Jake's Superhero! room

Jakey is really into Superhero's right now. I know he'll eventually grow out of it, and I'll have to redo his room, but thankfully I love to decorate. So to me, that's not an issue... I know we'll both be ready for a change when he's seven ;)

But right now, we are in all-out Spiderman, Superman and Batman mode. So I went for it and created a bunch of stuff while he still let his mama be part of decorating. I painted his room a silvery-blue color he chose, painstakingly painted and framed those posters by hand, 

added some homemade wall art: 

and made him the happiest little boy by adding some Superman decals:

And just like that, a Superhero! room for my boy. He's in love with his room, and very quick to show it off to his friends ('this is my BIG boy Superhero room!') and I love that he's in love. All those hours, cramped hands and painted fingers were worth it I suppose ;)

Mandy's surprise party!

One of my bff's had a Birthday a couple weeks ago. And because Mandy is a great friend, us LLC mama's got together and planned a surprise party for her. There were 10 of us, plus the Birthday girl, and we spent the night chatting, eating and watching her open her gift cert's and gift basket. There was alottttt more that went on that night, but I'm gonna keep this short and sweet and refer to the pics ;)

We love you Mandy! I am so thankful for you and our friendship. Here's to many more years ;)

Megan's room

Jake and Lauren, at 4 and 5, were pretty particular how they wanted their rooms to look. Long gone are the days when I get to decorate their rooms all cute and babyish... except for Megan's room! She's the one child I still get to decorate for :)

I'll be honest, this room is mainly a sleeping room. There's not a whole lot of playing going on in here, mostly because the playroom is downstairs and that's where we spend most of our time. Still, it's pretty and serene and it's a sweet place to snuggle in and read her bedtime stories :)

Jewelry 'box'

I'm not really a jewelry girl; I'm just not fancy at all. I love me some cozy hoodies, some worn-in jeans, and simple-to-slide-on flip-flops (yes, even in winter). But still, I seemed to have collected a handful of bracelets and necklaces.

But the jewelry box I have just doesn't cut it. It's small, really small, so most of my necklaces were bunched up and it took forever to untangle one, which is why I rarely wore any.

So after searching for ideas on jewelry organization, I headed to Lowe's and bought a towel rack that coordinated with our bedroom decor. I had my hubby mount it on the wall above my nightstand, and attached some double sided shower curtain hooks. Then I hung my bracelets and necklaces, and voila:

It looks pretty, adds some depth to a once-boring wall, and it's very functional. Feel free to steal this idea... I think you'll be glad you did ;)

Ready for use!

When our realtor took us to see this house, we knew it had four bedrooms, which was prefect for our family. And then as we walked though the house, we discovered it had a fifth bedroom. But because it didn't have a door and it didn't have closet doors, it wasn't legally considered a bedroom. Still, it wasn't a big deal to us because we weren't specifically looking for a 5 bedroom house.

And then when we began praying about buying this house, both Justin and I felt like God was going to use this bedroom for His purposes  which we gladly welcome. But we also know that if we were to offer up this room to someone in need, it would need to be functional.

So Justin has been working on this room for the past two weekends (well, he ran electrical though this room when we initially moved in and installed lights and a ceiling fan). First of all, he installed two mirrored sliding glass doors and the shelving inside it.

And then the next weekend, he hung a new door, making this room fully functional (and adding value now that it's a 5 bedroom, instead of a 4).

We still aren't sure what this room will be used for... Justin's mom may be staying with us permanently  we may offer it up to a foreign exchange student at AVCS, or as a place for a missionary family to stay during their furlough's. Whatever it is, we're ready and we're excited to see what God has planned for this space ;)

(PS- thanks babe for all of your hard work. It looks amazing!)

On Christmas break...

Lauren and Jake have had 3 weeks off of school to celebrate Christmas and the New Year. It's been really fun to have them at home with me all day, every day so we've made the most of it :)

(Okay, okay... there's been two times during this break when I've wondered why in the world I planned on homeschooling, lol!)

One of the things we did last week was try out a new bouncy house place. It's not in the greatest area (that's for sure!) but I was pleasantly surprised once we stepped inside:

We did LOTS of jumping. Lots and lots of jumping ;)

  
And sliding...

and acrobatics:

We seriously jumped for about 3 hours and I officially wiped the kids out. It made for an awesome morning and an amazing nap :)

2013 New Years 'Resolutions'

I think I've written this same sentence on this blog for the past few years but here we go again ;)

I am not a 'New Years Resolution' kind of girl. I know myself well enough to know that I mean well, but my follow-though, well, sucks. I try to complete the goals I've set for myself but lets be honest, I have broken waaaay more than I have kept in past years.

Which is why I'm not making this year about what I plan to do, but rather about prayers of what God will do in me. You see, when I go at it alone, trudging along on my own strength, I get burned out, drained, and bogged down, which 99% of the time means I end in defeat.

But I know when God works through me, in His will, I will be victorious because God never fails.

So, I've decided that this year I will pray about three areas of my life which I want to improve on. All three are pretty general, but as I prayerfully go to God daily, I will obviously elaborate the specifics :)

Anyway, these are my prayers for 2013:

1) Lord, help me to live this day, everyday, in a way that glorifies you in all of my actions. This means with my body (ex: healthy eating), with my mind, and with my soul. This also means sharing Your good news when it's the right time to share the gospel. In all things, I want to be pleasing to You.

2) Lord, I pray that the relationship with my husband and children are always strong and filled with love. Help me to be the best wife I can be to Justin and help me be the best mom I can be so that my relationship with my kids continues to thrive. Help me to show each of them how much I love them and guard our relationships so that we always remain close.

3) Lord, I want my life to embody the Fruits of the Spirit; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Help me grow in these things, so that I can be molded more into Your image.

With that said, 2012 was a year full of gratitude, joy and a sense of new found stability. God taught me so much about me, about His plans, and about relationships in my life; it was truly a year of growth that I will always remember. Add to that an amazing husband, three thriving, awesome kiddos, a new home, and good health... well, I feel so blessed.

Needless to say, 2012 was a wonderful year and it’s hard to imagine how 2013 could be even better, but God is well, God, and He can make all things happen :)

Looking forward to 2013. What about you?    

Goodbye brass!

I hate brass and the previous owners apparently had stock in brass because it's everywhere.... which has made us very busy homeowners :) We've been systemically upgrading all things brassy and gaudy and the fireplace was next in line. Here's what the fireplace looked like when we bought this house: 

Ugh.

So, my man and I worked together on this one; I bought the spray paint (with all three kiddos in tow to Lowes- that should count for something, right?!?). Then together we taped off and surrounded the fireplace to prevent over-spray and he sprayed:  

We sprayed it using Rustoleum's High Heat black gloss spray paint and it came out awesome. No more brass!

Another project completed... 150 to go!

From dull to delighful!

 

Um, so that title was corny, but you love me anyway ;)

 

It's amazing what a few cans of paint can do :)

 

So. This was the downstairs bath. It was dull, boring and u-g-l-y (think the alibi song).

 

 

So because it was hideous, and because I hate white walls, I painted the room a neutral sand color, which softened it up.

 

And then there's the outdated oak cabinets, which kinda drove me nuts (it's in my kitchen too, but I'm waiting not so patiently until we have the time to refinish the cabinets- have I mentioned patience isn't one of my strongest virtues???)

 

So I had my man sand down the cabinetry, and then I primed and painted the cabinets black:

 

 

$30 in paint and a new rug and it's totally updated the look. Now I can't wait to start the kitchen!! :)

This girl...

 

is gonna be the death of us. She's cute, boy is she cute, but she is a HANDFUL. We thought we had somewhat of a handle on this parenting thang, and then Megan came along... Seriously. She thrives on throwing us for a loop.

 

 

Within the past two days, she has been in recovery time a bazillion times (and no joke- I had to put her back in the same spot 47 times in 10 minutes- she refused to sit where I put her and laughed when I set her back- arghhh!). She also climbed out of her crib one night, and then the next night sheunbuttoned and unzipped her pj's and then removed her diaper when we laid her in her crib for bedtime.

 

Justin is constantly reminding me that in addition to other virtues, God is teaching us patience and understanding in raising her. Good thing she's cute, and asks for 'mooches' (smooches) often, cause otherwise my patience would be up! :)

Just because we thought they were funny...

Crazy, silly girl.

One day he will hate me for this...

but how can this mama withhold these beauties?!?!?

 

Yep, my boy came out dressed in this ensemble. A flannel shirt, sisters thigh-high tights, undies on backwards, and some snow boots to top it off.

It took every ounce of me to keep the giggles in, but I made it until he left the room (and yes, he did wear this all morning).

And now I have some blackmail for the teenage years ;)

Love the autonomy, but...

When we began parenting with Love and Logic, I knew I'd have to give up my desire for my kids to look cute ;) Because to us, arguing with our kids about their clothing choices aren't worth ruining our relationship with them. Yes, it bothers me sometimes to see my kids look like hobo's, but there are more important things to pick our battles on :)

 

So this her the sweet outfit for the day; red and white Christmas Dora shirt (Dora- who knows where or when she got this???) and pastel leggings...  

 

And she is now styling her own hair; ponytails, pigtails, and this creation:

Uh huh. This took lots of deep breaths to let her walk into school like this ;)

'Hiding'.. or not ;)

Megan is all aabout playing Hide and Seek lately. She loooooves hiding.

 

And clearly she's skilled at this game... I would have had no idea where she was ;)

 

Not with her buns sticking out,

or her knees,

or even her feet ;)

Nothing like 'searching' for her for a good 5 minutes while she giggles as I pass her by ;)

I love, love, love this age (minus the tantrums ;))

Lauren's love note

As we were walking up the stairs for bed, Justin and I found this note on the stairs:

 

 

'I love you no matter what'.

We asked Lauren about it the next morning and she told us she wanted to give us a letter because she loves us. She sounded it out and left it there for us to see. What a sweet girl... her first letter to us :)

LLC; Christmas party. Books and cookie exchange!

This is our third annual (I think?) LLC Christmas party. I feel sooo blessed to be part of a group of women who not only love their children, but strive to help grow them, encourage them, and teach them to be the best people they can be. Plus, we've all become true friends and do life outside of LLC :)

 

So, ahem, moving on... ;) We went to Sarah's house for LLC and immediately got to crafting. The kids colored, made necklaces, bracelets, etc...

 

Then we had them all sitting down and Santa walked in:

I thought the kids would shout in excitement, but they all just sat there kinds stunned, lol.

Santa took a wrapped book outta his bag and called that child up to get it:

Once everyone had their gifts, it was an opening frenzy! Megan got a board book entitled "God Gave us You", Jake got two Superhero books, and Lauren got two books on what else... animals!

And while the kiddos played, the momma's divided up the cookies from our cookie exchange (12 different kinds of cookies this year... awesome!)

It was a great time :)