A good night

So, I've been sick for what seems like forever...nothing too major, but it's morphed into this horrible cough. Once I get going, it's tough to stop. So I told Henry tonight that I would play a little bit longer and then we had to do three short books because Mommy's throat hurt. We read our books and I prepared for departure...

Necessary cars in bed? Check.
Sippy cup of water? Check.
Pillow up on the side of the bed so we don't end up with an arm stuck through? Check.
Green alien nightlight? Check.
Tucked in tight? Check.

Generally after this, the best method is to tell him Mommy & Daddy love him and make a dash for the door. No lingering or we get lots of requests - more books, more water, snuggle please (that one is tough to resist!), etc.

So tonight I make the dash, I'm closing the door, trying to avoid any 'requests' and as I'm closing Henry yells "I LOVE YOU MOM!!!" :D He hasn't been one to spontaneously bust out the 'I love yous', so that pretty much made my night.

Headfirst

How does one return to a blog after nearly a three month, unannounced hiatus? Hmmm...I've gone back and forth over this one...do you attempt to explain why? Recap events from the past three months? Just pretend it didn't happen? I think what keeps one away even longer (as mentioned by funny Chi-town blogger momtrolfreak whom I believe I discovered during said 3 month hiatus), is the feeling that the return post must be MONUMENTAL. EPIC. AMAZING!

Screw it. First post back? I want this pillow:

It's from Target - Home Ikat Dec Pillow

After just a year and half in our new home - I'm ready to re-decorate! Well, sorta. I want to paint our powder room a snazzy cobalt blue, switch out the dotted rug we've had for years and maybe go for a solid blue to accent the powder room. And these pillows, which are sorta navy & grey would be a perfect start. I just wish they sold pillow covers instead of straight up pillows. I've got *way* too many throw pillows already!

My crazy ideas

So, often in the course of decorating my home, I get these ideas in my head. For the most part I can visualize them, but it doesn't mean I know that specific item/plan exists. I do this with clothing too. I know *exactly* what I'm looking for and what I want, but who knows if it's out there or is feasible. I blame my mother. She does this too. It makes shopping difficult sometimes. Rumor has it, it makes us difficult to buy gifts for also.

Our pergola project definitely started as a picture in my head. When we realized this thing had to come down, I knew what I wanted, but wasn't sure how to create what I had imagined. Well, in this case, my vision definitely paid off! I posted a few months back about it. A quick reminder of the before:

Whole top section was rotten. Took very little effort for my Dad to yank that crap off the top. Then a rented truck from Home Depot, a bunch of treated lumber, some deck hangers, blood & sweat from my Dad (thanks!) and we had this:

Next step? LOADS of time on a tall ladder, a bucket of paint, some cursing & sweating from me, but I eventually finished the painting. And, I found this guy on Yelp to transform the bolt of Sunbrella fabric into strips that fit my vision. So, here you can see, painting done, strip number one on it's way up (and lots of giant plastic uglies yikes! as least the picnic table in neutral right?! that's what I tell myself)Once we figured it out, the hanging process was sort of fun, watching the whole thing take shape. It involved a staple gun, some hanger bolts, wing nuts and lots of ladder time. And alas, it's done!

We are still in search of a new pendant light. I had purchased a six arm iron chandelier, but a) it isn't a hard wired fixture and b) it's a bit too much. If anyone knows a good place for outdoor pendant fixtures, I'm all ears!

The front end fabric piece can be pulled down so that when the sun is blaring it's way down in the west, the person dining in the sunny seat isn't blinded. Z and I sat outside on Sunday night, watched the sun go down, chatted and shared a few drinks. My crazy idea seriously paid off this time. Seriously. LOVE our new pergola!

Picasso

Though I am no clean freak, I am certainly a clutter freak. Everything has it's place in my house (well, almost everything). So, it's only fitting that Henry's artwork now has a place too!

When I discovered these Artwork Display & Storage frames at Target I had to have them. Henry's artwork now hangs in the hallway, over the steps as you head to our basement. And when it's time for new art, they open magnetically, have space to store the art you take down, so it's a quick and easy process!

Toddler Pizza

I try my best to feed Henry a relatively healthy diet. But let's face it 2ish is not exactly a cooperative age. He knows enough that I can only trick him into eating healthy foods a bit. Personally, I have a little guy who will eat tons of cheese, most meat (well, toddler like meat such as nuggets (at least he will eat the Naked ones), turkey sausages, these chicken apple gouda sausages, and of course, fish sticks), tons of fruit, but vegetables? notsomuch.

Anywho, every toddler loves pizza and I've discovered this quickie 'pizza' I can make for him that makes me feel better than picking up a good ol' Hot N' Ready!

Ingredients:

One Arnold's 100% whole wheat Sandwich Thin

pasta sauce (I use Classico Florentine Spinach & Cheese - yay! he's eating a bit of spinach!)
One or two quick cook turkey meatballs
Italian shredded cheese

I just pop open the sandwich thin, spread on some pasta sauce, add some chopped bits of turkey meatball and then cover the whole thing with cheese. I usually set my oven to 350 degrees, but it's never done heating up by the time I'm done. I just pop it in while the oven is heating and it only takes about 5 mins. Just enough to get the cheese good and melty = happy toddler temperature ;-)

So, it's not rocket science, but HDog loves it and it's fast, which only adds to it's awesome factor!