Weekend Recap

We're still working on settling into the new house, so the weekend was spent tackling some house projects (hanging up pictures, unpacking more boxes that somehow keep turning up just when we think we're done, yard work, etc...) and having some fun in between the projects :)

On Saturday, the Carnegie Museums were having a free admission day, so Jake & I took advantage of the freebie & headed there to give daddy some time to mow the lawn & pull some weeds in the flower beds. Lucky for Jake, his buddy Lucas from his old daycare was at the museum as well and the two of them had a nice reunion :)



That night, we enjoyed Sir Pizza; I had heard of this magical place from some friends that live in our area and I will admit, this was the 3rd time we have enjoyed it since moving in. 3 weeks ago. Oh well. Clearly, Jake enjoys it as well:



Sunday brought cooler, fall-like weather and we took advantage of it by playing outside most of the morning.



After looking for a year, I finally found one of these Step 2 roller coasters on Craigslist for a really decent price a few weeks ago.



Sunday afternoon brought the Steelers game and this pot roast recipe for dinner. A fun and productive weekend!

4 years!

Happy Anniversary to us!

It's been a great 4 years filled with lots of memories, and I look forward to a lifetime more.

Awwww!!!

Last weekend, Jake found his penguin & said to him, "I wuv you, Penguin. I feed you now."



Does it not melt your heart??

Bathroom Mini Makeover: Part 1

Remember my problem last week of not knowing how to make the colors in Jake's/guest bathroom work? Problem solved! Thanks to a great shower curtain suggestion from my friend, Blogless Erin, I was able to make the colors flow and base them around a theme that is kid-friendly without being babyish.

Here is the before of the bathroom (the pic on the right is the actual bathroom; the one on the left shows the shower curtain they left behind that I've had to look at for the past few weeks):



And now, the after:





Ta-da! The bathroom has a whole new look, and the best part is, it didn't break the bank!

Shower curtain: $24.99 (Target)
Little fake plant: $2.99 (IKEA)
Bath mat: $8.99 (IKEA)
Shower curtain rings: free (from our old bathroom)
Hand towel: free! (we had it in our old house, too)
Total cost: $36

I do plan on adding 2 pictures to cover up the holes left on the wall from this Etsy store. I just need to pick between these few prints:



They're all so cute, I'm not sure how I can be expected to choose just two :)

Book Review: "The Book Thief"

The Book Thief (Markus Zusak)

Do you ever read a book & you can't find the words to describe it? That's how I feel about this book. All that I can really say is, GO READ IT. Seriously, it was great. Suspenseful, gut-wrenching and heart-warming, all at the same time. I couldn't put it down, and it's one of those books that I'm still thinking about even after finishing it. The sign of a good book, right?

Up next: The Girl Who Played with Fire (Stieg Larsson)

Too cool for school.

You may remember from a previous post that we were pretty nervous about switching daycares when we moved...we loved our old daycare and we knew that as a creature of habit, Jake might have a hard time adjusting. But, we had to do it, so we said a weepy goodbye to his old school, friends and teachers and made the transition.

I'm not going to lie...it was AWFUL the first few days. Awful as in, lots of tears (mine and Jake's), sobbing hysterically and pleas of "mommy, don't leave me!" on day one of drop off. UGH. But, day by day, it's been better. I dropped him off one day this week & he even said "I excited to go to school!" What a change from last week!

His teachers assure me that even if he's a bit upset at drop off, he's fine within minutes and enjoys his day there. He's made friends with a boy named Thomas, who he talks about at home. He is also a huge fan of one of the teachers, Miss Rachel, and they seem to spend a lot of time together during the day. Miss Rachel told me the other day that Jake is the best listener in the class & there have been a few occasions where they've used him as an example ("boys and girls, do you see the way Jake started cleaning up as soon as we asked? What great listening!") While hearing this surprised me (since he seems to practice a lot of selective hearing at home), it of course, made my day. Proud mama moment!

Here's his "first day of school" picture, all ready to go with his lunchbox!

Bathroom Break

I interrupt our regularly scheduled blogging session to present to you....our bathrooms. I don't believe I posted pictures of them on here before because, well....they're bathrooms. I don't feel there's much to show off at this point; however, we have plans! (By "we" I really mean "I", but "we" have to be involved to actually DO said plans that I have made)

We have a powder room on the first floor that currently looks like this:

You probably can't see too well, but the walls are a light purple, all of the accessories are gold and there's a huge mirror. I'm confident that by putting up a fresh coat of paint, getting new hardware/faucet in a dusted bronze and replacing the big, boring mirror with a nice framed mirror, this bathroom will take on a whole new look (for not much money-BONUS!) I've been looking for some inspiration and enjoy this color scheme (from Bower Power blog):



Next up, we have a guest bathroom/Jake's bathroom upstairs. Currently, it looks like this (minus the wall decor, these pics were taken when the owners stuff was still there):



The walls are a very light blue (which we'll keep), all of the hardware is already silver (so we won't be changing anything major)...but I can't figure out what I want to do with the rest of the bathroom and all of the accessories. Thoughts on color combos that would look well with blue walls and that floor? I think it's the floor that's throwing me off....earthy tones, plus the blue walls make it hard for me in envision anything. All suggestions are welcomed!!

Next up, our master bathroom. I don't really have a picture to post of it, but currently, it has more gold accessories, an oak vanity, a HUGE medicine cabinet, an ugly lighting fixture and yellow walls. My plan? Overhaul on a budget. Paint the vanity white. Replace the obnoxiously large medicine cabinet with something smaller. Swap out the knobs and faucet with silver instead of gold. Replace the lighting fixture, possibly with something simple like this from Home Depot: (only $30!)


For paint, I'm leaning toward a light green (since the rest of the room will be white, I want a color that will pop)...and we have some Behr's Mother Earth paint leftover from our old kitchen.


So there you have it, my plans for the bathrooms. If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them!!

House Preview!

I feel like I have been in a daze that is filled with boxes, paperwork and sleepless nights. We're just starting to come out of the fog, so hopefully I can pick up with regularly scheduled blog posts now!

We are totally moved into our new home and loving it!! Saying goodbye to the old house was a very bittersweet moment...we were ready to move on, but that home represented the beginning of our marriage and the beginning of our family. It was a good little house and I will miss it!

We hired movers, thank God! One of the best decisions we made for this move, there's no way we could have done it without them. Not only would it have been physically impossible to move everything ourselves, but it was also 90 degrees on moving day. While I felt bad that the movers were drenched in sweat for hours...better them than me!! :)

Parts of the house are still pretty bare and we haven't hung much on the walls, but I'll give a little sneak peak into our new house:

Entryway:


Living Room:


Kitchen:


Dining Room:


Jake's Playroom:


Master Bedroom:


Jake's Room:


Guest Room #1:


Guest Room #2:


Brian's pride & joy, the bar & gameroom area :)


Sunroom:


Back patio:


So there you have it, our progress so far!