Boys Art.....

What's gonna work?? Teamwork! Randy & I worked together to make some canvas' for the boys bedrooms to match their bedding...... Randy agreed to sketch them out from these vehicles on the bedding.... with the plan that i would paint in the lines!
Which ended up looking like this on a blank canvas..... (you'll have to look really close to see the sketch marks in pencil....) So one night i started & got the backgrounds done.....
Then another night i did all the yellow & some black.....By this point, i was sick of painting... i can craft, but i am no novice with a paintbrush... it took me forever! So i bunkered down & finished them in one evening. My back was killing me, but the end result was worth it! I thought they turned out pretty cute & they boys like them in their rooms!

Being married to an artist has perks!

We had a little "situation" with the wet oils.... so there are a few spots to fix (and add a few more flowers back in....) but basically, she's done! Isn't she pretty? Thanks, Randy!!

So fun!

What do you get when to cut out all the 187 index prints that came along with your photo print purchase.... and glue them into a fun collage? Add some ribbon, glitter, & words.... and viola! You get this.....I wish that the camera could get a better shot of this because it turned out soooooo cute (if i do say so!). I tried several times to get a good shot, but they just weren't turning out. This was one of those pages that took a long time, but i felt giddy when i finished it because i liked it so much!! Yay! I now have two whole pages done in my Disney album.... only like 50 more!! Gotta start somewhere!!

Boys Bathroom

The ONLY room that is finished in the house, including wall decor.... is the boys bathroom. Sad, i know! But anyhow... it was easy enough because we just kept the same stuff from the old house! I bought this bathroom set from pottery barn kids when Eli was a baby because it was on clearance. I had no idea how much he would LOVE letters of the alphabet.... so it really suits his personality now! He knew every letter of the alphabet (& it's sound) by the time he was 2 and a half! Anyway.... Here is the bathroom looking in the door....This is the wall next to the door....
Every little kid's bathroom needs a step stool & Nanny bought this one for us about 2 years ago?? It is perfect!
The wall decor consists of the pictures of the boys in washtubs... (Both at 6 months old..... eli is on the left, jackson on the right)......
And little 5 x 7 frames i made years ago of letters.... C is for cars, W is for wagon.....
And finally, i added hooks to the back of the door at their level for their towels.... can you tell who's goes where?? That cricut! I love it!! It makes me fun projects with vinyl..... Maybe i should give her a name..... carly the cricut???

Playroom

Well, i haven't posted many house pictures because, well, no room is completely finished yet. Everything is mostly unpacked, but little decorating has taken place. But the playroom is close, so i took some pictures to post! It still needs wall decor, which will take some time for me to get the projects done. I want to make two boards with clips for the kids to hang their art work on (since it piles up on my counter in the kitchen!) and i am either going to use my cricut to make wall words or cars/trucks or i will hang pictures of the boys in there. The ceiling slants down, and that makes the walls short, so i don't have too much room to work with since the toys are up against the wall too. When we first moved in, and i pulled all the toys out, the room was a disaster because there was no organization to the room.... so i labeled all the containers with a picture of what goes in it along with the name of what goes in.The above picture is looking in the door and the the bottom picture is to the right after walking in.... it is the dress up area & the green tote holds "tools". The toy chest is empty at the moment, but it used to hold the geotrax train set... but i found that it collected EVERYTHING because it was easy to just throw it all in there (for the boys).
This is the reading/quiet area. Don't worry, we own MANY more books than this... but i rotate them out to keep things sane.
The table has a tote on top that has bristle blocks and the basket beside it holds magnadoodles (yes we have many). I think the other tote is explanatory, but to those who have girls.... it holds all the peices to the GeoTrax train set.
This picture needs to be retaken, but i am too lazy! :) I couldn't find the big area rug that is a town for cars to ride along on top of.... so i settled for the tiny little one I had in my work stuff. BUT, i found it in Mema's attic! Yay! So now there is a big area rug in the middle of the room, by these totes..... the blue tote holds "Big vehicles" and the green roller cart has three drawers. The top holds geotrax vehicles and people, remotes, etc. The second holds matchbox cars, and the bottom holds action figures, animals, etc.... The large chest is just storage for extra toys that they have outgrown that i can't part with yet.
We have had this room organized for about a month now, and honestly when it is time to clean up... it goes very smoothly. The kids know where everything is supossed to go! I think the labels have worked & it helps mommy & daddy know where everything goes as well!

Birthday Boy.....

Because Eli's birthday fell smack dab in the middle of the week - and a CRAZY week at that, we got to celebrate twice! It was the week that they BOTH started school & we also had an open house for Kindergarten in there too, so it was hectic! But we made it easy on his actual birthday & let him open a box that was mailed to him from his Nanny. He was thrilled! He got a pirate hat... (which he loves yet everytime we go into Michaels he says over & over , "i not like da piwates"....... (from the creepy halloween decor!)) He also got a Backyardigans blankie (score!), blue ball**, and a box of stamps & washable ink pads! (super score!) That box has been out EVERYDAY since! {** i didn't post a picture of the blue ball but i have to give you the story behind it. The last time we were at Nanny's house we had gone to Michaels to get some craft supplies. The boys beg to go to the clearance aisle because they know there is more chance of buying them something there! (haven't i trained them well??) Anyway... this night they were bouncing these balls all over the aisle (driving me nuts, i might add) and then Jackson asked if we could get them. I quickly said, "No, & put them back" but then i noticed the price tag.... which read .27c..... and then i thought... what a cheap prize... so i said, 'Yeah we can get them." They bounced them all over the store until we checked out & they rang up for a PENNY! Seriously! While we were at Nanny's Eli threw his on top of the house! (sigh) and we couldn't retrieve it as much as we tried.... so Nanny must have gone back & found another for a penny! Yay!}

Back to the birthday though.....
All the other gifts/cards that had arrived before his big day were already packed in the camper at Jeremy & Marie's because we were going camping for the Labor Day weekend, where we planned to have an actual "party." But on his actual birthday, we also let him choose where to go eat for dinner & we ended up at Moe's where he (& his Mommy) LOVE! Even though Mema & Grandad don't care for Moe's, they came along in celebration! And after dinner (where Eli got a cookie in his kids meal i might add....) Grandad got the boys some ice cream from Coldstone (and mommy too!) yumm-o! (note that Eli is bundled up in his backyardigan blankie... it was kinda breezy out there!When we went camping... i turned the mickey sticks from this post.... into these fun cupcakes!!They were a hit & every last one of the 18 cupcakes were eaten over the weekend of camping. We had Mickey plates & cups & even had hot dogs for dinner in honor of the "hot dog dance/song" from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.Blowing out his three candles.....

Opening his presents..... He has also used this book/marker set that Peto sent to him for his birthday everyday! He is definitely in an arts/crafts phase!
We got him this set of stamps... (mickey mouse!) and a matchbox cars travel town...And Theresa, Bastian, & Aedon sent him this book that he was eyeballing at Aedon's birthday last week!!
And if you can believe it.... he opened 3 cards & ended up getting $20 from Grandma & Papa Evans, $20 from Mema & Grandad, and a $20 gift card to Target from Aunt Debbie & Uncle Wayne. He is loaded.... and he was proud of it!
So much for low key birthdays, eh? I try, i do....

First Day of Kindergarten!!

I can NOT believe that today was Jackson's first day of Kindergarten! This morning, i was pretty anxious. Actually, let's face it, i have been anxious for weeks! Last night i couldn't sleep & i just laid there and prayed. And prayed. And prayed. I really didn't want to make a blubbering idiot of myself, & i wanted Jackson to be excited & calm, so i decided to leave it up to the Lord! And guess what.... it worked!!!
This morning, he started saying, "I not know about this, mama." And he kept saying it. So i kept telling him he was going to have a great day! This started about the time that i was getting ready for his "official" picture....He looked so handsome this morning! I convinced him to wear a polo on his first day to look nice with the bargain that next week he could pick out his own clothes. The only problem was that it was cool this morning & he really needed to wear pants. This is a problem because he thinks that pants that actually FIT him, are too long. (i guess i kept him in his old high waters too long, eh?) So this started a mini-meltdown, but we got it together... whew!

I prayed more on the way to school because i had a pit in my stomach & i was pretty shaky! On the way in the car he started again with the "i not know about this" thing, and said, "You're gonna leave me here all day? All by myself??" (Turn the knife, big guy!) So i told him that he was going to have a great time & that he wasn't going to be alone- he would be there making new friends & playing fun games & learning new things. About this time, we were parking & he looked like he was getting ready to cry, but he held it together & slowly got his bookbag & got out of the car. I let him lead the way, just making sure he knew where he was going. I made sure to tell him that i would be picking him up in the car pool line in the afternoon, so to make sure he looked for my car. Then he wanted to know how "they" would know which car was his? So I told him that he knew what my car looked like, right? Still, he wanted more... "But what if there is another car like yours? How will they know this one is yours?" So i told him i had a sign with is name on it so they knew Jackson went in this car. He walked ever so slowly into the school....At this point... i was feeling like maybe i could tear up, but pushed it down! He just looked so grown walking in there with all those big kids! Then we ran into our neighbor from next door so this got him more excited when he saw a face he knew.... so then he was a little more chipper walking the rest of the way....He actually smiled when he recognized his classroom & the teacher from next door was outside her door & spoke sweetly to him....So he walked in... and he put his lunch box where it belonged & his bookbag in his cubby.... but was grinning this nervous grin & chuckling his nervous chuckle.....So i told the teacher he was a little nervous when she walked over, but when i asked Jackson if i could take his picture with Mrs. Byrd, he grinned & said, "yeah!!!!"..... Of course i told her i was a scrapbooker, but i would have gotten this shot if it killed me, scrapbook or not!Then he remembered where his seat was & slowly walked over to sit in it. I grabbed him, hugged him, kissed him, & told him that i loved him, that he was going to have a FABULOUS day & that i would miss him. Then I asked if i could take one more picture before we left....Cutie patootie, huh? He just sat there, nervous looking when i walked out the door... still not coloring, so i stopped, whispered, "Jackson!" and when he looked over, i said, "color!!" & he grinned & nodded.
I couldn't believe i got out of there with no tears! Truly, the Lord was by my side, being faithful because i have been a basket case for weeks... even yesterday i was crying all over the place anytime i talked about it!!

WHen 3:45pm rolled around i couldn't wait to get him. I missed him terribly!! So when i saw this....I did MY nervous chuckle laugh to keep from crying myself! And i told him as he was climbing in the car.... "Jackson, i have never been so excited to see you in ALL my life!!! How was your day???"
His response??? "Mama, i loved Kindergarten first day..... (pause).... FOR REAL!" And he gave me a big high five!
And now i can breathe again.......


oh.... and in the car later this evening he actually told his Daddy that he made a friend... that her name was Kennedy & "not the Kennedy from next door to Emma." (his cousins have a neighbor, Kennedy). When i asked if she sat at his table, he nodded.... come to find out, i even got a picture of her... she is up there in that picture where he was grinning at the table just before i left.....