Decorating the House!

A few weeks I had a miracle happen. It may not seem miraculous to everyone, but for our family, it was one of the greatest gifts we have been given. My parents came out to Utah for a visit. And while that in itself is a small miracle, the greatest part is that they came out to help us settle in our "new" home. We have been here for almost a year and while I have gone through everything once since we have been here, I was overwhelmed about what to do with all the stuff. It just didn't feel like home. I didn't know how to decorate it with the things I had and didn't want to buy a bunch of new things. Enter Super Ruthie and her one-man crew of my Dad. I wish I had taken "before" photos, but trust me, they worked a major miracle in the three days they were here. We still have quite a bit of work to do, but now I know what needs to be done and it's manageable.

to do:
paint ceilings white (possibly add crown molding)
hang new picture over the entertainment center (it's gorgeous and will get an entire post of it's own one day)
replace candles with white or tan fat taper candles

to do:
find a spice rack that I like
figure out where to put the knife rack
make curtains (I have the fabric now)

to do (family room):
hang new photos frames & print pictures

to do (playroom):
hang pictures
paint
hang tutus
get rid of half the toys (don't tell the girls)

to do:
flower arrangements for ainsley's room
hang curtains in ainsley's room
hang photos in ainsley's room
refresh paint on ainsley's headboard
paint red dresser in ainsley's room
make displays for hair bows
hang hooks for coats & backpacks
pack up winter clothes (yeah!)
move mirrors out of the bathroom to my room
find & hang decorative towels
paint & decorate my room (no photos until that's done)
to do:
sew summer skirts for the girls
ahhhh! this room is completely done and it is my own personal heaven. I love it!

I do still have to organize my storage room and go through about seven or eight bins of paper & old photos. Sounds like I need to find a new TV series to rent and watch while I go through things for a week! :)

I love my little house and I finally feel at home here. I am not suffocating in piles of stuff and it is so much easier to keep the house clean when it feels nice. I actually enjoy mopping my kitchen floor every day and vacuuming my floors isn't dangerous anymore (the day before my parents came, a bed frame that was propped in a corner almost fell on my head while I was vacuuming). I always used to say that my house was clean under the clutter. Now the clutter is mostly gone, too, and it's just clean! I love it! I am not sure that Thomas and the kids love that I have reverted to my completely OCD ways.
"Don't put your shoes by the door. I don't care that they have snow on them. Dry them off and put them away."
"Don't leave that cup on my counter."
"Fold that blanket when you are done using it."

And now that the really hard-muscle work is done, I can concentrate on some of the more fun projects. Well, except painting the ceilings. Who wants to come help me with that one? :)

A couple more scrapbook pages...

I got this adorable new kit Lucky Me from The Ettes last week and quickly whipped up three pages! They are releasing this kit this week, so you can go snag it this afternoon.

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These are just some silly pictures of Ainsley being herself last fall. She's a crackup!

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These are some pictures from the summer. Hannah was frosting some cupcakes and somehow managed to get frosting all over her face! Ainsley was just giving me her little cheesy smile. These are the best days. The days when we just have a good time and enjoy each other.

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And this is a picture of the front of our house. I believe this was the first time we actually saw the inside of this house. We definitely need to add some shrubs or something to the front of our house to add some depth. It looks like a breadbox right now. Maybe changing the paint color would help, too.

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We haven't really been up to all that much lately. I am in the middle of trying to organize our house a little more. I feel like I am always in the middle of trying to organize our house. The girls have been sharing a room since they were tiny. But Ainsley has been keeping Hannah up at night. So, we are moving my craft room from upstairs down to the room we were using as storage. Ainsley will move into the old craft room upstairs. That's also where all of Thomas' clothes are and the overflow from the linen closet since we have no bathroom storage. I don't think we are going to paint or anything yet. She just needs a bed and a dresser for now, which we have. We'll have to come up with a theme for her room soon. Maybe we'll just do a duplicate of Hannah's room! But for now, all the stuff that was in the downstairs storage room is in our downstairs family room & bathroom. It's really annoying because I keep tripping over everything. But I have no idea where to put this stuff. Where do you store golf clubs when you don't have a garage? Where do you put your box fan in the winter? What about picnic baskets? And where do you put all your off-season candles? Am I the only person who has these things? What about the empty tv box and software boxes? I need a home makeover... but one of those ones where they come in and tear out walls and rip your house apart and rebuild it. Grrr! It's one of those weeks.

Today's Adventures

Our adventures began early this morning! After we dropped Hannah off at the bus stop, Ainsley & I headed over to the car repair shop to get the Subaru ready to turn in. We have a rental car for a few days... I am so excited! The manager at Enterprise upgraded me to a TRUCK for free! Score! Now I can go to Home Depot tomorrow and get my shed!!! I am itching to find a flea market or something like that still open this weekend... I think I am too late in the season for that, though. How much fun would that be?! I think I need a truck permanently. Who wants to contribute to the "Get Meredith a Truck" Foundation? :) Ainsley loves riding in the truck because she can see everything. Hannah used to love to ride in Poppa's big black truck for the same reason. So, after the excitement of getting a TRUCK with unlimited miles (nice!) I decided to head out to Hobby Lobby. I got a few random Christmas & Halloween things that I needed for various scrapbooking/crafting projects I am working on. AND... I found two beautiful glass knobs for my bathroom vanity. My bathroom is so blah, and I just love how these dressed that up! It looks so much better than the cheap brushed-nickel-wannabe knobs that were there. Thomas says that they look like something that were in his Grandma S's house 70 years ago... I take that as a compliment! :) And check out my bathroom mirrors. I am pretty proud of them. They are the $3 wood mirrors from Ikea with 5 coats of paint, 3 coats of stain & a coat of polyurethane. Up close, they look like reclaimed barn wood. If I can't live in a farmhouse, I'll make my house look like one on the inside. That's why I have roosters in my kitchen!

(excuse the open toilet, Ainsley just finished using the potty)

I wanted to get kitchen knobs, too, but that was going to be $28 and I didn't want to spend that much today. But I know where to get them when I am ready. I really think I am going to paint my cabinets white & distress them. I am so tired of blah blah oak. And I heard that you can buy paint for your countertops... Watch out Home Depot, I'm coming to buy PAINT! Okay, I am dreaming, but I have big plans for this house and it will only take me five years to be able to get to them all. I want to paint the outside of my house, too. Green with off-white trim, black door & flower boxes. There is a house a few blocks from here that I want to copy! :)

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After my mad dash to Hobby Lobby & a quick trip to Target for diapers, Ainsley & I went and picked up Hannah at the bus stop. We got home and decided that it was too nice of a day to simply go inside. So, we headed out on a nature walk with a bag and a camera. I didn't take many pictures, but we did find some magnificent pine cones.

(Hannah is wearing her PUMPKIN SHOW jacket that used to be Shelby's!)

This pine cone will most likely be making an appearance in several digital projects I have coming up. Isn't she pretty? Are pine cones male or female? Anyone know?

It was a great day and my kids actually ate TACOS for dinner... kind of. Ainsley ate hers as bean dip with tortilla chips and Hannah made hers into a taco salad with ranch dressing and all was right with the world. I love tacos.

That's it for today.

Can I just say...

that I absolutely LOVE my new camera??? Although, it does capture my messy house more. Ignore the crumbs on the carpet or I am never posting pictures again (Ruthie!).

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Ainsley & Hannah wrestling. Ainsley thought it was hilarious when Hannah caught her and tackled her.

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Yes, Ainsley put the "hat" on her own head. She is just the silliest little baby in the world. I have no idea where she gets her crazy ideas! But she sure makes us laugh. Hannah loves to sit and laugh at Ainsley! And then Ainsley starts laughing. It's fun! Ignore the snotty noses, we were all sick.

Hannah is doing ballet for us.

And then Ainsley decided to join in. Her favorite part is yelling "BALLET" at the top of her lungs and then bowing! Hannah's ballet is quite beautiful. And hopefully we'll get her in dance lessons soon.

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Ainsley's new favorite place to sleep is on Hannah's top bunk. It doesn't matter where we put her to sleep or even if we move her after she falls asleep, she always ends up back on Hannah's bed. They are so cute together! It's so fun to watch them play together and how much Ainsley loves her big sister. Hannah is such a good sport. Even when she gets frustrated she always says, "Mom, I'm a CTR now so I'll let her play with my toys." My Hannah is so sweet!

This is the house we didn't get. It's cute, huh?! Darn seller's agent didn't bother telling us that there were other people interested in the house... Not impressed with that guy.

This is another of the houses we are looking at. It's soooooo cute! Jim went with us to look at the house. It doesn't have any appliances and it has an unfinished basement. But it has a huge master suite and it has blinds. BIG plus right there!

This is the upstairs.

This is the kitchen/family room area.

These are my cute girlies having fun running and playing in the empty house. They love house hunting. They have four times the house to run and play!

Thomas tried to get Ainsley to jump on the trampoline in the backyard. She wasn't too excited about it. She was excited to jump back in her dad's arms! I promise, I put a bow in her hair everyday. She pulls it right out. AND the kid hit a growth spurt and outgrew all her shoes. I have to get the next size out of the basement tomorrow.

I really love my camera! It's so much fun to use. I love the sound of the motor. Just snapping a photo makes me smile! AND I have a cute camera strap cover thanks to Dottie! Thanks, DottieLou! :) I have to figure out how to get a picture of it without taking it off.

Life update...

Yep, still in school. I should be studying right now, but I wanted to update my blog with the Living For Eden benefit. Scroll down to the next post to see it. Kids are still kids. They are absolutely adorable and they absolutely make me want to pull my hair out on a daily basis! :) Ainsley is almost two and is climbing everywhere. She climbs up on Hannah's top bunk every night and sleeps up there. Hannah hates it because Ainsley kicks her and is all over the place. So we tried moving her after she fell asleep. Well, she woke up in the middle of the night and just climbed up there anyway. Little stinker! Hannah is almost five... yep, five! She is doing fine. She is being stubborn about not wanting to read. We're working on it, though. She will be starting school in the fall and she is really excited. She got the deferment to go to a different school in our school district, but hopefully she won't need it!

We put an offer in on a house in Eagle Mountain earlier this week. It's absolutely adorable and it's HUGE. Perfect for our family! For those of you who know us, you know that Thomas complains on a daily basis that we have too much stuff and he hates it. Well, in that house, we would have at least three empty rooms... completely empty rooms! NICE! Hopefully we will find out sometime this week if the bank accepts our offer.

Not much else going on other than that. If anyone wants to help us pack or move tons of stuff to a new house, any and all help will be welcomed! Anyone have a good carpet cleaner or air duct cleaner that they want to recommend? I better go study...