today's play

We have been in a really nice daily routine of late, but today I kind of threw us off track with my need to clean and a spontaneous project. Daily things with the girls are fun, but definitely tiresome.

Am I nervous to throw in that fourth?! Oh you bet ya! I am so scared as how this will look in my home. There will be a new normal, but it makes me super nervous. Sometimes when Ben gets home, I just want to run out of the house and escape, but with four, oh my sanity will be such a rarity. I really wish there was a chill pill cause I need myself a big dose of that! Know of a doctor who can prescribe me some?

As much as they wear me out, it is also a joy. I love watching them play because it is so funny. I see so much of myself and how I use to play as a little girl. They line up all their dolls on their chairs and put on a show! I totally did that all the time.

Can you spot the newest toys in the line up? Yup! That is what happens when they sleepover Grammy and Grumpy's house... a trip to the disney store! Oh me oh my! Good thing I am not a hoarder and purge through toys often. Until then, then will enjoy Minnie and Jasmine until to their hearts' content.

I was such a disney lover growing up, so I think it is kind of funny that I don't really buy them disney stuff. I love Disneyland and all, but I really just don't buy them a lot of toys period, unless it is handmade, but even with that, they have so much anyways, they don't need anything!

I am glad the work week is shorter because even though it just started, I am looking forward to the weekend. I just like having Ben home!

so long television (and a family room tour)

Recently, I was talking to a friend and she told me how her friend liked our house and vintage furniture, particularly our vintage television. Well now, it is not exactly vintage, but we haven't yet succumbed to a be a flat screen television family.

Our television is about 14 years old and was bought by Ben when he was a bachelor livin' it up on the east coast. It has moved from D.C. to Texas to California and followed him into married life. It has been great and thus have never thought to trade it in for the ever popular flat screen. It is funny because when most of my friends got married, a television was usually the first thing they purchased, but we didn't cause we already had this trusty square tube. It has worked fine and dandy and my only qualm is that it isn't easy to hide. I personally don't think televisions (flat or not) are that good looking and it is not my preference to mount it on a wall to be a focal point (I would much rather have it hiding in a cabinet).

So here we are today and our television bit the dust a week ago. It became a teleaudio as the vision part when kaput! We have tried different things to fix it, but it just wouldn't bring back the vision. Now I will admit, I did a little happy dance when it bit the dust because tv's aren't that cute (that's why it never gets photographed), but also because we finally could get rid of another piece of new furniture in our house (most things are vintage and that ikea tv stand was one of the few new items left). Also, I have been saving a vintage, french pie safe to put in place of that stand that would be perfect for the one day we would get a little flat screen. While I would still prefer to hide a flat screen in a vintage cabinet of sorts, propped up on a cool vintage pie safe is good enough for me!

My family came over yesterday for dinner and we had all the boys lug that television out of the house, as well as load the ikea stand in my parents car bound for their house, so we immediately brought the pie safe down. It is now in place with nothing on top. Currently, we have no plans to get a new television because those things are just darn expensive and we have got certain bills to pay before we could make that purchase. We will be tv-less for now and that idea is kind of exciting to us. The only thing we really watched were Spurs games and Food Network, which is what I will miss the most because my girls get super duper excited watching their favorite chefs in action.

So in honor of our television, I thought I would give you a little tour of the family room that it lived in. You have seen it here and here before, but I do change tiny things up from time to time and thought I would share it before it changed slightly again. Plus, I did get a cool vintage piece at the Found & Oh hello friend yard sale (thanks Jenny for the awesome trade!) that I can't wait to clean up and get in this room.

Without further ado, say hello and goodbye to our television...

The chalkboard canvas holds True's latest installation and there is my Bravey playing by herself because she was in time out. Next to it is my collection of vintage sap buckets. I always love me a big pop of color!

And yes, that is a white, child sized eames chair there in front of the iron bed/sofa. It is a good looking kid chair!

Our vintage rolling industrial cart/coffee table that holds our family sketchbook, along with an old trash can full of bocce balls, a plant, and a vintage brownie camera.

In the back, you could see our breakfast area and the beautiful sunflowers Ben and True surprised me with on Sunday. We also don't have proper lighting in the family room, so we use the strung up Christmas lights along the curtain top until we figure out what we want to do. It will probably be up there for awhile.

I really love using outdoor furniture inside, so that pink lawn chair is another one of my favorite things.

A vintage medicine cabinet holds a plant, photobooth pictures from True's 4th birthday, and a wooden eiffel tower.

And alas, the little cove with a vintage pie safe and no television...

The little cove looks strange and I am not sure what to put on top in the meantime, but it is kind of nice without a television. We aren't that much of television people anyways, so maybe we may never get one! Heck, I get my world news from all of you via reading your blogs or your emails!

This weekend has been pretty crazy with the yard sale and a wedding on Saturday, then Sunday we had to take True to the doctor because she had a bug bite that had swollen 15 times bigger than what it was earlier in the week (she has antibiotics now), then my family came over for dinner Sunday night and Monday was spent cleaning and purging. Not much time left for resting and tomorrow it is back to work for Ben and we will be counting down until it is time for him to come home.

Oh! And just tonight my camera has decided to act up! Ben thinks I am messing things up to get new things, but that really isn't the case. I don't want to have to dish out money for a new camera just yet, so let's hope that my Nikon d40 can hang in there just a wee bit longer!

How was your weekend? Was it much more low key than ours or did a couple things go kaput on you too?!!

new month coming

Hello friends! My belly is round, but I managed to scarf down a yummy dole whip float still. Life is good and full.

June is around the corner and I will have some new sponsors coming, but before the month officially turns, I wanted to ask, "Do you have something to ad?" Cakies subscribers and daily page visits are increasing daily. I have been adding some new friends and I would love to tell them about your blog, shop, or your fabulousness! For more details, just shoot me an email.

Enjoy your Sunday!!!

vintage here, vintage there: a happy place

The morning we were getting dressed to go to Disneyland, my daughters already had distinct ideas of what they wanted to wear. They picked their own clothes and somehow they said those were "Disneyland clothes". I guess I had my "Disneyland clothes" ready too so when I got this shirt in from Ms. Tips, I knew this shirt was going to be perfect for our Disney day and indeed it was!

The weather was wonderfully warm and sunny, but not too hot. We all had sweaters in the stroller cause once that California sun disappeared it was suddenly very cool.

Soulie was confined to the stroller most of the time there, except when she was riding a ride, but when she got loose, oh she had herself a blast! She is one baby that cannot be contained and wants to be wherever her sisters are.

Oh that bump keeps growing and I am getting new stretch marks! I don't understand why as I already have so many to begin with, but I guess that is the price I pay for my babes. Good thing Ben loves my tattoo of fire (that's what it really looks like) on my belly. My hair is also really long now and I don't know what to do with it! Thus, it is always up or to the side. Must bug my sister to cut my hair soon.

Sandal season... love it! I need to order some new salt waters for True as she has almost outgrown hers. Then those gets passed down to Brave. I am thinking to get these or these. It's time for me to dig out all my sandals that have been sitting in boxes. I have a beach wedding to attend to this weekend, so I will be sure to wear one of them.

on me: shirt, vintage via ms. tips. skirt, thrifted. camisole, local shop. shoes, vintage via capricious traveler. sunglasses, anthropologie.

on true: shirt, misha lulu. skirt, vintage. sandals, salt waters. bow, made by me.

on brave: dress, vintage. shirt, misha lulu. sandals, salt waters.

on soul: dress, vintage. leggings. misha lulu. moccasins, freshly picked.

Pretty vintage sandals for you: pretty brown, rockin' armadillos, basketwoven red, retro green, pretty peep toes, yellow hurachas, woven oxfords

Lovely vintage sandals for little ones: baby hurachas, red white and blue, pink mary janes, black flats, navy salt water.

Rachel and I have both been busy so our outfit posts come a bit later this week! Hope you don't mind. Head "over there" and see Rachel's ultra fab boots and Ruby's oh so cute sailor dress. Those two are always utterly adorable!!!

Happy weekending friends!

p.s. will you be at the oh, hello friend & found yard sale? i will (just for a bit)! maybe i will see you there!

hello friday

There is a full weekend ahead and today will be pretty busy too! I am working on cleaning my studio/craft area and getting it (home)school ready. I am still unsure where to put certain things, but as things get cleaned out, I am sure it will come to me. I already have purged through some of my fabric and I have tons more to go... oh boy!

This week's learnings...

- The different types of homeschooling. There are so many kinds! Unschooling, structured, eclectic, classical, internet, montessori, and the list could go on and on...

- Re-evaluating my teaching philosophy and determining how that will look like in my home.

- Brave doesn't really have good hand eye coordination just yet. She'll get there.

- Soul still prefers to grunt than speak.

- I am hormonally all over the place. Seriously.

- I need to pray for Christians who are oppressed in our countries.

- Letting my soul sing and living it well.

What sorts of lesson learning did you go through this week?

Be back later with a vintage here post.

a disney day

Have I told you my baby sister got a job at Disneyland? She is a dancer in the new parade that starts on Friday. She is the red bird named Panchito (near Donald Duck). She will be the cutest one there, so it will be hard not to miss her!

Anyhow, one of the perks of being an employee is that she can occasionally get people in for free. They have a new ride opening up, so yesterday she was able to bring in people to try it out (and the rest of the park). I mustered up the courage to venture out to such a massive place like Disneyland sans Ben, but good thing I have one sibling to help with every kid. Next time, it probably will be 4 on 4, but for now the adults still outnumber my kids. Whew!

The weather was perfect. My girls were excited. And disneyland is just always happy place!

I know my brother rarely gets blog time, but he is the dude in the pictures (just in case you hadn't figured that out yet). I am the oldest of four, my brother is 4 years younger than me, then my two sisters follow. The baby and I are 10 years apart, which means though my mom had me at 21, she had her at 31, so I win! We still got 4 more months to go, but Lord willing I will have popped out 4 kids before 30! HA! Take that Mom!!! And just like my mom, 4 is as high as I go.

I love Disneyland, but I was super happy to be home and with my Benny again. I guess I am just too much of a homebody at heart! There really is no place like home...

We got a vintage here, vintage there post coming about what we wore to the happy place soon. In the meantime, what was your yesterday filled with?!

nutty nutty

Those peanut butter yogurt cravings come nightly, but it has been getting costly to keep sending Ben to the yogurt place around the corner to fetch me some, so I decided I needed to another way to satisfy these nutty cravings. After dinner last night, I quickly went online looking for a good peanut butter cookie recipe. I came across this one from Smitten Kitchen and decided that would be the one to try!

Wowee! It is good. Really good. Or maybe that is the hormonal mama talking. I had to tweak a few things because as I was mixing, I realized I had no vanilla extract so I went on food subs to find a substitute (amazing site by the way), but realized I didn't have anything to substitute still, so then we went digging and found some vanilla vodka in the pantry, so I put a teaspoon of that in! HA! The cookies taste good, so I guess that works as a good substitute.

Now I got a whole batch of cookies and one person to share it with... Brave! Not that she will complain about that. Ben isn't a fan of peanut buttery things unless it is a pb&j sandwich, True is allergic to peanuts, and we don't give Soul cookies willy nilly just yet. Between Brave and me these cookies will be gone in a flash!

Speaking of hormonal, I think maybe all these nutty things have made me nutty. Ben called me yesterday on the way home and said he wanted to work out for 15 minutes. I threw a fit! I wasn't prepared for that. It didn't turn into much of a fight because he didn't do it, but it was kind of funny. Somehow him telling me that, made me a grump. So weird. Then, when we were talking I started crying. About what? I don't even remember. Plus, I have been extra clingy and wanting cuddling. I am already a cuddler as it is, so the fact I want more is hilarious. As soon as Ben gets home, I am up in his grill and trying to make out with him all the time. Hormonal much? Yeah. I think so.

All this to say... have a great day folks! Try to not be as nutty as me...

plain yum

This weekend a bridal shower was on the agenda for my friend Nina (Neha to me), so my friend Owen and I got busy cooking and baking. With 5 kids running and crawling around us, we made chicken curry salad sandwiches, tuna sandwiches, and salted caramel brownies (via bliss) from scratch. They were all supercalifragilistically yummy!!!

Seriously, these brownies are amazing!!! They aren't your regular kind and much more savory (gotta love that salty sweet combo), but really, not sure if I could go back to the normal kind after this. But if you knew what went in it, you would be sure to not make this everyday. That stuff is just dangerous! This is the next one I want to make.

And the chicken curry sandwiches... we didn't make them so healthy, but a healthy version using a soy-mayo will be recreated in this home for sure. If you have some other delicious chicken curry sandwich recipe to share, please do!

Once again, thank you for your responses to the seriousness of the previous post (your emails and comments really meant so much to me). My heart was busy thinking all day about it. Before a post like that, I always wonder to myself, "Should post it? Is it too personal? Am I being clear? Will I lose readers?" Those are the honest thoughts that run through my head. Of course, if I really did go by that last question then this blog would be around just to please people and I can't live by that. I have so much more I want to say, so I am sure those things will come out in subsequent heart to heart posts.

In the meantime, you will still get the bit of crafting, daily life with my girls, yummy eating, lovely old things, and funny stories that travel through our home regularly. I never know what to exactly classify my blog as I don't just stick to crafting, food, vintage or any one particular area. I jump around and I hope you all don't mind that (and if you did, I guess that really wouldn't change too much around here). I just enjoying sharing life and the bits of pieces in my heart. I hope you enjoy that too!

weekend end

That was us as honeymooners in Fiji almost 6 years ago. We had about 10 months to ourselves before the kids hit and it all has been a whirlwind of life since then. My heart was full then and my heart is still full now. Fuller even! I am still completely in love with this man and choose to be so daily. He really makes my heart swell!

Don't get me wrong. There are fights. Some too painful to maybe even talk about in this space, but they are there. God is good and gracious in allowing us two sinners to choose to continue loving each other daily. When you have two sinners together, it ain't ever an easy thing!

Not sure what got me talking about all of this, but I must say there has been a jumble of things in my heart this weekend. Also, thinking about today's message (perfect timing for what was already stirring in my heart) at our church gathering of looking for the future glory and longing for that more than the present suffering.

A phrase that has been ringing in my heart is "live it well." Am I living this life well? Well isn't defined by how nice my house is, how many vintage collections I have, how much I enjoy my husband, how good my kids are or even how much I love them. Heck! It for sure isn't about my blog or my blog readership. Well is only defined by living for Christ. Letting my future hope in Christ define everything I do. I know I don't live that out for sure.

Today we sang a very familiar hymn and as we sang the line "Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to thee, How great Thou art, How great Thou art." I realized my soul wasn't singing. I don't let that truth really sink deep into my soul. I need to. I ought to. I really do want my soul (not just my lips) to sing that line over and over again. I don't want my soul to sing for having a beautiful home, my children, my Ben, or even my blog, I want it to sing for God alone.

Thank you friends for tuning in to the ramblings of my heart and life in this space. You are all appreciated and I want all of you to live life well too.

scenes of our days

Brave's not afraid a bugs...

Baked banana muffins...

I craved cookie crisps...

Lots of potty times...

Lots of hair playing...

Horse playing...

Adorable Soulie...

Time out in the garden and bringing the garden in...

As crazy as these days are for this mama (having kids back to back to back (and back) is difficult), they are really lovely too! These lovely, yet crazy days shall continue tomorrow... thank God it will be Friday!!!

craigslist, i like you

I first sold things on craigslist a couple months ago and last week we did our first ever craigslist purchase and pickups. They were from two different sellers, who happened to live 5 minutes away from each other, so why not just pick both of them up right?! Who could turn down a vintage turquoise fiberglass chair and a pair of aqua school chairs for pretty much pennies?! Not I!

The fiberglass chair needs a bit of work, so we will try out this restoration process. When all is said and done, I want to have something pretty draped on it like this chair (that fluffiness just looks so comfy cozy!). I am not quite sure where they are going to go just yet (maybe in the catch all room that holds all our messes or maybe as my computer chair), but chairs put me in a decorating mood. Okay, maybe I am already in a decorating mood because of all this nesting, but it is mighty fun (and stressful when I have to tackle the messes)!

Have you ever purchased anything on craigslist? If so, tell me about it!

p.s. today was a slightly better day, but i am definitely still fighting this crankiness in my heart.

message banner

I was absolutely smitten with a banner that was in this picture taken by Max Wanger. It looked so cool and had to be an easy DIY, so I gave it a shot. Plus, I was in need of a little fun project after taking care of some business things and being a little cranky because the girls were not listening. Oh and did I mention that Soul's poop came out of her diaper and she stepped in it and walked all over the hallway and her room (mind you, we have carpet)?! Yeah. An easy, fun project was necessary and this little banner just fit the bill.

I wasn't quite sure what message to put on it, but Ben and I have been talking a lot about what God taught us at our church gathering on Sunday, and that's when it hit me. We were reminded that if we have Christ, we are light, we don't need to be light. Thus, since we already are light, we just need to shine and not hide it. I often think that we have to be lights, but that isn't the case. We already are, so we just need to realize who we are and live it out. I think this banner is a good reminder of that truth.

I hung it up in True and Brave's room, but wasn't sure if I liked it in their room or Soul's. Also, I took the cut out letters and sewed them on a string to make it a bunting of sorts and hung it up over True's bed. Since both are currently in the big girls' room, they get a double whammy of the message.

I definitely am going to try and make another banner just for fun, but I think my house would look silly with tons of fabric banners hanging everywhere. Maybe I will make another for a giveaway, that would be extra special right?!

I can't say my light was shining brightly today, it was more on dim because I just wasn't being the nicest of mommies and was the Grand Crank Master all day long. Not fun for the kids. Thank God his mercies are new every morning and I will give this another shot tomorrow...

I am off to eat some peanut butter yogurt (I crave it nightly), read, and head off to lala land!

Lord, please help me shine brightly to my children tomorrow!

the blue room

I was honored to be part of Rachel's Style Your Space e-course (can still get it here) as the other women who contributed are just out of this world fantastic and I hardly think that I deserve to be put in the same company as them. I chose to share what we call "the blue room". This is the first room you see when you first enter the house and I finally got it all together, so when Rachel asked us to share a room, I knew just which one I wanted to share.

My favorite piece in this room is by far the anthropologie sofa that we scored for pretty darn cheap (in anthropologie terms). It was a sofa that we coveted for a long time, but didn't have the pennies for, we stalked and stalked it online waiting for the day it would go on sale (about 2 years) and then next thing you knew, it was gone! I called customer service to find out what happened and found out it was put on super sale. So I called all my local stores to see if anyone had it and sure enough someone still did and I even got an extra discount since it was the floor model. It was a steal of a deal and we picked it up that same night and it has been sitting in this front room ever since.

The long table is another of my favorite pieces as it is a vintage beer garden table that we scored at the flea market. It folds perfectly flat and comes with two benches and is perfect for bringing outside for dinner parties. Just a wonderful piece with many uses! I love things like that. Don't you?

To the left of the table is a vintage wine rack and the chair was something we found on one of our trips to San Antonio. I bought it thinking I would have it reupholstered, but have since decided I like it just like that. Above the table is the painting the girls and I made together. The beer garden table also holds some of my little collections of random things, vintage child chair, plants, an old trash can, old post card holder and vintage post cards.

Another corner with an old bistro table with more pretty things.

I love the Magritte print we have on the wall, which we got on one of Ben's birthday adventures, the big sign is an old french street sign. A wire basket holds my magazines and some vintage canvas chairs are folded and leaning against the wall.

This little side table is special as it was the first vintage furniture piece Ben and I ever bought. We went to the Rose Bowl flea market for our first wedding anniversary and this table was one of the things that came home with us. Ever since then, our motto has always been out with the new and in with the old!

On top of the table are more plants (because you can never have too many) and an old, tall, wire basket with some vintage bocce balls. I love the color those balls give!

This is probably the room that stays the cleanest, though the girls do manage to bring all their toys in there too from time to time. I dream for the day we could get rid of the carpet (I so wish there was some sort of remodeling contest to get someone to do my floors!), but we got debt to get rid off before we could even think about getting some nice flooring. Until then, I will gladly make do with what I have!

Hope you enjoyed the little room tour. Pretty much everything in the room is vintage, except for the sofa and some anthropologie pots that the plants are in. I am still cleaning and purging the rest of the house, so I am sure more rooms will be popping up here from time to time. In fact, today was spent moving things around in True and Brave's shared room. Once things settle there, I will be sure to share, but I have this long list of house to-dos for myself. Sometimes nesting is good, and sometimes it drives me crazy!

Have you been fixing up any rooms in your house lately?