Birthday Parties-- A Look Back

My oldest beauty is turning 4 next week!  I can't believe it's been four years already!  Four years ago I was impatiently awaiting her arrival and ready to punch the next person to ask when she was due (she made her entrance 10 days late... stinker!)  She decided to come to us just hours after my birthday, so we are forever linked that way.  With the upcoming birthday and the party that we are planning for the weekend after her birthday (we will be in Disney for her actual birthday, remember?) I thought it might be fun to look back at last year's party...

As soon as I caved into Pintrest, I got hooked on creating my own decor for my kids' birthday parties.  Blair's 3rd birthday was the guinea pig-- I learned really fast just how much time and energy goes into personalizing a birthday party.  We chose a venue for the party instead of trying to host at our house.  Since her birthday is in the winter, we are pretty limited to indoor locations and I get anxiety just thinking about a houseful of kids... I should probably work on that... but I digress... This particular venue kind of fell into our laps via Living Social.  A local horse farm hosts birthday parties that include use of a heated room off of an indoor riding arena, as well as pony rides for 15 friends!  Who can pass up 50% off??  Even though Blair hadn't really been interested in horses or ponies up to that point, she did have an authentic pair of pink cowboy boots from Montana, so I ran with it and the cowgirl themed birthday party was born.  Here are some pictures from that day!

 

I made the banner with scrapbook paper, card stock and stencils.  The rocking horse was ours from home.

I tried to make the food things real cowgirls might eat: bbq pulled pork, fruit and green salad, and s'more pops.

Another view of the s'more pops... I made the stands with styrofoam wheels, ribbon and scrapbook paper.

A real cowgirl drinks organic milk and IBC root beer, right?  We found the metal bucket at Tractor Supply.

My friend, Amy, is an awesome photographer and her daughters were invited so she took some pictures as well!  These were so easy to make- pretzel sticks, white chocolate and yellow m&ms.

The party favors were Cowgirl Cookie Mixes, adapted from Bakerella's cookie mix.  The only real difference is that I used jute string to tie them instead of leather.  The jars are from Hobby Lobby, as are the fabric swatches that came in a pack of squares.  The hat came from our rental home, left behind by bad tenants, ha ha. 

A closer view of the Cowgirl Cookies.  I heard rave reviews from the recipients!

The cake was made by one of our local bakeries, the ever favorite, Ele.  It resembles a pink bandanna and I love it.  Again, Amy took this one.

I found these paper straws on Etsy, although I can't remember the exact vendor (sorry!)  The glasses were from The Christmas Tree Shops.  Amy again deserves photo credit.

Amy took this picture of Blair on her pony.  She loved that guy!

Here is my darling, little cowgirl, sporting her pink boots, skinny jeans and plaid.

I just love this picture Amy took of Blair waiting to blow out her candles!  That little face is so precious!

Amy created this adorable succession picture of Blair blowing out her candles.  LOVE!  

I can't wait to post pictures of sweet girl's 4th (eek!) birthday in a few weeks!  She is sleeping soundly next to me right now on the couch... can't believe she's just about four.  Wow.

Grace-Based Parenting

Every first and third Tuesdays of the month during the school year, I attend a local mom's group called Mom 2 Mom.  Through it, I have met many wonderful women and I thoroughly enjoy these two and a half hours a couple times a month to have free childcare and guaranteed adult conversation.  If you are a fellow stay-at-home mom, I'm guessing you can relate.

On this particular Tuesday, the discussion topic was grace-based parenting.  Basically, it means parents should extend grace to their kids in every day life situations in order to show them how God gives grace to us, his children.  By doing so, common problems with legalism and Christian behavior modification are minimized and children better grasp the concept of Matthew 22:37-39, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind.  Love your neighbor as yourself."  There is more to it, of course, but that was the part that I remember most.

I do agree with this in theory, but in practice, I don't know if I can implement it entirely in my house.  At the age my kids are, I tend to lean a little more towards the parenting advice of Tedd Tripp in Shepherding a Child's Heart, which stresses teaching young children up to around 5 years old that they are under authority of their parents, who in turn are under the authority of God.  Once they understand this, more emphasis is then placed on deeper Christian tenants such as grace.  I don't want to raise my girls to be legalistic, with a list of do's and don'ts to follow.  I want them to understand that nothing they can do will help them earn God's love, because it is a free gift to them, made possible only through Christ's death on the cross.  Also, they need to know that once they accept Christ as their Savior, nothing they do will separate them from the love of God.  Of course that does not give them license to sin freely, but it does give them peace and confidence in their relationship with God and his never-ending love and grace towards them.  In this way, Mark and I, as their parents need to demonstrate such love and grace towards them, in order to hopefully show what God does for them on a larger scale.

God does not just give grace upon grace though, He also disciplines us, which I suppose can be considered grace as well.  But it sure doesn't feel gracious when we have to discipline as parents... unless we consider say a spanking for climbing on the table vs. falling onto the tile and cracking your head open.  Give me the spanking, please!  Discipline cannot be absent within the umbrella of grace.

I am excited to attempt some of the things I learned about grace-based parenting one day.  For now, my girls really need to understand that they aren't in charge.  Once we get that down, we will introduce the beautiful, unbelievable concept of grace to them.  Our desire is for them to experience grace in our home so that they will be aware when God bestows grace in their lives.  Please pray this for us!

Launch Party

As you readers know, I have officially begun my "career" as a jewelry designer for Origami Owl.  It took three weeks of being on a waiting list followed be three more days of waiting for my kit to arrive.  Excited to get started and show friends and family what it is (most people I've told have never heard of o2 before), I decided to host my first jewelry bar at my house last night, just two days after receiving my inventory.

Now, I really enjoy decorating parties, and well, things in general.  This jewelry bar was no exception.  The kit included several lockets, chains, charms and dangles, as well as paperwork and a few display items, but designers are given liberty to set up things as we wish.  I went to a local wholesale type decor store called Flower Factory, where I found several display items including candle stands, decorative blue "gem stone" crystals and an owl.  Next, I went to The Christmas Tree Shops and found some awesome blue bottles and a blue glass owl.  The great thing is I already use a lot of blue in my home decor, so these things can double as that for me.  The main element of my display is actually a cork board covered in burlap that my sister in law, Jess, made me for Christmas.  She actually owns a business that specializes in cd/dvd sleeves for photographers called Kraft and Jute-- beautiful stuff!  Anyway, I pinned five sample necklaces to the board and placed it on the center of the table beneath a display stand with the candle stands flanking it on both sides.  I think it turned out beautifully.

The party itself was a bit of a monetary disappointment, unfortunately.  I'm not sure if it is because of the somewhat late notice (about a week before), the product itself, the way I sold it (or didn't sell it), the amount of people there (several friends that were planning to come ended up getting sick), or what.  Maybe my expectations were too high... I don't know.  I really do think the necklaces are beautiful, unique and classic.  Each one has its own feel, from the chain and the locket, to the charms and/or dangles.  The ladies that did attend had so much fun trying things on, experimenting with different charms, lockets, chains and dangles, and hanging out.  My mentor, my husband's business partner's wife, came to assist me and answer any questions.  I was grateful she was there to help explain things and add additional information on the product.  She has been great about helping me get started.  I think I will enjoy getting to know her more too.  I am glad that my friends that were able to make it seemed excited about their necklaces if they bought any and hopefully they will be willing to host their own jewelry bars and help me grow my business.  As one of them reminded me last night, "Everyone knows at least one more person than you.  And girls are turning 18 every day."  This sales stuff is a whole new territory for me... I did only make it at Bath and Body Works for 3 weeks after all.  Attacking people as soon as they enter the store is just not my idea of an enjoyable job.  It might be for some people, but it isn't for me, thank you very much.

To all who have bought their first Origami Owl necklace from me, thank you oh so much.  I hope you LOVE your necklace!  And if your friends or family also love it, please consider hosting your own jewelry bar!  I will love you forever!

Kitchen Transformation, Little By Little

So, as you know by now, our house was a 70's time capsule when we moved in.  The space, however, was what we were interested in because our old house was 864 sq ft and we were cramped.  Coming from there, this house was so incredibly spacious, which helped us look past the ultra dated cosmetic finishes.

One of the first rooms that got our attention was the kitchen.  Picture this: cheap, church basement style berber carpet, original dark brown cabinets with handles that look like they came from the medieval era, limey-sage green laminate counters, green shiny wallpaper that may have been expensive when it was installed, and some crazy appliances.  The fridge was a large almond color with black accents.  It was not the original (that one was still in the garage-- it was a vintage olive green beauty).  The oven was actually an old school over sized microwave that was connected to a cook top.  Below that, where one would normally see an oven, was... a dishwasher.  Yeah, consolidation to the max.  The kitchen obviously sold itself.

We haven't changed much of the footprint of the kitchen at all, but whenever Mark is ready to jump in, we will be cutting a pass-through in the wall dividing the kitchen and living room and adding a few more base cabinets below, as well as a large upright pantry cabinet.  I am excited to have all of that extra storage space, plus it will make the kitchen so much brighter and open.  And what mom doesn't want better sight lines to her kids in the other room?  This one sure does- especially with my little climber and her sneaky big sister on the loose.

Even though that project hasn't been started yet, we have made changes along the way to improve the kitchen.  First, we tore off the wallpaper... what a chore!  We had a painting party and some friends came to help paint and remove wallpaper.  We provided cinnamon rolls and coffee for breakfast and pizza and pop for lunch and several of them stayed all day-- they are great friends, for sure!  Thanks, guys!  We painted the walls a nice beige color, tiled the room with a creamy, beige 18" tile on an angle, added white appliances because the room was pretty dark since it faces north, changed out the ugly prehistoric cabinet pulls for brushed nickel ones, put in a neutral tan granite-esque counter, and a tan and gray tile mosaic backsplash.  Mark is a handy guy and knows a lot of people who can do what he can't, so the project was pretty inexpensive.  I was very pleased with how it turned out, especially considering how it looked when we started, but it was a little monochromatic for me.  It still needed something...

Last summer we (I) decided to paint the cabinets white.  I did the upper bases myself and Mark did the upper doors and then we were like... let's call our painter friend, Sarah (who is now living in LA doing lovely photography) to finish the rest.  While she was here, I asked her to paint the walls a gray color because I was tired of all of the tan.  I really love how it turned out.  I think it pulls the little bits of gray out of the backsplash.  And then white cabinets make the room SO MUCH BRIGHTER.  And cleaner.  And fresher.  I love it.  We changed the drawer pulls also.  Then, on Black Friday, we bit the bullet and purchased new stainless appliances.  Other than the never ending barrage of fingerprints, I love the way they dress things up.

One problem we encountered when we installed the microwave was that it hung lower than our old one, which was already likely lower than recommended.  To remedy this, we contacted Mark's parents who have a very similar set of cabinets in their basement to see if they had one that fit.  They didn't, but they did have one that was the same size as ours and amazingly, Mark's uncle has a wood shop so he was able to cut theirs down for us so that it would be a perfect fit.  After Christmas was over, we drove home with the back of our Highlander filled with skis, presents and a new (old) cabinet.  It BARELY fit, but of course, Mark is a master packer (what CAN'T he do??)

The microwave caused one other issue- once installed, the space between the oven and microwave was larger than it had been with our old microwave, so two rows of tile were missing.  We had some left over from the original install, so Mark put it up two days ago and grouted yesterday. It looks great!  I am so pleased with all of the changes we've made so far!  What do you think?? 

The cabinets getting ready to be painted

After the uppers were painted, we let the bases go for a while until Sarah was available

The final product (for now!)

 *I only have pictures of the original kitchen in hard copy.  When I get a chance to scan them onto the computer, I will upload them as well!  As for now, I hope my descriptions were enough for your imaginations!

Running-- My Best Frenemy

Do you run?  Or jog, walk or skip even?  If you knew me at any point in my life before 2007, you would never think of me running.  I always HATED the mandatory mile run in grade school.  I huffed and puffed my way through it, nearly passing out after the 16 minutes it took to finish it.  Of course I didn't run the whole time either.  This isn't because I was overweight or anything, it is simply because I was horribly unconditioned and out of shape.  I've always enjoyed sports that involve running/cardio (skating, skiing, football, soccer, and basketball are my favorites), but the idea of running, just running, sounded like torture to me.

Fast forward to 2007.  I was recently married and out of college (finally, fifth year senior here) and employed as a teacher at a Christian private school, teaching 9-12 grade English, with a side of Yearbook.  To say that it was one of the worst  hardest years of my life is probably an understatement.  Maybe I will go into that one day in another post.  But, needless to say, I had gained a bit of weight, not that much really, but enough that my clothes didn't fit anymore and I was unhappy with myself.  The stress of the job and everything that entailed had resulted in my stress eating.  At the beginning of 2007, my friend and I decided to make a change.  We challenged ourselves to train for a 5k run that May.  It was essentially the Couch to 5k program, although we didn't use that method since we hadn't even heard of it at the time.  We ran next to each other on treadmills at the gym, pushing ourselves to go farther.  I was amazed at how my body allowed me to go further and further with each run!  Finally, the day of our race came and we both met our goal-- to finish without walking or stopping.  Our time was abysmal- 36 minutes or something, but at the time, we were just happy to have completed our race!

I wish I can say that race sparked a love for running and I continued from then on to make running part of my forever life.  Unfortunately, I didn't stick with it (I'm not sure why) and life happened.  Eventually in early 2009, we welcomed our first daughter into the world and boy, did she turn things upside-down.  She was an exclusive nurser, so I wasn't without her much and no, nursing her did not take off all of my added weight.  So, with 2010 came a new goal: lose the baby weight-- stat!  I joined a gym and with no goal in mind, started running.  Surprisingly, it didn't take me long to run 2, 3, and 4 miles.  I remember thinking, "Wow, I've never run this far before!  I wonder how far I can go next time."  I decided to run a half marathon in May that year.  My good friend had just completed her first and since I have a very competitive nature, I wanted to see if I could finish one also.  I found one scheduled for late August in Minneapolis (Minneapolis 13.1) that I thought would be fun to run with my childhood best friend, who had been running for years but had yet to do a race.  Another friend around here wanted to get back into running around the same time, so she and I decided to run together and train for a different half marathon in September, the Air Force Half Marathon.  It was a big goal, but amazingly, I finished both races, along with a handful of 5ks and a 5-miler that year.  God blessed me by showing me that with time and practice, I could make my body do something I hadn't thought it could do: run.  I am so grateful to God for giving me the ability and strength to run.  It was a magical year-- my fastest 5k to date (please note that "fast" is not as important to me as "far") was 28:19 and it came the day before I discovered I was pregnant with baby girl #2.  She's always been a little firecracker. :)

After she was born mid-2011, I thought I would get back to running sooner than I actually did-- the start of 2012.  However, I hit the ground running hard and completed my first half last year the first weekend in May (Cincinnati Flying Pig).  All things considered (running 0 to 13 miles in 5 months, tons of hills, etc), it went well!  My New Year's Resolution last year was to complete 2 halves and a full marathon--my first-- before year's end!  I was on track to do it when I hit a snag.  One day towards the end of summer, I was in a rush getting into my car and somehow slammed my door on my pinky toe.  It took about 10 days to heal, but on my first run back, I tweaked my right knee.  After that, every run was a gamble-- would I make an injury worse or cause a new one?  By the time my second half marathon rolled around, I was feeling decently and I wanted to PR my time.  The Erie Presque Isle half was awesome!  The weather, fans, scenery, flat course, race size, water breaks-- everything was ideal.  It was my best race yet with my time being 2:10:09!  I was ecstatic when I crossed that finish line... until I tried to walk.  My knees hurt so badly, I'm sure I looked beyond arthritic as I hobbled around.  But there was no time for crying, the marathon was upon me.

One month later, armed with a ball of nerves, 6 GUs, Jelly Belly sports beans and my running friend, Libby, I ran my first (and possibly only) marathon, the Nationwide Columbus Marathon.  It was one of the worst  hardest days of my life.  I hit my wall at 17.5 miles and never recovered.  Libby was still feeling good, so she left me then and actually ran the last half faster than the first (props, girl!)  The only thing that kept me going was God, who strengthened me as I prayed to Him for protection and thanked Him for keeping my injuries at bay.  Amazingly, I did not stop for anything but water stations and came into the finish, blurry-eyed and all, just 29 seconds under my realistic goal of 5:00:00.  For this girl who could *hardly* run a mile for so long, it was nothing short of a miracle.

Two weeks off helped to heal my screaming muscles and aching joints, but I had one last goal in mind for the year: to complete the local Thanksgiving Turkey Trot 5 Miler.  I wanted to beat my last time, the one I had while newly pregnant with baby #2.  It was tougher than I hoped, but my time was 48:59, a second better than I had hoped.  Funny how that worked.

So, here we are, February of 2013, and I think I have maybe run 3 times this year.  As much as running helped relieve stress and steam, it broke me down too.  I got a little burnt out, to be honest.  Last year was a lot.  I was gone a lot.  Mark had to keep the kids so I could run a lot.  My life sort of revolved around my running schedule and I don't feel like doing that again for a while.  But when I don't have something to train for, I find reasons not to run at all and that isn't what I want either.  I need to find a balance before I lose all of the endurance and motivation I spent so much time building.  Does anyone have any tips to help make running fun again?  Or will running always be my best frenemy?
          

Updated Pictures (As Promised!)

Well, I figured out how to post pictures on the blog.  That wasn't really the hard part-- it was getting them off my phone and onto our new computer that concerned me.  But all is well now, other than the fact that I can't seem to straighten out the last picture-- any advice there?  Anyway, check out the new floor on the landing!

This was the tile I hammered out myself-- that is our cat, Pixie looking up at me.

Here is what I found under the first layer of tile.  Hello, 1975!

Here is the final product!  I like the color a lot and although I still wish it was actually hardwood, it will do.

What do you think??  Vast improvement?  I hope so.  We would like to move eventually so every update we do is not only for us, but also for the future potential buyer.  Eventually I will get around to posting more pictures of things like the kitchen and other rooms.  But for now, enjoy the ones of the landing!