framebridge

I was so excited to drive up to the house and see a big cardboard box on our front porch recently. Apparently my little squeals of delight were contagious, because after a few minutes the kids caught onto the excitement, though not exactly sure why…

I received my very first order from Framebridge! I've been wanting to try them out and for Christmas got a gift certificate.

I went with four Instagram minis and did all white mats but with different frames. The process is so easy. Framebridge gets the images from my Instagram account. I choose which photo I want, then choose between a white or off-white mat, and pick one of their 25+ frames. Their frame collection is awesome; I did have some trouble deciding.



They come ready to hang and include a pouch with a nail and care instructions. I really like how they put felt dots on the backs of the frames to prevent scratches on walls.

I absolutely love the way they turned out!

That one is now hanging on a wall in the children's bathroom.

This one of Joseph running through a field is currently on the door to the hallway from the breakfast room where framed family photos cover the walls. I'm crazy about the burl wood.

The ones below (from Joe's 20th Naval Academy reunion) are stacked just inside the dining room if you're coming from the breakfast room. I love how the gold bamboo and the fluted antique gold complement each other.

Looking forward to using this company again. If you know me, you know I love framed art and photography. And I really love the affordability of going this route. I recommend!

trees, dentist, swimming and videos

Last week we had some trees taken down at the house. What was originally supposed to be 5 or 6 ended up being 8. Eight large trees. We didn't know when (day or time) the crew was coming, but I'm glad I got in a solid session of yoga in the morning. The p90x yoga is a really long workout (1:45) and, thankfully, the little ones were outside playing for most of it. When they did come in they were, of course, interested in doing yoga too…or at least crowding my mat. {The black blob is Mollie.}

When the tree crew showed up Tuesday afternoon, I knew we were in for some excitement. {We had 14 trees taken down at our last parsonage.} Hannah and Joseph were enthralled by the man on the bucket truck and all the equipment. Who am I kidding? We were all fascinated by the activity going on outside. I found myself a time or two just staring out the window. The first tree Hannah and I watched come down from the back porch swing.

Joseph napped through most of that first afternoon of work, so I took a video for him:

The next morning he was ready, and glued to the guest bedroom's windows when the "mans" arrived.

We did leave the excitement long enough to go for a walk. So you can experience part of my exercise entertainment, I took a video of them singing:

…Man, I love those two. Later that day the tree guys took down the pine outside of Joseph's room (while he was napping). The front of our house looks kinda weird without two of the big trees, but I won't have to worry about them coming down on the house during a storm, so that's good.

Their method is to go up the tree sawing off all the limbs until about a 2/3 of the way to the top. Then they cut the top of the tree off (as you saw in the video) usually attached to a rope to guide it down, but sometimes not. The man on the bucket comes down and he saws the tree at the base, and BOOM it hits the ground. The bobcat comes in periodically and scoops up the limbs and pieces of trunk, loading them into another truck and once they have a full load it's hauled off. Quite a process and a big mess.

I was slightly fearful of the damage the limbs and trunks might cause as they fell. And for good reason; we had issues at our last house. This time there was collateral damage, too. We lost our little crop of butternut squash that had started growing in the compost pile, the fence was damaged, and our struggling fig tree got whacked. Oh, and two of our new azalea bushes were smashed. AND a few sprinkler heads are broken. We still have to wait for the stump grinder to come and then we'll get to really see the results of all this work…and clean up our yard.

Joseph had his first trip to the dentist on Thursday in Augusta. He surprised me. I thought he'd be terrified of the whole thing and ready to get the heck outta dodge. Instead, he did great. I mean, great! He actually seemed to enjoy it all, laughing at the vibrating wand tickling his teeth, fascinated by the light overhead and all the dental tools, and loved getting to yell "AGHHHHH!!!" every time he was told to open wide.

Hannah was so sweet, being overprotective as usual and making sure he was ok. You may remember his "help" during her experience at the dentist was quite different! I think he added more anxiety to the already-overwhelming situation…

The weekend was pretty low-key. We met our friends, Tyler and Elisha, and their girls for dinner in Milledgeville and swam at Mrs. Barbara's pool.

There is one very exciting thing that happened over the weekend (other than my brother celebrating a birthday miles away - Happy Birthday Uncle Will Will!). I haven't been able to video Hannah's progress in the pool because I'm the one that's with her, but since Daddy joined us for a swim on Saturday, I got to take this:

She's become a little fish and come so far in just a few weeks! So proud of her.

big boy room {beds}

There is a cute little, relatively new, consignment and antiques shop in Savannah. Joe and I visited back in May and got lucky, finding something perfect for Joseph's big boy room on the first stop on our hunt. Of course, just as happened with my wedding dress (among other purchases), sometimes when I find something perfect (or darn close to it) on my first try, I doubt my decision and keep looking…eventually leading me right back to the thing I saw in the first place.

And that's what happened. A few weeks later when we were back in Savannah, I called Clutter (cute store name, huh?) to see if the beds had been sold. They hadn't, surprisingly, and were loaded in my car an hour later. They were even better than I remembered, made of mahogany and in good condition. I stored them at my mom's house until we exchanged beds for kids week before last.

Joseph was one step closer to having a big boy bed…or two.

My plan is to create a "big boy" room from a nursery, on a very small budget, not changing wall color, rug or any other furniture. Essentially, the only difference is the beds. Not a lot of fun for a designer who likes to make changes, move things around, decorate and re-decorate. But such is the case. And again, the budget is itty bitty. The challenge is finding bedding that will work in the space and figuring out where to put everything.

Here's my starting point:

I liked Joseph's nursery. {I would rather not have carpet, but I live in a parsonage, so I'm limited to the changes I can make.} It has evolved over the last three years with subtractions (the changing table) and additions (the teepee, his second birthday present). When I put the room together, I selected things that could be a part of his room for years to come. There are many special elements and things that are very old and have been a part of our family for a long time, so I'm glad that I created a room that could grow with him, so to speak. We'll see how it turns out. I do like how the beds look in there…

We didn't have the mattresses when the kids came home from Camp Meme, so Joe took the one off of Hannah's trundle to put across some wood slats. Joseph was very eager to sleep in a big boy bed when he got back, as we FaceTimed while he was in Savannah and he saw the work-in-progress.

Figuring out the beds - and by that I mean mattresses and box springs - was a headache. The beds are lower because that's just how they made beds back then, and a standard box spring at 9" would put the mattress (also 9") so high it would cover up the beautiful spindles. Which is the whole point of these cute antique beds we love. 

I bought the mattresses from a wholesale mattress place in Savannah, but they were out of stock on the low-profile box springs. I researched a few options: go with bunkie boards, have boxes made with 2x4s and plywood at the local building supply company, or special order low-profile box springs to be shipped to a store here. You can buy low-profile foundations (4" or 5" height) online, but they are hard to find in twin size (without also buying the mattress) and they are expensive when you go that route. Due to cost, practicality, and options #1 and 2 making the beds a little low for what I wanted, I ended up going with option #3. We are cooling our heels while we wait for them to arrive.  

I'm ready for this bed saga to be over. I have mattress pads, duvets and sheets and have ordered duvet covers. Keeping my eye out for cute stuff like throw pillows to add to the mix. And the best part is - Joseph is so excited! About the beds…not about throw pillows. When planning this room, Joe often reminds me it belongs to a boy…and boys don't care. 

But I do…and so it will look nice. :)