Snow Day!

Last night it snowed here in Iowa and it has continued a little today!  We are stir-crazy in the house, so we got outside for some winter fun!  Wyatt got some new snow boots and we had to test them out.  I think after an hour in the snow, some warm milk in his belly, and a graham cracker,  he is ready for a nap!  I hope anyway!

His daddy was shoveling snow at him!

Look at that little smirk!

One week from now my parents will be here for Christmas! We can't wait and are counting down the days!

Christmas Mantel!

I finally got out of my funk and got around to doing something with the mantel for Christmas!  Seeing that we don't have a lot of Christmas decor out here in Iowa, I tried to be creative with things that I already had.   I used lots of brown burlap, some berries and greenery I already owned and just cut out some white tissue paper snowflakes for the framed burlap.  Added some white lights nestled into the burlap (which my dad totally would not approve of- FIRE HAZARD!) I also made a little advent calendar out of scrapbooking paper, a black sharpie, and some old weathered clothespins from the line in the back yard!  I took these pictures in the middle of the day- so not a whole lot of ambience going on from the lights, but you get the idea!  Hope you like!  

We might get our tree today from the Christmas tree lot up the road (haha)...if I can get my hubby to stop watching all that football that's on TV!  

We got our first snow and couple days ago...it finally feels like winter!  Asked for some cute new snow boots for Christmas- gotta keep those tootsies warm!  Oh yeah- before I go I will show you the chalkboard I finished for above Wyatt's little activity table....

He has gotten pretty good at singing his ABCs!  Will be back to show you our Christmas Tree early this next week!

A Painful Reminder...

Well, I am happy to say that one of my best friends here in Iowa has had her lovely little baby girl.  She was born yesterday afternoon and as far as I know she is doing quite well- momma is doing well too!  I am soo excited to meet this little bundle of joy!  Makes me anticipate the arrival of our sweet baby boy in a few months!  Yesterday the boys in my life took a nap while I shopped- not sure if my hubby would approve of me posting this, but it was so adorable! So I came home to this...

Apparently my body decided that I was going to get a reminder of what it feels like to be in labor in the middle of the night last night.  Maybe it was a sympathy contraction for my dear friend Linsday or just a fluke, but BOY was I reminded!  My arm shot out of bed and grabbed my hubby next to me so fast!  We will see what the midwife has to say about it today- I"m sure it was Braxton Hicks because they obviously didn't continue and I am here typing this post, but it HURT!

We have a busy day here today with my appointment, some grocery shopping, and AWANAs tonight for Wy man!  Hoping to get to the thrift store down the street because on my drive by I spotted a delightful mini- Christmas tree!  I am getting the itch to decorate for Christmas.  Its going to be simple (not fancy)-as usual- but I can't wait for white lights and candles glowing!  Chow for now!

Our bedroom

I thought I would take a little time to show you what I've been doing in our bedroom.  Basically, I have neglected that room since we moved into this rental, because really nobody sees it.  Lately though, I have been wanting to make it cozy, wintery, and a peaceful place to lay our heads at night.  I would really like to make this my spot to read my Bible, devotional, and books- it was just blah before.  My favorite color is green, so what better color to use as my pop of color.  I like neutral colors, so most of the pillows, etc. are pretty subtle.  I combined a celery green (my fav.) with a forest/olive green (a color my husband likes), with touches of white, tan, oatmeal, and brown.

The drapes are made of canvas painting drop cloths!  Cost me $20 for the whole project and I love them!    The pillow is an old Hungarian grain sack made into a pillow and the sled in the corner is an junk store score from out here in Iowa (the antiques are SO much cheaper here)!

We refinished this dresser this summer- we got it on Craigslist for $45 and just stained in Walnut and painted/distressed the drawers.  

Adding a simple scarf to the sled dressed it up just enough for the winter season!

This is a frame I bought long ago and decided to paint.  I added the grain sack stripes and painted the "No. 4" in the bottom corner to give it that vintage feel!

We don't have nightstands so on one side I have an old chair with a basket, throw, and some antlers.  On the other side is a desk draped in a canvas painters drop cloth.  

To add some touches of winter we have a faux fur throw (ivory) on our bed, a wreath with little hand-stamped snowflake cards, and the tree branch on our dresser.  The tree will be a whole other blog as I will be decorating it with some fun mini pom-poms made of white/silver tissue paper!  Stay tuned for that!  Blessings to you all- hope you like what we've done on a pretty much non-existent budget!  

Foot Fun!

I get catalogs all the time from Garnet Hill and stumbled upon these slippers for kids...OH BOY!!  They are adorable and so fun!  The weather is getting colder and if I had $40 extra bucks laying around I would get Wy man the puppy slippers to keep his tootsies warm...or maybe the rockets....

Garnet Hill

If you're a momma in the market for slippers they have lots of cute ones!  My personal faves are these ballet slippers made by ACORN...

Garnet Hill

OR MAYBE.....the Ugg Moccassins! 

Garnet Hill

 

Good thing I can't be buying slippers right now or else I would have a hard time choosing!

Have a great day!

Taking a Break...

Well I took a much needed break for the last couple weeks from pretty much everything, except spending time with my hubby and little man!  We needed some time to get back into the swing of things here after such a long vacation and having a visitor in the house.  Sometimes I forget that I am pregnant and actually get extra tired sometimes.  But now, we are all well rested and excited for the Thanksgiving season that is upon us!

Johnny's sister from Texas is coming to visit us for Thanksgiving and we can't wait!!  The time here flies so much faster when we get occasional visits from family members- plus we just love Auntie Katie!  Johnny's classes are going well and next week he will officially be able to work in the main clinic at Palmer.  This means that he will be seeing patients from the community, as well as students and his family.  Pretty exciting!  Really makes it real that he is nearing the end of his DC education!

Sadly, when we visited WA I left my camera charger at my parents house, so my mother will be mailing that to us one of these days- But that means no pictures for a while, unless they come from the Iphone (which isn't great quality).  

I have been inspired lately to make Wyatt a little learning center.  We don't have a playroom in our place, so his corner of the living room will suffice.  He has a table just his size and I am in the process of making a chalkboard for above his table.  It serves two functions- a place for him to draw (under supervision of course!) and is also decorative.  Chalkboards are the rage right now!  I am almost done, so I will see what kind of pic our lovely Iphone can manage.  Here are some fun chalkboard ideas for kids rooms/playrooms!

Living Etc. 

LOVE THAT BENCH!  So fun!  Labeling baskets is always a good idea too...

Pottery Barn Kids

Chalkboard paint is what I will be using, though not directly on the wall like this photo.  

unknown

God is teaching me about contentment these days.  For those of you who know me, you know that I have a love for decorating and making our home cozy.  That is one of my biggest struggles-  seeing so much inspiration and not having the means (i.e. money) to transform my home into what I see- I am learning to be grateful and content for what I have!  God has blessed us with SO much!  The things we have DO NOT create our identity- we are children of GOD first and foremost- then we are wives, husbands, mothers, father, sons, daughters...and the "stuff"(in moderation) is just the fluff that can make life extra fun!  Have a blessed day!      

And the vacation is over...

Well,  I have spent the last month visiting my family in WA and then had a good friend come visit for a week!  I have been spoiled!  Needless to say not much blogging has been done.  We had a trip to Chicago and thought you all might enjoy some pictures of my sweet boy!  He ENJOYED his spaghetti!

In other news, the bun in the oven (baby boy) is doing quite well and is ACTIVE!  He kicks nonstop and keeps me up at night!  We are still going through names but I think we are sold on one.  Let you know when we make our decision. :)  

Before you go, check out the great giveaway at this fabulous blog called The Old Painted Cottage! 

Lamp Revamp

So you don't really like that plain ol' black lamp that you've had since college, but can't afford a new one...?  Try a new look for very few $!  My grandma taught me that you CAN paint pretty much anything, although I'm sure I'm not the expert she is!  This project required a can of primer spray paint, a can of Rustoleum "Oregano" spray paint and a little sandpaper.  All of which I either had or purchased but am also using for other projects (more on that later).  A $1.50 natural woven trim added to the lampshade with craft glue and a little paint and I feel like I have a new lamp!  A little distressed and a little more contemporary than the plain black!  Don't be afraid to paint something you love that's the wrong color or just something you can't really afford to get rid of- a little elbow grease and your husband will think you went shopping!

More on my other projects tomorrow! Night!

kitchen accessories!

Yesterday I made a little stop in TJ Maxx and found some new dish towels for our kitchen.  We have some cute Williams Sonoma ones, but I think I have had them since I went to college and I was up for a change! These are such good quality and you cant beat TJ Maxx prices!!  The burgundy and flowered towels are from my mother-in-law who has great taste and knows me so well!  So, I wanted to post about accessorizing and adding "decor" to your kitchen.  Whenever I get new dishtowels I get excited to roll them up all cute and put them in one of my favorite bowls to display (and eventually use).  Its like functional decor!

Another way to add personality with your kitchen accessories is to use chargers, stacked as a centerpiece.  

This picture just shows two sets of chargers stacked on top of each other with a pretty fall bowl full of knick knacks and nature!   

Did I ever mention I really dislike clutter?!  I am an organized individual.  It can be good and bad...I may need to let up a little!  For the longest time the top of our fridge was messy. Packages of half opened pepsi 12 packs, waterbottles, etc. just stacked on top.  I COULDN' T TAKE IT!  So I went to Walmart and bought myself these beauties for $10 and I breathe a sigh of relief every time I go to the refrigerator!  

That's easy organization!  I always keep a few wooden clothespins on them just in case I need to keep the chip bag closed or something!  I recently just took down all of our pics of the fridge- time to freshen up!  Now all we have to look at and anticipate is our little baby boy we cant wait to meet!  

I cleaned today!  If you want great tips on how to lose the commercial cleaners (cause they aren't good for you, your children, or your pets) head on over to this blog!

My little man awakes- see ya tomorrow!

God Bless!

A LONG week

Well, I made it through last week thinking that I was actually getting over my cold, just in time for it to end up turning into a sinus infection and more time spent in bed.  My poor hubby is probably sick of hearing me whine, but this is really the sickest I have been in ages!  Having done nothing in the past week except eat to survive and change diapers, I come with no offerings of creativity.  So sorry!  One encouraging thing happened over the weekend (opening weekend that is!).....my manly hubby shot a deer!  Some of you are probably cringing and some thinking that's not so hard, but he is a relatively new bow hunter and its really quite challenging to actually hit the deer if you even see a big one!  So kudos to him!

The buck's left antlers broke off at some point, but its still a pretty good buck!  I think Johnny (hubby) is having some bittersweet feelings about shooting a deer this early in the game (Bow hunting season lasts around 2-3 months).  Now he just doesn't know what he is going to do for the rest of the season.  I quickly reminded him he has a delightful family to spend time with :) AND he has a turkey tag to fill, as well as another deer tag for muzzleloader season!  Poor guy has nothing to do!  

Please be praying for my Grandpa Jens who has severe emphysema (sp?) among other things going on.  He has been in and out (thankfully!) of the hospital in the last year and we are SO grateful that we haven't lost him, though there have been some close calls.  He needs our prayers and God to give him strength/comfort.  Also prayers for my Grandma and close family who are basically involved in the 24 hour care- I know they want to be there to help, but its wearing on them too.  

Grandpa Jens

Grandma Shirli

Blessings to you all!  If you are one of my WA friends, I cant wait to see you in somewhere around 9 days!!  How's the weather there?! Already starting to pack my bag!!

THE BIG NEWS!

Well, no pics or anything to attach to this post- short and sweet!  We found out today that we are having another little boy!  A little brother for Wyatt!  Yay!  Can't wait for more cowboys, trucks, dirt, and grass-stained knees!  Will post some pics of the ultrasound tomorrow possibly!  Blessings!

Back and Feeling Better!

Finally getting over a nasty cold that I've had since Friday!  Blah!  I really, really dislike being sick. Thankfully it happened over the weekend, because there was no getting out of bed for me on Saturday (male bonding time for my boys I suppose).  Not much new news here to tell (although tomorrow there will be!)  I will update you all as to whether to start seeing blue or pink in the Rasmussen future!

I thought today I would show you the full sized bed we scored for Wyatt's room last week!  I randomly talked to a lady via craigslist and she had a basically new mattress/boxspring/frame for us for $25!  At first I was a little skeptical..yikes...$25, how many stains/lice/bedbugs does this mattress have!?  I was quite relieved to drive up to their big, beautiful home and see how clean everything was!  We scooped up a pretty good deal and now our guests actually have a bed to sleep in!  The lighting in these pics is not the greatest either so....

I couldnt help myself (since this will be Wyatt's bed once we moved back to WA)- I ordered the adorable vintage truck pillowcases from Pottery Barn kids.

The comforter and shams are a PB bedding set we already had and the rest of the sheeting/bedskirt is from Target!  I think it came together well.  The vintage printer's tray above Wyatt's bed is from Goodwill and has some sweet little vintage blocks in his initials (J.W.R).  I just won a cool old license plate on ebay. It's a vintage Wyoming truck plate...I wish we had plates like these (there is a bucking horse with a cowboy in the middle)!  Will be hanging that with some sort of twine from the printer's tray.  Funky, fun art!  (Will post pics of that when it arrives) The lampshade on the dresser is from Target and the wooden lamp base is a $2 Good will score!

Updates on the doc appointment tomorrow!!  Blessings!

Celebrating our Anniversary!

So hard to believe that 3 years of marriage have come and gone already! I am truly blessed and married to the most wonderful guy ever!  God had me in mind when he designed Johnny and vice versa!  Hard to believe that it is already the middle of September!  I have a busy-bee hubby who has clinic appointments today, so we will have to actually "celebrate" this weekend!  We also are involved in a small group bible study that we LOVE and didn't want to miss tonight!

The leaves are starting to turn here and the weather (though its still unpredictable) just has a different feel.  I have been taking Wyatt to the park and walking a lot more these days which is just lovely!  Something about this time of year makes me miss home quite a bit!  I miss watching football on Saturday with family and waiting for the guys to come home to see if they shot the big buck!  Now we still do those things, except I'm usually looking at my watch wondering where Johnny is because its dark (and you cant hunt after dark) and dinner is getting cold!  haha- I really do love my hubby, he just doesn't share the same urgency for things as I do.

We will be finding out in 6 days now whether our "bun-in-the-oven" is a boy or a girl!  We caved and decided to find out! I will be thrilled either way!  I imagine the possibilities with a little girl, but also treasure the thought that Wyatt could have a brother to play with everyday!  We'll see!

Just real quick- I promised some pics of my fall mantle, and though I don't have pics in the frames yet I thought I would show you!  Some greenery, antlers, warm wood tones and distressed white frames! I am going to get some fall pics of last year printed to fit the frames (on my to-do list).  I love using burnt orange, green, and cranberry to accent!  All my pretty throws are currently being laundered, but there is nothing better than a few cozy blankets to snuggle up with!  I've had a few cups of hot chocolate and tea lately too---woooohooo!!!!

Blessings!  Have a great day!

One of my favorite bloggers, a lovely Christian lady named Susie Harris just blogged about "Enough".  She was speaking of her Fall mantel, but I think she was also just referring to her life, her home, her family, and GOD above all else being ENOUGH!  This really inspired me and brought a lot of thoughts into my head.  How often throughout the day do I think "I need this, I need that" when in all reality I have ALL that I need.  I have a Almighty God (who never, ever lets me down), a loyal and loving husband, and a son that literally brings a smile to my face no matter what he is doing....(okay, that piercing scream doesn't exactly make me smile- more like cringe!) HAHA!  Not to mention I have the most supportive and amazing extended family and friends I could ever ask for! Boy life is good!

Food for thought- What are you filling your life up with that's not glorifying to God?  Is God ENOUGH for you?

I'm a sinner, just like the next person, but I am really going to make an effort to make sure God is what's filling my voids in life and not worldly stuff!

Okey dokey- things get a little messy from here....I have learned in the last few months that the phrase "Boys will be boys" is actually quite true in so many ways.  Wyatt spent the afternoon outside with his daddy and had to be carted to the bathtub completely stripped of clothes because there was powdered dirt in nearly every crevice.  It really made me smile to see him having so much fun throwing that dirt (as long as I was the one who didn't have to bathe him)!

All cleaned up and in his new camo bathrobe from my parents!  Such a big boy!  

Going "junking" with a friend this weekend- let you all know what we find!  My mantel is almost done! Pics of that in my next post!

Have a blessed day!

Time Flies!

Johnny, Wyatt and I packed up the back pack and some bug spray and attempted to take a little hike in the wilderness about 30 minutes from here on Sunday afternoon.  Johnny was on the hunt for some big bucks, I was lookin' for some acorns and nature of some sort to take home, and Wy Man was just a long for the ride!  Sadly, all we came back with were about 50 mosquito bites between all of us and clothes that had to go directly to the washer otherwise we would all contract poison oak rash!  Yuck, but great family bonding time...haha!   Though some of you are probably wishing I had taken pics, I am thankful I did not!  In a couple days we wont look like we have the chicken pox- whew!  

Today I got out on a walk with one of my good friends!  So nice to visit and catch up- summer is always too busy (and HOT) here to walk much!  Lately I have been on the hunt for pine cones and acorns.  Iowa doesn't really have many pine trees, but the park near our house happened to have some with tons of pine cones awaiting my retrieval at the bottom!  yay!  We finished our walk and what do ya know...there are tons of big, perfect acorns under a nearby tree.  Not really sure exactly what I intend to do with these beauties, but I think they might become part of my Fall mantel!

This cooler weathers gets me thinking about last year when Wyatt was only about 9 months old!  Now I have a busy, tantrum throwing, kisses-giving, 20 month old (almost)!  Last year he was just crawling around our back yard in the leaves and this year he is RUNNING!  These pictures bring a tear to my eye- my little man is not a baby like this anymore!

Good thing I have LOTS of pictures for great memories!  

 

Too Long Gone....

It's officially been too long since I've put up a new post!  It's amazing how a week can get away from you when you are busy!  Interestingly enough I wasn't really THAT busy doing anything in particular, but between keeping an eye on two toddlers (I babysit, only one is mine) and deciding what to make for dinner (which tends to take me more time than one could imagine) I kind of forgot that I actually started this blog. My sweet mother reminded me today that I haven't posted anything in A WEEK..heaven forbid!

I managed to accomplish a few decor related things in the course of a week- some of which I'm not thrilled with the result so will likely paint AGAIN for a different look.   The above photo was once two frames that I superglued together.  I used the glass of the smaller frame as a base for my chalkboard paint, so now voila- a mini chalkboard.  Kind of fun!  On the hunt for a chalk pen so that writing on these little boards can be a little less sloppy than with regular chalk!   

This is our mantel as of right now- but boy did we have a fall day today in Iowa and I am DREAMING of pumpkins, gourds, and rich colors.  Its fun to be light and bright in the summer, but fall demands a little more attention to detail!  I love to stick with greens no matter what the season, but throwing in some cranberry and burnt orange adds a lot of warmth!  I'll have some inspiration pics soon!

OH....and how could I forget!!?  My internet browsing paid off the other day when I found this beauty for under my dining room table!  

Yes, a jute rug!  Clearly the color contrast between our rather terrible carpet and the rug isn't drastic, but for the price, I wasn't about to wait until we moved to scoop up this deal!  I also thank the person who purchased a pair of jeans (that I will NEVER fit into again) on ebay- your purchase made my day and helped me buy this sweet addition!  Overstock.com is really one of the best places ever!

The hubs wasn't entirely thrilled when he arrived home, not about the rug, but regarding the fact that I had cracked the bottom of one of the table legs while moving it (I know, pregnant ladies aren't supposed to move furniture!)  Thankfully its fixable, but our table in now 2 inches shorter because we cant have it on the caster wheels.  Whew....I told you I've been busy!  Ha!  

Priming is painful!

Oook, so the frames have been primed, but boy are they unworthy of being shown.  This is the worst stage of refinishing something.  Streaky, stripy, mess!  They are going to look cute, but I think I need some input as to whether I should do the caramel/tan color under the white or vice versa and then distress.  Any suggestions?  The trouble with our place is that we are renting and we cannot paint the walls.  Luckily our landlords have painted the whole place a nice antique white.  The architecture in this place is pretty stunning too...more on that in a later post!  Soo, I almost think the walls need some warmth- maybe the tan with white showing through the distressing is the way to go!

So since I don't have any "final product" pics to show I thought I would post some pics of our recently refinished dining table and chairs. We found them on craigslist for a steal and put a little elbow grease into making them just how we wanted them.  The set is almost 100 years old!  Such neat details on the legs!  It has two leaves at the end that pull out to make the table a little over 7ft. long.

I re-upholstered the seats in 100% linen fabric that I got on super-duper clearance at Hobby Lobby!  It was originally like $25/yard and I got like 3 yards for $10!  Made me happy!

 
We no longer have the buffet in the background (which is good cause the clashing colors of woods was driving me nutssss!!)  It also gives us a ton more space.  I would just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE a jute rug to put under the table, but with us moving in 10 months and still living on a student budget it just isn't a reality.  :(

I also had the time and the peaches to make a yummy peach pie today!  My hubby's eyes lit up when he arrived home from school.  I included some pics of the process and if anyone wants the tried-and-true recipe (which is a combo of Betty Crocker...haha...I know....and a pie crust recipe from one of my mom's good friends) just let me know!

Its truly the best peach pie ever.  I use half whole wheat flour and half regular flour for the pastry (to make it a little healthier..hehe).  I also have started using Sugar in the Raw (unprocessed sugar) for baking- the taste is so yummy!

Got out my Pampered Chef mini-cookie cutters and cut out some fall leaves to put on top! 

And 45 minutes later its done!  Sprinkle some sugar on top and voila!