My Fall Mantle

Our family room still needs 1000 upgrades, but for now the fireplace is finished and I want to show it off! After painting the fireplace I had to decorate it for FALL. It's finally cooling off and we get really excited when that happens in Georgia. I still need some pumpkins and to decorate the rest of the house, but for now the mantle is decorated for fall.

I just used items that I already had around the house. The only purchase I made was from Target. I bought the gold leaf stickers and chalkboard banner for $1/each. I can't describe how excited I was when I saw those items in the bins, lol.

I made the burlap banner on the old window and the burlap and lace banner on the fireplace screen. I also made the hydrangea wreath, printed and framed the subway art a few years ago and wrapped jute around a chrome utensil jar. 

The old books are Jonathan's grandfather's and the pumpkin candle holder I got for $1 at a thrift store last year. 

With any luck, I'll be repainting the rest of the family room during the next couple of weeks!! Stay tuned.

Fireplace Update

We've been in our new home a little over 4 months. In that span of time we've remodeled the kitchen, built in the basement, painted both of the kids rooms, created a workshop in the unfinished portion of the basement, and we've been decorating filling the space little by little. There's not a room in this house that doesn't need painting, so I've been hesitant to fill my walls the way that I want them since I'll just have to pull everything again before I paint. 

The next room on my list is the family room. This room is very dark because we have a lot of large oak trees in our front yard along with a big front porch, so there isn't a lot of natural light that comes in. I plan on going with a light gray, but before I tackle the walls, the trim HAS to be repainted. We are fortunate enough to have a big fireplace but it's ugly. It's brownish-orange and it just sucks what little light we have right out of the room. The house was built in the early 90's, so it's outdated and needed a serious (but cheap) update. If I had an endless budget I would rip it out and redo it completely, but my budget was $0 so that wasn't an option. Instead I tracked down my trusty quart of white latex paint and went to town. 

I taped everything off and then I just used an angled paintbrush to apply. I used two coats and laid it on pretty thick on the mortar because it was really porous and I was trying to fill the holes and cracks.

Here is the living room on the day that we moved in.

And here is a close up of the finished project. I still need to style the hearth and add our screen, but I LOVE how it turned out. It's so clean and crisp and instantly brightened the room, even with the brown walls.

Once we paint the trim, patio door and walls I'll do a full living room tour. I'm loving how it's turning out. It's a rectangular room, so we've managed to have a nice sized living space and I have a big desk in front of our double windows. That way I can spend time with the family while I'm getting some work done. Stay tuned! 

Madelynn's FIRST Day of Kindergarten

Madelynn has been in school almost a month. She has been flourishing and is loving every minute of it. She has a great teacher and is meeting wonderful friends and coming home with hilarious stories. Every morning we pray on the way to school, just like we did last year and I hope that it makes a difference in her day. That she remembers to thank God for what He's done for her and she remembers to ask Him to help her get through her day when she's having a rough time. 

A few days before school started, she got really nervous. She was crying because she was afraid that she wouldn't make any friends. She has never had a real school experience. Even when she was in preschool for the few months that she went, it was in a familiar place with familiar faces and she only went half a day. She was scared because she was going to miss us and she didn't want to spend an entire day at school. But after Open House, she became more excited and when we walked her to her classroom Wednesday morning, she couldn't have been more excited. She barely said goodbye before she sat down in her spot. Here are some photos from her first day.

These are a couple from her second day. She had P.E. so she was dressed more comfortably.

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And then there's this picture. The one that took my breath away. Watching my husband walk his little girl to school for her first day of kindergarten. Watching him lead her into school as we let her go for the first time into a new world. It was insanely difficult for me, but I held it together. Letting go is the hardest thing I've ever done in my life.

A Conversation Worth Remembering

The purpose of this blog is for me to document my kids' childhoods and to help us remember the big and the little things that happen throughout the long days. In this season of our lives, the days are long but the years are short. And I find that statement more and more true as I watch my children grow before my eyes. Being their mother is the most amazing privilege and I wouldn't change anything about it. This silly conversation between my girls is one that I do not want to forget. 

On the way home from picking up Madelynn from school, Madelynn decided to share with Annabella some awesome news that she learned at school. 

Madelynn: "Annabella, soon all of our teeth are going to fall out of our gums. And we won't be able to eat ANY food, so we'll only be able to drink juice."

**Picture Annabella with a horrified look on her face**

Madelynn continues: "But it's ok! Because we can put all of our teeth under our pillow and the tooth fairy will come and give us MONEY for our teeth!! And then later, all of our teeth will grow back!!"

**Madelynn is a very dramatic story teller, so this was a very involved story**

Annabella: "NO! I DON'T WANT ALL OF MY TEETH TO FALL OUT!! I DON'T WANT TO DRINK JUST JUICE!!" 

And that is when her face became more terrified, and when Madelynn tried to put a positive spin on it to calm down her sister and I died laughing. My goodness, I love these girls!!