New Years Eve Photo booth fun

Our oldest Landon, is finally at that magical age where we let our kids stay up to ring in the New year.

We decided that when our kids turn 8 they would be able to stay up till 12 with us playing games and having fun. I think each kid should have some one on one time with mom and dad every now and then. When you have 4 kids its really hard to have time with only one kid with both Noah and me. We do one on one dates with our kids where I will take one out or Noah will take one out but its much more difficult to go out with the 3 of us. 

So we try to let one kid stay up later then the rest one day each week so that they have some one on one time with us. I was super excited that Landon got to stay up this year with us.

We were planning on going to our Neighbors house to play games because my mom was here and could stay with the sleeping kids, but Aowyn started running a really high fever and was having a rough night, so we decided to stay home. (I really hope that she didn't get the flu that her brothers had. That junk took over our house during the holidays.)

We started out the night trying to take some pictures.

It was my "I want a photo to remember our night" attempt, but these two sillies of mine refused to take a "normal" picture.

I quickly realized that my "want" to have a normal picture was ridiculous... we are far from normal so why lie and take a normal picture? Haha! Am I right?

Noah got the bright idea to mess with Photo Booth and thus the silliness really began.

I was seriously laughing so hard I had to hold my legs together and run to the bathroom.

I may or may not have peed in my pants a little.... lets just go with may not..... mkay?

I think our noses look pretty sweet!

I'm sad that's not how we really look, it would definitely keep life interesting

My mom said that Noah looked like that guy from Men in Black when his head get shot off and starts to grow back.

Rolling on the floor laughing....

Now Noah's rocking the Megamind head and I look like a deranged vampire (aren't they all) who can dislocate her jaw, ready for some Megamind blue blood.

Oh the brows.

Noah's got brows for days and I look like I belong on one of those Facebook "These girls need some eyebrow help" pages.

Now I'm channeling my inner Puss in Boots.

Aowyn saw the picture this morning and said "You so sad!" Hahahaha

When we were all done we played Disney's Twilight Zone Tower of Terror Clue and Headbanz while we ate Peanut M&Ms, homemade salsa and homemade onion dip.

We rang in the New Year with our family favorite, Cran/Apple Sparkling Cider and watched a few fireworks out our back window.

Now its time to celebrate New Years day with some great food and College Football Playoffs.

ROLL TIDE! RAMMER JAMMER YELLOW HAMMER!

LET THE STAMPEDE BEGIN.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2015 is looking bright.

Texting my sweetheart

It may sound silly but I miss Noah when he is at work. I love when he has some time off and we can just be together as a family. I am grateful that he works so hard but not getting to see him for 8-10 hours a day makes me miss him something terrible. 

He is an Air Traffic Controller and doesn't really have a lot of time to talk or text but he can check his texts so I started texting him pictures of me and letting him know how I was doing that day.

Sometimes they are just a picture of me with a "my day is going great, how about yours?"

And sometimes they are crazy or silly faces letting him know that I was officially about to lose my mind with our kids.

He says it always makes him smile and he misses the picture texts on the days I don't send them.

I think it helps us stay strong as a couple when we are talking through out the day and letting each other know how we are doing. We will have been married 9 years at the beginning of March and I am grateful for how far we have come as a couple during that time.

This particular day I thought I was going to have to be admitted to the looney bin. I think the kids pulled every trick in the book to drive me batty.

This day I had to take all the kids with me to go shopping... I told him to wish me luck!

He was having a rough day so I sent him a big sloppy kiss from me.

He had texted me that he was going crazy worrying about me (I was having a bad Graves episode and had to go to the doctor.) and wanted to see my pretty face. I sent him this picture and told him it would have to do.

He texted me and told me might have to work late and would I survive till he got home?

He said he wanted to just start yelling at some people (this is totally not like him) so I sent him this picture to cheer him up and calm him down and hopefully make him laugh.

I was stuck in a major traffic jam and was going to be getting home super late.

 I was gone for a girls weekend and he said that he was already frustrated by the kids.

This was my response.

The longer you are married the crazier you get, I think! 

I so glad to be going crazy with my sweetheart.

Home Tour

Ive had a couple of friends ask for a tour of my home, so here it is.

I am not a great photographer either so excuse my lack of talent.

We live in a military house that does not allow us to paint on the walls or change out any of the features of the home. I honestly cried when they told us we could not paint. I literally already had all the paint colors picked out. I can't wait to own a house again that I can do with it what I please.

Several things have been changed since these pictures were took.

I will have to go through and take some new pictures and add them in (when I have time.)

This is the entry way into our home that looks into the Living room.

This is the sight you see when you look down the hall from the front door.

This left side wall has been added too.

As I find new J's I add them to the wall and we also have a coat and backpack rack on the wall now too.

The living room.
The yellow chair is one of my most favorite thrift store finds. I bought some legs and painted them white and I plan on adding them to the base of the chair, but I need to reinforce it with some wood and have not gotten to that yet.
Noah hates the chair, I think he secretly (or maybe not so secretly) wants it to disappear. 

I have made almost all of our pillow covers and bought the pillow forms at IKEA.

I love being able to change out pillow covers for all the holidays and I now have a complete set for Thanksgiving, Halloween and Christmas.

I call the collage wall, the w-all about us. (yeah I know Im a dork).

Everything on the wall tells you something about our family or the people in it.

I will have to post pictures and tell you ALL about us.
(Here is a link to a post I did about this same wall in our last house. Not everything from that wall is on this wall, and vice versa, but it will give you a general idea.)

The black and turquoise coffee table is painted with chalkboard paint.

I love that the kids can just sit down and go to town coloring pictures on it.
I saw a wall of mirrors on pinterest and LOVED it so much I wanted to find a way to it in my home. This little section of wall in the living room will have to do until I get my dream home.

The front entry way has changed quite a bit since these pictures were taken.

This picture was taken in the middle of the ALABAMA college football season. 

The door directly in the middle is to the coat closet and the right side door is the downstairs half bathroom, which is all sorts of decked out in Alabama stuff (what can I say, we love our college football.)
This area has been the hardest area for me to decorate. I have a few ideas but haven't found the pieces I want for it yet. I like it much better now then I did when this picture was taken, but its still a work in progress.

This whole area is different right now, I will have to take a new picture and post it.

I also want to paint the table an antiqued white, but I have not gotten around to that yet.

This is the right side of the hallway leading to the back of the house.

This is the family room and serves a dual purpose as it is also our play room.

 And it has also gone through a few changes. I will post new pictures soon. 

The dresser is no longer there, and I have a wall of chalkboard frames as well as a lot of new decorating pieces on the book shelves and the toy shelf.

The toy shelf is the IKEA shelf with the black and white bins on it.
I have seen changed out all the bins to black and white only as well. 

This is by far my favorite room in the house.

I was so excited when I found the fabric to make my curtains.

It was exactly what I wanted and was one major sale, I always love it when I can save some money.

The piano was my birthday present from my sweet husband.

I am so excited that Landon is taking piano lessons now.

I have added a few new throw pillows to the couch and changed out a lot of the book shelf decor, due to the fact that I have acquired so many new books.

The dining room is directly across from the family room and is so bright and cheery.

I love having a big window that brings in so much light.

The kitchen has also had several changes made.

I am still not in love with it but am having fun finding new things to add.

This is the kids bathroom upstairs.

We have an open space upstairs where I keep all my crafting stuff hidden away.

I LOVE the color pink so of course I had to have a pink and girly master bedroom.

Don't worry I got the go ahead from my sweet hubby before I went all girly in the room.

Every piece of furniture in our Master bedroom I have bought second hand and redone myself.

All labors of love and all well worth it.

I want a new bed frame because this one is just not cutting it for me anymore, but that will have to wait till we move.

The white night stand is mine and the brown one is Noahs.

These have now switched sides because we have switched sides of the bed.

My dad brought me my hope chest (at the foot of my bed) back from a TDY he had to Turkey when I was a little girl.
I have an idea for what I want to do above our lamps on the wall on either side of our bed but I have not found the perfect thing yet.
Ive been very patient when it comes to decorating and I wait until I find exactly the thing I want before I buy it. I have wasted too much money over the years buying things I don't love simply because I like them and feel like I could find a place for them.
I have been much happier when I have waited to buy what I love.
I am not a patient person.

I have big plans for this wall space.

I want a vanity but I have not found the perfect one yet, so this will have to do till I find what I want.

I bet the dirty laundry is your favorite part of the room, right?

Master bathroom.

I made the mirror out of a door that was taken from a house fire. I cleaned it up and then roughed up the already rough edges and added a framed in mirror that I bought at the DI.

The knob I bought at Hobby Lobby for 1/2 off.

I made the curtains as well.

I love going to antique shops and collecting pieces.

My room is full of things I have found on my journeys.

I feel like our master bedroom is never done because I keep adding and changing things as I find them. So its always a work in progress.

Braddocs room also doubles as his therapy room from his Sensory Processing Disorder.

Since these pictures were taken he has had another swing added and a few changes made to his wall decorations.

Landon and Tayton share a room and Landon wanted it to be an old classic American style room.

He said he wanted it to be like route 66 from the Cars movie.

I have had a blast collecting things for this room.

Several things have been added including a book shelf because Landon has collected a ton of books himself.

I have been collecting old records to go on the wall above the window.

I am not big on having cutesy bed spreads and sheets. 

I like that my kids have the sheets they like and blankets that people have made for them, as well as their 5000 stuffed animals. I want them to be cozy and enjoy their space.

Their dresser was mine when I was a little girl and the lego table was my nightstand from when I was little that I refinished into a lego table.

Aowyns room has been so fun for me to do.

Several things have been added and changed since these pictures, but not a lot.

I have bought second hand and refinished every thing in Aowyns room except for her bed.

I have loved how each one has turned out.

I also made her curtains.

The black out liner is pink and I need to get a white one so that the pink doesn't shine through so much.

Her shelf is mostly things from my grandmothers, or my childhood and things people have made for her. We have added several things to her hutch and I love watching it get filled up with precious memories.

 More dining room

Landon and Braddoc have a section of wall and Tayton and Aowyn have a section of the wall.

I love looking at the pictures and seeing how much each one of my babies has grown.

Of course outside of our house looks very different now.

Its all full of snow!!! 

I can officially say Im ready to be done with snow.

Hope you enjoyed my home tour.

I will post updated pictures soon.