It's finished!

The painting is finished on our house!  It's been a long time coming.  I feel like it makes such a huge difference.  I'll just let it speak for itself.

Here's the front...

No more school house/barn look anymore!  

Of course we are getting ready to update the lighting fixtures, door mat, doorbell, add a bench and update the landscaping.


We were really hesitant to show the before pictures of the back because it was sooo bad.  But I've decided I have to show you because the before and after is so drastic.  Like I said in the last post I'm pretty sure the last time the house was painted they skipped the back and the garage to cut costs.    

Before:

After:

Try not to be jealous of our classy $4 can lighting fixture by the back door.  The back of the house still needs a new lighting fixture, new fence and the patio area needs to be torn out and replaced.  But I think we are off to a good start if I do say so myself.  We love it and couldn't be happier.

The siding is Cityscape by Sherwin Williams (SW 7067).  The doors are painted Naval by Sherwin Williams (SW 6244).

Love,
Meg.

50 Shades of Gray

Yes, I really did just title this blog entry, "50 Shades of Gray".  Am I really the only one that has no desire to read this book?  We are having our house painted and I have spent the last few weeks obsessing over finding the perfect shade of gray in the Sherwin Williams line (I'm a Benjamin Moore girl at heart).  Gray can be extremely difficult.  Both of our girls rooms are painted gray, I think the color was called, "Simply Gray", and they both look like a pale blue.  We wanted a darker gray for the exterior and wanted to try to find the truest gray possible.  My wonderful hubby gave me total design freedom for the first time so the pressure was on.    

Here are the before pictures. 

This is the back.  Look at that jazz.  Horrible.  I'm pretty sure that the last time the house was painted they skipped the back of the house and the garage to cut costs.  You can peel it off with your fingers.

They are finishing up today and then I'll post new pictures.  It's a pretty great transformation if I do say so myself.  I'm excited to show the after pictures!

Love,
Meg.  

Bamboo Chippendale

I bought this lovely yellow Golden Girls chair at an estate sale last summer.  When I bought it I imagined it in high gloss black with some black and white 1960's cane print fabric I had bought at the same estate sale.  Even though I had a vision for the chair, I, the queen of second guessing, came home and spent about two weeks looking (aka obsessing) over every other bamboo chippendale I could find online for ideas.  I also spent a lot of time debating on keeping the yellow but it needed some cleaning up and although I like yellow it just never seems to be my final choice.  Needless to say, it has sat in my garage since last summer and I finally just decided to redo it the way I had originally planned.  Moral of the story, go with your first instinct. 

Before:

After:

 

I LOVE that fabric!

DeBonis Orquera

Pink Zig Zag Ballet Flats

I See Polkadots Ballet Flat

Adorable handmade ballet flats over spotted at DeBonis Orquera on Etsy.

Bringing Up Bebe

Bringing Up Bebe

I just finished this book tonight and I highly recommend it.  If you have small children I am sure you are constantly hearing everyone's two cents on the proper way to raise a child.  And, of course, their way is better than the next, but if you are looking for some advice or ideas I really enjoyed this.  We have already begun applying a lot of the techniques in this book to our every day lives and I can't wait to see the results.  I know Rome, or in this case, Paris, wasn't built in a day but I figure it's worth a shot.

Studded Shorts

Inspiration:

via a pair and a spare

My version:

Supplies:

This is one of the easiest projects I've ever done!  All I did was take an old pair of jeans, cut off legs to the length that I want, and then apply the studs.  I found them in the leather craft section at Hobby Lobby and applied them with the needle nose pliers.  And not only was it simple but it cost me under $2 to make.

Over-dyed Rugs

Confession: I have a recent obsession with dye.  I've never dyed anything before but with all of the recent DIY's popping up everywhere I suddenly have the urge to over-dye everything in my house.  After seeing this I am about 10 seconds from trying this one.  The only thing stopping me is my husband will be home before I can have it completed.  Knowing him he will try to get me to be rational, which of course is no fun at all, although sometimes necessary.

Click for Tutorial

  I also LOVE this one.

Spotted Here; Available for purchase Here

via

health in the new year

If you haven't seen these two documentaries...

and are interested in nutrition, I highly recommend these!

parenting

The last two weeks have certainly been interesting as a parent to the Lucas children.  Between all of the chaos of Christmas, the Elf on the Shelf and Santa Claus, Gidget has made sure to keep me on my toes.

Via

Two incidents in particular come to mind.  The first "incident", which I had hoped would be the worst we would have for awhile, proved to be, in my opinion, the minor of the two.  The girls and I had just come home from the store.  I brought the girls inside the same way we have done a million times before.  I brought them inside, turned on one of Gidget's favorite shows, left Birdie in her car seat next to Gidget and ran outside to grab the three bags from the car.  (If there is a simpler way to unload groceries without the fear of a child running into the street or going to jail for leaving the kids in the car while you unload please let me know).  I was outside for probably about 30 seconds, closed the back hatch to my car, started walking the 5 steps to our front door when I heard the chain to our front door being moved.  Gidget had never played with it before but knowing her I knew I needed to hurry.  It was too late.  Apparently her first attempt to lock the chain was a success.  I tried to remain calm and talk her through unlocking the chain.  Well Gidget doesn't think like that.  First she began yelling at me that she wanted more crackers and juice and could not understand why I wouldn't just open the door and get her what she wanted.  She would try once or twice, get aggravated and then go watch her show for a minute or two, ignoring her mother's pleas to be let back inside the house.  Finally after about 10 minutes of all this, she finally figured it out and let me in.  Needless to say, our chain now is tied in a knot to avoid this situation again.

Now for the grand finale.  Or, as I like to call it: Reason No. 543,178 why it is ridiculous to have Rapunzel length hair.  My husband didn't find this story as shocking as I do.  So if you do not understand the insanity of all of this then I apologize.  Just try it yourself and get back to me, I'm sure your feelings will change.  Okay so here goes: I got a new vacuum for Christmas (I had asked for one so it's completely acceptable as a gift).  Our vacuum before was pretty horrible at it's one job in life so I was excited to try out my new one.  The girls were playing in Gidget's room and I decided to use the hand attachment to clean under all of Gidget's furniture.  Picture it:  I am lying on the floor, on my stomach, cleaning under Gidget's armoire while I am telling her to quit playing with the vacuum while I am using it.  Next thing I know the vacuum has been knocked on it's back and my hair has been sucked up in the vacuum with my hair on the back of my head rolled all the way up to my scalp.  Well apparently, the vacuum has amazing suction.  No matter how hard I pull the vacuum will NOT release my hair.  The pain is pretty horrible and since I have the vacuum attached to the back of my head I cannot reach the off button or the power cord.  Nor is my phone anywhere near my reach.  Gidget just stands there and screams as I plead for help.  Finally after what seemed like an eternity I was finally able to reach the off button.  At this point my hair is so tangled in the vacuum that I just had to pull and let the vacuum keep a rather large handful of my hair.  While traumatizing I also know how funny this story will be for years to come.  I never understood until now why so many women cut all their hair off when they become mothers.  Not only is it more convenient it is now an OSHA violation in my own home!

In light of all of this, I have come across a few articles on parenting I thought were good.  This one I will have to put on the fridge as a reminder for situations such as these.

via Pinterest

A Child's 10 Commandments to Parents

1. My hands are small; please don’t expect perfection whenever I make a bed, draw a picture, or throw a ball. My legs are short; please slow down so that I can keep up with you.

2. My eyes have not seen the world as yours have; please let me explore safely: don’t restrict me unnecessarily.

3. Housework will always be there. I’m only little such a short time—please take time to explain things to me about this wonderful world, and do so willingly.

4. My feelings are tender; please be sensitive to my needs; don’t nag me all day long. (You wouldn’t want to be nagged for your inquisitiveness.) Treat me as you would like to be treated.

5. I am a special gift from God; please treasure me as God intended you to do, holding me accountable for my actions, giving me guidelines to live by, and disciplining me in a loving manner.

6. I need your encouragement, but not your praise, to grow. Please go easy on the criticism; remember you can criticize the things I do without criticizing me.

7. Please give me the freedom to make decisions concerning myself. Permit me to fail, so that I can learn from my mistakes. Then someday I’ll be prepared to make the kind of decisions life requires of me.

8. Please don’t do things over for me. Somehow that makes me feel that my efforts didn’t quite measure up to your expectations. I know it’s hard, but please don’t try to compare me with my brother or my sister.

9. Please don’t be afraid to leave for a weekend together.  Kids need vacations from parents, just as parents need vacations from kids. Besides, it’s a great way to show us kids that your marriage is very special.

10. Please take me to Sunday school and church regularly, setting a good example for me to follow. I enjoy learning more about God.

article via

Also, Sarah Sophie Flicker's article, "My Daughter Myself: A Girly Girl Raising A Girl" is really good if you have girls.