Say Cheese (Family Photos 2016)

Well it was that lovely fall time of year when the colors are all out and every family including us wants to capture happy faces amongst pretty leaves. So capture we did. Well, our photographer did (at Wellesley College). Don't get me wrong, I'm always happy that we have these photos in the end, but getting there is such a pain in the you-know-what. You want your outfits to be complementary, but not match exactly. Natural smiles, not forced. Candid, but not staged. And you'll promise your kids just about anything (A.N.Y.T.H.I.N.G.) if they don't scowl for the next 30 minutes.

So you get through it, the coaxing and the bribing and the cold fingers and constantly smoothing your hair from the wind. And then...you get the photos back a few weeks later (after they have been professionally edited, mind you). There is simply no hiding from the number of lines around your eyes and the realization that your teeth are not as white as you thought. And you don't know what you were thinking when you chose that jacket to wear (frump alert).

Luckily, you don't need that many good ones. Our photographer gave us more than 150 images and after weeding through the closed eyes, the frowns and the bad angles, here are my favorites.

First the boys. They are the main reason I drag everyone out to do this each year. I simply can't capture anything like these photos and cherish them.

A few family shots:

I kind of felt like most of our pictures were the four of us looking straight at the camera (see above note about candids), but I was easily able to build my Christmas card and since that's the most important thing ever in life, it's fine. Jason and I each got a few headshots taken (see above note about learning what you really look like) and that was it for the session! CariAnne Kreml was lovely too. Now, off to order my personalized pillowcases and coffee mugs...or maybe just some prints ;)

Before and After: Dining Area

First of all, far more important than a new place to eat is the fact that I have a new nephew! Holden Taylor Brayden was born last Thursday weeeeeee!! I can't wait to (take a solo trip to Colorado and) meet him! Here he is, in one of Alex's old outfits :)

Until he was born, I didn't know if I would have another niece or nephew and I'm SO glad it's a nephew because now I have the best reason there could be to start clearing out the basement of the boys' old stuff. Welcome to the world Holden! May a lifetime of hand-me-downs begin.

And now...our most newest completed project! As a refresher, you can click here to read the preview. We don't have a dining "room", it's more like an "area" in our big open living space and we really wanted to cozy it up. For the past year we've had our old dining set and rug, it just felt so blah. We took the plunge on a new table, new chairs, new rug...new everything really except chandelier, and it looks fantastic! 

Before...

After!

Going way back, this was the night we moved in...

And this is now:

YAY! Let's talk about the project! 

We began knowing that we were going to build a bench seat under the windows. It was a good space saver and gave us a guide for how big a table we needed (most days, we will just have three chairs on one side and the bench on the other- the armchairs on the ends will live in the basement). We also knew we wanted a pedestal or trestle table in order to avoid people hitting table legs as they slid in and out of the bench. 

Ultimately we chose this table. We waited over 2 months to get it and I am in love. Here's a better shot of it by itself:

This table was selected for one very important reason: it is distressed. And since it is already imperfect, I cared slightly less when THE BOYS TOOK THEIR TOY TOOLS AND PRACTICED SAWING ON THE EDGE.

Yep, I barely batted an eye. See? It blends right in. *grits teeth*

Let's go over something that makes me much happier and that is my token DIY project: the faux roman shades. 

The color is a green stripe, hard to tell. I followed this tutorial for the most part, but used hot glue for the seams. It was so simple! You basically cut your fabric, glue the sides, glue a loop at the top, and then glue the bottom to the loop to make one continuous piece.

(Jason intentionally made sure my wine glass was in that picture.)

Then, you put the whole thing up with tension rods (Target), adjust them as you go to get the drape how you want it. See how I have them in this picture? They are going across on the two little windows at the top.

Anyway, I unintentionally made things more complicated (don't I always?) by picking a fabric with stripes that needed to line up. So that was a big pain. In the end though I love the finished product.

Back to the actual building of everything, of course that goes to Jason. We special ordered the cabinets for the sides but he did the rest! The platforms, the faux walls on each end, the lights, the bench...

And then yesterday, paint paint paint. All the trim and windows were like a cream. If you recall the mudroom, you know I love me some nice white trim. See the difference?

Trust me it was big. After all the painting, Jason cleaned up all his tools, we vacuumed, put the cushions on...voila.

Left to do: hang artwork on the walls and fill the cabinets with all our glassware. I also can't wait to set the table for Thanksgiving, it is going to be beautiful!

General notes: we got pretty much everything from Pier 1 - the side chairs, arm chairs, cushions and rug. The bench cushion especially was a tough call for us because to have one custom made would have been $550+, including the cost of the fabric. Pier 1 made a great boxed cushion for $80, so we bought two and added a pillow to the ends to make up the extra inches we needed. I think it works! We also bought an extra side chair, we can technically seat 10 now with 4 on each side. 

One last before...

and after!

So what's next...fireplace, I'm looking at you!

Art Imitates Life

Ashton has turned into a little drawing machine. He made me a very nice birthday card that he claimed "only had the rainbow on it because he loved me". He likes to do representations of what he thinks our family looks like and lately has been recreating important scenes in his life. He gave me this last night.

"Mommy! Let me tell you what this is. This is me right here, see? In the middle. And then this is my dinner on the counter that I'm eating. Yes, that's my dinner and this, on my other side, is the cabinet with my Halloween candy in it. And I'm telling you that I am all done with my dinner and I really, REALLY want a special treat from the cabinet and here is you and you are not happy and you are saying no to the candy because I didn't eat any dinner and you spent a lot of time making it. You really are not happy, see Mommy? See? This is you."

To ease your understanding, here is the decoded version.

I mean I was a bit speechless at first. But then, it's based on a true story, so I put it on the fridge and started to make dinner, thinking I already knew how things were going to turn out.