Bedroom Makeover for $40

When I was cleaning out Hunter’s room in preparation for baby Reeve, I decided that we either needed to put the giant mirror up somewhere or get rid of it.  My first thought was to put it behind the toy chest in the girl’s room.  Because McKenna and Reagan both love the Little Mermaid, I thought it would be cute to turn the white toy chest into a treasure  chest.  The juices started to flow after that.

Before:

After:

The girls helped me color characters from the Little Mermaid like Scuttle, Sebastian and Flounder.  We laminated them and hung them with fishing line.  I also hung starfish, green algae looking yarn and air bubbles from the ceiling.  I used RJ’s Halloween trident above the window and got a large fishing net from Michael’s for half off.  I swapped the kids’ lamps because Hunter’s was blue and I put blue light bulbs in to give an under the sea feel.

Before:

After:

I repainted McKenna’s name and bought some wooden letters for Reagan.  Then I dipped them in sand.  I put their Halloween Mermaid crowns on the corners of the mirror but was most pleased with the toy chest turned treasure chest.  I spray painted it brown, put some hardware on, used black duct tape and gold push pins for studs.

I painted this frame, covered it with sand, flowers and shells, and printed off this collage of the girls in their mermaid costumes.

Reagan and McKenna helped me turn these coffee filters into colorful looking shells and I randomly taped them to the wall around the closet on top of the seaweed strung yarn.

It was a ton of fun and kept my mind busy through my last month of pregnancy.  I hope my little princesses feel like royalty under the sea!

The Braces Come Off

In June of 2013, Hunter got a half set of braces on.

Before:

After:

He got them off Wednesday, November 19th, 2014.  He was worried about it hurting to get them removed.  He asked me that morning if he HAD to get them off.  “I’ll just wear them forever mom.  I don’t mind.”  He said.  I assured him that he would be very happy when they were off.  He braved it like a champ and agreed.

First Snow Fall

 

Monday, November 10th was the first snow fall of this winter.  I was for some reason very shocked and unprepared.  Hunter’s boots were 2 sizes too small and his snow bibs had gaping holes in the knees.  I had to drive half speed to and from the school and got stuck in our drive way just outside the garage.  It would have been a terrifying experience had I been somewhere else and couldn’t just leave it there.

Reagan has been an outdoorsy girl since the day she was born.  I remember taking her outside for a walk the first week of November and she just sucked in the fresh air like it was candy.  She was very excited to go outside and play. McKenna is such a great play mate for Reagan.  I hope they stay best friends forever!  Reagan once told me, “I love McKenna best…. but I love you too.”  I’m fine with that.

Wisconsin Dells

 

Two years ago we went to the Wisconsin Dells with Tim and Lisa Hillyard.  We stayed in a gorgeous suite with a full kitchen, two bedrooms and a Jacuzzi tub.  I got a call in March from Wyndham Vacations saying that Tim referred us.  They offered us a deal to stay in the Dells for 2 nights for $159.  If we attended a two hour “time share” meeting, we would receive an American Express gift card for $100.  I thought it was such a good deal, I couldn’t pass it up.  When I called to make the reservation, I found out that we were not staying in a hotel room that came with the swimming wrist bands for entrance to the water parks.  I paid for the upgrade and booked our last family of 5 hurrah.  When we arrived, they charged us for an extra person which made me mad because I hate surprise costs.  When we walked in our room we quickly found out it was just a normal hotel room with a mini microwave and not even a freezer.  We had packed all of our food some of which needed to be frozen then baked.  We thought we had a fully furnished kitchen and didn’t bring bowls and certain utensils.  Our meeting ended up taking three hours and we had to say “no” to our $23,000 “deal” to three different salesmen.  Once we got past all of the frustration and surprises, we had a great time at the water parks and play land with the kids.

RJ and Reagan joined forces and shot colorful foam balls at Hunter and McKenna from these log cannons.

The kids’ favorite was the wave pool.  Reagan and I hung out the whole time and I even squoze myself into an inner tube.  The hardest part was getting out!

I hope the kids look back with fond memories on our family vacations.

November Date

Our November date was suppose to be dance lessons which would have been a blast but with my current condition, I imagined it to be a little awkward.  Instead, RJ looked on groupon and found the coolest date ever!  It is called Escape MSP.  They have two different scenarios.  Our was called Mr. Dupree.  Mr. Dupree was a high ranking politician who was suspected of several crimes.  We were let into his office as a group of 10 CIA agents who were given 60 minutes to locate evidence (ie SD card, cassette tape, meeting date and location with some Russian thug etc).  It appeared to be a normal office but when you turned out the lights there were marks on the wall, boxes with locks and combinations, messages or clues in books and even a book shelf with a hidden button that opened to a secret room.  There was only a 20% success rate so I did not anticipate getting out of that office with all of the required evidence in less than 60 minutes.  I was right.  However, we were literally within seconds before the buzzer rang and announced us failures.  I had a great time and I think everyone else in our group did too.  They were already talking about when we would attempt the 007 challenge where you start hand cuffed!  I’m so grateful for RJ’s out of the box date ideas.  We have made so many great memories.

Reagan’s 4th Birthday

There was a knock at the door on Friday the 24th and I heard McKenna say “Amanda?” when she answered.  I was so surprised I had to see for myself and sure enough Amanda came down for the weekend (RJ knew and didn’t leak the secret).  She came bearing birthday gifts: an Oregon Duck fleece blanket for Hunter, a cute little green and brown monkey blanket for baby Reeve and a Little Mermaid blanket for Reagan.

RJ fixed Amanda’s truck and while he chaperoned a youth dance, Amanda and I enjoyed a romantic comedy.  It’s always fun when Amanda comes.

Reagan’s birthday was on Tuesday.  She requested fruity pebbles for breakfast, spaghetti, brownies and ice cream for dinner.  I took her out to Famous Dave’s to enjoy her free little Wilbur birthday meal.

A few months ago the Timberwolves won their game and scored over 100 points so we got free Cherry Berry coupons.  Ever since then, Reagan has been saying she wants to go to Cherry Berry for her birthday.  I thought she would lose interest and come up with something else but she never forgot it so we invited Macie Gardner, Madison Tanner, and Jane Hillyard to meet us at the yogurt bar after lunch for treats followed by a princess play date.  I asked the girls to bring a bag of their dress ups and made a castle back drop to snap photos of the beauties.  I thought I might just push this baby out while I was straining to blow up umpteen balloons but he’s still safe and sound in my tummy.

We also made a shell craft with coffee filters.

We invited the Rowley’s over for dinner and dessert.  Reagan blew out the candles before we finished singing so I missed snapping a picture of the magic moment. She chose cotton candy ice cream (yuk) to go with the brownies.

We bought her a Frozen game similar to Candy Land, a poor man’s American Girl Doll (Our Generation Doll from Target), and an outfit for her and her new doll.

McKenna was shrieking and clapping with excitement as if she was receiving some grand gift.

We are so happy to have Reagan in our family.  She is finding her sassy side which isn’t as fun but I guess it comes with the territory.  We couldn’t enjoy the sweet if we didn’t suffer the sassy.

Happy Birthday Reagan!