An Open Letter to...Thanksgiving

 I felt it was time to send a little open letter to Thanksgiving.  That's right, Thanksgiving.  You see, lately there seems to be a rise in the defense of Thanksgiving.  People getting up in arms about when it is appropriate to play Christmas music or put up decorations and sometimes even outright criticism of those who decorate too early...evidently there is a secret Christmas festivities police squad running around, and don't you dare violate their unwritten rules.  Good grief, folks!  It seems there is an assumption that if Christmas music is being played "too soon" then the perps must not care about Thanksgiving. As if somehow those who enjoy listening to Christmas music or watching a Christmas movie or two before Thanksgiving don't like or appreciate this wonderful holiday.  So, as someone who can't wait to bust out the Christmas music as early as humanly possible, I wanted to explain to Thanksgiving why we do it.  This is not an attempt to ignite a sort of "Thanksgiving wars" but rather, to help calm any grievances I may or may not have caused our beloved Thanksgiving holiday. 

In our home, The Christmas music starts playing sometime in October. Yep, we are some of "those" people. Guilty!  But, my dearest Thanksgiving, it has nothing to do with not enjoying your celebration.  I love Thanksgiving.  I always have. I love it for its simplicity. It's a time to give thanks.  To reflect on the abundance of blessings in our lives.  It's gathering with family, friends, and food!  There is no concern over whether or not you've picked the perfect gift for someone...or whether you can even afford to buy gifts at all.  There aren't many scary aspects of Thanksgiving to be concerned about...except for some of the Black Friday mobs...sheesh!  Thanksgiving couldn't care less if you have a date or not because that has no bearing on its celebration.  If a store brings out decor and festivities early, that's called marketing, but when it happens in a home, that's what I like to call celebrating!  When we consider setting aside a day to give thanks, how can I not burst at the seems giving thanks for the birth of the savior of the world? He is Emmanuel - God with us!!!  Then, when his birth is to be celebrated a month after Thanksgiving, is it so wrong that the two holidays seem to overlap each other?  Not in a way where one holiday takes away from the other but in a manner where they both complement each other. If Christmas music filters into our home before the 4th Thursday in November, could it be because that is one way in which we long to give thanks to our King?  It in no way means we don't truly enjoy you, Thanksgiving.  

This year we made our first thankful tree. Our boys were excited to help color and cut out leaves so we could write what we were thankful for on them.  I was excited to do this to help our young children begin to learn the importance of being aware of the blessings we have...for them to have a simple visual of what it means when we say, "let's be thankful for what we have."  Boy was I optimistic!  We started with our 3 year old...when asked what he was thankful for he responded with, "the thankful tree."  Well, at least he is enjoying this little bit of family fun.  Then we went to our almost-two-year-old...his response, "2!"  That's right...just the number two.  He even held up both index fingers in case we were confused.  I thought if they saw me and the hubs listing things we were thankful for they might get the hang of it, but after the 4th round of "more trees" and "2," I could see I had set my sights too high. There seemed to be a tiny glimpse of hope when our youngest said what we thought was "hogs!"  Could it be?! Has our son given an unprompted cheering on of the Razorbacks?!?!!  All was not lost...or so I thought, until I later figured out, after my sons clear frustration, that what we thought was the word "hogs" was actually him trying to say the word "straws."  Hogs...straws...toe-may-toe, toe-mah-toe!  

But, I digress...my dearest Thanksgiving, in case you were at all wondering, you are anything but overlooked.  Our Christmas music does not mean we don't appreciate you or have in any way forgotten you.  That couldn't be further from the truth.  Please don't feel slighted if you hear us playing Christmas music before you roll around...we aren't skipping you at all.  We are simply trying to enjoy this season in which we give thanks for our many blessings, and since we don't have Thanksgiving music to play in honor of your celebration, we play songs celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, because that is something to truly and humbly give thanks for...that and, of course, "2!" :)

What a Wake-Up Call!

If there was a need for a blog post to have a hash-tag, this one would be: #momconfessions  That's right, this is that post where I am 100% honest with you...for the 3 of you who even read this! :)

Some of you are well aware (because I probably complain to you about it) that our 2 year old is an early riser...oh boy!!  And, for those of you who know me well, you know that I am anything but an early riser!!  This has been a source of frustration for me for quite a while...I keep hoping he will learn that 6 a.m. is not an appropriate wake-up time.  Since I've had this "wish" for over 2 years now, I probably need to learn to let it go and embrace it for what it is.  Oh, how I wish I had of done that a couple of months ago.  This is where the story gets good...or, should I say, it gets bad...

One of Rowin's favorite things to do is to come crawl in bed with us during the night...this started the day we brought Hudson home from the hospital...literally, the first day we were all home!  He had never gotten out of his bed during the night until we brought baby brother home.  Oh the joys! :)  He doesn't come get in bed with us every night but it is pretty often...and that is another blog post for another day!!  Anyways, it was early one morning...right around 5:20 a.m. and I had already been up with Hudson a couple of times during the night.  Well, Rowin didn't just come crawl in bed with us...he was UP!!!!  That little joker was out of bed and ready to play!!  We put him in bed with us in hopes of him calming down enough for us to snooze a few more minutes, and wouldn't you know it, at that exact same time Hudson woke up needing to feed.  So, off I went to take care of Hudson and I was planning to put him back to bed after he ate, but I never got the chance.  Rowin came barrelling in his room as pumped up as he could be...it was like he was on a sugar high at 5:30 in the morning!!  I asked him to calm down and not be so loud because I didn't want him to get Hudson excited so much that he wouldn't go back to sleep either.  Needless to say, that didn't happen.  He just got more and more excited and the louder he got the more it woke up Hudson.  And, my plan of us all crawling back in bed and catching 20 more minutes of sleep was ruined, lost forever, gone with no hope of return!

And, that's when it happened...one of those moments I wish I could take back.  I unleashed my fury on my sweet 2 year old...I was so frustrated and tired and desperately wanting sleep that I took out my anger on Rowin.  Oh, I wish I could take it back...if only I could have gone back in time and just kept my cool, held it together, bitten my tongue...why didn't I do anything other than yell at him and make us all cry, but I didn't.

After it was all over I was standing in the kitchen, wiping my tears and feeling absolutely horrible for how I had treated my own son...and that's when I heard his sweet, soft little voice singing "In Christ alone, my hope is found, he is my light my strength, my song.  This cornerstone this solid ground firm through the fiercest drought and storm"   At that moment it hit me, I had lost sight of my one, true hope...instead of focusing on Christ and the grace he lavishes on us I focused on myself and my own selfish desires.  Instead of taking that moment for what it was, an early morning opportunity to spend with both of my boys, I focused on my fatigue and what I wanted.  Will I ever learn this lesson???

I went and apologized to Rowin and told him how truly sorry I was for reacting the way that I did.  I did not show him Christ, and I tried to explain to him that mommies and daddies need Jesus just as much as he does.  And, praise the Lord for our precious children who at times seem incapable of holding a grudge because he just smiled at me, crawled in my lap and said, "zaza (love you)...want montney (milk), mommy."

"The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love." Psalm 103:8  Help me be more like Christ!

In Christ alone my hope is found;
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all—
Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone, Who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save.
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied;
For ev'ry sin on Him was laid—
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain;
Then bursting forth in glorious day,
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory,
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me;
For I am His and He is mine—
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death—
This is the pow'r of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow'r of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home—
Here in the pow'r of Christ I'll stand.

Our world lately...

As you probably figured out by now, I am a bit behind on blogging...oops!!  Our sweet Hudson Micaiah was born on January 11th!  We feel truly blessed by the Lord to be entrusted with another little boy to raise.  We pray that you will know Jesus Christ early and that you will run to him in faith and repentance.  We love you and your brother more than we could have ever imagined, and becoming parents has been another picture of the greatness of God sending his own Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross.  

Here are some pictures of our little guys!

Our first family photo! 

This is one of my favorites...pure joy on Rowin's face!

Our sweet Hudson 

Rowin asks to hold Hudson quite a lot... 

and he tries to poke him in the eyes quite a lot, too :) 

He loves to get right in front of Hudson and talk to him...melts my heart! 

 

 I found Rowin putting his bear in the swing...taking care of his brother and his bear!

 

 
I am sure I will be posting more pictures of our boys soon...and for those of you who I haven't shared the birth story with...I'll leave you with this - he was almost born in the parking lot...yikes!! :) 

A Much Needed Headboard

Last Christmas the hubs and I got a king size bed that we had been saving for...don't get me wrong we like to snuggle but we both sleep much better now!  With a new bed meant we lost our queen size headboard, and if you know me, you know there is no way I'm going to drop several hundred dollars to buy a new headboard when I could make one myself.  Let the pinterest search begin!!  I had originally wanted to make an upholstered and tufted headboard...or I had considered making one from old pallets.  And, of course, I needed to do this on a budget...and sometimes I just enjoy the challenge of completing a project while spending as little as possible!!  In a way, it is kind of like a rush for me...I know, I know...I've embraced my inner geek meter!!

Here is a picture of our bed without a headboard

I actually had an old door in our house that I used as art/decor.  I got it from a yard sale for $15 and hadn't found a spot for it that was just right.  It had leaned up against a wall in the loft of our old house, then it was in our living room in our current house, and as our little one became more and more mobile we eventually moved it into the garage because we were concerned he could pull it down on himself.  And, with it being an old door it was solid wood and if it fell on him it would do some serious damage!!  So, no longer good for decor but could be perfect as a headboard!  Our bed was 77" wide and the door was an ideal 79" long...music to my ears!!  Of course, I forgot to take a before picture of the door...I promise I will work on my before and after picture taking skills!

I headed to Lowe's to get a 2x4 and some 3.5" screws.  I planned to turn the door on its side and attach a 2x4 to each side and then attach it to the bed frame.  The door needed to be painted and I wanted a vintagey-old look to it.  I started by sanding and then painting it a bluish-gray color, Kentucky Haze by Benjamin Moore, and then I dry brushed white over it.  Then came the hard part.  I got a 10' 2x4 and had Lowe's cut it in half, but one piece ended up being about 1/4" longer than the other, so I knew I would have to attach the pieces perfectly otherwise the headboard wouldn't be level.  And, a headboard that wasn't level would drive me crazy!  Seriously, can you imagine walking by it everday only to have it tilting just a bit?!?!?  So, I measured...and measured...and measured...I probably measured a dozen times before drilling holes for the screws, and thankfully, it paid off because it ended up being level!! WAHOO!!!  The only problem I had was getting the screws through the 2x4 and into the door...needless to say, some of the screws I just could not seem to get all the way into the door before they stripped.  I used wood screws and I'm guessing those were the wrong type to use or I didn't drill as deep as I thought I had, but once the screws were stripped there was nothing else I could do.  So, how did I fix it...well, I am cringing at even admitting this but I took a hammer and used it to bend the part of the screw that was sticking out so it would just lie flat.  I know, it hurts me to even think about it but after all that work I was not about to let a half an inch of a few screws keep me from finishing this headboard!  Besides, that part of the headboard is against the wall so no one can see it anyways...and if I hadn't admitted it, I would be the only one who knew, but alas, I digress.

Here are some pictures of the screws after I bent them flush against the 2x4

Those pictures probably don't do it justice...but there you go! :)

Here is a picture of the backside of the headboard

Here it is in our room

I know the pillows are just sad...they have been a work in progress and I'm hoping to use some Christmas money to finish it all up!  Would love some new, taller lamps to go with our taller bed, but we'll see!

I know what some of you are thinking..."doesn't she realize that if she had of turned the door over then we wouldn't see the door handle and probably wouldn't even be able to tell that it was a door?!"  Well, I actually did that on purpose and that's kind of my favorite part! :)

Here's the breakdown:

Old door - $15
1 10' 2x4 - $8 (approx...I forgot to keep the receipt)
Screws - $5
Sandpaper and Paint - I already had

Total: $28...not too bad!

Board and Batten

I was wanting some big visual impact in our kitchen and I wanted said impact for small bucks...so, after doing some research I came across some great tutorials for board and batten...well, faux board and batten that is!  Not only did it seem doable for this amateur but it seemed incredibly affordable, too!!  I couldn't wait to try it behind our dining table and boy am I glad I did.

I started by leaving our little one with the hubs and heading off to Lowe's.  By the way, for those of you who don't know this...I could stroll around Lowe's just for kicks any day!  I got some Board and Batten instruction and inspiration from some very talented bloggers...you can check them out here and here.

I wanted the top of the Board and Batten to come just below our light switch which turned out to be 4' tall, which made the cutting easier....well, easier for the guy at Lowe's since I didn't actually do any cutting myself! :)  Our baseboards aren't very thick and I didn't want the boards to stick out from the wall so much that they jutted way out over the baseboard, so I chose pine lattice wood that was 2.25" wide x 8' long.  I got 3 of these boards and had them cut in half.  The lattice wood was a little more expensive than if I had of chosen 1x4's but with such a small space I was able to spend a little more and still stay within budget...and the 1x4's would have stuck out from the wall too far for my taste so it was worth a few extra bucks.  For the top of the board and batten, I got a 3.25" x 6' mdf door casing, and had to have an inch or two cut off so it would fit in the space perfectly.  Both the lattice wood and the door casing were located in the door trim section at Lowe's.  I'm sure "door trim section" is the technical term! :)

I forgot to take a before picture, but here is a shot of the wall after I painted a coat of primer.  And, yes, that is my sons post-lunch highchair tray...as you can see, he had some sweet potatoes that day!

Here are the boards/lattice wood after I primed them.

I placed the boards 16" apart because I wanted them to all be nailed into a stud since I wasn't using liquid nails or anything to help hold them on the wall.  I put the boards up first and taped them in place so I could step back and make sure I liked how it looked before I nailed them in for good.

All in place and ready to be painted...or so I thought...

Do you see the gap between the door frame and the top of the casing????  Yikes!!

I had actually already started filling in the annoying little gap when I realized I should take a picture, so that's why the top part of the gap is somewhat presentable rather than that pesky little empty space that you see on the bottom part of it.  And, I know what most of you are thinking, "Seriously, that tiny little space really isn't that big a deal...let.it.go!"  Well, I just couldn't!  When I stepped back from my hard work, it was like that little space was mocking me.  So, I pondered for several minutes about how to fill it in.  I knew using spackle would be pretty tough due to where this was located...trying to fill it in between the door frame and the casing with spackle seemed like I would have an uneven mess and would create another annoying little mistake to glare at me everytime I walked by.  So, what's a girl to do....can you guess????  I grabbed our handy dandy toothpaste!!  That's right...toothpaste!!  I think it was arm and hammer paste to be exact but I'm sure any white paste-like toothpaste would work.  It was perfect for filling in this little gap because I could easily squeeze some onto my finger, fill the gap, and then wipe off the excess.  I'm sure a pro would have used silicone or caulk, but we didn't have any and I didn't want to make another trip to the store.

And, here it is all filled in and pretty...much better!!

Again...

And, one final pic for good measure!!  Who knew toothpaste could make a girl so happy! :)

I finished it off by setting the nails and filling in the nail holes with spackle for a smooth finish.  Then I painted it all, which turned out to be a much bigger task than I anticipated, but I eventually got it finished.

I actually found a before picture on my phone...I think I took it after painting out kitchen table.  So, here is the space before.

And, after.

From the side.

Here is what the lattice wood looks like against the baseboard...I like that it doesn't stick out any further than it does.  1x4s would have stuck out much further than I wanted.


Here is a breakdown of the supplies I used and the total cost:

Primer        
Paint            
Small nails    
Hammer
Nail set
(I had all of these so they didn't cost any extra)

3 pieces of pine lattice wood at $8.10/each = $24.30
1 mdf casing at $8.19
6 pack of paint rollers at $8.97

total: $41.46 + tax

and I only used 1 of the rollers so I'll have extras for future projects!

Here are some things I would have done differently...or the "learn from my mistakes" part:

1.  Having a nail gun would have made this much quicker.  Nailing in each nail and then having to set each nail took quite a bit of time.
2.  The casing came primed, and I didn't paint if before putting it up.  Oh how I wish I had!!  Since that was the piece that sat next to the wall, it would have been much easier had I painted it and then installed it.  Then, I could have just touched up where the nails were.  However, since I didn't paint it before installing it, I then had to paint it once it was already up, which caused me to get white paint on the brown wall.  Once I had painted it white, I then had to go back over the brown where I had messed up.  Anyways, it would have saved time to paint it before installing!


There you go!  My first tutorial...and I hope it didn't create too much confusion!!  Let me know what you think and if you have any questions.

Happy DIY-ing!!

Well, here I am.  Doing something I thought I would never do.  Blogging!  I read blogs all the time...some are friends' blogs, friends of friends' blogs, and then I find myself on blogs I've never heard of and am suddenly intrigued by this stranger.  Someone who is writing about a delicious recipe that sounds scrumptious, but that I will probably never end up cooking...or explaining how to do a project that I want to try, too...and that's when it happens...I get sucked in!  This is where I really start losing track of time.  You see, I am a do-it-yourselfer at heart!  I love projects...craft projects...home improvement projects...you name it, I have probably considered trying it...or I have tried it already!   


But, I never thought I would try to blog.  I have always had this feeling that I wouldn't quite be cut out for it.  My friends who blog are so disciplined.  It seems they are able to blog on a regular basis with such eloquence even when they are discussing their families weekly menu...and I'm just not sure if that's me.  I mean, what if I end up blogging and then I look up and it has been 14 months since I've even considered writing something half-way interesting.  What will readers think?  But, then I thought to myself...who cares.  So what if I am not as disciplined as some bloggers.  Will it really be the end of the world???  Nope...not at all!!  There may not be anyone who reads this anyways...haha!! :)


This will probably be a blog with a little bit of everything...some about my faith.  You see, I am a follower of Jesus Christ.  I hope that he is constantly on my thoughts and resonates on my lips.  I pray that if you happen to stumble across this blog that you would trust in the saving grace of Jesus Christ.  He died for sinners not for good people...run to him in faith!!


I am sure that at some point I will blog about my fam...my sweet husband and our super cute little boy...how can I not at least talk about our little sweet pea!!


And then, I hope to do some DIY blogging as well!!  Lots of the ideas and instruction I get on projects have all been from reading other blogs...the least I can do is give back to the world of do-it-yourselfers and explain some of my DIY adventures so readers can learn from my mistakes!!  I think I learn something new every time I redo a piece of furniture...and then I want to go back and refinish all the furniture in our house!! :)


So, here goes...hope you enjoy!!