A Special Birthday Room Update

Just before the twins' birthday last year, they (mostly Brooke) decided they needed to update their bedroom. They were ready for a new color scheme, some new decor, and new bedding. I gave them my word that we would aim for an update for their 10th birthday, and trust me when I say they did not forget! They (again, mostly Brooke) started reminding me of my promise before Christmas!

Here is what their room looked like before we updated it:

Some of these photos are pretty old . . . this one still has a toddler bed! However, the decor was mostly the same. 

We planned to keep all the same furniture and even keep it in the same arrangement. With bunk beds and two large dressers, they don't have a whole lot of options. However, their room now has a totally different look as we updated so much of it! 

I knew we had a very busy week leading up to their birthday, so Chris and I arranged for him to paint their bedroom on MLK Day as he had the day off from work. However, I saved all the decor until a week before their birthday when Chris and I spent an evening and put it all together. Then, we did a big reveal, and the girls LOVED it! I'm pretty sure they cried a little! It was the sweetest thing as they just kept saying, "Thank you!" and "We love it!" over and over again. 

So, without any more jabbering, here is what their room looks like now!

Brooke and Brecklyn helped me pick the wall color, rug, and bedding. Most of the accents were a surprise!

They adore this light-up sign and nightstand.

Of course, the tassel lights are a favorite, too!

Brooke was thrilled to have a mirror in her room, and Brecklyn thinks the little llama accent is the best!

They helped pick this shelf and its accessories. We just filled all the frames earlier today, and it looks even better!

I commissioned my dad to made the double shelf above the window. It's perfect for their little knick-knacks, and even more special because Grampy built it!

💗

I also added a few organizational things to the room, and both dressers now have a runner on them to help keep them protected. Overall, the room has a totally different feel than it did before . . . definitely a "big girls" room versus a "little girls" room. Best of all, though, it turned out just like I had hoped and the girls are absolutely thrilled with it . . . so much so they've even been motivated to keep it clean 😂.

Just What I Wanted

A few days ago a super-exciting package arrived in the mail for me . . . my Mother's Day gift! 

I have been wanting to display some photos from our travels in our house for a while, but I've had a hard time deciding how and where. One day I was on FB and saw an advertisement for MixTiles and thought that was the perfect solution for how to display my photos. After a little more thought, I decided our entryway would be a great spot for the MixTiles collage and even leave room for expansion in the future. Chris and the kids gave me the money to order the MixTiles for Mother's Day, so I made that happen not long after we returned from our Smoky Mountain vacation. 

Sometimes my visions don't always come to life the way I hope they will, so I have been pretty anxious to see our photos on the tiles and to get everything put together. When the box with the tiles arrived in the mail, I was so excited that it made the kids laugh. 

I'm happy to report that I am thrilled with the quality of the tiles and how our photos look! Yesterday, I hung everything up in our entryway and couldn't be more happy with how it turned out! 

The tiles are extremely light-weight and easy to hang. I used a level to keep everything straight, but just eye-balled the distance between tiles. After everything was hung, I took one tile down and adjusted its placement a bit. It came down and went back up with no issues.

Some of our favorite trips and favorite moments!

I also freshened up the shelf decor. Very happy with how it came together!

The company that makes these tiles claim they can be taken down and repositioned easily, so we'll see if that's true after they've been up for a while. I would eventually like to add on to the collage, so I'm glad that is an option, too. Overall, I'm just tickled with how it looks and happy to finally have some of our travels photos on display!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like . . .

Some years I do better than others at holding off on decorating for Christmas. This wasn't one of those years, lol. I've changed a few things up this year (and added yet another tree . . . ooops :-), so in the spirit of memory keeping I'm going to share pics of our Christmas decorations here. I hope you all are having a wonderful beginning of the season!

I got a new flocked pencil tree for the dining room, and I love it! It's just what that spot needed.

Entryway hope chest

Shelf in entry way (complete with map of the world, haha)

Collage wall

We have some different furniture than what we've had in the past, so I had to find a new way to arrange the living room. The furniture is a little wall-to-wall, but it works, and I'm happy with it!

Hallmark tree in the picture window upstairs

Travel tree in our bedroom

More bedroom decorations

Pink tree in the twins' room

White tree and decor in Bri's bedroom

Blue tree in Bren's bedroom. I wonder how long he'll want his own tree?

We also purchased some new items for our yard this year. It makes me smile to drive up to our house :-).

 

I Did A Thing

 Earlier this year, I used some cash I gotten from my Granny for Christmas to update our living room. I bought new chairs, pillows, a run, a small cabinet, a new end table, and some new wall decor. I'm very happy with how it all came together! 

This morning, Brianna and I took a quick trip to Hobby Lobby, and while there I found some autumn decor I just couldn't resist. I decided I needed some updated autumn decorations to go with my updated living room! After purchasing some new things, I decided I needed to make sure I liked how it all looked in my house. 

And that's how I ended up decorating for autumn in August 😁.

The blue chairs, pillows, cabinet the TV is sitting on, and the home sign on the wall are all new. 

Love my white and navy pumpkin mantle!

Nothing in this photo is new . . . I just rearranged some old things.

This is our new end table, but the decor is not new here, either.

I think it's all pretty fun, but my dining room table is my favorite of the new additions. My house is ready for autumn . . . now if the weather would only cool down a bit!

Brenson is Nine Years Old!

We're stuck over here in a frozen tundra (this is day number six of below freezing temps . . . today the high is 18 degrees), so I thought it would be a good time to write about Brenson's ninth birthday. His last year in single digits!

Each year, we try to plan a fun activity on the kids' birthdays. Last week, we went to the zoo (twice!) for the twins' birthday, and this week we had several ideas for celebrating Bren's birthday. However, the weather ended up being kind of crazy (for our part of the country, anyway), and we weren't able to do any of the things we had planned due to ice, snow, and temps in the teens and low twenties. Normally I would view this as a great opportunity for a lesson in flexibility, but I felt really bad for Brenson. This is the THIRD year in a row that his birthday plans had to be postponed or canceled due to unforeseen circumstances.

Bren's birthday was on a Wednesday this year, and we knew pretty early on in the week that the weather would prohibit us from an outing. When I talked to him about it, he was completely fine with staying home and playing games instead. He said, "I'm just glad I don't have to do school!" Haha! So, we changed our plans to have a stay-at-home day instead braving the weather!

Playing games is something Bren loves to do, so we got started with the game playing the evening before his birthday. We played Scrabble and Clue, Jr!

That night, Bren went to sleep for the last time as an eight year old. Why do they have to grow up so fast 😭?!? For breakfast on his birthday morning, Bren requested my home-made french toast. Anything for the birthday boy!

Ever since visiting Disney World a few months ago (and really for a bit before that), Bren has been obsessed with The Mandalorian. I decided to decorate with Mandalorian decor, including these fun light saber lights that my sister let me borrow from a Darth Vader party she threw for Chloe several years ago.

And look at the great shirt Lisa made for Bren!

Happy birthday to my NINE year old!

Not long after breakfast, Bren wanted to open his gifts. We often do birthday gifts first thing after breakfast, so I told him to go for it!

He had specifically asked for a new fishing pole to use in our neighborhood pond!

When he first held up these pants, I thought there was NO WAY they would fit him. I was wrong!

His "big" gift this year was the supplies for a Nerf Gun wall in his bedroom. Pictures of the finished product are included at the end of this post. 

I'd had this soccer ball sitting around for quite some time. I decided to finally just gift it to him, haha!

After opening gifts, we played a game of LIFE. Then, Bren decided he wanted to watch a movie with his sisters, and they watched Lady and the Tramp 2. Bren has always loved Tramp!

For his big birthday dinner, Bren had requested chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, cream gravy, salad, corn, and rolls. Initially, I didn't think I'd be able to fix this meal for him on his actual birthday since it was a Wednesday, but when our plans changed I decided to go ahead and make it for lunch. Chris had taken the day off work to spend with us, so he was {thankfully} able to help me with lunch while the kids watched the movie. Bren was a happy boy with his lunch! Also, Bren loves sweet tea which Chris and I both find nasty. When we have tea at home (which is often), he always asks to sweeten it, but we rarely let him. Since it was his birthday, Chris took the time to sweeten Bren's tea for him before we sat down to eat. THEN, Bren promptly poured salad dressing in his sweet tea instead of on his salad, and Chris's efforts were wasted! Lol.

We had invited my parents to join us for lunch, but they weren't able to make it due to the icy road conditions and winter precip that was continuing to fall. That was sad, but we had a great meal anyway!

Even though the HIGH temp for the day was only 23 degrees, after lunch Bren begged to go outside and play. He only had one sister on board with going out with him, so they bundled up and played outside for well over an hour!

Brooke and Brenson

Everything had a coat of ice on it, and we had snow flurries most of the day. Despite the chilling temps, it was beautiful!

The birthday boy in the winter wonderland :-)

My Bristol tree was frozen!

Since everything was covered in ice, it made for some fun sledding. I'm pretty sure we went ice sledding on Bren's birthday in 2018.

Our neighbor girl, Madison, joined Bren and Brooke for the outdoor fun.

It was so icy out that Bren went to push Brooke on the sled and fell down. No traction at all!

It took Bren and Brooke a bit to warm up after they came inside. Their cheeks were SO red! The dessert Bren requested for his birthday was ice cream sandwiches, and I thought he might not feel like eating them after being outside for so long. I was wrong!

Crazy boy!

Happy birthday to you!

Make a wish!

Then, it was time to play  more games. Bren is all about LIFE right now, so we played that again. I won :-). 

Normally on Wednesday evening, we would go to Bible study. However, since the roads were ice covered and more precip kept falling from the sky, Bible study was canceled for the evening. We watched a live stream of a Bible class instead, then put a few finishing touches on Bren's new Nerf Gun wall. It turned out so great!

It wasn't difficult to do . . . it's just painted peg board trimmed out, but it's SO fun! And Bren LOVES it!

Even though I was sad that things didn't turn out like we had planned for Bren's birthday, he didn't seem to mind one bit. It was his special day, and he had a great day despite being stuck at home! Happy ninth birthday to my favorite boy!