Water Fun

I took the boys to the local sprayground today. Just me and them. It was good to take them somewhere fun for a change. I realized that the last couple times I've taken them somewhere together, besides school, it was to Target or the grocery store. Those trips haven't gone so well lately. The last time we were at Target they tipped over a cart and pinned my arm between the cart and a shelf. Then our oldest boy knocked over a bottle of wood oil near the cutting boards. There was oil everywhere and then when he was running to catch up to me he slipped and fell in the wood oil. Our youngest son does his own damage in a store, grabbing everything he wants and then laying down on the floor if we don't get it for him.

I thought it would be nice to take them somewhere fun for a change and the sprayground is even free! They didn't get as wet as I thought they might, but they seemed to have a good time together and no one even got mad! We need to try to do stuff like that more often!

Kitchen Love

We have a tiny kitchen, original to our 1920 house. The counters were changed to laminate at some point and a dishwasher was added too. When we moved in I painted the cabinets and we put in new laminate flooring. It cries out for a little TLC. But the problem is, it doesn't need just a little bit of help, it needs to be completely overhauled. New windows, new electrical, new counters, new cabinets and a new sink. Sometimes I think people are able to just do a few upgrades and it helps, and on the plus side, since our kitchen is so small it won't cost as much to give it a little makeover. But this kitchen needs a 100 year do-over. Maybe that should be our goal, a 100 year birthday party for our kitchen. We only have about 10 years to plan for it. It's going to be great! I'll just have to be patient and collect some ideas in the meantime.

images from: My Ideal Home, House Beautiful, Alice Lane, The Yellow Door

Inspiration

I found this amazing thing on Etsy.com. Some inspiration for the weekend.

A Beautiful Morning

It's a beautiful and quiet morning here. I love waking up before my kids. If I can have a few minutes alone with a cup of coffee before they wake up it makes a world of difference.

Bee Poster

For some time I've been eyeing this poster I heard about at Ohdeeoh. I especially like the bluebell color. I've been reading about writing a 'family mission statement' (another great site here) and it really interests me. I'm not sure what to include in a full mission statement, but I'm finding myself repeatedly reminding my sons to 'be kind'. It covers so many situations and I think they will find it useful throughout their life. I'm thinking of getting the 'Bee Kind' poster in bluebell to hang in our living room near our front door. A fun reminder of what a nagging mom might need to say.

Happy Independence Day!

Art by my son: L.J.K. age 5 years

A Little Reminder

via: Mary Ruffle dot tumblr dot com

Dining Room Inspiration

Some days it seems that the color brown is everywhere I look in our home. Brown chairs, brown patterned couch, wood floors, and wood trim around doors and windows.

Don't get me wrong, I love the wood floors (even though they desperately need to be refinished), and I don't dream of painting the doors and window trim (ok, I thought about for a minute, but then thought about how much work it would be to strip and refinish them if I changed my mind.) And the furniture? All extremely practical with young kids and a golden retriever, but I've got to figure out some way to perk things up a bit. I want things to be practical, but with a bit of fun thrown in.

I'm so hesitant to paint wood, but I've been really considering painting our dining room hutch.

We bought the set from a retired couple and it's all in pretty good shape. It's not what I would have necessarily purchased if given my choice, but it was good timing with a good price and I couldn't pass it up.

I've been eyeing Ina Garten's dining room for some time as inspiration to add some color.

image: House Beautiful magazine

It seems like the touch of blue really livens things up. And add this tablecloth and some art like this?

image: Saffron Marigold dot com

image: Skye Art

Seems a bit more fun than this I think.

We'll see. I've got some more thinking to do.