More projects inspired by Pinterest!

What is Pinterest?

Pinterest is a Virtual Pinboard.

Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes.
Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests.

I have never felt so crafty in my 33 years of life.  I have been painting, crafting and cooking like a crazy woman!  Tonight's dinner was a recipe I found on Pinterest...taco bake.  Matt and Joshua gave it a thumbs up. 

This past weekend I was on a mission to create banks for the boys.  Now that Casey is six we decided it is time to start giving him a weekly allowance.  I wanted to create 3 banks for each boy; save, spend, give.  This is part of the Financial Peach Junior program created by Dave Ramsey.  The money in the savings jar will be put into their bank account, the spend jar can be used to buy whatever they want, and the give jar will eventually be their tithes.  For now they will use their give jar to buy things for others in need. 

I found a cute picture of a mason jar bank on you guessed it, Pinterest.  Casey helped me decorate the jars.   All I needed was mason jars, scrapbook stickers, cardboard and fun paper.  Each set matches the decor in their bedroom.  Totally easy and fun!

Casey's jars...stars.

Caleb's jars...balls

 Joshua's jars...airplanes

 The top was a cardboard circle covered with paper.  I cut a slit large enough to fit a quarter through.

Matt and I needed a jar too!



The boys each have responsibilities around the house. 

Joshua's duties include helping to unload the dishwasher...just kidding. 

Casey's responsibilities:

keep his room clean

make his bed

put away his laundry

keep playroom clean

clear the dinner table

Caleb's responsibilities:

keep his room clean

make his bed

keep playroom clean

set the dinner table

 

Another fun thing I have been experimenting with is fun braids that I found on Pinterest. 

Here is my attempt at a waterfall french braid. 



 This one I came up with on my own.  I used the overhead projector to assist me in painting this above our storage bench in the kitchen. 

The next thing I want to tackle is this area....

Busy Bee

I am no longer going to tell people I am a stay at home mom.  I am going to tell them that I am a busy bee!  I believe that there is a misconception about people that choose to stay at home.  I think a lot of people think that it is boring and maybe even unfulfilling.  Really, it is what you make of it.  My favorite part of being a SAHM is that I control my days, for the most part.  I don't have anyone telling me what I have to do and when.  Some days I choose to stay home all day and others we are out and about.  Today was a whirlwind type of day.

I woke up at 6:30am and decided to rest for a few more minutes.  I got up and went downstairs about 6:45 so I could sneak my daily Bible reading in before the kids got up. 

I had a few extra minutes to check my email and go downstairs to assess the laundry situation.  I got the laundry started, but never got around to finishing it. 

7:00am and my morning boy Casey came down to join me.  The rule in our house is that you don't get out of your room before 7:00am.  Casey is almost always up by then.  Joshua followed shortly after.  He was not happy to have a flash in his eyes. 

We started out by eating some breakfast and coloring.  As they were doing that I was making my Target list and going through coupons. 

I also took a moment to jot down my list of things I wanted to accomplish today.

I woke Caleb up at 8:00 because we needed to leave the house by 8:45.  Casey and I had a debate about where his snow pants were.  I ended up being right, they were at school.  After I got him out the door it was time to get the little men ready to go.  I needed to deliver a meal before heading to the YMCA for my ZUMBA class. 

No time to clean up the breakfast mess...oh well.

We made it to the YMCA just in time.  ZUMBA here I come!

 Caleb is in the last stages of potty training.  In order to help motivate him to stay clean and dry while he is in kid care at the YMCA, I bribe him with some play time in the kids gym after I pick them up.  All 3 days this week it has worked!  Usually I would be called during my workout to come and change him...stinker.  Anyways, here are some shots of the kids enjoying their time in the kids gym.

 It is now 10:45 and we are off to Target.  I have a list of household items that we are in need of.  The main one being the Downy sheets for the dryer. 

30 minutes later and we are in the car jammin' to Vegetales Christmas CD. 

Gotta stop for my $1 coke!

 We get home and the kids eat lunch while I unload the Target loot. 

 Caleb loves to help me clean up the floor after meals.  He also likes to help set the table. 

 It is now 12:30...time to play!  Caleb and I start with a game of memory.  He beats me fair and square both times. 

Joshua enjoys chewing on the cards we aren't using.

Gotta sneak Joshie's 11 month picture with the sausages in!

Time to work on those small motor skills.  We decide to draw a train mural

 on the back of a cardboard box. 

Joshua enjoyed playing with the markers until I noticed that he had an open one!  A little blue marker on his face and hands.  Good thing they were washable.

We were having so much fun I decided to keep them up a little bit longer than usual.  Joshie started to get hungry and tired.  Here we are cuddled up having our ba-ba.

 What would playtime be without a game of catch?

 Ahh...it is 1:45 and I have finally taken a shower!  Now it is time to do my study and relax a bit.  I spend the rest of nap time cleaning up the house, playing on the computer and getting some of the random things checked off my list. 

 Casey gets home at 3:30 and his brothers are still sleeping.  We sit at the table and have a snack while Casey tells me about his day.  Then we work on his homework, reading two books and journaling. 

The rest of the night is a bit of a blur....Wednesday nights usually are.  The boys watch a video while I get dinner ready and set the table.  Matt gets home and we eat.  Tonight we had Zesty chicken bake.  After dinner Matt, Casey and Caleb head out for Awana at church.  Joshua and I headed out to do a couple of errands.  We went to Walgreens to pick up medication and Office Max to get a mouse for my laptop. 

When Joshua and I got home it was time to have a bottle, read books and tuck him in.  I then painted a cute little All Star quote on Caleb's wall.  I sat down to start this Blog post and my big boys got home. 

I think that tomorrow we will hang out at home.  This momma is pooped!

Casey's Space Room

We decided to turn our guest/storage room into Casey's bedroom.  We discussed many options for themes.  We all agreed that an outer space theme would be really cool.  Little did we know how much time and energy it would take!

First things first, we had to decide what colors to go with.  We ended up painting two of the walls and the ceiling a very dark blue and the other two walls a medium blue.  Casey was able to help daddy with this over the course of a weekend.

Next it was time to splatter on the stars.  I watched Mural Joe on youtube.  It was very messy, but it sure turned out neat.  This was done in one afternoon during naptime. 

Now comes the fun part!  Matt and I did a lot of researching on google to find out what types of planets and rockets we wanted to paint onto the walls and ceiling.  Our church borrowed us an overhead projecter which was a huge help in transfering the drawings onto the walls.  This was done over a two week time period during naps, when the boys went to bed and on the weekends. 

The first thing we did were the rocketships.  I was the artist of this one here. 

 Matt, the engineer, created this rocket launcher that will keep track of Casey's

height over the years to come. 

Then it was on to the sun and planets.  The very lovely and talented Gretchen and Marlaina spent a morning helping us out with some of the planets, quotes, moon and sun. 

When Casey came home that afternoon he was so excited.  However he was disappointed that he didn't see planet Earth anywhere.  So that night I painted Earth on the ceiling so it looked like the rocket was heading home.

 Matt wanted to have some fun too so he decided to create Jupiter. 

 Next I spent an afternoon adding some glow in the dark stars and paint to the room.  We got some furniture off of Craig's List and here you have the finished product!

Casey was so excited to sleep in his new room!  It was so cool I kinda wanted to join him!