decorating details and odds and ends...

I have approached decorating our new house completely different this time around.  In our first house, I threw things up on walls with out really thinking about it because I wanted it done and I didn't want bare walls and spaces. I have learned two things:

1. When we wait, I love what we end up with so much more because more thought has gone into it.

2. I can save so much money when I wait for what I really want, rather than spend money on things I'm not thrilled about and that doesn't have any special meaning to me, that I end up replacing anyway.

So here are some little spaces and projects around our house where we have finally put things up or checked things off the list and the more we do, the more this place feels like OUR house.
(Can I tell you that some of these projects are so tiny, but since our move, and managing my two little people, it has been so hard to check things off my list and get things done, so I have to celebrate the little accomplishments these days♥.)
But I wouldn't want it any other way...

Ok, so here we go:
Our bedroom:

The main wall that you see when you walk into our room:

Before:

After:
These have been sitting on my dresser for weeks and I am so happy to finally see them up!

(The hooks were birthday presents from Anthropologie from Kit and my mom, and the ampersand was from our 5 year wedding anniversary party decorations from the craft store that I painted brown.) 

We put them right under our wedding picture and vows.

Our fireplace:

Before:

After:

 Those crystals were from the fan that was in our kitchen and when we took it down, I wanted to use them somewhere because they reminded me of vintage jewelry, so I tied them around the necks of the bottles.

(These were bottles and vases that I have been collecting over the course of our marriage.  Some have been gifts, some have been thrifted or found in antique shops.)

Our Entryway:
The previous owner had stapled up a plastic/rubber weather stripping piece.  It looked horrible, and the other night, Kit decided to just pull it off:
Kit's face says it all:

Because Kit took that initiative, that meant that my OCD needed to paint that door and finally install our new front door knob:

 

A quick difference in the new white and the old white...

I always have my helper: 

 

The finished product:
(We are working on a project for above the door that I am so excited about...♥)

In the midst of that project, we realized that the walls on each side of our front door needed a little bit of love too: 

Before:

After:
(The left of the door)

These are crosses from Ethiopia in honor of my niece, Ruby.
The yellow 'r' was from a birthday party for Ryder a few years back that I sprayed yellow.
(The right of the door)

(The yellow hook was from Anthropologie that we got on our birthday weekend in Palm Springs.)
The 'R' was from my first thrifting experience in Tustin:

from this: 

 to this:

Eden's room:

When we first moved into our house, Eden's door had a lock on it and was pretty destroyed from one of the previous owner's teenagers.

 Kit used wood filler to fix the broken portion of the door:

I am so thankful that the Little Miss no longer has a way to lock herself in her room...

The finished product:

 All the door knobs match now!

In the office:

I finally painted and hung this little wooden hello sign:

 My favorite spray paint:

I also made a fabric garland for my special message/prayer "wall" out of an old tablecloth:

Before:

 After:

I love looking at this board that the garland just felt like it finished it off...

Our Patio:

Outside on our back patio, we had this funky open space underneath our kitchen window.

So last week, when our sweet new neighbors gave us this little kids table, we knew exactly where it would go.  It just needed a little spruce.

Before:

I chose a color that would match the pillows I had made for our outdoor furniture:

After:

It's coming together.  Little by little.  

I can't believe we've already been here 4 months!

sweet moments...

It has been really sweet to watch Ryder and Eden grow in their relationship. They have moments where they will push each other's buttons and there will be tears and anger and tattling, but mostly, I see a friendship and love that has been flourishing each day.  They stand up for each other and neither one likes it when the other one is in trouble.  Ryder does NOT like it when someone plays too rough with Eden and she does NOT like it when some one is unkind to her brother.  They can have a consideration and adoration for each other that warms my heart, even in the midst of really hard days.  At times, it's as though they put their sibling ways aside and it's them against the world.

They had been playing for over an hour, sharing potato head parts, complimenting each other's creations.

I was really proud of them!

I am so honored to watch this relationship grow. 

Swim lessons...

Yesterday, Ryder had his first of 10 swim lessons at our local pool.  He was SO excited!  Leading up to the lessons, he has been so excited to get there and learn to swim.  

When we were getting our stuff together to head to the pool, Ryder asked, "So will we use our pencils and pear before we get in the pool, or after?"  I realized that by using words like "lesson" and "teacher", he was fully prepared and excited to have "school" at our pool.

So of course we had to bring our backpack:

(Have you ever thought, "My kid is so big, and yet so small?!?"  That's all I could think of as he walked so proudly and independently up tot the pool and his teacher.)

I watched as he got more and more comfortable as the lesson progressed.  There was kicking and floating and jumping in to the teacher.  He pushed off from the wall and practiced blowing bubbles. At first he said to the teacher that he wasn't sure he wanted to go under, but I could see him get more and more confident as the lesson went on.  He was so happy to have our kid pool to relax in once the class was over and he is so excited to go back over these next few weeks.

He kept telling the teacher how he loves to swim with his dad and how he jumps in to his dad and how he goes under when he is with his dad and how much fun his dad is... Boy that teacher sure was patient with my little talker.♥

Sidecar Doughnuts and Coffee

Last friday, while Ryder was at VBS, Kit and I took a little trip to Sidecar doughnuts and coffee in Costa Mesa.  It was Eden and my first time and we WILL be going back...

 Eden thought that if she was sitting on your lap, then your doughnut was for her too...

(That little rat...)

We can't think of a time that it was just the three of us and had such a sweet morning with our baby girl.♥

it's been an incredible week

This week, Ryder attended his first official VBS.

Eden loved watching it all come together!

(But was happy to stay with me...♥)

 Micah and Ryder were in a small group together... Such sweet boys!

There was backwards day:

And crazy hair day:

 For all the years that we have been part of a VBS, it's SO exciting to watch our own kiddo participate!  He has been singing his worship songs and talking about bible verses they are learning about who God is and how he is part of the Big God Story! It's what it's all about♥.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We attended VBS at the site where Ryder will be going to preschool in the Fall and he is even more excited to start school!

it was such a fun additional blessing...