We have had a crazy couple of months with trips, birthdays, and finishing up projects. My Grandfather's health has gotten worse with his cancer spreading into his bones he is weak and tired. We enjoyed seeing him even if it was one heck of a crazy week with busted sewage lines and 12 hour road trips. We didn't get to do any hiking in the mountains because it was just too hot in the desert and we were needed at the house to tell the workers what was happening and where to dig and such. Cousins came not to visit but to chip in and help out wherever it was needed and I cannot tell you all how happy I am to be a part of a family that gets along and is as BIG as Texas!!

My Father's side of the family met up in Oklahoma to visit as we do every year on fathers day. We enjoyed the rest. we got to swim and watch the rain fall on the lake and we enjoyed getting to see my grandmother on that side even if it was only for a couple hours. So my children got to see both sets of Great Grandparents that are alive I say that was a pretty successful summer.

As for birthdays Jacob's was spent in the car on the way back from one of our trips. When we arrived home we made home made donuts and a week later celebrated with his Aunt by making a Tardis cake (they are BIG Dr. Who fans). Josiah had a pool party at a friends house with pizza and Dinosaurs!!! I will eventually get pictures of these up to show you all.

Isabelle had a grand time of her birthday we had a surprise Texas downpour and we had to transport the cake in to the house under a towel and an umbrella what a site we were!!.  after cake and ice cream we all piled in the cars and went shopping!! what a time the girls had wandering through the book store and then target trying on shoes. Much like a giant dress up party!!

The main project I have been working on is organizing Isabelle's room so that it is easier to clean and in order to do that I have had to prime and paint some old IKEA shelves from our living room and strengthen them up a little. So here is Izzy's room before and you will just have to wait to see the reveal!

    All of you must know by now how much I HATE my bathroom! its disgusting, smelly and tacky!!
Even my husband knows how much I detest that room, and he tries to help by cleaning up after the boys.(He's such a sweet heart). So one day I was complaining about that space in our house and he suggested if I hate it so much do something about it. And off I went to search for ideas on pinterest! well I searched and searched and didn't really see anything I adored or really wanted to live with and kinda gave up for the day. later on in the month I was looking at the boys board to see what else I needed to do in their space to make it more organized and decorate a little more and BAM this popped up on my page and I fell in LOVE!!

ogtstore.com

dancoxpr.com

The wheels were turning in my head and I started scouring stores for pressed tin ceiling tiles... did you know those things are pretty pricy? Well the cheapest I could find them was an antique store called Alternative Furnishings at $20 a piece and that was still way over my head. so I started looking at Homedepot and Lowes at their plastic knock offs and they were the same prices I got pretty bummed about this and started looking for other ideas and finally found paintable wallpapers they intrigued me so I looked at all the different ones to choose from and procrastinated because I would have to have it ordered into the store they don't' carry it otherwise. I go distracted by costumes for ballet and baby gifts for friends having cute little chunky balls of love (yes I have baby fever). I was in Joanne's and while waiting for my number to be called I wandered the aisles around the cutting table that I had never been on and what do ya know they carry paintable wallpaper and they had a ceiling tile printed one (raised foam areas to make it textured) I was all excited and looked pretty stupid for a few min. I could not believe my luck then reality set in and I was suddenly hit with the thought "how much is this going to cost me?" so I looked... it was only $25 for a roll of like 300' I only needed a 4x6 area so I was good to go then I remembered I had a 50% off coupon that I could not use that day because the fabric was already on sale so I was like SCORE!!!! (again I probably looked like a drunken idiot I was so excited I couldn't focus on the fabric I needed cut or anything else.
A week later up it went on my walls with the help from my 7 year old!!

It was sooo simple I filled the tub with 3" of water stuck the precut strips in till it was all wet, pulled it out and let it drip off then had my helper line up the bottom while I lined up the top. Seriously that simple we used our pampered chef  pie crust roller to roll out the air bubbles and a towel to dab off the extra glue and water. then we just had to wait for it to dry.

I came back after an emergency trip out of town to visit a sick family member and decided to start painting with the paints I had laying around from the rest of the house that way it all tied in together No More Random Room Themes!!!!(inside joke here sorry if you don't get it).

I painted a few in one color and then a few more in another color making sure there were not two squares in the same vertical rows the same color. as they filled in and I was waiting for some to dry I went over the other dry ones with the same pampered chef pie crust roller rolled in a thin layer of gold or silver acrylic craft paint.

some of the squares I did not paint before going over it with the roller so only the raised areas got color and the lower areas remained white. 

My hubby replaced the faucet in the bathtub and the handles and that all works with no leaks now so no one will burn themselves with the dripping boiling hot water when they are showering.

I still need to get trim and quarter round for the edges and add a few more touches to the whole bathroom like a NEW trash can I am thinking silver or some sort of metal look. and I need to get the little silver tray back on the counter with a candle on it to help with the boy smell!!! then I will be completely happy with this room.

More projects and more chaos!

    I have come to the conclusion that as stressful as home remodeling and repairs are for most people it is how I relax. If I am stressed beyond belief all I have to do it put my headphones on turn on some music and paint! It is calming and makes me feel better! So in the stress of scheduling Isaac's latest surgery ,to scope his throat and possibly remove scar tissues on his vocal chords to clear his airway some, and the chaos that is getting approval for therapy from insurance and a dr.s office that just won't do thing when they say they will (causing us to be denied). I decided to unclutter our laundry room that has been used more like a garage. I was simply going to go through and organize so my husband could put up some sturdy shelves and well a thought popped into my head! Since I have everything out and the walls are clear why not paint since the yucky primer had been up for at least 3 years waiting for just the right color to come along. I had spied a pretty shade of green when going through our paint supply collected from free uncle and friends moving, so green it would be and wow it is gorgeous Nate and I both love the color in there with the raw wood.

Bathroom

The bathroom is the room I hate the most. I need to find  smaller mirror that I LOVE! or frame this one to make it look smaller! I also need to find metal ceiling tiles and mount the m on the wall where the towels are hanging. We found a medicine cabinet that mounts between the studs in the wall so its recessed and it will go to the left of the sink next to the light switch and the cabinet over the toilet will just go away! I will probably add a shelf and put apothecary jars on it with the Q-tips and cotton balls and some soaps and I need to get some tarnished silver things to decorate in here as well. Eventually I will find a smaller sink base that looks like furniture and will remove this yucky counter and replace the sink.

Boy's Room

The boys room is pretty much completed with the exception of the wooden chair rail 

and finishing the paint on the lower walls and building Jacob's desk because the rolling green cart does not work.

Isabelle's room

Izzy's room is pretty much complete we do need to get her new curtains and properly hang them. 

We are also working on a piece of furniture that will take the place of the toy box and house all her dress up clothes and kitchen toys. This will be a huge reveal close to summertime.

Maybe she will choose to clean her room before then!

hallway and laundry room

My hallway is well going to get repainted this summer!

I still love this color but not for where I am going with my house. I want calming colors throughout and I want to take down some of the pictures and simplify.

The laundry room well it is pretty much a garage it catches everything that does not have a place because we don't have a storage shed. A storage shed is much needed for all the tools and parts it would be so useful and helpful. our goal was to build one large enough that it could be used to store the motorcycle out of the weather and be a shop where we could work on small projects on a tool bench. we got concrete footers placed and a floor installed and even built walls then winter hit and we had no roof and now the plywood on the floor is ruined even though we covered and protected with paint and tarps. so now we rip it apart and start over.

                                                    I have dreams and plans for this room I DO!