Having worked at a home improvement store for 5+years and my husband even longer, we both have the theoretical knowledge to get through too many DIY projects in our house for our own good. That pretty much means we have grand plans for every single area of the house in the long term plan.
The problem I run into is absolutely the lack of hands between the two of us. For nearly every project we have tackled in home remodel we have had volunteers. I am so thankful for the helpers in our lives. It has ranged from child wranglers to demo enthusiasts to go-fers to all-out-builders. I'm even more grateful for them now that we live so far away from them all. The vast majority of our help is now a 3 hour or longer drive away. They still come when they are able. We have an amazing support system that goes (clearly very far) out of their way for us.
Showing posts with label Home. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Home. Show all posts
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Thankfulness 2013: Day Nineteen
Those little monsters that are always underfoot...seriously, they are TRYING to kill you. Well, either that or simply wanting to be as close to your lap at all times. They leave so many messes for you and never learn how to clean up after themselves. They are lifetime toddlers, and they are loved regardless. I'm so thankful for pets. Right now we have a small dog, Nala, and as of yesterday we have a beta fish again.
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| Nala is rarely far enough away from my feet to take a photo...let alone still enough. |
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| Cookie (at least she is using names other than their species common name) is a lovely CrownTail male betta. His bowl is much prettier now that he has left his pet store cup. |
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| See? Pretty bowl for Cookie, I swear. |
Friday, November 15, 2013
Thankfulness 2013: Day Fifteen
I am so lucky to have my own little space in our house besides my side of the bed. I am thankful for my craft area! It is my get-away when I need a little creative outlet that doesn't involve infant and toddler toys.
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| My Home (within my home)... |
Friday, November 1, 2013
Thankfulness 2013: Day One
This is a year full of firsts in our house because we moved in less than two weeks into this year. So for the day after Halloween:
I'm so thankful for the family-friendly neighborhoods we live in the center of!
We went from a college neighborhood (two blocks from the university and surrounded by apartments), that partied all year long and didn't participate in holidays in a way that the children could participate, to our new suburb filled with families of all ages who celebrate holidays with lights, decorations, and trick-or-treating even. We were able to walk rather than drive last night to enjoy the holiday that is so fun for kids who want to show off their costumes and of course get treats.
It is just such a nice change to have such a calm area!
I'm so thankful for the family-friendly neighborhoods we live in the center of!
We went from a college neighborhood (two blocks from the university and surrounded by apartments), that partied all year long and didn't participate in holidays in a way that the children could participate, to our new suburb filled with families of all ages who celebrate holidays with lights, decorations, and trick-or-treating even. We were able to walk rather than drive last night to enjoy the holiday that is so fun for kids who want to show off their costumes and of course get treats.
It is just such a nice change to have such a calm area!
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Craft Room Overhaul
In our seemingly endless unpacking adventures, rooms get put together rather slowly. So the original setup of rooms gets changed over and over again. They also get cleaned from top to bottom multiple times this way (about the only time I'll get to say that).
I just wanted to show off what happens when shelving is finally unpacked and utilized in a craft room!
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| Garage durability shelving (Rubbermaid @ Home Depot) |
My husband gave me some of his shelving when he got a new, large tool box with work surface on top as his all-holiday gift (well, Father's Day and on at least). I have an amazingly thoughtful husband (who took my concerns over the weight on the old wooden shelves seriously enough to ease my fears of broken bones when they eventually were going to fall on my legs...). He even cut that bottom 4' shelf in half to accomodate my taller items that I didn't want shoved next to the furnace that is not in the picture.
I've been LOVING my papercrafting of cards for all of our events so far this year. I haven't purchased a card yet in 2013 and I'm THRILLED about it. (That table isn't clean very often because there is always a project on it.)
Here's to happy crafting everyone!
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Family Rooms
When we lived in our old house (starter house for us), there wasn't any extra rooms. We had our room, Alyssa's room, the bathroom, kitchen, laundry/furnace room, and the living/dining combo.
Now we have all that PLUS a basement! Oh, and a whole third bedroom (where the laundry/furnace was in the old house is a bedroom in this house and that was relocated to the basement here...seriously, it is funny how very similar layout this house is with a mere addition of a second level)!
What can we do with all this extra space? Well, we definitely can fill it....They usually call it a Family Room nowadays. The upstairs living room is considered the 'formal living room' and the basement is a Rec or Family room. Here is the kids' half:
Yes, that is just under half of the family room filled with kid things.
The couch that you can barely see is the invisible barrier signal that toys SHALL NOT PASS (says Momma every night just after picking up the half of the room not shown). There is a tv for movies across from the couch and the other half of the room is currently emptied of boxes but not furnished. I have such grand plans...Momma plans....
In the meantime, I love our kids' side.
Did you see our Ikea storage for crafting/coloring supplies? The chalk/colors are in lockboxes in those pop-out drawers so there will be less chance of wall coloring rather than table or color books. I love these things and they just look so fun!
Regardless of what a parent thinks of the kids' play areas...they always enjoy moving out of there whenever possible. Toys are like invasive species that way...they hitchhike rides from unsuspecting toddlers. Notice the lacing boards beginning the trek from one end of the room, along the couch, and eventually they'll make it across there to the unfurnished area. Sneaky things, those toys.
I'm still thrilled to have this extra space to spread out to on rainy days like this week has been and is continuing to be.
Now we have all that PLUS a basement! Oh, and a whole third bedroom (where the laundry/furnace was in the old house is a bedroom in this house and that was relocated to the basement here...seriously, it is funny how very similar layout this house is with a mere addition of a second level)!
What can we do with all this extra space? Well, we definitely can fill it....They usually call it a Family Room nowadays. The upstairs living room is considered the 'formal living room' and the basement is a Rec or Family room. Here is the kids' half:
Yes, that is just under half of the family room filled with kid things.
The couch that you can barely see is the invisible barrier signal that toys SHALL NOT PASS (says Momma every night just after picking up the half of the room not shown). There is a tv for movies across from the couch and the other half of the room is currently emptied of boxes but not furnished. I have such grand plans...Momma plans....
In the meantime, I love our kids' side.
Did you see our Ikea storage for crafting/coloring supplies? The chalk/colors are in lockboxes in those pop-out drawers so there will be less chance of wall coloring rather than table or color books. I love these things and they just look so fun!
Regardless of what a parent thinks of the kids' play areas...they always enjoy moving out of there whenever possible. Toys are like invasive species that way...they hitchhike rides from unsuspecting toddlers. Notice the lacing boards beginning the trek from one end of the room, along the couch, and eventually they'll make it across there to the unfurnished area. Sneaky things, those toys.
I'm still thrilled to have this extra space to spread out to on rainy days like this week has been and is continuing to be.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Three Years Old and Always a Handful...
Our daughter has been working very hard to drive both Papa and Momma into the loony bin lately. Mostly she is just being Three(!) but the big issue happens to be her behavior with the animals. Nala, the poor little 9lbs dog that we have, is tormented nearly every waking moment that Alyssa can possibly spare in between bites of lunch and asking 209809845 versions of "why" a day. The cats barely leave the unfinished portion of the basement that is gated off (Sanctuary! Sanctuary!) when she is awake. Overall, Alyssa seems to have lost all of her listening skills when she is dealing with growling or hissing animals. Rather, she simply laughs, or shriek-giggles, in their faces and nearly gets bit.
Truly, she will learn one of these days that the nicer she is, the sooner the pets will actually come to her instead of running away.
So enter a new and fun issue...MESSES!
Monday--open a weight attached to a balloon, which happened to be sand, on the living room carpet.
Tuesday--Dawn poured out all over kitchen and dining room floors.
--soap in eye while washing it off hands....*sigh, Momma needs to make sure to put toddler's hair in ponytail before letting her wash her hands while cleaning up messes*
--Removes own dirty diaper and THEN yells for me....Thanks kid.
What will Wednesday bring me?? Hopefully a nap! I mean, I vacuumed on Monday and mopped on Tuesday...I should be good for the week, right? HA!
Truly, she will learn one of these days that the nicer she is, the sooner the pets will actually come to her instead of running away.
So enter a new and fun issue...MESSES!
Monday--open a weight attached to a balloon, which happened to be sand, on the living room carpet.
Tuesday--Dawn poured out all over kitchen and dining room floors.
--soap in eye while washing it off hands....*sigh, Momma needs to make sure to put toddler's hair in ponytail before letting her wash her hands while cleaning up messes*
--Removes own dirty diaper and THEN yells for me....Thanks kid.
What will Wednesday bring me?? Hopefully a nap! I mean, I vacuumed on Monday and mopped on Tuesday...I should be good for the week, right? HA!
Friday, February 8, 2013
A Typical Day....
Things are starting to settle into a predictable pattern finally.
Wyatt wakes up 2-3 times each night for bottles--what I consider 'night' for the kids though is Alyssa's bedtime until her 'green light' to get up rather than times I'm asleep though.
Alyssa gets up and rouses a tired Momma by yelling "Green Light, Momma!! It's GREEN LIGHT!" We get breakfast going and it must be eaten before going downstairs to play with the kitties who are still being acclimated to the new house and therefore are restricted to the downstairs temporarily.
Nala (the dog) gets tormented dozens-tens of dozens of times daily by a toddler who enjoys bullying the poor little dog. I'm waiting not-so-patiently for her to nip Alyssa's hand/arm to make her realize that pulling tails or grabbing fur on the back/sides is NOT a good idea. (Yes, I have tried all sorts of methods to get her to stop these actions and I am at a loss other than she is in need of the hard way of learning apparently for this one...*sigh*) Thankfully our poor, tormented dog is a little 1/2 chihuahua mix and has endured so much abuse from this girl without actually biting (lots of growling though) that I'm fairly confident that if she does get nipped it'll be a warning shot much like the two dog bites I've received from my large dog when I was growing up. Oh, did I forget to mention that she inherited her love of egging animals on from my toddler self? Yeah....sadly I had the hard lesson as well but it was a quick learn!
Papa gets up early and goes to work and is home in the late afternoon most days. This relieves a lot of my stress because this begins the downhill spiral towards bedtime that many parents of toddlers are well aware of.
Supper is hit or miss on how well the toddler behaves.
After supper is a crazy blur of anything from snuggles with a movie, downstairs playtime (tea anyone?), or meltdown modes over animal torture punishments. Any combination of those can be found around here on any given day of course. Thank goodness I've got at least a few months before I have to start scolding Wyatt for chasing the poor dog!
Any recommendations on a good toddler/doggy relationship therapist?
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Baby #2...We Aren't Ready!!
Here we go! We are in the last couple days before the new guy finally gets here and my physical body is the only thing actually ready for it.
The house is still in general chaos (what can I really expect having moved in roughly a week before Baby Boy joins us?). The crib isn't even assembled!! We don't have a crib mattress yet! Most of the baby stuff is in storage four hours away. The clothes that I have for him--admittedly sparse still--are still in the apartment along with the car seat (thankfully that isn't four hours away!). We just bought the first bottles for him Wednesday night (less than a week before he gets here remember and one of the first things you need for a bottle feeding baby!)...Can we say UNPREPARED, people??
While I am mostly concerning myself with the baby prep and the related house things that will make my life easier coming home from a c-section which I'm sure I'm working up into a much more horrific recovery than I need to-hopefully...My husband is dealing with the rest of our lives. He is basically a rock and even rocks can show cracks now and then. Between work (he is the first and only IT guy at his company and they are hitting major renovations pretty much RIGHT NOW), school (he is going for his BA, or maybe it'd be a BS in computer stuffs..yeah, I suck at technology), moving a family, and welcoming a baby and a recovering wuss of a wife home...well, let's just say that he deserves some kind of reward! Like something massive IMO...I figure I'm not "pushing" this time so maybe he needs the "Push Present" that I heard tales of last time.
So just to clarify...I am literally days (DAYS) away from delivery. We are still in moving process. My hubby is AMAZING. Oh, and he has drill just under an hour out of town this weekend...don't we have such wonderful timing? At least we made it past Christmas...wish us luck! Please?
The house is still in general chaos (what can I really expect having moved in roughly a week before Baby Boy joins us?). The crib isn't even assembled!! We don't have a crib mattress yet! Most of the baby stuff is in storage four hours away. The clothes that I have for him--admittedly sparse still--are still in the apartment along with the car seat (thankfully that isn't four hours away!). We just bought the first bottles for him Wednesday night (less than a week before he gets here remember and one of the first things you need for a bottle feeding baby!)...Can we say UNPREPARED, people??
While I am mostly concerning myself with the baby prep and the related house things that will make my life easier coming home from a c-section which I'm sure I'm working up into a much more horrific recovery than I need to-hopefully...My husband is dealing with the rest of our lives. He is basically a rock and even rocks can show cracks now and then. Between work (he is the first and only IT guy at his company and they are hitting major renovations pretty much RIGHT NOW), school (he is going for his BA, or maybe it'd be a BS in computer stuffs..yeah, I suck at technology), moving a family, and welcoming a baby and a recovering wuss of a wife home...well, let's just say that he deserves some kind of reward! Like something massive IMO...I figure I'm not "pushing" this time so maybe he needs the "Push Present" that I heard tales of last time.
So just to clarify...I am literally days (DAYS) away from delivery. We are still in moving process. My hubby is AMAZING. Oh, and he has drill just under an hour out of town this weekend...don't we have such wonderful timing? At least we made it past Christmas...wish us luck! Please?
Monday, January 7, 2013
Get Ready to MOVE! (with another sneak peek!)
Folks, I'm giddy.
Yes, between the euphoric high of finally having closed on our house, the painting, the project planning, AND furniture shopping because we now have two living spaces (living room and downstairs family room--soon to be overran with toys) with only one couch to our names, well, I have been in a planning/decorating state of giddy joy! Let's not forget that I am just eight days from having a son in the outside world rather than bouncing on my bladder on top of all this. (Oh shit...only 8?!)
My mom and aunt came down this weekend and tore through the house with rollers and brushes in hand and what we thought would be months of us working around furniture and kids became a project in the DONE list instead!! I had to run out and buy the paint for the other rooms when they got here because they tore through what we happened to have purchased for the two kids' rooms so FAST! Original plan was that Chris would be painting Alyssa's room this past weekend and we would be lucky to get that much done before moving everything tomorrow (Tuesday). In actuality, those two women showed up 3-4 hours from their homes and got Alyssa's room, Baby's room's base color, our room, dining room, hallway, and living room ALL painted! My contribution was sadly just taping what I could reach without use of a ladder/step stool, keeping a toddler as out-of-the-way as possible, and I got to help with the dots in her room too. So useless when you can barely catch your breath standing still!
Last night we went furniture shopping for the main living room so that we have seating for the various people that are already trying to plan trips down here to meet the little guy--yay...hostessing while fresh into recovery in a new place...Gah!-- Anyways, we found a great setup that I am loving! My husband loves that I stayed very much under budget (30-40% depending on if you consider taxes and delivery in the budget which he usually does not when he gives me a number to stick to) and still got him a recliner in the mix.
I'll get pictures up once we get them delivered and set up in the new house (and have internet over there!). I'd add the recliner in here but the pictures online are kind of awful and I can't find one that shows how well the 'leather' matches the other 'leathers' of these pieces...so y'all will have to wait with the baited breath I know you've got going. (HA)
In the meantime, bear with what will likely be a very sporadic next couple of weeks. I'll post updates as possible on the house. I'll certainly introduce y'all to our boy next week and hopefully it will be coherent while I'm on the lovely pain meds that I'm told accompany a c-section. Otherwise you may find a small craft post mixed in here and there from my folder of to-be-posted stuff just waiting to be shared with y'all. The big move begins tomorrow so the next few days will be CRAZY HECTIC and hopefully super fun too! I'll see y'all when I get internet up at the house!
*Photo credit: Love seat and Sofa
*Photo credit: Coffee Table
**We got all our pieces at Ashley but their site didn't have all of them pictured for me to share directly from them. I have not been asked by anyone at any company to share their products with my audience and do so only because of my own excitement at a new home purchase and love of decorating!
Yes, between the euphoric high of finally having closed on our house, the painting, the project planning, AND furniture shopping because we now have two living spaces (living room and downstairs family room--soon to be overran with toys) with only one couch to our names, well, I have been in a planning/decorating state of giddy joy! Let's not forget that I am just eight days from having a son in the outside world rather than bouncing on my bladder on top of all this. (Oh shit...only 8?!)
My mom and aunt came down this weekend and tore through the house with rollers and brushes in hand and what we thought would be months of us working around furniture and kids became a project in the DONE list instead!! I had to run out and buy the paint for the other rooms when they got here because they tore through what we happened to have purchased for the two kids' rooms so FAST! Original plan was that Chris would be painting Alyssa's room this past weekend and we would be lucky to get that much done before moving everything tomorrow (Tuesday). In actuality, those two women showed up 3-4 hours from their homes and got Alyssa's room, Baby's room's base color, our room, dining room, hallway, and living room ALL painted! My contribution was sadly just taping what I could reach without use of a ladder/step stool, keeping a toddler as out-of-the-way as possible, and I got to help with the dots in her room too. So useless when you can barely catch your breath standing still!
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| I don't think the living room will ever photograph right...so trust me when I say I LOVE how it turned out. Legacy UL250-22 (Behr) |
Last night we went furniture shopping for the main living room so that we have seating for the various people that are already trying to plan trips down here to meet the little guy--yay...hostessing while fresh into recovery in a new place...Gah!-- Anyways, we found a great setup that I am loving! My husband loves that I stayed very much under budget (30-40% depending on if you consider taxes and delivery in the budget which he usually does not when he gives me a number to stick to) and still got him a recliner in the mix.
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| Couch |
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| Love seat |
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| Hubby's favorite: Coffee table with 4 stools (extra seating!) |
In the meantime, bear with what will likely be a very sporadic next couple of weeks. I'll post updates as possible on the house. I'll certainly introduce y'all to our boy next week and hopefully it will be coherent while I'm on the lovely pain meds that I'm told accompany a c-section. Otherwise you may find a small craft post mixed in here and there from my folder of to-be-posted stuff just waiting to be shared with y'all. The big move begins tomorrow so the next few days will be CRAZY HECTIC and hopefully super fun too! I'll see y'all when I get internet up at the house!
*Photo credit: Love seat and Sofa
*Photo credit: Coffee Table
**We got all our pieces at Ashley but their site didn't have all of them pictured for me to share directly from them. I have not been asked by anyone at any company to share their products with my audience and do so only because of my own excitement at a new home purchase and love of decorating!
Sunday, January 6, 2013
I'm still here...now with a house!
So in the interest of not disappearing on y'all...We have closed on our house finally!
This process was a long thing and very stressful but now we have our new home to fix up while we settle in (with a mere eleven days before Baby is supposed to arrive--and this is a no-later-than time frame). We were lucky that even with the delays between banks, underwriters, and the general "short sale" process that we actually got to sign before Baby came. That fact gave us time to paint this weekend! People...you will not believe the amount of painting that got done just yesterday. Seriously! My mom and aunt made a last minute choice to make the four hour drive to paint with my husband. We both were blown away by the tornado of accomplishment that they brought with them! Chris and I figured we would get Alyssa's room done and MAYBE a base coat in Baby's room...My mom and aunt were able to get through Alyssa's room, most of the living room, the dining area and are tackling two more rooms this morning before heading back. I can't believe how much the place improves just with paint.
I actually had to go buy the living room paint when they got here to make their trip worth it...Crazy, right? So today we are headed back to the house to get Alyssa's POLKA DOTS (pink, purple, teal, and bright green) up on two of her walls, along with other rooms' finishing coats/touches and possibly some painting in the other two rooms of the upstairs.
I swear I'll get some pictures up soon! (I hope)
This process was a long thing and very stressful but now we have our new home to fix up while we settle in (with a mere eleven days before Baby is supposed to arrive--and this is a no-later-than time frame). We were lucky that even with the delays between banks, underwriters, and the general "short sale" process that we actually got to sign before Baby came. That fact gave us time to paint this weekend! People...you will not believe the amount of painting that got done just yesterday. Seriously! My mom and aunt made a last minute choice to make the four hour drive to paint with my husband. We both were blown away by the tornado of accomplishment that they brought with them! Chris and I figured we would get Alyssa's room done and MAYBE a base coat in Baby's room...My mom and aunt were able to get through Alyssa's room, most of the living room, the dining area and are tackling two more rooms this morning before heading back. I can't believe how much the place improves just with paint.
I actually had to go buy the living room paint when they got here to make their trip worth it...Crazy, right? So today we are headed back to the house to get Alyssa's POLKA DOTS (pink, purple, teal, and bright green) up on two of her walls, along with other rooms' finishing coats/touches and possibly some painting in the other two rooms of the upstairs.
I swear I'll get some pictures up soon! (I hope)
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Birthday Recaps and Wishes
Birthday Party Track Record
2011: Running, falling, massive split lip just after guests arrive (even cake and gifts were not fixing this one!)
2012: Well, we shall see....
No matter what happens with today's party, our first baby has turned THREE and I am so grateful to have her in our lives. She acts like a preteen with just a tiny bit less attitude issue most days and Papa and Momma are only scared of rather than dreading the decade worth of preteen-ness. The only thing missing are crushes and those can happily wait that decade!
Having Papa home this year makes this exciting for Momma because there won't be a rush to upload pictures or attempt to arrange a perfect skype call. There won't be the heavily mixed emotions of sadness and joy and trying to mask half of it to keep the day upbeat and happy for a birthday girl. Mostly though, it is exciting for that little girl and her Papa. They get to share the day together this time! Real hugs, real kisses, and real playtime with toys being handed back and forth rather than trying to shove them through the laptop screen!
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Big Week!
With Christmas pretty much done (we do have one more group rolling in this weekend for a mini holiday) we have to cruise right along into BIRTHDAY season!
This year Alyssa turns 3 and she is ready to eat her body weight in cake if we let her!
This year is going to be a small little party but we are used to that. Our family parties have been all but cancelled for her in the past. Born into the snowy winter, turned one during a blizzard where we made it to my grandparents' house just barely where the party was going to be (obviously no one else made it there), turned two and the blizzard held off until that night and was only slippery roads and light snow during the day (we called that a success because everyone made it to that party!). This year we aren't even asking family to come down. Between Christmas trips and shortly to be followed with at least a good chunk of them coming in January to meet the little boy...well, it seems pretty tough to pull off. Instead we are having a little friends party! Alyssa is SO EXCITED when you talk about parties but she has no idea what is in store for her this weekend.
There is a place near us that has those inflatable jumping things, you can take your kids (ten and under) to jump for a small fee and let them at it. We invited a couple other toddlers to join us there for a couple hours of jumping and then we will come back home to eat cupcakes and ice cream before the day is over. It should be a great time even with such a small group!
In the meantime we have plenty to keep us busy until Sunday. Monday we had our little Christmas Eve, Tuesday was the Santa Christmas and we went to Wreck It Ralph that night (big hit!), Wednesday some family came down for a playdate at Chuck E Cheese's, Thursday brings a growth ultrasound and doctor appointment, Friday we close on the house followed by buying paint and probably getting the first coat up in Alyssa's new room to prep for Saturday's painting too. We also have more family down Friday night to celebrate a mini holiday on Saturday and hopefully some extra hands painting too! That is plenty for one week, right??
This year Alyssa turns 3 and she is ready to eat her body weight in cake if we let her!
This year is going to be a small little party but we are used to that. Our family parties have been all but cancelled for her in the past. Born into the snowy winter, turned one during a blizzard where we made it to my grandparents' house just barely where the party was going to be (obviously no one else made it there), turned two and the blizzard held off until that night and was only slippery roads and light snow during the day (we called that a success because everyone made it to that party!). This year we aren't even asking family to come down. Between Christmas trips and shortly to be followed with at least a good chunk of them coming in January to meet the little boy...well, it seems pretty tough to pull off. Instead we are having a little friends party! Alyssa is SO EXCITED when you talk about parties but she has no idea what is in store for her this weekend.
There is a place near us that has those inflatable jumping things, you can take your kids (ten and under) to jump for a small fee and let them at it. We invited a couple other toddlers to join us there for a couple hours of jumping and then we will come back home to eat cupcakes and ice cream before the day is over. It should be a great time even with such a small group!
In the meantime we have plenty to keep us busy until Sunday. Monday we had our little Christmas Eve, Tuesday was the Santa Christmas and we went to Wreck It Ralph that night (big hit!), Wednesday some family came down for a playdate at Chuck E Cheese's, Thursday brings a growth ultrasound and doctor appointment, Friday we close on the house followed by buying paint and probably getting the first coat up in Alyssa's new room to prep for Saturday's painting too. We also have more family down Friday night to celebrate a mini holiday on Saturday and hopefully some extra hands painting too! That is plenty for one week, right??
Saturday, December 22, 2012
The Blogging Adventure....probably taking a backseat.
I've been at a loss on how to keep up with my blogging over the next month or so...It might get pretty sporadic around here but I'm determined to not let it get dropped altogether. I'll try to keep up with updates of our holiday, birthdays, moving, and a birth (of course with an introduction to the new man as well). Bear with me through the crazy hectic life that is our December/January...
We are still in the process of planning exactly how our holiday will go this week plus the toddler birthday next weekend paired with house closing and painting and moving beginning next weekend as well! I think Christmas is going to be the easiest part of this season since we aren't able to travel to family for it.
As exciting as all of these changes are, I can assure you that we are just short of overwhelmed when we look at a calendar. It is going to be a little bumpy packing it all into less than a month but at least we will be super motivated by deadlines...HA
So if you could spare a little extra patience with my gaps in posts, I promise I'll try my best not to leave y'all hanging for full weeks at a time!
We are still in the process of planning exactly how our holiday will go this week plus the toddler birthday next weekend paired with house closing and painting and moving beginning next weekend as well! I think Christmas is going to be the easiest part of this season since we aren't able to travel to family for it.
As exciting as all of these changes are, I can assure you that we are just short of overwhelmed when we look at a calendar. It is going to be a little bumpy packing it all into less than a month but at least we will be super motivated by deadlines...HA
So if you could spare a little extra patience with my gaps in posts, I promise I'll try my best not to leave y'all hanging for full weeks at a time!
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Reindeer Countdown!
I mentioned previously that I have used my Cricut to make a little countdown to Christmas. It happens to be a reindeer with a string of (not so real looking) Christmas lights hanging from him. I do love the reindeer...but I promise to do better with the lights part (or do something different) next year.
Alyssa loves to remind us frequently that we need to cut the next piece off the string bringing us a little bit closer to that adorable reindeer at the top. I'm not sure that she realizes what reaching the reindeer is supposed to mean but I'm just happy she likes the countdown. Oh, and that it makes me happy to have one more little decoration for this holiday season in the apartment!
Alyssa loves to remind us frequently that we need to cut the next piece off the string bringing us a little bit closer to that adorable reindeer at the top. I'm not sure that she realizes what reaching the reindeer is supposed to mean but I'm just happy she likes the countdown. Oh, and that it makes me happy to have one more little decoration for this holiday season in the apartment!
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Christmas Card Display
Having been in the apartment here since the beginning of September and being assured and reassured that it was 'very likely' that we would've been in our house before/near Thanksgiving, I had all of our Christmas stuff packed up and put into storage when we moved. This means that as we got into December, I had no decorations, no tree, no anything that was 'normal' for me at Christmastime. Heck, I don't even have a cd player to play my music on! (Yes, the dvd player would work....and no I don't have a disc drive on my laptop so that won't work.)
How did I go about fixing this? Well, this year I have a Cricut...so I made a little countdown craft. We adopted our elf friend Flower. We set up an inexpensive tree (which will be the upstairs or Momma tree at the new house). Lastly, I have my Christmas card holder that I made last year hanging up. It is a little more delicate and odd shaped to store safely in a storage unit full of cupboards, totes, appliances and various outdoor tools so I had it stored on the back of our bedroom door all year long until the move...Flower landed on it the other night so you may have already spotted it in a recent Elf post but here it is again just because I love it.
The elf is not typically included in the holder design. This was crafted last year from (where else?) a Pinterest inspiration. It was actually the first Pinterest project I completed that wasn't a recipe (actually it might have beaten the recipes too). This was foam board, ribbon, scrapbook paper (original called for wrapping paper), and decorations--I have a scrapbook tree sticker and decorative red brad pins. The original design also called for this to be over-a-door mount (two foam boards and the top ribbon would be two pieces to put over the door)--excellent if you have a front closet or another door that is easily viewed in a living space. My house was too small for that option so I adapted and made it a command hook decoration. Just hang your cards or pictures from the three ribbons using mini clothespins or paperclips that are pretty and there you go!
How did I go about fixing this? Well, this year I have a Cricut...so I made a little countdown craft. We adopted our elf friend Flower. We set up an inexpensive tree (which will be the upstairs or Momma tree at the new house). Lastly, I have my Christmas card holder that I made last year hanging up. It is a little more delicate and odd shaped to store safely in a storage unit full of cupboards, totes, appliances and various outdoor tools so I had it stored on the back of our bedroom door all year long until the move...Flower landed on it the other night so you may have already spotted it in a recent Elf post but here it is again just because I love it.
Christmas Card Holder:
So obviously there aren't any cards on there yet...but it is still early December and we are at a temporary address so I suppose I shouldn't hold my breath on filling this thing up this year but I do love it anyways.
The elf is not typically included in the holder design. This was crafted last year from (where else?) a Pinterest inspiration. It was actually the first Pinterest project I completed that wasn't a recipe (actually it might have beaten the recipes too). This was foam board, ribbon, scrapbook paper (original called for wrapping paper), and decorations--I have a scrapbook tree sticker and decorative red brad pins. The original design also called for this to be over-a-door mount (two foam boards and the top ribbon would be two pieces to put over the door)--excellent if you have a front closet or another door that is easily viewed in a living space. My house was too small for that option so I adapted and made it a command hook decoration. Just hang your cards or pictures from the three ribbons using mini clothespins or paperclips that are pretty and there you go!
Friday, November 30, 2012
30 Days of Thankfulness: Day Thirty!
The final day in November and we are still in our month by month apartment. With a close date finally settled and contracted we have an end in sight to the expensive apartment contract! We will be done and out of the apartment by the end of January (actually we are aiming for mid January so we are settled into the house before Baby Brother joins us but we have to pay through January). I am so thankful for all the things that have allowed us to do this monthly apartment and be together. Chris' job, pet sitters (!!), (sadly) our savings, friends who let Chris couch-surf for months, the sale of our other house, family that gave Alyssa and I a space for a little more than a week to live, and so many other things that eventually fell into place. Of course we didn't escape completely unscathed (see savings....) but we were able to live together for the last 3 months (and the next month and half that we wouldn't have if we didn't have the apartment). It has been a blessing for our family albeit an expensive one. I guess it isn't officially over but the light is visible and we are excited!
(On a completely side note: I never thought I'd actually make it through the month without missing at least one Thankfulness post! Yay me!!)
(On a completely side note: I never thought I'd actually make it through the month without missing at least one Thankfulness post! Yay me!!)
Sunday, November 25, 2012
O' Christmas Tree, O' Christmas Tree...
With most of our belongings in storage awaiting the official move into a house again, we were missing a crucial piece of the festive feeling of Christmas season....the TREE! There is always a debate over real vs fake and I'll just nip that in the bud by saying as much as I LOVE the real trees and going to a farm and cutting our own as a family like I did growing up most years, I cannot stand the bumps and itches that I get all over my arms as I put the lights on or the ornaments getting hung. Plus I've seen enough dog vomit in my family history with pine needles in it to want to avoid that in the future too.
So with my lovely pre-lit fake being in storage along with all of our ornaments and my personal favorite tree topper, well, we had to figure out something else for the apartment life this season. The plus side to the timing of figuring this out--WE HAVE A CLOSE DATE on our house!!! We know which house we are buying and we have gone through all the hassle of the short sale and we now have a date of which we will be owners of said house. This means I was able to make plans for next year's holiday season decorating with the apartment solution for this season! Meet the beginnings of my upstairs tree (read color coordinated):
The lights are red and white twined together (yes, I made my husband tangle lights rather than untangle them) so that nearly every white is paired with a red. The santa hat topper and the tote bottom were inspired--okay, taken-- straight from a Pin which will lead you to here. For this year I have red bells, silver icicles and a few Poinsettas on the tree. I'll wait for some good sales to collect some other red, white and silver ornaments (minus any glitter) to fill it in for next year.
When do you put up the tree?
So with my lovely pre-lit fake being in storage along with all of our ornaments and my personal favorite tree topper, well, we had to figure out something else for the apartment life this season. The plus side to the timing of figuring this out--WE HAVE A CLOSE DATE on our house!!! We know which house we are buying and we have gone through all the hassle of the short sale and we now have a date of which we will be owners of said house. This means I was able to make plans for next year's holiday season decorating with the apartment solution for this season! Meet the beginnings of my upstairs tree (read color coordinated):
The lights are red and white twined together (yes, I made my husband tangle lights rather than untangle them) so that nearly every white is paired with a red. The santa hat topper and the tote bottom were inspired--okay, taken-- straight from a Pin which will lead you to here. For this year I have red bells, silver icicles and a few Poinsettas on the tree. I'll wait for some good sales to collect some other red, white and silver ornaments (minus any glitter) to fill it in for next year.
When do you put up the tree?
30 Days of Thankfulness: Day Twenty-five
A long four-day weekend over this holiday for us. It was so nice to go see some family for it but I am thankful for two things now that we are home. One: I am thankful that I get to stay home until after baby and recovery now (meaning no more 4 hour drives on a very painful hip or pregnant bladder!). Two: I am thankful that we get to have one full day at home this weekend (today)!
Normally we come home from a weekend away and it is Sunday but we came home Saturday afternoon which means Papa has one whole day to play with us and you can bet tea party/picnics will be going crazy during the morning hours. More exciting to Momma is the chance to do some crafts! I'm thinking we might just break out some painting supplies for the afternoon.
Normally we come home from a weekend away and it is Sunday but we came home Saturday afternoon which means Papa has one whole day to play with us and you can bet tea party/picnics will be going crazy during the morning hours. More exciting to Momma is the chance to do some crafts! I'm thinking we might just break out some painting supplies for the afternoon.
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