Mom's night out

Hey,  who said I forgot how to rage?

Finally my baby girl I can dress up the way I want.

Enough already

We headed outside as the forecast said the snow was going to transition to sleet soon. I wanted to clear the driveway so Chris had somewhere to park in the morning.

I shoveled the whole driveway filled with 6 inches of snow.  They look cute, but those two clowns thought it was the greatest fun in the world to leap into the mounds of snow I cleared, sending it tumbling back on to the driveway. I sent them to shovel a very important section of grass to keep them busy.

Finally it was cleared. The neighbors came and played while the snow continued to fall heavily. When I walked them home 45 minutes later I couldn't see the driveway! Ugh! ! The picture with Chris' car in the backround was an hour later at 5pm. It's 8 pm now and a few more inches have fallen and still at it.

Sorry Chris, your turn in the morning. I tried!

I built an addition on the house in one day

Okay, not QUITE. But it feels like an addition. And I did do it in ONE day (including IKEA run for shelving!)

We had this grimy enclosed area in our kitchen hiding ductwork we used as a broom closet.

I'm embarrassed to show the before but, gulp, I will.

Well the kitchen was spilling over and something had to change. So I decided to convert it to a pantry. But there was no way I was going to put food in there.

It had to look like a new room, so that's what I did.

I primed and painted the walls, door, and ceiling with left over paint. Then the fun began.

Spray painting the ductwork with high heat resistant spray paint. Cough cough! Man that was nasty. But the result was completely worth it.

I installed some shelving, including on the back of the door.

And ta-da! We now have a pantry!

It feels like we built an addition. I keep opening the door to admire it.

Home improvement in progress

I realized midway I should be wearing safety goggles, but it was too dark and cold out to look in the shed.

So I took Ethan's from his Magic School Bus chemistry set. Shhh!

Stay tuned for my big one day project reveal!

Cuddles may resume!

Remember how I shared that we broke our sofa after 6 years of snuggles and show watching?

Today we found it's replacement! In the as-is section of Bob's Discount Furniture. (Hey, we still have two small boys, now's not the time for a bigger investment!)

It looked deep and comfy in the store, but seemed to grow in size once it tried to fit in our car!  The loading crew told Chris, "sorry, man, no way that will fit!"  Then they sat back and watched.

Chris made it fit. Nothing stops us from a good deal!

Our friend helped us move it in and, woah. This couch is way bigger than in the show room. I mean we measured and all but WOW.

Just more room for the boys to grow and still snuggle!

No sick leave here

A little hot tea and honey to keep going during my cold. Blech, I'm feeling miserable.

Using a mug I made in pottery class brightened my day though!

We Each Made a Mini-Me!

Just today the boys drove home how much each takes after one of us.

First Ethan. As I find every night, he fell asleep amongst a pillow and blanket made of books. The book lover in me rejoices at this sight!

Gavin is devastated Cowboys season is over. He brings up a terrible call that ended our season still.  I'm serious, falling asleep this week he said, "Mommy, remember when I was mad the Cowboys didn't win? And I had to go take a break and calm down? I'm still sad Mommy."

He's been begging for the Cowboys to play again. So we stream old full games to the tv via YouTube. Don't dare think a highlight reel will cut it. Nope, this boy wants the commentary. I keep catching Chris captivated by the game, even though he knows how the game ends.  Yup, he made a mini-Chris.

Oh, and that football shirt, Gavin wouldn't change and is sleeping in it.  We'll see if I can convince him in the morning.

Weekday Warriors

You know those home improvement commercials that celebrate the "weekend warrior"?  Well I can't get ANYTHING accomplished on the weekend with both boys home solo. I have to save big jobs for when one is gone. And Gavin finally had school today.

Ethan did not, but I figured we'd give it a whirl.

Putting up a new backsplash in the kitchen went great, he was the cutest helper ever!  He encouraged me for three hours straight until Gavin returned. Telling me it wasn't crooked (when it was) and a mistake wasn't visible (when it really was). And even asking for hug breaks. I didn't realize how much he'd bask in the attention of having just the two of us doing an adult project.

Here's some previews of how it looks so far!

I'd have lost my job by now

After about two weeks off of school where I'd likely have used all my leave, there's been 6 scheduled school days.

Out of those 6, there's been 1 snow day and 2 delayed openings (2 hours).

And when I picked up Ethan from school today, Hellllooooooooo pink eye. One doctor appointment later, one prescription eyedrop later, and one more day of missed school tomorrow for the books.

How do families of elementary school children do this when both parents work, and no family in the area?  REALLY, I want to know because I'll be returning to your ranks one day and this question keeps me up at night.

Grateful for the opportunity to be here to handle all of these unexpecteds but anxious about the future.

Christmas Eve 2014

This year was our first planned Christmas at home (Gavin's early entrance squeaking out of the NICU in time didn't quite count). We hung lights, had our first real tree, and went to mass. Here are the Christmas Eve highlights!

The boys on the alter for the children's mass.

Ethan was quite the devout Catholic, often closing his eyes in prayer. Gavin on the other hand was piiiiisssed we woke him from his nap to wear a button down and sweater vest. We made it halfway before we had to leave.

 

 

 

 

Ethan penned Santa's note for his cookies and milk.

They blew out candles on the pink heart birthday cake for Jesus they chose and baked.

And the modern twist, they watched personalized video messages from Santa. In Gavin's case, over, and over, and over.

They prepped the reindeer's carrots and Santa's key.

The lights were lit, inflatables blown, and village glowing.

I wish Santa came every night because those boys RAN to bed!

 

Luckily just in time! He came, he ate, he gave!

 

 

The presents are from their parents and family. The stockings and the item they each asked Santa are for from the man in red.

 

Unlike the boys, I couldn't get any sleep! Suddenly 6am couldn't come fast enough!!!

 

Eavesdropping on Ethan: Mommy needs to get out more

We've been going to the gym about 5 days a week the past 6 months. On the way there, Ethan sighs, "Mommy, you need to go somewhere new."

"You don't want to go to the Kid's Club today buddy?"

"No, I do. But Mommy, YOU need to see some new places. You know, to see what's out there."

"What am I missing Ethan?"

"You should really go to the jungle. Let's go to the jungle tomorrow instead."

"Uhhh..the jungle is a little far Ethan."

"That's okay, we'll just take a rocket ship."

If he arranges it, I'm game.

 

 

 

Ultimate Kid's Bug Room

As my son Ethan turned five, we wanted to give him a room that signified his transition to being a big kid, starting Kindergarten, dropping his nap, and having his own passions. When I asked him what he wanted his room's theme to be, I suggested some of his many passions. Sharks, helicopters, sports... Nope, trash all of those Pinterest boards, Mom.

BUGS. With complete certainty, he wants BUGS. Just try to find bug theme rooms on Pinterest! Well, here's my how-I-did-it in case your kiddo says he or she wants bugs too, or if you just want to customize your IKEA Kura bed to have a bug free hideout!

So he had HIS requirements, bugs of course.

But Mommy had hers too! I wanted the bones of the room to be able to grow with him. Neutral walls, furniture, and curtains. Just in case one day he wants to have a bit more mature of a look. I also wanted a reading nook, desk for homework, and a low level bunk for the inevitable jumping. Almost EVERYTHING you see here is from IKEA, Oriental Trading Company, and Target, in that order.

Speaking of jumping, let's jump right in!

I started by patching all of the walls from the old playroom set up. I painted the walls Behr Wheat Bread.

Here's halfway through the job, Wheat Bread on the left wall and the before white on the right.

And the after.

Then I assembled and painted the IKEA Kura bed I got off of Craigslist ($40 instead of $200 new!). Note, the new beds at IKEA area already have white boards instead of blue now, so that cuts out a lot of painting.

IKEA bed before:

And after, with painted 2 coats of 1-2-3 Primer and two coats of semi gloss Behr off white. I think I should have sanded the Pine first. When the boards get nicked, they peel a little too easily.

Next it was time to build the reading nook, or "hide out" as we branded it.

A four square IKEA Expedit bookcase fit easily underneath. It can even store a baby brother!

I used a screw in shower curtain rod to secure the hide out curtains. I didn't want to use a tension rod as my boys are rough with things and I didn't want it landing on their heads! I hemmed two black out curtains from Target to fit the height of the loft.

To make the reading nook, I used two IKEA picture frame ledges. They screwed easily and securely into the bed frame.

Underneath is a blue extra large bean bag chair from Target, large enough to fit two small boys for story time. It sits on some "grass", two IKEA green shag carpet squares.

The grass has bugs crawling inside off course, courtesy of Oriental Trading.

Along the back of the hideout are three IKEA plastic grass planters, with more bugs glued on with a hot glue gun.

On the ceiling of the hideout (the slats under the mattress) are battery operated LED dragonfly lights. I wanted LED to make sure they were cool to little finger's touch.

I hung some free printables I found online. The one on the right is for making shadow puppets. The black bug stickers are cling on and easy to remove.

Here are some spiders dangling from their web (of fishing line). This was Ethan's one request, he's giddy at the idea that his friends will think they are real and will be spooked!

Completing the set up, I moved the Expedit shelf unit behind the ladder so he could reach his toys and books from the other side of the bed too.

Hideout complete, now it was time for more personalization!

I bought the medium cardboard letters at Joann's, spray painted and distressed them to look more rugged. They fit the Kura bed panel almost exactly!

His room door has a similar letter, from Michael's, spray painted with bugs hot glued on.

But that's not enough bugs, no!

I LOVE these foam models from Oriental Trading Co.

They were simple to assemble and light enough to hang easily. I pierced a hole in the top and strung them with fishing line. They hung them from clear command hooks on the ceiling.

The only thing I disliked was the white core foam. So I took a black marker to them and the bugs look so much better now!

Next was the green Kura tent, which we call his "cocoon". It's awesome at limiting the platform to leap off the bed from ;).

The comforter is from Target and I used another IKEA picture ledge for his books.

Surrounding him are little IKEA frames of friends and family that love him.

Honestly, it sounds cute but they pull off all the time.

Next up, his desk!

Another IKEA advertisement (not compensated for this endorsement ;)

Starting from the bottom up are two IKEA children chairs I wrote "Ethan" and "Friend" in silver paint pen. The desk is IKEA's Stuva Storage Bench. The cups of writing instruments are IKEA's Bygel system. The shelving storage unit is IKEA's Trofast system. The "art gallery" as Ethan calls it is IKEA's curtain rod system. And the light is you guessed it, IKEA. They sell the light box, but not that glass anymore.

I installed this battery operated tap light over his desk.

I hacked the IKEA art paper roll to screw it under the shelving unit and save table space.

I stuck little lady bug stickers on the light to write the word "fly".

My favorite find for the room is this silver beetle I picked up at the gardening section in Homegoods. I placed it so you can see it from the door because I love the look so! I put green IKEA knobs on the black IKEA Hemnes dresser (Craiglist again!) to pull the room together.

Orange curtains on the left and the white shelving unit on the right are at IKEA.

My son is as thrilled as I am with how the room turned out. And now I'm ready to turn in! I did all of this each night after the kids were in bed, whew!

Do you see anything that would work in your kid's room? And does anyone else so obviously love IKEA as much as I do!?

 

 

View videos, photos, and more on our family blog:www.livingingear.blogspot.com