happy spring break!

It's spring break here this week and silly me, I thought I'd be up for spending a few hours getting some painting and blogging done.
No way.
We're three days in and I'm exhausted already.  In fact, I woke up exhausted just knowing what was on the docket for today.  And maybe it was partly due to the "dad's gone, kids get to sleep with mom" routine.  Drawing an invisible line up the middle of the bed isn't enough around here.  Never fail, they end up suction cupped to my back.
The kids and I are on our own this week, so we're headed to a hotel a stone's throw away just to get away from the nitty gritty (cooking, cleaning, emails, etc…) and focus on fun.
See you next week!

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blogs are kind of a funny thing...

Blogs are kind of a funny thing - social media in general, I guess - we share the best parts of our lives and not always the REAL parts of our lives.  Most try to stay upbeat because no one wants to read a blog that's a downer.  The funny thing is, no one really wants to read a blog where this unrealistic perfect life is portrayed either… at least I don't.  It's not good for this non-perfect self.  :)

I shared bits and pieces about losing our baby, but I didn't tell you Zac was out of work for the whole thing.
There, I said it… Ten months of being unemployed has been rough.

We both strongly believe there was a reason.  And that reason was that I needed him home during a difficult time.  The timeline was too perfect to be coincidental.
I will say, ten months of being a pretend middle aged retired couple while still in the prime our lives has been pretty darn fun, though.  Zac's back to work now and traveling like crazy.  We've gone from Zac all the time, to Zac very little of the time.

The exciting new development is that what started as a "job" for me (and at times this last year has been very heavy) has now turned into the coolest hobby with a pay check…and requires that I file monthly taxes.  Eh.

The impulsive, over-night decision to sell furniture was planned as temporary.  The original plan was to bring in a little each month until the pocket book went back to being less "tight".  Now that we're there, I've had to stop and think about priorities.  Do I want to continue painting?  Do I want to go back to being exclusively a stay-at-home mom?  What's best for my family?

I've given it much thought and the answer is yes to the first and no to the second.  My little side business makes me happy.  I love my "nap time" job.  It's perfect for me.

Afternoon delights

Today was such a beautiful day that the two little girls and I lounged out front with a bag of Cheetos  (our favorite) to wait for the big kids to get home from school.

I love lazy afternoons.  Especially the sunny ones. :)

Carmel Apples

It's Fall!  As I say this, it's 98 degrees outside, but it's Fall nonetheless.  Us desert dwellers have to ignore the weather and put out our Fall decor anyway.  I wish we could ignore the weather and put on sweaters!  I'm dying to put away my flip flops and shorts and don closed toe shoes, skinny jeans and a comfy knit sweater.

For a few days last week we had some cooler weather and to celebrate we made carmel apples.  Mmmmm.  

We were a little scarce on the carmel because someone, I'm not naming names, forgot how much she LOVES caramels and snuck half the bag.  This is why 99.9% of the time there is no junk food to be found in my home.  I have zero self-control with the goodies.

What are you doing to celebrate this wonderful season?

First Day Back

Today was my first day back in the "workshop" for almost two weeks.  Do you ever feel like you just need a break from the same old same old to recharge your batteries?  Well, I did.  It's mid-September here in Arizona and the forecast for the week is still hovering around 105 degrees.  That's an improvement over August, but it's still hot.  When I went to kiss Isabelle today as I put her down for a nap, she wrinkled up her cutie nose and said, "You stink!"  I did.  I'd been out working on this buffet for a client.

And prepping this piece for primer...

I haven't yet decided on a color for this chest of drawers, so I thought I'd throw it out there to see if any locals were interested in purchasing it before it's painted and put up for sale in the shop.  You pick the color and help me decide on new hardware or a finish for the existing hardware.  If you're interested, send me an email at nattycox@gmail.com.

Something exciting happened over the weekend.  As Zac was pulling out a big pot to whip up some spaghetti for dinner (I wasn't kidding when I said that's all he makes), he found my missing hardware piece sitting in the bottom of the pot.  Hooray!  And why was there a piece of hardware in my pot?  That's kids for you.

When I posted about the missing hardware a few weeks ago, an amazing reader and furniture refinisher came to the rescue and mailed me a set of hardware that was quite similar to the missing one.  Jessica, from Paint in My Hair, owns a boutique in Spokane, Washington where she sells her refinished pieces and, get this, she also holds monthly painting classes where she teaches locals the ins and outs of refinishing.  Thank you, Jessica!

Ten years ago today...

I was a freshman in college at BYU.  I didn't have a tv so I huddled in a common room in my dorm to watch the footage with many others.  I remember feeling alone and I so badly wanted to be with my family in California.  I remember feeling very small and very helpless that day, but I also remember feeling so proud to be an American as I watched the heroic accounts of so many who sacrificed their lives for others'.  

Today my thoughts are with the many who lost loved ones.

The Most Unproductive Weekend Ever

How was your Labor Day?

I got nothing done.  No really, nothing done all weekend.  Scratch that.  I did vacuum my house three times, then shampooed my carpets.  That's all.  It was surprisingly un-gratifying because, guess what?  My carpet was pretty darn clean.  And lets be real, carpet cleaning is only fun when the dump tank is full of dirty sludge water, which mine was decidedly not.  I think this means I need to live it up a little more.  Maybe even let my kids wear shoes on the carpet or something.

Even though on a scale of 1 to 10 my motivation for productivity this weekend was at an all time low of minus 1, I thought I'd drop in and say hello, lest you think I'd dropped off the face of the earth.  I guess I'd better get busy so I have something to share with you at some point this week.

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PS - Isn't the color and styling of this desk spot on?

The Weekend

I've sold my cameras (thank you Kay, Shelby/Trevor and Kim)!  and ordered a new one yesterday. However, even with 2 day shipping it won't be here until Wednesday :(

It's a long weekend and for over a month we've been planning to head to a new camping spot.  Until school got in the way, that is.  Now my parents are taking the older two kiddos back to the cabin and Zac and I are renting a carpet cleaner and cleaning the carpets.  Heh?  How did that happen?

Maybe I'll even work up enough motivation to start upholstering this chair that's been gathering dust in my living room….maybe.

What are your plans for the weekend?

Confession and a Smoothie

Confession:  I don't cook….unless you consider grilled cheese sandwiches cooking.

After we had our #4 child (if you're new to my blog you can see our most recent family photo here), something in our schedule had to give.  I wasn't yet willing to compromise a clean house, so I got rid of the cooking.
I never liked it much anyway.
Zac eats out a lot for lunch and is never real hungry when it comes to dinner - he's happy with a bowl of cereal (gasp!).  So I started making what the kids wanted: burritos, quesadillas, eggs and toast - the easy stuff.

Then seven months ago, I went out and started a business, (who would've thought?) so Zac started helping with some of the cooking.  He made spaghetti...and uh... spaghetti (we ate a lot of it).

He recently started grad school and it has been more time consuming than either of us anticipated…like a lot more time consuming.  Needless to say, he's no long helping with dinner.
Enter the frozen food.
My kids are now eating chicken nuggets more than I would ever publicly admit.
It's terrible, I know.

To make up for it, I've been blending up fruit and veggie smoothies like mad.  I can feed my family processed junk if I give it to them with one of these, right?

Anyway, long story short, my kids love them and they lessen my slacking mommy guilt and allow me to sleep at night.  You ever tried one?

Here's the recipe:

6-8 frozen strawberries

1 handful blueberries

1 banana

8-10 baby carrots

1 heaping handful spinach

1 Tbsp. agave nectar

1/2 C. water

I've heard of adding nuts for protein, but I have yet to try it.  It sounds…gritty.

Drawers!

This is what my garage looks like today.  16 drawers...count 'em.  I've sanded and filled them all, now I have to tape them off and prime them.  The weather here in sunny Arizona has tipped the scales at 115 degrees the last two days.  By 8 o'clock in the morning it's been over 100 degrees!  You know what that means?  I've had to wake up earlier to beat some of the heat...and I don't like to wake up earlier.

Fortunately for me, this little two year old of mine likes to sit at the garage door and keep me company.  Mostly she just says, "Where Daddy go?  Where Mannie?  Where Coby?  Where Belle?"  I answer and she's content for a moment and then asks me again.  She's also really good with the knock, knock jokes.  Her favorite right now is "knock, knock".  Who's there?  "Doggie"  Doggie who?  "Arf, arf".  And then it starts over again, "knock, knock…"

I finished up this antique bed for a client a couple days ago.  Behr's California Poppy is the perfect pinkish-red.

Cupcakes!

Today my favorite little preschooler turned four!  Isabelle and I spent Charlotte's nap time (which she calls our "special alone time") making cupcakes for her party tomorrow.

This little munchkin wanted strawberry cupcakes.  We added a box of vanilla pudding to make a standard cake mix extra delicious and moist.

My favorite frosting method is to cut the tip of a piping bag and to avoid frosting tips altogether - it's super fast.

We ate ourselves sick on batter and cream cheese frosting.  9 times out of 10 I'd pick batter/dough over the actual baked good.  Cookie dough, brownies, cake batter - it makes no difference.  I know, I know… raw eggs.

I'm curious - do you prefer to eat yourself sick on cupcake batter or are you patient enough to wait the 18 minutes until they're baked?  Or maybe you're more sensible and don't eat yourself sick…?

Gratitude

I wasn't going to take the time to post today because I'm a little behind schedule on my client projects, but as I was heading out to the garage to work, I stopped to quickly check my email.  After reading a few amazingly kind reader emails (one actually brought tears to my eyes), I was hit with such an overwhelming sense of gratitude.  I am so grateful to you who faithfully read my blog.  Because this blog and business wasn't premeditated beyond a couple days, I think that makes it hit harder that I am where I am in my life right now because of you...and I thank you for that.

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