DIY

I love DIY projects. Although if DVR-ing every show on HGTV and stalking decorating blogs means I have an obsession, then I may be guilty. I get so giddy when I can do a project for super cheap and have it turn out super cute, like this old end table I got at Goodwill for $14 that looks totally chic in the guest bedroom after a few coats of white spray paint (I wish I took a before picture, it was dark brown and dingy). (which reminds me of this picture that my decorating guru, Chels snapped on our way home from slummin' it at Goodwill. After depleting my snack stash at Home Goods, I resorted to popping M&M's in his mouth to keep him quiet. And there may or may not be watered down milk in his bottle. Desperate times call for desperate measures. It does not get any more white trash than this my friends.)

Or my $1.97/yard Walmart fabric that I used to make drapes in the family room that totally makes the room feel so fresh and airy (this is the best "before" picture I could find). Or the drapes I got at Ikea on sale for $20 and dressed up with some black ribbon. I am so over the red and gold (I couldn't find a good "before" picture for this either, but you get the idea). Or when my picture display was in desperate need of color, so I covered the old mats in scrapbook paper and for $5 it totally added the pop of color I was looking for.



My latest favorite project is this builder's grade light fixture that I dressed up with some leftover fabric from the window cornice I made, added some beaded trim and a can of spray paint and wah-lah! Love it! I usually pick a project to work on while Jason is out of town to "surprise" him with. Not that I think he'll get excited about it, but because he's not around to say no. I figure it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission, although I have now been banned from drilling or nailing holes in the walls. I have an endless list of projects stored away in my little head, so it's a good thing Jason travels alot :)

From sand to snow

Hard to believe we were soaking up the sun on the beach only a couple of days earlier....our little snowboarding trip had a few rough starts but ended up being a really fun trip.

On a scale of 1-10, how horrible are we as parents to strap Maddox onto Jason's back for a quick run down the mountain? When Jason's friend told him that he did it last year, he thought it was the greatest idea ever. I wasn't too sure, but with a helmet on his head and 20 years of boarding under Jason's belt, I gave in. Maddox loved it and it was fun to be able to take a run as a whole family. Too bad ski patrol squashed Jason's dream and wouldn't let him do it anymore (can you blame them??) Anyways...on to the highs and lows of our little trip (I wish I would have taken more pictures)....

highlights:
-beautiful blue skies and warm weather the first day
-we woke up to a snowy morning and fresh powder the second day
-pulling into the parking lot the second day and finding only FIVE cars in the parking lot so we pretty much had the entire mountain and fresh powder to ourselves
-Using our boards as sleds (and skateboards) and sledding down the mountain with Kylie when we got stuck in the powder on the flat parts
-taking a run by myself, so peaceful and quiet (and a little freaky being the only one on the mountain, especially when I got a little lost)
-watching Jason, cause he's really hot when he's tearing it up on his board.
-building snowmen and having snowball fights while waiting for Jason and Jayden to take a run.
-watching Maddox get so excited when the caterpillar came on the Baby Einstein movie in the car.
-I thought we were having a warm fuzzy moment driving home when Jayden said in his sweetest voice, "I just love family vacations". I started going on about how great it is to be together as a family and he interrupts me and says, "no, I just like it because sometimes people leave us stuff on the porch while we're gone"

lowlights:
-Jayden getting carsick and whining for hours
-making our white trash debut at McDonald's in our pj's. twice.
-icy, crappy snow the first day (I hurt Jason's feelings when I said that snowboarding wasn't my thing anymore :)
-staying at the Supa 8 where it was "sleep tight don't let the bed bugs bite". Literally. I didn't dare walk barefoot, Jason wouldn't sleep in the sheets and we couldn't even swim in the pool because it was a questionable shade of green.
-Maddox waking up every half hour until I finally brought him into bed where I spent the rest of the night with his cute sweaty little body smothering me while hanging halfway off the bed and not daring to move a muscle because it might wake him up.

We've had such a fun spring break, it's going to be sad to have it end!

Spring break Cali style

I love spring break. I love the beach. I loved this spring break at the beach. Hanging out at the beach was the main highlight for me, but for the kids it was Legoland. We stayed in Yuma the first night then drove straight to the Sea Life aquarium (right next to legoland). We planned a whole day for that, so it was a bit of a disappointment when we were done in about an hour. The kids always have fun seeing the fish and sharks and it was cute to see Maddox getting so excited. Since we finished so early we decided to spend a couple of hours at the beach, well Jason and the kids spent a couple of hours at the beach while I spent a couple of hours in the car with a sleeping baby :( . When Madds woke up we got a little bit of sand and sun, Maddox was so fascinated by the "wa-wa" and cool rocks. After that we headed back to the hotel for much needed baths before meeting up with some friends for dinner. We got back late but Jason snuck in some swimming and hot tubbing with the kids. That might not have been the best idea since Jayden stayed up most the night crying that his ears hurt because he got water in them. Jason came to the rescue with a midnight run to CVS and all was well after that. The next day was Legoland and Jayden thought he was in heaven. He loved the big rides, Kylie hated them. He thought the slow rides were boring and Kylie loved them. Maddox was tall enough to go on a total of 2 rides and threw fits whenever he had to get off. We rode the fairytale boat ride more times than I can count. Jayden's favorite ride was "Factor X" (after the first hill I looked over at Kylie and I swear she was going to throw up, pass out and cry all at the same time). But I think the thing he was the most excited about was the $7 lego set we promised he could pick out before we left. Kylie's favorite was the dragon roller coaster, which was much more mellow, and the fairytale boat ride. It was amazing seeing all of the lego creations, especially the "mini land" where they recreated cities made out of legos.
That night the boys had a lego party and put together Jayden's little lego set and the girls had a spa party with pedicures and manicures. The last day we spent at the beach and it was the perfect day...perfect weather, watching the kids play, feeling the sun soaking in my skin, watching Maddox chase the birds...ahhhh.

(don't you just love the muddy trail of drool on his chest??)

Jayden thought it would be a great idea to have Kylie bury him in the sand, but decided it was his "worstest mistake ever" when he had sand in his mouth, eyes, ears and nose. We were heading straight home from the beach, which is never a good idea to drive 5 hours with sand stuck in your underwear. We opted to use the sink in the Burger King bathroom as a bathtub and it still makes me laugh picturing Kylie's naked little bum scrunched in the sink. We grabbed some ice cream cones and headed on our way. I'm still cleaning out sand from every inch of the car and every one of my kids' ears, but it is well worth it for such a fun family vacation!