Dear Kole,

Buddy!  You turned four today.  FOUR!  I don't know if I can write your letter this year.  Your daddy moved you into a "big boy" car seat last weekend without warning me first and I cried for 20 minutes.  I wasn't ready for that.  And your dad will never pull something like that without warning again.  :)  I will do my best but if I become a basket case you may have to take over and write your own birthday letter like you did when you turned one.  Birthdays definitely bring out the sentimental sap in your mommy.  Besides, after that letter I think we can both agree that you are the better writer.   

You are at such a fun, adorable stage right now Kole.  I wish I could bottle you up at this age forever. And you have such a charming little personality.  Your preschool teachers always tell me that you make them all melt.  You are so polite.  "Polite defiance" comes to mind.  I'll say "Kole - time to put away your dinosaurs"  and you answer "No thanks mommy.  I'm good playing with my dinosaurs."  You always remind me of your daddy when you do this.  His favorite response when I ask him to do something is a polite "I'm not mad you asked."  I can't ever be too upset at you because I know where all of your tricks come from.  :)

You love Saturdays.  You love to wake up and watch TV in bed with mom and dad and then play play play with your sisters all day.  Every day you ask me how many more days until Saturday.  Yesterday you woke up and came running into our room and said "is it Saturday!? AND is it my birthday!?"  Unmatched excitement over the thought of both happening simultaneously.  :)

You are obsessed with Dinosaurs at the moment so a dinosaur party was the obvious way to go.  You were so adorable with your little preschool buddies.  Greeting each one and telling them "Hi! Thanks for coming to my birthday!  Do you want to come inside my Elmo jumpy!?" 

You love to jump Kole.  Our trampoline is your best friend so we knew a jumpy was the only way to go for your party.  Even though it was a dinosaur party, you picked out Elmo for your jumpy.  You beat to your own drum and we have learned to roll with it.  This day was all about you.  :)   You were basically in your jumpy from the minute it arrived at our house (10:00 am) until I dragged you out of it for bedtime around 7:00 pm.  Your dad and I are thinking the Elmo jumpy needs to become a permanent fixture in our yard.  :)

 Although you did emerge to play Ellie's rendition of pin the tail on the dinosaur.  

And of course to blow the candles out on your dinosaur cake.  

Then it was back in the jumpy.  You cried when your friends left.  It was so tender.  You didn't want them to leave and not jump with you anymore.  So mom and dad took turns jumping with you.  Until we could jump no more and then we recruited your sisters to fill in.  Your sisters love you so much Kole.  

You have come a long way from the days of just being one of their dolls.  :)

You are now old enough to officially complete the three musketeers.  Always up to mischief.  Always full of endless energy.  Always providing comic relief to your parents.  And most importantly - always together.  Sometimes I look out the kitchen window at you three playing together in the yard and in an instant I am so full of gratitude I feel like my heart might burst into a million pieces.  It's the same way I feel when I pick you up at preschool.  You see my face and your little eyes just light up and you come running.  How unbelievably lucky I am to get to be your mom.  

Your favorite foods right now are noodles and yogurt and your favorite TV show is Dino Dan.  You live for weekends and you love to wear shorts.  You get so mad when it's cold outside and I make you wear pants.  I'm always grateful that we live in a place with nice weather so that I don't have to fight that battle too often.  :)  You are such a good sleeper Kole.  You always have been.  You tell me good night and I love you mommy and then you go right to bed without any problem.  You love books.  You ask me to read to you at least 20 times a day.  All too often we drop whatever is going on and sit on the floor somewhere in the house to read about Dinosaurs or to see what Little Critter is up to.  You are a great story teller Kole.  You love to make up stories - especially ones about big scary monsters.  You are a happy little boy but you definitely have your moments of unhappiness.  Sometimes you get mad and tell me "mom I am SO frustrated!  That makes me a boring!"  (Which means you are bored and not happy with whatever we are doing at the moment.)  

Luckily you never stay "a boring" for long because you always have three girls instantly working overtime to cheer you up.  Your own personal cheerleading team.  :)  You've also got your daddy who you adore and can't get enough of.  You ask all day "when will daddy be home from work?"  You also constantly ask "is it time to go to the zoo with my daddy today?"  One of your all time favorite outings.    

Your speech has come so far in the last year Kole.  You are speaking in full sentences and are almost completely caught up to your peers.  At your last meeting with all of your preschool teachers they told me that you have achieved every one of your goals and last year's thirty pages of goals is down to two for next year.  We have all worked so hard to get here.  I left the meeting and got in my car and cried.  I cried because I was overwhelmed with happiness and relief and most of all just so proud of you.  You are such a smart little boy Kole.  You learn so quickly and you try so hard.  I never doubted your ability to shine for a second.  

You have my heart Kole.  You have had it wrapped around your little finger from the second we met.  Sometimes your daddy gets slightly frustrated with me because you can do no wrong in my book.  I can't help it.  You are my little boyfriend who all of a sudden isn't so little anymore.  Even though you turned four today, you will always be my baby.  You will always have your mom's heart wrapped around your little finger.  

But I do know that you are such a "big boy" now and so proud of it.  And we are all proud of you little buddy.  We love you to pieces and I can't imagine our family without you in it.  Things would definitely be "a boring."  :)  You make me smile every single day.  I can't thank you enough for all of the smiles.  And for all of the kisses and hugs and cuddles and conversations.  I can't thank you enough for all of the happiness you bring me by being sweet, perfect you.

Happy 4th birthday Kole!  Love you forever. 

Love, mom

Family Room Decor Update!

Time for another update on how my family room is coming along!  Sometimes it feels like it isn't coming along.  This room has been harder for me to decorate than I thought it would be!  Finding a rug has not been easy.  

We tried this aqua rug from Z Gallerie.  I really like the rug, but didn't love it in this space.  A few things about it didn't work.  For one it was a Dhurrie rug (like we now have in our formal dining room) which means it's a flat weave and not that comfortable (realized this after I ordered it!).  Fine for the formal dining room under a table, but not what I wanted for our family room.  I wanted something more comfortable.  I was also worried about wear and tear.  This is the room where we all hang out and this rug will get the most traffic/spills/dirt, etc.  I also didn't love the rug with the coffee table.  Maybe it's just me but something about it just looked off??  Another concern for me was that it would be too much pattern (especially too much trellis pattern!) competing with other patterns that are coming soon.  So back to the store it went!

This rug was another option I was considering.  I ordered a smaller size to just see how it fit in the space before I ordered the big one (a tip to save money on shipping both ways).  Much softer, but I didn't love the shade of blue.  So back to the store it went!  A lot of things have been going back to the store around here lately.  Trial and error!  

Because the blue patterns weren't working for me I went to Restoration and Pottery Barn and pulled some neutral patterns that might work.

So for a while my family room floor was a lovely hodge-podge of rugs.  

Reminded me of a patch work quilt.  

While the great rug debate was going on some fun mail showed up at my house. 

Remember this console table to the right of the fireplace?

My baskets arrived!  I ordered these fun baskets to put on the bottom shelf.  I have loved these for a long time and knew while we were building I would find a place for them somewhere in my house! (Baskets are from Restoration Hardware - shock I know.  Sort of love that place.)  

I tried out my yellow lamp on the console (I've had this lamp for years) and I love the look of a lamp in that spot, but I don't love the yellow or the light shade in this space (the shade doesn't pop enough against the white) so I found a new lamp for that spot that I'll share soon.  The rest of the table top will be fun to accessorize!  Although with what I don't know yet.  Aside from loving the look of the baskets, I also wanted them to hold our blankets.  We all love to curl up under blankets when we watch TV and I needed a place to hide them all.  

Although a certain someone keeps taking the blankets out of the baskets... 

and piling them up in a corner of the couch.  He loves them all out in a big pile!  Drives me nuts.  

Probably wouldn't drive me nuts if our blankets were pretty blankets that worked well with the decor.  But my husband's beloved Charger blanket?  Not so much.  :)

Back to the rug... 

Because I was worried about the room being too busy once other patterns are introduced I decided to try a more neutral rug in this space.  This is Pottery Barn's chunky wool and jute rug.  While it isn't what I originally pictured for this room, I think it looks really good.  It's a combination of the color of my couch and my table.  Plus it's SO soft.  It doesn't look like it would be, but it really is!  Nice and thick and comfortable.  It will hide everything my kids dish out.

I was going to put a jute rug similar to this in my dining nook under the table, but if I keep this in the family room I think I'll add a colored/patterned rug in the nook instead.

Even though I really like the rug in this space and it meets all the criteria of everything I was looking for, it feels so bland to me right now!  Because it is bland.  

I'm trying to be patient waiting for some pattern and color.  :)

I tried putting my glass bottles above the TV but I'm not sure if I like them there?  

I'm going to re-do the shelves at some point.  The vintage books are staying, but I'm moving everything else around.  Nothing is safe in my house for long.  :)

Here's a peek of things to come for this room...

The grey/cream fabric on the left is what I chose for my drapes.  I'm really nervous about them.  

I love the fabric, but I know drapes will completely change the look of the room so I hope I like the change!  It's always hard to picture something like that for me and custom drapes aren't something I can return.  (We had to order custom because the doors/transoms are so tall.)  I don't do well without knowing I have the option to return.  :)    

Here are my pillow fabrics.  (I crossed out the one on the far right because we were considering that for a rug for a while - ordered a sample and didn't like the look of it at all).

 Here are the pillows/drapes together.  

To be honest, I originally pictured brighter colors in this space, but everything really colorful I've tried just hasn't looked right.  For whatever reason more neutral/soft colors look better in this room to me so I am playing with brighter colors in other rooms.  I do love the pillow fabrics and I'm excited to have pillows on the couch!  One more thing for Kole to pile up and move around.  On second thought... maybe I'm ok without pillows for a while... 

In my last family room post I mentioned finally deciding what to do with the left corner of the room.
I ordered a chair!  And I love it and it comes on Thursday.  So I will share it soon!

I'm anxious to see how this rug works with the drapes and pillows and chair.  

Then I will decide if it's for sure a keeper.  But so far so good.  

Whew!  That was a long post.  With decor posts this long, don't be surprised if I change my mind on furniture/accessory selections by the time I'm done typing.

:)

Organized Kitchen Utensil Drawer

Happy Monday friends!  Made a little progress on my to-organize list this weekend!  Still slowly making my way around the kitchen.  

Having my silverware drawer nice and tidy inspired me to organize the rest of my kitchen utensils.  

Yeah.  This drawer had seen better days.  

Actually it hadn't.  It has been a mess since we moved in and was driving me crazy!

A quick wipe down, a quick toss of things I didn't need, a few organizers from Target, 

and 15 minutes later...

we were back in business!  Guess the excuse of "I can't find my cooking utensils so I can't cook" isn't going to work anymore.  No worries.  I've still got the "I haven't had time to learn how to operate these new ovens" excuse in my pocket.  I figure that's good for at least six more months.  Kidding!

Sort of.  :)

 Nothing too complicated about a quick project like this.  I just grouped similar things together.  

And then placed my measuring cups and spoons on the side.  

 I put my most often used spoons and spatulas in one of my white pitchers by the stove.  

Then I cleaned out my fridge and wiped off the counters and snapped a few pictures.  

Just for fun.  

 Still a bit bare, but nothing like a clean kitchen.

With organized drawers.

One more thing to check off the list!

Take 15 minutes to organize your utensil drawer.  Instant pick me up!  

Something a lot of us need on a Monday.  

:)

Decorating with vintage books

Last month when we were visiting family in Utah after our ski trip I decided to shop my mom's house a bit for decor.  Do you ever do that?  Shop your mom's house for items she's dying to get rid of and just doesn't know it yet?  And you're graciously there to take those items off of her hands?  Well.  I'm a pro at it.  :)  Started in college when I used to shop her pantry for food and her bathroom cupboards for Paul Mitchell hair spray.  Good times.

(Love you mom.)

Anyway, I was peeking around in one of her storage closets and came across part of her vintage book collection.  My mom has collected old children's books for years and seriously has enough to fill a bedroom.  She is an educator and lover of children's books (we have a lot in common!) but she especially adores books from her childhood and her parents' childhood.  Growing up I always thought her book collection was so strange.  What in the world would she ever DO with all of those books?  They were so tattered and OLD looking.  But I suddenly saw that old book collection with new eyes.  They are so tattered and OLD looking.  How incredibly cool!  And vintage!  And stylish!  Suddenly I knew exactly what she needed to do with all of those books.  Loan them to me!  :)

So I rounded some up and after telling my mom how cutting edge she was without even knowing it, I convinced her to let me take them home.  Back at my place I spread them out on my coffee table and knew they would be perfect to add to my media cabinet shelves.  (p.s. - in this picture you can see a peek of a rug I tried in this space, but it's already returned and back to the store.  Rug update post coming soon!)

I grouped some of the books together but when I spread them out on my shelves I wasn't loving the colors.  I tried to select covers with blues/greens in them (the look I'm going for), but the soft faded colors just made things look drab.  

So I turned them around.  And I love the look!  The tan, worn pages add the exact character and cohesiveness I was looking for.

So I placed a few here...

 and I placed a few there...

And while these shelves are still bare and nowhere near styled (just playing around for now with things I already have) I do think the vintage books add such a nice touch and are here to stay.

Moral of this story is to:

A)  Try turning books around to style bookshelves (it keeps things simple and cohesive and less cluttered).

B)  Shop your mom's house for decor.  You never know what treasures are lurking in her closets.

C)  Decorate with things that mean something to you.  Now I feel like I have a piece of my mom in my family room with me all the time.

Answer?  

D)  All of the above.

The End.  

:)

Storing kids' artwork

I am s-l-o-w-l-y making progress in my office.  Talk about a mess!  So much to organize.  I'll share progress pics at some point.  Today I tackled my kids' art work.  I have shared ways I organize their school work that I want to save for their albums.  To be honest, I try not to save a lot!  They come home with SO much.  I am very selective and only save a handful of things from each school year that really shows their progress and personality.  But sometimes they come home with larger projects, reports, or art that they have worked so hard on that I really want to keep.

That is where these bins have come in handy.  

Simple bins from Target that are a great size for larger school work.  

Each of my kids' have one and they are perfect for holding larger keepsakes.  

Plus they slide right under their beds.  

Here is something else each box holds...

I was barely sane enough while my girls were younger to keep a simple journal of their quotes.  Funny or sweet things they said when they were little that made me smile.  These books are such a treasure!  The stuff I wrote isn't even that funny, but it reminds me of how they used to talk and the amusing things that would come out of their little mouths.  Like how yesterday I had my hair up in a bun (not normal for me) and Kole saw me and said "Oh!  Mommy!  Why do you want to look like a different mommy today!?"  Or the time Addison saw a picture of Kenny in front of the Colosseum in Rome on our Italy trip and said "there's my daddy at his office!"  :)  Kids are 24/7 entertainment, aren't they?  

 You know what was fun today?  Showing my girls the stuff I've saved in their bins.  They had a blast  looking through them and giggling at their quote books and how their handwriting looked on school projects, etc.

They also LOVE going through their Project Life Albums and it made me think (scary - I know :) about how I save things for them and create albums for them with their future in mind - thinking how fun it will be when they're my age looking back.  But the joy these things bring them has shown me that it's just as important for them to see albums and past work now - while they're growing up.  I need to involve them more in the memory keeping.  More thoughts on that at some point in the future.  :)

For now I'm off to bed with fingers crossed I can get Frozen's "Let It Go" out of my head.  It's a Frozen frenzy!  I put this on Facebook yesterday afternoon and it sounded like many of you were doing the same thing! 

Just received word that daddy is coming home at 6:00 tonight (unheard of!) so that we can have a movie party and watch Frozen. Oh the squeals that rang through our house! We'll see if Kole's excitement lasts when he is listening to "Let it Go" for the 10,584th time.  :)

If you're in my boat with kids who were counting down to the release date, I hope you all enjoyed the movie as well.  

:)