what's picture day like at your house?

It's that time of year again.

When the holidays are just around the corner and life gets crazy festive whacko. 

So I thought it would be a great idea to do our family photos early this year. Lorieloo agreed to take us on, bless her heart. We are a squirrely crew, with 4 boys and all. 

Around a week before photo time, I realized that my boys' shirts were getting all worn out(and didn't match with my stuff, lol), so I decided to order some new tees on etsy. I knew we were cutting it close with shipping and all.

The day before my shoot with Lorie, my package did not come. Stress. I started tracking the package and it was stuck somewhere in Goleta, CA, with little chance of arriving on time. I was bummed but decided not to stress. I didn't want to turn this whole photoshoot into an idol, if you know what I mean. Lorie said she could shoot us later, if need be. Seriously, she is the sweetest. 

But morning of, my package miraculously arrived and we were ON! Wahoo!

I normally have clothes selected ahead of time, but this year I was kinda flying by the seat of my pants. I had a last minute wardrobe change myself and drove to Forever 21 to buy a new top. I highly recommend picking out your clothes at least a day or 2 in advance, if not even sooner. But whatevs. All is well that ends well.

A few days later, Loriloo texts me the following:

Because that's what real friends do: they photoshop your zits, ha.

And how cute is Lorie with her photo disk packaging?! Thanks dearest Loo. I'm so grateful for your talents!

So what is photo day like at your house? Do you get clothes ahead of time or the day of? Is it relaxed or crazy?

In other news, John made some honeycomb shelves for my bday, from A Beautiful Mess blog. They were harder than anticipated but my stud of a husband worked it out.


I have a few things to say about this photo.

1. I moved the blue couch to another room because it was clashing with everything. I did a little couch switcheroo.

2. The rug. Oh the rug. The ends of the rug would NOT STOP CURLING UP. And the black arrowheads were peeling off. So I returned it to Urban Outfitters today for store credit. In the market for a new rug...

3. Um. Twain and Ollie thought their kitties added a nice touch to my shelves. What do you think?

4. We hung the shelves but I'm still looking for things to put on them. I have trouble decorating large shelves. They overwhelm me. But I do love these honeycomb shelves and will look for some cheap nick-nacks at a thrift store. When everything is situated, I will show you a proper-like photo. Right now this room still in limbo.

Finally, I try not to go on and on about Ollie's schooling, so as to not bore you to tears. But I was SO stoked to take a whole week to perfect the little "e", since it's in Ollie's name...and was so hard for him to write.




We practiced with shaving cream and sand. I love sand. Shaving cream...notsomuch.


Ollie made this cute little robot the other day. I especially love that it can carry tabby(ies) and their gameboys.


Ollie is thriving and each day feels very fulfilled. I fall into bed exhausted from it all, yet have trouble sleeping.

I got adjusted by Dr. W and she said I'm clenching my teeth like a maniac, which was causing my sinus troubles. So I think I am still feeling underlying stress/anxiety, which stinks. I hate that feeling. I know God doesn't want me to live this way, so I am praying that I can learn to fully cast all my cares upon Him. And a personality change would be nice too. I wish I was more laid back. 

a mint wall

Dear Sweet Blog.

Um hi.

I've missed you.  I didn't mean to take such a long break, honest, but sometimes...life...happens.

I told some people I would do some stuff for them, and I felt like I had to fulfill all of my responsibilities before coming back here. Priorities and such. It doesn't mean I don't love you. I just felt guilty playing here when I had all these deadlines looming over me. It's hard being a grown-up.

And to be quite honest, this mama has been literally drowning in work and barely came up for air the last few weeks. Has that ever happened to you? Where your "to-do" list, seems to grow in your sleep? And you just can't get on top of it all, no matter how hard you try?

Work work work, 24/7! And the boys have been realllllllllly demanding. And I got a head/sinus cold and I'm beat and overwhelmed and stressed...but God has been my helper. Amen, don't know where I would be without Him.

Despite all this, I{meaning John} did manage to paint a wall and that is something to celebrate, eh?

I mean, it only took me a week of deliberating before I FINALLY settled on a shade of mint. I used Behr Winter Fresh, 25% darker.

I was SO excited when bday present arrived on the FedEx truck....an eames-style white rocker--it's a knock-off, of course. But it's so much fun and my favorite chair in the house. The boys and kitties love it too. Hi Peach!



Above:
flower print and wooden cubby from urban outfitters
arrow sign(and chevron box) from target
lil deer head from land of nod
goose-neck lamp and tiny globe from etsy or ebay.


My little sis was doing face-time with me, trying to help me decorate this wall. When all of a sudden I let out a loud SHRIEK. John {accidentally}dropped that arrow pic on my little deer...and one of its antlers broke right off. It was a sad little moment.

After some minor surgery with super glue, it's as good as new{Don't look too close, wink}.


This above wall used to be my piano wall--we ended up moving the piano under the front window. It's always fun switching things up and looking at things in a fresh new way. The boys get all excited too. Weeee!

kids' desk area

My dear friend Barbie texted me a picture of an old double desk...and she offered to give it to Twain and Ollie!

I just had a sneaking suspicion that it would look perfect under this {once}empty window.

Picture above from instagram--I'm davirebecca, if you care to be insta friends:)

John picked up the desk from Barbie's house and the next day I was very motivated to find lil chairs. I dragged Ollie and Twain to 3 different antique stores til I found any kid chairs. 

As soon as loaded them into my car, I noticed rust. Ug. Hate that. 

So the next few days were spend scrubbing off any surface rust. It was a most arduous task and finally John took over. Thankgoodness. Little boys were going absolutely mad with anticipation waiting for their little chairs. 

John wanted to spray paint the metal parts of the chair. And I came thisclose to complying. But I liked the natural worn patina, so he ended up just spraying them with a clear satin finish. 

He also put on new metal feet. Aren't they pretty and shiny?

Then the fun part! Accessorizing! A while ago, Loriloo got the Oliver Twist and Mark Twain books as gifts for my Oilver and Twain.  These books have been patiently sitting on the boys' bookshelf,  just waiting for their grand debut. 

And I was SUPER stoked to finally have a home for these metal bookends. 

(Side story. I bought these metal book ends YEARS ago...then sold them back to the antique dealer for PENNIES I TELL YOU...only to buy them back from him AGAIN a year or 2 later, sheesh.)

And not sure if this banner will remain, but it makes the place chipper for now!

And darlings Megan and Barbie got me these awesome metal file cabinets to store Ollie's curriculum. I'm now obsessed with curriculum--because when you have lousy material it makes you want to gouge your eyes out. 

I originally set out to homeschool just Ollie.

>Partly because our kindergarten shifted to all-day, rather than half-day.

 I was fairly certain that both Ollie and his teacher would both go crazy from each other by the end of the day. 

>Partly because I suspected Ollie would need a lil extra help. Which he does. Especially with handwriting.

I did not anticipate teaching Twain(age 4). But he insists upon it. 

It's been fun teaching them, so I have been pleasantly surprised.

Ollie and Twain cannot believe their good fortune that mommy now sits and reads to them and does activities with them all morning rather than cleaning the house. 

My house. My poooooor house. It's a mess. Stress! I crave order!

It's been a tough adjustment for me because I'm used to cleaning, doing chores and running errands all morning. I'm still trying to figure it all out.

God is patiently teaching me what I NEED to do vs. what I need to let go of...
And it's been tough for me to let go. I didn't realize I had such a deathgrip on my schedule and "to-do" list. Since I have less time for my "stuff", I'm S-L-O-W-L-Y learning to be more disciplined and to prioritize. I still mess up and waste time and have a long way to go. 

I rewarded myself with sushi for lunch on surviving the first week. I scarfed the other 6 sushi rolls before snapping this picture. I think it should be a weekly ritual. 

mug swap 2013

Hiiii.
I'm alive...but barely. I literally feel like I have been drowning lately...just too much to do, too little time. Just can't do it all.

But I did manage to participate in my very first {acuppakim}mugswap!
Actually this is my very first SWAP of any kind.
I'm always scared to do swaps becuase I'm so picky. I'm afraid I will not like what I get and I'm afraid I will buy the wrong thing for someone else. As my sister Jessica said, "It's a very serious business giving someone a household item". Lol.

My girl was actually pretty easy. She said she LOVED the starbucks city/state mugs.

So I went to Starbucks, expecting to have my pick of any city/state I wanted. Well. NO. That is not how it works. You can only buy your own city/state. Rude.

But it's kind of a thing. Apparently people get all excited trading these Starbucks mugs and collecting them when they visit another state.

I thought our Cali mug looked a smidge unfortunate, but Katy assured me that it would be special since it's from the state I live in.

Now these mug swaps are sorta a big deal and people like to wrap them all pretty. So I decided to make my own wrapping paper. Loriloo gave me the idea of gold dots .


Mmmmmm. Metallic gold paint. Looks so yummy I could lick it.


These sponge doohickies are called 'spouncers'. Bought them at Michaels.


Just about done!


Thought it needed a pom pom so I made one using this tutorial.

I am officially obsessed with yarn as ribbon and think I will wrap my Christmas with it. Cheap. Comes in any color. Big rolls. Win-win-win.

Also added some of my favorite candy from my hometown. People go crazy on these swaps and add ALLLL kinds of extra goodies.


Ready to be shipped of from Cali to Texas, yeehaw! My swap mate Tammy is super friendly and it was a joy getting to know her better!


The same day Tammy got her mug, I got my mug from my girl, Sara, at Hellomynameissara.com

I was stoked with my mug!
Except I got super confused and when I tried to thank Sara and tag her on instagram, I accidently tagged the wrong person...a girl in China called Sara.com.
Only I could be so awk as to tag the wrong person....from China no less. Gah!
But with the help of {ACuppa}Kim, I mangaged to hook up with my cute and super talented swap mate!
I had a lot of fun doing this swap! You should join next time if you are up for a little adventure.

Calvin|8|Field

My Calvin Jack is now 8! 

He used to be my easy-going, laid back child.

He kinda morphed. 

He has {many}opinions. And is stubborn. 

Probably because he has 3 brothers.  And has to keep up.

He's still sweet as pie and spontaneously hugs me every day.

But somewhere along the way he is not so easy-going and laid back anymore. Nope. Gone are those days. And it's throwing this mama for a loop.

But we adore him. 

Happy Birthday Calvin Jack, who don't take smack. 

on a whim

It was saturday morning and I was sleeping in til 9. And it was just heavenly. Don't judge. Let me have my one little moment of happiness, because soon, very SOON,  school will start and my life will be OVER. I'm just NOT a morning person, ha.

John said, "Hey let's get Calvin a bike in Ventura from Craigslist for his bday".

"Are you crazy?", I asked.

"No...we could go to the beach after that!"

Sadly, I'm not very good at planning trips. Like ever. What is wrong with me? John plans all of our vacations. If it weren't for him, we wouldn't go anywhere.

So I packed my lil bags and away we went. Weee!

Even got to take my new sandals(from Shi, by Journeys) for a spin.


Twain decided he had to whiz as soon as we got to the beach. "Go in the water!", daddy someone said.

"Ew, that's sick!", I declared. Besides. Twain refused to use the ocean as his toilet. Good boy.

So we had to take a little hike to the potty.

Twain was barefoot and the bathrooms were DISEASED I TELL YOU. Pee all over the seat and floor. I wanted to gag. And Twain was too short to reach the potty. Plus I didn't want his feet to touch the ground.

So I scooped him up and held him sideways and he started whizzing everywhere, oi.

So much for having a boy. I thought that was supposed to be a benefit---they could go standing up. Not this day.

Finally we aimed some into the toilet. And left the place worse than it started. Whoops.

Daddy and the boys found a diseased decapitated bird. Lovely.


When we first got to the beach, I immediately spotted a super cool log...but there were people PARKED on it.

The second they left, I hawked it. It was super grand, like having a sofa. The people across the way kept staring. I'm not sure why. Did they want the log too? Or were we a spectacle? It's hard to say...

It was windy and freezing and I was SOOOO glad I brought my wool hoodie.

The boys didn't seem to mind the cold for the first hour.

Hanging with the birthday boy! Cavin turned 8! (Don't worry, I have since trimmed the wayward bangs).

We even stopped for Foster's donuts and celebrated. Donuts are like my favorite dessert ever, btw...mmmm...sugar donuts, white or pink sprinkle donuts or a chocolate bar. And I like maple bars too but they are kinda sweet. What is your fav donut?

Grooming my boys like a chimp. Always.






Trying to keep warm. Not a bad idea, boys.


Finally the boys were miserably cold and begging to go home. Ollie hid under a towel and kept praying "Jesus please stop this wind!". He probably remembered the story in the bible where Jesus stopped the wind on the sea...


Finally when I could handle the whining and yelping no longer, we threw the boys in the van and drove home.

It's SO fun to get away, but even more fun coming home. What can I say? I must be part hobbit.