Just Because

We did a little photo shoot this past weekend......

And getting a picture of all of them looking at the camera and somewhat smiling is hard to come by!  Haha!

Birthday Weekend

Our Lilllia Paige turned 5 on October 3!  Gramma and Grampa came here for the weekend to celebrate!  We went bowling, out to eat, to the apple orchard, and had a little gift opening.  Lillia was delighted with all the activities and loved having my parents here to celebrate with her!

 Lillia's new birthday outfit. Thanks aunt Carrie!

 In the wooden train play structure at the Apple Orchard

 Grampa lifting Lillia up to pick the best looking apples!

 The Apple orchard gang

 Happy Birthday!  5 candles in her Angelfood Cake

 Lillia's favorite thing she got as a gift...the one thing she really wanted....a Big Sister button!  (so she could be like Daniel Tiger!  Who knew she was so easy to please?!)

 Even Brandon got to open a belated birthday present....MEAT from Fareway!  :)

Happy Birthday Lillia Paige!  We love you!

Almost 5 years ago, exactly....

I woke up with a few sharp pains.....FINALLY!  Labor was just beginning at 11:30pm and I was about to embark on a 24hour labor journey to meet the sweet baby girl I had been dreaming about for 9 months.....

Lillia Paige turns 5 tomorrow!  How can that even be?  I don't feel "old" enough to have a 5 year old!  She's not a toddler, I can no longer shop for her in the "baby/toddler" section, she can out-eat me at breakfast EVERY SINGLE MORNING, she's moving out of being completely dependent and moving into the ability to be more independent....it's a little surreal that my first baby will now use all of her fingers on one hand when showing people how old she is! 

A happy birthday post coming tomorrow!

Here we go again...

Well, once again, I'm playing catch up!  This is becoming my once-a-month blog!

Our last 6 weeks in pictures.....

 A sweet moment with Lillia and a now seven-month old Leyton!

 My sweet friend, Lina, moved away!  :(  We miss her dearly!  But I LOVED 

spending quality time with her as we packed countless boxes!  :)

 Lillia learned to cut strawberries!  She LOVES being my helper in the kitchen!

 This is how Lawson wanted to read books with dad....mmmm, so comfy!  ;)

 We attended the annual Champaign/Urbana Sweet Corn Festival....it was a HOT evening! 

But we all had a good time! 

 Leyton is now crawling and pulling himself up on his knees!  He's a BUSY boy!

 Lillia had her first day of preschool on September 3!  She is loving it!

 The kids on a BEAUTIFUL fall day as we were getting ready to head to the park

 

 SuperLeyton!  He's got 4 teeth now!  And he continues to have run-ins with all the plants in the house!  

He tackles them every time!

Lillia had to get three staples in the back of her head after a collision with our tile floor.  

She got them out a few days ago and her wound is healing nicely.

 

And, no picture....but Brandon and I "celebrated" our 7th wedding anniversary on September 7.  And by celebrated I mean he was out of town and I was home with the kids.  So actually, my family celebrated my anniversary with him at El Azteca!

Our July Just Flew By!

Our family had a fun month of July this summer! 

Here's a picture recap!

Leyton started figuring out how to get around....

Happy 4th of July!  The kids loved staying up late and seeing the fireworks!  

We enjoyed a nice family walk earlier in the day.

Off to Grammy and Papa's for Summer Camp!  We got an early start and they ate breakfast in the car.  Don't you love how Lawson wears his sunglasses?!

After getting home from Grammy and Papa's (they were gone 10 days!) the very next morning we hit the road again....this time for family vacation!  We met the Varghese family in Galena, IL for a few days and really enjoyed our time together!  Can't wait to do family vacation with them again!

 The day after we arrived home from vacation, we received some visitors....Grampa and Gramma came to spend a few days with us!  Loved having them!

Leyton turned 6 months old on July 22!

 The last weekend of July Leyton and I went to visit my good friend Jen and meet her new baby, Isaiah.  It was so great catching up and just being "moms" together!  Can't wait to do it again!

Leyton practiced sitting up in the laundry basket...which paid off because now he can go from tummy to sitting all by himself!  

Bedroom Makeovers!

A few months ago I realized that the bedroom arrangements just weren't working and we needed a change!  So, Lillia and Leyton switched rooms and both of the boys got a room makeover! 

The switch has been perfect, and I'm so glad we decided to go through the work to do it!

Leyton's room has a black/white/gray theme going on... (which may be hard to tell from this pic)

And here is Lawson's new digs.... (complete with his new headboard!)

And Lillia's room has all the same stuff as before, just in a different room.  So, I didn't take a picture!

Projects

"Why hasn't there been a new blog post for 2 months?" you ask?  Well there's this reason:

But mostly, the time I typically would have spent blogging I have been working on house projects!  I was on a roll.  Unstoppable.  Just ask Brandon!  :)

 Made a menu board.  Loving it!  Helps me meal plan and fills an empty space on the wall!  :)  

I painted a piece of wood with chalkboard paint and used letter stickers for the days of the week.

 A little decor to remind my family about having a joyful song in our hearts for 

all the things the Lord has done in our lives!  I mod podged sheet music onto the glass

of an old window.  Then made music notes out of red fabric and hung a small 

chalkboard from the window latch.

Turned a picture I took into a little wall art.  I mod podged the print onto a piece of wood.

 

 Thank you Katie Euken and Pinterest for this idea!  Just in time for company!  

I took down a towel rod and hung individual hooks and picture frames with 

burlap behind the glass in it's place

 Here I took three matching frames I had in the basement, painted them all black, took out the glass, painted

the cardboard background black, used a hot glue gun to attach the little clothespins and voila!  A

perfect way to put up a couple pics of the kids.  And SUPER easy to switch them out as the 

kiddos grow!

FINALLY painted the barstools black!  Sure does take a long time to prime, paint, do another coat, and

finally apply a topcoat to protect them from daily wear and tear!

 Next I actually have some pics of the project in process......I made a headboard for Lawson's bed with plywood, some foam, brown fabric, and burlap!  I am very happy with the results!  I will have to post a picture of it on the wall above Lawson's bed. 

 

And here is an UNFINISHED project.  This empty window is at the bottom of the stairs, near the kitchen.  I am wanting to turn it into the "chore chart" or daily duties, etc.  But I'm not exactly sure what to do.  Do I find a way to put a background in that would use magnets?  Do I use velcro?  How about the little clothespins?  Any good ideas from you out there?  

I worked on a few other projects that I don't have pictures of, including the landscaping!   Brandon and I have been slowly working on the landscaping.  And so far, it's turning out pretty good!  This is the third house that we have completely overhauled the landscaping and we learn A LOT every time we do it!  :)  I will have to post a few pictures of our work-in-progress!

Well, there you have it, a glimpse into my world of projects!