everyday home...

Baby knits...

2011-10-03T15:30:00.000-07:00

I gifted both my sisters the promise of knitted baby sweaters at their showers.

They each got to choose from two patterns I'd chosen and by happy circumstance each chose differently.

Which meant I got to knit both patterns!

Something I really wanted to do so I was quite pleased.

Emily chose the Genevieve sweater and do to the fairy tale quality the design possesses I picked out a lovely shade of red Maliabrigo worsted yarn.

It's the colorway Ravelry Red actually which is fun.

This pattern is quite adorable but I found parts of it a little irritating to knit. I'm not one to mind seaming so the construction of it didn't scare me away. However, joining the waistband to the bodice proved to be harder than I would have guessed.

Namely hard to make the stitches blend in and look nice, but I did eventually manage it.

In any case the final product was worth it.

Erin chose the Cabled Yoke Jacket

A very well written pattern with brilliant construction.

I chose a lovely turquoise shade of Malabrigo that's incredibly difficult to photograph,

the colorway is Emerald.

It was fun choosing buttons to go with each jacket once they were finished.

I'm planning to make a much larger version of this jacket for my daughter Gwen.

I also decided that since there was more than enough yarn left over I'd make some booties.

Both babies in question live out in Colorado where it does actually get cold in the winter unlike here in sunny Southern California.

(something I'm not fond of whatsoever!)

As you can see I have a finished pair in red and only one in Turquoise but the second one should be finished up soon, it's a quick little knit.

And lastly, I'm in the process of knitting a baby gift for a friend as well as a collection of small baby beanies for the same sweet nieces receiving the above knits.

So look forward to some more knitting posts soon!

A baby shower....and a baby!

2011-07-18T15:58:00.000-07:00

A couple months ago I helped host a baby shower for my sister Emily and niece on the way, Willow.

I was in charge of decor while Robin, Emily's mother-in-law, took care of the food and hosted it in her home.

I made this frame into a chalkboard as a gift for baby Willow's room and figured it may as well be used at the shower since it's so pretty!

This is our craft table, if you can see that small yellow book with pink binding...it's an A,B,C themed baby book for Willow, all the guests got to pick a letter and make their own page.

It turned out SO cute, even the grandpas, uncles and daddy to be took part.

Here's one of the lovely tables, we had three and each center piece was slightly different.

I had fun making those little yarn balls, even more so because Emily got to have some for the nursery and I now have several looking cute around my living room! :)

The gift table....she got some wonderful gifts, useful, functional and of course tons of adorable baby girl clothes! the ribbon chandelier looks only half as cute here as it is in person...

I'll have to get Em to send me some pictures of the nursery all finished and see if she can take a better one. :)

Robin made these up for the favors, they turned out so darling!

What baby shower is complete without pictures of mom and dad when they were sweet babies?

it's a must!

We also had the kisses there where you could guess the number for a prize.

Tons of food! Seriously delicious, decadent, and oh so tasty food.

this only shows about half of it.

I ate too much.

So good!

a few guests of the shower...all family actually! hehe only shot I got of the gift opening though.

I was in charge of the thank you list.

The Lilley girls!

I love this picture!

And lastly, after the shower my mom came home with me and we whipped up this adorable bedding from materials chosen by Emily for baby Willows crib.

There's 3 sheets

A bed skirt

the pillow

1 large blanket for the crib or some nice tummy time on the floor

and 2 small blankets for car seat and stroller use.(more portable)

it just turned out so cheerful and lovely I had to share.

and last but most certainly not least!

Here she is...in all her new baby sweetness...

Willow Blue Mooney

born July 16th

6lbs 8oz 19"

I'm in love and can't wait to meet her and hold her.

Sadly, here I sit in California and they out in Colorado....

Why did you guys move away again?

knitting update...

2010-09-30T08:25:00.000-07:00

I've been doing quite a bit of knitting these days, despite our nasty fall heatwave.

Thing is they've all been gifts so I haven't been able to post about them yet.

However one gift has been gifted and received so I may now share it here!
I made these for little Levi Ingram, the first born of my dear childhood friend Janelle.

I used the Placket Neck Sweater pattern by Joelle Hoverson,

And a free baby beanie pattern from Ravelry.

This was a fun project because I got to learn some new things. I'd never used Moss stitch before for instance, and it's also my first Raglan sweater so I got to learn how to do that.

Also, as the title suggests, it's a placket neck sweater so I learned how to do that as well!
I am pleased with how it turned out and will definitely make some more of these over the years.
Next up, the Hamster beans.

This was a quick and adorable little project. I'll likely be making many more.
Gwen's requested a solid pink one.

after knitting up the body you sew on the eyes, stuff it and close it up.
Then you knit up the ears and a few simple knots form the feet and tail.

After just and hour you have a sweet little hamster bean ready to play with! The kids were thrilled. And I am now hooked on making small toys, lol, the obsessions never end!
Now I just have to control myself and not share all the other things I've been making till they've been given to their recipients! : )

Feeling Fallish...

2010-09-23T13:32:00.000-07:00

Look who's in Kindergarten...

2010-09-01T06:45:00.000-07:00

Not much to say, as I felt the pictures speak for themselves,
we have an adorably handsome son whose passion is to be silly and make you laugh.
What a blessing he is to our lives!
Our first week of school has gone great so far, (only one day left)
He's loving it, I'm loving it and that's a good thing.
More to come as we do projects and some school room photos as well...

knitting...

2010-08-26T12:40:00.001-07:00

I picked up my needles again recently and finished up my first pair of socks!

Then while waiting for yarn to come in for another project I whipped up this beanie for Gabriel.

The pattern was free, I used up some stash yarn, super easy and super fast.
Seriously, one afternoon of knitting.

He'd asked me to make a new one since the one I did last year is too small now.
Too bad he has to put it away for a few months now, we've been having quite the heat wave lately. Anyway...that's what my needles have been up to of late.

calligraphy scribbles...

2010-08-15T15:42:00.000-07:00

a.k.a. practice, practice, practice....

Got a new pen holder, an oblique, and lots of new nibs to try as well as these inks. I've been enjoying playing around with it all. The following is a small selection of this past months playing and practice...

Perfecting my letter forms.

Here's my first attempt at a mandala.
I was inspired to try it out after looking at all the amazing ones Jane Farr has created.
(visit her blog, A Place to Flourish. She's amazing!)
while mine is by no means perfect I had a blast doing it and will certainly create some more.

just some random flourish practice

Again, flourish practice,

but this time playing with letters rather than extras.

The following is a page in my sketchbook done with Micron pens.

I've been working on some versions of "thank you" and "welcome" for use with One and Only Events and this is one of them.

a birthday party...

2010-08-12T06:46:00.000-07:00

Figured I'd finally get back to blogging and what better way than to share with you a party.
This was my birthday tea...

full of girlishness and tasty foods.

Candied orange and grapefruit peel along with other treats were placed around the table.

And of course no party of mine is complete without tissue paper pom poms.

My hair...in case you were confused. I was quite literally sewing these flowers to a comb the morning of the party, hehe :)

My dearest friends showered me with love, kind words and very thoughtful gifts, all wrapped with such care, I truly felt so blessed, I am so blessed to call them all friend!

Mrs Lady bird beetle couldn't resist the temptation of joining us, she hung around for quite some time, though I must say we didn't mind.

We had fresh berries with cream and orange chiffon cake

And a lemon poppy seed cake layered with lemon curd and frosted with coconut butter cream frosting. It was divine if I do say so myself.
I think I might have to make it every year now.

You wish you could sit down and have a lovely afternoon tea now, do you not?
It certainly makes me want to do it again anyway.

My dear sister in law Christina and myself

dear sweet Chebet

yummy!

This is the One and Only Events team,
Lead by Alison, my best and dearest friend, (on the right)
Far left is Brittany and then Denise.
I love these girlies!

Two more lovely sisters
sister in law Heather and my baby sis, Erin.
Sadly my other dear sister Emily and my lovely mama couldn't be there but we thought of them through out and missed them.

All in all it was exactly what I wanted for my birthday, time with dear friends to sit, relax,
drink tea, eat tasties and talk.
Thanks to those who helped me make it happen and for taking all the pictures since my camera batteries decided to die that morning. :(
And now I am 25.

Gwen's little birthday party

2010-07-21T07:38:00.001-07:00

Just a little homey affair but fun none the less...

of course there were presents

though I admit she wasn't overly enthusiastic like Gabriel gets when opening gifts.

However I can faithfully report that she plays with everything she got on a daily basis and loves it all.

pink cupcakes on the other hand...

Make a wish and blow!
mmmmmmmmmm

And by all means possible it was made certain that not a speck of the chocolate frosting was left to be had.

wedding bloggin!

2010-07-07T16:18:00.000-07:00

Hey, I'm going to try and get up Gwen's birthday party pictures soon as well as some from our fourth of July with family.
Till then I thought you should check out my latest wedding post, "Something Blue" as well as this post from the recent bridal fair One and Only Events had a booth at. It was super cute, the best there. I had lots of fun putting together the decorations and helping Alison with the candy bar.

Today she is 3

2010-06-30T12:34:00.000-07:00

Gwendolyn Marrin

Today my baby is 3 and it doesn't seem like it's really been that long.

regardless we could not love her more she's our little ray of sunshine and giggles

This is a face I find her making quite frequently

I always wonder what she's thinking...
she does talk but not enough to really share all her thoughts with us yet.

best friends!
I love their relationship
it reminds me of me and my big brother. :)

Here's the, "ok, I'm done with the pictures mom!" face.

And one of big brother for good measure... :)

A day in my life...

2010-06-23T20:03:00.000-07:00

Life has been rather busy for me of late. Not that I mind too much as it's been fun stuff but I do prefer my life to have a slower pace than a fast one.
Just now I was sweeping up hair after cutting my husband's and it got me thinking about all the things I'd done today so I thought I'd share.
Why not right?

So, today I have been,
A mother
A cook
A housekeeper
An artist/crafter
A pianist
A wife
A hair stylist
A friend
A sister
And a daughter

Just a day in my life right now... :)

bloggy blog!

2010-06-11T14:18:00.000-07:00

Hey, I've been busy cleaning house and enjoying having my beloved home again. I have a few things I'd like to blog about but till I find the time jump over to One and Only Events blog and check out my posts there! I've been doing a series on "Something Old, Something New...."
Have a look!

Done!

2010-05-31T12:31:00.001-07:00

After a month's worth of hard work this is what I have to show for it...250 chair covers and 244 sashes sewn in 1 month.
I don't think I'll ever undertake such a project in such a short amount of time again but I learned a lot from it and am glad I was able to get it all finished in time.
Special thanks to Brittany who helped me out and also kept me sane with adult conversation. :)

where have I gone?

2010-05-16T18:21:00.000-07:00

In case you've been wondering this is where I've disappeared too...
I'm working on making 250 chair covers and sashes for a wedding a.k.a. I'm drowning in yards and yards of green taffeta!
Till then keep a look out for my posts over at One and Only Events!
See you in June

knitting love...

2010-05-07T07:52:00.001-07:00

While reading on a favorite costuming blog, Demode, I hopped over to the Metropolitan museum of ar t website to browse their costume collections for upcoming exhibits over the summer. You can view them here and here if you're interested.
While scrolling through my eye was instantly drawn to this sweater.
Dated 1895, it's made of wool, and is of french origin.

"Description: This very early sportswear sweater combines the aesthetics of fashionable dress through its large gigot sleeves and overall silhouette with the informal sportiness inherent in any knit fabric. Casual wear, such as this, is rare in museum collections because of the nature of its use and the intrinsic value people placed on more formal attire."

I just love that knitting is something that has lasted for generations, always changing and yet forever the same. The detail and yet simplicity of this piece is fascinating to me.
I'm just in love with it and had to share!

For those of you who knit, click on the link to the sweater and use the zoom option to see parts of it up close!

bedroom inspiration...

2010-05-03T16:07:00.000-07:00

I had this idea for decorating our bedroom, what I wanted it to become I mean. Well it never worked out cause I could never find the right bedspread with the right price tag that fit all my desires and dreams. Or at least close enough to them. So I sorta gave up and our room stayed plain and boring.

Then last week while looking at some of my favorite wedding blogs I came across this color palette, on The Perfect Palette and found it quite pretty.It took till yesterday to realize how easily I could make up our room to fit this same palette and now I'm SO excited. Our walls are a blush peachy pink so now I just need to add some gray and more pink and we're well on our way.

Bonus, I have some fun money right now to play with....I think Nathan will be coming home to a new bedroom at the end of the month! :D
I love the girly elegance of this whole thing can't wait to start finding things and seeing it all come together.

P.S.
For anyone who may be concerned on Nathan's behalf of coming home to a room with lots of pink in it rest assured he won't mind. I was originally going for pinks, and orange hues and he was on board so we're cool. :)

knitting away...

2010-05-01T08:15:00.000-07:00

Some recent knitting projects

legwarmies

And something for myself as well...

I need to find someone to help me take pictures of my big shrug I made.
I finished it in time to wear to Seattle and have a couple pictures of it from that trip but none to really showcase it. :)
So hopefully I'll be able to share that soon too.

Seattle! (part 1)

2010-04-27T09:39:00.000-07:00

Our 4 day trip to Seattle...

We started with seeing the house and meeting Fay, who regrettably I did not ever take a picture of but rather took one from my mom's facebook to use.

~Fay~
After settling in a bit we went and had lunch at Husky's, a local place with the most delicious sandwiches! Then walked around looking in shops and catching up.
We happened upon a basket full of dishes for a mere $40 that mom snatched up,

Dishes are her "thing" after all.
Once dad came home from work we went out for a drive to get a view of their town and then made our way to a little Greek restaurant.

Fun conversation and yummy food made for a lovely evening which we finished off by going downtown to see Alice in Wonderland.
The following day was our one whole day with dad so we packed a lot in.
We started out taking the bus downtown to Pike's place market.

First stop was freshly made doughnuts and coffee

my mom thought it was funny that we were both taking pictures of the doughnuts and so took a picture of us :)

Then we browsed, shopped and just enjoyed meandering the market seeing all there was to see..
These were some amazing handmade kaleidoscopes! really cool.

We picked out tees for the kiddies.
The fresh flowers everywhere we killing me! want!!!

We eventually made it down to a tea shop my parents had visited before, which I had wanted to see so I could learn how to make up the tea they had bought me from there.
They had soooooo many teas we ended up buying some Lichee which is naturally sweetened and quite yummy.
Next we took the ferry to Bainbridge Island for the express purpose of a certain yarn shop my mother had told me of.
It was chilly but beautiful and we enjoyed taking pictures on the ride over as well,

Aw, I love my parents! they're the best, truly they are.
The homes were amazing! I can't imagine living in such a beautiful home and location...
ok, not true cause we did when we lived at Hume...
Anyway I guess the truth is it made me miss that.
Float plane!Isn't my husband a handsome man? I sure think so :)
well that's it for now, more another day...
too many pictures I tell ya!

as promised...

2010-04-10T08:13:00.000-07:00

More cute knitting!
A couple weeks back my friend Elisa contacted me about test knitting her first pattern.
I was totally interested as I adore knitting but got really excited when she showed me pictures of what it was I was getting to make!

I had planned on knitting up something similar but this one is a million times cuter in my opinion.
So of course I said yes and the process began.
It's actually a knit and crochet pattern but seeing as I learned how to crochet first this wasn't an issue for me.

It knit up super fast and for being her first time pattern it was written really well. I know she made a couple changes to perfect it before releasing it to sell but I was really impressed by her first time go at it. :)
And I loved getting to add this cute button from my stash, a gift with lots of other fun things from my sister Sydney.
Thanks Syd!

This fits very comfortably on my head, soft and warm, I love that you're ears stay cozy but you can still do your hair and don't end up with an itchy forehead like when you wear a beanie, lol.
I also like the versatility in personal design. because of the crochet border and flower you can use more than one color or make it all solid(like I did) depending on what you like. You could even make multiple flowers in different colors and switch them out.
And she's planning on sizing it down to make a child version as well which I'm excited about since I have a daughter and a niece.

So knitters you can purchase her pattern on Ravelry here, as well as her Etsy site here.
And if you don't knit but love this as much as I do be sure to check in on her Etsy site as well where she's selling them pre-made.

Something new...

2010-04-07T07:48:00.000-07:00

I have some fun news! lots of you probably saw this on my facebook already but for those who didn't and to give a little more insight to it, I figured I'd blog it too.
My dear friend Alison is a wedding coordinator among all the other awesome things she is.
Like a Godly wife and mother, and my dear dear friend.
She has many talents, and has been using them coupled with her love of weddings to great success.
Naturally being friends we eventually discovered our shared love of all things wedding related.
To what does all this lead aside from I love my friend?
Well, Alison asked me to join her team as Creative Director!
You can read about it here on her blog,
oneandonlyeventsblog.com
And be sure to visit her web site as well.
One & Only Events
I'm really looking forward to having a creative outlet for my party planning/craft loving brain.
I guess that's all for now...

Edited to add:
Ok, I think my brain was still waking up this morning cause I forgot a major part of the story and kind of the whole reason I was blogging about it anyway!
For the past several months I've been praying and asking God to show me or lead me to a way I can use my creative skills and urges (I really do get urges to create something!) for a purpose.
Not just for personal benefit.
I'm not much of an entrepreneur so while the whole Etsy world is appealing it always sounds like too much work in the long run and isn't my thing. At least not at this point in my life.
And while I love making things for people, birthdays and Christmas etc...
Well it just wasn't enough.
And I love doing wedding things! I got to help with both my sister's weddings in the past two years and also a dear friend's as well and about now was starting to miss all that.
There's just something so special and exciting about helping people prepare for their wedding day.
So when Alison asked me I was thrilled! I did pray a little more intently about it before saying yes but the whole thing was an answer to my months of prayer. :)
So thanks once again Father for giving me a desire of my heart.
And that's what I really wanted to share with you all! sorry my brain was being lame earlier.

Easter...

2010-04-06T08:41:00.001-07:00

Nathan had to miss Easter with us this year...actually come to think of it I think he's missed it the two years previous as well. :( Hopefully next year he can enjoy coloring eggs with us, hunting them as well as celebrating the glory of God and the gift Jesus gave us in his death and resurrection.

After most of the days festivities Gabriel came to me with this drawing,
It's Jesus on the cross.
I asked him to draw me one of Jesus alive from the grave but he didn't want to draw anymore.

Gwen dyed one hand pink and the other green...

And had lots of fun in the process of course.

Gabriel was very meticulous and tidy with his...he's not type A at all! lol :)

Hunting eggs!
we did it early in the morning so the lighting wasn't great and none of the pictures turned out very well. But this one was just too cute not too share.
After getting dressed we went outside to play and enjoy the lovely weather.
We had a picnic lunch and just relaxed and enjoyed one another for the rest of the afternoon.

Thank God....

2010-04-02T18:16:00.001-07:00

So today we went to a friend's house, they have a pool in the back yard and Gwen fell in. Not good right? Thankfully it turned out just fine, we got her out quick and she wasn't hardly fazed by it at all! She truly is our water baby.
Anyway the reason I'm blogging about it is because I was so calm through the whole thing. It was weird. My baby fell in a pool and totally could have drown and I was SO calm! we pulled her out, dried her off and went on with our afternoon, like nothing horrible had just happened. Granted it was a good outcome, but still.
So then, as we were driving home just now it started to sink in and I was astonished at how calm I had been. I can only attribute it to my good and gracious God. He most certainly had his hand on the situation and on me because there is simply no other explanation. I am not entirely sure why he wanted me to be so calm, perhaps freaking out and smothering Gwen would have made it worse for her and instilled an unhealthy fear of water...I don't know. But I'm so thankful she's ok, and that his presence is so real and active in our lives.
There have been many moments in my life where I've felt his presence as he holds my hand through situations, filling me with a calm peace. There have been others when I refused to let him take the reigns and freaked out and I must say I prefer the former. I'm not even entirely sure where I'm going with this or what I'm trying to say...I guess I just want to publicly praise him for keeping her safe and keeping me calm. that's all.

Last Saturday...

2010-04-01T12:28:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday I got a girl day. It had been in the works for awhile and we finally nailed down a date. It's become a bit of a tradition for me to head North to LA and see the FIDM

costume exhibit and this was the second time going with my friend Jessica. We really enjoyed the exhibit and agreed that the layout and set up of it this year was a deal better than last years. They also had more costumes from last years "The Duchess" which I was thrilled about. And there were lots from "The Young Victoria", again, exciting! Regrettably you are not allowed to take pictures so these I've snagged from the the web. There were lots of fun costumes to see, these were just three I especially enjoyed looking at.
The Red one is from the film "Bright Star" which I have yet to watch. The next is from "The Young Victoria" it was my favorite of the whole exhibit. truly gorgeous!
And the last is my favorite gown from "The Duchess" so that was also very exciting to see in person! It's a fairly small exhibit so you go through it pretty quick but certainly worth the
trip every time.

Afterward we grabbed some lunch at a nearby Pannini place that was quite delicious and then headed to a big mall to do some shopping. Something I don't do often and so always enjoy a lot for several reasons, the main one being my lack of tag along children. :) Lots of good conversation, a little Starbucks, and some Pink Berry finished off my lovely day of self indulgence. And bonus, I still made it home by 8:30 and got the evening with my beloved husband! which was nice since he left Monday for 12 days.

2010-03-23T19:56:00.000-07:00

Just a little teaser...
This is a recently finished shrug I knit while waiting for my new needles to come in so I can start my bigger project. yeeeee! I'm excited :)
Anyway, Nathan wasn't around to take a picture of me in it so you'll have to wait to really see it and see how it looks on.
But look forward to more knitting posts in the future cause I'll have a couple more things to share soon....

little man...

2010-03-22T07:06:00.000-07:00

Gabriel Talon

A couple days ago Gwen was napping and Gabriel was playing outside so I took some pictures of course. I always love catching them when they're playing because when you're a kid that's what it's all about. Playing, all you want to do is play!
Plus then they're always happy and smiling for my photos :)

Anyhow, this little boy has always been a monkey of a climber, I think he was two when he started scaling the door frame of his bedroom. Now at five it's as though he is unable to play on anything the way it was meant to be played with. He must climb as high as he can, traverse the outer edge of the fences, go down the slide head first or clinging to the side that's supposed to keep you in...he is most certainly a boy.

And I love it!

For his birthday he got these army men, because every little boy should have little green army men right?

Here he is most graciously pointing out the army men set up in the sand.
This is one of his favorite faces to make when I ask him to pose for a picture.
(thus why I take pics while he's in the midst of playing rather than posing lol )

My little man loves being a man, after helping with chores he often tells me,
"mom, I'm a man!"
I love it!

He is learning how to serve ladies first, though at times he complains I'm confident that by the time it really matters he'll not only understand it but respect it and see the beauty of it.
He's curious and notices the little things.
He's sensitive, picks up on the way people are feeling and responds accordingly

He loves Jeeps, bikes, dogs, the color red, and anything "sugary"
He makes friends easily.
He loves to laugh and even more than that he loves making others laugh.
well I could go on forever cause he's my son and I love him but I think this is good for now.

some of what I've been up to...

2010-03-18T09:47:00.000-07:00

I've been keeping some old shirts and dresses that I thought might be fun to make over into clothes for Gwen and just never got around to actually doing it, till recently.
I'm constantly inspired by Katie did and the adorable things she makes for her girls, even more so once you learn that she usually makes up her own patterns!
So here are the items I no longer wear...

This one is actually a dress my sister owned and didn't want, I never ended up wearing it but thought the print was too cute not to keep. and there's a nice amount of fabric to be had there as well!

And TADA!

A skirt with pockets for little treasures

Some floral shorts
(more to come from this fabric as I have some left over)

And lastly, for this post, a dress!
The pink came from an old camisole I didn't wear much anymore but didn't take a picture off before cutting it up.
I used Gwen's clothes as a guide to be sure things would fit properly but on the whole made my own patterns. yee, I'm kind of proud of that. :)
The dress was the most challenging as I was designing it from a sketched out idea.
next time I'll make just a couple modifications to it, I think I'll extend the yoke further down the front. And the arm hole turned out to fit just perfectly so next time I'll make it a bit more roomy to allow for growth.
Also the reason my sweet Gwennie bean is not pictured modeling these fine garments is because she's been practically living in her Cinderella princess dress these days, so once she actually dons them I'll be sure to snap some shots and share. :)

a trip to the shore...

2010-03-18T08:50:00.000-07:00

Monday as I was doing some sewing prep I got a text from my brother asking if we'd like to join them on a trip to the shore.
Spring weather like we've been having throws me into spontaneous moods and a longing for time spent enjoying God's creation so I said yes and rushed through the house getting things ready.

Nole and his family recently discovered a lovely beach that's secluded and has it's own little tide pool area so we drove North to meet them there. It really is the best and I think will be a frequent meet up place this summer.

The kids had a blast running their little legs off exploring and splashing away while us adults eagerly explored the tide pools for treasures. There were so many sea anemones, and mussels and also quite a large number of star fish.
Being a lover and collector of rocks I also enjoyed the wide selection of flat, thin skipping stones that ranged in size getting large enough you could use many of them for stepping stones in a garden...if only I had a garden, sigh :)

Any how, we did find a little hermit crab so here are the kids eagerly awaiting it's appearance. It's tiny so yes, it kind of looks like they're just staring at the sand. hehe.
North was the first to get wet. He was furiously kicking away in this shallow pool shouting,
"hey guys, I'm swimming really fast!"
lol I love these kids and their imaginations :)
They also enjoyed tossing large rocks into the pool for the splash it created, but who doesn't like doing that?I love this shot of Gwen, it's so her, the hair in her face that I can't ever seem to keep out of it, the pacifier she's nearly inseparable from...

To cap off the delicious afternoon we had when we got back to the car it was discovered that Nole and Heather's car key was missing. They scoured the back pack and pockets and then Nole ran back down to the beach to start searching.
Tide was coming in.
We were all praying, Heather and I began to search the car high and low for it and then took the kids back down the trail to look some more.
God answered our prayers and Nole did find it, in the water no less! likely just in time before it was washed away or covered by sand.
So the day did end well thanks to God's provision and next time they'll bring a key chain! ; )

the one where I post lots of pictures...

2010-03-12T07:25:00.000-08:00

We've gotten quite a bit of rain this winter which is lovely as I adore rain. But after a weekend of rain followed by two very windy chilly days we quite enjoyed yesterdays warm sunny spring weather. We spent a nice portion of the morning outside.

We played,

And played,

and climbed

and laughed

made silly faces

took lots of pictures

and played some more.

We've been watching a couple ravens collect things for their nest over the past couple weeks...

They are best buds

This is one of our many hummingbird friends

Gabriel likes to pick Dandelions for his mommy :)

My God makes beautiful things

See, I told you, beautiful things :)

Peek a boo!!!

I know there are a lot of pics but I had a hard time picking cause I loved so many of them. :) they may wear me out and at times drive me crazy but I love my children just the same. God has truly blessed us.

the little things...

2010-03-07T20:07:00.000-08:00

On Saturday we had our sitter come for the afternoon as it'd been awhile since we'd had a date. We contemplated seeing Alice in Wonderland but decided to wait since it was opening weekend, and it would cut out at least 2 hours of our time together. So we headed to Ikea instead. I love going without the kids! Also usually we are going with a set purpose to buy something we've been wanting and saving for, therefore all the little cheap things that would be nice to have, fun to have etc... don't' get picked up cause we try to be smart with our money.
Anyway, we got a new cutting board! our old one was starting to split because I never oiled it. So hopefully this new one will last much longer as I plan on actually taking care of it this time around. :) (It's even prettier than in the pictures cause that was pre-oiling)

We also picked up these darling cookie cutters that are all woodland creatures. I'd seen them several months back but they were sold out so I was excited they had more in this time. Gwen immediately sat down to play with them...

and was soon joined by big brother. I'd say it was a successful purchase. I also got some curtains for the living room but still need a curtain rod so that project will have to wait just a bit longer.

And for good measure here is Daddy and Gabriel hanging out together. They were watching mountain bike videos. :D

For those wondering...we followed up Ikea with a late lunch at The California Pizza Kitchen and a quick trip into R.E.I. to ask some questions about a bike trailer for the kiddos. Nathan gets his new bike tomorrow so we're really wanting a trailer in order to take family rides.
It was a lovely Sat. our only down side being that Nathan had duty today. But such is life. It's been raining all day so I cleaned and watched the 1995 version of Pride and Prejudice while doing some knitting. The kids played different forms of dress up most of the day; turtles, cats and dogs, princesses (yes that's plural, Gabriel was one too he informed me). Actually it was pretty cute, Gwen got her princess dress for Christmas and only just wanted to wear it. I had to pry her out of it at bed time. :) Here she is seconds after donning it, twirling.

I love that they're little buddies. :) Makes a mother's heart happy to know her children love one another.

Gabriel is a ninja turtle here in case you couldn't tell. :)

summary...

2010-03-04T12:00:00.000-08:00

what have I been doing lately?

having tea parties with this sweet girl,

being silly with this darling boy,

talking about yarn and knitting a lot!
(probably too much if you asked my husband)

practicing,

And saying "I love you." to my husband as much as possible because it's true!

more progress on the kid's room

2009-08-19T12:26:00.000-07:00

a couple weeks ago I did some more work on the kid's room. it's still not completely finished but when is a room ever completely finished right?

I hung the curtains back up, and put in new blinds on the bigger window. Hung their shelf and added some artwork.

Which still isn't done, I have the three sitting on the toy box and some other ideas of things I'd like to frame and put up

I also hung Gwendolyn's name banner, everything in their room must be hung rather high unless I'm ok with them touching it and getting it down. I would like to add something to her wall, some kid's book shelves like these, in white I think.

Here is the closet, I purchased a spring rod to hang up a curtain but the curtain I like is from Ikea and I have yet to make a trip there. So eventually this will be covered.

I have been phasing out the cheap store hangers we've had for so long and replacing them with all white plastic ones so they match. Makes a huge difference! I still have some green ones on Gabriel's end but they're good hangers so I probably won't get rid of them too soon.

And lastly I made labels for the clothing drawers. It's very helpful, even Gwen knows how to help put her clothes away because she can match the item to the picture.
So that's the latest for their room. I also got some new shelves for the living room so once I have those up I'll be doing a new post on that.

catching up...

2009-07-29T14:04:00.000-07:00

so, these are adorable! will definitely be making them at some point. (From Plum Pudding)

but I also thought I'd show you my new lamp shade, it's exactly what I'd been looking for so I was pleased to finally find it. :) pictured with it is a the newest addition to my apothecary jar family, a birthday gift from dear Em. I filled it with curled music paper I normally use at Christmas time. But it seemed fitting, at the piano and all.

I also recently purchased these bar stools, nothing fancy but it's so nice to have the kids sit in the kitchen and eat breakfast while I unload the dishes in the morning. :)

And lastly is the set up at the end of my desk, I'm sure it will change often but right now it's all the stuff I use regularly when sitting here, notebooks and sketch books, pencils and pens. :) (and green! cause I love green)

And that's the latest here at my house... but I have some more projects in the works so stay tuned!

adding art...

2009-06-26T21:43:00.000-07:00

So I decided I didn't feel like painting tonight but after playing the piano for awhile I was in the mood to do something and this is what resulted. The paintings were gifts from my beloved husband from his last 6 month. He brought them home as rolled canvas and then made frames and stretched them, followed by making decorative frames from molding which we stained. The large one was hanging above the piano but I knew I didn't want to keep it there so this was the perfect spot for it! I like that it fills up the void on the wall there and draws your eye upwards. Now I have to decide if I want to hang it's buddy on the same wall or somewhere else? thoughts? opinions? do share! :D

painting session #2

2009-06-26T16:11:00.000-07:00

I finished the next section of my living room. I'm onto the main gray color that I first fell in love with. Montpelier Ashlar Gray by Valspar

here's the space all taped off and ready to go...

And here it is all done and pretty!
although I have work to do yet. I'm considering putting a large painting over the little window space and I still need to replace the nobs on my sewing machine table...and other things too of course! :)

The color is lighter than I was expecting but I am inclined to think that's due to me looking at my one dark wall for a week.

I LOVE it though! it's so calming and perfect. Now I'm itching to get the rest done and find some curtains to put up.

I'm also deep cleaning as I go along so I scrubbed the window sill and frame, washed the windows and even scrubbed the blinds since they were pulled down for painting. I was rather pleased with the difference as I'd attempted to wipe them down to no avail before. But what a lovely change!

Painting!

2009-06-16T11:14:00.000-07:00

Lovely creamy gray goodness! happy sigh (the color is Eiffel Tower by Olympic)

boring white wall with nail holes patched and everything taped

finished product! Though I do need to go back today, now that it's dry, and touch up a few places. As you can see some of the patched spots still show through.
but I love the color and am pleased with the way it turned out. :)

Organizing my half...

2009-06-10T21:27:00.000-07:00

I have been listening to some tapes on organization and becoming the Proverbs 31 woman that my mom gave me. the first session is introduction to the class and then gets you started on cleaning our your closet!
Here's my before pics

this one is where my half ends and my husband's begins...

kind of sloppy but I did know where everything was still! :)
However I used the 5 questions I was told to ask,
1) Have I used it in the last year?
2) Do I love it at least 70% worth?
3) Do I need it?
4) Do I want it?
5) Do I have room to store it?

And as I sorted through everything I also used her sorting system which wasn't difficult as it's pretty much exactly what I've always done but I'll share it with you anyway should you be inspired to tackle your own closet! :D
You are to have 6 bins/piles for sorting:
1) "it's out of here!" donation/garage sale bin
2) rubbish bin (trash)
3) take care of bin, for anything that needs cleaning, mending etc...
4) put elsewhere bin, for all the things that do not belong in your closet but somewhere else in the house. :)
5) memory bin. I was thrilled she mentioned this one cause I do this! I have a plastic bin for each of us that's for keepsakes, anything we want to hang onto but don't need in the house, out on display etc... I especially love it for the kids, I can put favorite items of clothing they've grown out of, their hospital things, baby memorabilia, pictures drawn...you get the idea :)
6)Keeper pile, everything you'll be keeping and putting back into your closet!

So without further ado...

my much more orderly and nearly 3 bag's lighter closet! The crazier part about the 3 bags is that barely a month ago I went through my closet and got rid of at least a bag then too. which is so silly cause anyone who is around me knows I just wear the same things over and over, lol.

I don't know why I was holding on to the stuff but it feels great to be rid of it. I even went through my shoes and got rid of old ones I hadn't worn in years, SO liberating let me tell you!

I'd say I'm a naturally organized person but my minimalism has only recently kicked it and it's just as addicting :D

I would love to get all matching white hangers, I have a nice amount already but I think I'll pick up a couple more packs my next trip to Target to give it all a more uniform look. And of course everything in me is itching to attack my husbands end of it but I'm a loving wife and would never go through his things without his supervision.

for more closet inspiration jump over to one of my favorite home blogs, This Young House they have their own closet post here.

Lots of new...

2009-06-04T18:49:00.000-07:00

A lot has gone on in the past three weeks, first we got new carpet and so since the kids' room was empty decided to go ahead and paint right then,

I chose a pale buttery yellow, something with enough warmth and color to be cozy but not too bright as I want to add punches of color throughout the room and don't want it too be too overwhelming. Bright and happy but still somewhat calming as well.

We also purchased a toddler bed from Ikea for Gwendolyn and I was able to pass the crib (and some other things) on to my younger sister Erin for her baby, due in November! Gwen loves her little bed and transitioned pretty well. Though now that daddy has gone we are having some sleep issues but that's another story.

And this is the other side of the room, I did recently purchase two more of the bins for Gwen's clothes that were previously stacked on the changing table so it is more clean and organized, but as you can see I still have some work to do. We need to put the curtains back up, finish decorating the top shelves of the book shelf and I am also planning on hanging curtains in the closet rather than put the doors back on. So stay tuned for that!

Here is the before picture of a small corner of our room...

We moved our computer desk down into the living room and I scored this and one other cupboard on craigs list for $150 total! I haven't decided exactly what i'll be housing in this one quite yet so for the moment it's just some books and misc. stuff. But the main reason for the picture is to get a sense of the paint color we chose for our room.

And that's it for our room till I do some more in there :)

This is the second cupboard we got, I have filled it with all the books and supplies I will be using to teach Gabriel with in the fall, possibly sooner if I get motivated enough.

This is the before of the same corner, I moved the toy box and all the other toys up to their room. And I switched out their car rug for a more homey brown one I had.

And since Gwen naps still I left a shelf for Gabriel's cars and trains so he has something fun to play with when she's sleeping. pretty much all the books I have in there are ones my mom and dad just passed on to me. They are in the process of job hunting and moving so they shared them with me which saves me a ton of money and them a ton of space! (there are two whole boxes full that I won't even use for several years yet) Such a blessing!
And speaking of blessings...they didn't just bring me books.

I got to have this old sewing table with built in machine, it needs a little cleaning and tuning up but my mom says it runs great once in order. It came with all the attachments as well which is great since my other one is missing most of it's attachments.

This is it all closed up :)
And then... the crowning joy of they treasures they gave...

MY PIANO!!!! I am so happy to have it here in my home. This piano was my grandparents, who eventually passed it on to my parents. It's the piano I learned to play on and have spent ever so many hours practicing at. I can't even tell you how fun it is to have it as my own now! I have been enjoying getting back into practice, as I'm a little rusty, and can't wait to teach my kids on it one day as well. :)
So thanks mom and dad! I'm thoroughly enjoying all you passed on to me! (For no, what I shared was not all they gave me, but more on that another day...)

must take a look!

2009-05-19T09:05:00.000-07:00

I love the lighting post over at Design*Sponge you should definitely go have a look. I am really loving all the new lighting trends!

some kid stuff...

2009-05-11T20:28:00.000-07:00

I love this idea of art supplies on a lazy susan! though this one is rather conveineint with it's special spots for the buckets I'm thinking a more affordable one from Ikea would do the trick just as nicely. And you could even glue the cans or buckets, whatever you were using, down if you were concerned they might fly off.

We have a kid's table with a bench and one chair. It's been used daily for a couple years now so I'm thinking of giving it a new coat of paint, red maybe? and the chair and bench in a contrasting color...ideas anyone? (and no I didn't bother cleaning up their toys before taking the pic! you get my life as is)

But since I do like things organized and tidy... wouldn't these little guys be darling to house toys in?!

all of the baskets and the lazy susan can be found on Pottery Barn kids if you're interested...I'll just drool over them and save myself the $!

half the new carpet among other things...

2009-05-07T15:38:00.000-07:00

We got new carpet! YEAH!
management agreed that since we have lived here 3 1/2 years and signed another 6 month lease that we could have new carpet. Ours was not new when we moved in either. Anyway we're thrilled and it feels so nice to have clean, stainless (for now) carpet!

The only thing I'm a little bummed about is the color. And it's not that I don't like the dark gray shade, I really do actually (other than now I have to vacuum daily since EVERYTHING shows up lol) it's more that before I knew it was going to be gray I'd been looking at paint colors for the living room.

If you don't remember then just scroll down a couple posts...ya, that's right I was planning on painting the living room gray! grrr! If I wanted a completely modern and "cold" look I think it could actually still look ok to have the darker gray carpet and light gray walls with white trim. however the look I'm kind of going for is more natural, earthy and warm. But now I'm a little stuck, I'm really not sure what color i'll pick now. I'll keep you posted on that one.
Anywho, at least you can get a feel for what the new carpet looks like! we'll be getting the stairs and upstairs done on Wednesday.

among other things, my parents are bringing down some stuff for me the highlight being my piano! It's actually the family piano. My Grandma bought it for her family, my mom grew up tinkering about on it as well as my aunt who plays quite well. Then it eventually came to our home where me and my younger sister Erin learned to play on it. I adore it!!! getting to the point however I want to hang some kind of pendant light above off to the right side of where I already am planning to put it.
Enter the below image...
Glass orb cluster light

I found it and a complete tutorial on Remodelista!
I'm sure mine will have it's own twist to it but I can't wait to start collecting the supplies to make it!

2009-04-29T15:07:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we made a trip to Target to get a couple things and I showed this rug to Nathan, I'd seen it the last time I was there and really liked it but wanted his opinion. (not sure how I'll handle all the decisions on my own once he's deployed again haha ) He was kind of whatever about it but said if I liked it then I could get it. So it now lies in front of our couch all cozy and cute! It's pretty soft which is a must, no scratchiness allowed! And I liked the uniqueness of it, not the kind of rug you see every day.
I also got a big basket with a lid for our throw blankets. I dislike them lying about on the floor or tossed on the couch. Mostly because they just end up becoming fort material and I'm constantly refolding them. This way they can easily be picked up and thrown in the basket when Gabriel's done with his tent building. hooray for organization that makes life easier!

Art for the wee ones...

2009-04-25T15:54:00.000-07:00

I just recently purchased 4 prints from Marmee Craft, who also has a lovely blog, my cozy little whimsy nook, where she shares her beautiful art work among other things. I had such a hard time choosing which ones to get because I love them all so much! her critter art reminds me of a much more whimsical Beatrix Potter. It has the same softness and detail but has a touch more make believe. I love her girl art as well, but since the kids are sharing a room, boy and girl, and I'm wanting it to have a whimsical woodsy feel I felt animal prints were best. I can't wait till they arrive in the mail! :D
My plan is to slowly collect art for their room and do a large picture frame collage of them all on one wall. Here are links to other prints and artists I like and will likely end up purchasing from.
barking bird art
Nessa Dee
For Charity
Tummy Mountain
Matte Stephens

paint colors....

2009-04-23T09:46:00.000-07:00

Stopped by Lowes the other day to check out some paint colors, I haven't picked 100% yet, in other words, I want to keep looking. However this is what I did find...

I focused on our bedroom and the living room first, So the above photo is some of the swatches I pulled out for out room. I want a taupe/peachy pink. something in the neutral family but with a nice warmth to it. My favorite so far is the Montpelier Peach from Valspar. (the full card on the left)

For the living room I'm leaning towards a shade of Gray. Somthing that's not too dark, and has more of a brown tint than a blue one. top favorite at this point is Montpelier Ashlar Gray, again, from Valspar (far right)

And the following is a pillow and some rugs that caught my eye, on sale at
Pier 1

The pillow would look great on the bed I'm hoping to create and the rugs I'm considering for the living room.

thoughts on color schemes...

2009-04-20T10:32:00.000-07:00

For my first post on my new house blog I thought I'd discuss color schemes. For over a year now I've been in love with shades of coral and pink, like salmon. I have decided that I'm going to do our bedroom in these colors. But work in some more neutral tones as well, creams and whites, tan, taupe... I want the fabrics to be textured, linen, raw silk, soft cottons. A feast for the senses! I want it to be relaxing, calming, and romantic. these ideas are collected on the bottom half of my magazine collage...

The top half is greens white and grays. I have always love green and white together, very fresh and clean. but recently I have fallen in love with gray! pale shades of gray. when I started to add in the gray to my "plans" I got really excited. It's fresh but different too. and I like different.

I'm really hoping that through this blog I can hash out my ideas and gain insight into my own thoughts in order to make our home a true portrait of us, me mainly :) but our family as a whole.