A sneak peak at my room...because I am DYING to post pics!

I have been working so hard on this room! Day in and day out...it feels....lots and lots of painting. Lots of shopping for just the right bargains...lots of returning when I didn't get the right things...it has been so much fun. And so much work. But we LOVE how this room is shaping up. It already feels SO wonderful.
I still have a lot of work to do...so it's not quite finished. Please excuse our construction zone, so to speak.

This is a glimpse at the bedspread. It is BEAUTIFUL...at least to me it is. I wanted something rich and warm...something not too feminie, not to masculine. I wish the texture could really show--it is a SOFT chenille fabric. Oooohhh...I love it.

Now, please sit down, open your eyes wide, drop your jaw, and gasp...

It's dry clean only.

I said I would never get dry clean only. I lied.

I looked at LOTS Of bedding LOTS of times...and after what felt like 70 hours of shopping for the right bedding, I felt like I had to make a decision. I had gone back to see this one several times and just loved the feel. After Christmas it went on sale and then the cashier let me use TWO coupons together...so it made it quite a bit less.

It came down to this: deciding that I could hold off on having the bedding I WANT to have because of a "potential" spill/mess/accident or enjoying it and dealing with whatever might happen when/IF it does happen. So for now, we are going to enjoy it...cease the moment so to speak.

Here is my previous nightstand. I bought these several years ago from my friend Hannah when she was moving. So, even being secondhand, they have served us well since then. We've glued parts together, moved them a few times, and they are starting to show some signs of aging...but they are SO PRACTICAL for us. I love the bedside storage...magazines and books tucked away, lotion, misc important papers, etc. They're perfect for what I need. But they weren't perfect for the room...So they got a facelift...
BEFORE...

AFTER: I bought a cheap piece of trim that matches my headboard and dresser and woodglued it to the top of the nightstand. I then painted everything (still working on the drawers and need to put the hardware back!!!) I followed up by brushing bronze paint over the detail. It looks SO sharp! And it looks like the pieces have always been with my set. Total cost for 2 nightstands madeover--a can of paint and an $8 piece of trim.

The headboard looks AWESOME in person! SOOO awesome!

I wish I had taken pics during the day....would have turned out better! Will try again when I am all finished with the room.

And that awesome little leather book on my nightstand--it's really a secret box. :) I LOVE IT! The colors are perfect and it opens up to reveal a cute velvet interior.

THIS PICTURE BELOW DOES NOT DO THE REAL LIFE SCENARIO JUSTICE! Bad, bad lighting tonight...I love this part of the room. I got that awesome chair at a thrift store for $25. It has such great curves--and a beautiful courderoy fabric. It actually was gold when I bought it--I took a LOT of tea and tea dyed it to make it more brownish/burnt orange--was waiting for it to dry and will do another coat to tone it down some more. A very cheap way to makeover a very nice piece! :) I had the wicker cube before, but it was a very light weave...so I spray painted that as well. And I picked up the plant and vase for a total of $5 on clearance. It really looks so much nicer in person.

A little closer on the chair...

Just a reminder of the color of the wood on the headboard and dresser before....

And now...a work in progress for sure. But I love how it is coming out...SO MUCH NICER DARK, don't you think?? I am working on changing out the handles...didn't want to pay $7-$10 a piece to replace them, so I found a very economical way. I think it will figure out to be about $1.10 per drawer (these pulls are almost 7 inches long and quite expensive to order). I will post when I get that all put together...

And that's just the sleeping area...we have a cute nook that Brandon uses to study and our big closet, and walkway...will post the other half when we are even close to being done with things there. Lots to hang on the wall, rearrange, and figure out...but I love how it's coming...

And there ya have it...for your Monday night viewing pleasure...

Heat Wave

Just a few minutes to update tonight. I am in between more projects and anxious to finish my bedroom redo soon. :)

Today we had a heat wave. Almost 70 degrees. Weird. Though, not weird if you live in Florida or Texas or some other warm weather state. But weird if you live in Ohio. In case you didn't know, Ohio is not known for warm winters. :)

Because it was so warm today, I jumped at the chance to finally paint my dresser. It has been sitting in the garage waiting for a warm enough day because it is too heavy to haul into the basement to paint. Dresser painted-check. Ready to move into our room tomorrow. HOORAY! Slowly but surely, it is coming together.

I can't wait to post pictures...I can't wait to TAKE pictures! :) Putting together this room has been SO MUCH FUN. Even Brandon is really excited how it looks...I love it. This HAS to be my favorite room in the house. It feels like the retreat I have wanted for so long. And I am not even done yet...I can't wait to see the finished product.

Enough about that...

Off to paint some more...
Night.

From the rear end

FRUSTRATING.

I went out to return a movie tonight. I turned left from my street and stopped at a red light a few feet later.

Next thing I know, BASH, and my rearview mirror went flying. A car had rear ended me going full speed.

I must say I am not the most calm person when reacting to these types of incidents. I was shaking and felt very disoriented, even though I wasn't injured.

The woman who hit me came up and smoked her cigarette in my face. NEVER apologized. But what she DID do is say that I could go ahead and go. (like, LEAVE the scene...)

Um...no.

I think I said "WHAT??" to her about 8 times when she said that. I then called 911. She got all huffy and in my face because she INSISTED I WAS STOPPED AT A GREEN LIGHT. Whatever...absolutely not true. In fact, when she did hit me I REMEMBER seeing the red light because I glanced all around and wasn't sure what had happened.

Her airbag deployed (is this the right word??) and her front end was pretty badly smashed. When she hit me, she actually had to back UP, to get our cars apart--and I heard the metal scraping then. It was painful.

Painful because we only have one car.

Painful because it now will have to be repaired--in the shop for an unspecified amount of time.

My neck hurts, my movies are now past due, and my car is sitting with a mangled rear end in my driveway. :)

What a bummer.

I called my insurance company to report this and make sure they contact the other driver's insurance company. I sure hope they don't raise my rates because of this. That would totally stink...especially since I never knew what was even coming!

This whole thing has totally worn me out...and I am now going to go to sleep (in my NEW sheets under my NEW comforter!! Thanks for all your post Christmas sale shopping advice. It worked!!)

Night.

Merry Christmas to all...

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM US!

We had a great Christmas! Unfortunately it started at about 5 a.m. We held out for an hour before Jenna woke up and joined Kaden--and then we just woke Spencer up so we could get the show on the road. :)

Santa was good to the kids this year. He shopped clearance and yard sales and ended up with some really great finds. :) Gee, sounds like we have a lot in common.

Stockings were fun this year. My cousin Necia is SO talented and can whip up the CUTEST crafts! She made me dolls to look like each child--they are SO cute! The kids LOVE THEM--even Spencer has been seen clutching his around the house. So sweet!

Jenna got a Rose Petal Cottage--we love this! (we got it 70% off!) It stores on half inside the other so it is more compact, but has a door, windows and a chimney. SO CUTE.

And Kaden got the Little People Village (I have been holding onto this toy for a year and a half--it was brand new from a yard sale and too good a deal to pass up. But was waiting for the right time) Spencer is actually hooked on this toy as well. He went RIGHT to it on Christmas morning. It was quite funny.

Checking out the stockings...

Sweet Spencer got a rocking horse--that's actually got enough space for all the kids. :) They've had fun with that.

Kaden loved to open gifts. So much so, that he opened his from Jenna the day before by poking it enough times that a big hole was made and he saw what was inside. I could also tell he enjoyed opening presents when he opened Brandon's one and only gift under the tree...sorry Brandon. Maybe next year you can have something to unwrap. :) (we had a couple family gifts that he helped open, but he and I got one gift each and that was it.)

Checking out his stocking...and Jenna getting excited over it!

Jenna was SO jittery on Christmas Eve. Full of anticipation. It was wonderful! :) She had already climbed in bed when I snuck in and asked if she wanted to put out cookies and carrots. She jumped out and ran in. Half eggnog, half milk was set out for Santa and some cookies and carrots (got to include treats for the reindeer). In the moring Santa had written her a note back. It was very cute.

In the past, my family has had a tradition of having cold cereal for breakfast. It was such a big deal growing up, and every Christmas we each got our own box of cereal on Christmas morning. I LOVED this tradition. But anymore, cereal is commonplace and I just couldn't see adding more to the stockpile we have already. So, that tradition was put on hold...and we were left to find a new breakfast option for Christmas morning.

I happened to have already cooked waffles in the freezer, so I popped them in the microwave and made our own reindeer french toast. Now, this was REALLY improvised...and had I put more than 30 seconds into planning the design I might have come up with something better. But here was our first attempt. Kind of funny really...thinking what I can use for antlers if we do it again. :)

I got a nap...what better present can one ask for?? But it wasn't just me that needed one...apparently a couple guys snuck in some zzz's on the couch that afternoon...

What a great day full of eating, relaxing, snoozing, family chats, and more eating, snoozing, relaxing. It was a great day...a really, really great day. I am so happy to have my little family and be part of such a great extended family. And I am especially grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ, whose birth and LIFE we celebrate this season,

Merry Christmas...

Christmas in the making...

FINALLY...pictures.

I still need to post pics from the days preceding this, but I've got to do this while it's fresh in my mind. :)

We have had a good couple days. Lots of goodie making, candy eating, and tradition keeping. Had to start with our famous annual Corn Flake wreath. Brandon is the pro in this department and therefore named the head wreath maker.

Here's what goes into our wreath.
We made a bunch of small ones to take to our neighbors.

To add to our goodie plate we made some homemade caramels (recipe thanks to my friend Mindy from Apron Girls) that were DELICIOUS. They made me lose all self-control. :)

And it wouldn't be Christmas without the traditional gingerbread house. Even though we were a month late in getting this done, we finally got the chance. Brandon mixed the frosting, I put it on, and the kids decorated like crazy. I helped for a little bit, but it became very apparent that the kids just wanted to do their own thing, so I sat back and watched them at work. They did a magnificent job! Though, it did make me want to get my own kit and decorate it...it looked like so much fun. :)

And...um....how nutritious is this? DRINKING from the sprinkle container? This kind of thing could only fly at Christmas. :) And if you didn't notice Jenna actually drinking because you were so dang distracted by the nasty aqua tile on our kitchen wall, please take note that I have added that to my list of projects to take care of this Christmas break. :) DRIVING ME NUTS!

I ventured out to get a few last minute things on Christmas Eve--huge, HUGE mistake. PEOPLE EVERYWHERE. Cars EVERYWHERE. It was a madhouse. :) When I got home we went to work making our big Christmas Eve dinner. I even got to open a present early to assist in the cooking...a nice, big stockpot from Brandon's parents. THANK YOU!

We had the sister missionaries and another lady from church over for dinner. It was a nice, relaxed meal with tons of good food...ham, green bean casserole, candied carrots, real mashed potatoes, deviled eggs, egg nog...mmm.....

And what Christmas meal would be complete without ROLLS? I must admit that this was probably my FAVORITE year in the roll department. You see, when I went out to run my few errands yesterday I had accepted the fact that because it took so long for me to get done, I would just have to get some store bought rolls. Kind of disappointing because there is nothing like homemade for the holiday season. As I was turning in by the grocery store, the flicker from the sign lighting up Texas Roadhouse caught my eye and I got a brilliant plan. Within minutes I was walking out with 2 dozen fresh Texas roadhouse rolls and cinnamon butter. It was my $7 Christmas Eve splurge and worth EVERY SINGLE PENNY. If you haven't had these, you are missing out. THEY ARE AMAZING. :)

We all ate to our hearts (and thighs) content...meal prep was laid back and easy--we had a good time together. (and I am seriously considering the Texas Roadhouse rolls as a tradition. It really took a lot out of meal prep and I was grateful for that. :))

Then we all got ready for bed--Jenna fought the bedtime jitters that come with the anticipation of the man in the big red suit will be stopping by. Cookies and carrots were left, notes were written, and the "elves" went to work assembling Santa's goods...who knew that being Santa was so much work? Whew...

Christmas day post coming soon...

Duvet Dilemas

Still no pictures. Wrapping presents tonight. Have been running all day.

Why?

Bedding.

Brandon agreed (at my suggestion) that for Christmas I could get new bedding to help "transform" our bedroom. That's my gift from him...and I am thrilled. I am all about practical, useful gifts--even if I know about them ahead of time. :) Now, when I WASN'T going to be able to get anything new I found TONS of beddings sets I wanted. But now that I CAN, I can't find ANYTHING I like that is in my price range. Or if I do, it's dry clean only (and to be honest, having kids and having a dry clean only bedspread would be tragic--at least for us. You never know when someone is going to come in throwing up at night or have an accident, or rub dirty hands on it.) And if it IS in my price range and IS machine washable, it either doesn't feel NICE, or is the wrong colors.

Blast this gift. :)

jk. It just means I have been frantically looking for the RIGHT thing. No success.

And I have been pretty much everywhere I can think of. It's driving me nuts.

Anyone have a stellar suggestion or recommendation for a duvet cover/comforter that you just LOVE or a place to find one that is GOOD quality and affordable?

Would really love to figure this out in time for Christmas... :)

The calender is wrong...

The calender is wrong. At least that's what I am telling myself.

While watching the news today we heard the weatherman talking about tomorrow being Christmas Eve.

Brandon and I both looked at each other in shock.

TOMORROW? Christmas EVE?

UM...I'm sorry...did I see that right? I think someone pushed fast forward on life. Tomorrow is really December 4...still a good couple weeks until the big day. It HAS to be.

Presents to wrap now...meal to prepare...and so few days until the year is over and a new one starts. A new year with new challenges, new adventures, older ages, new discoveries...

I do not know why I have this attachment to the year all of a sudden. STOP, TIME...PLEASE STOP. Let us just enjoy these moments a little longer. Let us enjoy the music and lights. Let us have lots more time together as a family...Let us enjoy these wonderful children right now, their awesome excitement, their big hugs and silly giggles...right this second. But let that second last forever.

Tomorrow is not Christmas Eve. It can't be. I am in complete denial...until our company shows up for dinner. :)

Today, today...

Still no pics...

Busy day.

Shopping as a family--lots of fun. Brandon asked me how I did that by myself. :) I just smiled.

Ran lots of errands. Brandon built the shelves in the basement. One project down. :)

Don't know why but I feel so exhausted tonight. Lots of goodie making fun tomorrow, and then off to meet our neighbors and take them plates of tasty treats.

Good night...

Feelin' lazy

I have pictures to sort through and post, and things to write about--but quite frankly I feel too lazy to do so right now! :)

We had a really good weekend. With our company gone, we have been getting back to the normal routine around here. While having visitors is fun, I was really looking forward to time just spent as a family...it feels like it has been SO long (between moving and tests and then having visitors). We had a blast last week--and this weekend it felt nice to just lay low and not have big plans. And I FINALLY got to start my projects. My headboard is painted--and in my bedroom. And let me tell you that DANG, IT LOOKS GOOD! I love it! Remember how Brandon wanted it light? He changed his tune when he saw it finished...It looks a trillion times better! I can't wait to finish all the other pieces for our bedroom and get decorating!! :) HOORAY!

Saturday we had homemade pizza and watched a movie in the evening. And today we went to church and then just relaxed and got the house picked up.

I cannot believe Christmas is this week. Where has the time gone? I am looking forward to carrying out our normal holiday traditions...though, this will be the first year without being with any family. Kind of different...

Anyway, just thought I would check in. Sorry to sound like a bump on a log...I kind of feel like that right now and nothin' fun is coming to me...

Just needed to write...

Back for more, with pictures, tomorrow...

Santa, goodies, and Disney on Ice!

Whew! So much to write about!!

We had a pretty busy day on Thursday. In the morning we went to a party we were invited to through an early learning program--we thought it would be a carnival of some sort and were pretty excited. Instead, it was totally BUST! b.o.r.i.n.g. :) But we went mainly to see the big man in the red suit since I was certainly not going to take the kids to the mall this year.

Well, big man in red suit ended up being the most "different" Santa we have ever encountered. First off, he was black. Second, he was in his 20's....noticeably. Third, his tall "elf" friend followed him around prompting him on what to say--"ask the kid what he wants for Christmas..." and "say ho, ho, ho" were only a few of the lines he repeated.

It was bizarre. Really, really bizarre. But for this year it will have to do. :)


When Jenna saw Santa she asked if she could tell him what she wanted for Christmas. OUT OF NOWHERE came the request for a BABY GOTTA-GO DOLL. My sweet, sweet Jenna did this to me last year too. Only a few days before Christmas insisted that she was going to get a pink Barbie from Santa. Well, Santa delivered. This time, however, we have not the means or INTENTION of getting one of these Gotta go dolls. For one, I think it looks like the absolute MOST RIDICULOUS doll ever. For another thing, it's almost $50. Hoping she is thrilled with the goodies she will get...

Whew...moving on.

After our lame-o party we got the kids put down for naps and relaxed for a little bit. Eventually Melinda and I went shopping to get some treats for that night and find little gifts for the kids. I remembered taking Jenna to see Sesame Street Live and all the vendors they had there--I remembered how sad Jenna was that everyone else had something, but her. And I remembered my SHOCKED facial expression when I saw how much things were.

I don't think kids always need to have SOMETHING and we certainly could have gone without last night. But I WANTED the kids to have a memorable time...and to feel like they were on top of the world!

So, I went to the store with a plan...find something to give during intermission so they would feel included. I am pretty proud of what we came up with....

The loot: We bought these drink bottles at Walmart for about $5.00, The bottom of the bottle has a snack compartment, so we loaded it with cars fruit snacks and Cinderella fruit snacks (respectively) so the kids could have a neat treat during the snow. When we got to the Disney On Ice show, sure enough there were character cups for $12.
And this has to have been the BEST purchase of the night! We came across this in the party section at Walmart--a FLASHING tiara! Total cost? .96 cents. Yes, less than a DOLLAR! For a rockin', FLASHING tiara!
I kid you not when I say that almost the EXACT SAME ONE was sold for $10 at the show. Jenna was SO thrilled to have her own!! For Kaden we bought one of those glow in the dark necklaces (also at Walmart) for less than a dollar. Worked perfect.

I am so glad we did this. It seriously was like Christmas morning watching them hold their new things and be at the show....and we did it without breaking the bank. :)

When we got to the show, we got to see all the princess gowns--they were GORGEOUS!

And the kids even got to meet Belle in person. She was a GREAT Belle!! :) And Jenna was in awe that she was waving and smiling at her. :)

During the show...everyone looked so cute watching! We started the show with Mickey and Minnie, Donald amd Goofy. And then they went to showing off the CARS characters. SOOO FUN!



Then the Little Mermaid came out and did they part (each section was probably 10-20 minutes highlighting that particular disney movie)
And the Lion King--Kaden was VERY excited about this one. he kept saying "KING, KING!"

Kaden was getting restless and I didn't get any more pictures after that--too busy juggling things on my lap--him in the chair--etc. But it was amazing! We got to see Tinkerbell and some more show. FABULOUS....FABULOUS SHOW! Everything was so well done. Costumes, skating, props. It was all awesome.

This is Jenna in her pj's. She asked Brandon to take her picture with her crown by her new drink bottle. :) What a silly girl.
We really had a great time...everyone came home and slept well.

It's hard to believe time is flying so quickly. This break is going to be over before we know it and I just don't know if I am ready!! Got to enjoy every second while it's here...

The recipe for today...

RECIPE FOR West Side Market Fun.

Take 3 kids, 2 moms, 1 minivan, and a trip to the West Side Market. Add some dried fruit and lots of fresh samples. Mix in a couple fits. Sprinkle with some fresh baked Christmas cookies and a raspberry chocolate cheesecake from one of our favorite bakers there.

RECIPE FOR decorating sugar cookies...

Take sugar cookies that have been premade by cousin and frosting that comes from a can. (at least when you're in a pinch)
Have 3 guys spread frosting...
Make a couple to eat later...

And let the creativity roll...Must include small children in the festivities, :)

Smear 1 baby with black and green frosting. Let sit while decorating continues.

Be sure to taste little bits of frosting now and then for quality control.

Place frosted cookies on baking sheet for up to 24 hours--because after that they will be GONE! :) YUM!!

RECIPE FOR FUN in the toy room:

INGREDIENTS:

2 moms

2 dads

5 kids

lots of toys

room to play

***Please note, This recipe is quite simple but may involve lots of jumping, running, and tackling.

Add some crawling, standing, and climbing.

Use 2 handfuls of Little People.

And a couple good books.

Play for approximately one hour. Laugh, tickle, chase. Love every minute of watching everyone have fun.

RECIPE FOR BOREDOM BUSTERS:

Ingredients:

1 super fun, low quality pizza joint whose mascot is a mouse. Separate the Pizza part from the arcade part and only use the arcade in this recipe.

$10 in tokens (this will equal 100 tokens)

Several games of Skee Ball, hoops, and other misc. games

5 kids

4 adults who felt like kids

Once you see that your day is not NEARLY over and you are wondering how to fill the time, go to your local Chuck E. Cheese and use a coupon for a LOT of tokens. Place all the kids and all the adults in one play area. Add all in games one at a time. Fold in lots of smiles, a few tears, and an all around successful afternoon.

Reserve the 5 children and place in bed where they will quickly fall fast asleep by 8:00 p.m. Pray they will all actually sleep through the night tonight.

Ahhh....what a crazy, hectic, exhausting day.

Eyes are closing as I type. Good night!! :)