Happy Birthday, Seth!

 

:: A Love Letter to our Little Man, on His Birthday ::

Dearest Seth,

You are SEVEN today…. How in the world did time go by so quickly?

In all honesty, it seems as if only yesterday that we were frantically driving to the hospital to deliver you. I remember your birth so vividly in my head, perhaps because it was a bit traumatic on my end! Your daddy and I barely made it to the hospital before you decided to make your entrance into the world! Just 35 minutes we had to endure patiently before meeting you. You were our tiniest baby…. just 6 pounds, 9 ounces. I’ll never forget those first tender weeks cradling you in my arms and keeping you all to myself. It was hard for me to let you out of my arms. As you grew…. you had the same issue with me! You only wanted Mommy to hold you. No one else! We called you my little koala for that very reason. [Read more…]

DIY Garden Boxes

 

{ DIY } Garden Boxes

Do It Yourself- {DIY} Garden Boxes, was a project that I have had on my mind since we moved into our house over two years ago.  Our home, though not large, does have a spacious backyard for our community.  It was the number one reason why we purchased this house.  I have been reading about the simplicity of garden boxes and the benefits of growing your own fruits and vegetables for some time.  I myself consume quite a bit of both and the idea of using my own tomatoes in my favorite Pasta Recipe has been a dream of mine.

We made reference to creating these raised garden boxes via Sunset Magazine and Better Homes and Gardens for the basics. Both sites give information regarding materials needed and sizing for the space you have available.  First, we asked for the help of our neighbor and “local” gardening expert, Rosa.  She visited our yard to see where the garden boxes should be placed based on the suns path. Once we found where we would place the boxes, we measured out the space. We then squared off and leveled the area.  Shane went to Home Depot to purchase the following:

* Wood planks

* Screws

* Hinges to connect the corners.

* Drip system water kit

[Read more…]

DIY: Paint a Chevron Striped Wall

 

:: DIY TUTORIAL | PAINT A CHEVRON STRIPED WALL ::

When we decided to put our two youngest {Sophia & Finn} in a room together… we knew we had to re-paint to make it suitable for both of them. Since I’m obsessed with the color gray {and it’s gender neutral}, we chose to paint three of the walls in a solid gray, and paint a chevron stripe pattern on the fourth wall to make things a bit more lively {admittedly… Miss Blue was slightly traumatized over the gray, and did refuse to sleep there until we told her she could paint her next room bright pink}!

Lucky for me…. all I had to do was ask my sweet Husby if he’d do it, and of course….he said YES! He is super handy and much more of a perfectionist when it comes to things like this. I am a little more book smart, so I used my talents to research the best method {and supervised the rest of the process, as any good wife would do}! The taping was a little intense… but most people probably won’t have their levels and yard sticks out measuring and re-measuring the way we did!  

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Gift Ideas for Teacher Appreciation

 

 

 

Teacher Appreciation Gift Ideas are always needed this time of the year. With Mason, we have a “team” of what I like to refer as “angels” that help him to continue to progress in his main stream classroom with his peers. How do you find a way to say how much you appreciate them? Due to the number of people that are in his support team, I am often pondering ways in which I can purchase special “thank you” gifts to show our appreciation.

Like most of you, the end of the school year can be expensive and overwhelming with the amount of “stuff” that is due all at once.  So a couple of years ago, I decided to make simple gifts for our team that would last for more than just that week of “appreciation.” I decided to put together little succulent pots for his teachers/support team, that they could watch grow over time with minimal upkeep.

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Prep for Summer!

 

Nicole and I were recently asked to write another “Family Focus” article for our local community magazine! We are so excited to share it with you! The focus is on prepping for summer: getting organized, setting a summertime routine, planning activities, going on day trips, and adopting a few seasonal traditions for your family to enjoy and remember for years to come!

So, read on for a plethora of fresh summer ideas… and please feel free to add your own personal favorites in our comment section! We’d love to hear from you! Summer is right around the corner… We’re ready, are you?!!

 

 

It’s hard to believe that summer is right around the corner! Soon our children will be out of school and we will have the large task of keeping their minds and bodies busy in what we hope will be constructive play, quality time spent with friends and family, and educational outings.

Last summer, we sort of winged it… we hate to admit! Although we had every intention of having more structure during our time off, and sending our kids to a few summer camps, not all of our plans came to fruition. We did have our share of lazy beach days {which was great}, but we could have made a few minor adjustments that would have made a big difference in the functioning of our homes and the daily squabbles between siblings that ensued. We hope with a little more time spent on the planning and organizing phase, we will be able to execute a seamless summer spent enjoying each day with happy children! We hope to give you a few ideas on how you can do the same through setting time each day to get organized, having flexible routines and daily rituals, making a summer wish list of activities to do, and setting seasonal traditions to create memories that will last a lifetime {or, at the very least, will last until the beginning of next school year when they have to share what they did over the summer}!

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