That Aha Moment

Last week we had the opportunity to check out a really amazing place in Lancaster, Ohio called the Aha Museum with a good friend and her little one.

This place was any child's dream.  They had so many sensory and imaginary play stations that it was easy to get overwhelmed.  The clear winner with all three of our kiddos was the water table.  

Child Safety: Furniture

Let me start by saying this.  It's tough being a parent.  And we've only been doing this gig for just over 3 years.  I keep hearing the hardest years are to come (and I believe it).  I've also heard that parents love to stress out about little things.  I really try to only stress out on the super important stuff (to me) but sometimes little fears creep in.  My favorite that I heard from another parent was after having the baby, they were irrationally worried about not keeping enough bananas in the house.

Now, my fears are usually a little more safety related so that comment really made me laugh.  The thing is, is I'm almost alway the parent that tries to sit back and let me kiddos bump into things, fall down while running, and swing really, really high.  When they do get little boo-boo's, we try not to make a big deal of them.  We like to give them kisses and encourage them to try again.  I can't tell you how many times I get the strange looks from other parents when I see a (tiny) accident about to happen, but allow my little ones to learn from their falls.

This type of parenting though, I've learned, really does encourage a type of fearlessness in my kids.  So, it shouldn't have come as any surprise when my three year old decided to climb the changing table to get closer to her "stinky little man".  She climbed that dresser so quickly and effortlessly that I didn't even have time to say anything to her before she was sitting next to him!  And I was standing right there!  We certainly do not allow her to climb furniture and I thought she knew better.  The thing is, now that I've witnessed this act, it can not be ignored.  She has an identical dresser in her room so the odds that she's climbed her dresser are very high.

Where am I going with all of this?  Oh yeah, my fear is that a piece of furniture will fall on one of my kids.  That's way bigger than any bump or scrape.  That's a whole different ball game.  And it scares me to death.

Here's the dresser that both kids have in their rooms. (You can see the other dresser here.)  Notice the perfect little "climbing footings" also known as handles :)  This piece of furniture is super heavy but there is always that possibility of it tipping.

Free Printable: Gardening is Cheap

I have been out in the garden like crazy the last couple of days (with plans to be out there again today...)  I feel like all of this gardening is going to cause me to need therapy... But that's not how the saying goes :)

I made a free printable for all of my lovely readers (cough, mom)... 

Feel free to pin, share, download & print! You can find the file here!

I'm looking forward to having the front yard caught up for a few days from all of the weeds, extra tree limbs, & junk that has accumulated in the flower beds out front.  Have you been playing catch up to the losing battle of weeds?  Do you have a secret to combat them?  

Enjoy your weekend!

Janice

Oh, My Achin' Back!

I know a lot of blogs like to "keep it real" by showing a pair of dirty socks on their living room floor or a dirty cup in their sink.  (I can assure you that we have that and a lot more all the time).  But today, I'm keeping it real outside in our garden jungle.  Oh yes... there are just a few weeds that need pulled.

Can you spy the Labrador Retriever hiding among the shrubs?  How about a massive Hosta?  They're both in there, I promise.

So, here's a before and after shot.

Big Girl Room Collage Wall

So many times I do a project around the house but never take the time to blog about it.  Today, I'm gonna turn back time and show you something I did in my daughter's big girl room.



I had a lot of black frames laying around that I converted to white with a couple cans of spray paint.  I picked up a bunch of other frames from a trip to Ikea.

Card & Sign Making

My parents have been married 30 years today.  That is such an accomplishment to have been able to keep the peace, love, and all of their goals at the forefront of their lives.  Since 30 years is kind of a big deal, I painted them up a little banner that they were able to wake up to on their porch (hanging curtsy of my little brother, thank you!!)

The banner was just an evening project.  I purchased 2 yards of muslin from Jo-Ann's and just free-handed the letters.  My best advice when making any sort of sign is to open up a word document and find a font that you like.  Then, type out how you want everything to look.  Ya, I don't have a memory bank of word fonts.  I definitely cheat. 

My other evening project was whipping up some cards.  I obviously needed one for my parent's anniversary, but I'm all about doing a few extra things now so I don't have to worry about them later.  Hence, the birthday cards.  I have a few favorite people that are celebrating birthdays in July and August so while I had all of my crafting materials out, I used the same design as my parent's anniversary card and made birthday cards too. 

Friday Find: Water Features

Every once in a while, I get this super strong urge to do a project and nothing can stop me.  The bug is hitting again and I've been drooling over these super cool fountains.

Lowes

HomeTalk

SunSet

I don't know... Maybe I will be able to convince the husband that we need one.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend.  Any fun projects on your to-do list?

Janice

Garage Entrance Door Update

I recently decided to something bold and daring.  But, it faces into the garage so it doesn't really give me too many points.  Our garage entrance into the kitchen hadn't been touched in all of the garage updating & organizing.  This door is notoriously the most filthy no matter what.  There were always shoe scuffs and dirty little finger marks.  So, I painted it BLACK!

Here's the before and after:

A [Running] Love Story

This isn't just a love story.  This is our love story.  Except it's just a tiny little part of us and how this makes us... well, us!

When I met my husband in 2006, I was running.  A lot.  I wasn't necessarily training for a marathon but I happened to be following a schedule for one.  I had a very long run on my list (I think it was somewhere around 18-20 miles).  Somehow, I convinced Bryan to do this run with me.  Keep in mind that we both ran in high school (rival schools) but he hadn't been running due to a few injuries.  I can only imagine how painful this training run was for him.  If you ask him, though, I'm sure he'd tell you that it was a walk in the park!

Fast forward several weeks later, we decide at the very last minute to sign up for the Columbus Marathon together. (It was both our first time running a marathon... we hadn't even done a half marathon before!)  We ran it and cross the finish together, too.   As soon as I crossed, I knew I wanted to do this again!  He didn't quite feel the same.

I knew I really, really liked him before this marathon.  I knew I loved him at the finish line.  A lot of things happened between that marathon and our next.  Yup, I convinced him to do another!  (Or maybe he convinced me?)  We graduated from The Ohio State University, got married, moved from Ohio to Mississippi for Bryan's pilot training, bought two yellow labs, had a baby, moved to Oklahoma, and then back to Ohio where we bought our house.

Garage Goodies

 I promised a bigger picture of how the garage is turning out after attempting to once and for all get this area organized (or at least until the next big project wrecks this place).

Oh, this dreaded before shot... Obviously we don't normally live with a pile of lumber in the center of our garage.  However, we did somehow manage to live without a single hook on the wall!  If you're living in a hook-less garage, stop the madness!

Friday Find: Collage Wall

Today's "Friday Find" wasn't hard to find.  This is my mom's creation that she recently hung up.  Don't you just love a good collage wall?!

Be Still

I'm interrupting my regularly scheduled garage clean-up to show a softer side today.  My mother has hummingbird feeders that she fills up daily.  In turn, she has hummingbirds swarming her front and side porch constantly looking for a meal.  It's incredibly magical.  I snapped this shot (as well as about 99 failed attempts while my kiddos were playing in the "river" with Gigi and Uncle Eric)  Life is good.  

Scrap Lumber Shelves & Adapting the Work Bench

So, here's a peek into how messy our garage was before I decided, once and for all, that something had to be done!  

Then, yesterday I showed you how I built a work bench to help contain some of the disaster.  Well, I also added some shelves and hooks above the bench.

Building a Work Bench for the Husband

This weekend ended up feeling so long!  I mean, it basically started Wednesday night when we had dinner at Papa's house (my grandfather).  After dinner, we packed up into the car and saw fireworks in downtown Columbus at Red, White, & Boom.  Thursday was the Fourth.  And by Friday I was looking for my next project.  I was antsy to build something.  I've been in the process of finally organizing our garage so I thought it was only fit to build a proper work bench for the husband.  I figured if he had a work bench, I could squeeze more projects out of him :)

So yes!  I built this table myself.  From buying the lumber, to making the cuts, to drilling the screws!  I guess that goes to show you that as long as you're not fearful of using a saw and have some basic wood working skills (how to use a tape measure, level, & square), you could build this work bench, too!  I found this basic design online and adapted and simplified it to fit my needs. 

Fourth of July

So very thankful today and every day for the men and women who fought to make our country free and those who are ensuring our freedom today.

The hubby and I

I hope everyone, overseas and at home, has a very safe Fourth of July.

Janice

Personal Sized Tart Cherry Crisps

I went cherry picking with my little ones over the weekend (it was a very fun filled fruity weekend).  We came home with 14 pounds of Tart Cherries.  We only kept 8 pounds (thank goodness) because pitting that many cherries is very time consuming! Three pounds went to my neighbor and three pounds went to my mom.

My mom showed me her very clever way of pitting cherries.  You need a very cheap fork that will be easy to bend.  Fold back the two outer tines at the base with a set of needle nose pliers.  Then, with the two inner tines, fold just the very tips together and forward to create a little hook.

Master Bedroom Gallery Wall

Today I'm sharing with you our little gallery wall in our bedroom.  

Gallery wall displays are so great because as time goes on, you can keep adding and subtracting to them.  They never have to be finished or stagnant.