Pullin' Tabs

From the look on her face, I think we have created a monster...

Cover it - Take 2

Today a lady from Aero Windows and Drapery came over to give us a quote on a few solutions for our sliding glass door and window in the stairway.

Once again I was overwhelmed with the large amount of options. Too many fabrics, too many choices and all of them cost way too much money.

After lots of back and forth, listing out pros and cons for each option,  I think I finally made my decision.  I will go with the shade from Budget Blinds for the stairs and a roller shade for the slider.

I had it narrowed down to two color choices and finally settled on the darker one.

If I just think about it

Hailey is very sensitive.  She is also very independent and sassy.

Like most little girls she loves to draw people holding hands and hearts.  All of her people are usually found with huge smiles on their faces.

She likes her down time and many days will keep herself busy.  She is perfectly content staying home alone doing her own thing.  Don't get me wrong she likes playing with friends and loves to have friends over but she also needs her alone time.

Today I caught her crying in the backseat.  Not a sad/upset cry, an emotional eye-watering one.

Me:  "Hailey!  What's wrong?"

Hailey: "Nothing"

Me:  "Why are you crying?"

Hailey: "I didn't try then I felt tears and couldn't sing anymore."

We had been listening to the song 'Free' by the Zac Brown Band and that song usually gets her emotional.  This was the song that Kristin and Bobby danced to at their wedding.

What a sweetheart!

Cover it up!

It's time.

We need to invest in some widow coverings.

We have a huge window in our stairwell and although I personally love it, it's time to cover it up.  The girls get scared walking up to bed and passing through by the huge open window.  I have known that this day would come and I am not sure why I think it's such a good idea to leave it open.  I think part of it is that I love to look out of it.  I love to look at the beautiful houses around us, the gorgeous sunsets in that direction and the open lot.  I know soon enough that these lots will fill with houses and I will lose part of my view.  I think I'm scared of making a decision.  Choosing a covering that I won't get sick of, choosing one that looks good, etc. those things are stressful for me.

I called a lady out from Budget Blinds today and she brought tons of fabric swatches and different options.  I need to not only cover the stairway window but also need something for the sliding glass door as well.  I was extremely overwhelmed.  I thought having an expert in this area and a designer in my home would help calm my nerves.  I was ready to just let go, listen to her options and then pick one- after all, she knows best, right?

For the stairway window we talked about my requests- something unique, something that will blend well but won't get overlooked or lost in that space, if possible something that I can look out of, I wanted low maintenance- something I could wipe down.

She suggested this new shade.  I fell in love with it as soon as she showed it to me.  You can leave it open so that you can still see out of it and then close it to give a more solid look.

I felt that this would meet my needs perfectly.  I really liked the idea of a blind in this area so that I could still bring in light and have somewhat of a view but the idea of a standard blind was out since they are so hard to clean and that window is so big.  There were tons of fabrics to choose from but after holding this one up in the window, it was the clear winner.

For the sliding door she recommended a panel blind.  Basically a vertical blind that is only 5 fat panels that fold on top of each other.  I thought I really liked this idea until I talked to my neighbor, Melissa, who has one and is not a huge fan.  She doesn't like that when it's open, it still covers about 18 inches of your door. I had made a fabric choice on that in case I changed my mind but also have another lady coming out this week to see what sort of ideas she has. 

Drawings by Hailey

Tonight Hailey drew a picture of her with Joe and Mary (our neighbor friends).

I love her drawings and watching the progression of the objects they draw.

6 eyes are better than 2

Hailey found a way to entertain herself while waiting for Hannah's dance class to finish up.

She found their glasses (non-RX) and a mom that was willing to snap a few photos.

Swimming at Jackson

The girls have enjoyed swimming lessons and I have enjoyed knowing that they are finally learning to dunk under water without being scared.  It's times like this when I look at them and feel like they are growing up so fast.  The way they walk around the locker room, hanging their stuff up, turning on the showers, and drying their hair under the dryers.

Although no matter how grown up they seem to me somedays, watching them sleep always reminds me of just how little they still are.  Cuddled up on my shoulder and out within minutes.

Team Mom

 Today Hannah's basketball team was playing against Peyton's team.  

The girls were SO excited to see each other this morning.

Of course during the game while they were suppose to be guarding each other, Hannah noticed Peyton's shoe was untied so she did what any good team mom would and bent down to give her opponent a hand.

Hailey I Love

I love looking through Hailey's 'school' sheets from daycare.  She has mastered spelling the word love and now most of her signatures contain this new signature phrase.  

As we were watching TV this evening she was sitting next to me drawing.  

Hailey:  "Look mommy, I drew me and daddy"

Me:  "That's nice honey, he will love that."

She then started in on another.

Hailey: "Here is your picture mom.  It's you and a door."

Me:  "Uh, thanks.  (looking obviously perplexed)"

Hailey:  "Oh wait!  Give that back to me."

a few seconds and scribbles later.....

Hailey: "Here mom, I forgot this part (pointing to the bottom).  That's your sidewalk"

*gulp*.......is there a hidden message here?!  LOL- well, at least I am smiling :-)

Go Justin!

                                   

Justin and Adam both play hockey.  Every so often we get their game schedule and are able to make it to watch them play.  

The girls are never too excited about sitting in a cold ice arena but they do enjoy cheering their cousins on, seeing Courtney and getting to spend time with grandma and grandpa.

This morning before the game they decided to make signs.  Hannah made the traditional type and Hailey made flags.

                     

After lunch we went to Cowboy Jack's for lunch to also celebrate Courtney's Birthday.

The girls were sad to see that you have to be 12 to actually ride the bull.

Signs, Signs, Everywhere There's Sgns

Came home from work tonight to see that I had a love note sticking out of the door.  From Hannah, just to tell me she loves me so much. (heart-melting)

It's pretty special when you think about it.  All of the little notes and pictures, it means that she is always thinking about me.  Happy thoughts.  Happy that I am her mom.  Happy that I am in her life. 

Selfie-sesh

Hannah curled her own today and was so happy with her new leather jacket that she got for Christmas.  We were in the car and when I looked in the rear view mirror I spotted her in mid-selfie-sesh.  At this moment she seemed so grown up to me.  Where did my little baby go?!

To continue or not to continue, that is the question

I wish I were in a different situation right now.  I wish that I could be writing right now, actually on Jan 1, 2015, telling you "Here we go!  We are off to another great start!  The 6th year of blogging is beginning!".  The truth is, it's September 29th and I just finished the posts from 2014 less than a month ago.  I just received the 5th book (the green one) in the mail (I usually order them with the first coupon of the year in March).

This past year was hard.  Harder than normal to find the time to write.  Harder than normal to remember funny things and sweet moments.  Harder to talk myself into thinking that maybe someday all of these books will actually be read. Bad things happened and so many days were stolen from us.  There is a part of me that wants to stop.  5 years was a good run, there are so many great stories and snip-its of your lives within those pages and as you get older, we will have fewer stories to tell.  You will eventually stop with the adorable phrases and expressions and turn into smart young ladies that have life all figured out.  Then there is a part of me that says to keep going.  I looked through my phone tonight and found so many pictures, so many emails of conversations, events, moments that happened that have been stored away waiting for their turn to make it into the book.  So, looks like we've got at least another year.

I am not much for resolutions and it's sort of late to declare this since it's actually September  when I am typing this but I hope to do something with these walls this year.  It'll probably be tough to actually say now that it will be done by the end of the year so I won't promise that but I at least want to have a plan.  Something to work towards.  I can't take much more of the naked-ness!

Here's to a house-decorating plan in 2015!