Hair cuts

Cutting boy hair is harder than girl hair. Sigh. But I'm too stingy to want to pay a hairdresser, especially since boys hair seems to grow so darn fast and they require cuts so frequently. If I had it my way, I'd have them just grow it out; I'm a glam rock child of the 80s and I think long hair looks awesome on the male species. Hence my husband's few remaining strands are still past his shoulders.

But when it's long, they complain about brushing and it gets in their eyes and all that drama, so it's in our best interests to cut it, and to do so at home. Yesterday the firstborn son asked me for a spike. He's never really cared about hair styles and this is the first time he's requested a hair cut at all, never mind a style too. So I did my best! Not a great job at all, but possibly as good as cost cutter? Ah, I'll get better with time hopefully.

Here's Turtle's before (lollypops make the whole process much easier)

Don't mind the kid in a diaper in the background

And here's after

Yes I do see those bits I missed. Keep in mind this is with scissors, I don't have trimmers. And he won't let me go back and finish it.

He wanted color in it too. He knows he's awesome. This is his 'I'm awesome' face. 

Ok mum, that's enough photos. 

No more paparazzi.



Ally decided he wanted a hair cut too. Actually, he just wanted a lollypop and knew he'd only get one if he had a hair cut. So I gave it a go. 

Here's his before. 

Aw, I love it and hate myself for cutting it. 

His turned out a bit disastrous, but you have to realize, he was screaming, pushing, trying to stand up and walk away. It's not easy to cut a child's hair with one hand while having to hold them down with the other hand. I had about 3 minutes tops to get it all snipped before I had to call it done, because he wasn't very happy with the process.

Here's what 3 minutes of crazy snipping and wrestling gets you. 

He's not very happy with me. But with enough lolly pops he forgave me and we had a fun afternoon. And he's still pretty darn adorable. 

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Recent Build - Ahh, this is the life

This one was a joint effort between Rene and I. I was ogling all the pretty porch swings outside home depot and tractor supply and decided to go for it. We didn't have any plans and sort of made it up on the way, and it shows. It's not the prettiest piece of work ever, but it does the job.

Best part about the project? It's all repurposed (aka free) wood, from a fence. We just had to buy the hardware. 

Ignore the mess in the yard. And this hasn't been properly sanded yet, plus I think I want to make a cushion for the back rest, and possibly a cushion for the bench (which was an old build also made from repurposed wood and scraps) which we have pulled up in front as a foot rest/climbing step thingy.

It turned out bigger than we had planned, and we accidentally set it too high, but it's all good. 

The cushion is Turtle's old mattress which needed replacing because they had been tearing it up for kicks, and the cover (which doesn't actually sag like it looks in this pic, I just haven't added the velcro yet at the back and hadn't fixed it before taking the pic) is made out of two old shower curtains. 

So anyway, it's kid approved. 

And also kitten approved

And here's our messy, but mess is directly proportionate to fun, yard with swing. 

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And our already chaotic wee hoose just got...

a whole lot noisier

and more fun

and cuter.

We are smitten

All the baby cuteness has turned Ally all broody and he's loving on Ashlynn again

That's a cute duck if I ever saw one

"dat?"

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stuff I made - wall hangy thing

I'm going through my pics and decided to start posting more of the stuff I make. Not so I can show off, not exactly. But because the life of a stay at home mom can sometimes go something like this - wake up, clean kitchen, make breakfast - kitchen gets messy, feed kids - diningroom gets messy, clean kitchen, clean diningroom, make bed, do laundry, kids put on clean clothes and go outside to play in mud, kids come in and change clothes, laundry ends up back in dirty hamper, kids are hungry - make lunch - kitchen messy, serve lunch - diningroom messy, kids play on your bed and unmake it, clean kitchen, clean diningroom, meanwhile kids have trashed livingroom - pick up toys and clean room, kids want snacks - kitchen and diningroom get trashed again. and so it goes on and on til the end of the day when you decide you'll clean up after supper the following morning because your feet and back still ache from the last time you did it. Start over the next day,  repeat six times for a total of seven per week. 

We spend 98% of our energy on stuff that just gets undone in hours or sometimes  minutes. Like spending hours cooking food that gets gobbled up in minutes, then it gets pooped out in a diaper we just finished washing and drying. We're tired, and have little to show for it by the end of the day. It's a high calling, yet it can give the illusion of the lowest when you're up to your elbows scrubbing toilets and doing dirty, sweaty jobs. 

So that's why we blog about it, and update our facebook statuses to brag about the things we achieved through the day. Not to act like we're some super mom or doing a better job than anyone else, but because at least the 'likes' that people click are still there the next frigging day! Sometimes it's the little small rewards that just give you enough motivation to keep going through the motions. 

So, here's a shelf thingy I got made in between the mundane other tasks. Plans come from the awesome Ana White - here

sad, bare naked wall

first one built, unstained

stained and hung

This was a home made wood stain, thank you pinterest

'

Second one built and Ally decorated it before I got to

Both of them built and hung (thankfully I got a pic before they got as cluttered as they now are)

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That awkward moment when...

That awkward moment when you see wild bunnies out your window

and you see an impromptu homeschool lesson opportunity and call all the kids together

to come look out the window

and watch the sweet bunnies foraging

but you are caught off guard when

the lesson suddenly becomes sex ed.

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Caledonia's Maiden Voyage

She's finished! Finally.

I first introduced her to you here, then you got to see some progress here, then she sat neglected for quite some time. We did have some stuff going on to be fair, pregnancy, baby, moving house, winter etc etc.

I am so pleased with my design and the interior work and Rene is rightly proud of his hard work on the plumbing and electrics. He began with no prior knowledge and he just figured it all out and got her working just fine. What a buzz.

We've had so much fun fixing up our vintage camper, getting her working just right for our family's needs. And we finally took her camping last Friday! We didn't go far and are blessed to live very close to a couple of great state parks with camping pads. Everything went 100% smoothly and was so much fun.

OK, I'll start with a refresher of the before.

You get the gist. 

Finally, I am honored to introduce to you, our beautiful wee home away fae home, Caledonia.

I love this mat.

bathroom (oops I need to get more hooks for the curtain)

bathroom storage

shower curtain

view from bathroom

kitchen

open bins (for shoes and misc things we want to just throw in there)

drawers 

tilt out trash

Sink unit

upper cabinets

Slide out pinteresty type pantry thingy

Poor, pathetic cushion cover, my first attempt. I will make a better one some day. I've learned what not to do now!

loft as daytime storage

Main daytime hangout stage, which is storage and a bed

My fav. Pic of a Peach tree, with little colorful leaves still learning how to bloom, and a field of heather beneath it.

it folds down

to a table with storage

Bench also turns into a table

Bench also turns into a bed. 

twin

or queen

Loft also becomes a bed

and has a rope ladder which the kids like to use as a swing (I'm glad we reinforced all studs!)

We still have to make the lights pretty, but Rene got them all working beautifully. 

I still want to decorate the exterior, but we got the most important bit done

I guess I'll leave it with some action shots. :) 

Don't judge me

Stop the judging already! Jeez, you people. 

This drawer made a great fridge with some added ice packs

Just because she's cute

Mmmm Stir fry

She's plenty cozy and comfy

You guys, *this* is the life!

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