{fenway park}

the red sox are celebrating their 100th anniversary and we had the chance to visit fenway park as a family recently.  they had an open house of sorts and we got to walk on the field, sit on the green monster, sit in the dugout and even check out the locker room.  (a surprising amount of "product" in there!)

this season, mike is also the proud owner of a red sox "clergy pass".  (crazy they even have one.)  anyway, it means he can get two seats to just about any game.  he took miles to his first game and he loved it!  not sure if it was the game he loved, or the fenway franks.  pretty sweet "dude date" he won't soon forget!

we are all being extra nice to mike to see who he takes next.  (pick me, pick me!)

{around the outside}

we made a concerted effort to do a bit of yard work this weekend.  raking, edging, weeding and scott's step 1.  (my dad swears by the stuff.)  it felt good to get our hands dirty for the first time this year.  all except maybe that giant blister mike got raking.

i wish you could smell this viburnum.  it is seriously out of this world. 

i could look at this white bleeding heart all day.  the detail on this thing...totally spectacular.  nice work God!

i wish these things bloomed all year.  they make me happen every time i see them out the kitchen window.  (now i should just clean that filthy window...i bet they'd be even prettier!)

and although this may look like a whole lotta nothing, our little costco blueberry bushes have fruit buds.  not bad considering we thought we killed them. 

it rained all day today and i swear the yard already looks greener...after one day.  is that even possible?  maybe that scott's is all it's cracked up to be!

{family additions}

we have some new additions to our family.  and the best part is...no shedding, no sneezing, no walks around the block.  these hermit crabs may be the perfect pet! 

miles learned the hard way though that kissing your crab is not the wisest.  i ran up the stair to my screaming son to find "fire claw" hanging from his bottom lip.  i guess his name suits him...ha!

the only downside may be that the kids keep telling people, "guess what...we got crabs!"  nope...that's not embarrasing at all in the checkout line.

{brown's brownies}

every year, the kids' school hosts a night called "the celebration of learning" where each classs showcases what they have been working on throughout the school year.  the kids have a great time showing their parents and siblings the projects they have created and often do special presentations as part of the event.

2nd grade has a tradition where each child makes and brings a dish representing whatever country they are from.  (their school is pretty ethnically diverse and many different heritages were represented.)  the child then displays and serves the dish to whomever visits their "restaurant".  aiden named her dish "brown's brownies" and went with our old family standby of "best brownies".  since we kind of joke that we are muts when it comes to ethnicity, good ol' american brownies seemed as good of a choice as any (and much easier than fried chicken or apple pie!)

and since i get asked quite a bit for this brownie recipe, this seems like the perfect place to share it.  i believe it first came from a martha stewart magazine clipping, but i'm not totally sure.

best brownies

1/2 c. butter (1 stick)
3 square unsweetened baker's chocolate
2 eggs (room temperature is best)
1 1/4 c. sugar
2 t. vanilla
1 c. flour
1/4 t. salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

• heat oven to 350.  butter a 8x8 or 9x9 baking dish.  (i almost always double the recipe and just use a 9x13 pan.)  i line my pans with parchment paper to easily remove brownies for cutting, but this is not necessary.
• melt butter and chocolate in saucepan on very low heat.
• with an electric mixer on high, beat eggs with sugar for 3 minutes until thick and pale.  add chocolate mixture and vanilla and beat another minute.
• add flour and salt and beat until smooth.  add chocolate chips.
• bake 20-25 minutes until tester inserted 1" from edge comes out with only a small amount of brownie on it.  do not overbake or the brownies will be dry.
• cool completely and then lift parchment paper from pan and cut into squares. 

1st grade performed readers' theatre and highlighted janelle cannon books.  miles played the part of "mother bat" in stellaluna.  his voice inflections were hilarious!

and one of my favorite pieces on display...george & abe.  aiden rocked these portraits, don't you think?!!

{baby smitten}

we can hardly get enough of baby lana.

aiden cried when she had to give her back.  smitten i say...totally smitten.

{progress: the guest room}

i feel like i have hardly left this room lately.  so much painting to do!  covering the wood paneling is taking 4 coats (1 primer +3 coats) and i have to use a brush to get into the grooves.  the room is small, but the ceiling is high and sloped so it is up and down the ladder quite a bit.  ooh...and did i mention the closet doors and doors to storage under the eaves are all louvered?  i have had white paint in my hair for weeks!  ;)

but...this week i have pretty much finished up all but the touchup on the white and moved on to the floor.  all the nasty hot pink shag was pulled up and i sanded the plywood subfloor.  because we didn't want to spend any money, i used the same paint as the playroom floor.  score!

the door to the room was in rough shape.  the previous owners must have had a dog (i can only assume) that was locked in that room at somepoint.  there are HUGE hunks missing from the bottom of the door.  and if that isn't enough, it is an ugly flatpanel door from the 60's/70's. nothing wrong with that if your house was built then, but ours is 100+ years old.  it just looks so out of place.  (there are many doors like this in the house and i would love to replace them all at some point with pretty raised panel doors.  just not high on the $ priority list.)  i used wood filler to fill in the bites out of the door.  there was seriously so much putty in the door mike told me at one point to just go buy a new one.  it is far from perfect, but i'm pretty sure no one will notice.  (except those of you that come visit because now you know what to look for- ha!)

i went ahead and painted the flat panel door with chalkboard paint.  in my mind, at least then it seems more purposeful- being flat and all.  again, i already had the paint so no dinero.  i am thinking it might be fun to do something a la shanna murray like this on the door to welcome guests and write them love notes.  i also like the idea of using japanese washi tape to add photos and add a gallery of sorts to the door.  maybe hand draw some frames for pictures???  feels a bit playful to me, but not over the top.

come visit us when i'm done and your cute mug can be one of the first on our door.  how's that for a bribe?!

{our father}

for your viewing enjoyment. 

i may be a bit biased, but he melts my heart everytime i hear it!

{no-bake energy balls}

i found this recipe via pinterest and we are totally addicted.  the kids love them and they feel way healthier than giving them cookies.

you can find the recipe on the blog smashed peas and carrots.

try it and let me know if you can eat just one???

{diy: my version of the overdyed rug}

i have had this throw rug in front of our door for like 12+ years now.  the size is great, but i am so over the color.  the washed out green went great when we had a vibrant area rug in the adjacent family room, but now that the rug there is neutral, this rug makes me snooze.  it just is boring.

since the rug was from the crate and barrel outlet and wasn't expensive to start with, i wasn't too afraid to try and update it a bit.  i keep seeing over-dyed vintage rugs all over the place and thought the same concept might work for a rag rug. 

aren't these rugs gorgeous?!  they are a bit bright for my taste, but i love the concept of redeeming and rethinking vintage rugs.
 

from abc carpet and home

and here is a dip dyed IKEA rug via Martha Stewart

the color turned out a bit greener than i had hoped, but SO much better than the original.

for round 2, i bought rit dye again in navy blue.  this color is better, but has some purple undertones i could do without.  i am still really happy with it though.

i may run back to joann's (coupon in hand) for another box of denim dye.  maybe just a bit more of the green would make this my perfect blue.  i can be a bit neurotic like that.  or maybe i will try out this new motto...HA!

print from dorothy jeanne goodswww.dorothyjeannegoods.com

{craft hope: beanies & bags}

check out my post over here on craft hope.  this one should be fun!

{guest room-to be}

we have decided to switch out the office for a guest room.  truth be told, it was always more of a dumping ground for things without a home than it was an office anyway.  (i think we dubbed it the office since the desktop and printer lived there.)  i don't think anyone will miss the office.

but a guest room...now that sounds useful to me.  the air bed sprung a leak and so any guests that now stay over bump the boys from their room to aiden's floor.  (which they do not mind in the least.  they are huge fans of sleeping in "nests".)  it's just that the boys have a queen-sized bed that they share and it is really the only logical place to put anyone.  but...they have recently become way too squirely to share a bed.  and their mattress is shot and needs replacing.  and our awesome neighbor recently moved and gave us a double mattress in great condition that we can use in the guest room.  (yes a double is a bit small, but snuggle up people, it's not forever.) guest room it is!

since the room is technically the attic and is finished off in some *lovely* wood paneling, i am hoping to make the space feel a bit more open and airy.  i have gone through way too many cans of white paint and the albeit-it-tiny room is already feeling more spacious.  i am trying to go for a bit of cottage meets beach house.

our room has a window and ceiling slant just like this.  i ripped down a small ceiling that someone had put up and so we now have a few small beams like this showing as well.

Source: cococozy.com via Karen on Pinterest

i have some oil on canvas auction finds i may consider hanging in there similiar to this.  i will also need to paint the subfloor and this floor looks like it may be painted as well.  trying to decide now if the floor should be white to blur the lines of this super small room, or if i should paint it the same dark blue/green (benjamin moore narraganset green) as the playroom to help ground the space since the ceiling is high in there. 

Source: alifesdesign.blogspot.com via Karen on Pinterest

i really like this neutral palette with small touches of black.

Source: honeyhouses.tumblr.com via Karen on Pinterest

so here's the latest dilemna in the space.  we are going as cheapo as possible up there.  i found two great light fixtures (at lowe's of all places) that i think will look nice above the door.  this is the only place there is wiring for a light and so i need a sconce of some sort for there.   both of these are about $25.  (sweet, price right?!)

do we go for the barn light inspired sconce in galvanized metal?  (which is already cool looking but may look good painted up all glossy)

or the more nautical inspired fisherman's light that speaks to the wall mounted lights next door in the playroom?

playroom lights from pottery barn kids

whatever sconce we pick will probably also go outside the door in the hallway to downstairs.  (the 70's called and they want their brady bunch looking light back.)

so...what's your vote?  which light is your favorite?

{how pinterest saved Christmas}

i have always tried to make at least some of the Christmas gifts we give each year.  creating and working with my hands is something i really enjoy doing, but don't find time for nearly often enough.  (unless you count laundry and dishes as working with my hands.)  the holidays always seem like the perfect opportunity.

here's the thing though.  i am really not creative in my own right.  i copy others ideas really well and often tweak them to make them my own.  i just don't always come up with alot of *new* ideas.  we'll call this my disclaimer.

enter pinterest...

i have shared my loved of pinterest here, but let me just say, seriously, it made coming up with gift ideas SO MUCH easier.  here is the board i made with ideas of advent conspiracy gift ideas.

here are a few of my favorites: (links are to original posts & instructions)

these wooden spoons  were so much fun to make for the grandparents.  (i should have had the kids make some for me too!)  aiden and miles drew the designs and mike burned them in with a woodburner.  this would be great for mother's day as well.

these hex nut bracelets for my niece turned out better than i expected...really cute!  kind of a more grown-up take on a friendship bracelet.  if you have a hard time finding "ball chain", check the electrical aisle.  it's what pull chains for lights are made from.  ;) 

image via design dazzle

owen and i had a great time making these bird feeders for grandparents, teachers, etc.  they were super fast and he could do alot of this alongside me (measuring, stirring, picking the shape of the cookie cutter, cutting the twine, pressing the seed in, etc.)

image via apartment therapy

i didin't get a picture of this, but i made something similiar with six hearts for my mom and jer.  i cut up an old atlas and used the locations of their homes, cabin, cities where the kids and their parents live for my hearts.  (note: buy your frame first and plan your hearts accordingly.  i didn't do this and was then stuck a bit on frame size.  no good.)

image via bluemoss girls

and since i had already cut up the atlas...ha!  i made something similiar to this for my in-laws.  i just backstitched the route between boston and madison and added hearts around the city names.  (if you end up doing something similiar, i would recommed pre-poking the stitch holes since you only get one shot at getting your needle/thread in the right place.)

i typically make an ornament each year as well.  this year we made a few.

the kids had fun making these handprint snowmen that i saw on meg's blog last year.  we used washi japanese masking tape from etsy for the scarves and hats.  the boys used blue and green ornaments for theirs.

these trees are from here via pinterest.  the kids and i took a walk at the forest preserve to collect the sticks.  they easily cut to size with tree loppers.  the kids then painted the sticks and mike drilled all the holes.  these were a bit labor intensive, but fun.  aiden's teacher got one with her birdfeeders!

and last...my favorite.  i was inspired by this image.

Palomas nest

i loved the simplicity of the design and love how great white ornaments look on a dark green tree. 

this is what i came up with.

they also worked as gift tags on our presents

i used sculpey polymer clay from michaels and rolled it out on parchment paper.  the clay is really hard so this was a bit of a workout.  i used snowflake cookie cutters to cut out shapes and then used a toothpick to punch a hole at the top for a hanger.  i got alphabet rubber stamps from the $1 bin at michaels and added the kids names or words like "noel".  then just follow the instructions on the package to bake them.  on some i used the wire ornament hangers and on some i used bakers twine. 

variations of these might also be cute for valentine's day.  i could see using clay in other colors and making knock off conversation hearts.  you could also easily glue a magnet on back.  i just may have to add that to the to-do list.  ;)