Shelly

Life is Messy

Life is messy and that's ok

As I sit here in my office (which is supposed to be a dining room) I am realizing that life is messy…and that’s ok. Yesterday I had to clean up a ‘dog mess’ on the carpet with countertop cleaner because I couldn’t find the box with the carpet cleaner. I haven’t done my hair or makeup this entire week because it’s also packed in a mystery box. I haven’t gotten around to finding Sophie a pediatrician for her annual check up coming up or set up a tour of the Montessori around the corner. What we have done is played at a park, museum or splash pad every day of this move. We’ve eaten what we’ve needed to eat to stay sustained but haven’t started back on that Whole30 we wanted to do before Disney. We’ve had arguments and miscommunications at 11 at night when our physical and mental abilities have been exhausted. What I know from all of this, is that we’re happy. We’re together in our new home with a roof over our head, food in our bellies and arms to hug. Don’t get caught up in all of the ‘I have tos’…just let life be messy.

Page Turners Book Selection: September

This post contains affiliate links for Amazon Associates.
School’s starting for a lot of you out there! Are you slowing down or getting more busy now? Think you’ll have time to hit the books with your kids? If you’re looking for something to read and discuss with a group, hope you’ll join us in September for:

Silver Linings Playbook- Page Turners Book Club

The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick

I loved everything about the movie The Silver Linings Playbook. Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence are two of my favorite actors and I’m a bit obsessed with any movie that includes dancing. As soon as I saw the movie I knew I needed to read the book to understand the characters more deeply. I’m excited to see how it differs from the movie.

Silver Linings Playbook

Hope you’ll join us! We’ll be discussing it on September 24th.

And don’t forget, this month we’ll be discussing The Princess Bride on August 28th.
Page Turners book club by Expandng & DIY Mama

 
Subscribe!Facebook!Twitter!Email!Pinterest!Bloglovin!Instagram!Image Map

If you’re on Pinterest, check out our Book Club board with our favorite books. We’re open to book suggestions as well!
Follow Shelly @ DIY Mama’s board Book Club on Pinterest.

Let’s DIY: Kid’s Room

Because my mind is completely in design mode for the new house, I’m going to do a DIY roundup of kid’s rooms. I’ve been doing a lot of Pinterest searching for how I want to decorate Sophie’s room since her room is top priority when we move in this Sunday. I’ve realized I gravitate towards the rooms with white walls with whimsical pops of color throughout the room. I also like geometric designs as an accent wall.

Let's_DIY_Kid

Here are my favorites from this week:

  1. Vinyl Houses by Kinderstad
  2. Pink Ceiling by Sherry
  3. House Shelves by Paul + Paula
  4. House Bed by Diana
  5. Closet Workspace by Chassity

I absolutely love the white closet door with the painted edge. I kind of want to do that to every door in our house. Pink everywhere! I can’t wait to get started painting the entire house but Sophie’s room is what I’m most excited to start decorating. What was the first room you completed in your home?

Taking Your Toddler to The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis

Our morning did not start out well. Sophie has been getting very sad in the mornings when everyone leaves for work and school. She first has to say goodbye to her Daddy, then her uncle and cousin followed by her aunt and other cousin. There’s a lot of crying to start her day and it continued with every task we’d done for our morning routine. I’d planned on doing a ‘fun’ day since we’ll be busy closing on our home and moving this week, but was starting to regret my decision.

The_Childrens_Museum_of_Indianapolis_Welcome_Center

Thankfully I’d put my doubts and fears aside to take Sophie to the The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. She was in complete awe of everything we saw, starting with Bumblebee in the atrium to the music room in the Playscape. I threw the map in the stroller and let Sophie decide everything we did. It was fun not having an agenda and exploring the museum through her eyes.

Dinosaur Dig

Children's Museum of Indianapolis Dinosaur

Our first stop was the Dinosphere because she was so excited about the massive dinosaurs coming in through the window at the front of the museum. She held tight to me as we walked through learning about the dinosaur skeletons but roared back every time she heard a different dinosaur. Sophie ran straight up to watch the paleontologist work on the fossils. He talked to us about the newest dinosaur they’re working on called Dracorex Hogwartsia which was found in South Dakota but donated to The Children’s Museum.

Chihuly at the Indianapolis Children's Museum

 Chihuly is one of my favorite artists so I was sure to stop by to gaze at the beautiful ceiling. There’s also a fun ‘make your own Chihuly instillation’ that Sophie loved working on with the other kids. I loved watching her figure out how to put the sculpture together and share with her fellow artists.

Children's Museum of Indianapolis Bucky

Children's Museum of Indianapolis

We went to check out the water clock when I’d heard the intro music to Jurassic Park. We headed towards the music to see a small crowd of people gathered for the Bucky Lives show. Boy were we in for a surprise! The show begins with a paleontologist describing her job as an intern at The Children’s Museum. The next thing you know, fog is rolling out from behind the curtain where the fossils are and out emerges Bucky the teen age T-Rex. Sophie and the other kids were scared and extremely excited at the same time when Bucky roared loudly as he emerged. Bucky’s mannerism is very much like a dog so he’s relateable and not scary to the children. She was so thrilled that we stopped in the museum store to get a dinosaur friend, of which she has not stopped carrying around since our trip.

Children's Museum of Indianapolis Lunch

Across from the museum store was the cafeteria that is currently under construction. There were cold sandwiches, fruit, juice and milk in the refrigerator. They also had a hot sandwich combo meal that they change every day (BBQ Pulled Pork, coleslaw, chips and a drink). The meal pictured above was $20, which I thought was overpriced but it was to be expected. Next time we will definitely bring our own lunch to save money.  I also saw a family who brought in Jimmy Johns which I thought was a good idea if you didn’t want to pack a lunch.

Children's Museum of Indianapolis Playscape

The Playscape was a new addition from the last time I’d visited. It’s a wonderful area dedicated to babies and toddlers. The large area consisted of water play, sand play, a climbing sculpture, a music room, an art room, a building room and more. I thought it was a perfect spot to take your younger child while your older child sees a show at the planetarium or plays in the ScienceWorks exhibit.

Sleepy Girl

We were able to visit almost every exhibit between the hours of 10a-1p because she didn’t have the attention span to delve into each topic. It was perfect for me as well so I could get a glimpse at everything the Children’s Museum has changed since the last time I’d visited. Some of her other favorite attractions were the Hot Wheels, Take Me There: China and All Aboard exhibits. I’m so happy with how much of the Children’s Museum Sophie was able to experience. We’ll be getting a membership next year because it is so affordable compared to buying the tickets individually.  Do you have a children’s museum where you live? Have you ever had those frustrating days turn completely around by taking your toddler somewhere fun? I’m keeping this experience in mind for the next time she’s having a bad day.

August Goals

Happy August to you all! As you know, I’ve announced our Super Secret Surprise of moving to Indiana. This past month has been all over the board and I’ve learned a lot about patience and trying to not be so anxious without a routine. We started the month with a vacation of camping in my parent’s yard, filled in the middle with buying/selling houses and finished up the month with temporarily living with my sister in Indiana. We’ve had a lot of fun august

Before jumping into July’s goals, let’s see how I did for August. Although I still haven’t completed Soph’s friends/family board book, I did have two dates with Jeffrey and took Soph to the water park four times! I failed miserably with my written life goals. Reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower for Page Turners got pushed aside since I’ve read it in the past. Not only did I not do three arm workouts per week, I also stopped running. My workout regime is laughable. Completing this move with minimal headaches is negotiable. There have definitely been tears and tension headaches but I’ve been proud of how we’ve handled the move in general.

sky

Surprisingly I’ve done well on my blog goals this past July. I completed my first Pin70 but haven’t seen any improvement in my traffic regarding my Pinterest account or blog. I’ve not worked on finishing the re-design but am ok with not making that a priority. Posting once/week has been fairly easy and I’ve surpassed that goal. I was also able to go to a Social Fabric University On the Road conference in Chicago where I learned a ton.

bridge

August Goals:

Family

  • Have a date night with Jeffrey
  • Take Sophie to another Indy attraction
  • Complete Sophie’s room

Life

  • Unpack
  • Switch over all accounts (Dr, credit cards, mail etc.)
  • Paint two rooms

Blog

  • Be accepted for a shopportunity
  • Read The Princess Bride
  • Post at least once/week (it will be a stretch)

I feel like this month’s goals are so simple yet will be so tough to accomplish! Knowing how tough it was to pack while Sophie was home during the days helps me realize how long unpacking, cleaning and painting will take. What are your goals for this month?

Google+