A Lovely Day.

Some days are rough.

Some days I seriously wonder why I've chosen to stay home.

Some days I'm tired of the arguing, the laundry, the mess.

Some days I feel like ripping my hair out.

Then I have a day like today.

A good, fairly easy, calm day.

Where the arguments are few, the laundry is tolerable and the mess doesn't bother me.

 A day where we can do whatever we want, enjoying the time we get to spend with one another.

Days like today I don't want to forget.

I want to keep them at the forefront of my mind at all times.

Because in the end they make all the rough ones not so bad after all.

I'm linking up here for the last "life made lovely monday".

The Boys {in action}.

For your viewing pleasure.

InstaFriday.

I haven't been taking many pictures with my phone lately but here's a few I've got.

We went to a birthday party and in the goodie bags were these fun glasses. 

The boys thought they were hilarious.

 Break dancing happens just about every day in our house.

 We've been on a french toast kick lately.

What better way to start the day than full of sugar.

 Ethan and I had a little date one night.

We love Golden Spoon. The peanut butter cup flavor is my favorite.

 We had a very rainy day this week so the boys got to eat popcorn and watch movies all day.

p.s. please notice Jacob's face. He's saying, "cheeeese" with a mouth full of popcorn. He's such a ham these days.

 Time out together.

 Rad came over to play with the boys and she wanted her picture with them in the front yard. 

They're too cute.

Enjoy your weekend. 

Rainboots and Jammies.

It rained for a few hours on Saturday morning.

After the clouds cleared a little bit and before the boys got dressed for the day, I sent them outside to splash around.

As much as I am not a fan of the rain I have to admit, sometimes it is a nice change for the boys.

Master Bathroom Remodel {part 1}.

This was my master bathroom.

Not the best, but not the worst either.

Our biggest problem was this...

The tile on the floor, which really is wall tile, started to crack and chip. And once you start pulling out tile chances are the next one will crack and the next and the next. 

So we thought about just replacing the floor. 

But the floor tile leads into the shower tile.

So we thought about replacing just the floor and shower tile.

But we really did need a new toilet, which we've been saying for 2 years.

And 2 sinks really would be nice.

So we ripped it all out.

This was after demo was complete.

Today it looks like this...

 Plumbing, electrical, and framing complete.

At the end of the day we will have new tile, 2 sinks, a larger more open shower, a new toilet, new lights, a new cabinet (less storage), and new paint.

I can't wait for it to be finished. 

I'm just hoping it looks as good finished as it does in my head.

Here and There.

I've got a lot of random stuff on my mind, here goes....

I'm sick, still sick. It's been a month. I finally went to the doctor on Friday and got some antibiotics. 

I hope they kick in soon.

I'm just tired of being sick.

Now my little one is sick. 

He woke up this morning with a gooey green eye, yuck.

I had no idea that you could even have stuff like that coming out of your eye.

It's so sad.

So he's now on antibiotics too.

I feel like I shouldn't even complain for one second about us being sick since my friend's 4 week old baby girl is in hospital.

She's been diagnosed with RSV but they still need to do some tests to rule out everything.

If she doesn't start eating soon they'll have to give her a feeding tube, which most likely will increase her stay in the PICU.

Please pray for her. Her name is Phoebe.

We started the remodel of our mater bathroom.

So far I'm doing pretty good with surviving the mess and it's not driving me crazy.

But it's only been a week.

I'll share pictures soon.

I bought some new throw pillows for the couch.

I love them.

It doesn't take much to make me happy.

I went to our local flea market this weekend and found this beauty.

I love it. The color, the rust, it's perfect.

My great grandma had one in her kitchen and I've been looking for the right one.

Plus it will be perfect for Ethan when he helps me cook.

I've never really decorated much for Valentine's Day but we have a few things up this year.

Nothing fancy, just a few small things.

I plan on making some fun decorations with Ethan and Jacob.

Do you have any good Valentine craft ideas for us?

I'll leave you with one of my most favorite songs of all time.

Please tell me you love Fleetwood Mac too.

InstaFriday.

It's been a while since I've done an InstaFriday post.

Actually it's been a while since I've actually blogged or read a blog.

What have I been doing with my days?

I'm not too sure.

I just haven't been feeling it lately I guess.

Hopefully I'll get back into the swing of things soon.

Anyway, here's my cell pics from the week or maybe it's a little more than a week, I'm not sure.

Manicures make me happy. I rarely get them these days.

 Jacob eats cereal like a big boy now and it makes him so happy.

 My sister and I and went to the mall and the wee ones went with us.

The double stroller is a beast but it's better than pushing two around.

 Jacob's first ride on the Disneyland merry go round.

 I love this picture of Ethan.

 We were on the pirate ship at Disneyland, just the two of us. He had me running around the ship, exploring, and saying to me, "Come on Matey."

I know all too soon he won't want to play pirates with me anymore and he will want to run around this very ship with his friends, not his silly mom. 

It was one of those moments that I will keep forever.

Jacob likes to rake the leaves.

 This little monkey man climbed up onto my kitchen counter and was trying to help himself to some snacks, all in 30 seconds. I truly believe he will give me a heart attack one day, sooner than later. 

 One of the best things about living in Southern California is that we can still play outside even after the sun has gone down. Thank goodness for wonderful weather.

Happy Weekend Everyone! 

Handmade Gifts.

I know this is a little late but I wanted to share the handmade gifts I gave a Christmas this year.

Honestly, I forgot I even took pictures of them until I was looking through my Christmas pictures. 

I decided to still share because all of these can be given for any occasion, plus they were pretty inexpensive, which makes everyone happy.

I made this for my mom.

This is only the second fabric wreath that I have ever made and I was really happy with the way it turned out.

I also made one for my mother in law (which I forgot to take a photo of) and I liked it too.

I could make a zillion of them and hang them all over the house but I'm not too certain all the boys in the house would appreciate it.

I made these for my sisters.

I love all of them, the hoop art and my sisters, haha.

I don't know how to sew or stitch so it's not perfect, but I like them like that. 

I really tried to make each one reflect their individual style and taste and I'm pretty sure I achieved my goal.

Well at least they told me I did.

This last one is not really all handmade but it might just be my favorite gift I gave this year.

I love, love, love my succulents I planted a few months back and I wanted to share my love for them.

I picked up a few of these pots at Ikea for a great price, of course.

I took the boys to Home Depot and Ethan selected most of the succulents.

 I had planned on him helping my plant all of them, but since he was sick it didn't work out.

Anyway, I just stamped some craft paper, taped it on and tied some red yarn around. 

Everyone loved them!

This will definitely be my go to gift all year. 

I loved giving handmade gifts this year. It's so much more personal and thoughtful. 

I hope everyone loved receiving them as much a I loved giving them.

A Lovely Monday at the Beach.

Today we headed on down to the beach to enjoy the wonderful weather we've been having here.

Near 80's in January? Crazy!

We played on the jungle gym, swung on the swings, ran on the sand, explored under the pier and ate lunch at one of our favorite spots.

If only every Monday could be this fun and easy.