New Living Room

When we moved into the house we painted the living room and dinning room and light grey that was actually a light blue. We were never crazy about it and it wasn't long before I was dreaming of a dark bluish green paint on the walls. Well there is this thing that happens when you are pregnant called nesting and this dream finally became a reality.

Russ and I worked very hard to get it done fairly quickly, I really wanted to get it done before we started homeschool again because we do homeschool in the dinning room.

We added white molding to the ceiling and around the windows and we love it. It feels like that room has "grown up". It is still not completely done because we are putting a family tree up but it is really close to being finished. And we even got the timeline up before school started.

Also before school started I wanted my wall map hung which required Russ to go up in the attic and add a stud for it to be hung into since we now had molding. This is what his arm looked like when he came down for a drink,.

I felt so bad every time I looked at him. It was so hot up there. This guy does so much for me!

But look at how great it looks!

love tree

Russ has wanted to cut down a mostly dead orange tree in our back yard for awhile. I wouldn't let him for awhile because it wasn't all dead. There was still green growing on it. But it only gave us one orange last year and has been looking really scraggly lately so I let him do it. We are going to plant a peach tree in its place. It was really cool to see when he cut it that there was a heart shaped hole inside. 

I am going to have him cut a slice of that trunk and hang it somewhere in our house. 

And now pictures of Russ doing manly things...

A perfect day

I got onto blogger one day to find a draft post that I had titled, "A perfect day". Before reading it all I could remember about the day that as I was rocking Joseph to sleep I was thinking about the day and realized that it had been perfect and I quickly sat down at the computer and typed up all the things that had happened that day. I didn't post it because it was a (very) rough draft. And drafts, by the way, are not something I do very often. When I sit down to blog I upload the pictures, type up what happened, and post. That is all the time and energy I can muster for this blog right now in my life. Which is fine, it just means there are a lot of grammatical mistakes. I hope you will forgive me for those. I don't have a lot of time to blog, but I think it is important to record our lives so it do it. So here I am sitting down to edit it (a bit) and make sure it makes sense, and share what I considered a perfect day (this day happened on a Monday which is Russ day off).

Gracie woke up early (around 4?) with a fever and joined us in our bed. When William woke up he got breakfast for he and Gracie and Joseph slept late so I got to sleep a little while. I got up and made William's lunch for his field trip and drew a pirate ship on the brown paper bag. Russ told me that he would get teased for that and I said, "no he won't, it's awesome". And guess what? William thought it was awesome. I know my boy. Russ took William to school while I read scriptures and prayed. Gracie got to watch Enchanted and Joseph played by my feet while I did a blog post I had been meaning to do for over a week. Russ came home and trimmed the bushes and mowed the front lawn while Joseph played outside with the water table and I finished styling our book shelves (a job I started that weekend and really wanted to finish so we wouldn't have to keep living in the mess).

before

during

afters

 Then we all showered and got ready to go to LoLo's for lunch with Connie and Lindsey. The food was delicious and the company was better.

 After we picked up William from school and when we got home he wanted to watch Fantastic Mr. Fox. Russ went to put Joseph down for a nap (and I knew he would fall asleep while rocking him) and Gracie wasn't feeling well again so I laid down with her and fell asleep while stroking her hair. I woke up when I heard Russ coming out of Joseph's room and told him to go and lay down with Gracie while I listed a couple of dresses on Etsy. Gracie and Joseph both woke up just as William's movie ended and so I took the boys to Costco and Gracie stayed home with Russ so he could mow the back yard. Costco was nice and quick and we ate and everyone was happy. When we got home Gracie was asleep again and Russ was in his swimming shorts waiting for us by the pool. William jumped in and swam around and Gracie slowly got in and only swam for a little bit, but I really think it helped her temperature down. Then I held her wrapped in a towel while Russ vacuumed the pool and Joseph toddled around. Then I brought he kids in and got them in jammies and gave Joseph a bottle then we came out and had a short family home evening where we talked about the importance of trust and honesty. And we sang songs which Joseph loved. Then we drank v8 fusion for our treat and then brushed teeth. Then we all read scriptures together and said family prayers and then Russ tucked the little ones in while I read Harry Potter to William. And then I scratched William's back while I read some blogs on my phone. After I sent him to bed I came out to find Russ listening to Conference talks and I looked for a project I wanted to start working on (I didn't find it) and decided to go rock Joseph who had been fussing off and on this whole time. He is used to having a bottle right before he goes to sleep and we are trying to change that. I went in and picked him up and even though he was mad he laid his head on my shoulder and fell asleep as I bounced and swayed him around the room and he held on to my shirt. I looked at Gracie and William both sleep soundly (even though Joseph had just been yelling in their room) and realized it had been a wonderful day. So I came out and typed this up and I can hear Russ cleaning up the kitchen as I do this. I now I am going to go and get him and take him to bed and thank my Heavenly Father for perfect days like this, cause not all days are like this, but when they are it makes the harder days easier to take.

I went into the kitchen to get Russ and he was making summer porridge for he and William's breakfast and he wanted to pick some blackberries for it. So he and I went outside and picked blackberries and since it was so nice we laid outside on the cool grass and talked about what a great day we had and what a great life we have. I am not sure what made this day so great. Maybe the fact that I got so much done, ate out, and took a nap? I think it has a lot to do with my attitude. I have been trying to have a good attitude and it really does make all the difference in the world.

Christmas surprise

 Russ isn't a builder, he really hasn't built much. So I suggested that he build a playhouse for the kids for Christmas he was a little skeptical. I showed him the Ana White website where he could get free plans and he  decided to give it a go.

He really didn't have a lot of time to work on it because of his work schedule and holiday stuff so I was a little worried that it wouldn't get done. Luckily my mom and dad and brother Mark came out one day to help build  or watch the kids so I could paint.

By some miracle it was ready on Christmas eve. 

We told the kids that Russ was building a shed for his lawn mower and it was covered by tarps once you could tell what it was so they were not sure what there present was when they opened their eyes.

But they were excited once they figured it out.

Even Joseph was so excited.

It was a lot of work, but so worth it. It will give them a reason to play outside more and I love that. I don't think they play outside enough.

Well done Russ, well done.

Sunny and bright (kids bedroom)

This last Saturday Russ said, "let's paint the kids room!" This is something we have wanted to do since we moved in, but I never was for sure what I wanted to do. So many ideas running through my brain, but when put on the spot like that I said, "okay, go get some white paint." Half way through painting Russ said he would finish painting and I should round up the stuff we wanted to hang on the walls cause he wanted to finish it all that day! So that is what I did. I scoured the office, the hall closet, my sewing room, and the kids bedroom closet and found stuff I had forgot I had. Today I finished the last touches and am ready to show it to you.

This is the only before picture I have. The walls were tan and one was very light blue. And the walls were empty. Now...

It is very bright and colorful and feels refreshing to walk into. The kids love it.

This is Gracie's corner.

The bunting I made for her 1st birthday. The Holly Hobbie embroidery is from the thrift store and my mother in law has the exact same thing hanging in her kitchen (but hers is different colors). Then just some thrifted frames and a print I got from my friend Mimi. Then I let her pick some instagrams to hang in a frame with mini clothes pins.

The quilt is her baby quilt that was made by my grandmother. She was so old when she made it that is was not done very well and I am afraid it would come apart in the wash, but it is perfect for hanging. The baby giraffe cross stitch hung on my wall when I was a baby. That is fabric starched to the wall behind the G and every thing else is thrifted.

I really love the headboard. I got it for $5 at a thrift store and later realized it goes with the ikea bed. The teal checked blanket on her bed was my husbands when he was a baby.

The dresser was given to us by our old neighbor Michelle and we gave it a new paint job and knobs before Joseph was born, I just kept forgettting to take pictures and post them, but I love it. Russ did a great job with the stripes.

Now William's corner.

He shares the wall with Joseph. By the way, I love having my kids in the same room. It only took a couple of days for them to get used to each other and the older kids never even budge if Joseph wakes up in the night.

William's "I Am A Child of God" sign was made by his Aunt Alison. The W was thrifted and pink so I had to spray paint it and the framed sign says "sometimes being a big brother is even better than being a super hero". The globe is his bank that he got last Christmas.

This wall has some drawing that I did of Harry, Ron, and Hermoine. He also got to put some instagrams on his wall and then there is his drawing of Harry Potter.

I am not gonna lie, I am proud of our hard work.

On his bed we got a vintage Star Wars pillow case that Kayleen gave him and his R2 D2 and C3PO from his cousin Grayson. And then there is the walrus pillow that Russ made when he was a kid. 

Joseph's crib that my mom got at a yard sale for $10. I made the bedding and bunting. The "J" was thrifted and is mounted on fabric that is starched to the wall. The picture of Christ with the children is the same one I had in my room as a child (not the exact same one, just the same print).  Then we have the mini chair that is there so Gracie can reach the light (although I think she can do it without it now) and it holds the blessed sound machine.

Then our dresser that Russ brother Vic gave to us and I have thought about doing something more with it, but I also just want to leave it alone.

The scale I just found recently and decided it would go nicely.

That is pretty much it. The only thing I want to add is quilts for their beds and I *might* do that for Christmas.

It feels really good to have that room done. There are so many rooms in our house that are almost done. The each just need a little more work, but it gets overwhelming when there are so many rooms. I guess we need to just pick which room will be  next and get Russ motivated again:)

Coming along

I have been spending a lot of time organizing my craft room (you have no idea how happy it makes me to have one) and it is coming a long nicely. Looking at all my supplies has me itching to make something and be creative. But I really want to get it all done before I start messing it up again;)

See what I mean. Don't you just want to make something???