The girls' finished HD project and the beginning of a looong DIY binge list

Below are the side versions of the girls' finished Valentine holders. The first one is the Ansley/Patrick creation, and the other one is all-Addison. They are so excited, and these boxes have already been filled with secret messages, jewelry, keychains and "cookies." Such a fun project, and we will be back for the March one for sure!

While we were at Home Depot, we decided we needed a home project. A few months ago the girls literally ripped their towel holder out of the wall... I saw a version of this on Pinterest, and Patrick was excited about making it happen. I love my handy man. He cut the chair rail molding to fit the length of this wall, glued, screwed, caulked and painted (a light green--the color of Ansley's room and one of the colors in their shower curtain) the board and then attached the hooks. They are the perfect height for the girls to hang their own towels on them. They are also not going anywhere this time. :)

After he finished, Patrick was itching to do another project. We love doing stuff like this, but we always battle between putting too much into this current house verses doing stuff that we could take with us wherever we go.  Patrick has been thinking for a long time about doing something about a bed... for real adults... See, we've always just been boxsprings and mattress people... in our 7+ years of marriage. We have rectified that by using big euro shams and hanging some iron pieces above it.

I think that it might be time, and he is sure that it is time to do something about it.  I left him for a couple hours with his thoughts and went to celebrate my friend Wren with a girls night out to celebrate the upcoming birth of her 3rd baby and her first SON!  Wren and I were pregnant together 2 times before--both of our sets of daughters are one month apart and are the best of friends.  When she announced she was pregnant with her third, I freaked out and checked my bc pill pack to make sure I hadn't missed one, silently chanting my mantra, "2 and through, 2 and through," but when she found out she was having a boy, I started dreaming about having my own boy babies... It's funny those wars between the conscious and sub-conscious... Anyway, we went out for a girls night at Wild Ginger and enjoyed some good sushi, good fried rice, and good conversation.

When I came home, I was presented with these ideas.

While I had been thinking about a scalloped-fabric-tufted one, these are growing on me--especially the first one. Plus, with the access we have to building materials, it seems like a natural choice. Hope that we make some progress on this project soon-- at least more progress than I have made on the one below. I got this new sewing machine with Christmas money in early January, and it is still sitting on my dining room table looking just like this.  I thought I would be inspired to get going on this with baby gifts to make for Hadleigh, Scott, and girl-baby Stephens; Valentine shirts, etc... But, alas, it still sits like this...

Here's hoping I can get on the ball this week!

Below are the side versions of the girls' finished Valentine holders. The first one is the Ansley/Patrick creation, and the other one is all-Addison. They are so excited, and these boxes have already been filled with secret messages, jewelry, keychains and "cookies." Such a fun project, and we will be back for the March one for sure!

While we were at Home Depot, we decided we needed a home project. A few months ago the girls literally ripped their towel holder out of the wall... I saw a version of this on Pinterest, and Patrick was excited about making it happen. I love my handy man. He cut the chair rail molding to fit the length of this wall, glued, screwed, caulked and painted (a light green--the color of Ansley's room and one of the colors in their shower curtain) the board and then attached the hooks. They are the perfect height for the girls to hang their own towels on them. They are also not going anywhere this time. :)

After he finished, Patrick was itching to do another project. We love doing stuff like this, but we always battle between putting too much into this current house verses doing stuff that we could take with us wherever we go.  Patrick has been thinking for a long time about doing something about a bed... for real adults... See, we've always just been boxsprings and mattress people... in our 7+ years of marriage. We have rectified that by using big euro shams and hanging some iron pieces above it.

I think that it might be time, and he is sure that it is time to do something about it.  I left him for a couple hours with his thoughts and went to celebrate my friend Wren with a girls night out to celebrate the upcoming birth of her 3rd baby and her first SON!  Wren and I were pregnant together 2 times before--both of our sets of daughters are one month apart and are the best of friends.  When she announced she was pregnant with her third, I freaked out and checked my bc pill pack to make sure I hadn't missed one, silently chanting my mantra, "2 and through, 2 and through," but when she found out she was having a boy, I started dreaming about having my own boy babies... It's funny those wars between the conscious and sub-conscious... Anyway, we went out for a girls night at Wild Ginger and enjoyed some good sushi, good fried rice, and good conversation.

When I came home, I was presented with these ideas.

While I had been thinking about a scalloped-fabric-tufted one, these are growing on me--especially the first one. Plus, with the access we have to building materials, it seems like a natural choice. Hope that we make some progress on this project soon-- at least more progress than I have made on the one below. I got this new sewing machine with Christmas money in early January, and it is still sitting on my dining room table looking just like this.  I thought I would be inspired to get going on this with baby gifts to make for Hadleigh, Scott, and girl-baby Stephens; Valentine shirts, etc... But, alas, it still sits like this...

Here's hoping I can get on the ball this week!

Little Builders at the Home Depot Workshop

This morning after breakfast and after the rest of the snow melted, we headed out to Home Depot for the February workshop. Patrick frequents Home Depot for work, and we've been hoping to catch one of their first Saturday of the month workshops for awhile, but this is the first one we've been able to make. He basked in the experience with his little builders. :)

This month's project was a Valentine's Holder. First, they had to nail and hammer the pieces together just so...

Exerting all of her 2-year-old patience (there's not much there) while waiting for her turn to hammer. (I love how her hand is on her daddy's leg. Softens the look a bit. :])

Then it was time to paint and decorate their boxes.

We heard a constant, "I do it!" from this one.

After they were finished with their fun, they had to wait for Mommy and Daddy to get supplies for a bathroom project. Don't let these poses fool you, they were still having fun.

Then we got home, and Ansley brought me this creation.  She told me that it was a green witch and fire. We watched Wizard of Oz last night. I love her little creative brain!

This morning after breakfast and after the rest of the snow melted, we headed out to Home Depot for the February workshop. Patrick frequents Home Depot for work, and we've been hoping to catch one of their first Saturday of the month workshops for awhile, but this is the first one we've been able to make. He basked in the experience with his little builders. :)

This month's project was a Valentine's Holder. First, they had to nail and hammer the pieces together just so...

Exerting all of her 2-year-old patience (there's not much there) while waiting for her turn to hammer. (I love how her hand is on her daddy's leg. Softens the look a bit. :])

Then it was time to paint and decorate their boxes.

We heard a constant, "I do it!" from this one.

After they were finished with their fun, they had to wait for Mommy and Daddy to get supplies for a bathroom project. Don't let these poses fool you, they were still having fun.

Then we got home, and Ansley brought me this creation.  She told me that it was a green witch and fire. We watched Wizard of Oz last night. I love her little creative brain!

Crafts of Christmas present

Lindsay and I decided to get our kiddos together this week and do some Christmas-y things. These big girls were SO excited.On Tuesday, we commenced at Linds' to make cinnamon salt dough ornaments. Linds still has hers that she made as a child, and it STILL smells divine. Here are the 2 little elves.
Everybody had a spoon to mix.
The girls were overeager with their cookie cutters. Savannah loves stockings, and Addison loves Christmas trees.
Then, during the LONG cooking part, the girls entertained themselves by making snow angels on Lindsay's kitchen floor. (Love those little booties.)

These silly girls thought they could have nap time together in Lindsay and Daniel's bed. Think that would work? Yeah, right!
Where are our babies? Sleeping... Couldn't have been more perfect. In fact, during the afternoon naptime, ALL 4 of our kids were asleep at the same time. We couldn't have asked for a better day.

Lindsay and I decided to get our kiddos together this week and do some Christmas-y things. These big girls were SO excited.On Tuesday, we commenced at Linds' to make cinnamon salt dough ornaments. Linds still has hers that she made as a child, and it STILL smells divine. Here are the 2 little elves.
Everybody had a spoon to mix.
The girls were overeager with their cookie cutters. Savannah loves stockings, and Addison loves Christmas trees.
Then, during the LONG cooking part, the girls entertained themselves by making snow angels on Lindsay's kitchen floor. (Love those little booties.)

These silly girls thought they could have nap time together in Lindsay and Daniel's bed. Think that would work? Yeah, right!
Where are our babies? Sleeping... Couldn't have been more perfect. In fact, during the afternoon naptime, ALL 4 of our kids were asleep at the same time. We couldn't have asked for a better day.