oh cra.....

remember our couch?

well i kind of got sick of the turquoise

so last night we decided to take the plunge and

spray paint it

after we finished the back i just thought

oh crap

what are we thinking

we should probably just sell this and get a new one

not screw this one up

but we pressed on and...

it's turning out pretty well

it's not done yet

but i'll show you as soon as it is

aren't you exited?

noah is being...

cut off

no more sippies

why, you ask?

maybe it was the insane amount of time in the car this weekend

that got michael and i talking about it

or that we don't have a dishwasher and they are a pain to wash by hand

or maybe it's that he's three and loves nothing more than to

whine for a sippy

lay down or be held like a baby

drink his milk

and while doing so he may or may not have his finger on his belly button

it's weird

and it's gone on too long

no mo

i got to see my...

sisters yesterday

and their families and my parents

this is me and monica

this is me and andre`a

she ran a marathon yesterday

and i couldn't resist seeing her

sadly we got to seattle about 3 minutes after she crossed the finish line..

but it was still completely worth the 4+ hours in the car each way

i just love these girls

then after we all hung out

michael's parents came down to have dinner with us

it was really nice

and today we drove home

it feels really good to be here

we (hazel) don't travel that well

but it was a wonderful weekend

today we

hit up the moscow aquatics center

it's a cool little water park

but by the time we got there it was just under 70 degrees

and pretty breezy

so this is where i hung out

but michael and the kids had fun

there are all sorts of toys

a couple big slides

and a lazy river intertube ride

we'll definitely have to go back a warmer day

still working on the kids room

i'm trying to make the kids' room flow

they're opposite gender so i want it to be pretty neutral

this is what you see when you walk in

i recently added the hanging pom-poms

and i found noah a bedding set for $20

so i put the comforter and pillow case on his bed

and kept his white sheet set on his bed

which meant i could use the new flat sheet for curtains

(here's a closeup)

and the fitted sheet for hazel's crib skirt

and little pillows for each of them

her crib still looks pretty plain so i'll have to do something about that

noah helped me paint their dressers

and michael put the new knobs on

we got a million of these knobs for $0.50 at ikea in the as-is hardware bin

i think i might put some matching lamps on their dressers in the middle

i haven't decided yet

(thanks for the signs tawn, we love them)

noah's bed

another view of the hanging pom-poms

if you'd like to make some here is where i got the instructions

i finally got the hang of it on like the second to last one so i might be re-doing some

well that's it for now..

dear darling husband,

When you get home from school we're going to go look at this bike.

I need it.

And a basket to put on the front.

Love you,

wifey

last night we...

bathed both kids in the kitchen sink

they won't be this small forever

we'd better enjoy it while we can

funniest thing ever

just when i thought we were having a boring day

i went to the living room

and noticed noah had pulled a chair up and rearranged a little

and was giving me a funny look

then i saw what was on tv

he was exercising

this kid is hilarious

busy busy

doing yoga

flying paper airplanes

eating cookies

and

playing a curtain rod like it's an instrument..

lamp shades

we finally found some

at shopko of all places

to be honest, i'd never heard of the place until we moved here

and it's one of like 3 stores here "in town"

i'm glad our lamps finally have shades

my current project is the kids' room

pictures soon to come..

hazel has big news

picture from last october

she's finally going to let a tooth pop through

just days before she's 13 months old

yay for hazel

oh and she says she's grateful for all of your concern on the subject

but please stop making denture jokes

worst wife ever

well i forgot it was father's day

until in sacrament meeting at church they announced it

i looked at michael like....what?!

how could i have forgotten?

i never forget these things

but today i did

even to the extent that i didn't let him sleep in

he got up with the kids first

i requested pancakes

and he delivered

he didn't make a peep about it being father's day

and then during church while i was feeling guilty and awful for forgetting

he comforted me

and told me that every day feels like father's day

and i'm the best wife ever

has there ever been a more awesome husband?!

i love you, michael

and

happy father's day

a trip to the pool

run away

lately noah is becoming more fearless

which is fabulous when it means he'll actually go down a slide

but when it means he sneaks outside when we forget to latch it shut

(we never had this problem when we had round knobs that we could use safety latches on but now we have levers that we can't mess with)

it gives us near heart attacks

like the other day we were hanging out in our room upstairs

hazel was napping

noah was playing downstairs

until i thought, wait---is the door latched shut?

michael looked out the window and saw noah out on the playground

then today we couldn't find him, similar scenario

and i heard a knock at our front door

it was noah

at least he came home but sheesh

then tonight michael went up to check on the kids

noah wasn't anywhere to be found

not in his room, not in hazel's crib, not in the bathroom

not in our room....until michael touched the bedding that looked like this

but alas, there's noah

under our bedding completely

soaking with sweat

i hope he outgrows these crazies soon

a sew sew day

last night i felt like sewing so

i hemmed a pair of shorts

and then sewed this applique onto one of hazel's onesies

and then went through my stash of fabric until i found

a fair sized piece with blue and white stripes

and two holes in it

intentional holes, but not from me

it looked like it could work so i made a dress

front

back

arm hole

they were too big so i had to fill them in

oh and look at this surprise

it's reversible

and i like it better this way

yay for sewing

a trip to the city

yesterday we went to spokane for our anniversary

it's an 80 minute drive each way

the kids did pretty well

notice hazel crying behind us

there are a lot of rolling hills the whole way there

michael wanted his picture with one

hazel wouldn't let up until i sat with her

so here i am scrunched in the back seat

while in spokane

we enjoyed the downtown shopping

and then headed to my beloved target

and then here for dinner

do you see the gigantic pop we got free with our combos

that was way more than enough celebratory dr. pepper for me

i just wish we had room for slurpees

two years ago today...

i married this guy

i'm still really happy i did

no wonder i love being home

you just can't help but love them

4 (dollars) must be my lucky number

recently i've been on the hunt for curtains

we couldn't find any for less than $30

(and those weren't cute or what i wanted)

and i knew i could make some

but fabric can be spendy too

so.....instead we bought 2 twin flat sheets at walmart

for $4 each and cut each in half

and now have curtains in our bedroom for $8

they're so simple and they're exactly what i wanted

and

today i found new lamps for our room

for $4 each

at a garage sale (pictured above also)

they're kind of funky/modern

and go really well in our room

i'm so excited about them

but now i need shades

i want a shade like this

but there aren't any local here and amazon wants $30 a piece

so unless you have better advice

i think we're going to try and make some...

wish us luck!

to serge or not to serge

do any of you own a serger?

do you like it?

i want one

but i've never used one

are they worth the money?

are some way better than others? would a cheap one work fine?

i hope you have some good advice

thanks!

this will do just fine

michael and i have had an ongoing debate about desks

he thinks he needs a desk for the computer

and an empty desk for studying

i agree we need a desk for the computer

but really? an empty desk for studying?

too much

use the same desk

anyway

i think i need a sewing desk

it's so annoying to get the sewing machine out every time you want to use it

and then put it away only to discover you need it again shortly

of course michael doesn't see the importance

and he doesn't enjoy seeing my sewing machine on our kitchen table much either

so being the awesome husband that he is

and in his words, "have i ever not given you what you want?"

he asked what we should do tonight

and i told him i want a sewing desk

so off to goodwill we went

with only 30 minutes until they closed

(7:00 seriously?! i guess we must be in the middle of no where)

we went and within a minute found this little jewel

hand painted with love i'm sure

and with a perfect price $6.00

ok, you know i would've loved it for free...

so into the trunk she went

and into our GIGANTIC dining room closet she sits

which i love since i can close the doors when i'm done

don't mind the awful curtains hanging on the right

they were once hanging in every window but i couldn't stand them

so they're going to hang out right next to me while i sew

i can handle that

there's even room for my luggage full of fabric

i'm so excited

i love my new little sewing nook

summer love

we are so lucky

our apartment has a park right behind it

we can see it right outside our windows

i can even face the baby monitor toward the window

and leave hazel asleep inside while noah plays at the playground

and i soak up some sun

the sun makes me so happy

and it's so nice that noah can finally be outside

michael even studies outside at a picnic table under a tree

while noah plays sometimes

so today noah and i were outside

and there was a cute girl riding her bike past us

back and forth and back and forth

noah loves to talk to everyone

he's a lot like my dad

so everytime this girl rode past noah would say

"hi"

"bye"

"see you"

and then even blow a kiss

he was totally in to her

she's probably like 9 or 10

a much older girl

her name is allison

she eventually got off her bike and came in to the playground to play near noah

he liked that but what he really liked her for was her bike riding skills

so he insisted i grabbed his retro style radio flyer trike

that he rarely rides

it's tough work riding his trike

but with a little encouragement from allison

he actually rode his trike

i seriously have never seen him ride so much

or so well

the tragedy came when she said, "well see you tomorrow maybe?"

and rode away into the night

he was heart broken

he threw his trike down a hill

and cried

his first broken heart

i'm just glad i was there for support

we came inside and drank some water and read books

i hope we'll always be so close

our new home

 the new collage wall in the living room

kitchen

i'm still a little bit in shock that we don't have a dishwasher

our bedroom

this is our new bedding, i love it

we still need some window treatments

and i need to fix our lamp shades but you get the idea

michael's parents bought us a washer and dryer

they arrived today and i can't wait to use them

dining room

i just made these curtains today out of a queen sheet

they're a little short...i'll have to work on that later

noah's bed

hazel's bed

the living room

in a very "natural" setting

this is it for now

 we'll be making lots of changes and improvements

as soon as we get the chance

for now we're just getting settled