Busy, Busy Days

So on Monday, after a very full day of school, my husband surprised the kids by getting off work an hour early. We quickly packed up and went to a local state park, where we fished , roasted hot dogs & made smores and the kids were in heaven. To say we all slept well after such a busy day on Monday would be an understatement. I keep thinking the days will slow down a bit now that school is going, but they seem to be even busier than ever. So I have finished nothing in almost a week now ... and most of the projects require next to nothing to finish either ... maybe I should start drinking soda again, it would certainly help me finish more on my to-do list, lol. I realized I never posted pictures of the things finished in Savannah's room, so here's the first project for her room. I cut out a TON of circles with my cricut to make some bunting for the room. When you can't paint, you gotta make more pops of color wherever you can! Then I saved all the little scraps for another project I'll take some pics & post tomorrow. :)

Winter's Coming ...

Two years ago it snowed on September 15th, last year it was mid-October. Winter's coming ... and who knows how much longer until the snow, wind and freezing temps will arrive. So I am in overdrive right now trying to de-junk and make everything nice and ready for the deep-never-ending winter. And to be honest, I'm torn about whether I want it to come or not ... the flies are driving me batty here ... but it's a LONG 9-10 months of snow ... oh well. So, this weekend my husband was awesome enough to cut up a 4x8 board we got at the auction last year for $5 and make some impromptu shelves for our garage. See the cute shelves in the garage there??? It's part of a HUGE entertainment center ... and for now at least, it's staying in the garage until I can figure out where to put it. LOL. It's taken me two years of de-junking and working with what we had to get the garage this nice & tidy. It may not look like much ... but the fact that we could park the car in there tomorrow feels like a HUGE accomplishment to me! We also fit in some Mother-Daughter craft time ... so exciting to Savannah. I'm hoping to have some time to finish that project this week ... and I'm also trying to hurry up and spray paint everything I want done ... because once the deep-freeze sets in, nothing will get painted for a long, long time.I'm hoping to have a finished picture to show of a project I'm working on tomorrow ... but I guess we'll have to wait & see how the weather co-operates! :)

Boys Room - Mathching Bedding -

I've slowly been collecting plaid fabric for the past year to make all three boys plaid blankets, and eventually I'd like to make a copy of this bedding ... oh I love PBKids! But, for now the two older boys had jean blankets and I wanted to make some matching bedding for Jax's toddler bed. So I pieced together some leftover batting, used some fabulous fabric I already had on-hand and did a simple tied blanket. Last night I sat by Jax's bed while he fell asleep (he's got a nasty head cold right now) and did the binding. Easy-peasy-lemon-squeazy! Not an exact match, but it works, it was free and he absolutely loved it! As soon as he saw me arranging it on his bed, he wouldn't leave it alone, or get out of the picture. What can I say? He's the 4th child, he's territorial by nature. LOL.

Homeschool Field Day!

So in most schools, there is a field day in the spring. But, we don't have spring in Cheyenne. Last year the last snowfall was near the end of May, and I was still wearing long sleeve shirts on some days in June. So, we decided to have a field day for the first day of school (before the snow starts ... some years as early as mid-September)! I wanted to do something fun for the kids, still school related that would get them excited about their upcoming year ... and they had a blast! There were three other homeschool families that we have now met thru church with kids of similar ages, so we all got together to kick-off the year!

Since most schools will sell t-shirts for field day, we decided to tie-dye shirts with kool-aid (main tutorial followed is here), the only bit it didn't add on the instructions, that most other sites had was to pre-soak the shirt in water before beginning. It was pretty crazy trying to do the rubber banding & soaking for each child (and letting them be a part of the whole process) ... but the kids were so excited to see the designs popping out on their shirts! They are now the "cool" pj shirts in our house. :) My husband veto'd the twister idea I had (something about spray painting the grass on the rental just didn't fly with him ... he brought up the whole "grass-going-into hibernation-before growing-out" thing), but the kids had a lot of fun with the water bottle bowling, relay racing, water balloon toss (which quickly became water balloon fights) and the egg race too.We didn't get to make the bubble snakes I wanted to, but we're planning on doing that one tomorrow after school to celebrate surviving the first week. :)

Hunter's new quilt

So one of my very first quilts was made in 2008, as a Valentine's day gift for Hunter. He has always appreciated the handmade gifts, and I let him pick the different fabrics to go with the space ships he requested. I used that FABULOUS retro spaceship fabric ... and I was VERY proud of that creation. I didn't realize that I shouldn't use super stretchy jean material or that the flannel would shrink differently than the cottons ... but I did manage to have most of my points meet up well ... and I was excited to give it to him. But it's only 39" x 50" and doesn't work well for the 8 1/2 year old boy anymore. He's been asking for a new quilt, so the other week I asked him what he wanted ... no surprise, he said a Mario quilt. :) But they don't make Mario fabric, so while I was looking for ideas, he saw this quilt ... and wanted it so badly! Seriously. So after looking at it for a bit, I told him I would make it for him, but it would have to be a birthday present, his main birthday present. And I would have to start on it now to have it done in time ... and he agreed to that! So, now I'm trying in all my "free time" to finish up more projects ... because I have to finish ten before I get started and this quilt feels pretty intense, so I'm wanting to start as soon as possible. EEK!

First Day of School

Today was the first day of homeschool, we decided to kick it off with a fun field day with some other homeschooling families ... the kids had a blast! I'll post pics and more details as soon as I get them edited. :)

Happy Birthday Colton!

My son turned 4 this weekend. Holy cow ... four years ... done & gone. We took him to McDonald's on Saturday, after Ryan took them for an early morning fishing adventure. He wanted a car cake, so I tried ... it won't win any awards, but he was happy with it ... and even more so with the five cars that he got once the cake was eaten. :) This little boy is a light to our family, he's always cracking jokes and he makes me smile on a daily basis with his silliness and humor. I am so grateful for him, and can't imagine our family or life without him! :) Happy Birthday Bubbas!

Boys Room -Mario Cross-Stitch-

Last night I stayed up until almost 2 o' clock watching North and South. I never watch tv, and usually I'll spread a movie out across three or four nights, but this one was too good to stop watching!So I'm about to head out at 9 o' clock in the morning to break my no caffeine/no carbonation rule and get something VERY caffinated (the largest coke McDonald's sales) to get me thru the day. Lizzie hasn't been sleeping much for over a week so last night's little movie has made today VERY painful ... but that movie is so worth it! :) Netflix offers it as an instant streaming movie ... watch it today if you can. :)

The project I finished yesterday doesn't technically go with the theme, but then again neither does the throw pillow Hunter is begging me to make him ... and that's okay! I finally got around to framing the Mario cross-stitch I made him ... oh ... in 2008. Picked up the frame from the Goodwill, spray painted it the same red as the map pictures and put it on his bed ... wow! It feels good to have that thing put up somewhere. :)

Boys Room - Dresser Part Deux -

So, after the alphabet didn't fit, I found out about this fabulous site and decided to print up these three sets of prints (campers, hot air balloons & classic cars) and picked up some dollar store frames. I spray painted all nine frames dark blue and put the pictures in them. Only, they didn't fit in the space either like I envisioned (guess I should have measured first???). And it just didn't look as cool with only three frames up (the frames are straight ... evidently the photograph wasn't though ... sorry).And I did already have two things to go up there ... so as much as I love the prints, I'm going to put them aside in the closet for now (maybe they'll have a place to go in the next rental???) ... and I realize this is WAY beyond my budget ... but I really think this PBKids mobile would look fantastic up there! Anyone seen a tutorial to make one like it though??? By the way ... notice the angry birds poster??? Yes, Hunter is obsessed ... and since it is a boy's room and should reflect them, I decided that it didn't matter if it didn't match "my theme" ... right?

My new table

So, on Thursday night Ryan came home with a bit of a surprise, a new table! I had mentioned liking it, and was REALLY excited that he got it for only $85! I want to re-cover the chairs with a new fabric and some plastic (for easy clean up with the kids) ... I'm debating which color to use, I *LOVE* the green (so does Ryan) but it definitely doesn't go with the curtains ... maybe it's time to make some new curtains??? Hmmmmm.

The tabletop was a bit more worn then either of us realized, and he kept apologizing over & over again ... but I think it's perfect! Now I don't have to worry about the kids messing it up, and next Spring/Summer when it warms up again I'll re-finish the top ... but school has started already in our home again and it usually starts snowing in September, so I can't worry about it for this year. Then see my cute new frames behind the bench? Ryan picked up 12 frames for $7.50 at the auction, and these were two of them. I want to add some greenery or something ... just not sure what to do yet.

Mindless Crafting ...

My husband has been working a LOT of overtime lately (which would be awesome ... except he's salary ... and at this moment I would like to repeat our family mantra - "we're so lucky he has a job in this economy"). So there are weeks like this week, where he has put in 50 hours by last night ... and I need something to take my mind off of everything ... so I look to my new favorite "mindless craft". These amazingly cute & simple burned edges flowers (I made some for the 4th of july here).

I love the fact that I can get 5 for $1 (four smaller ones & a large one for myself), and that with very little effort I get a beautiful result! Here are some I've made lately. I actually made and gave a total of ten of these flowers to a friend in Vegas and am in the process of now making hot pink, white, blue, red and gold. And the best part is it's 20 minutes from start to finish ... and look at how darling they look on my baby girl! LOVE IT! :)

Hopefully I'll have something exciting to share (and completed!) by Monday ... wish my luck!

Happy Birthday Savannah!!!

My darling little girl has turned six yesterday... wow!!! She's a total creative, messy, mayhem inducing girl ... just like her mama! :) We started the day off with chocolate chip pancakes (so yum!). And I worked all morning on finishing up her four layer birthday cake. I saw an idea on pinterest to do a graduated layer pink cake. :)I used this cake recipe, this filling recipe (we used snicker bars), and this outer frosting recipe (scroll down a bit for the recipe). She wanted a huge superhero party, and I was all set to do it all for her ... but in the end the idea of just taking some friends to the $1.50 movie theater in town was too great of a temptation to resist! And the best part was we called it a joint birthday party for my son who turns 4 in a little under 2 weeks! :) But, I think she was pretty stoked to take her friends ... Happy Birthday girl! We sure love you! :)

Boys Room - Framed Artwork -

For the other dresser/window spot, I picked up some dollar store frames and used this idea I saw posted on pinterest. I already had the red spray paint, and a Rand McNally road map we picked up at the thrift store.

*The frames are straight ... unfortunately, the photograph isn't.*

For $5 we have framed travel artwork of places we've been with the kids! Idaho & Nevada, then Utah & Wyoming on the other end. Here's a full shot of it ...and the AWESOME plants that completely block the view & lighting thru the window ... now I am off to work on my birthday girls' finishing touches on her cake and special day! :)

Finishing the Boys' Room - The Alphabet -

So I used this in their last room and Hunter has been begging for it in his room again, so above the other dresser seemed like a good idea. :) And it got it out of random boxes, up on the wall and was FREE! :) But as I got putting it up it was WAY too crowded!And it didn't fit well with the postcard frame on the side at all! So now that is coming down, but a new idea is in the works thanks to this site ... so hopefully the new idea will fit in nicely there with the whole travel theme!

Boys Room -Postcard Frame-

I love it when we can use one thing to cross off many goals on a list. :) Hunter needed to start a collection of some sort for a cub scout goal ... and since there are so many places we can travel here within an hour, and he already had a fun postcard from San Fransisco & Japan (from my Mom's travels) ... it seemed like the perfect idea! We picked up this AWESOME frame at the Goodwill for less $4 ... than Hunter sanded, and I showed him how to use spray paint primer. We picked up cork from Hobby Lobby for 40% off and used some extra batting I already had and some fabric I saw at Hobby Lobby as well. We decided that using ribbon along the board would make it more friendly for the younger boys ... and wah-lah! This is actually the most expensive thing I have done so far ... but still less than $20, and it passed off a cub scout goal for Hunter too! Double woo-hoo!

Boys Room - Pinterest Inspiration -

So I had so many ideas ear-marked for the boys room, that I finally created a pinterest board. It's helping me to remember the ideas, and I love pinterest because it's a visual "favorite places" ... frees up space on my computer too (which makes the hubs happy!) ... I have three almost finished projects, and a tutorial I'm working on for something we're making too! Here's to hoping something is finished today to post about! :)

Boys Room Clocks

So eventually I want to frame in this map for the boys' room, but on a non-existent decorating budget, this works for now. :) I actually used my birthday money from Ryan's parents to buy the clocks. We decided to use Moscow, New York, Cheyenne (where we live now) and Hawaii for the time zones. **Sorry for the photos, they are in the basement which has two HUGE bushes in front of it, even during the middle of a bright summer day it looks like a dungeon ... fun times!**Hunter wanted to cut the letters & stick them up himself ... just used scrapbook paper ... not as polished as I would hope for, but it's done, it's cute and it was such a thrill to cross one more thing off my list! :) I made a little inspiration board a year and a half ago, and forgot about it ... fun to see how it's finally coming together like I had envisioned! Although now I'm thinking I'd like to add a little saying on an orange board right above it ... hmmmmmm ... I also added some little fun hooks right next to the bedroom door for their hats. Nice & organized ... they were on clearance at Hobby Lobby and only $2 each ... a little bit of a splurge, but it's fun! :)

Finishing the Boys' Room -Go Letters-

So I have been trying to decorate my room, my girls' room, my boys' room and my front room/kitchen area ... as a result, nothing ever looks close to put together. But I have a few ideas now for the boys' room and so I am working on a bunch of projects to finish up the wall space and wall decorations! :) So this is my goal this month ... to finish their room!

First on the list ... is a set of "GO" letters ... I made Hunter scrapbook the letters himself (which I think he loves being REALLY involved in his room decorating/decision making process) ... we used map pages from an McNally Atlas we got at the thrift store ($0.50 on 50% off day ... perfect!) ... and then I had him paint the edges of each letter side. :) The perfect less-than-$5-craft ... and I REALLY like the way they look on his little shelves in his room!