Two Vintage Girl Dresses

When you go thrifting for your Etsy shop and find two adorable dresses, put them on your wild child to model, then realize how adorable she is in them...it makes it really hard to put them up for sale!

I might just wait a few months to list these!

♥ anne

Thank You

I just wanted to say thank you for all the wonderful comments! It was very inspiring for me to read what you all said and reminded me why I love blogging. Thank you for being here and reading, it means so much to me! Oh, and I replied to all the comments :)

This is recent tintype I took of Alex. I'm really pleased with it so I thought I'd share it!

♥ anne

This and That

Hello! It's been a while! I'd like to say I've been up to really exciting things but it's just been everyday life that has kept me busy. I'm sure you all watched the moon the other night, wasn't it fantastic?!


Maggie has been teething and I've basically been a walking zombie for the last couple weeks due to very little sleep. Today she learned to climbed out of her crib so my life is going to be changing drastically. To be honest, I don't know what to do now for nap and bed time (I always nurse her and then lay her in her crib and she goes to bed). I'm very worried that I'll have even less time to myself now.

The purse graveyard. I have four purses with broken leather straps that need to be repaired.

Yummy soup I made last week. I got the recipe via Posie Gets Cozy.


The other day I was watching two hawks circling around my house. I was observing them for quite some time and was trying to get a shot of them. I saw one swoop down and land nearby so I ran over and was looking for it as quietly as possible. I had just given up when I happened to glance above me and there it was! It stayed long enough for me to take a couple pictures and then it was gone. I was so thankful for this close encounter!

I make beans once a week. It's an incredibly inexpensive way to feed a family of seven and the leftovers make for yummy lunches the next day.


I wore a sweater this morning for about 30 minutes! Then I got hot.

Yesterday's breakfast. Poached eggs are so delicious. I find it crazy how preparing them differently can make such a difference in how they taste. They seem like a delicacy when made this way.

Have a nice rest of the week!

♥ anne

Walks With Maggie

Maggie loves taking walks. She likes going in whatever direction she pleases and isn't that good at responding to my calls to follow my lead. I try to start off with her in the stroller, which she hates, and then I let her walk back home on her own.

She observes all sorts of things along the way. Flowers, dirt, leaves and birds. It's adorable to watch squatted over a little rock checking it out. Yesterday she found a big stick and went along with it for some distance.

She is a wild one and keeps me on my toes all day!

♥ anne

Around here...

We haven't been up to much lately. A walk to the beach here and a sunset walk there. We are slowly easing into summer and don't have many plans for the upcoming months. I imagine we will spend most of our summer here at home. While that isn't overly exciting I'm going to try and make it as fun as possible for the kids. I'd love to be going on a vacation but sometimes that isn't in the cards (or the bank account). Hopefully by the end of summer I will have acquired a fun list of things to do at home that are inexpensive. We'll see!

Here are some recent pictures-



I made a mango banana sorbet last week and added a nut/date topping. It was yummy! I made little mini sorbet bites for the kids.





We went down to Balboa with my mom to see the lobster crabs that had invaded the beach.




Shane was very interested in these guys.

Thankfully the June gloom seems to ending and the sun is back out in morning which is very nice! It helps keep me motivated. Well, I have a house to clean, dishes that need washing and laundry to fold so I'll be seeing ya later!

♥ anne

PS- don't forget about my big sale! 60% off with coupon code "SUMMERSUN"!!! Come see if there's something with your name on it! You can enter my shop HERE.

Maggie is in full exploration mode. I gave her a little basket with some wooden fruit in it and she was delighted to carry it around. That is until she got really frustrated. It's hard being one :)


As you can see, she enjoys making a mess everywhere she goes. It's actually really sweet to see her mind working as she figures things out. The mess isn't so cute.


That darn basket! Why won't it cooperate?

Tomorrow is the last day of school for the kids so we will finally be on summer break! I'll be happy to be relieved of my school driving duties. Hope you all have a great Friday, weekend, Father's Day!

♥ anne

Birthday Girls

Last month was Margaret's first birthday and yesterday was Marianne's 4th! Both these girls are such joyous little ladies and bring smiles to us all daily. Yesterday when Marianne woke up she asked if she was really 4 years old now. She just couldn't believe it :)

On both of their special days I reflected on their births and how extraordinarily different they were. Marianne's was by far the most difficult of all 5. People say you forget the pain and the hardships of labor but I'm gonna have to disagree with that, I remember it all vividly!


Maggie's birth was a breeze compared to Marianne's!


If you're interested in reading a bit about their births, you can find them here and here.

♥ anne

The Wild Three

Last week I spent a couple afternoons finding new items for my shop with these three in tow. I often wonder what I look like to the casual observer. Do I look like the exhausted mother trying reign everyone in? Do I look like the calm and collected mom with obedient children nicely following along? I know I've been both but last week I felt like the former.

Were the kids well behaved? For the most part, no. But it's a new week, a fresh start and I did find some really awesome stuff so it was worth it.


Come check out some of the new listings here. And let's keep our fingers crossed that this week runs a little smoother :)

♥ anne

Play Time

All my kids have been fairly similar when it comes to toys and playing. My oldest would sit for hours in his room playing with trains, cars and legos. He was constantly writing comic books and reading the newest book series that was out. He was content playing alone or with others. Alex was pretty much the same. She loved drawing, playing with her stuffed animals and collecting Littlest Pet Shops. When Shane came along, he couldn't have more different. I assumed he'd love all of Max's toys I'd saved but he just wasn't interested. At all. He is happy outside and if he can't be outside he wants to play board games or video games.

He has never been interested in imaginative play and still isn't. It just goes to show that that's how he's hardwired and it appears that I can't do much to change it. Actually, I don't try to change him but I have searched for things to do indoors that will hold his attention.

Since Shane threw me for such a loop, I really hoped Marianne would enjoy all the cool toys I'd kept for her and I also hoped that she'd be able to play alone. Solo play is big for me. Generally, I've never been the parent that sits and plays with my kids. I'll play board games and I'll get something set up for them and lead the way to get them started but after that I like to move away and let them play on their own. Obviously some things require me being very involved but I want them to be ok on their own and not rely on me as a playmate.

I wasn't sure exactly how Marianne played because she has always been with Shane. When he started school last September I was able to get a clearer picture of her "play style". She's very imaginative and loves working with her hands. Play dough is her favorite. She also enjoys helping me with chores like folding laundry and doing the dishes.

She also loves playing with Alex's old dollhouse.

I'm curious about Maggie. Right now she reminds me of how Max was at her age...a little ball of destruction.

What do your kids like playing with? Or, what toys did you enjoy as a child?

♥ anne