Conversations with Nolan

Hi Everyone-


How are y'all doing today? I am enjoying my fill of HGTV while Hubbie is underway for the next few weeks. He doesn't seem to want to watch hours on end of House Hunter... Go figure :)

I want to share a conversation with you that I had with my oldest this evening while we were driving to hockey. We were talking about what grades Nolan would be in when Kyler was in Kindergarten, 1st grade, 2nd grade, etc.  That morphed into what grade does elementary, middle and high school go to. Nolan asked me what happened when you were done with high school...

Me: When you are done with high school you graduate.  Then you can get a job or go to college.
Nolan: How many grades are there in college?
Me: It depends on what you are going to school for- a doctor can go to school for seven or more years.
Nolan: How long do you have to be in college for the Navy?
Me: Four years.
Nolan: Where do you sleep when you go to college?
Me: It depends. Some colleges you can sleep at home and other colleges they have rooms you can share with others and you sleep at college.
Nolan: Is it comfortable to sleep at college?
Me: Well I guess so.  They have beds for you to sleep in.
Nolan: What happens if you pee your bed in college?
Me: Well then you have to clean it up.
Nolan: I think I will want to stay at home.

...LOL!!

Then Kyler chimed in with a "Me too!"

I love these boys!

Back...?

Hi Everyone!

It has been several months since my last post.  All I can say is that life happens and ask that you understand.  Is that too much to ask of you? I hope not. Over the last few months I have been busy holding down the fort while my husband was out to sea. Honestly, trying to keep up with this blog and my projects got to be too much. So I let it slide. I am sorry.

However, my neighbor and good friend has inspired me to try again.  Hubbie and I have worked on many projects since he has returned from deployment and we have some more tricks up our sleeves.  I hope you will come back and check out what we have going on in our little North Carolina home :)

Oops...

Hey Y'all... Sorry I have been missing in action lately.  Between me and both boys we have been sick multiple times and with the gross weather I have just not been feeling it.  Not only have I neglected this blog but I have neglected all my must read blogs for over a month.  My google reader is set to explode!

But tonight I feel like I can ease myself back into it.  I am looking forward to being back out there and mingling with you :)

Plus a big woot woot to my best Hubbie.  Love you Babe!!

Wall Art Fail & Success

Last June I was inspired by Amy from My 3 Monsters.  She was guest posting over at Under the Table and Dreaming about some fantastic and CHEAP wall art.  I have seen these before in stores and on Etsy and they can get pretty pricey so I was intrigued...  Could I make one of these on my own?

I went to Leo Reynold's Flickr Photostream.  Go and look.  The sheer number of photographs can be overwhelming! I downloaded everything I needed to spell out my last name and when our family was established.  Then I opened Scrapblog and prepared to work my magic.

Riiiight...  I couldn't get it looking how I wanted.  I added my full anniversary to make it fit in my square {even though it wasn't my favorite} but even still none of the lines were lining up correctly...

Do you see how it is uneven?  How none of the lines are matching up?  Maybe it is hard to see but I knew it wouldn't be when it was blown up and printed out. After hours of messing with it I grew tired.  And I forgot about it.

Until... Sarah featured Stephanie. {BTW, is this enough linking for you?? :) }  She had an in depth tutorial on how she created one of these collages.  It was BRILLIANT! {That's for you Babe!!}  I swear Stephanie must have known I needed this tutorial.  And here is the kicker all she used was a Microsoft Office Program.  No fancy schmancy software or downloaded programs here.  Woot Woot!  If you want to see just how I did it please go and look at Stephanie's tutorial. 

And for my success?

Ok, I know what you are thinking- it looks pretty similar but look at those LINES.  So clean and crisp :)  I know I should have been a good blogger and given you the big reveal once it is all printed out but I couldn't wait.  With Hubbie gone I only have you to show :)  I ordered my print online and hope to have it matted and framed soon.  Please let me know if you make one I would love to see...

Despicable Me

How's everyone doing today? 

We had a day off of school for a teacher workday and it was so much fun to hang out with the boys. We did a lot of snuggling followed by lots of playing.  We even managed to film a few short movies. Has anyone seen the movie 'Despicable Me'?  It is so adorable. I'll let Wikipedia summarize it for you because I am unable to succintly explain it.  I keep writing the whole story out. Oops :) "...a supervillian named Gru plans to use three orphan girls as pawns for a grand scheme, only to find that their innocent love is profoundly changing him." At the end of the movie everyone dances to the Bee Gee's You Should be Dancing and Gru busts out some old school dance moves- including putting his hands on his tush and shaking what his momma gave him :)  Nolan thinks it is hilarious!  Here is what has been transpiring around my house today...

Once again, sorry for my nasally, coughing voice- I am still trying to shake the plague :)  Hope this brightens your day {it sure did mine!!}

Hockey Basics

I just want to share some love for my little Buttonnose!!  Today was his last session of Learn to Skate and he was AMAZING!  It was if everything he has learned over the last eight weeks clicked.  He was doing glides, dips and swizzles better than he has done them before.  His teacher Miss Erin was so impressed she asked the Hockey basics Coach to watch and see if he was ready to move up next session...

He's moving up!!  I am so proud of all his hard work :)

Here are some pictures of my sweet boy in action...

Daddy helping Nolan with his skates for his first lesson in Novemeber

Waiting for the Zamboni to finish

Getting a pep talk

Out on the ice for the first time

Nolan had to be helped stand up

Now here was Nolan skating two weeks ago

And if you are still with me there's one more :)

And because I am not all there lately I completely forgot the camera today.  I was pretty mad at myself because he was doing so much better.  Oh well, I guess I will remember it next weekend on his first hockey lesson :)

Oh and I cleaned my kitchen today so I should be able to take some pictures of the kitchen and put a post together on what we have done already and what we still plan to do :)

Thanks for putting up with this proud Momma as I bragged about my son.  Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. :)

A Crown Update

Hi Everyone!  Sorry it has taken me so long to post about the crown molding/moulding my Hubbie put up weeks ago but things have been a little hectic here.  First off, Ryan left over a week ago for his first deployment in years!  The days leading up to his departure were crazy with us trying to accomplish everything he needed to do in the house before he left, packing for six months, trying to tell me how to fix a leaky toilet or catch a mouse {you know just in case} and spending as much family time together as possible.  We have now officially made it past our first week and I am relieved to say we have achieved a rhythm that makes just having me and the boys in the house work.  On top of all this deployment chaos, the three of us have been battling evil, nasty colds since Hubbie left. Nolan finally beat his fever but has been left with a runny nose and a gross cough.  Poor little Kyler is still trying to get his fever down.  And I am left with a runny nose that never ends.  Beautiful, huh? :)

Well, the other day I tried to take pictures of the crown molding and it is kind of difficult.  I am in no way an experienced photographer.  I just pretty much point and shoot.  But I still try to do my best.  I am sorry that these were the best I could get.  Hopefully, you will get the idea and focus on how gorgeous the molding/moulding is and NOT how bad my pictures are.  And to top it off I don't have the during pictures to show you.  Bad me for not taking pictures of Hubster hanging all this molding/moulding.  But because I promised I would share and because I think he did a awesome job I will share my less than stellar pictures with you anyhow. Here are a few random pictures that show the crown completed.

The Charming Anthony DiNozzo {we are faithful NCIS fans}

This corner gives the the best view of the pieces coming together.  You can also see how my husband has installed the surround sound for our new BluRay player.  I was told it was a necessity ;) And to give credit where credit is due my husband hung the speakers but had a friend who is a licensed electrician run all the wires.

 So there you have it.  My craptastic pictures.  But I hope you get the idea.  The crisp white of the crown sets off the room so nicely.  It makes my heart go pitter patter and I am anxious to install crown in the rest of the house.  In this picture you can see the kitchen in the background.  Our whole kitchen is painted a neutral tan but then our bumpout is a beautiful green.  I think it is going to look fantastic with crown molding.

can you see it in there??? 

Sorry about that view. I tried taking a better picture but our kitchen has bright, blaring sunlight in the morning and I cannot get any pictures to turn out.  However, I will take some later today and post about our kitchen next time. 

 And just because I think my little Bubby is adorable- here he is with is Daddy before deployment...{And I apologize in advance for my annoying voice}

Filling in a Hole Part 2

I win points for originality, right? :)

When I last left you we were here...

And I'm pretty sure this little hottie hubbie of mine was doing a great job :)

Now once he sanded the dry wall smooth, Ryan primed and then painted the enitre wall.

And here is another action shot...

Ryan is threading the wires for our surround sound and other electronics through so once the TV was mounted we wouldn't see any wires.  Make a note that you need special wires for anything in the wall.  I didn't know that.  But yeah you do :)

And here is the final money shot... The TV mounted on the wall with small cubbie for front middle speaker and other necessities like the DVR and Wii :)

And a close up of  the electronic cubbie...

Yeah baby!  I am so proud.  It looks fabulous.  We are thinking of using a thin molding {still think it should be moulding} around that outer edge of the nook to finish it off.  What do you think? To mold {mould} or not to mold {mould}??

Coming up next.... Crown molding :)

Happy New Year!

I cannot believe it is 2011.  It seems so strange. I just got comfortable saying twenty-ten. Geez... now I'm on a whole new year.  :) It doesn't help that right now I am in sort of this weird timeless limbo.  My hubbie leaves in ELEVEN days.  I write that and I know it is so close but it seems so far away.  He is on leave right now so we are together 24/7. It is really nice having Ryan here to spend some quality time as a family.  Every time I try to {mentally} prepare myself for the day he ships out I just can't do it.  I just have to put that away in it's own little compartment and leave it shut.  See right before my husband deploys if I think about him leaving too much I start to get sucked in to this never ending vortex of sad feelings.  Every activity we do, every good laugh we have, every time we do our bedtime routine with the boys I will think to myself this may be the last time we do this or therre aren't that many of these moments left before he leaves.  It is so depressing.  It can really ruin whatever family moments we were just enjoying before those thoughts snuck in.  So instead I try to let it go.  Enjoy every single thing we do.  Live these last weeks to the fullest.  And know that in six {short?} months we will be super excited for a fabulous homecoming. Totally smiling in that freaky forcing yourself to be happy kind of way right now. Ha!

Well, I will be back soon to post pictures of our *completed* living room. No more media niche!!!  :)

Filling a Hole

This is day four of a two day project as quoted by my husband. He is awesome like that ;) He has been filling the hole above the fireplace.  You know those ridiculous media niches that became obsolete once flatscreen tvs were all the rage.  Yet, they continued to install these media niches in homes.  I know.  We have one.  In our house built in 2006.  My hubbie has been wanting to mount our tv over our fireplace for over a year.  Since the day we looked at this house :)   Here is a picture of our niche as of Saturday morning...

Isn't it beautiful? Notice how it is taller than it is wide.  So modern electronics- namely, a widescreen TV will not fit.  We had it rigged so the TV would sit up there on the mantel but you could see this gaping hole around it.  Plus, there is something wrong with the phrase "had it rigged" when applied to something that you need to give up your firstborn to purchase.... And all our components were in the niche behind the TV and it was so difficult to reach under and behind the TV to put on a DVD or turn on the Wii.  And because like I said before it is like a man fantasy... I'm sure your husbands would agree with mine.  I have to admit I envy some of your beautiful mantlescapes with gorgeous mirrors and shutters and the like.  Or heaven help me a family portrait!  But Ryan has very few decorating must haves so I feel like I have to oblige. :)  Plus, love seeing him working hard on the house!

Yes, I totally told him to pose this way :)

Now, once we decided to close this baby up it was as simple as one-

Two-

Three-



Ok, just kidding there were a whole bunch of other steps that I was vaguely aware of {I was baking cookies.} Once this was complete, Ryan caulked the seams inside the mini-niche and primed the whole thing.  Ooh-ra Babe!

Next up on our list-

*Re-paint the whole wall

*Hang the mount

*Hang the TV

*Install as shelf in our mini-niche

*Install crown molding {that looks wrong.  it should be moulding}

     *BTW, this is to cover the wires for our new surround system that Ryan purchased on

       Black Friday.

I will keep you posted on our progress.  Fingers crossed this is all done before Christmas Eve.  Tell me... do you have any last minute projects before the holidays?



I'm linking up to Carrie's Amaze Me Mondays. 

A Surprise

This morning I woke up so tired from last night.  We have to wake up so early because Nolan gets on the bus a little after 7 am.  It is brutal sometimes.  Especially when Ryan is gone {he's out to sea right not}, I find it hard to fall asleep.  I got the boys set up with breakfast and my cell phone rings.  Who is calling me at this hour?!?!  I recognize the number- it's a ship number.  Ryan is calling me from out at sea.  I pick up and he wishes me a Happy Anniversary!  It was the best present I could ask for with him away.  To hear his voice first thing in the mrorning just chased all my grumpiness away.  He directed me to a hidden spot in our bedroom to a card he had left for me. I teared up.  That is my hubbie's romance. Knowing he had thought of all this before he left got to me.  I'm a complete sap. I know. :)

Today, we have been married for eight years!! I couldn't dream for a better husband, father, or friend. Here we are eight years ago...

And here we are now...

We have been through so much together and it has only made us stronger and helped our love grow. 

Happy Anniversary Babe.  I love you!




**Photo taken by Michelle Kirnan Photography**

Holiday Cards

Before I sat down to write this post I scored myself a glass of milk and a handful of yummy oreos... YUM.  Then I looked out the window and it was SNOWING.  Those big, fat flakes that don't stick but just look amazing :) That puts me right in the mood to share on of my favorite holiday traditions... sending out Christmas cards.  I love sending them out.  I love getting them in the mail.  I display them in our home all season long- they make me so warm and fuzzy. When Hubbie and I were first married I sent out regular old cards but we started sending out photo cards the year Nolan was born.  And every year I have drooled over the cards at Shutterfly. Their cards are beautiful, affordable and they have a time saving option to enter your recipients' addressses online and they will send them all out for you.  Shutterfly you are speaking my language!!

Here are some of my favorite photo card designs-

Aren't they beautiful?  I have these four plus another one or two all made in my folder on their site and I am having trouble deciding which I want to use this year.  It is so hard to pick just one!!

Shutterfly also makes Thank Yous.  They have photo cards like this...

Which how cute are they? Or if you want to skip the photo thank yous they have text only...

I personally like the photo thanks yous better- you know, in case you missed the boat on the photo holiday card you could make up for it with a photo thank you but I think the text only designs are beautiful.

If you have never used their site before, Shutterfly has other products to see like... calendars! 

My sister-in-law makes these as Christmas Bingo gifts and everyone always fights over them.  You can personalize them with pictures, birthdays, anniversaries or whatever floats your boat. I love them because they are fun to look at AND it's super easy to remember Ryan's grandmother's birthday :)

Also, Shutterfly has Photo Books. I personally have never ordered one but my mom has and I think the quality is nice.  I am using the family photos we just had done to make one for Ryan for his deployment.  He is not a huge sap like me but I think he might like to look at it once in a while and cry because he misses me so.  Haha... I can dream right?  Maybe this is the type of gift I give to him for me ;) He already told me he wants tool storage for the garage. Pssht.  What does he know?  Photo book it is :)

And finally, just in case you didn't know Shutterfly is running a blogger promotion where you may be eligible to receive 50 free holiday cards!  WOW!  Totally generous, right? Here's the link if you are interested. I think you have until December 15th so there's still time.

So what about all of you?  Do you send out cards every year? A family letter?

Family Photos

I am so thrilled.  I finally got my hands on the disc that has our family prints on it!!  We had our pictures taken the beginning of November at a local park.  The last time we had a picture taken of our family was over three years ago!!  Poor Bubby.  Our last family photo he was just a star in the sky :)  (That's where I tell the boys they were before they were born.)

We had a fantastic photographer that is just beginning  to build her professional photography portfolio.  She is such a sweetheart, so patient and her prices are FABULOUS! I am kind of sing song-ing that word for you there- in case you didn't notice :)

Here are some of my favorites :)

Nolan wanted me to hold that leaf :)

My Beautiful Buttonnose

Sweet Bubby



 ~ Brotherly Love ~


So what do you think?  I am so thrilled that we have so many pictures to choose from.  I cannot wait to start printing them and displaying them :)  I also plan to give the grandparents framed pictures of the boys. And can now plan our Christmas cards. We do them every year and this year we can have something more than me shoving the two boys in front of the tree... hehe ;)

Also...shhh! don't tell Ryan but I am going to make him a photo book from me and the boys to give to him before he deploys in January.  I think it will be so nice... :)

Have any of you had family photos taken?  Where do you go to have them done?

All photos were taken by Michelle Kirnan Photography.

One of those moments

My hubbie is home from a three week underway and I am thankful to have our family all together again.  This weekend has been one of those where you can just appreciate the little moments.  We had family pictures done yesterday and I hope I can share some of them soon.

I am so thankful for my beautiful family and the time we are able to spend together.

How are you enjoying your family moments?

EEK! Halloween Art

Hi everyone!  Hope you all had a fantastic Monday :)

I want to share a quick project I made this afternoon.  It was so quick I worked on it while making dinner for the kiddos.

First I took a picture frame that I got at a yard sale a few weeks ago for 75 cents.

I spray painted it black and then inserted a piece of scrapbook paper I had on hand for another project.

I then hand drew the word "EEK!" and cut it out of black cardstock I also had on hand.  Look out cricut users ... haha :)

Then I glued them to the paper. 

I had a fuzzy spider that I picked up at the Dollar Tree a few weeks ago and I hot glued that on.

Voila!

I think it turned out pretty cute :)

 And here it is all next to my little ghoulie.  I got that ghost a few years ago at Wal-Mart I think.  It has a battery in it to make it glow. 

What do you think?


Linking up to Stephanie Lynn & Kristin

Just one of those days...

Today was just one of those days. ..

It is days like today that I really question my sanity.  Boys acting fresh. Dog acting crazy.  Driving ME crazy!!

They ONLY look sweet and innocent ;)

My Weekend..

How was everyone's weekend?  Mine was amazing :)

We went to the Naval Air Show on Saturday with friends and it was spectacular.  All of my boys had so much fun watching the planes do dives, loops and corkscrews.  The jets were so loud I could FEEL the noise.  You know what I mean?

Beside the airplanes they also had a grounded Fed Ex plane you could walk on and military boats, etc. Of course Nolan LOVED the guns.  Seriously...

There was also a Jeep Exploration Area where you could test drive new Jeeps, climb a rock wall and the kids could test drive Jeep Power Wheels. So cool..

Nolan trying to "parallel park"... his words not mine ;)

Here are some photos of the planes...

Sneak Attack

Mission Accomplished!

This is SO cool!  Thumbs up!

Go NAVY! (haha... shameless I know)

And here we all are after a looong day...