Dots galore!

If you recall, this summer we painted Bean's old room to create Doodle's new "teen room". It has been so fun to decorate this room or shall I say to watch Doodle decorate this room. As she is 13, I let her do what she wanted, within reason of course. She painted the room a light blue this summer and found her bed. I wrote about that earlier. You can read about that here if you like. Anyway, we have had much luck with finding cute curtains, paint, and the bed. However, we have struggled in finding what exactly Doodle wanted for her bed. She knew she like brown and blue and dots. She just couldn't find what she wanted. Luckily, in December I went on an internet hunt to find something she might like and we had great success!

Doodle opening her last Christmas gift which arrived a bit late. :)

For Christmas, I purchased her bedding and the fun dots she has placed all over her wall. Well, actually, she has moved them recently to only having them around the top as a border of her room. Regardless, they leave no marks on the wall and can be swapped around until they lose their stickiness. I think she finally figured out what she liked and will keep them as they are for a bit.

Doodle on her new bedding.

Doodle's desk area, cute curtains and storage stool.

More dots!

I am just thankful she likes what she has created with her new space. It is precious!

I Did It!

I have to tell you that I use to be an avid reader when I get the chance to do so, I still am. With homeschooling our girls, I tend to read about the topics we are studying, parenting books and of course my Bible. :) I have not been able to read a book for pleasure in a couple years. I start them and they just sit. I hate that so much being that I really do LOVE getting lost in a good book. Now don't get me wrong, I read all the time. It is just not for my own enjoyment right now. It always has to do with school, parenting or faith: all of which I adore! :)

So I decided to make myself finish a book...take time to savor those things I enjoy. I started it about 5 days ago and finished it last night. I soooo enjoyed getting lost in this book and am thinking I need to make this happen more often. I did not miss out on anything with the family and I was a happier momma just for taking some time to do what I enjoy. Makes me wonder what else I need to plug back into my schedule as we continue to tweak it! What do you need to plug back in to your schedule?

Phase One and Two and Three!

Yesterday I shared that we are in the process of painting and setting up Doodle's new bedroom as she enters her teen years. She is very excited that she is picking the colors, designs etc. It is hard to believe that when we moved into this house 10 years ago, she was 3 and I was the one making all the decisions. Regardless, this time it is her and I could not be more excited to see her taste growing through this process. I have taken a few pictures of before and during the process so far, which involves saying good bye to the playroom walls, which my sister-in-law and I painted 5 years ago.

My little hills full of flowers with Bean's choice

of yellow on top since it would become her room.

Then we had all of the cousins paint flowers with their fingers all over the wall to add that sweet touch. That was the wall that really hurt to cover up. Transitions are hard for all of us....no matter how old! :)

The infamous cousins flower wall....each one of those petals has a sweet little face to go with it. Such sweet memories.

So after we sanded the flowers down, we had to prime over them to make sure they do not show up through the new paint color. For some reason, Doodle really doesn't want those flowers anymore...go figure! :)

Both girls helped with sanding the flowers off the wall.

The same cousins flower wall once I finished priming

those precious flowers....I had to walk away for a moment. :(

After sanding everything, filling the holes in the wall from pictures being hung, we had to sweep up our mess. Bean loved that!

Bean is quite the little helper

Next came my personal favorite job..(note the sarcasm)....painting the ceiling! Woohoo! Love it! NOT! However, last night, Bean, Matt and I were able to punch it out in an hour. Where was Doodle....finding her happy!:)

Doodle curled up finding her happy....no messes in that bed! :)

She is an early to bed, early to rise kind of girl so when we decided to paint the ceiling late last night, she offered to help but really there was not enough room for all of us to do it, so she headed to bed, thanking Daddy for his hard work. After getting going, he decided to let Bean give it a shot. She did a good job. I think Doodle would have liked trying but I was secretly wishing I was doing what she was by that point....sleeping! :) So, today we paint the new color on the wall. A color I did not pick. A color I love...a beautiful shade of blue aptly named Ariel!

Doodle painting her room.

My girls decided I needed proof I painted. Took pic when I wasn't looking! :)

Beanie got into the painting action!

The last flower on the wall....

Beanie struggled to paint over it.

See...I'm not the only sap around here. :)

Having your kids help with these projects just make them more fun. I love having a family that enjoys doing all things together whether it be riding rides at Disney World or painting a room! What a true blessing!

Tender Moments in the Kitchen?

This morning, Doodle and I went to get some cups out of the corner cabinets that we call the whirlybirds. Sadly, something had fallen behind the cabinet causing it to not spin. :( Normally, we can just grab what is causing the problem and get the whirlybird to spinning again. This time, the cups at hand had fallen between the cabinet fronts. Hmmm...not sure how that happened. Regardless, Doodle and I got busy solving this problem. We used rulers, spatulas and finally the little thing we use to clean out the dryer vent! Success!

After doing that, we realized we needed to clean the cabinet shelves before we put the stuff back inside. Then we noticed the doors were needing cleaning as well. So we cleaned the cabinet fronts off, all the while, talking about what I was doing and why as well as silly things that made us giggle. After the cabinet fronts, we decided the sink was gross and tackled it. With each thing we did, we found something else that needed done. Sounds like the children's book, "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie"! But this time, it was different. We talked about how we use to play games while I had Doodle and her cousin wipe down the cabinet fronts for me when they were little. She started getting ideas about how to do that with young children she takes care of from time to time. Then I showed her how to make the sink SPARKLE! (even big girls like shiny stuff!) When we put the lemon oil on and were spreading it over our stainless sink, she started quoting stuff off from our Chemistry class this year about oil and water not mixing and that is why the water beads up and doesn't mess up the sink.

Ok, while some of you may not understand why all of this touches my heart....let me clear it up. If you didn' t read earlier, I have been in a funk. I have not been myself. Today, with my daughter by my side, we shared chores as we use to. We had a lovely time of doing something that may not be lovely and to be honest, it blessed her as much as me as she is my clean freak! :) I am thankful for a daughter who still enjoys hanging with her mom. I am thankful that she loves to have things explained to her so she fully understands why we do what we do and not get an attitude or feelings hurt because "she already knew that!". I am thankful God is lifting the fog that has surrounded me for some time and that I know He will continue to do so. Who knew you could get all that from a clean sink?!

A Sinking Feeling

Do you ever feel as if your not moving forward nor are you moving backwards, just kind of floating through life? That is kind of where Matt and I are right now. We have not changed much of our financial situation, nor have we changed much of our physical in recent years. We just keep plugging along doing the same things. Last night, we had a great talk about where we are, where we want to be and pinpointing some problem areas. Wow! What a blessing!

We discussed that we are neither one big "planners" per se and while that does keep the spontaneity exciting, when one does not know the path they are taking nor the prize they are headed for, it is very hard to succeed. Instead, I told him I fear we have been floating and if we don't get the direction we need, set a path, define a plan, we will not be floating but sinking to which he agreed.

So with those thoughts, talks and great discussion, we are off to planning together for the first time in awhile. Let me say this, we do plan menus, school lessons, vacations, etc. We do not have a family goal right now or a financial plan that gets us to where we both desire to be: debt free and able to bless the Kingdom of God through that freedom. So first up, no more debit cards! Cash only. We were debt free 10 years ago and we can do it again. I just am thankful my husband and I do communicate the way we do and are able to really jump on board with the new plans....even if it hurts a bit. :) I am so excited and can't wait to see where God will take us on this new path with a purpose....but a bit fearful too! Last time we did this, we bought a lot of new appliances as each one bit the dust as we were staying firmly footed on the path to being debt free!

4-H Mania

As many of you know, we are in the last stretch of turning in all the girls projects for 4-H this year. We are new to 4-H and I truly have enjoyed the projects but I don't enjoy feeling like I don't know what I am doing. Next year will go more smoothly first of all because we are going to limit the number of projects per child as well as get started sooner. Here are couple pictures from tonight. We were over at my parents working on Bean's sewing project. My dad needed both my husband and my brother's help with something. So my brother brought over his girls which allowed Doodle to work on her Child Development project.

Doodle with her little cousin preparing to make "ants on a log"

Look at "Fishy" looking up to Doodle. Too precious!

"Fishy" with her finished product.

Nana and Bean working on her pillow.

Bean with the finished product.

I am excited to be getting close to finished with all the projects, but as I looked at these pictures tonight I realized that this really is a great way my kids can interact with the family. Finding things others can teach them and things they can teach to others is a great way to build their confidence in their own abilities. God is so good in allowing me to see that while the days feel hectic, the moments are priceless.

No More Fishy!

The Fishy Bathroom

Well, the day has finally come to take down the little kids "fishy" bathroom. Our girls will be 12 and 9 this summer and have definately outgrown the theme. Not to mention that the fish keep disappearing over the years from various kids picking them off my walls. Makes me giggle.

Anyway, the girls and I talked about what kind of bathroom they would like to have for the next 9 years....I know it's a dream but that is how long the fish lasted! Anyway, they decided on a "spa" type bathroom. Mind you, neither of my girls have ever been to a spa nor will they on my tab. This must just be something they have seen in a movie or heard about but it certainly gave us a starting point. First, we found the shower curtain and rugs.

The new colors

Once I saw the colors and knew that both of them would get their favorite color, that set it in stone. Next came the day I dreaded....taking the fish down. And you know what? It didn't bother me a bit! Who would have guessed?! I think I was so excited about working with the girls to create the bathroom they will enjoy that I just didn't have time to sit and think about it much. Either that or I am just really sick of the fish. Could be either. :) (loved the fish but it has been 9 years!!!!)

Doodle thought peeling the border down was so cool.

Bean got into the peeling action as well.

They did some pretty good damage but those fish still left their marks.

The next phase came painting. Doodle and I picked out the paint color together. She calls it spa green. It is pretty. I painted the bathroom last weekend and my honey trimmed it all for us.

Pickling Spice goes on the wall.

Then Bean and I went out looking for new bathroom accessories to go with our new bathroom. We chose some pretty cool silver assessories.

Bean's addition to the room....cool silver assessories.

I have to say, doing this with my girls and not just for my girls made it more fun. We do now have a bathroom that is in working order. Matt got the light, towel racks and stuff put up last night. It looks sweet. Now, I do want to have my dear friend, Lainie, help me write scripture on the walls, but beside that we are done for the time being. I think the girls will enjoy and I certainly enjoyed our time together working on this project.

The "finished" project...can you guess where the scripture will go?

Doodle and Bean's addition to make it more like a "spa".
They crack me up!

Finally tackled! For the past three years, my parents have genorously brought all three of their children and their families down to Florida for Spring Break. When we were all kids, we camped down here for our Spring Breaks and loved the white sand beaches so much that they decided to give us this trip instead of Christmas gifts, which we adore!!! So, all three years, my sister-in-law and I have talked and talked about getting up for sunrise and gathering shells. Today it finally happened!!! We got up at 6:15, threw on some sweats and hit the beach. Shocker of all shockers, my little one joined me! Bean is my sleeper but she just loves walking the beach and finding shells so she hopped right up.

Of course, she is now snoring on the sofa, but hey, I loved her enthusiasm this morning. Too sweet watching Bean running to the next area of shells. It was a treasure for her....and way too precious for me. :)

Tackle time!

This week I am preparing to leave for our Spring Break trip with my entire family: parents, sister and her family, brother and his family and then my family. So, with that trip over my head, I know I don't have time to tackle anything around the house per se, but I do have the chance to tackle what needs done before we leave Friday. So today, I am going to pack our clothes and organize our beach stuff so when I go to pack the van on Friday, it will all be together and no one will be questioning where the nets or shovels/pails have gotten to. I don't know that there will be pictures, but I will let you know when the task is tackled. Keep posted for updates!

Tackle of the Day!

Well, it is that special day again, when all things that need tackled jump to attention in hope to be picked. This week, I am going to tackle a job I do not enjoy....finding a swimsuit and shorts modest enough for my 11 year old for our Spring Break trip. Man, I do not enjoy the styles that are out there: way too tight tops, short shorts, spaghetti straps, strapless....need I go on? I don't really have a before picture. So I will have to just post what we found later. :)

Update: God is so good! We did find several things that will work. Not only did we find stuff for our vacation, but we also found stuff that will be great for the entire summer. God is so good! We also noticed a trend towards the 'swing tops' and looser fitting shirts. We saw a lot of precious sundresses that with the right tee under it will be great! So, I went a bit crazy since we found longer shorts, looser shirts, sweet dresses in her size! On top of that...everything was on sale! Woohoo! I recommend hitting Old Navy, Kohl's and Target right now if you like the prairie style skirts as well as the looser tops and Bermuda shorts. Well worth our shopping adventure. Here are a few things we found:

Outfit 1: cute peasant top with tiered skirt. (top:Kohl's, skirt: Old Navy)

(skirt is longer on my daughter, below knee)

Outfit 2: Plaid Bermuda shorts and cotton tee with cute trim.
(Old Navy shorts, Target shirt)

She also could wear this brown top from Target with these shorts:

Outfit 3: cute sun dress (with cami or tee under it!) and a little sweater
(both from Kohl's)

There were a few more, but I think you get the idea. It is fun to see her excited to try things on because normally we both leave the stores frustrated and sad. This time we felt good about the things we bought and knew we had kept our goal of being modest first and frugal as well.