{prepared}

Meredith just walked out of the house carrying a small plastic bag filled with bandages, cotton balls, and triple antibiotic ointment.

Me: Where are you going with that?

M: Outside.  I'm going to go practice riding Claire's bike.

Well, at least she's prepared.

{olivia 1 year}

Happy birthday to my sweet baby girl.

{GO AWAY!!}

Sunday afternoon, I sat down to read some books to Amelia.  One of her choices was "Dora's Book of Manners" in which the characters on the front are saying nice things to each other like "Thank you!" and "You're welcome!"  You know, they're practicing good manners. 

Throughout the book, Dora and Boots help Mr. Troll know which kind and polite words he should use in several different situations.  They teach him things like "I'm sorry.  Hello. Cover your mouth."  During our reading, I would pause when Dora and Boots were getting ready to respond to see if Amelia could tell me which phrase should be said in each situation.  

She was doing pretty well until we got to the dragons toward the back of the book.  The dragons are blocking the road and Dora and her clan can't get through without the dragons moving out of the way.  

"Hmmm," said the Troll.  "Shouting won't scare these dragons away.  If I want them to move, what's the nice thing to say?"  

Amelia responds in a pretty forceful voice: "GO AWAY!!!"

Of course, they were looking for something a bit more subtle...like "please".  

Manners.  I guess we still have some work to do.

{rowdy and loud}

Claire, Olivia, and I stayed home from church this morning because Claire had a fever all day Saturday.  I put Olivia down for her nap, and Claire was working quietly in the playroom while I did some things in the kitchen.  

Claire looks up at me and comments, "It's pretty quiet here!"  

I said, "Yes, it is.  Kind of nice for a change, isn't it?!"  

Claire replies, "Yeah, cause you're not rowdy and loud like Meredith and Amelia."

I try not too be too rowdy and loud.  It would just add to the commotion around here.

**On a side note, homemade guitar by Claire.

{meredith's 7 year pic}

{new mirror}

Look at what my awesome hubby made for me!! We made a slight rearrangement to our bedroom a few weeks back, and it freed up an entire corner of our bedroom.

Josh said, "What should we put there?" I said, "How about a full-length mirror!" He loved the idea. We don't have one in any other part of our house, and I kind of miss having one. Our cheapy one broke shortly after we moved into this house...I can't even remember what happened to it.  Although, busted glass in the entryway on the tile floor needing cleaned up is suddenly coming to the surface of my mind.

Anyway, so he was working in the barn on a "surprise" for a couple of weeks, and I came home the other night to find this beauty in our bedroom!

I'm absolutely in love with the one from IKEA that costs $125. This one? It cost Josh a total of about $10 because we already had the wood in the barn as well as the mirror!! When we purchased our house, there were mirrors EVERYWHERE...and I mean everywhere. It was kind of creepy, but that's another story.

The mirror that was in the barn was too big, and the glass shop in town only charged $7.50 to cut it to the size that Josh wanted. How awesome is that?!!  Add a couple cans of black spray paint and you've got yourself a project.

We've been wanting to do a total bedroom makeover for quite some time, and I'm so excited that this mirror is the beginning of the process! The new headboard is designed, and hopefully it will be built yet this spring. The dressers are going to get a coat {or 6} of black paint and some new hardware. Heck, we'll probably even hang some stuff on the wall. {Ok, that's definitely happening.}

I want to thank IKEA for the idea, Pinterest for the DIY post that got me thinking about it in the first place, and my super handy hubby who thinks he can build almost anything. Yay for perfectionists with classic style who like to please their wives...you're the best! :)

{b.i.f. six}

I looked in the back of the van on our way into town today, and Claire was braiding Meredith's hair.  It was sooooo sweet.  From Claire:  Mom, this is the first time one of my braids has been worn in public!  My other favorite quote from her: It really IS hard to braid all of the hairs to the bottom!!  {She often comments that the braids that I do don't go as far down as she thinks they should. :)}