Our Mudroom that Isn't A Mudroom

When we moved back to Hometown nearly three (!!!) years ago, there were two projects I really wanted done.  This of course, was in addition to the cleaning, painting, and new carpet that needed to be installed prior to us even moving back in.  Ahem. 

The first item I really wanted was a "built in" computer desk in our family room area.  We have a three bedroom house and with the little brother on the way, we would no longer have a dedicated "office/computer room" and there was this perfect little alcove in our family room that would allow ample space for a nice big computer desk with plenty of room for the computer, printers, and all the computer/office related stuff.  My awesome parents got most of the desk done a little over a year and a half ago and it's just as gorgeous as I pictured in my head.  And rumor now has it they are starting on the top portion (shelving above the desk, complete with trim and cove molding) very soon.  As I said, the desk portion turned out beautifully and it has been more than functional for our every day needs, so please know I am not complaining at all! 

The second thing I wanted was a mudroom.  Don't we all, right?  Well, with our current house, the gorgeous mud "rooms" that you can find very easily on Google or Pinterest are pretty labor intensive if you plan to do it yourself.  Which we did/do.  (And we all know by now, that I use the term "we" very, very loosely, right?)  Plus, there are several other things we want to do with this tiny little space (put in a pocket door for the laundry room, which will involve moving TWO light switches to the other side of the door, not to mention ripping out all the drywall to install/reframe for the pocket door) and those things just aren't in the cards right now, with being both short on time and money.  So in the interest of making this space functional for our comings and goings, having it be somewhat temporary, and still aesthetically appealing and cost effective, the Hubs made this for me as my Christmas gift. 

This is our main entry point through our home.  We rarely, if ever, use our front door.  We go in and out through our garage door that is located in our laundry room.  The laundry room has space for a utility sink and in the sink alcove we have a clothes rack above the sink that we used at one point to hang clothes that needed to air dry, etc.  It was a nice little space for that.  Plus, the sink was there and we used it for stain treating clothes, cleaning muddy boots, and all those other things you use utility sinks for.  But somehow over the last year and a half, that rack has become a coat rack for us all and with that, we didn't really have easy access to our sink anymore, because coats were always hanging in the way.  Plus, when we were in a hurry (are you ever not as parents of littles?) taking all those coats down always knocked down the spray bottles on the sinks edge, so that was always fun.  Or not.

So now I have a nice little coat rack thanks to my mom's design (she did the same thing a few months back in their laundry room at their house) and Hubs hard work.  And as with the desk, rumor has it from Hubs that he would like to get the bench built in time for my birthday this spring!

That would be awfully nice, my dear.  Awfully, awfully nice. 




 

Puppy Party: Our Boy's 2nd Birthday

A puppy party. 

I saw the idea of a it just a few months after his first birthday.  Yes, I know. 

While there are TONS of cute little boy party themes to choose from on the grand ol' world wide web, so many seemed just a little too old for him....baseball, super heroes, Legos, camping.....all of those are super sweet and fun, but none of those are things he has an interest in just yet. 

And he loves my parent's black lab.  So it just made sense. A puppy party it was. 

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, none of these ideas were originated entirely with me.  Pinterest provides lots of inspiration y'all.  

When we have Sunday Family Dinner at my parent's, my aunts and uncle and cousin all bring their dogs each month, so this was another great reason behind doing the puppy party, because what fun is a puppy party without dogs, right?

I looked at lots of ideas on Pinterest for the invites and combined several ideas to come up with this:

I decided to stick with red and blue with the Fourth of July being just days after our little guy's birthday.  I mean why reinvent the wheel, right?  Stick with red and blue and then whatever is leftover can be used the following weekend.  Can I get an amen? 

Peanut has a friend in her preschool and his birthday is July 2.  I was talking to his mom and she said she's done some sort of red, white, and blue theme for all five of his birthdays.  This last year he wanted superheroes party and her first thought was, "Red, white and blue....superheroes....?.....we can do Captain America!"  I love how she thinks! 

This last winter I found the cutest little dog t-shirt for him on clearance at Gymboree.  I paid like $5 total for both the shirt and shorts.  It was in reds/blues/greens and I totally made it work. 

On the menu were hot dogs (what else, right?) with all the fixings and potato salad (homemade because store bought is just blech!) and a fresh fruit platter.  I also did Puppy Chow, because, of course.  And then cupcakes and homemade chocolate and vanilla bean ice cream.  The chocolate was this recipe, and the vanilla was this recipe.  They were both amazing.   

My mama gave me a Cricut cutting machine nearly six years ago and I had a cartridge that had a little puppy face cut out.  I used that for the treat {doggy} bags, the bunting banner, the cupcake toppers and even the paper circle garland.  To make all those crafts probably cost me less than $10.  My mom had bought me a lifetime supply of white paper lunch bags at our local restaurant supply store prior to Peanut's Elmo party nearly four years ago.  While I thought it extremely excessive at the time, those bags have come in handy each year since.  I had red, white, and blue card stock from my prior years as a Stampin' Up demonstrator, and I had white thread for my sewing machine for the paper garland.  Really all I had to buy was the red/white baker's twine for the bunting and the navy/white star scrapbook paper for the background for the bunting and red/white washi tape.  Because I've seen this washi tape trend all over and I finally had an excuse to try some!  Plus, the twine, scrapbook paper, and tape I got all on sale.  So it really took more time than anything!

For the treats inside the bags, I got dog bone shaped graham crackers (dipped in chocolate) and blue racquet balls.  So the kids could play fetch and get a treat.....get it???!?  Also included but not shown were "dog tags", whistles, sidewalk chalk, blue bandanas (which we forgot to pass out!), and bubbles.  Those were all purchased--that did not come from my stash!


I found straws and cupcake sugar pearls from this Etsy shop....and let me offer you a little public service announcement when using sugar pearls for cupcakes.   First off, it had nothing to do with the brand or where I got these sugar pearls from.  The Etsy shop owner was oh so great!

I was so disappointed in the cupcakes I didn't even take a close up of them.  Right: the one that held up.

But here goes.....because I am a planner and list maker extraordinaire, I knew I would be busy with decorating and last minute food prep the day of the party.  So naturally, I baked and iced the cupcakes the day before.  Because I made cream cheese frosting, I refrigerated the cupcakes.  And because that would be grody to leave cupcakes in the open refrigerator air, I put them all in covered containers.  All but one cupcake, because the last one didn't fit in said containers.  So there he sat in the open refrigerator air all night long.  Don't ask me why the cupcake was a he.  He just was.

I'm no scientist, but my theory is the condensation had no where to go but on the little sugar pearls and cause them to bleed all over.  The one in the open air?  Held up beautifully--and still is three days later.  I might have totally had a meltdown the morning of the party.  To the point of tears and considering using cleaned tweezers to take the melted sugar pearls off and replace them with new sugar pearls.  Then my mom suggested that was way too time consuming {which it was} and scraping off the icing and starting over would be much easier {which it would have been}.  But then, that just seemed INCREDIBLY wasteful with all those in the world who don't even have enough food on their plates each and every day (I'm dead serious).  It took nearly everything I had, but in the words of Elsa, I "Let It Go."  It was a very hard thing to do.  But like my sweet six year old daughter reminded me, "They'll still taste good, mommy." 

Out of the mouth of babes, right? 

Anyhow, after that little spoiled sob story, here is my PSA: if you make cupcakes ahead and use sugar pearls and feel the need to refrigerate, DON'T cover the cupcakes.  There.  I feel so much better having shared that with the masses.  


Oh, and then the weather.  What a blessing THAT was.  Ten days ago it said the day of his party was forecasted for rain.  And rain it was up to the day of the party.  Even several people who came to the party said they drove through downpours and showers all the way to my parent's house.  But my parents house?  A slight sprinkle the morning of and even slighter sprinkle that afternoon.  That was it.  It even ended up being slightly sunny for the better part of the party.  To the point of all the older kids swimming in my parent's pool!  In 68* weather no less!!!  But that's another story for another time....  All that to say: we were blessed immensely.  Praise the Lord!

So finally:  Our boy had such a fun time.  And he didn't say a word about the cupcakes.  He loved seeing his cousins and aunts and uncles and over of course, his Papa and Gamma.  He was a big fan of the fruit platter (he loved on mango for the first time!) and he generally didn't. stop. moving. for nearly six hours.  He enjoyed all there was to enjoy and then some. 

He had a blast at his pawty--no pun intended, as he can't quite say his R's yet. 

Next up?  He is so excited for the fow woks {fire works} because what boy doesn't like explosives? 


 

Like Mother, Like Daughter

My house is a disaster right now.

She says proudly.  

There is actually a small huge bit of pride in there, because I am FINALLY tackling a ginormous project. 

Ginormous doesn't even begin to describe it.

 Not even close.  

'Round here in these parts, they have these huge consignment sales in the spring and fall where moms sell their kids clothes that their littles have outgrown.  I've saved every stitch of clothing the Peanut has ever worn.  You know, for those future girls we might have.  But then, dontcha know, God truly does have a sense of humor and we were blessed with the most beautiful baby boy for our second.   So those clothes we saved?  Don't really need them any more, 'cause we've decided we're done.  

You know what I mean. 

This last week, I requested that Hubs just bring it all in the living room (from our jam packed garage) so I could just tackle it head on.  

I've been working on it during nap times and at night after the munchkins have gone to bed.  To do these sales you have to hang all of the clothes on hangers facing the same direction, safety pin pants on the hangers, and finally tag and enter all the items into their online database.  It's quite the  undertaking.  Hopefully it will be worth it. 

The Peanut has "worked" along side me during the day. Of course, I was completely caught up in sorting, folding, and hanging, so I really didn't think much about it when she told me she was going to get some stuff ready to sell too. 

Last Thursday night, after I put both of the kids to bed, I come across this:

Apparently Polly Pocket had some clothes she wanted to off load as well. 

It makes me smile every time I think about it. 

 

Tangled Birthday Party!

We have one more week of four and then our girl will be five.  Five.  I can't hardly believe it.  We had her party a week early this year (fantasy football draft complications--I know) and it's already over.  Now this next weekend, it will be just a quiet little gathering at home as we celebrate the day of her birth.  I can't believe we are already half way to ten.  A third of the way to fifteen, a quarter of the.....anyhow, you get the idea.  It's just amazing how time flies so fast. 

My mom took her to Disney on Ice last year and the Rapunzel braid was her choice souvenir.  Peanut was handed down the Tangled crown from her cousin, so score in both those departments. And funny enough, she didn't even wear either during the party.  Too busy having too much fun. 

I'm thinking this photo of Little Brother is gold for adolescence black mail. 

These senior picture poses......totally all on Peanut.  It's her new pose whenever the opportunity arises.  It makes me smile.

But, back to the party.  It was such fun!  I kind of totally convinced Peanut of the Tangled theme this year.  Okay, there was no arm twisting or anything illegal, but let's just say I totally talked up the fact that if we did a Tangled birthday party, we could light off sky lanterns.  And there was absolutely NO convincing needed after that.

And our girl loves Tangled.  She knows the songs by heart (except when she fills in the words with her own 'cause she can't remember) and she was deciding which boy at her party she would demand convince to play Eugene--AKA Flynn Rider--you know, so they could dance at the end.  Ahem.

That's our girl.  Because dancing =  getting married.

We did a nacho bar (complete with drippy, yummy, no real food whatsoever nacho cheese) and my wonderful mama made her always amazing fruit platter.  We had the standard cupcakes and ice cream and then because we were waiting for it to get dark for the lanterns, we also had a campfire at the end.  And no campfire is complete without s'mores.   So s'mores it was to close out the evening.

And lest you think I came up with all this stuff on my own, as I've said before, I can copy the heck off of someone elses ideas.  Thanks to Pinterest, there are no shortage of ideas.  Period.

Most of this stuff was very inexpensive thanks to the dollar store and Joanne's coupons and sales.  The cupcakes I made myself, the sign was from an old fence piece my parents had and paint I already had on hand, and the rest was just card stock, yarn, and a little creativity on the computer. 

Oh, and of course the sky lanterns.  They were a little pricey with the shipping (but quite honestly they really aren't terribly expensive in the grand scheme of things--I am just flat out cheap).  However, we do say NO a lot to our girl, just because we have such tight finances (we don't even have smart phones, people).  So when birthdays roll around, we do tend to indulge her a little.  And our Peanut is none the wiser--although she is a smart cookie and I am sure she will fully understand shortly.  But that is another post for another day. 

The sky lanterns worked just like they were supposed to.  Although we didn't let them go as they are designed to.  We tied them off with string, which the instructions say DO NOT DO.  Although we had a pretty wide open area to light them off in, my parent's neighbors have some big tall fir trees in the distance and we just felt it was way too much of a liability to let these lighted lanterns off on their own.  So that made the process a little more difficult than we anticipated and Hubs likened it to flying a flaming kite.  So that's fun.  I thanked Hubs more than once that evening for making my hair brained {Pinterest} ideas come to life.  I am always doing that.....coming up with some grand scheme and expecting my husband to figure out how to make it work.  Although my mom is the same way, so I know I come by it quite naturally.  And what's a girl with great ideas supposed to do? And we have to keep our husbands on their toes, yes? 

It was a great, fun day.  I got a little teary as we said goodbye to my mom and dad that evening.  Happy tears.....very much happy tears.   I am We are just so blessed.   We are so happy to be just minutes away from my parents and to have such a wonderful extended family and friends that are there for us.  I am so glad that Peanut and Little Brother have that, because you simply can't put a price on it.

Life is about relationships.  And you have to make the most of them. 

Next Up:  She starts her last year of preschool this Friday, where Miss Independent will become even more independent.

But I don't even know if that's possible.  



 

Already One

I don't know where the last year has gone, but I can't hardly believe my sweet little boy is already one.  And it's already been nearly a week since his first birthday.  I don't know where the time goes.  One of my friends who was at his party commented that she didn't hardly recognize him.  Although she and I had seen each other more recently for coffee, we hadn't got together with the kids since February and she was just so surprised by how much he had changed.

Post much to that blog of yours, Jackie???!?!?  

And my mom, once my biggest blog supporter, has all but given up on me.  (Although she really shouldn't complain, because she and my dad get the real, live deal several times a week, so there is that.)

Anyhow, without further ado, my boy's first birthday.

I found the idea when Peanut was about two and just thought A Very Hungry Caterpillar birthday theme was about the sweetest idea ever for a one year old birthday party, so I tucked the idea away for our next little love.  And to my surprise, even I remembered when the time came!

I really toned it down compared to some parties I've done in the past, but I think I found a good balance of cute little details while still being able to enjoy the party and watching the birthday boy {child} take it all in.

It turned out to be a HOT day, so it ended up being a pool party as well.  Bless you, sweet parents, for opening your home as well as pool!

My boy is a lover all foods, so of course, the cupcakes were a hit as far as he was concerned.  I can actually say in all honesty that I have yet to find a food he won't eat.  Crazy right?  But I'll take it!

Friends and family asked what he wanted and or needed for his birthday.  All I could think to mention were boy toys.  And boy toys he got!  He now has quite the collection of trucks and tools and he is having a grand ol' time!  So is his sister for that matter!

This past year has been such a blessing and our dear, sweet boy has brought even more joy to our lives than we ever thought possible. 

Here's to another exciting year!  

But hopefully I will post sooner than 12 months from now!

 

My Mom is Awesome

When we announced "we" were pregnant last fall, I asked my mom to be on the lookout for some furniture for the baby's room.  She is a thrift shop junkie and has made turning trash into treasure an art form.

I do mean that in the utmost complimentary way.  Because I am not that talented. But I trust my mom completely because she has vision like you couldn't believe and she, well, to put it simply....

she ROCKS. 

Now, when I made this request to her, knowing we were going to be moving home and living with them for several months, she told me she would definitely be on the look out for some furniture, but she probably wasn't going to get anything just yet, because we had about another 8 months to find some stuff and she didn't want to deal with storing it. 

Fair enough. 

She called me about two weeks later and said she had found two dressers and a desk for a total of $30 and brought them home. 

Now, what was that about not wanting to store them?   I totally get it though.....in terms of getting second hand things, you have to strike while the iron is hot.  And she did. 

We still have to find a replacement handle on this one, but other than that, it looks amazing.  And it's a great height for a changing table.  At least for Hubs and I.  He's definitely tall and I am on the taller side as well, so it's perfect for the both of us. 

Well, I saved the best for last.  Because you think the changing table turned out good? 

Take a look at this transformation:

My aunt, who went shopping with my mom for these treasures, told me just this last weekend, that she simply did not see it.  She is a visionary as well, but she thought this piece was hopeless.  It was missing it's back and was scratched and dented to heck.  Plus, the finish needed to be completely redone.  My mom was intending to paint this piece, but after sanding it down and removing all the finish, she realized that the wood was actually really nice {we think it's cherry}.

Knobs refinished courtesy of  RustOleum's Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint. 

Amazing don't you think? 

Don't ya'all wish you had a mom like mine?


  

Tomatoes!

I have mentioned a time or two that we have a really sweet landlord.  Not only has she given us an abundance of fresh produce, babysat our Peanut while Hubs and I went on date, and let us come over and swim a countless number of times, but just last week, she helped me put up my first batch of tomatoes.

And she gave me the tomatoes. 

Fresh from her organic garden.  

Eight quarts worth. 

So, so, so nice, right? 


























 

I had canned apricots last summer (my first canning ever!) but I had never attempted tomatoes.  It was so nice of her to help guide me in the canning process and also help distract Peanut while I was up to my elbows in tomatoes.

Oh, and to top it all off.....

After processing the jars, you take them out of the water and you want to let them sit, undisturbed, for 12-24 hours.  At that point you can test the lids to make sure they sealed correctly.  I did remember all of this from before, but I wanted to double check with my landlord.

"Oh, no, no, no, no!  You want to let them sit for at least a week," she said.



























"Oh!  A whole week?  Why so much longer?" I asked, a little surprised. 

"So your husband knows how hard you worked." she tells me completely straight faced.

Isn't she too funny?!?!?!?!!!!!