House changes

When we built our house 4 1/2 years ago, we planned on the nursery being on the main level (and later convert it to Seth's office). We have 2 bedrooms upstairs. Adelyn moved up there before she turned 2 and the other bedroom has been a guest room. James has been in the nursery on the main level. This "bedroom" doesn't have a closet. He's been in a toddler bed (crib converted) and is ready for his big boy room. And I'm ready for him to have a closet and more space!!

Here's what's been changing in our house lately: 

I don't have any before pictures of James's room. It was the guest room- with a king size bed AND the twin trundle bed shown here and some random furniture. Nothing to brag about. TA DA!: James's Big Boy room! It's not finished, but we're off to a start! It's a large room and I have space to fill. 

This is his reading area. We bought the race car shelf off Amazon, and I think it's pretty cool that he has a framed picture of his Daddy's race car. This is a great photo and gift from Halston Pitman, who does a lot of amazing race car photography. 

I love having James in a twin trundle bed. He and Adelyn have already had several sleepovers on the weekends. It warms my heart that they want to spend the night together. I bought the bedspread/shams/decorative cars pillows from a friend with twin boys that outgrew them (so there's 2 of everything!). I ordered the prints off Etsy and framed them with inexpensive frames from Hobby Lobby. You can't see the lamps well, but they're matchbox cars in clear cubes- AWESOME! I found them on a local online yardsale site. 

Problem area: I need a wide dresser to fill up this wall. I have Seth's mom's dresser from when she was little. I have plans to get that furniture refinished and use it on down the road. For now, this'll do. And James rocks- he doesn't get out of the bed and play with his train table. I'm not sure why; we're just lucky!

Bathroom

This is the trophy on the vanity. A hilarious relative gave both my kids a go-cart trophy when they were born signifying their first win at 5 years old. "Doodler" is Seth's grandfather's nickname (and James's middle name is his first name- Mahlon)

Toilet is ready for potty training....if we EVER get there. The Batman poster was Seth's when he was younger.

 In order to move him upstairs, we had to have a guest room. We have a bonus room (room above the garage) that we halfway finished when we built. It had unpainted walls, primed beaded paneling, and a painted ceiling (plus heat/air and can lights). It's been a hodge-podge storage room for years. 

Messy unfinished room! 

I started painting the walls back in June. I JUST finished it all a couple weeks ago. Yes, it took me almost 4 months to paint this. Ever painted beaded paneling?? Oh my gosh....it takes forever! I rolled on the first coat just to get a base and then had to hand paint the grooves and panels with a brush. Again, this room is the size of a 3 car garage, so it's pretty big! I basically painted a little at night or when the kids were napping.

The only casualty I had in this project was my cell phone. One morning, I thought I could paint ONE window trim while the kids played in the playroom next door. Nope. James came in and dropped my cell phone in the bucket of paint. Seth was sweet enough to order himself the new iPhone 5s and I got his old one. 

Now, we have a serene guest room! I am so happy with the way the wall colors turned out. Side story....this mint color reminds me of my grandmother. Her whole house was mint and rose- even the exterior was a shade of light green. A couple Christmases ago, we visited the Billy Graham house in Charlotte. It had a lot of those colors too and my mom and I just loved it. Since my mom stays a lot, I wanted the colors to make her happy. 

Again, I'm not 100% done. I'd like to get some runners to go beside the bed and some wall art. 

My plans are to make the back half of the room a work out area! We will bring up Seth's exercise bike and I'm really hoping Santa will bring me a treadmill. Eventually, I want to get some room dividers so it's hidden.

When my dad comes, he often has some work to do. For some reason, he can't do it with my kids running around. Now he has a little place to work. It's a great view out that window of the pasture!

Future Thomas Gym. (not accepting membership, sorry)

closet, dressing stand, and armoire

We tried to do as much on as a budget as we could. The biggest expense was the hardwoods and blackout shades in the guest room, but totally worth it. We'll keep adding to these rooms as money allows. I'd love to have all matching furniture, but for a guest room and a 2 year old's room, I think it's just fine the way it is. Now, who wants to come visit?? We love to have guests! 

This little desk area is at the top of the steps outside the playroom and kids' bedrooms. I told Adelyn this is HER desk area. You would've thought I sent her to Disneyworld for a week. She loves to do her "work" here. She has markers, coloring books, pencils, work books, etc. She'll turn that lamp on and get busy!! 

Highlands, NC

We went to Highlands the first weekend in November. We haven't spent time with the Myers family in quite some time! 

We arrived early evening on Friday. We ordered a pizza and hung out on Main Street while we waited for it. The kids were WILD, running all over the steps and walls. They were a tad excited to spend the weekend away.

Saturday morning, Laura fixed a big breakfast and then we headed out to hike The Holcomb Creek Trail. It led us to see 2 beautiful waterfalls! We hit the leaf changing just right- it couldn't have been prettier. The kids did an awesome job hiking- hardly any complaining. I carried James in the backpack.

Adelyn and Janie are just a few weeks apart. They played so well together all weekend. They colored, played games, and pretended different scenarios. I hope they're always as good as friends as their mamas!

Mel and Laura

Laura and I- she looks great; I scream "I have not showered"

James in awe of the waterfall. Kidding....James eagerly awaiting a potato chip

He's pretty proud that he just crawled through the girls' legs. 

Seth with his godson. Jay is the sweetest, most well-mannered kid. He was amazing with James! I begged Laura to let me take him home with me. 

Gorgeous foliage!

After the hike, we headed home and the kids napped. Laura and I hit Main Street for a little shopping. We grilled out steaks that night. The Myers left Sunday and we stayed until Monday. I take advantage of the fact that the kids are in preschool and it's not the end of the world if they miss school. We ate leftovers Sunday night, played some games, and did odds and ends around the house. We had such a fun and relaxing long weekend!

Halloween 2013

We had an awesome Halloween week! This year, Adelyn was a Fairytale Witch and James was a ghost, Spiderman, and Batman. I started out wanting them to match- ghost and witch. The ghost costume was a bust- he tripped the whole time and was frustrated with the lack of arm control. From there, it was JUST put him in WHATEVER he'll wear (he's not very into dressing up!). 

It's become an annual tradition that we eat at Lynn and Ricky's around this time of year. Lynn goes nuts with her Halloween decorations! The cousins all wore their costumes. 

Conner is the FedEx guy- HILARIOUS!! 

Crazy kids!

We decorated our pumpkin. Adelyn enjoyed it

James....not so much.
I didn't take a picture of the Jack O Lantern- it was your boring triangle eyes, nose, and toothy grin. 

Dean and James were both Spiderman at Oak Grove's Trunk or Treat. Love their thrilled faces

OG Kids! James loved the BIG tractor pulled trailer ride!

Trick or Treating from Pastor Garry

They had face painting. I tried so hard to get Adelyn to choose a something small for her cheek. That wasn't happening. 

The kids had their school parties on Wednesday and Thursday (Adelyn's was actually on Halloween)

James dressed up as Batman for his party day

James with his sweet teachers, Mrs. Teresa and Mrs. Greta

On Halloween morning, I *attempted* pumpkin pancakes. They were actually healthy- I snuck in some leftover acorn squash

I was on the committee for Adelyn's class party. I thought the gal in charge chose great, semi-healthy snacks- nuggets, string "ghost" cheese,  "pumpkin" mandarin oranges, mummy pops, and mummy juice boxes. Seth and I did the oranges and juice boxes. We wrapped the boxes in muslin and hot glued the googly eyes. I kinda felt a little nuts doing that, but the kids loved their spooky snack!

Adelyn with her sweet teachers, Mrs. Gail and Mrs. Nancy

We've started ballet again. The first class was Halloween afternoon, so Mrs. Sandy said they could come in costume!

We ate Halloween night dinner at the McDonough's. We trick or treated with them last year too. I love her kids' Dracula and Mummy costumes!

The weather was very comfortable. I was actually warm by the night's end. All that walking around!  

Bryce and James rode a little and walked a little

They live in a large neighborhood and it was a party! There were people everywhere! Cullen and Adelyn were full force ahead. It was so much fun! Much more happening here than on Fast Lane with it's 10 residents :)

Fun with Nana and Grandeddy

My mom came in town two weekends in a row! Seth was out of town both times (a MacLaren event and a lumber convention in Vegas), so it was a huge help having her around! One weekend she came, it was just her, the kids, and me. The next weekend my dad joined her because it was Grandparents' Day at the preschool. Both visits were wonderful!

The first weekend, schools had a little fall break and the kids were out Friday Oct. 18th. We headed down to Stone Mountain for the day! The kids had fun at the Pumpkin Festival!

They had pumpkins dressed up all sorts of ways! These are the hikers that Adelyn loved

James is getting so good at the ropes course! Just a few months back we were here and he wasn't doing half this good!

Adelyn is an old pro! She is so funny on the zip line.

I have only hiked Stone Mountain once, right after I graduated from college....so it's been a while! We took the cable car to the top. It was pretty cool!

Riding to the top

We made it! It's cool to see downtown Atlanta in the background. If I could repeat this day, I would. The weather was absolutely perfect. 

Sometimes they love each other

The next Thursday and Friday were Adelyn and James's Grandparents Day. My parents stayed until Saturday. One day after naps, we went to Uncle Shuck's. They have giant tractor wheels to climb, a huge corn maze, a small maze for little ones, tractor rides, corn cob shooting, and pumpkins!

Shocker....James LOVED the giant tractor wheels!

The little maze was made out of soy bean plants

Adelyn attempted the cob shooter. Her aim was not too bad and she hit the truck a couple times

Uncle Shuck's Redneck Lounge

My kids are BLESSED with awesome grandparents! Seth's parents come see the kids several times a week and Brenda keeps them while I tutor. We are so thankful for the love!