more than you ever will care to know about our new house...

So, I've had a few people ask to see more pictures of the house---especially our family.  Our favorite past time these days is driving over to see the house and see all the things those awesome workers have accomplished during the day.  Aaron and I keep commenting how about how productive they are!  Maybe I should take a cue from them.  Maybe.

Anyway, here's a shot taken only a few short weeks ago.  

The builder said that we could decide how we wanted to have the shelves arranged in the closets and wanted us to make our last decisions as to where to put outlets, light switches.  Awesome.  But, of course, I was stressed thinking, "Like we know where to put light switches?!  And, how are we supposed to know how to arrange the closet shelving??!"  I kept telling my mom that she needed to be here to figure it out for us.  I mean, she is, after all, a professional organizer. It's one of her best talents.  

After much convincing her that she didn't need to attend ALL of my little sister's dance performances during the week---that it would be okay for her to miss the last one and rescue her stressed daughter in Texas---she obliged.  And, it made me so happy.  It was a SUPER quick trip.  She arrived late Wednesday night and left Saturday afternoon, but it was just enough time to help me de-compress, play with the kids, and help us map out how to utilize those closets best! 

This was her reaction when she saw our house for the first time...  If you need someone to OOoh and Aahhh about something, call my mom.  She gives the BEST reactions!!  

Here are the kids in our family room running on a big pile of sheetrock.  Super safe.  Yes, there were nails ALL over the ground.  And, I think I saw a few razor blades.  Nice.

Fast forward to a few days later---the sheet rock is UP!  And, it made SUCH a big difference!  It felt so much more real.  This is the upstairs bonus room.  I love how much light we have in there.  And, even more, I love that the workers like to leave their left overs from lunch.  Cal tried to eat some of those pork rinds left behind.  Gag me.  

thank you, vana.

Thank you, Mr. Incredible.  Here Aaron is standing in the upstairs bathroom.  He's where the sink will be.  Lovely. The closet is right there to the left.

hanging out in a bedroom with a great wide closet.

Next came the BRICK!!!  It's a gray/brown brick and we love it more than we anticipated.  That's always such a nice surprise---to like something MORE than you thought you would.  Also, I'm loving the white trim.  We originally were thinking of doing a dark brown trim and garage, but in the end opted for a classic and clean white.  I'm so happy with it.  All those days of agonizing over soffits and fascias paid off.  Fun fact: eventually, the little vent above the big front arched window will be painted white to match.  

The kids are such good sports.  Sometimes Tillie whines about having to go to the new house, b/c when they are at said house, their mom is such a worry wort (you would be too if there were razor blades and nails all over---oh, and a huge 10 foot drop off in the back!).  

We go and check in on the house probably at least 5 times a week.  It's definitely our (mine and Aaron's) favorite activity.  It's great that Aaron loves going to see it as much as I do (well... probably he likes it even more).  

front entry way + living room

same room, different angle + cute family.
p.s. Cal is IN LOVE with his new Lightning McQueen sunglasses.  He'll leave them on forever.  It's amazing.

Aaron's waving good bye.  'Till the next time...

happy father's day.

I won't make this too long or mushy---Aaron wouldn't be a fan.  But, know that I COULD write a novel about this one.
Let's just sum it up: He is good... good to the core.
I am so lucky.  And, I am happier than I ever thought was possible.
Thank you for marrying me.  Thank you for our kids.  Thank you for this life.

(above shots all taken by the lovely Krista Adams last October.  I'm not sure if I ever posted these, but there are some real gems. And, from the looks of the ones I posted, Aaron likes to throw around our kids... even though it makes his wife crazy.  Thank you, Krista-face!)

 

And, hello... where would I be with out this guy?  My dad is the bomb.  I remember one time a kid at school thought my dad was pretty serious, and I was like, "Are you kidding me?!"  

Just look at that face!  

 One of my favorite memories growing up was sitting at the kitchen table with my family eating dinner, and we kids would talk about the day.  I remember if anyone ever told a story about how someone wronged them, my dad would ask, "Well did you punch their lights out?" or some equally funny come-back. 

Ahhh... I appreciate his humor more and more with every passing year.  Thanks, dad.

And how lucky was I to marry into Aaron's family and get Scott for a Father-in-Law?  What a great great man.  He's been so kind to me from DAY 1---even when I kept messing with his son's heart  during those early dating years.  Wow, now that was really nice!  Thanks, Scott.

and, hello, don't you love Calvin's face here?!  hAA!

 And, I know, I've posted this picture a ton, but I just love it so much. 

another great Calvin moment. what kind of mom squeezes a tiny hat on his head, exposing his ears, and shoves his knitted pants into white cowboy boots?  sorry, baby cakes. 

I've said it before, and I'll say it again... I am lucky.  Happy Father's Day to all y'all.

cop out

Another great find.
This was found by Aaron via Kuriositas.  The video gets really cool half way through...




More posts with legit content coming... when I find the motivation.  :)

an update of sorts... a week in the life.

You might be wondering, "What has Melissa been up to?"  Or maybe you've asked yourself, "I don't really care about Melissa, but I've really been curious to know what her kids have been up to these days..." or maybe you are just a big fan of that great guy I am married to and want to know how he's been? (back off, barbie. he's taken.) 
Well, if you've been curious, today is YOUR LUCKY DAY.
Here are a few things that are note worthy (or not so note worthy, but I'm going to talk about them anyway):

::: Remember how I got braces... again?  I won't even tell you what time this is for me.  You might start hating.  Let me just say this to all you pubescent teens out there (oh, yes I did. I just wrote the word "pubescent" on my blog)---WEAR YOUR RETAINER. To you men/women who just got married and feel a little insecure about wearing your retainer at night, b/c you don't want to look like a 15 year old to your new spouse---who cares?!  WEAR YOUR RETAINER.  And, to all the rest of you... if you have a retainer, PUT IT BACK IN YOUR MOUTH. Seriously.  Go grab it and we'll all sing "Kumbayah" together.
No, really, I just wanted to make a little public service announcement.
Having braces isn't as fun as it seems.  I have to limit my Oreo intake now.  I have to use my super sonic skills to move my face when Cal and Tillie start flailing their bodies... One blow to my mouth will make all my teeth fall out.  They are THAT loose and now all connected with chains.  If one goes, they'll all go. Honestly, it's not so bad, but it's not like there's a party in my mouth.

One day when Aaron came home for lunch, we were talking about his day over Doritos and sandwiches.  I asked him what was on his docket for the afternoon.  He proceeded to tell me about some of the procedures he'd be doing---things like fillings, extractions, crowns, bridges and then mentioned that he was going to be putting braces on a patient.
I stopped him and said (with a mouthful of cheesy Dorito goodness), "Hey, when are you going to put braces on me?"
He replied, "Why don't you come in today?"
"When?"
"How about now?"
"What?! I'm eating my lunch. I haven't even brushed my teeth yet!" (shows you my commitment to healthy hygiene)
"Well, finish your lunch, go brush your teeth, and then come into the office..."
"What am I going to do with the kids?"
"Bring them."
"Well, what about their naps? I mean, how long will it take?"
"About 30 minutes. They can sit in there with us and watch a cartoon and then can go down for naps when you get done."
----------ummmm... okay?  That's the story.  No real prep.  Very spontaneous if you ask me.  Who said I wasn't an adventurer?  Bite me.

I was nervous about how the kids would do, but they happily surprised me.  They were pretty darn good. I kept debating whether or not I should have them put red/white/blue bands on in honor of Memorial Day, but in the end opted for clear (seemed like the mature thing to do).  I know.  I'm regretting my decision too.  Oh well.  Here I am right after they pulled those AWFUL mouth-stretcher-outers off of my face.  And the next shot is to illustrate how delightful our children were during our stay.

 ::: Tillie is still in love with all things PRINCESS, if you hadn't received the memo.  Her Nana and Papa gave her this outfit back at Christmas.  She's still a fan.  Her favorite pastime these days is to have me turn on a collection of Disney songs that Aaron compiled for her and little Jaylie.  She loves to just sit on a chair near the computer (where I play the songs) and just sing her little heart out.  It might just be the cutest thing ever. 
Here's a shot of her by the back door.  I'm such a big fan of this girl.

 

::: Not to be outdone by her sister, Calvin is pretty fun too.  Here he is pre-buzzed hair.  

 

This boy...  Where to begin?  I can't believe that he is already SO different from his sister.  He is a natural comedian.  He does things purely to get a laugh.  And, what?  He's only 16 months.  But, don't be fooled, he's a SENSITIVE kiddo and gets frustrated so easily.  If he doesn't get his way, he's devastated and starts SOBBING.  But, literally, two seconds later, he's all smiles and laughing.  It's quite a sight.  What's crazy is that he sounds just like his mom.  ?!?!  Oh dear.  This can't be good.
Don't believe me?  Okay, here's proof.  These next shots were taking in about 1 minute 30 seconds.  No joke.  I just kept snapping photos. 

back to being a happy camper. even playing nicely with his sister.

Funny, but then sometimes, it's not so funny.  But, overall, he's a keeper.  Gotta love a little drama here and there.

::: Design work.  I love that I get to create stationery orders on occasion.  Sometimes I wish I were doing more with it, but then once I get a big order, I remember why I'm glad for the little steady stream of work I have been able to maintain.  It's fun to keep my feet wet, but I'm glad it's not taking over my life.

Here's a zoomed in version of a recent print for our shop:

 
I just love that Elizabeth Mitchell song (click the link to hear a snippet of the song).  Whenever there is a sweet moment in life, it seems like I sing the lines in my head.  So, I finally decided to make a legit print with the happy sentiment.

Custom orders are a fun thing too.  A girl contacted me to create this little elephant family of 3.  She and her husband are expecting their first baby this next month and I'm going to be doing their birth announcements.  I love doing things like this!  She needed to write a ton of thank you's for the baby showers she'd had, so we went ahead and did these first.

Standing up to the island in Cal's bedroom when using my paper cutter is SO great.  I love the light he gets in his room and the curtains my mom made just make me happy every time I look at them.
Since I've been trying harder to document the design work I do, I decided to take a few photos...

since my sister and I are teaming up, I wanted to create a new little logo for the back of our cards.  here's what we've come up with for now.

And here's Tillie be-bopping around while I'm slicing and dicing.  She's crazy AND fast.  In case anyone was curious.

Since the lighting was pretty okay, and I had my camera out, I decided to take a few shots of our new business cards we created in time for Quilt Market.  They are two sided and I think they turned out pretty fun.

::: And Aaron?  Here's the outlaw himself. 

He is always so good to take care of our "land"---even though he has major allergy issues this time of year.  He had the clever idea to cover his nose and mouth while mowing/weed whacking and it made such a big difference!  Awesome.  I don't know what I love more, the fact that he is out there working hard, or the fact that he looks so good doing it.  He's definitely a keeper too.

::: Much more to come.  My mom came for a quick trip and just left today.  She helped with some crazy decisions like how to do shelving in the closets for our new house.  Yes.  If anyone in my life is qualified to offer such advice, it would be my professional-organizer-mother.  It was wonderful having her here.  And, speaking of the new house, it's coming along swimmingly.
More to come on all that and more.
Wishing you Peace, Love, and clean kitchen floors.

cone-ing. so funny.

You won't want to miss this.  It's so uncomfortable yet so ridiculously funny at the same time.
Aaron found it (of course, he finds all of this blog's good content) via Neatorama.
Enjoy.

cal's 2 hair cuts.

So, back at the end of March, I was noticing that Calvin's hair was getting a little longish.  So, being the domestic woman that I am, I thought I'd do the honors.  I have hair cutting scissors.  Aaron used to let me cut his hair.  I could do this.
Or so I thought.
I remember asking one of my best friends, Melissa J., how they would cut their boys' hair.  She said the trick was to let the boy have a sucker.  Works like a charm.  And, if little hairs get on it, a quick rinse under the faucet does the trick.
I was set.  I found a sucker in our pantry circa Halloween 2007 (or there abouts, I'm sure). And, I got to work.
Cal did pretty well.  His mother?  Well, you can be the judge.

Yes I did, in fact, create a new hairline for him.  And, I thought creating stair steps was popular (in 1989).  Sigh.
I'm retiring.  Poor baby.

Here are more shots of him later that day playing in the kitchen with the baby doll and his older sister.  Feel free to NOT look closely at his side profile.  Remember, this barber is retiring.  And instead of focusing on my lack of talent, please take note of the sibling love going on.

yes, that is pen on Cal's cheekbone.  How did he get a hold of a pen to do such a job?  I'll blame... his sister.

Lovely.
Now let's fast forward to the end of May (2 months later).  Aaron didn't love the whispy hairs going on and really, the overall patchy growing pattern happening on Cal's head.  He voted we shave his head, like all majorly balding men should consider doing.  Embrace the patchiness and unite everything.
I reluctantly agreed.  I loved his little red/blonde hair.

here's a blurry before picture, so you can get the feel of how his hair looked.

another shot BEFORE the clippers came out.

We were nervous to see how he'd do during the shaving process, but he was a champion.  In fact, he was so relaxed, he almost fell asleep!  Not what I expected from our almost 17 month old child!

Here he is, mid shave... (Aaron is shirtless, b/c he'd just been sweating to death cleaning out the van from a scout trip and didn't want to get Cal's hair everywhere.  Just in case you were curious why everyone is half naked.  Oh, and I should add, Tillie and I were fully clothed.)

And, thus, our GROWN UP MAN CHILD was born.  He looks older than ever. Seriously. I can't believe how much he looks like a 7 year old.  (well, almost)  Am I right, or am I right?

this kid, as they say, is ALL BOY.  Where does this love of grunting and hefting around big objects come from??!  oh, and yes, we let our  baby play with big huge 2x4s.  we're careful parents like that.

 

In conclusion:
Dear Calvin, I love you enough to spare you from my scissors and dream to be a hair stylist.  I hereby will allow your dad shave your head from now until forever (even though it makes you look 10 years older than you really are).  Lots and lots of love, your adoring mother.