31 Days of Beach Living: Day 7 Coastal Pumpkins

October 8, 20131 Comment

Halloween decoration will begin in T-minus 4 days here at Casa de Green. I love decorating for Halloween. I don’t go crazy with it, but I enjoy how much the two younger Green boys love helping. We are the family that even decorates the inside of the house too. Yep, that’s us! Our neighborhood is the best place to Trick-or-Treat. Hands down! There are several haunted houses, an adult Tiki Bar with adult treats, and the neighbors go all-out with candy.

This year I have decided to decorate the inside of the house with some small vignettes. Maybe even a few outside as well. I love painting on pumpkins. My kids love carving pumpkins, but let’s be serious, I do most of the carving. I have found some super cute pumpkin painting ideas and plan to incorporate them in this year’s decorations.

Here is some of my inspiration:

halloween-home-decor-pumpkins-country-living-tuvalu

Now, I gotta get the boyos to agree to some of these carving ideas. They tend toward the dramatic and scary instead of the cute and fashionable.

I will post pics and an unveiling once it’s all up and looking good.

31 Days of Beach Living: Day 6 Indian Summer?

October 7, 20131 Comment

Did we just have an Indian Summer? It sounds good, so I was telling everyone this past weekend what a glorious Indian Summer we were having in October. We were on the beach. The boys went skim boarding. I packed up the Roll-eeze (best beach invention evah!) – with food, drinks, and even the umbrella. My sister and her family joined us on the beach. The adults even had the chance to SUP on the bay. It had all the “hotness” of an Indian Summer. So I thought.

Well, I just got schooled… I decided while writing this post in my head last night in those last stages of consciousness that I would research the phrase. Good ole Farmer’s Almanac just proved my beautiful 85°F+ weather weekend wrong.

According to the The Old Farmer’s Almanac, an true Indian Summer must meet the following requirements:

“As well as being warm, the atmosphere during Indian summer is hazy or smoky, there is no wind, the barometer is standing high, and the nights are clear and chilly.
A moving, cool, shallow polar air mass is converting into a deep, warm, stagnant anticyclone (high pressure) system, which has the effect of causing the haze and large swing in temperature between day and night.
The time of occurrence is important: The warm days must follow a spell of cold weather or a good hard frost.
The conditions described above must occur between St. Martin’s Day (November 11) and November 20. For over 200 years, The Old Farmer’s Almanac has adhered to the saying, “If All Saints’ (November 1) brings out winter, St. Martin’s brings out Indian summer.””

I thought we had a few weeks of cold weather, but honestly, it was in the 70’s. It certainly felt cold. Now that I know what an Indian Summer is, I think I’m good with what I had this past weekend. Sun, small breezes, low tide loveliness, SUP boarding with my sister, and the boys got sandy.

A PERFECT BEACH DAY IN OCTOBER!

Stand-Up Paddle Board and the Chesapeake Bay

31 Days Challenge: Day 5 Turquoise

October 6, 20131 Comment

For awhile (most of my married life), I made this conscious decision to not use blue in any of my decorating. I guess it was some anti-beach cottage decorating style. But, I have always loved blue. And, I live by the beach. And, I love the beach. And, blue, especially turquoise, reminds me of the beach. This past “flood” <I can go into that in another post> repair I made another conscious decision to put blue hues back into the house. Best decision ever!

Turquoise is by far my favorite blue hue. I recently repainted my formerly red kitchen island turquoise. I also painted turquoise chevron stripes on our front porch floor. I have used Pinterest to pin all my ideas and for inspiration.

So, don’t be afraid to decorate with your favorite colors. You will be more happy in your own space if you do.

Feeling Blue Board

31 Days of Beach Living: Day 3 OMG Football

October 4, 2013Leave a comment

I write this post as a #momof3boys. Football and I have a shaky past. I have faked football fanaticsim in past relationships. Nothing like pretending to like a team for some random boyfriend. Girls out there— don’t pretend that I am speaking Greek. We have all done it for that one cute guy. I didn’t even understand the rules. I was even one of those girls who believed that “yellow line” on the TV screen was actually on the field for the players. Yes, it took a dear friend’s fiancé to inform me that it was added by the TV companies. What?!?

As a #momof3boys, I have tried to ignore football and the natural testosterone driven need of all little boys to play football. That fantasy has come to a very dead end. It all began when a few certain ladies from my CrossFit Chronic family insisted that I could join an indoor flag football team. It of course did not end well for me. I didn’t even make it to the first game of the season. Broken knuckle and finger stopped my budding football career. Fast forward to the present. How do you say “No” to your son who wants to play football for the first time? My argument that the Green family doesn’t play football flew out the window. I might not have been good at it, but I did play briefly. Dang, broke my own rule! Now we are 2 1/2 months in to a 125lbs tackle football league with the oldest Green boy.

This #momof3boys has spent 4-5 days a week watching said oldest Green boy practicing, drilling, conditioning and playing football. And yes, I am that #momof3boys that yells and screams, jumps and cheers, and takes numerous pictures of her boy playing said sport(s). Most of the time <according to oldest Green boy> I don’t yell the right things, but I am getting better. I know what specialty teams are now. I know what that “yellow line” meant. It is the first down marker. I know what a fumble is now. I know what conversion points are and why they do them in this league. I know the rules. Ugh!

But, my biggest confession is… I kinda like football. No faking here. You may even witness me sitting on the couch watching football with all the Green boys on Sundays.

But, every now and then, I wish they would just surf, so at least I could get some sun and sit on the beach.

My blueberry playing football. Egads!

31 Days of Beach Living: Day 2 Beach Glass

October 3, 2013Leave a comment

: Panoramic of my view as I crest the sand dune.

Looking for beach glass on the sandy shores of the Chesapeake Bay has never been about looking for beach glass. For me, the ocean/beach/salt water/sun/salty air is one of the most healing places. It is where I have made some of the most important life-changing decisions of my life. Searching for beach glass on this very beach is where I came to the realization that I wanted to marry a certain dashing chiropractor, have my first home birth with my first child, & take on the challenge of becoming a midwife. Walking the beach and feeling the sand between my toes allows me to release stress and anxiety. Feeling the sun warm on my limbs and face encourages me to trust myself. Breathing in the salty warm air reminds me to take in a fresh breath and breathe out stale air. Absorbing the beauty of the water and nature and shoreline requires me to redirect my thoughts.

: Left to Right: White beach glass, Blow fish, Amber beach glass, Green beach glass, Horseshoe crab, Green beach glass, Bounty for the day.

Today’s search for beach glass was all about taking time for myself. I realized that I don’t do that enough. With 3 boys in school and full schedules, midwifery, WOD’ing, coaching, wife-ing, and just being myself, it is hard to take an hour for me.

: Pound nets and gulls.

I keep all my beach glass in jars. I spread it on platters. I use it to fill up a glass lamp base. I make jewelry with it. Each and every piece is a reminder to take in the beauty of life.

: Fort Story signs, low tide ripples, beach walkway

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The end of summer is always mournful in our house of 3 boys, 1 pug, 2 cats, and a mom and dad that love the Chesapeake Bay. The mornings, days, and evenings are chilly and dew regularly forms on the grass and plants. The busy-ness of school and organized sports has begun. And, the ever popular Starbucks PSL is available for the season. Our trips to the beach become more distant. We still make it down for occasional sunset walks but not our daily “have to get into the salt water” excursions. Hurricane season will soon come to an end bringing with it Nor’easter season.

Good-bye Summer! Until we meet again…