Hey Ya'll!

Gasp, is everybody keeping cool in this crazy heat? Yah us too. Unfortunately with this heat we are not able to do many "summer" things and are forced to stay inside (either in our own air conditioned house, or trips to the store like Walmart where we can run around and play with all the toys without having to purchase them).  Im not going to complain though. I complain all winter about the cold, so I will not complain about the heat. Even though we have been "forced" to stay inside (technically we still could go outside, but Coral gets over heated and sweats very quickly...even the splash pad isn't an option these days), we have still found little ways to entertain ourselves.

Andrew and I haven't bought Coral a new toy in a loooong time. I think the last thing we bought her was some wooden puzzles at a garage sale a while ago. Anyway, the other day I was feeling the itch to get her some new stuff to play with (ok i'll be honest, the new toys are more for me then they are for her...I get bored playing with the same few toys all day everyday...how many different ways can I shake a rattle?) I just didn't know what I wanted to get her. I don't like buying random toys, just because they look pretty. I like buying her things that will help stimulate her mind such as stacking blocks, puzzles, shape sorters, train tracks that she has to put together, etc. I know some bigger purchases that I want to get her, such as a play kitchen, and a wooden doll house, but we will get those for her on a special occasion like Christmas and her birthday. So, on a quest to find something new for her, we went to Value Village. Most of the toys Coral has are from Value Village or some other thrift store. We looked and looked but couldn't seem to find anything that caught our eye. After not finding anything, we hit up the dollar store. I ended up getting her three very simple things. A balloon, sidewalk chalk, and a coloring book (can you believe that Coral has all those art supplies but I hadn't bought her a coloring book yet?) Three things that are so simple, but they have kept her entertained all week. She thinks its pretty amazing that she can draw on our steps outside. My niece Emma has a chalkboard easel that has just been sitting in our basement...yup you guessed it, Corals been drawing up a storm on it.


Other things that have entertained us this week:

Its getting more girlie in Corals "big girl" room.  This project was a lot more time consuming then I thought it would be. I got the chandelier from the Hodgson farm. When I found it it was dirty, gold, and in bad shape.

I spray painted the chandelier yellow, and made white flowers out of tissue paper. When I pictured this in my mind, I thought about doing it with more bright vibrant colors. But once I started, I decided to use just white and yellow. Im very happy with the results. 

I used some of the fake diamonds from the chandelier to hang from lantern to lantern. It looks perfect for a little princesses room. Just to be clear, Corals "big girl" room is currently the guest room, but I am slowly re-doing it for when Coral will move in there one day. She wont move in there until we have another baby and she gets the boot from her nursery. And nope, just because Im working on her "big girl" room, doesn't mean were pregnant, or planning on becoming pregnant any time soon. 

Making pretend soup in the kitchen. Coral is loving playing make believe. She helps me make some soup, and then we taste it. She knows how to make the fake slurping sound when I put the spoon to her mouth, and she finishes with a "ahhh, yum."

Ok, everybody said "GIRL TIME". Coral now has a fresh coat of hot pink nail polish on her little toes (don't worry ya'll, she hasn't sucked her toes in months and months). She LOVED getting her nails painted. She was so good about not touching them, and even helped me blow on them for them to dry. Guess what color I did my toe nails? Yup, SAMERS!

Remember that fish scale wall thats in our bedroom? It needed a little pop of color. So, I added some tissue flowers, and fabric flowers to it. What do you think? Much better eh.

Ok, and finally, my own little guilty pleasure, I have been READING again. Yes I haven't picked up a novel to read since before Coral was born (ok so I have read books...but Im talking about me reading a book that does not involve a description on how to wipe a babies bum). I love reading. Its been far to long since I have picked up a book. So, if you need me, you know where to find me....my novel is calling my name. See ya'll later! Don't forget to keep those little ones inside today and give them plenty of water to drink (sorry, Im a momma, I had to say it).