The Wedding- A First Look...

Kennedy's Room

Although this is still a bit of a work in progress, I thought I'd post pictures from Kennedy's room redo. I'm still working on accessories, what will actually work in the room and where things will go, but it's coming together nicely.

I made the curtain and the bedskirt with fabric remnants I purchased at Walmart a while back. Cute pink toile. I love it. Kennedy chose the wall color. I wanted something light because her room doesn't get a lot of natural light.




The Pottery Barn inspired lamp. Pottery Barn always has lots of cute lighting for girls' rooms, but I'm not willing to pay that much. So I took a lamp that Lincoln's step-dad made and painted it in a crisp, glossy white. I bought a cheap fabric lampshade, covered it with some of the fabric from the room and trimmed it out with beaded fringe.



This idea I got online. We've had this dresser for a while and I painted it to match Renie's room at one point. But ever since we got it- from Goodwill- it hasn't had hardware. It's really hard to find drawer pulls that are the right size for it. But after seeing this idea I had to give it a try, and I love it! Just buy some ribbon and tie it in cute bows. Works great!


I bought some cheap $5 frames at Walmart, painted them in the same crisp white, and now I'm putting in pieces of the fabric from the room. This works well with toile, you can put in a cute little scene from the pattern.


I think I'm going to put up a white sheer curtain under the valance to soften the window. Once i get everything looking just so I'll take a couple more pictures.

Thanks for the suggestions...

Thank you everyone for your suggestions for dealing with my fiercely independent Renie-boo. I plan to start implementing some of your ideas. For starters though, my plan this week is to forget about using Jesse's nap time as a chance to get things done, and just give my undivided attention to my girl. (Lots to do this week since I'm leaving in 3 days, but I'm sure I can find other times to get things done!) This will give us a chance to just hang together and have fun with no one else around to steal attention. I'll let you know how it goes.

And the flip side of parenting...

I am so completely burned out from dealing with Renie this week that I am literally in a constant state of fighting back tears. Help! Nothing works with this child. If I put her in time-out she kicks the door and screams until I'm sure her feet are going to go right through it. If I spank her, she acts all offended for about 30 seconds and then she's right back at it. She doesn't care a single bit. There is nothing she loves so much that if I take it away it would bother her in the least. There are no 3 yr old privileges that she cares about. I can't send her to bed early because it would require me stationing myself at her door to keep her in there. No time for that with dinner to make and 4 other kids to deal with. She antagonizes her little brother, gets into every possible thing she can think of that she knows is off-limits, climbs onto the counter tops to get into food, sneaks out of the house to run the neighborhood, destroys anything of value she can find....Really it's exhausting. You know how the saving grace of a 3 yr old is how stinking cute they can be? Well, she better up the cuteness because the terrorist is the only one showing her face lately. I know it's hard to be the fourth child in a big family. I am the fourth child myself. But goodness, we're stuck in a cycle where every interaction is negative and it's hard to give her the positive interaction she seems to be craving. Maybe my trip to NY next week will give us both the break we need and break the cycle in the process. I hope so because I can't go on like this much longer!

I Just Love This Kid!

This boy brings me such joy. He is always so happy and cheerful and cute. He loves to hug me, he laughs wholeheartedly and frequently all day long. He wakes up with a smile, hugs me, and asks for "bebest". His favorite saying right now is "Oh maaaaan!" And every time he says it, he expects me to repeat it back to him. Then he laughs. When he needs me to come help him with something, he finds me, tugs on me, beckons, and says, "Come to me," meaning, Come with me. I just can't express what an easy, delightful child he is. I'm beginning to understand how good-natured little boys become Mama's Boys.

L.A.Z.Y.

Will I ever find the energy to blog again? I hope so. I've got a couple posts in the works. In the meantime, I'll just tell you how much I'm enjoying spring-like weather. 70 degrees yesterday did my heart some good!

The Current House

So last summer I went to NY for about 1 1/2 weeks in August. When I returned to Wisconsin, our friends (and neighbors), the Howells, had a For Sale sign in their front yard. Apparently they had looked at a property in the country and fallen in love. They made a contingent offer and quickly put their house on the market. The house was 3500 square feet on 7-10 acres with a barn and several outbuildings. The house was recent construction and had hardly been lived in before the couple's marriage went south and they wanted to get the place off their hands. Well, the Howell's contingency ran out in January and they decided not to put their house back on the market. Since then, the price on the property has dropped and the Howell's have decided to buy land and build a home exactly like they want it. So Kym told me we should go take a look at this place. We made an appointment for Saturday afternoon. So yesterday we went out and looked at it. I completely understand why they fell in love immediately. I would have written an offer right then and there if my husband had consented. The biggest issue is that the house is 20 minutes from Land's End and Dodgeville. It would take some adjusting to not being 3 minutes from Walmart. And of course, we would have to sell our house in order to buy it. I'm not sure how keen the sellers would be on another contingent offer. The market is picking up a bit right now, though. So this seems like a great time to try. I can't imagine a better property- at a better price- for our family. Here are the pictures- let me know what you think.

What Gets Me Through To Warm Weather?

That's right. 'Tis the season. Hallelujah!

It's been a long winter...

Devon just said to me, "Is it spring SOMEwhere, Mom?"
Me: Sure. It's spring in North Carolina.
Devon: Can we go there tonight?



We're ready, spring. Any time now.

My disorder...

No, I'm not talking about blood clotting or even hypothyroidism. I'm referring to my insatiable appetite for scouring the real estate market. My husband has officially declared that I have a disorder of some sort. My clever reply? "Yeah? Well,....maybe YOU"RE the one with the disorder! Yeah." I'm quick like that. But right now I have an actual excuse to househunt: My cousin and her family are seriously considering relocating here. Near us! How exciting is that?! So I'm enjoying the challenge of trying to find the perfect combination of enough space on a tight budget, a fixer-upper that won't just be a money pit. I think I found a very good option today. I'm kind of fired up about it. And in the meantime, I'm keeping my eyes open for a country property for us, as well. Sunday I had a confirmation that we're where we should be, here in WI. I'm perfectly content and happy here. In fact, I love Wisconsin. But. But I want to be in the country. I'm anxious to just get to the country and settle in. To just start living. So I'm checking out acreage and country homes. I'll keep you posted on how my search goes.

Glittering Ice..

Our glittery world on Monday morning:

Discouraging News

Two Saturdays ago, Lincoln and i were getting ready to go out on a date. I put on some of my favorite dress boots, that i wear regularly, and discovered that I could not zip them up over my calf on my left leg- my DVT leg. I changed shoes, told my husband about it and we headed out. My left leg has been a little bigger than my right ever since the blood clot was discovered. Putting dress boots on is when I notice it the most, but it had been easily a year and a half since I had noticed that much difference. Despite that, I still figured it was normal, something that would happen possibly for the rest of my life. In fact, on Sunday, I wore the same pair of boots to church with no problem. But then on Monday, I was having a little bit of pain in my calf, and some twinges (it's really hard to describe) in my inner thigh. Coming on the heels of the swelling, i figured I'd better call my doctor. He sent me for an ultrasound before even seeing me. I then went to his office for the results. He told me there was clotting there and had the nurse give me a lovenox injection in my stomach. I asked him if it was new clotting since the ultrasound from last May. He told me he didn't know, he would contact the doctor of radiology to determine that. In the meantime I would start back on coumadin (blood-thinning drug) and come in the following day for another injection. After 2 injections and 3 more days of coumadin with no news, he was finally able to talk to the other doctor who told him he is 100% sure there is new clotting in my leg. This means I'm back to coumadin for at least 6 months, I'm going to see a hematologist for tests to determine if this is a disorder,(my uncle has recently been told him blood clots are due to a hereditary clotting disorder), and if it IS a disorder, coumadin forever. Ugh! I was so hoping this was over.

And as a side note, I am now having night sweats like crazy. I'm convinced it's my body adjusting to this drug again. Back when this first happened 2 years ago, (I think to the day!), I would wake up at night completely drenched in sweat. Not damp- drenched. And now it's happening again. Gross!

Sunday afternoon

On Sunday afternoon I climbed into my (new!) bed to take a nap. Lincoln curled up on the couch with a book, and the kids entertained themselves. Kennedy took the opportunity to be creative. She undecorated our Valentine's tree and made new St Patrick's Day decorations for it. She did a great job- it looks really cute.

She made these little pots of gold and shamrocks


and a little holiday greeting banner.


The pictures don't begin to do it justice. It's really cute!

Spring is Around the Corner...

Today I walked outside and I could hear birds! Yay! The birds are back! Today it is sunny, the sky is clear and blue, and it is 40 whole degrees! It is lovely. It makes me hopeful. I am always amazed at this time of year to see the world go from brown and dead



to rebirth of gorgeous green


in a short month. It is truly a miracle. (OK, maybe these photos are closer to six weeks apart- beginning of March to closer to end of April, but still...) Tomorrow it is supposed to get into the 50s. Of course, we will still have more snow, spring hasn't sprung, but at this point it is survivable.

Wisconsin Dells- Feb. 09 edition

We had a lovely time at the Dells this past week. On Thursday it rained, and sleeted, and snowed. At one point there were huge, fluffy, wet flakes falling outside as we stood in line for one of the tube slides. Beautiful! We hurried to the outdoor hot tub after that to sit out in the snow. I abolutely love sitting out in the hot water, feeling the cold, fresh air on my face and smelling the snow. Delightful. Here are some pictures from the trip:

Jumping waves


Smiling Julia (on Friday) She spent most of Thurs. sitting on the deck in a towel. I think her cough medicine made her drowsy.


Da-da


da-da da-da


DA-DA DA-DA DA-DA DA-DA


Bathing beauty


Renie looking like a drowned rat


Handsome fellas

Silly ham


What Julia looked like on Thursday


The big dump bucket



A quick snuggle


Fun in the fountains


Atomic wedgie