New House: Liam's Room

   Will be sharing over the next month or so some of the fun we had this summer getting the house ready to move in.  All of the bedrooms were painted a dark taupe with a brown carpeting so it was always our plan to repaint the kid's rooms.

   First up Liam's: When asked what color he wanted his room he said "Geen" and with the help of Behr Color Smart and bringing home some paint chips we were able to narrow it down to three which we then bought samples and tried out on the wall.

the before shot...

my assistant posing with our trial patches.

  We settled  on Key Lime and got to painting; given that we were going over a dark color I opted for the fancy Paint&Primer and am very glad I did as it is a good size room and already the two coats it took was quite plenty (especially since I still had two more rooms to paint before moving).

   

We then headed to Tar.get for new sheets. Liam choice was Dinosaur sheets.

We are largely reusing furniture we had except for a Peel&Stick chalkboard and firetruck storage bench both new for his Dinosaur/Fireman room!!

Quick Takes #162 Things around here and around the web

1. Last weekend I attended part of the annual conference for AABC; it was great to step back into my midwifery shoes for a day and catch-up with friends.
2. Edel'15 has been announced!! A planned family reunion will likely prevent me from attending the conference but I'm so happy to know that it's happening.
3. A couple wonderful posts that really spoke to my heart and mind during these 'in the mothering trenches' days: first this one from Sole Searching Mama.
4. The other wonderful post was by Dwija of House Unseen
5. My autumn reading list is all set for quite awhile thanks to Anne the Modern Mrs Darcy!!
6.  Cyndi Lauper, Sara Bareilles & Hoda Kotb collaborated on an amazing video featuring kids from the Cancer Center where Dr. Daddy works.  I love how these kids amazing spirit and bravery is celebrated
7. Have a wonderful weekend!

Please head over to Conversion Diary for more 7 Quick Takes

WWRW: September 24th

Linking up with Jessica of Housewifespice sharing what I've been reading recently

My Sisters The Saints

is a wonderful memoir in which the author Colleen Campell shares her life story starting in college and continuing through her mid-thirties and the pivotal saints that acted a 'big sisters' and guiding stars to her as she reverts back to a more active practice of her faith, builds a career, gets married and seeks a better understanding of how to keep all of those things in balance and live a life of committed faith.  The author also touches on life issues, namely how we treat infertility and how we care for the aged and how the Churches teachings challenged and guided her as she and her family faced these issues.

The book follows a wonderful format very reminisent of James Martin's My Life with the Saints; as Campell tells her story and the important role each saint played in her life at different times she shares much of that saint's biography. In all, six saints lives are shared ranging from Saint Theresa of Avila, to Saint Faustina to Saint Theresa of Calcutta.  While the focus of the book is clearly on the author's faith journey, I also learned a lot about each saint, and most importantly how seeking their intercession can be of help at times of struggle and not. 

I would recommend this book to anyone, but think it would be of particular interest to women discerning for themselves how to balance work and home life, and make peace with the pain and disorientation of watching ones parents age and perhaps even becoming a caregiver for them.  Over the fifteen years or so that this book covers the author must have encountered the writings or images of many, many saints; this book tells the interesting story of how six took hold in a meaningful way.

The Ballad

by Ashley Pullo a love story told backwards starting around their tenth anniversary and over the course of the book telling their story, ending at their first meeting. I found the format far more interesting than confusing and the characters charming with wonderful dialogue.  The story largely told from Chloe's perspective of her life from 25 to 35 includes all the life events of having kids, losing parents, career choices: all of these Pullo handles well with humor and just a bit of rough language.  Would recommend and will be checking out the sequel The Refrain.



   I wrote this review of http://www.aquinasandmore.com/title/My-Sisters-the-Saints/SKU/94656">My Sisters the Saints

for the http://tiberriver.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/home.signupType">free Catholic Book review program, created by Aquinas and More Catholic Goods.



                                                Aquinas and More is the largest on-line http://www.aquinasandmore.com/catholic-books-gifts/catholic-books/category/2">Catholic bookstore.

1 up ~ 1 down: September 19th

Joining ChystinaNoel again to share the best and worst of the week

1 up

    We had the best 'birthday day' with Liam last Saturday starting with a pancake breakfast made by Dr. Daddy. We then all headed to the Lego Store where both Lisbeth and Liam had a blast playing with the many hands-on displays (and Caitlin napped) and Liam picked out a fire truck/fire station combo and another kit that can be made into a helicopter, plane or boat.  Afterwards we went to Ruby's for a wonderful lunch and some train spotting.  Later that evening we enjoyed pizza and cake with some friends. A truly great day!

1 down

   This is a bit of a reach but a close friend who is currently living/working far away is in town for the weekend ~ and I'm going to miss seeing him because I'm headed out of town for a conference tomorrow. Silver lining hopefully Charlie will take lots of pictures when they all go apple picking tomorrow.

Please head over to ChystinaNoel's for more 1up ~ 1 down.

Quick Takes #161 ~ Happy Birthday Liam!

1. Liam will officially be four tomorrow so I thought I would use this week's post as a sort-of snapshot of him now.
2. Much more reserve than his older sister he meets the world in a more tentative way but once he knows you be ready for the rough & tumbleness of a toddler cum preschooler. He turns just about anything into a sword (his weapon of choice) and loves to run and roar: Superheroes and Dinosaurs being absolute tops in his hit parade.
3. Included in his SuperHero category are Fire Fighters and Police Officers; he still alternates between the two when saying what he wants to be when he grows up.  
4. Talking more and more all the time story-telling is starting to play a role as is imaginary play with him setting the scene and determining the plot.  He still uses the 'w' sound for 'l' which makes saying his name a very cute moment; and more often than not still uses me, her, and him in place of I, she and he ~ another quirk we are trying to train him out of but I will miss when it is gone.
5. A great eater he is usually up for trying anything; favorites include Italian Wedding Soup, ice cream, fruit and hot dogs. Not a big breakfast eater except for Daddy's pancakes and sausage.
6. Loves: Transformer Rescue Bots, dinosaurs, Paw Patrol, and Daddy!!
7. Having finally fully potty trained early this summer and having made peace with the move and his new room ~ we are very excited to celebrated our newly minted four year old and see what the coming year brings!!

Happy Birthday Liam!!

Please head over to Conversion Diary for more Quick Takes

1 down ~ 1 up: September 5

Linking up with Chrystina of Chrystina Noel to share the best and worst of my week

one down:

     The every mounting to-do-list this week largely defeated me into stagnation; there are a couple of big things I really need to take care of but could not deal this week with the idea of trying to make phone calls while littles competed for my attention and work out scheduling logistics.

one up:

    A tie between knowing that Lisbeth had a great first day of school complete with me getting her all the supplies she was suppose to have for the first day and remembering to take pictures..and not getting picked for a trial on my jury duty day (so not having to arrange emergency childcare for the rest of the week).

So how was your week? Please head over to Chrystina Noel and join the fun.

Wordless Wednesday: The First Grader

Here's to a Great Year!!