Before and after of Caleb's room!

I know. I can't believe it either.  I'm posting twice in the same month!!  Here's why... Ben has an elders meeting tonight, so I'm all alone.  And, I've had a tendonitis FLARE UP in my left wrist, which leaves me pretty much handicapped.  SO, instead of doing the cleaning I NEED to be doing but can't because even just wiping the table is excruciating, I thought I'd blog.

Plus, I bought the red valance for Caleb's room today from Anna's Linens and put it up.  Anna's Linens is fabulous.

SO... without further ado...

--- and I must confess. I TOTALLY just googled that saying.  All of the sudden I panicked that I was totally spelling ado wrong.... or was remembering the phrase incorrectly.  Am I an idiot?  I found this http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/ado-versus-adieu.  So, she says I'm right, and I enjoyed reading her explanation.  HAHAHA.   And now writing that makes no sense......

ANYWAY, here is Caleb's room in a few different stages!

I didn't get good before pictures because I'm totally pathetic.  That's the only reason.  I got this photo on accident. I intended to get a picture of Caleb playing in his toybox and thought the enormous mess was picture worthy.

This is the room I used to refer to as "the horrible room"

Then Lauren Earnshaw, who happens to be totally amazing, offered to help me.  She deserves total credit for the room.  OH and speaking of Lauren, now that I think about it, she asked me to send her a picture of the room so that she could see what she was working with.  I will find it....   

            Yep, it still looks pretty BLEH.

She came over and painted the woodwork and then filled in all the holes/blemishes? in the wall   LOOK AT ALL THAT!!!!!!!!!! 

Then she painted the whole room light blue.  Honestly, with the newly painted woodwork and the light blue, I though the room looked FANTASTIC. 

Then she did the stripes. (The green is tape not paint...do not be deceived)

 And then it was finished!!!!!  Isn't that AMAZING?!

I found a dresser at a garage sale for pretty stinking cheap, so I decided to paint it.  It was a good decision looking back.... but I wouldn't do it again.

First I primed it

 Then painted it....

 It took forever... But I was pleased when I was FINALLY finished.

I'm SO excited about this neat storage thing.  I got this at Menards on black Friday and the bins were $2.50 each!!

The new valance!  Notice Caleb still enjoys playing in the toybox... 

 In this picture he's hiding inside the toybox....

Currently on Caleb's bed there is one of those fleece blankets you tie together.  Ben and I actually made that when we were dating... but soon the picture below will be a quilt on a twin bed.  My grandma is making it.  Isn't it wonderful?  There will be red on the outside.  I can't wait till it's done =)

I put some Bible verses in garage sale picture frames that I spray painted.

The closet used to have awful sliding doors (the color of the door on the far right), so Lauren gave me the idea of a curtain.  I think it's briliant.  I took a different picture where the curtain wasn't messed up, but I liked this one better because Grace is in the middle of the floor...   Hi Grace! 

So there you have it.  The horrible room has turned into my FAVORITE room.  Thanks Lauren for all your work.  We love it.

-Melanie

Remember November

I chose that title because Libby Dykstra posted it on my facebook as a possible option for me.  I love it. Why?  First of all, it rhymes.  Second of all, I didn't blog all of November, and I'm going to try and go back and remember SOMETHING that happened. So thanks Libby, it's brilliant.

Remember last time how I said Grace was sweet now?  Well, she's reverted back to her old ways.  Most people say she's great-- but that's because most people are holding her.... which is what the little stinker wants.  As I write this, she is gazing longingly at me from her bouncy seat. ... and filling her pants.  Perfect.  It's like she knew that would be a good way for me to stop typing and pick her up.  And, she's a genius... because it's going to work.

There's my little stinker! She IS the sweetest ever...... but only when receiving attention ;)  It's hard not to give it to her since she's SO HONKING PRECIOUS!

BIG. NEWS.  I figured out how to get my pictures from my phone to the computer!  WOO HOO!  It took me FOREVER.  Finally I watched a youtube video and did half of what he said, and some how it worked!!  This is going to make blogging SOOO much better.  I like to include pictures, but it's hard to remember to take them with the camera instead of my phone.... now I don't have to!

I watched my photos upload onto my computer and thought I'd post some of my favs.  SO, in honor of my figuring out how to upload, here's a taste of ... my phone photos!

Below is a picture of a dog that I drew. ANNNNd, I'm not sure WHY I took a picture of it.  Oh, it looks like he has a tumor on his rear?? I hadn't noticed... (obviously I'm a brilliant artist and you just can't understand the meaning behind this photo)... Caleb often asks me to draw things, and it's pretty hilarious because I'm SO BAD AT IT.  Seriously, I got a B in art in grade school-- pretty sure NO ONE gets a B in art in grade school....  One time I tried to draw a poodle for Caleb and he asked if it was a lamb (he must not know his animals very well... ;)) .  He's pretty gracious overall though.  He'll even say "Good job, Mama!" on occassion.

Next is Ben and me.  Not bad eh? I nailed Ben's hairline.  Also, I think that totally looks like me ;)  Caleb especially liked this one.  Again, WHY did I take a picture?  Maybe I was so excited my new phone could take good photos-- my old phone's (an amazing razor) camera was broken.  Really, I'm not sure why, but I did get a good laugh looking at it again.

And here's what happens when I try to get a nice picture of my kids... it NEVER goes well.... like ever.  The only ones that some times turn out are the ones where Caleb is kissing Grace.  So that might just have to be the way it is for a while....

And THAT is my coolio stroller.  It's neat because Caleb can stand OR sit.... and you can rearrange it all too.. like have Grace where Caleb is and Caleb where Grace is.  WOW.

And that was our dinner the other night, and I know why I took a picture-- because it looks amazing!!!  But, shrimp, sausage, and pineapple is a KILLER combo.  (at least I think so)

So there you go.  The ridiuclous part about all that is that I called this post "remember november" and then posted a bunch of random pictures from this summer.  I'm NOT changing it.  

Well, the food picture is actually from November, and I'll post another one.... This is from Thanksgiving.  My cousin's kids were holding Gracie.  They are going to have a little sister soon, and I think they'll do a great job taking care of her =).  

We had a nice Thanksgiving with a lot of family

Top three things I'm thankful for this year (besides the Jesus, the Bible etc...)

1. Ben.  Because he's the absolute best EVER.
2. My children-- because they are so sweet and mine.
3. My family has been praying together over the phone every week, and it is totally awesome.  We are seeing God answering prayers like crazy, and it has been such an encouragement to me!

And finally, I'm going to do a shout out.  If you're not sure what to get your kids for Christmas OR what your parents should get your kids, consider getting them..... SEEDS FAMILY WORSHIP cds.  It's scripture to music, and it's totally awesome.  (I've told you about this before).

The other day in the car Caleb told my parents and brother... "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted Psalm 34:18" (He saves those who are crushed in spirit... )

HOW COOL IS THAT?!  It's because we listen to the songs in the car.  SO, buy it for your family and be blessed.

Stay tuned-- next time I'm going to post a before and lots of after pictures of Caleb's room!  I need to hang a valance, and then I'm all set!  Hopefully I can do that this next week.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.... and now it's almost Christmas.  AHHHHHH!

-Melanie