Window Treatment...Before & After

So, I guess you could say I've had the winter blues lately. It is freezing cold here and we still have a ton of snow. Not to mention the fact that nothing eventful has been going on lately. So, when I get really bored and am basically homebound, what else is there do to except spruce things up a bit? Well, I've been surfing the net a lot lately and have been inspired by one of my favorite blogs...The Thrifty Decor Chick @ thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com. She has great ideas and all on the cheap. Well she has opened my eyes and made me realize how important window treatments can be. I've always been intimidated by them and not really known what to do. Also, since our plan has been to build & sell several times I didn't want drill holes into the walls even though fixing them with a builder in the house would be super easy....well for anyone really. Just a little spackle paste and touch up paint. Anyhow, I got thinking about this tablecloth I've had that I absolutely love (it's a toile, and I love anything french country) but can not use anymore because my new table is square and the table cloth is oval. So, I decided to make a window treatment for the breakfast nook out of it. It was pretty simple, but took a lot of tweaking until I got it just right. And best of all it was almost free. The material, ribbon and liner (an old bed sheet...a liner was really a must for this, and was something I figured out later in the process) all were free b/c I had them on hand. The only thing I had to pay for was a tension rod (still couldn't bring myself to drill anything yet) which was about $8 or $9. Overall I am pretty pleased with the outcome. I do realize just how much more custom window treatments make a home look and I'm totally converted! I'm even working on some for the master bedroom made out of the matching bedskirt. I haven't quite gotten those right yet...but I'm working on it. So we'll see, at least I've been occupied for a while. Here is the before and after.

Maddix's 4th Birthday Bash

Maddix was lucky this year and had a two day celebration for his 4th Birthday. His Grandpa Lou came out for the weekend and he had lots of fun. Maddix, Grandpa, and Mom built a snowman and a snow fort. He and Grandpa even had a little snowball fight. We then went bowling. It was his first time bowling and enjoyed it for a while. At the end he was kind of done with it. We then went home and had pizza and some ice cream and cake and got to open gifts from Grandpa and Brenda. Then on Sunday he got sung to by the primary kids for the first time. He thought that was pretty cool! And finally he had another party Sunday evening with the rest of the family! This year he wanted a scooter...so a scooter he got, a long with a ton of other things from all the grandmas, grandpas, aunts, and uncles. He definitely is loved and spoiled by us all! Oh yeah, the theme for this party was Mickey Mouse. We dodged the Spongebob bullet, luckily, only because they were out of the invitations!

Happy Everything

You know those holiday decorations that say "Happy Everything" and have something to represent each holiday throughout the year? Well this is what I feel like saying. I've totally been slacking in the journal/blog department for the last part of the year and haven't made any entries. So here is a recap of the holiday season for the end of 2009. Halloween Super Heroes...

Maddix debated between being Wolverine and Buzz Lightyear, but the Wolverine won out. So Carter got to be Spiderman instead of Woody. Carter was practically busting out of his 12 - 18 month old costume. Good thing it was spandex! We went trick-or-treating on Main St. which I thought would be quaint and fun, but it was way too crowded. We gave up and went home after going only one block! Then on Halloween we took the boys around to the grandparents houses and that was about it. Maddix really just wanted to stay home and answer the door and see all the ghosts and goblins, so we should have just let him do that instead. Maybe next year he'll still want to do that? Who knows? Live and learn I guess. All in all it was a pretty good halloween. My favorite part was the cute pics!

Thanksgiving at Grandma & Grandpa Glines'

This year we enjoyed Thanksgiving up in Neola at the grandparents house with Ben's immediate family and extended family of some aunts, uncles, and cousins. It was nice because my mom was invited too, so it was great to be able to spend time with both sides of our families. We had a big group with tons of good food. I was a little surprised at Carter. He usually goes to town at meal time and I thought he'd be in heaven on his first Thanksgiving of solid food, but he just ate a little. I guess there was too much going on to sit still and eat!

Christmas Eve

We did our annual traditions on Christmas Eve of playing in the snow and going sledding at the park, had lasagna dinner, and let the boys open a present of new jammies. This year they got to open jammies and a game...Hungry Hungry Hippos which we played with the 2 grandmas. It was a lot of fun, Carter could even participate in this one!

Christmas Morning

I think Ben and I were just as excited if not more that Santa brought the boys a ride on tractor. I think it will be so much fun for Maddix to give Carter rides in the trailer. This was a fun Christmas. Like I said we were so excited for them to see everything we had to wake Maddix up (he slept in because he wouldn't go to bed until late) so we (mostly me) wouldn't miss his reaction. At first Carter was more excited about it and wanted to sit on it first. He's a little too short to reach the petal, but he sure likes to try! They've been riding it in the unfinished basement and we can't wait for the snow to melt and they can go all around the yard. We spent Christmas day out in Roosevelt with Nana Connie and Ben's family. Then the day after we headed out to Huntsville to see Grandpa Lou and the rest of the gang.

New Year's Eve Party at the In-Law's house

We had yummy treats and played games all night, which consisted mostly of Clue to kill the time, which is probably my all time favorite with the "party crowd" a.k.a. the girls, while the hubs watched tv and the little guys played toys. Thanks to Maddix's late nap, he made it into the new year wide awake. Carter zonked out about eleven o' clock and Dad barely made it and then nodded off too. All the girls of course made it. Our brains were fairly sharp playing the game until midnight hit and then it was like somebody clicked a switch and we all were saying silly things and acting crazy. It was a lot of fun!

Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch

This was our 2nd Annual trip to the local corn maze/pumpkin patch. This year we went with our friends the Roberts'. It was especially fun for Maddix because they have three boys he could run around and play with. We participated in all they have to offer, starting off with the hay ride over to the pumpkin patch and selected a couple to take home. Then all the boys could play around in the courtyard on large haystacks, slides, sand piles, the house filled with corn kernels, the make-shift cow barrel 4-wheeler ride thing, etc. This year Carter could even participate, not just spectate. Lots of fun things to do. Last but not least we ventured into the corn maze. Thanks to Tobin's navigating, we made it out easily! It was a really nice day to go, the weather was excellent. It was a lot of fun!

30th Birthday...

Well, my big 30th birthday came and went. It kind of sneaked up on me and I didn't really have time to stress out about it. The only time I even felt different was when I realized I couldn't say that I'm in my 20's anymore...that was kind of sad. Oh well, what can you do? It was a nice birthday. I got to go spend some time with my dad and brothers. I got my first ever massage, something I've always wanted, courtesy of my dear ol' Dad and his wife Brenda. It was awesome...I have to do that at least once a year from here on out. Then we had a nice little celebration with our family in Roosevelt. My Mom was so sweet and really wanted to make it a memorable birthday, hence the decade too early "Over The Hill" decorations, hat, boa, pin, etc! It turned out nice and it was fun to spend time with family.

Carter's 1st Birthday

I'm a little late in getting this post up. Carter turned 1 years old on August 20th. He had a great day. It got started with one birthday waffle and candle. Then it was time for his television debut on Good Things Utah. Then that night he had his first backyard birthday bash. He had some grandparents, all great grandparents, and Uncle Beau, Aunt Nicole, and Auntie Elva there . He had his very own cake and was allowed to go at it. However, he just discovered a fork for the first time and was determined to use that instead of hands. So, he didn't get very messy...which I guess is a good thing? The messy cake pics are good for the old scrapbook though. He enjoyed opening up presents and playing with new toys. One thing he didn't like was his birthday hat...we could barely get him to keep in on long enough to snap a couple of pics. All in all it was a great day. We're so happy to have Carter as a part of our family. He brings so much joy and happiness into our lives. Here are some of the milestones that Carter reached during the last 13 1/2 months. He started rolling over both ways just a few days shy of 7 mos. He also started sitting up unassisted at 7 mos, but was a pro by 7 1/2 mos. He didn't start doing the army crawl thing until about 10 mos. He did this forever it seemed. I thought he wasn't going to ever really crawl. But he finally did start to crawl at around 11 mos. Then he didn't even start to try to walk for a long time. At about 13 mos he started walking around the furniture. He was kind of chicken and didn't dare try it on his own. Then on Sunday, September 27th he took his first steps by himself at church. Throughout the next week he really started picking it up. He got braver and braver, and by the following Sunday (13 1/2 mos) he was walking long distances all by himself!! He is doing very well and soon will be cruising all over the house. He already knows how to open the doors around the house too. He is suddenly growing so fast. In some ways he still seems like a baby because he LOVES his bottle and his binky. But that's ok...he can stay my baby for as long as he wants!! We love ya Carter, aka Boopsy Boo! Shh don't tell Dad, he hates that nickname.

Fall Photo Shoot

I had a little photo weekend with the boys. First we got their pics taken at JC Penny's, just in case mine didn't turn out. Then I took them around the Valley for some more. At the time it seemed like things weren't working out very well, but in hind sight I think we did pretty good. I know a lot has to do with our new Macintosh computer that we've wanted for a really long time. It has a pretty good photo editing program, a basic one, but that's good enough for me right now. Now I just need to get some printed out and displayed. I love taking pictures and editing them, but the process usually stops there because now I do all my scrap booking via photo books on the internet and therefore don't really print them out anymore. But I'd like some bigger prints for around the house. Well, hopefully I can keep improving and learning more photo techniques!

UBIC Parade

I was in the UBIC parade this year. I haven't been in a parade in a long time...but it's not what you think. Actually "A Piece of Cake Weddings and Events" my company, was in the parade. It was really cute. I had a convertible car that I borrowed from my neighbors family's car dealership. I had my advertising car magnets on the doors and then decorated it as a just married car. Then my darling little neighbor girl wore my wedding dress and veil. Her boyfriend wore a vintage blue tuxedo t-shirt and top hat and they drove the car while playing some fun wedding songs...(Chapel of Love, etc). Unfortunately the crowd couldn't hear the music...too bad because it was a nice touch. Then following behind the wedding car was myself driving a golf cart, also decorated with advertising signs and wedding bells, etc. I was carrying coolers of Otter Pops. I had four of my sweet little Achievement Day girls help me out by passing out the Popsicle's and also paper fans with my logo and information. In theory it was really cute and in reality it was kind of cute. The little girls were in matching dresses and had floral wreaths in their hair to emulate flower girls. They carried baskets full of the fans and Popsicle's and walked along side the golf cart and passed them out to the crowds. We ran out of stuff and got way behind our convertible car and were pretty much holding up the whole parade...but other than that it went well. I think it at least got our name out there and some awareness. And you know how the saying goes...bad publicity is better than no publicity. So even though we may be remembered as that disorganized wedding place that was holding up the parade...at least we'll be remembered!