Life as we go it

Liam rocks our world. Plain and simple.

He is getting into EVERYthing. We now have locks on every cupboard and locks on the toilets :)

He doesn't want us to help feed him anymore. He wants to do it all by himself. Thus the yogurt all over his face!

He absolutely loves bath time. He gets really cranky when we take him out of the tub. If he had it his way I think he'd stay in it all day long.

He is constantly learning new things.  He's always pushing buttons, throwing things, clanking, banging and babbling. He never sits still.

Working on some puzzles.

My favorite feet!!

Matt's colleague gave us this little chair + ottoman for Liam. He loves sitting on it and looking at his books.

He loves, loves, loves slides. He's even taken them head-first a few times.

I swear, Liam never looks at the camera when Matt actually decides to take a photo of us together. At Deland Park.

Liam made such a mess during his outdoor-dinner that Matt got the Shop Vac out to clean up the high chair. Liam thought it was funny :)

This post is a quick shout out to Beef Tea -- the local bluegrass band that has stolen our ears and our hearts  :)

Matt and I love to see live music. It's one of our favorite things to do together. Some live music is "just okay" and some of it shouldn't even be allowed in public. But this live music was A M A Z I N G!

A couple of weeks ago we had the opportunity to see Beef Tea (who we've seen twice before) in the backyard of someones home! Our besties in Sheboygan (you know who you are) invited us to a private backyard concert/pig roast. The band played on the back deck of the home. It was a hot, sunny day and perfect weather to listen to some tunes. We feel so fortunate that we could see them in such a small, intimate setting.

If you want to hear some of their music, here's their Website and Facebook page . If you're a fan of Bluegrass music, I think you'll really like them.

And here are some photos from the private concert we attended!!

All of the members are talented in their own way. The lead singer has the most beautiful voice.

I think it's so cool that she plays accordion :)

Matt and Brian giving the thumbs-up

Liam and I walk to our local ReStore every couple of weeks. It's only a few blocks from our home. Liam LOVES looking at all of the things as we walk through the aisles.

In case you're unfamiliar with what ReStore is -- it's run by Habitat For Humanity and people donate used or unused home-type goods and materials. The store is always filled with goodies, and at excellent prices :) The store is a maze of wooden doors, used appliances, retro office furniture, ugly ceiling fans, cabinetry, mismatched tiles, etc.

Matt and I have donated a few things to our local store (kitchen cabinets and ceramic tiles) and we've also bought some things there (a sweet window seat that's currently being used as storage in our garage, a cool wooden box that we store firewood in, and a couple of other little doodads).

I bought this old black magazine rack a couple of weeks ago. I'm not big into decorating with the color black, but I saw potential when I spotted this. And it was only $5:

Hello weird ol' eighties-ish magazine rack...

Rust-Oleum in "Lemon Grass"

Two coats

I'm not exactly sure where I want to use it yet. And as I've shared with you before, I'm a bit of a magazine junkie, so I could really use it in ANY room in the house! But it will probably end up in our kitchen, living room or downstairs bathroom.

It's next to our couch for now

The lemon grass color matches well with my new LOVE pillow in our living room :)

And here's a quick show-and-tell from this week's Crafty Club. My friend Andi hosted craft night this past Monday and we worked on two paper-crafting projects:

We each stamped & put together six happy birthday cards

And we each made a bouquet of paper flowers

I made some homemade play-dough for Liam today.

I collect flowers from our yard and throw them in this wooden crate. It makes it easy to bring them inside.

I made this arrangement for Matt's cousin as a housewarming gift :)

I made a vase of snowballs and lilacs for on top of our fireplace mantel (the photos of Liam were taken by my friend Sarah at www.sarahdohertyphotography.com)

I placed a vase of rhododendrons on our kitchen island

Here's a vase of bleeding hearts on our kitchen table

You can't forget about brightening up the bathrooms! This one is on a shelf in our "little green bathroom"

How cool is this blooming onion flower? I put it in a little cup on our computer desk. It's sitting in front of me right now :)

We moved to the great city of Sheboygan almost four years ago.

The longer we live here, the more we discover things that we love about this gem on the lake.

Yes, I hear from family and friends quite often "did you hear 'this' bad thing or 'that' bad thing on the News about Sheboygan?" Or "did you hear about the crazy thing that happened in Sheboygan" blah blah blah...

But I'm pretty sure every town has some not-so-positive things about it. And we choose to focus on the positives about this city...like the amazing waterfront, the cute little shops sporadically placed around the city, some amazing restaurants and watering holes, beautiful parks and a top-notch arts center. There are a lot of little quirks that make it, what Matt and I call,  "so Sheboygan."

Over the last few years, here are some things that Matt and I have decided as being "so Sheboygan:"

Funky little figurines we found at Matt's grandma's home. The pig is a little creepy, but we love, love the little squirrel!

Vintage Japanese snack tray. I've used this as a candy tray and also a nut tray.

Bright orange mushroom salt & pepper shakers! We use them every day.

Little Japanese coffee cups. I've found all of these at thrift stores over the years. They're great when guests just want a small dose of coffee.

Matt's mom stitched this a long time ago. So I guess that makes it vintage? His family was going to get rid of it and I said "No, I want it for our kitchen!" I love the little round hook at the top.

Oh my gosh, I've had this forever. I found it at a thrift store a LONG time ago. I used it as a candle holder for many years. Now I have it displayed on a shelf in our kitchen. I love the brown/green/navy blue together.

We own quite a few vintage cookbooks. This is my favorite one: The Settlement Cookbook. The hilariousness of it is that it says "The Way To A Man's Heart." Ummm...yeaahhhh...because women know that cooking is the only way...

We love these bowls. The colors are so classic & funky. These were Matt's grandpa & grandmas. (Becky, Jenna & Beth...you can still wrestle us for them if you want!!)

Vintage mini-pot. I have to put a plant in it yet.

We bought these chairs at a thrift store when we lived in Florida. I used them in my art studio for a year. Now they're around our round kitchen table. Someday we'll refinish them...but for now they just look old.

Vintage Way Rite scale. And it still works. We found this at Matt's grandma's house & we're glad we can keep it in the family :)

I'll post other oldies, but goodies this coming week.

What are your favorite vintage things? I'd love the hear!