The Blues

We made a few changes to some walls over the weekend, and though progress is slow going, some little girl is super excited to see her vision start to come to fruition. If you recall, Audrie’s room started its life in the blues, some rather dark shades of blue and a pop of red.

If you look in the upper right-hand corner of the picture, you can see a bit of the ceiling color. The whole ceiling was painted navy blue, and while the room is big with high ceilings, the dark hue made the room feel a bit cave-like.

So with a little bit of elbow grease and a lot of agonizing over color choices, her room, though still in the blue family, is much brighter and cheerier.

The dark ceiling is now primed and will be replaced with a nice white along with everything from the chair rail down. The window seat surround is going to be bathed in a beautiful spring green, and the room will be adorned with fine feathery creatures. It might take some time before it’s all put together the way Audrie envisions it, but we are starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel…a bright and airy blue light.

xo

nessa dee

Even super heroes need to play

It’s so hard to put the kids to bed in the summer when the sun is still up after their bedtime. Sometimes, after baths are taken and pjs donned, our day isn’t over. Sometimes, on a whim, we decide a trip to the park at dusk is needed. Sometimes, a red cape and blue pants, two sizes too small are necessary.

And sometimes, after challenging enemies…

scaling tall buildings…

solving problems…

and flying…

a good night’s sleep is guaranteed.

xo

nessa dee

IF: Paisley

Posting an oldie.

xo

nessa dee

Check us out!

Our sweet friend, Viviana, came into town over the weekend to scope out locations for photo shoots. You see, Viviana is a wonderful photographer and owner of Heartspun Imagery. She works in the Houston area, but she’s been looking to extend her talents into the Austin area. So can you guess what we did while she was here?

I’ll give you a peek:

During this shoot, we were facing the Texas heat, wind gusts, and a little boy who had just awoken from a nap. But Viv was able to work magic, and despite all of the obstacles, she managed to capture some amazing shots, and get one grumpy little boy to ham it up in front of the camera.

If you want to check out some more pics from our shoot, just hop on over to her site. And if you’re in the Austin area in mid July and want to schedule a photo shoot with Viviana, she gives you all the details in this post.

Thanks so much, Viv, for capturing our family in such a beautiful and unique way. We had a blast!

xo

nessa dee

Happy Daddy’s Day

To all of the dads in our lives, biological and inherited, grands and greats…Happy Father’s Day!

With lots of love,

ness, audrie, and finn

Leftover birthday cake…

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is the best breakfast ever.

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Cute kid in striped pajamas…

is even sweeter than cake for breakfast.

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xo

nessa dee

The gift that keeps on giving until it gets erased

Every birthday Jonathan celebrates, or holiday requiring an exchange of gifts that comes around I always ask my husband for gift ideas, to which he replies “I don’t want anything.” That should make my job pretty easy except that I always say the same thing when prompted for gift ideas, and Jonathan gets me little things like a new Nikon camera, or a bicycle. So I would feel pretty cheap not returning the gesture. The problem I face is that I can’t get him anything electronic because I’m clueless as to what’s good/what he wants, and any other big purchase I feel like he needs to be there to help me pick it out. So I always end up doing something crafty and buying him a shirt.

However, this year, being his 30th birthday, was different. I wanted to surprise him with something big, out of the ordinary, and something very special. So… I did something crafty and bought him a shirt.

It started with a blank wall and chalkboard paint. I fooled Jonathan into thinking I was just testing to see if I could paint over the underlying layer of wallpaper without having to scrape it all off. I was, in a way, but I also had something else in mind that prompted the urgency of this project. When the paint was dry, work began on the centerpiece for the whole project…a retro style mixed media portrait of the two of us.

based on this picture.

Then, with a plethora of colored chalks, I began writing a quick synopsis of Jonathan’s life on the chalkboard sprinkled with pictures here and there. I really had no plan, just a vague idea, so it took me a while to finish it. And unfortunately, Jonathan walked through the door before I was even half way done, and had to sit in the living room and wait until I finished. So much for the element of surprise. Regardless, I got it done and then let Jonathan come in to read it.

Then we gave him his new shirt.

Then we ate cake.

The end.

xo

nessa dee

30

My love turns 30 today. He’s trying to skip this birthday altogether. I won’t let him only because I know I’m next on the list for leaving my twenties, and it’s only fair that he gets there first. :)

Happy birthday, Love!

I love you more than the all of the Twilight fans love Edward’s diamond sparkly skin and Jacob’s chiseled abs.

xxOOXxXox

ness

[Team Jonathan]

Life in the cul de sac

Our new house is in a cul de sac. When we tell people where we live we say “It’s at the end of the cul de sac.” We have now been inducted into the life of cul de sac people.

When we were looking for a new house, we wanted a large yard, big enough for the kids to explore and play, and keep them busy until the end of the day. They love being outside and would probably take up life in the wilderness if I forget to call them in for supper one night. The problem we faced though when looking for a house was the large yard with the right house in our price range combination. Not easy to find. So we started considering smaller yards on greenbelts or cul de sac lots so the kids had extended play areas. And that’s what we got.

Since we’ve moved in, I think they have used their scooters and bikes more than they did in the seven years we lived at our old house.

Our new yard isn’t any bigger than our first yard, but we have a great extended play area out front PLUS a great place to explore out back which I’ll show you soon.

I think I kind of like being cul de sac people.

xo

nessa dee

I am supposed to be working…

but I’ve had a bit of a distraction.

It’s hard to get any work done around here when such silliness is right behind me at all times.

xo

nessa dee

The Day to Day

::cleaning::

::working on house projects::

::illustrating::

::building skyscrapers::

::going to the zoo::

::riding the train::

::defending castles::

::slaying dragons::

…the adventure that is our every day.

xo

nessa dee

Summer Reading

My daughter is an avid reader, so much so that at times we have to punish her for it. I know it sounds terrible, but sometimes her reading gets in the way of doing chores, finishing meals, listening to her parents. I can’t get that mad, though, when the reason she hasn’t gotten out of bed is because she is unable put a book down. I’m actually quite happy about her voracious appetite for literature. I’ve never had to sit her down and make her read a book. When she’s bored, she grabs a book. When she wants to do something fun, she grabs a book. When she wants to prove her mother wrong, she grabs a book and shows me the source of her information. Yes, I’m extremely happy and often humbled as a result of her reading.

Recently, Jonathan brought out his old collection of Calvin and Hobbes comic books, and before he could even get them to up the stairs, she got a hold of them. So, for the past couple of days, this has been my view of Audrie:

I’m hoping her passion for reading will rub off on some other little guy who mimics everything she does.

Read on, my sweet girl, read on!

nessa dee

Finnanigans

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Finn pretending to be a snail: Mom, do you know why snails have money?

Me: No, why?

Finn: Because they have pockets.

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Finn on metamorphosis: Mom, did you know that snails turn into butterflies, and then they turn into calepitters.

Me: Oh do they? I think that caterpillars turn into butterflies like the very hungry caterpillar. Do you remember the very hungry caterpillar?

Finn: Yeah, he eats and eats and eats and then he sleeps a long, long time, and then he waked up and is a butterfly.

Me: Do you think if you eat and eat and eat, and then sleep a long time that you’ll turn into a butterfly?

Finn: No because Audrie has a butterfly costume.

Me: Oh, so you’ll turn into a spider.

Finn: Yeah, but I don’t know where my spider costume is.

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Finn handing me an empty plate: Here’s some food.

Me: Oooh, it looks delicious! What is it?

Finn: Umm, it’s Lean Cuisine.

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Jonathan addressing Finn who’s dressed up as a cowboy and comes riding in on his toy “horse”:

Finn are you riding a chainsaw?

Finn: Yeah, I couldn’t find my horse so I had to ride my chainsaw.

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Finn’s Grandma: Wow, Finn! You’re fast.

Finn: Yeah, that’s cause I’m a zoomer.

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Referring to his chigger bites he recently acquired: Mom, these triggers make me itch!

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Mom, I want to play chest. [chess]

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Mom, there are blisters in my Crocs.

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Finn: All that talking was making me hungry.

Me: Were you talking a lot?

Finn, pointing to Audrie: She was.

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Finn, holding something behind his back: Mom, I have a surprise for you.

Me: Oh, what is it?

Finn, stretching out his arms: A hug!

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I sure do love this little boy!

xo

nessa dee