Craft Room Renovation

So, this past week, the kids and I loaded up to head to Melbo & GG's house. A month or so before, Molly and I decided that we wanted to help them re-arrange and re-organize rooms so that GG could have her craft room downstairs and the guest bedroom upstairs. Their house is built so that two of the bedrooms are on one end of the house. One of those is GG's bedroom and one is the guest room that is really only used now when Vic and the kids and I come into town. Then upstairs is one giant room that has always been the sewing room or craft storage room, etc. It also leads to the attic. So many clothes have been sewn upstairs and Molly and I have had so many 4H projects, goat showing outfits, goat show banners, prom dresses, etc. sewn for us or by us upstairs with Melbo and GG. We have lots of memories of using the seam ripper too many times, as well as watching countless chick flick movies while doing our projects. It is a great room! But, these days, Melbo and GG tend to do their sewing or scrapbooking or crocheting or anything else downstairs and the upstairs tends to be a catch-all as well as general storage area. So, it was decided that the guest bedroom downstairs be used instead as the craft room. This could house ALL of GG's scrapbooking stuff as well as both of their sewing machines. I was really excited to do this project because 1) I love a good clean-out and re-organization project and 2) It was going to be such a better place for GG to scrapbook and sew. Her room can finally be used as just a bedroom and not so crowded with all of her projects.

Anyways, the kids and I left Vic for a week to come to Aubrey on a Thursday. Molly and I spent the majority of the first two days just hauling things downstairs for Melbo and GG to go through to toss or keep, as well as moving piles around upstairs. By Saturday, we were ready for Charley to help us exchange furniture from upstairs to downstairs and vice versa. Then, by Sunday afternoon, we had all of the crazy clutter we had hauled downstairs either loaded up to take away or put back in it's place. This was very important, as Pa was being driven nuts by seeing all of that stuff everywhere. He can't stand clutter. We took a break Sunday afternoon. This is also when I went to Ana and Charley's house for a "Bachelor Wedding" party with Ana and a couple of her friends. Sean and Catherine, from The Bachelor, were getting married on TV! I couldn't miss it! Then, Monday we did some more cleaning and organizing after I took Grace to the doctor. She had fever for three days, so I assumed ear infection, but apparently it was just the crud. Fortunately, she was fine. Then, Tuesday, we all (with the kids) made a trip to Frisco to The Container Store (one of my most favorite places!) to finish purchasing some organizing items for GG's scrapbooking room. By Tuesday night, we were all sore, exhausted, but so happy with the end results. The upstairs is now a cozy guest bedroom with two beds to house my entire little family of 4 when we travel. And the attic is cleaned up and organized, except for the 1000 baskets that have accumulated that we still need go through a toss/keep process on. The downstairs bedroom is now a fabulous scrapbooking room that GG is still working on getting setup so she can craft away!

Not only was it such a productive week, but it was so fun to do with Molly! Molly and I can be a really good team when we set our minds to a project. I had such a great time!

I don't have any before pictures, although I don't think Molly and I will ever forget how it looked before. But, here are a couple of after panoramic pictures. The first is of the craft room. At this point, GG doesn't have any of her things on the wall for scrapbooking or her new TV, but you can get the idea. And the second one is also a panoramic of the upstairs room. Lots of storage for Melbo's painting and canvases, fabric, and notions, plus a dresser, queen and twin bed, plus a childrens corner and all of GG's books from Kindergarten. I think there have to be at least 300 books there!

MLK Day 2014

Back in 2005, we had our first ever Martin Luther King, Jr. Day gathering. It started when Whitney and I got back from DC and she threw an intern party at her house on a night of MLK weekend. Vic and I had just begun dating and this was one of the first real times that we had hung out with Kristofer and Keller. Kristofer and Keller were babies at maybe 20 years old? They couldn't buy beer yet and when they did, their other underage friends would come by to drink it, but not always contribute. So, when they met Vic and realized Vic always brought an ice chest with a few of his own beers, (as to not have to drink someone else's), they liked him immediately. They bonded even more on the day following the party, as the three guys plus Whitney and Katerina, finished off the keg from the night before while playing 42 all day long. While I stopped by once during the day, I was not actually there for the fun. This was our "day apart" that Vic and I instituted when we started dating. He probably instituted this to get a break from me, (haha!), but I thought we were being so independent doing our own thing one day a week!

From then on, we all became the best of friends and spent as much time as possible together. Whitney, Katerina, Jenna, and I, for some reason, dubbed ourselves "The Circle" and would have Circle Potlucks and Circle outings and be sure to tell the guys how awesome The Circle was. Well, being the ever-entertaining three that those were, they began calling themselves The Posse and liked to tell us how much better The Posse was than The Circle. Silly? Yes! But, those days were so fun and carefree and we have a ton of great memories.

While people still lived in College Station going to school, we remember getting together on a couple of MLK weekends to cookout and have fun. But, then, back in 2010, we began an even more official annual MLK weekend event. The time of year is ideal for our Lubbock farmer to get away, and almost everyone else has MLK day off, so we picked right back up with a gathering on this weekend. And, it has continued every year since. Now, it usually starts Thursday and ends Monday. During the weekend, Vic and Whitney cook up some delicious food; we hit up the best College Station restaurants for a little throwback Thursday to our college days; we stay up way too late every night enjoying as much back porch time as possible; we go to Northgate at least once; we take naps; we have the annual Auckerman/Ernstes family dinner; the girls listen to the boys impress one another with their hilarious conversations of beards, beverages, and why they have the best ideas of anyone else on the planet. These weekends have given us a reason to get together even though we've had people travel from DC and New Jersey and Kansas and Lubbock. They have also been weekends stuck in the middle of life changes for our little group: engagements, weddings, pregnancies, babies, moves, career changes, illnesses, death. They are our support system more than they know. Vic and I just love these weekends so much. We love these people. Even when we only see them a couple times a year and even though we may not pick up the phone to call one another as often as we should, they are our friends. Actually, they are our family. Literally. (Have I mentioned that Taylor and Mary met at mine and Vic's wedding and took care of sealing our fate to be forever tied to the Veretts, when they were married?) They will be our friends and family for the next 50 years! We will raise our kids together and vacation together and attend each other's important family events. Oh and do you know what else makes this group so great? They love our kids. I mean they really love them and don't mind having children around almost 100% of the time they are here since apparently, it's frowned upon to just leave babies at home to fend for themselves and go out on the town just because your college friends are in town.

Bottom line: They are important and special and we look forward to this weekend. Every. Single. Year.

So, this year, we decided to celebrate 10 years of MLK weekends. We ate, we drank, we laughed. We got a limo. We got a babysitter. We had a good time. A really good time.

Also, our initial group was Kristofer, Keller, Vic, Katerina, Whitney and myself. Since then, our group has grown to include Taylor and Mary, Kristofer's girlfriend Katie, and Katie, Kirsten and Kinsey. We lost Keller in September 2008, but there is never an MLK that goes by that he is not talked about, usually because of some crazy story he was a part of. And during this weekend, we had some additional friends spend time with us as well. Some pictures below....get ready. I took a bunch!

Whitney, the ORIGINAL Verett, arrived first. She and I like to remind everyone each year to thank us for bringing the group together.

 Our chefs for the weekend. Grace was just a bonus in the picture!

 Whitney, bless her, was giving me a break and playing with Grace and Atticus. Or maybe she just really loves playing with trains.

 Mary looks beautiful and photogenic as she holds our sweet "trap baby", Grace. According to Taylor (who deep down probably wants 6 kids, but who talks like any other man who says kids won't happen for awhile....oh please), Grace is a "trap baby". This means she is so precious and adorable that when you see her, you immediately want one of your own. Then, you have one and realize how much work they are and realize you fell for the trap. I'm sure I got that exact definition wrong, but basically, he thinks our baby Grace is precious! And she is!

 Cady and David always come for at least one meal while the crew is in town. And, this time, they had a new little family member, Holly, to join the fun as well!

Backporch time.

 Food, family, babies. Mary, Grace, and Katie.

 Whitney and Kristofer's Katie - (Kristofer - don't mess this up!)

 Katerina's 30th birthday is January 30th. So, we celebrated a little early. Of course, when cake, icing, and candles are involved, Atticus is sure that he must help the birthday person blow out their candles and eat all of their cake.

 

 Oh, this moment. I'm glad we got it on camera. I asked them to pose to which they realized this situation looked like 2 dads with their baby. As the first picture was snapped, one of them stated "Equality". As you can see in the second picture, we couldn't stop laughing. What's funnier is that this really does look like two gay dads with their baby.

 Lovebirds. Kristofer and Katie.

 More Lovebirds. Chris and Katherine.

 Even more Lovebirds.

 Limo time on Saturday night! We fit 16 people in this limo, plus an onscreen fire. Cozy!

 Shot Bar. We had to do it. It smelled like memories as soon as we walked in. It was also practically vacant since this was probably 8:45 at night. We started early so we could end early!

 Memories in the making.

 Mary and I. Family first. Then we became friends. Then we became family all over again.

 The Posse, edited. But, Keller, of course was there in spirit.

 The original MLK Day crew.

 Kirsten and Johnathan. Lots of Lovebirds in this group.

 And this describes them perfectly. Taylor and Mary. Together forever!

 End of the night. Exhausted from drinking so much water and getting so much rest.

 Last night together. Homesick Texan enchiladas and one of my favorite picture poses at the table.

 Relaxing. Another reason we love this group.

 Grace says that Kristofer is so funny!

 This was after "Uncle Tay-yur" taught Atticus what a noogie was and gave him plenty.

 Another group pic before they all headed out.

This photo describes these three. Someone is making fun of someone else and they are laughing. I bet it had to do with Kristofer telling Vic to stop killing so many horses at his job. It was the weekend joke even though Vic does not kill horses at his job. Maybe you had to be there. And even if you were there, it still didn't make any sense. But, it sure was funny!

 

 It was an epic weekend. 10 years of friendship celebrated. Can't wait until next year!

Conversations

After his nap, Atticus asks:

Atticus: "I need a sack."
Me: "What would you like for a snack? How about grapes and goldfish?"
Atticus: "No, I need........fute sacks and poshpettows.

Fruit snacks and marshmallows. Oh my. Such an unhealthy snack. But, some days you've just got to give in.

 

 

Grace: 10 months

Grace is 10 months old!

• Not sure her exact weight and height, but she is still tiny!
• Still in size 3 diapers.
• In 9 - 12 month clothes, but a few 6 month things still fit her.
• Hair is getting longer and very wispy and soft.
• Still crawling, pulling up and standing, but now standing for a couple minutes at a time. She has also walked the length of the couch, while holding on, a couple of times now. Vic and I have a bet going about when she will walk. He thinks she will walk before Valentines Day and I think she will not walk until after. Whoever wins gets 6 hours of kid-free time!
• Still clapping, waving, and bouncing to the beat of music.
• Still takes her paci at night and naptimes and out and about when I need her to be happy. She also plays with them and throws them out of her bed when she is done napping. When I can't find any pacis to give her, I look under and behind the bed and there they all are!
• Morning and afternoon naps are still normal at 1.5 hours in the morning and 2.5 in the afternoon.
• Her nighttime sleeping is going great! Except for the Christmas holiday traveling, she basically sleeps all night for about 12 hours at a time.
• Saying "mamamamama" and "dadadadadada" a lot.
• Still has the 8 teeth, although the top 4 are taking their time coming in. They do not bother her often.
• She hasn't been sick since her last ear infection and I was so thankful that none of our little family was sick this holiday season! She has gotten her second flu shot so hopefully we stay healthy!
• She is starting to eat more table food. She will put almost anything in her mouth. She still chooses almost anything over cheerios, and she still doesn't love peaches. But, otherwise, she has recently eaten fish and carrots.
• She still loves to chew on and drink from a sippy cup, which I give her about once a day.
• She is playing more and more on her own. She will just crawl around the house finding toys to play with, or crawling to where Atticus is to play with his.
• She has a bedtime routine of kisses now. Still open-mouthed and so sweet! And, there is nothing sweeter than seeing Atticus give her kisses before bed!
• She still loves playing the game with her tongue where she sticks it out and waits for you to do the same. She does it over and over and just laughs!
• She also gets cases of the giggles sometimes and just laughs and laughs.
• Everything goes in her mouth these days - toys, rocks, old puffs found on the ground...
• She is into poking people (usually Atticus or other babies) with that little pointer finger! She will also push your hand away or push Atticus away when we are in her way.
• She is just becoming her own, independent, little person although she still loves to be held and carried around. She is our little princess!

  

Our First Pet and Our Bathroom Re-do

When we celebrated Christmas in Sanger, we had a surprise gift given to the kids. First of all, it was a little scary. GG and Molly announced this as the last gift and from the other room, brought it a box. A box with air holes poked on the side. I didn't know what to say. They tend to joke that they are going to get Atticus a pet. And while I want Atticus and Grace to have pets one day, we are not ready yet. We don't want dogs or cats or any animals living in the house with us while we are at this stage in our lives. We travel too much and don't have kids old enough to really take care of a pet themselves. So, this is not in our plans. And I just nobody would get us a plant by surprise, right? Well, thankfully, they were just joking and instead of a live pet, this box contained a fish tank and everything we would need, minus the fish. So, today, Vic came home from work with Atticus' fish. We happened to be in the front yard when Vic drove in from work and he stopped at the driveway and rolled down the window to tell us hi. The first thing Atticus said was "You got my fish, daddy?". He was so excited. Vic already had the tank ready to go and in they went to get the fish in their new tank. Atticus now loves feeding the fish twice a day. He is also a copycat and I caught him trying to open the lid and put the net back into the tank to "get the fish out and put them back in" as Vic did when he removed them from the pet store plastic bag and put them in the tank. He is just funny and loves those fish and will ask anyone who comes in the door these last couple of days: "I need to show you my fish!". So, this was a wonderful first pet! Thank you Molly and GG!

 

In addition to that, we finally decorated the kids bathroom. I guess, since we've lived in our house 4 1/2 years now, that it is time to decorate it. However, Vic and I are sticking to a small budget, so I had to be very careful about how I spent money to decorate. Months ago, I found my color scheme from a bunch of cute washcloths I found at Target - yellow, orange, bright blue, green, brown. Using that, here is what we did:

I printed pictures on my own printer and put them in $7.99 wall frames from Target. Then, we hung them above the kids towels. I bought one striped hand towel that matched the washcloths I bought for my color swatches. I also bought wooden letters to say "Splish" and "Splash" from Hobby Lobby and painted them with acrylic paint and a coat of decoupage to make them shiny. We hung them up using heavy duty foam tape.

I needed a couple of things to gather all of the items that usually end up spread out on the counter. So, I got lucky and found some 70% clearance items at Hobby Lobby to hold toiletries and toilet paper.

When Atticus was born, Mary gave us this adorable rubber ducky shower curtain and I've finally gotten to use it! I also bought two towels to match the colorful décor. We have plenty of towels for us and they are blue and green, so they would match ok. But, I decided for $4.99 apiece at Target, I would get these for the bathroom. Also, they are RE brand and we love them. A friend has made some hooded towels for the kids out of this brand and they are so soft.

I also picked up a wooden shelf at Hobby Lobby and had Vic paint it to display some more bath and bedtime pictures. Side note: We used white trim paint from other areas of the house that have been painted for this shelf. We have gotten so much use out of wall paints for things in the house - shelves, kid room décor that needed paint, etc. I used frames I owned and pictures printed from my own printer for the pictures on the shelf. I also typed up and printed my own sign that says "Wash your hands and say your prayers, because Jesus and germs are everywhere." I had seen that sign on Pinterest long ago and have always thought it was so cute. We also used an old frame we already owned.

Then, Vic smuggled in these old two fish. When he as a bachelor, he had them on a shelf in his condo. When we moved to this house, I may have given them the boot and they have been in the shed since then. Well, he brought them back in and since they are colorful and out of the way, I let him put them on the windowsill. He was so proud!

My toughest project was getting this basket-and-rod toy storage system setup. As always, I found this idea on Pinterest and thought it looked so easy! You just attach some baskets using curtain rod hangers to a spring rod and put it in the bathroom. Then, it's easy to put those toys away each night. They drip dry and are out of the way for when people also need to use the shower. Well - it was not quite as easy. First of all, finding  baskets was tough. I looked at Bed, Bath & Beyond; I looked at Target; I checked the Dollar Store. I even went to Walmart where I finally just bought baskets from the office section, the storage section, and then bathroom section and returned what we didn't use. It was hard to find baskets in the right depth with holes to let the water drip out of and that would attached easily to the rod. Then, we realized that curtain rod hangers were not good to use for this project. They were not tight enough and the baskets just hung down and the toys would fall out. Well, finally, using zip ties and baskets from the office section at walmart, we got our little storage system up and running. This picture is deceiving but they are hung so that they tilt enough to hold toys in but let water drip out. They are working great so far and we are hoping they last forever!

I also found this at Target a few weeks ago on 50% off. Target doesn't do great sales very often, so I was really excited! It goes great with our colorful fish and ducky filled bathroom.

 

 

So, my final project cost $89. Still a little on the high side, but totally less than I would have spent had I just bought all of the towels and accessories that went with that little group of washcloths in the kid section at Target, plus the picture frames and signs that I would have bought pre-made instead of making myself. And, it is now done. 4 1/2 years later. I love it!

 

2 Towels/1 handtowel: $21

Rug: $10

Wooden shelf: $6

Curtain Rod: $10

Baskets for tub: $5

Storage for countertops: $9

Wall frames: $16

Wooden letters/paint: $19 (had I waited, I might have been able to get the letters on 1/2 price, but my experience finding all the letters you need for a project when you need them is that you have to go back many times to get what you want. For example, when I went on a Friday to purchase letters, they did not have any "S"s. I asked the lady if they were getting any and she said they had 8 ready to be unloaded that afternoon. So, I go in the next morning to pick up the 4 that I needed and there were only 6 left. It drives me nuts! So, since they were only $1.50 apiece, I just bought what I needed and didn't worry about trying to get them half price on a random week and risk not getting what I wanted anyways.

 

So, our kids bathroom is complete!

Our weekend in pictures

 

We did some swinging.

 

 

 We setup our fences and animals.

 We practiced drinking from our sippy cup.

 We also built trains and homes for our lego animals.

 We got a haircut.

It was a ticklish haircut.

 We went to church and wore a beautiful sweater crocheted by Grace's great, great grandmother, Bessie Lee.

 Thought we weren't supposed to, we practiced turning on the water faucets to the bathtub. This has become Grace's new favorite thing to do. And Atticus tends to encourage her bad behavior.

 We took a picture with Mama.

 

It was a really good weekend.