Eating in the Shower

Great Smoky Mountains Chuggington Adventure

This weekend we took our first road trip since Aven was born. We got lucky and she didn't cry for much of the three hour trip to Bryson City, NC. We've tried to stay close to home with her to avoid stressful car rides but when I found out that the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad was hosting a Chuggington Train adventure, I knew that we were going!

We rented a house for the weekend and spent most of our time sitting on the tree top deck. It was covered and had a ceiling fan so when it rained we were happy to sit and relax out there and the fan kept any bugs away.

We were just a short drive away from the train depot in Bryson City.

The weather cooperated long enough for our Chuggington adventure and we all had a great time riding on the train, meeting the Chuggington trains, and taking part in the adventure games.

The train ride took us to an adventure area that had tents with different Chuggington challenges set up for the kids. There was also a roundhouse that my little one couldn't resist trying to take a peek into. I can't blame him though because I was almost as excited as he was at his chance to experience meeting his favorite characters.

It was such a great weekend and we really needed to get away. It won't be easy to forget the look on his face when he saw the trains come out to meet everyone.

Summer Kickoff Giveaway: Deck Makeover Kit from Thompson's WaterSeal

Enter to win a Deck Care Kit from Thompson's WaterSeal just in time for Summer!

Our family always has a big barbecue to celebrate Father's Day and we all gather on the deck talking, eating, and watching the kids running and playing in the yard.

For us, so many of our summer memories from holiday barbecues, to welcoming family from out of town, take place on the backyard deck. To kick your summer deck season off right, Thompson's WaterSeal is giving away a deck care kit that includes one case of Deck Cleaner and one case of Waterproofing Stain.

Take a look at this deck transformation using the products in this giveaway!

The stain can be found at Home Depot and comes in five colors with three opacities, so the winner will be able to choose what they like from 15 different looks. Enter to win a makeover for your deck just in time for the summer entertaining season!

To enter this giveaway, follow the instructions on the Rafflecopter widget below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good Luck!

Giveaway Rules:

No Purchase necessary. To enter, participants must use the Rafflecopter widget above. The giveaway is not affiliated, administered, or endorsed by Pinterest, Instagram, or Facebook. The giveaway closes on June 21 at midnight and the winner will be notified via email. The winner must be 18 years of age or older and a U.S. resident in order to win. Prize is valued up to $140.

Here's to Summer

A year ago we were getting ready to move to our fifth house and say goodbye to our family and friends. I had just found out I was pregnant and was ecstatic at the same time I was dreading and sad about yet another move.

As excited as I am that it's summer, I'm happy to have made it a year in a new place, happy to have made some great new friends, and most of all happy to have grown our little family to four!

My latest project (the first in wayyyyyy too long) is to give a bookshelf that my father built a makeover.

This shelf was in my house growing up and stayed until my parents remodeled the room it was in a year ago. They were going to throw it out but I wouldn't let them so we packed it up with the rest of our house and moved it with us. Because my father built it there is obviously sentimental value but I also think it's cool and can't wait to give it a little facelift.

Stay tuned for the 'after' and check back this week for an awesome summer kick off giveaway from Thompson's WaterSeal!

Enough Time in the Day

I logged in last week for the first time in months. I noticed visitors coming from this article on Apartment Therapy. How awesome to have my barstool makeover featured in an 'Ultimate Ikea' shopping list. Here's the thing though- it was published in DECEMBER which is also the last time I posted anything. What can I say? Because there's not enough time in the day is my tagline for a reason!

There hasn't been enough time in my day for DIYs, decorating, or even writing because our little family grew and I've spent as much time loving it as I can.

I love this photo from the Georgia aquarium- watching the whales when I felt like one myself, 5 days before I had a second set of little hands to hold!

Aven Rose was born February 11th during a Georgia ice storm.

Three months have gone by way too quickly and as a long list of projects go unfinished, the dishes stay dirty, and I once again don't always have time to eat and shower, life is so full of happy. There's always enough time in the day for that.

Christmas Tour: A Trip Down Ornament Lane

Each year we get to take a look back and are reminded of our travels and life together when we take our Christmas ornaments out to decorate the tree. This December is our tenth wedding anniversary, the twentieth Christmas we've known one another, and our last Christmas as a family of three!

Over the years, whenever we traveled somewhere new, we tried to find ornaments for our tree and it makes me smile to hang them up each year and remember the people and places associated with each one.

When we were first married we lived in San Diego and the purple grapes ornament was from a trip to the Thornton winery in Temecula.

When we lived in Switzerland and took trips to Prague we picked up the sun and wooden nesting ornaments that have smaller pieces inside.

I love our collection of wooden ornaments from Christmas markets in Germany and France. They come in handy for lower branches that little hands can reach because they're sturdy.

The Eiffel Tower Santa was from an anniversary trip to Paris and reminds me that we had plenty of dinners out before we had to carry a diaper bag with toys, crayons, and sippy cups.

The Beefeater is from a trip to London filled with museums, shopping, and so much walking.

All of the kids love to pull the string and watch this wooden toy soldier's legs and arms go up and down. We picked him up on a trip to the black forest in Triberg, Germany to find our cuckoo clock.

Another one of my favorite wooden ornaments is the two tone harp I found in Killarney after driving a rental car there myself to go shopping (on the opposite side of the road) while Steve was working.

When we were moving back to the states from Switzerland, a friend gave me these Swiss cow bell key chains to hang on the tree each year and I have ever since.

The fleur-de-lis is from the trip to New Orleans where I first found out that we were going to have a baby. That's all I'm reminded of when I see it even though that trip was filled with so many sights, sounds, tastes, and smells that could come to mind.

From that point on most of our new ornaments looked like these:

All of our travels and experiences led to the biggest adventure of all. Next year when I unpack the ornaments we will have another tiny face to frame in a baby's first Christmas ornament, another little hand to print, and (another moose to add to the moose family.)

Mod Podge Leaves Thanksgiving Art: Crafting with a Toddler

Using Mod Podge to create fall art with a toddler

Having a two year old makes finding time to complete holiday crafts a challenge but also makes me take on projects that he can enjoy doing and create a special memory for me when finished. I wanted a quick craft to decorate the dining room for Thanksgiving and we had fun making this "Grateful" canvas with the colorful leaves scattered throughout the yard.

Using Mod Podge to preserve fall leaves for crafting with a toddler

We gathered some leaves, pressed them in a book overnight and then painted them on both sides with Mod Podge. The leaves painted by the little hands had an extra thick coating!

I painted some smudgy gold paint on a flat canvas and used some stick on letters to spell grateful, then painted them black.

I chose the word grateful because there's no better way to sum up the meaning of Thanksgiving to us and how I try to live each day.
I know just how lucky we are and never want to take it for granted.

I arranged the leaves on our canvas and coated it with a few thick coats of Mod Podge, drying completely and pressing under a weighted cookie sheet between each coat.

Once dry, the leaves shine and their colors are preserved. I love that the little basket of leaves we collected together from the yard will be something I can bring out every year with our fall decorations.

Here is the canvas when it was hanging in the dining room.

I moved the canvas to our mantel so it would be in a room we will see it more.

I hope everyone takes time to focus on what they have and how precious their gifts in life are rather than too much on the round the clock shopping, Christmas countdowns, or anything else that just doesn't matter as much as the moments we can never get back once they pass.

No project could mean to me what one those tiny little hands helped me with because I know they won't be tiny for long.

Thankful for My Favorite Time of Year

We took a long walk around the neighborhood today and even though there are houses with Christmas decorations up already, it was the most perfect fall day with leaves falling on us as we walked and a bright blue sky. It may still be a little too warm in Georgia to remind me of fall in New York but it's getting there!

It is tempting to start putting up Christmas decorations early but we have so much to be thankful for I can't let myself skip right over Thanksgiving.

Instead of rushing through my favorite time of year to get to Christmas decorating, I like to wait until the day after Thanksgiving to deck the halls and then I just leave it all up until February.