Fun!

I honestly don't know how a couple weeks can fly by so quickly!  I feel like I post regularly and then I look and it's been like 13 days in between posts.  Sorry bout that!  I'm STILL working on getting the playroom finished up so I can reveal it to you!  We have done a couple little projects like spray painting shelves and what not, but I wanted to show you one of the fun things we did together!  All you need is a canvas, some crayons, and tacky glue.  Oh, and a hair dryer! :)

Glue the crayons down in whatever shape you would like on your canvas and give them time to dry. I am a little crazy and had to make sure all of the Crayola labels were facing up, but I really do think it makes it look neater.  We also chose to group our colors together, but you can do it completely random if you want.  Here is our heart!

Now for the fun part!! After your crayons are dried in place, lay down a large towel or sheet that you don't care about.  Do NOT, I repeat, do NOT skip this step!!  Melted crayon is going to fly all over your bathroom.  You will THINK that you can control where the wax goes, but somehow you'll find a drop of blue crayon on your husband's favorite suit hanging in the closet the next day.

Hold the canvas up and put the blow dryer close to a small group of crayons and hold it there until they begin to run.  We rotated the canvas as we worked our way around because I wanted them to all run out towards the end of the canvas, but I have seen people just make a straight line of crayons across the top and let them all run down.  That looks cool too.  Lay the canvas flat to dry.  It won't take long!  

She's so proud of our artwork for her new playroom!

I've been gathering large picture frames from thrift stores and yard sales, and just have to get them painted!  I'm working on an art wall for their art work, and it's taking a long time to get enough frames because it's a big wall.  I'm not someone that likes to give away little bits of the completed room...so you'll just have to wait! :)  I'll try not to disappear for 13 days again.

Like our project??  Do me a huge favor and Pin It!! I'm working to build my blog! :)

Summa Time!

Hello! Hope everyone is enjoying their summer!  We just got home from our 4th of July trip to the beach! It was a good time...but not the least bit relaxing!! Boy oh boy is it a lot of work taking 2 little ones to the beach!!!  Ben and I have spent the 4th at the beach since we were dating, and were determined to carry on our tradition.  It is exhausting with the kiddos, but fun none the less!  Here are a few snapshots of our trip!


Celebrating the 4th at the lake before we left

 We did lots of fun things at the beach!  One of them was making 2 batches of pudding and letting the kids play and paint with it!  You can imagine how that ended up!

We made these yummy treats for our 4th of July dinner!

Of course we enjoyed more fireworks!

And did lots of snuggling!  

I also attempted to take some pictures on the beach!  We got 1 decent family shot using the tripod after about 50 attempts....and then I realized my dear husband had his sunglasses on

It was a great trip, but we are glad to be home!! Audrey was very excited that she could cross off a few more things on our summer fun checklist!  

This is really random, but we were out running errands and saw this sign.  I love it!! Ben and I both thought it just belonged in our house!  

More to come soon!! I'm still working on an art wall in the playroom and then I'll show you some pictures! :)

If You Take a Kid To Target

One of Audrey's favorite books is If You Give a Cat a Cupcake.  I have recently written my own version of this cause and effect story.  Please enjoy.

If You Take a Kid To Target

If you take a kid to target, they are going to ask you for a toy.
You'll be strong and say "no" at first, but then you'll find yourself in the dollar aisle.

While your child picks their 1, 4, 7 toys, you'll also notice a few items you would enjoy.
They'll have pretty stationary, scrapbooking supplies, and oh so lovely bath salts.
This will remind you of all the things you once enjoyed that you no longer have time for, thanks to that precious child in the cart.

You'll wish for the 100th time that your house had just 1 safe "kid" room where you could place said child, so you could indulge in some writing, scrapbooking, or a most wonderful bubble bath.

You'll decide right then and there to finally make that kid room happen, and head through Target with a playroom plan.
You'll stock up on organizational bins, bookshelves, and then realize they don't have any that match your current paint color.

You'll have to take that child (and it's sibling) to Lowes, where you'll grab some paint, a new rug, and a few other "necessities."

You'll work for days until your feet are sore and you are covered in paint, all the while dreaming of those bath salts.  You'll wish you could pad the walls of that room, so the kids could really be completely safe and you could just disappear in that bath for a couple of hours.

During this time, your dear husband will decide to have a 4th of July party and invite 25 people to your house the day before you leave for the beach.

You'll paint, clean and organize, and then organize and clean some more.  You'll inspect your new playroom and be pleased at how neat and organized all the toys are.

Then you'll unveil the room to the kids and watch with a smile as they squeal at those toys like they are brand new.  You decide it's time for that bubble bath.

When you finally emerge from the tub, feeling sufficiently pruney and wonderful, you'll stroll in with your glass of wine in your robe to check on those sweet angels.

MASS CHAOS.  SHEER AND UTTER DESTRUCTION. TOYS EVERYWHERE. MARKER ON THE WALLS. FINGER PAINT ON THE FLOORS. BLUEBERRIES SMASHED IN THE RUG. BROKEN TOYS WITH BATTERIES THAT HAVE SUDDENLY VANISHED WITHOUT A TRACE.

Your child (children) will begin to cry hysterically because her princess mirror no longer lights up and tells her she is the prettiest girl of all because of those missing batteries.

You'll sigh in exhaustion, put on some clothes, and take that child to Target to get some batteries.

No toys this time.  Fo' real.


**Pictures to come  :)

Hey! I've been waiting a couple extra days to allow for anymore questions.  Please always feel free to ask if you have a question!


What is the history of your house? It looks like a much older home. Do you know who lived there before? Was it part of a farm?
Hey April, I am still working on learning all the history myself!! Several family members have told us some history, but a few of the stories contradict each other, so there are still some blanks!   You know how everyone seems to kind of remember things a little differently? :)  I wrote a little bit of what we've been told here.  I'll certainly post when I get some more information!!  I'm also really trying to get a hold of an original picture!!  If any family is reading this and has a picture of the original house, please let me know!! I'd love to frame one!!

What is the price comparison, do you think, to doing a fixer upper like you did, buying a move-in ready house, or building from scratch?
Well I am no expert, but I talked to my parents who are Realtors, (message me if you need help buying or selling a house in the area!! :) ) and they agree that the most economical option right now is probably new construction.  There are so many add ons and extras being included to make things sell, and you can get crazy amounts of square footage for the price right now!  Building from scratch can be a good option if you know exactly what you want and can STAY ON TOP OF YOUR BUILDER!!  I've heard so many stories of people who built a house and ended up taking a year or even longer to build! My parents built their dream home, but were able to go to the site every day to make sure people were showing up when they were supposed to. It took them 4 months and we moved in!

Fixing up a house can go either way.  I would say it depends on HOW MUCH fixing you have to do! LOL!  You can find some really great deals and I know we've all seen the "Flip That House" shows.  Yes, you can find a fixer upper for a good deal, but you can also end up spending far more money than you planned!! Be extra careful if you are dealing with an old house.  I have mentioned multiple times that our "budget" was blown after a few months! LOL!  There are so many things hidden in renovating and you can't do anything about it once you get to it.  Just like when we PLANNED to just add on upstairs and then ripped the roof off only to find that our porch was completely rotten and inches from falling off the house.  What can ya do?!  You have to fix it!  Always double your budget and be prepared! :)


I absolutely LOVE your home and adore your kitchen. We are getting ready to sell our first home and rent for a bit of time while we build our home. I was wondering about the bead board in the kitchen and the color of it, I love it. Is it what is used when doing wainscoting? Also, I love your kitchen table. Where did you get it from?
Thank you so much Nicole!!  Congrats on building!  The bead board in the kitchen can be purchased at Lowes or Home Depot!  It is sold a couple different ways and in different sizes, but we bought it by the sheet.  I believe it was 4ft by 8ft and was around $20.  I am obsessed with it and have used it all over the house!! It's very thin so it's easy to cut and put up.  We used an air gun and small finishing nails, but I have heard of people using liquid nails as well.  The kitchen paint is called "Rain" by Sherwin Williams.  The table came from a store called SouthEastern Salvage.  I wanted something rustic and really big and sturdy that will outlast us all.  I love naturally distressed wood that doesn't show kid dents and scratches! :)

Q & A and Requests!

Hello again friends!  I hope everyone is enjoying their summer!  I have been having "blog block" lately, as in, I have no idea what to blog about! LOL!  I have shown you the main projects that took place to get this house to where it is today.  Now, I want to know what YOU want to see.  Is there a spot in the house you are wondering about?  Need to know the name of a paint color I used?  Questions just about my family in general? (Nothing TOO personal of course!)  Is there a project you want me to explain?  Some of my favorite blogs have question and answer sessions and I always enjoy them, so I'm giving it a shot.  Someone PLEASE leave me at least 1 question or request so I don't feel like a loser! :)  Ask away!

Instagram Roll

I have a new obsession.  And as usual, I'm a little behind the trend.  Being stuck in a house with kids all week seems to have that effect! :)  Have you discovered Instagram?  I LOVE it!! It's the only way I take pictures now!  (For those of you who are REALLY sheltered and haven't yet heard of Instagram, it's an app used to take and edit pictures on your phone.)  It's easy to use, and I love how easy the editing is!  It makes me look like a photographer....which I certainly am not!  I figured today I would share some of my favorite Instagram pictures!  They're a little blurry from emailing and then blowing them up.  Give it a try if you haven't already!

Handsome boy

My Carolina girl at the marsh 

Lookin like his mama!

Snugglin my baby when he had a cold

Her favorite!

Princess Audrey Grace

At the beach

My lefty!

She has to hold my hand to fall asleep

It was a little muggy out!

They love bath time!

Well I have failed you all.  I promised an update yesterday, and I did not deliver.  My apologies.  But, I do have a very long post here today! :)  So much has happened in the past few weeks, so I figured we should take a look back.  So let's look, shall we?

Waaaay back on April 28th, this sweet boy turned 1.

It's hard for me to believe he has been with us for a whole year!! Here are just a couple of the 300 pictures I think I took at his party!

The very next day, that sweet boy's sweet daddy turned 27!  We took him out to Miyos for a yummy lunch.

A couple weeks later, we celebrated my 4th Mother's day!  What a precious day!

That brings us a little more up to date, when we went to the beach for the weekend.  We were there to celebrate mine and Ben's 5th wedding anniversary.  We treated each other to a nice surprise gift for each other.  I finally got him his own John Deere riding mower, and he got me the top band for my wedding ring set!  Unfortunately, we had awful weather at the beach, and it was cold and rainy the whole time!  We did take the kids out 1 morning just so they could play in the sand for 30 minutes or so.  

Can you see the tooth?!  It FINALLY broke through on his birthday!

And lastly, I always like coming home from a vacation, but this time was the best!  Why?  Because we came home to a *FiNiShEd* house!!!  My dad finished the roof while we were gone, and it looks incredible!!  Here is the finished product!!!

The front of our house before:

And the front shot NOW!!!!

Can you believe it's the same house?? We can't!!  In case you have lost track, we had an addition built, raised the pitch of the porch roof, added 2 more columns for support, and got a brand new roof!  I know I'm biased, but I just think it's the most beautiful sight!  

The side shots show the porch roof level really well.  It was almost completely flat before and held water really badly.  Now, it has a nice slant for the rain to run off, and it looks 10 times better because you can actually see the shingles!

Ahhhh, home sweet home.