Children's rooms

Well I haven't posted the last two Fridays because it was Dining Rooms and Guest Rooms. Needless to say those were not one of the favorite rooms in my house so I spared others from having to see them. I do however love my daughter's room.


Abby's room was the only room we had painted when we moved into our house. I hired professional painters to do it since I wanted the border and the dots. It turned out really cute and I hope she doesn't grow out of it too soon. Her bedding is Pottery barn and her bed is an old bed from my in-laws that my mom painted white for me. I would love to get her a new bed with a trundle eventually.


Abby has a small alcove in her room so I had them paint it hot pink. Abby wanted her whole room hot pink so I compromised. I got the butterflies from Pottery barn as well as the flower pictures. The dressers in Abby's are my old dressers. I found some cute hardware at Anthropolgie to update them a little.


Here is an upclose shot of the paint job. They did a great job, I never would have been able to do it myself. Hope you enjoyed Abby's room. Will's room is the typical boy room but nothing too fancy to reveal to the blogging world.

Memorial Day weekend

The above is a photo of our official start to summer. Just a few days before Memorial Day it was warm enough to bust out the 7 dollar Meijer pool(only the best for my kids). I was surprised it made it thru the winter in the garage after being smooshed behind all sorts of things. The kids had a blast, I let them wash my SUV which they always think is fun. Then they hopped in the pool and put dishwashing soap in it for lots and lots of bubbles. It was a really fun day and I was glad to see that they can still be easily entertained in our front yard.


For Memorial Day we always head up to my in-laws cottage at Lake Erie. The kids were super excited and had been doing a countdown until the lake on the calendar. On Saturday of the weekend was the traditional work day where all the cottage owners do all sorts of cleaning up around the beach. Abby got a lesson in painting benches from her papa. She actually did pretty well and only got a few drops of paint on her clothes. After working in the morning we all meet for a potluck picnic for some good food and relaxation.



We had some great pancakes made by Papa on Sunday morning. He made some smiling face pancakes for the kids that were a big hit. The weather was nice enough to head to the beach each day for a little bit. Abby was so brave and entered the cold water everyday, even getting her head wet and wave surfing. She has really become comfortable in the water lately. We took beach walks, hit the local ice cream spot and celebrated my neices 3rd birthday. The following shot is Abby reading to her 15 month old cousin. Abby is reading quite well now and it was fun to see her reading to all the kids. Will had a blast at the lake, he enjoyed building sand castles, the stomp rocket and in general just running all over the place. I feel blessed to be able to head up to lake erie for some great family time.

American Idol Final-Kris vs Adam

Well tonight did not disappoint. I love that they get to pick their favorite song because I think it is the fairest way to see how each really is as an artist. Adam did a nice job with Mad World, but I think his middle song was his best. I think Kris killed the first two songs. I can totally picture myself outside on the patio on a summer night with Kris's version of "What's Goin' On" playing in the background. How can you even compare the artistic ability of Kris to change a song so creatively and deliver such a powerful performance. Adam has the ability to perform but I find him not very creative(smoke and long coats are nothing new) and I would not buy an album from him ever!! Regarding the cheesy last song, what are they thinking. Other then Kelly Clarkson's "A moment like this", I have no desire to hear those songs again. They could have picked a totally current hip song to create and instead create a lame song about mountains and hurricanes. Kris doesn't need a cheesy, emotional song to be inspirational. His whole journey and what he is able to do is inspirational in itself. Now it is up to American to vote, I voted for Kris and the lines were busier than last week. I can truly say though that win or lose I will be buying Kris Allen's first record, it is going to be awesome if they let him do what he does best.

Good Day

Well today was a really good day. We started off by going to church and had a great sermon as always and the kids had a nice time in their classes as well. Then we headed to Beavercreek to see my parents, brother and sister-in-law and my nephew to celebrate by dad's birthday. We ate a late lunch at Bob Evans which was good, but I was bummed that they stopped serving oatmeal after 2pm. I was really craving it and when I went to order it the waitress said it wasn't available. How can Bob Evans serve breakfast all day but skimp on the oatmeal, I settled for blueberry bread and bacon, not the healthiest but I had to order quickly.

After lunch we headed back to my parents and ate some delicious cake and icecream. The cousins had so much fun running around together. For my dad's birthday my nephew picked out a Bakugan for him and he had one for himself. My brother and nephew were throwing them on the ground to get them to open. I told them I didn't think that was the way you opened them, I said I think you need the magnetic card. Sure enough I was right, I guess all those bakugan commercials came in handy. Then we headed back home and Mike headed off to teach the Dave Ramsey course at church while I hung out with the kids. It was so nice outside so the kids rode their bikes to the pond, then the park. Then they ran around with the neighbors outside for a while before dinner. Then we headed to pizza hut for carry out and Abby wanted to eat in the basement in her pj's. So we watched the Disney channel(new Hannah Montana and Jonas episodes) and then tucked them into bed.

Thankyou Lord for this beautiful weather you provided. Thanks for the rainbow prism we saw in the sky as we drove, the kids remembered it was a reminder of your promise to Noah. Thankyou for such an enjoyable time with my family, it was so nice to hangout and talk/laugh together. Help me to remember and recognize these special moments and to give thanks for them.

No Love for Moses?

Well I am almost done with BSF, we have two more meetings. This year we have been studying the life of Moses. We have been through Exodus,Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. I have seen God's amazing providence over the Israelites as well the people's rebellion and rejection of God. I have learned many things but what I have struggled with the most is Moses not being able to enter the Promise Land. I know God's ways are higher and better and that Moses did disobey God's specific command but I still can't help feeling that he got a raw deal. Yet as I have continued through the study I have been able to think through some reasons that have helped me deal with why God chose to do this.
First of all, Moses was chosen to lead for a specific purpose, to guide the Israelites out of capitivity and to instruct them in God's commands and covenant. Just as Moses was prepared his whole life for this task, so was Joshua prepared to lead in battle. Now the journey of the Israelites was changing course as they prepared to enter battle to take the land God had promised. Was Moses really the best man for this purpose? As we learned from our teaching leader, God provides and prepares different people to lead for different purposes. Moses had accomplished his purpose for God and now it was time to let another lead.
A second reason I have seen is that the Israelites had more trust in Moses and his ability to lead then God. Israel so frequently sought Moses counsel rather than praying to and honoring the God who delivered them. Maybe the Israelites needed to have Moses out of the equation to truly give the praise deserved to the God who would allow them to take possession of the Promise Land. Had Moses stayed and led them into battle, would he have gotten the credit over God? Did their faith increase in God because it became clear to them that he was the one who had protected them all along?
Lastly I wonder how happy Moses would truly be in the Promise land as just a regular guy. A man without the role of leader but of follower. He had such a passion for the Israelites and how would he be watching their continual rejection of God and not being able to lead them out of it?
I know that God has reasons beyond my small thoughts but I feel like God let me have these few thoughts to help give me some insight. I know God doesn't need to give me any reason other then because he is God but I am truly grateful for what he has revealed to me over the past months as I have studied his word and the life of Moses. We have such a good God who wants us to approach him, who delights in our questions and who will provide answers in his own way and own timing. Thankyou Lord for revealing your character to me as I studied the character and life of Moses. You are Holy, Powerful, Compassionate, Forgiving and full of Grace. Thankyou that your are jealous for my time, thoughts and so desire a personal relationship with me.

Living Room

Well this friday at Kelly's blog we are showing off our living rooms. We don't really use our living room that much so it's not my favorite room but it serves its purpose.

This is the only couch in the living room, it has a slipcover which drives me crazy so I never let the kids sit on it. I do have fun switching the pillows out on it though. I am not that happy about the large star either but it was affordable and took up space. The chest I bought for 50 bucks from my husbands cousin, it is from Pottery Barn and I love it.



Speaking of pillows I just got these two pillow covers this week from etsy, I love them. My rug has all these colors in them and I love the little bird on the one.



This is the view into my dining room from the entry to my house. I love the Cathedral ceiling, it adds some drama to a not so drama filled room. I love the hardwoods throughout the room and think the color on the wall really warms the room up.

Thanks for stopping by.

American Idol top 4

What is with idol and picking all these weird genres. I feel like each week Adam is able to pick a song that fits his screaming style while this week Kris and Danny really had no good choices. I am biased of course because I am pulling for Kris but seriously, do we really need any more hard rock!!! Well here is my review of the evening.

Adam- I will say the boy has some pipes. One song like this is OK but could you imagine a whole album, please pass the aspirin!!

Allison- I thought she did okay, it sounded alot like the original and I really don't have much to say about the song. I do think she is a really cute girl and has a lot of future potential.

Kris and Danny duet- I loved their harmony, it was amazing. I felt so bad for Kris after the judges remarks. I do think Danny probably hit the high note better but what was the point of Simon bringing that up.

Kris- I thought he did a great job with the song. I enjoyed the parts where the background music got quite and it was just him singing. I agreed with Randy and thought the others were harsh. The judges were not fair to him considering the genre he had to sing in. I really hope he makes it to the final 3, he is the best true artist out of all of them.

Danny- Wow talk about taking a risk, I really did not like the high notes at the end. I liked his raspy lower range though.

Adam and Allison duet- Very nice duet. I still think the show was totally favoring these two. Of course their duet was better, they sing these type of songs all the time.

I am a little perturbed after this idol. I did not like the theme they picked and it heavily favored 2 out of the 4. I am hoping that Kris makes it through to the final three and I hope they can pick whatever song they want so they can showcase all of their talent.

30 Day Shred

Well this video by Jillian from the biggest loser show has been going around the blogging world. I first read about it on Melanie's blog and decided it looked like something that might work for me. I started at level 1 like she recommends and it was not a disappointment. Let's just say the video should be called "2 minutes to finding out that your are seriously out of shape". It didn't help that the only weights I had were 8# and when the girls on the tape were lifting weights they were definitely smaller then mine. Looks like I need to purchase some baby weights or I will never get off level 1. My kids thought it would be fun to join me so they grabbed some soup cans and followed along, Abby made it almost the full 20 minutes. I am hoping to tone up a little for the summer swimsuit weather. My goal is to do this video at least 5 out of 7 days, so technically it might take longer than 30 days. I am already sore today after my first workout and hope I can survive tommorrow. I hope to update each week to give myself some accountability. I am already feeling bad about today though because tonight I treated myself to some Private Selection Cookies and Cream ice cream, wonder how many workouts it will take to burn that off.

Sweet Music

I was serenaded by a boy today, my lovely son Will. As I sat at the kitchen table and Will at the counter I heard him singing sweetly "Since Jesus Christ came in and washed away my sins...". What sweeter music could there be to me or to my heavenly father then the voice of a child singing his praises. I feel so blessed to have Will attending a Christian Preschool where he learns songs like that. What a great way to start off the morning, praising our Lord. Thankyou so much Lord that my son and daughter know you, I pray that they continue to grow in their faith and that you will help me model your character for them. Help me to be "In right out right up right down right happy all the time!!!"

Show us where you Live- Kitchen

Well Kelly has started something new called "Show us where you live". Today she wants to see everyone's kitchen so I thought I would join in.



This is how the kitchen looked when we moved in so I feel fortunate that the previous owners had similar tastes in regards to granite and stainless appliances.


I love these Polish pottery canisters, it is so fun to mix and match the canisters. Plus if I ever change my color scheme in the kitchen I know I can still use them.



Here is our eat in kitchen area. I love all the windows and I love my floral corkboard placemats from Pottery Barn. They wipe off and cover my not so scratch free kitchen table.

Have fun browsing all the fun kitchens out there!!!