painters block.

for months and months i've been wanting to paint the back of the mantle on our dining room fireplace.

and hang that picture.

as you know, the walls in our dining room and great room are dark wood.
billy refuses to let me paint them, because it's actually really nice, thick, hundreds of years old wood, not like cheap 70's wood paneling.
so i've been making do by painting little things like our doors to make the rooms brighter and more multi-dimensional.

the back of the mantle in the dining room sticks out from the rest of the wall about two inches, but it's impossible to see the depth since it's all just the same dark wood.  i think painting it will really help the room look bigger, brighter, and make that wall and fireplace look more interesting.

the problem is, i can't decide on what color to paint it.
i've had these paint samples laying in the dining room for.ev.er.

i was originally thinking of doing a warm golden tone.
but i haven't been able to commit because
1) the picture on the mantle is a warm golden tone, and i feel like it might get lost up against the same color, and
2) there are a lot of warm golden tones going on in the dining room already.
like the rug, the curtains...

 

i know i don't want to paint it the antique white of the table legs... i think that would be too much.

and i haven't completely ruled out one of the more golden paint colors...

but lately i've been wondering if i shouldn't use one of the cooler colors in the stone of the fireplace... like a gray or a taupey color instead.

should i go for a gray tone like the stones, even though there isn't any gray in the room?
or maybe something more taupey like the mortar inbetween the stones?
help me!
seriously, i have painters block.  i will take any and all opinions/ advice.

on another painting note, i was recently inspired by this picture:

 

don't you think our stairs would look better with a little paint? (they used to have really disgusting pea green carpeting on them, so they're looking pretty rough still)

but again, the color...

bring on the comments, please!

the church of the holy coffee cup.

willie and i haven't made it to church since little finner has been born.
we love our church, and it was right around the corner from our barn when were living at macleod's.
but now it's a little bit of a hike.

luckily, it is not a hike to get to the coffee cup.
our favorite diner just a couple of miles from the crib.
today we decided, it being finn's one month birthday and all, that we'd go get ourselves some breakfast.

 the coffee cup is one of those great classic diners that only serves the basics, is dirt cheap, and after you eat there you smell like bacon grease for the rest of the day.  seriously. it gets in your pores.
worth it.

finn has eaten at the coffee cup many, many times.  but today was his first day there on the outside.  it didn't seem to make much of a difference to him.  i didn't really think ahead, and he was dressed super gender-neutral, so lots of people told us how pretty our little girl was.  sorry, finny pie.

we love the coffee cup because they have coffee news, and billy is the coffee news trivia master.  and we like to look for the coffee news man.  billy always finds him first, but today i did! win.

the coffee cup is also the only place i've come across in pennsylvania that has texas pete as their house hot sauce instead of tabasco.  this is huge.

we always get the same thing when we go for breakfast, so we never look at the menu.  but we do appreciate its very cutting-edge homemade clipart graphics and lamination.

it was a lovely breakfast, and finn was very well behaved.  here he is showing off his "fake smile".

this week, the church of the holy coffee cup was a success.  next week, we're going to make it to real church!  (although it's hard to convince billy that there's anything holier than a belly full of scrapple and an afternoon with the masters) ;)

snips and snails and puppy dog tails...

billy found out just what little boys are made of last night, when finn decided to give him an up close and personal look.  here's how it went down:

4 a.m.
i had just finished feeding finn and poked billy for the diaper change hand-off.

meg- "honey, wake up."
billy- "meh."
meg- "can you change finn's diaper? i'm tired."
billy- "who?"
meg- "focus."
billy- "yes."

i pass finn off to the semi-conscious billy and fall back into my pillows.
*rustle*rustle*
*grumble*grumble*

finn- "phhllllpppttttt!"
billy- "OH GOD! OH GOD! he pooped! he pooped on my hand!!!!"

i try to get up but i'm already laughing so hard i'm kind of immobile.

billy- "BABE! MY HAND! THERE'S POOP ON MY HAND! WHY! WHY!?! WHY DID YOU MAKE ME CHANGE HIS DIAPER! WHYYYYY!!!!???"

i look over and billy is mid-diaper change with poop indeed on his hand.
he takes the diaper off the rest of the way and is scrambling for a wipe for his hand when...

finn- "PPPHHLLPPPTTTRRRROOOAARrrrrppphllpptttt!"
billy- "SHIT! SHIT! SO MUCH SHIT!"
meg- *gasping for breath between hysterical laughter*
finn- *face seems to say "i feel so much better, i don't know about you guys"
billy- "BABE THERE'S SHIT EVERYWHERE! HE'S LAYING IN A PILE OF SHIT!"

finn is indeed laying in a pile of shit.
i'm laughing so hard that i can't get it together to give any sort of directions.
billy is just staring at finn and all of the poop, and still trying to wipe off his hand.
finn is blowing bubbles and smiling.

finally i manage to mumble instructions to billy, who is frozen with poop-induced fear.
meg- "honey, take him the rest of the way out of his sleeper and carry him into his room to get him cleaned up."

i help billy get the sleeper off, and he proceeds to carry finn out our bedroom door by his legs.
i'll never forget the image...
billy scampering out our door in his boxers with his little chicken legs, holding our baby, of which the only thing i can see is his little poop covered butt being escorted out sunny-side up.
i think i've seen kids get thrown out of the bar that way before.

the best part about the whole thing, was finn literally pooped through the bottom of sleeper, through the quilt on the bed, through the top sheet, and the fitted sheet.  obviously i'm not about to change the bed at 4 in the morning, so billy had to sleep in a little poop-spot sandwich for the rest of the night.
he was none too pleased. he kept peeling covers back like layers on an onion, only to find another wet spot each layer down.
(billy- "no... oh no.... and there too! no....")
it was more of a tired and resigned disgust at this point.

you would think that at 4 am a poop fiasco would make for a very grumpy family.
but finn was so happy and relieved to get all of that poop out (and so stinkin' cute)
(get it...stinkin'),
that billy and i had to laugh at everything.  it was kind of perfect.

little boys and poop.
i guess i have to get used to the grossness.

just yesterday our little nephews came to visit me at the shop.
cooper and liam were sitting at my feet behind the counter, elbow deep in a can of pringles while ty ran around the back of the store like a tornado.
mid-chew and out of the clear blue, liam goes:
"one time in the car, ty had diarrhea and it went all the way up his back."
meg- "oh wow. was that awesome ty?"
i look back at ty who stops, turns, smiles, and nods very slowly.

but despite all of their gross, stinky, potty-mouthed elementary-school boyness, they all hug me, tell me they love me (and promise me the only girls they will ever love are me and their mom), and then wipe greasy chip fingers all over every glass surface in the shop before they leave.

that's what little boys are made of.

black thumb shame.

remember my stunning orchid that billy gave me for valentine's day?

boy was it pretty!

until i killed it.

here she is now!

womp womp.

maybe she's not really dead and the blooms are just dying?

i mean, the leaves are still kind of intact...

ooof.

then realized that the orchid is not the only houseplant currently suffering the wrath of my black thumb...

this one doesn't look so bad because i shoved a bunch of wooden stars in the pot to make it look more "full".  but then tuck chewed on some of the stars so it still looks pathetic.

sadness.

 

extreme sadness.

i thought about re-potting these guys and fertilizing them this week, but i was carrying finn around in a sling most of the time.  

"but you have your arms free!" you say...

well, let me just say that carrying your baby in a sling is not highly recommended if you are "a spiller".

i am a spiller.

most of the time finn has cookies or salad or cereal or cracker crumbs all over his face when he's in the sling.

because i'm a spiller and i drop food all over him.  

(apparently slinging your baby around makes you extra hungry)

he is tolerant of this. 

but i thought it would probably be bad if i was repotting plants and dropped a bunch of potting soil in his eyes.

i could just see him in preschool trying to explain his mysterious third eye... 

"oh yeah, my mom accidentally poured miracle grow on my forehead when i was a baby."

so i think i'll tackle MY plants this weekend when billy can hold finn at a safe distance from me.

instead, today, thursday, finn's four week birthday, my first day back at work,

i tackled the plants at the shop!

yes, my black thumb extends to my business as well.

look how beautiful these mums were!

 ouch.

actually, i didn't tackle them today at all.

luckily, the very lovely and very green thumbed rachel was working with me at the store.

 she has a little farm at home, and she brings us veggies and eggs!

i let her pick the plants out from the nursery next door, and she took charge of the replanting out front.

thank god!  those poor plants shivered at the sight of me.

i told her that i had brought some gardening tools from home for the replanting.

she laughed at my tiny little gardening spade.

and went next door and borrowed a shovel and proceeded to kick ass all over the flower bed.

tada!

much better.

now if only i could get her to come to my house and be my personal gardener.

sadly, i think i'm going to have to work on greening up my thumb myself.

but for now, at least the storefront is looking cheery!

thanks, rach!