Home Decorating Projects

So I am having a lot of fun with some decorating projects around the house.  Yesterday I took on the piano bench.  I havent ever reupholstered anything before but this didnt look too difficult.  I basically just took apart the old cover and then used those pieces of fabric as templates to cut out my new fabric and then I just sewed them back together the same as I took them apart.  Of course it always sounds easier than it is.  It did still take several hours.  But it was really fun and I love how it turned out.  It ties in with my new drapes that I made and co ordinating pillow. 

One thing that I am terrible about is taking "before" pictures.  I just forget to do that before I get started.  So I found this one picture from our old house when we first were gifted the piano in February.  You cant really tell from the pictures but its a deep blue purple velvet.  If you scroll down to Emmitts birthday pictures you can see it in the background of the pinata pictures. Im sure in the right room it would've worked but it just wasnt working for me. 

BEFORE

AFTER:

And here are the pillows I sewed to co ordinate with:

 And here are the drapes I made for both the dining room and the piano room. 

Happy Birthday Emmitt!

Emmitt is 4!  We had a great time celebrating this big day in his life.

His choice for his birthday breakfast was donuts, sausage, and apple juice.  Then he opened his presents.  He got a variety of very boyish toys including a sword he had been eyeing at Target for some time now. 


As a humorous sidenote, later that day when inevitabley Emmitt was directing his sword toward Dallas  I told him that if he uses it to hurt the dog or anyone else then we will take it away, to which he replied "then why did you get this for me?"  (Clearly this kid is smarter than his parents ;)

For dinner, he chose to go to Culvers- no suprise there.


Then on Saturday we had his party.  I had one of my bigger mom mess ups that day.  About 10 minutes after the party was supposed to start, there still were no guests so I sent out a few texts and discovered that I had put the wrong date on the invitation.  OOOPS!!!  Luckily, I had only invited four kids (2 of whom were twin brothers) and the twins mom had fortunately misread the invitation and was on her way anyways.  Then one of the other boys was able to come last minute as well.  So for such a big mistake we lucked out with 3 of our 4 guests being able to make it.  Plus one of Braydens friends came to to hang out so we can say he had 4 guests after all.
Fewf...  I cant believe I did that. 

Anyways, the party was a hit, we played a few games, beat down a pinata, and ate cake.  I think a good time was had by all.

 yes- the train cake is back- for the third year in a row :)

Happy Happy Birthday Emmitt!!! I cant believe you are 4.  Where did my snuggly little baby go?  Love you much!

Kitchen Update

So our cabinets are finally done and I love how it turned out.  I wasnt going to post this yet because I still want to buy hardware and change out the pendant lights but that could take me forever to decide on so I'll post where we are at and keep you posted as I finish it all up.

Again- I am terrible at before pictures.  I had this one on my phone that doesnt even show the whole room.  Why oh why dont I ever remember to do good before pictures!

Halloween

Here are some pictures from our Halloween happenings this year.  

First the ward Trunk or Treat- Brielle is the witch in the middle with her best friends Addie and Kylie.

 

Then we have Makenna and all the 5th and 6th grade girls in our ward who went as various "Things"

 And here is Emmitt waiting for his preschool ride and being goofy:

 And here is Emmitt in his preschool costume parade:

On Halloween night we joined some friends in the ward for this Haloween dinner and then we all went Trick or Treating together.  (Brayden was already off with the big boys)

Another successful Halloween!

Iphone photo drop

Here are some of the latest pictures from my phone and memories I want to keep...

The boys catching their first fish in Prosper at the pond just at the end of our street:


Kevin and I at our first Dallas Stars Hockey Game.  It was a good time and I accidentally dressed in the exact colors of the opposing team.  oops.

 

One night the kids were having a tea party on the kitchen floor.  Brielle made Emmitt dress "fancy" and it was cracking me up.

I took the girls and Emmitt to the American Girl doll store.  Makenna got McKenna's ears pierced and we had ice cream at the cafe.  It was quite an experience.  The girls were thrilled to eat with their dolls and they even gave the dolls a little cup and saucer to keep.

 And here we are enjoying our first Prosper Homecoming Parade.  The kids got lots of candy.  Emmitt even had a good time throwing the candy back at the floats.  What a character he can be. 

 One Saturday morning, Kevin jumped into the freezing cold pool in his pajamas and now its become a bit of Saturday morning tradition.  A nice cold swim in your clothes or p.j's to start the weekend.

 
Kevin took a few of the kids to a BYU soccer game.  They got a picture with one of the players and with Greg Wrubell. (who is the voice of the BYU Cougars). (of course you knew that ;)

A little house makeover

So I had our shutters painted dark brown.  I hated the orangish reddish cast the other color made our whole house seem.  Brielle on the other hand prefers it the other way and Kevin likes both.  I, however, love the new look.

Happy Birthday Brielle!

Brielle turned 7.  I love to see her get older and grow and learn and mature but at the same time I just wish she would stop growing up.  This particular birthday was momentous as she reminded us that she is now allowed to get her ears pierced.  So around here, turning 7 is a pretty big deal.

The day started with the opening of family presents and some birthday breakfast of toaster strudel and sausage.  Then daddy brought her chick fil a at school for lunch and then for dinner she chose the cheesecake factory.  See in the picture below you can even see all the waiters singing to her reflected on the mirror behind her.  That was pretty fun.

Then after dinner we were off to Claire's to get her ears pierced.  She started off brave but after the first hole she broke down a little bit and if we had given her a chance, she probably would've stopped after one.  But she got through it and now has some pretty pink jewels accenting her pretty face.  Isnt she lovely!

 

Then on Friday night we had a few of her friends over for the birthday party.  We made our own pizzas, painted pumpkins, made caramel apples, did the pinata thing and watched a movie.  The girls were crazy wild so I think it was a good time! 

Happy Birthday Brielle.  You've been a JOY to our family now for 7 GLORIOUS years and we love you sooooooooo much!