It's been a while

Hi All! Wow, I knew it had been a while, but didn't realize how long. Things are going well here. We've been busy with play dates, gymtots, hosting parties, working on the house, and enjoying fall weather. The kids are growing by the minute and daily surprise me with all they can understand and put together.







 Halloween was fun this year! We had a |Thomas the train {i decided to make this about 30 min. before we were suppossed to leave!}, and a pirate. They both had fun walking the neighborhood with thier cousins...Fielding actually lasted longer than Wells!

 The next few days we should the kids how to eat candy...aka eating their candy for them. :) Luckily, we didn't get that much so it didn't do too much damage. :)

 As the leaves started to change, we got the urge to take the john boat out again before cold weather came. It was a fun day on the water. The kids LOVE the boat and fishing. We didn't get even a bite, but I think it's the act of casting that's the most fun for them.

We have also gotten to hang out with cousins a lot more. Josh's cousin, Jen, has two girls that are a little older than my boys. We've been hanging out and babysitting for each other. It's so nice to have someone to call on those challenging days. She's been a life saver lately - plus, it's always a fun time. :) The other day, she came to take pictures of products I've started for my Etsy shop, Lillywild, (more on that in a minute). While here she took a few shots of me and the boys.



 {that's Cana in there with Fielding and me}

Thanks, Jen, for some great pictures!! {Now I want a nice camera :)}

So, I opened an Etsy shop! I'm super excited about it and am having fun making items to list. My shop is Lillywild. Here are some of the things I'm listing.

 I'm still working on getting the shop stocked and different sizes. If you ever want an item in a different size, let me know...I can do custom orders. I decided to open the shop because people started asking if I sold some of the things I make as gifts. So, here I am! If you need a shower gift or something sweet for your little one, let me know!



living with white floors

HI All! I thought I'd share about our floors today {along with some project updates}. After a lot of going back and forth, we decided to continue engineered wood floors throughout our main living area and paint them white. Well, no one would paint them so they are actually stained. The wood is glued to the concrete. It was stained several times with Bona's DriFast Stain in White. Since we really wanted the look of paint but the durability of stain, it took about 5 or 6 coats. Stain will {supposedly} hold up better than paint and allows the wood texture to really show through. I've come to like having the wood look but in white. We sealed it with BonaTraffic poly. We did several {7} coats of this as well. When doing your floors, make sure you or the finisher cleans the floor perfectly before applying the sealer. Our guys did not do that, thus the several coats after another light sanding was done. 

 Here's a picture of our kitchen floor. Yes, white gets dirty easily. But my floors have always gotten dirty. :)

 {Hallway}

 {Foyer}

{Living room}

 White floors reflect a lot of light and are, in my opinion, very beautiful. Some have told me I'm crazy, brave, odd, that it's an "interesting" floor, but I love it. I clean it often with Bona wood floor cleaner. If you are building a house with wood floors, regardless of color, central vacuums are essential in my opinion. With two young boys and a sand box, I don't know what I would do without mine!

TABLE!!!
So I had planned on getting all my chair covers done and setting up the table all festive for a photo shoot....but then I realized that it would probably be Christmas before I got this post done and by that time I'd have so many other things to tell you about that I'd be forever behind! So! Here's our kitchen table made by Renewed Traditions. We love it! The boys are "distressing" it daily for me but that's okay. It adds character, right?!?!

 I do have 3 chair covers done at this point and hope to get the 4th one done in the next week or so.

Remember this ugly duckling?? It's now in the living room as my first side table - ever! Yup, been married 6+ years and we've never really had a side table. :)

We've also been working outside quite a bit. In a few weeks we're hosting our first party, and I'm trying to get things together by then. I've been planting perennials and annuals. This week I got a free load of mulch! :) And tomorrow we're getting 50 bales of pine straw. Hopefully, this nice weather will continue so I can finish all my outdoor projects. Today I also started making a chalk board wall, which I am SO excited about for some reason...used the chop saw, nail gun and everything. :) More on that later. {I think I may have to start making myself finish one project all the way before moving onto the next. I just have so many things I want to do right now! Do you have this problem?? or is it just me??}

That's all for now! Have a great weekend!

Helen

A Family Sunday and current projects

Hi! This weekend was beautiful here in GA and Josh and I took advantage of the weather to do some fun things with the boys. In an effort to keep putting the house together, I ventured up the the Outlet malls to Pottery Barn during the week. Unfortunately, I had to do some returns and my sweet husband was willing to go back with me. {The trip was much more fun and less stressful having him there to help with the littles.} So, we drove north late Sunday morning. After PB, we looked around a bit then got on the little train. It was fun! I've never splurged on the train at the mall, but it seemed like a good time and was actually cheaper than the mall. The boys loved it!

When the leaves really start to change, we want to take a real train ride. Not sure where to go yet....any suggestions??

After that we went to Amicalola Falls. The boys were troopers and hiked almost to the top! Fielding especially wasn't intimidated. I was impressed.

{Checking out the falls}

{Relaxing after the hike}

Just down the road from the Falls is Burt's Pumpkin Patch . It's always crazy this time of year but so fun. We bought several cooking pumpkins and squashes. Pumpking soup is on the menu for this week. I'll let you know which one I use and if it's any good.

Even though his shirt says, "Mom's Happy Camper", this camper has had some serious attitude lately. He's fighting me on everything...getting in the car seat, putting on shoes, wearing diapers....However, we had a break through today - he stayed in class the whole bible study!!! It's taken a while but I hope this progress is permanent!

So I showed you the bench a few posts back, but have set up the area a little more since then. I'm not sure why these pictures are so fuzzy, but I just couldn't help myself from using a few of Fielding. He got this apple and sat on the bench all on his own. Love my little man.

Septmeber is not only back to school time, relief from the heat, the beginning of Fall, but it's my sweet sister Joy's birthday. Last night we got to celebrate her birthday with dinner at my parents and cake. All the little boys were there {my brother Tate, Wells, Fielding, and Josiah} and we all had a great time. I got to make her a cake! I used a Nutella Cake recipe from online. It was moist and pretty good, but not has nutella-y as I would have liked.

I've also starting making more baby items. If you or someone you know is looking for a cute baby gift, let me know! I'm making several to sell. I may even open an Etsy store! :)

{Matching burp cloth and booties for my friend Karen}

Here's another project I'm working on. Found this cool side table at goodwill for $12. It's currently in the garage with a nice coat of primer on it. I think I'll head out there in a minute or two and mix some paint for it. I'm so excited about it!

{The boys helped me sand it down. They're great helpers. :) Most of the time...}

And last but not least, I'm making slip covers for our dining room chairs. I've been looking for new chairs for our new kitchen table, but I haven't found any I want to spend money on. So....I decided to slipcover our current chairs so I can wash them. I think they're pretty cute now and am happy to only have spent $32 on the drop cloth I used for the fabric.

{This is what I started with}
{I cut a 7" strip 2.5x the perimeter of the seat. Folded it in half. Ironed. Then ironed pleats.}
{For the back and seat, I just measured each panel - 6 all together, and added at least an inch for seam allowance.}

{Sewed on the skirt and here you go!}
{Each one is getting better. I've done 2 and have 2 more to go. They take me about 2 hours to do if I'm not interrupted too much. But you know that kind of time is hard to come by :)}

I guess that's all for now! We're planning some fall parties and are excited about the holidays coming up. I love spending time with all our family. We are very blessed. Take care!!

Helen