Happy Anniversary

Wow...how is it possible that today is our 7 year wedding anniversary. Time sure does fly when you are having fun. It is crazy to think that this time 7 years ago I was getting my nails done and ready for the big day. We had such beautiful weather - it was the perfect day. After almost a year of planning, everything came together perfectly.

I am lucky to have Jay. Now, the past 7 years haven't been a cake walk. We have been through 3 moves together, a premature birth, a birth in another country and medical system, buying and selling houses just to name a few. And while we have our ups and downs and disagreements, for the most part, things run pretty smooth. Thank you for all you do Jay. I am happy you are my husband and I couldn't make our family work without you. I love you. Happy anniversary.

Autumn's Arrival!

I am so happy that today is the first day of Autumn. This is my favorite season, although, I am not sure what Autumn will be like living in the South. Today was a gorgeous day - sunny, light breeze and warm. I hope that the days get a little cooler and eventually I will be able to wear jeans, sweaters and boots. I decided to post this Autumn Bucket List that I found online(www.kleinworthco.com) so that it forces us out and exploring our new surroundings. I'll report back on what we cross off. Until then, Happy Autumn!

Wordless Wednesday

Lowe's Build & Grow Project

Last Saturday morning, we were up bright and early to head to Lowe's to do another Build & Grow project. This was the first one that I did with Arabella and we had a fun time. It was a cool morning so they held the clinic in the parking lot which was fun. It was nice to get some fresh air and enjoy the morning. Max had fun supervising from the stroller while Arabella and I hammered away on a firetruck. She has so much fun doing these projects and is getting good at hammering the nails and following the directions. She did a great job and is already looking forward to the next clinic. Thanks for letting me build this project with you Arabella!

Creepy Crawlies

It doesn't surprise me that the creepy crawly creatures show up when Jay is out of town. Saturday morning, this guy scared the you know what out of me when I turned on the bathroom light.

He was a little smaller than a silver dollar and I had to do some quick thinking to try and catch it without killing it as I hate to kill spiders. After finally catching it, Arabella and I took it outside and let it go far, far from our house.

And then on Sunday, when we were playing in the yard, this guy caught my eye. He was walking across the top of the grass and the red color was so hard to miss. I am still not sure what it is - I posted the picture on Facebook and was told it was either a carpenter ant or a red and black velvet ant. It look pretty soft, although, we did actually touch it because I wasn't sure if it would sting or bite. We kept it under the glass and he finally kicked the bucket. However, Arabella has it in a jar to show Jay when he gets home from Arizona.

We had tons of spiders in Montreal, but they were pretty small in comparison to the ones we have here. Between the insects, lizards, frogs and more, I want to run back to Montreal as quick as I can to get away from this crazy wildlife!

Beauty In The Sky

Last Friday night, Arabella and I were playing ball in the backyard after Max went to sleep - girl time as Arabella calls it. We both noticed how beautiful the sky was and in her pure innocence, she said to me: "We sure do have beautiful sunsets here don't we Mom?" I just melted and she is absolutely right - the pictures just don't do it justice.

Before & After Projects

Lately, I have been on a roll completing little projects that I have been wanting to do. The biggest one was completing valances for the kitchen windows. I decided to do a simple valance as I couldn't find any in the pattern that I was looking for. I finally found the fabric at Hobby Lobby and got to work. It was a easy, but took me a few days as I kept getting interrupted. I love them! Now all we need is a new kitchen table and chairs for the space and it will be perfect.

I also did some simple refinishing on a few pieces of furniture that needed refreshing.

I picked up this Ikea bookcase for free and painted it blue for Max's room - it is perfect!

This was a chair that was at my grandmother's house when I was growing up. Somehow I ended up with it and it is one of those things that I can't part with. I decided to paint it blue to match the bookcase in Max's room. It is perfect and I think my grandma would approve.

This old end table was in my living room growing up. I have 2 and they are so solid...but in desperate need of refinishing. They are probably about 40 years old and again, just a good piece of furniture that I can't part with. The second one is a night stand in our guest room right now and because this one came out great, I will be refinishing that one soon!

My Maxton

My baby boy is growing so quickly. He seems to change a tiny bit every day and his personality is shining through. He is such a happy little guy and I am so lucky to be able to spend my days with him. He is on the move and is an explorer...getting into everything (which is a total change from how Arabella was at the same age). For a while now, he would fight you when you would put him into his infant car seat so we decided that it was time to get him a convertable car seat. I installed it last week and he LOVES it!

Last week he crawled into the pantry. I have to make sure to keep the doors closed now as I caught him in the potatoes, onions and garlic. He was just gumming them to death trying to get his teeth to pop through!

He loved supervising from his car while Arabella and I played ball in the back yard. He looks so serious!

And this morning, I caught him trying to raid the refridgerator! 

Cleaning Out

Since we don't have a basement anymore and we don't ever use the attic for storage (besides, it gets too hot up there), we are a bit limited on storage space. I have working hard at organizing, cleaning out, donating, consigning and selling things we are not using anymore. One item that is a bit hard for me to part with was the baby bassinet. It is sentimental to me. We used it with Arabella, she spent many hours sleeping away in it and she used it for much longer than she should have because she was so tiny. It was a lifesaver - partly because it was enclosed a bit more than the crib or pack-n-play so she felt cozy in it and when Jay traveled, I like to have her close to me. When she out grew it, we packed it up and moved it Montreal with us. Last November, I unpacked it and got it ready for Max's arrival. He used it, but not nearly as much as Arabella. When I originally purchased it at Target, it was on clearance for less than $60 so I think we got our money's worth out of it. I tired selling it in our garage sale, but it didn't find a new home. And since then it was hanging out waiting for a kids consignment sale that I am doing, however, I wanted (reluctantly) to try and sell it before then as it was just taking up too much space. So I checked with a local consignment store to see if they were interested in selling it for me...and they were. Part of me was thrilled that I could sell it, the other part was sad as a chapter was closing. Jay will be so very happy to see that it is gone when he gets home from Arizona. So before I sold it for $25, Arabella gave Max one more spin (it had wheels) around the first floor in it. They laughed and giggled and that made my heart smile.

Cooling Off

It is still HOT, HOT, HOT here...and we aren't used to it. We had a few cool mornings last week and over the weekend, but as soon as the sun comes up, it heats up. After school one day last week, I needed to try and keep Arabella and Max occupied after school with a low key activity. Arabella always has energy to burn from being cooped up in school all day while Max is starting to hit his limit because he won't take an afternoon nap. And I was tired, it was just the beginning of Jay's 19 day travel and I'm trying to reduce the stress level while he is away. Our pool is still open, but to get packed up and there can be a bit tricky, so when the temperature hit this:

We did this:

Wordless Wednesday

*I know this is a Wordless Wednesday post and I should let the picture speak for itself.  However, I need to make clear that I DID NOT take this photo.  Sadly, it is uncredited and has been posted around Facebook.  I thought it fitting to post this today, the 12th Anniversary of 9/11, as the photo is dated the day before the terrorist attack happened.   Chilling to think that the very next day, this peace and beauty, would be destroyed. 

Only A Matter Of Time

I knew it was only a matter of time to go from this:

To this:

I just didn't think it would be in a 24 hour time span....and on most occasions, I have the gate at the stairs closed. However, yesterday when we returned home from tumbling class, I put Max down and then when to get groceries out of the car and when I returned, I heard Arabella saying "Maxton Denison Ripp, what are you doing???" and up on the stairs is where I found him. I am telling you, this kids is going to give me a heart attack and more gray hair than I already have!

Sunday Funday

We are still trying to get things in order around the house and caught up on things. It is hard with all the traveling that Jay is doing with the new job to do a lot during the week, so it usually gets pushed to the weekend when there are 2 sets of adult hands around. Jay had a few projects he needed to complete before heading out of town this week (he is gone until September 27th!!) and after a long but fast first week of school for Arabella, we just wanted to take it easy.

Arabella and Max helped Jay change the coolant (I think) on my car. Max really just supervised but hey, you have to start somewhere, right?

Afterwards, Arabella took Max for a ride around the back yard.  She just picks him up and plops him down where she wants him and he goes with it.  Usually with a big smile on is face.  She wanted so badly to give him a ride in her wagon, and he wasn't sure what to make of it.  She was dragging it all over the yard and he was just bouncing away.  It was hysterical to watch...he had this look of panic on his face, but after a few turns he started to enjoy it.  I can see a lot more of these rides in his future!

Bubbles!!

This afternoon, Arabella, Jay & Maxton kept busy blowing bubbles while I did a few errands. From the looks of the pictures, it was serious business...

Standing

These pictures pretty much speak for themselves...

Ready For Autumn

Now that it is September, I am ready for Autumn to arrive. It is no secret that Autumn is my favorite season...could be that I am an October baby, I love the warm days and cool nights, wearing sweaters and the sense of renewal that back-to-school brings. Autumn is like Spring to me - a time to start over. I am over the hot, humid and sweltering days that we are still getting here in Charlotte. Arabella is wearing sundresses to school with sandals and I am still trying to figure out how to have a good hair day without all the frizz. Here are a few things helping me to "keep the faith" that Autumn is on the way:

Foggy mornings

A huge spider web on our front porch

The burlap wreath that I made...I love the smell of it...every time I open the door it reminds me of childhood Autumns in Connecticut



The 1st Pumpkin Spice Latte of the season.

Labour Day Weekend

We had a pretty low key long weekend. We took the time catch up on projects around the house. It was typical weather - hot and humid. Staying inside and getting caught up was a good plan - I figure we will have nice weather this fall/winter where we can get out and explore the outdoors. Jay and Arabella went to the pool, we did some errands and Max practiced his crawling. One afternoon, when Jay and Max were napping, Arabella and I had some girl time just hanging out. We decided it would be fun to fun through the sprinkler. I ended up pushing her around in the Cozy Coupe through the yard and sprinkler and we just laughed and giggled...it was priceless. Thanks for so much fun my Little Bean.

Wordless Wednesday

Spartan Baby

I always knew Max was going to be strong. And I credit all the Spartan Race training that I did while pregnant, running the Spartan Race and really good prenatal vitamins with his strength. He is constantly trying to pick up my kettle bell..I think I am going to have another Spartan Kid on my hands since he looks like he is following in is sister's footsteps!