Freedom....sort of

Finally C has started school and I am learning to enjoy my 2.5 hours of quiet time, alone.  With that said, I am making lists of things I can tackle "sans kids".  The list is long, but easy projects that can be done in the amount of time I have. 

The list continues as will my clean out areas...I am tackling the basement currently.  A dear childhood friend and her hubby are visiting us next weekend and staying with us.  We do not have a guest room (boo!)  so they will be taking over the basement and I want to make it clean and private for them to have a place to relax "sans kids".  I am deep cleaning this weekend, then adding finishing touches to the quick decorating I have done.

Our family room and the boys playroom are down there so there is plenty to clean out.  The toys need to be gone through (without them) to add batteries where needed, ditch any things that have snuck into bins and art work needs to be hung (there is a pile!!)  The family room side is quite clean and organized so there is little to be done but add some things for our guests to make them comfortable.  It is kind of exciting to have guests coming!!!

Next on the list is painting a bathroom, and then I will start to tackle our master bedroom.  Since I have limited alone time it will take some time, but I can do it. One wall at a time!  The budget is ZERO so I need to re-purpose items and get crafty.  I am now addicted (honestly!) to Pinterest and cannot believe the ideas I am finding there for so many things!! I love it!  I have made boards to organize them on the site and can mindlessly look at things, and "pin" them to a board.  It is so easy!!  Kids crafts, fashion, food, decorating...All the things I love to get ideas for! 

Off to take C to school and then get back here to work in the playroom...Its a rainy day here, but we have plans with our dearest friends here in town.  Pizza nights are back now that school is out.  This is our family time with them and we love our monthly dinners together.  Happily our kids love pizza night as much and M and I do! 

Growing up

My J is growing up.  As part of his birthday he wanted us to "redo" his little kid room (of transportation) into something cooler...Like sports.  After being sad for a bit, I pulled out my primer and sadly primed over the hand painted race cars I had painted in that room 4 years ago.....I was letting it go.  He was growing up.

J and I went out and found "posters" (not my choice!) of teams he wanted in his room. I would have picked all vintage sports stuff, but this was his room, his choice, my money!  LOL

He stuck with Chicago teams but wants to add more pendants from places our friends and family live.  No sport was left out. Baseball, Football, Basketball and Hockey were the picks.  We even tossed in soccer too.

On his birthday, while he was at school I loaded up the room for him.  He wanted the load in to be a surprise and I added a few more things too. 

 Was able to flip his "car" quilt over for a plain blue!  Cheap!  Love it!

 Found that great subway art online and spray painted a frame from his room red to match!

I found the desk chair on the curb..I actually found 4 so I spray painted it red too!

He loves his new room! It is so "him".  I spent less than 75.00 on the entire thing, including posters.  We are not working on C's room, who WANTS transportation!  Stay tuned!

~SUMMER~

WOW!  Only one week into our official summer break and we are going a mile a minute...2 soccer camps (one for each boy) is keeping me in my car much more than I would like....BUT....I have finished (I think) the porch table project! (Photo's coming later!) 

After numerous emails to some of my most crafty friends, they guided me in 200 different directions, having me really think about the table.I came up with a variation of different ideas, tried them, hated it, sanded, primed and repainted MANY times. While my hubby thought plain white was fine the entire time!  (what does he know!) 

I stuck with my original idea of keeping it pink and green and little else (although I tried other colors too!)  The simplicity of the table is what I love.  The small pops of color! 

My porch and yard are now complete for this season.  6 flats of pink impatiens, countless pots full of colors, super green grass and trimming our overgrown hedge has made our yard "the party place", just in time for the 4th of July!   I love living outside with my pretty pink yard and relaxing on my ubber preppy porch!  I wish it was summer all year long!

I am off to clean off the porch (the pollen is leaving a lovely yellow dust on everything) and will share later! 

My baby is 7!

Today is a BIG day at our house....My first born, J is seven today.....As I was tucking him in last night, as a six year old, I remembered the day he was born and the sheer joy of his arrival!

Today, while the skies were cloudy, very rainy and not "birthday like" it was a BIG morning....Remember when I posted back in February about our raffle winnings and I shared that J won TWO firetruck rides to school?  Well today, was ride #1!!!!!!!!!

It was stormy, grey and simply terribly weather, but J, little brother C and neighbor and best buddy M got a private tour of the fire house, the trucks and then climbed into a pumper truck for school!  Lights were on, headphones were donned and J was able to talk to the chief (in the car in front of us) and to M in the back of the truck thinking he was a TRUE fire fighter.

C & J in the drivers seat of the bucket truck

I do not have the photo's of our BIG (and rainy) arrival at school yet, between M's parents, my parents and good friends who became victim of the DOWNPOUR as we arrived, I cannot ask them to "hurry up and send them to me".....but they will come.

J sitting shotgun in the pumper truck as we left for school!

The sheer sheets of rain as we got out of the truck will be comical I am sure...We were soaked as we walked into school, but no one cared.  J was a celebrity as the entire school watched as arrive from classroom windows and doors.  As J entered his classroom, his classmates, hid and yelled "HAPPY BIRTHDAY J" when they jumped out to surprise him!  Then the sweet hugs and wishes from every classmate! It was so sweet.  J is a popular boy today!

C and I came home, dried off, and then started on "project birthday room re-do" to surprise him when he gets home. My little boy wanted a big boy room with sports posters etc.  He picked out all of the posters and then gave me permission to "decorate it".  More photo's on that later.

Tonight, we, with my parents are off to dinner at J's favorite place, California Pizza Kitchen and will open more gifts......It has been an amazing day so far...I am sure as the day continues my 7 year old will think it will be better and better too....

My new project

I have this screened in porch off my kitchen.  It is officially called "mommy's space" and through the years I have been adding to it.

Last fall my parents took this out of our summer house and gave it to me!

 

I sat and looked at it all winter trying to get inspired how to paint it.  

Then, over the weekend it hit me.....Use the colors from this birdhouse (that my dad used to make me another amazing table....coming later!)

This is one side of my beloved porch with the unpainted table..

 

There are four wicker chairs in the space....so I took inspiration from the green and pink.....Think Lily Pultizer....

C and I started the taping off and painting yesterday...

 

C was most helpful in painting the stripes!  We had to give it two good coats (since his accuracy was slightly off) but when we were done, the top of the table looked awesome~

 

So today we are adding some more stripes to the side, some yellow below the top stripes and I am not sure about the legs.  It is a work in progress, but has been so much fun!  

Here is the birdhouse table my dad made me a few years ago.  He has made many for friends and family as well.  He originally just made one for my mom for our summer house, but has made at least 6 more since...

 This is my happy space. I could sit out there for hours (and I do!) When the kids are in bed, I read out there, gaze into the yard, talk on the phone....It is so peaceful and lovely (until the annoying neighbors start to blare music....do not get me started on them ruining my peace and quiet!)

Stay tuned on the table. I am going BIG with color and am so excited!  

Spring has sprung

I have not fallen off the face of the earth, simply trying to get my life back from all the chaos of the last few weeks / months!

Just so you can see the fun I had my hubby took this video after I was presented in front of the 950 people there with flowers and a thank you!  King Arthur (a Wizard player) and I kicked off the interactive half time show!  While I am hardly a dancer, I had a BLAST dancing and honestly the entire night!

 King Arthur with the crowd!

Swoop getting the crowd amped!

It was an awesome night, almost $ 7,000.00 was raised and I am taking a quick break before planning their next appearance!

In the mean time, I have been busy with giving this house a little TLC and starting my outdoor planting and projects....8 flats of flowers, 10 pots to fill with other goodies, opening up my screened in porch / my vacation room and other things to make my outdoor home the place I want to be all spring and summer.  Lots to do, lots to plant, lots of everything!  

Something small

I found a way to create a little "cute" in my kitchen weeks ago. I took a plain ol black shadow box frame and when I find something free and printable on any of the BLOGS I visit and I love it, I print it! I use simple and pretty pins to keep the paper from falling down.   I have a file going so I can switch them out for season, holidays, inspiration etc. 

This morning, while stalking browsing some of my favorite BLOGS I found landee see landeedo and fell in love with this spring (and FREE) printable!  I snagged it to put in my shadow box!  The colors are not "my kitchen", but the saying is wonderful.

 Isn't that cute??

The family rules will be filed away until the next time I need them!  It is a fun and cheap way to personalize my kitchen!

Here it is in my kitchen!

Easter-ish

With the warmer temps of the past week, and the sun shining today, I started really changing some decor around the house and outside.  I NEED it to be spring. I need the sun. I need to NOT wear my UGGS daily.  Granted we are departing for the west on Thursday, where today it was 85, but still, I need constant warmth, not the teasers we get here!

So I started last week with some paper mache where the boys and I made eggs.  It was kind of fun for them, annoying for me since they were not doing it perfectly. I got over it.  Some turned out, some did not.  Live and learn right?  Then I decided they would go outside in our large pot on the front step. I then cut some straight branches from our hedge and white washed them.  Headed to HOBBY LOBBY Artificial Grass to hide the eggs in.  It turned out a lot better than I imagined, and will snap photo's tomorrow. (C was not enjoying the final moments of this project so I had to give up and will fluff it up tomorrow).

I will pull out the rest of the Easter / spring decor this week.  Eggs to hang from chandeliers, eggs to fill up vases etc.  At least there is a bit of spring right outside my front door to make me smile for the 5 more days of erratic weather.....Then I will be basking in the sun of Southern CA for 9 days.  That makes me happy....really happy!

New Idea Brewing....

I love these!  But do not love the price tag (or the labels!)

photo credit: Amazon.com

My new hunt is to find something similar for my mantle. I am itching to re-do it.  I want to paint the frame of the large mirror above my fireplace (perhaps the same brown that I painted the nightstand for M? ) and mantel and fill Apothecary jars with different colorful items to make it all pop and look lovely!  Right now the mantel has many candle sticks in varying height (glass and sterling) on it.  It is lovely when lit but kind of boring too....

Goodwill and Homegoods will be good hunting grounds, but my boys HATE both stores (and I hate taking them because of the little hands touching everything!) so I will have to hunt slowly when I can sneak away from them for pure mommy time (when is that exactly?)  

Jars!

I was amazed to find out we have a Goodwill store close to our house.  C and I jumped in the car to head over to see what we could find~ he was less than thrilled, but the bribe of a thin mint made it all better!

I was not sure what I would be looking for since it was my first trip but I knew I could find something!  And I did!

Look at these cute jars!

I have always loved jars!  I think they are interesting to look at and a clever and cute way to display things. I had to have these!  After a good soak and washing they will be used in my soon to be (hint hint M!) craft desk and storage area.  I can see thread stored in them, decorative clips....I want more so Goodwill will now be my new "stop" to see if they have more!  At .99 and 1.99 for these babies they are a great find!  I would love to have a shelf of these jars above my imaginary craft desk!  Then I see some for my pantry for flour, sugar, pasta etc! 

I am off to ana-white to get some inspirations for this craft desk that I want M to build me this spring. I think she will have plenty of ideas and then we can draw something to make it just perfect for my ribbons, papers etc. 

Creative juices

I have had the crafty itch since the raffle finished.  I just could not figure out what I wanted to do!  I scoured the internet and my favorite BLOGS and came across centsationalgirl's post on this tray. I knew right away I could do this, or at least my version of it!

I went down the basement where I store "stuff", you know the stuff we buy but do not really need. The stuff on sale that we swear we will do...someday...I happened to have a tray!  Now, M & I have a wedding song, but for the life of me, I cannot ever remember the name of it.  He was in charge of ALL music for our wedding.  (He was a piano major...I got through 5 weeks of the flute where the music teacher told my mom "She does not have to sign up again". I did not.)

Instead of sheet music, I decided to collage it with my favorite wrapping paper, and then one photo.  The paper was the easy part. I knew this tray would sit on my screen in porch. The only room in the house that I can truly make girly because of this house of boys.  It is pink and green and very LILLY.  I love it.  It makes me happy.  So I used my beloved LILLY paper and covered the front, back and sides of the tray.  (Here is where a good Blogger, would insert a photo, but I am not that so there is no photo!) 

I then had to let it dry....and dry, and dry some more. Mod Podge is awesome but I tend to put it on thick, making the impatient me not happy about long drying times!

Finding the perfect photo is the challenge.  Should I use a wedding photo?  An outdated family photo of all 4 of us or should I just keep the tray LILLY and call it a day.  I am still mulling that over, because, well, the darn tray is STILL drying!

I am assuming this will be dry by spring  (lol) meaning I have plenty of time to think about what I want to do.  Since this is my porch, and it is all girly, I am leaning towards leaving it alone.  I have time. Spring will not be here anytime soon and the porch is closed up for the season and storing a lot of winter stuff (you know, sleds, boots, boot trays, shovels etc). 

I promise to take a photo when it is dry....come spring!

LOVE!

 

photo credit: between you & me

I love this!  It inspired me to start thinking about a large creation for our home as well......

What would your family rules be?

It's Party Time

Well, it is party day!  C has been non stop about it for days and he was most excited to wake up this morning to get this party started! Sadly, no one is arriving until 4pm!  

 

This is what my buffet looked like yesterday morning, more supplies came upstairs after this, but as you can see, it was getting a little crowded!

Last night I tackled the "cake"....Ok so many people chimed in on getting ROYAL BLUE frosting, but after 2 trips to different Michaels I gave up and used simple ol' food coloring. It was not as ROYAL as I would have liked but after using my little tube of blue and my neighbors (all at 8:00pm) this is as blue as I could get it....After awhile it was simply NOT changing colors.

 

 

So I gave up and just started creating.  I have a new respect for those of you who love to decorate cakes. This was NOT easy and took patience (which I do not have a lot of!)  The finished product is chillin the fridge until party time! (You'll have to wait and see!)

This morning M took the boys to run errands and pick up another request of dear C...>Balloons.  I asked him weeks ago and he showed no interest. Last night he chimed in that he wanted FIVE balloons...Off they went to Party City and I started "doing the decorating".  Here is what I got done without assistance!

 

The sign that greets our guests....A last minute idea from the birthday boy.  Thanks to urban fonts and having a LEGO font that was perfect! I once again cut each letter out.....We will hang this in the playroom after the party!

Then the goody bags and one game table....

 

The bags are filled with a LEGO bookmark that we made, a collectible LEGO man and LEGO candy.  Nothing crazy, because the LEGO men were not the usual cheap stuff you get from parties. I know my boys will love getting the guys!

 

This is one of the guess the LEGO's in the bucket games.  We have two. Again I used the LEGO font to make out the sheets for the kids.  FOr those who cannot write, we will help them.  My boys are dying to know how many...I will never tell....(23 and 19! HA!)

Between the party for kids starting at 4pm and the adults arriving at 5:30 for pizza and cake we will have a fun night with some of our close neighborhood friends.....I am actually looking forward to sitting down with a glass of wine shortly after the younger guests eat! :)

Cake---Part 1

C and I are knee deep in cake making for the party this weekend.  I was told by my friend, the cake maker expert here in town to start early (in case you screw up and to let things cool!) so we started today.

 

C was the "pourer" guy, while I did most of the mixing.  Since we had to do this in 2 batches (3 layers of cake and one layer to make the cirlces for the top of the LEGO block) this is taking more time that he cares to stand around for.  

Here are the first 2 layers complete and now cooling

 

 The next batch just were removed from the oven and are cooling in the pan (according to the directions) for 10 minutes.  Once they are 100% cool, I am tossing them (OK, gently moving them) into the fridge (tightly sealed, I know, I know) until tomorrow when I will begin the battle to make BLUE FROSTING and put it all together.

Now I am a cheap baker.....I am not buying some piece of cardboard to put this cake on , so I am dismantling a cardboard box that a gift for C came in (thanks Aunt K!) and will wrap it in foil to make the "plate". 

I am realizing why I do commonly keep bakeries in business, this patience thing is not working for me when it comes to baking.  All this down time to bake the cake, let it cool, frosting tomorrow is for the birds. I have enough stuff to do than sit around watching cakes rise in the oven...Like visit more BLOGS....

This is my friend Lisa's BLOG.  She is a creative soul with amazing ideas.  She even assisted me when I needed to re-invent my basement for the Canadian Invasion this summer.  We took a lot of her ideas and then added a few of our own, and some we nixed because of the strict budget or we did not have the time. I will post some photo's once C, J and I clean up down there tonight in preparation for the party! I love the way someone else had a vision for my room, one that I simply could not see.....

Ok, my 10 minutes of cooling are done, and laundry needs to be put away.......

Oh I forgot!

Remember when I said I loved this.

Here is my beloved photo wall in the office....

 

And this is the mini version above M's computer in the office. 

I love these photo's above his computer.  The middle one is a family photo that we had taken at our summer house when C was just 9 months old (and had his curly locks and M said he looked like a girl!)  I love the mat too.  While at our summer house that summer we did a class on different ways of designing fabric with soap and paint (it was a kids class). I took the best 6 that J did and made it into the mat of the family photo from later that summer.  Granted the colors do not match the room, but they match the colors we are wearing in the photo, and they are made by J so it makes it more special! 

Catch up

So I had some time yesterday to photograph some of the little projects around here that I am working on.  You may remember the dresser / nightstand that started it all off!
That is a photo of the first coat of paint.  It is almost complete now, but I wanted to show you I was doing SOMETHING!  It is still drying so stay tuned for the final photo soon!

Then I wrote about M cleaning up / giving me a new desk area just for me.

It is a small little area, but has enough room for my computer and printer and when I need / want to I can craft some smallish things there too.  To the side there is a built in cubby space for supplies.

And my first little craft was to make my pencil bucket (full of my "good colored pencils, markers and pencils") a pretty home....To keep in the colors of the basement family room I did this:

I simply used some left over canvas from a project years ago and some navy velvet ribbon to bring in the navy from the rest of the room.  The bucket was a stainless steel bucket that had seem better days.  It is the perfect size for all of my pens, pencils and scissors!  I love it!  I was also able to make a dry erase board out of an old frame that I had painted navy years ago for my first apartment.  I backed it with canvas, put the glass back in and POOF! I have a pretty board for all of my volunteer projects I am working on!  I used some pictures to pretty up the space too.  (So when my brain does wander!)

Obviously C was inspired by crafts too because I walked into the basement a couple of days ago to find his "art work" a la dry erase marker....

Thankfully, it was dry erase marker!  A little elbow grease and the Mr. Clean Magic eraser got rid of the marker on the walls.  The fabric on the couch and chair required more TLC (I love that they are BOTH slipcovers)...Oxy clean, Spray and Wash and more elbow grease got most of it out....And then the dry cleaners!  Needless to say, the markers have been moved and he has learned his easel is where he should be inspired!

Holiday

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day.  It is a holiday and a time to reflect on the man.  We have done that, J has told us about him and why he was important to our society.  It is interesting to hear it from a 6 year old, but he gets it.  It is hard to imagine the world the way it was long ago.

We spent the weekend getting "stuff" done.  J needed new shoes.....After 3 stores and COUNTLESS PAIRS that were tried on, he finally found a pair.  See, he wanted shoes that did not tie.  That is fine, but I hate Velcro shoes.  They are not cute.  After searching the 3 stores we realized big kid shoes are TIE shoes. We found ONE pair and he was sold.  (It was way more dramatic than I am stating to all of you, but I do not have it in me to relive those 2 hours again!)

We came home to the BEARS game that we hunkered down to watch together.  Good thing, because they won and next week we have to wear the exact same clothes to beat the PACKERS.  J & C insist it was because we were donning our navy and orange.  Whatever, they were excited....We are excited and we are 1 step closer to the Superbowl!

Since J is recognizing that the next few days will be all about C, we gave him some extra TLC.  We re-arranged his room.  I have hated they way it was arranged for a year. The boys needs play space.  He often heads to his room to play, create or just get away from his annoying brother.  M was on board with his drill to remove headboards and help with the lifting.  J stated his ideas, but mommy pre-vailed! (See those interior design classes are helping even with a 6 year old!)  Now his room is functional for more playing, a better court for NERF basketball.  Plenty of space for LEGO creations and still cozy enough to read a book, play with his DS and get a way from annoying little brothers. I will post pictures later.  Why interrupt the playing going on up there.

I got the clear coat on the dresser and handles will happen today.  M organized the basement desk for me and I started getting it "prettied" up.  To keep with the colors in the basement, I have made everything navy and cream.  (Pics to come later too!).  I love it. My only little area for me to keep my glue gun, post my ideas and create.  I am inspired just having this little space.

So it is a snowy day, we are all still in our jammies and enjoying being home.  I am sure it will not last. I need to make a plan to entertain the boys. I am hoping that Tara's boys will come over to play and I can put them to work to color in large LEGO MEN cut outs for the party.  I am running out of time!

Pictures will come later of J's room, the basement and maybe the dresser.....

More inspiration

I love family photo's.  We have a wall in our office that I have hung photo's of our family, friends, grandparents etc. I love to look at it.  M loves to see who the kids are looking like from the older photo's of our parents or grandparents. I love see to my favorite photo of my brother.  I love to see the photo's of all of my brother's buddies at a wedding we all attended together (not mine!).  I cherish this wall.  

So in my continuing search for inspiration for the master bedroom I saw this

And love how simple they make that look!  Now I have a lot of angled walls in our room but I think I could make this work in some areas.  I want more photo's of my kids in my room.  Not crazy amount, but I remember my mom always had our school photo's in her room.  J is only in 1st grade so I do not have THAT many school photo's yet, but we have some amazing photos none the less with more to come this summer! (Happily one of my BFF is a self taught photog, and has agreed to take our photo's this summer!  for the bargain price of hugs and all the beer she can drink!  :)

Today even thought it is a family day, I am determined to put the final coat of clear coat on the dresser.  I had never intended too, but C ran a car over the top of it and well, it scratched the paint SOOO, I am still fixing that!  It should be done this weekend and placed Monday. Then to start on the next one.  I found an old curtain rod in our basement too that can be re-purposed for the room so I have some of the basic elements, but no fabric yet.  Soon I will be at a stand still.

Kitchen Dreams

Oh how I long for a larger kitchen.  A kitchen we can eat in, that has more storage and that is truly the gathering places for my family and all of the friends we often have over for impromptu "pizza night's".  But this old drafty house has a smallish kitchen, no place to eat in it (we eat in our formal dining room for every meal!) and if you want to be with while I cook, they you are standing, usually in my way.

How great would it be to have this:

Credit to Martha Stewart Living

I love the small table in this kitchen with the storage / merchandising above!  Now since we have lived in this house for 4 years I have drafted my own "plans" (in my head ofcourse!) if and when we either win the lottery or come into large amounts of cash.  My kitchen would be the first room we "re-do", I would make larger and make just perfect for us and the people who spend time here!

Until then, we and my red walls, my shortage of cabinets and prep space will be just fine...And when you come over to have dinner, you will quickly learn the best places to stand so you are not in my way!

On a side note, my free day turned into "birthday" mode and C and I have been  working on goody bags, banners, cake toppers and other little things for the bash a mere 11 days away!  Wait until you see it all put together! I am betting J will want a LEGO party come spring too! :)

Only Wednesday?

Those are the words M left me with this morning..."It's ONLY WEDNESDAY!?"  I know, I cannot believe it.  I seriously think since November and December flew by for me I will be burdened with a slow, cold and snowy January.  Perhaps February could warm up a little and come March, I will begin my packing for my hot vacation to the desert at the end of the month. I need March to get here ASAP.

I have literally nothing planned for today. I have given myself a "free day" (like a free period in high school). I have plenty of "things to do" but I may or may not get to them.  I am ok with that since I have a planned free day.  I have poly urethane to put on M's nightstand and then to add the new handles, I have my nightstand to sand, prime and paint. I have birthday party plans to make up, I have laundry.  I will go with the flow and see what I want to do.  C has school today so I really do have some free time, but I am thinking more along the lines of watching "Oprah" (I mean come on, it's her farewell season and I live in Chicago!).

So friends, make sure you plan yourself a free day soon too. I see myself cuddled in a blanket soon with my cookbooks and my recipes finding new creations for us to eat or I see myself with my stack of magazines looking for more inspiration for this house.  Whatever it is that I do, I am free to do what I want! I like that....A LOT....