Catch up

Hi there, I'm here, just not really on blogasphere as much as I'd like to be.  Life is busy, and just gets away from me.  Many people have asked why I haven't been blogging.  I'd like to blog. I love having it as a book for our family.  Life just keeps getting busier, and I have to start giving less time to some things.  But I am going to try to blog more again.  So as I am trying to upload a picture of our family, its telling me that I am out of picture storage.... really...I've been out of the loop for a loooong time! Since when do they start charging for a blog... So its just words for today.
We had a super Summer, full of fun!  We love Summer.  I left my comfort zone at home with my kids, and got on a plane to VEGAS!  Roger and I celebrated our 10 year Anniversary sunny Las Vegas.  It was a lot of fun.  We also found a new family favorite, which is camping.  Its so nice to get away for a weekend from the craziness of Williston.  Even if its just 25 miles out of town.  It feels so good. So our Summer was filled with lots of fun and we ended it with a bang! DISNEY WORLD!!! I will have to write a whole new post about Disney World, because well,  it deserves its own post.
Eventually I will play catch up and get some new posts about summer, Disney, school, recipes, and my own design therapy.  For now, I need to get back to Christmas planning.

L O V E

My kids are the best, I love their smiles, their laughs, and their spirit.  I love that they are a little bit of their daddy and a little bit of me.  They are awesome, fun, lovable kids. 

Camp Summer

 Last Summer we did a lot of camping.  It was our favorite Summer pastime.  Its so relaxing, the kids love it, and we feel like we are far away from home. 

 This is the life!

We can't wait for another Summer of camping!

It's A Jeep Thing

 Roger loves going jeeping.  A lot of people don't really know what jeeping means.  Its off roading and rock crawling in his beloved rock crawling machine.  We've never gone out as a family before, but now that the kids are bigger it was time venture out! 

 We gathered up in a meeting spot and the guys discussed what trails to go on.  We all get in the Jeep and Roger says, "ummmm this trail gets pretty hairy at times."  Ummm ok.......  So when times got "hairy" we got out.  I have to say I fully trusted Roger at all times, and knew he wouldn't put us in danger. Sometimes I questioned myself... and other times we just got out and walked! haha.

 Isaac had no fear! He LOVED every part of wheeling and off roading.

 Macie would rather watch from the side, and thats ok too.

What I loved the most, is the beautiful scenery.  The pictures just don't do it justice. We were surrounded in the badlands, and it was really breathtaking.  This is what North Dakota is.  Sometimes we get lost in the boom and get lost in the complaining, but venture out into the badlands, and that's the beauty in North Dakota.
There will be many more family jeeping days in the future!

The Breakup Continues

 Our mini makeover overflows into the kitchen as well.  I really love how the blue compliments the cabinets, and it made our countertops look new.  Color definitely brings new life to what you already have. 

 The color that we rolled onto the dining room wall, stairway, and hallway is called Gateway Gray.  Its sleek, its modern, I'm in love.  I had 3 metal wall hangings that used to go on this wall, and they didn't go well with the new paint, so I wanted something totally different.  I was either going to do a wall of framed photos or some shelves.  I loved the idea of shelves, because it gave the wall dimension and was something new. 

I made the sunburst mirror with the help of Pinterest, and card stock.  You would never know its made out of paper! 

I seen a clip on the Nate Berkus show on how to recover chairs.  Our old chairs were just a cream fabric that showed every spill and dirt.  I found this fun fabric on Fabric.com and with the use of a  staple gun, I started recovering.  I figured all else fails I go back to the dirty cream fabric, but they turned our pretty good.  It was a very easy DIY project with big results.

In the end the breakup with green was the perfect choice.  The blue and gray is so refreshing and new.  It's like walking into a new space. I always tell myself our house is where we spend most of our time, so I want to love every room in our house.



The Breakup With Green

Two weeks ago I made a big decision, it was time to break up with my all time favorite green walls.  Green walls have been in my house since we've owned a house.  I love green, its earthy, its neutral, its my style, but lately I've been inspired by blue.  It's all over my Pinterest boards and my new favorite, The Nate Berkus show.  It's calling my name. 

{Inspiration photos}

I helped a friend pick out colors for her living room makeover. We found a beautiful steel blue called Silvermist by Sherwin Williams.  I seen it on her walls and thought "I need that in my house."  It was an "ah Ha" moment!  I need to break up with green.

 {before}

I still loved my green though, so the breakup was a little hard to make. I brought home the cards from the store and put them up on the wall for a few weeks. I was intimated to paint my big walls, I didn't really want to pay to have them painted. I had a friend say she would me paint, she wasn't intimidated at all! wahoo, that's what I needed, a push! So I bought the paint, and away we went. I loved it as soon as we started rolling, and at the end, it was so refreshing, such a nice change. I am in love!  

{after}

My next obstacle was changing the dining room wall that also went down the stairs and that also meant the hallway.  I thought I could keep it tan, but the tan still looked green, and it drove me nuts.  I bought a gray called Gateway Grey from Sherwin Williams again.  The grey looks fabulous with the blue.  They were meant to be together.

Pictures of the new and improved dining room wall to follow.  (i need to sweet talk my DIY husband to hang some shelves for me first)

Its Vegas Baby!

To celebrate our 10 year Anniversary we booked a trip to Vegas! This would be my first time leaving my kids... ever!  So I had a lot of anxiety planning it, but I also knew they were in good hands. 

 

Our trip was a blast. It was weird not having our kids following us around, or tending to their needs, but instead, we followed each other around, and tended to our needs.  Like sleeping in... kind of, eating out at really nice restaurants and not asking for a kids menu, hanging out at the pool and just relaxing, exploring, and staying up late! We deserved it.  It was nice being kids again,  and a great way to celebrate our 10 year Anniversary.  We can't wait to go back! 

Play Ball!

 The time has finally come, Macie starting Tball!!  I have to say I have been excited about this moment from the time she was born. People think I am joking when I say this, but nope, total truth. When she was little she already had a softball nickname. "Mighty Miss Macie."  This was already decided it will be on her softball jerssery when she was about 6 weeks old.   

Last year she refused to play, it broke my heart.  This year she couldn't wait to play!  Finally the sport got into her blood.  Oh yah!!!

 She was looking all cute all spunked out in her pink softball attire  She was very bummed out to see that her official tball shirt is grey, and there are no other pink balls, and yes, all the helmets aren't pink either.  Sorry honey.  But she can use her own pink bat.  That was a relief! 

 Our little slugger!

 Her biggest anxiety was which way does she run after she hits the ball.  Thank goodness tball practice gave her time to get things straight. 

{Don't worry, there was no ball to her face, it only looks this way.}

I am very proud to say that during the first practice she was the only girl to catch a fly ball!  She was listening so closely to all the coaches teach them all about the sport. I could tell her little brain was soaking up all info.  She loved it all, and keeps asking when she gets to play again. 

Her first game is on Tuesday, and we are anxiously awaiting! Its just Tball, but really, its so much more. 

Next year, Isaac will step up to the plate!!!  (hopefully)

Playroom Maddness Update

 Rain and wind have also given me time to continue progress on the playroom.  I still have some stuff on my list I want to finish, but its starting to take shape! 

 The dress up station, with places for everything dress up!

 The toy station, every toy has a place.

 Our reading nook. 

More pictures and progress to follow soon!   

Camp Like a Kid... Indoors.

 With the weather turning a little a little stormy towards the end of the week we had to get creative.  Macie had a Girlscout camp scheduled for one of the days and it got canceled due to weather.  So we brought the camp to our house.  We cooked hotdogs over the open flame, and then roasted smores for dessert! 

 BFF's!

 YUM!

Soaking up the Sun!

Last week we had a super sunny Monday and we soaked up every bit of it.  Our day started with a play date at Spring Lake park, then a cool down in our backyard pool.  We heart Summer! 

Summer Bucket List 2012

Here's our Summer bucket list! What's on yours?

Kindergarten, Thats a Wrap!

Macie finished up her last couple days of Kindergarten, and while we are so excited for the start of summer, I have to admit, its a little bittersweet.  I feel like every milestone she hits, is bittersweet.  I don't feel like it was long ago when she came home with us as a little 5lb 12 oz little peanut.  We had no idea what we were doing, well maybe a little, but not much.  She used to be a shy little girl. She would cry is someone talked to her in the grocery store and she hid behind me while I was talking to someone.  She's come so far, and I'm so proud of the little girl shes become. 

We made going away gifts for her classmates

Our favorite teacher, Mrs. Geltel.  I say "our" because she was my Kindergarten teacher as well, and hopefully Isaac's as well.  :)

I had so much anxiety about her starting school. I thought she would be sad and miss us during the day. Instead she decided to be awesome and take on being a leader in her class.  She LOVES school!  She blossomed during her year of Kindergarten, and we are so proud of her. She found out she loves her teacher, Mrs Geltel (so do we!) She loves music class, reading, math, art, and she loves being a helper to others. Shes a special girl, and this little miss is on to 1st grade!!!

After we have the best Summer ever!