nursery purchases

Alrighty, here are a few recent buys:
1. 2 sample paint colors which i hope to use for little paint projects in the room ----$6.00
2. Green stripe fabric from fabric.com which i've decided to use for the curtains------$34.00
3. Curtain lining from JoAnn's. 50% off this week! ---------------------------------$16.00
4. Impulse buy: adorable old red gumball machine from goodwill--------------------$10.00
   Total this week: $66.00

I sorta started doubting my fabric choices this week and ordered a couple other ones that should come in the mail soon and will hopefully tie my other colors together. One of the fabrics has some red accent in it so that's what forced me to buy the gumball machine... :)

little things in summer

maddiecakes and her Popsicle

my favorite picture this summer of sophie

will at the fair on a pony and feeling pretty happy with himself because of it.

Baby Room begins...

Well, now that august is almost over, i've finally begun the baby's room. Thanks to andrew, who, on the night of july 30th said, " well, meagan, is there anything else you're going to do in the girls' room? because if there is you have 24 hours to do it and then you have to MOVE on!" i did (mostly) meet my july goal of finishing the girls' room but haven't taken any good pictures yet.

But here's a "before" of the baby's room which also happens to be a fairly accurate "current" photo:

Anyway, i have several goals for the baby's room but the 2 biggest are:
1. complete it by the end of August (HA!)
2. complete it within  my baby room budget that i earned from the garage sale this summer.  Andrew put up with his garage stuffed with junk for almost 9 months because i kept telling him that if we kept it all to sell i'd try my very hardest to decorate the baby's room with our earnings! yay for a goal (no matter how unrealistic they might be!)

So, i might be really bummed and a little embarrassed if it doesn't work out but I'm going to try and keep track of everything on this handy dandy blog. I'm not counting things that i already bought before the goal was set or that were given to me or that i just decide to leave out because its messing with my goal! :) ha.

This is what came in the mail last week. It took me FOREVER to decide on which fabrics to order but then i discovered that on fabric.com shipping is free if its over $35.00 as well as return shipping so i ended up ordering everything that caught my eye and will return the left-overs. These fabrics are among the finalists.

And here's what i need fabric for:
Crib skirt
Curtains
Pillow
Foot stool cover
Quilt?
Decor accessory related things

The next 4 days while andrew is on a trip, i'm going to work on wall paint colors, fabric elimination, spray paint projects, and clearing out the rest of the junk out of the room....or, i'll just get caught up on a couple of movies i've been wanting to see...

diaper box repurposed!

I can sometimes get a little discouraged by the fact that we're still changing tons and tons of diapers even though the girls are 2 something...and then i start to think about what it will be like to add another little bum to the line up in a couple months...yikes! that's a lot of diapers. And a lot of diapers boxes! However, we just recently started recycling ( i know, what planet are we from?!) so since we now break down all the cardboard etc. i noticed we were accumulating a bit of a collection of diaper boxes waiting to be prepped for the recycle bin. I also noticed how extremely sturdy those boxes were and what a handy little size they happened to be. So, I decided to try and pretty one up a bit and put it to use! Now, I'm actually a little excited when its time to buy a new box of diapers because i know i'll also get a handy new storage box. i have big plans to make a bunch for nursery storage in fun coordinating colors...

supplies: box, scissors, scrapbook paper- at least 4 1/2 sheets, decoupage glue or mod podge, duck tape

1. tape down the sides- makes it even sturdier

2. Fold the paper over the top a bit then start gluing it all around the box

3. When all the sides are complete, spread a thick layer of glue all over.
4. If you're motivated you could also glue paper onto the inside of the box or spray paint it.

4. Happily store items in your beautiful new box

we have a 5 year old!

my sweet little Will turned 5 on the 5th of August- the same day i turned 27! It's such a sweet bond we get to share and i just love it....even if it does mean the day has become increasingly more about him than about me...somehow celebrating an adorable little 5 year old's birthday is just a tad more fun than a 20 something mommy. :) Although i must acknowledge that the very first thing out of his mouth the morning of our birthday was " Good Happy Birthday Morning, Mom!" so sweet.

So, by special request, this year was a Dinosaur birthday. i was fairly certain he would choose a Knight theme which i knew would most definitely strain my creative abilities so when he announced "dinosaur" as his choice i made sure to seal it in stone. :)

decorations were super easy, cheap and fun: paper bag vines, painted card board leaves, butterfly and ferns, tissue paper pom-pom flowers and streamers.

birthday twins :)

can we say "cheesy?!"  :)

licking off every little bit of frosting from the decorations

the major highlight of the night was exploding the volcano Will and Andrew made the day before. the kids could have watched this go off all night if we had a bigger jug of vinegar. best activity ever.

trying to contain his eagerness...

Happy Birthday Will!