A Change of Sport...

Evan's room is the most neglected in the house.

I might have good intentions, and put it on my to-do list to change it up, but it doesn't usually happen.

His room is the only room in the house which has been the same color for the 7 years that we've lived here.

Sorry Ev.

BUT, blue and red ARE his favorite colors!

The last "change-up" was to make his room a little more "baseball-ish" when he was going through his baseball phase.

When I asked him the other day what he'd like his room to be now, he told me FOOTBALL.  It's his sport of choice now.

So today I got busy.

Here is the before.
BEFORE I asked him to clean it up.

It might not look too messy, but the bed isn't made, and the floor on the other side of the picture was covered with Legos.

I started first with a small project to get the room started.

I had an old window frame that I purchased at a barn sale years ago.

I also had printed some vintage-looking football pictures off of Pinterest yesterday.
I got out my stash of foam board from the kids past 4-H projects,

and I taped the printed pictures to one side of the foam board (after I had cut it to size) and put them in the window slots in the order that I wanted them.  Then I just put masking tape all around the edges.  It holds them pretty good because foam board is not heavy, and because I want to easily change them out if I need to.

Once finished, it looked like this...

SO EASY.

This is what started the theme of the room.

I moved his bed to the opposite wall, and took all the baseball stuff off his corner shelves, and added all the football items he currently owns.  (We'll have to grow this collection!)

I had sewed the pennant bunting about a year ago, and all the E's came from an antique store run I made with my cousin the day after Christmas.  The small chalkboard score board...one of my vintage chalkboards and a chalkboard marker.  Pretty cool.

The vintage metal cabinet in the corner of his room is his makeshift bookshelf and his storage for Lego models already completed.

I got it a LONG time ago at a garage sale, and it's made all the moves with us from house to house, and it's been in a lot of different rooms of the house.  It works best here.


SOOOOO.....

The important thing...Ev was happy with the outcome.  Me too.  Until I come up with a new "project" for his room.

The finished views.

Tomorrow, taking all the 10 bags I filled up today to Goodwill before the New Year.  We cleaned out Grace's closet, the game closet, and Ev's closet.

Whew.  I'm tired.

Christmas

We have one more Christmas to go today.

We've had three already in the last 4 days (counting today).

I'm tired.

The members of my family have been sick with the ugly respiratory flu going around.

But the kids are STILL eager for the last set of presents from us today.

We will have our "own" Christmas this morning when everyone wakes up, and before the in laws come at noon.

I'm excited it's just the four of us.

Everyone but me is sleeping now. 

This is rare.  I'm not a morning person.

I hate that since I get up everyday at 5:45 am, I can no longer sleep in.

We have no real tradition here with just the four of us, but I'd like to come up with one before my kids are too old. 

My aunt and uncle have their kids (who are now all married with kids of their own..) do a skit as an individual or family to get their gifts.   This seems super hilarious to me, and my kids think so too.

Growing up, I remember my mom made us Chinese food on Christmas Eve.  It was divine!  I love Chinese food.

Do you have a special tradition at Christmas?

I'd like to hear about it.

I hope you all have a wonderfully Merry Christmas today and remember WHY we have Christmas at all.  God gave us the most perfect gift for all of us.

Merry Christmas!

Gettin' my list on...

This is gonna sound nuts.

Truly.

I'm finally gettin' into the Holiday spirit.

I know, I know.  Ridiculous!

I've had my decorations up for a month, and my shopping is all done, and I can't wait to give the kids their gifts...

But tomorrow is the last day before school break, the last day I work before break, and I'm finally feelin' it.

There are no sporting events over break.  Thank you.

There are no practices anyone needs to be run to.

There is just peace.

Glorious, welcome peace.

Of course, I have a list.  I mean, I ALWAYS have a list.  But I have a list of things to finish over break.

However, today I want to show you my WISH LIST.

Like the list I would make if I could put some hot ticket items on my Christmas list...

THIS is the list I would make.


#1.  THIS coffee mugs cracks me up!

I am a reader (you all know that...) and it reminds me of the 90's song...I like big butts...(you're singing it now aren't you!?).  I would totally use this mug every day for my morning coffee.

#2.   Flower bracelet.  (found on pinterest with no source...)

It's my favorite colors, it's very simple yet bold...I LOVE it.

#3 & #4.  Any kisslock enclosure purse, but these are my favorites.

(The second one is Coach, and both are being sold on Ebay.)  I just love a kisslock purse.  Not sure why, except for the fact, my purse is CONSTANTLY falling off the seat in the van, and this would hold everything in!

#5 and #6.  Books.
I love books of all kinds, and I need some new ones.  These interest me greatly.

#7.  Pearl necklace.  Pearls make anything look fancier.  I love the bulky versions to dress up a sweater and blouse underneath.

(etsy.com  shop:  Eienblue)

#8.  Embellished Journal.
Now, I can make this myself, but it's so much nicer to have someone else make it.

How much nicer to have a To-Do list that's pretty.

#9.  Old swim baskets  (found at auctions, antique malls, etc.)

I love these for everything.  Organizing craft supplies, books, material, out of season clothes, etc.  There are a million things you can do with these!

#10.  Lace footies.
Are these not the cutest things you've ever seen?  (coccolareboutique.com)

and finally...

#11.  Toms wedges.
My fallback favorite.  I own a pair of Toms and they are the most comfortable shoes ever.  I love wedges, so I'm assuming these would be comfortable as well.  Love the herringbone design.

I could've had a nice round number like 10, but I couldn't help myself.

Now, what do you wish for?

Here we are again.

It's Tuesday.

Not a particularly exciting day of the week.

It's the day I'm in the office all day, and not starting my morning at the Preschool.

That's ok.

I get two days a week to catch up on office stuff.

Like cutting out 90 monkey heads for a Preschool lesson.

You think I'm joking.

To start a day like this, well, I need coffee, a good book for my lunch hour, and because it's the season...some twinkly lights.

After work, it's time to return things to the library and pick up more.

I look forward to this the most.

Running my fingers over books, searching for new cookbooks, decorating books, and magazines.

They sell old magazines at the library for $.25 each.  I'm a bit of a magazine junkie, so this little deal is spectacular!

I needed to catch up on some reading for Christmas vacation.

I cannot believe it's less than a week away.

I'm gonna need to see some snow, though.  It just doesn't feel like Christmas without it.

Last year, it was so warm, we played kickball outside at Mom and Dad's.

So, now that I've stocked up, I'm good to go.

Time to prepare for the craziness of this weekend with 3 Christmas' in a row.

Yikes.

And send out one more Etsy sale to Houston, TX tomorrow.

(By the way, THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART for all the Etsy sales I've had since July when I opened up shop.  Hope you all enjoy your purchases!)


Goodnight.

We've been doing it for years...

We've been going to sporting events at our High School for years now.

Even when the kids were in early elementary school we went.  We didn't know anyone on the teams, but we went anyway.

When we first started going to games, it felt like an out of body experience for me.  Going back, seeing people I graduated with.

It was surreal.

But in a good way.

The kids attend the school that filters into the High School I attended.

Evan is in 6th grade (last year in elementary) and Grace is in junior high over at the high school.

It's now her "social scene" to attend every home game possible.

We bought a family sports pass this year just for that very reason, and because she's a junior high cheerleader, and we go to all her home games.

Tonight, it was our school versus a close competitive neighbor.

We took our neighbors, who happen to be good friends, but they drive their son to the school we played, NOT our school.  Brent and his friend wanted to sit in the "middle" of the school sections.  

I couldn't bear it.  It was bad enough we sat on the opposite side of the gym than we usually do.

Evan and I kept scooting closer to our section and leaving the men in the dust.

Since it's close to Christmas, the student sections were all dressed in red and green, and ours had a "santa" who took pictures with people on his lap at half time.

There was also a 3-point contest that Evan participated in.

(he's in the green shirt.)

It's always a good time to go back to high school, and not have to deal with the homework.

I'm ready for both kids to be at the same school though.  Two different sets of sporting events at two different schools are wearing us out!

Tonight, we lost.  It's ok.  There will be more games.

Glad we got the sports pass!

Ordinary

Is a day wasted if it's just filled with ordinary things?

Do we get dressed everyday for ourselves or for others?

Do we make the run to the grocery store for fun or necessity?

We do what we do everyday because it's the everyday.

Unfortunately, sometimes it's not very fun.  But it's life.  And we should be thankful for the everyday, EVERYDAY.

Hope you had fun in your everyday.

My Favorite Time of Year

I think I say that every year.

I mean it.

Not only for the reason for the season, but for the season itself.

I LOVE Christmas time.

I LOVE giving my children gifts, and can hardly wait for them to open them.

Can you tell my love language is gift giving?

Tonight the kids and I wrapped our gifts for our nieces and nephews.

I used my very favorite paper from Target.  (The BEST place on earth.)

When I put the presents under the tree, I started looking more closely at the things on the tree.

I mean, I looked at them when Grace and I were putting the tree up, but I forgot how much I LIKED the things I decorate my tree with.

Some are things I made, and some are treasures I found...like all the shiny brite ornaments I've come across in the last several years.

Then I stepped back and really looked.

There really is nothing more pretty then a tree all lit up in a warm, dim room.

I love Christmas.  Hope you're enjoying the season too.