We did costumes.
We had fun.
They dropped ballons.
We enjoyed the art exhibits.
We won cosutme prizes.
We had fun!
Author: Patchwork Reality
While they sleep
I should have taken a before picture…..it was a total explosion of imaginext toys, swimsuits from the swim bag and the table was covered in schoolwork debris. You know the kind all those amazingly “special” papers that come home by the tree load every day.
So while the little girls slept I weeded through all of it and moved the furniture around, and re-organized the “homework” table (that I blogged about here) and have made it summer ready.
I put paper in each bin, one bin is lined and one is plain. I was thinking some of those little hangs that fasten with tags would be perfect, but since I did not have any I just used a good old rock from the landscaping.
And while I was out there I cut these to bring a little more outdoors in.
So much better! I can be such a better mom and give them more of my time with clean organized spaces. Think I can finish the house before all 4 of the kids are home for summer starting Friday?
Thumbs Up!
A cold. It is creeping up on me, I wake up in the morning and it truly sounds like there is a frog in my throat, I cough and mucus shrapnel hit the roof of my mouth, too much?! Yeah too much for me too. It is an all respiratory cold. Training run this morning = 12 miles. I wake up 1 hour late.
Cold it kicking my a$$. I have to check 12 mile off the list.
I buckle on my Garmin, tie my shoes, Velcro the fuel belt on and head out on a new 12 mile loop that I mapped out, with loads of hills….great(big eye roll followed by a froggy cough). Exercise is supposed to boost your immune system right?! I chug down the power -C hubby so thoughtfully made for me.
4 miles in going fine, a little slow but fine.
Mile 6, dragging a little, on a blacktop country road way out in by the airport with nothing in site but a red barn way off in the distance that is my right turn towards home….a green GMC truck comes along, the drive gives me a HUGE thumbs up sign.
Cold not kicking my a$$, me kicking 12 miles in the A$$, hoping it comes around full circle, on the immune system. I realized here I am on a gray day in the middle of nowhere running my heart out, for a training plan that I adhere to even when it is the perfect day to be inside nursing a cold reading about ALL the shades of gray, and this person just reinforced my strengths with the universal sign for way to go!
Positive support from strangers is not lost on this girl. What a boost that strange thumbs up was…thanks guy!!!!
Happy Brithday Girl!
Raiven turns 8 today, she is so excited, and told us she is not so worried about what her presents are but how happy she is to be a year older. I am glad that she is taking what we are attempting to teach her to heart, and I know she is aware of how important it is to be thankful, but come on, after soccer practice tomorrow, I hope she feels giddy about opening her presents, and that she enjoys the thought that her brother, sisters and Jon and I put into picking out gifts for her.
It seems like a year can change so much in a child’s life, her big teeth have changed her smile into a beautiful pre teen smile. She is a sensitive girl ( she gets that from me) but has a spit fire need to play hard and is not afraid to get dirty, She plays with the boys at school but also has lots of girl friends. She has a tender heart and takes kids under her wing. A boy joined her second grade class this year sometime in late September and really felt out of the loop, Raiven friended him and his mom was telling me the other day how Raiven has really been a great friend to her son. She just has this caring personality and an innate sense to be a helper. Raiven loves to read and enjoys her math homework. She laughs and giggles easily (she gets this from Jon).
Happy Birthday Raiven So! I hope 8 is another wonderful year for you!!
It is like Christmas in Spring ’round Here
If you have read any previous posts on here, you know that I am a big fan of “thrift” shopping, or second hand clothing, I know this seems like such a trend, which is great, but this is just our way of life, for the most part. I did just splurge on some summer Naartjie clothes for all the kids….but what fun would being totally strict about anything be?
That being said, I somehow in my interweb ramblings, came across the site thredup.com where they sell great pre- owned children’s clothes/shoes. I am totally impressed with their selection and that everything is in really great condition, and if it not the customer service has been amazing. I received a shirt that had a stain on it and they immediately issued a refund. They want their customers to be tonally satisfied.
So why is it like Christmas you ask?
These boxes keep showing up;) When you spend $30 on your order they ship it for free!
They pack it so nicely!!!
Viola! Christmas!!! I have actually found many items that are still new, like those Gymboree tights. Brands I have seen, Mini Boden, Janie and Jack, Gymboree, Gap both kids and baby, Baby Nay, Old Navy, The Children’s Place, Naartjie and more. I have seen some great things from older lines that might be harder to find. They also sell shoes and I found a pair of Keen tennis shoes for Santanna. They put new items up every day and I have been so happy, I decided to share!!
You can also ask for a bag to be sent to y our house that you can put your gently used clothes into, drop of at your post office or a UPS store, or have it picked up from your house and they will buy your clothes from you. I have sent in one and will write what about it after I have more information on how the process went. Check their website for more details on what they purchase.
I just love being able to sit here and not have to look through racks of what is sometimes just too used to be worn, or get it home and realize the snap doesn’t work. It is like the cream of the crop second hand kids shopping.
Thredup did not ask me to write this nor was I given any incentive to write this, I am just really excited about this site, see if you can find something.
Vertical Wall Stripes
We have been working on the revamp of Raiven’s room, my goal is to give her a room that fits now and will work for her until she leaves for college…..*sigh*. I always have ideas in my head and the reality of the real space is usually different than what was in my head.
Raiven has this bedding set by Isaac Mizrahi for Target
I bought it about 4 years ago and she still loves it, so this is the color pallet for most of the room; bright pink, white, yellow, and maybe some red.
First we have to cover these dark blue/gray walls that we my choice for the walls when it was an office but it is too dark for a room on the lowest floor even with daylight windows.
It took 3! yes 3 coats of our almost white color paint, we even bought the paint with the primer in it. Light versus dark, it is a hard battle, but like all good stories we won. I also enlisted the help of some of my favorite employees:
Jon than taped all the lines for our vertical stripes, he has the patient for this…me not so much.
Here was the vision: light silver metallic stripes that were not heavy maybe even just caught a glimmer in the sun. Reality: the paint dried super fast and was much darker than we thought. Instantly I called the stripes to a halt and had a glass of wine (after the kids were in bed) and thought about the stripes. It was not what I had pictured but we actually decided we really liked them. What we did was paint them on only one wall instead of the whole room, which was the original thought with the more understated stripes we had planned. Here is where we are:
In my best Violetn Femmes voice: ” Let me go onnnn like I glitter in the sun Let me go ooooonnnnn”
You can see some of the variations incolor in the stripes from our intial painting that I halted. This paint has to go on fast and even, it dries almost instantly, I really like the way it looks now. I think it looks more like real metal with some color variation.
Working list far Raiven’s room:
- Picture collage above her bead
- Repaint the vanity? Not sure if I want to tackle that or leave it wood.
- Find a chair for her vanity
- some sort of bookshelf or shelving system for books and nick nacks.
- Her closet needs to be reworked, it is just builder grade 2 shelves with hanging, the space could be utilized so much better
Repainting/redecorating a room a month?
We have been in our house for over 5 years, we built this house, I may have said this before, it is a huge process in life and with it comes pride…and lessons, some you learn in the process others you learn while living with all the decisions you made while building.
I specifically asked our builder when we got to the painting stage to PLEASE, puh-lease not paint our walls in a flat paint, this is builder code and I understand it hides any imperfections in the drywall, but seriously we were not going to return the house?!?! Anyway what did they paint the walls in? Flat paint. WE have 4 kids, 2 at the time, and a dog that weighs as much as I do. Are you getting a visual on how my walls might look, now imagine trying to wash those flat paint wall. NOT awesome!
Needless to say we are in the market for having an entire house repaint in a semi gloss or at least a sheen that handprints, splatters, slobber (dog…I think), food, milk,….you get the idea can be washed off and not leave a greasy looking mark behind.
So, I am hoping that we can accomplish one room per month, and since my mind is in creative-room-revamp-Pinterest overdrive I thought I might share some of the befores and afters, and also what the reality of said schedule may become with this crazy house:)
We decided to start with Raiven’s room, it was at one point a home office, and I had painted it a blue/gray color that I liked but, it is rather dark and not working so well for an almost 8 year old girl.
This was taken at night, but you can see the wall is dark, I am thinking about a nice light white color and having one wall with some metallic vertical stripes. I also want to get more photos up on her wall. She has an Isaac Mizrahi peony bed set with bright pinks so I am going to fit more pink into her room and pull come other colors out of the flowers to add color with the walls being more white
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Keeping Pace on Running Bib Numbers
It is amazing how good intentions and great ideas can be waylaid by life. I can’t even express the awe I have have for some the bloggers who have families like ours, some even way bigger and have regularly fresh and inspirational posts.
I still have the ideas and posts in my head, and often when I go to bed I think I should have jotted down a little something. Another goal…right;)
Anyway, I am a runner, an avid runner, it is my freedom, my Prozac, my therapy and time I get just for me. I do not have a running partner for training, but I do have a racing partner. When I go out run it is ME time, but when I race I love to share the experience with someone else, and maybe the hotel fee.
I have not blogged much on here about my running, I like to share more of the projects we work on, but it is a large part of my life and as the weather warms up will become more so. I will probably back blog some of my race info and results, for my own personal record.
I started running after baby 3 was born, for the same reason most of us to…weight loss, but I am an athlete at heart and love to set and achieve goals and running became a part of me. Since then I have completed 3 full marathon, 4 1/2 marathons and so many other races I do not have a count.
Here is what I have done as inspiration and a tribute to myself, I have saved every bib number, and on the back I have written my age, the date, the length of the race, (if it was not noted on the bib), and my pace for that race. It is like a 3D journal plus when I run a race that I have previously run I can look back and see what my time was and try to better it.
I have yet to decide what I am going to do with my medals. Anyone else have a system for their racing momentos?
Pinterest February Challenge
Saw this on Pinterest and I am committing to this! Not sure who to give props to for this, but thanks!
As a runner after 4 kids I know that my core can always use some toning and this seems like a very do-able build up to some serious core work. this is something I can do before bed or right when I get up the morning, it won’t take a lot of time but I am hoping to see some improvement in strength!
Who wants to join me??
Valentines’ Day Heart Crayon Craft
This is such a fun and easy craft to do with all ages. These are great to give as little Valentines’ tokens or to make and bring into your child’s school, they are also really cute to fill a vase with and then put flowers in.
Anyway, this is very easy and does not require reaaly strict instructions.
You will need: Crayons, heart shape pan/muffin pan, a cooling rack and patience
First gather all your broken crayons, these work best, but if you need to buy some that is fine also, you will just need to break then to fit in the pan. We divided them into colors that I thought most fit the Valentines’ theme, pink, red, white, but a heart crayon can be any color you choose.
Heat your oven to about 200, this is again not a strict temp, it needs to be warm enough to melt the wax, but not hot enough to cook it.
Peel all the paper off your crayons, here is where the patience is needed this can take a bit.
Break your crayons into pieces that will fit into your pan. Put the pan into the oven, check in about 3-5 minutes, this will all depend on the size of your heart pan and then number of crayons that fit in each space.
Once all the wax has melted and congealed (love that word;) we found it was best to pop the pan on a cooling rack into the fridge to let the was reharden, and they popped right out quite easily for the most part.
Then grab some paper and try them out, or give them away or do whatever your little heart desires:)
Patchwork Reality 