January Phone Pics

When the first day of the new year starts off with homemade popsicles, it's gotta be a good sign, right?  The kids received these cute molds from their friend, Gus, and his mama, Sarah, for Christmas and apple juice pops are never a bad idea.  Cheers to 2017!

We learned a new "game" during the month of January...sweeping fruit loops into a taped-off tile on the floor.  I'm hoping this "game" quickly becomes a new skill so I can hand out some chores.  :)

We had our first (only?) snow day of the year during January.  The only one of us that had school/work cancelled was Katie Wynn, so Matt left early to make the trek to his office on the icy roads.  It was my day off anyway so I had the kids to myself.  Let me tell you about the morning with the resident two year old...

Since KW's uniform and clothes were still sitting out from the night before, I first found him in her room, hiding behind the rocking chair, stripped out of his pj bottoms and diaper and trying to put on her underwear.  I took them off of him and told him he couldn't wear her clothes.  I leave the room to get in the shower.  He wanders into my bathroom wearing his pj shirt and her tights...with no diaper underneath.  

Without a diaper, he was basically a ticking bomb, so I stripped him of the tights and went ahead and got him dressed for the day, thinking this would solve the clothes-changing shenanigans.  

He ran off to play.  Minutes later, Katie Wynn ran into my bathroom to tell me Thomas had an accident.  She was not really clear on what kind of accident so I went to see for myself.  He was in her bedroom and had pulled out every pair of her shoes so he could try them on...butt naked.  Before shoe shopping, he had taken the time to remove his sweater, undershirt, pants, socks, and diaper.  Oh, and pee on the carpet.  That was the accident she was referring to.  Oy.  This is why I can't get anywhere on time.

When we finally got dressed and in the car (at this point I was still planning on taking Thomas to daycare), we made it just barely out of our neighborhood before getting stuck on the icy road.  Me, both kids, the dog, and no cell phone...because that was still sitting on the kitchen counter at home.  Of course.  Thank goodness for the two kind people who stopped their cars and helped get us get going on the road again.  We made it to my parents house (it was closer than daycare) and I was frazzled, to say the least.  Some snow day.

The kids were pretty good about playing so that my Mom and I could at least get a little bit of sewing work done.  Katie Wynn stole my phone and took some sweet pictures of Thomas as he played on the window seat.

I was pretty proud of the loopy train track I put together for them to play with.  They loved that it went under our work table like a cave.

I had promised them that we'd play out in the snow if they napped and I was good on my word.  It may have taken us longer to bundle up than we actually spent out there, but we had fun!

I fashioned a sled out of a tupperware top and some rope.  Thomas was too scared to get on it but Katie Wynn wanted to ride and ride and ride.  I ran around the yard pulling her until I thought my lungs were going to burst from the cold air.  Her grins and laughs were worth it!

Mimi had us some delicious homemade hot chocolate waiting for when we came in.  

Since most of that day was a bust on the sewing front, I had to do some work over the weekend.  Thomas was my helper and, as you can see, it's hard to be productive when he's around.  He loved our new cart, though!

Naturally, the weekend after our snow fun was sunshiney and warm, so we were able to play outside most of the day.  

Here are just some random pics from throughout the month:

Wearing their mermaid and "mer-man" tails made by Lala and Aunt Jill.

Wearing their mermaid and "mer-man" tails made by Lala and Aunt Jill.

Matt got on his knees to take a pic with Thomas in their aprons, but Thomas got on his knees too.  Silly boy.

Matt got on his knees to take a pic with Thomas in their aprons, but Thomas got on his knees too.  Silly boy.

Chocolate milk goggles!

Chocolate milk goggles!

This boy can put away some spaghetti but the carbs don't stick to his ribs!

This boy can put away some spaghetti but the carbs don't stick to his ribs!

Thomas was not so sure about the mohawk I gave him after bath.  He told me he didn't like it but I think he secretly thought it was pretty cool.  

For Christmas, my gift to my grandmother was a night out at Bingo.  :)  We had a fun girls night cashing in on her gift.  We were joined by my mom, two aunts, and two cousins and had the best time visiting and marking our bingo cards.  Bingo is no joke - who knew there were so many different ways you could win??

Let me finish yet another post with pictures of my models in their Mint Tulip clothes.  Think they'll still model for me when they're teenagers?

Until next time...

Custom Plate Rack

This post is LONG overdue...it's a project that we knocked out in September or October maybe?  I absolutely love how it turned out, though, so even months later, it's still worth sharing!  

Over the summer, my friend Megan and her family moved into a new house and in the dining room when she toured the house was this big plate rack.  It took up a big chunk of the wall and the previous owner's had it full of pretty plates.  Turns out, though, that the previous owner's Dad had built it for them and so they removed it from the wall and took it with them when they left.  At the same time, Megan had decided she was tired of her big china cabinet and planned to use just the bottom half of it as a sideboard with this plate rack hanging above it.  No such luck since it was gone when they moved in!  This is when I enter the scene, because she sent me the picture below asking if it was possible to recreate the plate rack.

Now, I love a good woodworking project and so of course I told her it was possible.  I zoomed in on that picture a hundred times to figure out how we would build it.  But I also googled plate racks to see if plans existed and landed on Corey Decker's blog, Sawdust to Stitches, and her plans for a Pottery Barn inspired plate rack.  Much different than the one that used to be in Meghan's new house, and in my opinion, so much better!  I sent Megan the picture and she was on board with this style!

Because Megan wanted to store mostly plates/platters and wine glasses, we modified the plans to hold only those.  We left out the hooks for the mugs, the flatware boxes, and the small cubbies for tchotchkes and added more slots for wine glasses and plates.

I drew up the design, worked on some measurements, and handed them over to Matt and my Dad so they could do the actual grunt work.  :)  After cutting all the pieces and assembling the four boxes, I had them stop so that I could start painting.  That was the best decision I made in this whole process because I did the last coat of paint with it fully assembled and it was SO hard to get inside all the nooks and crannies.

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Since it would have a distressed finish, I painted a brown coat first and then three coats of a creamy white chalk paint.  

Sanding the edges is always my favorite part!  I love how it makes all the details pop and adds character.  

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The entire plate rack is four separate cubbies that could be arranged in different ways.  Matt and I delivered them to Megan's house so that we could help anchor them to the wall.  This piece is BIG - four feet by four feet - and it was perfect for the big empty wall she had in her dining room.  I love how it turned out in the space and we had fun filling it up with her plates and wine glasses.  Even the hubbies got in on the action!  Our modified design gave Megan room to hang 20 wine glasses and had four shelves for plates.  Since we pretty much cleared out the sideboard underneath it, she has lots of hidden storage for other things now.  And you can never have enough hidden storage!

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Here is a side-by-side comparison of the room before and after the plate rack.  You can see that Megan and Justin also replaced the chandelier.  What a difference in the room!  

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I love how this turned out so much that I have been wandering around my house trying to figure out where I can hang another one for us.  Wouldn't it be fun to pop in different plates and glasses for seasonal decor - like a plate for Santa's cookies during Christmas or pastel plates for Easter?  I hope you are enjoying it in your new home, Megan!

December Phone Pics

Alternate title: Christmas 2016!  

I did not get my real camera out a single time during December and so the whole Christmas shebang was documented with my phone.  And there were so many events that it's hard to separate this into two separate posts: one for Christmas and one for phone pics.  So a double whammy it is! (I feel like I should not it has taken me months to get this written...probably because it has 110 pictures in it.)

Our family always starts the month of December with a big celebration for the four family birthdays: Beth, Wyatt, Matt, and Anna.  This year, the party was held at Mom and Dad's one Sunday after church. 

We also start the month with new matching Christmas pj's for the fam!  

During the first week of the month, we attended our town's Christmas parade.  Our church youth group sells chili and homemade cinnamon rolls beforehand and then the parade comes right in front of the church, so it's perfect to grab dinner and then head outside and watch.

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Parade watching is more fun when done with your best buddies!  They were supposed to ride on a float for their school but didn't since it was so, so cold that night.  You know you're at a parade in Arkansas when the biggest "floats" are the lit up tractors.  My personal favorite of the night was the cement truck - it looked so pretty covered in lights! :)  And Santa ditched the sleigh and rode in on the firetruck instead.  Our kids loved it.

We have a super fun tradition of getting together with some of our best friends to exchange gifts.  I hate that I didn't take many pictures.  Allison outdid herself with dinner and a dessert that was pie, cake, and cobbler all in one!  I love getting to see these kids play together.

Katie Wynn's Christmas party at preschool was a pajama party.  I didn't get to attend but had pictures texted to me.  Looks like they had fun in their pj's!

That same day at school they had practice for their Christmas program.  I am so grateful to my sweet teacher friend that caught Katie Wynn and Levi holding hands and was quick enough to snap pictures!  Later that night, I got her to admit to it with this conversation:
Me: Well what do y'all do when you practice for the program? Do you sing?
KW: Yes.
Me: Do you dance?
KW: No.
Me: Oh.  Do you hold hands?
KW: No.  (pause)  Well, except for me and Levi.  We hold hands because we're gonna get married.

She's probably a little young to be thinking about marriage, but I do approve of her choice in Levi.  He's such a good little kid and they always have fun together.  And Matt and I both love hanging out with his family.  I'm so glad that they're buddies!

They got dressed up on the night of their performance.  Each class sang two Christmas carols and while Katie Wynn was shy during the first one, she actually sang on the second one!  I expected her to cry and not even walk up on "stage" so I'd say we've come a long way!

Trying to get a picture of the foursome after the program was pretty much a joke.  The girls especially were not very thrilled to be taking pictures instead of running around the gym and eating cookies.

We ran into Santa a few times throughout the month.  Our first visit with him, at church, went pretty much like every other year.  They were all smiles and feeling brave beforehand but lost it when he entered the room.

Katie Wynn wasn't much braver when Santa came to her school.  

But our last encounter with the big guy in red was a little bit better.  We put on our pj's and went over to our friends' house and Santa stopped by for a special visit!  He was truly the best Santa ever.  The other kids jumped right up into his lap and talked his ear off.  Katie Wynn wasn't having any of that and even when it was time for a group picture, she stood as far away as she could get. 

But, like I said, this Santa was the best.  He was so patient and just talked to me and Katie Wynn after the other kids ran off.  There were lots of wheels turning in her little head and she was really thinking about maybe liking him.  

Where was Thomas during all of this?  Well, he freaked out so bad when Santa arrived that Matt had to carry him out onto the back porch.  You can see him in the picture below peeking in the window.  He enjoys Santa best from a distance.  :)

It took a little coaxing but we were able to get both kids close enough to him for a picture without screams or tears!

And by the time he was ready to leave, they were both able to give him a five!  So much progress.  Such a good Santa.

With Santa gone, the kids settled in to watch a few minutes of a Christmas movie.  The four big kids squeezed in to the chair so they could all sit together.

Meanwhile, on the full-sized couch...

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Poor Thomas is the odd man out when we hang out with this group of friends.  The other three big kids all have baby siblings that were born in 2016.  So Thomas is bigger than the babies but smaller than the big kids.  He tries to hang with them a lot though.

Later that night, after dinner, the kids got to decorate their own cookies for dessert.  So fun! So messy!

And they washed those cookies down with a big glass of cold milk...and straws that had chocolate in them!  Mmmmmm.

Katie Wynn got to spend one of her Christmas break days with Mimi and Bren.  Mimi let them decorate a gingerbread house.  I don't have any action shots but from what I hear, every surface of the kitchen and both girls was covered in icing and sprinkles!  But their house sure turned out cute.

Katie Wynn helped me make a big batch of salt dough to use for ornaments.  She was a great helper with the mixing and both kids helped cut out the shapes with cookie cutters.  

After baking them, we waited til the next day when Anna and Wyatt were over to paint them all. 

I wish I'd taken a good picture of all of them painted and with their ribbon.  Some of them turned out really cute! (Mostly Anna's...)

I cut out heart shaped ornaments and then used Katie Wynn's and Thomas's thumbs to make heart shapes (before we baked the dough).  I love the little red hearts up against the natural color of the dough, and if you look closely you can see that I put their initials on them so I'd know whose was who.  We made a set for our tree, one for Lala and Poppa, and one for Mimi and Poppy.  I gave them all a clear coat out of Mod Podge and then red and white baker's twine was the perfect finishing touch once they dried.  These types of ornaments are always my favorite ones to hang on the tree.

On Christmas Eve morning, we woke up early and went down to the church for our Hope for the Holidays event.  This year we adopted a family with three teenagers that we shopped for.  We had already wrapped our gifts and so at the church, we added boxes of food and personal items before delivering them to our adopted family.  This is one of my favorite things we do during the holiday season, and I'm glad all four of our kids participate in it.  

It's always a little hard to come home to a house full of Christmas decorations and a tree loaded with presents underneath after such a humbling event.  But, Christmas Eve morning is our time with Anna and Wyatt so we popped cinnamon rolls in the oven and passed out presents.  We still do just four gifts for the big kids: some they want, something they need, something to wear, and something to read.  

Want: food gift cards

Want: food gift cards

Need: shirts for school

Need: shirts for school

Wear: Northface pullover

Wear: Northface pullover

Read: Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

Read: Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

Want: Kate Spade wallet

Want: Kate Spade wallet

Need: Erin Condren planner

Need: Erin Condren planner

Wear: Lululemon shorts

Wear: Lululemon shorts

Read: a Katherine Howe book

Read: a Katherine Howe book

Anna and Wyatt are both really good sports about letting the littles help.

And, since Katie Wynn and Thomas don't really understand why they don't get to open all of their gifts at the same time, we made sure to have one out for each of them to open too.

They both opened up a dog carrier with a puppy dog and all the tools needed to be a vet.

After we said goodbye to Anna and Wyatt, we had some serious work to do: make cupcakes!

I don't like to toot my own horn too often, but I thought these cupcakes with strings of Christmas lights turned out so cute!  And they were SO easy to do and tasted SO yummy.  (The lights are mini M&Ms.)  I wish I'd gotten a better picture of them.

Ok, so we took naps, got cleaned up, and then went back to church for the Christmas Eve service.  Another one of my favorite parts of the holiday, partly because of the candlelit singing of Silent Night at the end of the service.  This is the sweetest family picture...except for my brother Nick standing in where Matt should be!  I'm pretty sure Nick was on cloud 9 at this moment because it might've been the first time ever that Katie Wynn willingly let him hold her.

 

Happy to report that no hair was caught on fire during this year's service.  

After church, Matt cooked up a delicious beef tenderloin using a salt dough crust.  It's always so exciting to see him cut open the crust (it's similar to a cast!) and reveal the meat.  It smells heavenly and tastes even better!

We aren't allowed to open presents without taking pictures in front of the tree first.

This year Jett read the Christmas story for us and KW couldn't help but climb up beside him while he read.

After all the gifts had been opened, I revealed my surprise for everyone - mouth expanders!  Lot of drooling going on in this pic.

I checked on the kids before calling it a night, and I just about melted into a puddle when I saw them cuddling like this.  So sweet!

I did not do a good job of taking Christmas morning pictures, but I do remember that even with all the toys laying out, the highlight was the fruit in the stockings.  Isn't that always the case?

It was fun to see our friends on Christmas morning!  We had a short, casual service since the holiday fell on a Sunday this year.

Between church and family gatherings, we had a pretty jam-packed day.  By the time we finally made it back home, it was late, but we just couldn't send the kids to bed without getting to test out their new rides that Santa had brought.  So we backed our cars out of the garage and let them take the new Mini Cooper and Thomas the Train for a spin.  

The fun didn't stop there!  We also had to try out the super cool straws that Santa stuffed in their stockings.  

And they had to sit in their new camp chairs too!

It was nice having the day after Christmas off from work for once.  We spent the day lounging in our pj's and trying out ALL of the new toys.  We also packed our bags because later that week, we went to Indiana for our final Christmas celebration.  We rented a van for a more comfortable trip since all six of us were riding together.  On the way, we also stopped at a DMV so that Anna could get her license!  Hard to believe she's old enough to drive on her own now.

When we arrived at Lala and Poppa's, the kids wasted no time asking if they could open presents.  Wyatt helped the littles pass them all out.

After all the gifts had been unwrapped, Katie Wynn and Thomas had to close their eyes for their last presents.  They were the cutest little suitcases ever!  Of course I didn't get a picture of them receiving them, but there's lots of pics coming soon in another post from when we used them on vacation.  

We spent the rest of our visit there playing games like Memory and Jenga and using Katie Wynn's new art set. 

We also got to spend a day with Matt's sister, Jill, and her two boys Nathan and Henry.  Here are Lala and Poppa's six grandchildren, sitting out in the snow flurries that were coming down!

We ended December and 2016 with a long drive home on New Year's Eve.  It was a good trip, a good Christmas, and a good year!  (And with that, we switched to snow-themed clothes.  :) )

November Phone Pics

Along with our beach vacation in November, Matt and I were also lucky enough to skip out of town for a weekend without the kids.  (Thanks, Mom and Dad!)  We drove across the state to the Fayetteville area to hang with our friends, Emily and Andrew, and to help call the Hogs to victory over Florida!  Woo Pig!

This was Matt's first time to see a game in the stadium and I think we might've been the lucky charm of the day.  It was such a fun game to watch and we always love getting to see our friends!

Like every other month, Thomas was a ham.  The kid cracks us up.  He loves to wear anyone's clothes except his own.  Even the dog's...

We went to a bonfire with friends and there were glow sticks for all the kids to play with.  Thomas, the youngest kid there (that wasn't in a car seat anyway), managed to steal them all.

One last thing about Thomas - he LOVES the moon!  He spots it immediately when we go outside, even when it's day time and barely visible.  He gets so excited when he finds it and loves to point it out to us.  We raced down the street the night of the supermoon so we could take his picture with it.  It was so bright that night!

It's no surprised that I took pictures of the kids in cute clothes throughout the month...

We did have some sad news in November.  At 94 years old, Matt's Granddaddy left us for Heaven.  He moved into hospice care for a couple weeks before his final breath so we were somewhat expecting the news, but that's never easy news to hear, is it?  I didn't know it at the time, but the picture below was when Matt received the phone call from his Dad telling him that it had happened.  I just thought it was sweet that Thomas was following him around while he talked on the phone.  Now that I know what the call was, I like knowing that Matt had his little buddy right there beside him.  I like to think Thomas was taking care of his Daddy.  :)

We ended the month by putting up our Christmas decorations and getting ready for all that December brings.  

Only about nine thousand Christmas photos coming up next! :)

2016 Family Pictures

Since our Christmas Cards have already gone out in the mail, I guess it's safe to post the pictures from our latest family photoshoot.  I didn't want to ruin the surprise of any of the pics before we used them on our cards.

Like last year, we hired our friend Kristen Catt to take the pictures of us.  I've learned that some family members...ahem, the men...take direction better when it's coming from a paid photographer than from me.  :)

We started with the full family picture since it's always the hardest.  So many kids to try to make look in the same direction!

I love this one of my parents with all the grandkids on the fence.  

We got several decent shots of our family even though Katie Wynn and Thomas hadn't really warmed up yet.  What is it with them hating photographers?!

Here is a side by side comparison between this year and last year.  I liked this picture below, but thought it was too similar to last year's winning picture to use for the Christmas Card.

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So we used the one below to switch things up a little bit.  KW and T were NOT happy about having to stand on their own.  The nerve we had in not holding them!

We also included a picture of just the four kids and it is one of my favorites.  Love all four of these grins!

On the back of our card I put an individual picture of each of the kids.

Wyatt, 16

Wyatt, 16

Anna, 15

Anna, 15

Katie Wynn, 4

Katie Wynn, 4

Thomas, 2

Thomas, 2

I could've filled the back with just pictures of Thomas, because his bright blue eyes just flirted with the camera.

Katie Wynn had some really cute ones too.  Where am I going to hang all of these in my house?

We ordered some really cute canvases for my Mom for Christmas that have an individual shot of each of the grands on them.  We got good shots of all of them!  These three belong to my brother Ben and his wife Erin.

Parker, 8

Parker, 8

Ramer, 5

Ramer, 5

Lilli Greer, 1

Lilli Greer, 1

And these two belong to the oldest brother, Nick, and his wife Beth.

Jett, 11

Jett, 11

Bren, 8

Bren, 8

Here's another shot of my parents with the kids.  I don't know why but it cracks me up.

I love this one of my mom and dad.

And finally, this last picture of my crew is kinda silly.  I wanted a picture of us holding hands so that I can order an ornament of our silhouettes from Le Papier Studio.  I think we may be too spread out though, I'm not sure.  I told them they didn't have to smile since I just wanted our silhouettes but I wish they had because I really like the background!

If we keep doing this every year I'm just going to have to wallpaper my walls in family pictures.  I have the hardest time choosing which ones to display!  At least I'll have them all stored here. 

More on the rest of our November soon.