Promises Kept

So I think a while back I had solicited advice on a paint color for my little front living room, promising to share the results and share progress on the room makeover project.  I believe I have done neither.  I can't remember the results, but thanks for your input, nonetheless! :)  And I can't share progress because the room is pretty much done and I didn't take pictures along the way.  But, I do have a smashing photo of the room as of this afternoon thanks to a lens I rented to play with over the next couple of weeks.  So put those Pottery Barn catalogs down and have a look at my version of page 32 . . . (just kidding about that.  Sort of.)

TA-DA!

We love it!  And by "we" I mean Geof and I.  Because once the small child proved that she could not be trusted on my new white sofa by making pencil sketches all over it on the very first day it arrived, all children where forever banished from the beautiful room.  Geof and I have enjoyed reading in the quiet bright space, and I may or may not have played a few marathon games of Plants vs. Zombies while curled up on all those throw pillows.

A girlfriend needs to come on over and sit with me! :)

I Heart Faces {Pets}

We may not have any 4-legged creatures living with us, but visits from the 6-legged varieties are quite common.  Oh, how Fancy loves her bugs.  She was beyond thrilled with this ladybug we spotted (ha!) in a garden in Williamsburg, who was very content to stay and visit with her, crawling up and down her arm and around her fingers.  Caught this just before it took off.  Who knew ladybugs have a face!

Artificial Colors

You may well know that we are on a no-artificial-color kick around here.  It's really not that hard to avoid if you know what to look out for.  But when Hi-Hat decided that he wanted to be Ron Weasley from Harry Potter for dress up day at school tomorrow, he was adamant that he needed red hair.  And that means all kinds of unnatural chemicals.  But at least he didn't have to eat them!  I've had some success with adding touches of purple to Fancy's hair, so off to the beauty supply store I went, looking for red hair in a bottle.

It took two applications and one good sport who was willing to make do with a gallon-sized ziploc bag once I realized I didn't have a shower cap on hand to help set the color, but we kept at it and we had another red head in the house by 7:30pm.  After tomorrow, Hi-Hat will get his much needed haircut, so we'll just have to enjoy it as much as we can tomorrow.

I think he could actually pull the color off if we did a little work on his eyebrows!

Like I said, he very much needs a hair cut, but still a red headed little cutie!

{already} Back to School!

Well, I just got around to remembering that I took pictures of the big kids on their first day of school this year.  They are each into their third weeks of 2nd and 3rd grade.  Time is flying!  But as much as I miss their littleness, it's fun and gratifying to see all that they are learning and that they are succeeding in school.

But you know what's more fun?  The fact that so far, as Fancy and Hi-Hat grow older, they only grow closer.  I absolutely adore the special brother and sister bond that they share.  She is the yin to his yang (or is it the other way around - I have no idea.  And maybe it's actually ying to yang.  Any-hoo.), and as easy and laid back as he tends to be, she is his goofy, spirited, wide open counterpart, and he loves her for it.  He will put up with his little sister hanging all over him, being (lovingly) right in his face, taking up much of his personal space, and it just doesn't phase him.  I guess that's the way it goes when one's spunky little sister has always been there for as long as he can remember.  They are just two special puzzle pieces that make up a very fun picture, and in looking over their first day of school photos from this year, I think that comes across pretty clearly.

See? Nothing phases my sweet serious guy, and no one can put a lid on my fun spunky gal. My prayer for them is that they will always have this special closeness and that throughout their childhoods, they will provide for one another steadfast support, encouragement and confidence.  I'm thinking if our kids are so close and loving, it's a good sign that with God's help, we are on the right track.

I ♥ Faces {Water}

Well I haven't posted to one of the I ♥ Faces challenges in a while, but give the extreme heat we've been having around here, I thought this week's challenge was quite refreshing: water!

My entry for the week comes straight off the slip-n-slide.  'Cause what else better is there to do with the mercury creeps up past 100?  Here's to hoping that what has come up must surely (one of these days, please!) come down.

And this little piggie went...

We've had a guinea pig visitor in our home this week, and Fancy has been in heaven!  Mario is living in her room, enjoying Fancy's special brand of pampering that involves generous helpings of celery, carrots, oranges and timothy grass, copious amounts of clean water, and plenty of cuddle time after school.  I was a little skittish on day one, with me having to coax a wiggly rodent out of his cage with the mindset of a person who may have watched one too many episodes of Swamp People, and may have been mistaking guinea pig behavior with that of angry hooked 12-foot Louisiana alligator behavior.  After a little pep talk from Mario's mom that, in fact, guinea pigs are not viscous swamp dwelling reptiles, I regained my courage and was able to get him out of his cage for Fancy to cuddle.  Of course, by day 2, Fancy had figured it all out herself and did not even want me to do it.  All in all, I will say that a guinea pig seems to be a pretty easy little pet to have around, and a week into it, I'm thinking there's not much cuter than a guinea pig systematically munching its way through an orange wedge.  I may have spent some time sitting with him today when the kids weren't around.

Because I never had a pet as a kid.

Express Yourself

I can't remember what exactly she was pouting for (or just generally seeking pity over), but this is a face I see quite often.  Her special gift? Melting her mama.