Alaska Day 2

We got up early and took the 6am half-day halibut charter on the Jackpot. Our captain drove us (and 11 other fisherman) and hour out to sea to find these tasty bottom feeders.

I caught the first halibut on our charter...literally a minute after my bait hit bottom!

Our booty: 4 relatively small halibut (limit is 2 fish per day per person) that we'll take to get frozen, carry home, freeze and eat for the next several months. These are the best tasting fish around!

After almost 8 years of marriage I learned for the first time that Riley is missing a tooth...it never grew in and I never noticed before! Always something new, right?

Riley making fun of me because I spent 10 minutes in the candy aisle trying to decide what chocolate to choose...I picked Reeses Pieces

Link
Riley's gonna head out tonight to the Ninilchik River as the rivers open at midnight for salmon fishing. Wish him luck!

Alaska Day 1

The four of us left Tennessee and headed to Ohio where Aunt Meg is keeping the girls for the next 5 days while Riley and I venture to Alaska for one last jaunt before Isaac is born. We flew from Columbus to Atlanta to Portland and 24 hours later arrived in Anchorage. We landed around 11:30 pm and the sun was just starting to set. We picked up our rental car and then began our 4 hour drive to Homer, AK where we'll be staying at a B&B.
A midnight view of the moon and Turnigan Arm just south of Anchorage. The sun had just set and we began our drive to Homer.

Hiking on the Kenai Peninsula on the way to Homer. We started at 6:30am and ended up hiking for over 3 1/2 hours along the gorgeous Kenai River.

Mid-morning post-hike snack of strawberry ice cream from our favorite spot (we don't even know the name of the place...just a hole-in-the wall gas station)

Momma and baby moose spotting on the side of the Sterling Highway on our 4 hour drive from Anchorage to Homer.

Our dinner view of the harbor in Homer, Alaska...my favorite Alaskan city (home of 4,000)

Enjoying the beloved halibut tacos at El Pescador. Two really nice guys even surprised us by paying for our dinner!

Link

Latest Projects Part 2: Baby's Room/Guest Room

Since moving the girls into the other bedroom and converting it into a bedroom/playroom, I've been left to re-decorate what has now become the guestroom/soon-to-be-baby's room.
The fabric I loved... which became my inspiration:

Guest bed with freshly covered pillows (still looking for a cute throw in chocolate brown):

Homemade curtains:

Bookcase Riley was able to get for free from work. On top is a $3 mirror I found at a yard sale a few weeks ago (still needs to be hung & bookshelf needs organizing):

An adorable centerpiece Kristen made for a baby shower for Jodi. No one at the shower wanted to keep it, so a month later it's still hanging in my dining room. I think I'm going to hang it above the crib and use it as a mobile because I'm not able to part with it!

Overall view of the room. I was able to re-use the same crib skirt and bumper that I had for the girls (a pottery barn set that I snagged at a yard sale 5 years ago) and sewed strips of the fabric I love. Recovered the rocking chair with an adorable chocolate brown coordinating fabric. And, once again, I have the dilemma of bare walls:



Link

Latest Projects: The Girls' Room/Playroom

Since a baby boy will be arriving here in 3 months I've decided to get rid of pink and start fresh. Wonderful! The girls moved into the playroom so now it's the girls' bedroom/playroom and it's working out well. And this post is dedicated to sweet Meghan who has patiently been waiting for these pictures to help me amp up the room. I'm happy with most of the room, but as you'll soon see, there's nothing on the walls. I have trouble hammering holes into freshly painted walls until I know exactly what I like. So Meghan, can't wait to hear your thoughts on any thrifty final touches you might have. After all, you are THE best decorator I know!
What I've been working on lately:
The Fabric: My original inspiration for the room. I loved the colors...neutral gender with a touch of feminine. I'm a sucker for polka dots. At $8.99 a yard it was splurge to use this fabric for the curtains...but no regrets, I love it and I'm glad I did!

This adorable rack was spotted by Nat when we were yard saleing together a few weekend ago. I pulled my fabric swatch out of my purse and sure enough, it was the perfect red. Awesome $3 find, Nat! I hung it tucked behind the door (as suggested by the brilliant Jen) so the girls can hang their coats and bags BY THEMSELVES...genus!

The $15 Dresser that I found on campbellyardsales and spent $20 on new knobs! I love the dresser but I feel like something is off with the polka dots. Jen thinks it's the green and I think maybe the dots should have been bigger or maybe the dots should have been on top of a solid color other than white? Can't put my finger on it so I haven't touched it...any ideas?

Ahhh! The wonderful bunk beds! This was my prize find. Solid white bunk beds for only $100 off of campbellyardsales. They de-bunk into single twins if we ever live in a place with enough space. Until then, the girls are in bunk bed heaven! And the cute green sheets...a target special at $14.99 a set...100% jersey cotton. Don't ask about the cost of the mattresses. A got a good deal but still expensive in my book...that's something I'd feel weird buying used, though. I still need to make or buy twin quilts/comforters for their beds. I LOVE this set from Land of Nod, but at $150 per set I'm not sure I can make the plunge! Oh, and the red globes? They used to be white and I've had these since our outdoor wedding reception almost 8 years ago! Just painted them the same red as the dresser and it makes the room pop! I think I need to move them to the center of the room, though.

The Play Corner: Their most played with toys...kitchen & babies. Enough said.

The Dress-Up Station: The 2nd most played with toys in the house. The chest was an old black ammo box that my neighbors at Ft Bragg set out for the trash. I paid them $5 and took two. I painted the box aqua b/c that's my favorite polka dot color of the curtains, red to tie together with the rest of the room, and green dots b/c I thought those looked best with aqua. Aqua hooks were about $3 from Target and easy for the girls to hang their jewelry on.

Saedi's dresser that I picked up for free after a rained-out yard sale when we lived at Ft Benning. Added a fresh coat of white and painted the drawers Chinese red...adorable! Special Note: The green basket on the dresser was a gift my best friend, Audrey, gave to me for Christmas full of free items she had snagged by couponing. It's my inspiration to stay thrifty!

And the rug...should it stay or should it go? If it stays I think I need to add a touch more pink to the room.




Link

Newest Niece

A big welcome to our newest niece, Miss Taylor Joy! Can't wait to meet you, Little Darling!


Link

Our Adoption Story via an Interview with Steph

So many of you have asked us adoption questions and it's made me realize that rarely do I write adoption posts on the blog. I guess since we've written so much mandatory write-ups during the process I don't think to write for fun. Well, that said, my friend Steph is doing a special adoption series every Monday on her blog, indiansandpirates and this week is our chance to shine. So, if you're interested in hearing our Adoption Story, check out Steph's blog here.

Link

Mother's Day Visitor

Two girlies pretty excited about our unexpected backyard visitor.

"You touch him. No! You touch him!"

We thought we'd offer the turtle some water in an attempt to bribe him to stay...didn't work. After naps we checked on him and he was gone.

My lovely Mother's Day flowers that Riley sent


Happy Mother's Day!


Link

Belly Buddies

A few days I was greeted at the door with 4 proud, giggly girls wanting to show off their "pregnant" bellies. Ellie, Brooke, Meadow, & Saedi were so proud to be having babies just like their mothers. Saedi's face, especially, cracks me up...she couldn't even talk she thought she was so funny.

Then, I gave Ellie my camera to take a few pictures of Nat and my's belly. I was realizing I haven't been getting any pictures of myself this pregnancy but I guess that's the way it goes when it's number 3. There's nothing like being pregnant at the same time as a close friend. Nat and I were pregnant with Meadow & Saedi together...they were just 3 weeks apart. And now after 2 girls each we're both having baby boys that will probably be a month apart again! Great blessings!



Link