halloween 2011

Apparently we were going with a feline theme this year.

Katelyn said she wanted to be a white tiger. I used my expert sewing skills and
made her outfit out of fleece and brown crayola marker.

She really gets into character.

Even my sick baby got in on the fun. Isn't she the prettiest little kitty?!

(Katelyn and her friend Ren)


We enjoyed a ward chili feed and trunk-or-treat and then
stopped by a few houses in our neighborhood. It is so, so quiet
this year. Halloween is disappearing and it's kind of sad....


I think...

bathroom

The newest addition in the bathroom make over. Piece by piece it is coming back together. So, I found this vanity on craigslist earlier this year (just the bottom part) for $25. It was new and it was originally a light oak looking color. I wanted it white, so I did a lot of reading on various blogs about how best to paint something like this, which isn't all reall wood. I started with Kilz spray primer. Had to do several coats. Then I spray painted in white. I still didn't like how the paint seemed to be soaking into the cabinet doors, which were real wood. I ended up brushing paint on the front and then applying some polycrilic. It isn't super fancy (hey, neither are we!), but it definitely works.

I had been looking and looking trying to find a vanity top on craigslist as well, but didn't have any luck. So, we picked up the top from Lowes. Black granite top with sink. On sale. All the hardware is in brushed nickel.

I still keep going back and forth on the wall treatment. First I wanted bead board, then I just wanted it painted (to get it done!), then I decided I liked board and batten better. So, now I just can't decide if I want to do the board and batten or if it would make the bathroom seem smaller. I don't know.

All I need for the bathroom to be fully functional is a new shower rod and shower curtain and the mirror (which I have, we just need to build a frame for it).

The other perks some where down the road would be: change outlets and switches to white; new toilet from this century; board and batten; new door and trim in white

I need to get some before and after shots of the bathroom...

fun times and memorable moments

Katelyn got to invite a few friends over tonight for a movie night. It was so cute to see how excited they all were. What made it even better is that before the friends came over we wrote all their names on a paper bag for their popcorn. When I wrote Alaina's name on a bag, Katelyn said, "that's right, cuz Alaina is my friend too." Ahhhh, these are the moments that make all those other moments seem bearable.

I definitely try to teach her/them that sisters are friends too and can be even the best friends that they will ever have in life. I told Katelyn that it made me really happy to hear her say that.

parenthood

Wouldn't it be great if each of your children came with an instruction manual? Or maybe we should have mandatory classes on parenting. I do not know how to handle my 5 year old's moody personality. Maybe I can't get too upset with her, because there's a good chance some of it is genetic (ahem, her mom can be this way). For example, we walk to the school to pick her up when she is done with class. She's happy and energetic like she is every day after school. She runs almost the whole way home, then suddenly 3 houses before ours, she stops running, walks slowly with her head hung down kind of. I try to make a game out of it and tell her "we're going to get you". She continues walking, head hanging a bit and then by the 2nd house she laughs and starts running. I let her beat us, of course. So, we are in the driveway and she stops by the car, hangs her head again and is acting sad, or mopey, or mad. I don't really know what the emotion is. I don't dwell on it, or linger begging to find out what is wrong. So I go in the house and carry on with the day. She's happy when she gets to have cocoa puffs for a snack. I tell her come downstairs so I can show her the new bathroom vanity. She seems unimpressed and when I asked her for a hug, you would have thought I asked her to go mop the entire house. That felt great.

She is obsessed with watching "movies" or shows on netflix. I guess I let her do it too often, but I do try to limit it. Today she asked to watch a movie and I told her no. She threw a little fit and stamped her feet. When I put Alaina down for a nap she asked again. I said no, you threw a fit last time I told you no, so you don't get to watch one. I came up with other ideas. I offered her to help me make cookies, bread or read stories together. She didn't want to do any of those. Then she thought maybe making cookies would suffice. Until I told her what kind I was making. It was all over then. More moping, whining, etc.

Her moods are all over the place. She is up and down all day long. If she isn't being entertained, she is most likely moping around the house.

The other thing that is quite bothersome is that two or three times now, when she is unhappy with a decision I have made on her behalf, she tells me:

"you don't love me anymore"
"you're not my friend anymore because you aren't being nice to me"
"you don't want me anymore"
"you don't love me anymore".

So, what to make of it all?

fall baking

I got this fun recipe for candy corn sugar cookies from a friend.
When I saw her post about it on facebook, I didn't realize they were bite size
cookies and was a little confused for a minute when I went to cut them out.
Anyway, it worked out and they are so cute and fun for the holidays.
Let me know if you want the recipe.

I made fresh rolls for dinner last night. Justin suggested using
the fall cookie cutters, so we had pumpkin and leaf shaped rolls.

They were also delicious.

*recipe from Shalise Reid

sneek peak

This may not be a very exciting picture to you, but it is so exciting to ME! As you remember, I started on our bathroom project waaaayyyyy back at the beginning of the year. As with most projects like these, I think..."this won't be very hard" or "this won't take us too long". And then I am forced to realize that I married Justin for a reason. To learn patience (a virtue in which I am very deficient). I could only do so much of the project on my own. I needed him to do the mudding/taping/sanding step. For my birthday, he finally got that part finished, along with adding some texture. We did texture in a spray can this time. It was so much faster and easier than when we used the big ol' hopper thing up in Newport. However, the fumes from those cans were unbelievably strong. They stunk up the entire house, top to bottom.

So, back to the picture. Originally, I was going to go for an aqua type color, but then I saw this color on a blog somewhere and I fell in love with it. It's called Cumberland Fog by Behr. I didn't even think twice about it and sure enough, I still love it now that it's on my walls. I have gone down to the bathroom several times just to gaze at it. It makes me feel happy inside. *sigh*

I was also thinking of scrapping the original idea to put up bead board (mostly because my impatience was getting the best of me), but now that I see the blue...I just think the white will be so pretty with it. Yay!

the whole picture

So this is what my shelf looks like hung up with my cookbooks in it. I down-sized the amount of cookbooks I had at a yard sale a couple years ago. I kept my most loved and most often used books only. Good thing too, because it was a tight fit. You can get just about anything on the Internet anyway. The "EAT" sign was from a craft swap I did in August. And I am already loving the extra nook/cranny of space this has freed up on my counter top.

more creating

So I am a little obsessed with Ana-White, where I took this idea from. Mostly, I get super excited about something that I could make for little to no cost. I scored a pallet (or 4) and got right to work.


Let me just say right now, (I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE THINKING!) The lettering is totally off, and trust me, it is bugging me like crazy, but I don't want to re-do it. Anyway, this book shelf is going in my kitchen to hold my cook books. My friend calls my kitchen a "two-butt" kitchen, (really it's more like a one-butt kitchen)-it's small. So, I am going to put this on the wall to get my cook books off of the counter and hopefully free up some much needed counter space.

And yes, I am kind of also obsessed with the turquoise color right now. Plus, I had all this paint on hand anyway.

I cut the pallet, sanded it a little (didn't want to get a splinter every time I reached for a book). Then, I painted it a sloppy green (the color is actually Harmonic Tan from SW-same as one of my walls), then I had this great turquoise paint from years ago that I had never really used, so I slapped some of that on and let it dry. Sand it again, then I rubbed on some stain I had in the garage. Cut out my letters and used a make up sponge to dab on black paint that was also already in the garage. Sweet!

Kindergarten field trip-Country Mercantile

Katelyn's 1st field trip:
She got to ride the SCHOOL BUS, which she was a little nervous
about, but decided that the bus was so much fun!

We went out to the Country Mercantile for the annual pumpkin pick.
We get to go on a fun tractor-pulled hay ride out to the patch and choose
whatever little pumpkin their hearts desire.
They also get to climb the hay pyramid, go through the hay maze
and then stop by the petting zoo.

So nice that siblings and parents can come too.

I love the sister-love

our friend Olivia

cookie time!

Katelyn and her "boy" friends, Dallin and Noah.

I built something!

We have a small house and that's my excuse for it being cluttered, or at least feeling cluttered all the time. However, if we had a big house, it may not be any different. I don't know. At least I might have more storage space??? Who knows. Anyway, as I was browsing around here, I came across this cute little storage idea for mail. It seemed pretty easy and cheap (that's the ticket), so I figured I'd give it a go. While Justin was asleep today, my nice neighbor came over and showed me how to use our table saw. I've secretly been wanting to learn how to use it. Oh, and I should mention that if Justin had been awake, he would have showed me, it just so happened that my neighbor offered before I had the chance to ask him. It was so much fun learning something new! And hopefully this will clear up some counter space where lots of paper seems to pile up.

I am also the proud new owner of a sander!!! I can't wait to use it to refinish this head board I found for FREE at our church's give-a-way a couple weeks ago. Stay tuned....