Hello

Hey friends!

Just popping in to say a quick hello. I seem to be broke down with the motherhood yet again. I worked this past weekend and that always puts me a little behind on life in general. Two full days away from my nest wears me out and it takes me a full day (yesterday) of drinking coffee in my pajamas to recover.

Be back soon.

Lunch Date

Wednesday we had ourselves a little lunch date. I drove the kids up, an hour outside of town, to meet Capt' Steve for lunch. This was the perfect outing on a warm January day. Windows rolled down, listening to the Cranberries Pandora station, I felt like a school girl - a school girl with 2 kids in the back of her Honda Passport.

Capt' Steve is kind of a big deal.

He has been working on a lake house renovation for the past several months. Since we had driven an hour to see him, we thought it was well worth our time to stop by the job site. He is in the end stages. "Punching it out" is what I believe they call it in the construction biz. It's a gorgeous house.

We did a super quick walk through and we were on the road again.

It was a real treat seeing our daddy in the middle of the day like that - getting out for a sandwich, breathing fresh air. Good memories.

Gettin' Crafty - Brown Bag Popcorn and a Baby Blanket

Y'all -

I made popcorn using a brown paper bag in the microwave and it worked.
This is so nifty.

What will they think of next?!

Put 1/4 cup popcorn in a paper bag with 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Fold the top of the bag tightly 3 times using small folds.

I know my measuring spoon resembles a pregnancy test. Rest assured, it is a merely a spoon.

Microwave for 2.5 minutes.

And wait for the magic to happen.

I added a little extra salt to mine after popping.

I love this method for three reasons:

1- you don't have to dirty a dish
2- it is the perfect serving size for one person
3- it is healthier and cheaper than store bought bagged popcorn

Inspiration from here.

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In other creative news, I finally got around to making something out of the vintage sheet I ordered months ago for Laurie's room. I decided to make it a baby blanket. This was a quick project. I used quilt batting to back it up. I'm so in love with this sheet.

Slowly I am making progress in Laurie's room. Very very slowly.

Laurie's First Birthday Party

Over the weekend we celebrated Laurie's first birthday. The theme was first birthday par-tay. Laurie Betty rocks at being a birthday girl.

We busted out the birthday banner - girl side, of course.

My cousin made this cake.
My aunt brought the mounds.
I whipped up PW's chicken tortilla soup.

My mom got this book for guests to sign. 

It was lovely. 

Huge thanks to all our family who drove many miles to be with us. And even bigger thanks to my daddy who spent all day Saturday cleaning my 1970's mint green bathroom. THANK YOU.

We love y'all.

A Day of Firsts

Laurie Betty took her first little steps today. Can I get a whoop whoop?!

She also ate (and loved) her first peanut butter sandwich.

It was a sweet little day of firsts.

My New Mantra: Do Less

I'm aiming to retire as a short order cook. I'm experimenting with making 1 meal for all. We all eat spaghetti pie. We all eat soup. We all eat scrambled eggs. We all eat spinach, mushroom, and feta quiche. We all eat grilled cheese.

This is a good thing, people! It's going well.

Also, I'm embracing anything and everything that makes life just that much easier. I've been telling people that my mantra lately is: do less.

My cousin offers - Do you want me to make Laurie's birthday cake?
Me: YES!

A friend offers us some leftovers for dinner.
Me: Bring. Them. On. THANK YOU.

I don't think I'll make our bed today.

This is life with a 1 and 2 year old. Cut back. Play outside. Do less.

I'm not talking about being lazy. I'm talking about being realistic. I'm talking about not putting too much on my plate. I'm telling myself to do less so I can stay sane and have time to do more of what is important - like sleep, pay my bills, and watch re-runs of the office with Capt' Steve.

Isn't that liberating?!

Built In Bookshelves Made Over

When Stephen built these shelves 2 years ago I was excited. I dreamed of how fantastic I would make them, strategically placing our belongings on the shelves. But they never quite came together. Early on we started using them as a place to store items away from the toddler. They were half done, half decorated.

Before:

Friday afternoon, I decided it was time. Time to make these shelves better. So I cracked open an iced cold diet dr. pepper (ddp) and got to re-organinzing. I've seen a lot of rainbow book arrangements on the interwebs and those images served as my inspiration.

In process:

As soon as I started the process I was so pleased. Putting the books together by color really brightened up the space.

This project was FUN. I loved it because I did not spend a dime. I just used what I had and made it better.

Here's the grand finale after we threw away the broken dvd player. HAPPY!

Outings - the Park

Stephen Small was a very fussy newborn. I had a hard time taking him places.....because of all the screaming. As soon as his fussiness wore off he became an overly active baby and toddler. His motor skills were advanced. But he very much lacked those verbal and communication skills that I think are useful in enforcing discipline. He was a dangerous machine.

His temperament set a precedent for my mothering. I stayed at home. Quite literally. The only places I took him were places that had child care - like church and the YMCA. As soon as he became a little more manageable, Laurie was born.

So I spent her first year of life - literally at home. Because of her newborn-ness.

But now we are in a good place, a really good place for outings.

And after 2.5 years of being cooped up in my house, I crave these outings frequently.

I'm still not ready to take them to a restaurant or a movie or the library.

But the park - heck yeah!
We went twice last week. I had a coupon for a free Starbucks coffee so I picked one up on the way.

We were the only people there. It was cold and wet.
But much fun was had. And it bought me some awesome afternoon naps.

The next day we invited our cousin to go with us.

So yeah. We're getting out more and it feels good.

Laurie is 1

Yesterday, Laurie turned 1.

She is sweet. And it's not just me. She is universally sweet.

She's been an easy baby through and through. I think she's had one dirty diaper and she's cried twice her entire first year of life. I mean --- EASY child.

I know this is in no way a prediction of her behavior down the road, but I sure enjoy it while it lasts.



From the bottom of my soul - THANK YOU LORD FOR THIS SWEET CHILD!!!!!!



For her birthday celebration we had cupcakes for breakfast.

We stayed mostly indoors because it rained. Captain Steve was home a large portion of the day.

Our neighbor friends stopped by with a gift - some baby bottles and a blanket for her new baby doll.

My sister brought us a balloon.

It was a sweet day.

A sweet day for a sweet girl.

I tucked her in last night and I felt so grateful - for this child who is so sweet and happy. I don't deserve so much sweetness.

I cannot believe she is 1!

I'm excited to see who this little person will turn out to be. I think God has big plans for this lady.

Happy 1st Birthday to.....

Laurie 

Laurie Betty

Rie Rie

Rie 

La Rie

lil' Rie

Sister

Wah-ie

Girlfriend's got a few nicknames.