Blake

My Week in Pictures March 22 2013

Submitted by RyTurner / The Design Confidential

This has been an awfully tough week here at the House of TDC. My grandma passed away Wednesday evening and this loss has rocked my world in ways I can't even put words to. The picture of her in the middle of this collage was taken the night before her passing, and might be one of the best photographs she has ever taken. How lucky we are to have it.

I realize that I have been relatively silent about some of the personal stuff surrounding this and going on in the background here, but in all honesty I haven't really known how to talk about it. My grandma was a mother figure in my life and we were extremely close. More than I can explain, really. My Monster Mash boy was adored her and she loved him like the son she never had (she has two daughters). Even though he was technically her great grandson, you would never guess that extra generational gap existed.

There is an important story to tell of this last year of her life, and one that might help others in the future, but I'm simply not able to write this today. In a couple of hours we will be gathering as a family to clear her belongings from her room and I'm honestly not sure how this will be. It certainly makes things final... I'm not sure I will handle that well. I'm really struggling and this will be along road of healing. Things may be spotty around here for the next few weeks, but putting my head into work and my boys is a wonderful distraction. Nothing would make her happier than to know I was spoiling my boys rotten with love and attention, so I plan to honor her and celebrate her, by doing exactly that.

I hope you all have a wonderful Easter Weekend and I hope to share her story with you soon. It's important and my telling it might be a very small catalyst to bringing some much needed awareness to a very important subject. It's a story I will need to tell as soon as the wound isn't so fresh.

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Our Little Pre Move Camp Out and a Giveaway!

Submitted by RyTurner / The Design Confidential

UPDATE: We have a WINNER!!! Kimberly Kostiew you will be receiving an email to track you down and get your shipping info! congratulations!!

I have mentioned a couple of times, briefly, that we moved last week! Well it's a true story and our new home has an abundance of ceramic tile throughout the ground floor. In truth I have a renewed appreciation of hardwood flooring now, because you guys, tile is FREEZING! Yikes...

So when we decided to move, one thing that was crucial in our timing was having the ability to move in over the course of a month. We generally do a move ourselves, and this requires time, unfortunately. With Easter, the SNAP conference (which I am speaking at, weeeee!) and a couple of birthdays, this 'extended move time' is even more important than ever. We were lucky enough to arrange for that, but with that comes a lag in furniture placement. Not to worry, there is always a fun solution to the 'no place to sleep' problem. Perhaps an Indoor Camp Out? Yes I think so...

When the kind folks over at Mohawk Flooring offered to send me a new SmartStrand rug, I jumped at the chance to cover this cold tile with something plush and fluffy. Even better that it worked to provide the perfect backdrop for our little adventure! Can you imagine camping out on ceramic tile? Not cool... or perhaps, too cool, as it were. For the 5 of you who have been reading this blog for a while, you might remember me mentioning that my 'littlest dog in the world' considers rugs to be nothing short of a very large potty pad (lesson learned with potty pad training) so the fact that this rug promises permanent lifetime stain and soil resistance to kids and pets is kind of huge... ya. Otherwise my tendency is simply to avoid rugs, which is sad... so very sad, because I LOVE rugs.

GIVEAWAY:

So guess what, one of you fabulous folks will win your own 6’ X 9’ SmartStrand bound carpet rug. Go to the contest page to enter, and be sure to select 'The Design Confidential' from the drop down menu so that you can be entered to win this particular contest that I am so excitedly hosting! SmartStrand carpet is rated #1 in consumer satisfaction… Experience it for yourself!

The contest starts Monday, March 18th and ends April 8th, so go enter here now. Please see the registration page for legal rules.

Why yes that is a vintage copy of Lord of The Flies... and why of course that is entirely appropriate reading material for a 5 year old (parenting genius here, folks...). Thankfully he can't read and has no idea of the actual subject matter of his favorite book. It might make the indoor camp out into something different entirely, and not in a good way? My amazing little monster mash guy lovingly refers to this book as FaceBook, given the large face on the cover of the book, and decidedly checks in several times a day to his 'FaceBook', just to see what's happening in the world. Just love this kid...

All was quiet on the western front with our fun little pretend adventure and so far no spills, stains, or other ephemera to deal with! Be sure to enter the giveaway, I promise you will want this prize!

DISCLOSURE: Thanks to Mohawk Flooring for sponsoring today's discussion and giveaway!

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My Neon Post It Valentine

Submitted by RyTurner / The Design Confidential

I made a cute little valentine for my Monster Mash Boy. Simple and Inexpensive, the very best kind of craft, no? When I showed it to him, he was irritated with me for having used his special sticky note paper. The stuff he likes to use for clues to the treasure hunt he is constantly staging around the house. Oh well. I can see his point. Still, it's cute for a short bit and doesn't have an expiration date of the impending heart shaped holiday... nope it can stay for as long as he will leave it. I'm guessing 48 hours tops...

What about you? Any quick and simple valentine decor around your homes? Or perhaps VDay decor that doesn't need to come down when the holiday comes to a close?

Psst... I would love your support and a vote in the final round of The Homies.... Homie! Pretty Pretty Please... it means a lot to this little bloggy poo! It you don't already have an account at Apartment Therapy you will need to register but it only takes like 3 seconds and you can immediately pop over to the voting page (Best Home Project & DIY Blog) and click The Design Confidential. Seriously it's so easy and fast and means so very very much to us and the success of this site. Pretty Please

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My Week in Pictures February 1 2013

Submitted by RyTurner / The Design Confidential

I post these images as if they were actually from this week, but in fact, as many of you know, I am ages behind on everything I do... #newbornbabymamadrama... But I did get a new pair of specs... and this mama can see again, yahoo! Cute right? Super helpful when using power tools... duh! If you follow along with me on instagram you may have already seen these bad boys.. but if not, then hoodyhoo something new...

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Road Trips and Holidays

Submitted by RyTurner / The Design Confidential

With the holiday season in full swing and the New Year sneaking up on us, literally as we speak, I am sure many of you will be road tripping in the next few days! This year with the arrival of baby bird, we are staying home for the holidays, but when we do travel it tends to be by car. As a gal who comes from a long line of car travelers, I consider myself quite good at the activity, but everything can get a bit tricky when traveling with a 4 year old, even for the most seasoned of road trip gurus.

As I have mentioned a million times already, I am sincerely behind on everything these days, so when KIA asked me to write an article on road trips I jumped at the chance! You see in true procrastinating fashion I have been sitting on the details of a little adventure we took a couple of months ago, and this is the perfect excuse to rewind the clock a bit and share all the lovely deets with you guys!

The month before the bird was due to arrive, we took our last family vacation, our last hurrah so to speak, as a little group of 3. It was quick and spur of the moment, but incredibly memorable and such a fabulous little getaway.

Bring on the gushy mom junk and the one million pictures of our little vacay you say? No problem!

We were travling in fairly tight quarters since I needed to bring the stroller (for me more than for the boy) and the sun was in Blakey's eyes the ENTIRE time, but it was nothing a little silky blanket over the head couldn't solve. The iPad was our hero this trip since the boy is now old enough to work the contraption on his own, and we had it loaded with plenty of read along books and preschool games... and of course a few zombie games too (the boy is obsessed...I have no idea where he gets it from)! We arrived late afternoon and had time to have a late lunch and enjoy the view from our hotel room before the boy and I enjoyed an evening to ourselves with room service (love room service). You see the hubs had a business dinner that evening since we were here, after all, to tag along on a business trip, and tag along we sure did!

We hit the beach and for the very first time I got to watch while the hubs chased the boy all by himself! It's usually a joint effort, but I was busy... you know hanging with the bird and enjoying this rather large view of him as the baby bump!

There was sand, castles, and a celebratory dance to commemorate the multi-castle event!

There may or may not have been vast amounts of ice cream consumed.... I will never tell! But there were definitely gorgeous walks along the marina and a fabulous very lengthy dinner at the most amazing Persian Restaurant. I can still imagine the food even now, it was that good! Plus, there won't be another lengthy, multi course dinner for this little family for another couple of years if the kids are in tow! This was definitely special...

After sand, surf, and turf it was time to hit the road, but not before we hit up the local theme park! This trip we decided to make a half day of it, on the way home. That would let us drive home with a tired boy who might even consider sleeping since it would be relatively dark as we drove along!

There were dolphins, and whales, and face painting... oh my!

And then we drove home to this gorgeous sight - a tired superhero and a gorgeous sunset! I can tell you the trip would have been a lot more comfy in a bigger car like the gorgeous specimen below, but hey, close proximity makes us closer right? or at least makes us cranky... either way! A big thank you to KIA for sponsoring this post and giving me a chance to gush about my kids... #kiaholiday

Content and/or other value provided by our partner, Kia Motors

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Digital Happy Holidays Card 2012

Submitted by RyTurner / The Design Confidential

Sooooo I didn't send out Holiday Cards this year 'in real life' so for all of you who were hoping to get one from us, a big I'm sorry in advance! A digital card of my gorgeous boys, a week late, will have to do...

By the way did I mention how hard it is to get a decent picture of a baby, while they are awake, and not laying flat? ya...hard... I finally had to settle on a solo shot with my hand in it, oh well. Baby Bird you did a marvelous job despite being a bit of a bobble head and having your mommy try and snag a picture of you before you toppled over 18 times in a row! Mommy loves you baby... you are such a good sport for this kind of torture Penn! High Fives...

Though honestly, it was my older boy Blake who was the toughest to nail down, as in squirming like his life depended on it. Every shot was a smear across the camera screen. What is it about 5 year old boys that means they can't hold still one bit? It was like I was speaking a foreign language to him, that his body couldn't handle... hold still, look at the camera, quit moving for 5 seconds... or not... even still I managed to get a couple of cute pictures, but just barely! I consider myself lucky (and grateful) for what I got! Life is certainly never dull with 2 boys!

These pictures were snapped on Christmas Eve this year and I could just die a little for how cute Blake is with Penn. He absolutely adores him and calls him 'cutesy'. Everyone expected a bit of jealousy or some sort of negative reaction perhaps to having another star to share the spotlight with, but in all honesty it hasn't reared it's ugly head just yet (fingers crossed it stays that way). Having a new baby for Christmas this year, made this such a special holiday season for me... I hope you all had a wonderful holiday as well! Hugs from the Turner Fam!

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DIY Rustic Fall and Holiday Tree In Under 10 Minutes

Submitted by RyTurner / The Design Confidential

Rustic Thankful Trees were a big craft hit this Fall season, and I for one love the idea... but alas, we live in a relatively newly developed suburban area surrounded by moo cows. That means there aren't any fabulous cut or fallen branches to be had...unless of course you want to behead your lovely backyard specimens (not likely).

When I found the perfect solution and a most fabulous bit of inspiration at The Home Depot, I pretty much did a little happy dance... There is nothing more frustrating than wanting to create something, that you simply can't find the ingredients for.

So for those of you who are in the same boat I am, or just want to take things up a notch and move your rustic trees to the next level... I give you my LED Rustic Holiday Tree, perfect for thankful thoughts, holiday wishes, and just general all around wondrousness (ya pretty sure that's a word, innit?).

Before I dive right in to how I made this beauty, I would like to share a bit about The Home Depot Fall Style Guide, since I'm an official member of their blogger network, and this project was brought to you by those kind and fabulously stylish folks.. yahoo

To check out fabulous fall (and now holiday) inspiration and generally amazing room decor ideas, visit the The Home Depot Fall Style Guide

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But first let me share a bit of my project with you before you go skipping away...

...And now back to our previously scheduled programming and a bit about how I made this fab specimen! It was oh so easy!

I began this project with 4 items: an urn, a package of yard decorations, assorted zip ties (see my wreath project for details on those), and a bag of small gravel. I could have used sand as well but I have a sandbox loving monster mash kiddo so that was a no go...can you imagine the mess, eek!

I mean...do you see this face? It has trouble written all over it.

I added a bit of gravel to the urn, just enough to give my 'tree' a leg to stand on and allow it to stand up a bit.

To create my 'tree' I simply bundled all three yard picks together in varying heights and zip ties them in 3 spots. Easy peasy...

I separated out the cord that links the picks together from the cord that plugs in and simply wrapped the cord that links around the bundled tree picks to keep things under wrap.

Then I stuck my bundle into the gravel and filled it the rest of the way up, making sure to keep the cord that plugs in, running out the back of the urn.

That's it folks... super easy and extra all quick like... don't you adore a fast craft? I do!

Disclosure Language:

The Home Depot partnered with bloggers such as me for their Fall Style Guide Blog Network. As part of this program, I received compensation for my time. They did not tell me what to purchase or what to say about any product mentioned in these posts. The Home Depot believes that consumers and bloggers are free to form their own opinions and share them in their own words. The Home Depot’s policies align with WOMMA Ethics Code, FTC guidelines and social media engagement recommendations.