mama gets an office

part of the transition from self-employed to (almost) full time work for yours truly has meant taking what was once the sewing shop and turning it into an office. since nearly all of my work is now remote (via computer and phone), a quiet and calm space to work, and have meetings and generally be able to think and write, was in order. luckily this space is perfect for such things and it didn’t take much time or money to turn it into a really, really nice place to work. especially with summer here and the girls spending more time in and around the house with the summer babysitter, having this space went from being a desire to a necessity.

some details on the makeover are included her, but the main requirements were that it was inexpensive and relatively quick. all of the furniture except for the upholstered “visitors” chair were items we already had around the house and the new visitor’s chair was a secondhand shop score for very little money. the desk used to be my sewing table and looks nice and clean after a few coats of leftover trim paint. the wall paint was from the bogo/mismatched section at Ace, the curtains were from Ikea (therefore very inexpensive), and the fabric for the bottoms of the curtains and the two pillows were from etsy. the beautiful Monument Valley print is from another etsy seller and the vintage school map (remember those things?) and the metal letters were rescued after being destined for the trash bin before they were snatched up by mindful (and design savvy) friends. all in all, i couldn’t be more pleased with the way it all came together, and after working down there for 8 hours today, i am very happy to have a quiet, calm space to call my own.

rites of passage

ah yes, quintessential summer americana, like ice cream cones and running through the sprinkler and 4th of july parades… there is little league! this tuesday (that felt like monday) was a long one (in a good way, but still) and we all needed a reason to get out and stretch our legs after dinner. so we loaded up the strollers and bikes and went on a nice outing around the neighborhood. it didn’t occur to us that little league had started but we were pleasantly surprised to see all the action at city park/ball fields and figured it was about time to introduce the girls to this part of americana. they were pretty enthused by it all and we even ran into a few friends who were there to watch as well. of course this little side trip sparked a bigger trip down memory lane and the girls later got to see some pictures of phil in his little league uniform from back in the day. being that i spent most of summers waiting for my brothers’ little league games to end, i don’t exactly share the same great enthusiasm for the past time, but we’ll let phil take the lead on that one and pass on his love for this little american rite of passage

 

dodging the weather

as they say in wyoming, if you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes! mother nature has given us a run for our money this week with some really wild weather– lots of rain, lots of wind, some snow, and lots of cold, dark, gray. but we need it so i am trying hard not to complain… ok, i tried hard not to complain for the first five days, but by saturday everyone was officially over it! we had such a bizarrely warm and dry spring up until this week that i think we had forgotten what may in the rockies can be like.

we thought we may have some clearer skies saturday morning, so we started up the switchbacks (i.e. up into the mountains) but were quickly turned around by high winds, cold temps, and blowing snow. not exactly the hike we were looking for! so alison had the good idea of heading to a great area lower down in the valley that might have more sun and less wind for a while longer. she was right! we found a break in the weather for a few hours and enjoyed some sun and rocks and general enjoyment outside of the confines of the house (where we felt like we had been stuck all week). clearly living in the high desert, with all those bluebird days, has spoiled us a little

sylvi’s preschool production

sylvi’s preschool put on a little production for their end of the year party and graduation. the kids picked one of their favorite books, Farmer Joe and the Music Show, and acted it out for the parents and guests. it was pretty adorable, to say the least. sylvi and her buddy ayden were the bees (hence the props). they also got diplomas and little graduation caps to bring home. as you can see, she was very proud of herself (and so was isa)!

school is out for summer!

i snapped a picture this morning before the girls headed off to school. it seems like we were just taking photos of their first day of school… and now it’s officially summertime! yippee! i have some pictures to put up from sylvi’s preschool graduation this soon. but for the moment we are taking advantage of some cold, snowy (yes, snowy) weather and vegging out. after this crazy week and a full school year, i think everyone is due a little downtime this weekend. we’re all looking forward to it!

first grader

as of tomorrow at 12:16pm, we will have a first grader in the house! hard to believe how fast this year has flown– and what a ride it’s been! we couldn’t have asked for a better kindergarten experience for isa though and she is headed to first grade with lots of new skills and fully prepared for another year of school. isa received two awards this year, for her performance in Reading and Language Arts and she was very proud of her pretty award ribbons. we had no idea she was getting an award at the (very casually and barely mentioned) assembly and were heartbroken to not be there in person. but she didn’t mind one bit and was more than happy to celebrate afterwards with a trip to the ice cream shop.

momentum

we’ve been running around like crazy people this week! it’s the last week of school and all that entails (parties, programs, special days, etc) and it’s a big work week for phil and me. so we’ve just been trying to keep up the momentum and are headed for the weekend! here are some pictures from an afternoon outing with fisher earlier this week. the kids were tired and would probably rather have sat around watching a movie, but it was too nice out not to enjoy it and with bedtime sunlight keeping everyone up later, a little more exhaustion can’t hurt