Patriotic Weekend

One of my oldest memories I have as a child goes back to when I was about 18 months old. I very distinctly remember my mom rocking me in the living room chair and giving me a late night bottle. Why I remember this I don't know, but I do know it has very much affected the way I parent. You never know what the first memory is your child will remember. I always anticipate these amazing holidays, and somehow the plans I would like to make, never really happen. Instead something better happens, we wind up getting these simple, memory filled days that make this little girl extremely happy.  

We had a laid back 4th. We went to a Splash Pad we haven't been to yet with cousins, and it quickly became our favorite. Maggie decided to start walking, and was all over the place. She is so proud of herself. Later we went to the Freedom Festival in Provo and walked around the booths and had a picnic on top of a parking garage while we waited for the fireworks to start at the Stadium. 

Last year Grandma and Grandpa were serving an LDS Mission back in Philadelphia, so needless to say they were excited to be home with Grandkids for the 4th. Grandpa makes for an excellent jungle gym. We had an amazing view of the sunset that night and I couldn't help but snap a pic of it reflection with a patriotic flare. By the time fireworks started, Maggie was going on four hours past her bedtime and was not a happy camper. I tried to snap a few pics of fireworks but they were all blurry, thanks to the squirming, screaming child I was holding. She's a ball of fun when she is tired. Up until that last half hour though, she really was a blast and was so into everything that was happening around her. Unfortunately Daddy was at work that night and wasn't able to join in our family picture. Maybe next year. I couldn't help but post a flash back of her from the 4th of July last year, 2 months and 1 day old, wearing the same hair bow. We will see how many years in a row we can get her to wear it. 

I hope you all had an amazing Holiday. I love this time of year, and love being in Utah even more, because in 2 weeks we get to celebrate again for the State's 24th of July Celebration...until then, onto the pictures. That is what you came for after all right?

XO: Kelli

Red White and Blue

Do you ever find yourself living by a motto during times of life that might be difficult, hectic, depressing, etc? Lately I have found myself pondering our life situations, and continually found myself saying "Just Be Happy". No matter how hard or how busy things got, we truly have so much to Be Happy about. Since I have been out of School for the Summer, I have been surrounding myself with the things that make me especially Happy. Time with family, splashing at the pool, and my favorite Decorating.

When we first bought our house, it was our plan to be here for 5-6 years. Well we just passed our 5 year mark and are realizing that we will be here for longer than planned....Life, Right?!

Anyway, for that reason I really have been wanting to change up a few things and really put our stamp on this house and make it what I have wanted all along. Because we have an open floor plan, we just have the living/family room and in case you didn't know, one year olds have a LOT of toys. I was running out of ideas and places to store the things that get used on a daily basis. I decided to make a trip to our local HomeGoods in Salt Lake and found the perfect tufted storage bench, along with many, many other things. I should probably add that to the list of stores I should be banned from. Everything else just kind of fell into place. 

After finding my ottoman, I hit up Hobby Lobby and found these fun accessories, to liven up our space a bit. I spray painted a couple of existing items I had, and added in my 4th of July decor and presto. I am loving the Anthropologie inspired metal "W". It's a great piece that you can see right from the front door. 

I was growing tired of my old 4th of July wreath I had made when we first moved in. I wanted something smaller and simpler. That's my life right now, trying to simplify everything. Kids require you to do that sometimes. I hit my keyboard running, searching Pinterest for Ideas and found this felt project. Extremely time consuming, but easy and, OH SO PERFECT on my front door. 

 I still love my Americana Bunting that I made a few years back. All the Fabrics I found at Hobby Lobby. Sewed them into double sided rectangular pieces, they gathered them into the bunting and sewed them onto a a long piece of fabric to hang them from. 

I seriously get so many compliments on it. 

Again simplicity is key for me. Simple patriotic scrapbook paper, cut into triangles with pinking shears (I didn't even measure the triangles to make sure they were the same size, I just eyeballed them), then I ran them through my sewing machine to stitch them together. 

If you haven't taken advantage of the free patriotic printable I posted, you can download it here. 

I love the 4th of July. So many things in my life have happened in July, got engaged, got married, blessed Maggie, got my gallbladder out. It really is a tie between this and Christmas for my favorite Holiday. 

So I hope you enjoyed a little tour of my Red, White and Blue decor. I am so excited for upcoming posts, so keep checking back and PLEASE FOLLOW ME if you aren't already. Followers mean giveaways and giveaways mean free stuff for you! 

Happy Weekend, I hope you are all enjoying your Summer. 

XO: Kelli

This is not a HomeGoods or Hobby Lobby sponsored post. All opinions expressed are my own.