just your typical, fake mom.

post by casey.



guys. Whyyyyyyyyyy.

nothing good starts with: Soooooo, I saw this thing on Pinterest.
I'll let the photos do someeeee of the talking.

PINTEREST

i've been in a funk this last week. It started with having several dreams of an old friend of ours that died - will the D-word always take my breath away?! - many years ago. I guess I feel fortunate that he still visits me. Not sure where you stand on such things and I'm neither saying I believe that he's 'visiting' me or that it's all my subconscious...but it always seems quite random. I think of him often, regardless. But man. Those dreams still knock me on my ass for a few days.
I'm sure I never mentioned but after he was gone, I wrote in journals a lot. I struggled, big time. I've since gotten rid of them all. No regrets there, I needed to let go. BUT I used to sign all of my passages with PBIMDT. Please Be In My Dreams Tonight.
Man. I miss that kid.

okayyyyyy...so this little project...that took twice as long to set-up: me cutting the shape of a Christmas Tree out of a tiny cork:/...well, it took me all of 10sec to realize it wasn't gonna work and all of 7min for the kids to have their hands and mouths and part of my floor, covered in black paint.

this project was the actual physical mess that has been my feelings all week. Therapeutic, really;). I did dishes while they thought they were creating art;).

i also just ate a bowl of Mac&Chs, quickly, while my 2mo old screamed. I never thought Mac&Chs could get less satisfying. Mission accomplished.


so Jacob's been working for over 2wks straight. Every day. For more than 2wks. In.A.Row. Last night he didn't get home until 1130PM. Tonight he hopes to be home by 7PM. I've been watching kids all week and have a hair appt. tonight and a Date Day on the horizon...I'm in desperate need of a shower and my clothes don't fit and...my back actually hurts from shoveling snow and I forgot to start the coffee - 2nd pot of the day...it's1242PM.


i shared this quote on Instagram yesterday and it still feels really good to read.

"Meaning and purpose don't come in the forms of great accomplishments or undertakings. Rather they reveal themselves on some randomly idle weekday morning when you realize how much you love someone or that you're doing all you can with what you can carry in the place you are with the time you have with what you care about." 

- Victoria Erickson

so this week hasn't been the best but it certainly hasn't been the worst. I spent time with my nieces and nephews. My husband has worked hard all day, everyday and then came home and worked hard to give me a break. I have a baby to cuddle. And I saw an old friend, even if only in my dreams.

happy weekend, friends:)

love is...a taco holder, your dad makes, for your husband.

post by casey.

what says "let's make a 4th baby" more than gifting your husband a Valentine's Day Taco Holder that your dad made - hey, I did send him a photo and I diddddd offer to come out and help throw some staples in it;).

so yeah. I didn't have a very big hand in this years Valentine's gift but it's the thought that counts. And all my thoughts are still, obviously, on Tulum! Hence the taco holder;)

Remember this guy?!

it's a holder...of tacos...um?! HEART.EYES.

we didn't quite capture exactly what I was hoping for but I'm absolutely not complaining - because I can't...because I didn't lift a finger in helping create it;). But my dad whipped up a pretty useful taco holder in just a few minutes:)

also, an extensive search for "Wooden Taco Holders" on Pinterest and Etsy brought me to dead-ends. Is there a market for wooden taco holders!? Are you thinking, what I'm thinking? Casey's Taco Holder - wow...that sounds Rated R;). Wood You Like Me to Hold Your Taco HOLDERS. Shop name, to be determined;)

a few days ago, the kids and I did some painting/crafting and made some pretty adorable little hearts. We didn't actually put them to any use, I was hoping to have Homer pass them out to random people today while we were at Rocky's well-child doc visit...but we didn't quite have the time to wrap up that idea:/ Maybe next year!

but setting-up these little projects for them is ridiculously satisfying and productive! There was a lot of drawing and coloring and painting...for at least 40, GLORIOUS, minutes:) After that...Rocky over-turned every paintbrush water cup - yup, took me all 3 to finally figure out how far his reach was;).

valentines really isn't too big of a deal for us and my husband is very thankful for that;) I actually woke up this morning having forgotten that it was Valentine's Day! Oops;) Obviously, I (my dad - THANKS DADDDDD!!!;) still cranked out a little gift. But I have no expectation of receiving anything from Jacob and I actually have encouraged him not to go get flowers and such. That guy...I've told him a million times to just pick some flowers from the ditch on the way home, if he felt the need, but he'll still run into the store and that target on his back has him walking out with a $40 bouquet of Gerber Daisies and yeahhhhhh. I appreciate the gesture but at this point in my life...I'd take $40 in cash and 30MIN alone in the bath;)

happy LOVE day to everyone! Whether you choose to celebrate this day, specifically, or rebel against it, entirely...I hope you're showing your loved ones - and they're showing you right back - daily/constantly an overwhelming amount of love:)

xo

hot glue guns (SHOULD) rule the world.

post by casey

do you have a hot glue gun? Am I the only one, just now - in my verrrryyyyy early 33rd year of life - discovering how life-changing having a hot glue gun is? 

well. If you don't have one...I'm tellin' ya...stop what you're doing - which is probably almost falling asleep because you just discovered that this post is loosely centered around a hot glue gun - WAKE UP and get your ass to the place that sells hot glue guns!!!!

jacob came home with a hot glue gun for me the other day. Anddddd a food dehydrator - I'll save that excitement for another blog post;). This glue gun has seen a shit-ton of action since - so has my husband cause HOT GLUE GUNS ARE LIFE CHANGING!!!;). There's literally NO problem that can't be solved with this freaking gun. For real. Give me a problem. Try me;)

i seriously fixed 7 things within 20min of getting this hot glue gun. All the broken things...are fixed!!!!

instagram 

vs. 

reality

my dad was kinda enough to set-up his drill-press for me, which made hallowing out these corks SO much easier!!!:) And now I'm running out of corks and gave up alcohol and so yeah...where my wine-guzzling friends at?!?!? Hit me up;)

these little guys were relatively easy to make and I'm still finessing the process and how to make sure that little plant stays alive as long as possible and maybe how to sell and ship them online??? BUT doing this definitely got those creative juices flowing. Not gonna lie, having 3 little kids running around doesn't leave me much time - if any at all...actually, negative amounts of time...like, I need more hours in the day...what day is it???;). 

POINT: it was fun to do something for me. Create something and then have a few people give me some positive feedback and even purchased a few of them! Can you tell I'm desperate for some positive reinforcement/genuine compliments?;) I haven't showered OR left the house in what feels like a few weeks, so I may be hard up for some social interaction;)

hope you guys are filling your 'creative/me-time tanks' in some way or another!!!!:)

shameless plug innnnn 3...2..1....

IF you love these little cuties as much as I do...I AM taking orders - only for those locally or able to pick-up, until I figure out the shipping situation!:) I'm selling them for $2/ea or 3 for $5!

xo.

home gardening for people who don't home garden.

post by casey.

putting something in the dirt and having it GROW...is pretty neat. I may be obsessed with the idea of me...little ol' me...being able to 'grow' things in general. I can grow babies pretty hard and so maybe growing things...is my 'thing'?;)

i did not put any thought or prep into this project and it turned.out.awesomeeeeee. My favorite kinda project;) - minus that rogue 's' in basil...but I just turned the jar around and started over!:)  

*if you're a die-hard-3-wick-candle-lover from Bath & Body Works, then you may have already recognized these jars. I've invested a bit of $$ into those glorious candles and I was finally able to say to Jacob: "SEE...SEEEEEEE...totallyyyyyy worth it!!!!"

here's what I did:

- i sent Jacob to Menards to get all supplies

- i sent Jacob downstairs to spray-paint the jars

i'm getting to the part where I actually DID something;)

- i used these handy stamps to label the jars and because I didn't have an ink pad, I just used a sharpie to color on the stamps

- i read the back of the seed packages and planted them accordingly

courts has a great little set-up going - see post HERE - and she even involved the kids, which was super adorable. I did ask Homer if he'd like to help and showed him how fun it was to put the dirt in the jars!!! He opted to watch Guardians of the Galaxy instead. Team player.

so I forgot when it was that I did this...so I'm not sure when I should be expecting to see some growth. BUT I can tell you I've been watering them every day - which, I hear is necessary?!;) And I feel really good that this is totallyyyyyy going to work;) I'll report back.

this little project is a great start to our big garden. Kinda gets our toes wet a little before we have to really get to work on the 'real' one. And by 'we'...I mean, Courts. And by 'work'...I mean, I'll refill coffee and plant things too close together in crooked rows;)

see ya in a MONTH warm-garden-prep-weather!!! April, you're a dick.

the beginning of #smithsgrowshit2016

post by Courtney

the closer it gets to spring, the more I crave the garden. I miss my neighbor terribly. She was the rock foundation of our garden. to be honest, she did most of the garden. I was mostly there drinking coffee, making sure plants were evenly spaced, and occasionally removing rocks from rows. oh, and I did a bit of weeding. you know, the important stuff ;)

this will be the third year (I believe) we'll be gardening on our own. which means, we're going to try to harvest some beans this year. and maybe look for watermelons before October! 

looked back in my photostream... *correction: and maybe look for watermelons before November! jeepers. we maybe aren't the best at gardening.*

so we're gonna give it another shot this year. ha! I've got the itch so got some seeds and little greenhouse thingies. yeah, I'm a pro at this ;)

intense concentration. and how cute, they have matching double chins.

the kids love to help in the garden. 

for future reference, whenever I use the words "help" and "kids" in the same sentence, it's complete BS. and I'm not talking about a Bachelor of Science. 

sssooo I let them dump dirt in the containers and stir in the water. this is obviously the before photo of our planting. no one's crying. and the island is clean ;) 

I occupied the little two with bowls of dirt and spoons. as you can see, Will is just dumping his on the floor. but Drew enjoyed planting the ittttttty bitty seeds.

what we planted: 3 kinds of tomatoes (4th of July, Romas, and cherry), watermelons, carrots, and cosmos. you know, the essentials ;) planning to plant more tomatoes and I completely forgot peppers cause I want to actually make something out of the garden this year and that means salsaaaaa!!!

this is the more realistic island ;)

and not even a week later, we had our first sprouts! the kids thought it was the coolest thing. and I think it's amazing how you can actually grow something from seed. now just to keep them alive :| the first to sprout were the cosmos. I have no idea what we'll do with these, buttt we have cosmos.

I did learn a few things during this process... 
1) next time I'll choose bigger containers. the tomatoes might need to be transplanted once before they make it to the garden. I don't think the containers I got are quite big enough. 
2) no need to plant carrots early. ours are going to be stunted, short, and crooked. 
3) I may also do some of this during naptime next time  ;)

see some of our previous garden adventures here: 
#smithsgrowshit2015 #smithsgrowshit2014

and make sure to follow along this year here:
#smithsgrowshit2016