I read some interior design/crafty blogs, and I really wish I had talents to re-do furniture and re-decorate rooms and all of that. Well, now that my work has slowed down I am starting to attempt a few projects to improve our home. The few things I have done so far have turned out ok and I've made lots of mistakes, but I figure I'm learning a lot in the process.
Here is my first go at a big project. I bought this table and hutch at a yard sale for $25 about a year ago. (Remember that Saturday morning run, girls?) I painted it and mod-podged scrapbook paper to it to create new storage for the toys in our playroom.
I didn't have a good "before" photo, but it was black.
I seriously love that the boys can't reach all their toys now; makes it a lot easier to keep things tidy.
Just a few notes on some favorite toys and what our boys have been up to during play time.
"Timmy" (courtesy of Grandma GJ) would have to be Carson's favorite right now. He's a magnetic doll that dresses up in different, magnetic outfits (firefighter, doctor, etc.) Each little piece fits into a puzzle. Carson spends quite a bit of time with Timmy. Today he brought me a blanket, all wadded up in a ball, and excitedly told me to unwrap my present. Inside the blanket was Timmy with all his outfits.
I think all little boys line up cars. Here Carson is on the piano, but Everett is the one who is usually wanting to be up banging on the keys.
Everett is absolutely crazy about BALLS. He will do anything to get to a ball. Here he climbed under the exersaucer to retrieve the football. If Everett sees a tomato, he nearly jumps out of my arms to get the "ball." If I'm wearing a shirt that has circles on it, all day long he is pointing to my shirt and excitedly repeating, "ball! ball!" He picks the peas off his plate at dinner and says, "BALL!" He has been playing baby catch for several months now, and is getting pretty good at actually throwing the ball.
If I had the time, I think Carson would be content to have me read to him all day long. Right now his favorites are Bernstein Bears and Clifford books. When it's a book we've read a few times, it's fun to read half the sentence, and he can nearly always fill in the other half. A great deal of Carson's verbal communication during the day is him quoting books. Last night he suddenly exclaimed, "Oh! I forgot about my cream puffs!" (Amelia Bedelia.)
Any sort of medical instruments are definitely a favorite. Most evenings that Rick his home, he is dragged by Carson over to the floor so Rick can do an exam on him. When Carson is playing doctor and you're the patient, he'll ask you questions like, "Do you have any pain?" And he'll tell you to turn around so he can listen to your lungs with his stethoscope.
Carson loves it when he gets to go on special outings with Dad. Here he and Pip Squeak (his perpetual doggie companion) are at a campout, and then Carson and Dad are ready to go play some b-ball.
Play dough is only a favorite when mom helps shape the dough into fun things to play with. Carson named this lovely little creation Reagan. Then he asked for me to make Reagan a motorcycle.
And our boys are getting more and more into coloring and drawing. This picture of Everett was taken a month ago; he has changed so much already! I am impressed with how long Ev will sit and scribble. And Carson likes to try and trace some letters that I draw out for him.
Visiting Paula and her family was like a dream. We hugged and laughed and talked of our time spent together, now five years back. There was that time when they borrowed my hair straightener and it almost burnt the house down, and the baptism of that beautiful family, and oh those Saturday morning aerobics classes that we taught! (How do you say "hamstring curl" in Spanish?)
They gushed over the pictures of our little boys, but when I inquired about the rest of their family, the conversation turned somber. A family tragedy. Shocking, devastating news. All I could do was sit there and cry and whisper, "lo siento," because I really did feel it.
So now everyone is crying and attentive to Paula who has had to shoulder this awful burden, and then I realize that somehow she is the one who is smiling and reassuring everyone else that everything will turn out just fine. Her faith in God is firm, she says, and all that matters is that she has chosen to follow Him and will continue to do so. She is smiling because she truly believes that His love for her is never-ending, and that He has a place prepared for her. She even comments that perhaps she'll spend the next life with a companion more suited to her, and that she and Patrick Swayze would make an excellent match.
So how is it that I totally lost my cool today when Carson scribbled all over an important project, yet Paula has a smile on her face during a major life trial? I sure have a lot to work on, and Paula, you are my hero.
The boys watching dad mow the lawn, obviously on a hot day.
It was super hot yesterday, and we'd finished dinner by 5:30. Happy that Rick had come home early, we were looking for a fun family activity. "Let's shave their heads!" I said.
So, we did. The boys got an ice cream treat and a Maisy movie, so they were quite content with the arrangement.
Now they are so cute, I just can't stop looking at them.
Don't their faces just look identical? Rick had light hair as a boy, for the record.
Rick finally caught up to me and turned 26 last month.
Those muffins were a delicious cupcake substitute. Not too much healthier, I'm afraid, but you can significantly reduce the sugar and do the old applesauce for oil substitute. And wheat flour, of course.
I mean, I could stay at my computer all day working and making money, or I could have this cute little boy coming over every few minutes to take my hand and say things like, "Mom, wanna come play in my hamster house?" (We do not have a hamster. He is being a hamster in a house made out of pillows.) Somehow everything he says is funny and super cute, mostly due to his little lisp. That lisp made it extra funny the other morning when he told me, "I slipped out of my crib like a hippopotamus." This kid is my favorite person to talk to!
I didn't have a good "before" photo, but it was black.
