a few DIY project updates.

I finally posted a few of our updates OVER HERE @ all things DIY!

1.  a tufted headboard.
2.  a little bookshelf makeover.
3.  a child's art painting project.
4.  chevron flower canvas art.

Many more projects to come very soon.

When I'm wandering around the house taking pictures or working on projects this one is always following me...

Such a little lady with her paws always crossed.
I know...she is such a cute kitty.
She follows me from room to room like a little puppy.
(and she poses for photographs much better than our little toddler these days :))

our sweet Lucy.

some summer randomness.

Helping to pick out clothes has been fun as of recently.

Pink snow boots are totally in for summer, in case you didn't know.



 

Lots of playing in the playroom. (Lucy too)

And turn around and you will always see some kind of project in the works around here. (and lots of projects lately both big and small)

We bought a new rug for the entryway (that we completely redid and will share soon). 
The rug is loved by many.
Quinn rolled all over it when it first arrived, put her down for a nap, came downstairs and found this one rolling all over it for her turn.

Taking in hometown events, like fun little parades.

This one is turning into a little baker.  She is loving to bake. 
(baking banana bread & chocolate chip banana bread here)

 

Painting a picture to hang in her future big girl bedroom. 

Being home after a month of traveling, it's been nice to get back to our usual eating habits and activity.  Quinn and I have been walking at least once a day.  Usually in the morning the two of us and in the evening as a family.  With Todd home more, we are trying to do more active things together as a family.
Plus we find fun things on our walks (Quinn and I saw a big heron by our pond the other day, and just last night someone was throwing out wide planks of wood - Todd and I jumped on that and I sent him back to pick it up with the truck (we met new neighbors in the process).

more summer randomness to come...

in the midwest.

Midwest living is fantastic for so many reasons.
Living in our new hometown, I feel like we get to embrace all the wonderful things of living in the Midwest even more (small town festivals, quiet and pretty country roads, friendly community, so peaceful...  now if I just had our very own little farm and barn of animals I would be in heaven).

In the summer, sweet corn is a highlight and in July and August we make sure to get it at least twice a week.  (at least being the key words there)
We love our sweet corn.
When we came home from Tennessee we found the corn to be this tall already.

This past week we have been having a lot of fun tending to our neighbor's garden for them.
And helping ourselves to fresh fruits and veggies and herbs and spices.  so fun!  I definitely think there will be the start of our own garden (a little one at least) in the near future.

 Quinn has always loved zucchini.  It was her favorite even as a baby.

She loves to help pick the berries (raspberries & blackberries in her bowl) but she has never been a big berry fan.  She just likes to feed them to mommy. :)

So while we may be doing them a favor by taking care of the garden, it has been a real special treat for us. ;)

cousins.

Aidan (7 years) -  Quinn (2 years) - Brynn (20 months) -  Liam (4 years) 

 

 

It doesn't seem that long ago that this was Quinn with her cousins... 



Liam (2 years) -  Quinn (2 months) -  Aidan (4 years)   (pre-Brynn)

a little update of sorts.

We had a whirlwind of a month with 2 weeks in Florida, then 1 week in Tennessee.
It's been so fun and such a great summer so far.
We are home now for the rest of summer and that is exciting too.
This year we didn't come home to a crazy and busy schedule awaiting Todd.

Todd has decided to step away from his girls volleyball head coaching position.
Shortly after the boys season ended in June, he started to contemplate the idea of a change. 
A change of pace being the largest reason in play.  With two head coaching jobs (both in different school districts) it made the balance of two different programs to carry, budgets to balance, athletic directors and secretaries and transportation contacts, etc. to contact and work with regularly, different school schedules with early morning meetings, planning orientations and parent nights and regular correspondence with parents of the entire program throughout the year (I think you get the idea).  One thing many people may not realize is that as a head coach, yes the bulk of your work is a seasonal thing, but you are still doing work for that position all year long.
While Todd handled and carried them both beautifully, it is a lot.
A change of pace sounded great, and when the opportunity for an assistant girls volleyball position opened at the school he is head coach for the boys, it just seemed meant to be at this time.

So what is the just of all of this?
Well, he still coaches both during the girls and boys seasons (all in one school district now - a wonderful district that we love).
Boys season in the spring remains the same as head coach.
Girls season in the fall as an assistant coach at a new school, where he can still do what he loves but his amount of responsibilities has dropped significantly.

Most importantly from it all this little family will get more time to spend together. :)  Yay!

 

In other updates, I am staying busy with some delicious cake pop making!

Simply Sweet Cake Pops

 

 

and taking pictures of cutie patooties!

Photography

 





and as soon as we arrived home from our month long adventure, we dove into some projects at home.
Did you really expect anything different? :)

Many updates to be posted soon on the DIY page with painting, a bookshelf renovation, three light fixture changes, completion of our foyer/entryway, another board and batten project, artwork for a little girls bedroom, a tufted headboard, a farmhouse table build and more...

a tennessee wedding ~ the big post.

On the 13th of July, my little brother married his soul mate.
Drew and Kristen had a beautiful wedding in Knoxville, Tennessee (where they both currently live).
It was a gorgeous day with just a splash of rain that lasted all of 10 minutes.
The bride looked beautiful in an ivory gown and my brother was so handsome in his tux.  He is always so calm and easygoing, he was just ready to get the show on the road.
When you are busy keeping four children occupied (Quinn and her three cousins) you don't have a chance to let it all sink in.  When I saw Drew walk down the aisle and go get the minister, it sunk in and I got emotional.  But I had to pull myself together, because in just a minute Todd would come down the aisle (groomsman) and then my sweet girl as flower girl.  Let's just say I soaked up every tiny bit of this experience of having her be a flower girl.  I knew it is likely my one time of experiencing that.  I loved every second of it.

For us, it was a jam-packed weekend wedding extravaganza and road tripping all in one. :)
With flower girl in tow, no naps most days, long travel days, late nights of family gatherings, she was still an absolute rock star and did her flower girl duties so gracefully.  We were SO proud of her!
Liam (our nephew) was the ring bearer, and Todd and Mike (brother-in-law) were groomsmen.  My sister, Amy, and I did a little speech together. :)  (My 4th wedding toast, I think that should round it up though, but I guess you never know.)
On top of everything else, out-of-town weddings are fun too because you actually get bonus time with extended family.  We all stayed at the same hotel and most nights we would put Quinn to bed and head to room 828 (aka. Club 828 - or Uncle Brian and Aunt Sherry's room) for laughs and drinks and a good time together.  We love our video monitor for allowing us to go have a good time but keep an eye on our little Quinn.

The wedding was beautiful and the reception was a blast!
Quinn beat out just about anyone on the dance floor as she lasted the entire night!

Drew and Kristen, we love you so much.
We are so excited for you and Quinn is so glad to have a new Auntie Kristen.

Now for a ton of pictures!
(and a video too, at the very end)

 

 

These are from my camera, so with photographer pictures still to come, I'm sure I'll have more to post again later!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Details on our little Flower Girl:
Dress was from this Etsy shop Olivia Kate Couture.  (Gorgeous dress, timely, and comfy material.)
Shoes from Target.
Flowers in Hair from H&M.
And her mommy did her hair. :) 
(with helpful advice and tutorials from bestie Kirsten - or "K" as Quinn calls her)

 

I love photographs, but I am always grateful for videos, they just capture even more.

Here is a video of wedding and reception highlights (well, the ones I had a chance to capture).

When you watch it, turn up the volume and increase the video quality (bottom - looks like a wheel) to 720p.

Enjoy!

the wedding - just a sneak peek.

I know right, just a sneak peek?!
Well, I need a little more time to get the pictures and videos ready for the BIG Tennessee Wedding post of my little brother, Drew, marrying his beautiful new wife, Kristen.
From our amazing and fun-filled wedding weekend...
Here are just a couple pics, a sneak peek (ya know, not giving away full outfits yet), with much more to come!

Disney & a Two year old.

During our trip to Florida, we decided to venture over to Magic Kingdom for one day of Disney fun.
Quinn's first official trip to a Disney World Park.  (Grandpa and Grandma joined us too!)

We are so glad we decided to take our shy little girl.  She LOVED all of it!
She was ready to go in her adorable little outfit made by Grandma (and her name stitched on her shirt was awesome when meeting characters, they called her by name like they knew her, without having to ask).
She was SO excited to meet the characters and princesses, like she could hardly wait in line (but she did because she is a good girl).  She was fantastic the entire day.  Watching her reaction and expression to everything was priceless.  Seeing the park through her little two year old eyes was like seeing it for the first time myself (all over again).

I would say around 2:30, she fell asleep on Todd while we were on our way over to Buzz Lightyear's ride.  Fortunately, our fast passes still had about an hour left, so we detoured and rode on the people mover and then the Carousel of Progress just to do something while she slept.  It worked great.  She woke up ready to tackle Evil Emperor Zurg.

Going to Disney at any age is a great trip.
Going to Disney at least once between the ages of 2 and 4 is truly magical.  Their excitement is overflowing and seeing the characters is so special.  Each stage is different, but we are so glad that Quinn was able to go at this one.

We had the best day!
We truly lucked out going in a peak season, our longest wait was only 30 minutes.
We moved along with our day in a way that we were able to get fast passes for a good majority of the rides we went on.  (Helps when you can send one person quickly to go get them while you wait for another show/ride.) 

We went into the day with a simple plan and one main goal - making it all about Quinn.  And our day couldn't have gone any smoother or simpler.

Our day included:
Meeting Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Mickey Mouse, Belle, Daisy and Minnie.
Riding Small World, Winnie the Pooh, Ariel's ride, Peter Pan, Buzz Lightyear, Dumbo, the Railroad and the Peoplemover.
We watched the Shake It! parade (it's a great parade to see all the characters and dance with them in the street, but not a long parade that you are sitting around for a long time).
We also went to Enchanted Tales with Belle (one of our favorite things from the day).
We ate yummy food and ice cream.
Played in the Casey Juniors little splashpark.
And Quinn acquired a Mickey and Minnie to take home, while we took home some treats from the Confectionary. yum!  And we left feeling fulfilled, happy, and not completely exhausted. We stopped and had dinner outside of the park, and it turned out to be a great way to kind of start to unwind from the day.

A truly magical day!
Can't wait to return.

Here is a little video from the day. :)