instafriday

happy friday, y'all.
what have you been up to?

we've had a good week.
busy.
very full, but really good.

last weekend we had a really chill weekend.
the only thing we had planned for saturday was a birthday party in the morning.
where we let our baby daughter wander around the park with an entire slice of pizza.
fourth child.

i added a silver bucket to the mantel because i can't leave well enough alone.
i will probably mess with it and add and take away until it's time to take it down for christmas.
which i am started to get exciiiiited about.
crazy.

this girl.
oh man she is yummy.
her blue eyes kill me.
and everything else about her.
she is such a fun, happy little girl.

also i love little baby dresses so much.

mounds ice cream bars.
hold the phone.
did you know they had these???

mounds are my favorite candy bar so this is exciting news.
i exercised self control and did not buy them, but you better believe i texted a pic to AJ because i am not subtle.

i got to go out for girls' night last night.

it was so fun and the food was amazing. 

such a treat in the middle of the week!

i am so thankful for these fun and precious friends!

{ fyi: i am short but in my defense they are wearing heels and i am not. ;) }



so today is going to be a pretty busy day and tomorrow morning i am running a 5K!
very excited.
also it has been high in the upper 70's, low 80's all week and tomorrow it will be in the 40's.
i believe the weatherman said, "winter like conditions this weekend."
woo hoo. 90% sure i will have snot frozen to my face when i cross the finish line.
thumbs up.

happy weekend, friends!

thanks so much for reading and commenting.....y'all are the bee's knees. :)

Pin It

75 cent lamp redo

i love immediate results.
my favorite projects are those that i can whip out in an hour.

we needed another lamp in our front room since there are no overhead lights and we are using the room daily now.

i've had a lamp base hanging around for a while and have been checking the thrift store on and off for a new shade.
last week i finally found a shade the right size for the right price . . . 75 cents.
sold.

soooo.....to keep the lamp makeover in the el cheapo category, i used some spray paint that i had on hand to give the base a fun pop of color.

i used valspar tropical oasis {leftover from ruby's high chair}.

also, i taped off the cord and electrical parts with frog tape beforehand. :)
i think i could solve the world's problems with frog tape and spray paint.
and hot glue. obveez.

i looked through my fabric stash and couldn't decide which fabric to use.
so i didn't.
i used them all. :)

seriously, best decision.
this took me a half an hour while we were watching downton.
didn't even fire up the glue gun.
i literally ripped pieces of fabric and tied them on the existing shade.
and if they weren't long enough, i knotted two pieces together and slid the knot to the back.

i looooooove how it turned out.
love the glossy paint on the base.
love that i was able to incorporate so many different fabrics.
love that it required zero measuring & zero cutting.

i think thrift stores are my drug of choice.
i'm slightly embarrassed when i see the employees i know because i go there so often.
but seriously, when you can get a lamp shade for less than a dollar......how do you not become addicted??
on the same day that i got the shade, i found a set of two fleecy sleepers for ruby for 25 cents, total.
hello? i cannot help my self.
i may need an intervention. may.

but that sure is a pretty lamp. :)




Pin It

clear the stage

hey friends...

i heard this song on the radio this morning and i cannot get it out of my head.

it is so, so good.

pondering and praying about what idols i have set up. . . and asking Jesus in His mercy to help me tear them down.

watch this video....surely it moves you too?




okay i have a quiet house for the first time in i don't know how long, so i'm going to go get something done . . . and listen to this song a few more times. ;)





Pin It

simple fall mantel

you know what i am loving right now?

i love to open all the windows, put on my sweats and drape myself with a cozy blanket.
oh and have a warm cup of tea or coffee.
so. cozy. 
it's finally getting cool enough to feel like fall....not too hot, not too cold.

i love putting throws all around the house this time of year.
i need to be within arms reach of one at all times.
yesterday i scored this awesome cream afghan at the thrift store.
four bucks.
boom.

i also gave our mantel a little fall lovin' over the weekend.
i decided to forgo my go-to fall garland and come up with something new....using stuff i found around the house.

i have had this old frame in the garage forever, just waiting on the right project.
it was actually part of a mirror but the mirror broke so i've just been hanging onto the frame.
i love the fancy detail but the brassy gold got the boot.

i gave it a few coats with cream spray paint and i love how it turned out.
while i was at it, i spray painted some ceramic pumpkins that i already had with the same cream paint.

for the fall bunting i just cut out triangles from old book pages and wrote on them with a sharpie.
i hung them up with some twine and called it good.

it was so nice to have some free time on saturday to do something crafty.

who knows, next year i may drag out the orange leafy garland again . . . but this year, i'm digging the simplicity. :)

p.s. check out fox hollow cottage for more fall mantel inspiration. :) Pin It

Thank Goodness It's instaFriday

hey y'all, happy friday!

last weekend we did a little overnight camping trip with our friends.
it was seriously so. fun. 

i think we all needed to just get out and get away so it was really therapeutic.
i absolutely love camping and i look forward to doing more and more of it as our kids get older.

ha!
they're so manly.
AJ is not going to be thrilled with me for posting this but i don't care.
it's my blog and i can do what i want. :)
plus this pretty much sums up their friendship. . . they are hilarious together.

we made it easy and had hot dogs, chips and s'mores for dinner.
they even got cans of sprite so that was pretty exciting.

ruby did so great for her first camping trip in a tent.
we set up her pack n' play right in the tent and used a sound machine app on aj's phone.
it worked great!
also, i love her in a hoodie and fleecy jammies. adorable.

mr. zach taught the kids how to build their own fire.
they were in heaven.

ummm.....that looks safe, no?
possibly why the park ranger came and made us pour a bucket on it.
:)

camping in the fall is fun.
a little cool in the mornings, but perfect once the sun comes out.
love hanging out with the woods and dirt and sticks to entertain the kids.

i think we made a bunch of great memories in that less than 24 hour trip.
so fun.
can't wait to do it again.

that night {after a whole day of lazing around with some camp laundry thrown in there} AJ and i had a date night.
it had been too long since we'd had a date so we were both really pumped.
we did one of our favorite free activities....

go to barnes and noble and get stacks of magazines to look through while quietly drinking coffee.
the only bummer was that it was cut short because ruby was not sleeping and crying for mama and daddy.
we had to come home early but it all worked out because we got home, put her to bed & had a date night cuddled up on the couch watching parenthood. :)
still fun . . . although i do want to finish those magazines . . .

sunday morning run.
i'm working to be ready for a 5K in a few weeks.
it's really, really hard to find time to run.
this sky was a gift from the Creator of the universe to me that morning.
i often need to be reminded that He is close.

this is my every morning routine.
cozy in my bed quiet time with the Lord.
coffee is mandatory.
i am not telling you this with any sort of pride . . . at all.
my husband is amazing and disciplined and gets up every morning and makes me coffee.
i have struggled for years to be consistent in everyday time with the Lord.
this past year, with AJ's help, this has been my morning routine. 
i need it and i am so thankful for it.

this little girl has been a snotty-runny-nosed-not-feeling-good mess this week.

but she sure is cute!

and she does this 712 times a day.

naughty, naughty.

she kicks the baby gate until it leans over and then she climbs over it. 

oh mercy.

the littles and i ran into payless this week.
saw picked out these gems for me.
he reeeeally wanted me to get them.
snazzy.

this boy taught himself to play harmonica.
and it sounds really good.
he amazes me a lot.

my sawyer who has taken 3-4 hour naps every day for the last two years has cold-turkey quit the nap.
break my heart.
i'm in mourning.
seriously, this is messing up my whole afternoons.
yes, i'm being dramatic but it is no bueno in the afternoons right now.
i will be happy with a one hour rest time even if he doesn't sleep.
even that is not happening right now.
more like i'm sitting outside his door while he comes out over and over and i put him back over and over.
super fun.
after struggling with him all afternoon yesterday he passes out in the car 5 minutes down the road to pick up the big boys.
great. a power nap. perfect.
this too shall pass. this too shall pass......  ;)


what about y'all?
what have you been up to this week?

link up your phone pics with me here:



p.s. i'm itsgoodtobequeen on instagram if you want to follow me!
let me know your username and i'll follow you back!  :)


Pin It

our front room

welp.
 it's taken a year and a half but i finally got our front room functioning well for our family.
i have had the hardest time figuring out how to make this room function the best for us.

some of the challenges with this room have been:
*it's one of the first rooms you see when you walk in our house.
*it's long and skinny
*it has no overhead lights
*it has 3 door ways, two of which don't have doors.

mostly the front room has been our play room.
if you're curious, here's a couple of posts about it. here and here.

it has been just fine as a play room and really convenient, honestly.
however, it's just a really large space to be used solely as a play room.
we've felt like we were wasting {much needed} space but had trouble figuring out how to make it work.
finally, this summer i decided to break the rules and make the room function for us.
we thought through all of the options and realized that the best use of the space would be a multifunctional room . . . a play room, my office, a homeschool space, & a guest room.
with a budget of . . . zero.
:)

i got the ball rolling one afternoon this summer while we were all lazing around in the pool.
i was living on the edge and looking through craig's list, on my phone, in the pool.
yes, i am a crazy woman.
i randomly saw a queen sized mattress, box springs, & rails for fifty bucks.
i had just sold something else on craig's list so the money was burning a hole in my pocket.
on a whim i said we'd buy it and they were at our doorstep a few hours later.

we are typically sloooow movers on house stuff so this was really quick for us.
especially since i had decided that afternoon to have the room function as partly a guest room.
we lead a crazay life.

i think we had our first house guests less than a week later.
it seems like we've had a steady stream of guests since then.
clearly, we needed a guest space.
we weren't sure how it would work out, what with there being two door ways without doors and all . . . but it seems to be working out just fine.
and our guests have the added bonus of 7 am wake up calls by three very chipper boys.

honestly, we are loving this space.
we spend so much time in it now.
it is cozy and comfortable.
and we use it constantly.

some disclaimers:

*since our budget was zero, it's mostly a hodgemapodge of stuff i could find around the house
*there are no overhead lights but lots of really big windows so lighting for photos was really really difficult {and i'm no photographer but i'm guessing you don't read my blog for the photos}
*we are renting so we aren't changing any structural things on the house....working with what we've got. :)
* i know this room is not going to win any design awards, but i wanted to show you how you can make a room work for you with a little thought & creativity, even with a zero dollar budget.

okay pretend you're walking in the front door and you turn to the left . . . this is our front room . . .

we have a little table that is perfect for sawyer to do activities while we homeschool.
also a couch for coziness and reading books.

on the left we have shelves for toys that i dismantled from our old entertainment center.
next to that is my desk.

i lovelovelove having my own desk space down here in the middle of all the action.
i can blog, check emails, grade papers, etc., all while the four kids are milling around me.
this little space of mine does a lot for my spirits on homeschool days.

i just love having my own little space with my things, my pens {that they are not allowed to use} and my coffee. :)

moving to the right we have the guest bed.
we put down a couple of mattress pads and topped it with a vintage blanket, quilt, and and fun pillows.
i made the two mustard yellow pillows last week and my friend, stacy, gave me the fun ruffly pillow for my birthday. :)

since there are so many big windows {which we adore} in this space, we got room darkening curtains so that guests could have a little more privacy.
okay so that was over a zero dollar budget but that was a non-negotiable. ;)
and they were really inexpensive from the walmarts.

this little end table {given to use by friends who were moving} is a nice place for guests to set down their keys & phone and whatever . . . which makes me realize i should put a little dish on that table. 

on the other side of the room we have our homeschool area {which we use three days a week} and the boys' keyboard.
in a perfect world, there would be a beautiful, vintage piano right there, but the keyboard works for now . . . someday . . .  :)

this room is so functional for us.
just yesterday fin and i laid on the bed and read his assigned Bible reading while avery was at the desk working on something else.

this room definitely looks a little crazy with all it's functions . . . but we really love this space now so that's all that matters.

i'm so glad that i got out of my own head and just made this room work for us.  . . whether it's what you're supposed to do with this front room or not.  :)



Pin It