This giant sign is hanging randomly on a fence between our house and Connor's school. I don't know who put it up or why, but I think it kind of....rules.

Rosebushes, I have them:

I think i have 4 different types of roses out back. They are lovely.

and I painted the door red! We also have got up our house numbers, big black ones that we put vertically down the wall on the left side of the door. It looks great!

snagged some photos from Maxine yesterday. I had to show you the fruit salad. I should include the recipe but I don't have it. If Maxine is in a good mood, maybe she'll put the recipe in the comments. :)

And a better view of the decorations, guests, and my backside.

The "theme" if we can really say we had one for the baby shower, was "going places". I made a couple of banners with black and white photos of babies and of places around the world. I was real happy with how they turned out.

hobo bags full of m&m's were the party favors, and the awesome spread was, as I said, the brainchild of Maxine. She brought the best fruit salad I have ever had (a lime/mint sauce! so good!) and her homemade cranberry orange scones were to die for.

the cupcakes were from a box mix (i do not apologize) and the frosting was "the best frosting i've ever had" from Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen website.

A couple of weeks ago I hosted a baby shower for Hannah. I had some super-cute decor ideas but needed help with planning the food. Enter Maxine.

She made me make a quiche, which I had not done before. It was divine! And fun to make! And even my pie crust turned out well and also kindof pretty! The cosmos aligned!

The first layer was sour cream, with bell pepper and spinach and garlic and green onion.

Then crumbled bacon.

Twenty pounds of shredded cheese.

And the egg-and-spice mixture on top.

If only I wasn't the only person in my family who would eat it! Then I could make it every. single. morning.

we're still getting curtains, but the stripes in the dining room are lovely and I'm glad I took the time to paint them:

I still need to get an extension cord for my sewing machines, and curtains for the window (oh, those curtains!) (and maybe some organizing)

found a perfect spot for my mini teapots! And now i need more! :)

the fabric/book shelf in our room is all put together, and mostly-sort-of organized.

we're starting to feel like grown ups. finally!

Domestic Bliss.

Finally, the hammock from Brazil that has been living in a closet or a box for the past 13 years has a home. And 4 boys who love it. Poor Daddy - the kids usurp it every time he thinks he's going to "get away for a bit".

It must be a guy thing? Because I just get bored...

I have a friend who recently moved across the country with 3 kids. And I have another who recently moved to a different country with 4 kids. And I do not know how they managed; because moving to a nearby city with 3 kids was quite the experience!

We slept in the back yard in a tent while we were painting. The boys loved it. They wanted to do it every day until the end of time.

And now that we're all (mostly. kindof) settled in, they have adjusted to the new location and new schools (more on THAT later) and more space.

During the two weeks before the move, my good friend Robin and my neighbor and friend Maxine took turns taking my kids and feeding them and keeping them sane.

Connor was out in the sun too much one day and started peeling - if you look closely you can see his skin is peeling off in a heart shape between his shoulder blades. heh.

Once I convinced him he wasn't dying of some weird disease, he thought it was pretty funny.

They stayed up late and played with random things left behind from the last tennant. Hopefully we didn't keep anyone awake.

It was tough at times, and we all stressed out a little bit, but we're back to normal now and everyone is happy.

especially mommy.

Nobody kept a straight face while I was taking pictures during the move. Which means now they get to see their goofy mugs on my blog. Ha!

This is Ty. He really likes peeling tape.

He isn't as fond of putting ON the tape,

painting our house,

for two days in a row...

and helping assemble our bookshelves.

But he did it anyway.

Thanks!

(also, credit to Hannah for coming over with an air mattress (she's on bedrest) and hanging out while I taped, taped, cleaned, and taped the whole week before). You guys rock.

This is a few weeks late, I know. This move kinda kicked our butts for the first little while. But we're settling in!

We painted the house on the Friday/Saturday before we moved in. And we learned that there are a few key things to have on hand when painting an entire house in a day and a half:

1. junk food. mostly to keep the kids occupied. go ahead and judge! it saved us!

2. Friends who show up unexpectedly and then drop all their plans for the rest of the day to keep on painting until it's all finished.

3. Did you know that there are two Round Table Pizzas in Burbank? TWO! You don't want to know how much money we spent there in August. My parents would be horrified.

4. This little guy insisted on helping. And being nursed every hour or so, just in case I had thought about weaning him too hard.

5. Did I mention good friends?
Thanks Nick and Kamy!