My Latest Home Project...Redoing the Stairs!

Allen left for a week long work trip (aka vacation--I mean how can it be work when you get to go to quiet dinners at restaurants and eat with both hands, pee by yourself, and sleep all night long uninterrupted), so I decided to tackle another DIY project (and not tell him)! The stairs have always bothered me because all the molding in our home is painted off white, but they are wood. I would have loved to paint them ALL like the molding, but the carpet prevents me from getting in all the nooks and crevices. So, I decided I would just do the posts and the rails. Here are the before shots:

Before looking down the stairs:

It took A LOT of taping (and that is an UNDERSTATEMENT) because I had to protect each of the iron spindles! Here is a shot after everything was taped and the primer was on:
After lots of sanding and two coats of paint, here is the final product:
After looking down the stairs:
And, a side shot:
It was so much work--mainly the taping and the tricky painting angles--but I LOVE the outcome. I think it looks more modern and flows better with our decor. My hope in the long run is that when we replace our floors with darker wood, to have the wood on the stairs sanded and stained darker.

Now, the big question, is will Allen even notice?! Last time I painted the cabinets after THREE days of not noticing, I finally told him. Anyone want to place a wager?!

Slumover

Brookelyn had her very first "slumover" (as she calls it) last night! Somehow she has gotten the words sleepover and slumber party terribly mixed up in her mind, and no matter how many times I correct her, she keeps calling it a slumover! Try to explain to a 5 year old why that sounds SO horrible!

Here is the princess all ready to go:

I wasn't sure if she would make it all night long, but she DID! It helped that she has played at the little girl's house several times, and there were 7 other little girls spending the night too (bless that mom). I slept with my phone (or attempted to sleep through this annoying bug I have) right by the bed and kept checking it. But, no text or phone call! I picked her up early this morning, and she acted like going to a slumover was something she did every night--no big deal. She is getting SO BIG!

Snow Day!

Yesterday we had the first snow of the year (really late for us)! The kids couldn't wait to get out and play! Braedyn immediately laid down and made a snow angel!

He looked so cute in his little camo coveralls and rain boots!
And, my little princess bunny rabbit wanted to hop on her sled and get going!!
We sledded down the hill behind our house and across the street. The kids were so much better than last year (and our sleds were better too). They went down on their bellies, backwards, and let me spin them down the hills! It was a blast!

Then, it was time to make some snow ice cream! Here is Brookelyn's creation:
And, here is Braedyn's masterpiece:
We spent the rest of the day in the house watching movies and playing games--Mommy didn't want to take a chance in the slushy snow and ice!

School Pictures

So, yes, I am incredibly late posting these. But, better late than never, right?! Here is Braedyn's school picture from the fall:And, here is Brookelyn's fall Kindergarten picture:
Can't believe how fast they are growing!!

Happy Valentine's Day (not really all that happy)!

This picture makes me smile every time I see it. Braedyn's little mischievous smile SO captures his personality, and Brookelyn's sweet little smile captures hers!

My original plan was to just post our Valentine's Day card, but with all the action around our house this morning I also have to post this:
At 6:30 this morning I heard crying upstairs, which I incorrectly diagnosed as whining. That was until Allen and I called them downstairs about 6:45 to open their Valentine's Day presents. Then, I FREAKED! Apparently he did a front flip off the bed into the dresser (according to Brookelyn). He is fine, but looks TERRIBLE! Like, people whisper and stare at us when we go places terrible.

And, then there was this:
Not to be outdone by little brother, I also noticed that Brookelyn's eye was awfully red. And, after a trip to the Urgent Care, I now have TWO kids with pink eye in BOTH eyes. Poor babies.

What a rough Valentine's Day! Let's just HOPE, HOPE, HOPE that Daddy doesn't get pink eye!

My Latest Project...

I have been eyeing some beautiful clear candle holders at Hobby Lobby for quite a while, but even with my 40% off coupon they are $25 each and I would need 8 of them. I just couldn't see spending $200 on candlesticks for my kitchen table that would surely be knocked over at some point by the kiddos. So, the other night when I was looking through the West Elm catalogue I came across this picture:

I LOVED the crisp whiteness of the candle holders. Of course they were very expensive too and since they were smaller in scale I thought I would need the vases instead or quite a few of the candle holders. So, I thought, what if I bought the shapes in the scale I wanted and just painted them white? I took a trip to our local Goodwill and bought these 8 pieces for less than $20!
I then got Krylon spray primer, paint, and clear glaze. After washing the candle holders, sanding them, priming them, painting them with two coats, and then glazing them I was SO pleased! Here they are on our kitchen table:
An up close view:
I know they are missing the candles, but Hobby Lobby doesn't have them on sale yet. So, once they go on sale I am planning on getting white ones and wrapping the bottoms of them with burlap twine. I will post update pictures when I do. (The final cost for the project was $32!)

Christmas in San Antonio

For the past two years we have driven to San Antonio on Christmas Day. It is a LONG 10 1/2 hour drive, but SO worth it! We hadn't see Ace and Lily since the cruise, so the kids couldn't wait to see them!

Brookelyn wanted to feed Lily her bottle (and Lily so sweetly "allowed" her to)!

And, what Big Sister does, Little Brother has to also. So, Sashi helped Braedyn feed Lily her bottle. Ace also got in on the action.

Our little chefs cooked up an amazing breakfast!
Lily Kate was VERY impressed!
Since I am always behind the camera, I have very few pictures of the kids and me. So, I asked Allen to snap a few. LOVE my little man!
My babies are getting SO big!

Here is Brookelyn posing in her "fascinator" with her very own diamond earrings. Thanks Aunt B!

Braedyn stopped to read the book he helped make (full of the kids artwork) with Honey.
And, here is a shot with Daddy! Braedyn has become fixated on doing everything that Daddy does. It is adorable!
We managed to get a family shot.
It is almost impossible to get a picture with all the kids and Honey and Sashi, but here was a fairly good attempt.
We had a wonderful time with everyone--the only problem was that time flew by TOO FAST! Can't wait to get everyone together again soon!

Christmas Morning Fun!

Christmas Morning was SO special this year. The kids were the perfect ages to enjoy the excitement, and we had a special guest--Uncle David to make it that much more fun!

Here they are all poised and ready to rush down the stairs! They were so excited--love those little smiles!

You can see from Brookelyn's little face that Santa did a great job with her pink ballet outfit. And, guess what Braedyn just spied with that ecstatic look on his face?!

Yes--the all anticipated BOUNCE HOUSE!

Another favorite of the morning was his whoopie cushion! (He called it his "rooty tooty pillow!")

We all loved having Uncle David wake up and enjoy the fun with us. It may have to become a tradition! We missed Emily bunches and wished she could have been there too!

Santa's elves wrapped all Braedyn's presents in Grinch paper and all of Brookelyn's in Hello Kitty paper, so the presents wrapped 1/2 and 1/2 were for them both!
Ants in the Pants was a HUGE hit!
Brookelyn got a clock that rolls off her night stand and hides in her room when it goes off!
And, B-Man got a disco ball for his room!

It was a great Christmas morning that I am sure we will look back on for many, many years!

Merry Christmas Eve!

We had such an amazing Christmas Eve this year! We started a new tradition this year--each kid gets to pick one special gift for the other, and they can each open those gifts on Christmas Eve. Of course any tradition involving a gift is a good one in the kids' eyes, but in all seriousness, they had a great time picking out a thoughtful gift for each other. And, surprisingly enough, they BOTH kept each other's gift a SECRET!

Here they are all poised and ready to open!

Afterwards, they gave each other the sweetest hug!
And, then Uncle David and Daddy had to put everything TOGETHER! Good thing they both have engineering degrees!
Afterwards, it was time for another tradition (this one we started last year)--breakfast for Christmas Eve Dinner! And the boys went to work cooking! Uncle David cooked up the hash browns!
And, Daddy scrambled the eggs! (No this is not normal for him; the singed hairs on his arm prove it!) The breakfast tacos were amazing!

The kids made us special ornaments at school, so we opened those next. So cute!

Gramma and Grampa headed outside with us to spread the special reindeer food the kids had made. They spread the food EVERYWHERE!
Daddy helped out!
And, Uncle David did too!
After baths, the kids headed back down to get ready for Santa. Braedyn took a quick spin on his gift from Brookelyn first!

Here they are in front of the tree.

Daddy poured Santa's milk.
And, they set out the cookies they made for Santa too!
Then, they headed upstairs!
Daddy read them The Night Before Christmas.

And, then Brookelyn and Braedyn drifted to sleep with "visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads!"