Located in our basement is my favorite wall art. Why is it my favorite? Because it displays the rules. Yes, the rules. We read them a lot. Thanks to Caleb and his attitude (where does he get it from?!) Anyway, I found a cute cross stitch at an antique store and printed out some rules (from etsy), and put them into frames purchased here at IKEA. 
We visit this rule a lot... 
And this one too... 
A while back I purchased some ABC decals at Meijer (before they were discounted to only 9.99!!). Anyway, now that that basement is finished, I have been busy getting the play area organized and decorated, so I went to the Dollar Tree and purchased 26 random frames. My orginal intent was to paint them all white, but I just loved the natural look of them- it really made the colors in the letters pop! So, how does one go about hanging 26 frames? Thanks to one of my favorite websites, younghouselove, I was able to hang all 26 with ease. Step 1: Arrange frames how you want them. 
Step 2: Cut out pieces of paper to match the sizes of the various frames and tape them to the wall.
Step 3: Mark the nail holes on the pieces of paper according to where the hanging apparatus is located. 
Step 4: Pound your nails on the marks you drew on each piece, remove piece of paper and replace it with the frame. 
So, there may not be doorknobs on the doors yet, but at least this play area will have cute decorations. I decided to take advantage of the time I had at home with my babies, to do some house re-decorating (which, yes, I do quite frequently). So, here are a few pictures of the living room and dining room (and basement pictures will come soon!)... Living room before: 
Dining room before-before:
Dining room before:
AFTER!!!:
This is what happens when you ask Caleb to help bring things to the dinner table (and aren't watching...) 
And this is what happens when you are busy and Caleb gets into things (notice the cool hat...)
While disposable diapers haven't completely left our household, we are proud to say that cloth diapers have successfully entered. At $6.99 a pop you can get yours here While comparable to BumGenius cloth diapers, they are a third of the price. Jackpot. We were blessed to have them (18 of them. that is) gifted to us at a shower, so the cost to get started was the purchase of this lovely diaper sprayer: 
It attaches to your toilet (with the help of your hubby) and sprays the dickens (or the poop) out of your diaper! So, without further ado, I give you, the Kawaii one size fits all, all in one, snap closure, cloth diaper:
Each diaper comes with 2 microfiber inserts and a waterproof shell. The diapers can snap up to make them small enough for a newborn, or big enough for a toddler. 
Just snap away till you find the size that fits your little bean. 
Tada! 
Soiled diapers get sprayed first, then put into a "wet bag" to be washed later. Wet (peepee) daipers also go in the same bag. We use disposable wipes still- but those go in the trash. In honor of Frodo's birthday this week (St. Patty's day), we would like to dedicate this blog revival to him with some of our favorite Frodo blog posts. Take some time to click on the links and get to know our dog. I think you'll like him.
And a "smart" dog... (http://russellandamy.blogspot.com/2007/09/professor.html )
For those of you who know, I have been on a dining room search for quite some time . I sold our counter height dining table on craigslist (see below) and decided that I wanted a long rectangular table that would seat at least 8 and would be, of course, stylish. 
Top 10 things about my 18 month old...
#10. He surprises us every day with another new word.
#9. He likes to pick lint out of his toes...he calls them "ishies"
#8. Multiple times I have caught Caleb eating those ishies.
#7. He doesn't like his hands to be dirty..."Eeewe"
#6. He likes noise, banging, throwing, and hitting.
#5. He will not say "love you" unless he is trying to get our attention.
#4. He has formed an alliance with Frodo at mealtime...and now that we know and have put an end to his "sharing", he has found various hiding places to store food.
#3. He's a ham (as you can see from the picture above)
#2. He likes to shout "AMEM" at the end of prayer....and after the songs during worship at church.
#1. He thinks he's the boss. He's not.
Now for the boring stuff that moms want to know...
He's about 75th percentile all around. He's a good eater. He still sleeps about 12-13 hours a night and takes 2 naps a day.
Welllllll, one wintery day, I got cabin fever and decided that I needed a change, so I sold our table on craigslist. I had been wanting to do so for a while since it was counter height and our shorter guest *ahem, Mitch* couldn't scooch themselves in when they sat down. Anyway, the table sold quickly and before I purchased a new one, I decided that I would also change the orange paint to something more neutral, so that I could bring in a different accent color.
Using the money from the table, I purchased a hutch, a table, some cute wall decals, paint, fabric for reupholstering the chairs, and even more! What a bargain shopper, I know.
A couple of weeks later, and a few tears and cuss words later, this is what the end product turned out to be:
It's dark and kinda difficult to see, and for some reason the OFF-white table looks bright white in the picture, sooooo, I guess you are going to have to just come over and see the changes for yourself.
As for my cabin fever....well, it's raining outside right now.... so.... time to redo the bedroom???
Nah.
Or maybe....
