You Know You're a Mom When...

Instead of singing "1234, tell me that you love me more; sleepless long nights, that's what my youth was for" from Feist's song 1234...

I find myself singing "1234 penguins that were by the door. I love counting, counting to the number 4..." from her appearance on Sesame Street. And dang it if that version isn't super catchy!


Now it's your turn. Finish this sentence "you know you're a mom when..."

My Faux Family

Whenever I'm at antique malls or estate sales, I'm always drawn to old photographs. I love the story they tell. And for some reason I feel the need to rescue these forgotten memories. So I've been collecting old photographs that "speak" to me. Some I like for their color, others for their story. But I love them all.

They are now proudly displayed in my entryway and I affectionately refer to them as my "Faux Family."


I picked this one up at an estate sale a long time ago (I think I paid $10 for it). I love it for it's color and it's size. They are the matriarch and patriarch of my faux family.


I don't remember where I picked these up but I love the sassiness each of these women possess. I also love the subtle coloring of them. And they were both in their original frames which is an added bonus!


My husband actually bought this photo for me. He loved the happiness in their faces and theorized that this picture was taken outside the courthouse after they just got married.


I love this naked baby picture. It really could be any baby from any era. I think it's so funny that the baby is laying on an oriental rug out in the grass.


I love the long pictures that I'm sure you've seen in antique malls but they are always so expensive! I searched high and low for one that I could afford and I finally found this one. It's a photo of the "Lovejoy Reunion". The tag on the back says it's from Ithaca, NY.


I really had to dig for this series of photos of a baby being bathed in the kitchen sink. I found one of them in a basket full of old photos. I kept flipping through the photos and found the second and third photo. I love the story these photos show. And the baby's smile in the third photo is priceless!


And finally I found these two photos at a flea market when we were visiting Paris (I know, we sound so cosmopolitan!). The love that you feel between this mom and baby is just precious.


So there you have it. My faux family. I even have a little room on each side to pick up a few more photos :)


Am I alone in my obsession with old photos? If you collect old photographs, what do you do with them?

Thanks for visiting!


Linking up to these fun parties:

I'm Packing My Bags

Ok, so I'm not really going anywhere, but I totally wish I could live in this house.


I came across this post on Vintage Sassy, appropriately titled "OMG...the cutest house!". It's a tour of this adorable, colorful, cheery house that belongs to Kelly Rae Roberts. The night I saw the post, I spent probably 45 minutes carefully deconstructing every photo of her home. I love everything about it. I love the color, the old mixed with new, the bright linens. Everything!


And I'm totally stealing the idea of her Wall of Letters.


Remember the "M" I made to hang above my husband's nightstand? I'm going to start collecting more letters to hang with the M!


So after stalking her home for the better part of an hour (I know you're a voyeur like me, just admit it!), I realized that Kelly Rae Roberts is an artist and I have one of her prints! Now I love her even more! So go check out Vintage Sassy's post because there are more pictures (Yay!) and definitely go check out Kelly Rae Roberts' website and keep an eye out for her art. It's so cute!

P.S. I have revisited this site several times because it makes me smile :) and I hope it does you, too!

Inspiring Creativity Through Literacy

A couple of weekend's ago, I attended the Texas PTA Summer Leadership Seminar. Mostly I was in workshops related to Membership as I somehow got talked in to being the Membership chair of the Early Childhood PTA that I belong to. But I did get to attend a couple of "fun" workshops as well.

My favorite was a workshop by children's author Melissa M. Williams. She is the author of the Iggy the Iguana series. If you ever have the chance to attend a workshop or series with her, you should definitely go!


She talked about the importance of inspiring creativity through literacy. Children are exposed to so many different role models through TV, movies, music. But it seems they are less and less influenced by characters in books.

One way that she encouraged parents and educators to inspire reading and a love for books is to help them "write" their own stories. If your children are old enough to write, you can literally help them write their own story. She has lots of great resources on the Iggy the Iguana website including writing tips for kids, contests, and bios for the author, illustrator and characters.

Since my children are 3 and 18 months, I was trying to figure out a way to incorporate what I learned that was appropriate for their age level. With my 18 month old, I just try to nurture her love for books by reading to her before her nap and bedtime and all times in between.

But for my 3 year old, I decided to try letting him "write" his own story. After we read a couple of books (per our normal nightly routine), he gets to make up his own stories. I start by asking him "who's going to be the character in our story tonight?" Sometimes he names an animal (bunny, dog, dinosaur), sometimes he says himself, and a few times he's wanted the family cat to be the character. Then I ask him the character's name (we've had Buddy, BatBallHat, a snake named dog). Finally, I ask him what the character likes to do (play soccer, spin around getting dizzy, fly). Then I proceed to tell the story about the character that he invented doing whatever it is that character likes to do. And he LOVES it! Sometimes there's a message in the story, sometimes it's funny, sometimes it's neither. But he always seems to enjoy them.

I was afraid it was going to be a little abstract for him, but he really likes the stories and he loves being the one to give the details. It's been such a fun nightly routine for us. I've written several of his stories down so he can read them someday...who knows, he might be a budding author!

So give it a try with your kids. And if you do, let me know how it goes!

Anniversary in Austin

You may have noticed I've been absent from Blogland lately. I have no excuse other than to say I've been enjoying my summer...you can't fault me for that, right?

Last weekend, my husband and I headed to Austin, TX for our annual anniversary trip. Every year since we've been married (12 years!) we've gone somewhere for our anniversary. That is our gift to each other. Since having kids, we don't usually travel too far from home, but it's still nice to get away together for a couple of nights. The location isn't the important part.

This year, our anniversary happened to coincide with the Texas PTA Summer Leadership Seminar in Austin. I somehow got talked into becoming the Membership Chair this year for the Early Childhood PTA that I belong to. Since I know nothing about being a PTA Board Member, I figured the conference would be a good place to start.

So our anniversary trip became an anniversary/PTA Conference trip. My husband and I had a GREAT time in Austin and I really enjoyed the PTA conference, too (I'll share more about that later). Austin is such a cool city and we love having a chance to hang out there. We go every year to the Austin City Limits Music Festival, but this is the first time in a long time where we've had a chance to enjoy the rest of the city, too (rather than just the festival grounds).


Here's how the great city of Austin welcomed us...


A look toward downtown. It looks like the Ghostbusters movie...


But thankfully by the time we checked in to our hotel and got changed for dinner, the rain had stopped. We had a nice dinner at a little Italian place called Quatro Gatti. It was delicious! Then we headed off to the Lucky Lounge.


My husband is a music lover and Austin is called the "Music Capitol of the World." So it would only be right to catch a show while we were in town. For those of you who don't know (myself included until my husband informed me), Ian McLagan was a member of The Faces which was Rod Stewart's band before he went solo. Anyway, he plays at the Lucky Lounge every Thursday night (no cover charge!). Go check them out if you're ever in Austin.


It was a nice way to kick off our anniversary weekend...good drinks, good company and good music.

Whenever we visit Austin, it is mandatory that we eat at the Magnolia Cafe. Mmmmm.....eggs benedict.....oh how I love thee!


After we stuffed ourselves for breakfast, we took a walk along South Congress Ave. There is a strip of shops that are quirky, fun and uniquely Austin. We stopped first at Uncommon Objects.


There was lots to browse, but I didn't do much purchasing. I did by some small wooden tiles that spelled out our last name (think scrabble tiles) for $.50 each.



Across the street from the shops is what is known in Austin as "trailer food." This was a previously empty parking lot before several local restaurants set up trailers to sell their cuisine.


Our favorite is the Mighty Cone, so of course that's where we took our annual, anniversary self-portrait.


On Saturday night, we hung out at a benefit for the Gulf Coast Disaster Relief. They had music and a good ol' fashion shrimp boil.



So there you have it. We packed a lot into our 3 days in Austin...not to mention the PTA conference I attended. And on our way out of town, we had to make one very important stop...

I did pick up a few things that I had to have! I would've bought more if I could've fit it in the car ☺ I ♥ IKEA!


Now I'm trying to get back in to the swing of "normal" life around here. I've got a lot of projects that are on my to-do list, so hopefully I'll be able to share some of those with you soon!

Goodwill and Good Luck

The Goodwill Gods must've been shining down on me today. First of all, I just discovered a Goodwill Superstore about 3 miles from my home (I've lived here for 3 years; how did I not know about it?). But secondly, and more importantly, today was 50% off day!

In addition to some clothes, shoes, and a couple of things for the kids, I picked up some great treasures!

I found this adorable secretary desk for only $40! I can't wait to get to work on it. I see it in a light gray with some distressing and black hardware.



I also found this great chair for only $12.50!


Look at the great detail on the back of the chair. It reminds me of Swedish design.


And you can tell it's well made. The entire thing is made without screws.


My mom is here visiting from AZ and is trying to figure out if she can get this chair home with her! I don't think she'll be able to check this in at the airport ;)

Here are a few more of my treasures. I had to really dig to find this wooden tray for only $.75. I love the checkerboard pattern.


I scored these 5 ceramic knobs with matching outlet cover for only $2.50. I already have plans for those orange knobs! I'll give you a hint...remember the orange bookshelf I just painted? Remember how I said I'm going to paint the end table on the other side of the couch??? That's all I'm saying for now ;)


And finally this blue, Martha Stewart, enamel, flower urn. It was a steal for only $1.50 and still has the tag on it! I'm not sure how or where I'm going to use it yet, but I'm sure I will find a place!



So there you have it...I've discovered my new favorite store and I managed to come away with some great deals today!

I can't wait to get started on all of my new projects. But it will have to wait until next week because my husband and I are leaving tomorrow for a long, anniversary weekend getaway! Talk to you next week :)

Showing my treasures off here:

Recipe Tip

I'm not the most organized with my recipes. I don't have them neatly organized in plastic sleeves in a 3-Ring Binder (I guess maybe I should!). I store them in a drawer in the kitchen and I just pull out the recipe I need when I need it.

Because of this lack of organization, when I cook, my recipe sits on the counter and inevitably gets splashed with water, oil, whatever it is I'm cooking with. And it often gets buried under a mountain of vegetable cuttings.

When my sister was in town a couple of weeks ago, we did a lot of cooking. I came up with a great way to preserve my recipe and keep it handy.



I just clipped it to the oven hood using a magnetic "chip clip." It doesn't get dirty and it's quickly visible when I need to refer back to it. I know, I know, this isn't going to change your life, but it might make cooking a little easier ;)

By the way, I was making this yummy potato soup recipe and it was delicious! I was even able to freeze about half of it which I am trying to do more of. I am slowly building a stockpile of freezer meals for those nights when I just don't feel like cooking.