Our New Magnet Board

I am so excited! Remember me posting that Eric and I were working on a new magnet board? Well, probably not. But anyways, here it is! I saw this idea on a craft website and just knew I needed it. It hangs on a big wall in our mud room so the kids see it everytime they come in. It just helps me keep track of who is doing what and when.



First we decided what size we wanted and then Eric had Ipaco cut it. The sheet metal was $15. Then, we bought wood and Eric nailed to the wall. I think the wood was $12, most of the cost was for the decorative wood corner pieces. Then I printed out all of the names, activities, days of the week, etc. Next, I laminated them. Can I just say how much I love my laminator? I think everyone should have one. It is so handy for so many things and especially if you teach Primary like us. Ours was under $30 at Sam's. I put magnetic tape on the back and I was done. Tyler, for example has scouts on wednesday and practice on Tuesday. This week he has a game and scouts on the same day. I also make some for when dance starts, no school, basketball, field trips, etc. For now, Eric and I also have our own spots too. It is nice to not have Eric constantly asking me,"when are you working this week?" I also left room to put up school papers, etc. IF we ever do have more kids then we will make adjustments at that time. I LOVE it and we did it relatively inexpensive.

12 Years

Happy Anniversary Honey!

Back to School

This past week has calmed down a little bit especially since the kiddo's are back in school. The other night I went to check on Tyler and this is what I found.....I just LOVE the High School Musical eye cover.

While I was at work one day, Eric heard a big crash in Easton's room. This is what he walked in on:

And the culprit! Thankfully he wasn't hurt but it gave him a good scare. Hopefully he won't do that again!

Last Thursday was time for the kids to go back to school. Tyler was so excited he woke up at 4am and couldn't go back to sleep until 5. I can't believe he is in third grade! He is a kid that loves structure and especially learning. He is also excited that he gets to ride the bus this year.

Kylie is in first grade this year! She has transitioned really well to all day school and loves her teacher Mrs. Miller. She, on the other hand, is a bear to get up in the mornings.

I haven't done as much "crafting" this past week but I did re-do a little bit in Kenadie's room. This is the before pic:

And the after. Not a big change but just added some ribbon and flowers to her name. It took maybe five minutes but I think that small changes can make a big difference.


I am excited about my latest project though. Eric has been making a huge magnetic board for our mug room and hopefully it will be complete tomorrow. I also have been trying to get caught up on scrapbooking and just finished some pics from January. Still a ways to go but I'll get there.
Tyler starts flag football next week and Kylie starts dance. They keep us busy but we wouldn't have it any other way!

Some crafting going on....

Remember how I said I was on a crafting kick? Well, this is what I accomplished this past week:
This is what Easton had above his bed

They were cute but since we all know Easton has an obsession with trains I wanted to somehow incorporate that into his room. I bought three little cute wood cutouts of an airplane, car, and train. Eric removed the back from the frames which was a major job in itself. I sanded, stained, and attached the wood cutouts to some scrapbook paper. Wah lah.

I had this frame already so I just used some more scrapbook paper and a couple of my favorite pic's of when he was little.


The total cost:
3 wood cutouts $1.80
scrapbook paper $3.20
=$5. I also mod podged a big letter "E" with some of the paper and put it on his shelf above the bed. I am still working on the other wall so I will update when it's done.
Now this next one I LOVE. I had been wanting/thinking for months now of what to put on this wall downstairs. I used to have all of the kids updated school pics but I didn't love it. I saw this idea on a craft blog called The Creative Crate.

Eric was helping me by putting the vinyl saying on the wall but he didn't put it on exactly level! It's not that noticeable but just enough to bug me.
The total cost:
board with hooks(which I already had laying around) $6.00
Star-I already had so I don't remember
Vinyl saying $9.99 at Hobby Lobby (which was 50% off)
Total: $16
I also plan to put two pics on each side of the kids when they were babies.
Other things I did:
Had Eric hang up a large Temple pic that I took
Removed our door between our mud room and kitchen. We never closed it so it just took up room
Mod Podged Kylie's name to put on her wall after I paint it
Had Kylie draw a pic of our family, stamped "family" on scrapbook paper, added some ribbon, and hung on the wall
Mod podged the letter "T" for Tyler's desk.
I have plans to make a large magnetic board with dividers for each child and hang in our mud room. I saw it on another blog called The Idea Room. Eric is getting tired of my projects and is probably hoping it ends soon!

Past Week

We had a lot of fun this past week! On Thursday we took the kids and one neighbor friend swimming at the Aquatic Center. We were only there for about an hour when they kicked everyone out for lightning. We decided to go over the fair! We spent three hours looking at the animals, crafts, had a snowie, and each kid got to pick one ride. After we were done there, we went back over swimming. It was so nice since almost everyone had left. Tyler's favorite was the "straight slide" and as soon as he would get off he would go back to the top. Eric and I couldn't believe how easy it was! We sat in the shallow water and just watched them play.
Yesterday, Eric and I had a date to Lagoon. It was my work party and many thanks to Grandma, we spent the whole day. Alone. We went on all of the "big" rides that you can't do when your kids are little or too chicken. (Tyler) I loved floating in the lazy canal and going down the slides with the tubes. We left early and ate at Olive Garden. We ended up getting home early and were able to just relax. Kylie asked me why we were going alone. My response was, "so we can remember why we got married." I think we accomplished our goal!
For the past while I've been thinking a lot about my kids getting older, working so much, etc, etc. So....I've decided to cut down at work. I know I have said this in the past many, many, many times. I have always had a fear that I won't be able to provide for my kids so I have worked as much as I could. But lately I've decided I just have to do it. We financially can afford it and my husband has always been willing to work extra if I want to be home more. He is so awesome! I talked with work and will work 3 days a week. I also will work set days. This will help when I'm trying to make appointments, etc. I still will be considered full time but at my job, this is not a 40 hour work week. Can I just say I work at an awesome place? For the most part, my job is ideal.
Lately I've been getting way into crafting and wanting to create different things to decorate my home with. After two years of living here and I need some change. I mentioned the word PAINT to my husband and he cringed! (He painted our entire house when we built it!) I just need some change and want to create more personalized things. I have found so many awesome websites to get ideas from and will share some projects as I get them done! This first one took approximately 10 minutes. So easy! I already had this simple wood frame that you can buy from Michaels for $1. Add some mod poge, scrapbook paper, and a little ribbon. It's not perfect but think it turned out ok.
I made this for Kenadie's room for her shelf.

I found the cute bunny at Hobby Lobby for $3. It was in the garden clearance section but I think it works well in this space.

Kylie's Birthday

A couple of months ago I was at Walmart and saw a bunch of Luau decorations on clearance. I immediately thought of Kylie's birthday and luckily she agreed. So, for her sixth birthday she had a swim/luau party. It took me all day Wednesday to get ready but it was worth it!

We had pineapple, grapes, cantaloupe, kool aid, and smoothies while the girls played in the water.

Our awesome neighbors let us borrow their inflatable water slide.

Once again, her cake didn't turn out the way I had planned but she didn't care. All of the kids loved the gummies on top.

All of the girls at the party.

Eric and I gave Kylie a jewelry box, necklaces, earrings, and some play makeup. She got lots of cute jewelry, watch, purse, and dress up stuff. After the party, the girls had fun playing with all of the new stuff. Kylie kept telling me thank you over and over. It was a lot of fun but exhausting.