Family Room Makeover!

I have been wanting to paint an accent wall in our Family Room for awhile now and I knew I wanted the color to be from the "brown" family but I didn't know which brown.

I get these little "home improvement" booklets from Lowe's every other month, they are free! In the last issue, there was a color swatch that I knew I had to get. So, last Saturday, on our way home from Burlington, my sister made a stop at Lowe's so I could get a better swatch of the color. I brought it home for Jason to see and the next thing I knew, we were loading all of the kids up in the van, headed for Lowe's. I was thinking we would get a little $3 test can just to make sure we really liked the color once it was on the wall. Little did I know, my husband had other plans...he went for the gallon-sized can. "What? Are you sure?"

Well, Monday, while Jason was at work, I slapped a few spots up on the wall. I wanted to see the paint in different lighting throughout the day...the wall gets a lot of natural light from the patio door. I was really falling in love with it...good thing since my wonderful husband had picked up a gallon of it.

That night Jason officially started on the project...removing things from the wall, moving the entertainment unit to the center of the room (that made for an interesting time watching tv), and moved in the ladder. He is so good at painting! Get this...we didn't have one drop cloth down over anything...not the carpet, not the couch, nothing. I have yet to find any splatters. He has got to be one of the neatest painters I know and he is quite the perfectionist.

By Tuesday night, the painting was complete and when he came home from work on Wednesday, I had everything make up on the walls and together we moved the entertainment unit back. Project complete in 48 hours! I love it! My kind of project!

The new color, Pine Bark, has made such a difference to the room. It just makes it feel so much warmer and more inviting.

Oh and get this, when we picked the paint up from Lowe's, the guy grabs one of the most expensive "base" cans to mix the color with. I asked him why it had to be the expensive can ($31) and he informed me that it was because I had expensive taste. "What? Me?" Yes folks, the color I picked was a DESIGNER color...go figure!

"Thank you honey for painting the wall!!" I think I will wait a week before asking him to start on the next project.

Best "Auntie Day" yet...

Today is "Auntie Day"! For those who don't know what Auntie Day is, it's when I get all three of my nephews while their mommy goes to work. We don't like to call it Day Care...sounds way too official...ha!

Any way, today has got to be the best day in a very long time with Mr. Weston. For the longest time, he has cried when Tanya leaves and really doesn't want much to do with me. He just runs around like a crazy boy, tearing through whatever Wayne and Ethan are doing, and almost taking out the corners of my walls.

Today, today he wants everything to do with AUNTIE!!!! I'm so loving this and totally soaking it up! He comes to me and just wants to snuggle. He wants to play with me. It's absolutely WONDERFUL!! And, he's actually playing with Wayne and Ethan and not just taking the train tracks a part. He has a train in hand and is pushing the train down the track.

I'm loving Auntie Day!! And, right now, I need to go take care of Mr. Wyatt. He's letting Auntie know that it's nap time. He's got to be the easiest baby around!!

Missing teeth...

Someone in our house has a bunch of loose teeth...that someone is Miss Brenna. She seems to be loosing teeth like crazy right now. Currently, Brenna is missing two teeth on her bottom right side and it's making it a little difficult to eat. The next tooth to come out is on the top left. I was hoping to get it out today but loosing one a day seems to be all Brenna can handle. These silly teeth are really just hanging on by one TOUGH thread. And, I can't believe how much they bleed when they do come out.

You know, the more I think about it, the Tooth Fairy may go broke if she looses more than one a day. Maybe we will just keep that upper tooth in for a few more days. HA!

Guess where I'm posting from?

YES! Finally...I am sitting here, on the couch, with wireless internet finally working. I only hope it continues to work because I thought I had it working this afternoon and then wasn't able to get a connection. I am so excited! It is so nice to feel like I am still spending time with my husband, watching our evening tv shows together, and yet, I am blogging at the same time.

I have spent literally all afternoon trying to figure this wireless internet thing out. I have installed, re-installed, and re-installed again. Finally, I "give up", shut it all down for dinner, get some bible reading in, kids bathed and in bed, and come back to see what I can do. And voila...HERE I AM!!! WIRELESS!

What do you think?

So, I was finally able to make a header that was more personalized and fun. I'm not the most creative person, and not afraid to admit it. That being said, I'm open to all friendly critiquing! Let me know what you think. I'm sure the more I play the more often the header will change...maybe.

You have to share your brother...

Today is an Auntie Day with Wayne, Weston and Wyatt. Ethan loves these days because he has someone to play with all day. He always gets so excited when I tell him the boys are coming and is completely exhausted when they leave.

So, this morning, I have Wyatt sitting in his Bumbo chair on the floor in the family room and the other three boys are gathered around him. Ethan starts loving on Wyatt...he loves to give Wyatt hugs and kisses! And then, I hear this conversation (or slight argument)...

Wayne: "Ethan, you need to stop. Wyatt is my brother."
Ethan: "Wayne, you have to share your brother."
Wayne: "No, he's my brother."
Ethan: "Wayne, my mom is all done with babies so you need to share your baby with me."

At this moment, I burst out laughing and kindly ask Wayne to please share his brother with Ethan. I then remind them all that they are cousins but that they can love each other like brothers. They eventually left Wyatt alone and took off to play with the trains again.

(Of course, this whole time I'm thinking..."You know it!" But, I need to clarify something. I'm not done with babies, I'm just done HAVING babies! I love holding babies, caring for them when needed, and loving on them but I have hit the point where it is nice to return them to their mommy and know that I will be getting a good nights sleep!)

Okay, I better get back to my busy boys! They are all becoming little lions...roaring at each other and pouncing on each other. LOVE IT!

Preschool Open House

Tonight was Preschool Open House for Ethan. He was so excited for us all to go and see what he's been this doing year.

He loves to play in "Housekeeping". At this station, they get to pretend being whatever they want. Tonight, he chose the mailman's hat. It is a great time to let their imaginations go!

Next, he took us to the puppets. This is another fun thing that Ethan enjoys. He is really into making up stories and coming up with characters for his stories.

After puppets, we headed over to see Ethan's journal. Once a week, the kids color & draw in their journals about different things...the teacher has a different subject each time. It was neat to see the advancements he has made in his drawings. There is a huge difference from September to March.

The last station we went to was the blocks. Jason and Ethan built a tower with the cylinder blocks. It was fun to see how high they could get it and Ethan loved having his daddy play with him at Preschool.

It was fun to listen to Ethan share with us about Preschool. All the way there, he was trying to convince the girls that they had never been to his Preschool. What he didn't realize was that it is the same Preschool that the girls went to but we didn't burst his bubble...we just let him think that it was his special Preschool.

After having him in bed for about 15 minutes...he came out and asked, "Mom, did you think my Preschool was the best?" Of course, I told him it was the best. What mom would say otherwise? He was so excited he couldn't sleep. I love this boy!