Hall Bath Refresh

Our hall bathroom primarily serves as the kids bath. For the first 4+ years we lived in this home the walls remained the builders blah beige color.  We did little more than add a couple small fun art prints from Target and a striped shower curtain and called it good. Fast forward to my brother and sister-in-laws recent moving sale and this bath·tub plank art gave us the necessary push for a quick bath refresh. 

This could also read:

bath·tub

n. A vessel which receives overuse from one certain 3 year old toddler who takes up residence here multiple times in any given day

{no.lie! the child is bath obsessed}

Here is a quick view from the door straight ahead. 

The walls received a fresh coat of Behr Water Mark paint. 

I replaced the previous shower curtain with a simple white waffle weave that I scored somewhere along the way for $1. 

This white apothecary cabinet has been stored in our basement since the move in October 2009. I couldn't bring it upon myself to sell it and I'm so glad I didn't because it has found new life again.
Since taking these pictures I've since purchased new white hand towels and wash clothes to replace the previous creme & yellow colored ones. 

Our long term goals for this space are to replace the lighting & linoleum flooring as well as either add wainscoting or tile detailing on the walls. I'd also love to remove the mirror and replace with two separate beveled mirrors OR trim the mirror out similar to in our previous home. 

We replaced the previous over the door towel hooks with IKEA hooks we had on hand.

Note to self - Gabrielle needs a white hooded towel to match the others :)

{Yes, she is 9 and still uses her hooded towels. Read that as astronomical return on investment.} 

I bought several rug options from JCPenney but when I stumbled upon this set at Aldi for $9.99 I didn't blink an eye before returning the much more expensive options in place of the disposable affordable option.  

The last facelift I'd like for this bath is to receive is to paint the cabinetry. Our builder used very nice quality cabinets throughout the house but they are beginning to show water wear in this bath as evidenced by this photo. 

Embrace the Camera: March 27, 2014

Aunt Shari and GG came to visit over Spring Break. 

We visited Nelson Atkins Museum, did a little thrifting and shopping, s'mored whilst consuming adult beverages around the chimenea and enjoyed each others company. Oh did I mention we ate? A.lot! 

Aunt Shari and the girls gave each other manicures and pedicures but the real fun came later that evening when Shari colored my hair {it may or may not have turned out a tad on the reddish side eek!} and I convinced her to say goodbye to the mousey blond and hello to dark brown!

Office Overhaul

What started as a playroom overhaul led to me tackling our home office area.

This IKEA GLIS storage box is the culprit for my fit of organizational rage.

I had seen people using tackle boxes on Pinterest for battery storage so when the GLIS box was no longer in use in the playroom I grabbed it knowing it would be perfect for the job.

That simple 5 minute task of removing batteries from packaging and sorting by size led to this.

I really wish I had taken a before picture because although this picture is a hot mess of office supplies it was quite organized {in a not very appealing to the eye kind of way}. 

A quick trip to Dollar General and WalMart for the white storage baskets and drawers & an hour or less later and I had this.

Item Sources:

The fabric storage cubes were a garage sale find and were previously used to house puzzles and craft kits, the metal box is from my SIL and the two slim wicker baskets on the bottom shelf were purchased at Pier 1 Imports years ago. The multi colored mesh storage on the middle shelf are from IKEA and have been used and abused hard and have held up like new. 

 I printed out labels and ran them through my laminator before cutting and attaching with velcro.

This area in our kitchen packs a big punch with storage. 

It houses all our technology related disks and cords, vitamins and medications, flashlights & other miscellaneous items in the far left; batteries, camera and video equipment & bill related info in the middle and a large assortment of office supplies on the far right. 

Embrace The Camera: March 2014

It's been too long since I've been intentional about getting IN the picture with my littles. I resolve to make a better effort of doing so this year.

Little Miss momma assisting in bottle feeding Makayla {and hamming it up for the camera}. 

My sweet babes on Valentine's day.

Life is a beautiful mess with these three but is full of love because of them!

I soaked in every.last.second of this cuddle season with my baby girl. I wasn't ready to let her go when she let loose. She's growing leaps and bounds right in front of our eyes and is no longer our tiny little love. She still asks us to "Hold you me" on a regular basis and insists on her nightly cuddle seasons with her Daddy which melts us both. Thank-you Ms. G for confiscating mommy's phone to take this picture :)

Valentine's

February 

The shortest month of the year

The month my niece celebrated her 21st birthday

also the month we celebrate Valentine's Day

A fellow blogger refers to it as Lover's Holiday which I think is charming 

I can thank all the recent snow days we've had for my creative crafting spark being lit

We dedicated some time the weekend prior to Lover's Holiday creating Valentine's boxes and Valentine's for the bigs classroom parties

We 100% lifted (that's a craft term for any non-crafters that may read this post) the ideas from the www and Pinterest

We used an empty cereal box for the body of Gabrielle's owl then recycled some crepe paper streamers I had sewn for previous party decor to create its feathers, corrugated card stock for the eyes and feet and an over abundance of hot glue to attach everything

What can I say? Girlfriend {Gabi} worked the glue gun like a boss

We confiscated Papa and Mema's oatmeal cylinder for Dawson's shark

We wrapped the cylinder in aluminum foil (I would have loved to use silver wrapping paper but used what we had on hand) and simply cut slits to insert the fins & tail

Travis free handed the body parts and cut them from craft foam

I honestly can't recall where I stumbled upon this free printable Valentine but just did a google search and found it here

I give this quick valentine exchange a big thumbs up for cost, ease and cuteness

Valentine day was spent celebrating with my 3 favorite little peeps

As we were heading out for a full day of activities, we were surprised with a super fun love package from Lynee, Micah and Makayla

She knows the way to our hearts is straight access through our sweet tooth!!

I tweaked our mantel a bit this year by removing the glass hurricane candy holders from the black candle bases and replaced them with tin mailboxes I picked up at Target a few years back

I added the La La Love You print from the girls 2012 birthday decor to a fun magnetic board we received from Aunt Linda

I anchored the left side of the mantel with a feather heart wreath

And everyone's favorite new addition is this adorable red and pink dachshund 

She fits right in with our dachsie lovin' family!

Dance for the Lord

This song has really been ministering to me

"I Want to Know You"

Jesus Culture

(YouTube video found here)

I stand before You, awed by Your majesty
Covered by Your mercy, Your blood has made me free
Draw me to You and set my heart on fire
I want to know You, You're my one desire

I give You my worship
All of my passion
I give You my whole heart
All my devotion

Grace never ending, Your hands they carry me
Body that was broken, for all the world to see
My heart is held by love so unconditional
You captivate me, You're the lover of my soul

I give You my worship
All of my passion
I give You my whole heart
All my devotion

Here I will bow down
And say that I need You
Here I will worship
And say that I love You

Oh how I love you
Oh how I love you

I want to know You
Let Your spirit overwhelm me
Let Your presence overtake my heart

McKenna Jane worshipping the Lord with dancing 

Psalms 149:3 Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with tambourine and harp.

I-Click

It's seems like months have passed since I last visited the blog when in fact it has been several loooong weeks. Rather than one long exhaustive post I will provide a brief update in the form of life captured through the lens of my iPhone.

The entire 3rd grade class at Meadow Lane participated in a wax museum in late January. Each student chose a famous person {past or present} and did extensive research on their lives. They then wrote a narrative which they presented to fellow students, staff and parents at the wax museum. Gabrielle choose Carrie Underwood and thoroughly enjoyed learning the little details of her life as well as dressing the part :)

I'm sporting specs again. I began wearing glasses in the 2nd grade and graduated to contacts in the 7th grade. I despised wearing glasses in my early adult life. Picture Coke bottle lenses - not.even.lying! Fast forward to late 1999 when I met Travis and that sweet man paid $4100 cold hard cash to have LASIK surgery performed on my eyes (before we were engaged or married holla!). My specialist suggested at my recent visit that I wear glasses driving at night and/or reading to improve the clouded vision resulting from my vitreous detachment that I shared about here. What a difference they make! I went cheap and a little on the trendy side in choosing my frames.

This is a glimpse into our playroom on any given day we entertain "extra" kiddos in our home. I would absolutely be a fraud if I didn't say that just looking at this picture gives me the jitters BUT I will gladly take the messes when it means my kiddos are living it up with their friends enjoying free imaginative play. You have to look really close but McKenna and Buggie (Ellaina) are hiding under the table.

For the <3 class="goog-spellcheck-word" of="" span="" style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Legos
. Dawson loves Legos. I love that D loves Legos. Truth be told, I love Legosso when Legos began taking over his bedroom and his existing shelf was overflowing with completed and 1/2 completed projects I asked Travis to cut, stain and install a 2nd much larger shelf. I realize this is one tiny corner of it, but it is functioning oh so well! I'm also over the moon happy with how the Lego Manual I created turned out.

This wee one has me at hello (remember Jerry Maguire circa 1996?) each and every morning. What is it with our last babes? I can't/won't/refuse to let her grow up!

Travis saw his surgeon for his 10 week post operative appointment February 19th. His surgeon harassed Travis that he was smuggling a golf ball in there. We laughed, but seriously this picture brings the term cankles to a whole new level!

 I'll wrap up with our little man representin' on our family date night last Friday. #PowerGen!