Colin and Shire; The Fifth Chapter

Hi friends! Today we're celebrating our twins' fifth birthday! (That's code for 'today I'm celebrating having raised these two people for five years and they seem alright to me and our pediatrician').

Since I've been writing a blog for over half of their life, it's become a small tradition of mine to write a few words every year on October 29. It's a completely self indulgent habit, so I don't blame you at all if you skip it. :) A couple years ago I laid out their entire birth story, (starting here). I saved those posts to always remember the crazy roller-coaster of a time we had leading up to their birth and the difficult, lonely month after. Today I just want to give thanks. So much thanks. These guys are no longer even toddlers, they're people. They ask, they teach, they encourage, they joke, they pray. They're comfortable with who they are and are starting to tap into the unique gifts the Lord has equipped them with. I couldn't ask for more and my heart overflows.

Our twins' birthday always brings forth a flood of memories!

The beginning was just nuts. 

Colin and Shire

For being all up in each other's business for 7.5 months, they definitely took some time getting acquainted. 

After we all got to know each other better things got weird. We realized that what we considered normal looked anything but.

Colin could. not. sit up by himself for a while. But he figured out a way.

Though our early days were long, my love for these two grew by the hour. As did my biceps.

Never in a million years would I have guessed I'd have boy-girl twins, (especially since I was given boy-girl twin baby dolls when I was 6, and that would just be too ironic...). But, the Lord had these little sweeties planned just for Matt and me. They're our dreams and prayers come true.

Off to party with a couple 5 year olds today. :) 

A before+after, cool painting tip, and where to go

Hi guys! The last week and a half has been a little busy around here - in the very best way! The garage is filling up with new pieces awaiting their second chance at life, I've been restocking paint, and taking advantage of the plethora of Fall festivities this area's got goin' on. This was our entire afternoon after church last Sunday:

Shire Grace, 4yrs

The Temple Hall Farm Festival in Leesburg, VA. We think it's the best kept secret around! While many are fighting the traffic and crowds at Cox Farms and Pumpkinville, Temple Hall has so much more to offer and far less 'congestion'.  And camels. Because what's a Fall festival without camels!? They obviously go hand in hand. ;)

Mason James, 3yrs

It's also a great place to snap a Christmas card picture, pending you find someone with a steady hand. Last year's pic is at the right, this year's on the left. We had a better photograstranger last year. Oh well. I think the stone background is washing us out anyways...and by 'us' I mean everyone except my dark and handsome husband.

2014

2013

Moving on, (because I KNOW ya'll didn't come by to weigh in on whether or not we should use that top left picture for our Christmas card. We definitely shouldn't. Right?)! I've been a painting fool over the last two weeks and just wanted to share some recent pieces!

First up, this very special custom order for a very special lady - my Grandma Livi! She found this dry sink in her mother's basement years ago. She did a wonderful job restoring the wood, but recently wanted to give it a fresh look.

BEFORE

AFTER

I just love me some distressed aqua. It's the Best of the Best! ;)

This piece started off with some gorgeous, textured wood grain. When working with a real wood piece with grain like this, you can still play up the wood even when painting over it. On this dry sink, for example, I never once loaded my brush up with too much paint. I did 3 super thin coats until there was even coverage all around. Sounds like a waste of time, right? Why not just do one thick coat? Well, if I were to lay the paint on too thick the paint would have settled right over the wood grain, thus hiding it's beautiful texture. Using more of a dry-brush method, where I only dipped the very end of the brush in the paint, I was able to cover the piece with three thin layers and preserve the grain. Win, win! 

Since this is a super-duper old piece I wanted to give it some fresh, current styling. I surrounded it with my slow-grown Anthropologie kitchen collection which compliments the soft aqua color and contrasts well with the new rustic makeover.

Collection tip: When you love a store or a particular item that you can't afford large purchases from, just keep a sharp eye for items on clearance, or indulge in smaller affordable pieces every now and then. The stacked bowls were the beginning of my collection - as our family grew, we would add one new bowl per family member. 

On deck for tomorrow is my first ever buffet + bar cart set! You can expect the pieces to be traditional, but with a cool, edgy twist. I can't wait to see what you think!

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Firsts

Hi All, I had a way more interesting and DIY relevant post for today, but it's getting bumped. All that's on my mind today is this new beginning:

Colin

Shire

Our twins started preschool today! Indeed, the next generation of StyleMutt is out in the world becoming their own people. In a way, leaving them at school today was a bit of a DIY task in and of itself. I could hear my voice quiver a little when I said I loved them and to have fun. It was one of the most bittersweet moments of my life, but far heavier on the sweet than the bitter, (although, it was quite sad for little brother, Mason, who cried on our way back to the car after saying our goodbye).

While their world got a bit bigger today, and will continue growing, I relish in their youngness; their ridiculous little-kid jokes that make no sense, their quirks and habits, their cute little clothes and shoes, their high little voices, and especially their still-new smell. Oh yes, even after almost 5 years they still smell delicious to me.

So even though today was a big step forward for our family, we'll take our time growing up.

On a kid related note, I'll be posting on how to hang heavy duty toy shelves directly into drywall tomorrow, (no studs needed, although they're nice to have around... ;)  Thank you so much for stopping by and bearing with today's sap!