counting it all joy

TIme Flies!

2012-01-27T16:42:00.001-08:00

I can't believe that my little Harper is already 1 month old. She is just the sweetest addition to our family. She has a very calm countenance, which is a huge blessing in a big family. I love her little self so much and I don't even know all about her yet!

Our prayer for Harper and for all of our kids is that God would intervene on their behalf and SAVE them. That they would live a life that glorifies Him in everything they say, do and think!

She reminds me everyday that life is precious and that I am in desperate need of a God who is full of patience, gentleness, kindness and joy!

Life with 4!

2012-01-20T07:42:00.000-08:00

Having a family with 4 kids is often CRAZY and CHAOTIC...
but worth every second!

Fisher is my super passionate and full of imagination kid. Who keeps me laughing and wondering what he will come up with next.

Miles in one word right now is CRAZY! He is into everything and keeps me on my toes. You can not take your eyes off that one...

Grace could not be a better big sister. She helps me with everything and has such a sweet heart about it. I could not handle all four without her. She is going to make the most amazing mother one day!
Harper is just sweet right now. She fits perfectly into this big family and I can't wait to see how her personality molds into the rest of the bunch.

I am just so thankful for each one of my kids and how they challenge me and push me to grow deeper with God every day.

She is here!!!

2011-12-30T17:27:00.001-08:00

After much anticipation, our sweet Harper Joy is here!
Only 5 hours shy of being born on Christmas day, she was welcomed on December 26, weighing in at 6 lbs 08 oz and 18 inches.

She is beautiful and perfect and the most wonderful fit to our family of 6, CRAZY!

A very excited big sister!

A very non interested little brother...

The whole gang!!!

The Leach Family

2011-12-04T18:56:00.000-08:00

I was so excited to get to take some family pictures for our friends the Leach's.

They have such a sweet family and we are so blessed by their friendship!

Thankful Tree/ Advent Calender

2011-12-02T16:10:00.000-08:00

For the month of November this year, I decided to do a big Thankful Tree in our entry hallway.

It turned out being so fun and such a reminder all month of all that we have been blessed with. We started with just the tree trunk and then every night everyone would go around and say something to put on a leaf and then hang it up. Everyday was so different, ranging from Family members, to Cookies, to finding our lost toys, it was really sweet. I even put a simple bible verse on top to remind of having a thankful heart, and it was amazing how quickly the kids memorized it. My favorite part was that it was located in a spot that we all walk by many times per day, and listening to the kids run by and say the verse was just awesome!

It really was so easy and so cheap. I just cut out a tree of craft paper and then just cut a bunch of leaves out of construction paper. Each night we just put a piece of painters tape on the back and stuck them on... SO EASY!

I had to add this picture because all Miles does when a camera comes out is walk around saying "CHEEEEESE"- Priceless!

Because the Thankful Tree was such a hit, I decided to keep the idea going with our
Advent Calender/ Christmas Countdown.
I pretty much kept the same concept, just cut out a tree out of craft paper and then cut out ornaments with the numbers 1-25. On the back of each ornament is a bible verse to read at dinner. If you would like a list of the bible verses that I used you can find them HERE. Then we leave it off to help the kids see how much longer till Christmas.
It has helped tremendously with our dinner conversation to be intentional and purposeful about reminding the kids what we are truly celebrating this season.

Please excuse the awful pictures, the tree is in a narrow
hallway and it was very difficult to get a good shot.

I am well aware that I could have gone crazy with making the tree super cute and cut all the ornaments out on my silhouette and scrapbooking paper, however, I chose to keep it simple.
Most of all, so that it would be done before the new baby arrives.

Baby Eli is all GROWN Up!

2011-11-15T10:47:00.000-08:00

A while back I got to take pictures of Baby Eli as a newborn and now he is almost 7 months!
Crazy how time flies! Here are some of my favorites of Eli and his older brother Ashton!

The Mace's

2011-11-14T10:38:00.001-08:00

A few weeks ago I got to take some family pictures for the Mace's.
They have the cutest little girl Sydney and she was all smiles...

They were super fun and so easy to work with!!!
Here are some of my favorites.

Happy Halloween!!!!

2011-10-31T19:40:00.000-07:00

We had a great time this year dressing up and trick or treating!

The kids actually "got it" this year and were just amazed that all
they had to do was say 3 words and they would get candy!
We had a fairy, a cowboy and Yoda

The Baums Family Pics

2011-10-23T19:29:00.000-07:00

I got the privilege to take some family pictures for
our sweet friends the Baumgardener's.
They have two adorable boys who were so good and so fun to work with...
(mainly because we bribed them the promise of ice cream)
Here are some of my favorites...

1 year Pictures

2011-10-07T13:47:00.001-07:00

The other day I got to take some pics of my friends little girl, Macey Jo.
She was not to keen on getting her picture taken and the only place
she was happy was on the slide...
No worries, we still got some super sweet pictures.

Enjoy...

Family Picture

2011-10-05T13:37:00.001-07:00

Well since I will be huge prego once the holidays start rolling around, I selfishly decided that I wanted to go ahead and get a family picture for our Christmas card...

You know how it goes...
you have these awesome day dreams about getting the most beautiful family picture that will reside on your mantle for years to come collecting dust...

When in reality you, can't get your kids to smile, you get in a horrible fight with your husband, you bribe your kids with anything they want if they will just cooperate and you take a million pictures, praying that there will be just one that everyone's eyes are open, and look somewhat normal....

Well folks, this is as good as it gets...

It is not really that bad, and I actually think it is cute, but out of all the pictures we took, literally this is the only one that would be worth doing anything with...

I am coming to grips with the fact that the "candid" picture is the picture for us. 3 kids and a husband who hates to take pics, just does not mix well with the beautiful posed picture in my head...

Fall Mantle

2011-09-27T14:39:00.001-07:00

Here is our fall mantle for this year.

The newest addition is the metal J up top. It is awesome and really added some rustic
charm to the mantle.

Fall Porch

2011-09-19T14:55:00.001-07:00

For some reason I was dead set on having a fall porch... I am not quite sure why?
Maybe it is my sub-conscious knowing that I will probably not be able to decorate for Christmas as much as I like to with having a baby due.. who knows?

For a great before you can read my post on re-doing the front door HERE.

I just love burplap and fall colors so that was my inspiration for the porch...

And here it is...
I really really do love it!

I do plan on adding some real pumpkins once they start coming out. Now if we could just get some cool crisp fall weather to go with my porch that would be even better!

I am linking up at:

Fall Wreath and Front Door Redo!

2011-09-08T09:03:00.000-07:00

Our front door was so BORING!
It did not add anything to the curb appeal of our house and it was time for a change!
This is what it looked like before:

When I decided that I was going to paint the front door, I was also inspired to make a fall wreath. So off I went with all 3 kids to the store...so fun :) and got some supplies.
I found a great chunky wood frame from the craft section and spray painted it white.

Next I found a J for James and some moss and then I got out my hot glue gun.

I know this is all pretty self explanatory, but then I just hot glued the moss all over the J...

I could not figure out how I was going to hook my J onto the frame because I could not hang it onto the frame... then I saw that the backing of the frame was just a very thin piece of wood and so I figured I would paint it and then glue the J on.

Striped just seemed very "fallish" and very much my style so I painted very simple and very imperfect stripes onto the wood. It really does not matter if they are super straight or crisp because the letter will cover most of it up.

Then I distressed the white frame with some brown ink... to give it texture and character.
And then I just put it all back together and hung it with some orange burlap on my freshly painted door...
I am really so in love with how it all turned out.

It gives our house so much more character and helps it to stand out.

Happy Fall!!!!!

Happy Birthday To Me...!!!

2011-08-29T18:20:00.000-07:00

Well, it is not actually my birthday today, it was back in July.

But... my awesome husband promised me plants in our backyard. Which just made me so happy that I could of cried... then we went out of town, and there is a huge drought, and blah, blah, blah it was not happening. Then it just so happened that I planned my son's birthday party at our house :) Nothing like a little motivation...

So off we went digging, and digging and digging. Little did we know that literally our ground is ROCK hard. My husband worked so hard and sweat so much. It was a much bigger project then we thought to dig out all the beds.

Here are a bunch of before pictures of our backyard. Please excuse our horrible grass we are in the middle of a really bad drought :(

There was NOTHING in our backyard. No trees, no plants... NOTHING! It was really sad.

Last November we put in the stone patio and the covering. Which actually allowed us to go in the back because there was no shade and just tons of sun!

That is my husband digging and probably saying things in his head about me that are not very nice :) It is like 108 degrees here...

We will actually have a tree!

After recovering from all of the hard work it took to dig the beds, then it was the fun part of picking out the plants. But we soon realized, OH MY GOODNESS, now we have to dig again to plant all of these goodness forsaken things...

So, they sat in their pretty little planter boxes for about a week and a half, just waiting for us to muster up the courage to start digging again. We decided that we would attempt a bed a night... which turned into a bed every couple of nights.

However, my awesome husband, ( I can't thank him enough for all of the VERY HARD work that he did in this crazy heat and after a long day at work. THANK YOU!) did dig every hole and I put down all of the mulch. It was a great memory and now it makes out backyard so much more inviting and beautiful. It is really sad, but since we planted the plants we have had so much more animal life in our backyard, bees, lizards, spiders, worms...
there was just nothing for them before.

Here are the afters...

Eventually, that vine will grow up and cover that side of the house and up into the patio covering... which will look really great!

This is our fire pit area that just looks so much better now. This was my husbands idea to plant around it, I did not even think about it.

We added two oak trees to the back and hope to add 2 more to the other side in a little while.

This is the second oak tree. In the back bed there is a crepe myrtle tree and two Esperanza trees that will eventually add some great privacy to our back yard.

This is in the very far corner of the other side of the yard.

This is my favorite view of our yard. It looks so much more full and welcoming.
It was well worth all of the effort...now that it is DONE!

First day of School!

2011-08-22T14:03:00.000-07:00

Despite my best efforts not to let my kids grow up, they went ahead and did it anyway!
Today was our first day at our homeschool co-op Enaact.
It was a great day and I can't believe it is already behind us :(

CAlling All Superheros!!!

2011-08-21T17:46:00.001-07:00

This past weekend we celebrated Fisher's 4th birthday!
We had a SUPER time and made lots of fun memories...

I can't believe he is already 4! He is such a blessing to us and we love him so much!

I got the printables from HERE
and some of the ideas from HERE!
ENJOY!

A Few Changes!

2011-08-15T14:45:00.001-07:00

So, lately I have just been in a design slump. Not really wanting to do much

around the house, but not really loving everything that was done.

I took some great advise about shopping the home and made a few very cheap changes.

First, this is what the stair wall looked like before:

I took every thing off and moved most of it into different rooms. It was just too cluttered for me and did not really give off the feeling that I was hoping for.
This is that wall now:

I love the simpleness of it and the calm feel it showcases now.
I recovered the lamp in new fabric, got rid of all the chaos going on on the wall and
added some flowers.

When you walk into our house there is a hallway that goes into the living room. It was a great place to add some drama, so I added some STRIPES! I really really love this, it took like 30 min and was totally free and makes such a huge difference.

This was our mantle as of fall, boring and a little impersonal.

This is our mantle now:

It is more funky and casual and goes well with the rest of the room.

There are a few more things that I am hoping to do soon:
1. I really want to get rid of our huge tv cabinet thing and get a long dresser to put the tv on.
2. I want to add a desk somewhere in the house for me to keep my computer and books and stuff on. Maybe in the master? Not sure yet...

Our Summer

2011-08-10T13:07:00.000-07:00

Well as you can see it has been quite a while since I last blogged.

Not that any excuse is a good one...
but this one will have to do...

WE ARE HAVING BABY NUMBER 4!!!!!!!!

I know absolutely crazy, but this Christmas a new bundle will be under the tree!

I have just been so tired and taking naps as much as I can.

So that's my story...

Here is what we have been up to:

We celebrated Grace's 5th B-day!

Preston and I got to take an amazing trip Chicago!

And we took a family trip to the beach!

Next up... Fisher is turning 4!!!
Get ready for a vintage superhero party soon...

I'm Back

2011-07-06T05:51:00.000-07:00

After a long month of no computer... I am finally back in action :)

Sweet Baby Eli

2011-06-02T17:37:00.001-07:00

My sweet neighbor let me take pictures of her new baby Elijah Ryne!

He was the easiest person to work with :)

And this is her sweet 3 year old... Ashton

Grace's fairy Garden PArty!

2011-05-26T09:12:00.001-07:00

In May we had the joy of celebrating our Grace's 5th birthday! Of course,

it had to be a Tinkerbelle party...

I somewhat struggle with going straight to the normal Tinkerbelle stuff, so I came up with some of my own stuff...

Here are a ton of pics from the party...

I tried to "keep it simple", but really it did take a lot of work and preparation.

2011-05-25T10:11:00.001-07:00

Ok, so once again life has just been out of control!

I am sure I am not the only one who thinks that...

Here are a few of the things we have been up to over the past couple of weeks...

First we went to spend Mother's Day with my parents.

We got to go visit my 94 year old grandparents... who were so cute and stopped playing their winning Bingo card to come see us :)

These are my mom's neighbors...they are the same age as Grace and Fish...

It is so fun to have instant entertainment every time we go down there.

We also celebrated Grace's 5th birthday!!!!

I have a whole post coming up on her fairy Garden party...

We went a fished at Preston's parent's house

And my baby is about to turn 1 this Saturday!!!!

Last Day!

2011-05-03T06:08:00.001-07:00

Ok... so this is it! Today is the last day to go to

Vintage Revivals and vote for my kitchen makeover!

I'm link 26.... you know the rest!

Click HERE to vote!

Thanks a ton!

Only 2 More DAys!

2011-05-02T08:39:00.000-07:00

There are only 2 more days to vote over at Vintagae REvivals...

I would really appreciate your vote. I am link #26 and you can vote up to 5 times...

Click HERE to vote!

THANKS!

Small favor!

2011-05-01T06:13:00.001-07:00

Ok, so NOW is the time! Mandi at Vintage Revivals

has opened up the voting for her "Epic Room Makeover"!

If you would PLEASE go here and vote for my kitchen.

I AM LINK # 26! YOU CAN VOTE

FOR MY LINK UP TO 5 TIMES!

I would be very grateful!

Have a great day!

Please, please, please!

2011-04-18T11:19:00.000-07:00

Here is the deal...

Mandi over at Vintage Revivals is having this AMAZING contest:

I mean seriously, who could not use a GIANT push in the right direction! I really do love my house and have put my own touches on most rooms in the house, except one! I am totally lost and have zero vision on where to go or what to do....

I am so not one to "suck up" or plead my case, but I am desperate...

So let the whining, weeping, begging, pleading, acting like a 3 year old, begin...

Now I know that a kitchen might be a big deal and maybe not the most awesome room in the house for you to take over, BUT...

I promise that if you come and have your way with my kitchen you will not be disappointed, I mean it can only go up from here, seriously?

I am open to anything that is different to what it is now... Paint the cabinets, countertops,paint the ceiling, new table,you name it, I'll do it!

It is not that it is just so BLAH, it has so much unused space and lacks any and all character... I don't do so well with that. I day dream about being in a beautiful kitchen enjoying doing the dishes and enjoying cleaning up the constant messes of my three kids under the age of 5, (I can't imagine why I lack any motivation or extra time to accomplish this project or anything?)I mean isn't this what happens to all those blogland people out there with the most amazing white, crisp, welcoming kitchens? (Lie to me please!)

(I would love to figure out how to put some type of island or something? I need more storage, your imagination could go crazy with what you could do!)

I mean, what is not to love... orange, orange and more orange cabinets!

And seriously, who puts 12 by 12 floor tile for a backsplash?????

Awkward eating area that does NOT even hold our entire family...

Florescent lights in the kitchen...AHHHHH! I am starting to freak out just looking at all of these pictures...

Another wonderful lighting fixture crying out for a change!

You would have so much you could do and change and I would just sit there are agree with whatever you say... I can also tell you that if you did pick my house I could probably convince my husband to take care of some of the other projects that need to be done before you get here, like the appliances, and the floor, so...

you could have a truly AMaZING before and after...

ALso, another reason you should totally pick my kitchen is because I know that there are a lot of us out there who are "blessed" to have this same type of kitchen... Therefore , you could inspire all of us out there with what to do!

My husband would be eternally grateful to you, what he wouldn't do to get me to stop talking about how much I do not like our kitchen would be priceless to him...

And, I think I am pretty fun...so a few days down here in New Braunfels, Texas, would be so much fun. I could show you Schlitterbahn, the Guadalupe and Comal rivers, and show you one of the largest outlet malls in the country! BARGAINS GALORE! I mean people pay big bucks to come see "God's Country" as the tourists like to call it! How do you compete with that? Think of all the fun memories!

The Rivers:

Schlitterbahn!

Outlet mall:

Well, now I am going to go and try to scrape what is left of my pride up off the ground and wait for the results!

And to all of you out there who read my blog....I would love you forever and ever if you vote for my kitchen in a couple of weeks! I will for sure let you know when that starts :)

There is HOPE

2011-04-13T07:22:00.000-07:00

You know how sometimes you talk and talk to your kids and wonder if anything actually gets absorbed? We strive as parents to continually tell our kids the importance of prayer and the power of prayer, although it is so hard for their minds

to fully grasp the wonder and power of it all ( I mean it is hard for me to grasp it all too).

Anyway, last night we had let the two oldest, Grace and Fisher sleep together. It really is the sweetest thing to hear them giggling and talking to each other. However, it was almost TEN and they were still talking. So I was on my way up there to lay down the law, and when I opened the door I saw that they had gotten Grace's "Jesus Storybook bible" out and were "reading" it. When I sat down they both had tears in their eyes as they started to tell me how they had found a picture of a guy (Namaan from 2 Kings 5) who had spots all over him and how he looked so sad. They then told me that they were praying for him so that God would heal his spots and make him all better...

Ok, well at this point all the anger I had for them still being up so late, quickly disappeared and I was just filled with complete JOY! I ended up reading the rest of the story and telling them how Elisha told him to go wash himself in the river and he was healed!

It was one of those moments in life where God just gives you a little glimpse of hope for your kids. How in the middle of my crazy life and all of my good intentions and all of my failures, he whispers, " Keep going..."

I am constantly in awe of who God is and how his hand is in every part of my life...

If you don't have a "Jesus Storybook Bible", it is such a great resource for kids. Every story points to the cross and is illustrated beautifully. We have very much enjoyed it!

I think you can find them on Amazon for like $15 bucks or so... VERY worth it!

Great gift for Easter... :)

A Mother's Vision...

2011-04-06T10:49:00.000-07:00

I am reading the book, A Mother's Heart, by Jean Fleming. If you are a mom or want to be a mom, go and get it! It is the best book on mothering that I have read.

In one of the chapters she is talking about how and what we pray over our children. Do we pray for them to be healthy and and strong, or should our prayers go so much deeper then that? Are we fervently praying over the condition of our child's heart?

Here is a quote from the book, by a man named Forbes Robinson regarding his son:

"I want you to be one the best men that ever lived, to see God and to reveal him to men. this is the burden of my prayers. My whole being goes out in passionate entreaty to God that he will give me what I ask. I am sure he will, for the request is after his own heart.

I do not pray that you may succeed in life, or "get on" in this world. I seldom ever pray that may love me better, or that I may see oftener in this or in any other world, as much as i crave this.

But I ask, I implore, that Christ may be formed in you, that you may be made not in any likeness suggested by my imagination, but in the image of God, that you may realize not my, but his ideal, however much that ideal may bewilder me, however little I may recognize it when it is created.

I hate the thought that out of love for me you should accept my presentation, me feeble ideal, of the Christ. I want God to reveal his Son to you independently of men, to give you a first-hand knowledge of him whom I am only beginning to see.

Sometimes more selfish thoughts will intrude, but this represents the main current of my prayers. And if this is to be won from heaven by importunity, be ceaseless begging, I think I shall get it for you."

All I can say is WOW! Praying for our children's salvation and transformation through Jesus is the single most important thing we can pray for...

God wants his kingdom to be filled with people who are forever changed and who love him above all else, and we as mothers get to be a part of showing our children what that means everyday! What a challenge and a goal worth pursuing and being proud of! I can not imagine a more important role for my life and I praise God for entrusting me with this charge.

Spring Wreaths

2011-04-05T09:22:00.001-07:00

My sweet neighbor is about to have her second baby boy anytime

and I decided to make her a diaper wreath.

I had great plans of making a tutorial and all that jazz but in my attempt to get it done

I completely forgot...

So here is the finished product...

It is pretty self explanatory and the possibilities are ENDLESS!

I tend to go towards the more sophisticated ideas, but you could take it anywhere.

All you need is a foam wreath form, some diapers (I used size 2 because the small ones don't quite make it around). Ribbon and any other embellishments you want.

Just wrap the diapers around the wreath and tie with a smaller ribbon until you cover the whole thing and then add bows, letter, rattles, binkies, flowers, really anything...

Make sure you put some ribbon on the top so that it will hang from a door hook

If you are anything like my husband, and are wondering why you would want or need a diaper wreath, well, you don't need a diaper wreath, but it is sweet to get to hang it on your hospital door and then when you

come home you can hang it on your door to celebrate your sweet new baby!

And just for Fun, here is a look at my front door for spring...

I just bought a grapvine wreath from Hobby Lobby and added some of there easter garland to it. I wanted to add some wording somehow, so I just grabbed an extra little chalkboard that we had lying around and put a word from the season..."Rejoice"!

Super easy and super cheap!

Family Photos

2011-03-31T09:11:00.001-07:00

I got to take some family photos for our sweet friends Todd and Ashley.

They were so adorable and their little boy Ty was so much fun

to work with...

Enjoy...

Isn't he too cute?

And yes, we totally had to bribe him with the promise of ice cream...

totally worked

Who do you Serve?

2011-03-25T10:35:00.000-07:00

It all started yesterday when, my unassuming husband, so sweetly came home for lunch to deliver a prize to my kids... a baby duck! It really might be the cutest thing, not quite sure how to take care of it though...

Anyway, after the duck got way to much attention, and the kids went down for a nap, I unloaded on my husband. I really don't even know where it came from...

But it was bad... with tear filled eyes I laid it all out there...most of my sentences beginning with: I want, I need, I don't, I can't, I'm tired... you know what I am talking about, right?

Everything I said was all about ME! After I, for lack of a better term, "vomited" all over my sweet husband, he so delicately concluded with, "I know, that is so tough..." Which is probably because he truly was not sure what was to come next... and after 6 years of marriage you realize that sometimes any bit of reality or truth is not always the best answer. Sometimes a simple acknowledgment of your irrational slur of crazy words, is what you need.

After he left and I was exhausted from my "outburst", I was feeling pretty good about myself. I was thinking that I really got to get stuff off of my chest and let him know how I really feel about certain things and that we got somewhere today... and then I started thinking...

I am the most selfish person in the entire world...

The Lord started giving me verses from His word pointing to the fact that this world is not where we find any of our worth or satisfaction. All of a sudden, I was just overwhelmed with guilt and embarrassment, that my husband who came home to surprise us with a silly duck that we named Tiger... he had to listen to me go on and on about some really ridiculous stuff.

Who really cares, what kind of car that I drive ( I am pretty sure at some point I said if I did not have a car that I could open the back door automatically I was going to cry, I know, my poor husband), or the color of my cabinets, or the fact that I am always tired and all I do is clean up after my kids, because at the end of the day, I am blessed beyond measure. My cup is more full then it deserves to be. I have been bought with a price and I am not my own! That pretty much leaves out any room for selfishness.

I am striving to lead a life that glorifies God and not myself. I am striving to raise my kids to worship their savior and not me, and I am trying to move myself out of the way so that He can complete the work that He has started. I tend to fail everyday, but I am overwhelmed at the mercy and grace that is poured out onto me, faithfully! In the midst of my selfish desires and worldly wants, He meets me where I am and offers something better then any automatically opening car or gorgeously painted white cabinets!

So I leave you today with this thought...

Who do you serve? Yourself or your Savior?

It's a daily choice to take yourself off of the throne and put the true king back on, but we make the choice because His ways are better then our ways and because He loved us first!

Dining Room COMPLETED!

2011-03-22T10:06:00.000-07:00

Well, after half of my family down with strep and hopefully no more...

I have finished the dining room!

If you are just now reading about the dining room transformation you can see some of the process here, here and here!

It is exactly what I had imagined in my mind...

Here is one more before to show you the earlier color scheme: black, white, and grey.

BORING! ( no offense...)

I really, really LOVE the color of the walls, it's WOODSMOKE by Glidden. It is a true grey with some green undertones...it goes with everything!

Here is the room totally cleared out...

Notice the black lamp and black shelf...

I tried really hard not to buy much for this room, but

to re-purpose a lot of the decor that I had.

So keep an eye out for all the "new" stuff!

Here is another quick look at the dining room table before...

In the process of becoming BEAUTIFUL!

Finally, here are WAY too many after photos!!!!!

The whole feel of the room is so much more comfortable and inviting.

Which is exactly what I was going for...were not exactly the "formal" type.

I have always loved this Van Gogh painting and I was so excited to get it into the room.

The colors matched wonderfully!

The two pictures on the wall are just framed scrapbooking paper.

I actually found the frames for $1.80 at Hobby Lobby!

Sweet!

I love the simplicity of the buffet, I was feeling too cluttered...

The flower base was black and then got a fresh coat of spray paint, along with the lamp.

The curtains were a great find at Fabric.com, it was actually

only 4.95 a yard, you really can't beat that!

All of the blue plates, I found at Target and added the perfect

amount of texture to that side of the room.

One final angle...

I hope you enjoyed our dining room. It was way too fun to tackle

and hopefully next will be the kitchen!

Dining Room Part 3

2011-03-10T11:20:00.001-08:00

Well, the dining room is coming along...slowly...but it is coming along!

I finally finished the "new" table ( new to us)!

I ended up selling my table on craigslist and then scoring

this one for $100 LESS on craigslist!

AMAZING!

Which allowed me to buy the new fabric, that hopefully will be here

tomorrow and I can put the room back together!

Here are the before pictures:

Ugly, Ugly cushions....

It came with 2 leaves so it gets really big...

I scored the table and all 6 chairs for 200 bucks!

Not horrible, but not what I was looking for,

but OH the lines of the table are

BEAUTIFUL!

After some primer and some spray paint...

Aren't the spirals pretty? They make me smile :)

The lines on the legs are what really sold the table to me...

I left the top of the table original, mainly because I liked the color and the contrast to the white, and also because it was finished well and I did not want to mess it up.

Dining Room Part 2

2011-03-05T10:01:00.000-08:00

I was inspired!!! YEah!

Over at fabric. com they had this super pretty indoor/outdoor fabric that is exactly what I had in mind. It will flow with the rest of the house and be the perfect first impression!
It has been ordered and could not get here soon enough!!!

Dining Room Part 1

2011-03-04T10:15:00.000-08:00

After finally selling my dining room table on craigslist, I got the go ahead to start looking for what I wanted... after a couple of weeks of an empty room, my weekend hopefully will be filled with repainting our new table!

(it would be too easy to find one that is already exactly the way I want it)

So here is a little peek into what our dining room used to look like...

This was during Thanksgiving.

So... Goodbye black and white...Hello, I'm not sure yet.

Hopefully this weekend I will be inspired!

The never ending project!

2011-02-26T09:15:00.000-08:00

So, I posted the other day a picture of what I have been working on the other day...

little did I know this project would prove to be the death of me...mainly because

MY HUSBAND HATES IT!

UGH! I am really trying to get him on board... so some really awesome comments about how great it looks might win him over :)

It all started with this:

(please excuse the dust) :)

My cute ( i mean very disobedient) 3 year old decided to pretend to be spider man and jump off the couch, while pulling my very heavy curtain rod down with him. I mean rod, hooks, screws, curtains, everything! Yeah! After some long deep breaths, and a whole lot of prayers not to kill him. I figured this would be a great time to try something on this

huge wall that I have been wanting to try...

STENCILING!

Here is the giant wall before:

So I bought a stencil at Hobby Lobby and away I went... (trying so badly to finish before my not so ambitious husband got home) Little, did I know that this was a much much more intense project. There is the initial stenciling, then touch up and more stenciling...

FOREVER!

Please excuse the bad lighting and the ladder I just could not muster up the strength to move it, and after many long hours and a few not very nice words, here is the wall!

Good bye boring, Hello interesting!

I messed up a little in the top center, but nothing a great wreath can't fix!

Here's to all my 80% er's out there!!!

I still have one more row to do, but I had to take some pictures and my husband is trying to convince me to paint over it :(

Family Night!

2011-02-25T17:42:00.001-08:00

Sadly, family movie night has been a little sparse these days.

So with "To Train a Dragon" in hand and a comfy

pallet we settled in for a great night.

(if you have not seen it, it is sooooo cute and funny)

What family night would be complete with out a sweet treat...

A chocolate sunday with yummy sprinkles does the trick every time!

Enjoying their treats...

My sweet little baby (almost 9 months) trying to get me to give him

some ice cream. How do you say no to that face?

If you don't do family movie night or have not done it in a while...

Go get a movie and start!

It truly one of the sweetest times! And it's really cheap... :)

It's a great way to end a long week!

Sneak Peek!

2011-02-24T09:36:00.001-08:00

Here is a peek at what has been going on around here the past couple of days...

It has not gone exactly as planned, but I hoping for a great outcome!

Pottery Barn Lamp re-Post!

2011-02-17T09:59:00.000-08:00

Spring is right around the corner and what a better way to welcome it, then with a blooming lamp?

I have a lamp in my daughter's room, that is cute...but lately it has really been boring me. I have been looking around for a new shade, but really do not want to spend any money...

Well, today I was looking in the Pottery Barn Kids magazine, day dreaming about what it would actually be like to order something from it, when I came across this picture of a beautiful lamp... I mean it was only $99.00, plus shipping, plus the base. So once I calculated how many months of my monthly budget it would take to save up for that beautiful lamp, I realized that I could totally make one like that with my daughters old lamp.
I thought about buying some silk flowers to hot glue on the shade, which would be very pretty, but still to get that many flowers would still be more than I wanted to pay. So I walked around the house trying to come up with another alternative. And then I say a roll of crepe paper that I had use for my daughter's birthday party last year. It was the right color and I had almost an entire roll. Then I remembered seeing around blogland those super adorable crepe paper roses...

And it was on...

I started whipping out those roses like there was no tomorrow. If you have not seen them they are very simple to make. First I cut a bunch of 12 inch strips. Next you roll the end about 3-4 times and then fold paper in half. With your left hand grab fold and start wrapping and twisting your strip. Twist wrap, twist wrap until you are at the end. Then I just added a dot of hot glue and you have a rose. You will start to have a bucket full like this.

This is by far the longest part. It took me about an hour to get all of the roses made. Once you have a pretty good pile, I started hot gluing them in a line around the shade like this...

Once you fill the whole shade you have a whimsical and very girly lamp that any little girl would love to have...Enjoy!!

Typical Day

2011-02-09T08:52:00.000-08:00

Probably like many of you, crafting takes up a very small portion of what reality truly is around your home. I blog a lot about crafting and parties and all the pretty stuff. So...

I wanted to let you in on a little secret...

This is what my life really consists of:

My kids secretly bringing toys down from upstairs and watching a movie while my little guy takes his morning nap.

Me, trying to accomplish something productive, so my husband does not leave me :)

And trying to clean up all of my crafting stuff so he does not run away either...

And as always... dishes, dishes, dishes...

(hopefully the outrageously ugly orange cabinets will be getting a fresh coat of white paint!!!)

It's not really that glamorous, but it is always EXCITING!

Super Bowl Finale!!!!

2011-02-08T18:19:00.001-08:00

Ok... So after all the hard work and endless cleaning, the party came and went...

We had a great time and here are some of the final decorations.

(There is no food on the table because it was a potluck dinner.)

I made cute labels for all the food and came up with a color-coordinating

center piece that smelled delightful!

ENJOY!

I think the center-piece was my favorite part!

The cupcake stand worked out great! It can easily be altered to go with another party too...

And as always, it was much more fun to put up then to take down... still not quite all the way down yet :) But, hey why rush...

Super Bowl Party Part 3

2011-02-05T06:52:00.001-08:00

Well, by now I am so ready for the party to be here so I can add all the last minute touches...

if you haven't read PART 2 or PART 1 you should check them out!

I know that there a TON of tutorials out there for these pom-pom things, but I figured since they are adorable and CHEAP that I would add it to the list.

First gather all your supplies:

Tissue paper (one package per pom-pom)

Scissors

floral wire

fishing line

Next you fan your tissue paper and wrap a wire around

the center (this will become your hanger). I did find that the bigger

your fan the prettier your pom-pom.

Then take your scissors and round the edges of your tissue paper.

Then just start pulling each piece of tissue paper apart, It does NOT have to be perfect and will be easier to form after all of the pieces are finished.

Here is my stack of pom-poms waiting to be hung...

Finally find your floral wire and attach some fishing line and hang from the ceiling...

very easy and very beautiful!

I can't wait to show you how it all comes together tomorrow!

Come back and check it out!

Super Bowl Party PArt 2

2011-02-04T16:29:00.000-08:00

If you are here for the first time,

you might want to check out

Super Bowl Part 1

After completing the table cloth, I was on a roll and started thinking about the next thing I could make, naturally a really over the top cupcake stand was top on my list.

So I gathered my supplies:

2 hat boxes ( the ones that are just cardboard)

Black paint

paint brush

ribbon

scissors

The first thing I did was paint the boxes black and let them dry

Second, I cut circles out and put onto the top just for pure decorations,

the cupcakes will cover most of that.

Then I played around with the ribbon and put it on with double-sided tape (my new FAVORITE craft supply) until I got it how I wanted it!

Next I got out some leftover paper from some other super bowl decorations and made some paper flowers. Super easy, just cut out five circles, (they do NOT need to be perfect, actually it is better if they are not!) ruff them up a little, to give dimension, and hot glue together.

I hot glued them onto the boxes and there you go, a super fun cupcake stand!

Here is a peek at some of the other projects I am working on...

A very easy banner. I just used my Silhouette to cut out the pennants and the letters.

Then garland is just circles that I sewed together...which by the way is so easy and looks really cute. It is for sure my go to new banner idea!

Super Bowl Party Part 1

2011-02-03T14:55:00.000-08:00

We have volunteered to host the Super Bowl Party this year for our small group...

So, in true Laura fashion I could not just have a simple, easy party...

(that would make way to much sense!)

My first project is the table cloth:

First I gathered all of my supplies:

3 yards of green felt

scissors

iron-on numbers

white ribbon

double sided tape

After I got everything together, I laid my felt onto the table and made everything even.

I cut the ribbon into 5 even strips.

Next I laid the ribbon onto the felt and figured out where I wanted it.

( I only did 5 lines, to cut down on the cost of all the iron on numbers)

I got my double-sided tape and put strips onto the ribbon and then turned it over and pushed it down into place.

I took my numbers and figured out how I could use the most, so I did not have to buy another package, placed them where I wanted them and ironed them down... easy-peasy!

I will show the completed table cloth when I am done with everything...

New Look

2011-02-03T09:47:00.000-08:00

I have a new look!

I love it and I want to give a BIG shout out to Erin over at Designer Blogs! She did a great job and was super fast and super affordable! If you need a new design I would highly reccomend checking them out HERE!

I also am so excited to have a button, if you visit here often I would love it if you grabbed it!

Also, if you read my blog often or are visiting for the first time and like what you see, I would be so honored if you followed me!

Thanks for the support!

Engagement Photos

2011-01-28T14:46:00.000-08:00

I got the privilege the other day to take some engagement pictures for our sweet friends Keith and Kayla...

They are really cute and really fun, so I tried to capture that in their pictures. I had a blast getting to spend time with them and love how the photos turned out...

(please excuse the excess amount of photos... I could not choose)

We had way to much fun walking around downtown New braunfels and Gruene!

Ok, seriously, Kayla is so beautiful and photogenic that it was hard not to get a good pic of her...Keith on the other hand...JUST KIDDING! They were both adorable!

I promise I am almost done...

This balloon one might be my favorite!

The balloons turned out to be a great prop and added some fun color!

I think you get the picture... I had fun, they had fun, we took a lot of photos!

I am being featured....

2011-01-27T09:33:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow I am going to be featured over at Remodelaholic!

Please check it out!

Thanks a ton for featuring me!

I got an AWARD!

2011-01-27T08:24:00.000-08:00

I am so excited and flattered! Today I received my first ever blog awards! Thank you so much Nicole, from Inside the Mind of Nicole, who gave them to me! I really appreciate it! I have truly fallen in love with blogging, I finally found an outlet for all the creativity racing around inside my head! It has been so fun and I am excited to keep going...

I recieved the Stylish Blog award

and the

Trendy Blog Award!

The rules for accepting this award are:

1. Link back to the person who gave you this award.

2. Share 7 things about yourself.

3. Pass it along to 7 other stylishly and trendy bloggers.

4. Contact those bloggers and tell them about their award

Seven Things about Me!

1. I am a mom of three beautiful children! I am a wife to a wonderful husband! But most of all I am a daughter of GOd! Who rescued me from destruction through his Son, Jesus Christ! I am proud of all of my labels and desire to grow stronger and deeper in all of them!

2. If I could blink my eyes and be doing anything in the whole world... I think it would be photography! I have such a passion for it and I enjoyed studying it in college. It is a great way to express myself through art! I also could be a proffesional painter, or really be doing anything crafty all the time! I just love it! I got the opportunity to do some engagement pictures for the first time the other day and could not be more excited at how they turned out.

3. The quickest way to my heart is through a Sonic Dr. Pepper. I can't get enough, and I will love any one who brings me one!! :) It is an outing for my kids and I, sad I know! True confession: I normally don't share with my kids when they ask for some, I pretend I am saving them from sugar overdose, but really I am being selfish... Is it so much to ask for one thing untouched by my crazy kids?

4. I LOVE to play games!Card games, board games, DVD games, anything really. My husband and I play card games all the time! We actually just found the game Sequence, (I know it has been around forever) somehow we have never played, it is so fun! Which leads me to my next fact...

5. I am super duper competitive! I mean it is pretty bad, I have had to tone it down a lot now that I have kids and all...no fun! :) I love to win, and I love to compete in sports, games, really anything. Please Don't judge... My husband and I will make any simple action into a competition, one of our favorites is the radio game. He turns on the radio and if I can guess the name of the song or the artist for every preset station I get a prize...normally a Dr. Pepper. I am not the great, but he is really good!

6. Peanut butter brownies are my downfall. I mean, I will hide them around my house or not tell anyone I made them just so I can eat them all!

7. My biggest struggle is finding the right balance between being a mom and a wife and me! I am learning and growing through God's grace to see what that looks like! I am constantly reminded that there is a season for everything! I am seeking joy in the midst of chaos and find it most when I am in God's word.

Now I get to pass the awards on to 7 more great blogs...

Stylish & Trendy Bloggers…. {You get BOTH awards!} ---- CHECK OUT THESE BLOGS! Personal favorites of mine!

1. Mandy @ Keepin' it Easy!

2. Meg @ Meg and the Boys

3.Jenise @ Livesay Life

4.Madi @ Vintage REvivals

5. Amy @ Playing Sublimely

6. Emily @ The Fun House

7. Lara @ Less Cake More Frosting

Our Command Center

2011-01-20T09:21:00.000-08:00

Over here at the James' house, there seems to always be something going on. In an attempt to keep my sanity, I created this space for our family. Here is what it looked like before...

A long empty hallway, not very inviting and not practical at all...

It is in the entry to our house, ideally I would love a magnificent mudroom complete with shelves and board and batten, however the house we are in does not have that layout. So, I found the dumping ground of our house and organized it.

First I found a bench on craigslist for $10 so that we could put on shoes or a jacket easier and to ground the space.

I found the coat hanger at an estate sale a while ago and just spray painted it silver.

My favorite part is this chalkboard calender. It started as a really big picture from Goodwill and then I just painted chalk paint all over it and it became a wonderful monthly calender! I used permanent marker for the blue lines and the days of the week. It just makes me smile :)

The bulletin board needed to be a place for all of our stuff, so I decided to divide into three columns. There is one for my husband, myself and for the kids. I just wrapped the board in fabric and then hot glued the rick rack down to divide the columns. I found theses super cute tiny chalkboards at Hobby Lobby and hung them above with each persons name on it to add a little fun. This is where I keep invitations, art, or anything else that I need a place for.

The mail station, is probably the most used. I found it at hobbylobby and decided that white would look better, so after some spray paint, it was perfect! We keep all of the incoming mail and important papers we need to keep track of in here. It is right by the front door so it is so easy to just put the mail in when you go out and get it.

I think this space is inviting and warm and a perfect combination of what the rest of our house feels like. It is pretty and practical and with three kids and a husband that is really all I can ask for...

Junk Drawer

2011-01-12T11:06:00.000-08:00

Ok, So now I am pretty sure that I have gone crazy, but I can't stop organizing everything! It is making me so happy!

I got a little contact paper happy last week, so I found another project that I could use it for. My junk drawer. Which ultimately led to using it my other drawers too!

Just like the other projects, I took everything out and threw most of it all away. Starting with a blank slate really helps you to group like items together and to see what space is actually available.

Then I just put the necessities back in and there you go! Here are some before and afters of my other drawers also...

I still have like half a role of contact paper left...what else can I put it on???

Coat Closet

2011-01-11T11:04:00.001-08:00

Well, once again I am amazed at how many spaces in my house need to be completely re-organized! My coat closet actually serves as my craft closet, or as my husband likes to call it "my crap closet." So it normally gets things just thrown into it... hence exhibit A:

My mother in law was getting rid of this storage shelf so I immediately jumped on it and said I would take it off her hands...

It is perfect for all of my crafty stuff: pens, stamps, paint and all that other super fun stuff.

After I got everything into the closet, all I really did was throw away anything that I did not want or was trash. This made a huge difference and then I just put stuff back into it. Pretty simple, but WAY over due...

It did not cost me a thing...and I love it because now I can actually see what I have! Thanks A Bowl Full of Lemons for the inspiration!!! Keep it coming...

Camera Bag!

2011-01-11T09:22:00.000-08:00

So... I don't have any affiliation with this company, but I had to put her product on my blog! It made my heart so happy when I saw this. I had to go and get one right away!

(this pic is from House of Smith's blog you can read all of the details here)

Over at JoTotes they have the most amazing camera bag for sale. Not only is there room for all of your camera needs, there is room for your wallet and other "mom" needs!

You should totally go check it out HERE!

Under The Sink...

2011-01-10T08:55:00.000-08:00

Over at A Bowl Full Of Lemons she is doing a twenty one day challenge to re-organize your home. I thought that my house was pretty organized, but surprisingly she has picked a different space each day that I would never think to make cute and organized. It has been really fun to follow along with her and to tackle a different space each day!

First I tackled under the sink. It was a place that I honestly never looked twice at, but once I did, I was pretty grossed out. Not only was there a ton of stuff that I never use, there was just a bunch of random junk under there.

So...step one: I took everything out and put it on my counter so I could see what all was there.

Then I took my supplies and put this super cute contact paper on the bottom. At this point my husband thought I was pretty crazy, but what's new?

Then I got these great baskets at the dollar spot at Target, so I divided up my cleaning products into three categories: Kitchen, Bathroom, and Floors. I placed the appropriate cleaners in their new home and, POOF!

It looks so much nicer and about 10 bucks to accomplish. I love it!

The Pantry Revised!

2011-01-08T11:17:00.001-08:00

I know that I already re-did my pantry...BUT I got a Silhouette Machine for Christmas, so I decided to put it to good use and make my pantry even better! You can see the original pantry makeover HERE if you want!

Here are the before pictures one more time:

Here are the new picture, complete with all the vinyl lettering you want. My husband has issued a "vinyl stop" in our house. I will admit it might have gotten a little out of hand, but it is just too fun! I also, found some really cute contact paper at Target. It just gives it a little splash of color and it protects the shelves from getting so dirty. I think it give it a very cute touch...

Everything is so accessible now and easy to see!

You will be so surprised at how much junk in your pantry you don't use or don't need! It is a great feeling of freshness when it is all put back together! I love it!

Crafting with the Stars!

2011-01-03T11:49:00.000-08:00

This might be a dream come true, I am entering the chance to be on "Crafting with the Stars" over at Sew Dang Cute. It would be so much fun. Go check it out!

It's Finally here...

2010-12-27T09:57:00.000-08:00

After much much anticipation, it finally came...Christmas morning! We made a paper chain count-down to christmas and finally we got to take the last one off. My children basically cried everyday because we could not just take them all off and have Christmas right then...however, it was worth the wait and they had a blast!

It started at 6:30 when two very excited kids came into our room wondering if it was time...we made them cuddle with us until atleast 7... Then we let them in, they were so excited and figured out which pile of presents was theirs. Another tradition we do, is I don't label any of their gifts. Each person has a different wrapping paper and you don't get to find out whose is who until christmas morning. It is actually pretty fun, because up until Christmas they try and figure it out over and over...

Once the fun started it gets pretty crazy...and of course Miles slept through another family Christmas. He missed every one this year.

It truly is so sweet to see their little faces light up over silly little toys. We are so blessed and are so thankful for another wonderful Christmas!

A James Family Tradition

2010-12-27T09:36:00.000-08:00

One of our Christmas traditions involves going as a family to pick out our tree for the season. According to my crazy, I mean awesome husband it is un-american to have a fake tree. So... in an effort to make him happy we go and get a tree each year. It actually is so much fun and the kids have a great time...I just curse his name each and every time I sweep up the millions of little "leaves" I sweep up on a daily basis.

Found the tree!

Off to load it up...

PlayRoom

2010-12-16T08:15:00.000-08:00

Our playroom serves a number of purposes: school room, playroom, toy storage, game storage. It really is the center for all things kids. I really wanted a room that inspired learning and made you feel bright and welcome. I had zero storage so I used a shelf from Ikea and filled it with labeled baskets and the side pieces from our entertainment piece.

I divided the space into a sitting area to play with toys and a school area to sit and learn.

Most of the time it is one huge pile of toys and things that I should totally just throw away. But it is a fun place for the kids to just be kids and it is upstairs so I can hide it all pretty well.

That valance up there, is a raw piece of fabric push-pinned into the wall, Classy, I know, but it works and I don't have the energy right now to do much else to it...

Middle Child Syndrome

2010-12-15T14:59:00.001-08:00

Sadly, I have to say that I have fallen short as a mom, my middle child, Fisher, was the very last person to get his room done. Not at all because I love him any less or I forgot about him, simply because I got really tired. After painting all of the other rooms in the house and not having a clear vision of what I wanted, it kept getting put off. However the end result has to be my favorite bedroom in the house... I really love it!

Before was a large mish-mosh of random things, including his sisters flower sheets from a previous room. Luckily I have a really manly husband and Fisher was not harmed by the adorable girl sheets... I knew that I wanted the pottery barn dinosaur sheets because they had a great color pattern and were not cheesy. I found it was really hard to find boy sheets that were not super childish or super dorky. This was my starting point. Here are the befores...

I, in my "all or nothing", mentality decided that I was going to attempt a chevron stripe on one of his walls. If you are not a math person, DON'T TRY THIS AT HOM!! Actually it was not that bad but getting the first stripe up there was the hardest. I used a meter stick and a pencil and a piece of cardstock that was cut at the angle I wanted each stripe. To make it easier I made each stripe the length of the meter stick and decided that I wanted the white strip 5" and the brown stripe 7". After I got the first one done I just measured down 5 or 7 inches depending on what color I was doing. Then comes the fun part...TAPE, TAPE, and more TAPE. This actually took the longest, and honestly I had a blister on my hand from rubbing the edges so hard so the colors would not bleed...

Once you tape, your are ready to paint the first color, be sure and lightly with pencil write what color stripe is what, it will definitely help you not paint the wrong color...

Once everything had dried I had my cute little helper help me get ALL of the tape off...

This is the first color, after you have completed this step go ahead and start taping again for the second color. Right about now you will ask yourself, "Self, why in the world did you start this crazy project, because you still have to paint the rest of the room too?" I can't answer that...

Here are the two colors half way done, and of course I ran out of tape so I had to wait to finish...

But after you are done, it really does look amazing. Here are the afters... and Fisher I love you so much!

I got the artwork idea from Potterybarn, of course, but for like 179 bucks...not worth it. So, I made my own version for 3 bucks! It is just 3 fence posts from Home Deopt, and then I painted my own version of a dinosaur. Much better on my budget... And the bed was from a antique store for like 40 bucks, it was black but I got out my spray paint and painted it this very pretty blue.

I got the bookshelf also at an antique store for 20 bucks, it's made out of reclaimed wood and fit perfectly with the artwork. I love the room so much, and now I am trying to figure out how to teach Fisher to keep his room clean. Boys...

New Floors!!

2010-12-14T14:33:00.000-08:00

It truly is amazing to me how a few simple and key changes in a room can make the biggest difference. Knowing where to spend your money is KEY! To me buying expensive furniture is risky because in a few years or in my case a month or two I am over it... I chose to spend the bulk of our remodel money on key things that would add warmth and overall "charm" to our "cookie cutter home".

Not to mention that the previous owners had an enormous black dog and left behind some very long coarse hair that was impossible to get up...
So we decided to tackle the floors and the easiest change of all the walls:

Here is one before and a couple of durings:

Here are the 6 wall colors we narrowed it down to, we ended up going with the second one from the left SW Universal Khaki, sounds exciting I know, but it ended up being a very grayish tan, which was exactly what I was going for.

And yes, I did say goodbye to my hand painted burlap curtains, only because my sweet sweet husband said I could find something else... so I wasted no time finding something a little more sophisticated. I think that would be the buzz word of the remodel, "sophisticated". I tried to think about that with every decision because I feel that a sophisticated overall room is timeless and is easier to add fun accessories to.

I looked online for inspiration for wall colors for a really long time and debated back and forth between warm tans and cool grays, eventually I realized that the furniture I had worked best with warmer tones...so i went warm.

So for 3 days we lived with nothing in our downstairs and lived upstairs, which was fun, but with three kids I needed somewhere for them to sit or eat, so after 3 days we left and went and stayed with my parents until it was completed...about a week. Even though it was crazy it was so worth the wait and it truly feels like home now...

The curtains are actually a snakeskin like print but it is neutral and a nice touch of texture.
And the rug is my favorite item...it was a 600$ rug from pottery barn that I scored on clerance for 99$! My husband and I were pretty happy about that!

This tv cabinet is half painted white, I just have not had the energy or the time with the holidays to finish...
Everything on the wall here is from goodwill or I made myself. I just painted all the frames the same color to make everything flow together. The number painting is actually a pottery barn knock off that was so simple and completely free!

This is an overall view of the new room complete with children relaxing and playing together...
I am very happy with everything and very grateful for a husband who understand my need to nest!

Thaksgiving...

2010-12-13T13:10:00.000-08:00

So I have just been so busy reading all the amazing blogs out there that I come back to mine and feel like I have nothing interesting to blog about... that's ok, Ill try anyway...

Well, here are some of our family pics from Thanksgiving.

I love my family and had a great time laughing and making wonderful memories!

2010-11-22T09:23:00.000-08:00

So we finally finished our house remodel and I have a ton of after pics to post...
but until then Jenn over at Tater Tots and Jello is giving away a Silhouette! I mean if you have never seen this you will go crazy! It's the coolest thing ever and I want one so bad! Go check it out here!

New Pantry!!!

2010-10-21T09:28:00.000-07:00

I was very inspired by the House of Smiths pantry redo, so I decided to tackle my own. I did not have very much money to spend so I tried to use as much stuff as I could that I already had. First I took everything out! My husband was really excited about that part...

Here are some before pics ...

Pretty much a typical pantry with a ton of food and not a ton of organization. Once I got everything out, I cleaned the shelves and then painted the walls a really pretty greenish gray.

While it was drying, the hardest part for me, was trying to figure out the most logical place and groupings to go back in. I got rid of the stuff that I NEVER use and relocated it to the laundry room. This allowed me to get rid of the over the door hanger and a lot of the appliances. I went to goodwill and got like 5 baskets for 17$ and then spray painted most white. This lets you put the not so pretty stuff inside so you just see the pretty basket. I really tried to put the things that we use the most at eye level and then the things we do not at the top or at the bottom. I did take all of my cereal out of the boxes and used the bags only. It makes it look a lot cleaner. After I got everything in and where I wanted it I printed some lables on the computer. I would of LOVED to use vinyl, however I did not have the patience or the money... so I came up with these. And here is the final product.... I love it!!!

Burlap Curtains

2010-09-02T20:43:00.000-07:00

I have been looking and looking for some fabric for the curtains in our living room. I have scoured Hobby Lobby and Target and have not been able to find anything that fits my vision or my budget so... I was very inspired by The Nester's curtains, they are fabulous! But I needed six panels and that equals a lot of money, so I decided I would do something with burlap. I have been wanting to jump on this band wagon but have not found exactly how to incorporate into our new house. This is what I came up with...

I used 7 yards of burlap
2 cans of espresso spray paint
poster board (stencil)

First, I cut my fabric into the panels that I needed.

I cut out my stencil with the poster board. My stripes are about 4 inches long.

Spray paint the entire panel and let dry

Then I sewed up all the rough edges and here you go!

Lighning McQueen Cake!

2010-08-23T19:09:00.000-07:00

For Fisher's 3rd Birthday I decided I would be a little ambitious, and try to make a McQeen cake. If you have a boy in the age range of 2-5 you know the obsession of Lightning McQueen, that I am talking about, we joke that that movie is why Fish can talk, because it is the majority of his vocabulary. Today he even cried until I agreed to let him sleep in his Lightning McQueen shoes (which of course was a gift from Grandma, bc I don't do the whole character clothing thing), anyway, I had great plans for some red fondant icing and even made it yesterday so that I could be prepared for today. Well apparently it gets really hard and unusable if you let it sit over night. I did not know this and had to chunk it this morning...

So I went with plan "B" and had to use buttercream which turned out pretty good. Sorry about the lack of pics...
I started with a regular yellow cake mix, whipped that up and put it in the oven. Then I cut it into three sections, in a t shape. I put the two bigger pieces on top of eachother to make the base of the cake and then I put the smaller piece on top of that to make the eyes. Then I kind of just took a McQeen car that I had and shaped the cake to look like the car. After that I iced it and called it a day. Its not perfect, but it looked good enough for Fisher who was so excited to have a "cars" cake!

3 years old!

2010-08-23T09:02:00.000-07:00

Today I get to celebrate Fisher's 3 rd birthday! I feel very blessed!

I am going to attempt to make a Lightning McQueen cake...but well see how it turns out!

Almost 3 Months!

2010-08-23T08:56:00.000-07:00

Here is our little man growing and growing!

My husband Rocks!

2010-08-18T13:50:00.000-07:00

When we moved to NB we did not have a fridge, so when we got there we went and purchased a really cheap one for the garage and decided to wait on one for the kitchen until we could find a good deal...

well, I am pretty sure that I lost about 10 pounds bc I simply hated going out there to get food (its a great diet, take away the food and you dont eat). Well I found a fridge that I really liked, a stainless, french door with bottom freezer, however the cost of one of these is more then we paid for our first car, so I pretty much counted that thought out... (I know its just a fridge but they are so beautiful)

In comes amazing hubby, I had found a deal on craigslist for a fridge that looked great and told pres he should just go take a look and if it was not in good shape or whatever no biggie, really I just wanted anything to hold cold food inside my house! He went and told me that it was dirty and didnt work...

what a tricker, later that night he pulled in the driveway with this beauty!

I am so excited and I just thinks she sparkles so pretty! I was so excited to go to the grocery store to buy some fresh new food to fill her up with!

It was a great surprise from a great husband! And he had an awesome story about how he got a really great deal on it too!

MIA!

2010-08-18T13:09:00.000-07:00

Well, I did not drop off the face of the planet...I am back! The past couple of months has been full of a million changes in my life... bed rest, we had Miles, we sold our house and moved into the loft, and then we found our home in new Braunfels and moved there and now finally I feel like I can breathe!

Here are some of the highlights of the past couple of months...

Miles turned one month (now hes almost three months)

He turned 2 months!

Grace and Fisher went to their first VBS!

My mom and dad and sister and all of us went to Sea World! We saw Willy! (my kids call Shamoo, Willy bc of Free Willy, so the whole time they were yelling to see willy! It was pretty funny!)

My parents and sister with Grace and Fisher

We finally got to see Willy!

Fisher was so excited to ride with Willy, they loved this roller coaster and cried when our turn was over, I was very surprised!

We fed the dolphins, very cool

My sis and fish feeding the dolphins

we have had a great summer with lots of new things in our life! I am excited to see how God is going to use us here in New Braunfels!

In a couple of weeks I am going to embark on the journey of homeschooling Grace for preschool, I am excited and nervous, but happy that I will get to spend some great time with her!

It's here!

2010-07-29T14:46:00.000-07:00

Well...
After over a year of putting our house on the market, the big day is finally here. We spent all day today getting the truck packed and tomorrow morning we will be off to New Braunfels! Preston and I are filled with so much joy and excitement and also filled with sadness to be leaving such wonderful people here in Columbus!

Here is our new house! It is completely builder beige from top to bottom so...there will be a whole lot of renovation post to follow!

We feel blessed to have served here for the past almost 3 years and are so excited to start a new chapter of our lives and to see how God desires to use us in New Braunfels. I feel kind of like a kid waiting for Christmas morning...is it to early to go to bed right now?

featued

2010-07-12T12:35:00.001-07:00

I'm being featured over at Tip Junkie!

Fishing

2010-05-21T07:56:00.001-07:00

Nothing quite like the thrill of catching a fish!

Happy Mommy Day!

2010-05-09T08:13:00.000-07:00

I hope that every mom is getting to take a little break today to truly enjoy all the blessings around her! Not until I became a mom myself did I ever realize that being a mom is the most amazing gift, and at certain times it can be the craziest thing ever! However, with my daughters 4 year birthday coming up next week, my sons 3rd in a few months and another baby due in the next couple of weeks, I am just so honored to be a mom. I find my hormonal self right now getting caught up with the everyday hoopla and forgetting that I have been entrusted with three beautiful children. To raise them to live lives that glorify God, to walk beside them through this crazy world and to ultimately love them unconditionally. What other job description sounds so important? And if I want to, I can do it all in my pj's! And yet we continuously believe the lie that our job is boring and undervalued...I am continually praying to find true joy in being a mother and finding that every slobbery kiss and bear hug is enough to keep me going!

Some great parenting advice from Matt Chandler:
When everything is said and done and we stand before our maker, only you will be held accountable for the way you raised your child. No pastor, friend, or youth group leader...just you!

Have a great day!

Sunday Morning

2010-04-25T05:31:00.001-07:00

As I sit here, quiet and eating a bowl of cereal, before anyone else wakes up, I am just in awe of the God that we serve! Take away the business and craziness of my life and there is still a God who longs to know me better...me? Wow. Lord you are amazing and I am honored to be called a Daughter of the King, the Most High, the Alpha and the Omega. You are a God of details and a God who cares about His people...I pray this Sunday morning that you would be glorified...all over this world, be lifted up and exalted! You are what I live for and You are enough! We have a big week ahead of us this next week and a lot of decisions that Preston and I have been praying for are going to be made...be our guide, and give us wisdom. We don't want to be anywhere but where you want us, and where we will be used by you...Thank you so much for your provision and your timing. Prepare my heart for worship...

I am so excited!!!

2010-04-07T07:23:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to let you know that I have been featured over at Simply Designing!!! If you have not checked this blog out it is a great one with lots of good ideas and tutorials!

I think I might be in LOVE!

2010-03-26T12:21:00.000-07:00

Apparently I have been suffering from "kitchen envy" lately. We are in the process of trying to move and looking at houses and my mind and heart keeps getting so excited at the possibility of getting a new kitchen. Our kitchen right now is great and I am very thankful...But...who would not want to make a gourmet meal in one of these two kitchens? I think the kitchen of my dreams would be some mix of the two of these, and maybe with a little bit less stark white...But the architecture and details in these kitchens make my mouth water...

Southern Living

BHG

Sometimes you just get Lucky!

2010-03-24T17:11:00.000-07:00

With 2 crazy kids, you never quite know what you are going to get when you try and take a picture. Especially if you really are trying to get a good one... After about 42 takes, I actually got one that I love and is totally frame worthy!

Woo Hoo!

Pottery Barn Lamp Inspiration

2010-03-22T17:17:00.000-07:00

Pokeno PArty

2010-03-14T11:43:00.000-07:00

Last week I got to host a Pokeno party with the ladies from our church. We had a great time laughing and me not winning at all! Here are some of the homemade decorations that I came up with for the party: