total score.

This weekend while our children were at Twins Fest with my sister in law and mother in law (more to come on that in another post!), WorkinMan and I got to spend a little time together. First up was church. This has been the first time we have been to church alone since we had the OldestBoy. So weird.
Next we went and spent some time with our friend who is still in the hospital. Then we went to get some much needed lunch. Stopped in at Leann Chin's and gave our first born for lunch. Seriously we had no idea that place was so expensive. $20 for 2 of us! I was full and wanted to save 2 of my cream cheese won tons(yum!). WorkinMan told me to put them in his to go container. I did. Went to bathroom. Came back and he had thrown away my won tons and left all the trash. Awesome.We did laugh tho. And after a hard week. It was much needed.
 We then headed to Goodwill. WorkinMan needed some work jeans, but we didn't have much time. This is terrible for a junker like me. He dropped me at the door, so I would have a few extra minutes. :) See, brainwashed!  I went first to furniture to find a bookcase for Baby's room. No luck. Then to linens. Where out of the corner of my eye I see black and white polka dots. I bee line for it. Hold up this thick yummy fabric. And it is 2 tab top curtain panels, Lined!! They do have some ugly pink tassel trim, but I can fix that. Now price... $3.99 a panel! Are you kidding me. So here they are in all their glory! They are perfect and I love them and the thrift store!

Thanks for stoppin by!
   Little Mama.

I have brainwashed him.

Yes. Yes, I have. And to be honest I am sort of proud of it. I have trained WorkinMan to retrieve wonderful junk when he sees it. And yesterday he came home with this little beauty. It is an old chest on the most awesome casters.

The only problem I see is this lovely shade of pink. It is kind of gross and I kind of like it. What I really like is the great rust and patina that is on it. So even tho I am not a pink girl, I just may keep it this way. At least for a little bit. We will see how it wears on me. Here are some close up shots of the wonderful wear.

worn corners.

lovely metal handles.

great rusty latch.



So, for now it will be crusty pink but who knows what it may be tomorrow. What is your opinion? Leave it pink with the awesome patina or paint it and lose all that? Tell me what you think!

Little Mama

not around.

Haven't been around much the past couple days. I have been at the hospital with a dear sweet man from our church. He has been up and down the past few days. Today he is up. Please pray for stability in the coming days. He wants so badly to be in his home. He has told me that he is ready for whatever the Lord has in store for him and for whatever His plan is. I pray that will not be soon. We will miss our sweet friend too much. So I might be away for a few days. Oldestboy has a chess tounament all day tomorrow too. Maybe I will write Sunday. We will see how I feel. Got a good post coming up about a cheap tin shelf redo. It is fab! Until then please pray for my friend and enjoy your families!

Little Mama

he partied like a rockstar.

love.

As I started to write this post, it started one way and went quite another. That is what writing does. Pours out your thoughts that are right under the surface. Right there waiting to bust out. Except you didn't even know they were there waiting to show themselves. And yet there they are. Beautiful letters pushed together to make words that come together and make true feelings.
So it is Wednesday and Baby doesn't have school. We usually try to do something fun together. Our friends from preschool invited us over for a play date. We had never been to their house so it was new and exciting. This boy had a blast. He ran. He jumped. He played with a "little" dog. He played cars and airplanes. This boy ran and played for 3 hours until he could not anymore. He almost fell asleep on the way home, about 4 min. Scarfed down some tasty chicken nuggets before passing out in mama's bed. Oh to be 3 again and have not a care in the world. Except this little one does. He is missing someone. Someone very important and very present in his everyday life. His relationship with them is not ordinary. It is everything. And extraordinary. He misses them from deep in his little body and I know exactly how he feels. As he goes to sleep he will tell and ask me multiple times that "I miss Nannie and Popsie" and "will you check on me?" He will say this maybe 15 times. I will reassure. And reassure. I will hug and tell him "I love you more than the moon." And he will say "I love you more than bobcats." And he will smile and everything will be right again.

Shade Love.

 Many out there in blog land have written about their love of lamps. I also share this love. But I have noticed that my love goes a little deeper. I not only love lamps but their shades. I seem to not be able to leave them alone. If they don't come lovely decorated, I will change that. With a little fabric, spray paint and some hot glue and I have myself a fabulous new lamp. Everything I have done has been done before but lots of them have my own style or twist. I finally have a name that fits my style better, Kindergarten Chic. Never knew what to call it.  Thanks Sara!  Take a look and tell me what ya think!

These lamps are from Target. They started out with plain white shades and black bases. Not colorful enough for me but a good price. So I got out my favorite yellow for their bases and some rick rack trim and fabric flowers with vintage buttons for the centers. Much better.

This lamp was on clearance at Pier One a few years ago. It came with this awesome shade and a black base. Hit it with some aqua spray paint and it fits right in here.

It was hard to get a good shot of this lamp today. It sits on a table in front of our big picture window. So your getting an odd side view. :)  This base and shade both came from Target but a few years apart. I love polka dots and stripes and these were perfect together in my eyes. I also tied a bit of my grandmothers vintage lace around the base of the shade. I love to layer. More is better for me :)

This is our chandelier in our entry way. It started out brown from the Home Depot many years ago. I spray painted it aqua and found shades at the Goodwill. I then put vintage hankies around the shades for some crazy, vintage color. I was a little nervous to paint a perfectly good chandelier but am so happy that I did. It brings a lot of personality to the space.

And lastly, one of my favorites. The base, I can't remember where it came from, prob. Target :)  And the shade is a Goodwill find. It had awful fabric on it that I ripped off and glued on this fab Amy Butler polka dot fabric. Some more rick rack trim and a fabric flower and it is perfect. 
Thanks for stopping by. Remember to become a Follower so I know you are there. Love to have you! Hope your day is lovely!

Little Mama



Bits of our home.

Hello there friends! Today I want to show you little bits of Our Haven of Color. We love our home and have worked very hard to make it a wonderful, fun haven for our family. Here are some little bits....



chalkboard- $3. Shell- fr. Alaska fr. Eddie's Dad. Wreath-made fr. book pages. (Flower Patch Farm Girl's idea)



In a house full of kids your decor becomes Harry Potter Lego Houses!



This large chalkboard idea came from http://www.memoriesoncloverlane.blogspot.com/

Old freezer basket- fr. inlaws, bird christmas ornament, books, battery candle, decopaged bowl= table decor

happy felt birds.

colored pencils in a glass jar. kindergarten chic as my friend Sara says.

Duck Art- made by WorkinMan in kindergarten



crayons in an old dough bowl is our table centerpiece. we are very fancy.

See you next time! Have a lovely day! 
Little Mama.

photo session!

Wanted to tell you about an awesome time my family and I had! We got our pictures taken this fall by a long time friend of ours, Katy Hall. Now most of the time when you mention "getting your picture taken" to my house full of boys you get many groans and "please mom no!". This time it was so different. First, our session was outside. Huge plus for my family! Do not coop my boys up inside, you will regret it. Second, it was relatively short, 45min. Third, Katy is amazing. She helps make it fun and enjoyable. She has a way of making the children comfortable and want to be there. It also helps that she is beautiful so my boys were smitten. A cute girl makes everything better!  It was so lovely. Even WorkinMan had a good time. And he hates this kind of thing! Now, I can't show you a lot of our photos because for now I have chosen not to show my children's faces on this blog. That may change in the future, but for now that is what we are comfortable with. So here are the ones I can show. 

So that just gives you a small taste of Katy's talent. I wish I could show you them all! Katy doesn't just take family photos. She does senior pictures, newborns, preggers, engagement, wedding. You name it this girls does it. Her photo sessions can be outdoors or indoors at her studio. Which has so much character. The other thing I think that really sets Katy apart is her eye. She is very original. She has lots of props and ideas. And also welcomes your ideas. The banner you see strung in the trees in the last 2 photos is mine. One I made and that hung in our home. She also took photos of the whole family sitting on a blanket made by my grandmother. These photos I will cherish forever. She captured moments with me, my husband and our children that are so special.  And it was an awesome day spent together. We had a wonderful day all together as a family.

A few tips when getting family pictures taken or photos involving children. These might seem obvious but sometimes us parents need to be reminded.  Pick a time that is best for your children. Make sure they are rested and fed. Take play breaks. While brother is getting his picture taken let sister go play or run. Bring snacks! Granola bars, fruit, anything not messy and water. Everything is better with snacks! Those are my amazing tips for a fun family photo session.  Go see Katy for all your photo needs. She is lovely. A wife, a child of God, an amazing stay at home mama to 4! adorable girls and just an all around fun gal! If you would like to contact Katy and check out more of her work please go to her website at http://www.minneapolisphotographer.com/   You will not be disappointed!

Random.

So here are some things I am thinking about today. In no particular order.




Me, Caleb Hawley, and WorkinMan

 This is our friend Caleb Hawley. He is an amazing singer, songwriter and all around great musician. He is from Hudson, WI and transplanted to New York. You may have seen him on American Idol, the first night, the second person to come out, in the grey and white striped tshirt. I am just saying, you might have seen him. He has got mad skillz and talent. You need to check him out. You can google him just to read up on him. And then do over to cdbaby or itunes and buy his cd. I believe there are three available, buy one or all, you will not be disappointed. And then tune in to American Idol and lets vote him as far as we can!!

sister bear and me





This is my baby sister. She is getting married in August to a nice boy. I am excited. That is all.



boys in the Minnesota weather,




We live in Minnesota. We love it here. The change of season here is beautiful. We are very outdorsey people and love to camp and just be out. But it was -18 degrees when WorkinMan left this morning. And we are not even the coldest in our state! Jeeze. Now that is just too cold. Complaining over.



ugly but warm



So I am very Thankful for this very ugly fireplace in our basement. It is old, and weird (the thing plugs in!) but it makes heat and for that I am greatful. There are many in my community who don't have a warm home and an ugly fireplace. So i am greatful.

Mama and Dad

So these are my parents. They are awesome. And up until about a week ago they lived about 5 blocks from me. Now they do not. They live in Amesterdam. Yep, like the Netherlands people! So needless to say, I am happy for them, not so much for me. And the baby tells me literally every 5 min that he misses Nannie and Popsie. So sad.  I was chatting with a friend, Elizabeth, and she reminded me of one very important thing. She said, I would be so happy if my mom was in Amsterdam. My mom is in Heaven and while it is nice, I wish she was in Amsterdam. You are so right E. Thank you for giving me the perspective I needed today.

I am a Scentsy Consultant

Celtic Love Knot warmer

Wanted to let all my peeps know that I am a Scentsy Consultant. I have been doing this since last July and really love it. For those of you who are not familiar with Scentsy....Scentsy warmers are electric warmers that warm specially formulated wax and scent your home. So no flame, nothing to worry about. Just wonderful scent for your home. Now, this blog is not to sell Scentsy.  I will occasionally update you on a new scent or warmer I think you might like. But don't worry, this is not a sales blog.  Have a lovely day!

Dr. Suess bathroom

 Our home was built in the 1960's. Insert all your visions of dark, yucky wood. Weird wallpapers. And just too many patterns in one spot. We had it all!  Now don't get me wrong. I love pattern almost more than anyone but green snowflakes on my kitchen counters and gold swirls on the bathroom counters was not really what I would call lovely.  So we have done what we can with our very tiny budget.
 This bathroom started out peach and frilly. So we just neaturalized it at first. We were young and didn't know what we liked yet so we went with beige walls and that was about all.  I have done most of the house with white walls and lots of color everywhere else so with this bathroom I was craving something fun!

Now please remember that we live in MN and it is the dead of winter. Not much light sometimes for photos. I didn't want to spend any money so I mixed paint I had and shopped the house. The color on the walls is a light yellow and the trim around the window is light blue with random green stripes and black dots. The door going out of this bathroom and the linen closet door are both light blue as well and have green trim.  I have become fearless in my color choices all because of one woman. Her name is Sara of Sara's Art House. http://www.sara-mincy.blogspot.com/  She has given me so many amazing ideas and inspiration through her blog. She has taught me to do what my family and I love and that everyone else will love it too!  I wish we were friends in real life, but alas we are not. She is my blog crush. Ok, enough about Sara. On to more of the bathroom. For it is so vast! 

                                                   our favorite thrift store "painting"

So here is where I needed to start shopping from the house. The shelf was given to me by my mama (thanks mama!). I think she bought it at a garage sale. The number 5 pot came from my favorite store Anthropologie. The number 5 plaque I bought at a little store in Buffalo. The candle stick is a find from the Goodwill all painted by yours truely.  And the glass container I found at Goodwill and put moss rocks in the bottom and made a little toadstool out of clay (i saw that idea on Etsy can't remember who. Sorry, whoever the fab artisit is!!)

regular bathroom shot

I also painted the cabinets light blue, with paint I had, to try and distract your eye from the gold swirly countertops. The cabinets have never had knobs but I am thinking if getting some fun ones from Anthro if I see them on sale.  The drawers were a copy from one of Sara Mincy's painting about brushing your teeth. I love her art, did I mention that?!

So not the best picture. But you get the idea. Thank you Sara for the wonderful inspiration! Well, that ends our little bathroom tour. It's a little Dr. Suess and a whole lot of fun. Thanks for stopping by!

Finally.

Well Friends. I finally did it. After much thought I have finally started my own blog. WorkinMan and OldestBoy have been my biggest cheerleaders! They have encouraged me and told me there was a need for me out there in the big big world. I have opened the door a crack and we will see how far this thing takes me and us. I plan on sharing our daily life, good and bad. We are real here. No sugar coating. No bluffing. In the photos I post I will do my best for them to be real. No cleaning up quick before hand! Ha! Keeping it real. I am no photographer and am even worse with technology. So we will see how this all goes. Thanks for joining me and being along for the ride!