Phone Dump

Just a bunch of randoms, but it will give you an idea of what we’ve been up to since Christmas…

Santa brought Knox a Tonka construction kit and James helped him put it together the day after Christmas. He was SO excited to use real tools and very proud of his work!

Piko, Piko, PIKO… I’ve been in the dark about these shirts but my sister recently got me one and now I’m a believer! It’s so comfy, especially paired with one of my other favorites of the season - my HUE cord leggings.

This is how I spent New Year’s Eve… I literally could NOT put this book down. I finished it in 2 days. It’s CRAAAZY.

  

Our Hoppin’ Johns and cornbread for New Year’s Day. This is the second year I’ve used THIS crockpot recipe. Love it! (Except I use regular chopped onion instead of green.)

How I spent New Year’s Day - packing up the baby toys to make room for the new! I never had a “lull” to do this in between Knox and Hadley so it’s a bit strange. But the extra space is niiiice :)

We went out for Mexican and margaritas with friends New Year’s night. So low key and nice! These are our 4 goof balls.

SURPRISE for Mommy! Our anniversary was the 3rd and James really did surprise me this year. I’d sent him links to my Things Mommy Would Love… Pinterest board a while back and I guess he got the hint ;) YAY because I was in dire need of a decent black bag and I just love the wristlet.

These 2 crack me up. Hadley is convinced the doll’s wagon is meant for her, just like she thinks the Our Generation horse is hers…

I’m a firm believer that every house should have a Wooden Railway set. It’s one of those toys we can get out any time and every one enjoys it.

  

Santa brought Knox a bunch of big boy Legos and storage sets, but you’d think they were for Daddy!

One of our Christmas presents this year was a new address plaque. The lovely painted ceramic piece just was not cutting it, so I was excited when James got our pretty new one hung!

  

I painted our front door black back in September, and I decided over the weekend that the back door should match. (Especially in light of our “new” fireplace doors.) I love how it turned out and we even updated the hinges on both doors, which doesn’t sound like a big deal but it makes a huge difference, IMO. (I used Black Magic by Sherwin Williams, exterior latex paint in a Satin finish. To paint over the white trim paint I first used an oil-base primer tinted a deep gray.)

And - to mark our progress - other little home improvement jobs we’ve been able to knock out recently…

Not the best pics, but I updated the curtain rods and drapes in our front living room. I came across the PERFECT fabric the day after Thanksgiving (and I recently realized it’s the same print as Adam and Christina’s couch on Parenthood!), and finally finished them right before Christmas. This was my first time making window treatments. They were much easier than I thought.

  

We replaced the white and gold fan in the kitchen - the LAST out-of-date fixture downstairs! Only 2 more to go upstairs… And our shower head. It used to come to James’ chest so I got a longer arm for it, a new head, and since the water in this house does awful things to my hair (hard water?) we added a filter. It seems to work!

Sweet, silly Hadley!

The other night Knox instructed James to leave his Iron Man costume at the end of his bed. Just in case (exact words), “Bad men show up and I have to suit up…” Oh my gosh, I love that kid!

James’ internet has been down at his office so he’s been working from home… My sewing room “roomie” for now. This room is RARELY presentable but I got motivated to clean it and even hang a few things the other day.

It’s bad when you have enough laundry to sort by actual COLOR, right? This has been my life this week. I’ve been so behind since Christmas, but I think I see an end in sight… I just need everyone to stop changing clothes for about a week. :-/