They're almost HERE!

This has been the longest week of my life. Our great friends the Schwietermans have just landed and Brian is driving them to our house right now!!! The week has seemed to drag forever as we've anticipated their arrival. I have been giddy all day!!

The guest room is all ready...I'll take this chance to show you my favorite room in our house.


Its my favorite because I love the way it looks but also because of how everything came together. The bed was given to us by my generous in-laws and it was in our old house but never in a room where it was able to shine. I had dreamed of all white bedding but when we tried that we realized the walls are actually cream. Enter ROSS discount store. What a fun store! The quilt was $16!!!!!! Lamps and red flowers from Target. My favorite creative spot is the picture frames. They are filled with wrapping paper I had saved from 2 Christmas' ago. Proof that never throwing anything away is NOT a problem.

The rocking chair used to be in my nursery when I was a baby and was then in Annabelle's nursery before. It was hard to decide to spray paint it black because my sweet friend Amanda Akin had done a fabulous job making it look shabby chic with a cream paint and antique finish details. I tried to take pictures of what it used to look like but I couldn't capture what a beautiful job she did. Thanks again Amanda!

I am debating about whether to post this picture of the closet but I am hoping that this might nudge some of you into visiting. Guests of the Janous Home will stay in this tranquil room with mountain views, plush robes and slippers provided as well as ample storage room for clothes. Guests are always greeted with a welcoming bed gift.

I am especially excited about the bed gifts for the girls. I had wanted to give them fleece blankets thinking it would be fun to snuggle in the morning with but couldn't find any that were inexpensive. I am trying to be faithful about spending very little money. I about jumped up and down when I found these blankets at IKEA for $2.50! Since I am so VERY crafty now I sewed felt letters and buttons on them to make them more personal. For those of you who are more experienced in this area will see this as an easy task. Not so much for me. It was quite comical as I Googled (oops...Binged) almost every step of the project. I think they'll be happy. So Who's wants to visit next???

Creative Weekend

I am so excited about the weekend we just had. We finished pretty much all the decorating in the house and did it without buying much of anything new. I have been so convicted about my spending habits (even though I could be considered frugal to many Americans). I buy most of my stuff at Target and discount stores but do I really NEED most of my purchases? I took the month of February as a shopping fast. I felt very victorious walking out of Target with only diapers and lotion in my hands and not even walking by the clothes section.

Much of my awareness was triggered by reading the book Seven by Jen Hatmaker. I LOVED IT!!! I will write more about how I processed the book but for now let me tell you...you should read this book! Its funny, entertaining, and not at all scary like I thought it would be.

So thanks to my resolve to spend as little as possible on unnecessary items and to Pinterest which allows me to believe I can create anything that has a tutorial...I spent my weekend being very creative.

I will show off my favorites.

The first is our Family Sign. I had seen a large wooden wall hanging in a fancy gift store with a similar poem for close to $300. I loved the words and wanted something just like it but I wouldn't dream of spending that kind of money on a wall hanging. I came home and looked on Etsy (which is what I usually do when I see something I like somewhere else...someone on Etsy is probably making it). There were a few on Etsy but still $50-$100.

$4!!!!! Four dollars is what I spent to make my knock off!

I had a large frame 20 x 20 that had pictures of Tyler from when he was a toddler. I found Searchfreefonts.com and downloaded multiple fonts. I set the word document size to 19.5 X 19.5 and justified my lines. It took me a couple of hours to figure out spacing and work it to get it the way I wanted. Then I emailed it to the FedEx Kinko's here in town and picked it up the next day for $4.

I love it! I love what it says, I love it more that it cost so little. It makes me so happy. Last night, Brian and I lay in bed almost asleep and I just blurt out, "I love my sign!"

Okay, so one last moment of creativity I want to show off. I feel very inadequate when I look at my mantel. Mantels are showcases for those with great decorating talent and when I stare at mine I felt its emptiness laughing at me. I've been wondering what to do with it since we decided to rent this house. Thankfully, I was finally inspired by a post on Jones Design Co. in which she decorated a wall with various types of the letter L. Again, using things we have this is what I did...

What do you think?

The vertical picture frame showcases photos Brian took of the first neighborhood we lived in (Central West End). The small square frame is an old picture frame with the glass removed. I used a piece of scrapbook paper and glued the wooden letter on it (Michael's for $2). The larger square is a mirror we've had for a while with no place for it here. The wooden letter is also from Michael's and is just resting on the ledge of the mirror. The last picture frame is our last name printed on a different piece of scrapbook paper.

I am feeling super creative and have even had visions of me doing crazy things like sewing and knitting. Who knows...

Sunscreen

A friend recently asked me what type of sunscreen I would recommend.

Last year I spent hours looking at the ingredients list of many "natural" products and reading their reviews and toxicity/allergic levels. You can go to the Environmental Working Group website to find out how safe your beauty products are.

I chose three sunscreens based on what was the safest and also the cheapest per ounce. Keep in mind that overall, my family does not burn easily. These all worked fine to keep away sunburn on us, but I am not sure if that would hold true for different skin types. I ordered all of them from Amazon. We used 2 of the loving naturals and one of each of the others to last the summer.

For the family: Loving Naturals SPF 30 ($9.99 for 5 oz)

For the kids: Caribbean Solutions SPF 25 ($17.99 for 4 oz) (This one leaves a white color to your skin which is why I didn't use it...vain, I know. Hard to imagine why I spent this much on this one. Maybe the price has gone up.

For my face: Beyond Coastal Natural Lip and Face Screen SPF 30($5.85 for 1 oz) I loved this one! A little goes a long way, I still have some left over. It does leave a little white residue but if you rub it in enough, it doesn't show much. I actually loved the way it felt on my dry skin. I am very sensitive to most everything, especially sunscreen. This felt soothing and nice to put on.

We also used hats and swim shirts to guard against sun too.

We're Here

Hello my long lost blog. I have missed you.

Two months ago today, we moved into an empty house that now feels like home. I am thankful not to be waking up in the morning forgetting where I am, I am thankful the kids no longer ask where rooms are in the house, I am thankful that all but 5 boxes are unpacked...and let's be honest, those boxes will probably never get unpacked.

I have avoided blogging for a few reasons. Obviously, we've been busy and fumbling to find our new routine. Secondly, I have been pretty blue for a lot of our time here and did not have the energy to whine on-line. I also have this ridiculous rigidity about random things, one of them being that I feel the need to do all things in chronological order. I won't fill out things in a baby book that are current until I fill in things before. I won't upload pictures to Shutterfly out of order. I won't order Shutterfly books out of order, etc. So when I blog, I feel like I have to tell the story of Christmas, moving, etc. before I talk about what's happening now. I know not really necessary, but, we all have our things. So here is the brief synopses of our last two months.



Our empty house. The move went as smoothly as it could have gone. I don't ever want to do it again. The night the movers left felt like the night of a funeral. I had held it together the whole day until I walked into the boys room and saw it empty. I closed the door and sobbed. The next 24 hours I felt like I was walking through a fog.

We drove to Columbia and stayed the night with my great friend from college Christina. The next morning Erin and her husband Charles (both girls in my wedding) who live in England came over to visit. These are all our kids! It is always such a treat to be in Christina's home and to be with my college girls. It was like water to my weary soul and a reminder that good friends last a lifetime no matter where you live.

In KC, we were able to see more bridesmaids (Mandy, Steph and Cassie), the Warren's (friends in town from Texas), the Brock's (friends in from Colorado), and new friends Tim and Jodi. My dad and step-mom surprised as when we went to visit my Grandma Fulte. The rest of the family was all there too. It is a rare treat to be all together with the Fulte family and I felt like such a princess that my dad and kath would travel all that way as a surprise. I can't explain how happy I was to see them!

We celebrated Christmas with my mom and all my KC family. She made Christmas so special for all of us. The kids slept in her "secret room" that she decorated just for them. It felt like a Christmas hideout. They loved it!!

Santa brought the much anticipated Huge Angry Birds with the surprise of a life size angry bird game. The kids spent forever knocking down and rebuilding the boxes.

The Watkins came over later on Christmas with all their angry bird dolls and joined in the fun. It was great to see them again. We soaked up as much time with them as we could get.

There were two particularly hard moments while we were in KC. Saying good-bye to my Grandma was almost unbearable. She put my head in her hands and, through tears, whispered "you be brave." I love my Grandma.

The other was one night in the car with Brian when it all came crashing in on me. "What did we just do, Brian? We just left all our friends and everything we love?" He cried with me. We just held each other and cried. That has only happened one other time in our whole relationship. I am so thankful to go through this with him. He has been amazing.

So the day after Christmas we left for Seattle. We rode with the Watkins to the airport. After they gave the kids special photo keychains to put on their travel backpacks, we said a VERY tearfilled good-bye to them and to my mom.

As hard as it was to say good-bye, I took a huge breath on the plane. I needed a break from all the sadness and it was helpful to look forward to our new adventure. We had a great travel day and loved riding on the plane with the kids and watching them all through the airport.






We were all so excited to get to see the new house that night. Totally empty, the kids ran and jumped and screamed. We stayed in a hotel that night and were able to swim in the hotel pool and eat and the free buffet breakfast. It was a vacation. We toured the Seattle Aquarium the next day and drove around our new city. On move in day, the kids played in empty cabinets, helped open boxes, and Tyler proudly took the all important job of checking of numbers of boxes as the movers called them out.

The next month is a blur of excitement, sadness, exhaustion and sweetness. The kids came up with every game you can imagine with boxes until even they were saying "I'm so tired of boxes!"

I am glad we are here. I love our house and I really enjoy Seattle. The weather is challenging, especially when everyone in St. Louis is at the park and zoo in record outdoor bliss. I really, really, really miss my friends. The two hour time change makes phone conversations difficult and I feel overwhelmed at times with loss. I love the slowness of our life now and all the opportunities we have to start new rhythms in our family life. The kids have all adjusted by now (Tyler the fastest) and they have developed such a stronger bond together. They play much more now then they ever have. Brian and I too, have appreciated our friendship more than ever. I'm glad he's the one I get to hang out with every night.

Now that I'm caught up, I'll fill in more often.

Family coming and old Favorite Thing post

The Watkins are coming tomorrow!!!!! They're trip will be almost 2 weeks and they'll be in Oregon with Laura's family for a week and with us about that long too. We are going to be able to celebrate 3 of our kids birthday's together and Easter. We have celebrated Easter with them for the last 8 years!

In honor of their visit I remembered a post I wrote in December that I never had time to post. It is #7 in my list of Favorite Things. I won't post the whole thing here but I did want to showcase the awesome picture Lee drew and painted for us before we left. The picture does not do justice to amazing it is!

This picture was Lee's gift to our family. It is full of all the things special about our life here in Maplewood...the ECC, The Post, the train, Rocket Ship park, and even the arch way in the back.

This gift is priceless. We love it!

-----old post here-------
We love our Maplewood too. This is how a normal weekday could look like: Walk the kids to the end of our street, play "Crush the Castle" on the steps of the church while we wait for the bus. Drive 10 minutes to drop off Gray and Annabelle at preschool. Stop at any number of coffee shops or run errands at the plethora of stores that are all 10 minutes from my house. We are 10-15 minutes from every neighborhood. I love how central we are.

After school, kids ride bikes while I sit on front porch with the neighbors. When Brian gets home he might walk to the church parking lot at the end of the street, otherwise known as the "Skate Park." The kids love to ride fast in the big open area.

Or if it is Wednesday, we might walk (the kids ride their bikes) to Schlafly to visit the weekly Farmer's Market. The kids plan to get cookies and we get a beer and sit outside listening to live music.

Or, we might decide to eat in the backyard. I'll yell from my back porch to Kristie next door and see if her family wants to bring their dinner over. The Watkins will come out and the kids run crazy in our humongous back yard.

On the weekend, we might walk up to Foundation Grounds. The kids bring their backpacks with books and colors and we might actually get a few minutes of quiet reading in.
______________

Fun to look back and remember

Favorite Thing #6

The Sound of the Watkins screen door

This is a difficult post to write. I have been putting it off. It is impossible to describe the incredible gift it has been to share a house with my cousin Lee, his wife Laura, and their 3 incredible children. We have gotten 5 years of sharing life together and I think it is a little of what heaven will be like.

It hasn't always been perfect. We have conflicted. But that is part of what has made it so wonderful. I did not grow up with siblings so I did not have that relationship that provides some safe conflict. Laura has been that sister for me. We have learned how to be honest with each other, not hide our hurts, forgive each other, be gracious, and be angry. Laura has seen ugly sides of me that only family has seen and she still loves me.

We have shared all three pregnancies together (two in this house). When Grayson had colic and I thought I was going to loose my mind, she would take him and walk him around even though she also had a newborn. She would text me in the middle of the night knowing we were both up with the babies. When we would walk the neighborhood while pregnant, sit by the kiddie pool in the driveway, and pass the older kids between the houses.

The adult friendship we have with Lee and Laura has brought such joy to our days. They have been wonderful examples and models to us of patient parenting. They are available for all kinds of favors. They are instant friends if you want someone to walk with, build a fire in the backyard, watch a movie with, drink a beer with, share a meal with, pray with, etc.

The friendship among our kids is not comparable. This is when I have trouble typing. I have known my husband to cry only a handful of times in his lifetime. I'm not sure I've ever seen the tears fully come down his face until the last two weeks. All four of us have cried when we think about this loss for our kids.

Currently, Tyler and Casey are probably playing with each other on the school playground as they find each other almost everyday at recess. They ride the bus together and still want to spend everyday with each other after school. When Tyler has something exciting, the first person he wants to share it with is Casey. They share the same love of Plants vs. Zombies, Angry Birds, Star Wars, Legos, Pokemons, Hero Factories, etc. They have plans to be inventors when they grow up and are always making crazy plans.

Any knowledge Annabelle has of girly things come from Abi and Emma. Her favorite person in the world is Auntie Laura. Grayson has such a soft spot for Uncle Lee and thinks he is the funniest person on earth. Abi Mae and I have a very special bond over all things fancy and special.

More than half the days of the week, our children are in each other's houses. Not only is it such a help to us, the kids love it. I don't know how I would have survived the last 5 years of young kids without them downstairs.

There is still so much more to be said. I don't feel like words can give ample explanation to the awesomeness that is sharing a house with the Watkins. I guess that is why I pick the sound of their front door. Its loud and The Landlord needs to oil it, proving they are very gracious to our limits. It opens frequently for the students they love on and neighbors they welcome. When it opens I am reminded of life outside of myself, that I am not alone, that there is always someone who loves me close by.

The Watkins family just left my mom's house tonight after sharing Christmas leftovers and showing off presents. It is just so normal to be together. The blessing is they are family and while our relationship changes it will never end. That is great comfort tonight.

good-bye memories

I do not have the energy or time to give deserved attention to all the good-byes we've gotten to have over the last few weeks. Here are pics of some of them...

Our friends hosted a going away party at Llewelyn's Pub last week. I wasn't sure I would enjoy it knowing it was a "last." But it was a ton of fun. It went way too fast and I didn't get to talk to everyone near as much as I wanted, but it was a great way to at least look people in the face and hug their necks.


These three girls pictured below were women I worked with while I was pregnant with Tyler. We all had our babies within weeks of each other. We have stayed close all these years later and I would be a different mom without them. We got to have one last "girls night in" where we share our lives and stay up way later than we want to. They gave me this picture framed (this is a picture of a picture so it is blurry). Most of you know I did not have pretty pregnancies. I let the girls know they are good enough friends they really should have let me know I had no business wearing a halter top.


I have been blessed with wonderful girlfriends. We have had dinners with friends and our last two house groups. Many celebrations with the Watkins (this is another long post that will come soon). I had other girls nights, coffees and dinners that I will always remember.

This Saturday, the Jani5 had a "St. Louis Day." The kids decided what they wanted to do for our last outing in St. Louis. We ended up at the Science Center, lunch at Llewelyn's in the Central West End (Brian and mine's very first favorite restaurant), and then the Chesterfield mall for the bungee trampoline and carousel. We came home and had a boys night and girls night. Annabelle and I went downstairs to the Watkins for a night of crafts, nail painting, dressing-up, and dancing.

The boys had friends come and spend the night. There was wrestling, farting, burping, mooning, yelling, chasing, and video games. It was shocking to me how much it felt like a group of junior high boys. It was redeemed at night when they snuggled in their sleeping bags and listened to a story (most of them still with snuggables to sleep with) and wanted to be tucked in. In the picture below they are trying to wrestle me down from getting across the living room. Four of them tried and I still made it. Hah! That's what you get for calling your mom weak!


On Sunday night, before the movers came to pack up the house, we had a casual dinner with our friends that have lived all parts of our life with us for the last 7-10 years. It was wonderful! I was tempted to cancel because I was feeling like I needed to get more organized before they movers packed things and I would never know where to find something when we got to our new house. I was especially concerned about all the toys in the playroom. I was quickly swayed when Brian reminded me how much this meant to us. Here is a picture of how the play room looked at the end of the night:

It was totally worth it!!

We all prayed together (kids and all). The adults were even able to crowd in and sit at one table together to share a meal (thank you X-box Kinnect). I will never regret that I spent more time with people than filing away that box of papers or finding that Barbie shoe. I will try to remind myself of that when that box of papers is still in my office a year from now.

As I am reflecting now I realize this is celebrating life as its given.

Thank you Lord that you graciously allowed me to embrace this painful season. I have been tempted many times to withdraw and leave without experiencing the pain of good-byes. I have been tempted to prioritize control over relationship. You have allowed me to be able to leave with a full heart.