busy busy!

Yikes---we've been busy around here! Between work, school, activities, house projects we haven't had a lot of down time to blog so I'll do a big catch up post.

We've been busy with work & my first grad class is almost done---crazy! Ava's been loving being back in school so far. She also had her first day of dance on Saturday. She was happy to see a lot of her old friends and has been practicing plie saute all around the house.
This weekend we took {another} trip to Ikea for a few changes in the living room. We've had this brown chair forever & while we love it, it just doesn't really have a place in the house right now. It gets in the way walking down the hall...so we swapped it.

We love this ottoman! It fits so much better & brightens up the place a lot more.
{please excuse the weird look to the pillows---not sure what's going on there}

and lots of storage---always a plus!

such a cozy spot

Sunday, we got some stuff done around the house. Steve went grocery shopping and I took the kids to run some errands & pick some pumpkins & some mums for the yard. Ava & I nicely coordinated in our blue & white striped shirts.

Cole was pretty ticked we were taking a picture instead of leaving...

so we invited him to join us which really made him mad :)

The kids had a lot of fun picking out the pumpkins. Cole was determined to carry all the pumpkins and was pretty mad he couldn't carry the huge ones. We saw some lambs there but the kids kept their distance---they weren't too sure of them. We came home with a few baby pumpkins for outside and around the house. Cole likes to play with them so I'm hoping we can keep track of them around the house.

perfect Cole sized pumpkin

While the kids napped, Steve planted the mums, mowed the lawn & we got the house ready for the week. We made a yummy dinner & played some baseball in the backyard. Cole sometimes swings like a lefty {not that you can really tell at this age but I'll humor Steve} which makes Steve pretty happy. Both kids actually do really well hitting the ball and I'm sure they'll have lots more practice in the years to come!



Now we're getting ready for a big birthday bash for a certain almost 4 year old {can you believe that??} our 5 year anniversary, new windows, Halloween and some more jam-packed weekends. I'll definitely try to keep updated! Have a great week!

weekend fun!

What a gorgeous weekend! The fall weather was here and the weather was just amazing! We got tons of stuff done around the house. It's so nice checking thing off our ever growing to-do list. On Saturday I went out for a run {my first one in a looong time} and then the kids & I got started on making apple crisp while Steve got started on painting. Ava was so excited to help make "apple crispy".

counting apples!

Ava mixing the filling

We spent the rest of the day outside playing in the yard. While the kids napped I went through their closets. We've been lucky as far as stretching clothes but both have had a major growth spurt in the past few months & needed new clothes. We headed to the outlets and got the kids some great new clothes, pjs & 2 more pairs of shoes each---thank goodness for good sales! And Steve & I got a new pizza stone---woo hoo! So their clothes are all organized and they are ready for fall. I can't say the same about us but we'll get there :)

Sunday, the kids & I ran some errands while Steve finished up some projects. We {meaning Steve} patched and painted our front porch, painted our side & coffee table and started on painting the register for the bathroom---phew! We played outside, had another picnic & just enjoyed the day together. I did food shopping & have 2 weeks of meals all planned out which is so helpful now that we are so busy! Now the house is clean, the laundry is done, lunches are packed, the kids are in bed & we're ready for another busy week.

pushing Cole

yummy fall picnic

the kids making 'fruit salad" together

Have a wonderful week!

table redo

So we got a few projects done this weekend! We have plans to brighten up the living room---it is suddenly a whole lot of brown going on. We also needed to do something about our old tv stand. We've had this set since before we got married---we still like it but the tv didn't fit all the way on the stand {since it was a corner stand} and some little boy would push it & climb on the shelves. Not so ok in our book.

super old living room picture

Our latest trip to Ikea left us with this cute little stand. The tv is now all the way back, there are no shelves to climb and it even holds more than our old stand. Yay! Except it didn't match the rest of our living room furniture. Boo. We really like the storage we have and the size of the tables so we decided to attempt to paint it white.

Steve got out the sander, I found the perfect "Ikea white" at Home Depot and we were ready!

befores:

after!

so much brighter!

I think we might go with the rug below so just pretend that is thrown in there

baskets hold cars, toys & books

I think we're going to put a clear coat on top to protect it from certain kiddies and their car races/coloring mishaps. We have a few more things planned {one of them is filling those empty frames---oops} and I can't wait to see it come together.