master bedroom

Let the house projects continue.  If you missed the house tour, or the kid's rooms, go check those out, then come back and peek around our room.  Oliver's room  Lydia's room

 

Our master felt yucky.  Almost the whole house is a lovely grey color, our room wasn't.  It doesn't show well in the picture, but it was a beige/grey color, or something.  It was such a bad color it didn't even look good with the white trim, or our white furniture, so it had to go, along with that fan.  Once we put out bed in the room it felt like the fan was right on top of us!

 

First off, I picked a new color.  Pinterest helped.  Pinterest said that Sea Salt, by Sherwin Williams is a beautiful blue, green, grey color, a color that changes with the changing light.  I could get on board with that.  I went to the Lowes and grabbed a paint chip, at Lowes it looked green grey, and I liked that, so I bought a gallon. At my house, in my room, on my walls it has always looked blue grey.  It's really a lovely color, so much better than our room in Kansas, and so much better than the before pictures of this room. 

Next I bought an enormous curtain rod from Target, one that could stretch all the way across the sliding door and the window.  Got some new curtains so I could get rid of the awful black and white shower curtain the previous owners left us.  I purchased three curtain panels, one on the right, the left, and in the middle, I think it works. 

Lastly, the best part, a new light.  I adore the drum shade, it casts such a nice diffused light, it's not next to my bed like the damn ceiling fan, and it just looks beautiful, and it was under $100 at my Lowes.  I thought I might miss the ceiling fan, but I actually never used it at night because I hated the air on my face. Now Jim has a fan on his dresser, it moves the air, not onto my face. 

I also put a rod and curtains over the bathroom opening.  Jim gets up and ready hours before I do, and I don't need all that light in my face.

I think the room is mostly done, I like it plain and simple.  I'm thinking of adding a collection of frames on that wall above the chair.  I was going to put it over our bed, but I don't want them falling on my head if there is an earthquake.  Not in Kansas any more. 

Thoughts on the changes?  Up next, our bathroom. 

summer's end

Whether you mark summer's end with sending your kids back to school, or one last labor day beach trip, or the official Sept 23rd date, it's clear that summer is coming to an end.  I don't like summer weather (why are we in SoCal?) but I adore summer expectations.  I like traveling without a schedule, bumy days at the beach, road trips, seeing friends, hanging at parks, and playing in the street late. 

I was having a mini pity party in my head a couple weeks ago.  The reality of sending Oliver off to school full time, and getting back to a schedule, and not doing everything I wanted to this summer was getting to me.  What? What on earth? We did more this spring/summer than we've probably done of the course of the past 3 years. 

sold a house

bought a new one

last day of kindergarten

 

 

road trip! KC to SoCal



denver children's museum, CO


found snow in the rocky mountains, CO

arches national park, UT

grand canyon, AZ


over priced vegas pancakes, NV




peeked at the pacific

After finally arriving in California we camped for a few days and I did a bunch of painting.  Eventually our stuff came, and I spent two weeks unpacking.  Peeked at the Pacific ocean and then ran away to Home Sweet Massachusetts for almost 3 weeks.


Greg and Erika's wedding.  So beautiful and so fun to hang at the beach, RI

Saw so many friends, hung at the beach, played with Grammy and Pop-Pop


Crashed Matt and Melissa's backyard Maine wedding.
I should invite myself to more weddings.

Back to California, and back to reality. 
More home organization.  More exploring the area we live in.  A few more trips to the beach.

Took Oliver on a whale watch right before sending him off
to school.  Lydia and I were sick, but he had an amazing time.

Last, but certainly not least I headed back to New England, alone, for the 3rd wedding of the summer.  One of my most favorites, Audrey, was tying the knot.  It's the most fun I've had in a long while.  I totally worked my tail off, slept so little, cried more than once, but laughed even more.  Audrey was beautiful, Chris was handsome, the rest of us cleaned up fairly well. 

So Cheers Summer 2015.  Though temperatures will rage into the 90s for another month or so I'm calling this summer over.  It's back to school and schedules, homework and expectations, and squeezing adventure in instead of adventure being the main focus.

1st day of 1st grade!

I can't believe our boy is a 1st grader.  This is Oliver's first year in full day school 7:30 - 1:53, which is just about the worst time school could be, how about 9-3 friends?  I'm excited for Lydia to have some play time on her own but it's certainly going to strange having Oliver gone for so long ::sniff::
His new school is about a mile away and there is a nice path through our neighborhood that Oliver can ride his bike on and I can push the stroller.  School in Kansas was a mile away, but uphill both ways (no really) and we only walked it a handful of time. He's super excited to ride his bike and lock it up.

On to first day photos.*

*I'm out of town, so yeah I dressed my kids and took first day photos on Monday morning...close enough.

Little Corona Beach

Somehow I had never made it to the pacific ocean, neither had Oliver or Lydia.  We changed all that on Monday morning.  

my first peek of the pacific ocean

I adore being a stay at home mom.  There are a lot of reasons, but one huge reason is I can wake up, decide today is the day we should go to the beach, and then we go to the beach, I love that.  Schedules are so lame and I'm kind of dreading Oliver being in school all day long.  But I've digressed...

I woke up around 7 and hoped on Pinterest and pulled up a blog post of "best tide pools in orange county." Isn't that what kids want?  Warm-ish shallow water with rocks and critters.  Indeed it is.  I picked Little Corona Beach in Corona Del Mar, about an hour and thirty from our place...plus whatever traffic you run into, we didn't on the way down but did on the way home.

Pros

1. Totally easy to find. 
2. Easy, free parking...but it was a Monday morning
3. Paved walk down to the beach
4. Bathrooms with showers to rinse sand off
5. Rocks with critters
6. Warm sand
7. Ocean

Cons

1. Lydia wasn't cool with the walk back up to the car.  Now that I know it's paved, if we go again I'll bring a stroller.
2. Oliver was too excited and neeeeded to go play right now so his sunscreen wasn't applied fully and he got a smidge of a burn. I blame the beach for being too fun.

Oliver is so amazing.
He finds kids.
Asks what they are doing.
Asks to play with them.
Plays. 
I love that about him.

headed up the hill back to the car
this view is lovely, the view at my feet of the fussy toddler is a bit less so

We went to both oceans this week.  It's been a good week. 

gold no more

Glad you all enjoyed my rat story over on facebook.  The follow up conversations were hilarious.  A number of people asked me, "are you sure it was a rat?" Dude, I know what a rat is! I mean, I guess it could have been a mouse, a mouse dressed up with brown fur, a long rat tail, and an extra pound.  Anyway, pre rat discovery I was happily sitting on the floor in my family room de-golding my fireplace...I bet ratty was watching and judging.  Judging my early 90's gold trimmed fireplace.

Gold trimmed no more. 

Necessary supplies
-itty bitty paint brush, I happened to find one rolling around the living room cause that's how things are these days
-high heat black paint, the spray paint is cheaper, but this isn't a great area to spray paint

I have enough paint left to save my whole neighborhood from their gold trimmed fireplaces. After looking at this picture some more I think it might need a third coat.  I painted it at night, with not great lighting, and then where was a rat interruption so yeah... 

Oliver's room

Carrying on with the theme of paint making everything better, here are some before and progress pictures of Oliver's bedroom.  He still needs new carpet, closet doors, his dresser repainted, and his bed skirt ironed and put on, and maybe I can practice using my new nail gun and air compress on some crown molding.

My favorite things in Oliver's room are his curtains that I made
and my grandmother's dresser.

The closet doors here are the worst.  I ripped Oliver's out right away.
I also replaced every single hideous gold door knob with lovely
brushed nickel knobs. 

Lydia's room

We got to California last Thursday, and on Friday I took the kids to Lowes to pick out paint for their rooms, with the goal of getting their rooms painted before the moving truck arrived.  Oliver picked the color he wanted and Lydia demanded to have the same.  "Mine blue." The color is basically the same color as their rooms back in Kansas.

Hey Jim can you go borrow a ladder from the neighbor so I can paint the bedrooms?
-Do you really need a ladder?
Ummm, have you seen how short I am? Or were you planning on painting the top?
-I'll go get a ladder
K, thanks

Painted the walls tradewind
Painted the trim blanched pine

I didn't love the wall color at first.  I wanted it to be a little less blue but once their furniture was moved in it felt perfect.  The house is a disaster, but the kid's rooms are lovely.  We won't call these after pictures, let's call them during pictures.  The after would involve fresh carpet and new closet doors. 

before

Lydia likes baby to sleep right next to her, but in her own bed

Just woke up
Enjoying some pant-less book time
Yes, her baby is wearing a swim diaper...you find things when you move

Lydia's dresser is my favorite

Pinterest search "free printables" so many cute things

womp womp
sad sad closet doors

 Lydia seems to like her room.  She likes reading her books and playing with her baby.  She also enjoys standing next to her dressed and crash landing in her chair then jumping up and yelling "ta-da." Lydia is also sleeping fine, her regular 11ish hours, which is really the main goal.