easter 2014

hope you all had an amazing easter weekend!  i know we did!

after easter parties at school on thursday, friday we took it easy at the house.  later in the afternoon, as we had out of town family starting to arrive, we headed for my mom's house for dinner and a little easter egg dying painting.

on saturday we celebrated with my mom's side of the family at a local park.  this was a first for us as we typically have it at someone's home.  i was surprised by how well this worked out.  the weather was perfect, the kids were entertained by the ducks at the pond, the playground, and the games my aunts put together, and when it was all said and done no one had a huge mess to clean up.

these girls sure do love their older cousins!

i've debated on if i should actually explain what is going on in these pictures or just leave you wondering...  

i'll clue you in...  the game was to wrap your egg up as best you could to see if it could survive our tallest family member who is standing on a picnic table dropping it on the concrete.

this is kelby's 2nd place egg.  why 2nd place you ask?  because it had a small crack but was still not "broken."

natalie and her partner were the winners!

  

of course there was an egg hunt...

...which was also turned into a game.  all of the eggs were filled with tickets and the kiddos were able to spend their tickets at the store the aunts set up.

on sunday after church, we celebrated with jeff's side of the family.  as usual, the girls had such a great time playing with their cousins and hunting eggs.  i think there was close to 300 eggs hidden.  and that was for 9 kids.  they also had 26 dozen confetti eggs!

they were coming after me :)

hope you all had as much fun as we did!

~becky

one room challenge {week 3}

hi all!  today i'm going to share one of the DIY we've done so far.  ok, so "we" might be a stretch.  it was mostly done by my husband and mom.  but hey, it was my idea.  that should count for something, right?  no?

so remember in week 1 where i showed the picture of our monster printer that sits in the corner of the room?  i knew i need to somehow hide that bad boy, but i didn't want anything boxy.  you know what i mean?  i needed something "soft" since this room does double as a guest bedroom.  i thought a skirted table, much like the images below, would be perfect.   

source

source

so i asked my very kind husband to help me construct a table to cover the printer and a rollie thing for the printer to sit on so it can slide out easily.  (these are all very technical terms.  take notes.)  it fits in this corner inside of the window trims perfectly.  he even made little cutouts for the cords to plug into the wall.

i then asked my mom to sew a cover for it.  i told her it would need a flap in the front so that the printer could roll out when needed.  we talked about different options and this is what she came up with.

we still need to tweak it some.  (yes, i'm still saying "we."  clearly i'm giving myself way too much credit.)  we (ha!) need to cut a hole or slit or something for the cords on the right to go through.  currently because there is no slit, the cover pulls to the right.  but i still love.  my poor pictures do not do it justice. 

and ignore the cords creeping out.  i should have cleaned up before taking the pics.

and this is how it looks when we roll the printer out.  it works perfectly.  

the fabric is a softened linen that i ordered from here.  i chose dove grey. 

and because we overestimated the amount of fabric needed, my mom was able to sew this pillow cover.  is my mom not the best or what?!? 

oh and that big white blob you see blocking my table skirt picture...  that is the parsons chair i ordered for the desk.  i also had it monogrammed on the back with our last name initial in gray.

 i also got in the terrarium i shared in last weeks vision board.  buttttt....  i might need to read up on how exactly i should plant and take care of the succulents i put inside.  i'm not off to a good start...  and yes, i still have the fancy lifetime table desk.  but hopefully not much longer.

so.  plans for the upcoming week...

~  my desk should be coming in and i. cannot. wait!  i am sure that when we get rid of the lifetime table it is going to make a huge difference!

~ i need to figure out what i'm going to do on my walls.  order more art, pictures, leave it bare, etc.

~ i need to start looking for lamps as well.  i made the comment recently to my husband about how i just love a room with a soft glow from a lamp.  his eyes about rolled out of his head.  but its true!  i love lamps!

check back next week for some progress pictures!

and be sure to check out all of the other room room challenge participants here.

~becky

weekend getaway - horseshoe bay, tx

happy weekend friends!  we just returned from a quick weekend trip to horseshoe bay.  we stayed at the horseshoe bay resort, but sadly i didn't take many pictures there to share.  the few pictures i did capture with my iphone were mainly of the girls doing something silly ("hey look, we're on a rock!") or other older unnamed individuals doing some crazy shenanigans.   we really did have a blast.  and, as long as they don't review their surveillance tapes and ban us from coming back, we would love to go again.

on saturday after getting breakfast from blue bonnet cafe, we dropped the guys off to play golf while the girls headed into marble falls to sweet berry farms.  holy moly.  that place is awesome.  their website states to try to come before 10 am if coming on a saturday so i was a little worried the fields would already be picked over by the time we got there around 11.  luckily that wasn't the case at all.  they have three huge fields to pick from and although two of the fields were pretty full of "pickers" there were still a ton of strawberries left.

and it's not just about strawberry picking.  they also have the sweet berry express barrel train, the berry bounce (think jumpy jump on the ground), face painting, goats to feed and more that i'm probably forgetting.   neely wasn't a big fan of feeding the goats.  she tried but every time they came in close to her hand she flipped out.  i should also mention that we all really enjoyed their strawberry lemonade and homemade ice creams.  i think kelby had strawberry ice cream, kevyn picked berry berry, and natalie had vanilla.  neely opted for a sucker.  ;)   

after about 3 hrs of fun, i used some of my reliable negotiating tactics and got them back in the car.  and when i called the guys to see what hole they were on and found out i needed to kill some more time, we headed to downtown marble falls to do some shopping.  i warned the guys that the extra time would cost them.

we then spent the rest of the day swimming at the resort which was perfect since natalie and kevyn start swim team practice on monday and i was kinda nervous they would be a little rusty on the first day.  they've been doing "land training" the past two weeks, but monday they will get in the pool for the first time.  i feel a lot better after seeing them swim this weekend.

after a late dinner at the resort and walking around some, the girls were exhausted and we got no complaints when we said it was time to go to bed.

i'm keeping my fingers crossed about that surveillance tape so i can start planning our next trip back!

~becky

one room challenge {week 2}

woohoo!  it's week 2 of the one room challenge and i haven't bailed yet!  i'm going to go ahead and call this a success.  ;)

you can check out week 1 here and the rest of the one room challenge participants here.

so this week i am suppose to share what i've accomplished or learned.  what i've learned is my husband's work (and research/studying) requires a lot of paper.  piles and piles of paper.  and books.  lots of books.  we need some storage solutions for that.  (disclosure:  i'm not completely innocent when it comes to cluttering the desk.  ahem, lifetime table.)

that being said, i really don't want a bulky desk in this room due to it being a shared space with a guest bed.  i like the idea of a writing table much like this...

Pottery Barn Printer's Writing Desk (see more Pottery Barn)

i've actually been eyeing this desk for quite some time.  this past december i called the nearest pottery barn store to see if they had it in stock.  they didn't and said it would take about two weeks to get in.  i told the salesperson how i was really hoping i could get it before christmas and she suggested i called the outlets to see if they had it in stock.  the PB outlet store is only about a 1.5 hr drive for us.  i called the outlets and they did!  three actually!  and for 1/2 off with only some minor imperfections.  score!  i asked if they could hold one for me and they couldn't.  this all was happening on like a wednesday and i knew my husband and i wouldn't be able to get there until saturday.  i called friday to see if they still had the desk and they were down to two.  it was still looking good for us.  saturday we left early and arrived shortly after they opened.  i quickly made my way to desks only to find the last printer's writing desk with A HOLD SIGN ON IT!  what?!?  i thought they couldn't hold furniture?!?  (by the way, the desk looked perfect!  i couldn't find the imperfection.)  i questioned the manager and he told me that sometimes in special situations they would hold a piece.  apparently a mom was driving 4 hrs to come pick it up for her daughter who would be receiving it for christmas.  (note to self:  next time lie and say your coming from out of state to pick up said item as a gift for my ailing grandmother.)  the manager assured me that they receive the printer's writing desk often and i should just keep calling back.  like i said, that was december.  it is now april.  i'm on a first name basis with like five of the PB outlet employees.  they know my voice and almost instantly tell me its not in as soon as i say hello.  my husband, who is tired of hearing the weekly saga, has asked me to suck it up and pay full-price several times.  i've held out until this past week and it is finally ordered.

i should mention that i did find a 3x5 brannan braided jute rug at the outlets for $30.  i was pretty pumped about that one.  it goes perfectly on the side of the bed.

so going back to the original topic of what i've accomplished...  these are the elements of the room that i've picked out so far...

1.  parsons slipcovered chair

2.  antique brass wall scones for the head of the bed

3.  rifle paper co. calendar

4.  clare elsaesser art

5.  room essentials document box from target

6.  brannan braided jute rug

7.  terrarium for desk

8.  lamps for desk

9.  printer's writing desk

come back next week when i share a few if the DIY's we've done.

~becky

one room challange {week 1}

i'm venturing out of my comfort zone here...  

i've decided to link up with calling it home's one room challenge!

i've followed this series a few times and love watching how other bloggers transform a space in just six weeks.  i however am cheating a little bit...  i took the "before" pics a few months ago and have already purchased a few items.  don't judge me.  ;)

so the backstory...

in December 2012 we moved into my grandparent’s home that we renovated.  we knew it would be a work in progress and figured all the small details would get done once we moved in.  ha!  2013 turned out to be a crazy year and furnishing our house was the least of our worries.  our home, as well as many other things, got neglected.  getting this house put together is one of my goals for 2014!

our home is old.  real old.  i would love to find time to go through the county records to see if i can figure out exactly how old it is.  time and the help of someone who knows how to maneuver through the records.  i tried once and didn’t get very far in the hour i was there.

the room i am choosing is our office/guest bedroom.  currently this is the catch all room.  when we first moved in, this was the room that we hid all the boxes in until we had time to unpack them.  some items just haven’t found their home yet and are still left in here.  here are all the unflattering before pictures...

i should also mention that prior to moving we sold the majority of our furniture because i knew i wanted a different look for this house.  that’s the reason for the fancy lifetime table desk.  nice.  i know.

i love this room and all its windows.  and when i sit at my computer i really like also being able to look out the front window.  many times my girls will be playing on our front porch while i work. 

my biggest challenge will be to somehow create a usable work space (including a monster printer) all while keeping the space homey enough for a guest to feel comfortable.  

Just for fun, do you want to see a picture of the room prior to our major renovation???

i hope you come back next week for some progress pictures!

~becky