a wall finally finished

We leave for the hospital tonight; Harper is a week overdue and so I'll be induced tonight around 6:00.  I felt the need to finally finish the picture wall I started in January above her crib.  That, my friends, is a timely project. 

So yesterday during Ellie's nap (which I usually do things like laundry or take a nap myself), I decided to be productive and finish the wall. 

Here's the story:

Behind this door is a sleeping beast.  She needs her beauty sleep and should not be awoken early for any reason.  Chaos will ensue.  Also, walk softly by her door, the floor creaks and she hears it.  Gulp.

This is how the mommy has energy to do a project instead of take a nap.  While pregnant these have been avoided, but lately the resolve to not drink caffeine has been worn down.  It happens...

Two things the mommy loves: garage sales and vintage books.  Any old book will due, but she especially loves cookbooks and children's books.  Here are some of the books she's using for today's project.

Project Part I: A boat picture from a board book.  Easy.

Project Part II: a cute fall picture from an English children's book.  The book is full of nursery rhymes that the mommy has never heard before. 

Project Part III: Drawer knobs bought at a children's sale before the beast was born.  No one knows why they were bought.  The mommy took the screws and the backs off them and hot-glue-gunned them to fabric inside the frame.  No finished picture was taken because the verdict is still out if it's a hit.  But it's on the wall right now, so you'll see a picture of it in a minute.  Be patient.

Project Part IV: A picture from a Noah's ark book.  The mommy likes this one the best. 

The finished wall. 

Now Harper can come, everything is ready.

(P.S. I came across an amazing picture wall on youghouselove that is brilliant.  I want to do this somewhere in my house.  Just an FYI.)

dreams of destruction

This is our main bathroom. 

Pretty not-cool.  It's got pink tile up the walls and it's pretty obnoxious if you ask me.  It's the one thing about the house that we absolutely hated when we bought it.  

And we still aren't fans of it, but fixing it has been pushed to the back burner because first we did the kitchen, then we started having babies, then we built a patio and destroyed our front yard, blah blah blah.  The list of things that got in the way could go on and on.

As of right now, I'd say we're still a year or two out from touching that stupid bathroom.  And that's not to mention the half bath that, while not as outdated, also needs a complete overhaul.

This weekend, I came upon a shower curtain that I loved...and, miracle-of-miracles, Chris also liked it.  This doesn't happen very often because we have dramatically different tastes.  As in, I have taste and he doesn't.  But that's not the point.  

So we bought this shower curtain and a rug to go with it.  It has a color that is very similar to the pink tile, but not in an annoying way.  It's more of a subtle, calm, let's-try-to-draw-attention-away-from-the-pink way. 

And I really like it.  And so does Chris.

I've also been reading a lot of home remodeling blogs and the consensus seems to be that the tile should stay (to be true to the house).  We just need to make it work people...whoa, sorry, Tim Gunn slip-up.  Here's younghouselove's ideas.  (By the way, I love them so much.  And I want their house.)

(pictures from younghouselove.com)

Now, granted, their bathroom was never a glorious pink...but theirs is so similar to ours, I think we might be able to work with what we have.  We've even discussed using a tile glaze to change the color, but keeping the tile intact.  Which if I can make my bathroom look like theirs, I'm okay with keeping the tile.

Maybe something similar to this bathroom (still younghouselove)--I really like the sand/yellow and the calming effect this spa-like bathroom has.  And, again, it's a lot like ours which gives me hope.

(pictures from younghouselove.com)

I'm starting to like the fact that we could change the look/feel of our bathroom without having to do a complete demo.  Which is also nice because it's the only shower in our house and I don't like the idea of bathing somewhere else while we redo a bathroom.  Especially with two small kids.  Drama.

I also like this bathroom from HOUSEography.  She doesn't have tile on the walls, but she has 50's style subway tile and I think the look of the bathroom would be a good fit for our house.

(picture from houseography.blogspot.com)

Plus, the blogger, Melissa, made her house look amazing by shopping at places like Target and Bed, Bath, and Beyond.  And that's definitely my remodel price range.

So now I'm rethinking bathroom-related items.  I know this summer is going to be all things outside/landscape-related, but I'm curious to see how much I could do to our main bathroom without spending too much.

Ha-that sentence makes me laugh.  "Without spending too much"...ha.ha.ha.   

late night shopping trip

I used to LOVE grocery shopping.  But then I got a teaching job.  And a husband.  And a kid.  Things got busy and it became more of a hassle than fun to shop.

But since becoming obsessed with coupons, I love grocery shopping again.  After Ellie went to bed last night I ran to Wal-Mart and Walgreens. 

Here's what I did...

Walgreens

(2) 11 oz. containers of Folgers coffee for $1.58

That's awesome--Chris drinks a lot of coffee and for a while we were only buying Starbucks or Dunkin' Donuts brand coffee.  But that crap is expensive and he was going through it way too fast.  So I suggested Folgers (it's what my mom always drank so I told him it was good [like I know anything about coffee]) and it was a hit.  Also, Folgers is a lot less out of the grocery budget.  Score.

Wal-Mart

(2) M & M eggs for Easter baskets $1.00

Johnson & Johnson baby lotion $1.25

Pull-Up Wipes $.64

J & J First Aid Kit $.68

J & J butterfly bandaids $1.00

Shout Wipe & Go Wipes FREE

Reach Floss FREE

(2) Purex Complete 3-in-1 laundry sheets $.45

Gain dryer sheets $.48

total: $5.50 (before tax)

The lotion and eggs weren't a great deal, but I picked them up anyway.  I got these match-ups (and some others but they didn't end up being at my store) from this cool website.  Sometimes she has some good match-ups and other times it's not stuff I need, but definitely check it out.



Take the Challenge!

I seriously cannot wait until it warms up.  I have major things planned: landscaping, digging holes, long walks with the babes, cutting down another tree, exercising, swinging, the list could go on and on.

One thing I'm really excited about is Indy Park's 100 Year Challenge.  Our city's park system is celebrating 100 years of operation this summer and have this super-fun challenge where you try to visit 100 of their 200+ parks by mid-September. 

It's like a scavenger hunt with the parks around the city.  I haven't been to 95% of the parks in this city which is kind of embarrassing.  I have this love and yearn to travel, but I really don't know my own city that well.  Shame.  

So the Graham family is taking the challenge.  I have no idea whether we'll do all 100--that seems kind of insane (and some of them are super-tiny with nothing for kids to do), but we do want to hit as many as we can and expand our park knowledge.  And Chris is excited about this too--he loves anything that has to do with hiking, exploring, or being outside.  And it's free entertainment. 

Warm weather, please get here soon.  Or now.  Now would be better.  Thanks.

Dear Harper...

For Elliott's birthday in February, Chris and I took off work to spend the day doing fun two-year-old stuff.  We're making it a yearly tradition for her (and Harper when she gets here). 

While I was gone from school, my co-teacher, Balynda, had my 6th and 7th period block (lower-level kids, many labeled special ed of some sort) write letters to Harper.  They had to introduce themselves, tell about their future plans, give Harper advice, tell her anything important she would need to know to succeed, etc.  Some of them are really sweet.  And others are not. 

Here are some of the highlights (with grammar and punctuation added):

"What's up little homie?  When you get here you will be amazed by all the technology we have.  I think you should be a New England Patriots fan. They are like the best football team...Your mom is a pretty cool girl, she is my teacher...If you try, you can be our lady president."  -Zach C.

"Be a boxer."  -Tim S.

(This was addressed to Baby Graham, but everything he wrote is directed at me.)
"You're my favorite teacher and I hope your baby comes out well.  I wonder what Baby Graham will be when she gets older out of everything in the world."  -Jordan G.

"Your mom teaches me language arts and reading.  She is a good teacher.  I used to have pet fishes, but they got killed...when you go to middle school you can play girls' basketball if you want."  -Bilal O.

"You probably already know how to read since your mom is addicted to books...I think you will be like your mother: a BOOK ADDICT."  Sincerely your unknown friend, Erik O.

"I think you will probably be a teacher like your mother."  -Allen S.

"I hope you grow up to be just like your mother.  That would be so amazing.  You will be my best friend."  -Iesha F.

"Your mom, Mrs. Graham, is the best teacher so listen to what she says.  And I mean it...I hope when you grow up, you will be a basketball player...I think your name should be Sara.  It sounds like a good name.  Tell your mom she is an okay person and you will be too."  -Austin J.

"I bet you will be like your mom."  -Nicolle D.

"When you grow up, I bet you're going to be like your beautiful mommy...I hope you are going to be good...Be good for your mommy."  -Brittany J.

"Some future plans for you should be to be a teacher just like your mom.  I believe that you will be a smart little girl.  Well, enjoy the letter and your life."  -Davnesha B.

"Have a nice life since I'm writing this before you're born and you most likely won't meet me."  Reece D.

I'm sure Harper will enjoy reading these when she gets older...although with all the grammar, spelling, and sentence issues, I don't think she's going to be too convinced I'm a good teacher.

I was having that!

That sweet little girl above? 

Actually, not so sweet.

We are in the midst of the terrible twos and I'm not sure we're all going to make it out alive. 

Seriously.

My daughter is way too much like me: stubborn, opinionated, short-tempered, and bossy.  Cute on me (right??), but annoying on a two year old.  Put us both together and it might just be explosive.

Chris and I work so well together because we balance each other out.  He's a lot less high-strung and can tell me when to chill out without being killed.  And I can light a fire under his ass when he needs it.  Perfect mixture of chaos.

Add-in a crazy two year old and the balance is completely off.  Because now there's too much me in this house and I can't stand myself sometimes, let alone a little, loud, mini-me.

It's a good thing she's so cute...

I'm not worried about a newborn in the house (anytime now, thank you very much), I'm worried about surviving my two year old.

  

it was all yellow

Last fall I bought an old hutch from the estate sale next door. 

This is what it looked like in September. 

(That piano? We bought that at the estate sale also.  But we'll save that beast-of-a-story for another day.)

I had big plans for this hutch: sanding, painting, new hardware...it looked beautiful in my mind.  And I've been wanting a hutch for our kitchen for a long time.  But the ones I like (old, vintage-looking ones) are expensive and if I found one in our price range it was modern and cheap-looking.  Boo.

So when I got this one at the auction next door for $65 I was really pumped.  Pumped. 

And then I realized how much work sanding, priming, painting, and new hardware is.  And I was a lot less pumped. Much less pumped.

See, I make all these giant plans and they start out well, but some times I bite off more than I can chew and then wish someone else could take over for me.

But I saw it through...sort of.

What started out as sanding, ended up being more of a "sandpaper wiping."

I primed like a beast because that's super-easy (just being honest here, folks).

Paint coat #1: got a little sloppy, but finished.

Paint coat #2: a whole lot more sloppy.  This is when I decided that the "look" I was going for was "vintage farm kitchen" where my hutch could look worn and used.  Mission accomplished after the second coat (because it would have needed 2-3 more coats to look perfect and at this point I just didn't care).

We moved the hutch into the kitchen on Halloween afternoon before our families came over because I needed more space in the kitchen to set stuff.

And then this weekend, exactly five months after it came into the kitchen, I finally bought hardware for it.  It wasn't expensive hardware and it wasn't even a time-consuming hunt.  I don't know why it took five months to go to Menards and buy some handles.  It just did. 

And here it is:

The paint is streaky and it's already scratched up from being the catch-all in the kitchen, but it's mine and I love(hate) it.  But now I know why they cost so much to buy this way.  Because it's a pain in the ass to do.

all or nothing

I seem to go through blogging fits and then there's radio silence for weeks.  You're welcome. 

But I'm hoping to have a little more consistency since I'm now officially done working until August.  Gulp, that sounds like a really long time.  But I know it will go super-fast and in no time I'll be stressing about going back to work and that I didn't accomplish enough on my maternity leave (besides birthing a babe, of course).

So I've got three posts floating around in my head today and we'll see if they all get done.

Things that could possibly stop these posts from happening: Elliott waking up from her nap (highly possible), going into labor (also highly possible since I was due yesterday), and laziness (again, highly possible due to my procrastinating nature).  So let's not hold our breath for three posts...

Oh, and here's a coupon-ing highlight from the week:

All of this? $3.96

Which is bittersweet because it was an awesome deal at Meijer, but apparently we already had two bottles of Windex and one bottle of toilet bowl cleaner in the basement stockpile so I bought things we really didn't need.  I really need to start checking the basement before buying more groceries, lately I've been buying the same things we already have, I just didn't know until I go to put the stuff away (on the plus side we have enough frozen veggies down there to feed ourselves for the next year). 

Meijer, You're the Best!

Couponing may or may not have taken over my life, I can make no definitive statements, but I do want to spend a moment bragging on myself.  Today I did some shopping and got some really good deals. 

All of this?

$60.75

Some of the things I bought just because we needed them and they weren't especially good deals, but other things I bought sooo made up for the less than stellar prices on a couple items. 

Examples of my awesome buying power:

5 packages of tuna = .53 each

Hello Kitty bandaids = .68

Purex laundry detergent = .49

4 boxes of Betty Crocker fruit snacks = $1.17 each

2 packages of Jello & 2 packages of Jello Temptations = .87 each

3 Grands! Biscuits = .72 each

Among other great deals...I ended up earning $8 in catalinas which I used all of but $1.50 between my two purchases.  I wasn't paying enough attention and accidentally put two items in my second purchase that earned me $1.50.  So my total bill should have been $59.25 but I was being careless.  It was a couponing moment of shame.  But now I just have it for next time, so I'm not too concerned.

The breakdown...

Regular price: $119.94

Coupons/sales/mPerks: -$59.19

Out of pocket cost: $60.75

Savings of 50%

(Again, I got some really good deals, but bought other things like meat [come on, we all need the 3+ pounds of corned beef to make for St. Patty's Day] that make my savings not look so great, but I still feel pretty good with my purchases and savings.  And that's all that matters, right? Right.)



Meet Addy

My niece, Adalynn Kennedy Hills, was born on Tuesday, March 1st at 8:09 PM--and I almost missed it due to my dad's GPS.  Long story short?  You must use common sense when asking for directions from a machine and you don't have to do everything it says Rick...but, I digress.

Here's Addy:

As I was looking for a picture to post, I realized I didn't take any of just her without that giant pacifier covering half her face.  Oops.

And here is Elliott holding her first baby (with Mommy spotting, of course...).

Welcome to the world Adalynn Kennedy--I pray you have a blessed and full life. 

Love, Aunt Mary