Outside

  In the summer months, we spend the days lounging.  Often not getting out of bed till 9.  Gasp!  (The huz is typically four or so hours into work by this time.)  We spend lazy mornings watching a little bit of Super Why! or Word World or some other Disney Channel show, then mosey down stairs to have some breakfast.

From then on, we're pretty much outside the rest of the day and into the night.  During the summer, we eat late dinners, usually out on the deck, spend the nights swinging, watering flowers, and catching "firelights".  At the start of summer, we stood out in our big ol' yard and watched 1000s of lightning bugs out over the fields of corn.  It.  Was.  Amazing.  This is a wonderful time of year.  Here are some pictures of our outside we're lucky enough to have.

                                         

There is grass, rose moss, and veggies growing on this pallet now!

 This is an incomplete project!  Need to finish our pallet coffee table by adding 6 inch blocks between the two pallets to raise it.  We often lounge here and have snacks.

What do you spend your summer days and nights doing?

XX

Birthday Festivities

Oh to be six again!  What a great day my little fam had celebrating the most special little girl.  We spent the morning snuggling in bed catching an old episode of Scooby Doo, then a little Suite Life on Deck.  Just the two of us girls.  Cuddled up together under an old quilt.  I love my little Addie.  Her beautiful owl eyes and that sweet little smile.

She was excited about her little heart mobile and chalk art I worked on last night into the wee hours of the early morn.  Luckily, Water for Elephants was on our free HBO this week, then I caught the end of Harry Potter!  Of course, we were also super duper excited about the gift opening, so we headed downstairs and waited ever so patiently for Grahm to wake up.  That little pumpkin slept till 10:00 this morning!  

We had a perfect breakfast brunch of buttermilk pancakes (yummmm...I could eat them everyday) and delish Nutella fruit dip (Nutella + plain yogurt).  And when mid-afternoon rolled around we headed west to Omaha.  On our agenda was catching Madagascar 3, some cupcakes at Jones Bros., and then dinner at our fave Chinese restaurant, The Rice Bowl.  Birthday number 6 was a success!

Hooray for Daddy being able to be home today to run around town with us doing fun stuff!  And yahoo for Add enjoying all her b-day gifts and and getting lots of use out of all of them today!

More celebrating on Friday!

Happy Birthday sweet girl.

xo

Currently

I have been able to catch up on some of my favorite blogs these past few late summer nights!  As soon as I hit summer vacay mode, I am even more of a night owl.  I'm usually up till 1:00 or 2:00, then luckily, my children sleep in a little now days, so we're not up till 9ish.  Phew!  The other day I was over on Sometimes Sweet and was checking out a post that this lovely lady had written.  It's called 'Currently'.  I've seen lots of 'Weekly Round-ups' posted too...  So, since I'm new at this, and clearly not great at keeping up with posts, I'm going to attempt this.  I've decided that my situation is that I think I have to write an inspirational, five paragraph post every single time I blog.  Not the case.  Here I go....

Currently
I'm Reading.

Now that I've finished up the 50 Shades trilogy...I was at a loss as to what to read next.  Don't judge, but summer time reading for me is all about trashiness, romance, passion, heat, throw in a couple of mysteries,  some comedy.  I'm good to go.  I love staying up late and reading into the night and the past few summers I have gotten into the Sookie Stackhouse novels.  Love 'em, however I can't seem to get into True Blood though.  Hmmm.  Well, before I jump back into those babies, I'm in the middle of Mindy Kaling's book.  As a proclaimed t.v. junkie, I watch a ton of t.v. and I  LOVE THE OFFICE.  And so far, the book is great!

I'm Watching.
O.M.G.  I just watched the season finale of SMASH last night.  I had five episodes DVRed and watched them all last night and the night before.  My.  Favorite.  Show.  The problem is, only about two of my friends watch it too, so I have no one to gossip with about the fact that Julia is definitely prego and I'm 99% sure it's Michael's baby.  (Is that horrible of me if I hope it is, and want her and Michael to be together even though they had an affair and Frank, her husband, is a pretty good guy?)  Soooo good.  My other favorite summer tube time is hands down Jimmy Fallon.  Thank You Notes.  Yes please!  And, this is embarrassing.  But I got hooked on the MTV teenie bopper show 'Awkward' last summer.  Sorry.  I know.  Ridiculous for a grown, almost 31 year old woman, to be hooked on the musings of a high school girl struggling with the woes of her relationship/friendship with her mother and the boy she wants to be with.

I'm Wanting.
Another tattoo.  Or three!  After my bird tattoo this winter, I have been pinning ideas like crazy for the next go around.  I am in talks with my mother (who claims she's going to get one on her foot...her first) to go check it out this week.  I am going back and forth between a pretty feather on my wrist or my shoulder area.  My bird tattoo was massive (for me) so I feel like I need to wait just a little bit before I get another big one done.  I want two large peonies in corals and pinks on my back/shoulder area.  Check out my board on Pinterest.  Iwannanotherone.  So, in the meantime, I am thinking I'll get a feather on my wrist area and possibly a couple of black arrows on my other wrist under my current 'believe' tattoo.  

I'm Junking.
Like a mad woman.  I can't wait till the beginning of July...not that I'm willing summer away, but that's the next First Friday in K.C.  I will be down there, on a mission.  I posted earlier about a trip up to Story City this weekend.  I'm not really in search of anything in particular, but I would like another globe to add to my collection.  Also, some wire baskets, letters or numbers for that collection, possibly a long rectangular farmhouse table, and any other thing that catches my fancy.  Seriously.  You need to check out Central Station on FB.  Amazing stuff.

I'm Eating.
Lots of summer time recipes from Pinterest.  This is what I have planned to make sometime this week.  Yummmmm.  These are just a few.  Sadly, I realized yesterday my Pinterest board for food is the most heavily pinned board.  There are lots of yummy recipes though.  Just remembered the Nutella Pretzel Brownies...gonna have to try those out too!

via pinterest

via Martha Stewart

via pinterest

I'm Anticipating.
Our annual--well, we skipped last summer, but our goal is to make it annual--trip to Excelsior Springs, Missouri to the Elms Spa with my very best girlfriends!  I literally cannot wait till the end of July for this trip and a long, couple of relaxing days with my girls.  We get pampered, drink lots of wine (or beer.  or both.), relax in the pool, check out the quaint little town, and get a few gossip sessions in over a game of cards or two.  I love them.  And I miss them sooooooo much.  These trips with them are very dear to me.

P.S.  Supposedly, the hotel is said to be haunted.  On our last trip there we met a cuuuuuraaaazy lady in the pool and got our ears full of her story on the hauntings.  Can't wait to go back!  The hotel is being renovated so it's going to be all updated and new!



What are you doing currently?

XO--M

My Brown Eyed Girl Turns 6

Addie's birthday is tomorrow!!!  Holy moly.  How could she possibly be six already?!?!  She is the best thing I've ever done.  As well as Grahm Robert...but we're kind of going through some horrific 3s right now, so mama's patience is a little thin with that stinker.  My Addie is sweet, creative, energetic, hilarious, sensitive, huge-hearted, beautiful, smart, and bossy (like her mother).  These are just a few words to describe this little miss.  I can still remember the day I had her, and the feeling I had.  It was the best.  Nothing will ever compare.

Since Addie Bear's birthday is in the middle of the week, we're just doing a small little gathering with the four of us tomorrow.  We are having delicious birthday cupcakes from Jone's Brothers in Omaha.  Addie has requested chocolate on chocolate. My absolute fav is the salty + sweet cupcake.  Grahm has just told me he wants a green one?  That could be tricky.  And, of course, since Sean does not like chocolate...(who doesn't like chocolate???) we'll probably go with a vanilla or something blah like that for him!

Friday night we're going to do her big family party with cake (a teddy bear theme cake.  but then I think we've switched it to a doll cake now?) and ice cream and probably a bbq with the grandparents, great grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins!  I've been pinning cute decorative ideas for her party.  Gonna do some paper buntings.  Like I've mentioned....I love buntings!  Probably some more tissue paper poms to hang from the rafters.  And some other cutsie ideas!  She is super excited about turning six!

XO

DIY Time Baby

Schools out for summmmmmmmer.  Thank goodness!!!  However, I drew up my to-do-list over  a week ago and have managed to not complete one item and/or check a thing off of it yet!  I keep finding other little DIY projects and/or house work that needs to be done.  One of the things on my list was to blog.  Now that I don't have a j.o.b. for the next couple of months, I figured I'd be able to blog weekly.  Couple of times a week even.  That hasn't happened.  I will be better!

Friday...I think, (my days all run together now that I get to be a stay-at-home mom).  My mom and I headed down south to Kansas City with my two small children.  Total spur of the moment decision, and luckily my mom shares my love of junk + shopping.  If I had to move, I would move to K.C.  I love it down there.  Plus, my BF lives down there in Prairie Village and my brother resides there too.  So, I'd still have some fam close by.  So, once a month, there is what's called First Friday(s) and let me tell you; soooooo much to check out!!!  We made a haul and brought home, literally a truckload of darling vintage finds!  My absolute favorite score was a retro desk with HAIRPIN legs!  Yeeeeeeeeahhhhh.  Since my small children were with us, and they were very, very good, (I may or may not have bribed them with a trip to the toy store Zoom (which is on the Plaza)), we didn't get to scope out all the places with items for sale.  There were SO MANY merchants!  We went to Good Ju Ju and Restoration Emporium.  LOVE!  Can't wait to get back down there.  Coming up at the end of this month, in West Omaha there is a big event happening...Junque Stock.  Similar scene to First Friday.  I'm saving up and going to hitch up my trailer for this one!

Also, this past winter, my sister (who hates antique stores and thrift shops...where did she come from???) headed to Des Moines for a baby shower and our friend took us to the most lovely junk shop in Story City, Iowa.  I have now friended them on Facebook and am stalking their page like a madwoman.  They have wonderful pieces and they are soooo reasonably priced.  I have talked my mom into taking a trip up there Saturday to scope out some beautiful furniture.  We will definitely be taking a trailer up for this trip.

So, my major summer to-do-list/DIY items are:
1.  finish painting bedroom floor (pictures posted later)
2.  finish some bunting projects previously started (I love buntings!)
3.  finish pallet patio table
4.  paint outside of house (HELP DAD!)
5.  lay a new kitchen floor (again, HELP!!!)
6.  finish Grahm's "stolen" bookshelf (I swiped it from school, spray painted half of it white, then ran out of paint, and mod podged an Iowa map on two of the backs of the shelves)
7.  stamp burlap table runner

Busy, busy, busy.
What projects are you planning on working on these summer time days?

XO-Megan