outside the city

City life has it's up-sides, but the kids definitely miss the great-outdoors sometimes.  Thankfully we have a few friends who live outside the city in the countryside who are kind enough to let us invade their space from time to time!  Hooray for friends and hooray for happy kids!

Thank you again friends!  We love you!

decorating on a shoestring (literally!)

What do you do when you move across the world and leave all of your decorations behind?  Find yourself a piece of string (I just happened to have some of this lovely twine that my mom gave me before we left) and a colorful magazine or catalog along with some scotch tape or glue.  Make yourself a diamond shaped template.  Place your template onto the brightly colored areas of the magazine pages and trace & cut.  Fold the diamonds in half along the string and hang in a happy spot!

 Charlie and I made this one day when I really needed to do something creative and was especially tired of the white, bare walls everywhere! This door leads from the kitchen to the entry-way. I see it every day and so this little banner was just the thing to brighten it up! :) 

p.s. Can I just say thank goodness for IKEA?!  That clock (among many other things) is an affordable IKEA find. :)

Lovely Lyon

We've been thrilled to have Grandma and Lindsay here this week.  The time FLEW by and saying goodbye was oh-so-hard to do.  We had so much fun with them shopping, playing, coloring (the kids LOVE to color with their artistic aunt Lindsay), eating (we are in France after all), and being together.  Today, for their last few hours here in Lyon, we took them downtown to the old part of Lyon.  Lindsay is happily reunited with her camera and she got some great shots.  I love the pictures on the bridge because they show our beautiful city in the background.  Thanks for a wonderful time girlies!  We miss you already!

p.s. Roland has been published again!  Check it out here!