting up your neighbors house.

What's Been Going On

Kirk and I have both noticed the increased togetherness we've felt as a family lately. A blessing of our current situation I guess.

Bruce is fighting naps, but once napping will sleep for 3 hours. Crazy kid! He is understanding more about the world around us. Things he often says..."I'm so proud" "Poor Henry" We often talk about using the potty, but we're waiting for him to want to. Today we had the following conversation after I heard him toot.
Me: Do you need to go poop?
B whispers: Yes
Me: Do you want to use the potty?
B: No then he runs behind the couch to do his duty, even coming to grab two of his cars and then returns to his hideout

Henry is a light to our family. He has his trying moments, mostly related to sleeping, but he's generally such a happy baby. I don't know why it drives me nuts, but when Kirk comes home and picks up Henry he usually has to present Henry to me who 99% of the time smiles and fawns over me. Henry is just starting on rice and oatmeal cereal. He's just not into it, but we're still trying it every day. He rolls over with ease and would chew on his brother's cars or our electronics (phone, remote control, etc) if he could.

I stay busy. Taking the boys to the park or zoo during the week, spray painting items to decorate with (my new hobby), getting all the good deals, and playing computer games with Kirk. Did I mention I like to read? We have a fantastic group of libraries in town. We go to story time each week and we're always checking out books. I've discovered that the Young Adult section has some really great fiction. We are still trying to sell our house in Kansas City.

So the moral of the story is that some brands of spray paint are better than others.