More painting. Can you stand it?

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I have just finished a second coat of paint on our bedroom and I just have two thoughts:

1. Our bedroom is entirely too large.
2. I miss my painting buddy. The “rolling” role that is usually filled by J. is a lot of work.

I have happily graduated to doing the trim work without any blue tape, though. Come to find out I can freehand the trim much straighter and faster than if I had taped it.

So, in case you have forgotten here is what we have been living with for the past four years…

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It kinda looks like I haven’t cleaned off my nightstand in the past four years, doesn’t it? And while I kept saying the wallpaper “really isn’t that bad,” it is kinda old-ladyish and enough is enough.

So, we kicked around color ideas for many months, and we debated whether we should de-wallpaper before painting for at least as many months. We decided (after our big failed attempts in Em’s room) that whatever wallpaper glue they used in the 60s kind of disintegrates the 100-year old stucco that our walls are made. And our walls are incredibly smooth right now – you can’t even find the seams…so we decided that the wallpaper will stay.

The color debate was a much harder one to decide.

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I liked the Restoration Hardware Silver Sage there in the middle – J. said it was too “green.”
J. wanted a blue, maybe a robin’s egg color or “Tiffany” blue – I said they were all too “blue.” I can’t wake up to a room that is that…bright. So we finally agreed on a color – called appropriately, “Hydrangea.” It is really pretty. But, you will all have to wait til tomorrow to see a pic because it is just too dark to really see it tonight.

On a completely different wild hair…I’ve been cleaning out everything. Every time I walk through a room I’m constantly scouting things that I can Craigslist or donate or pass off to friends. Just Saturday I was eyeing up the girls’ play kitchen in the playroom and I thought to myself, “they don’t ever even play with it anymore, I should just get rid of it.”

Yeah. You know what is coming. The VERY next day…I walk out into the front lawn and see this…

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Every piece of food and every last dish from the kitchen was out in the lawn being used for a “family reunion picnic.”

Drats. It is like taking toys from a baby…

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…and I can’t deny my babies those little things that bring them such joy, now can I?

Not Necessarily Crafty…

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…but very, very busy. No Crafty Tuesday goodies to show today. This little ol’ thing called a new house (well, new as in…”now it is our problem”) is taking up every single moment of our spare time.

Between the pesky things I have to do, like projects, logos and websites that people would like done (and I would like to get paid for) and just everyday life, it is hard to squeeze in everything on our ever-expanding “honey do” list.

And then J. has to go gallivanting off to India today, so my manpower is cut in half! While he is away Addie and I are finishing up some gardening things and I am painting the bedroom. Stay tuned for photos and stories of both of those! And since I know that J. is going to be missing his girls ever so much, there will probably be a lot of gratuitous photos of them this week, too. Bear with us.

Gonna Need Another Parka.

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I had my hand ON my camera on the way to the pool tonight because I was taking photos of other stuff around the house, and I decided not to take it.

Aaaarrrgghh! The head swim coach decided that it would be a great time to try Addie’s swim class in Lane 1 – where Em usually swims with the swim team. The pee-wees were overjoyed and ran down to the other side of the pool and Addison Rose was the first to jump in. Her coach asked them to swim the length of the pool…and Addie took off – her freestyle wasn’t technically perfect, but she was determined to get to the end first…and she did. And then turned around and backstroked the whole way back.

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I can’t even begin to tell you how excited she was to be swimming with Emma! With the swim team! In Lane 1! In the deep end! And because I chose this night to not bring my camera, I only have crappy iPhone pics of my two fishies like this…

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The coach said that Addie will be ready for the Tsunami Jr. team this summer. Although we are going to have to trade in her bombshell (cute!) swimsuit for a more practical, aerodynamic speedo suit. That might be a deal breaker for my fashionista…

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Little Fishy in a Parka.

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I promised Em a swim parka if she stuck with the swim team for a few months and really worked hard. The swimming is still going strong and she has definitely stuck by it. She knew her parka was waiting for her at swim on Monday and she couldn’t get to the pool fast enough. She got to celebrate her new parka with her friend Avery and now it is hard to get her to take it off.

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Crafty Tuesday

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I skipped out on you all last Crafty Tuesday, but it wasn’t because we didn’t have anything to show. Birdie Jamie and I have been very, very busy!

A few weeks ago we had a little craft boutique here and we ended up with a packed house! Besides the Two Birdies, we had another 8 or 9 vendors and a really good turnout, including a lot of the teachers from school and some of our city council members. It was a really fun night and everyone keeps asking when we are going to have our next boutique. We are thinking possibly doing it 4 times a year – each season or so.

We sold some of our bottlecap necklaces – the Cougar ones were a pretty big hit. Can you guess what our display for the necklaces and magnets used to be? Remember those metal TV trays your grandma used to have? Yeah – I found one at the flea market, we gave it a fresh coat of paint and then used our cool machine (aka Eva) and made a vinyl adhesive logo for it. We are currently scouting for other smaller metal trays that we can personalize and use for the bottlecap wardrobes.

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We also sold some snackpacks. Little waterproof and reusable snack packs. I’m still searching for some less “girly” laminated fabric.

And Jamie played around with some boy tees, too.

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Another hit at the Boutique that we didn’t even suspect would be a big seller were the personalized clipboards. What an incredible way to get rid of all of the scrapbook paper that has been collecting dust around here lately.

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Since they were a big success we all made them for the Moms in our lives, too. I can show this one because I know that Nena got hers. I’m not so sure about Nana and  Meesh’s though.

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And then we made  a couple for the teachers for Teacher Appreciation Week last Friday.

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And of course, we sold a bunch of our pillowcase dresses at the boutique. And even more exciting…some of our dresses are in an honest to goodness store! If you pop into our friend Hallie’s shop, The Stylish Child, you’ll see some Two Birdies dresses.

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And we also used Eva to design the girls’ outfits for the Variety Show. She (yes, Eva is a girl!) cuts fabric! And makes temporary tattoos! The girls were kickin’ it in their bling and tats!

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So we have been busy, you see…it is just a toss up. Take time to photograph and blog or use the time to craft?? Hmmm…it doesn’t seem that hard of a choice. Back to crafting!

End of MY week.

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I think at some point I kind of half-promised at least a weekly roundup and so I’m gonna try to squeak a quick one in here this week, yet again.

Nope, we haven’t been sick (my mom always thinks that I must be sick if I miss a few days of blogging), we have actually been pretty healthy, just running at full speed. Again. Like always. At the start of every week I look at the calendar and think, “this is going to be a nice low-key week,” and then before I know it the week is over and the exact opposite has occurred.

First of all, I need to say a big Happy Mother’s Day to all the Moms in my life. My mom, my sister, my mother-in-law and all my mom friends – you all make my life complete. I’ve learned so much about being a mother from all of you. And thanks to my sweet girls and to my awesome husband. Every day is Mother’s Day for me. And even though Daddy had to threaten you with “being good today for Mommy,” I love our life together.

AND…I love the new addition to our family! For Mother’s Day, Daddy and the girls got me a cow of my very own! Seriously. You rent a cow for the year, and they use your cow’s milk to make you cheese! I get to choose my “toast-colored, soft-eyed, long-lashed Jersey cow” and then I get progress reports and “action shots!” I think it is the coolest gift.

It was a continuation of the week long celebration around here where I have been feeling very spoiled. It was indeed my birthday this past week as well, and I got me some L.O.V.E. Everything from hundreds of well-wishes, calls & cards, champagne lunches, a massage, a great family necklace, a new purse, a table hanger and wallet for my new purse, to much needed Kindle $$ for new books and new running shoes! It was a beautiful week and I felt very loved. Thank you all for everything you sent my way. Big kisses to you all….Mwah!

I’ve got so much to still share with you all and some good crafty goodies and our emerging garden wonderland to show, too! But I want to go soak up a few more minutes of “my week” before next week starts. I’ll be back soon, I promise!

Monday Mish-Mash

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I just sat down to unload my camera (and my mind) after an incredibly long week and weekend. Well…the weekend wasn’t nearly long enough, but it was quite a week – especially when I realized I had over 500 photos that I needed to do something with.

So a little post with photos and happenings that didn’t quite manage to make it out of my camera and up here over the past week or so. A little mishmash, if you will.

Addie was so excited to finally get to wear her fancy, white shoes to church on Easter. I must have told Em at some point the white shoe rule (not after Labor Day, and only after Easter) because she kept telling Addie that she couldn’t wear them until Easter.

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And then Addie proceeded to wear them every single day to school this week. They are hardly distinguishable as fancy “white” shoes any longer.

Emmy had her first real testing experience last week. The second graders took the CST (California Standardized Test) Tuesday through Thursday and they take the second part this week. She kept telling me that the test was very easy, but I think the stress of the testing definitely got to her for we had more than our share of meltdowns this past week. At one point she put herself on the bottom step on our staircase after I had yelled at her to stop harassing her sister. When I was walking by, I asked her why she was pouting and she started crying and said “I put myself here because I was hurting my sister. I’m in TIMEOUT!”  Oh, brother. Yes…she was pretty strung out. But she was rewarded on Friday when she was awarded Super Cougar for her trustworthiness!

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And then…it was Dynamite Girl time.

Em and her friends Bella and Audrey have been practicing since December for the Variety Show. And, oh sweet fancy Moses were we happy that it finally came. They were the Dynamite Girls and danced to the song “Dynamite” – the KidzBop version. And they were…AWESOME. I’m not just a biased Mama here – they literally brought down the house. They couldn’t even introduce themselves because there was so much cheering when they walked on stage. It was so fun. And all of their hard work paid off – they rocked it!

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(Miss Arlene choreographed the dance for them.)

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They truly were Dynamite.

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I’m still amazed that they got up in front of hundreds of people and did their thing. Actually I’m amazed at all of the performers and the show just reconfirmed my faith that we have a great community and school. The support for the kids was astounding and it was really cool to be a part of all of it.

After all of the craziness of April, we needed to just unwind this weekend. Addie has been waiting so not patiently to plant her garden, so we got some of that done this weekend.

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I’ll show more details on our planting plan later in the week.
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She was happy to get her plants from school “into the ground!”

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And then we thought maybe it was time for her to take the training wheels off of the bike. Addie was not so sure…

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Pep talk from Daddy…

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Em, the veteran looks on…

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And finally Daddy shows her how it is done…

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No solo riding for Addie today. Mommy did walk away with a bee sting on the bottom of her foot (I had flipflops on) which is swollen and hurts still and the weekend did not seem nearly long enough to fully recuperate, but it is on to another week.

No rest for the weary.

Crafty Tuesday

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We have been crafting…like crazy over here! Really, we have! Filling orders and costume designing for a variety show this week and I just haven’t had a free moment to write about all of it…but I will when things calm down. For now I just wanted to show that WE CAN DO BOY STUFF! 🙂

Horrible shots that I literally took as I was cutting threads off of it to hand over to JB this morning. This is for her little nephew who turns “1” this week! Happy Birthday to him…and I have more of the cool rocket and monster fabric – so you can bet you’ll be seeing more (and better!) shots of goodies made from this.

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Happy Tuesday…hope it’s crafty!