the living room and gallery wall

I am always thinking about potential projects for our home. Mark is always thinking about the end dates for those projects. We have lived in this home for ten years and he is still wondering if/when there will ever be an end to any of it. 

In my mind, a home is ever-evolving. So no end date.

In Mark's mind, that is a little slice of insanity.

My most recent project was to hang this gallery wall in our living room. I just used frames we already had and spray painted a few gold and a few black. I spent the better part of a Saturday laying it all out on the floor and then hanging them up with the help of my laser tool.

Mark came home and said, "This is the best our living room has looked in ten years!"

I am glad he likes it. And no doubt, he thinks this is the end. I do think it will stay for awhile, but I have plans to add more photos up to the ceiling and down to the floor, and probably change out the pictures every so often.

The opposite wall is flanked with three large mirrors. 

At some point, I will get tired of this wall and want to completely change it. Probably take it all down and repaint, etc. In fact, I am planning on it. The only constant is change. 

Shiplap entry walls and new light from Lucent Light shop on Etsy.  

Frames: Target, Ikea and West Elm.

Accessories: Target and Home Goods.

Pink chair found on Craigslist in its original fabric.

Paint is Benjamin Moore Gray Owl. (Looks more blue here than it really is).

Christmas Eve will find me

Merry Christmas! I hope you feel the Savior's love this season!

just a few more days to get to Target

photo by Blue Lily

Are you done with your Christmas shopping?
Not me.
I have just one more run to Target, and that should wrap things up.
Why is it I could not "wrap things up" on my last 4 visits to Target?
Hank and George are part of the problem. I don't visit the candy aisles, toy aisles, or Christmas aisles when they are with me, for obvious reasons.
But this happens every year, with or without them.
It's not that I don't know what the plans are.
I keep a detailed spreadsheet every year with each child's name across the top.
Each child gets 5 gifts and a stocking.
The 5 gifts (down the side of the spreadsheet) are as follows:
to play
to read
to sleep
to watch
to wear

I fill in the intended purchase for each category, then when I have actually made that purchase, I highlight that box in yellow (because with 6 kids, sometimes I forget what I've bought).
When my whole spreadsheet is yellow, I know I'm done.
There is some leeway in the stocking category. The stockings are filled with mini cereal, goldfish, underwear, socks, small toys, etc.
That list is loosely filled out in October/November, but as I see things at the store, I inevitably add to the stocking list.
And thus, my shopping dilemma.
As this section of the spreadsheet begins to fill up, sometimes it gets a little lopsided in one child's favor. I then have to "even out" the other stockings and make "just one more trip to Target."
Plus there are school teacher gifts, piano teacher gifts, guitar teacher gifts, cousins gifts. I keep track of them on the spreadsheet too, but somehow I fail to look at those as often.
All in all, it's a good system.

Still, Target is at the top of my to-do list.

And so, even with all my best laid plans, I will be, reluctantly, making that one last trip to Target today. Do you think it's possible that next year, I could stay away from my beloved Target for a whole month? Maybe I'll shoot for December 10 - January 10.

pieces of the puzzle - give it love, give it love

Family photos are funny. We want to remember our family and preserve our children's youth, and yet, maybe not remember exactly how they behaved at this particular moment. 

Merry Christmas!

boys and family pictures

Sometimes family pictures are just too much when you are a) a boy and b) surrounded by mud and sticks and rocks.

 Too much.

Our friend, Aimee, took our family pictures this year and she worked her magic. When we finished the shoot, I was certain there wouldn't be one decent shot. 3 boys (I won't name names) WOULD NOT behave/resist the mud/smile/look at the camera. And yet, somehow we ended up with lots of great images; ones I couldn't have imagined from my vantage point. I don't know how she did it, but I am most grateful. We are trading the photo shoot for a quilt. I can't wait to get started.

my crayon box family

i just posted links to my blogging family in my sidebar, something i've been meaning to do for a long time.  check 'em out.

sidenote: it's not as easy as it seems to have a large family photo taken and have everyone purposely not match, but just "go." i think we accomplished that goal in this photo. and actually, now that i am really looking at it, my yellow skirt is the awkward standout. but i still like it.

my family is awesome.

junkyard winner

Here's the favorite family photo this year.  Thanks to Wendy and Tyler of Bluelily for their generous photog skills!  We got to be subjects for a class they were teaching and I think all 10+ photographers (they were extremely patient and nice) and 6 children performed beautifully.

outtake #2

5 things i love about this picture:
1.  we're on a quilt.  in a car graveyard.
2.  that firetruck behind us.
3.  we're not looking at the camera.
4.  hank's nervous expression.
5.  george wanting to get away from me to explore.

blue

family photo outtake.
it's my favorite.  i like that it shows parts of 6 members (5 faces, 6 shirts) of our family. wish the other 2 (3) were in there too.

it's like baby, baby, baby, ohhhh

Life with 2 babies:

• We have not had to buy wipes at all for Hank and George, thanks to very generous friends who gifted me wipes and diapers before the boys were born.  I may NEVER have to buy wipes.  Seriously.  Amazing.
• The diapers lasted until the boys were 7 months.  [Except for 3 packs of newborns when we ran out of that size and they were still too little for the bigger diapers we were given.]  Do you know how many diapers that is?  We feel so grateful to all who stocked us up.  How wonderful is it to use the last diaper in the pack, and not have to worry if we have any more.  'Cause we did - stacked high in the closet.  Blessing.
• H and G love to read books.  Thankfully, we have lots of readers to assist.
• We do not own 2 highchairs.
• We do not even own 1 highchair. [Except for a strap-on-an-existing-chair type.  And I'm not pulling it out because we don't have an extra chair.  And that wouldn't do me much good to have only one chair to feed in.]
• I'm getting very tired of feeding babies in their exersaucers or just on my lap.
• Buying highchairs is like buying vacuums:  some have their favorite, some don't care, and I can't decide.  [This is where my mom and Emily roll their eyes.]  But if you have any thoughts, I'd love to hear them.  I want to buy 2 nice looking chairs.  Yes, looks matter in this department.  If I have to have 2 of them in my kitchen and trip over them everyday, I want something that looks good! - I don't want any cartoon characters and the like.  I've found some seemingly functional ones, but some reviews say the tray is too far from the child, causing messy baby-lap, or other problems.
• I'm stressing about Halloween costumes for these two.  Lots of ideas, but do I have the time/desire to make them?  I don't think so.
• I have 3 quilt tops waiting to be quilted, but no time/desire to get them done.  That's because when the boys are sleeping, I am on the internet blogging or something unproductive like that.
• The babies at church and cousins the same age are much more advanced in the eating department than H and G.  They still struggle with cheerios.
• I always know the condition of my floors because the boys' knees and tops of feet tell the dirty story.  Sigh.
• I am so so thankful for friends at church who are willing to hold a baby - for 2 hours or more!  What would I do without Deb?
• I have never taken the boys to the store by myself.  Even with Mark, it has only been a handful of times.
• We still have just one crib.  In our room.  We have big plans to move the boys to the play room or to Jonah and Owen's room, but it just hasn't happened due to a need to get rid of an existing bed and, oh yeah, TIME.  And we will be getting a 2nd crib.  They are seriously all over each other.  Well, George is the guilty party there.
• I finally put up our 2008 family photo.  It's very big and I didn't have a frame for the longest time.  Owen wanted to know why Hank and George aren't in the picture.  
• Hank and George are seriously so easy going and happy, I just can't get enough.  Except when I need to sleep and they are both up at 5:30 am.

jump

Wendy at Blue Lily photography is my new friend; easy going, fun and talented. She posted this sneak peak of our family photos today. I am excited. As shown below.

great photographer x (mosquitoes + extreme heat) = successful family photo day

Last weekend Jamie Hammond, photographer extraordinaire, took our family photos on a very hot evening with millions of swarming mosquitoes. (Note to self: The Pecan Groves may be a gorgeous place to live, but the bugs own that place. Think twice before dropping half a million dollars for a 1/2 acre lot.) Of course I exaggerate a bit. It was really quite fun and the bugs weren't noticeable until the end. Jamie was ever kind and gracious with our kids. Thanks Jamie for your amazing skills and patience!

Above photos did not pirate well. See Jamie's link for true image quality.