6 of 365

I love that this is part of his bedtime routine most nights.  I let him finish whichever chapter he is reading before he goes to sleep.  He's reading book seven - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  He told me today that he's read the last chapter already.  We may look and act alike in a lot of ways but I could never read the last chapter ahead of the rest of the book.  : D

5 of 365

Brian and I occasionally play a game before bed but we haven't pulled out Yahtzee in at least 2 years.  He says it's because I lost last time.  I lost again tonight (best 2 out of 3) so it might be 2 years before it comes out of the closet again.  ; )  Love this game, though.  It requires no "skill", beyond a little basic decision making, as the box suggests and is a good kind of chill out game.

4 of 365

Christmas Break is nearly over but there is still time to spend with friends.

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Sleepovers - helping us get through the last few days of Christmas Break. 

2 of 365

This year I have been a senior project facilitator.  Meaning, I help mentor, in a way, a high school senior who is considering photography as a career choice; she has to put together a paper, final product and log learning hours with me for this project.  Kelsey is an absolutely amazing girl and I have enjoyed every second we've gotten to spend together!  Today a friend of hers joined us for a photo shoot.  Win-Win!  Naajia gets senior pictures, Kelsey gets more experience and I have fun!

1 of 365

I've determined to tackle another 365 Project this year.  I completed a 365 in 2011 but lost almost 4 months of my work to a computer crash.  This year I'm backing every thing up to a cloud and I'll upload them to Flickr also - I'm not taking any chances this time.

So,...here I go...

I'm thinking of capturing the "big picture" and a detail from that shot each day.  I don't know if I will do this every day since I don't like to impose too many rules on myself but I'd like to do this type of thing a lot this year.  The details are what make up the bigger picture but I don't ever want to focus too intently on the smaller things that I don't notice how it all comes together to form my life.

Here's to 2013.  Here's to Hope.  Here's to Freshness.  Here's to not starting over but learning and growing from all the little pieces of my past that contribute to my future.

A November Saturday

My 3 early risers.  Parker Bear was still hibernating.

The Bear has emerged from his cave

 Football with Daddy

 

Absolute perfection

Anna's New Room

Project number 4 is complete!  Anna's room probably cost a little more than the boys' rooms but I still managed to makeover her room for around $350.  I didn't need to replace any of her furniture and some odds 'n' ends like the butterflies hanging from her canopy were things I already had on hand and my mom had the pink desk chair at her office.   Anna and I both love how it turned out and I think the purple and bright pink matches her personality so much better.  The room reflects her more now than it before when I made all the decisions about how it would look.  She will enjoy this much more and that makes me very happy!

Before

After

$60 - paint

$25 - butterfly chalkboard

$30 - quilt and sham

$40 - two throw pillows

$18 - sheet set

$60 - new ceiling fan and light

 

 $52 - cubeical

$21 - fabric bins

$15 - canvases and 2 bags of buttons for wall art

$16 - tulle fabric for canopy & fabric to recover hope chest

$18 - curtain rod

$8 - sheer curtains

$22 - rug

  

Cameron's new green and grey bedroom

I finished up my third bedroom project a few weeks ago and I think it's my favorite so far.  The emerald green Cameron chose for his room is his favorite color and it was a fun departure from the blues that the other boys chose.  

 BEFORE

Boring tan walls 

(this picture was taken after I bought his new bedding but he had a lime green comforter and gosh! it sure did clash with that khaki color)

AFTER

I love the grey and green!

The dinosaur wall decal is from Blik and the shelves and the super soft grey blanket and flannel sheets are from Target.

The white stripes on the grey walls are Duct Tape in white and the afghan was handmade by Brian's granny many, many years ago.

Boys' bedrooms - Spiderman room and Baseball room

A couple of months ago Landon and Parker agreed that they wanted to switch rooms.  Parker wanted the larger room and Landon likes the window, of all things, in Parker's old room.  I told them that as long as they were in agreement about the switch that it was fine with me but that they had to get their rooms clean enough to actually do it.  

Well, they got them clean and I got bitten by a crazy redecorating bug.  I figured as long as furniture was being moved that now was as good a time as any to do some painting.  I promised each child, even the ones not switching rooms, that they would all get "new" rooms but that they would have to be patient and give me a whole month per room to get things finished.

I got Landon's finished so quickly that I moved right on to Parker's room and both rooms were moved and redecorated within 3 weeks!  Phew!  Now I need a little breather...

Here are the Before and After pictures-

Oops!  I only had a 35mm lens available for the Before pics so you can barely see any of the room.

Landon's new room before:

 

Landon's new room after:

He went back and forth about between wanting racecars and Spiderman.  I got him to settle on Spiderman since we already had the large sticker.  None of the Spiderman elements in the room are permanent so in a year or two if he gets bored with it then it's easy to switch.  Even the cityscape is just a couple of foam boards I had cut with an exacto knife and stuck on with double sided tape.  My total money spent on this project was less than $100 = $24 (sheets) + $30 (1 gal of paint) + $18 (letters for his name) + $15 (painting supplies).

Parker's new room before:

 

Parker's new room after:

Parker wanted a "baseball room with just a touch of football".  $60 (paint) + $24 (curtains) + $22 (rug) + $7 (red dry-erase board) + $9 (hooks) + $17 (sports pillows) + $18 (red spray paint for bookcase) = $157 total.  Everything else I already had on hand like the shelves, curtain rod and all of his furniture.  Not too shabby.  Two rooms redecorated for $250!

I'm really proud of how they both turned out and it makes me immensely happy that both boys are in love with their new rooms!

July 8, 2012

sleeping together underneath a sheet tent in the living room

Listening

Was reading a post today by fat mum slim.  In the post she wonders why her mother doesn't read her blog.  At the end of the post, she asked if your parents read your blog or are on facebook.  The responses were sadly revealing. 

Most people responded that if they do have a blog that their parents, friends and/or spouses don't read it.  Most expressed that they wished these important people did read what they write.  And a few told how much it meant to them when their loved ones let them know they were reading.

How sad that most of us who are writing in blogs or jotting in journals are doing so and not being heard by the people that matter most to us.  If you write, you write to be heard, yes?  You have something to say... don't we all?  Who is listening?  Who is paying attention?  And, even if you have a blog, are you able to openly express your feelings or do you feel prohibited from approaching certain topics, expressing your emotions, giving your opinion?  And how sad is it that we feel a need to send our thoughts out into the World Wide Web because we can't do so at home?  Looking for feedback, encouragement, like-minded individuals, acceptance, recognition, someone who is really listening without interrupting, ...._____________.  Fill in your blank.

We're all so terribly, terribly busy.  We don't stop to pay attention...to hear.  

Stop. 

Listen. 

Who is talking to you today?