Saturday, February 26, 2011

House Tour

Well I'm finally posting some photos of my house after we are all moved in...we've lived here for 8 months. There are still things I want to do, but that's always the case...it's a cycle, but I love to decorate so...

Here is my kitchen and breakfast room. I don't know if I mentioned on here before, but since our home was built while we were still living in LA, we couldn't monitor the progress of the construction. Our floor plan that we chose, had the breakfast room "kicked out" a bit more...with a door on the side, making room for two windows on either side of our living room by the fireplace. When we came to GA, the framers hadn't "kicked out" that breakfast area and it was too late (already sheetrock, insulation, brick, etc). I was heartbroken and can even remember lying in the hotel bed crying about it. I even wanted to get out of the contract...which we probably could have, but didn't REALLY want to (deep down). We met with our builder the next day and he gave us some really good comps and upgrades and apologized profusely. He really is a good builder. Anyway...so the breakfast room is TINY...it really should be more of a hearth room, but that isn't functional for our family. I don't like having our back door on the other side of the fireplace. You'll see in the living room pictures.

Another view of the kitchen.

See here's the door. Also, I really want to do something with my mantle. I'm not a fan (AT ALL) of having my TV mounted above the fireplace, but I didn't win that arguement so...what to do what to do?


Another view of the living room. I love my new curtains in the breakfast room, but I think with the very patterned recliner in the living room, it's a little busy. We love that chair though so it isn't going anywhere...maybe I can reposition it???

Another view of the kitchen and breakfast room/great room.

It is SO hard to get good angles for photos. This is my formal dining room that is on the other side of my kitchen. (see Max lying in his favorite spot?)

This is the view coming out of the formal dining looking toward a hallway that leads to a guest suite/bathroom, laundry, and garage.

Our stairway. Upstairs, we have the boy's bedrooms, their bathroom, a little computer area, and the bonus room that isn't finished. Yet. We are starting on that this month! Yippee!!

In that long hallway that leads to the guest room, etc...I had a little halltree built. It's great! It holds two baskets, one for each boy and then hooks above for their coats, backpacks, AWANA bags, etc.
Ok, since we didn't have the builder finish the bonus room, we didn't have a multi-purpose room for my scrapbooking, the boy's Wii TV...and we didn't have room for Jonathan's piano. SO...all this stuff is in our guest room for now. But like I said, we are finishing our bonus room in the next month and all this stuff will go up there and we can have a real guest room. I can't wait to decorate it!

Another view of that room...we have a sofa in there for watching TV/playing the Wii.

Another view of that room...my scrapbook desk (I put all my other supplies in the closet since it really is a bedroom) that I hardly use anymore. :( I want that to change.

And this is the guest bathroom. It's a full bath and I love that shower curtain. I got it at Target.

The vanity/mirror in the guest bath.

The view to the door from the living room. Our house plan called for two of those little tiny side door/window thingys and we did have time to do away with that...sometimes I'm glad, sometimes I'm not. I wanted double doors, but it's uncommon here where we live.

The boy's toilet and shower. I know this isn't an important thing to share, but I love that picture! I got it at Hobby Lobby. It says, "Dare to go Far".
And this is the boy's vanity area...it's separate from the tub and toilet. I love that they each have their own sink...now I know who to blame for globs of toothpaste and for not rinsing it out properly!
This is our computer nook. It's at the top of our stairway (goodness I have to do something with all those cords! Ack!). Mostly the boys use this computer. On the other side is a black bookshelf that holds all, well most of the boy's books.


I love this wall art from PB Kids. I got it for Jonathan...he thinks it's a bit babyish, but I don't.

Jonathan's bed. I got his bedding at PB Kids and I love it! Again, I couldn't get a good angle for a good photo. And I"m just realizing I didn't even get a picture of Seth's room.

Back downstairs. This is our master bath.

My sink.
Nathan's sink.
See, I have "loud" bedding. I got it at Steinmart and wanna know the main reason I got it??? Because it has fleur de lis on it! Ha! Now I really want something a bit more airy and...I don't know the word, more fresh and not so busy. Maybe because the weather is getting warmer? Maybe I could alternate? ;) This seems ok when it's colder.

Another view of our bedroom.

And this is where I want my little access chair to go.

Friday, February 25, 2011

I need a chair

I'm in the market for a new accent chair for my bedroom. Nathan watches alot of his recorded shows in our bedroom, lots of times during the day/evening...like before I want my beautifully made bed messed up! Anyway, it would be great to have a "smallish" accent type chair to go in there. Here are some that I like...so far. All these chairs are around or under $200 at Overstock.com and Ikea. I definitely don't want to spend anymore than that. I have to be careful of the fabric because I have very loud bedding.

I wish I was more adventurous and crafty...I'd scope out our local Goodwill or check out Craig's list. I know I could save alot of money.





Tuesday, February 22, 2011

The BEST Chocolate cake

I love this cake! My neighbor, who is also doing WW shared this with me and I could not believe the ingredients when she told me what was in it. The cake has 16 servings and each serving has 3 points. Not sure about calories, fat content, etc. The cake is super moist and so "chocolatey"! I guess you could make it even more decadent and eye pleasing for serving if you sprinkled each piece with powdered sugar.

Triple Chocolate Cake

Here are the ingredients:
1 dark chocolate cake mix
1 small box sugar free, instant chocolate pudding
1 small box sugar free, instant white chocolate pudding
1 cup apple sauce
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup egg beaters
3/4 cup chocolate chips (I use the mini ones)

Mix all the ingredients together, except the chocolate chips just like you would according to the directions on the cake mix.

Add the chocolate chips and mix well.

Spray a bundt pan with cooking spray, like Pam and then pour into the pan...it will be this high, but it won't cook over. I'm pretty sure...it never has for me. Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes.

Invert bundt pan and remove cake onto a plate. YUM!

Monday, February 21, 2011

Jonathan goes to the Orthodontist

Back in October, Jonathan got braces on his teeth. His teeth are super, perfect straight, but he had a gap between his two front teeth that really bothered him. His bite was also off so we went to see a local Orthodontist, Dr. Gary Pool. We love Dr. Pool! He put braces on Jonathan's top teeth and gave him head gear (a wire that attaches to brackets on the back of his braces) that he sleeps in to correct his bite.

Well today we went to see Dr. Pool and Jonathan's bite is nearly completely corrected and his gap is completely gone! Also, Jonathan got an A+ on hygiene which is really important, but really important when one wears braces! Dr. Pool's exact words were, "That boy's got some beautiful teeth!" Of course I was proud! Jonathan will wear the braces about another year and if his gap starts to "open up", he will have maintenance with a retainer as Dr. Pool sees fit. Dr. Pool said that alot of times children who wear braces early (before all their permanent teeth come in), often need them again later. He said it's not necessarily the case with gap issues, especially when teeth are as perfect as Jonathan's...meaning they are perfectly straight and positioned well. I'm so glad we intervened at this point. It's done wonders for his self esteem and hopefully we caught a problem with the bite issue early. I know and have had professional advice that if my parents would have done this when I was young, I wouldn't have the issues I have today...bite, TMJ, etc.


Jonathan with our wonderful Orthodontist, Dr. Gary Pool. If you are in our local area, we CERTAINLY recommend him!

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Hudson Mitchell

We are visiting our sweet, little nephew, Hudson Mitchell in Arkansas this weekend. Hudson is Nathan's sister, Sarah's first baby. He is so precious. You sure forgot how little your's once were.
Hudson was born January 20th at 7:21PM. He weighed 7lbs 8oz and was 19 inches long.


I love this picture of Hudson looking at his daddy, our brother in law, David.





The boys love having a cousin finally!

Friday, February 18, 2011

Friday Favorites


I'm enjoying my time with my sweet, baby nephew Hudson in Arkansas (more to come on that later), but wanted to do a quick blog post on what I'm loving this Friday. I'm trying to be so good to keep this blog updated. Oh and if you didn't notice, I did go back and update a bit...for those two that read! ;) Happy Friday!


Yum! I am doing WW (yet again) and I love these two products from Kellogg's. Fruit crisp bars, blueberry is my favorite, but I like strawberry too. And the cracker chips. I'm just doing it on my own and using all my old stuff...the traditional point system. Each serving of both of these are 2 points.




I love Scentsy! I hate being a salesperson, but I really should sign up...just so I could get the discount. I'm loving the scents (right now) Lucky in Love, Silver Bells, Flirtatious (always), and Snowberry.
Victoria's Secret Bombshell. It. Smells. Amazing. I got some in my stocking at Christmas and I loooooovvvvvveeeeee it!

Topiaries from Ballard Designs. I love topiaries, but I do have to say, I'm not a fan of fake greenery at all....especially fake ivy.


One of Basic Grey's new lines, "Life of the Party".


My favorite Etsy store: I want the "You and Me are Meant to Be" print.



FAVORITE BLOG She is amazing! She homeschools and has 5 children. She and her hubby built their beautiful dream home...so much inspiration! She is very creative!