Mr. Handyman

Our evenings have been spent working on this project: assembling a playset for Lillian and Lucas. Why didn't we pay to have it assembled?? Well, the $600 price tag for assembly was more than 1/2 the cost of the whole thing so we opted for the traditional approach- dad puts it together. My job has mainly been organization and hardware location.

This is what we started with... X 10! There were so many pieces!

At the time I published this post, more was completed of it but this was the most recent picture. The main missing part is the the part with the 3 swings and the rock wall. Hopefully, a picture of the completed project with be coming soon! There are 36 steps to the assembly and we're on step 27. Some steps only require 1 piece; others require 25 + pieces. We're hoping the time spent on it now will payoff when we can shoo the kids outside to play and not return 10 minutes later saying "we're bored!"

Wish us luck!

Enjoying the Moments

Christmas baking

This year, our tree needed a twist to make it fit in our new house. I bought this tree to work with 10 ft ceilings in our other house. Well, in this house, the ceilings are only 8 ft. That posed a problem...

With some ingenuity, Brent decided to leave off the very top piece of the tree and I found some "picks" at a local store to finish off the top. (please ignore the paneling in the background. that will be dealt with in January!)

December sunset from our front yard.

Spring Break

The weather has had it's ups and downs this week. I hear we're in for snow tomorrow...we'll see. For now, here is a sampling of our week:

Last Friday: hangin' at home

Sunday and Monday- ice storm clean-up in Porter Hill

Wednesday: Zoo trip with Carsten, Cohen, Teegin, Kayden, and Carter

Thursday: 1 day+2 parks+3hours= sunburn and lots of fun!

Friday: At home and working in the garden

Nature's Beauty (And Fury)

More Room Redo

I made a valance out of the cute cowboy fabric and added the cowboy hat he wore for his first birthday party. The horses go all around the room; they stick like wallpaper and are called Wallies.

Made a pillowcase out of the same fabric- need to make one more

View of his room from the door- there's tons of stuff in this room but it's functional and still leaves room for play. Shelves on the walls are needed to house decorative and keepsake stuff. I want more wall decor to play up the cowboy/horse theme. I have about 2 yards of the cowboy fabric left and I need ideas of how to use it. A wallhanging is all I can come up with but that seems so unoriginal.

I had dreams of painting a rail fence but, hey, my talents are limited to fabric!

Redecorating

While the kids are gone, I've worked on their room decor. Lillian's room has really come together with the addition of the polka dot comforter. You may remember last summer's redo. Lillian picked out the comforter and rug from Walmart, but they didn't have a full size. I decided to pick one up while she's gone and surprise her tomorrow. Hope she likes it!




This is what I have picked out for Lucas' room , but the exact plan is still forming. I love love love the cowboy fabric! Both patterns are from Hobby Lobby but a neat fabric store in Guthrie called Extra Special has bolts and bolts of western fabric. It was almost overwhelming! They also carry many other novelty fabrics not seen in regular stores. And they will ship any order!

I have plans to make a valance for the window to go with the denim curtains already there. The quilt was made by Brent's grandma; it's blue and red. I think I'll use the Wallies of horses to decorate the walls and possibly cut out some of the cowboys from the fabric and include them as well. Anyone tried that before?

I'll post a picture once it's complete.

Our New "Pet"- May He Rest In Peace