A mix of this and that :)

The other day kids and I went treasure hunting again : ) We came home with bags full of pine cones and branches. 

 I've always wanted to make this around the holidays but always seem to put it off. It's an awesome way to display Holiday cards!!! Use a few branches and the when you receive a card punch a little hole in it and then tie it to the branches with a pretty ribbon. 

 I used a cookie jar (it's a really big one) that I already had placed a bunch of pine cones in it to keep the branches from sliding around in the jar. I would love to get a mini battery operated light set to put in the jar but that costs money and I'm all about free ;)

I also made these adorable flowers out of the pine cones that we collected......told ya treasures. I have to look for some glitter in my raft stuff....hopefully I have some it would be cute to just add some sparkle to the edges and center. If I'm feeling motivated I might post directions for making these. Also have another project that I want to make with the cones but I need a sturdy flexible cardboard type material.....like a cereal box but that's not big enough. Hoping Neal comes home with something for me today.

These 3 guys have been very happy to have mommy's undivided attention the last few days. Since I've taken a break from painting I have had more time to spend playing with them.

 sitting in his chair and watching his brothers play outside.....not long buddy and you will be running outside with them.

So big!!!

He's going to be FIVE in just a few days. 

Conner has been asking for his training wheels to be taken off for weeks. I finally got brave enough today and took em off. He was a pro from the beginning took off basically right away. Another mile stone behind us :( really proud of him.

Resting....

I think that this is the least active I have been since having Christopher. Since Thursday I have done so little that I almost feel guilty. I took a short nap on Thursday and a LONG nap yesterday and I have been going to bed EARLY as early as the kids. It feels good to just rest a bit and you know I feel SO much better this morning still tired but the tightness in my chest is much MUCH better. I plan on kind of doing the same thing again today just taking it easy and resting and hopefully by Monday this bug will be gone and I'm gonna feel normal again.  It's going to be a really pretty day today in the low 70s just perfect. Hoping to lay out a blanket and soak in the sun!!

Have a great weekend everyone!!!

Happy Turkey Day.....

I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving. 

I'm still pretty miserable just ready for the tightness in my chest to go away and STOP coughing it seems as though the antibiotic the dr. put me did nothing for me....it's pretty frustrating. It also may be that I just can't relax but I think the rest of the week I AM GOING TO TAKE IT EASY. I just need to rest and feel better. I'm actually really disappointed with myself.

Monday I threw myself into this project that took up ALLLLL my time Monday Tuesday AND Wednesday. I painted the trim work (just the bottom part still have to do the crown molding at the top of the 2 story foyer) the front door on the inside and 3 other doors the bathroom, closet and laundry room doors. I also painted the trim work and the inside of the entry closet. IT TOOK HOURS WITH 3 little ones and even more hours at night when everyone was sleeping.

We also decided on a color for the entryway, kitchen hallway upstairs and staircase......it's all going to be one very neutral color because it's all connected. It's one of these :)

I'm frustrated with myself because I really should have waited on this till later. I needed to spend some time with the kids before Thanksgiving doing some crafts and Thanksgiving activities but instead I painted....grrr.

My little helpers (mess makers) We did have a nice day today but I was having a really hard time. Neal worked till 4 this morning so he was super tired and after lunch he and the kids took a LONG nap so it was just me and Chris.....felt a little lonely. Now Neal went back to work and he won;t be home till sometime tomorrow afternoon :(( I HATE this time of the  year HATE IT. Then he HAS to somehow stay awake all day tomorrow....should be a fun time for all of us....then he works all weekend!!

 We had a little feast of our own....ALLL this food for basically Neal and I we will be eating leftovers for a while :) It was nice to stay in our jammies all day :) It was SO gorgeous outside low 70s and SUNNY. We had the doors and windows opened ON THANKSGIVING!!!

The bird....It turned out DELICIOUS so flavour full  and juicy.

 Our humongous table....haha I put in ONE of the extra leaves just cuz it actually fits in the eat in kitchen part it would easily sit 12 and we have another leaf :) LOVE IT!!!

I made us two pies yesterday and they are almost all gone....me guilty ;) I love pie!!!

We played Curious George Discovery Beach game....Kids LOVE this game and it's actually fun for Neal and I too so we can all play it together and we did on and off ALLLLL day long.

ANd Conner and Ethan took turns brushing my hair....I have had some interesting hairdos lately.

Not sure how this picture got on the camera :)

Foyer all cleaned up for now ;) Not touching a paint brush for AT LEAST a week I'm GETTING BETTER!!!! Baby just goes wherever he wants preferably straight into the bathroom. 

Look at that adorable tooth and grin :) my sweetie!!!

I just can't get enough of this brown eyes cutie!!

Well it's way past the kids bed time so time to go read a book sing some songs and snuggle up with my two other sweeties. Christopher can;t seem to stay awake past 5 anymore...it's ridiculous. He sleeps till 5 in the morning but I would like to sleep in till at least 6. I wish I could get him to take an afternoon nap but he just refuses. Well night night everyone!!!

Happy Thanksgiving

I like free.....

I made this centerpiece for our table today:) The red dried flowers are from my mom and dad and the grass stuff is from our front yard. I used an old terracotta flower pot I had and made the arrangement. It will be perfect for our Thanksgiving table!!! I love how it turned out and it was completely free.

Ohhhh the possobilities.....

I feel like I've won the lotto today. This is what i came home with after our walk today!!! Nature is amazing....love it!!! Not sure what I'm going to do with these yet but whatever it is it's going to be fabulous :)I have a few ideas and you may not see the result for a while....right now I'm just painting this house decorating will come later :)

Beautiful!!!

Thanks MOM....

I'm pretty sure that I have this addiction from my mom. I LOVE plants, flowers, digging in the dirt ect. I could spend hours just pulling weeds :) It's very therapeutic for me!

I needed to get the mums I had in these planters out....they probably could have lasted a while longer in there but it was time. I got all those planted in our new flower beds in the back but I had two empty planters to fill. I found these topiary trees for REALLY cheep. They have these at Home Depot for $46 each and I got BOTH of these for a fraction of that cost....SCORE!!! I was pretty excited. They will be inside during the colder months but I guess that they bloom pretty white flowers in the springtime followed by red fruit. 

I'm trying to get some inspiration for the next paint project but I have NON whatsoever. This will be the big one.....kitchen, butlers pantry, foyer and hall. It will all be a very neutral color just not sure what yet. I will probably start on the trim work next week since I still have paint for that. Any suggestions? 

This just drives me nuts though....looking from the kitchen into the foyer/living room there are 3 colors the burnt orange, green and the tan.....it's just too much for me.

Well time for me to go have another cookie and then try and relax for a while....house is completely quiet!!! Everyone has been sleeping since 8:30 including Neal. It's so nice to be able to get things done without any interuptions :)

Another peek...

I'm just so impatient I wanted to wait and show you a picture of the bathroom all finished but I just can't! I did get it all touched up today and we have perfectly straight lines....makes this gal very happy!!! I had to paint everything, ceiling, walls and trim. So I'm almost convinced that they did not mix the paint correctly. The picture really does not show the true color either but I did not want to use the flash on the camera because the the design on the wall does not show. The color turned out more green than the blue grey that it should have been....I was pretty upset actually because this is the 2nd time that it has happened. Ohh well I still like it and it's a HUGE improvement over the brown.

I'll post a picture once we get the new mirror in there (when I buy it) and some floating shelves above the toilet. 

Since I was not a huge fan of the paint color I wanted to do something a little different and fun. I saved the insert out of a ripped reusable grocery bag  a while ago....I knew it would come in handy ;) I drew a little design on it and then cut it out. I mixed a little of the wall paint with the ceiling paint just to make it a TAD BIT lighter and used the cut out design as a stencil. It turned out SUPER. 

 I did not measure or anything just kind of eyeballed it and came up with this pattern. I don't have the patience to measure ;)  I really love how it turned out. I don't think this would look good in a big room but in a small space it really creates a fun effect it's just really subtle.  Ohhh and yes I put the door back on ;0 not that our kids know how to use it....grrrr.

Look how different the color looks with the flash....still not really the true color it is. So there it is ALMOST all done!!

Braging....

Ha it got up to 80 degrees today and a high of 81 tomorrow......it's middle of November....we are LOVING this weather. Hopefully the medicine does it's job and the kids and I can enjoy some sunshine tomorrow!!!

A little sneak peak...

It's almost all done just a little touching up and then a few finishing touches :) I painted all day yesterday (on and off you know with 3 sick boys and feeling like crap myself it was not easy) then I stayed up till one this morning finishing things up. I'm kinda digging it :) I was not so sure I liked it at first!!!

SO we took the kids in this morning still had fevers and just feeling miserable. They all have strep throat and Ethan also has an ear infection. Neal and I are going in this afternoon to get tested for strep my throat does not hurt anymore but I have this TERRIBLE cough and my chest feels so tight and Neal has the sore throat :( what a pitiful household. I'm not sure if we have ever been sick all at once like this before. 

Well the paint is in the house....I ran out yesterday to pick it up. While I was checking out I started coughing so bad that I actually had to walk away from the cashier without saying anything then proceeded to hack and gag in the car for another 15-20 min. I went back in to pay for the paint though I was pretty flushed and embarrassed. Ughhh this thing has to go away soon but if does not in the next couple days I will have to go in :P I might be taking Ethan and Christopher in tomorrow if they are not any better.

So here are the before pictures. Ughh brown.....who picks brown for a tiny half bath!!! I LOVE brown but in the right space and a bathroom is not it ;) But it's not even the color that bother me most it's this.....

It's all in the details :)

Things are about the same here, still sick and feeling miserable though today was a bit better. I was able to get a little more done than just whatever I NEEDED to get done to get through the day and survive. 

 We have been eating a lot of soup around here and drinking lots of hot tea with honey and lemon....the kids love being sick around here :) This was tomato soup (or kids call it the pasta soup) it's one of their favorites.

And thanks to the food mill baby got to eat some too. I love this thing I used it with Ethan too and wish I had used it more with Conner. This way baby can eat now whatever we all are eating :) 

ooooo I made my favorite fall cookies the other day and though I sent many of them with Neal to work I did get to still enjoy a few too many. You can find the recipe on my food blog under cookies....they are the best....mmm mmm mmm :) 

And I will leave with this picture of my lil guys. This is their favorite spot in the corner behind the couch with pillows and blankets and books. While the baby slept and I cleaned and did laundry these two guys sat there reading books for a LONG while. 

Here is a little clip :)

Excited...

Since the DR project Neal has put all home projects on hold till after the new year :( Only fair I guess with all the extras that we have had lately. I of course found a way to put another project in motion. My nice and clean beautifully painted and cleaned DR has now become Craigs list central.....hehe!!! Well I sold one big thing yesterday and it's enough to buy 2 gallons of paint....exactly what I need to paint the downstairs bathroom :) and if I like the color it should be enough to paint the upstairs guest bathroom too!!!! SO stay tuned for updates on that. It wont happen till I feel better again. I am still MISERABLE this thing is really hanging on. I am not taking any medicine though so that is an improvement.

I hate this time change....dark when we get up dark when we eat supper. Yesterday was a bit chilly (you know high 60's) but it's going to warm up again tomorrow back in the 70's which is perfect!

Well all 3 kids are up now....breakfast time!!!

cough cough....

It seems as though I'm on to another stage of this bug that I have cough....coughing, crusty eyes, still feverish and congestion!!! I'm not as medicated today though so that's a good sign I guess. 

Christopher had his 6 month check up today (yes he is 7 months but we had to re-enroll for benefits because of the move so that's why it's so late)!!! No matter how hard I try I am always at least 30 minutes early for appointments.....I HATE being late HATE IT!!! So we had to wait for a long time because the dr. was running late. Thank goodness our kids somewhat behave :) 

Anywhoo Christopher did really well and is right on track with his brothers. He was 16lb 13oz and 27.75 in long. I was very surprised he seems so much bigger and even longer, I don't get it!!!  He had all his shots and even the flu shot so he is all set!! 

When we got home the kids were really crabby....must have been all the waiting so I put them down for a nap they did not even want lunch so I made them a snack then all 3 of them slept for a VERY short while but I was able to get some stuff done around the house. 

 After the nap I made myself a HOT cup of THERAFLU to go and we headed out for a walk. It was close to 80 again and just absolutely beautiful. Conner rides his bike and.....

Ethan and Christopher ride in the stroller :) On our walk we met a lady that lives at one of the farms down this gravel road and she invited us to swing by anytime to visit with her farm animals, horses, goats, ducks :) She has noticed us walking a few times I thought that was pretty sweet!!!

 Balancing act...

And we found lots of treasures. 

 When we came home we made LAVA bottles....another one of the science projects out of COnners book!!!

 Ethan had a lot of fun with this one....he thought it was pretty cool!!

Have I mentioned that I have NOT HAD ANY COFFEE since Friday.... it just has not sounded good at all to me since I got sick but I am SO tired :) SO ready to feel better!!!