things I'm just not capable of

Motherhood makes me keenly aware of my many shortcomings on a daily basis...some are frustrating while others, such as the one I'll share today, are heartwarming.

I'm not a builder, never have been, and despite my many attempts thus far, never will be...I think that I make progress with helping Robert build lego villages and then I walk into our playroom and see this:

I mean seriously, I can't even attempt to compete with this! And I'm ok with that, and love my husband so much more for his engineering, building mind that he has put to good use with our two year old. I'm happy to not feel the burden of my lack of creativity in this area of play.

Promise to post those canvases at some point soon...I decided to go back to work at Williams Sonoma, and I've been picking up five shifts a week, so our 30 day challenge has been altered slightly...I'm giving myself grace:)

Forts and canvases

So despite the fact that it's been beautiful out these past few days, my sick toddler has kept us inside...not that I'm complaining, I've watched lots of disney and gotten VERY uncharacteristic cuddle time with him:) We did manage to built a fort two days ago...it's not much to look at, but it definitely was a hit...


with just a chair and two blankets, his fort was complete is less than two minutes. He loved hiding underneath it with his flashlight and his trucks and really bought into the idea that he was hiding out and couldn't be found:)


Yesterday was another painting project, and since I've only taken the before shot, I'm going to hold off until tomorrow to show off his masterpiece...Robert and I are really excited to hang them in our bedroom!

not a whole lot to share...except a master bedroom

So the last three days have been a wash in large part because little Robert developed a case of strep AND a chest cold (which the doctor thought might be pnemonia) at the same time...awesome. As a result, we spent most of the weekend in front of the TV watching the cavaliers, dora, other football games and a bit of cars and 101 dalmations...I have no shame in planting in front of the tv with my toddler when he's sick:)

So no progress in our quest for 30 fun activity days BUT I've got big plans for a fort this afternoon...we'll see.

In the meantime, I want to give a shout out to my amazing husband for his work on our bedroom. This is a long overdue post and one that a few friends have been waiting for (that's you Birgit Waidmann..I mean Murff).

So, here's what our master looked like when we first moved in (excuse the poor photos and stuff everywhere, I think it was day 2)

View from one doorway:
from other end of the room
and back from the other side again
This last photo is the most important because shortly after we moved in, my husband and his brothers took action
(that's Robert's brother Steven, a real life contractor and such a big help)

Semi finished product:
that's the inside, unfinished portion of the closet

and then the wall sat this way for the next three months...

I made do by switching the room around a bit, making for a better space plan and room for our furniture, including moving the bed to center it under the window

(apparently this was one of my pass out early pregnancy naps)

(and yes, that ladder stayed there as a "decorative" piece for about a month, unused...I get the amazing wife award on that one)

moved our dressers along the opposite wall

Let's stop for a moment and discuss why it took so long to change the room...two reasons:
#1 Robert's job is incredibly demanding and takes up almost all of his time...we are thankful for it and have learned that our personal timelines for projects must take it into account.
#2 Little Robert's increasing desire to help with every project meant even more time...but he loved every second:


Then in late spring at about 7 months pregnant, we shipped Robert away for the weekend to paint the room...it took all weekend but I love, love, love the new color! The new color, some new furniture (all from thrift stores and craigslist because that's how we roll) and my bedroom is almost done:)


Inside of closet
I love having a place for my shoes, my jewelry and my headbands...all displayed like we're fancy people from a magazine.

And in case anyone needs to know, the organizer at the end of the closet is for purses technically, but I've used it to hold all my bulky sweatshirts and pants...they take up so much darn room!

Lastly, that's our ladder:) We have particularly high ceilings and it comes in handy to reach the top portion of the closet where we keep out of season stuff...the roman shade is a DIY shade made from blinds...I used this tutorial
for some easy no sew shades, with fabric I already had, then I did some stenciling on the right edge...I love how easy it was and that it was free!


And in case anyone is curious:

bed frame, large dresser and jewelry organizer: craigslist
corner chair: fantastic thrift here in Richmond
ladder and large mirror: class n trash, my favorite store.

daddy's takin' over

So day 9 was a bust, but days 8 and 10 and 11, well daddy swooped in and saved the day. You see, my husband so appreciated my challenge to myself that he offered to take one a few of the days and since he's been missing time with his first born anyway, I jumped at the chance (but let's be honest, it really meant more time for me peruse pinterest or read some blogs)

Day 8:
We were blessed with a very exciting beginning of the week when the people who own the house across the street decided to have a tree removed from their yard...their backyard...that meant that there was a team of workmen and several construction vehicles parked in front of my house for over 24 hours...I couldn't pry Roberts (or big Robert's for that matter) face off the window panes in our bedroom (the best vantage point to see all the action). The cool part was that the job involved a crane to haul the pieces of the very large and old tree OVER the house...let's just say my son was a little obsessed with the crane and has been pretending to be a crane everyday since then.

Enter my amazing husband and his creativity...he created a crane from the empty bolt leftover from a project of mine...the perfect size and length to hoist my son in the air like a crane would do....he loved it.

here's the (not so great) photo to prove it:

Day 10, my first day back at work...daddy and Robert planted seeds for apple and pear trees in two different plastic cups...apparently this will eventually lead to a budding tree that will provide much fruit..only time will tell if their scheme pays off but my son is so so so proud of himself right now!


Day 11: although it didnt involve anything specially made, it certainly was special. Robert took his son out for a special "ice cream date" just the two of them...you should have seen the excitement on little Robert's face when he learned that it would only be him and daddy. That smile just melts my heart.

day 12---it's game day so we'll be in cville all day...that's special and unique enough in my humble opinion.

I have to share this quickly though:

My son is just so creative, he set this up all by himself, letting us know that the cars were all watching the big race unfold and he was the announcer...then he'd swoop in and have the cars race and then cheer for the winner...he impresses me everyday.

day 6/7

this will be short because I'm in the middle of cooking dinner BUT, two more successful activities to report:

Day 6: the number puzzle was harder than I anticipated and Robert needed some help...a lot of help, but overall he didn't hate it and he realized that I made it especially for him...which is really the point afterall.

I copied (sort of) this number wheel but I added shapes also to make it more interesting/educational...I think he would have appreciated it more this morning rather than last night, when his mind was more fresh..BUT it goes in the keep pile in terms of quiet activities AND it was free:)

Day 7: some might call it a cop out, but he loves cooking so much I baked some bread with him today...he pushes the buttons on my vitamix and does most of the stirring and adding of dry ingredients...and today for the first time he tasted the uncooked batter that got on his fingers by accident. This led to about 10 more accidental fingers in the batter...he IS his mothers son (and really his father's too, Robert eats whole spoonfuls of batter when I let him)

we used this recipe in case anyone is curious...i put cranberries and chocolate chips and a bunch of different kinds of nuts, plus because I ended up with not enough zucchini, I threw in some carrots and spinach too...god bless the vitamix:)

day 8: building a fort in my living room OR painting...haven't quite decided yet.

game day!

We take game day seriously around here...and game day clearly means whenever UVA plays, which in this instance is the early game against Maryland [insert inappropriate nickname used by my husband]. It also makes for a good and easy activity day for this mommy...

Robert and I spent about an hour making and coloring in a hand banner in honor of the game, then strung it up on the mantel to go along with our UVA mantel...yes, that's right, UVA mantel. I love my husband and love to make him feel appreciated and special by honoring his tenure on the football team.


day six: number wheel:)

day 3/4...the best laid plans

So the nature walk was ruined in part by the rain and in part by a little almost four month old who has a viral infection in his eye...I rushed around to take Joshua to sick hours (I sadly, try and avoid the pediatrician and make my own diagnosis 99% of the time, but with eyes, I don't mess around)...so we returned home with no medicine (how I love the virus) and then proceeded to not nap...at all...which busted all my planning time for great activities, unfortunately.

So day 3=no special activity...planned but failed.

Day 4: determined to make sure this happened, I let Robert help me with his favorite new activity...cooking. He helped make all three meals today, breakfast (pancakes), lunch (PB and J) and dinner for a friend (spinach quiche and salad)...he's becoming quite the sous chef and even though the photos below are from another night when we made applesauce together, you can tell how much he loves helping in the kitchen...and how crazy his mother is for actually letting him near/helping at the stove...he's gotta learn that things are hot somehow:)

day five: handprint banner for gameday.

obstacles and a little monkey

So the obstacle course was a big hit and it only took a few minute to both set up and break down...reminding me again that I should be more diligent about doing these types of things for him...

here's a replay:

on your marks...
(he chose the bumbo as his "starting point")

next up, throw yourself on some cushions...
then run to the living room and crawl through the clothes drying rack, then over the stools:
crawl under the coffee table:

walk the length of the bench like a balance beam:
and finally crawl under the dining room table:
finish by avoiding your brother and throwing yourself on the couch:
yes, i used Joshua as part of the course, but look, he was so happy to be included:)

day three: nature walk for colors of the rainbow...purple should be interesting...

and even though it's late, we did do a bit of trick or treating around here...here's my curious george and man with the yellow hat:

day two, plus a little UVA photo shoot

OK, so the fact that no one responded to my challenge means that either a. I am kidding myself at the task ahead and each of you are smarter than me, b. no one actually read it (which is ok, i don't read too often either:) or c. you already do this type of thing with your children all the time and therefore are questioning my parenting that I have to set such goals for myself...my insecurities pick c.

Regardless, first day went of lovely and I give myself extra credit for including four other children in our activity for the day. I did Robert's painting during our weekly co-op since it was my turn to take the other four children who enjoyed painting very much..until they realized it was more fun to cover their hands and arms in the paint..at that point we quickly ended said painting time and moved onto dinner (a more stressful task that only involved monitoring and making sure they didn't kill each other while the grilled cheese cooked).

Anyway, I digress...here's Robert's rendition of the model (taken with my iphone so his true genius is partially blurred)
not quite a carbon copy, but close:)

next up, creating an obstacle course for him to run through in our home...this should be interesting and test my type A nature to the max...

as an aside, here's a quick photo from last weeks football photo shoot...my kids are so darn cute, and Robert's looking older everyday, especially compared to my little Joshua:


This last one is of the two of them with their cousins, Adelyn and Braden...yes, we are UVA to the max and we're ok with that.

30 day challenge

Ok, so I read blogs...a lot...and they are always doing month long series on different things, mostly having to do with decorating or cooking or both...and each time I read one I think to myself, those people clearly don't have small children taking up all their waking moments, and if they do, I envy them and should probably walk away slowly...

that said, I'm instituting my own 30 day challenge, my toddler activity challenge. You see, my Robert has been wonderful with the transition to two, wonderful until recently when he's been giving Robert and I a run for our money. In an effort to combat this sudden change, I'm going to commit to making/doing one activity with him everyday for the month of november. Why am I telling you, my approximately 10 readers? Because a girl needs accountability in her life and this is how I'm going to get it:) My hope is that the activity will allow me to stretch my crafting muscles and give my toddler some much needed one on one time...there won't always be pictures, but there will always be an explanation or a link to where I stole the activity from.

Before you feel bad for Joshua, please remember he gets one-on-one mommy time all the time, approximately seven times at day to be exact:)

If you're reading this and have a toddler and want to participate, please please do, I'd love to have you:)

Activity #1 Q-tip fall painting...
Here's my "inspiration" photo...oh how I love pinterest...

originally created here

but I found it through Perfectly Imperfect

let's see how closely my Robert's resembles this one:)