Shells

When we went to the beach we hit the jackpot with shells. Normally we only find flat broken ones but this time the kids found a great spot with lots of pretty ones that were a nice size too. 

I cleaned them up the next day and put them on our living room shelf. 

The art wall

When we were looking for new living room furniture I knew exactly what I wanted. I wanted dark brown leather and a huge Persian rug. I wanted only a few wall decorations and the rest I wanted uncluttered.

As much as I loved our living room after the re-do there was still something not quite right. I needed art. A lot of art. So I decided to turn one wall into an art wall. Just one wall to hang whatever I wanted
with room to grow. It made a huge difference. I LOVE this wall now. It's so happy and just all around perfect.

When you walk into the living room you see just a few things at first glance and then when you turn just a bit you see the art wall. Perfect placement. And somehow it still blends with the more simple and classic feel.

Fresh corner

Changing things up a bit. Here's my new corner in the bedroom. A little area where I can put makeup on and girly it up a bit. Loving it so far.

Decorating outside

We don't have any electrical plugs outside so we have never been able to put up Christmas lights around the roof. That has always been a major disappointment to the kids.

This year I decided to do the best I could without having any plugs to work with. I love how it turned out. Candy canes in the yard, window clings, a wreath on the door and a candle light (battery operated) in the window. It feels so festive and cozy.

Slowing down

These last few weeks have been filled with a flurry of activities. Macie won a bike, parade of books at school, family fun night at school, the class guinea pig joining us for a weekend, our night out as a family, my birthday, Halloween and early voting. Plus volunteering at the school, my studies, and all the other day to day tasks.

Now that Halloween is over I am looking forward to the next couple of weeks at a slower pace. Then once Thanksgiving hits it will be back to the fast paced daily grind that comes with the holidays. But for now I am going to enjoy the slower days. I already rearranged stuff in the kitchen above the stove and I think that after 4 years I am finally satisfied with that part of the kitchen.

I've got dinner in the crockpot. It's the crockpot chicken parmesan found at The Larson Lingo. I've hit up a great garage sale at my neighbors and the house is looking good. Pretty productive this morning so now I can slow down a little.

Hoping to have many more days of re-arranging and calmness in the next few weeks.

Fabric and embroidery hoop fun

I've been wanting to do a decor project for a long long time but never got around to it. Once I decided to actually make it happen I couldn't find the embroidery hoops since my Michaels was sold out for weeks. Finally I found some and then today I bought all the fabric and finished the first set.

There are several other places I plan on decorating using this idea. I love it so much! It's cozy but looks great and you can easily customize it.

I wanted the fabrics to flow but I didn't want them to really match. I was able to create exactly what I had in mind.

A nightstand for the boy

My aunt had four little round tables that she got from the fabric store my mom and her worked at when they closed down. We used them in the garage sale to lay old doors over and create tables for the stuff we were selling.

I realized while we were pulling them out of her garage that they would make a great nightstand for the boy since he didn't have one. My aunt was happy to get rid of one and I brought it home and it was perfect for his space.

I set it up yesterday when I was putting his new X-men plaque on the wall. It really pulls his side together and the best part is that it was free!!

He immediately put the most important thing for a nightstand to have on it. His Lego ninjago venom shrine. Yep no nightstand is complete without one.

Cozy for Fall

I always get in the mood to clean and organize once Fall starts. Its my favorite season by far and I love the house to look and feel cozy. Right now it feels fresh and wonderful.

I have so many things to share about life right now but I can't find the words at the moment. They are very good things though. Maybe soon.

Cozy Inside

It's rained all weekend long. We've been inside catching up on housework and just relaxing. Kids that need rest are finally healing and the house is looking and feeling very cozy right now.

I even made some time to work on the blanket I'm currently crocheting.

Sometimes...

I can get the kids to sit still and watch a movie. It is especially appreciated when I've spent all day cleaning and don't want the living room or the rest of the house messed up.

(I noticed the boy was missing and wreaking havoc right after I took this photo.)

Life changes!!

This weekend brought about some wonderful changes. One of them being my decision to get in shape. One of my best friends has been doing great and inspired me to get up and make the same changes. This is day 2 and I already feel amazing! Workouts and calorie counting thanks to a great app called myfitnesspal. I am so excited to continue making these life changes.

Every morning when I come home from dropping the kids off I am going to do Tae Bo. I absolutely love doing it and it is a wonderful workout.

Yesterday I consumed under 1300 calories. Today I have had so much energy it is ridiculous. The house looks great because I have stayed busy. My ultimate goal is to weigh what I did when hubs and I met. It's going to be a long journey but I am so ready for it. This morning I weighed myself and made a promise that I will NEVER see that number on the scale again.

My kids are watching Tae Bo right now! Cheers to a family that gets healthy together!! And because I hate posting without a pic here is my super clean kitchen!

Changing the bedroom

The other night around 11:30 I decided that I wanted to move our bed for the first time in 3 1/2 years. All things considered it went well. The bed moved to another wall which gave me the opportunity to put a chest at the foot of our bed which is something I have wanted to do for a long time.

I moved our braided rug under the chest and voila!! A new bedroom! I'm loving it so far and I'm happy I did it just in time for fall. There's something about Autumn that always makes me want to re-arrange things in our home.

Toys: Less is more

Lately I have been feeling bogged down by clutter. I have purged so much but we still have way too much stuff. This is especially true in the kids room. It was putting me in a horrible mood. I would spend 4 to 5 hours a WEEK cleaning it only for the kids to come in and destroy it in less than 20 minutes. I had enough!! Yesterday I decided I was done playing around. I designated a corner for toys in their room and then that was it. We discussed what toys are constantly played with and agreed that those could stay out. The rest would rotate from the closet occasionally and the leftovers would either be given away, put toward our garage sale or stored in the attic. The Categories we agreed on for constant play are:

* Barbies
* monster high dolls
* baby doll stuff
* dollhouse stuff and people
* play food (almost all of it is the play food my mom crocheted them for Christmas a few years ago)
* littlest pet shop
* Legos
* super heroes
* hot wheels cars
* horses

They are still allowed to have most of their stuffed animals. Other than that the room will stay clear. The kids didn't really protest while we were purging/ cleaning. I just couldn't take it anymore. I'm hoping that this will make things easier for them. Easier to pick up and easier to play.

The girls had been playing before I took these pics so the Barbie dollhouse isn't cleaned out. When they are done playing tonight we will tidy it up again.

I will also add that since we finished up their room all 3 kids have been happily playing instead of whining about not having anything to do.

Home

I've spent the last few days deep cleaning parts of the house. It feels so good. I'm getting ready for those cozy fall nights of staying home cuddled up under quilts. ( Can you tell I am ready for summer to be over with?)

Yellow!! Finally!

Two months ago I started a small painting project. I sanded the girls nightstand down and started to paint it yellow. Anyone that knows me knows that I hate painting furniture. I do it often but the process is not one I enjoy.

I didn't get very far before I lost interest and so it sat. On my front porch. For two months people. TWO MONTHS.

Last night I decided to just get it done already. I worked into the wee hours of the night and now it proudly sits by my girls beds. I must confess I cut a lot of corners. But it is done. Kids are happy so mama is happy.

And I must admit that it looks pretty cute in there. As you can see it is already being used as the perfect place to set up a doll house. A sign that it has been approved.

Sun rash = outdoors ban

It's been pretty calm around here lately. I had to take the girls to minor emergency care on Friday night due to a random rash on the neck. Makayla had hers a few days but on Friday it drastically spread. The verdict....... Sun/heat rash. In other words way too much time spent in the sun. They are on steroids, benadryl and lotion. And also a no outdoors ban for a few days. All this means NO swimming. So we have been inside all day everyday except on Saturday when we went to Chuck E Cheese.

I've gotten a lot of cleaning done and the kids have actually played pretty well together. It's really been a quiet few days.

The big boy bed

I never really posted about the boys' big kid bed. He was still fitting into his toddler firetruck bed but with him starting kinder this year it was time to move up. I posted his firetruck on Craigslist and within 2 hours I had numerous inquiries. Within 3 hours it was sold. The price I got for it covered almost 1/3 of the cost of the new bed.

The following day we packed up and headed to a little furniture store my neighbor had told me about. Several problems came up and I ended up traveling there and back twice in one day. In the end I packed 4 kids, a twin mattress, headboard, footboard and frame into the minivan at one time. The sales guy thought I was crazy and said it wouldn't work. I politely told him it would and to wait and see how I make it work. We were packed in like sardines but we made it.

When we got home I was determined to put it together. Things went awry when the wood was not pre-drilled or marked. My aunt had to come over and we spent the next 3 hours with power tools. In the end the boy got an awesome new big kid bed.

It sits lower to the ground because the box spring is actually inside the mattress. Perfect height for him though.

And of course his babies are all very happy with the extra space. :-)

Shell jars

Every time we go to the beach we collect shells. I started putting the shells in little glass jars and then labeling the bottom with the date we went.

This gives us a little collection of all the times we have gone. We even brought some back from the creek the other day. The shells are mostly black or gray and closed. The ones you find at the beach are usually pulled apart already.

I love our little collection. I have them on my kitchen windowsill. Whenever I am doing the dishes I think back to the little trips we have taken. Hopefully we will add some more jars this summer as we visit the beach and other places.

Simplicity isn't overrated

If it doesn't have a purpose it goes.

If it doesn't make me smile on the inside it goes.

Those are my 2 new rules while
decluttering. I am being ruthless. The kitchen was my first spot. At first it was hard but now it feels so very good. Anyone that has followed my blog for a while will notice the difference. Simple is beautiful. Now on to my next room.

We did a few things

* lots of cleaning late at night

* some swimming

* church

* Mexican food after church with my awesome friend and her boys

A low key weekend but I liked it like this. A time to catch up on the house but also squeeze in some fun.