Not Enough Time

Nearly 6 months have gone by without so much as a peep from me. I haven't even had time to read my favorite blog links!

Life with two kids, softball, dance, and two jobs keeps us scheduled for the basics, but not much else. We've taken to scheduling even our meals, otherwise we end up eating dinner at 8. That doesn't work too well with 7:30 bed time.

And here we are in May, softball finished today and Saturday dance recital practices are just beginning; there are only three weeks left of preschool and a month left for Samantha.

And faster than the days move, the girls are changing. I've watched my confident 7 year old become shy and embarrassed. It's painful to watch, but it seems to be part of life for a second grader. I honestly can't remember a time when I didn't know what embarrassed meant. And she's growing so much--feet only two sizes away from mine!

Alyssa has become a beautiful little dancer. She's always dancing and anxiously awaiting her time back on "the big stage." She's dancing her recital dance to the same Tinker Bell song Samantha danced for her first recital, which makes it so special for me.


For now, Al and I try to take all the quiet time with the girls we can get--even if it means watching crazy improv dances for an hour every night!

It has been a beautiful weekend--65 to 70 degrees by noon. It's easy to forget we've got another month before spring. So today Al and I took three projects outside: a side table, a tufted bench, and a piece of Masonite.

Samantha created a list of house rules that she and Alyssa decided needed to be displayed on the wall. We had a piece of Masonite lying around and two cans of chalkboard paint. The girls helped me lightly sand and then I started to spray paint. I don't know if we're going to apply a border, but it will be ready to write on tomorrow.

The HOUSE RULES are as follows:

1. Do not say "I won't be your friend."
2. Do not say "I do not like you."
3. Do not say "I do not want to play with you anymore."
4. Do not say "I hate you."
5. Keep your hands to yourself.
6. Share your toys.

Al and I think it's pretty awesome that a 6.5 and 3.5 year old came up with the rules and agreed on them. They've even been referencing them today. How could we not post them?!


Years ago I bought an ugly gold tufted bench. It was $20 and worth if for the wood and the tufting buttons. We covered it with a scrap a few years ago, but it was a quick fix. It was disintegrating underneath so we really needed to take it apart. Today we took it outside and dismantled it. Five hundred staples and a few blisters later, we are down to the bare wood. We took off the tufting buttons and saved those. Hopefully we'll be able to get the fabric off of them.

The bench legs need to be painted. We're not sure what color yet. And we thought we would do black or gray pleather or leather (see what I can afford) and then some nail head trim. But then I stumbled on this gray velour tufted bench. We aren't changing the legs to Lucite, but this looks pretty cool.

Bench inspiration:


The side table is a piece from our room. It was stained brown but we needed an accent color. We're painting it turquoise and then we'll glaze it. A long process . . .

Getting Crafty

I'm finally getting crafty in my old age. I learned to sew at 33 and at 34 I'm embracing artwork.

The first it the Typewriter Keys board, a Pottery Barn knockoff. I did not come to this myself of course (see post "Lagging Behind"). It took me at least 6 weeks and I was frustrated at a point, but once I stained the piece I was pleased. It is so nice to have artwork on our walls for one, and unique artwork for another.

Last weekend we started on piece number 2 (drying rack), but ran out of lattice strips. So Al went and bought them this week and I finished it up today. The kids and I decided on some of the sayings we wanted up there. The first is a tribute to my Grammy who loved her 'sayings': A Stitch in Time Saves Nine.

This again is a Pottery Barn knockoff that I found online. I made it larger so that it would cover the big wall above our couch. And I wanted the sayings to be ours, special to us.

The second saying made me think of the kids, especially Samantha, who has an great love for snails. :)

I've got one other piece in process and then it'll be on to Alyssa's bedroom. Green walls (her request) and a cast iron daybed we got a the thrift store for $25. It's hideous, but nothing a little paint can't fix.

Lagging behind

I've been seriously lagging behind my grand plans. Samantha's desk and chair are still in their original ugly state and I haven't even begun to sand off the old paint. It's probably just as well considering I haven't got any spray paint on hand and the local hardware store always seems to be out of white spray paint.

I also (blame this one on my mom) got into an artwork project for my bedroom--vintage typewriter keys. We (Mom and I) found the tutorial on a website and I just couldn't resist: http://www.acharmingnest.com/2011/06/diy-pottery-barn-knock-off-vintage-keys.html Anything to do with letters, ampersand included (&), and I'm bound to want to put it in my house somewhere. It goes with that whole love of books and writing thing I've got going on. I've got most of the letters done and the numbers are next. I think it's really neat.

We'll probably use it to torture Alyssa--gotta memorize those letters kid!

School is almost here and the girls are excited. I am too. It means there will be hours of silence in the house and no more daddy daycare! Our calendar is already filling up fast and that doesn't even include ballet yet.

Cheers for the last two weeks of summer vacation! Enjoy.

I've got THE DISEASE

Happy July.

We've already had a busy week and it looks like we'll be staying that way until school starts. On one hand it's a good thing because it keeps the kids occupied, but sometimes I wish they'd just rest. I know, they're 3 and 6. Who am I kidding?!

I have a modified work schedule for two weeks--I'm in week two. I start at 5 AM. I like being an early riser but technically starting work at 5 AM is not something this 34 year old body likes. I miss the resiliency of my late teens and twenties. I'm sure I'll be saying this for the next 60 years.

This weekend my mom and I got to escape to the fabric store without kids. I wanted to make a 4th of July wreath using fabric strips. It looked like something I could manage. I'm proud of my work--it took about 2.5 hours.

Mom and I got to spend at least an hour looking around and dreaming of projects we could make. While we were looking at the red-tagged remnants fabrics I started to "'ooh" and "ahh" at the textures, colors, fabric in general. I sighed, "I want this." My mom asked, "What are you going to do with it?" "I don't know," I replied.

Then she says, "Oh no, you have THE DISEASE."

Now I'll I need is a badge to wear in the fabric store that says "I have THE DISEASE." Every single patron in the store and the ladies at the fabric cut counter will congratulate me. . . . A girl can dream.

So I came away with fabric to make 3 pairs of pajamas for the girls, 2 scarf fabrics and a skirt fabric for me, fabric to make a 49er grill apron for Al, and a Mr. Bones life-size fabric skeleton for Halloween. Let the craziness ensue. My mom is going to regret that she has a sewing room and that I have a key to her house.