Photos of new furniture and paint

Please forgive me for the way the pictures are facing, I'm still learning how to post photos, but haven't figured out the layout part. So the photos below are the beginning of stage of our living room make-over. Being the beginner blogger that I am, I of course forgot to take before photos. I will post more as progress is made! (The walls used to be a beige color.)


Chocolate Brown wall, with IKEA table and baskets. The wall will soon have a photo collage. I need to make another IKEA run.


Off White curtains that now hang just below the ceiling and a more modern curtain rod. (Curtains used to be teal and hung parallel to the window frame.)


My chase lounge! This is what sealed the deal. The pillows will be recovered soon. I want something a little more cheery and bright.



The couch. I also bought the mustard pillow from Target. I just loved the texture, color and design. It's going to be my little pop of color. The shag rug is also new. I've really enjoyed how soft and fluffy it is. It gives me a sense of comfort if/when the kiddos go crashing down.

So what's left to do? The bench, end table, lamp & pictures, lots and lots of pictures. Also, our kitchen table chairs are being reupholstered by my parents. I can't wait to get those back on Thursday.

Orange Glow...

This past Friday I decided to try out my new sunless tanning lotion, Extreme Glow by Jergens. My sister, Kourtney, uses it and I was really impressed with how tan she looks. Friday morning I applied the first coat and it turned out great. No streaks, nice and even so I decided to apply another coat just before bed. I was hoping to look nice and tan for Easter. My hubby had left in the morning to go turkey hunting so it was just the boys and me. I spent the evening doing laundry and cleaning. It was close to midnight when I applied the second coat and to be honest, I was feeling knackered and just wanted to go to bed. (This is the first and only problem) I decided not to wash my hands. So many times I apply the product and wash my hands and in the morning I have tan arms and white hands. To me it looks likes I'm wearing gloves.I tried really hard to rub the lotion in evenly and make sure I covered all areas of my hand. Feeling satisfied with my effort I went to bed.

Morning rolled around, like it does every day, and I checked out my work in the bathroom mirror.I was admiring how nice my arms, face, chest and legs looked not really paying any attention to my hands. I go on with my morning routine--feed the boys, baths, get the boys dressed, pick up their rooms and then it was my turn to get ready. As I go into the bathroom to do my hair and make-up, I turned on the light this time! (This is the part where I freak out) Now I really saw my hands, THEY ARE ORANGE!! The back sides are bright orange and the tops of my hands are streaky, or so very streaky! They are streaky and orange enough that I started to panic and try to find a shirt with long enough sleeves to cover them up. I then turned to the Internet to Google, "how to take off sunless tanner?" The various websites said to try lemon juice, hydrogen peroxide, rubbing alcohol and there are special lotions that can help ease the ornateness. I tried all of the above with no luck.

I had to stop freaking out and just deal with my mishap, I was supposed to be to Caribou soon to meet the ladies for coffee. Thankfully, I don't take myself too seriously so I decided to just laugh it off. There is no hiding of the "Orange Glow." The rest of the weekend my hands turned into comic relief. When situations got to serious all I had to do was flash my hands and it bright smiles to people's faces. I tried to beat people to noticing my hands and just laid it on the table. Sooner or later they were going to notice. Because of this situation it made me realize how much I use my hands and how obvious selftanner disasters are! So please, learn from my mistakes. I have also concluded that the "glove" look is way more unnoticeable then the streaky, orange look. If anyone has any tips for me to help remove selfless tanner, let me know! Although it's Monday, my hands are still streaky looking on certain fingers.

A first for everything...

Last Thursday Josh and I did something we had never done before. Ready? Brace yourself, it's a huge milestone in a married couple's life! We bought a couch set! We have been blessed to have had about 80% of the furniture in our home donated to us, but it was time to pass down the wicker set. We heard that Ron's Warehouse had bought out a furniture store closing and was having a huge sale. (Isn't every sale the best sale of the year?)

Josh & I (my Mom & Logan came along for moral support too) put on our game faces and were ready to take on the masses. When we pulled up to the store it looked like it was Black Friday shopping. There were lots of little ole ladies, and of course some younger ones too, ready to find the best deal of their lives. The masses hurried through the doors to claim their "prize." Josh picked out the couch set. When I first saw it I wasn't very impressed, I actually told him, "absolutely not." For one thing, I like straight lines, not curvy ones, I was not a fan of the throw pillows that came with and I really wanted something where I could put my feet up. However, the chair that went with the set was behind the couch. (This is the part where I fall in love) I climbed around and saw the beloved chase lounge chair. I had dreamt about owning one of these. I love the style of it, I've longed to read books in something so chic, but yet functional and I think it adds a little pazazzle to a room. We told the worker, "We'll take it!"

As my darling husband pays for our new purchase and loads it into our truck, my mind heads straight into decorating mode. I felt like I was a hamster in a wheel, exhausted from thinking of all of the possibilities. I called two girlfriends to come over for brainstorming sessions, checked out a few websites and was ready to present my ideas to Josh. (I actually had one of my friends do it.) He was on board with everything; I couldn't believe it!

Here is the "to do" list: Paint accent wall a robin's egg blue with a dash of turquoise and the wall when you first walk in the door chocolate brown. Purchase a bench to put under the window for additional seating and storage, purchase an end table and a lamp with some sort of chandelier look, recover the bench & throw pillows, purchase off- white curtains (95in long) and a new curtain rod. Blow up pictures and frame them for above the couch in off-white and do a frame collage on the chocolate brown wall.

Of course I wanted everything completed by Sunday night, but that isn't realistic. Josh had to bring me back to reality and remind me that we need to stay within our budget. This weekend Josh painted both walls, hung the new curtain rod and curtains and we found a new rug and fabric. Shopping in Alexandria was a little disappointing with the selection of home goods. I like to shop local and think it's important to support local businesses, but they better up the ante. I'm excited to make an IKEA run to purchase my frames and check out Home Goods for a possible new lamp and end table.

I can't wait for the room to be completed. It is rewarding to see the fruits of our labor and to see the end result. I should have done a better job of documenting our changes, but I was in checking off my list mode.

Until next time.

5 Little Monkey's...

I promised an up-date on my latest parenting strategies so here it is...
I decided not to change nap time to room time, I thought it might confuse the kids and I didn't want to give them the wrong impression. The first day I tried this I had three little peanuts that thought it would be fun to do chores. After putting the kiddos down for nap and telling them their two choices--1) take a nap or 2) if I can hear you then they would have to do chores. As soon as I was upstairs and turned the monitor on I could hear giggling and talking going on. I head back downstairs to find my culprits---I had a good idea who they where. I reminded them that since I could hear them they were choosing to do chores. They were excited. I had the two little honey's wipe down a bag of blocks, separately and that there couldn't be any talking. Of course that didn't go over very well. After they were finished they were excited to go back down to nap. Again, once I got back upstairs I could hear them talking again. So I repeated the process again, except this time one dusted and the other wiped down the bathroom floor. After of an hour of doing chores each one asked at a different time if they could take a nap. One sweetie woke up about 45 minutes into nap time and didn't want to go back to sleep so he choose to do chores. His mom, later told me that he was excited to come back to my house the next day to do chores.

The next AM when one of the kiddos that did chores got dropped off his dad told me that he said that he didn't want to do chores at my house. The next nap day was awesome! Everyone went right down. However, day three I had some little monkey's that decided to jump on their beds, so I let them jump on the floor! They jumped and jumped and jumped and jumped and jumped some more. Some of the kiddos started to get mad and said that they wanted to go to a different daycare, somewhere where they could excel! (I was laughing so hard) This is when you use your coasting responses so you don't get sucked into their little pity party---Probably, Maybe, Sorry, That could be, Nice Try, I don't Know. Once cheeks were pink and the majority of them appeared tired I had them lay back down and take their naps. I reminded them that if I could hear them they would get to jump again or do chores. They slept for 2.5-3 hours that day!

I have come to the conclusion that jumping in place for a few minutes is a much better option then doing chores. Chores can take some time to complete and doesn't always wear the child out, but jumping in place does the trick in just a fraction of the time. Also, my littlest ones love to help and some of my older girls really do love to clean. Speaking of that, I implemented another rule that if the kids don't hang their jackets up then they will have to either buy them back from me or work it off. Two of my girls thought it would be fun to do chores so they purposely left their coats on the floor. I had one clean a vent with a toothbrush and one wipe down a huge basket of toys. So far they haven't left their coats on the floor again, so I don't know how fun it really was to clean. Don't worry, if the child is too little to hang their coat up all the have to do is ask for help!

I attended a parenting conference this morning called, "Raising Truly Great Kids" by Dr. Tim Kimmel. He echoes a lot of the same principals that Danny Silk does in his book, "Loving Our Children On Purpose." It's so fun to be learning so much! I can't wait until these principals are written on my heart and that I don't have to think twice about it. Check out familymatters.net for some great parenting resources!

'room time'

It's Tuesday and that typically means a busier day and most of my two year old's are here. Our day consists of attending play group at my church in the AM, come back have lunch and then nap time.

Nap time. Tuesday's are always struggle when it comes to nap time. It doesn't matter what combination of two year old's I put in the nap room they almost always horse around (and some of my older ones too). I started reading a new book, "Loving Our Kids With Purpose" and he calls sleep time 'room time.' I really love his concept, he tells his kids that he doesn't want to hear them or see them. Sleep time can be a struggle for a little of kiddos. He tells his kids that they have two choices 1) make that I can't hear you or see you or 2) he has chores for them to do to help them get tired. A couple time of his kids doing chores cured their problem of talking and being seen at sleep time. The coolest thing is that he can do this without getting angry and doing it as a scare tactic. It's enabling your child(ren) to learn to make choices. Sometimes they will make the wrong one but they are in a safe & loving environment to learn from them. Love drives out fear. His parenting is based on the New Covenant that we have with Jesus and your kids see Jesus through you. Jesus doesn't scare us into obeying him he gives us choices, free will, and he always has---ever since Adam & Eve.

I have decided, starting tomorrow, that I'm going to adopt the new name "room time" and give my kiddos the same two choices. I'm hoping after a couple of rounds of doing chores that they will want to make the best choice. I'll let you know how it goes.

I highly recommend this book, it has changed my perspective of parenting. I can't put it down, it's so good. I love parenting books since I'm "parenting" all day long. The more tools and resources I have the better!

being united...

In a marriage, I think this is one of the best feelings--being united with your spouse in all areas. My hubby and I are finally getting serious about paying off our debt faster. We went through the Dave Ramsey class about two years ago, but never put it to work together. I started it, but the excitement of it fizzled fast since my hubby and I weren't doing it together.
This week we sat down and a had friendly (I know, not even one voice was raised or a cross word was spoken) talk about our goals for our finances and figured out a new system/ budget for our finances. I strongly dislike debt, but yet we have it. The Bible says we are a slave to our debtor and I definitely feel that at times. Often enough, I have played the "what if" game and imagined if we only had a mortgage payment and our normal monthly bills (utilities, groceries)---imagine what a person could do! I'm so excited to see what we can do together---being united with God at the center. I love how my husband is a leader, he has such a charisma about himself. I look forward to see how God will use that gift as we continue on in our marriage journey.

the little things...

Today has been quite the day. I have ten little munchkins and they are full or energy and spunk. We have had lots of "teaching moments." To reunite everyone and to practice being kind and good friends we had dance competition and then a dance party. It's so cute to see each one's little personality come out on the dance floor. I make sure to cheer loud and to praise each one for their different moves and creativity, or just for the courage to get on the dance floor.

Lunch, like most days, is crazy---some days that's an understatement. Some days I'll put in a movie while I slave away over the stove (not really) and that helps ease the rowdiness, but since the kiddos had a hard time listening and being kind there was no movie--movies are privileges, they are not to be expected. As my patience were decreasing, at a quite a fast rate I might add, and the noise level is way higher then it should be, I looked over to check on my Shaner and he had discovered how to open the cupboard. He was so focused and would hold on to the handle with such preciseness; his face would light up as he would open and close the door. In that moment, all of the chaos went away and my little boy amazed me and melted my heart at the same time. See, it really is the little things. I thank God for that. I need those little things a lot during the day. God has given me my Shane to remind me of the simple pleasures of life. When I'm feeling overwhelmed or discouraged I will look over at him and he will flash the biggest most wet smile you've ever seen. God puts people, or even babies, in your life for a reason. It's not that I'm at my wits end or even in a funk, but some days you need the little things in life to remind you not to take life so seriously, and for a moment to forget about what's going on.

So today I am thankful for the little things and the littlest person in my life...Shane Taylor.