Done and Doner

Wall sconces hung...check!
Cabinets painted...check!
Even for all of Bret's worry, I went ahead and painted the cabinets and I am impressed with my handy work! It was easier than I thought it would be but veeeery time consuming (especially with the little ones crawling around). But I did it and it's done and I love, love, love it! Here are the pictures (just imagine the cabinets with black knobs and bin pulls-manufique!) And pay no attention to the messy counters. Thanks a bunch for the help on priming, Kenj! And staining! And thanks for help on staining, too, Kayleen! I owe you both!

Yellow No More

I've finally done it! I've been wanting to paint over all of the yellow in my house for about a year now. I just haven't known what color to paint it. Then I saw a blue on a decorating blog that I loved!! So I found the closest Wal-mart brand that I could and I ran with it! I forgot to get a before shot, but here's the after:
A BIG thank you to Mom and Kendra for helping me paint! I know how much you both love it! The project for this week (hopefully) is to paint the cupboards a cream color like the sign above the window.

The brown bagging also went bye-bye in the front room. Moment of silence. That was a difficult decision but it came down to not being able to paint along the edge of it. It was also looking quite nasty in the front window from kids' grubby little paws.

Unfortunately this has made me realize how little color I have on my walls and it pretty much necessitates drapes in the front room in the not too distant future (and maybe a tree in that there corner). Your two cents on a good color would be much appreciated (I'm thinking chocolate, but that could just be my stomach talking).

I've also rid my hallway of this eye sore!
I have hated these wall sconces from the day we moved in. I've ordered some online and am anxiously awaiting their arrival (a really early birthday gift to myself)!

I'm thinking for the future of ridding myself of this other eye sore:

Pottery Barn has a lot cuter track lighting that I'll be needing to check out soon (Rose, keep those contacts).

I have more big plans for the kitchen as well (as the money trickles in...maybe next year?). I want to tear out the island and get one with casters and a concrete counter top...anyone handy with the lumber who would be willing to build this for me (personally, I think if Bret loves me enough, he'll do this for me).

And one day a white tile backsplash! This may happen sooner than later because I can't get it out of my head.

I can imagine Bret is just seeing dollar signs rolling out of our bank account right now! But don't worry, dear, all in good time.

Sleeping on the Job

Don't feel sad, Kristin.

The laundry basket is probably much more comfortable than her crib.

MULTITASKING

This is Mabel's latest thing. If she's got her fingers in her mouth, she's got a finger up the nose.

Birthday. Happy Birthday. To Agent 006.

Thursday was Aiden's OFFICIAL birthday! My big boy is six. Gosh, I can't believe in two more years he'll be getting baptized! Anywho, we celebrated with a secret agent birthday party last night! The kids seemed to have a lot of fun. In fact, I know Shelby did! She said, "THIS IS THE BEST BIRTHDAY PARTY EVER!" about twenty times. Don't make me blush, Shelby!

I started by creating official "Federal Birthday Bureau" badges for them to wear. They were finger printed, then they collected their Secret agent tools, a.k.a. a notebook and handcuffs.

We had a super secret meeting for the brain trust where the identities of the Birthday Bandits were revealed. I had taken pictures of my family who had agreed to help. We gave them bandit names and gave a clue as to where they would be hiding at Wal-mart. The kids took notes and decided where they thought they would be. Here they are mulling over the evidence:

Then we headed to Wal-mart to catch the gang.

The kids decided to break into two teams. The boys +Tyla, supervised by Bret and Neighbor Mike, searched for Stinky Sam (Todd), Klepto Clyde (John), And Granny Grafiti (Grandma Chloe). The girls, supervised by me and Grandma Yellow, searched for Counterfeit Christy, (Christina), Burglary Bonnie (Rose), and Kidnapping Kari (Kendra) with Chunky Charlie (baby Ev).

I was a little nervous about all this, but the kids were awesome at Wal-mart! They were quiet and didn't get out of hand!

After nabbing the perps, we headed back to our house for cake and ice cream.

But the now seasoned Agents had one more mission: Find the cupcakes in 5 minutes. Let's just say it was a piece of cake for the old vets!

Aiden opened his gifts and received everything his little heart desired!

A BIG thank you to Grandma Yellow for making the cake and cupcakes while I was otherwise occupied! That was a huge burden off of me. And thank you for making them so stinkin' cute! My idea was going to be kind of lame and I kept drawing a blank on what to do! Aiden's head is kinda in the way, but it says "Happy 6th Birthday Special Agent Aiden 006" written backwards! Too cute!

Also, another BIG thank you to all of the bandits! I appreciate you taking time out of your Friday night to make your nephew's/grandson's birthday special! We obviously couldn't have done it without you!

The world can rest easy now that the birthday bandits are off the streets!

Aaaand still not walking.

Mabel refuses to walk. That's right, you heard me. NO INTEREST WHATSOEVER. Even when we try to help her, "Eh, no thanks, I'll crawl." Bret and I tried to get her to walk between us and she was SUCH a DRAMA QUEEN!

Here she is just after a fit. While I went to grab the camera Bret picked her up to love on her and make everything okay. All smiles now with a few remnants of tears.

So we tried again...

And let go...

Plop! Threw herself right to the ground!

Oh the drama from this girl. She's got a career in acting!

"And again, from the top!"

A plea to Mabel: "Please start walking! I don't need a constant reminder of how dirty my floors are!"

School Days

Yesterday was Aiden's first day of school! Toward the end of the summer, he was actually starting to get excited about it, so that was a pleasant change. Here's a picture from the big day!


We didn't get a lot of information from him, since getting information out of him about school is like pulling teeth. Well, maybe not his teeth. They just fall right out! Here's what we did get:

-He made a paper hat and colored it. But he didn't get to finish it.
-He had PE but didn't go in the field, that's for bigger kids.
-He likes Mrs. Lambeth as much as he liked Ms. Hardy.
-All the girls in his class are pretty, except one, because she dresses funny. She has princesses on her shirt. But he's still nice to her.



And here's a picture with Grayson (with his pants on backwards. Consider youself lucky he's even dressed!). Grayson wanted to stay at school with Aiden. This should be fun for the next 3 years!