Third Grade economics fair

 Isabelle participated in the third grade economics fair.  Each third grader needs to come up with a business proposal to sell their "product".  She chose to do a deep conditioning hair mask.  I urged her to do this so that we could get rid of some coconut oil that I had in food storage.  It worked out really well.  The children from the rest of the grades get to "shop" and purchase products.  They use these for Christmas gifts a lot of the time.  Charlie decided that she liked the goldfish from one of the booths and spent all her money on it.  I thought that Hector would die within a couple of weeks, but he's still swimming around!

Small Change....big results

Have you ever wanted to make some changes in your home, but don't have the funds?  Well, each paycheck you can buy a couple of heat vents and replace those cheapy ones that are all rusted out.  These are from Lowe's and were $11.97 each.

Christmas lights!!

Chad and I love to decorate our home with Christmas lights.  I don't know why I couldn't get a good picture.  So, here is a blurry one and a dark one.  We love being the temple square of Clinton.

Mommy's little helper

I  went outside to do some chores and peeked around the corner to see Ava raking leaves.  She saw the camera and started to pose.  I wanted to try and catch her in the act, but my girls can sense a camera!

A gift from a friend.

One of my best friends just had a baby.  We were discussing how I have no sisters and haven't been able to see a baby be born.  I've been through it four times, but never from the other end!  She was gracious enough to invite me to see her child enter this world.  She was so brave and strong.  I was amazed at the beautiful experience that birth is.  These little angels are so pure and the sacrifice that a mother goes through to bring them here is heroic!  Thanks again, friend for letting me be there.  Love you!

Halloween 2011

We loved going to the pumpkin walk in Syracuse this year.  Here are some of our favorite carvings.

Summer pics of Girls....better late than never!

Happy Halloween!

Backyard fence addition.

This was the only image I could find of the back fence. Sorry. The back fence had not trees and just a few plants. I did a major rehall this spring and summer. I added trees, bushes, climbing flowers and vines. I think it turned out good! Oh, ya. I added privacy screens. I wanted to do vinyl but then my yard would look so small. I like the view but we have NO privacy with the walking path behind us.

Computer Chair makeover unvieled

Here is my D.I. find unvieled!

Computer Chair Makeover

I started by purchasing an $8 lazy boy computer chair from the D.I.

I took of the bottom of the chair and noticed all the "BOOGERS"!!

I then snapped off the back of the back rest.

I first sanded the metal and then primed the bottom feet of the chair. I then spray painted it with a bronzed black.

Lastly, I covered the old chair with new fabric. It matches my new curtains in my kitchen. I used a regular staple gun for this.

Stay tuned for the finished project.

Chuck E Cheese

We went to Chuck E Cheese the week before school started. We went with the intention of visiting my grandfather whose health is failing. But it was obvious he didn't want us there. At least my kids saw him just in case he passes soon. I also had a groupon to Chuck E Cheese. Now, I know that most people are thinking how "ghetto." But, the Orem location is the BOMB! It was immaculate, even the bathrooms! The employees were kind and helpful. It was amazing. So, if you hate the Layton location....just drive an hour down south.

Hanging pendant lights

One upgrade I regret not doing was pendant lights above our center island. But, you know how those upgrades add up. I created my own pendant lights by purchasing a pendant light that I wanted. I got this one from Lowe's.




I then purchased a recessed light converter kit. This I also got from Lowe's. You unscrew the light from your recessed light and screw in the converter. I combined both of these to get this look.

Dining room revealed!

I finished the painting but took a little while getting everything else organized.

-The paint color is Bennington Grey from Benjamin Moore's Pottery Barn line.
I took apart the kitchen table thinking I wanted to stain it a dark walnut to match the shelf I made. It was a complete mess. Chad convinced me to leave it as it matches with the color scheme. He's just tired of projects! I removed the leaf to make it smaller and to let it be more centered in the room. I put my D.I. chairs around the table and moved the bench to the back of the table.

-I put a new rug under the table. It's an indoor/outdoor rug from Lowe's.

The fabric for the curtains I got from Hobby Lobby. I can sew a strait line, so I made panel curtains. The beautiful chandelier is inspired by this one from Pottery Barn.

I couldn't afford the $300 price tag, so I started searching. I found a seller on KSL who had waited too long to return his similar chandelier to the store. I scored my imitation for $100. I added a cord cover from Hobby Lobby.

We enjoy dinners around the table and have become much closer as we talk about our day.

Lagoon 2011

 

Kitchen backsplash

I found this great new product called Bondera. Instead of having to use mastic to stick up wall tiles you can cut and fit the bondera to the wall by taking off the plastic protectant.




When you're ready to put the tile up you pull the protective plastic off the other side of the Bondera and throw the tile on the wall.


After the tile is placed then you can grout. Stay tuned for the finished project!