Catching Up

Since I had to relearn my password and way around Blogger to type my Father's Day Bomb post, I figured I would give this blog thing another try. So, in a desperate attempt to catch up, try to keep up here. This is a highlight post with mostly pictures, so it will be bearable. :)



 

I FINALLY took Caden to get his prize for night training. Remember, he trained day and night in a weekend back in ...gulp, January.

From the first moment I mentioned "any toy you want" he consistently said "Diesel 10." Like a kid in a candy shop looking at all of the trains. Made my heart smile!

This is the picture I took 2 days after Easton was finally prescribed a high power antibiotic after being sick for 3 months. Four doctor appointments and three different doctors later, a (lady) doctor finally agreed with my momstincts that something was not right and diagnosed him with a sinus infection. After three months of canceling play dates, missing church, fine one day, snotty mess the next, he was totally better almost instantly with this antibiotic. No more dirty looks at church even though I had multiple doctors tell me he was perfectly healthy. ick, ick. moving on... Finally back to my Easton!

Just a favorite because I'm that kind of mom. Laughing hysterically at Jenna's drama fall.

We got to see everyone on Ryans' dad side of the family for Pape's 90th birthday. A very fun weekend!

The twins face when we told them Gigi had bought Frozen for them to watch.

 

We LOVE our neighborhood and we love our street. The older neighborhood kids are so great with our little ones who want to keep up. Here is Caden and Jenna schooling them in some hoops.

We went on our first beach trip right before Easter. It was cold and rainy so we hid eggs under the beach house and bundled up for some beach time. Love this shot of my big little guy.

Speaking of big, little guys....he instantly turned into a toddler....like in one day.



As messed up as this boys ankles were/ still are, he sure can jump. He cries later that night because his "yegs" hurt, but he sure does have a fun time in the moment!

We are no longer Farm Days newbies. We had an awesome time with Nana and Papa and learned what not to do for next year. (and if someone from Farm Days ever reads this...for the love, set up like 25 baby chick stands. I know you can find that many. It is a little kids dream to hold one of those furballs, but you make it a mama's nightmare when we have to break the news that we can't stand in line for hours.)

I took the kids to our neighborhood spring festival. I'm not sure what Caden is doing to Mr.Bunny. It was all fun and games until it came time for the under-five group to run out and collect easter eggs in the grass. The organizers must have thrown out exactly 22 eggs because in 2.2 seconds, there were none to be found. Many poor kid (mine included) came walking back blank-faced with empty baskets. Good thing we had Aunt Alice's house (read:plethora of eggs) to go to next!

Ryan went to France again so I had to keep myself busy at nights again....



Good news is that he likes it! whew.

This is a really old hobby horse-mine or my sisters- that came out of the attic cobwebs to Gigi and Papa T's house. Jenna rides it fearlessly. Caden as expected, very cautiously and respectfully.

We took the twins to the circus because I won free tickets. That's probably the only way we will ever go back...if it is free again. Hello, dark, smelly, shady characters, "family" event.

My little Easter darlings

We immensely enjoyed our first Spring in the house. I was constantly reminded how blessed we are. So very thankful.

 

The spring also brought this friend. He got away from me 3 times. Since then, I have seen his smaller counterpart numerous times and just recently, a baby snake skin. oops.

 

 I think that brings us to May. Not too bad, eh?

 

Father's Day Failure

I think we figured up that I was in a car 16 hours last week. Considering I reach the "crazy place" in my head at the 3 hour point in a car, it is a small miracle I'm still here with everyone. I tell you this useless fact to try to make myself feel better about getting NOTHING for Ryan yesterday for Father's Day. I mean zilch. No card, no trinket, no toy, no tool...nothing. I think the "Happy Father's Day" comment came while I was drying my hair and he was shaving getting ready for church. Ahhh.... real life these days.

Anyway, the car trivia does not make me feel any better, so, in lieu of a card and well thought-out, perfect gifts that were ordered in time to account for shipping, I am writing an entire will-make-him-blush, no shame, super braggy blog post about my man. (and will frantically drag all three kids to the store to try to get him one tangible thing for his birthday tomorrow!) Winning over here, folks. Winning.

I loved Ryan Little long before he loved me. That is a long story for another day that borders on creepy stalker sometimes, but the point is that He has always been the only person on earth I wanted to be with. It is pretty special for your first and only crush to end up being your husband and father of your babies. Anyway, here are some traits that attracted me to him from the beginning: (quick, bullet-point blog style because the Thomas movie the kids are watching is only 30 minutes!)

Athletic - I mean, super! He was totally one of the top players in every sport in High School. A top scorer, team captain, a top defender, best average of some stat in baseball (I'm totally incompetent in baseball), and a  go-to player when you needed to score. I think one of the reasons I love volleyball so much is because I'm better at it than he is. It is the only sport out there, but at least there is one. Despite that, he can carry his weight even in that sport from his sheer athleticism.

Musical - yep, did you know Ryan Little plays the trumpet? He would say he doesn't anymore, but knowing my husband, he could dig it out, spit in it a little bit, and go to town in one afternoon. And he can sing! He sings all the time. Hey - the Bible says to, right? I wish I could sing, I can hold a tune and know when I'm off tune, but not well enough to sing in front of others, so I'm happy our kids hear music coming from some one or device, everyday.

Handsome - Super hot stuff. He has beautiful blue eyes that I had hoped one of our children would get but have you seen the size of my eyes ?!? They really had no chance. A compromise of hazel will have to do for our little trio. I love his eyes! And I love his ridiculously straight, white, never-had-a-cavity teeth that fill his smile. When he smiles big, his eyes squint shut and I love it!

Smart - sickening smart. He was Salutatorian in his class and took all of the tough, advanced classes. In college we took one class together for which he would read over the "key points" the night before a test, and of course ace it the next day. I still had not learned how to study correctly so I would stress and study for days to barely squeak out an A or B. He majored in Mathematics...who does that!? He took Math classes that had little to no numbers in it and did well at it. Mind Boggling.

At some point, I snagged him and we got married the year I graduated college. Bliss! But a funny thing happens when you marry someone and see them 24/7....you learn new things about that person! So here are some things I learned about Ryan after 9 years of living with Studly.

Orderly- Ryan has a neat streak in him. Admittedly, it has gotten lost under the diapers and toys that come with children, but even now, he will snap and go on a cleaning rampage and get things clean, livable and non-toxic again. I have learned to stand back, help only when I won't get in the way, and make a mental note to not let it get to that point again (which I obviously fail at).

 Analytical - we joke that Ryan missed his calling as a lawyer. We had to work through some things when first married because anytime we entered into a "discussion" I felt like I was up against the leading prosecutor. Ryan can think through the next steps easily (which is why he destroys me playing the card game, Rook). He is black and white - can make decisions based on what makes sense, not what emotion says to do.

Calm - I was thinking recently that Ryan has never raised his voice at me. Really and truly - never! We have had unbelievably stressful, tense moments and he always kept his cool. There is one situation in college where he got angry at me and there is one situation that involved a Christmas Tree where he got noticeably very frustrated with me, but has never yelled, never belittled, and never lost control.

Incredible Work Ethic - Friends, I can not tell you how hard Ryan works. You would not know if someone didn't tell you. He won't, so I will! :) Ryan has worked so hard at his company. Each christmas party or family day we go to, I have numerous people come up and tell me what a great man he is. He is well respected and given looooooads of responsibility because he has proven he can handle it. He made huge, huge steps for his company when we were in Ohio. He paved the way for hopefully years of relationships, visibility and of course bookoos of money for both parties. In fact, did you know he still basically works for the company in Ohio? They kept him contracted even though we moved back here. That says alot to me! So he works for his original company here and is contracted full time for Ohio. So, for the non-math majors out there, that is two jobs, two laptops, two "bosses" asking things of you, two, two, two. He can go to work and deal with high stress, come home and walk into a WARZONE at dinner time, somehow get through dinner and Caden taking an hour to chew, play with our kids and get them down to bed all before he has a chance to change out of his work clothes. Then, because he works on international projects in different time zones, he has to pull out the laptop and get a report out before the work day begins in Europe. I know I am exhausted at night not leaving my house or out of my pajamas...I know he is whooped too. His work ethic has provided so much for us. We are in a home God blessed us with that we pray we can raise our children in.

Team Player - I couldn't think of a better word for this. I'm starting to panic because Thomas the Train is almost over....Anyway, Ryan is the ultimate parent partner. I have thought in my head sometimes that God gave us twins not because I could handle it, because Ryan was wired to help and assist and support! With two babies, he had to get up every  feeding too. No sleeping through the night so he could go in to work somewhat coherent...he was up changing, burping and soothing a baby too! In fact, for a bout a week after Easton was born, I finally told him to go to bed, there was nothing he could do since there was just one baby! He was so used to getting up and being there for every feeding. Oh, and have I mentioned I was on bedrest with both of my pregnancies? Unless you  have been on bedrest or helped someone on bedrest you have NO idea. You just don't. I admittedly didn't until I experienced it myself. I thought you got to lay on the couch and watch Price is Right all day. I won't even go into the craziness it brings on the mom, the point today is about the dad: Ryan. He would work, come home, gently scold me for doing something off the couch, cook our dinner, clean, keep me company, bring me a chocolate milk, basically do everything at home and work! He even cut my hair for me during the twins pregnancy when I was on strict bedrest. He did 99% of our grocery shopping the entire year we were in Ohio. I can count on my hands the number of times I went to the store in Ohio. Yes, this is all true, people! And he has done a majority of the shopping back here in NC too! During bedrest with Easton, he began bathing the twins for us. This has continued even now - he does bath time with our children and I couldn't be more thankful for the break.

Man of God - I have seen Ryan grow so much in his relationship with God during the 14 years we have been together. He loves Jesus....more than He loves me and that is how I want it! As I said before, he is a deep thinker and can really help discern a thought or verse. I love hearing him teach in our class at church. I love hearing him teach our children to love Jesus and to recognize Him in the little things around us. I know he prays for me and wants me to grow closer to Jesus. That is something I do not take for granted, but most of the time act as though I do. He has taught our children how to pray by being faithful to pray for them and in front of them every night.

All in all, I love you Ryan Yates. You are quite the catch and I'm so glad your mine. Happy Father's Day - you were made to parent and you parent well. Happy Birthday tomorrow! I'm so thankful you were born and that God has protected you and allowed you your 34 (ouch!) years so far. I pray for maaaaany more (and preferably, more than me). I know you wouldn't change the pace and volume of our life stage right now, but one day, our house will be empty and quiet and I will be able to drive my non-minivan vehicle to the store to get you some spoils you deserve for your two special days (that are so stressfully close together! geez!). :)

Much Love and Respect,

Kc

They're Listening

Back in January - New Years Weekend to be exact - we were sitting around the dinner table at the beach with my family. Jenna asked to pray for dinner. We were all expecting the normal "Thank you Father for our food" song we had taught them to sing at meal time. Instead, Jenna prayed her own prayer, using her own words! It was precious and innocent and pure.

She thanked JESUS (a word not in the 'meal time' song I mentioned earlier) for everything she could see around her....and things she thought of. It was such a blessing for me to hear. Later on, it struck me that they have been listening! One of our family resolutions back in 2012 was to pray with the twins every single night before bed. By God's grace we have stuck to that and prayed with them each night since. So for two years now, they heard either myself or Ryan pray to Jesus for all sorts of things. Many times I felt like it was just a resolution to be met or a duty to be done. In fact, more times than not, the twins are making funny faces at each other or inspecting the newest bandaid on their knee during prayer time so who knew they heard anything we were saying?!?

It was such a kind gift from the Lord to show us a glimpse of Galatians 6:9: "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." It was just the wind I needed under my sails to keep on going.

And then...

Just as quickly as I was smiling and giving myself an imaginary high-five, I realized the entire truth around this new realization. They are listening to our prayers, yea hooray...but they are also listening to the other not-so-worth-repeating words and comments. One example comes to mind: discipline. If I thought they weren't listening when they were hanging upside down off their beds making silly faces, then imagine how much they were hearing and absorbing when I was in their face, demanding eye-contact. Gulp. As I was thinking about this over the next few weeks, I started seeing Jenna act "mommy" on Caden doing some of the same motions, actions, faces etc that I KNOW they have seen from me.

Anyway, I forget daily and react in my flesh rather than the Spirit but it is something I'm thankful the Lord showed me gently, in a kind manner through the precious prayer of my 3 year old. This parenting thing is hard and confirms my need for God's spirit and guidance every day. A major work in progress.:) I'm so thankful He WANTS to help me and guide me and promises He will do so even when I think I know best.

 It is a JOY to hear what the Lord brings to their little innocent minds when they pray. Caden is quite clear in his thoughts. Jenna reverts to twin language and does something crazy with her tongue. :)


 
Caden's Prayer from Casey Little on Vimeo.

Jenna's Prayer from Casey Little on Vimeo.

The New Hide-and-Seek

If I haven't said it before, I'll say it again. I LOVE watching my kids play together. I have been strangely convicted lately of just how blessed I am to be a mom of twins and the different kind of bond Caden and Jenna share. It has been amazing to see them experience every.single.thing. in their lifetime together. They can come up with some crazy games together like all siblings do. Here is the new version of hide-and-seek that they (Jenna) have created:

Five and Four

My husband, the Mathematics major and former math teacher, has been working with the twins on numbers, math etc... When we say a number, we try to say the combination of numbers that make up that number. Example: when we ask the twins about "7", they say "two and five." (most of the time).

Anyway, that brings me to "five and four." Today, we celebrate NINE years of marriage. Crazy talk! The first five years of marriage seem so calm compared to the last four. whew! But this is exactly how I want it to be and exactly who I want it to be with. I'm thankful for every high and every low that our marriage has experienced and the different parts of our heart those highs and lows have exposed.

Love you, Rhino!

Look at the BABIES in the pictures from our wedding and our honeymoon!

 

Free Fun

When my sister was little, she went nuts the first time she saw the light reflection from a watch, or piece of jewelry or whatever it was up on the wall. She thought it was a real, living thing and named him "spot." Oh the stories I could tell on this.

But for now, I will just say that "Spot" is back to life and has come to live in our home now. And I love it. The kids can be entertained for a solid 20-30 minutes "chasing" spot.

Please tell me some of you out there do this to your kids too: :)


Spot from Casey Little on Vimeo.

House Love: The Laundry Room Makeover

I am sooo excited to close the "laundry room project." I did it all by my big girl self (minus 1 little thing) and it took me 6 weeks to finish. It takes that long when you only have 1-2 hours at night to work on it in sporadic shifts. But it is done and I love it! I have started the one-project/room-at-a-time approach to get things done around here. I don't know about you but it aids in my decision making and timeline when I know I can't move on until the current project is complete (I may or may not be slightly impatient). It's lengthy, but I like things all in one place, so here is the 411 to some of the questions I've been getting.

 

When Ryan shared he would be traveling 3 out of 5 weeks back in January/February, I knew I would have many nights to fill. I don't do well sitting around as a vegetable on the couch by myself. I hear every little noise and let my mind go to the moon and back with what it could be. I typically totally slack off in housework while Ryan is gone (a relief in "house duties" is good for the soul!) so my nights are free to catch up on some things I want to do. I tackled the laundry room because it didn't need anything too major, I thought and hoped I could do it all myself without bothering Ryan and I had a good idea of what I wanted already. Here is a list of what I did and some info with it to answer some of your questions.

 

P.S. Isn't it the worst when you want to replicate something but can't figure out how someone did it?? I can't stand that, so since I don't want to be guilty of that crime, here goes....

 

1. Paint Walls and Trim

 

I had some crazy ideas to paint the laundry room a really bright color - you know, to brighten the mood when your doing laundry every day of your life. But we had two gallons of the grey paint we used in other parts of the house, so the cheap Casey came out and decided to use it up and use bright colors for other parts of the room. So, late one night, I got out all of the paint supplies and gave the room two coats of Sherwin Williams "Greyish." (p.s. I LOVE how it looks in here with no natural light. I'm not as happy with how it turned out in our family and dining rooms because there are so many windows, but that's another topic, another day.) It is very hard to move a washer and dryer by your female-self, so if you come over, don't look behind them. You will find the ugly, matte dirty khaki-cream that was there. :)

 

The trim was this amazingly horrid super-gloss yellowed white. Yes. The picture can explain it all. Again, it is hard to paint trim in small spaces so behind the washer/dryer and the tops of the shelves are a no-look zone. :)

 

 

 

 

2. Panel Box

 

You can't put all of this time in beautifying your laundry room and have this ugliness staring at you, right? Right. No problem, I thought, I'll just pop that face off and spray paint it then slap it back up. All well and good til I found out I was about to electrocute myself. Papa T shared the valuable information with me about some big 200-something volt wire that really shouldn't be messed with by wanna-be, do-it-yourself housewives and moms. :) No problem, I'll just paint it with a smooth surface mini roller! Except it took like 10 coats of paint. But alas, much better and I can walk into the room without cringing at its sight. The little white key was in the $1 bin at Michaels and is my nod to Ms. Hewes on Downton Abbey. :) I sometimes feel like I'm doing laundry for a house as big as Downton.

 

 

 

3. Shelving

 

My inspiration picture came from Pinterest (of course). I knew I wanted a small shelf right above the washer/dryer to keep things from falling back there and to put my detergent and some decor on. My husband is carrying an incredible load these days. He is working far too hard during the day to provide for our family for me to nag him to do small petty things for me at night. So, time to be a big girl and figure things out! I think I tackled the shelf while he was in France for his longest trip so that if I totally destroyed the walls, the electricity, the washer, dryer or foundation of the house, I would have a few days to get some contractors in here to clean up the mess before he got home :) It wasn't that hard except that heavy washer and dryer again. I couldn't quite get them pulled out as far as I needed so some Casey-fying might have taken place to get the brackets screwed in place :)

 

Obviously, I'm not efficient in knowing the tools I needed so I brought a bunch in to choose from!

 

 

The shelving holds the things I use most like detergent, dryer sheets etc... but also allowed me to put some decor up to give me something to look at.  

 

 

I love this sign - I need to remind myself of it frequently. And Oxi Clean demands its own jar around here.

 

The frame and the dairy glass were more $1 bin and $3 bin finds at Michaels.

This is my "housekeeping" chart that I came up with for our household after seeing the idea from the fabulous, organized Tara D. It works for us and keeps me from being overwhelmed with all of my responsibilities. And if I'm being real, it is the only way my house would EVER get dusted...much less once every week! :) It also keeps me somewhat caught up on Laundry (my mom is laughing hysterically right now since she always does at least 2 loads when she pops in) but it does keep me from having 10 loads of laundry every Saturday.

 

I made my own Laundry Detergent using a recipe on Pinterest. I tried the liquid stuff in Ohio and while it took $12 to make enough detergent for our entire year in Ohio, I miss clean, fresh smelling clothes! This recipe is awesome and is working great so far to get the gazillion stains out of our clothes and we smell like walking lavender! :)

This is the recipe for the laundry soap I used. DIY Powder Laundry Detergent

 

The wire shelving was already there and while it is not the best look, it holds a great purpose letting me hang and air dry our do-not-dry clothes. I just gave it a little touch up of the trim paint so it would cover the old yellowing plastic.

 

4. Sock Board

 

I've been agonizing on what to do with this little pallet board my parents had in their attic. I finally decided to use what I  had and glue the clothespins to it for our lost socks. Hindsight now tells me I should have put 30 more pins up there. :) The only pockets I find things in right now is in Ryan's pants, but this summer, I expect I will find lots of little treasures in little pockets. :) For now, the change is adding up to buy my next Jubala decaf vanilla latte. YUM!

 

I'm not completely sure what I will stick up on the other side where the laundry schedule paper is. I'm sure it will become a hodge podge board as we go. And that little metal ring around the mason jar? That is what I could not figure out how to hang! So Ryan had to step in and finish that one for me.

 

 

 

5. Crates and Containers

All of the crates and baskets are from Michaels or some I already had. I went and used my 40% or 50% coupons to get each basket so I didn't pay much for any of them. The crates come unfinished so I just used some sample paint we had in the garage to paint them a base color (a light grey) and then just used a dry brush to paint on the blue. Much easier than having to distress them around the edges afterward. I got the chalkboard labels from Michaels as well ( I should say the Laundry Room was brought to you by Lowes and Michaels). They were the colors of the fabric I got for the rug so I snatched them up in a hurry! I used my sister's fabulous liquid chalk pen to try to write cutesy but obviously failed. Horrible penmanship right here.

 

I think I might go get some more of the fruit baskets at Michaels next time they are on sale - I like how they have handles and the little labels fit much easier on them. I LOVE having the cleaning supplies split up. No digging around an entire closet or shelf to find all I need to dust or take care of the floors or disinfect etc... Absurd Type A-ness coming out right now. I have a basket or crate for Dusting, Moping/floor care, Cleaning/disinfecting, manuals/lightbulbs, rags, batteries/flashlights and those huge refill bottles of cleaning supplies. 

 

The blue crates are HEAVY, so they hold things we don't need to use often. I had to go to a smaller basket for the cleaning stuff so I could pull them down easier.

 

 

 

6. The Floor!

 

This is probably my favorite part of the room. The laundry room is not going to stay the laundry room long term. We have plans to move it when we do a little remodel down the road. Therefore, in my mind at least, there was no use in buying flooring you have to install and go to all of that trouble. But again, if your going to beautify your room, can you really feel completed with old, cracked vinyl flooring? I could not, so the hunt for a solution began.

 

 

I found this tutorial on Pinterest for a DIY fabric rug. It appealed to me because I knew I could make it the dimensions I wanted and could work around the vent in the flooring. She has all of the details listed out in the tutorial but basically it is memory foam mat that Lowes/Home Depot sell on a the roll covered in an indoor/outdoor fabric. The memory foam feels great to stand on and it is waterproof. It runs $3-$4 a foot so my total cost was right under $30. I got my outdoor fabric from my favorite website - fabric.com for $7 for two yards on clearance! I already had the spray adhesive and I double secured the underside of my mat with duck tape so it will not slip and slide. Even though the fabric is coated with protectant, I didn't want dirt or water to mess up my project so I put 3 coats of WATER based polyurethane. Yes there is such a thing and yes, it is soo expensive! :( I only needed a tiny amount (it spreads out great with a roller) so I bought the smallest, tiny can which was $10. grrrrr. So all in all the floor mat was around $50, but it is a "custom" size that is super durable and covers all of that old vinyl! I don't know if I would use this method for a kitchen sink rug or entry way rug like the tutorial suggests. I feel like things would get loose or the tight corners would get soft over time. Since my rug is "boxed in" with walls and the washer/dryer on all four sides, it really has no where to go.

 

You start by measuring and cutting the foam mat. Make sure you are thinking clearly when you do this and put the side with ridges on the BOTTOM...more on that later. Then you lay the mat on the fabric and make your cuts.

 

 

I was on the third trip, Day 5 or 6 without Ryan at home at night so my brain was fried. I measured and cut my mat "upside down." It wouldn't matter except I had to make a cut out for the floor vent. This sight right here will make you cry...







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But after a little E-6000 glue and a vacuum to put on top, voila! All better... ;)

 

 

And last, everyone loves a side-by-side. All in all, I would say the entire project was right at or under $100. I had alot of things already like the paint, paint supplies, glue, frames, pins etc... so that helped. The only thing I have my eye on is a pendant light from Ikea - a whopping $15 bucks. I may forget about it when I move on to something else but we will see! Thanks for your kind comments and questions - hopefully you got the answers you wanted and can go do something fun at your house!