airing my clean laundry

There's a point where efficiency ("I'll wait so I can take it upstairs in one trip.") turns to laziness. I juuuuust might be there.

A weird little sidenote: I posted this and got to thinkin' that I had already used this title before, so I went to the archives. Almost exactly one year ago, I had. But last year, it was dirty. This year, clean. What does it all mean? :)

Does it mean that I am as redundant as they come? Does it mean that I am making strides in the world of homemaking? Does it mean that I am as redundant as they come? :)

I think what it really means is the laundry always win. Clean or dirty.

 

masterpiece

This is how our mantle looked for over a year. Lonely and in need of a friend. I just couldn't commit to anything... the things I did like weren't exactly in the budget. So I decided that Hayes and I would make our own masterpiece. :)

I bought a canvas and some paint at Hobby Lobby (when the art supplies were on sale, of course) and we went to work. Hayes did most of it. I just tried to clean it up a bit.

We shall call it "Transportation."

So there you go... an inexpensive way to create with your kids and bring a little fun to your decor. And when you're ready for a change, you aren't out a huge amount of money. Just grab a new canvas and an eager little artist and create another one.

watering flowers

let your light shine down...

Babe.

Do you honestly think I would be ok with this lighting setup?

A perfect example of what I am up against in the home decor department. And the funny thing is this concoction probably never crossed his mind for being a little um, off.

Seriously.

no boys allowed!

I was putting off posting pictures of the kids' rooms until they were finished but well, let's face it, that's not gonna happen anytime soon. So I'll show you the progress we've made so far.

Ellie loves her new room and has taken to her big girl bed like a pro.

This room is what I like to call Pottery Barn on a budget. I couldn't imagine (let's be honest, afford) forking over the money for the bedskirt that went with the bedding. It was practically the same price as the quilt! Yes, it was absoultely adorable but come on PB, it's just a bedskirt! So I found this pink one at Target for $20.

There are plans for a canopy over the top part of the bed. Once Kyle has time to recreate this, the bed will no longer look like it needs a headboard. I found some old door knobs at ReStore that we will paint and use to hold the material in place.

Kyle created these trees after I showed him some Pottery Barn tree decals that were $90 a piece. As if! I found some scrapbook stickers to finish them off. Let's hope curious little hands leave them alone.

This lonely little Ikea table and chairs need some friends! Eventually, we will add a white night stand, dresser and vanity. She has a large closet with drawers so she doesn't need the extra storage just yet. And like the boys' room, I want to add a blackout roman shade to her window.

no girls allowed!

When we were house hunting last year, I knew it was going to be hard for Hayes to move away from both of his grandparents. We were praying for just the right house for our family, one that everyone would be excited to move into... even Hayes. When I walked into this room for the first time, I knew that train going around the ceiling just might do the trick!

He loves his room, even more so now that he gets to share it with Embry.

Kyle's dad made this amazing dresser. The changing table part will come off as soon as everyone is out of diapers. Does anyone know of a service where you can pay someone to potty train your kids? :)

Two more projects for this room. The mailboxes and the window. Once I figure out a way to personalize the mailboxes and get my hands on this striped roman shade on ebay for half price, we'll call it finished!

splish splash, ready for a bath

As I was taking pictures of the kids' rooms (finally), I realized I've never posted our upstairs bathroom pictures. When we moved in, it was a 1980s beach lover's dream come true with more flip flops, beach balls and umbrellas you could ever dream of. Or not. Here is the clean slate once we were ready to get things rolling... see the little flip flop rug down there at the bottom? Buh bye!

Here's what we came up with:

My parents were studs during this project. You'll notice that the shiny white tile is no longer shiny, white tile. My parents found some great tile just lying in the back yard of one of my mom's foreclosures. It was going to be trashed anyway, so it found its way to our house! Thanks Dad for making it look so great!

We got rid of the popcorn ceiling (woo! hoo!) and my mom textured the walls. After some paint, crown molding and bead board, it looks so much better. When you're on a budget, you have to get creative and work with what you have. For instance, the counter. I would have loved to put a darker granite down but instead I just replaced the faucet to update the look. I found this one on Overstock.com for $50.

Speaking of budget, all the accessories were so cheap because I either made them myself or found them at Ikea. Who loves Ikea? I do! I do! :)

The art hanging over the toilet was just a $5 wood frame that needed a piece of fabric stapled over it.

These picture frames were Ikea bargains. I just bought some scrapbook paper for the background and added pictures to finish them off.

I found these towel hooks at World Market and my dad secured them onto the wood. I thought it turned out really cute.

I bought this lamp and lampshade from Target and painted the white shade to coordinate with the towels. I needed something to hide the lamp cord so I just framed this 'friendly little reminder' with leftover paper I had from the hanging pictures.

finally...

back to normal.

eighteen days, people.

airing my dirty laundry

So it appears if you give your full time and attention to one project, other projects tend to fall to the wayside. Especially ones that typically require daily attention. I was hoping the laundry would magically wash, dry and put itself away. No such luck.

check.

Clean out closet so you can walk in again.

Check.

Ahhh, that feels good.

I give it a week.

here kitty, kitty

While unloading groceries from the car last night, I walked into the kitchen to discover a cat. Well, hello there kitty, what can I do for ya? I had to hold him outside while Kyle closed the garage door because the little thing was determined to make his way back in.

When Kyle left this morning at 6, I heard meowing in the garage. Sure enough, Mr. Cat managed to get back in. Poor guy is probably hungry... or cold... or lonely. I'm hoping he didn't belong to the people that just moved out next door.

He was hanging around to greet Embry, Ellie and I when we got back from dropping Hayes off at school today. This is how much my kids have been around cats... they were scared and running away and then became brave enough to offer him leaves. You know, like the hungry caterpillar.

Please cat, go back home or find someone who can take you in. I don't know how much longer I can not feed you. Kyle would shoot me if I did!

i spy a mess

This reminds of a page from an I-Spy book. I'm trying to figure out how this happens. Were we hit by a tornado I didn't know about? An earthquake? It blows my mind that three kids can do this much damage in a matter of hours. Do they purposely attempt to cover every inch of the carpet? I don't know, but I do know that I am so thankful that we have a place to contain the madness!

don't get me wrong

I love our house... more space than we've had for a loooong time, well ever actually. But there are a few things that really date it like the popcorn ceiling for one. Ugh. I want it gone but I think we will gradually get rid of it as we redo rooms. Embry and Ellie like to scratch it off upstairs in the playroom where the ceiling slopes and it drives me nuts! And then there is the kitchen lighting and backsplash and the bathrooms. Oh the bathrooms. The upstairs bathroom is first up on the agenda. Thanks to Andrew and Laura, it is now ready to get things going. Thanks guys!

I should have taken a picture of it before the wallpaper came down. It was straight from the eighties. See the cutesy little flip flop rug? Imagine dozens of mini flip flops, beach towels, balls and umbrellas all over the place with matching shower curtain, shower curtain hooks, towels and suntan bottle soap dispenser. All it was missing was the puff paint on the towels.

With Kyle's work schedule, it has been pretty much impossible to make headway on house projects. So hopefully we can find the time to get these projects knocked out before it's time to move in five years!

Also on the agenda? Haircut.

Highlight of today?

By far, having a special donut date with this guy after we dropped Embry & Ellie off at school.