Splash Splash!

So, I've gone from this...

to this...

..in just a few short years.  Aside from the above photos, I've had the most amazing view!

The cutest baby ever!  What a wonderful life I live.  I am so greatful for all the blessings bestowed on me.  Watching this little boy play on his splash pad for the first time, discovering that he can drink the water spouting out of the plastic, and actually sitting in water, something he doesn't even do during bath time, has been one of the best times I've had.  The simplest things really can be the most fulfilling.  I hope everyone is having as much fun as me this summer.  Until next time! 

Target's Room Essentials Marquee Arrow Enhanced

Marquees!  They are becoming a staple in home décor, and I have been wanting to find one for Rordan's room, or play area for months now.  Most of the time, I find that they cost a pretty penny.  I have considered making one, but at times, when I take on a "simple" DIY project, I find that I make it a bit complicated so I have opted out of that.  I figured I'd find one at Home Goods one day, so I've been patient, but have had no luck so far.  Well, I was running an errand at Target today, and as always, perused the home décor section.  How can you not?  They have great finds, and great sales!  Well, I was down to two aisles, and wouldn't you know it, I came across a display of marquees!  They had a few choices, being an "@", "?", and an "--->".  Of course, I loves arrows as you can see from my logo, so I had to get it.  It comes in two colors, teal, and white.  I am loving teal at the moment, but I wanted something I could put a spin on, and add some color to, so I went with the white. The following isn't a tutorial really, because honestly it required only three steps to complete, but I'll add the materials I used.  I figured that since I have wanted to use Washi Tape for a while now, I could come up with some sort of design for this arrow.  The only materials I needed were the Room Essentials Marquee, 3M Scotch Brand Washi Tape, I chose orange, and a knife.

http://www.target.com/p/room-essentials-marquee-arrow-large/-/A-15107591#prodSlot=_1_3

http://www.scotchbrand.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/ScotchBrand/Scotch/Products/Catalog/~/Scotch-Expressions-Washi-Tape?N=7578458+4335+3294414409&rt=rud

 

 

 

 

 

 

 And here it is!

http://www.target.com/p/room-essentials-marquee-arrow-large/-/A-15107591#prodSlot=_1_3
 


And that's it!  Very simple, but with a very fun result, and it costs less than $20 to complete!  I can't wait to hang this on the wall, once I get the wall painted.  Soon, very soon, I hope!  I'll be sure to add pictures of that to the blog when I'm done. 

Grandpa's 90th Birthday!

Wow!  Can you imagine living till you are 90 years old?  What an amazing thing to accomplish!  Being raised by my Great Grandpa and Great Grandma, while she was alive, was the best thing that ever happened to me.  Two amazing people to guide me through life.  Sadly at age 11, my "Grandma" (Great Grandma) passed away leaving me with just my "Grandpa". To be honest, I didn't think she would ever go first.  Grandpa always claimed he was going to die any minuite, and had me nervous as heck that I was going to lose him.  Mmhmm!  And here he is, 90 years old!  Like I said, sadly Grandma passed, and Grandpa and I were left alone and sad that she wasn't around any longer, but we developed an even more amazing bond after her passing.  He taught me so much about life, and I think I gave him a fresh perspective of the world.  I always got away with so much, at least that's what people tell me.  He calls me his baby, and I am happy to be.  I mean, I call him Grandpa, but I should call him Dad.  He's always been there for me, and the rest of my family, having raised many of us as his own.  Now, at age 90, with his mental health failing, we find that he needs all of us more than ever.  I only pray we do right by him and make him as happy as ever.  So even though I am not around him today, he is visiting family that are kind enough to look after him right now, I am so glad that I was able to call and sing Happy Birthday to him today.  I loved hearing him laugh as I sang to him!  So yep, the only thing left to say is that I love you Grandpa!!! 

DIY Entertainment Center Update

I'm getting closer to the finish line with this project!  I'm not going to lie, I thought this was going to be a breeze to build.  Call me overly confident, which normally I'm not, but in this case I thought I did all my homework, and really felt like this was possible.  Well it's possible, but it's been a headache as well.  The first hickup I ran into was that the wood I purchased was not cut square.  I should have paid attention to the warnings from carpenters on the internet that were complaining that most wood cut at big box stores is usually not cut square due to the machine they use to cut it.    For this project to happen though, I had no other option.  I didn't, and don't own a table saw, nor did I, or do I, feel confident enough to use one.  They are my biggest fear!  Ack!  I ended up consulting with an employee at Home Depot about my options to correct the cuts , and since it was only a half inch at the most that I needed to get rid of, he suggested I just sand the wood down.  Worked as well as anything else I read about as an option and saved me a lot of money in the process, so thank you Home Depot man!  Once I had all the cuts sanded to size I was able to assemble my boxes.  I used the famous Kreg Jig system to assemble the boxes.  What a dream!  It took a few practice runs to get used to, but it was amazingly easy to use after, and I would recommend that anyone considering assembling any wood projects, purchase this system!  I've taken a lot of my free time lately to spend with my family.  With recent happenings in our family I feel like enjoying their presence is much more important than working on this project.  Still, I have been able to bring myself to step away and do a bit here and there over the past few weeks.  So far I've gotten to the point of setting everything in its place and now I'm working on figuring out the trim for it all.  I'm going to guess that if things work out I should be done with this by my birthday.  Only a few weeks away!  Yippee!

Here are a few pictures showing the progress. 

Picture Day at the Park!

Yay!  We did it!  We made it through picture day.  It's always a stressful situation for me.  I'm not so sure for John, and most definitely not Rordan, but for me, I just put so much pressure on myself to be that picture perfect person that I have never been.  No matter at what weight, I've never found myself to be all that photogenic, but thankfully John and Rordan have the photogenic gene, and I LOVE taking pictures of them.  They look wonderful in every shot.  Lucky me to have such handsomeness surrounding me every day!  These are just shots that I took with my camera.  The pro shots wont be in for a while, and even then I don't think we will end up getting a CD with all of them on it, so I may only have one update to these photos.  We will see. 

Family Picture Day-Tomorrow

Oh boy!  It's been planned for almost a year, and yet here we are, a day before the actual shoot, and I still haven't picked out an outfit.  We have a comfortable theme going with John and Rordan wearing shorts and striped shirts, and I think I'm going to wear jeans and a sleeveless shirt.  I swore I wouldn't wear a sleeveless shirt, because even though I pick up a baby all day, and paint, and build things, I don't have desirable arms in my eyes.  That being said, I really like the shirt I picked out, so I'm giving it a shot.  I'm sure I'll change outfits at least three times before committing to one.  Luckily Pinterest is such a wonderful resource I styling that I hope I can pull something together.  We are doing to be outside, in a park, and I'm sure it will be hot, I mean, it is Texas, so hopefully the outfit I choose will keep me comfortable and looking nice.  The last thing I want is to have sweat beads running down my face. LOL!  Since this picture is being done by a company I bought a Groupon deal from, we are only allowed one pose for free.  I'm hoping it turns out as well as the last. Rordan loved the camera back then and smiled at the photographer during every shot.  I'm not so sure his attention span is the same this go round.  We will see!  I plan on taking my own photos while we are out so I'll be adding those to the blog most likely tomorrow or the next day.   See ya on the flip side!

Happy Father's Day John!

 

Rordan and I love you very much!  We hope you had a wonderful day on Sunday.  I figured I'd put the photos up for memory sake.

 

 

Toddler Room/Playroom

Hello!  I thought I'd pop in and share a few pictures from the recent update of our toddler's room.  At one time it was a nursery that was never used, and it has been sitting in limbo for over a year now, since we moved his crib into our room when he was three months old.  Rordan's Christmas present from Santa this past year was a clubhouse.  My husband put it together in the room since it was too cold to do so outside.  Our plan was to move it to the backyard, but we have decided to keep it in the room since he loves it in there, and we have so many wasps taking up residence in our backyard.  We'd hate to have to experience that situation, so in the room it stays! 
Our Entertainment room/playroom, is undergoing a transformation from more playroom, to entertainment room, so we moved the shelves we had in that room, the world famous, IKEA Expedit, into this room.  I haven't had a chance to move many toys into the room though, but they will be moved soon.  I feel like I am living in a toy store!  I really can't wait to have them mostly in this room.  

                                                                                Rordan's Clubhouse!

                                                                            Rordan loves Mickey Mouse!

Expedit shelving from Ikea

Pictures from Ikea

Mickey Mouse enjoying the bed.

Bed is the DaVinci Modena Toddler Bed

Another Mickey Mouse having a party on the bookcase.

Activity Table from Ikea

Reading Nook-It's the first place he heads to when we go into the room.

Picture ledges are from Ikea

Found the plaque at Target.  We thought it would be cute above the playhouse.

Letters are from Pottery Barn

Fun stuff on the wall, gifts from family.  Thank y'all!

So as you can see, it's a variety of pieces from Ikea, and random places.  I was planning on turning the room into a "world traveler" themed room, but I just couldn't get that serious with it, with him being so young.  I want bright colors and fun, fun, fun!  One day though!