mad for the movies.

Not "mad" as in a terrible-twos mad or you-took-my-toy mad or you-hit-me mad, but "mad" as in MADagascar 2.

I took the kiddos, along with my SIL Jaime and niece Jaicey, to see it.

Our local theater runs a Thursday special for movie admission, popcorn and a drink all for $2! And since there are a million kids in there, no one seems to mind when your 5 year old starts doing a LOUD snorting laugh during a quiet part or when your 2.5 year old keeps changing seats every three minutes...  ;  )

It was a fun experience for both Easton and Reagan, and I hope to take them back sometime soon!

Easton.

Easton has such a special place in my heart. As our first born and only son, he paved the way for how Johnathan and I are as parents. When he was born, we knew God had made a perfect little person for us to learn on how to be caring, teaching, patient, resourceful, fun, silly, loving parents.

He, in our eyes, is perfect. He has his own set of challenges, but we do our best to turn them into opportunities. He can be a rough and tumble wrestler or a sensitive and caring little daddy.

He is so intelligent in the words he uses and with the ideas in his head, but he never fears at asking questions or turning to us for help and advice.

He is gets frustrated with the little things at times, but finds humor in the little things all the time. His laugh is infectious, and he loves laughing at himself.

He gets his feelings hurt really easy, but all it takes is a hug and kiss...or some ice cream to cheer him up!

I pray that as our little man starts kindergarten in two weeks that he flourishes and grows this year into an even more perfect little person. He has been asking ALL summer when he gets to go to "big school," so I know he's excited and ready to start...or just ready to get away from his little sisters! ;  )

We are going to go pick out his school supplies next week so it just makes it all very real for me. Our little guy is growing up, and we won't ever be able to get this time back. He will always be my little baby boy, and we are so blessed that he is in our lives!

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.~Proverbs 22:6

six-month smiles.

Six months from now I hope to have a smile that's a little less crooked. I got my six-month smiles braces yesterday, and it's going to get some getting used to. Fortunately, I'm not in pain; Unfortunately, I AM STARVING. They put these blocks on my molars that keep me from biting down completely so I don't knock off the braces. But, it's so hard to chew or eat! I've managed to eat eggs this morning and yogurt for lunch. 

Can you see them? Hopefully not that well. That's the point.

I hope I can kiss Johnathan when he gets home...

Is it December yet? 

Mexican cheeeeeeeese!

I just had to share this video. It just reminds me how fun my Dad was as a parent, and how even more fun he is as a Poppa to my kids!

Just a quick caption for ya, this was at a Mexican restaurant last week. My dad and Reagan are dancing to the restaurant's music playing, not realizing I am filming it, and then they stop at the both time to say "cheese" because they think I am taking a picture! Long caption, but it is just such a cute video to me!

Better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere...~Psalm 84:10

"dog"-gone great!

Remember this little ole' stool that I blogged about a few weeks ago...my mystery project that was going to be "dog"-gone great! Well, it is!

I went from this unused stool that I never propped my big feet on...

to this fully-functioning dog bowl station.

Itn't puuurrrrrty!?! ;  ) Who would've thunk you could get that from a stool...me, of course!

Wanna make your own. Here's the breakdown:

Forewarning, there are a gazillion pics included for this tutorial, even though this project is easy-schmeezy!

Start with a stool, antique or not.

Gently pry off fabric covering with a flat head screwddriver.

Peel back fabric layer to discover nasty mold. Ewww.... And then put on thick hospital gloves to keep you from catching some kind of weird disease.

Ask the kitty to come on over and give her opinion about paint color options. ;  )

Take an extreme closeup pic of the beautiful nailheads that held the fabric on, which you later discover can't be reused because they are so old...they just break apart. :  (

Once you get the fabric off, gently pry off the top and get a feel for what you are working with...

a cracked top. No bueno in this case. Make a home depot trip for a new board top.

Annnnnnndddd...after your trip to Home Depot, in which they cut the boards for you, check out how it's going to fit. 

Attach with a hand held staple gun and penny nails...not staples.

Measure where you want your dog bowls to sit and trace the outer rim for both bowls.

Using your husband's power drill or using your husband's power to drill... 

drill two pilot holes for your jig saw.

 

Use your jig saw to cut two larger holes...

that are about a 1/2 inch smaller than the circle you traced.

Take note of the the huge mess you created in the yard for this one project!

Forget to take pics of yourself painting the dog bowl station... .... .......... ......

.........

and here you have it!

Surprise! (Like you didn't see it in the beginning of this post...)

A dog bowl station!

It's "dog"-gone great, isn't it!?!

Macie loves it, so that's all that matters!

Can't you just see the excitement in her eyes. Yeah, me too! ;  )

The LORD is good to all: and His tender mercies are over all His works.~Psalm 145:9

book worm.

Books. Books. And more books. During my grandmom's estate sale this weekend, I picked out a dozen or so books that had belonged to her and my late grandfather. I didn't select them based on content, even though most are very interesting, but I picked out the ones that were coordinated in color to my living room.

Yellows. Greens. Aquas. Greys. Blues.

I used some to elevate a plant on one of our end tables.

And the rest went on our tv bookshelves.

Books are so easy to use as a decorating element. And using them in my living room is even much more meaningful to me because of their history.


Comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.~2 Thessalonians 2:17

chip it.

Doing a little Pinterest surfing this morning, I saw this new feature that Sherwin Williams offers called ChipIt. Basically it takes any photo of your own or from the internet and pulls the most prominent colors from the photo to create your own unique chip card of paint colors. 

Take this photo of Reagan for example.

I uploaded the pic and voila! Paint colors that Sherwin Williams already has...these are NOT fake colors with made up names. These are REAL paint colors you can find in the store! Isn't that so cool. In my version, I can actually see five more colors in addition to these five. Once you get the app you will see what I am talking about.

Cool, huh!?! No I am not being paid by Sherwin Williams to say that. I just think it's REALLY neat!

Try it out for yourself!...I have already like a million times. ;  )

cooling off in this red hot summer!

It's just plain H.O.T. outside, so I definitely don't want to feel that way inside.

I decided to take my blood red master bath from hot to cool. Excuse the awful pic quality -my iPhone doesn't have a flash. AND excuse the mess! I am cleaning out other areas of the house, and for some reason it all ends up in my bathroom before I figure out what to do with it.

SOOOO, anyway...I started this morning with this...

And ended the day with this!

This is after THREE coats of primer. I didn't stutter. It took three to cover it up. I don't know why in the world I wanted a red bathroom. Let alone blood red.

I hope to show you soon the finished color on the walls. I also plan to accessorize with items I score at the upcoming World's Longest Yard Sale! Yippeee!!! I want this bath to be my mommy sanctuary and spa. And, once JT gets home, I'll let him share it with me. ;  )

Have a great Friday night!!!

project day.

Tomorrow I am taking a day off from work. To take a nap? No. To lay out and get a tan? I wish! To relax, sip tea and read? Not this motivated mama!

I am taking the day off just to work on projects!

What do I have on my list you ask?

1. Repair part of our porch screen that the cat ripped.

2. Finish the mystery project I mentioned in this post.

3. Prime my bathroom walls! I want to see NO MORE RED at the end of the day.

4. Any other little projects that come up as I go. I am JUST like my dad when it comes to starting a project and getting distracted by twenty other little projects!

I'll post pics tomorrow as the day goes on.

an all-American T-shirt tutorial.

I couldn't leave Easton out of the festivities when making shirts for the 4th. This was an idea that I kind of actually thought of myself...can't give you complete credit this time Pinterest....even though if I searched enough I probably could find this done by someone somewhere already.

This is going to be the easiest tutorial you've ever heard for making a modern DIY shirt for a little boy. Please note: I KNOW this doesn't include Alaska and Hawaii, but it's just what I did. You'll get over it. ;  )

Here's the final result! My handsome man!

Supplies:
Thread (color depends on fabric you choose for the map)
A T-shirt in your child's size
A bandana (or whatever festive fabric you choose)
Applique letters that spell out U S A.

1. Print out an image of a map of the United States that is proportionate to the T-shirt you are using, cut out.
2. Trace the United States map onto the bandana, cut out.
3. Position where you want the map on the shirt and attach with straight pins.
4. Sew around the edges, about a 1/8 inch in from the edge. I went over this about two times so my edge would show up more. It probably could have used a few more times.
5. Sew on (or in my case, iron-on) the applique letters.
6. I washed the shirt at this point so the edges of the map would fray.
7. You're done!

Isn't he a cutie? My little All-American boy. Love him!

a "stars and stripes" T-shirt tutorial.

It's a tradtion for me to make the kiddos a shirt, dress, some kind of patriotic outfit for the 4th of July. Right behind Christmas, it's my favorite holiday. Why? Because it's full of good food, family, fun, and fireworks!

So, I did a little Pinterest research and found an idea for what I could make for the girls. I found a photo, no tutorial though, and just winged it. It's a modern take on a flag.

This is how it turned out. Cute huh!?!

Since the pic on Pinterest didn't have a tutorial, I'll give you a quick one. I didn't take photos of the step-by- step because it's just that darn easy.

Supplies:

Dark blue and white polka-dot extra-wide ribbon

Red ric-rac (or white if you use a red shirt)

White T-shirt in your child's size

Red thread

Dark blue thread

That's it!

1. Cut (1)- four inch piece of ric-rac and (3)- 5 inch pieces. Note: these measurements were used simply because they were proportionate to the shirt size I used (24 months). You may have to make yours a little smaller or larger depending on your shirt. Gently and quickly wave a lighter over the ends to seal.

2. Position the ric-rac pieces centered on the shirt, with the ends lining up on the right, the first one (the shorter piece) about 2-3 inches below the neckline. Space them a "ric-rac" width apart. Temporarily attach with straight pins. Note: the shorter piece is at the top so that you don't see it coming out from the side of the bow.

3. Sew, with the red thread, straight down the center of each ric-rac piece.

4. Tie a bow from the ribbon that is proportionate to your shirt and the ric-rac "stripes." Bascially, don't have your bow too large or too small. Seal off ends with a lighter.

5. Hand sew the bow onto your shirt, angled in the corner. I also sewed the left end piece of the bow down because I burned one of my ric-rac ends and wanted to hide it. You don't have to do that though!

Your shirt is done! I paired Reagan's shirt with a red bow and a pairt of white shoes, and a cute tulle skirt I found at Walmart for only $5.

Sew simple and so adorable!

Doesn't hurt to have a gorgeous model to show it off!

Stay tuned for my next tutorial. It's even less steps than this one. I made a shirt for Easton that is "all-American!"