Spring break... journal entry and endless phone pictures

This week the kids had spring break. Last year we stayed home during spring break and it snowed... A ton. We went sledding and played in the yard. Fun, but not an ideal spring break for anyone. 2 years ago we had an abnormally warm March (70-80° weather, it was soooo nice!). We spent time outside in the sprinklers eating popsicles (: This year, winter doesn't seem to want to leave, but at least we can see the grass and the snow that tried to make an appearance just melted away. Still cold though, blah.

On Monday the kids played with their good friends Brielle and Reid all day. (Their mom had a baby that day, so it was an exciting fun day for them... and us too!)

On Tuesday we headed down to Louisville KY for a day to get out of the house. We went to the Louisville slugger museum and saw how they make baseball bats. We all got our own mini baseball bat and our tour guide was really sweet and gave the girls a second bat that was pink! Now we have a bunch of bats that we don't know what to do with :)

Dallas and I took turns going to the temple and staying with the kids to swim at the hotel. The kids get so excited to swim, but they are terrified of the water at the same time. Oh well, one day they won't mind getting their head wet. (The next picture is Makiah refusing to look at the camera and smile. She wasn't getting her way, so no way was she giving in.)

The next day I got to choose what to do, so we stopped at an outlet mall on the way home, I scored some cute clothes at Charlotte Russe while Dallas wondered with the kids. Later we let kids get something... Shopping with kids is insane. We were crazy tired once we got home.

 (Rest stop and icecream at Mcdonalds, Makiah smiling adorably because she got what she wanted... a strawberry shake.)

Thursday we played it lazy and loved it (after waking up way too early to do an Insanity workout). Oh and later we HAD to make a Walmart run to buy Frozen, because the kids couldn't wait another day to watch it. This was after we watched the "Let it go" music video 30 times so Makiah could memorize the words. Later that night the kids and Dallas cheered me on at a volleyball game, it's nice to be playing again.

Friday, we slept in. After a week of no school this my first morning getting some extra sleep-thank goodness. 

Bye-bye binky

All my babies used a binky. At 18 months I cut the tip off of Evan and Makiah's binkies, I'm all about stopping habits like this just cold turkey. But with Daph it's been different... She is my baby. And really, things like binkies are really for mom and her sanity, right? Evan and Makiah stopped napping at 2 years and I've always been convinced that it had something to do with taking away their binky or their crib. So I've been holding onto both as long as possible, and guess what? Daphne still naps!

On Wednesday I gave in and decided to be done with the binkies. She became obsessed with them to the point that not only did she need one for her mouth, but as many as she could find and carry around. She had names for each one and would ask for specific binkies at different times. It was getting annoying and even to the point that they didn't calm her, they just caused more stress.

I only could find two so I cut of the tips and gave them to her when she asked for them. the next five or so minutes went something like this...

Daph: Uh-oh! My binkys broke!

She still put them in her mouth and tried to convince herself that she still liked them. She didn't.

Daph: Evan broke my binkys. I sad.

Me: You are a big girl you don't need your binky. They are broken, do you want to throw them in the garbage? They are yucky now.

Daph: They are yummy! (puts them in her mouth, takes them out) my binkys broke. Kiahs broke them. Mommys broke them. I want a new binky.

Me: Do you want to throw them away?

Daph: my binkys broke. I throw in garbage.

And she did it herself, she threw them away! We cheered for her and have been calling her a big girl every time she talks about it... Which is often. When she wakes up, in the car, when she is sad, at nap time and bed time.

She is fine though. She has a blanket obsession and sleeps with any blanket in sight and still asks for more. She also loves books and she also rubs her belly button when she is tired. She has many ways to comfort herself.

Yeay for no more pictures like this with a binky covering up her cute smile...

And more smiling pictures like this...

As for the crib, she actually knows how to climb in and out with a chair. Sometimes she sleeps on her mattress on the floor and does great. I'm holding onto the nap time though, so she still sleeps in her crib for naps. We'll get there... I don't want my baby girl to grow up.

Furniture hunting

I am constantly keeping my eye out for the furniture we need. I think the only things we've bought new are Daphne's crib, a pack n play, and our bookshelves.  I just wait until I find used items. Overall I save money, and sometimes I find pieces that are great quality. Much better then some of the things you can buy new these days. I've found almost all our furniture on craigslist. My favorite things and probably the luckiest things I've found are the girl's beds and their dresser :) They are all a dark walnut, they look so nice together.

Anyway, yesterday I went a little craigslist crazy and found a bunch of things I wanted (I'm still waiting to hear back about a couch, but I'm guessing I didn't get it :/ ). One thing I found was a dresser for Dallas, it was at a flea market called Buy It Here Too. We went to check it out and came home with a dining table and chairs instead :)

I LOVE my table!! I've been hunting for one for over a year now, so it's a relief to have it. It's white... and so is the rest of my kitchen. But I'm loving how it all looks with our dark floors. The top is actually a very light green. I like it, but I'm not sure if it goes with the rest of the house. I'll leave it for now, but painting the top a bolder color would be fun.

We've had our previous table for over 8 years now, Dallas' parents gave it to us when we got married. It's actually the last piece of furniture we still have from our newly wed days. Kinda bitter sweet. We are definitely ready for something bigger :) Our new table fits six and I'm tempted to find/build a bench so we can fit all the kids on one side if we have visitors.

Up until yesterday I planned on painting a table that I got for free a year ago, it needs to be painted and fixed up... And it needs chairs. It's been in our garage waiting for me to make up my mind and get going with it. I just wasn't loving it and didn't want to put in the effort for something I didn't love. I'm glad I found something that doesn't need a paint job or chairs... problem solved.

Phone pictures from our lunch today...

Finished.

I'm loving my room. It is kinda a shock going from my plain gray (not decorated yet) family room to my bright blue bedroom, but once I'm in there I don't want to leave. It's relaxing, I am so glad I went with it! At first I couldn't decide if I liked it, but now I know I do. Dallas likes it too, He was out of town when I painted so I thought he might walk in and hate how bright it turned out... but he has been very happy with it.

So now I am finding ways to brighten up my living space with more pops of color AND ways to tone down my room with more neutrals :) I made an inspiration board for my room on Pinterest. Now I just need to make it happen. I've been going a little Pinterest crazy lately, so now I need to actually get decorating.

This picture below shows the color the best, though it's a touch brighter in person. 

The kids had fun helping me, Makiah got creative with her art work. It was a fun project! Now I just have Makiah's bedroom, the laundry room, my closet, and my bathroom to paint. It's crazy how much of our house we've painted. Nearly every bit of it. 

Lets talk paint.

I NEED a project. Something to get me out of this rut (also known as winter). I am dying of boredom and so I decided it's about time I paint my room.

Let me tell you something about me. I think I'm scared of color. I always go with neutrals when it comes to paint, frames, curtains, decor, furniture, clothes, accessories... Though, I have loved teal for the longest time. As I've started decorating my house I've gone with teal curtains in the kitchen, teal rugs in the halls, teal table in the entry... Makiah's room has some teals and two of our bathrooms are painted Palladian Blue by Benjamin Moore, which is a light pretty teal color. So I decided that my room could not be decorated in teal. I needed to go a different route. But it did need color... The rest of my house is painted in various shades of gray.

In case you are picturing my house all gray and teal... no worries. I haven't decorated a ton yet but here are some of the color schemes I am going for in the living space of my house. :)

Yesterday I decided on Benjamin Moore Jamestown Blue for my room. It seemed calm and comforting to me and it seemed to flow with the rest of my house. So I got a sample and let my girls go to town on one of my walls.

I loved it, and then I hated it. And then I loved it again. Then the sun went down for the night and I hated the color without the natural light. It looked too... teal/turquoise (Kinda like this). I was trying to stay away from teal! So last night I started over, but every paint swatch I was drawn to had the same teal tint to it.

So then I decided, if it's teal that I want then I'm going with teal! I stopped looking at the bold bright blues and remembered my Sister in law has the prettiest living room painted in Sherwin Williams Quietude. It reminds me of the Palladian color in my bathrooms, but bluer and calmer in a way. It's also similar to Benjamin Moore Wythe Blue (which might have a little more green than the Quietude), I had a sample of the Wythe Blue already, so I painted that on another wall this morning and I LOVE it. But now I look back at the Jamestown blue and I think I like it more for my room. Goodness people!! I've come full circle and here I am choosing the color I started with? Who knows, by tonight I may hate it again... And tomorrow I'll be painting my room gray... Because I'm afraid of color and that's all I know.

Help! Someone tell me just to go with the Jamestown... It's bright and fun and who knows, I might just like it.

I guess my worry is this- My room is big with vaulted ceilings and the color is pretty deep and bold. I'm worried that it might be too much for my room and it might overwhelm me (I'm needing something calm and comforting since I tend to get anxious... but at the same time I originally wanted something deep and bold-a change). I guess I won't know for sure until I get it up on all the walls. Gah.

(The picture with Daphne is not the true color... It looks lighter and just plain blue-the paint was still wet. The other picture seems to be better match to what the Jamestown looks like in my room, but really it looks different every time I go in there and when the lighting is different.)