Insta-Lately

Sorry for the crickets around here lately...it's like the end of the school year + the start of summer vacation hit and there's just been too many fun things distracting me lately!

Here's a peek... 

 

my beautiful ballerina

Graduating from preschool calls for a new, bigger bike!

Zoom, zoom!

 trucks are working at the end of our street, and this boy squawks "truck"

while pointing out the door or window about a million times a day.

(he always has to get low to watch them too, it's hilarious!)

I found this handsome little guy at Target, he told me he 

wanted to come and live in our garden.

How could I resist??

Chicago-bound!

Surprising the kids with a trip to the Shedd Aquarium!

 seeing Claire gently guiding Zachary around the aquarium,

and hearing him say "whoa" to every fish he saw, the best!

 Every time I paint Claire's nails, she asks us to pretend that she's grown up.

This particular time she was just home from college, but preparing to leave for California.

Sigh.  #worstgameever

On Claire's first day of summer vacation, I told her we were going to have a contest to see who could sleep in the latest.  As a result, she's been pretend-sleeping in every morning until 8!  It's awesome!

this guy on the other hand, did not get the pretend sleep in memo. 

But I don't mind the quiet time with him in the morning one bit.

Good morning from Grand Haven!

 prepping our new chalkboard!

 a peek into the kid's bathroom.

bit by bit the house is coming together.

 

downtown living in the summertime is where it's at.

to the beach!

 

 and a peek into the kitchen which is officially D.O.N.E!

 dipping his toes in the water,

it was freeeeezing!

 ~

Enjoy your week, everyone!

Happy Mother's Day

Source: homemadetoast.com via PickYourPlum on Pinterest

Free Printable found here.

Insta-Friday

Welcome to the weekend!
Here's a peek back at our week...

 Eric + Claire playing on the beach while I sat with sleeping Zachary on the pier.

This is what we endure months of Michigan winter for.

First Pronto Pups of the season. 

Yummmm.

 Wifey Singer jewelry has quickly become one of my favorites.

Hannah is always coming out with new pieces + new color combinations that I just have to have!  And her prices are so reasonable too.  I ordered the necklace on the right, and she surprised me with the one one the left.  Seriously sweet, that lady.

Zachary and I have a Monday morning tradition of heading to a local market to pick up our meat for the week. Inevitably we end up scouting out the fruits and veggies too.  I mean, how can we not when it's displayed so pretty??

I am soooo happy that it's finally grilling season again!

Goodbye heavy casseroles and hello fresh foods on the grill.

This dish included sausage (smoked or pre-cooked) plus peppers, onion and potatoes.  Mix in a little olive oil plus some black pepper.  Fill small packets made of aluminum foil and grill for about 20 minutes.  Perfection.

Mother's Day at Claire school.  Those pre-schoolers sure know how to throw a party!

That's a portrait of me, by the way, and Claire is practicing signing her name in cursive, because that's fancy, you know.

My first Stitch Fix box arrived!!

Did you know that I'm totally incapable of buying clothes for myself?  Seriously.

Eric has to come with me or I'd come home empty-handed.

I'll share details of what was in my box soon!

~

Insta-addicts, find me on Instagram as : coraannedesigns

 

 

Teacher Appreciation Gift

This week is Teacher Appreciation week, and I wanted to share what we brought in to Claire's teachers today.

~

Claire has been busy growing a garden indoors since Spring Break. Her zucchini is by far the best growing plants, and since we now have way more zucchini plants than what we'll need, we're starting to give some away.

We're growing our plants in Jiffy Pots (pots that can later be planted right in the ground), so to dress them up a bit, I wrapped them in burlap and tied them off with baker's twine.  I made small plant markers out of washi tape + toothpicks and placed one in each pot.

Next I found (at our grocery store!) this adorable soap as well as some cute gardening gloves.

 I packaged the gifts in strawberry baskets that I had on hand, and these gifts were set!

~

 Of course there's so many other times where a small gift like this would be wonderful to give, housewarming and Mother's Day both come to mind!

 

Insta-Saturday

It's insta-Friday time, one day late!

I hope you're all well into a nice weekend.

We're coming off of a b.u.s.y. week, here's a peek...

why yes Zachary, you can dance on that crinkly paper

flea market shopping in the rain=

bad hair + good deals

the bikes I walked away from at the flea market.

I mean come on, how cool are these???

one flea market find getting a makeover.

prep work is a bore, seriously.

 cruising makes him sleepy

our back entryway has been bare for 5 years and I finally did something about it.

Prints for Brielle from PS I Adore You 

"M" from Anthropologie 

Kindergarten visit day.  This girl is so ready.

Right before we left home, she ran to her room and put this necklace on which she made at VBS.  The beads read "COURAGE"

Oh, how I love this girl.

trucks are working at the end of our street which means

we have been doing LOTS of truck watching

~

And finally, we had a 24 hour kid-free house setting up marathon at our summer place.

We made really good progress, here's a little sneak peek...

a little display in the kitchen.

Those jars will most likely be filled with something like goldfish crackers, for the kids.

And, since we didn't own the house yet last Spring, 

I had no ideas that tulips would be popping up in the yard!

in the living room

Claire's room

front entry-way.
print by Red Letter Words

~

And, now I'm exhausted and might just climb into bed...

at 9:00....

...on a Saturday night.

~

Zzzzzzzz.....

Insta-addicts, find me on Instagram as : coraannedesigns