After coming home from a garden/graduation party, we found two worn wicker chairs sitting on the curb near our house. We've taken them in to refurbish and reuse. But the challenge ahead is, Hwat color should we paint them? We looked for inspiration at one of our favorite painted wicker websites, Maine Cottage - ok, so it was the only site I know of with painted wicker without googling it.
Found this - Here are some wonderful images, colors and words from a designer at Maine Cottage
ENJOY!
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
doll house
i found this article and pic on a new found site called ohdeedoh from apartment therapy. i did this in my room when i was a little girl. it was where i kept all of my sylvanian families. i can't wait to have a place like this one day for the girls!
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
my babies
before i turn in for the night i want to post about my kids. i love them. they rock. each one is awesome. each one exudes energy and spirit, different from their siblings. this afternoon out in the backyard, there was rhysie, on her own "stage," with a song on her lips; blaise bouncing on my lap, having found his voice, practicing his oratory; ransom, running around chasing a friend with a pool noodle, making loud, boisterous noises as only little boys do; and kyrie, my nature girl, building a home for her pet slug, "slimey."
these last few days, i have been trying to savor the hugs and kisses. be in the moments i am nursing blaise, my last babe. this season of life, when they are my chicks, in our nest, safe from the world, is full, sometimes to overflowing, but it is coming to an end. i linger with my snugglies and sit a little bit longer in the rocking chair with a satisfied baby. my favorite quiet space is the boys' room. when they are sleeping, and all is at rest. i love what soule mama wrote just recently about her fourth babe. so what i am trying to say here in this place is that i am enjoying this time. i am endeavoring to remember that they won't be little forever and i am content in my circumstance of being their mama, their comforter, their nurturer. thank you Lord for this great pleasure.
these last few days, i have been trying to savor the hugs and kisses. be in the moments i am nursing blaise, my last babe. this season of life, when they are my chicks, in our nest, safe from the world, is full, sometimes to overflowing, but it is coming to an end. i linger with my snugglies and sit a little bit longer in the rocking chair with a satisfied baby. my favorite quiet space is the boys' room. when they are sleeping, and all is at rest. i love what soule mama wrote just recently about her fourth babe. so what i am trying to say here in this place is that i am enjoying this time. i am endeavoring to remember that they won't be little forever and i am content in my circumstance of being their mama, their comforter, their nurturer. thank you Lord for this great pleasure.
new babies
i just found out my friend alston is expecting a baby (her third)!! i feel like everyone i know is having a baby - well, not everyone but you get the point. please check out her company b.wise papers. she is so so creative and talented. and she is an amazing mama to two adorable boys (+ babe).
with the list of expectant mama-friends i need to get some gifts out to the mail! what fun - i get to play the stork!
with the list of expectant mama-friends i need to get some gifts out to the mail! what fun - i get to play the stork!
Monday, May 18, 2009
books on the brain::location & content
i am a reader. my husband is a reader. my children are readers (or at least 1 out of 4 read now!) so i think i need to include in this little chronicle of mine, the books i read or want to read this year. its good to see progress.
books we read shape who we are as people. this idea is a heavy one because it means we have a responsibility: to God, to our hearts and to our neighbor, for what we bring in to our minds. i want to have books that are character builders. not only goes for myself but also for our children. simple mom has a great post (read towards the end) about books in the home. as i was thinking about where we wanted to put our books in our new digs, it got me thinking about what we are reading, what our kids are reading and how location and content can ultimately mold the moral and creative imagination of our littles. now we just have to find a good set of like bookshelves to create this space (the ones we currently have are not tall enough, thus they take up way too much space - Lord, can i have built-ins? sigh.)
book list 2009:
reading:
john adams by david maculah
tipping point and outliers by malcom gladwell
the great omission by dallas willard
book of john in the bible
the blessing by john trent, ph.d. & gary smalley
9 o'clock in the morning by dennis bennett
want to read:
(re-read) animal, vegetable, miracle by barbara kingsolver
90 minutes in heaven by don piper with cecil murphey
a grief observed by c.s. lewis
orthodoxy by g.k. chesterton
the idea of a university by cardinal newman
the omnivores dilemma by michael pollan
completed:
a tree grows in brooklyn by betty smith
simple mom's top 10 twaddle free children's books:
1. madeline by ludwig bemelmans
2. best friends for frances by russell hoban
3. ferdinand by munro leaf
4. frog and toad are friends by arnold lobel
5. george and martha by james marshall
6. make way for ducklings by roberty mccloskey
7. winnie-the-pooh by a.a. milne
8. if you give a mouse a cookie by laura numberoff
9. alexander and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day by judith viorst
10. lyle, lyle crocodile by bernard waber
books we read shape who we are as people. this idea is a heavy one because it means we have a responsibility: to God, to our hearts and to our neighbor, for what we bring in to our minds. i want to have books that are character builders. not only goes for myself but also for our children. simple mom has a great post (read towards the end) about books in the home. as i was thinking about where we wanted to put our books in our new digs, it got me thinking about what we are reading, what our kids are reading and how location and content can ultimately mold the moral and creative imagination of our littles. now we just have to find a good set of like bookshelves to create this space (the ones we currently have are not tall enough, thus they take up way too much space - Lord, can i have built-ins? sigh.)
book list 2009:
reading:
john adams by david maculah
tipping point and outliers by malcom gladwell
the great omission by dallas willard
book of john in the bible
the blessing by john trent, ph.d. & gary smalley
9 o'clock in the morning by dennis bennett
want to read:
(re-read) animal, vegetable, miracle by barbara kingsolver
90 minutes in heaven by don piper with cecil murphey
a grief observed by c.s. lewis
orthodoxy by g.k. chesterton
the idea of a university by cardinal newman
the omnivores dilemma by michael pollan
completed:
a tree grows in brooklyn by betty smith
simple mom's top 10 twaddle free children's books:
1. madeline by ludwig bemelmans
2. best friends for frances by russell hoban
3. ferdinand by munro leaf
4. frog and toad are friends by arnold lobel
5. george and martha by james marshall
6. make way for ducklings by roberty mccloskey
7. winnie-the-pooh by a.a. milne
8. if you give a mouse a cookie by laura numberoff
9. alexander and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day by judith viorst
10. lyle, lyle crocodile by bernard waber
Sunday, May 17, 2009
creating a haven
i have been back for a few days - what a wonderful rest for the mama! & a special time to be with family celebrating grandma's life here. this time away in california meant that i was not able to stick with tsh and the simple mom cleaning party. so i am going to start slugging it out again -starting with our bedroom. since we will most likely be out of our current digs by october (we find out in july), our wish list for the new home is growing and intentional. i am going to continue to add to it so that i can have specifics to bring to the lord in prayer (my mom encouraged me to do this!)
we were discussing our bedroom this afternoon - how its not really what we want - i.e. cluttered, hodge podge, disorganized ... you get the point. what is it that we want? we want it to be a haven for our marriage, a place to retreat with minimal "stuff," a quiet place to rest without "the other" chaos of our home. i absolutely love the tips mandi shares at organizing your way. tsh at simple mom has some wonderful suggestions and just overall practical mantras for making this special room, what it is - SPECIAL. so this week (along with clearing off surfaces for the cleaning lady) i will be working on our room and closet. bear with me as i do an abridged version - i am plugging along, just a bit more slowly.
if you haven't checked out any of the pictures that tsh posts - they are SO encouraging. its kind of funny because we have a lot of the same furniture she does from ikea!
we were discussing our bedroom this afternoon - how its not really what we want - i.e. cluttered, hodge podge, disorganized ... you get the point. what is it that we want? we want it to be a haven for our marriage, a place to retreat with minimal "stuff," a quiet place to rest without "the other" chaos of our home. i absolutely love the tips mandi shares at organizing your way. tsh at simple mom has some wonderful suggestions and just overall practical mantras for making this special room, what it is - SPECIAL. so this week (along with clearing off surfaces for the cleaning lady) i will be working on our room and closet. bear with me as i do an abridged version - i am plugging along, just a bit more slowly.
if you haven't checked out any of the pictures that tsh posts - they are SO encouraging. its kind of funny because we have a lot of the same furniture she does from ikea!
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
family connections
i have been in california since last friday for my family. my grandmother passed away last monday. she had been ill for 4 1/2 years since she had a stroke. i was able to fly out with just baby blaise for a little time away from our life on the east coast to be a support. thanks to my dear husband, his parents and our babysitters, i was able to go to the funeral.
my grandmother and i were not close. i wish that we had been. but one thing i know is that she was a really wonderful person. she was an artist, a sculptor. she was an italian american. born in brooklyn to immigrant parents. she was a war bride. she was a mother of three. she was so many things that i am now. its funny, that when you begin to focus on someone's life, and what they did, who they were, there is this an amazing connection that you can have -- you begin to discover why you are the way you are. i am going home tomorrow and i go home with a stronger, more unique identity, ties to my grandmother and my auntie that i am so proud to have.
my grandmother and i were not close. i wish that we had been. but one thing i know is that she was a really wonderful person. she was an artist, a sculptor. she was an italian american. born in brooklyn to immigrant parents. she was a war bride. she was a mother of three. she was so many things that i am now. its funny, that when you begin to focus on someone's life, and what they did, who they were, there is this an amazing connection that you can have -- you begin to discover why you are the way you are. i am going home tomorrow and i go home with a stronger, more unique identity, ties to my grandmother and my auntie that i am so proud to have.
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