Whitewash

I've been doing a lot of projects lately. Spray paint has been flying & sewing machines whirling. And I've found my go-to color is white, almost every time. I know, lots of people think white=boring. But my house has been filled with dark colors and now I find I just want light. There's some color thrown in for accents here and there but I'm really liking the white.


Here's one project I am happy to be finished with. It took a lot longer than I thought it would but turned out 100x better than I could have imagined. I'd get frustrated and walk away for day, then get re inspired and I would take it on again. I found instructions online but basically you fit the fabric to your furniture, pin, cut and sew. Some seams don't match up and it hangs funny in some places but I was going for that shabby chic look, right?
My parents bought us this wonderful rocker for us years ago and it's been a favorite of mine. So comfy and perfect for rocking babies. But it was time for a makeover. I could not find a slip cover that fit its dimensions anywhere and I didn't want to take on recovering the whole thing. I don't know if the slip cover was easier but since it's white, I can remove it and wash it easily. A definite plus.









It's a nice addition to our family room.
I know the pictures aren't great due to lack of natural light but I guess I take what I can get.

One great thing about daddies...

 ...their handlebars.

Jonah sure lo-o-ves his daddy.

Trombone Territory

Yep, we decided to go there. Since band or orchestra is basically part of the 5th grade curriculum and Lucas was beyond excited, we thought, Why not?  Let's see how the year goes. 

And he loves it.

If only Jonah didn't love it so much as well, practicing would be a lot simpler.

Here's a "Grandparent Video," a video only grandparents would appreciate. Then again, maybe even they wouldn't.   But it's Lucas truly rockin' his first song on the trombone.  Oooh, yeah.

Lucas has his own sense of style and picked out, and paid for most of, that hat himself.  He wears it almost everyday and specifically wanted it because it was different.  I love it on him and loves that he has his own style.

Of course Aaron couldn't be outdone and had to show his prowess on the great instrument. :)

Yes. I know. My boys can rock.

Why we joined the "Y"

Its child care & horsey-free workout.

Resigned

I've been denying it for weeks but I guess fall is here to stay.  And even though I have resigned myself to the cold and rain, I will probably continue to whine about it until next June when the sun comes out again  Sorry.   

I am trying to list all the wonderful things about fall, like the holidays, fires in the fireplace, hot chocolate (even if I drink that year round), black boots and cozy scarves.  And in reality I do love fall, it's the winter grey & rain for months on end I don't really enjoy.  Yes, I live in Seattle. Get over it already.

So to help ring in the new season, we went to Remlinger farms for the first time ever and The Farm out in Snohomish that we have gone to every year since Lucas was Jonah's age.

One Friday Lukey had school off, so Aaron took the afternoon from work and we drove out to Carnation.  We rode on the train where JB sat with his head over the side like a dog with his face in the wind the whole time.  This kid LOVES trains.

 

We played in the tree house, ran around in the hay maze rode all the carnival rides and had a picnic lunch.


Here's where my pride almost made me lose my lunch. Lucas convinced me to go as fast as we could, and to be The Cool Mom I decided to go all out. Which was super fun for the first 60 seconds, but then the whole rest of the ride I yelled at Lucas to stop because I was 3 spins away from losing it all over him. Yeah, he was not impressed.

I love The Farm.   Hay mazes, petting zoo, tractor rides, etc.  All you would want in a pumpkin farm.  We got to go with some friends and the kids enjoyed playing together.

Picking out his own pumpkin.

Plus they get a Popsicle before they go home.

So fun and a perfect way to welcome, although begrudgingy, the Fall.

Happy Halloween!

I decided to go ahead and post Halloween. At my rate if I tried to catch up, I wouldn't be posting Halloween until New Years. So here we go...

Lucas and Kyle (one of his best friends)wanted to dress up together but had a difficult time agreeing on the same look at the same time. It went from mimes to hippies to hobos and back around again a few times before we found these hats that led to The Blues Brothers. Neither of them know who the Blues Brothers are but as soon as they saw the hats and found out they could wear sunglasses and black ties, they were hooked.


And our little garden gnome....



Happy Halloween!

But oh, those summer nights...

It's the eve of Halloween but part of me still wishes for summer. Seattle gypped us of a hot, sunny summer this year and even though October tried to make up for it a bit, all I say is too little, too late. Maybe if I finally post about our summer trips I can be ready to move on and deal with the upcoming holiday season. Plus the boys have super cute Halloween costumes and I cannot post about them until I finally finish summer. Right?

So amist this rain and cold and pumpkins and fall, I want to write about Lake Chelan 2010. I won't dwell on what didn't go right that week, like Aaron getting a 3rd degree sunburn the first day we were there, or Lucas scratching his eye so he couldn't see for 2 days, or me getting my very first bee sting ever or pinching a nerve is my back so I could hardly move or Jonah throwing up all over himself and the carseat on the way home. No, I don't think about those things. Instead I think about...

Early morning walks on the docks...


Reading books by the water...


Eating ice cream cones from the corner store...


Watching Seven Brides for Seven Brothers....


Looking cool on the boat...


Eating licorice under the BBQ....(?!)


Wrestling with Papa...


Touring the Aplets & Cotlets factory...


Cuddling with the cutie...


Riding jet skis...


Playing with cousins...


Tubing on the beautiful water...


And hanging out with our crazy, wonderful, lovely family.

Bossy lately?

Ok, he used to be "independent" but this is getting a little ridiculous. JB has turned into a Terrible Two. And he's really not even two yet. Lucas didn't hit this stage until he was 3 and even then was pretty easy going. But Jonah is already adamant about his opinions and ways things must be done.


For example, a few weeks ago he discovered the race car cart at the grocery store, or at least I finally let him discover one. And he LOVES it more than words can say. Talk about heaven for this little boy. So he's greatly entertained while I shop, yet now I deal with him yelling at me every. single. time. I stop to look at something or slow down to peruse the shelfs "I drivin'! I drivin'! Go!" until I start moving again. It makes me laugh but after 30 minutes of getting yelled at I'm ready to be done.

Then let's talk about our walk to the car. He does not always want me to carry him any more, yet he will not hold my hand. Which I have to admit makes me sad. Lucas always held my hand, up until a few years ago. And even now he likes it when we're walking to put my arm around his shoulder just so. Perfect fit. But JB? No way. And I wouldn't mind that much if he just stayed with me but this kid wants to go literally the opposite direction of where ever I am going just because that's the way I am going. Comical for bystanders, yes, in a stupid sitcom kind of way, but frustating when your arms are loaded with junk and he's running out into traffic.

Then once we get into the car he wants his music on, Primary songs and Dragon Tales. "CD!!" And if a song comes on that he doesn't like, usually a slow song, he yells "CD! CD!" until I change the music. Same if we sing him songs. If it's one he doesn't like or is too slow or we stop too soon, we get yelled at "Song! Song!"

All day long I get yelled at. "Jump-a-bean!!" (trampoline) and "Thomas!!" (lo-o-ves Thomas the Train) and "Candy!!" (but only certain kinds) and "I side-out!!" (lemme outside). His theme lately is definitely loud and demanding.

Lucky for him I am a sucker for his open mouth kisses, his ready laugh, his love affair with books and toothbrushes, his running hugs when any of us come into the room, and less spitting out of food.

Plus he's pretty cute.