For Lloyd...

Someone shared this on Facebook today. I'm amazed at the ideas that people come up with.

Newest Obsession

Thanks to Pinterest I have been having visions of chalkboard art for months. Literally months! I have been on the lookout for an awesome frame that is both huge and retro-ugly. Think ornate, gold leaf ugly. When these frames are spiffed up with some spray paint they are capital-A-mazing. Trust me. I have one hanging in my office at work and everyone who comes in gushes over it.

Anywho... I haven't stumbled upon another one of these frames yet so my brain has been distracted with trying to figure out Plan Two. Then one day I came upon this, and this, and Plan Two happened. Printable chalkboard art. But could I do it? I'm crafty, but not especially arty, if you get my drift. But, I had a vision - a huge chalkboard art vision that would hang in my entryway. And thanks to all the visionaries on Pinterest I had inspiration. I steeled myself last night and sat down with my secret little friend - picmonkey.com - and made this...

And I was so thrilled (I did a happy dance, I can admit it), that I sat back down and made this...

And this...

And this...

AND THIS...

What do you think? I'm pretty darn happy with how they turned out and I can't wait to get them framed (burlap or aged-rustic wood???) and up on the wall. I took two of them to Staples today and had them printed out as 24"x36" engineer prints and it actually worked!!! No one is more shocked than I.

P.S. Lukas had a stay-home day with mom today and he wanted in on the action. Here are his versions of Chalkboard art.

'Nature Picture'

'Forest'

Tuesday Tunes

I've been seriously annoying my kids the last few days by having these songs on repeat in the Jeep. Better I annoy them than the other way around I always say.

Lorde (pronounced Lord) - Royals

American Authors - Best Day of My Life
 

Thursday Tunes

Here's what I have on heavy rotation on my playlist right now. I highly recommend that you check out ZZ Ward, Noah and Passenger. Love, love, love!

Overheard From the Back of the Van

Mikah decide that we should bake cupcakes on the weekend. I figured, hey, I might as well bake some fancy cupcakes for my own kids for once. We hopped into the car because of course, I was out of cream cheese, sugar and eggs. As we are driving to the store I hear the question that I've been dreading...

Lukas:   Mom, how are babies made?

~I start to freak out but try to maintain an outwardly calm appearance~

Mikah:   It's ok Mom. You can tell him because I already know how they are made.

Me:       Oh, really? And just how is that?  (I felt confident asking this because Mikah will always pretend that he 

            knows the answer, and will never admit defeat.)

Lukas:   How are they made?

Mikah:  Well, they are made with extra sugar. You need to have the extra sugar.

~I'm trying not to laugh because, well, he's partially right.~

Me:      Um, that's not really how they are made.

Mikah:  (laughing a bit self-consiously, but still not admitting defeat)  Of course I know that. I was just kidding.

~At this point Lukas starts to cry~

Me:       Why on earth are you crying?

Lukas:   (wailing)  Because everyone knows how babies are made except for me!!!

Me:      And the guy sitting next to you. He doesn't know either. (I laugh and the wailing increases.)

There are definitely times that I wish I was raising my kids on a farm. That way they would learn about the facts of life the same way we did... by observation not conversation. It's so much easier on the parents that way.

Overheard From the Back of the Van

Mikah:   Mom, why didn't you name me Rainbow? I really wanted Rainbow to be my name.
                                                                                    

I had to write this one down so that I didn't forget. This comment is going to provide us with hours of entertainment in the future :)

                     

Overheard From the Back of the Van

Ah, the drive home at the end of the day is often amusing. The Mr. had this story to share with me when I got home after work tonight.


Mikah:     Dad, what's for supper when we get home?
The Mr:    I'm not sure yet. What do you think we should have?
Lukas:     Spaghetti  (Big surprise there)
The Mr:   Of course that's what you want. 
Mikah:    Can we watch a show when we are eating supper?
The Mr:   I suppose so. It depends on how good you are while I'm cooking.
Lukas:    (whining) Well, what show are we going to pick? Mikah ALWAYS gets to pick the show!
The Mr:   Tell you what, who ever does the most cleaning in the living room while I'm making supper will get to pick 
              the show.

~A few minutes of back and forth arguing happens about which one of them is going to succeed at doing the most cleaning. This is then followed by a minute of silence~

Lukas:     (asks slyly) Mikah, what show would you pick?
The Mr:    Mikah, don't answer that!!!
Mikah:     Futurama
Lukas:     Yeah, we can watch Futurama. That's ok; you can do all the cleaning.

Lukas is too darn smart for his britches. He's only 5 and he's a;ready caught on to most of our tricks.

~And yes, sometimes we let them watch Futurama. We fool ourselves into believing that they don't understand most of what is happening on the show, in order to gain a few minutes of silence for ourselves. Yep, I bet you're thinking that you wish you had thought of it too.~