The Boy's (Blue & Orange & Outer Space with Bunk Beds) Room

Sorry for the large break in posting on here.  I blame by perfectionism/procrastination.  I have been wanting to post some of the decorating progress in my home, but I haven't wanted to post anything because I have not fully (to my expectations) completed anything.  Well, I am learning that that may take a while so I figure I will show you what I have gotten accomplished.  The boys room took me a long time to decide what to do.  I asked the boys what they wanted and Hunter told me blue walls and a rocket ship and all the planets painted on his walls.  Hayden said no blue, he wanted orange.  Well, we had to compromise.  Here is what we came up with.  I still have some projects that I would like to do, I'll leave you in suspense, but here is what the boys room looks like right now.

Well, I tried to use what we had.  I loved the green book shelf and dresser from the "cowboy nursery" from our old  house.   I thought it looked really good with the other colors and was very excited it could be reused.  I also reused the stars from that room and painted them orange along with the frames.  

The boys also got their very requested bunk beds, which they really had no choice about since we are putting 3 boys in  one room.  

I got all the great pictures from this book which was inspired from here.

I have also been waiting for about 4 years to hang my clip boards on the wall.

So, not the best picture but here is the set up with the crib.  I was going to make bedding for the crib, but decided it won't be in there long.  Like I said, its not quite done, but looks alot better than it did.  That's for sure!!!

Organizing the Playroom...

So one of the first projects that we did in our new home was to get the playroom somewhat organized; which, understand, is a constant work in progress...We pulled this room together with things we already had, which made it pretty easy to do, and inexpensive.  It all started with our old media cabinet.  It was to big for our new space so we figured it would make a great toy cabinet.  It is still going to be painted white, but that will come with time.  For now it is housing a lot of toys large and small.  I will show pictures of the inside of the cabinet in a future post as it is also still a work in progress.  I find we have to live with things a while to see how to best organize them rather than do and redoing over and over.  We also re-purposed the white shelves.  They were left in the boys room when we moved and we didn't really care for their placement, so we thought they would be perfect for more storage and it makes the toys look a bit like art, if that is possible for toys.   I also had to put a sitting area in the room.  I had these wing chairs and thought they would work well.  I love it for reading and it is a great place to sit and just watch the boys play.  I also think it helps the room not just look like a big toy room.  
This shelf is one that was used in our old playroom along with the baskets.  I also will be painting this shelf white, but it works for now.  I tried to keep this room bright, colorful and fun.  It was an adjustment having the play room on the main floor.  In our old home it was in the basement.  But it has been nice as they enjoy going in there and playing and having it set up this way it is also easy for them to clean up, which is nice for me...

Here is the way the room looked before we moved in.  I think with the new paint color, white curtains and other changes we have made, it has really brightened up the room and it is working for our family and making it feel like our home.

It is a stormy day today so it sounds good to curl up right here with a good book and listen to the rain...well, maybe I'll curl up with 3 boys and a good book instead...

A Super Spider-Man Birthday Party

So I had the pleasure of putting together this Super Spider-Man Birthday party for my, now,  4 year old.  This is my 11th party I have had for one of my boys.  Hard to believe.  This one was fun, but man; I hope I never have to work with red fondant ever again!!!  My cake didn't turn out quite how I was hoping, but the boys all loved it and that is truly what matters! 

We had to include lost of sweets.  I can't have a birthday party for this boy without jelly beans.

I went with very simple, but super, snacks.  

This was a fun project.  I'm not a huge fan of goody bags, but I do like to send the kids home with something.  Usually it is a sugar cookie.  To the sugar cookies I added super hero capes.  They seemed to be a big hit with all of them.  They were easy to make too.  Well, I made them easy anyhow.  I was by no means going for perfection, that's for sure.

Here is how I made them:

I cut fabric in a half circle then the circle in half.  To get a good half circle I tied a marker to a string and held it at one end then made the circle (kind of like a compass).  After cutting them and then cutting them in half I did the same thing making a smaller half circle at the top and cutting that out.  If you feel inclined, this is when you could hem the fabric.  I skipped this step.  It just didn't seem worth it for 14 capes that would probably be ruined faster than the time it took me to make them.  At this point, I sewed on a ribbon at the top and then used fabric tape to tape hook and loop so they would be safe and easy to put on and off.  This kids enjoyed this and my 3 boys have enjoyed running around the house after each other in them!

These are the invitations that I made.  I only wish that I had this picture before I made them...oh well, what are you gonna do!

The weather was so beautiful we spent alot of time out in the yard and they kids enjoyed doing an super hero training course.

We had a super time, that's for sure!!! 

CaKe ANyOnE?

Sorry I haven't posted in a while.  I've been working on Birthday Party things and other fun stuff...Anyhow, this was the first year that my oldest didn't have a big family birthday.  He had a couple friends stay the night, but I still had to make him a cake and this was his choice.  A Monster cake.  I was happy with how it turned out.  I love making cakes for my boys birthday's.  

Here are all the cakes I have made in the years past...

6 year old wants a Monster Cake
I got my inspiration here

One year Old in a Flash

Train Birthday for a 3 year old

5 Year Old Dinosaur

Barn Yard for a 2 year old
my inspiration

4 Year Old Retro Cowboy

Cute as a Bug 1 year old

Noddy for a 3 Year Old

Train in a Tunnel for a 2 year old

A Monkey Birthday for a 1 year old
My Inspiration 

I CANNOT believe I have made this many cakes or that I have a 6 year old.  I can remember making this Monkey cake like it was yesterday, not 5 years ago.

Well, if you have a birthday coming up, hope you have a fun cake to celebrate with.  And if you have to make a cake for someones birthday, hope this give you some inspiration!!!

Training Up Children

One major thing that has been on my heart lately, well, really for over 6 years now - how to raise up children who truly love the Lord.  I know, even in this question, I have to trust God that he will reveal Himself to them, but I also know what Proverbs 22:6 says...

Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it. (NASB)

So how do I do this???
Sorry, this post is not going to answer that question, but hopefully give some encouragement.  I'm going to tell you about my 5 year old (soon to be 6...I have to add) and the encouragement he has been to me in this major quest.

For a few years now, I have felt that God was working in the heart of our little guy.  I could see things clicking, as much as they could for a child his age, in his understanding of God's plan of salvation.  I will never forget reading the Disney version of the Christmas Carol (in the summer, might I add) with him and he being so worried about being like Jacob Marley (in chains forever).  He understood that he was not always good (that he sinned)  and that he needed help.  Well, that was about 2 years ago and as I have watched him grow in understanding it has been so exciting.  We do Awana and he learns all his verses and listens to Bible stories and attends Sunday School and Children's Church.  But I was wanting to make studying God's word, more of everyday thing in our home with the boys, especially, the oldest.  Getting into that routine and knowing what and how to study with children so young was challenging for me, but what kick started it was Christmas.

I really try hard to make sure the boys truly understand Christmas for what it really is and not just for all the gifts, etc...  Don't get me wrong.  I LOVE Christmas.  I enjoy it and most of what goes with it, but most importantly, it's remembering that it is about Jesus coming to earth FOR US.  I am guilty of falling into the trap of commercialism, but I wanted to try my hardest to teach the kids the truths of Christmas.  So I did a daily bible study with them and we read from the "real" bible, not a children's bible and then we would discuss it.  (I'm not going to go into detail on this now, if you wand more information I posted it on my family blog site with each daily activity.)  My oldest loved this and just ate it up.  He wanted to know more every day.  He actually asked, so what will we be studying in January?  So it began, in January we studied prayer.  I did not do anything real formal.  We would just get out my bible and read what it had to say about prayer and then discuss what we felt God was trying to teach us.  No rocket science and because I'm teaching a 5 year old I didn't feel like I had to be a theologian.  Again, he asked, so what are we studying in February, "I really want to learn about Love"?  Well, I said, that sounds like a good topic for February.  And so we are currently studying what the Bible says about love (Song of Solomon excluded).

He is just drinking in God's Word and what it has to teach him.  I can see what he is learning, playing out in his life and attitude.  He wants to get out and tell others about Christ and desires to continue to grow and learn.

He asked for a bible like mine for his Birthday, which is coming up next month.  What a joy it is to see God grab a hold of a 5 year old's heart.

I have been shown so many things through this experience...

• Trust God, he can do amazing things
• Do depend on your own capabilities, let God take care of the details, just do what He has told us to do 
• I am reminded of the feeling of joy when I first understood God's plan of Salvation and the desire I had to read and learn more and more...and why do I not ALWAYS have that joy.  His truth hasn't changed!
• Pray, PRAY and continue to PRAY!!!
• Study His word so I can continue to learn what He wants from me
• Have discussions with my children...it's amazing what God can teach me though them!!!