Aprons.... Yes, a Bit Random

So, do you guys remember my multiple personalities post? Well, I'm here today to delve a little deeper into the "Bree" side of me.

We're going to be talking about aprons. Yes, I said aprons. I have an unhealthy obsession with aprons. Fortunately, I have the will power to not buy them often, because well. that's just not practical. I have a sweet cousin who found three vintage ones while thrifting and gifted them to me. Josh bought me one for my birthday a few years ago, and it's my go-to apron.

Now, it's definitely cheaper to sew your own, (and I WILL find the time to do so eventually) but since time is an issue for a lot of us, I'm going to introduce you to a wonderful website called Flirty Aprons.  (This is not sponsored, I just love this site!) I forget where I stumbled upon them, but I'm glad I did! They have vintage looking aprons that are incredibly durable. I've had mine for three years and it's been put through a lot! Holidays, birthdays, cleaning, bbqs, you name it, it's been through it. Not to mention it's been washed often and has held up with no problems.

You should probably read the washing instructions. Instructions are something I'm not good at.

Here are a few of my favorite styles they offer. They also offer men's and children's aprons as well.

I just love these country looking ones!

This is the one that Josh got me!

And I believe Miss Sofia needs this one! How cute is that?!

So, there you have it. Some awesome aprons.
Enjoy!
-Heather

First Days of School

This school year was a hard one. It was Isaiah's (Josh's brother who lives with us) first day of high school and Sawyer's first day of preschool.

I have to take a minute to describe Sawyer before I go any further. I hope I don't seem like I'm bragging, but I'm just in awe of this child. Josh and I can take very little credit for who he is becoming. Of course we've raised him, but he was born with this intense thirst for knowledge and his perspective on the world would have philosophers thinking, "Huh, I hadn't thought of it that way."

We often have conversations that are equivalent with adults and he taught himself to read (with some help of course) by age three. He reads Josh's MicroBiology  and Anatomy books. He knows how to get on Google and type in what he wants to learn about, then find the articles and reads  them. I have moments where I forget that he's four.

So when the decision to send him to preschool came up, we decided that he needed to be a bit more socialized (not that it's really a problem, he fits in with any age group that he's around) and he needed to get used to a classroom setting.

I was honestly fine with it, until the day before school started. I had a full-blown, honest-to-God panic attack. I was going to miss all of those moments where he taught ME about the world, the funny quips that he would come up with, the morning snuggles, you know- all of the good stuff. But, I knew what was best for him, and that was preschool. Fortunately, he got the most awesome teacher who not only was patient with him, but she teaches him the life-lessons that I would have. She values him as an individual... not just another child in the classroom. She tells me stories about him and she loves him. I couldn't be happier with our decision. It's rare to find a teacher like Mrs. Jolena. The kind of teacher who understands the magic in children and who appreciates them as PEOPLE, not just kids.

So, the morning of school, I had cried all that I could cry the day before, so all that was left was excitement. We snapped some pictures and off we went. I caught a video of him and when we got to school, he had no problem letting us go... just as we expected.

It was a long day waiting for 2:45 to roll around and I don't think I could have gotten in the car any faster. We get to the school, and he threw a FIT because he had to go home.... just as we expected.

He's doing great now, and Jolena has him help her out by reading to the class. He helps the other students with their work and when they're having disagreements, he steps in to help.
All of the kids love him and they all yell "Good-bye" to him when he leaves and some even come give hugs or fist bumps.

Don't put limits on your children. Let them surprise you with what they can do. Listen to them (REALLY listen) and see what their take on the world is. I believe that children are some of the best teachers in the world. I know I've been "schooled" by my two many times. Kiddos are people. They are better people than adults in my eyes. Treat them that way. They only have one childhood, so don't bog it down with anger, stress, and worry. Just love them.

*Steps down from soapbox*

Okay, so here are the pictures we snapped on our first day!

He was so proud of his backpack!

Um, are you excited, Sawyer?

Isaiah and Sawyer doing his best "surprised" face.

Sawyer and Sofie

All four of us.

Cousins on their first day!

Happy School Days!
-Heather

Kitchen Re-Do!

I'm doing some catch up blogs, because, well, I haven't been good about keeping up with my blog. So, the next few blogs will be of events past, but they're still relevant! I promise!

When we bought out house 4 years ago, a lovely older lady had lived here for 16 years. And in that time, not much redecorating or updating had been done. Josh and I love to look at houses for what they could be and what character they hold. This house was no different.

There were three rooms in the house that have begged for a re-do since we did our first walk through- the third bedroom (it had paneling and blue carpet), the master bathroom (it has yellow tiles on every wall 3/4 of the way up), and the kitchen.

Oh, the kitchen. I spent every day for a week solid after we closed on the house scraping 3 layers of wallpaper off. Of course, then I had to mud, sand, and repaint. The colors I had picked for the kitchen were a group of yellows, but, to be honest, I hadn't honed in on my decorating skills yet, so it looked pretty bad. They had drywalled off the space between the top of the cabinets to the ceiling, so we knocked that out to add height and storage. Some of it has been finished, but Josh is a really busy man so two of the above cabinet spaces have still not been mudded or painted. However, The rest of the kitchen has been updated!

I'm a sucker for two magazines- Southern Living and Country Living. They always have some kind of decor that I'm crazy about. I saw an article where they had taken the cabinet doors off and it left this wonderful open space to display your dishes as well as knick-knacks. You all know my love of junkin', so I had plenty to fill the spaces! We had lots of left over paint, so this cost me absolutely NOTHING! I don't have any before pictures, but I do have now pictures! And here they are!

 I took off the cabinet doors and used primer white on all of the cabinets inside and out. If you look closely, you'll see a lot of my junkin' treasures and my jars of olive oils and flower petals (used for my perfumes and some cooking seasonings. We're using lavender on our Turkey this year.)

Here, I painted the walls and used the primer white again. I sewed together some burlap valances and hung my burlap tea holder. See that picture on the far right? My mom painted that. I need to do a post on her paintings alone. They're incredible. Also to the right is my infamous tea shelf. I typically have around 10+ different teas as well as my own mixtures on hand for different ailments.  We still have some wood paneling that needs to have something done with it (you can kind of see it in the bottom picture).

Since I had everything on hand, this re-do was completely free (other than the two days of my life I'll never get back). I want you to get creative when you get the urge to remodel.  Reuse and Repurpose! Not only is it good for the environment, but it's good for you wallet and creativity as well!

Happy re-dos!
-Heather