Start Of Summer

Quincy finished out a great school year. He officially tested in for the TAG (talented and gifted) program and was able to make lots of new friends at school. He loves it!I can't believe we'll have a second grader on our hands soon enough! We also spent a good deal of time out in the new pool since the weather has been unusually hot for the PNW. Who couldn't love that? 

Primary Program

This was the first year that Braxton was able to participate in the primary program. He did a such good job memorizing his part and spoke pretty clearly. Quincy also did a great job reading his part which was couple of lines. There's nothing that warms your heart more than hearing children sing about Jesus and families being together forever. 

I just love when my boys are all dressed up! 

 

These pictures I snapped of them at the practice. 

I'm thankful that our family can be together forever! 

More DIY... a big boy's room

It would seem that I'm always working on some sort of project, which if you're married to a budget man like I am and have the need to change things up, then yes... there's always going to be a project when you don't really have the means to buy everything brand new. 

I'm certainly not complaining. I actually do enjoy giving something old and ugly new life again. 

Lately I've been on the hunt for a desk for Quincy's big kid room. I finished his book shelf recently and needed to get him a desk for doing his homework and for additional storage. I was hunting on craigslist daily. Finally I found a nice solid wood desk that was the right size and scale for his room with the perfect price tag: $10.00. The added bonus was that it was only 5 minutes from our house to pick up. 

Now this isn't the first time that I've been guilty of getting too antsy to finish my DIY projects that I get them started before I realize I forgot to take my 'before' picture. So here is the desk... top already with a coat of black paint on it. Ugh. But you get the idea. It was brown before... and simple... and little to no hardware on the drawers, which I didn't mind since I was going to replace what was on there anyways. 

BEFORE: 

AFTER:

Don't mind the stool, it's a loaner from my parents until I can find just the right size chair for him. I dream of getting him a Ghost chair, but unfortunately those aren't in the budget. :( At least the stool is functional for now and it fits him fine. It could also be painted too.... though that means another 'project'. ha ha 

Will it never end?? 

Instead of having to tape off the drawers or paint the drawers I decided to get scrapbook paper and Modge Podge the sides of them. It's a nice pop of color when you open them and was less time consuming than tape or pant. I like the little details, like this. 

Even though the desk is pretty clean lined there are some details on the legs that look slightly feminine (to me at least) and seeing as how I wanted this desk in a boys room I opted for clean modern hardware which (hopefully) balances it out a bit more. 

I've been wanting to do something with these empty Nesquick cans. They were a good size for storage and even came with fitting lids. I came across an idea on Pinterest and put it in motion. I actually love how they turned out. I ended up putting felt on the bottom so they wouldn't scrape any paint off the painted bookshelf while Quincy slides them on and off to get toys out of them.I ditched the lids because they didn't go with the rope.

 I love a good re-purposed project. 

BEFORE:    and   AFTER: 

Prior to getting a desk I decided that Q needed some place to store his toys. The under-the-bed-in-plastic-totes-system wasn't working. It ended up being a huge mess under his bed and fight to get them back in bins when he could just "hide" them where no one was the wiser to his clean up methods. Plus I wanted to bring more books in his room for reading and up until that point they were all in the little boys room. 

I found a post for a FREE laminate bookshelf and the pick up place was 2 minutes from our house. I convinced Tyler to go pick it up with me. It wasn't in great shape, but I knew it had potential to be good. I came up with an idea of putting wainscoting on the back to give it some architectural detail similar to the detail in his twin headboard and foot-board and went to purchase primer and black paint. After also buying some new pegs for the shelf I spent maybe a total of $25.00. I think it turned out pretty good. 

BEFORE:

AFTER: 

I like that now he has a spot for all his stuff and it's still nicely displayed, but functional as well.. which of course was top priority! 

All in all, I think his room is coming together nicely. I'd like to get him new bedding, though his functions quite fine. And I'd LOVE to get some artwork on his walls, but for now... (as with almost all DIY projects) you have to wait for just the right time and price to come along before it'll be "finished". :)

St. Patick's Day Stud muffins

This year for Saint Patrick's Day we didn't do anything over the top, but we did eat some rainbow fruit kabobs and the boys looked oh-so-cute in their matching ties on Sunday. 

Zayden's mad because he wants more pineapple and blueberries.

 Can you tell which fruit he doesn't really care for? 

Buddies

These boys are such a handful, but every now and then they get along so well and are so sweet to each other that I can just about stand it. 

Catching up...

November was a whirlwind and now we're already half way through December. I haven't been taking out our camera nearly as much as I should have been. So here's what we've got. 

Some of these pictures are from late October through November.

 Sheesh! 

Quincy is officially done with basketball. He really loved it. He made several baskets during his games and can't wait to play again. The coach even gave them trophies with their names engraved on them. He was quite proud of this. We want to get him AND Braxton in swim lessons next, before summertime, and basketball will just have to wait a little bit. 

We spent most of Stake conference two months ago like this... coaxing our boys out of the foyer... 

Zayden can't wait til he's big enough to play, too. 

We booed some friends in the ward. It's always fun to ding dong ditch.

 The older boys loved it and Tyler and Z were in the getaway car. 

I made, and perfected the crunchy caramel corn. 

It's delicious. 

We need more of it!

Quincy lost his first tooth last month. The tooth fairy brought him a dollar. He took it to school the next day (and his tooth) and lost it. Luckily an honest fifth grader on the bus turned in the money. We had to have a talk about how we don't take special things or money to school so they won't get lost. This kid looses EVERYTHING. It seriously drives me crazy!! Oh well, no harm done. His second tooth is loose right now, but after having to yank his first loose tooth out (since the permanent tooth was already coming in) it might take a bit until we can convince him to let us. Maybe Uncle Trevor can help him. :)

Tyler and I agreed to help pass out team flyers and got free tickets to a Timbers game. It was the first game for both of us. A totally different experience than football or basketball games. The crowd is INSANE. But it's Portland, AND soccer-- what else can you expect? 

Luckily we were undercover, but were not so lucky to have to squeeze into an aisle to stand to watch the game. The Timber's Army (the crowd) is load and proud and chanted and sang the WHOLE time. Seriously, it made the game go that much faster since everyone was cheering and singing the team on. THIS is one of the reasons I love watching sports in person, the atmosphere makes up for where the game can be lacking sometimes. 

I'm not sure if we'll get a chance to go back for another game anytime soon, but I was happy to get to spend a night with Tyler... even if it meant standing in the freezing cold to pass our flyers, being squished in a drunk crowd, and missing our max train home. It was an adventure, and any adventure with him is a good one. 

Last month we had Thanksgiving at my parent's house. It was pretty quiet since everyone was gone except for Karter and Melanie. Quincy took full advantage of this and made them play games, read stories, color, and watch a movie with him. The little boys had fun wrestling with Kar Kar. We've had lots of family dance parties. I did Zumba with my mom. And we ate lots of yummy food.... more on all that later. :)