Friday, March 8, 2013

Playroom Overhaul

I have an entire board on Pinterest dedicated to our playroom. It is on the main level of our house and I love it. The kids play in there while Im cooking, cleaning, or doing whatever. It also has a door so at the end of the day I close the door to not see the mess. It is very nice. Another plus is that there is NOT ONE TOY anywhere else on our main level. In our last house the kids toys were in our family room and every day it was a stressor for me as well as an eye sore. So if i could snap my fingers my playroom would something along the lines of this:



So my plan is to spend most of the day working on our playroom. If I had about $500 and a Uhaul heading to ikea I am sure I could really make some progress. Well since neither of those things are happening today I am on my own. I plan to purge, place, and prioritize. Here's a list of the things I want to do: (mind you this all has to happen during Lynley's naps because she is not such a good "helper")

1. Get some artwork hung on the walls. I have lots of "kid friendly" artwork that I want to display in a collage I just need to get it sent out and hung up the way I want it!

2. Purge the toys. We have about a MILLION happy meal toys that JHW thinks holds significant value. They do not. I want to throw those away.

3. Keep like things together. Blocks, baby toys, ninja turtle crap all together! Make laminated labels to store in bins

4. Make a reading area. I have some cute ideas for this, but I am not sure this will happen today!

5. Keep all the Wii/ video game stuff together and out of the reach of sweet little Lynley!

6. Set up a a magnet area where Lynley can use magnetic stuff. She loves these things, but they are not allowed on our fridge so right now she is using a cookie sheet!

7. Hang Blinds... well at least that is what I think I want to do in here. I am still deciding on blinds or roman shades, Im gonna have to talk to Daddy Warbucks on this one :)

8. Vacuum. I just want a good old scrub down of the floor, but i haven't seen that floor in a while so hopefully tomorrow that will happen!

9. Order my growth chart. I want to make one of the those giant rulers that you have seen on Pinterest I have found one I love, now I just need to order it and the get the wood/ supplies from Lowes :)

So I have a huge task before me. Do you want to see how big... Well here is a picture of the current state of our playroom. Say a prayer and wish me luck!







Thursday, March 7, 2013

Easters on its way

If you know anything about me you know that Easter is by FAR and AWAY my most favorite holiday! Its a sign of new life with the beginnings of spring, the words of the hymns awake my soul, and children in matching smocked clothing just about send me into a tizzy! (FYI neither one of my kids are wearing smocked this year.... yes I have their outfits picked out, yes - they are monogrammed, and yes- we will all match)

So with the impeding snow storm that was about the hit Indy early this week I decided it was a perfect time to break out the Easter decor. A lot of stuff I already had, some stuff I made and others I just improvised. But as I set in my house last night I was completely in awe of the sacrifice of Easter!

 Here is the mantel! I always try to put a big banner just because i think it is kid friendly. Keep scrolling down and you will see where I have the printable version for you!
 This is the Southern Living plate that I have had for years. I change the words every season. It only seemed fitting for my favorite hymn!
 Here is our entertainment center. A side note. This was actually a credenza that went with the desk we had in our Lexington House. My parents painted it black added the molding on the bottom and put new hardware on there. It has been a perfect addition to our home and we Love it!
 This is a little table I have between two wing back chairs in our family room. I change out this picture frame regularly. I wanted to put scripture that was easy enough for John Hunter to read. In case you cannot see this one says, "He is not here he is risen just as He said." He is really becoming quite the reader and I could not think of anything I would rather him read than Scripture!
 Ok a closer look at the banner!I printed out 5 pages (there are two pennants on a page) I cut them out. Went to the bathroom drawer  got some cotton balls and glued those cute little bunny tails on. I punched holes in the top corners and threaded some yellow satin ribbon I already had through. Taped her up and there she is! Here is the link I used to print off the banner
 I used a canvas I already had and some paint I had lying around in the craft box to make this little guy. I love it because it is so bright. This was a hard one for me. Easter Hymns are my thing. I love them. I spent about 2 days trying to figure out which one I was going to commit to canvas. Then I let go and relaxed because this little canvas is about $3 so  I could always change it out. I went with this song because I love it.
He Lives He Live Christ Jesus Lives today, He walks with me and talks with me along life's narrow way. He lives He lives Salvation to impart. You ask me how I know He lives, he Lives within my Heart!
 This sweet canvas I used when I taught preschool. This is the area above my desk in the Kitchen and i wanted to something fun and kid friendly. So this was the perfect option!
 Over 10 years ago my parents bought me this crown of thorns for Easter. It is probably one of the things I treasure most. Every time I look at it I see more than thorns I see a crown, and a King who was willing to give up his Heavenly crown to wear this terribly painful one. Why did he do it? For me. My sin put Him on that cross and my sin put those thorns on His head. This was a great reminder. John Hunter has now taking a liking to these as well. This plate came from wal-mart and I used my cricut and black vinyl to put this hymn on there. I love how it turned out!
 Subway art is all the rage right now. So what better way to be in style than with some Easter subway art. I found this one on Pinterest and had it printed at Sams Club as a 16x20 for about $4. Its perfect!
Here is our kitchen table. I always have a plastic table cloth on the table for each season because I find I have a messy family and we are always doing art projects here. Its just for a season when the kids are young but I love it. I found this bunny in the decor stuck him on the cake stand and added some grass. Now buried away in my cabinets I have beautiful easter egg dishes and  chargers along with monogrammed spring napkins and napkin rings. They are lovely I promise. But the reality is we live here. Every night we eat dinner at this table and as much as I would love place all those things out, I don't!

So here is our house at easter! What is your favorite Easter decoration that you have in your house?

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Crazy Girl....

A few weeks ago we had some friends over for a last minute dinner. Eric had been smoking a pork and the food was wonderful (as always). The children were playing and the adults were sitting around the table talking about life, kids, ministry, and marriage.

Eric and I were replaying an event that had occurred earlier that week. We had gotten in a pretty heated argument over something silly (really just miscommunication) but it got blow up way out of proportion. But the whole argument took place over text message. Please tell me you all have been there? What was even worse was we were in the house together while this was taking place. So Eric and I were each defending our sides of the story all while reading the text out loud.(Let me say here that arguing over text is not advisable and since them we have tried really hard to communicate with audible words)  My girlfriend was cracking up and said, "I would love to see that side of Kendra, she is always so sweet, I don't think she has it in her." Poor friend little does she know that there are days I have a crazy person trapped inside me. Do you? Even in college my friend "Big Dog" named my alter ego Mrs. Z (my maiden name begins with a Z), and i always joked that you never wanted to meet her.

I have worked really hard over the past 10 years to not expose that crazy lady to the people around me. But the truth is she exist. You know who meets her the most often, Eric, or my kids, or my family? She comes out even when she is not welcome. Yesterday in Bible Study we were watching the video from Beth Moore. We are neck deep in the study of Esther, but the Scripture she talked about was from Hosea 7:8. It reads, "Ephraim is a flat cake not turned over." Basically what is saying that only one side of Ephraim is exposed. Only one side. Each of us has two sides, and we know what side we want people to see. That is the side, we beautify, the side we build up, the side we update our status on Facebook too, that is the side we make our imaginary boards on pinterest about, but sweet sister we are two sided.

Here is the truth I want you to camp on to today. God wants access to both sides. We cannot be wholly His until he has both sides. What are you so afraid of in your hidden side that He cannot have access to? He loves you, He has engraved your name upon His hand, and He has call you His child? Oh friend I have been there, as early as this morning. Last night I was so mean to Eric, he had a really bad day and was trying his best to be the best husband and father, but I kept beating him up over the smallest things. I knew what I was doing was wrong and mean spirited but  I continued to do it. I spent most of the early hours of this morning exposing myself to God asking for Him to weed out the mean spirit in my life and help me to grow as a supportive and kind wife. Then when Eric woke up I had to humble myself and tell him I was so sorry for my behavior. I could have listed a 1000 excuses as to why I acted the way I did, but that would be all they were.... excuses. In order for me to be better I must expose the BOTH sides to my maker. Have you been there? Do you know what I am talking about? Sweet sister, what do you need to give to Him today.He is ready and willing to take it, He wants you WHOLE and He will help you get there.

After our friends came over for dinner I was browsing Pinterest and I saw this ecard, it was so fitting I had to quickly sending to my friend. Can you relate to this one?