Operation: Treehouse 2015 - COMPLETE!!

I've made a few mentions of the ongoing treehouse project at our house, and I'm so happy that I can finally reveal the finished product!!  After a LOT of hard work, long hours, and a ton of sweat, I am proud to present to you our family treehouse!!

We'll take a tour, then I'll give you some details about the project:

Front of treehouse

backside of house with cargo climbing net (purchased from Amazon)

Bunk beds (Smile banner from target)

bunk beds with view of front window

view from inside looking at front door, chalkboard saved from being thrown away at my office!

bunk bed with view of back window (Dream Big sign from Target)

Front porch sittin' space :)  (chairs from walmart, but purchased a few years ago, similar available on Amazon)

bunk bed testers, kids not for sale

Jake and his buddy Ben, testing out the top bunk :) 

Ok, let's break this project down:

The Plan

 There are a LOT of free treehouse plans out there (thank you, Pinterest) but we were looking for something very specific, as we did not want to build the house IN a tree, but rather, between 2 trees.  So when we came across this free plan on www.woodworkcity.com, it was perfect!  Link to full plans (with LOTS of pictures of their project) can be found here.

Time Commitment

Brian started this project back in May, and it was a much bigger undertaking than he had bargained for.  Essentially, it took him from mid-May through mid-July to finish it (and he still needs to add on a few finishing touches, like putting trim around the windows and installing the door) He was; however, working with limited time, considering he doesn't get home from work until 6:30pm and was often coaching baseball at night for much of May and June.  If you are hoping to do this project and could devote more time to working on it, you could complete it in less than 2 months.  He was working on it by himself for the most part, though we did have a lot of help from my father in law for 2 weekends and some random help from neighbors and friends a few times (thank you to everyone who was willing to lend us a helping hand and/or tools!)

He said that in hindsight, it would have been helpful to have (weather-permitting) scheduled a few vacation days all in a row to get a lot of the project done at once, rather than doing bits and pieces here and there at night and the weekends.  He still wouldn't have completed it in just those few days, but at least it would have been more efficient than having to drag out all of his tools and supplies for just an hour or two here and there in the evenings.

Supplies

Most of the supplies were purchased at  Lowes.  We lucked out in that we hadn't cashed in any rewards from our credit card in years, so we had a lot of points saved up to be able to order gift cards to Lowes...score!

Brian also made a trip to Construction Junction, which is kind of a thrift store for hardware and wood (it was about 30 minutes from our house, but he said it was well worth the trip there, he was getting stuff for about 1/4 of what it would have cost him at Lowes)  Since it's like a thrift store, there's no set inventory, so it's hit or miss, but he was really happy to at least be able to get a bunch of his stuff from there.

I also posted on Craigslist and local Facebook yard sale pages that I was seeking free or low-cost supplies for a treehouse...I threw it out there figuring it couldn't hurt, and got a number of replies!  One person responded that they had an entire deck they had just replaced and that the wood was in pretty good shape....Brian picked it all up, sent the wood through a planer, and that is what you see as the siding of the house (and what he's building the door with)  Good as new!  I had the same response from someone with shingles from their roof they'd had replaced....gotta love upcyling! 

Links to additional supplies:

Cargo/Climbing Net: Amazon
Kids Adirondack Chairs: originally from walmart, similar found on Amazon
Dream Big sign: Target (dollar spot, not available to link to online)
Smile Banner: Target (dollar spot, not available to link to online)

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The boys are so excited that it's done, and can't wait to have a sleepover up there! :)  We're looking forward to them making lots of fun memories! 

Goodbye Kindergarten, Hello First Grade!

I just realized that it was well over a month ago, but I forgot to post about the end of Jake's kindergarten year.  As with most things in life (especially since having kids) the year just took off and was gone in an instant.  I'm happy to say that even though kindergarten started out a little shaky for our little man, he worked things out and we ended the year on a positive note (aside from him crying the last week of school because he didn't want to leave his teacher...but I guess even that can be looked at as a good thing!)

Here are some comparison pictures of the first and last days of school...

First day, August 2013:

Last Day, June 2014:

A few days before school ended, I sent Jake in with a copy of Oh the Places You'll Go, along with a note to his teacher, asking if she would sign the inside of it...kind of like a yearbook message.  I'm hoping to do this every year for him (at least until he finds it to be embarrassing and begs me to stop...even then, maybe I'll just do it behind his back!)  Here is the message she wrote:

Dear Jake,

I loved having you in my kindergarten class this year!  I remember seeing you play Battleship on the first day of school, and now you can read and write!  It has been so nice to see you learn, grow, and make new friends.  You are a hard worker (and neat too!), and you have a great sense of humor (your laugh is contagious!)!!  Always stay that way :)  I can't wait to hear about your future elementary school adventures, so be sure to visit.  Maybe I'll even see you zipping past me on the ski slopes!  Best of luck!

I really feel so lucky that we were able to have such a great teacher for his first year of school!  Jake wrote her a little note for the last day, and we sent it in along with a plant and a Panera gift card:

Less than 2 months until we have a first grader....

Thankful.

I'm thankful for many things this year, as always.....for family, friends, good health, a roof over our heads, and food on the table.  I'm also thankful for a patient husband, who, when I showed him the project that I had put together that's pictured above, gently suggested that perhaps taping it to the mantle was not the best option.  Same patient husband also managed to be very calm when wife totally ignored his suggestion and, within minutes of snapping that picture, heard the whole thing came crashing down, pulling off some paint with it. 

Oops.  Anyway, if you're interested in the banner, here is the link to the original free printable file, found at http://www.shanty-2-chic.com  It looked good while it lasted!!

Disney Countdowns for the kiddos

 As you know, I've been enjoying planning all things related to our trip to Disney World.  I've found a few cute countdown ideas to start doing with the kids, and figured I'd share on here.  All countdowns found on (where else?) pinterest.

This free printable ,courtesy of the Designs by Nicolina blog:

Individual countdown cards found here.

Another calendar idea from the Capturing the Magic blog:

And this adorable (but let's be honest, probably more work than I'm willing to do) countdown paper chain from the Grey Luster Girl blog:

Does your family do any fun countdowns to get excited about holidays or vacations? Share them in the comments!

Mickey Mouse Money Saver

We are so very close to our Disney World trip!  No surprise here, but Jake has started talking about souvenirs he may want to buy while we're down there.  My mom and dad got both kids a disney gift card for Easter, so that will come in handy for him, but I wanted to take advantage of this moment while talking about spending money to bring up the subject of chores with Jake.  Up until this point, we've had a very loose definition of chores...Jake has been expected to take his dishes to the counter when he's done with them.  Sometimes he remembers, sometimes he doesn't; sometimes we remember to remind him, sometimes we don't.  Same thing with sending his dirty clothes down the laundry chute after his bath.

So, I figured the time had come since he had been talking about wanting to save up his money to spend at Disney World.  I made him a simple chore chart (with pictures so that he could understand what was expected and check on it himself) with these tasks: make his bed when he wakes up, clear his dishes after breakfast and dinner, and put his laundry down the chute after his bath.

I've struggled with this idea of "chores" in the past; Brian and I want to have him do these things, but haven't been sure that we necessarily wanted to give him an allowance for doing them.  They seem like very basic things that should be done without needing money.  But, the more we thought about it, the more we realized that maybe a small allowance was a good idea.  It gives him motivation AND it can start to teach him the value of money and the importance of saving up for things he may really want.  And obviously, the chores won't always have to be this basic; we're hoping that we can keep with these basic ones until they become habit, then as he gets older, add to it (Brian is so excited for the day Jake can help mow the grass) and he will then get paid for those chores instead.

So, back to the point of this post.  He wanted to save up some money for Disney souvenirs and also for the arcade that is in our resort.  I was going to start paying him a small allowance for those chores, and then I came across this great (and super cheap!) idea on pinterest:

Ta-da!  Original pinterest idea found here.  Breakdown of project:

Folgers coffee can: technically free, since that's the coffee we drink anyway.
Yellow paint: free, we had it from a kids art project kit
Foam balls: $2 for a 6 pack at walmart (I'm sure the other 4 will come in handy for some type of planet science project at a later date)
Black spray paint: free, already had it at home leftover from a project from Jake's superhero party

Meeska, Mouska, Happy Birthday!!

If you didn't know this about me already, I love a good theme. That being said, I had no intentions whatsoever of doing any type of theme for Liam's 2nd birthday party.  Seriously, none at all.  It was going to be a small event, just some close family members, so no theme.  And then, it happened.  My little chubby-faced 2 year old looked at me the week before his party and said, "Liam Mickey Mouse party?? like Reagan!"  Apparently, a little girl in his class had a Mickey birthday party.  Liam thought he should have a Mickey party.  You guys. You guys!  You should have seen his little hopeful face!! Then he said it again a few days later!  So, there I was in the party supply aisle of walmart, saying to myself that I'd just pick up some Mickey plates or something.  I was going to, I really was!  Then, they had a bunch of stuff on clearance...including a Mickey Mouse kit.  That's how I ended up with this stuff at the party:

No big deal, just some table toppers, cute window decorations, and a banner!  But, of course, once I start something I have a difficult time stopping.  What did I find myself doing 3 days before his party?  Looking at pinterest for other decor ideas, of course!!  Here's what I ended up with:

Subway art free printable found here on Simply Real Moms site

signs from Peonies and Poppyseeds

Also from Peonies & Poppyseeds--this site had TONS of free printables, for so many different themes! 

cupcake toppers found here on the Catch my Party site

Phew!  I felt much better once I had all of that done :)  And, since we are in Disney prep mode for our upcoming trip, we all happened to own a Mickey Mouse shirt!

It was a great day spent with our families, I'm so glad everyone could join us!  And yes, the theme was worth throwing together at the last minute, Liam seemed to enjoy seeing all of the Mickeys, and showing everyone his shirt. 

Video of singing Happy Birthday: