All Things Halloween-y

Another Halloween has come and gone!  And aside from the scattered rain, it was mostly a success.  Of course, 2 out 5 children are STILL not asleep and are downstairs haunting us in the family room, but that happens on regular nights as well.  Hahaha.

Our Halloween season was opened up last week with our ward party at the church.  It's kind of nice to have a dress rehearsal of costumes before the real deal.  Leading up to to this holiday season, it seemed as though all the children were on board with creating a Harry Potter themed family makeover.  In the end, only Ethan and Grace were committed to the magic.  After scoring a Gryffindor scarf for Grace at Party City, she was good to go with the black witch's dress she wore LAST Halloween, a stick for a wand, and her hair ratted and teased to make it as bushy as Hermione's.  Party City also provided the tie, glasses, and scarf for Ethan's Harry, and once I scored his black {graduation} gown from the thrift store he was good to go as well.  After {unsuccessfully} trying to convince Jane to be Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, I sparked Sophie's interest enough that once I found a pair of red glittery shoes at Target that were almost the right size she was full-on ready to follow the yellow brick road.  Haha.  Jane ultimately wanted to be a princess and wore her birthday Cinderella dress with pride and since Lover Boy lives his life as a super hero, he was more than excited when I found a batman costume during one of my weekly jaunts at the thrift store.   $1.50 later and Alex was all set to go.  Or was he?  {Spoiler alert -- there may have been a last minute costume change for the actual Halloween night using a DIFFERENT super hero costume found at a different thrift store at a different time.  And yes, I have a problem}.

 Photo courtesy of Ward Par-tay

The kids had a blast at the ward party, and I actually kind of loved that they decided to forego a trunk or treat this year.  

Jane's hair courtesy of Grace.  She spent a LOT of time {and spray} on this updo. 

The Halloween season, as a whole, was pretty low-key around these parts this year but I did steal a banner idea from my sister, Emily, to spruce things up around the house at the last minute since we couldn't find any of our decorations in the boxes in the basement.  The kids were all a little bummed about not finding our army of pumpkins, but the banners seemed to get them excited in spite of it.   {If you'll recall from last year, we have a TON of tin can pumpkins that should have been gracing our front porch.  And back porch.  And entire house.  Perhaps we'll be able to find them for next year.  And if not, I'm SURE the kids wouldn't mind creating some more.  Hahaha.}

{Happy Halloween}

Ignore the messy kitchen please.  :)

 {Boo! Boo! Boo!}

I thought it was a little lame that the older kids weren't allowed to wear costumes to school today {and they didn't even have a party!}, but at least Halloween is still alive and well and worth celebrating on the preschool level!  Haha.  Jane was so excited to dress up for school today and even more excited by the "trick-or-treat-ing" she got to do.

{She ended up switching over to a different Cinderella costume for the big day.}

After the kids were all home from school they were waiting with bated breath for the real deal trick-or-treat-ing to begin!  They managed to get some chores done while waiting, and we even managed to get some real food in them before they commenced, so all in all it was a successful day to me.  :)

{As hinted at above, Alex made a last minute costume change.  I found a superman costume in just his size at the same thrift store where I found Ethan's robes, and after being presented with the two choices he opted for super over batty.  Not a bad choice if you think about it.  Hahaha.}

 At the thrift store.  Holding up his superman costume over his superman hoodie.  He's so existential.  Hahahaha.

Once dinner was eaten and the kids were all dressed up, I barely managed to snap the obligatory Halloween night pics before they were scampering off down the street {with Scott} begging for candy from neighbors.  Even with scattered rain, the kids lasted for about an hour before Alex and Jane were dropped off to get them going to bed.  In the end, it was a good night all around. 

 Happy Halloween 2013!

 And there's Alex -- picking my {dying} flowers as he's wont to do.

 This one seems so vintage somehow.  Perhaps it's because it's totally out of focus and the color is off as well.  Hahahaha.

And they're off!

And there you have it.  Halloween 2013.  A happy night.  Made happier now that those 2 straggling children are finally asleep as well.  Although, stay tuned for the party part 2.  Grace's 9th birthday is looming on the horizon and our sugarfest will be extended for one more day...

Alexander Leander Mander

 "Mo-om!!  Hi mom!!!  Hiiiiii mom!!!"

Oh Lover Boy.  What would we do without that hilarious little adorable bundle of joy???  Haha.  My baby boy is not quite a baby anymore!  I had to snap the above picture yesterday during naptime when he kept trying to solicit a conversation with me under the door while he was supposed to be going to sleep.  Even though it would have been my druthers to keep him in a crib til he was 3, life circumstances have molded things otherwise.  For one thing, he doesn't even have a crib -- that relic bit the dust right before we moved -- and for another thing, the pack n play he's been using for the past several months has gotten trashed as well.  What can I say?  My kids are just really destructive.  A giant rip down the side and bottom of the pack n play has been his escape hatch for the last few weeks anyway, so a couple of days ago I decided it was time to just move him over to the toddler bed that has been in his room since we've moved here.  {It's taken him a while to warm up to the idea.} 

As a result, he has complete freedom during nap and bed time which I don't completely love, but at least he can't consistently open doors.  Nap time in particularly seems to take him a while to settle into, but overall he hasn't given me too many problems with his transition.  Nevertheless, it was quite hilarious yesterday to hear his excited little voice calling out to me as he tried to squeeze under the door to get through to me.  Hahahaha.  He eventually wore out and fell asleep right there on the floor on the other side of the door with his outstretched hand under the crack.  What a funny little guy!

A couple of weekends ago, I finally got around to documenting his 2 year mark by having a photo shoot in the backyard.  It is definitely an exercise in futility to try and get a decent shot of a hyperactive 2 year old when you're also trying to squeeze in a birthday shoot for an inattentive 4 year old.  But hey -- I like to go big or go home.  Hahaha.  I managed to capture a few shots that captured the essence of Alex and I was pleased enough with the results that I won't be attempting a do-over. 

Look at that precious little face.  I just love him.

So, to accompany the pictures of my precious little 2 year old, I'll try and document all the things I want to remember about this cute little age forever.  :)

• First and foremost, he is a mischievous little imp.  Hahaha.  He is so funny, though, that it's hard to correct him.  And, of course, it doesn't help matters that his older siblings think it's so funny whenever he does anything naughty that they shamelessly egg him on.  Hashtag 5th born problems.  

• He LOVES balls, bikes, dogs, books, junks, and of course -- elephant.

• He and Jane are partners in crime.  Always.  These two have a funny little relationship.  It's not always smooth sailing between the two of them, but they can't live without each other either. 

I figured I needed a good picture of elephant so that when the day comes that I need to post "Lost" pictures around town I'll have one.  Hahaha.  Seriously, though, there was one week where he literally left it behind SOMEWHERE we went every. single. day.  You know you've reached a new level of parenthood when you're calling the Home Depot paint counter to ask if they've seen your child's toy.  {Also -- you've reached a new level of SOMETHING when you call the Home Depot paint counter and they know who you are.  Hahaha.}

This picture is probably my fave -- it so perfectly encapsulates the essence of this little naughty bug. But how can you ever get mad at that precious little face and those cute little dimples???

• He talks up a STORM these days and can carry full-on conversations with us.  It is so funny to see!  Especially since it's such a direct contrast following Jane -- who didn't really talk much at all until she was at least 3. 

• He is still attached to the pluggie -- which is starting to become a problem -- but I'm hoping to wean him off it by the time his next birthday rolls around.  {Don't judge me!}

• He LOVES Grace.  She is like a second mama to him and is so good with him.  In fact, he's a lot like her in some ways.  They are my only two to LOVE junks so much.  For those who don't know, we call all stuffed animals and other little junky toys, "JUNKS" in our house.  It started when Grace was a toddler because she always had SO MUCH stuff in her crib when she'd go to sleep.  Seriously, so much.  Every time I'd put her down we'd go through the same bit: "Grace!  You've got too much junk!"  "But I love my junks!" is how she'd reply in a wounded puppy voice.  Whereas Grace's main junks were doggy and puppy and her care bears, Alex is only attached to elephant, but will snuggle with any other junks he can find in his room. 

 

• Jumping on the trampoline is one of his favorite pastimes.  Although, he is rightfully a bit frightened when ALL the kids are on it as well.  

•  He has a thing for superheroes.  It started with a superman shirt, then grew with his spiderman socks, and really blossomed when I discovered the perfect sized batman costume on one of my thrift store runs earlier this week.  He is VERY excited for Halloween. 

And that is just about that.  He continues to be a carefree, easy-going, happy-go-lucky kind of kid. Who might also be said to have a slight dramatical streak at times as well.  If you hurt his feelings or his person, he will cry.  Unabashedly and loudly.  And -- well -- dramatically.  Hahahaha.  Hashtag keeping it real.  We love our little Lover Boy!

Thrift Store Love

Another project!  I forgot to add these pics to my home improvement medley last time, so here they are now -- my $15 thrift store find turned into homespun gold. 

The Before.

A few weeks ago now, I found the perfect dresser for Grace's bedroom.  I didn't want to buy just anything to fill the space in her room, so for the last few months I'd been on the hunt for the PERFECT piece.  As per usual, St. Vincent de Paul's thrift store came through in the clutch!  Hahaha.  I have a slight love affair with this place.  Seriously.  And even though this dresser had some obvious flaws -- there were knobs missing; tape adhesive remnants were stuck to the top, front, and sides; scrapes and scuffs abounded; the wood smelled like a thrift store -- I could instantly see through to its potential.  It has GREAT lines {you can't really see it from a picture, but the middle drawers curve outward slightly and the drawers on the ends curve inward}; it's solid as a ROCK; and the drawers were all in good {sliding} shape.  I could almost envision the finished product as I gazed on it in it's rough form.  And for $15, there was no way I was going to find a bigger bang for my buck anywhere else!

Once home, I got right to work.  I roughly followed the tutorial found HERE on how to paint furniture.   Fortunately, I had just finished painting the wainscoting in the Dining Room, so I still had the paint can and paint brush out in the color I wanted to use on the dresser -- Benjamin Moore's "Simply White" in a semi-gloss finish.  Before painting, however, I decided I needed to actually prep this bad boy if I wanted it to last.  I took off all the hardware then busted out the power sander and went to work on the top and the sides.  I hand sanded the drawer fronts then went ahead and sprayed everything with the Zinsser Cover Stain primer that the tutorial recommended.  It took 2 cans to get it mostly coated.  After that dried, I followed up with 2 coats of paint over everything, and a third coat on the top and drawer fronts.  Once that was dry, I finished it off with 2 coats of Polycrylic over everything and a 3rd coat once again on the top and drawer fronts.  {I did LIGHTLY sand by hand with an extra fine grit in between the paint coats and Polycrylic coats.}

Once all the hard work was done, then came the fun.  I really wanted to reuse the existing hardware -- I loved the way it looked -- but several of the side knobs were missing and I couldn't find ANYTHING like them at Home Depot.  I was originally planning on keeping the silver/nickel look of the original pieces, but the knobs I wanted for replacing the side drawers didn't have enough in stock of that color.  So I went for the oil-rubbed bronze -- even though I had already mustered more elbow grease into cleaning up the center pulls to make them a little cleaner and shinier.  {Emphasis on "a little."}

{Left is before cleaning, Right is after.  I googled a bunch of remedies and the one that I had stuff on hand to make simply used lemon juice and salt.  Pretty simple and it did actually work.}

Getting the pulls to match the new side-knobs was easy peasy lemon squeezy after purchasing a can of metallic spray paint in an oil-rubbed bronze color.  An added bonus from this can of spray paint was that it saved me $150 when I took apart our front door knob handle after painting the door and simply spray painted away the aged brassy look it was sporting rather than forking over so much money to buy a new one.  

Ready to go!

After re-attaching all the hardware and reassembling the drawers for an after shot, I decided that it was probably best to let the paint "cure" for a few days to make sure it dried nice and hard and I thought it was probably a good idea to air out the smell a little longer as well.  Fast forward a couple of weeks, and I finally decided the smell wasn't going to go completely away on its own, so I went ahead and painted all the insides and outsides of each drawers and let those dry completely before adding some contact paper liners to the bottom of all the drawers.  And then, while all THAT was happening, I bought a jar of something called Odo-Ball at Home Depot that I stuck in the empty cavity of the dresser to hopefully absorb whatever else was in there.  And you know, I think it kind of worked.  By the time we hauled it all up to her room yesterday and put the freshly painted and papered drawers in, I wasn't catching anymore whiffs of Thrift Store.  And that's a good thing!  Hahaha.

The After --

 {Once it was all put together, I kind of love the darker knobs' contrast against the white dresser, so I'm glad things worked out the way they did!}

Thursday morning I just happened to stop by a different thrift store hoping to find some chairs to redo for our dining room table when I came across THIS piece of work in the framed art section.  It prompted the following text exchange between me and Scott:

ME: Crazy cool looking? Or just crazy crazy? It's all embroidered.  I thought grace might like it in her room.

SCOTT:  Kind of crazy and kind of cute.  Fits well with grace.

ME:  Haha. Totally grace.

In the end, I decided I just kind of loved it and went ahead and bought it.  And since it was 50% off day at the Goodwill, I only had to fork over $2.50 for this gem!  Haha.  The good thing is that Grace loves it, too.  When she got home from school that day, she immediately started hounding me asking if I had bought it or made it.  When I told her I had bought it for her room, I could tell she was tickled pink.  She couldn't stop raving over all the embroidered handiwork -- each flower just seemed cooler than the next to her.  Haha. 

I wasn't really sure where it would work in her room, but once we had brought the dresser up to its rightful home, it just BEGGED for the art to go atop it.  I finished the tableau off with a framed picture that Grace had drawn when she was about Jane's age of the little girl with the curl in the middle of her forehead from nursery rhyme fame, and a jewelry tree and mirror that both came from Target.  I have to say that finally having a real dresser in that room really completes it!  It is lovely.  And Grace is in love, too.  And we ALL know that's a good thing.  Hahaha.  Until next time, Enjoy!

The Finished Product.

Flashback Friday -- Homecoming

{19 October 2001: BYU's Homecoming -- Featuring all of Scott's roommates from that year.  Fun fact -- by the end of that school year, every one of his roommates (except for one)  had already married or was engaged to the girl they took to this dance.}

I found the picture!!!  It took MUCH searching and digging and sleuthing, but I finally tracked down this winner of a picture from Homecoming of 2001.  Because it was almost EXACTLY 12 years ago today that the picture was taken, I decided it was the obvious best choice for this afternoon's Flashback material.  

Aside from the fact that it was a super fun night of eating out, dancing and hanging out with friends/roomies, this night was also monumental for Scott and I because it was on this night -- only a few weeks after my earlier revelation -- that I finally told him I loved him.  I know, I know.  Such a cliche BYU love story, right?  Dating for less than a month and already in love.  Hahaha.  It really didn't seem that rushed at the time.  I promise!  As soon as I started dating Scott, though, it just felt like we had ALWAYS been dating.  It was really only a matter of time before things unfolded the way they did. 

 So young.  So in love.  

And now, 3 last comments to finish things up.  1.) I really wish I still had those earrings I was wearing.  They were from Ann Taylor and I loved them.  Unfortunately, I have a TERRIBLE track record with earrings that have traditional backs.  They always fall out and then I lose not only the back but the earring as well.  Scott's apartment in The Colony is probably still harboring one of those precious jewels.  :(  2.)  I also wish I still had this necklace.  I have no idea what happened to it, and it was one of my faves and the very first piece of Mignon Faget jewelry I ever owned.  Poor little banana flower pendant.  You were so unique and so loved.  {Single tear}.  And 3.) Posing for pictures in front of such a distracting background was a big mistake.   Oh well -- you live and learn.  :)

Home Improvement

I'm back.  And better than ever.  Hahaha.  No really and truly, I am.  Listening to conference a couple of weekends ago really inspired me and helped me to come away with a fresh outlook and a much-improved attitude over my {crappy} frame of mind with regards to "The Move."  This move has not been an easy one for any of us, but I feel like I've been the one really hanging to the back here when everyone else in the family has largely moved on and started to settle in.  I'm happy to say that I am now fully accepting of our life changes and have finally begun to settle in, too.  It's a GOOD feeling.

Along with my attitude adjustment, there have been quite a few adjustments being made around these parts, too.  You know me -- I love a project.  Even if the timing and scope of said project seems impractical to all around me.  Hahaha.  Our major makeover target of the last month or so has been tackling our exterior.  After doing some weeding and taming of shrubs and bushes gone astray, I invested in some bright and happy colored mums and decided that it was finally time to start painting on the outside. 

{Happy was the day when Scott turned his lawn-mowing duties over to Ethan.  And as an added bonus, Ethan LOVES mowing the lawn.  He is constantly asking me if he can cut it again -- even when it's only been a few days since the last trim.}

Believe it or not, there are about 500 different shades of white {and black} to choose from, and it actually took quite a bit of hemming and hawing and worrying about choosing the "wrong shade" before I finally settled on Dover White and Tricorn Black {both Sherwin Williams colors}. I was a little nervous at first, when only the front door and sidelights were painted, that the colors were so stark and bold that they stood out too much from the brick.  Once the shutters and other trim was painted, however, I was much happier with the result and relieved to not have to tackle painting things all over again.

Close-up of the Front.  Please admire my lovely flowers and hard work.  Hahaha.  {You can see what color the shutters (and door) used to be on the top story}.  I bought new coach lights to replace the existing brass ones, but haven't figured out how to do it myself yet.  I'll guess they'll just have to wait.

From afar.

My hero.  Scott graciously offered to paint the top shutters for me after our neighbor offered the use of their extension ladder.  I was worried I'd fall and break my neck.  Thankfully he didn't.  After tackling a couple of windows, though, the daylight was completely gone and the weather has not been cooperative since then to finish things up.  :(  Hopefully, this weekend we will FINALLY have a brand-new look for the exterior.

Once the front door was slapped with a fresh, clean coat of new black paint, it was just BEGGING for the addition of our St. Louis acorn wreath.  I made this wreath our first fall in St. Louis with some of the millions of acorns that fell in our back yard.  I followed a tutorial at Dana Made It and it was super easy if not slightly dangerous.  Hot glue burns.  Just so you know.  For the past three years, I've been spray-painting it different colors to go with the different seasons.  Here below you will see it's transformation from "Leather Brown" {a Krylon color} to "Pumpkin Orange" {another Krylon color}.

After finding a super cute Halloween-y printed ribbon at Michael's, I threw a bow on this puppy and ran to hang it on the front door.  Poor little pumpkin wreath.  It didn't last the night.  That hook it's hanging from fell off around 8 o'clock that night, banging up the wreath and scattering acorns everywhere.  Jane and Alex helped me salvage them the next day, and after hot gluing them back on and re-spray-painting the whole thing we tried it again!  With the same results.  Doh!  Lesson learned.  I went to Wal-mart the next day and bought one of those over-the-door wreath hanger hook thingies and everything has gone swimmingly since.  :)

Happy Halloween!

Another fun project of the last week or so has been nursing Grace along through her "broken toe" epidemic.  Somehow, in a tussle between Ethan and Grace, Grace lost.  And her toe was the pawn.  I have no doubt that her toe was in serious pain...at first.  But you should have SEEN how conveniently it would go in and out of preventing her from doing things.  Chores?  It hurt too much -- she needed to go lay down and rest it.  Running around the back woods looking for rocks for school?  Not a problem.  All in all, it was just so Grace.  Thankfully, though, it seems to be all better.  She told me so herself this morning so I'm going to hold her to it!

Poor little pinky toe.

Aside from the exterior paint colors, there was only one other area of the house that REALLY drove me nuts.  The dining room.  There was just way too much going on.  Aside from the fact that it was carpeted when we bought it {a major pet peeve of mine -- as if my kids could EVER keep a carpet clean when food is involved}, there were just so many colors and other things going on that I couldn't wait to tackle it and make it ours.  

The Befores:

 

Carpet, multi-toned colors and moldings -- it was just way too much.

Another view.

The After:

{The room is not totally finished yet -- I haven't completely committed to anything hanging on the walls as of right now.}

Change number one was to replace the carpet with wood floors to match the rest of the house.  We accomplished this feat after we first moved here when I hit the road with the kids for a week and half so the floors could get done before our moving trucks were here.  After the floors, the next thing I did was to rip off all the embellishments in the middle of the moldings and spackle and repair the walls.  Then -- using Simply White {a Benjamin Moore color} -- I painted the entire lower half of the wall to make it look like real wainscoting.  It's actually only a chair rail with picture frame moldings underneath, but once everything was painted in a semi-gloss, you can't really tell that its a regular wall under it all.  Once I finally got the lower half done, I knocked out the top half in our ever-popular Antique Bone by Ralph Lauren.  The end result is 1000% better than it was when we bought the house.  And that makes me happy.  :)

One more before and after I'll post is of Jane and Sophie's room.  The walls have been painted for a while, but I finally got around to hanging some stuff on the walls and finishing up a night stand that has been sitting in the garage for 3 months now waiting for some paint and new knobs.

Before:

After:

Ignore the lighting in all these -- its terrible.  I just snapped the pictures with my phone, so they're not the best quality, but you get the gist.  Right???  Hahaha.

And finally, just to wrap things up, here are some superfluous shots of my boys that I took the other day in back of our house.  Alex -- in case you were wondering -- is a bit obsessed with Spiderman.  And Ethan still likes throwing rocks in the river.

In closing, I'll leave you with a shot of us actually USING our newly revamped dining room!  Scott is the ward mission leader and meets with the missionaries each week.  This past Saturday, after their meeting was over, we invited them to stay and eat with us for dinner.  I'd love to say that our children are the perfect hosts and hostesses for having company over, but we all know I would be lying.  Hahahaha.  Oh well.  Life would be boring if it weren't a little crazy.  Right?  Right???  Hahaha.  Until next time -- peace out!