The Witching Hour

I mostly get this face from Eden around 5 -6 pm.  Whether or not she's had her afternoon nap.   She quiets down eventually.  I can't even tell you what she was upset about.  She was actually on my lap while I took these photos. What else can a Mama do?

Sharing My Home

I've seen so many creative things pictured on other blogs and I think, even though many of my ideas are just reproductions of others' work, I would like to begin sharing some of my work.  Now that I have a better camera to share with, there's no reason I shouldn't use it.

Exhibit A

hand drawn wallpaper to make the end of a very bland, beige hallway more interesting.

I had the gold paint pen ever since I shared with you all the blog of the creative mama who did this in her entire hallway.  I chose a different design, one that I wouldn't need to measure or level.  I don't like the preparation involved with most crafts, so this one was appealing.  Instant gratification.  That's me.

Here's a close-up of my design:

I think it turned out well, and I'm certainly not opposed to trying something similar elsewhere in the house... maybe in the master bath next?   There's a big blank wall in there.

POW

I've been so enjoying creative crafting blogs lately.  I've got so many wonderful inspirations and no place to use them all, yet.  I'm bookmarking and saving like crazy so that, when the opportunity arises, I will be right there to take advantage of it.  I've already done two things that I never thought I would try and I'm glad I tried them.  I want my home to be personal... and without much money to spend on personal design consultants, the way to go is crafting things myself and not being afraid of an imperfect result.  Imperfections = Personality.

I want to feature a really sweet, super sappy project that just tugged on my mommy heartstrings as well as being really unique and just plain fun.  Check out the Currently Crafting blog entry here to read the full story.

This inventive mom makes reasons to use cute things she finds.  And it's not just for clutter.  She makes useful things.. like mailboxes for her kids.  I know when I was a kid I always got soooo excited to receive mail.  It didn't happen very often until I was 10 and we moved far from my childhood best friend.  We sent letters and traded stickers and had a blast.  How much fun would it be to have your own mailbox in your room where family members can send and receive notes and fun bits of whatever you like?  So fun.

For The Record

This is not a brag post.  Really, it isn't.   I know a lot of other kids Eden's age that can say many more words than she.  But, we had our 18 month check-up today and the doc asked if she was talking yet.  I told her she was finally beginning to say some words and knew about 7-10.  When I got home, I started thinking about what those words were and realized that I might want a point of reference for the second child, or just a way to look back and see how far Eden has come from this time.

So here goes...  Words Eden says (some frequently, some only once at this point):

Mama (sometimes Mommy, sometimes Mamow ?)

Dada (sometimes Daddy)

Baba (aka. Grandpa)

Meme

Papa

Didi (aka. Eden)

Baby

Hi

Bye-Bye

No

Nana (aka. banana)

Nano (aka. piano)

Fish

TV

Shoes

Ow

Bite

But-Bo (aka. Bee-Bo, aka. belly button)

Eat

Out

Shhhhh (does that count?)

N.M.M.

I'm going to try to add this to my Pick-of-the-week Wednesdays and Favorite Fridays... although I haven't been stellar at keeping those up.  I was drawn to this idea because it's pretty similar to my "I Confess" box in my sidebar and it aligns with one of the reasons I began to blog: to practice openness about the realities of my life and to let others who read about it get to know me better.

So here goes...

I do not hide all our Rock Band gear whenever we have relatives come into town.  I'm certainly not especially concerned that my parents not see it.  And I wouldn't care at all if they knew we let Eden watch while we played and even let her play with us sometimes.  Nuh uh. Not me.

I did not feed Eden only Cheerios, a banana and applesauce for dinner last night.  I always prepare well-balanced, nutritious meals for her.  I would never just scrape something together.  Not me.

Lastly, I am not putting off teaching Eden to eat with utensils because of the possible mess.  I would never care if she made a mess.

A Packed 4th

Here are a few pictures from our day.
Chuck ran his 13th Peachtree Road Race today. His grandparents and I waited with the cheering crowd on the sidewalks of Peachtree Street just to see him pass and to cheer him on. While we waited and watched, I took out the camera. Here's some of what I saw...






After Chuck got home, cleaned up and changed, we headed to his dad's parents house where we had ribs, rolls, salad, fruit, brunswick stew and more. Many of the Upshaw cousins, aunts and uncles were in attendance and a good time was had by all.


Eden enjoyed climbing up and down the stairs while a couple of the aunts and cousins reminisced about a painting of Noah's ark the cousins did for Grandmommy and Granddaddy when they were little.

Around mid-afternoon, we headed up to Dawsonville to be with Chuck's mom and her parents. Eden rode a horse for the first time! I was pretty petrified by the whole idea, but it helped me to be behind the camera lense for the experience. I worried less about her safety and more about getting the shot.

Decorating the Girls' Room

I've mostly finished the painting in Eden's room. I took a couple of pictures before we left for our weekend in Atlanta. I worked fast and furiously to get the tree done before we left because I was afraid i wouldn't have the drive to finish it when we got back (although, surely I wouldn't leave a bare space on the wall with just hearts and a bird!). I think it turned out pretty nicely. I didn't have to spend the same amount for supplies as I would have spent on the vinyl decal and I got to use different colors... and, of course, now I have bragging rights. I think it's worth it to have a few imperfections.