Oh Sunny Day

Bring on the sunshine, out door cooking, and fun in the sun Summer is on its way!

Little Man, me, and Hubby went to the pool for Button's first time this week and he loved it!

I see lots of fun at the pool this season and am dreaming of cookouts, bushels of garden produce on the grill,  sunny days with hands in the dirt, campouts, and many days at the pool to come.

Monticello

Oh, my goodness what a blessing this weekend was. For my birthday, my mother and sister took me to see Monticello for the first time! I don't know HOW I live in Charlottesville, VA and had never seen it yet but it’s true, I hadn't!

I learned a lot about our father of the Declaration. Thomas Jefferson was such an intelligent and creative man for sure!

But before going to see our third president’s house we stopped at a historic tavern called Michie's tavern for lunch.  It was delicious and we had such a sweet waitress! She even posed for use :D.

The tavern itself is a museum so we took the tour and looked around before heading down the road to Monticello.

Photo By: http://washington.dukegill.com/michiestavern.htm

Inside we found a slew of treasures but here is just a few of my favorites we saw.

 The mattresses back then were held up with ropes instead of springs or slates!

 This massive thing is a thermometer!

Outside there were a few outbuildings that were part of the original property as well.

This was the meat curing house.

Here is the 'fridge'. Fresh water would come from a natural spring and be directed into this building and into cooling sections to keep things like drinks and milk cool before using or drinking. How cool (pun intended) is that?!

After touring the tavern we headed down the road to Monticello.

Once there our first stop was to the visitor center and museum. I had no idea Thomas Jefferson's children and grandchildren were such DIYers

 Here is one of the children's watercolor set.

 The little ladies of the house spent their days learning how to sew and stitch.

Thomas Jefferson himself was more of an inventor and scientist then homemaker though. He loved to learn, to build and create. He was a practical man with grand ideas.

One of my favorite sensible things he did was to make a seed saver wall and log. (This is not in his house but a replica of what it might have looked like... minus the labels).

Our third president would cultivate new breeds and hybrids each year and in his log write down how hardy the brew was and how long it took to bloom and harvest etc. It really was amazing to see the difference between him and our other found fathers. He never did anything if it had no use.

Even his gardens served a purpose. Unlike most of America's founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson did not see the practicality in a floral garden; instead, he created a 1,000-foot vegetable garden, an orchard, vineyard and small plant nursery. He did, however, love to learn about everything and that included plants. He would bring unique plants back from his travels and keep them in his sunroom like a greenhouse; where guests and himself could enjoy them all season.

Another one of my favorite attributes of his was his cleverness and innovative thinking.

It was so wonderful to see things like storm windows in a building so old. He really was such an inventor.

While there my sister even let me do a little photo session! The garden was so beautiful and I love photographing her, how could I not?!

 There were lovely poppies scattered throughout the garden grounds.

I wish I could have taken photos of Monticello itself but due to them having some items on loan without the photographic rights, I wasn't permitted to take any photos. I can let you know one thing for sure though, it is stunning! So many things to learn and see and it was an honor to take part in learning about Thomas Jefferson's life. A must see for all patriots, history buffs, gardeners, and architectural buffs alike!

It was such a blessing to be able to enjoy this time with just us girls and I had truly, an amazing time. Thank you, girls, for making this birthday special. You are both dolls!

Keeping to a Schedule

Now that our Little Man is getting bigger, Hubby and I decided it was about time to put him on a schedule. The only issue I have had about putting him on one was that we tried it before at three weeks and he HATED it. I mean, screaming, crying, red-faced babies hated it. It didn't help that he had colic then too though. Now that we are past the 24/7 scream fests I think we are ready to try again. But what type of schedule would work? There are so many different kinds I've found online but in the end none were that terribly user friendly. The layouts I found were either extremely rigorous or complicated to fill out or read. So, in the end I decided to make my own!

It’s a little hard to see here but I think it will really work out well for use. I think this type of schedule is just what we need right now. It’s not too fussy and works around Buttons 'natural schedule' so that he is less resistant to it. It will also help me and Hubby get a better idea of what is natural clock looks like. After all, everything looks clearer all written out.

I plan on taping it to the front of the nursery's door so it will be easy to remember to fill out and keep track of. As things progress I'll try and update you all on how it’s working out for us.

Here is the link to download your own copy! Enjoy <3

Looking up

The sun is shinning, the garden is growing, the house is (mostly) clean and Button is progressing in every way. Things are looking up.
I even caught Button looking up!

What a strong little man he is becoming. Oh my goodness this breaks my heart (in a completely good way).

Budget Savvy Outfits {Girly Punk}

Every girl wants to feel sexy and feminine even if that comes with a little edginess. Who says a girl can't play rough? This outfit would be great for a night out with the ladies at a bar or playing pool with the boys. Its the best of both worlds! 

A flirty, glittery, but simple top adds a load of glam in one easy piece ($15 from 2bstores) paired with a faux leather jacket  with a girly frilled edge ($23 from Nelly) really sets this outfit above the rest. Nothing says 'punk' quite like a pair of knee high black boots and these babies take on the sass with a platform heel ($17 from Target). Simple faded jeans ($15 from Alloy) make this design stay simple and easy going. Tossing on a cute bright blue scarf ($8.80 from Forever 21) and matching, dangley earrings ($6.08 from Debenhams) creates a pulled together look, adds color, and a bit of frill in a hassle free way.

Too Fast

This is how my days are spend lately.

Not much else going on these days. Just hang'n with my little man and taking in each moment.
Time goes by too fast.

A Change of View

After a little over a year of these babies hanging on the wall accosting my eyes, I finally got my butt in gear and painted them, as I mentioned doing in this previous post.

 I love how they were only a buck for BOTH of them and painting them was free because I already had the paint from painting the nursery furniture!

I can't believe it took me so long to get this done. What the heck!? Crisp white looks so much better then the flaky fake gold! All I did was tape off the glass with painters tape, then used my nail to 'cut' off the extra to get a clean line against the frame. If you don't have freakishly sharp, long nails you can use an exact'o blade.

 Here you can see the horrid chippieness (yep, just used that word) on them.  eww right? So you could see why it had to go. That and I'm just not a fan of fake gold.

once it was all taped off I just used a small craft brush to paint them ( I didn't want to use a roller because it might have made paint clumps on the details). All I had was red and black in way of spray paint and I really wanted to stick to using what I already had so that was a no go but spray paint would be quicker and much better if you don't have the patience to paint then, let them dry and repeat three times ( I did three even, thin coats as to avoid clumping in the details).
The finished product was well worth the half hour it took to do for sure!

I'm love'n the crisp white against the yellow in our living room for sure! Something about bright, cottage white and sunny, soft yellow makes my heart sing. <3