Water Your Garden

This is going to sound so silly, but there's this Justin Beiber song (told you...silly) that features some rap guy (Big Sean) that sings this line I can't get out of my head. He's talking about how he argues with his girl, they may not always get along, blah, blah, rap, rap, but...

"But the grass ain't always greener on the other side, It's green where you water it."

And to this, I say 'true dat.' Actually, I would never say that. I think it's super embarrassing when white, stay at home moms use words like 'yo' and 'girlfriend.' BUT, I think it's entirely acceptable that I listen to teeny bopper music. And I like some rap. So...I'm really no better.

But my point- so much about life is perspective. And I love the idea that something different is not necessarily better. Do your part to build up what you have. It's green where you water it. Marriage, motherhood, career, friendships. It sounds so simple, but in my life it's been huge. Look for the good. Do your (my) part to water it.

Anyway, here's my long shot metaphor at the kid's watering their 'garden.' Only, it's not really a garden. It's a dirt pile in the front yard. But they sure looked cute playing in it. 

 

 

 

 

Unrelated, but I spent last weekend with girlfriends at a beach house celebrating my friend Amy's 30th birthday. SO FUN! I love you Amy! I value our friendship and I love having your support as we raise kids together. XoXo.

The view from our deck. I know.

 

A Big Girl Room For Ella

It's dumb ridiculous how excited I get to decorate my kid's rooms. Maybe because our master bedroom hasn't been done yet, so their rooms feel like an affordable, tangable way to update the house? Ella's room is currently emptied out and I sold her crib on Craigslist this morning (yes, my 3 year olds still sleep in their cribs converted to toddler beds. maxwell's is for sale as well but hasn't been sold yet. which is ok because he does NOT like change and he's having a hard time liking the idea of a big boy bed).

I was in such a hurry to take everything out to start painting, I didn't take before pictures. But here are pictures of the room as the twins nursery, which then evolved to a room full of toddler stuff. The only main change was the crib dropped and side taken off. Plus lots more toys and books. And we obviously took Maxwell's bed out when we remodeled his room, photos here.

This time around I'm loving whites and soft grays. Kind of shabby chic, but not overkill. These are my inspiration photos. Is this boring to read? I'm partly posting this so I can look back and remember my taste. Hopefully it won't change too much. In actuality, this is probably my last time I get control over decorating my daughter's room. Seeing as it is her room, I expect she'll have her own ideas next time. As she should.

Anyway, I think these two rooms are so, so, pretty.

found here

found here

Next, I've always wanted to see a window seat in her beautiful bay windows. I have this vision of my little girl leaning against pillows and daydreaming out her window...flash forward 13 years and I see her teenage body sprawled across the seat, laying on her tummy doing algebra. But mostly, it's what I don't see...I want to HIDE as many of those toys as I can. Ella has a teeny closet, not much room for storage so I'm excited for Mike to make a window bench, kind of like this.

I found her bedding at Target on clearence last summer. I've been saving it for her big girl room.

Over the past six months (literally) I've been pinning sweet prints off etsy. I let Ella look at all of them and she chose four. Here are two of them.

found here

found here

 I have the perfect bathing suit she's outgrown to do this...

found here

 We'll see how it all turns out. Once the paint and window bench are done, we can have fun decorating. It's so fun watching her get excited about her 'big girl room.' At least I think she's excited. I know I am :)

Catch Up

The past week my computer hasn't been accepting my media reader, so I haven't been able to download photos. And what's a blog post without photos? I tried again this morning and for whatever reason it worked. I've got a few minutes until we are meeting friends so here's a quick update on what we've been up to.

On being prepared...
Back when I used to work for real, there was nothing like walking into work feeling behind. Because there's always something else that immediately piles on to the 'to do list,' and it's exhausting to feel like you're always playing catch up. The same is similar in my role at home. Things go so much better when I'm prepared. Little example: usually during nap time I do laundry and pick up the house and enjoy silence. Which doesn't take long. Then I play around on the computer or do something mindless, rarely something productive. Before I know it, someone wakes up or forfeits quiet time and they are demanding drink/food/what are we doing next- and I'm usually kind of annoyed. Not only have I not accomplished anything during this time, but I feel like I'm immediately being needed.

The other day during nap time, I went on my pinterest board of activities for kids. You know, the board that is full of activities I've never actually tried. I found a few quick math games to make. Took FIVE minutes. Then I set them out on their table. Next, I remembered the fun cups my Mom had gotten the kids and I thought about how fun it would be for them to wake up and find these waiting for them. THEN I thought about how they always want something to eat as soon as they get up so I put snacks out too. Finally, no joke, I was excited for them to wake up and see what was waiting on their table for them. Would they like their games? Would they be good at them? Would they find the clothespin activity too easy or too hard? When they did wake up it was fun. They saw what I had put out and acted like it was a special treat. So instead of them whining and demanding, their needs were already met.

Same goes with meal planning. Completely takes the stress out of what to cook. I hate when it's five o'clock and I haven't started anything so I get grumpy and everyone starts to get needy and I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO MAKE. Or cleaning my house, or doing laundry, etc...whatever.

The Truth: I've only done this two more times during nap time. The rest of the time I was either reading the new Lucky magazine or looking at Craigslist for things I don't need. And I don't meal plan. And my house is picked up but not clean.

 

 

In other news...we've hired some amateur contractors to work on Mike's tractor. 

 

And we've been trying to enjoy the last of these summer nights, because our days have been blazing hot. Not so much more than usual, but we got our PG&E bill and almost passed out because it was SO HIGH $$$. We are attempting to finish summer without AC. 

 

Yesterday was our first day to Avila Valley Barn in months. It was fun to see all the pumpkins growing in the fields. Won't be long until we get to bring pumpkins home! 

That's it for now. I'm running late so I'm not going to proof read. Bye :)