Easter 2015

We had a very fun Easter this year, with two Easter Egg Hunts for Jessica to participate in. One was for the entire neighborhood, held at the church, and our friends the Satchwells came along for the party.  The second hunt was at a friend's house who hosts a HUGE Easter Egg Hunt every year for friends. Seriously, the Davies make it a big deal with tickets hidden in eggs and you can win prizes, along with a yummy potluck and barbecue!

At the time of these hunts, Jessica had just started walking while holding our hands, so it wasn't the typical "run and grab an egg then put it in the basket" scenario, but it was fun nonetheless! Jessica had a blast at each hunt (cue matching sucker and shirt color for the Neighborhood hunt) and we enjoyed seeing her obvious excitement. Being a parent is so fun and we love seeing everything through her eyes. Now that she's fully mobile, life is becoming so much more fun. We are ready for all the adventures we have planned and have yet to discover this Summer!

First Easter Egg Hunt

Second Easter Egg Hunt

 I love that man so much. He keeps me laughing!

 This was what we liked to called the "midget walk". No offense intended. But, when Jessica would walk on her knees, especially with a skirt on, she looked super short (like a midget). She eventually realized that walking on her feet was much faster and easier than the little shuffle on her knees. Cutie!

 As you can see, we have a very happy girl. People always comment on how she is so easy-going and basically happy all the time. I'd like to think this is because we have such a happy home and her Mommy and Daddy just love her and each other so much!

Easy Fireplace Mantel Facelift

Ever since having little Jessica outside of my body, I've had a lot more energy to do things around the house that I just didn't feel up to doing in the last trimester. And I'm getting so much done! Most of my projects are things I was staring at while lying around the house and taking it easy through all the Braxton-Hicks. This DIY was one of those.

I've never loved our fireplace surround and mantel, but figured that the taupe-colored paint over the stone was better than whatever color the natural stone used to be in our 1970s home (I'm thinking browns and oranges). Michael and I also think that it's way too big for the room, but until we can tear it down and eventually build a smaller wooden surround and mantel, and also put in a nicer gas insert, I thought a new coat of paint would be a good facelift!

I chose a white paint as I really prefer mantels to be white; it goes with whatever color is on the walls. As we want to eventually paint the walls in this room, the taupe-ish color on the stone would greatly limit what color we could put on the walls. We had some leftover white gloss from painting our baseboards. So, along with that and a leftover brush, I went to work. 

It took me about 3 days of baby Jessica's naptimes, a neckache, and a completely obliterated paintbrush later, and what a wonderful end result! It totally changes the feel of the room, and brightens up the space. I pretty much love it. And the price was right...free. The best kind of DIY project in my opinion!

A Little Bit of Spring

So, when it looks like this outside...what should you do? Decorate your fireplace mantel with something light and colorful, to try and bring some Spring into the house, because it most definitely does not exist out doors. That's exactly what I did a couple weeks ago during a crazy snowstorm.

Now, I know it's not much, but this is the beginnings of my Spring/Summer mantel. And I LOVE it. 

 I scored this cute little ceramic thing at Hobby Lobby for 88 cents. Yeah, it was on 90% clearance because it has a slight chip on top which you can't even see unless you're looking for it. Awesome.

 And these little birds are my new friends. I love the colors. Lately, I've been really drawn to cute bird decorations and I just can't help myself!

 Ahhhh, so refreshing. I'm really starting to focus on this front sitting room in our home. I have a chair in there that I'm planning on reupholstering/painting in the next week or so. And I also have plans to paint the hutch that is sitting in there also. I'm so happy for Spring and warmer weather that I can enjoy, whether it be by doing house projects, working in the yard, or exercising. Hope you're all enjoying it too!