Summer Happenings

And, it's only just begun.

Out With the Old, In With the New

We bought these brushed aluminum stools right after we moved here to Cleveland. After a while we realized they were too short for our kids to use, so we bought Kaboosts (portable booster chairs) and put them on the bottoms. Well, one of the Kaboosts broke and instead of spending another $40 on a new one, we decided to get some new, less bulky, taller stools.

Enter the 26" Lyon adjustable metal stools. Not only are they adjustable, they are several inches slimmer and lighter (so my kids can easily push them in and out).

Through phone call after phone call, I managed to find a local store who would order them for me and charge me a fraction of the shipping cost of the online stores ($9 for shipping versus $75).

When trying to decide which stools to get (ever-loving the industrial look), I stumbled upon these in Martha's Cantitoe kitchen and that sealed the deal. I mean, if Martha, who can afford the best of the best, chose these wallet-friendly stools for her kitchen, why wouldn't I want them too? (I think hers are vintage, but they're the same style as mine). I've only had them one day and I already love them. If you want to purchase some great gently-used 24" brushed aluminum bar stools, you know where to find me.

Seeing White

Remember about a month ago when I posted about getting new dishes?

Well, I thought I'd give an update of what they look like, all arranged in my glass cupboards.

I got rid of all the bright-colored neon plastic dishes and bottles and now everyone eats off of white dishes.

I love seeing all the plain white and clear stacked neatly. It's one corner of the house my kids can't touch, so it's a space of my own.

And no one's broken a dish....yet.

Weekend Find

Isn't this piece so cute? It's a very old sheet music cabinet and it is very solid. I'm thinking for a future child's armoire or even a toy room storage cabinet. I could refinish it because it's made of nice wood, but I like the old paint job.

Getting Wheels

We got Finn a bike with training wheels this week. We found a used bike store across town to pick up this little gem of a machine. The store's windows were covered in painted plywood and it was the area of town I wouldn't go by myself with three young 'uns. So Finn went into the store with Travis to pick out his bike. He came out, beaming, riding the slickest thing with wheels you'd ever seen (notice the mismatched training wheels). Later on, as we were driving home, I told Finn he needed to put his bike in the garage every night so no one would take it. Travis then commented that we would have to go buy it back from the store if it did get stolen. Haha. Finn hasn't been able to stay off this bike. Let the good times roll.

Happy Birthday, T. Schuller and Delma!

Happy Birthday to my one true love and to his Grandma, Delma!

(The kids and I surprised Travis by showing up at the clinic with a bouquet of helium balloons and some candy bars. Though he's not one to draw attention to himself, I know that secretly, he LOVED it! hehehe)

Sunday Flower Brooch

How does a pregnant lady get away with dressing as comfortably as possible (read: wearing a knit t-shirt) to church, yet still look somewhat dressy?

A flower brooch. I cut some buttons that were sewn onto one of Lucy's old shirts to make it even faster. A little hot glue and some creative stitching and we were out the door on time.

Miles wore a clip-on tie for the first time too.

Maybe I'm not the only one in this house looking a little "dressed up" for church.

Summer Hands

(Notice the long cherry juice streak on Finn's arm)

(And the dirt under his sticky-handed fingernails)

I'm back. At least I feel like I've been MIA in the blogosphere for some time now. We've had visitors, the flu bug, a last day of school, but mostly just a tired pregnant lady whose once-energetic blogging zeal has been replaced by apathy and boredom with her own life.

I feel like my "voice" is coming back though. Today, waking to Lucy's insistent "get-ups!" after a solid 10-hour stretch of sleep, I decided it was an easy day; meaning, no expectations, staying in my pajamas all day long if necessary, and no agendas to follow. And after my second bowl of ice-cream (it's only just after noon), I'd say today is working out pretty good. Yes, Miles has had constant diarrhea and some vomiting, but I'm gathering my thoughts again, picking up where I left off before the visitors came and Finn finished school, marking the official beginning of Summer for me.

As for my "thoughts," one of them is that motherhood is pretty scrappy at times and most often leaves me wondering what sort of impression I will have left on my kids once their childhoods are over. What I'm trying to do in shaping my kids is immensely important, and yet it takes place at a snail's pace, hour by hour, through naptimes, hectic mealtimes and what can seem like eternally-extended bedtimes. I don't even want to try and calculate how their time with me will be for better or for worse, but all I know is we do the best we can and then try not to worry about the rest. That is ultimate faith. Let's hope I've got a large measure of that in me yet, for I've got another little one on his way and if he's like the other three of mine, he's got some tricks up his sleeve. And, maybe some dirt under his fingernails too.

Teacher Baskets

I stayed up way too late last night making strawberry-topped sugar cookies for Finn's teachers.

Using the small green berry baskets, cellophane bags and metal-edged round tags I won from a Bake It Pretty giveaway on this blog, I put together a little cookie/berry basket. His teachers really are the "Cream of the Crop." I like baking, but what I really love is assembling the complete package: figuring the right container, the lining, the tie, the greeting. It's so much fun. And it makes packaging so much more fun when you're using brand new materials. BTW, I highly recommend Bake It Pretty. They have so many interesting and pretty products.

Vintage Goodies: Just Listed

Visit my shop here for some glorious vintage finds!

Some Snippets

Sunday dinner table with flowers picked and arranged by Mom and Lucy

Crescent rolls (made with soy milk)

"Grandma Deb" reading "Stone Soup," a story she read to me when I was little.

8 Days

My Mom is here (yay!) She brought Finn back from an 8-day fun-filled stay in the Northwest. That was the longest my boy has been away from me and I got the longest, sweetest hug from him when I picked them up at the airport last night. I'm not sure what today holds, but the combination of babysitter + free time in the afternoon with my Mom means something good is in store.

Happy Weekend!

This Humidity

...works wonders on my curls. (Don't look at the back of my hair too closely, though. It doesn't cooperate in the curling department as well as the front. "Party in the front, business in the back.")

A Few New Things

Remember this old metal library cart from the Cleveland Public Library? Well, I got sick of the brown paint I first put on it, so I painted it white. Not without scrubbing down the layer of rust I never bothered to mess with. I think it goes alot better with the other white-painted furniture and windows in the sunroom.

And, remember the skirt I added to our sink several months ago? Well, it didn't last very long because it wouldn't stay attached to the sink. And the metal legs were starting to bend and weren't supporting the sink very well. So, our landlord let us get a new sink with a pedestal. I love it. It gives my pregnant body alot more room to get around in the bathroom and I love the brand new white pedestal. It's amazing what a few small changes will do to improve a space.

And I sewed this pillow cover (with my first zipper!) a few weekends ago. I don't love the turquoise in my living room, but I think the design turned out okay. There's a first time for everything.