Goodbye Pre-School.... Hello Kindergarten

Afton and Lilly finished their last day of pre-school today.

 Their pirate program was absolutely adorable! 

 Somehow we were lucky enough to find 

one of those "magical" teachers.

 Mrs. King was meant to teach pre-school. 

 I am so grateful for all the things she taught Afton and Lilly.

  I am also grateful for the special moments

 she shared with them during 2 years of pre-school. 

 

 

First day of pre-school:

 Sept. 6, 2011

 

Last day of pre-school

( dressed up for Pirate program)

 May 23, 2013 

I am sad that this chapter is closing.   

 My checkbook, not so much. 

 

As a Pirate would say about Afton and Lilly's next adventure,

 "Heave ho,  it's off t' kindergarten we go!"

Walls

This blog post is actually evidence that I have been making attempts to spruce up our house :)  Here is how I have filled up some of the empty spots on our walls.

#1-  Perhaps my favorite out of our new wall hangings.  It has our birthdays with our names under each day.  Then at the very bottom it has the words "what a difference a day makes"  I had the print ordered on Etsy and then just bought the frame at Wal-Mart.

 



 

#2.  Finally put a family picture on a canvas wrap.  This one looks much better in person.  I did a big canvas print from Costco.  I just used our yearly rebate check so it cost me $0.04! 

 It is right by our front door.

#3- Family Rules- found at your local Wal-Mart for only $11.82.  I had been looking at different ones for awhile online.  I was so excited when I found this one at Wal-Mart
 (for much cheaper than ones I was looking at). 

 It was perfect for our family.

 

#4.  I ordered this one through PosterFuse.  You just click and drag what photos you want.  I put some of my very favorite photos.  Only problem was poster was 20x32.  Do you know how hard it is to find a frame for a 20x32?  Not easy!  I ended up having the mat custom cut and bought a bigger more normal size frame. This one is downstairs in our basement.

 

#5- Van Goh Poppies and Daisies- Amazon has an online warehouse where you can buy things cheaper.  This was $30 off original price!!! Plus red poppies are seriously my favorite flower! 

#6- Also had this one made for me online and bought the frame at Ikea.  It is in our kitchen.

#7- Van Goh sunflowers.  One of my "finds" at Savers.  It was only $14 frame and all. 

#7- Also found at Savers.  Yeah!!!  I think this was around $15.  It is pretty big and matches the colors in the girls room perfectly.

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In other news- here is a picture of our TV room downstairs.  It is almost done!!!  We just need to buy some blinds! Although I am wondering why didn't I tuck in the TV cords before I took a picture! :) Also, excuse the glare of the window- since we have no blinds :)

New look of our front room with Cozy Cottage paint color instead of Cherry Tart. I really like it.  Although I still have a few touch up spots to do.  This room also needs new blinds or curtains.  I can't decide what I want so we just have a big open window for now. We are a fishbowl for neighbors in the evening.

 

Next up on the agenda:  re-doing our back patio.  Yikes!

Black and White 2013

The Annual "Black and White Pictures"

 

Lilly- 5 years old

Afton - 5 years old

 

Ethan- 11 years old

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lizzie- 9 years old

 

Belated Birthday Present

  On a mostly impulse decision Jim decided to gut our  main floor bathroom and have the new updated bathroom be my birthday present (back in January).  Yeah!!! It took a little longer than we planned- like 3 months longer than we planned!  A busy family of 6 can make almost anything take a little longer :)

Anyways,  we got rid of EVERYTHING including the cabinet, sink,  wood floors, wood accesories, 80's style light, etc.  We changed the wall color from a grey to a light tan called Cozy Cottage.    Then all the accesories were replaced with antique bronze -even the door handle. Also a new tile floor was put in with a new toilet.

Before: Really no words to describe how ugly this is :)  So many things wrong with this bathroom. The sad thing is we put up with it for almost 6 years.

After: So much better!  I love it!   The picture doesn't do justice to the paint color.  It is a nice neutral light tan color.  The tile of the counter and floor are the exact same although they look different shades in the picture. The counter is showing it's true shade. Not sure why the picture put a pink hue to the floor :)

 

I have also painted our front room from a red to the light tan of Cozy Cottage.  It is a nice refreshing change.  I have  been working on wall decorations throughout the house.  I am a slacker in that area and a lot of our walls have had empty "spots" for 6 years :).  I will do a post of those updates later.