Pumpkin Paint

Last week, the boys and I enjoyed some pumpkin art. They were all about it.

What I learned this week...

1. Four-year-olds, no matter how well-behaved you think they are, can make painful mistakes of disobedience. Just ask the little green-eyed boy in my house about his burnt finger and the lawn mower.

2. It's really hard to only eat 1200 calories a day.

3. Lolly pops and TV make it much easier to cut a two-year-old's hair.

4. I can pull-off real bangs. Who knew? 

5. A clean house on Monday morning makes Monday not so much a Monday.

 6. Leaving a sippy cup full of skim milk in your car for over 12 hours will make your vehicle smell like death for 2 days. Nasty beyond all reason.

 7. Surgical tape will not stop a determined two-year-old from picking his face. 

8. Pandora toddler radio is as obnoxious as it sounds, but has incredible results when used on two bickering siblings. Fighting instantly turns to singing if you crank it so loud they can't hear each other. It works. You should try.

9. I have the right to have my own opinion according to my eldest. Isn't that nice of him?

10. I need to work on my baby's alphabet. Badly. Right now it sounds like this: A B C D E F Bee H I Shay K nuh nuh nuh nuh P Cuu R X why N Zee.   Not kidding.

I haven't learned my lesson about this yet. Parker told me he's wearing his snake-belt (seat belt) so he won't fall out. That makes it a totally safe activity.

 It's okay he's missing half of the alphabet in the song, he loves to "read" and I know the other half will soon appear at the end of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star sooner or later. It really messes him up that they have the same tune. Oh, and don't mind he doesn't have on pants. Pants are for when you leave the house in our family ;)

Have you learned any valuable lessons this week? Do share. It's quite cathartic.

Autumn Love

I adore this time of year. I'm trying to ignore the post-fall season that will soon follow so that I can completely enjoy the fab temperatures and beautiful colors right now. I don't usually gussy up the house for fall because I like to decorate early for Christmas. However, this year I did a few things to add some festiveness. It's working! I'm craving all things cinnamon and can't wait for our first bonfire. Maybe this weekend?

  I made these from fabric scraps and a straw wreath. A little wild. Kind of like my family.

 These wild yellow flowers are everywhere along the side of the road right now. I took advantage and grabbed a few :)

 My friend, Jenn, gave me this little dessert stand. Before painting it some fun color, I decided to use its natural warm wood color to add to the fall feeling in the dining room. Thanks Jenn! I love it.

 

 

 

 I promise I will stop the bunting madness soon...maybe. I can't help it. They are just so cute. I couldn't decide which scrap fabric to use so I just used all of them. Every "flag" is a different print.

 Pinterest and root beer bottles made this decor possible.

Happy Fall! I'm off to go buy some mums.

Boys' Room

During the summer, I worked on completing the boys' room. I wanted to make it a place that they would love, which essentially meant the room needed to be outfitted with dinosaurs, airplanes, and trains. Doesn't that sounds like a super cohesive "theme"? Eye yi yi. Good thing I have more of a random kind of style. I'm just now posting pictures because it took forever to get my husband to put up a different light fixture...and I forgot. 

We have white wooden blinds, but I lifted them to allow more light in for pictures. I hope our next home has white windows. I'm so over the blackish brown thing.

 Instead of going with a normal twin size bed, we opted for two toddler beds since Parker already had one and because we wanted them to share the smaller bedroom. Two twins would have been too big and I don't think either boy is ready for the top bunk. We picked up Graham's from Wal-mart for $60. There are cuter options out there, but I wanted quick and cheap. I'll probably paint them some fun color if and when I redo another room with them in it.

 I wanted to do a collage wall with art work from the boys, but Graham really hasn't done many things that are framable (no offense, G). I felt bad, so this week, he's been painting and coloring up a storm. I'll include his masterpieces soon.

  I let Parker pick photos (with my subtle guidance-lol) for his wall.

 I didn't really want to spend money on fabric not knowing how long we'll be here in this home, so I just used some scraps and ric rac to make a valence.

 The dresser is a funny story. If you would have driven down our road on a certain night about 5 months ago, you would have seen my husband dragging an ugly, banged up wooden dresser down the street. I was leaving the house to go to somewhere and saw one sitting on the side of the road. We needed a small dresser for the boys room and it looked to be the perfect size. I'm all about free or cheap, so I called David and told him to go check it out. He called back a few minutes later and said he had drug it to our home. I laughed picturing him going down the road with a piece of trashy furniture. I had to fix a few drawers with some screws, but I think it is adorable after getting sanded and painted. New hardware can work miracles.

 I got the knobs from Hobby Lobby for super cheap. I love them.

 I put up the rainbow to remind me that he knew "roygbiv" randomly at age three from reading a storm book. I couldn't believe he had taught himself the correct order. (It's actually in reverse, but hey....it's better than some adults.)

 Parker painted the watercolor "apple tree" right after turning three. I think it's beautiful.

 This is from his first year of preschool when he was learning to trace the letters.

 I used an old picture frame to make these monogrammed wall hangings. Spray painted burlap and rope can make some really cute art!

 

It's hard to believe that Graham is now the age Parker was in this picture.

 I saw this idea on Pinterest and thought it was the cutest idea ever!

 I found this old car-shaped cologne bottle at a thrift store a few months ago.

 Creepy little dinosaurs and metal plane ornaments just scream Parker and Graham.

 I ripped this page out of a storybook. Precious isn't it?

 I couldn't decide on a light, so I just grabbed a lantern from Home Goods and a pendant light fixture from Lowes. Not perfect, but much better than the flush fixtures that were originally put in the bedrooms. Trust me.

The bookshelves were made from screwed together crates.

 The train bunting is made from an old book and red striped flags. Parker really likes it and always wants to talk about the different trains in the pictures.

 The closet is a tight squeeze, but I added an extra shelf since their cloths are little and now there is plenty of room.

  We've spent a lot of time reading in that little corner.

 This antique rocker was left in our home when we bought it. I just gave it a new coat of paint and made a cushion for it.

 The boys' favorite part of their room is when I turn on the light at night. Parker says the shadows look like a spider web. Ew. I hate spiders, but I love their little room.

I think I need to address my bedroom next. It's a bit of a disaster. Winter project maybe?