All Growed Up

After 11 years of use, I find it time to retire my old backpack.  Yes, I got this backpack for free in high school from the kindly folk at JanSport.  Yes, I believe those shiny straps on the bottom are for skis.  I don't ski.  It has been a great, albeit too large, backpack for 11 years.  No rips on the whole thing, except for where Parker ate some straps.  Luckily, she is in good condition, so she will spend her retirement going camping and going to the beach.  Relax blue backpack, you earned it. 

Look how tired she looks.

Enter, new brown bag.

No longer a student, I felt the need to use a bag that didn't come with an internal hydration bladder.  Going for something a little classier, I opted for this beauty.  Actually, this was a gift to me from my parents for graduation.  With sleek lines, supple leather, and triple gusset construction, the road looks bright for brown bag and me.  So when you see me flexing my skills in court or on the street, don't forget ol' blue that took me here.

Congrats Blake

Tomorrow Blake will be graduating from law school and I couldn't be more proud of him. He is very humble about his accomplishments, but he has worked so hard to get good grades and gain experience, and it has paid off immensely. The firm that he has been working for is very interested in hiring him on as an Associate. We feel so grateful for this experience and even though it has been a rough 3 years, it has been worth it. Congratulations on all your hard work at school. I love you babe, you are a wonderful husband and father.

Another fun project

Just wanted to post a few pictures of a book page wreath I finished recently. In case you're interested, this is where I found the tutorial.

Say what?

I still can't believe it myself, but I actually started and finished a DIY project in the SAME DAY! Maybe that's not a big deal for some of you, but it is for me. I would be too embarrassed to tell you how many different projects I have that are half way done. Some of them sit for months...maybe a year before they get finished or finally thrown out.
Anyway, here is my creation. I'm not a huge fan of natural wood and my knife block has always kind of bugged me, so I found a solution for the problem on this blog, and felt like I needed to copy it.

Before

After

What do you think? Better? I think so.
(Except now my knives look old and faded.)

Here is what I used: 2 flat black coats and 1 light misting of the oil rubbed bronze color.

(Plus wood filler for the stamp on the front.)

Sick kids are no fun

Three weeks ago, Blake bought home a sinus infection and graciously gave it to the rest of us. We also had colds and eye infections in the mix. It has not been fun. I am ready for it all to be over so we can play with our friends again and see some new babies that were born recently.

Ella is feeling better.

Owen is still feeling yucky. Luckily his pink eye was already gone when Blake took this picture.

That's my kind of project

Just wanted to post real quick about a little project I did yesterday. It was really fun and super easy to do, the longest part was just cutting all the hearts out, sewing it was a breeze. Here is where I found the tutorial. Isn't it cute? Now I just need a pretty mantel to hang it on.

Tonight I made some yummy potato and leek soup for dinner. I couldn't resist taking a picture, mostly for Blake's sake. This is the recipe I used, with the addition of some chili powder and cumin.


Owen was busy entertaining Ella...and himself. He came running into the kitchen saying, "Hat, Hat!" and pointing into the living room.
This is how he was entertaining himself.

Here's another picture of Ella with part of Owen's potty chair on her head. Unused potty chair, mind you.


I need to remember to take more pictures because I don't want to forget these kind of nights. I love my kids!