I Love You Because...

Spring Break 2013

Last week went by too fast and in an effort to remember in my old age how wonderful my life was *at this moment* I'm going to do the uber fast- one-liner-recap of the week....

Monday- 
The kids BEGGED for a Happy Potter Read-A-Thon Day... we stayed in our jammies and read for hours and hours finishing book #2 just in time for dinner. 

Tuesday-

Today was all about spending time with the BFFs... Lunch w/ Cottrell's then Doug and I joined Phil and Alicia at a Pink Floyd tribute concert.

Wednesday-
 

The kids enjoyed some adopted Big Sister Time all morning, Owen went on a date with who he calls 'my miss rebbie', and then Doug and I took the kids to see Mary Poppins at the Fox Theatre! 

Oh, I have to say more about the play because it was sooo flipping good! The songs were 'practically perfect' and the set?! HOLY COW, I loved the amazing 'pop-up' backdrop and colorful sets.  The kids were more then adorable and I found myself looking over at them AMAZED that they are mine. They were cracking me up during supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, just trying to sing along but not being able to even pronounce it. (don't worry, they've been practicing it ever since and have it just about down pat) I am soo blessed to be thier mommy and for reals, Husbandface and I make freaking cute kids! At the end of the show as Mary Poppins is saying goodbye she kisses Burt on the cheek and Owen (in a loud five year old 'whisper') says, "Eww! That's so gross! Now they're going to get sick! Only married people can kiss without getting sick. That's discusting." The entire time Doug and I are trying to hush him but we were laughing so hard he didn't really think he had to listen to us. It was adorable and a moment I want to remember FOREVER. I bought a Mary Poppins  Umbrella as a souvenier and the kids have just been praying for rain so they could fight over, play with it.

Thursday-

After living in GA for 9 years I finally made it to the Tellus Museum. I got to spent it with another wonderful friend from high school, Jackie whom, lucky for me, moved to Georgia because she missed me so much. (okay okay, it was because of her hubby's job but let's face it, I'm the one that benefits.) We took all the kiddos to the museum and I'm pretty sure they loved every minute of it. Ethan practically had to be yanked out of there and feels like he 'missed too much' because I was rushing in through exibits (5 hours wasn't enough time spent obsessing on science). It was such a great day! 

Friday-

We played in the dirt... ALL DAY. Doug and I are working on A MAJOR YARD WORK RENO and Friday was the day we told the boys they could get as dirty as they wanted, dig where ever they wanted and build whatever they wanted.... Needless to say I think they were in heaven. They even helped me move dirt and rocks and earned a few bucks in the process. My back still hurts from all the work I did but the kids? THEY had fun! (I'll post picts of the backyard project soon.)

Saturday-
MORE yard work but the highlight for all of us was....

Doug's nephew's coming into town to visit!! In Doug's family though, nieces and nephew's aren't what you're thinking. They're our my age. Seriously, Casey and Brandon are the coolest cousins ever and my kids can NOT stop talking about how awesome they are. They pulled out all the stops, playing Star Wars, Having a Rock Bank competition, Teaching multiplication and Poi and generally showering my kids with tons of love and attention. IT WAS SOOOO FUN TO HAVE THEM AROUND and I totally wish they lived closer.

We all hated saying good bye but were glad they got to stay all weekend. 

How do define a perfect Spring Break? You head out to a favorite location? or reach out to your favotie people? For us every year seems to be different. This is our Spring Break 2013. Yeah, no beaches, no crazy parties, no trips but still perfect for our cute family. 

Hoping not ever to forget how perfect it was,
Joanna  

 

 

 

 

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We don't wanna grow up!

One last summer hurrah with the family before school starts.... and continuing my efforts to expose my kids to the arts and instill in them a love for theatre I surprised the ENTIRE family with tickets to see Cathy Rigby in Peter Pan at the Fab Fox Theatre. It was fun and kinda magical and everyone loved it... even if Cam slept wasn't quite as mesmorized as the others. 

This has to be one of my favorite things about living closer to the city! Beauty and the Beast in coming in November, anyone want to come with us?

-Joanna

'Sheet' Music aka- Bedroom Make-Over Part 1

Since I'm not exactly working on decorating Little Miss Lorali's room (because of last week), I decided to move on to our Master Bedroom.... We haven't focused on it in 10 years and things have changed for us a little bit in that time so we were ready to look around and re-evaluate. First, I had to talk Husbandface into giving me complete control over the room. I don't know about you but my DH not only has opinions on decorating, he actually has a pretty good eye but sometimes he just can't see my vision so I end up compromising to his eye. The bedroom project was one agreement. I had 3 months to re-do our bedroom, if he hates it he has to leave it for 3 months and then we can re-do it together but for 3 months I can slowly turn it into my dream retreat without him saying a negative word. So I started with the one thing he wanted changed the most... the cornice. (yes that is a live wild bird on my window treatments... long story to post another time.) 

Doug gladly pulled the cornice off the wall and I hesitantly took apart the bed skirt from our brand new bed set. (I have another idea for that space... more on that later.) After a bit of measuring and a few staples even Doug had to admit it was an improvement and step-one of my 'plan' went off without a hitch. 

I decided not to show Husbandface what I had ordered because everything I showed him in narrowing down the choices only brought odd looks and heavy sighs from the distrusting man full of his own decorating thoughts so this was his first peek into the new bedset. Basically Doug's thoughts on decorating our new house are very formal compared to my more down to earth-simple style. Both are great but combining them sometimes causes us a few headaches and forces us to compromise on almost everything. Knowing this about him/us the direction I am going for in the bedroom combines my lived-in simplicity and his formality.

I bought a pretty formal bed set but wanted to soften it a little and 'rough-it-up' a bit. The colors in the room are very simple. The walls are a home-y tan and everything in the room will be black, white and tan (with punches of green, to come later). I took a few throws and made some covers out of burlap and muslin for the tan contrast and then I moved onto making the sheets match my added elements. I decided to 'embellish' them with a little tan muslin but that wasn't quite enough. Then I came up with my SHEET MUSIC idea and I knew I would love it! I've found over the years that my favorite home decorations are ones that are deeply personal so when I was deciding on decorating the sheets I had Doug choose one of our favorite songs that had to do with the bed, sleeping, night or rest... his choice? The Beatle's A Hard Day's Night. It was perfect for what I had in mind. 

I wrote out all the lyrics on the edges of the pillows and the top of the sheets. Just enough personalization and just enough casual to an otherwise formal bedroom set. 

When Doug saw me working on them he just couldn't keep keep his end of the keep-his-mouth-shut bargain and broke our deal, vocalizing that he thought it was too rustic looking... little did he know how un-rustic the finished bed would look. I'm still looking for a few special pillows but, it's a start. 

We're just the end of step-two for the bedroom makeover and he loves it and is now excited to see how I re-vamp rest of the room with fun little touches and changing up the space. I love that I've turned my skeptic husband to my point of view.... now if only I could do that in every aspect of our marriage I'd be set.  

Thanks for peeking into our lives!
JJ 

 

Things I Love

1. Long Lost Music... found. (I miss Mark.)

2. Husbandface home from his business trip.

3. My new Niece (Emmy's first), Abigail (seriously, isn't she beautiful?!)

4. The fact that it's going to get up to 72 degrees today and I just might have to start my garden. 

5. and last but certainly not least? It's Girl Scout cookies season!! 

If that doesn't cheer a girl up.... nothing will. 

 

-JJ

Silent Sunday

 

Silent Sunday

 

It Stops Today.

I heard this song a few weeks ago and have since made it my theme song for the next few months.... I love Colbie Caillat!

No, no, I, I, I, I, I don't want to break when I speak
I don't want to shake while I'm standing
I don't want to crawl into another hole
I don't know what I'm hiding for
No, I, I, I, I, I don't want to fall when I stand
I don't want to have to hold your hand
I just want to be the girl I use to be when I was me and worry free
I know these burnings on my own

(Chorus)
But I can't keep on running
No I just can't keep on running away from here
I know that the only way to be is to fight my every fear
I'm not going to make it 'til I turn around and face it alone, I know
I can't just keep running, no I just can't keep on running away
So it stops today
(End of chorus)

So here I am, I'm taking my first step
Thought I was losing balance but I caught myself
I kind of like the challenge, no I don't need help
I'm going to make it past the very start
It's always been my hardest part

But I, I, I, I, I'm going to stay in control
I must admit this crutch is getting old
I am going to throw it out of my hand
I'm finally here, I understand
I know I'll get there on my own

(Chorus)
So I can't keep on running
No I just can't keep on running away from here
I know that the only way to be is fighting my every fear
I'm not going to make it 'til I turn around and face it alone, I know
That I can't keep running, no I just can't keep on running away
So it stops today
(End of chorus)

(Bridge)
You can hide from all the pain
But it will find you anyway
Yes, I know, now I know

(Chorus)
That I can't keep on running
No I jus't can't keep on running away from here
I know that the only way to be is fighting my every fear
I'm not going to make it til I turn around and face it alone, I know
That I can't just keep running, no I just can't keep on running away
So it stops today

Rule Breaker

Growing up we had a strict rule at our house. NO CHRISTMAS MUSIC until Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving Day, when I was 12 I drove up with my Dad and big brother,Chad, to Southern Alberta. We were going to pick up two very important packages. Grandpa's horse, Rix, and Grandma. My Grandmother was very sick with Lou Gehrig's disease (ALS) and with Grandpa focusing on the love of his life he didn't have the time to take care of his precious stallion. So Rix was coming to live in Draper and Grandma and Grandpa were going to be spending the holidays with us. Since it was Thanksgiving our music rule was irrelevant. I brought an old pink tape player (thanks April) and the only two Christmas tapes I could find. Bing Crosby and the Osmonds. 12 hours there and 12 hours back. 2 tapes. Looking back I couldn't believe my Dad had that much patience. Chad certainly didn't. He wanted to ring my neck the entire time. Ever since then it never felt like the season had really 'arrived' until I heard those two albums entirely. Today as I was doing some photography for Tombow and I needed a few Christmas decorations for the background. It was less than 10 mins later and I had all the Christmas boxes hauled right into my living room and, of course, The Osmonds and Bing playing on my iPhone. Yeah. I've always been the rebelious one. But when you're in the mood, you're in the mood. Right?! Happy Holidays!

Piano Practice

I've only had my piano for a few weeks and already I realize what a void there was in my life with out it. I had missed playing soo much. The music atmosphere in our home is so fun. Doug and I have been practicing Sax/Piano duets and we love having something new to share together. Santa brought the kids a play trumpet and saxophone so now everyone has an instrument to add to the noise level. Even Owen gets in on the action with his drum. I've practiced almost everyday for about an hour and can already feel my fingers remembering what to do. I love playing while Lorali puts on her ballet shoes behind me and dances or when Owen crawl over to me from the other room just to barely be able to reach the keys. Ethan is slowly learning how to treat (and not treat) the piano. (That first night he took a knife to the keys, it was terrible!) Lorali and I went out this weekend and bought a pre-readers music book and she's already had her first two lessons and begging for more. This morning Doug and I went and laid down after Ethan went to school and we woke up 1/2 hr later to Lorali 'practicing'. She was so dainty and cute, lightly tapping the keys and trying to sit up straight just like I had taught her. Eventually I know she is going to learn better with someone else but for now we're having fun laying the foundation. I'd like to find a piano teacher for myself to try and give me a few months of recap lessons so hopefully I can work that into the schedule too. so, I guess I'm saying THANK YOU DOUG! This was such a fun surprise and even though it's been something I've wanted for years, I really didn't know how much it would mean to me. I love it.