I love Quotes and the great reminders they invoke.  Sometimes I find myself so engrossed in the problems of my life and the sad/distressing things of the world, that I forget the important things.  It's not hard to get caught up the sad things, the conspiracies and the things we can't explain or control.  Magazines that tell us how to look/act.  Hollywood that can't hold on to anything.  Entertainment industries that live on the moment.  I know, I'm having a moment. 
I also love this picture because I have a friend with a little guy in a wheelchair.  But, I also have a girl and 3 boys that will need this reminder a lot, I'm afraid.  But, on a more positive note, please check out this video.
It's a quick way to help out Evan and Kira get a hold of Josh Groban and his help with SMA awareness.  Not sure what I'm talking about?  Didn't click the word video?  Click here.

Renovations... of the Cleaning/Furniture Kind

I know that this is an ongoing project for most people, but I've actually managed to make a little bit of headway.  We finally had a little bit of extra money come (bonus style) and I took a portion and put it towards making the house work just a little bit better.  We have at least another year or two here and it's the perfect time to not only sort through my stuff, but to get furniture for the next house. Can't do that as easily when the house costs more then next time around, right?  I wandered over to Ikea, which I know isn't high end, but a budget is a budget.  And really, I think their stuff can look pretty nice.  And a big thanks to my friend Amy who sacrificed her time and willingness to help me paint walls and build furniture while Clark was out of town.  Here's the pieces up and running... what do you think?

I found these on Clearance!!  Hooray!  That never really happens to me.  Any way, I have been looking for this style of "wardrobe" for a while now.  I didn't need more hanging space, just wanted something upright.  So, one for me, one for the hubby.  I think what I am going to do though, it change out  the white background for a gray brick vinyl.  That is, if I can find it.  Just to give it a more urban feel.



Now, look past the current mess.  Just added the two shelves on each ends, so now I need to clean up the current shelves.  That will be a day in and of itself.



Now, I know the instructions say otherwise, but I put this together myself with some little hands helping here and there.  Our dressers went out of my room and one per kid room, which you can see just on the left.  Amy and I also managed to piece together the bunk bed I dismantled and spray painted.





I saw on a blog how to add some luxury to your bed with function in mind.  How's the for a pretty way of saying, the hubby thinks decorative pillows are silly?  I bought the fabric and king size pillows a while ago and my mom volunteered to build the pillow cases for me.  I didn't say no....  Aren't they pretty?  I think I'm pulling a color from them to  paint the walls.  How simply decorative of me!


And since I love random things, here are 2 pictures.  First one, the boys tied themselves to the chair.  Not me.  Promise.  The one on the right has a thing for string/rope/yarn/dental floss and does this sort of thing every time he gets his hands on them.  Usually I have to clean it up with scissors.





And, the fun part about being on the older end of cousins.... babies!  Whenever I think the kids would like another sibling, I smile cause I know we can visit a cousin for them to hold/mother/fuss over.

Did any one else participate in the Elf on the Shelf phenomenon?  Normally I wouldn't have even know/given a second thought to something like this, but when a friend gave us our elf, I knew that I had to try and make an effort with him.  Thank goodness for a little bit of creativity and a healthy access to Pinterest.

Our first task was to name him.  That proved to be a fatal error on my part.  So, our elf very nicely told us his name after the first night.  So, this is Charlie and it was very fun to have him in our house.  Charlie was a pretty tame elf compared to some of the others that I saw, but I'm sure he'll pull some pranks next year.



When Charlie had managed to get used to the house, and its surroundings, he did manage to find a dragon, a sword and what is missing is actually the dragon book he was reading when the kids found him the next day.




Charlie was kind enough to help me decorate the tree, leaving enough for the kids to do, of course. He was also smart enough to make sure all of my nice decorations were the ones he put up.  He's very considerate that way.






Charlie took a try at being a lion tamer.  They all responded very well, don't you think?

Charlie's last night (which actually made Caleb extremly sad and mopy for a good part of the day.  He took a lot of pictures of Charlie so he could remember him.  It was really cute.)  Charlie decided to have a snow ball fight - with cotton balls.  He even recruited some toys to fight for him....

... and against him.  If you look closely enough, some of them have actually been knocked down by the 'snowballs.'

We put the kids in one room so that Charlie wasn't playing favorite.  He also managed to paint their noses red, just like Rudolph.