I really like www.apartmenttherapy.com ... I check it a lot. I came across THIS awesome little cottage today and thought I'd share.

It has all of my favorite things combined into one tiny cottage:

all the walls, doors, fixtures are white
they use a TON of color throughout the house
it has a vintage style about it
a good use of teal and turquois furniture and accents
the outside is painted yellow

Check it out ... here's a teaser picture:



Once you go to see this house at the above link (and I know you will) click on "enter house tour" to see all the pics .... so cool.

I think Christina was severely disappointed with the last post and she wanted more good videos of the boys. Well, here's the best lately. I got this on film last Sunday before we left for church, that's why the boys are wearing ties.

It is early morning (8 am) and Daniel has just left for work. The boys are seemingly happy in the front room watching cartoons on PBS when I hear the cry of the wild from Liam. It is a new thing that he's begun doing lately. I think his scream sounds like a velociraptor screeching, like they did in Jurrasic Park. I found the sound on youtube .... this is what Liam sounds like every morning now whenever Noah takes his toy, juice, blanket, breathing space .... whatever (I would turn down your volume if I were you, unfortunately for me, I cannot turn down Liam, ever):



Yeah, it's like that ... except higher pitched. Imagine that. Good morning!!!

Hahahaha! I just read my little sister's blog and she was talking about the agony that descends upon every woman (or maybe just me and my sisters) around 4 o'clock eveyday ... what's for dinner?

I tried to do as Mina did and plan ahead. I sat down one terrible morning last month and planned every dinner for the entire month. It was like pulling my teeth out slowly without drugs. Noah was buzzing about me incessantly talking and asking "why?" while I tried to clear my mind and focus on 30 dinners!!! It was terrible, but in the process, I found a few new favorite dishes and one favorite new food site: www.ourbestbites.com .... amazing.

Here are my favorite dinners that truned out spectacular, try 'em out for yourself!

Southwest Burgers - go waaaaaay easy on the chipotle peppers and these are fantastic!

Pasta Salad - I did fresh veggies and the homemade Italian dressing ... so yum.

Asian Wonton Salad - I found the wonton wrappers in the healthfood fridge section of my grocery store.

Spicy Honey Chicken - I used chicken tenderloins and breats, not thighs.

Cashew Sweet and Sour Pork - I didn't have cashews ... wish I had.

Fresh Squeezed Lemonade - hands down, the best. lemonade. ever.

Sunrise Punch - I tried to make this healthier by using sparkling water instead of ginger ale ... I think I'd go all out and do the ginger ale next time :)

Love you Mina.

I borrowed my mom's patterns to make a blessing gown for Christina's little boy, Zac, a few months ago and I completely forgot to return the patterns. So when my mom went to make a blessing dress for Mina's little girl, Devyn, they were at my house. I felt terrible! So, I offered, sheepishly, to make the dress. I talked to Mina on Friday, she sent me ribbon to match the shoes on Saturday, I got the ribbon Monday and the dress was done Tuesday night - phew! I sent it off to her this morning. Here's the dress:









Yeah for Devyn Ray Donner!! I wish I could be there at the blessing! Lots of love and kisses!

Liam is asleep but should wake up anytime now. It's 2:45 in the afternoon. Noah is dead silent downstairs playing with his cars. I am reading blogs.

I spent the morning sending off a blessing dress to Mina that I made for Devyn Ray's blessing this Sunday and then I came home and made lunch for everyone, put Liam down for a nap and cleaned the basement. I hurt my lower back cleaning it all up and it took me about an hour and a half. But it looks good. It was getting kind of crazy down there. I would like to pretend like I don't care about what the basement looks like, but I do. I walk down there everyday to do laundry or a sewing project and the boys just thrash it. I like that I have an area for them to thrash and it's relatively out of sight, but definately not out of mind. I try and let it go for as long as I can put it off, then I get all geared up and put away train sets, pick up every tiny lego that I keep stepping on, organize Noah's "art table" and vacuum all the spiders - my least favorite part. I always sweat and talk to myself like a crazy person as I do that last part. I think I definately have a phobia.

I've got so much more to do. My bedroom is a wreck with luggage I never put away from our weekend trip to Frankenmuth and the house needs to be vacuumed. I need to blog the Frankenmuth trip, the blessing dress, and my trip with the boys to the Ann Arbor Art Fair. I need to clean the kitchen. I need to think baout what I'm going to come up with for dinner and it just started storming outside and of course the backyard is strewn with toys and bikes that are about to be soaked. I really should get up and get started, but I wanted to sit back for a brief moment and just think and rest.

I wonder if other people need that too. I do. I need to sit and think and rest my body. I make so many quick decisions as a mommy that my brain gets tired of moving at that pace. Here's a sample of that pace:

Do I put Liam down now, or try and force him to eat? Will he sleep longer/better if he eats first? Is he too tired to eat? Why is it quiet? What is Noah doing? Maybe I need to eat first, I feel angry and cranky. Should I eat? I need to put Liam down, but where's his blanket? Is his diaper soaked or could it last through his nap? I thought I just changed him ... Where's Noah? OK, Liam is down, what happened to the front room floor? I don't have time for that now, I need to eat - do we have any bread? I have to go to the store and get bread ... and milk and cereal, when do we get paid again? I have to make some bread from scratch, we don't get paid until next week. Wait, I definately need to eat! What's Noah doing?

While all of that is happening I am also walking through the house picking up random things and putting them away.

It's good to sit and write and think and rest. Times up though, it's time to get going ...

OK, so a few weeks back we decided on a whim to go camping. We left Friday afternoon (Daniel got off work a little early) and we drove about an hour away and went camping at this place near a lake. The boys L-O-V-E-D it. Every moment of it. It was a lot of work for me and Daniel, but so worth it to see the boys revel in it all.

We roasted hot dogs, ate licorice (I don't know why, but my family always brought red vines to eat around the campfire), went swimming at the beach, took a nature hike (it was 1/8 of a mile long ... I think that's more of a "jaunt") and just basically had a good time.

The only thing that was less than desireable was being right next to the bathrooms. It's good because you're right next to the bathrooms ... but it's bad because you're RIGHT next to the bathrooms ... catch my meaning? Anyway, it was kind of a crowded campground, but the boys didn't care. It was a little wussy "car" camping trip and it was perfect for the boys, so I'd say it was a success! Here are the pics:


Noah's face is awesome in this one.






Licorice around the campfire!


We were up and going around 6:30 am ... yeah.




Liam is not really a hardcore camper ... he took some time off "roughing it" to have some alone time in the car with his blanket ... can you spot the wild Liam in this picture??


There he is. He's a beaut!


Chillaxin'


ummm, are these the cutest men on earth or what? theya re my favorite people.


on the "jaunt"












Trying to catch some rays and get these white legs less white :)