{a celebration of life}

this week our family is celebrating the life of a beautiful woman, florence mae brown. grandma brown lived a life dedicated to her family and her faith.  she was so fun to be with...such a spunky spirit about her! and a contagious smile and laugh.  we mourn our loss, but find comfort and peace that she is with our glorious Maker!

we are confident that she is smiling down upon us and we look forward when when we will be with her again...

{roman shades}

i LOVE the look of roman shades...simple and soft.

i made shades for the boys' room when we first moved in about 5 years ago.  at the time, that bedroom was the guest room/miles' room and we wanted people to be comfortable when they visited and we wanted miles to not wake up so darn early.  the shades are up...and functional, but i certainly wouldn't make the next pair the same way.

so, i must have a thing for not just roman shades, but striped shades too since i picked that again for aiden's room.  my first window is done and have two to go.  i have already learned quite a bit and would again, do things slightly different.  (i used these instructions with a few modifications.)

that window could use a washing.  yikes!

if i made shades again, i would...

• use a weighted rod for the bottom hem.  they aren't cheap, but they defintely hang better.  i used them on aiden's room, but not the boy's.
• if my fabric is light (like this lavender stripe), i would pay extra for the clear ribs. i used cheap, wooden dowels and it drives me a little batty that there is "shadowing" through the fabric when they are down.
• order hardware from terrell designs, but try a new pattern/instructions.  i do not love how you can see, ever so slightly, where the dowels are glued to the front fabric.
• measure a dozen times and cut once.  i screwed up cutting not once, but twice!

etsy.com

so...i am considering adding white pom-pom trim to the bottom of these.  any thoughts?



{marking his territory}

not sure what this is about, but miles seems to be marking his territory lately...and his brother's too for that matter. 

first i found this.  i think he was trying to mark their heights on the door frame to their room.  he must have decided he was taller that his first measurement because it looks like he erased it and wrote his name up a few inches.

then i spotted this baseball with both their names written on it.  i think he wrote this is washable marker (the only kind we have around here for such incidents.)  i kinda wish this was in sharpie so it would last forever.  love his little handwriting so much...and love that he thought to include his best buddy too!

{grateful}

recently, the kids and i had a hard morning.  i was trying to get them to help clean up...to pick up their toys in their playroom and bedrooms.  so much complaining and whining about all there was to put away.  really...you have a home and bedrooms and a playroom filled with fun things to play with and you are going to cry and have a tantrum because you have been asked to clean up a bit.  for real?!!

i was so frustrated with their ungratefulness.  ungratefulness for the things they have been given and how hard their daddy works to provide for them and us. ungratefulness for how comfortable their lives are. that they have never known what it is like to not have toys to play with, clothes to wear, a house to come home to.  what it feels like to really be hungry, or cold, or sick...

about that time i realized just how ungrateful i am too.  how often i forget to thank my God, my husband and those around me for the blessings they have bestowed on me.  how ungrateful i can be at times for the children that are pestering me and the husband who is coming home late...again.  forgetting that God has answered my prayers with the gift of an amazing partner and healthy, growing, thriving children, a home and the opportunity to stay home and be a full-time mom.

"your cleansed and grateful life, not your words, will bear witness to what i have done" matt 8:3-4

"gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others." ~Cicero

now...to figure out how to foster grateful hearts.  any thoughts, let me know.

{cupcake bunting}

it was aiden's teacher's birthday this week.  as the room mom, i was in charge of treats and a gift.  i had wanted to try making bunting to decorate a cake, but figured dishing out cake to a bunch of 1st graders sounded like a hassle.  i used cupcakes instead and it worked just fine.

her favorite color is pink

i looked on etsy for some inspiration and then just kinda winged it.  if i would have had heat-n-bond i would have used that to attach the fabric together so the flags would be two-sided and then cut them out. (i used fabric glue instead cause that's what i had.)  i cut out the flags and then sewed them together with embroidery thread.  wrap a piece of double stick tape around the skewer and then wrap the thread around that and it holds like a charm. i should have better planned the length of the bunting, but i didn't and just got lucky.

i used heather bailey fabric scaps

i decided i need a cake plate.  evertime i want to dress up something homemade, i just resort to one of our everyday plates.  i think i may need to find a fun plate at the thrift store and whip up one of these beauties!

via apartment therapy

{i get it from my grandpa}

i come by it honestly...my love for a good auction.  my grandpa, tractor grandpa my kids call him, has been going to auctions as long as i can remember.  when all us grandkids got our first places, we would tell grandpa what we needed and he would be on the lookout.

my friend michelle introduced me to a fun auction house here in malden.  it's probably best that i only get to go about 1x/month cause i could see this being dangerous!  some things i buy and then resell on craigslist.  mostly things that a really great deal that i know i can just "flip".  some i intend to keep, but are waiting for some TLC before they make it into the house.

here are a couple recent auction purchases...



i'm really not even sure what it is about this mirror that i love.  i hope to make it work in aiden's room.





this fan is functional and i love the blue and red color combo.  i think it may make it
into the boys room (up high of coarse so no little fingers get lopped off!)

a girlfriend and i are painting this dresser for her master bedroom

great legs,  huh?!

maybe tractor grandpa will come to boston and i can take him shopping.  in the meantime, let me know if you wanna tag along!

{now i lay me...}

i may be a little biased...maybe
but this is pretty sweet