song "Sleigh Ride" by Ella Fitzgerald
Thursday, December 11, 2014
our first real Christmas tree
Last week we went and bought our first real Christmas tree. The kids
are in heaven now that we have a Christmas tree and we all had a lot of
fun picking one out and then bringing it home and setting it up. My dad
was able to help us out as he was staying with us while he was here for
business. The kids love spending time with their grandparents and were
thrilled that Grandpa was able to help us with the tree (and so were
we). I made a video of the night. Enjoy!
song "Sleigh Ride" by Ella Fitzgerald
song "Sleigh Ride" by Ella Fitzgerald
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
I'll just let the pictures take over this one...
sources // her / dress Zara, last summer, similar / boots Old Navy / hair bow Janie Bird Shop / tights Gap / sweater H&M // him / pants H&M / tee Gap / shirt Gap / shoes Gap
Monday, December 8, 2014
Society 6 Promos
There are some great deals going on this week over at Society 6! You can check them out here. There's still time to get gifts for family and friends. Happy shopping!
Friday, November 28, 2014
Thanksgiving 2014
Thanksgiving this year was very laid back and relaxing. It was so nice to be able to spend time with extended family but also get a lot of time in with just our little family of four. We had dinner at my husband's grandparents' house and after we ate, we went on a walk with the kids to find some deer. We found pheasants, quail, and a rabbit, who our daughter lovingly referred to as "deer rabbit." It was hilarious and still makes me laugh. Then, as it was getting dark and we were just about to head inside, our son spotted a herd of seven deer. The kids were thrilled and even tried to run down the hill to the field where they were grazing. They were close enough for us to see them, but too far away to get any good pictures, unfortunately. I made a little video of our day. Making videos is so fun but I wish I was a lot better at them! I can't seem to get them to turn out quite like how I imagine them in my head, but maybe with practice it'll come. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Song by Bobby Rydell, "I Wanna Thank You"
Song by Bobby Rydell, "I Wanna Thank You"
Thursday, November 27, 2014
perspective
When I get behind the camera, my best ally is natural light. I've been trying to figure out how to get great indoor pictures without the use of artificial light or the camera's flash. On this particular day, the only way I could get good pictures while taking advantage of the natural light was to get down on the floor, which caused me to see things from a new perspective. Side note: I still ended up needing some help with light because it was overcast outside, so I eventually turned on the light.
My kids are 4 and 2, but they both are capable of carrying on full conversations and they try to be independent much of the time. So a lot of the time I forget just how little they actually are. My kids love trains and they love it when I create a new and different track for them. So after I put it together for them and they started playing, I decided to photograph the scene because they were playing and getting along so nicely. That certainly needed documentation.
Watching their little hands move the trains through the twists and turns and over the bridges and hills while listening to their sweet giggles was nothing short of heavenly. That morning at breakfast, my daughter asked my husband why he had to go to work and why I had to stay home. He told her that it was because we had decided a long time ago that we wanted him to go to work to provide for us and for me to stay home and work taking care of the kids and home. I love my job and I am very fortunate to be able to do what I do.
Today was a wonderful Thanksgiving spent with my little family and feeling overcome with gratitude. I hope your Thanksgiving was lovely as well.
My kids are 4 and 2, but they both are capable of carrying on full conversations and they try to be independent much of the time. So a lot of the time I forget just how little they actually are. My kids love trains and they love it when I create a new and different track for them. So after I put it together for them and they started playing, I decided to photograph the scene because they were playing and getting along so nicely. That certainly needed documentation.
Watching their little hands move the trains through the twists and turns and over the bridges and hills while listening to their sweet giggles was nothing short of heavenly. That morning at breakfast, my daughter asked my husband why he had to go to work and why I had to stay home. He told her that it was because we had decided a long time ago that we wanted him to go to work to provide for us and for me to stay home and work taking care of the kids and home. I love my job and I am very fortunate to be able to do what I do.
Today was a wonderful Thanksgiving spent with my little family and feeling overcome with gratitude. I hope your Thanksgiving was lovely as well.
Friday, November 14, 2014
the first snow
It snowed yesterday and it was magical. And I may or may not be playing
Christmas music when I'm in the car with my kids, who happen to love it
just as much, if not more than I do. As usual, I wish everything my
daughter wears came in my size. #sigh
Thursday, October 23, 2014
family vacation 2014
So we went on a trip back east for a couple weeks and just got back earlier this week. Unfortunately, we had to travel with most of us (3 out of 4) sick with the flu. Fun fun! Here's a video I made of our trip. It's the first one I've ever made and I think I may be hooked. So much fun! Enjoy!
Monday, October 20, 2014
home inspiration - for the future
Recently, my husband got a huge promotion at work. For normal people, this would mean they would be able to afford to move out of their parents' basement! But unfortunately for us, we now have student loans that are coming out of deferment and we will have to make payments on those that will be large enough to keep us in the basement for an unforeseeable amount of time longer. In the meantime, I like to daydream about what I could or would do if we had a place of our own. Here are some spaces that I love and will keep for inspiration for the day when we get to become *real* grown ups. *click images for sources*
You can follow along with all things home that I'm loving right here.
Maybe I should tell the story of our situation? It's long and would need to be broken up over a few posts. For now, let's just say it involves life giving us the biggest lemons we've ever had and how we've had to learn to accept it and move on.
You can follow along with all things home that I'm loving right here.
Maybe I should tell the story of our situation? It's long and would need to be broken up over a few posts. For now, let's just say it involves life giving us the biggest lemons we've ever had and how we've had to learn to accept it and move on.
Thursday, October 16, 2014
throw pillow with embroidery wrapped piping
The inspiration for this project came from this simple, but gorgeous pillow at Anthropologie.
I thought about doing a metallic thread, but after seeing this pillow tutorial, I thought it would be fun to use a bright color instead. It definitely would be out of the ordinary for me and it's good to step outside of the box sometimes.
I made this pillow with an envelope closure; you can see my tutorial for that here. I was going to buy white piping, but my daughter was with me and she picked out lime green. Also, they were out of white, so we went ahead and used the lime green. The embroidery floss I used is DMC color 891, found at my local craft store.
Make the pillow following the instructions on the tutorial. To wrap the piping, knot the end of the embroidery floss and and start from the inside. Bring your needle out at the base of the piping and stitch around the piping, wrapping the floss around it to cover it. You can use a satin stitch to make it smooth and perfect, but I like the way it looks with some of the floss overlapping itself a few times and then other spots being a little more smooth. When you run out of floss, bring the needle back inside and knot it. Keeping all of your knots inside the pillow will keep the outside looking neat and clean. To finish this, I needed about 4 1/2 skeins. While this is a really simple project, it is time consuming. It took a few weeks to get it done, not because it took that long, but because I don't have large chunks of free time. It's a great activity to do while watching a show, which is exactly what I did any time my husband and I watched something.
It's a fun way to get the exact color piping you want with a fun texture. If you tackle this project, I would love to see them. Link it up in the comments!
I thought about doing a metallic thread, but after seeing this pillow tutorial, I thought it would be fun to use a bright color instead. It definitely would be out of the ordinary for me and it's good to step outside of the box sometimes.
I made this pillow with an envelope closure; you can see my tutorial for that here. I was going to buy white piping, but my daughter was with me and she picked out lime green. Also, they were out of white, so we went ahead and used the lime green. The embroidery floss I used is DMC color 891, found at my local craft store.
Make the pillow following the instructions on the tutorial. To wrap the piping, knot the end of the embroidery floss and and start from the inside. Bring your needle out at the base of the piping and stitch around the piping, wrapping the floss around it to cover it. You can use a satin stitch to make it smooth and perfect, but I like the way it looks with some of the floss overlapping itself a few times and then other spots being a little more smooth. When you run out of floss, bring the needle back inside and knot it. Keeping all of your knots inside the pillow will keep the outside looking neat and clean. To finish this, I needed about 4 1/2 skeins. While this is a really simple project, it is time consuming. It took a few weeks to get it done, not because it took that long, but because I don't have large chunks of free time. It's a great activity to do while watching a show, which is exactly what I did any time my husband and I watched something.
It's a fun way to get the exact color piping you want with a fun texture. If you tackle this project, I would love to see them. Link it up in the comments!
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