CRACK!

Last week was a fundraiser for school at the local roller skating rink.  We went to a birthday party there a few weeks ago and my daughter (who is 5 and in kindergarten) skated for the first time!  She is an adrenalin junkie and very competitive -- so before long she was doing pretty well.  So, of course, we HAD to go to the fundraiser.

Sidenote - The Imagination Movers were in town that night too but I wasn't willing to pay $40 per ticket!  Ahhhhh...hindsight can be cruel.

My hubby was out of town for the day at a meeting so my Mom (who is visiting us ths month - yeah!) took the kids.  I strapped on a pair of skates - it has been 20+ years and got the kids up and rolling.

I would love to say that I am a hot roller derby momma, but sadly no.  S fell so I used that lovely orange stopper on the front of my classic tan rental skates, lost my balance and CRACK!!!  Yep, fell on my butt and tried to "catch" myself with my hands.  DON'T DO THIS BY THE WAY!  As loud as the music was I swear I heard the bones in my right wrist crack - and yes, I am right-handed!

I called my husband who had just gotten back into town and suggested he swing by the roller rink and take me to the ER!  Just over 2 hours later (not bad for a busy ER), I was home with a big ole splint and some good drugs!

I crushed one of the 2-3 bones I broke which translates to surgery this week.  I still want to accomplish a few projects but will have to see how this week plays out.  Will try a couple organizing and planning projects instead of the crafting and decor I hoped to accomplish.

Huge shout out to my Mom, my husband and my kids for stepping up and waiting on me while I mend.  It is great for a while but I hate that I can't hardly do anything for myself.

Staircase Photo Gallery

When you put your house on the market, every realtor suggests that you remove all of your family photos and personal items so that potential buyers can envision themselves in the space, rather than looking at your things and your life.  No personality.  No warmth.

Well, we have lived in our new home for 3 months now and there are still no family pictures around.  We are ready to put our family and memories into our home again.  The problem has been where? how? A big reason for the delay is that our main living area/great room does not have much for wall space.  One wall is mostly window, one is the fireplace/media wall, one is the kitchen/dining area and one is the staircase wall.

The large wall going up the stairwell was the obvious choice.  I love the photo galleries I have seen in countless magazines, homes and blogs.  The gallery approach allows us to fill a space and create a statement by grouping a variety of our favorite photos in one space.  A great place for the eye to land.  The stairwell family photo wall is an obvious choice as it leads to the most private space of a home - the bedrooms.

The Process
I looked at alot of pictures of photo galleries and instantly pulled out all of the photos and frames we used in our old house and started to lay them out on the floor.  We sprinkled in a couple of sconces and other items to mix it up.  We have picked up alot of frames in various sizes from Costco so they are similar in color and style.

I was so excited and scared - that was alot of photos, alot of holes in the wall, what if we don't like it once it is up.  This could go very wrong.  So, I grabbed a stack of newspaper out of the recycle bin and started to cut out pieces of paper the size of each of the frames.  I then taped them up on the wall.  I played with it a bit more and figured, we would live with it for a while and see what we think.  Well, my husband didn't like it, he thought it was too busy.  I think I kind of agreed with him but didn't want to be wrong - don't you just hate when the man of the house is right!  hee hee!  So I pulled out all of the smaller frames, the extras and did some rearranging. I like it so much better.

** Before you judge my photo taking and design capabilities - the photo was taken by my 4yr old son - I forgot to take them before I started hanging pictures.  The boy also added his own "flare" to the newspaper pattern by re-taping some of the cut-outs that I had removed after the first attempt at placement - hence the mish-mash of paper along the bottom. **

Focusing on the larger frames and using a less is more approach was much better.  Not quite as scared to put those holes in the wall. 

After living with the newspaper for a few days, I decided to go for it and hung the pictures today.  I love it!  so nice to see the smiling faces of my kids.

Now I just need a new family photo for the frame on the top left and a picture of my husband and I for the frame with the blue scrapbook paper in it.  So excited to have another wall finished.

Split Peas!

Last week I was perusing my favorite blogs and fell in love with the decor balls that Allison over at House of Hepworths made using split peas.  I love, love, loved the green and just knew that I had to do something with this fabulous idea.  Since Valentines day is Monday, I also knew that I was going to have to take down my conversations cones and replace this wonderful display with something.  So, after a trip to the Dollar Tree and Fry's Food - here is what we have.

INSPIRATION:

BEFORE:

DURING:

(Yes, every project begins with Diet Coke!)

AFTER

I found that awesome plaster medallion at Goodwill a while back for $2.99, isn't it lovely.  Yesterday when my Mom and I were working on another project for my walls (maybe next week it will be done), I came across the medallion and the easel and they were a match made in heaven.  I love our new hearth decor.

While I had the hotglue gun out, I whipped up a split pea decor ball and another larger ball out of some twine.  I grabbed a pinto bean decor ball I made before Christmas and added them into this awesome little tray that I found at Family Dollar for $3.00.  I am late to the Decor Ball craze but I am in love with them right now.



Welcome!

My February house goal is to begin to get things on our walls.  We have lived in our house since November and all of the walls (except for in the kids rooms) are blank.  At Christmas I hung up this awesome card holder on the little wall between the entry hall and the steps.  It was the perfect place for this simple, long metal picture/card holder that I found at Pier One a couple of years ago for $10.  Last week I took down the Christmas Cards but left the holder.  I decided I wanted to leave it in this spot and find a way to use it year round.

So tonight I pulled out my scrapbook paper and stickers and created some cute cards spelling out WELCOME.  I love how it turned out.  I am going to print a few pictures to add above and below.  I think it will be fun to change this out seasonally. 

I will have to come up with something for Easter!  I guess this is another project that is to be continued...

Garbage Party - The Event

Today is my baby boys 4th birthday!  He is such a blessing and we love him so much.  This week of celebrating has been awesome and his party day on Saturday was a huge hit.  Our little man loved his recycle truck cake as did everyone who was there.  The garbage truck needed more wheels as everyone wanted a mini-donut wheel.

To add to the garbage theme, I planned a couple of simple and silly activities for the party.  First, the kids went outside (how we love the beautiful Arizona winter days) and made some noise by running and jumping on rolls of bubble wrap.  Everyone young and old loves to pop those little bubbles and what is more fun than when you are encouraged to jump on them.  It was loud (kind of like fire crackers) and lots of fun.

The second activity let the kids pick up trash using a "garbage grabber".  The kids loved picking up cans, crumpled newspaper and bottles and putting them in a box.  I think several mommas may be buying a "garbage grabber" as it encouraged a bunch of 3 and 4 year olds to clean up.  Really, is there anything better than that.

This is what I have learned - there are ALOT of garbage trucks on the market.  I believe our little trash mogul has a fleet of over 10 trucks now and no two are the same!

Happy Birthday Bubba Z!

(This last photo was taken at preschool this morning as all of his friends sang to him - cha, cha, cha!!!)