Painting away...

Here are some of the pieces that my mom and I refinished in June in her house. We counted that we painted over 20 pieces of furniture and accessories. And if you think I was sick of painting after all that (it took a good 3 1/2 weeks to finish it all) I came back to Boise and painted a desk of mine and some garden signs (more pictures of that in another post). I'm officially addicted. We used this great paint called Annie Sloan Chalk paint. So nice and requires no sanding or priming. It's really lovely stuff to work with and doesn't take as much work to get the pieces looking aged and antiqued. I could only find one before picture of some of the furniture (this is the before dining table and picture on the wall) so you will just have to imagine a lot of dark wood getting painted.

Before:

Corner hutch (she had two and the other one looks just like this in another room) we painted a pretty blue:

Family room tables painted gray to bring out the gray fireplace.
Light cream tables in the front living room.
Here's the family room. We also made new pillows and curtains in this room.
My sil also had an old antique dressing she needed painted to we also painted this for her. It is going in her little girl's room with cute pink knobs.
This is the fabric for the curtains in the front living room we made. Isn't it gorgeous? I could sit and stare at this print all day. Sorry, pictures don't always do it justice ya know...
Front room, new curtains and pillows as well.
The blue corner hutch again, the picture frame was also painted in a little green and the dining room table as well as reupholstered all the eight chairs. The chairs were by far the biggest bear to get done (eight of them-two not shown). Lots of nooks and crannies and too many sides on those things. We also painted my mom's barstools and reupholstered them as well but I don't have a picture of them.
And if furniture wasn't enough, we also painted this pitcher.

Plate and pot base.
Even the owl who the call Octavius.
There were a few other knick knacks we painted (I even painted candles-who knew?) but I didn't bother to take pictures. All and all it was A LOT of work but so rewarding in the end because my parents both LOVE the new look.

Hello middle of Summer...

Just like every summer, time flies. The girls and I have been in Wyoming for the past month and a half getting a chance to play with Grandma's and Grandpa. It was all new experiences and my parents have a huge yard they can just run forever in so they loved every moment. I helped my mom with some home projects (lots and lots of furniture painting). I will show pictures of our work eventually but I haven't gotten them uploaded yet. So the girls got a chance to go on four wheeler rides....

Mckenna loved the four wheeler the most and was trying to drive it with me most the time. She's little miss take charge!
The girls with dad here, just loved the looks of misery, mainly because the didn't want to share dad and the four wheeler with each other...

Madison has learned how to crawl out of bed (since the week before Memorial Day) and boy is it exhausting. They have all crawled out of their cribs once each in the last 4-5 months but I just considered it all flukes. This time it's consistently every nap and nighttime. Madison gets her sisters all amped up about it too and they cheer her on in her freedom! So they have really been delaying falling asleep lately but I figure if they are tired enough, they will sleep I guess. Just in the last week or so Carly has also learned how to climb out but Carly is much easier to discipline and get back in her bed and she won't try it as often as Maddy. I have to say I am more impressed with Carly hefting herself out of the crib. It's pretty impressive in general how much kids can climb like little monkeys but Carly is 30 lbs of straight lead so it can't be easy to lift herself out whereas Maddy is as light as a feather.

So most of the time, they are pretty quiet and I don't always know when Maddy is out of bed. I will check in before bed and put her back in her bed if she is on the floor but sometimes she decides to curl up in the oddest positions or locations. This is one of the pieces we painted while I was in Wyoming and she loves this cabinet. Always sticking her stuffed animals in it. Well, one day she decided to fall asleep in there. Sleeping like that would have broken my back so it's a good thing kids seem to be made of rubber.
Kenz loved playing with the balls outside on the grass, she couldn't get enough of them, here she is offering her beach ball to me...
Maddy loved Grandma's little metal bunny she has on her front porch and she would sit and pet it and give it kisses. So sweet...
And these are the best pictures I can get of Carly. Every time I pull out the camera she is running in the opposite direction. Carly LOVES outside, and gets very upset when it's time to go back inside. She never stops moving the entire time we are outside. They really aren't the easiest to capture in photos right now with all of the movement.
So we had a great time in Wyoming, I painted a lot (like over 20 pieces of furniture) and I was tired after it all but I really love to paint so that helped me stay focused, plus I love accomplishing big projects. I have started painting a desk here that my parents gave me that they don't need anymore so I will have to get pictures up of that. We'll be heading back over in a few weeks to Wyoming for a family reunion and I am excited for the girls to see all the Aunts, Uncles, cousins, and extended Aunt, Uncle, cousins!

2nd Birthday Party

Last Saturday we had a big celebration/party for the girls. Since we really didn't celebrate their first birthdays with a big party, I thought we better make there second a little bigger deal. I gotta say, it's kind of nice to get your kids' birthday finished in one big party. There are definite advantages to triplets! Here's just a few of the pictures from the party...

My mil getting pummeled by all the kids playing catch with her at the same time...
Birthday present opening...

Grilling...

...and cupcakes!

Singing Happy Birthday to the girls...

I don't feed the girls a lot of sweets on a regular basis so they went CRAZY over the cupcakes! By the end of the weekend, they were verbally requesting for cupcakes at every meal. That didn't take long for them to get addicted! My mom made over four dozen cupcakes for the party and they were pretty much to die for so I understand... We had Red Velvet and Coconut cupcakes and who can resist Red Velvet!

We held the party in our backyard and besides a few fleeting sprinkles and a lot of wind (that kept on blowing everything off the tables) the temperature was perfect and a perfect little party! Happy Birthday girls, we can't believe you are already two!

Happy 2nd Birthday!

So it's now 10:30 at night and I am finally getting around to posting a Happy Birthday note. Sheesh! Life is too busy... the girls turned two today. It has gone so fast and yet so slow. They are all such happy girls and we love them so much! Hope you had a wonderful birthday girlies! Birthday cake pictures later this week I hope, but I'm not promising anything!

L to R: Carly, Mckenna, Madison

Easter

I have found that it helps to have a few craft or painting projects to do for me to keep my sanity. Here are a few of the things I've made recently during the girls naps and when they go to bed at night. Kyle thinks I have a disease since I can't leave well enough alone and have to keep on redecorating everything. Maybe I am sick....

I'm a little out of control with yarn wreaths. After my Valentine's ones I just thought they would make fun easter ones as well. And unless I find something else I really love before then, I will probably have a fourth of July yarn wreath as well. Here's a little mini one...

Made some stacking boxes with vintage easter pictures...

Another vintage picture framed with chicken wire...

And yes, my new spring front door yarn wreath!
Oh and a spring topiary (that took forever and I am not making these rosette things again!)

Also decided that my bedroom was a little too black and white boring so I made some pillows to go with my inexpensive green quilt I found for summertime (duvet in the winter)

What do you think?

Catch Up...

So who is ready for Spring cause I am DYING for warmer weather! The girls are so stir crazy right now (and so am I!) and it would be nice to be able to take them outdoors on dry grass and just let them run for miles! We are finally over all our sicknesses (for now at least) After the big Influenza bout then we went straight into RSV and just when we got through that, they repeated it and had another round of RSV with lovely ear infections through the whole thing. How miserable are sick kids? Don't answer, I think I already know pretty well at this point. Except for Mckenna, she is pretty amazing when she is sick and so sometimes it's hard to tell how sick she really is. It must seem like a walk in the park (a little cold here and there) compared to all the stuff she had to deal with as a baby.

And the girls are growing like crazy. I haven't kept track of height measurements like I am supposed to but I swear they have all grown many multiple inches in the last few months. They are looking more and more like toddlers and less like little chubby babies (or tootsie rolls as I like to call little babies).

They are well into their pre-terrible twos. I used to think they were showing their emotions before but talk about the drama now! Eeesh! I feel like I say to them "Calm down and relax!" all day long! Oh, and "It's okay.." but most days it's more like screaming "It's okay!" They definitely don't bring out the calm in me most of the time. This is definitely a frustrating stage with all these emotions they are displaying and stubborness and inability to say what they mean. But at the same time, it is fun to see them attempting to start communicating. And they string some of the silliest words together. The other day I said to Carly, "Oh Carly, you are so cute!" and she looked at me and said, "That's right." Don't think she had any idea what she was saying but still so funny. Also, the other day she was saying dada over and over (she does most days) and I finally said jokingly, "you know there are other people in this house besides dada" she was quite for a second and then started saying mama over and over. Okay one more. She will also take ribbon or a bow, scrunch it all up (I guess she thinks she tying it like mom does) and then throws her arms out and says, "there!" I guess I've learned that I have say "there" after I have tied shoes, bows, etc...

They still love to climb up on everything. They love the table and think they are really doing something naughty when they all get up there. I need to quash that habit soon but I am picking my battles right now.

Look at Carly and Maddy right here... they think they are hillarious!

After much trepidation and dragging my feet, I finally am trying to work on utensils. It's just such a mess to clean up for three. I think everyday, I wonder if my house will ever be clean again? They are doing quite well, just your typical rub the yogurt all through the hair experience...and then fling it all over the floor. But it has to be done because I am not going to spoon feed them forever.

Carly also has glasses now along with Mckenna. She is also farsighted like Mckenna but her vision is actually worse than Mckenna. Mckenna was put in hers first because her eyes were starting to cross. Carly's haven't even attempted to cross but the doctor said it was time and she will like it better because she will be able to see better. But.... she is the worst at wearing her glasses. Mckenna will keep hers on most of the day, but I'm lucky if Carly will go an hour with hers. So that's a constant battle. I think she can see a lot better but she just can't help from touching them and pulling them off. Perfect example in picture below...

The girls are starting to get into the dress up deal. They love hats... (Mckenna)

(Carly)

(Madison)

Shoes (especially Carly and Maddy)

(Carly)

Headbands (Maddy-nice hairdo huh?)

And just clothes in general... They are growing up so fast! (L to R: Carly, Mckenna, Madison)

We haven't taken them to church all winter because of sickness and I think their first Sunday back will be Easter. It will also be their first nursery experience. I will try and post sometime between now and then! I always think, that's a whole month away, but it just flies by too fast and next thing I know it's three months later.

Oh, and one other thing. Mckenna is still crawling and not walking so we were able to get her in foot braces/orthotics and they have helped so much so far with her stability. She is so skinny so it takes so long for her to build up her muscles and probably still dealing with brain trauma from when she was born. But she is doing amazing! The doctors and therapists call her a miracle baby for all the amazing improvement she has made. They always say, you would never guess this girl went through a grade 3 brain bleed and hydrocephalus. It's actually nice to only have two walking. How stressful when all three are running!