a little something to spruce up the back patio

i have had these little tea lite lanterns for a couple of years now, as well as the dragon fly lights. our porch needed just a little pick me up. something to set the mood on those hot summer evenings. so i hung the tea lite lanterns from our covered patio. i filled them with a little play sand and added the dragon fly lights along the top.

i can't wait to sit out here and enjoy a glass of wine after the kiddos go to bed.

furniture makeover #1

i purchased these chairs off of craigs list for $40 for 4 of them. they were sturdy but in desperate need of a makeover.

chairs $40
behr premium paint with primer $14.99
sand paper $6
good quality purdy paint brush $10
compressor with paint sprayer attachment (we already owned this, i don't know what they typically cost. there are cheaper sprayers that do not require a compressor. they cost anywhere from $40 to $100) you can hand paint but it will show brush strokes, which is why i spray to avoid that look.
one yard of decorator fabric $7.00 (got it on sale.)
one yard of batting for under fabric on seats $2.77

here is the finished product. a little time and elbow grease and a beautiful set of old but new to me four chairs.

i almost can't bear the thought of my kids eating breakfast in these tomorrow.... i suppose that is all part of the fun though.

rainbow

today we took a moment to admire the wonders of nature and how beautiful they can be. just a reminder to us how blessed we are. for our pot of gold is that we are able to see things as if we were seeing them for the first time through the eyes of our boys.

napa valley 2010 trip - magical view

this is the beautiful patio that we sat on at frogs leap winery.

this was the view that i had from this fantastic patio. isn't it magical? i could have sat here the rest of our trip. in fact i could live on the grounds of this winery. i will be revealing more of this winery in another blog post. i was revisiting my memories of this today for a moment of peace and bliss away from my morning of screaming and whining. i hope it brought you a moment of bliss as well.

why is this little seat so intimidating?

this seat... well it scares me more than it scares brady.. i think. now begins the having to stop in the store, park and anywhere else we go to potty. grandma and grandpa layed the foundation for this exciting transition in brady's life while we were in napa. thank you, he at least agrees to go now.

i decided to get organized in our potty room. maybe it will be the key to our success. we have some reading material, reward stickers for our potty chart below and pull ups and fresh undies to put on after our accidents.

just like adults i thought brady may need to see his progress, so he gets a sticker every time he pee pees and we have been telling him he will get two stickers and a mcqueen race track if he will just poo poo on the potty, so far we have only done that in our pants. i have to say cleaning that up is disgusting. i would probably give him a million dollars right now if he would just do it in the potty. wish us luck!

Happy 3rd Birthday Brady!

as i look back on this last year of your life i am left wondering where the time has gone. there are days that i wish you were older, wiser and more self sufficient and days that i wish you were still the tiny little baby i held in my arms three years ago. you have grown into a little man this year. full of energy, mischief, defiance, confidence and straight up silliness. you love to repeat everything we say. you are our little sponge. you want to work more than play. you love to do anything your daddy is doing. you are still my little cuddle bug when you are sick or just waking up. i love that you love to curl up to a good book on the floor of your room. you are constantly smiling, laughing and talking. not a quite moment in this house and we wouldn't have it any other way. you are still quite the musician. you can carry a tune and remember the lyrics to a lot of songs. nothing brings a smile to my face faster than you walking through the house singing, "life is a highway....." the movie cars is your passion in life right now, right a long with shoveling, mowing and weed whacking. brady, keep on growing, learning and being you. we love you to the moon and back.

love mommy and daddy.

root beer floats anyone?

daddy and brady sharing a little root beer float together this weekend. mmmm mmmmm good.