Making the medicine cabinet pretty

Today during William's rest time, I gave the medicine cabinet in our upstairs bathroom a little makeover love.

I used this contact paper:

It's from TJ Maxx and it was 5.99 for a package that comes with two huge rolls! I found it here on Amazon in tons of cute prints and colors.

{What it really looks like in there!}

William helped too. He used the scraps to make our sink look very beautiful. I love that it's like giant stickers that I can just peel off later and not hurt his feelings!

It was such a quick and easy fix to our icky, stained and paint peeling cabinet. And the bright cheerful aqua is the perfect pop of color on these gloomy winter days!

Green to gray in a day

On Saturday, kind of on a whim, we painted our main level. I say "we" very loosely. I rolled a few times and the boys did too. Then I took them to the park and to Krispy Kreme for a doughnut. We came home with sticky fingers and a healthy dose of vitamin d to our finished room.

The before and afters

 Our entire main level was this greenish beige when we moved in. (It also goes up the stairs and all the way down the upstairs hallway, but that's another job for another day.) I don't hate the color, but I've never loved it either. With the dawn of the new year, I've been craving lighter walls for a fresh and more open and simplified space. I like the gray, it definitely feels light and fresh. Now I'm ready for some decor changes too. I would love white couches, but they're not in the budget or probably wise with little boys. So I've turned my attention to the mantle and surrounding walls.

Source: savvyhomeblog.com via Christina on Pinterest

I like the gold frames with pictures in the little bumpout/alcoves/whatchamacallits. We have little bumpouts on either side of the mantle. And the mirror with the candle sconces.

Source: junkinthetrunkvintagemarket.com via Christina on Pinterest

And I love the built ins around this fireplace. I would love these next to ours, but the trouble is that our spaces aren't nearly as large.  But that plywood and those lanterns above the mantle. There's something I love about the rustic/shabby chic-ness of it together.

Source: dooce.com via Christina on Pinterest

The trim! And I like the idea of little stools in each, although I don't love these and the punchy 60's colors.

Source: thefamilyroomdesign.blogspot.com via Karen on Pinterest

I like the framed botanical prints about the mantle. We have just enough space for this above ours and I think it would fill the space nicely.

Welcome 2013!

I love our New Year's Eves at home with the boys. In the past, I've wished I were dressing up and heading out. But this year, I really owned this night for what it's become: our family's New Year's tradition. A night in, together, ringing in the new year. This year we made paper crowns, ordered Chinese food, started a fire, watched a movie and shook our noise makers at midnight (also known as 9:00pm). 

My favorite thing is our newest tradition -- we started a New Year Notebook. At the top of the page I wrote 2012, and we filled the page in with all of our favorite memories from the year. The list ranged from our new house and new friends to vacations and learning to tie shoes and our new tree swing. Then we turned the page and at the top I wrote 2013. We filled that page with our hopes and dreams and even some resolutions for the new year. William and Henry each drew a self portrait on a page too. I asked them to draw themselves just how they see themselves "now". Henry's is detailed right down to the pajamas he's wearing and William's is cute with giant round eyes and is missing hands and feet. I love them both and can't imagine how they will change by next year. I hope this tradition sticks. As terrible as I am with record keeping, it will be nice to have a once-a-year glance at our years past and hopes for the future.

Happy New Year, everyone!

simplicity

It's a new year and I once again have the urge to simplify. To pare down and clean up and under complicate things. Partially I think it's because I tend to always over complicate them during the holidays and I end up feeling worn out and tired. A  new year is a fresh start and a clean slate. When we took down our Christmas decor this year, I found myself ready to paint the whole house white or cream or some dreamy light shade. I still love basking in what feels like a nearly empty living room now.

Yesterday I took my camera outside and set off to capture the simplicity that exists around us in January. {While the boys rode their Gator, at 8 am and possibly woke the neighbors.} I find myself drawn to the textures; the log in the wood pile and the bark on the maple, the rustic wood and the snatches of color; green moss and groups of red berries on a bare branch bush. There is beauty in simplicity and I'm going to spend this month paring down, hopefully painting light and basking in a simple, under complicated schedule.

oh boys

{January 11, 2013}

On Friday afternoon, just as I was meeting some friends at McDonald's for lunch with our younger children, I got a phone call from Henry's school nurse. My first thought was throw up. I was ready to get him and had a battle plan for the stomach flu. She told me he was doing ok, but had a collision with another child at recess and was in her office with a pretty bruised and swollen eye. She let me talk to him and asked me to decide with him whether I'd come pick him up or not. His sweet voice on the phone sounded so little and small that when I asked him if he wanted me to come for him and when he said yes, I hung up and quickly left McDonald's. Thank goodness for friends who watched William so he could stay and play. 

I took these pictures Friday night before bed. I told him to make his maddest boxer/Hulk face. He's pretty convincing and that eye is just scary! He's doing fine now, just nursing a very black and blue eye. The swelling is gone. And he was thrilled when I picked him up and told him we were meeting friends at McDonald's and that he got to join us. {As an added bonus, his best friend Charlie had a half day of school on Friday and happened to be there too!} And he was pretty excited about his little sticker too, it says, "Please watch me, I BUMPED MY HEAD!". He peeled it off and stuck it on his jammies Friday night! And thankfully the little boy he collided with is doing fine. He hopped up and walked away with no injuries. Head bumps are always that way, one person gets the brunt of it.

2012: embracing change and putting down roots

Change has been the theme of our new year's for the past 3 years. In 2010, we said goodbye to our beloved Leland home and moved to the country.

That was a big change.
And then in 2011, we started preparing for our next move. This time back to town and in a rental.

We thought change may come since we were renting and it indeed did again in 2012.

In May we moved into our new home. It's a new year and I feel so thrilled and so fortunate that 2013 will not be marked by a big move. For the first time since our move in 2010, our year will be marked not by upheaval, but rather by laying down roots.

A look back at our 2012: January

Celebrating Oma's Birthday

 

{Our late Christmas together}

{Patrick's birthday, 32!}

February

Valentine's Day breakfast

Matching smiles

March

Warm enough for basketball outside with friends. Henry and Charlie.

Catching toads in the Gator.

April

A special tour of the fire station in Rockford from a firefighter herself. The boys got to ride on this ladder truck with Becky!

Easter and a backyard egg hunt.

A job interview for this mama.

The start of baseball season. Henry and Oma.

 

Destin. Our very favorite white sand beaches.

May

Moving Day! Our new Home sweet Home.

Love the dollhouse scallop trim.

Summer lunch picnic under the big maple tree.

June

Lots of baseball. Patrick coached William's team this year, and he absolutely loved it.

My boys finally have proper beds! Patrick found these on Craigslist and we spray painted them gray.

Patrick hung a swing from our giant tree. It's what I imagined when I first saw the house. Laying in bed that night I whispered my dream of a tree swing to him and am so happy to have it!

Henry playing catcher for the first time. Once he had his gear on, his coach asked him if he was ready, he replied, "yes, but I can't see." He loved his baseball team too. It was comprised mostly of friends from our small group.

The circus with Oma. This was very special for the boys and a nice treat for all of us after moving the weekend before.

Lots of lazy days and fort building.

 July

Baseball game. Getting extra close to the field!

Henry's 7th Birthday! Happy Birthday Henry!

Cousins sleepover! I treasure these times together.

A special visit from Erica and Ben! I'm so thankful they were able to come. We loved every minute of Gator driving, pool going, i-phone talking, and spy playing!

10 year anniversary weekend in Chicago with Patrick. Ten years, oh my!

Free summer bowling with the boys. We will definitely sign up for this again next summer. Some days it was just too hot to be outside!

 August

Enjoying the last bits of summer vacation.

The county fair.

A neighborhood pool with a high dive. Henry was in love.

Our new puppy, Howard came to live with us. We are so thrilled to have him. For better or for worse, he's family now :)

Henry's first day of school, first grade.

Pictures with this handsome 7-year old boy.

 September

Enjoying every last bit of daylight, blowing bubbles and playing with his puppy while Henry is at flag football practice.

Lazy afternoon under the shady oak tree.

William's first day of preschool. I'm proud of this brave boy and he sure loves school this year!

Starved Rock with our cousins.

Backyard football games with the neighbor boys. We are in a neighborhood full of children. Lucky and blessed!

William and great grandpa Hogan

Henry's flag football team. The Ironmen.

October

A Cousins Weekend with Oma. They loved their time together, away and we enjoyed time for projects and painting around our house.

Backyard flag football.

Henry in his team jersey. #12

Halloween. A karate man with a thor mask and sword and a red ninja (and a photo bombing skeleton neighbor).

William turns 5. FIVE! We celebrated with a backyard camp-out party with his best friends.

Happy Birthday William!

Destin with Dad and Sandi and Erica and Ben. Ben and William as a giant merman!

 
November

 Celebrating William's birthday with family.

Family picture day!

Thanksgiving at Dan and Sara's. It was a lovely holiday, family and food and warmth and togetherness. I loved it all.

Getting our Christmas tree. Yay!

 December

The coziest of mornings by the light of the tree.

We ran into Santa at the zoo. Perfect for this mom who never has her stuff together to see mall Santa.

Christmas morning and matching pjs.

Christmas lights tour in a party bus with our small group and kids in their pajamas. To them it was magical. To me, it was blurry and a bit motion sickness inducing.

Our first big snowfall, big enough to make a giant snowball.

New Year's Eve - 2012. Welcome 2013!

 One of my resolutions for 2013 is to document. I hope to be better at writing

 here and keeping track of memories and the pictures I have to go with them. 2012 was a year of change for our family in an outward sense; another move, another house, a different neighborhood. But also for me in an inward way. I am not the same person I was when I rung in 2012 last January in many ways. God is changing my heart and I hope I will say the same next year, too.