The Tent

One morning last month, Chris and the kids decided to build a tent in the whole living room.  This is what it looked like from above, 

and this is what it looked like from below.

Jayce gave me very specific instructions on how to get in and move around inside of it, but sadly, it was short lived.  Hannah did not understand the crucial tent rules, like "don't stand all the way up and drag the roof down, don't stand outside of the tent and jump onto the blankets that make up the various roofs."  She took that thing down like it was her job.  But it was  really fun for 10 minutes.  And sometimes that is all that you are going to get.

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Things I'm Learning

(It snowed this morning!  This has nothing to do with this post, other than, it's snowing as I write this!  Snow snow snow!) 

Well, I post a list of my 2013 to dos and then I take off, right?  How annoying.  Let me assure you that no one was more annoyed last week than me.  I have spent the last 5 days with a computer that is out of working order, and had a few moments of tears and despair, (like when I thought that I had lost every single picture, document, download, and file from the last 4 years.)  But I hadn't.

I had a few triumphs last week as well.  36 hours in a row(ish) of fussing with this or that on the computer, taking cues on what to do next via Facebook chat, text messages, emails, internet searches, and forms from the Apple store finally put me back in working order.  Whew.  It turns out that I can install a hard drive, and reconfigure, and install, and setup, and move a bunch of crap around until it is all in happy working order.  

That said, I don't think I'll ever do it again.  Sometimes money saved is not worth the headache, or the emotional torment of 2 days of constantly fluctuating between "It's working!" and "It's ruined!"  But still, there has been learning.

1.) Turning my brain off turned my brain on.

Seriously.  Giving the creative parts of my brain "the month off" has actually kicked them up a notch.  I'd been thinking "don't make anything, just do photography stuff" and then a window dressing solution just popped into my mind with things I already had on hand, I made it, and I love it.  It was a bit like how you can't remember something when you're trying, but when you're falling asleep it suddenly is there.  Kind of weird, but great.  I hope this happens in some other places this month too.

2.) I don't know what I'm doing.

I have been so eager to take a photography course just so that I could learn what I've been doing wrong.  But it's still hard, particularly when there are certain "rules" that I've been following that I shouldn't have been following.  But I posted a question on the wall the other day and was like, "Wait a minute.  I thought that…" and it turns out that a few other people had this question too.  And the teacher really liked this image of mine, and I'm happy with that.  Particularly since my computer was dead to me all week when I needed it, and I just grabbed this one and two others from my camera, quickly edited them and threw them onto my class' Facebook page.  Whew.  But next week starts the very critical critiques, and I'll be hunkering down with some chocolate beforehand to nurse my poor wounded ego.  But I kind of can't wait.  How weird is that?

3.) I like what I like, and that's okay too.

After the kids were down last night I was flipping through my pictures and came across this one of Hannah, which I remember taking and thinking "that's my shot."  I also thought, "the teacher won't like this one."  Not that it's bad, because it's not, but because it wasn't what she was trying to get us to do.

But I still love it.  Chris saw it and immediately started talking about Hannah and I did too.  It's the type of picture that perfectly captures one half of her personality.  A moment where she is all sweetness and chubby cheeks and a kissable neck.  These are the moments when I'm so glad that I have my camera around, and I know how to use it well enough, if not perfectly.  

I know that I'm a perfectionist and a bit of a people pleaser, but I'm aiming to be refined by my class, not completely changed.  Or am I just being preemptively stubborn in the anticipation of critique?  I'm not sure.  

Either way, wish me luck.  :)
Linking to Miscellaneous Monday.

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A House and Things

 Over the past few months, I've had a strange (or not strange) awareness about our home and possessions.  Since we had such a quick turnaround from deciding to put it up for sale and then selling it, and then a quick realization that we would not be moving our things to another home, but getting rid of many of them, I've been mourning it a little but.  I feel a little like we had just recently gotten most everything the way we liked it, and a collection of things that were our favorites, and now we have to start fresh again.   

 Things like our storage ottoman that hides away toys, with no sharp edges for a child to cut their head on if they slip, and reversible tray tops that serve as cushions for kid sitting, or trays for living room dining.

A comfy, overstuffed, rocker/recliner.  Great for a fussy newborn, sleepy dad and nursing mom.

Turning our red rampage bathroom into a calm happy gray.  (You know I love my gray.) 

I had just figured out how to turn our "dark" living room into a bright living room.  

It was a multi-stage process of experimenting and discovery.  Lighter-colored and thinner blinds that could be pulled back to completely uncover the windows, and removing the section of the couch that sat in front of the window.  Suddenly that room has the best light in the house.

Painting and re-painting.  Yellow kitchen into blue kitchen.   

A junk room, into an office, into craft room, into a nursery. (2nd and 4th are the only ones pictured.)

An infrequently used guest room into a frequently used craft/work room that also houses our guests. 

A blank slate back porch into a warm weather hang out and play area.

I know it might sound grumpy or trivial, but there is a part of me that is really sad to be getting rid of this house and our stuff.  We have been gradually making this house our home over the past 4 years, and I'm sad that many of the things that we feel like we finally got just right will be left behind.

I am excited about what lies ahead.  It will be fun to buy new things and set up a new home for our new life under new circumstances.  My tastes and ideas seem to be constantly evolving and I often finish a project thinking that if I had to do it all over again I would have gone in a completely different direction, so it will be interesting to see how it turns out.

But with all of the new going on, I am sad about the end of the old.  An old that I loved, was comfortable, made me happy, and felt like home.

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Our Last Week

The last full week in July was our last week in Lincoln.

Our last month was, overall, a good one.  Peppered with some setbacks, like having our passports lost and the visa applications stunted while we applied for brand new passports.  But it was also full of company, help, friends and family.

It was a month full of "lasts."   Last guys nights and girls nights, last play dates with various friends of both Jayce and Hannah.  (Unfortunately in my spaced-out state, I neglected to be as camera wielding as I typically am.)

We had our last church visit.  Our last week with those Sunday afternoon traditions: nap, backyard sprinklers and swings, sidewalk chalk in this driveway, walks around the block, dinner at our favorite local restaurant and out for ice cream.

Our last nights watching movies on our couch (which is sold), on our tv (sold), in our living room (sold).

It was the last days rocking my baby girl in the rocker in her nursery.  Her last nights in a room that I put a lot of thought into, last nights in a crib that allowed both her and her brother to sleep safely and soundly, and will now be used by their new cousin.

Jayce's last night in his big boy room, complete with big boy bed.  His bed is now a big girl bed for his cousin Hadley.

Lots of lasts.  Now I'm ready for some firsts. 

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My Miscellany: Bathrooms, Mobiles & Birthdays

1.) Do you ever say "check!" after you've done something? I remember a group of co-workers and I talking about how we said it, and we can't remember if we did it before or after the episode of Friends where Ross and Monica keep saying it while they are packing for a trip.

Anyway, the other day Jayce was in the bathroom chattering to himself as he went potty, and I stuck my head by the door to see what he was going on about. I realized that he was saying "check" after each task, except the "ch" sound was an "s." It went a little like this.

Shake off pee, seck! Flush potty, seck! Get out stool, seck! Wash hands, seck!

Hilarious.

2.) I disappeared last week in blog land because I was finishing painting this bathroom.

It was red. I've never liked it from the minute that we finished painting it 3 years ago. Nothing against red in particular, but it's a color that doesn't work in every room, and this room was not helping the color in any way. No natural light, small, kind of dark, and the red just seemed to close in on you.

Last weekend Andy and Patsy were in town, I suddenly decided that I wanted to paint it right then, and a few hours later Patsy and I had put 2 coats of primer on the whole thing. I've been plugging away at painting it in my free time this past week. It's finished now and I love it. Updated pictures coming soon.

3.) I found out last week that my hanging fabric doily mobile (tutorial here) made Babble's best baby mobile list! I tried out for a few things recently that I didn't get, so this was good for my DIY self esteem. :) I had never even heard of Babble before I got the email, so it was a really fun surprise to be listed on such a cool site. :)

4.) Gap. Seriously?

I'm still a little mad at you for December, when I went in with a coupon and gift card, only to encounter an odd combination of soft earthy tones combined with highlighter yellow and highlighter pink. And I left with my coupon and gift card unused. But when I was on the website the other day, and this popped up, my first thought was, "Yes, that's exactly what I'd wear if I was going to be on Imagination Movers."

Okay, I got some jeans that I love and I forgive you. But let's not do this again.

(This picture has nothing to do with #5, but it does make me laugh.)

5.) I've been thinking a lot about Jayce and Hannah's upcoming birthdays. Their birthdays are only 3 weeks apart, and since we only get out of town to see either side of the family sporadically, I'm not sure exactly how and when we'll celebrate with both sides. I'm trying to figure out when to squeeze it in between a race, graduations, vacations, and a few holidays.

That said, we have a trip already planned to Akron at the beginning of May, so for the past month I have been mentally planning the Akron party. I'm trying to figure out how to pull off a joint party that still does all of the fun 1st birthday stuff for Hannah (the pageantry of the first bites of cake, opening of presents, etc.), but doesn't downplay the big 4 year old who we will be celebrating as well. If anyone has any suggestions, I'm open to them!

That said, I already have the most amazing 1st birthday dress for Hannah. I saw it one night, sent a link to a friend and Chelsea, was delighted to wake up to an Etsy sale the next morning, and I promptly bought it. It's amazing. I'll have pictures soon enough. :)

Happy Monday!

Linking to Lowercase Letters.

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When Chelsea Visits

Chelsea came to town last month and we had such a great time with her.

We hadn't seen her since Christmas and eight months is just too long to go without seeing your siblings if you can help it! She hadn't met Hannah yet, so we had planned for her to come stay a week to visit and help out however she could.

Jayce ran to the door when she arrived and then ran away so that she would chase him. Normally whenever Chelsea comes to visit Grandma comes as well, so she was excited to have Jayce's attention to herself, and Jayce was excited to have a playmate.

For the rest of Chelsea's stay, Jayce would periodically build her a castle, as he does with anyone who is in his favor. (Not that you weren't special, Chelsea.) But unlike everyone else, he went to work on this immediately when he woke up. As in, Chris and I would hear him get up in the morning, run across his room, and then hear the blocks banging against one another as he constructed a "cool very big castle for Chelsea." He would then push his creation (built on the wagon for ease of travel) down to the guest room to present to a still-sleeping Chelsea. Some mornings we held him off a bit to let her sleep, some mornings we didn't.

I was a little worried at first when Chelsea told me she was coming for a week, because unlike all of her previous trips which are filled with large home projects, trips out of town for shopping and other fun activities, I knew that this one would be pretty low key. As in, none of that. I was a little worried that she'd be bored and ready to go home early. But she wasn't. (Or if she was, she hid it well.)

Instead of any fun major activities, she helped out where ever we needed her. Things like Hannah's bath time. Normally I give Hannah a bath alone since Chris is upstairs giving Jayce a bath at roughly the same time. Not that I need help, I just want someone else there to keep a hand on her so I can get a few bath time pictures. Like these ones where she was working those legs up and down up and down. It was pretty funny to flip through these on the camera, it was like a little flip book...except on a camera.

There were also a few occasions where Hannah was being a bit fussy, so Chelsea took her outside and walked her around to calm her down.

She was in town for Jayce's open house and had agreed to watch Hannah while Chris and I took him to his school. We thought it was just going to be a "meet the teacher, see the classroom" type of thing, and she wanted to see his class too, so we all went. Which meant that Jayce had a serious entourage for his first pre-day. Mom, Dad, Aunt, and sister for a 2 day a week half day program. It was funny.

Chelsea helped me with the nursery, our biggest project of the week. She was originally planning to help paint and assemble it all, but since that didn't work out I saved the decorating for when she'd be around. Which was pretty easy to do with the whole "bed rest so don't go upstairs" and then the "I have a newborn so I need to sleep with any spare time" things I had going on.

So she helped me decide what to hang where, matted photos for me, helped me pick which fabric to make into throw pillows, tied the bumpers onto the crib with cheerleader-grade bows, etc.

Chelsea always keeps my ego in check when we work on these projects as well. Over the past several months she has told me, "You're painting the nursery GRAY?! Yikes, that will be so depressing. It's a baby's room!" When I told her about the crepe paper pom poms, "Yeah, don't make those," and asked with disdain, "What is this 'bunting' you keep talking about?"

Also, in the past,

"Wait, let me guess, you're going to paint it blue."

"You are obsessed with burlap."

"Why do you always paint numbers on things?"

I keep saying, "Chelsea, trust me. It will look good." She usually likes it in the end, but still doesn't trust me from the beginning. Maybe someday. :)

Regardless of the hard time that she gives me, I always sign up for more, saving certain projects for whenever she'll be around so that I can get her opinion, and then suggest something that she'll think is ridiculous. :)

We all loved having her here. Chris could get a bit more work done since he didn't need to rush home to help with the kids, Hannah spent plenty of time cooing and snuggling with her, Jayce had a playmate who would wrestle with him and let him play Angry Birds on their phone, and I had my sister around to hang out with and harass. It was a perfect trip.

The morning after she left, Jayce woke up and said, "Mom, I go wake up Aunt Chelsea?" and we were sad.

Come back soon Chels! We love you!

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