Industrial boys decor

We finally got the railing put up in Mr. T's room. I love how it brought the room together. I was always nervous of the boys climbing up the ladder to get to the loft. Now they have a little more protection. They love LOVE! this little nook. They plan, imagine, read, and if mom doesn't catch him, naps up there. It has been great to burn some of that never ending boy energy.
Check out what we did with the rest of the room HERE.

Home Depot has become my second craft store. I am always looking for fun and creative ways to use something different to decorate the boys rooms. You never know what you will come up with down the plumbing aisle.

My next Home Depot inspired project is the deck....Gonna build and tunnel and slide into a relaxing and function outdoor retreat. You'll have to be patient to see it though. It won't be until fall. ;-)

Angry Bird Birthday Invites

Mom to dad..."Ok, we have this and this and this going on this weekend."

Tyler...."yeah, and then next week is my birthday!!"

Mom...running to the calendar...."Oh, crap! How did that sneek up so fast? I thought I still had another week!!!"

Ok boys time to gather the troops. After a bit of trouble shooting I managed to throw together a cute little invite for Tyler's buddies. Get the troops together and set up the assembly line. Ok boys, here are your asignments.....

Gotta love that! It didn't take long before the cards were done....

                                         Rather cute dontcha think?!

We got all of them done slipped a typed note about the party into them and got them out in the same day. The best part was having all the supplies already on hand!

Birthday Cake- FAIL!

Mr Tyler wanted an Angry Birds party. Pinterest has lots of great ideas for games and cakes.

They all look so simple. Before long I found myself saying, "I can SO make that", "Piece of cake"! So off to the store I ran. Picked up a few yummies.....

I had to plan ahead because I still had to work at the hospital. So Josh got to practice his baking skills and help me out. We started with 2 different frosting recipes...buttercream and cream cheese. They were both yummy and Josh felt like he was entering Cupcake Wars.

Uhmmm, hold that thought son. The frosting turned out great...the cake...not so much.

So, it's not terrible but after playing with it I was running out of time and had no idea how to get those cute little birds and pigs. I found some marshmallow fruit shapes and just made a go at it.

Yeah, this was just too much for me. I find myself able to do lots. I craft, sew, build, garden, scrapbook...you name it. BUT....cake decorating is not my forte!

Tyler loved it. My sweet hubby knew right away what it was and thought it was great. Me...well it just didn't measure up to what I had pictured. We have 2 more birthdays over the next month.....

Time for a call to my own personal Baker....well, not my OWN baker but still a fantastic baker. Shelly, owner of the Cream of the Crop cupcakes! I made a call to her that day. Placed my orders for a Batman cake and a Lego cake. Now I have made a Lego cake before but the price of NOT worrying about it is SOOO worth it.....

Stay tuned for a fantastic Batman cake for Mr. Matthew!

The "T" Wall

I wanted to make a wall of T's from all sorts of materials. Anything that Mr. Tyler plays with became fair game. Rocks, legos, and sticks were some of the first things that came to mind.

Each time I went into a store that had monograms I grabbed one. I wanted all different fonts and sizes. When I had several I just started creating....

This was the first monogram I made. At the time I didn't plan on a T wall but now it just goes right along with the others.

  A black T with letter beads down the side.....

Rocks and little boys just go hand in hand. How many times have I found rocks in the laundry? Or, "look at this COOL rock mom?" (I'm thinking of putting a frame around this one, it just looks unfinished)

This was one of my favorite letters. It's a bunch of washers glued together.

Moss and rocks wrapped around a wooden letter....

Lego's are a staple around our house. It only made sense that they be part of the wall. I let the boys come up with the design. I picked out the blocks I thought would work and told them to build me a T. Mr Ty added his lego guy.

Blue glass rocks....

Different fonts just painted blue- his favorite color.

Tyler loves his "T" wall. I have a couple of other ideas. I need to make a trip up the canyon for some twigs.

And, I keep wondering about something from the Home Depot. Surely there is something in the pipe section that can be worked into a T.....

I will share any others I add but for now I wanted to share what we have to far. All hung up with Command hook stickies (can you tell I love these things? and no one paid me to say that!)

Tylers Coat Hooks: project 49 of 52

Project 49 of 52

Its done and I am thrilled with the results!

My mantra is "A place for everything and everything in it's place". Unfortunately my boys have been in need of "A place..". Afterall it's hard to say "where does your coat and backpack belong when there really isn't a place to put them. My quest this week has been to correct that problem. I searched for ideas and came up with a few. The problem is with boys the selection of ideas is severely limited. If you have boys you know exactly what I am talking about. Of course it's funer to do the thrilling frills with little girls but this momma of boys wants some style in her boys rooms. So this is what I came up with.....

I built a frame out of scrap trim we had from building big brothers bedroom. A miter saw is a fantastic tool to have. I stapled the back of the corners to help hold it in place while I glued and clamped it. I let it dry over night.

In the ducting section of Home Depot you can get sheets of metal at a great price. They have other sheets in another section of the store but it is more money (don't ask why, I think they are preying on us crafters ;-)). This is about 30 inches wide and only cost about $6 (I think).

After the frame had dried I simply glued it to the metal. Gorrilla glue is a wonderful product.

One benefit of boys is simplicity. I wanted a streamlined hook and they happen to be the less expensive hooks too. I think these hooks were $1 or $2.

In an effort to add some color I painted it blue but antiqued the wood a bit....

I just used craft paint for the blue base. When it was dry I sanded a bit around the edges then applied a dark walnut stain. I tend to be a perfectionist so sometimes this can be tough for me- I want everything balanced and less randomness but I refrained from maintaining balance with this project- yeah for me.

Just add a cute rock magnet and my little guy has a display board for his artwork and a place to hang his coat and backpack. Now my fridge won't be covered with as many masterpieces.

I LOVE IT!! What do you think? I surprise Ty when he got home from Kindergarten. He jumped up and down. Then when his buddy came over he had him close his eyes just like mom did to him. TOO CUTE! Gotta love those boys!.

This is the before...

I originally wanted to do wainscoating but the vent would have been messed up- I didn't want to muck with things that much so...on to plan B.

I like plan 'B' better!

My day off....

How is it that my "days off" are filled with laundry, scrubbing, cleaning, more laundry and errands? I sat down long enough to eat a quick bite at each meal then was off again. I did manage to make a dent in the house work though. Mondays are always rough days with the house a shambles. Having a long weekend was great but just made it even worse to get things back in order. Oh, my legs ache and I didn't even get my walk in. Having spent a couple of hours in the dr's office for this.....

Tyler smashed his finger last week but it has been getting worse every day so I thought I'd better have it checked out. They didn't do anything but it feels better to have had someone else look at it. He will loose his fingernail. I can tell it is already dead. As sore as it looks it doesn't bother him too much. That is the main reason the doc didn't drain it. I was worried about the pressure building up but as long as he doesn't have a lot of pain we will just watch it and let the body do it's thing. 

Oh- and how did he do this? With a stick! "I was hitting the dirt with a stick, mom". I still haven't figured out WHAT hit is finger but I do know "it wasn't the stick"! Yeah, he came in crying over this one. Ice and a mommy kiss can work wonders!

We also have a new addition to our family.....

 Scooter is a pure white miniature schnauzer. We got him a couple of weeks ago and he is doing great. He is a really good dog. I like that he won't get very big and the boys just love having a pet again. We have had a few talks on caring for him and being gentle. He seldom barks, well, except when someone goes downstairs. For some reason he has a fit if you walk downstairs. He is mostly house trained and sleeps great in his kennel. He is 10 weeks old and loves to bite as puppies do. We gave him a hedgehog stuffed animal and he loves it. He needs a trim and a health check up. I will be adding that to my list tomorrow. He has become quite attached to me so now I have another boy to look after me. I count myself a lucky lady!

Once again another boy. I will be forever out numbered! Although having just boys definitely has its advantages! (Think school mornings and hair do's!). I am rather attached to them all myself! ;-)

Boys in the mud

Only a mother of little boys can appreciate.....

Mud waterfalls, mud pies, and muddy backsides. The backyard was excavated in prep for building a retention wall but little did mom realize it became a dream zone for boys. Tyler, his best friend and Matthew all had a hayday! They had a "mud waterfall" with the hose running down the embankment making one great mud lake on the other side. 

 

 

They played for quite awhile until mom made them shut off the water. I can handle the muddy feet but prefer to conserve water. Besides the puddle was ready to breach it's banks ;-). I'd better watch out, Kaylyn might stop letting her son come over. He usually goes home muddy, wet, or with popsicle stains. The do have LOADS of fun though! After all just look at that smile! 

Who can resist?

Ideas for Mother's day

So I am needing a break from all the craziness of late. I will soon be -selectively- packing my craft supplies so I will have to use this as a log of my project wish list. Plus tonight I will be planning next months Bear Cub Scouts calendar. We always try to have mom and dad's day gifts the boys can do. So tonight I start my ideas for young boys to do for their mothers......
We have done rocks before but they are always fun. I especially like the card Oopsey Daisy came up with.

She has a nice poem inside to go along with the rock.

I also like this idea....I am definantly into simple this year. Allison even gives you the labels to download. Tie a string around a flower and VOILA! Easy peasy!

These are listed as teachers gifts but they would work great for mom too....

This is a great idea too from Sisters Stuff. Plus it's easy easy!

Time to get ready for a 5 year old's birthday party. He has been counting down ALL MONTH LONG! He gets to have a sleep over with his best friend and cousin..... Yeah, I have officially lost my mind!

Out of the Mouth of Babes

I love being a mom of BOYS! Yes, it is crazy insane sometimes but I feel extra special. Think about how many moms have ONLY BOYS?! When I am old, they will always be there to care for their mom. Plus, I have Father/Son campouts to look forward to peace and quiet. I think it will balance the craziness just a bit. When I am asked if I miss having a little girl I don't quite know what to say...I always knew I would only have boys. Call it divine inspiration or was it divine preperation?

So Robin comes in this afternoon to share a story. He was outside when Tyler came up.

"Dad, when I get older can I marry mommy too?"

Dad laughing, "no son, you will be able to find your own wife to marry."

"Oh. How do I do that?"

"Don't worry. When you get older you'll know how."

"-K-! Cuz I want someone JUST LIKE MOMMY! I love mommy!"

*sigh*

Oh! It does my heart good. Tyler is almost 5 and still calls me MOMMY. The other boys quickly switched to 'mom' which was ok. I didn't mind either way. But with Ty, I'm Mommy! And I love it. I love that he calls me Mommy. It comes out with great endearment and filled with love. He can be asking for a drink, saying "I'm hungry" 15 minutes after dinner, or saying good night, it still makes me smile. He is an incredibly social boy but loves to come home to share his day. He will jump up onto the stool and jabber, Jabber, JABBER until I just can't handle any more. And then he Jabbers some more. ;-)

*sigh*

 I am truely blessed to have such a wonderful crew.

Ohhh, BOY!

"Boys Are Found Everywhere- on top of, underneath, inside of, climbing on..."  ummm yeah....one guess what happened here....

I had gotten Matthew lain down for a nap. Tyler was on his way to Preschool with dad. I grabbed a banana and the laptop to sit down for a bite to eat....

B.A.N.G.........C.R.A.S.H.

I dropped my banana on the floor and RAN upstairs. I couldn't even hear him crying but when I ran in I knew what had happened. Buried under the dresser was my sweet Matthew. PANIC! I scooped him up and thankfully he doesn't even have a bruise, just a crushed ego that he can't climb like he thought. It's not first (and I'm sure not the last) time a dresser has been tipped over for climbing monkeys. I know, I need to bolt them to the wall but I like to rearrange the furniture on occasion to clean under everything. Apparently Matthew has learned to climb from the bed to the top of the dresser like Tyler does. 

 UGH! I really don't like the ER. I count my blessings we haven't been in there more often. I have heard stories of dear dad's adventures....

So now we have had a major adrenaline rush and sleep is the farthest thing from out mind. *sigh* Since Matthew would start crying whenever I left the room I sat down with him while dad.......

Guess we'll have to get Tyler a new Piggy Bank.

Oh, the adventures of boys!

Huckleberries!

The last 3 Saturday mornings we have traveled to Kelly Canyon to pick Huckleberries. MMMMHH! Yummy. They were loaded this year. In the end we got 2 1/2 gallons of those precious tangy purple berries. The boys loved the huckleberry pancakes. I usually just freeze them to enjoy through the winter. There is nothing as refreshing as huckleberries in January. For those of you who haven't tasted this little treat, stop by, I might be persuaded to share. My friend got to experience these berries and couldn't get enough. Thanks for the pie Janice!
Today I make a raspberry desert with huckleberries added. The boys are drooling buckets to taste it. Sorry boys, have to wait another hour for it to set up. It has a cream cheese filling- YUMMY!
If you wanted to pick any you'd better hustle. Fall is quickly settling in. The lower bushes leaves are already changing and the berries are ending. There have been LOTS of people picking this year. Yesterday I only got 1/2 gallon and we had to hunt a bit more. You may still find some but not for much longer. We will definantly be enjoying these into the winter.

You know the saying "out of the mouths of babes"? Well while we were picking berries Tyler and I were talking. I told him he was the perfect height cuz he could see under the leaves where the berries were. We talked about the pioneers hunting for berries. Our conversation went something like this:
Ty: I'm a good hibbleberry picker.
M: Yes you are. Look how full your bucket is already.
T: I would be a good pioneer.
M: yes you would.
T: Jesus is proud of me!
M: (chuckling) Yes Tyler! Jesus is proud of you. You are a very good little boy!
How innocent and full of love my little boys are. They fill my life with as much laughter and joy as could have ever imagined!! BOYS!! Ya gotta love them. They are the worlds most unique creatures!