Small Group Fun

Last night our small group met out at Tannehil to grill out.

 

I love this group of people. The fact that I really do get along with and look forward to meeting with every single person in our group is nothing short of a miracle. People get on my nerves very easily. Our group works so well because everyone is really laid back........and we all have kids. That will take an uptight person and straighten them out real quick! All we need is for two more people to get pregnant and the kids will outnumber the adults. We look like a village when we are together.

 

It's awesome.

 

We grilled hotdogs and black bean burgers and ate Smores. 

 

When I was putting my smore together only the skin of the roasted marshmallow made it in the graham cracker. So when I pulled the stick out the inside of the marshmallow was still hanging on. 

So, I did what any normal person would do. I plopped the sticky mess right on top of Lucy's hands. 

She loved it.

 

 

Ryder and Simon look so awesome. Eating a smore is serious.

Why can't George ever make a normal face?

The kids loved running around playing. Not one of us remembered to bring bug spray so Mollie and I walked to the little store and picked up a bottle. After we sprayed ourselves down I tossed the bottle to George. He didn't catch it so it hit the ground and the pump broke.......which meant everyone else had to splash the bug spray on like it was cologne. We didn't get bit but OH MY what a nasty feeling it left on your hands

What a great night. I love that the days are longer :)

Life Lately

Some changes are coming our family's way very soon. Nothing major, just day-to-day life kinda changes.

Here is what has been going on in the Edmondson household as of late:

• As you can tell from the pic above, I have been dreaming of the beach. Planning our beach trip every year is really fun for me. Aside from the actual trip being awesome, planning for one is a list makers dream. I get really excited when I can start making lists. I am a bit of a condo snob though, so it makes picking a place to stay kind of annoying. If the decor looks like it hasn't been spruced up since the 80's I won't be staying. If the deck to get to the condo is made of wood, I won't be staying. Concrete all the way. We learned our lesson last year when Ryder got two HUGE splinters in his feet. It was horrible. 
•  This week is Ryder's last at pre-school. Technically, he can stay through the summer before he moves over to the big boy school and starts 4K. But I thought it would be pretty crappy to be in one class with a teacher and friends you have been with for over a year, then BOOM, the next week you are in a new building, have a new teacher, and probably only a few of your old friends. So I am taking him out for the summer. I'm pretty excited about it. I have been trying to come up with all sorts of fun activites to busy us every day. 
• Since I am taking Ryder out for the summer, I am trying to transition Lucy from two naps a day to one. Last Thursday and Friday I did a little test run; after we dropped Ryder off at school at 9 we ran errands and busied ourselves outside until time to pick him up at 12. She did really good, and didn't start completely melting into a pool of tired kid until around 1:00. Ryder didn't officially switch to one nap until he was two years old. So maybe this is coming a little early for her. But it will be pretty boring for Ryder if we are chained to the house EVERY SINGLE MORNING for at least two hours so little sis can snooze. Resentment anyone?
• After small group last night we drove by our dream house. This house has been on the market for a couple of months, is a bank owned foreclosure, is right in the area we want and has room for our family to grow. We got out and peeked in the windows and fell even more in love with it. Ryder kept asking when we were going to move in. If you are the praying type, prayers for us to get our dream house would be most appreciated. In a few months we will be ready to start trying for baby #3, and we can't really do that in a 2 bedroom 1 bath house and stay sane. In fact, Im not sure we are really sane now lol......four people in under 1,000 square feet is challenging :)
•  I have been searching for some athletic type shorts for the summer. While the Nike Tempo shorts are awesome, I am just not paying almost $30 for shorts to wear with a big T-shirt. I'm just not. If I have $30 to spend on shorts, I am going to be hitting up Anthro to find some on sale that are really cute.......not on some that advertise that they will wick sweat away. So, I have been scouring EBay for some at a cheapo price and always come up empty handed. But this weekend I was at Old Navy and found these guys on sale for $12.50!! I only picked up one pair since I was at the summit and the summit Old Navy is a HOT MESS. Hopefully I can scoot on down to my Old Navy later today and pick up a couple more for the summer. When I am taking the kids to the splash pad, or doing anything where I will be facing the Alabama sun I am in shorts and a tee, so these are super important!

• Can I just add that a plus for these kind of running shorts is having the underwear built in?! Why can't all shorts, or bottoms for that matter, have underwear built in?

Did everyone have a good weekend? I did, and will post later this week about my awesome Mother's Day present! But now I need to go tend to some laundry. I washed Lucy's car seat cover for the first time in......oh.........well, this is the first time :/ So please imagine the nightmare I was putting into my washing machine. Im afraid to go see if it did it's job. Wish me luck! 

Anything going on with you??

*the print above is from the beautiful THE WHEATFIELD on Etsy

I Google Everything

I really do. 

Yesterday morning Lucy and I were sitting on the couch watching Little Einsteins. That is one of the worst shows of all time. I hate that show. HATE IT.

*As a side note if you are interested in the kids shows I really don't mind watching they are as follows: Olivia, Yo Gabba Gabba, Sesame Street, Doc McStuffins, Small Potatoes, and my personal fav: Peppa Pig.

So anyway, in yesterdays particular episode they were trying to save some sort of Monkey from being stuck in a tree before a volcano erupted. It was very intense.

I noticed the monkey had an extremely large nose, like Gonzo from the Muppets. They said what kind of monkey it was, but I didn't catch the name in the midst of all their "Crescendo" talk. If you are unaware of what Crescendo means, here's a definition for you:A gradual increase in loudness. So yes, Little Einsteins taught the parent some music theory. I still hate it.

Back to the monkey.

I hopped right up and went to my BFF Google and typed in "Big Nosed Monkey". 

Oh. My. Snap.(as Ryder would say)

Look at how weird these things are.

They are called Proboscis Monkeys. When I showed them to George last night he was shocked I had never seen these crazies before. I really think they look like a bunch of big nosed old men, don't you? 

Have you ever seen these kind of monkeys? They certainly aren't hanging out at the Birmingham Zoo, I would have noticed a nose that big.

Oh, and if you are in need of a new show to get attached to, please check out the videos below hahaha!

  

Peppa Pig

Small Potatoes

Have a great weekend my friends!!!

Industrial Love

I really love industrial home decor. I have a serious crush on reclaimed wood tables with old casters on the bottom. That mix of old wood and cast iron is so beautiful.

 

Here are my favorite Etsy finds.

 

Huge letter E from junk2funkbiz. This would be so cool to have, not really sure where I would put something this big, but I still love it. I have a small letter E I bought a while back and it sits on a shelf in our entry way. Maybe I should start a letter E collection. Did you know that this is the most popular letter in these searches? Really, every page I clicked through had at least one of these up for sale. So if your name starts with an E like mine, you are in luck!

 

I just love these old wire baskets. From mjh32586

1940's Industrial School desk. Oh buddy, what I wouldn't give to have this for the kids to sit and draw at. From vagabonds and caravans

Large Industrial Whisk Pendant Light. From Dream in Paris. How pretty this would look in a kitchen above an old farm table. If you want to DIY this, here is a tutorial.

This has to be my favorite find. Vintage metal drawers that have been painted fun colors. From Myra Melinda. These would be so cute to sit on a table in an entryway or desk to sort mail. And they are only $10 a piece!

 

Speaking of a table to set those drawers on, this table would be perfect. 4ft Industrial Console Table with hanging locker basket. From Urban Wood Goods. 

 

Locker Room bench. I like that this is skinny, would be great to sit down and put shoes on or off when coming in the door. From Industrial Remains.

 

 

Lastly, metal industrial mechanic stool. From Vintage Love Market. I don't really know where I would put this in my house, but it's cute and little, so there must be some good use for it.

 

Our Favorite Summer Spot

Earlier last week we had a picnic at the Riverwalk. It's one of our favorite places to go in the summer. We eat dinner on a quilt and the kids play in the fountain.....and by "kids" I mean all of us....

Lucy loves potato wedges,

I love Pineapple,

 

and we both love each other!

Time to play! We have to watch Lucy pretty carefully because sometimes she thinks its her own personal drinking fountain. GROSS.

 

Family foot pic

Love it. It's one of the best parts of Tuscaloosa.

 

My Favorite Motivator

My all time favorite organizing blog is Wanting What You Have. 

 

I found this blog a few years ago when Ryder was about a year old and I desperately wanted to have a schedule. Don't get me started on my obsession with schedules. As someone who is a total type B personality it might sound odd that I am so strict with them.

 

 So I googled "Stay At Home Mom Schedule" and Heather's blog came up. 

 

At first when I clicked on it I thought I had found just a random post about a schedule amidst a bunch of talk about what brand of diapers is best and other useless crap.

 

Boy was I wrong. This is such a freaking gem of a site. This woman is the organizing and cleaning and list making queen! And she does it all without coming off as pretentious or having it all together. You know how some people that are naturally organized, list making people, will claim that they don't have it all together and that they are "messy too". Most of the time that is BULL CRAP. 

 

This wonderful mother actually does have days like me! And I am one of the messiest people I know. One of my favorite posts from her is A Crap Family Morning. She talks about how when her daughter opened the car door as she was dropping her off at school junk mail and sippy cups fall out onto the ground. 

 

This is my life people.

So last night while George was bathing the kids I stood in the living room and looked at my wrecked area and wanted to cry.

 

For most people, the mess alone is motivator for them to clean. It makes their skin crawl just seeing a spoon with peanut butter on the coffee table, a food covered high chair, and clothes and toys EVERYWHERE. 

 

Not me. While I do LOVE a clean house, (honestly who doesn't) I just HATE HATE HATE cleaning. I told my dad once that it's because I was never taught how to clean or organize. That's partly true I think. Growing up we had a maid. For as long as I can remember someone cleaned up after me. All I had to do was come home and put away my clothes on Thursdays. They were always neatly folded on my parent's bed ready for me to just stick in a drawer. That's it. 

 

So now that I am an adult who has kids and a husband I have to figure out how to move from standing in a living room looking around me wanting to cry to action. 

 

I always, always, always, come back to Heather's blog. Boom, there it is. A post entitled, "11 Tips to help You Get Motivated to Clean". Seriously God, THANK YOU!

 

And this is my favorite one:

 

#1 Silence isn't Golden.

Put on Upbeat Music and it will give you energy and change your mood.

 

So, without even reading the rest of her tips I got up, turned the TV onto Pandora, put it on a John Mayer station and got to work. 

 

And I kept cleaning for a solid 45 min until we had to put the kids to bed. Even after George got done bathing the kids and we dressed them we both kept cleaning while the kids played in their rooms. 

 

It was magical people. Music really did help!

 

As much as I love reading design and wedding blogs none of those can give me ideas about how to get my house in order. I'll say it again, it's one of my favorites.

Do you have trouble in the motivation area of cleaning? Or is the mess alone motivator enough to clean? I wish it was for me, but honestly, I can step around and over toys all day long and it not bother me in the slightest......until it gets WAY out of hand....like to the point of no return.

 

I mean when I was in high school(and lets be honest still to this day) my friends would joke that they were going to ride in the dumpster if they rode in my car. One obsessively organized friend of mine told me I should install a full sized kitchen trash can in my car. I'm seriously considering it.

Lucy Learns to Skateboard

One of our family rules is that every Edmondson child must learn to skateboard by the age of 2.

Not really. But, both kids have loved the skateboard since before they could walk.

See, Ryder was loving it when he was 2 months old.

So yesterday we had Lucy's first skateboard class. She listened to her teacher and did very well ;)

First, she has to learn how to balance on the board. Then we will work on pushing off.

She's a natural.

Going fast with Daddy. This is the only way she can go over a snail's speed.

I tried to get some pics of Ryder scooting around, but apparently this kid is becoming a teen early because anytime I try to take his picture lately he either won't smile or he darts off.

 

After a while Lucy was over boarding and wanted to ride in her pink car. I love this pic.

I think she loved her first lesson. When you are done with skating for the day it's a good idea to sit on your board and think about what you have learned.

BOOM! I finally got him to smile! And yay for me being in at least ONE picture. I swear, If my kids ever have memory loss and we have to convince them through pictures that I am their mom we will have a hard time as I am hardly in any of them. We will have no problem showing them who George is though....

It was a good day! And hey, if you want to support our church's skate park, or if you have a love for tees with skateboards on them, you should buy a Battleground Tee so George can keep the ramps awesome for the skaters at our church. Go here to the Facebook page and check it out!