It Was an Almost-Full-Moon Weekend...

Alright impending full moon, I see you there, off in the distance, already wreaking havoc… 

Anybody else’s kids act a fool in the few days leading up to a full moon?  Anybody?  ANYBODY?!?!  Somebody please tell me that we’re not alone!  Seriously, hubs and I can always tell when a full moon is coming because our kids go berserk – they are extra whiny, they misbehave, and they awaken a lot during the night.  It always seems to happen during the 4-5 days leading up to a full moon, and then on the night of the actual full moon, they sleep like little angels.  Just plain bizarre.   

This weekend was no exception.  It was pure chaos.  And the impending full moon seems to have affected not only the kids this time, but myself and the hubby (he’ll probably tell you it didn’t affect him, but I think it did, just a smidge) as well.  This weekend was filled with tantrums (mostly) from the kids, DIY projects gone horribly wrong, and lots of frustrations.  And when the tantrums weren’t in full effect, incessant whining filled its place.   

Poor Olivia is getting five teeth right now – FIVE – so she had a good excuse.  We tried to keep her comfortable by rotating Ibuprofen and Acetaminophen all weekend, but she still awoke numerous times each night and whined all the live long day.  Poor girl.  Teething is the devil.  

Jacob was actually pretty good this weekend.  He was a bit whinier and a little more emotional, and he awoke during the night a couple of times, but overall, his behavior seemed to be more different than bad.  Saturday and Sunday he asked if he could just have quiet time in his room instead of a nap, and both days, within fifteen minutes of his quiet time, we found him passed out in his bed, light still on, (and shoes still on one of the days), surrounded by his babies, a few books, and of course, his cars and trucks.  He has never done that in his entire life.  When he says he wants to skip his nap, if we let him, he skips his nap.  Most of the time we are paying for it by 6 PM, but that’s another story for another day.  Never has this boy just crawled into bed and given in to his exhaustion.  Never.  And he did it twice this weekend. 

In between tantrums, weird napping habits, and disasters (just kidding… this weekend wasn’t that bad) we did manage to squeeze in some goodness.  Jacob got a haircut Friday evening, we had some good eats (and drinks) at Buffalo Wild Wings and our favorite local BBQ restaurant, we went to church and the kids actually chose that hour to act like there was not a full moon approaching, we binge-watched several more episodes of Parenthood, we had some good snuggle time in our bed with the kids on Saturday and Sunday morning, we had some fun at the playground Sunday afternoon, and despite the DIY disaster, I got several projects accomplished, as well as some cleaning done.  

Duck-facing all day, erry day

Kinetic Sand concentration face

This dress!

Olivia and my grandmother leaving church

First time going down the slide all by herself!

So I guess all in all this weekend wasn’t that bad... maybe just half bad?  It definitely wasn’t ideal, though.   

However, today is another day, the sun is shining, and we all woke up healthy, so there’s that!  When I have bad days I try to remember that there are many other people out there who have it so much worse, and that usually puts everything in perspective for me.  I have so much to be thankful for, and I am truly thankful for those blessings every day.  Even on the bad days.  Even on the pre-full moon days. 

And if tonight is bad again, at least I can curl up on the couch with a glass of wine and watch The Bachelorette.  The people on there are such train wrecks that they can make anyone feel better about themselves…  I kid, I kid…  But no, really.  ;o)   

Anyway, here’s to a better (and short) work week and a happy, happy long upcoming weekend! 

I’ve got my eye on you, Full Moon!

Five On Friday

Happy Friday, all!  Today I’m linking up with the lovely Liz at A. Liz Adventures for Five On Friday and Erika at A Little Bit of Everything Blog for Friday Favorites. 

O N E 

Y’all may have seen me post about my ferns on Instagram already, but they are doing so well that I felt the need to brag a little here on the blog.  First of all, I have never had a green thumb.  I always kill inside house plants, I always kill outdoor plants, and Brian and I have had a time keeping our landscaping alive since moving in our new house.  We’ve already had to replace two trees that died in our front yard, and all of the shrubs that we decided to plant for my Mother’s Day gift a couple of years ago died within a couple of months.  And to answer the question that I know you’re thinking – yes, we do water them.   

Anyhoo, every summer I always buy a couple of ferns for our front porch, and by July they are always half dead.  At first, I assumed it was because it’s just too dadgum hot here in the south to keep them alive, but then our neighbors down the street grew some a couple of summers ago that were humongous at the end of August.   

Turns out that I wasn’t watering them enough.  I used to water them every day, but I was conservative with the amount because I had read that you can overwater ferns.  Turns out that in the south, that’s simply not true.  I’ve been practically flooding these beauties with water every single evening, and they are growing like gangbusters!!  I’ve had them since April, and they’ve more than doubled in size!  Just look at this one… isn't it gorgeous?

 T W O

Y’all!!  This dress from Old Navy!  Love, love, love.  I had one last gift card from my birthday, so I headed to my local store to check out their sale this week, and I fell so in love with this dress that I bought it in both colors!  They don’t appear to be on sale online right now, but they were 40% off at my store… hence my splurge on two!  #BuyAllTheColors 

They’re flowy, comfy, and so sweet and feminine, and they're so versatile.  I’ll be living in these for the rest of the summer.  And hello perfect 4th of July outfit! 

T H R E E 

Speaking of Old Navy, I have been seeing soooo many fashion bloggers wearing this romper and they all look so fabulous in it!  It’s actually what I was in search of when I went to my local store the other day, but they were out of stock.  I just can’t bring myself to buy it online without trying it on first because A) I’m fairly certain that I won’t be able to pull off the romper look, and B) I’m still not sure how I feel about rompers for adults anyway.  Thoughts, anyone?  

F O U R 

To all of my fine, thin, straight-haired girls out there – what’s a good volumizing shampoo?  This 500% humidity that we’ve had going on here the last couple of weeks is just terrible… my hair pretty much always starts looking flat and lifeless the second I step out of the house shower, so I’ve decided that it’s high time for a change.   

I’ve always loved Pantene Sheer Volume Shampoo, and I’ve been using it for, like, half of my life, but ever since I had babies, it doesn’t seem to be adding any volume to my hair.  As a matter of fact, it appears to be doing the opposite.  Apparently my body chemistry has changed and I need something – anything – different for my hair.  On a whim, I picked up some Loreal Volume Filler Thickening Shampoo today, because it advertises that your hair will feel and look like two times more hair.  All I have to say is, bravo for making me fall for your marketing ploys, and we will see, Loreal, we will see.  If anyone’s hair can prove you wrong, it will be mine.  #Skeptical 

But seriously, if anyone has any recommendations, I beg of you – from one flat-haired girl to another – please, please do share.   

F I V E 

The addition is coming along great… the roof was put on last weekend, the electrician came to do the wiring this week, the door was cut into Brian’s office wall to make the indoor closet, and the brick was delivered today.  All that’s left is sheetrock, paint, light fixture installation, carpet installation for the indoor closet, and installation of the brick.  

I am so ready for it to be done!!  Our house looks like a disaster area because Brian had to remove half of the stuff from his office so they could cut the closet door into the wall, and the only place to put everything was in the middle of our dining room and sitting room.  Good thing we don’t use those rooms very much. 

We had one worrisome moment this week when we received a letter from our HOA stating that we had to obtain consent from the architectural committee before adding on to our house.  WHAAAAT.  Since the builder had to obtain a permit from the city and had no problem getting it approved, it never even occurred to me to check with our HOA before adding on, so I spent a couple of days worrying my head off while waiting for the approval.  Luckily, they said that it is no problem as long as the addition matches the rest of the house.  Duh.  Check!  And whew…  

Now to decide on outdoor furniture… 

This time next week I’ll be relaxing at home with my sweet lil’ fam during a 3-day weekend!  Yes!!!!  But first, to enjoy our regular two-day weekend… HAPPY FRIDAY, Y’ALL!

DIY Metallic Gold Paper Trays

Aaaah, spray paint.  My BFF.  My Love.  My Life. 

I use spray paint for everything.  And I mean everything.  I once spray painted a pair of white sandals brown and they looked fantastic.  And I still wear them to this day.  And they still look fantastic.  And nobody knows that they weren’t even brown to begin with.  

You can do just about anything with spray paint.  So, when I couldn’t find any gold paper trays for my book shelves, I immediately turned to my one true love that I know I can always count on.  Spray paint.   

Rust-Oleum has a gorgeous metallic gold spray paint that covers extremely well, so my dream of having metallic gold paper trays was super easy and cheap.  I first picked up four plain white paper trays on clearance at my other love, Target, for only $1.99 apiece (similar here) and I already had the spray paint leftover from Olivia's pink and gold first birthday party so I didn’t even have to buy any.  

This past Sunday while the kids were napping and Brian was enjoying his Father's Day relaxing, I laid out my trusty rusty spray paint towel to protect the porch, and I spray painted each tray.  I turned each one upside down before spraying because I liked the pattern on the insides of the trays and wanted to keep them that way.  Each tray only needed one coat and they dried in about ten minutes flat. 

I put them up on my bookshelves in their designated spots, and voila, total transformation in only about fifteen minutes!  It was an extremely easy and cheap way to spruce up the shelves. 

Before

After

Have you spray painted anything weird?  Do tell! 

Father's Day Weekend

I hope everyone enjoyed celebrating all of the fathers in their lives this weekend… I know we sure did!   

Friday night we had dinner at Five Guys, picked out all of the lighting for our house addition, and then took the kids for frozen yogurt to reward them for not getting us kicked out of Lowe’s. ;o)  When we got home there was a little time before bed, so the kids ran around the back yard to burn off some of their fro-yo sugar. 

Brian and I enjoyed a quiet evening binge watching Parenthood, and we indulged in big slices of cookie cake to kick off his Father’s Day weekend celebration.  We are always trying to outdo each other to see who can get the funniest or craziest phrases written on the cake… we’ve had some ridiculous things put on these cakes, and the people at the store never even bat an eye!  You can tell them to put something totally absurd on there, and they don’t even question it.  I’m sure they’ve seen it all, though!  The best part is hearing them say it (and spell it) back to you to make sure they’ve written it down correctly.  Hilarity. 
 

Saturday we lazed around the house for most of the day until it was time to take B’s dad out for dinner.  He chose Outback (yessss) and it was delicious as always (from what I could tell since I was choking down bites in between cutting up Jacob’s chicken and keeping food on Olivia’s tray… she was shoveling it in faster than I could hand it to her).  We ended the evening at B’s dad’s house, watching baseball on TV and chasing Olivia from room to room.  There’s something about Grandpa’s house that makes Olivia want to run all over creation. 

Sunday morning the kids piled in our bed to give Brian his Father’s Day gifts, and we all spent the morning hanging out and playing… no honey-do projects for Daddy this weekend, but I’m sure we’ll more than make up for that when the addition is done and it comes time to get everything organized! ;o)  We had our usual lunch at Brian’s mom and step-dad’s house in the early afternoon, and then I enjoyed some quiet time in my office before heading to my parents’ house to celebrate my daddy.  (Just when I thought I was done with my office makeover, I came up with the most exciting idea ever for the wall behind my door!  This project is going to take some time, but I will definitely be sharing it with you when it’s finished.)  We ended our weekend with spaghetti, wine, some good tunes, and my Momma and Daddy’s company. 
  

Brian and I are so blessed to have both of our sets of parents alive, healthy, and in the same city as us… I love that the kids get to see them all nearly every weekend, and I will never take that for granted.  We truly enjoy all of the time spent with each and every one of them.  

I was totally clueless that he was making all of those wacky faces, but I should have known...

I am also very blessed to have such a wonderful and loving husband who loves our babies just as much as I do… he’s a hand holder, story reader, toy player, boo boo kisser, nose wiper, bath giver, back patter, diaper changer, and our very own munchie chauffer...  this man does it all!  He’s the perfect example of an involved daddy and we are all so very lucky to have him.   

I know you’re reading, and I want you to know that I love you very much, Babe!  Happy Father’s Day.  XO