Welcome Everything Fall

September was a month full of changes at our house...

• Mommy went back to work teaching every day 1-3:30. Hard transition for all, especially the twins this year. They have become very attached to me lately. Easton sleeps the entire time I am gone, so it's no biggie for him. It has been much easier for me this year than last. Last year was tough because I was running on broken up sleep with Easton being so little, so the majority of my planning, lesson creation, and grading was done on the weekends during nap time leaving me no "me time." That was hard. I now do all of my work early in the morning before the monkeys get up, so I get my "me time" (translation = laundry, cleaning, organizing, etc.) on the weekends. 
• Clayton and Chloe started pre school at Messiah Lutheran in Yorba Linda. They absolutely love it! There teacher's name is Mrs. Hererra and there are 12 students total in their class. Clayton didn't even look back when we left on the first full day (9-1). Chloe stayed close at first, but had no trouble adjusting. Clayton talks about playing with his friends Rhett and Ben and Chloe adores her friend Sadie (though she calls her Saadie with a short a). So cute! We are excited to watch them grow, learn, and make little friends. 
• Easton is loving his special one on one time with Mommy. He has never had that. He started My Gym on Tuesdays and is his typical fearless self. His smile lights up the room. Ryan and I can't get enough of it. 
• Mommy loves the time with Easton and time to exercise a bit, get errands done, and do some things around the house. It's incredible how much easier it is to do those things with just one, though, I do think Easton is more challenging with out his brother and sister around, which doesn't make much sense! 
• We went on a lovely family vacation to Kauai. My parents were so generous with this vacation. They completely paid for our flight and two-bedroom condo. It was a lot of work and not the typical relaxing vacation, but beautiful memories were made and lots of fun was had. The plane ride was crazy, especially going there and it took a couple of nights for Clayton and Chloe to comfortably adjust to their beds for the week, but all in all we had a wonderful time. 
• Easton had another first--his first set of stitches. We hadn't been in the hotel room for more than 15 minutes before we were headed back out to the ER. He ran into the corner of the coffee table. It didn't stop him though, and the cut is healing beautifully. 
• Trio Personality Update:
• Clayton- persistant, athletic, super handsome, and very smart
• Chloe- dramatic, exploring her limits, artistic, dancer, and just beautiful
• Easton- fearless, extremely happy as long as everything is right in his world, thinks and acts like he's three (very dangerous), jibber jabber language (has a few words--mostly sounds "choo choo," "woo woo" for fire truck, "cockadoodle doo", and "woo woo" for a dog barking), athletic, and simply adorable

Here's some pictures of our fun...

Chloe Grace's first day of Preschool at Messiah Lutheran

 Clayton Joseph's first day of Preschool at Messiah Lutheran

 Their first full day with their lunches...complete with a little note from Mommy!

 Clearly Easton is following Clayton's footsteps with an absolute LOVE for Dick's Sporting Goods!

 Now that the duo is in Preschool, Easton Boy gets to have fun at My Gym! 

 My "Fall" front door...each year I'll add something new, 

but quite pleased with my homemade banner and wreaths! 

Picture Perfect: Why Chloe is enrolled in dance class and not t-ball!

Clayton's first day of the City of YL T-ball program--he likes it; Mommy isn't so thrilled. They spend more than half of the class running. It's T-ball, not track! 

We love spending time with the Sthay's and Amat's!!

The boys watching the jets at LAX, getting ready for our big flight to Kauai!

15 minutes in our room and this sweet baby hits his head on the coffee table. Two stitches later and it doesn't even look like there will be a scar!

Little trooper waiting for the doctor.

Bubble time at the hotel...ingenious to use fly swatters as bubble paddles!

Sweet girl taking a break from the pool after her diagnosis of very bad swimmer's ear

One of our only family pics, love my family

Date night at The Beach House...love these three!

Love him!

Couldn't keep Easton out of the pool!

We loved spending time with Anthony and Keoni!

Our only truly enjoyable dinner out with the entire gang thanks to the live band!

So precious

Watching the surfers

Jett found his opinion while in Kauai thanks to his cousins! 

The "original Aurelio 4"

The Boys!

Nonnie and the twins

Auntie did Chloe's make-up and hair!

Sassy pants at dance class learning her Christmas recital routine

Tantrum #476...Why? Because Mommy put her down after holding her for 5 minutes. 

No tee for this little athlete; "pitch ball" please!

And this little guy isn't far behind!

My Little Projects

Ryan has always encouraged me to find a hobby. That's hard to do when your world revolves around raising a family. Between Pinterest and Etsy, I have found what I love doing. I love crafting things I see online or get a vision for. It's fun, gives my brain a rest, and I am proud of my cute little accomplishments. Oh, it is much cheaper too! I LOVE fabric. It's amazing what you can do with fun fabric. Here's what I have done...

name board, picture display board, pennant banner, and "I love you because" frame, hand painted stripes on walls.

picture display board, fabric covered canvas with painted wooden butterfly, birdhouses, "I love you because" frame, name board, and surrounding frames/mirrors, dress up closet, stenciled canvas, hand painted stripes on walls.

 

framed name board, painted shelves and subway birth sign. there's also a chevron covered canvas now with the train glued to it, but easton is always asleep when i work on my blog, so i don't have an updated picture, framed "you are my sunshine" prints, pennant banner, and hand painted stripes. 

framed print with painted mat since white mat was boring, striped canvas with painted wooden anchor glued on and polka dotted canvas with painted wooden mermaid glued on

framed poster prints (saw online for $56!), fabric covered canvases with painted wooden shapes and letters, artwork display line with painted clothespins, chalkboard, ABC and 123 framed prints, open frames for highlighted artwork, and pennant banner

i didn't make the bench and shelf, but am so in love with this fab etsy find. i've been eyeing the pottery barn samantha bench and shelf for a long time, but it's nearly $900. yikes! i found this masterpiece on etsy. not only is it an exact replica, but handmade (probably better quality), i got to choose the stain after multiple discussions and samples, and it was $300 including shipping! if you are interested, search tin barn creations on etsy. i then painted square canvases and hot glued (with just a dab) the photos of the babes. i intended to modge podge them for a more finished look, but want to change the pictures every photo shoot, so decided not to. i painted cute wooden shapes from michael's with chalkboard paint and wrote each child's name on a basket, which right now holds many of their shoes and prized possessions. 

i love reusing fabric. i covered wood pieces from home depot with left over fabric to spruce up my not quite finished new built ins. there are a few more on the other side. the bottom left has a burlap covered canvas with more left over fabric and a painted "C." my mom helped me remat the frames on both sides with burlap to replace the boring white mats. 

i ordered these distressed EAT letters from etsy a while back before i realized how capable i was. they were boring, so i cut up an old custom table runner made of fabric from ballard designs and covered some canvases and glued the letters on. much more fun! 

can't claim this one, but my mom recovered our dining room chairs with some great fabric by premier prints from fabric.com. love them! my grandparents refinished the table and chairs which originally were my great grandparents as a wedding gift for us. it's a beautiful set, but eventually we would like a table that seats more. for now, though, the chairs flow with the decor of the house. 

cute front door wreaths that i literally copied exactly from some i found on etsy. the burlap has yellowed a bit from the sun, but they are still adorable! next up are some fall wreaths. 

next up...a "FALL" burlap pennant banner, wreaths, a wooden sign, and more prints.