Just Call Me Twilight

via here   I have two daughters.  My oldest is in a big-girl bed, my youngest still in a crib.  My oldest is having a hard time waiting until the youngest is able to move into a big-girl bed.  She thinks that at the time the youngest is ready for a big-girl bed, they will then start sharing a room and will sleep in bunk beds - oldest on top, youngest at the bottom.  My oldest is the same girl that I have to check on nightly, because if I do not, she will roll herself out of her big-girl bed, hitting the ground with a nice thud, followed by quite a few tears.  I'm not adverse to the two girls sharing a room, but for now, they will continue in their own rooms.  I do love the idea of bunk beds, all decked out in girly cuteness, just not for my girls at this stage in their lives.  The above picture gives an alternative to the bunk beds.  Two beds, one room.  They both have a curtain to allow them their privacy, each has its' own...

This is the life I was meant to live - at least today, but probably not forever, because if there's one thing I know for sure it's that as soon as things start to seem normal, a shake-down happens. I'm fine with that. It lends a certain air of adventure to life. – Shannan Garbar Martin, Flower Patch Farmgirl This is a house similar to what I am currently living in. Well, this is a two-story house, and I live in a one-story house, but other than that they look similar. I live in what we Phoenicians call 'the Valley', which is just a fancy way of saying 'the Phoenix area'. Here in the Valley, it is hot during the summer, warm the rest of the year. Some winters we may experience two days of freeze in a row, which is strangely exciting, but kills all of our plants. I can say with all honesty that I really dislike living in the Valley. There are many reasons for that: the heat, the lack of discernable seasons, the citiness.   This log cabin depic...

At our house (and I expect at other houses with children), we typically follow a routine.  I have found that there is peace in routine.  No two days are alike, so when you have the bones of that routine to follow, curve balls aren't nearly so traumatic.  Routine starts at wake-up, meanders a bit until we reach breakfast, and then the real fun begins!  Once breakfast is out of the way, I let The Littles watch some tv.  It allows me to eat breakfast, get dressed and breathe a bit before the actual day starts.  And what could be wrong with watching Sesame Street;  Or, sometimes taking a morning nap; Once Sesame Street is over, the tv goes off and we head outside for some Vitamin D therapy; Wait, how does this thing work? I will try to keep the girls outside for as long as possible, but once May hits, the outside time gets shorter and shorter.  After the girls are exhausted or their cheeks are too rosy from the he...

  Last week, I was privileged to spend some one-on-one time with my oldest daughter, Saoirse. As all smart gals do, we made a beeline to the mall for dinner and a little retail therapy. I let her choose where we ate dinner - she chose Chick-fil-A, of course. After eating, we both had our hair cut, and then we went purse shopping. Saoirse may only be five years old, but it is never too early to teach her the ins-and-outs of purse shopping (says the one obsessed with purses!). As a stay-at-home mom with more than one child, I have struggled with feelings of guilt - guilt that I can no longer give my oldest child my undivided attention;  guilt that I am not as tuned in to the special artwork (or funny faces, or new dance moves, etc) she is forever presenting to me; and guilt that I am not spending near the amount of time with her as I did prior to the second child coming along. When Saoirse and I did have alone time...

Source Unknown My personal home decorating style is 'simple rustic'.  I don't really think that that is a category.  I can't go to Barnes and Noble and find decorating books that cater to 'simple rustic'.  But that term is as close as I have been able to come to my personal aesthetic.  The bathroom pictured above is a perfect illustration of what I would put into my home.  Wood plank floors, farmhouse sink, natural light, simple mirror, simple vanity, and of course the claw foot tub.  I would probably have some type of painting above the tub, but it would not draw away from the simple aspects of this room.  I have thrown around the word 'simple' a lot in this post, but after looking at the picture above, it just fits. Knock on wood that it continues, but it looks like my family and I are getting our first weekend in a long time - SICK-FREE!!! Whoo hoo!  We currently have no plans for the weekend, but that's not a bad thing.  Think ...

We have been a sick household since the middle of May.  Not all at the same time, cuz that's not how we roll.  One person at a time.  And we weren't just passing around the same sickness - oh no, we had to be individuals with our own special sicknesses. At two separate times, Mike and I had planned date days.  We had been SO looking forward to seeing "Fast and Furious 6" and our first date night attempt was the movie's opening Friday.  Nope.  I was sick and unable to get out of bed.  You can thank me later for sparing you the details. Second attempt was two weeks later.  Same plan - sushi and "FF6". Nu uh.  Mike was sick this time. Here's the deal.  Date days are rare for us.  We are raising two small children on one income.  Not looking for pity, just stating facts.  We get a date day only when all of the planets align and my Mom gets the right day off.  Though to be fair, Mike's folks were on th...

Source Unknown This has been an especially trying week.  Every day there have been activities (Prehistoric camp, dental appointments, movie morning, vacation bible school, swim lessons, etc), enough so that I have felt as if I have been living in my car.  Add the oppressive heat into the equation and I am just drained.  I'm feeling low and on the cusp of getting sick again.  So I see this picture of a comfy bed, fantastic beams, and just all-around coziness and I feel a little relaxation creep into me.  This room has solid nap potential!  Father's Day My Dad and I Thank you Dad! Thank you for the laughter, For the good times that we share, Thank you for always listening, And trying to be fair.   Thank you for your comfort, When things are going bad, Thank you for the shoulder, To cry on when I'm sad.   Thank you for being a special dad, or just for being you!  JCMT

There once was an old yellow chair.  How we loved that chair!  Yellow fabric with blue flowers, green vines and red berries.  It was the first piece of furniture a very young, poor and newly married couple could afford to buy.  Overstuffed, oversized.  Throughout the years, that chair hosted many important events in our family.  A precious baby found a comfortable spot to stay awhile;  Aunt Patty feeding Saoirse Family reunions squeezed in and around the yellow chair;  Michael, Grandpa Tom, Saoirse Bedtime books were read while snuggling in the chair;  Michael and Saoirse New additions to the family rested between the arms, Aunt Patty feeding Jenae And the old yellow chair allowed tired souls to sleep soundly.  Jason Drink stains, holes in the fabric and the roughness of children finally made us realize that we had to let it go.  Thank you old yell...

Saoirse drew this picture for me this morning.  I "ooohhh'd" and "aaahhh'd" like any good mommy would.  I experienced a little tinge of proud that my oldest daughter is now drawing pictures that depict what would pass as a real person - including five fingers, two arms, two legs.  All that's really missing is a nose - and what is a nose, really?  She said it was a picture of me running.  As I am bald in this picture and I have a smile on my face while running, I really doubted that this was a mommy portrait, but I let it go.  Ten minutes later, Saoirse brought me this picture: Very much like the first one.  As before, I "ooohhh'd" and "aaahhh'd" and was happy that my little lady was starting to find her drawing niche.  Another ten minutes passes by and here comes Saoirse, with a new drawing for me: I'm sensing a pattern here.  But in this drawing, I have graduated to some sort of wheel attached to the bottom...

I have to say that I just love this room!  I have always loved window seats, though I have never lived in a home that has had one.  So I guess it's the idea of a comfortable window seat that I covet.  This one is extra large sized, all the better to stretch out.  I can see myself lounging amongst the pillows, with a good book, hot tea and the Littles visiting elsewhere for a few hours. Sigh! We are having a low-key, "recover from sick" weekend.  Do you have any fun plans?  Whatever you are doing, I wish you a fantastic and safe weekend!  JCMT

Yep, Mumford & Sons was a great concert!  Helps when the band has only put out two albums, so you know and can sing along with every single song.  And it also helps when they just rock out like it wasn't the same performance they put out every other night. Yep, great concert! What wasn't great was waking up at 5am this morning to Mike retching into the toilet, over and over again. This man hasn't gotten out of bed since then either.  And before you say it, no, there was no alcohol consumed either before, during or after the concert.  There was a lot of heat and more heat as we waited for the concert to begin in the open air arena, but no alcohol. The Kistner household has been a home of bad sick for the last two weeks.  First me, then Jenae, then Saoirse.  Mike thought he was lucky enough to bypass the sick, but he was wrong.  What I have found during this bad sick time is that I am not a person with ...

While on Facebook yesterday, I watched an Upw orthy video that featured different women speaking of their fears and thei r feelings of regret that those fears have dictated paths they have taken in their lives.   One woman felt that she could have been a world-class ballerina, another a singing sensation.  They felt that fear of being judged kept them from their true potential.  The ending of the video was a challenge to go home and figure out what your fear was and start the process of conquering it. Well, here I am at my fear.  I have always wanted to start a blog.  I subscribe to so many of them and I have always felt the pull to write, to share, and to feel that I have something worthy of sharing that might help out another human being.  Or maybe it wouldn't help them, but make them feel that they are not alone in this quest we call life.  My fear has been that noone would want to read my posts and I would be out here all alone with this eff...