With words, I wish I could convey what a beautiful day it was out there, but I can't. It's sunny, warm and absolutely gorgeous. When you live in a climate where the majority of the year the city is either in the midst of a deep freeze or just entering/coming out of one, you learn to take any sunny day for what it's worth, and around here, it's worth a lot. After days and days of rain that flooded our city's sewer system, houses and rivers, the glorious sun is drying up our soaked beds, and making everything feel a little bit greener.


It's 8:30 am. Dr. Handsome is still at work this morning, likely sleeping off a few delirious hours before he makes his way home after a long call shift last night, Number Two went off to school happily and the two  Littles are still sleeping away thanks to blackout blinds and a careful avoidance of creaking floor boards upstairs. We've learned to not open certain doors and to step lightly on the joists. Walking up the stairs is like a circus act. It's a funny thing - the lengths you will go to when you know that with just a little bit of sacrifice (forgot your socks? Too bad!), you will reap the benefits of a.) a 6am two baby wake up or b.) a 9:30 am baby wake up. I prefer the latter. 6 am and 9 am is a three hour difference of when nap times fall, when meals get eaten and the number of melt downs that can be estimated prior to bed time. 9 am, is our favorite time of the day. It also means I have two whole hours of quiet to do luxurious things like drink three day old coffee at my leisure and unload a dishwasher without anyone climbing into it.


So you're probably wondering to yourself "Why is she writing about her kids and not her DIY reno's? Get on with it, mom..." Well here's the deal. Yesterday - for the first time in two weeks, I didn't go to the house. I felt like an addict cutting myself off cold turkey and a number of times had my keys looped around my finger to head out the door with the Littles to go and see the progression of the paint work, but rather than go, yesterday - I committed myself to helping someone else go - on the potty that is. Little Number 3 will be turning two in just a few weeks and yesterday morning we made the decision to make an attempt with some potty learning, and well, it went really really well. I don't have incredibly high expectations - for one, he's a boy and as a mother of a number of boys, I know that boys can take considerably longer to potty train, and secondly, he's still pretty little, as a Little. But he did great. I loaded him up with a full sippy of ice cold water and set the timer to beep at 20 minute intervals, and each time, on command, Little Number Three went over to his seat and happily produced a quarter teaspoon of pee for me. Brings a tear to my eye, i'm so proud.

So alas, with that being our focus of the day yesterday, I avoided the House. The painters are still working away, the house has painterthings everywhere and it's just too hard to manage the Littles when there is much much much messy painting fun to get into, plus, Little Number Four is one of those types who prefers to be in arms all of the time, which just adds to the juggling. If you have four kids, it's best to have more than one set of arms. Dr. Handsome and I will head over tonight to take a peek at the progress and perhaps i'll steal a moment or two to fire off a few shots of the work that's been done.


To keep you entertained, here are a few new things i'm in love with.

The Decorated House Blog

a gorgeous blog with many DIY projects, decorating ideas and tips on how to make your beautiful house, even more beautiful. Go and read it and become a fan!

Old House Web

-This is a fantastic resource for all things related to old houses - from architectural details, refinishing and restoring, decorating, DIY projects, major renovations and how-to's. Check it out!

Lula Honey

okay, I admit that I am biased towards Lula Honey. This is my long time girlfriend Ang's site of fabulous finds for children. She is a brilliant designer and I have a shared appreciation for her aesthetic. <3 her stuff. Please check her out! Plus her own clothing line for little girls is absolute perfection.

So that is that. I'm off to go and trapeze my way up the stairs, hop into the shower and get on with my day. Hope you all enjoy the weather you're having, rain or shine - indoors and out. <3 D.