Just Call Me Twilight

On July 29, 1890, one of my favorite artists, Vincent van Gogh passed away.  Since yesterday was July 29th and the anniversary of said death, I thought I would do a little tribute to him through his works. Branches with Almond Blossoms Pair of Leather Clogs Pieta The Potato Eaters The Sower The Paintings: Skull JCMT

My people and I spent last week in San Diego.  The week started on a rocky note and unfortunately ended that way too.  But the middle parts sure were great!  Let me share our story with you. Sunday, Handy Hubby (HH) got a text asking us if we had recently charged a few questionable items to our credit card.  At a glance, it's easy for us to know what has been charged as we only have one credit card.  And we knew the charges weren't ours.  What now was questionable was this text. Was it legit?  HH researched the number, found it was legit and we then logged on to the credit card website.  Some naughty person took our credit card on a quite-expensive-jaunt down to Tucson.  Talked to some very nice people at the credit card company, and they were gracious enough to remove those pesky charges as well as they closed our credit card account.  Now our problem is - we are about to go on vacation and we h...

  Thought it would be fun to share with you my lust list of the month.  Covers all areas, all well out of my price range - hence the "lust" part of the name. Enjoy!  Fossil Sydney Shopper Skechers Go Walk Rough Peridot Necklace Burberry Contrast Border Check Cashmere Scarf Primitive Pie Safe  JCMT

Source unknown I am not sure that the bookcase shown above actually qualifies as an actual room, but I just love the cleverness of it.  Bookshelves at the base of a staircase, who would have thunk it!  I have never owned or lived in a home that was more than one story, but I have seen loads of pictures of homes with staircases.  And one thing I have never seen, until now, is this area encompass anything more than a pretty picture or a series of pictures.  I love that these homeowners thoughtfully use all space provided them - whether it really was provided or not.  JCMT

I am in mourning.  The Tour de France has ended.  For the past three weeks, I have been glued to my television, watching up to four hours of coverage a night (the stages are DVR'd, so I am not actually sitting there for four hours).  But now, I am left with no cycling for the next few weeks, and a plethora of open time every evening.   Yes, I realise that I am married and I have two young daughters, so any extra time on my hands seems like a misnomer.  It is.  But I am mourning the loss of my July routine and the year-long build-up to this point.  I will slog on, anticipating the Tour de France's  101st year, but it will take a little bit of time to get me back into the right frame of mind. I am unusually entranced by the Tour de France.  Have been for as long as I can remember.  July is my favourite month of the year because pretty much the whole month is taken by this race.  You may say that December ...

Source unknown I hate to admit it, but doing the laundry on a weekly basis is probably one of my favourite chores.  But let's be clear, I still don't enjoy doing it.  It just is a little less tedious than vacuuming or mopping the floors.  Both of the girls like to "help" sort the laundry.  I hand the clothing item to the youngest, who then puts it in the wrong pile.  Then the oldest will take it out the wrong pile, hug the clothing item and then place it in the correct pile.  So, as you can imagine, the sorting part of laundry is a lengthy process. I hate to complain about my laundry room as it is a definite step-up from my previous laundry room.  In the first house Handy Hubby and I owned, the laundry room was part of the carport.  It was part shed, part laundry room.  The whole room felt dirty, and heaven forbid I drop something on the ground!  It was also out of earshot, so out-of-sight-out-of-mind.  I had to rewash too man...

Over the last few days, my oldest daughter has had a lot of questions regarding how both her and her youngest sister came out of my tummy.  At first, they were just general questions.  But as she was given more and more details, the questions became more and more detailed. The Oldest Luckily for me (in this instance), both of my girls were delivered by C-Section.  The oldest was due to an emergency (her heart beats dropped dramatically with every contraction) and the youngest due to the first C-Section.   The Youngest I was happy that I did not have to answer the type of questions that I am hoping will not come for at least a few more years.  But as her mommy, I loved having the opportunity to explain how these two precious packages were delivered into Handy Husband and I's lives. The Fam We looked at all of the pictures from the two special days.  We took our time on each one.  The oldest had so many intelligent questions...

I was unable to do a 'Fantastic Room Friday' post last week, so I thought I would make up for it today.  Instead of just putting one picture up here about a room I feel is fantastic, I will go one step further and will show you several rooms that I am currently obsessing over.  Let's get started!! Source unknown I am in love with this door.  I love the fact that it is mostly windows, so it lets in an enormous amount of natural light.  It works well in that respect with the side window.  It does almost look like a dutch door, though this particular door is not split between the top half and the bottom half.  I even love the door handle.  The original handle works well with the colour and the structure of the hanging light.  What a perfect first impression this door lends to your house.  Love it! Via she Here is my idea of a simple kitchen.  First, it is all white aside from the gray back splash.  It ma...

  First, Lord:  no tattoos.  May neither the Chinese symbol for truth nor Winnie-the-Pooh holding the FSU logo stain her tender haunches. May she be Beautiful but not Damaged, for it's the Damage that draws the creepy soccer coach's eye, not the Beauty. When the Crystal Meth is offered, may she remember the parents who cut her grapes in half and stick with beer. Guide her, protect her: - When crossing the street, - Stepping onto boats, - Swimming in the ocean, - Swimming in pools, - Walking near pools, - Standing on the subway platform, - Crossing 86th Street, - Stepping off of boats, - Using mall restrooms, - Getting on and off escalators, - Driving on country roads while arguing, - Leaning on large windows, - Walking in parking lots, - Riding Ferris wheels, roller-coasters, log flumes or anything called "Hell Drop", "Tower of Torture", or "The Death Spiral Rock 'N Zero G Roll featuring Aerosmith", and - Standing on any ...

My 18-month-old daughter is a biter.  I feel as if I should be standing up declaring this at an anonymous meeting.  " Hi, my name is Twila and I am the mother of a biter. "  I realize that that may be taking things a little far, but there it is.  My baby is a biter. As a mother, I don't like admitting that my child likes to chomp on others.  I almost feel like it shines a spotlight on my parenting skills.  Well, if I had been more attentive, she wouldn't do this or that .  Jenae has proven that she is an equal opportunity biter. Handy Hubby, oldest daughter, myself and even her own arm have proven worthy targets. Hard to believe such an innocent looking child could revert to such basic instincts. So, I did what any decent parent would do, and I headed to the internet. Whew - was I happy to see that toddler biting is a pretty common problem. Hits mostly the second child - well that makes sense. Happy to also see that most ch...

    Happy Birthday.....       Saturday was my baby brother Jason's birthday.  He is much older than this picture portrays, but I always love the pictures that take us "back in the day".  When his life was simpler and more carefree.  I hope you had a great birthday Jason!  JCMT  

Eat only when you’re hungry. And there is no guilt needed if hunger calls to you 15 minutes after you have just eaten lunch. A fancy cereal box trumps the toy inside every time. Say hi to strangers. And I mean every stranger.  Especially when they look grumpy. Be proud of your tummy. Be willing to show that tummy to everyone.   Ask 'why' a lot. Do not stop asking 'why' until you are completely satisfied. When in doubt, make up a silly dance. Everything becomes clearer after a silly dance. Negotiate your destiny.   Stomp when you are grumpy. How will others know you are grumpy without the stomp?   Despise injustice.   Have a point of view.   Be easily bribed by sugar. Or afternoon movies. Drink from cups that make you feel fancy. Be in awe of your body - every part. Wear your pajamas to the grocery store. Paired with anything sparkly. Play the role of the good guy. Greet friends and family ...

Before As of this morning, this was our backyard. Sad, I know. But, let's back up a bit.  Mike and I had our home built in 2001. The home build package included professional front yard landscaping, which we, with much research, had to d ecide on what plants and trees we wanted as well as where we wanted those plants and trees planted, and professionals handled the labor (whew - was that a run-on sentence?).  I am happy to say that all of our picks are still looking great today.  The home build package did not include the backyard, so we were on our own.  The backyard was just a big, open dirt pit. A blank canvas.  At that time, we designed the backyard for two grown-ups that had no intention of having kids.  We ended up with a low maintenance yard that was easy to entertain in. Fast forward twelve years, and our first daughter comes along.  We quickly realize that the backyard is ...