The New Music/Play Room

I've been thinking for a few months now that the dining room in our house is just a wasted space, we eat in there once or twice a year and other than that the only other person that used it was Em when she practices piano each day. As I was cleaning last Friday I decided it was time to change things! I moved the kitchen set (which was cheap and never really loved) out and sold it on Craigslist within 20 minutes, drug the dining room set (which I still really loved) into the kitchen, and was left with an empty room. Dave came home from work and thought I had lost my mind! We joked later that night that we'll look back and say "remember that day you were going so crazy waiting for the baby that you moved the dining room furniture into the kitchen, sold the kitchen set, and turned the dining room into a music/play room!!"

Here is my finished play/music room! It's much more practical for our family needs right now, the kids can practice their music in there, read, play, and it will be nice to have more space when we have all the baby gear spread around. As usual I was working with a tight budget trying not to spend more than I made selling the old stuff and have done pretty well. I found the rug on clearance at Walmart, bought the storage organizer at AC Moore with a 50% off coupon, and got the most awesome polka dotted chair/ottoman off Craigslist for $ 60 (I love Craigslist!)

It's raining here again... Nathan is bummed that his soccer games for tomorrow were cancelled. They are running around the house playing spies, they crack me up saying things like "the eagle has landed!!"

Emily's Creations...

Emily is taking a class at our homeschool co-op called "Across the USA in a Chevrolet." The kids are taking a road trip across the United States making stops in major cities each week. To earn gas coupons to travel to the next city they must create projects that relate to the city they are learning about each week. The teachers are very flexible (which we homeschoolers LOVE) and allow to the kids to use lots of creativity in their projects. The week their stop was in New York City and Emily created a Lego Macy's store and a play-doh Statue of Liberty! I love it!!

Filling the freezer...

I'm spending the afternoon in the kitchen stocking up the freezer with some of our favorite things... I started off with 4 batches of homemade pizza dough (2 white & 2 wheat). We have pizza/movie/game night every Friday and being able to thaw one of these out in the afternoon and just add the sauce & toppings makes life easier!

I got an awesome deal on whole organic chickens at one of our grocery stores last week and decided to cook 4 of them up for various chicken meals...

Now the fun part... I turned them into 10 meals, 2 each of Chicken Enchiladas, Chicken Florentine, Hot Chicken Salad, Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti, & Chicken Divan. I love having meals ready to go like this, it's awesome on a busy or hectic day! The last time I did this in November I remember thinking that they would be perfect for when we get "the call" and are enjoying our new baby. Maybe this time they'll last until then?!?!

Last, but not least...a loaf of banana bread for tonight's dessert...just because the bunch of bananas on the counter was looking a little sad. Now I'm off to use the last bit of chicken for tonight's meal... a Lemon Herb Chicken Ring...

In like a lion...

It's true what is often said about the month of March... it comes "in like a lion and out like a lamb." Yesterday we had another mini snowstorm, just about 2 inches this time, but enough to have some fun in! Here is what's left of our snow people...it supposed to be in the 70's by the weekend so I don't suspect they'll be around much longer!

"Charlotte"

Dave surprised us Friday morning with a day-trip to Charlotte! It was part of my birthday present, and we were to get excited to go to... We love IKEA! It's such a fun place to go...lots of cool stuff and great prices too! We spent over 3 hours there. It's huge!!

We let the kids each pick one thing for their rooms... Nathan chose a cool light for reading in bed.

We got this adorable netting for over the baby's crib. It makes our free crib look beautiful!

Emily chose these cool flower lights for her wall!

Projects...

It's hard to believe that the days have turned into weeks, and the weeks into months since we have been waiting to meet our sweet baby. Every morning when I wake up my very first thought is "Will today be the day that the phone rings and our lives change forever?" The only thing that is keeping me sane in this whole process is knowing that God walked this journey long before we did and knows the exact moment when our child will come into our lives. Please pray for us as we try to wait patiently...

Since I have "nested" my way through all the closets and cabinets here, I have now turned my focus onto home projects!! I'm terrible at remembering to take "before" pictures so you just get to see the "afters"...

Project #1- Re-Paint Emily's dresser...no before picture...just picture solid white and badly scratched and worn... I found leftover paint in the garage from her room and the kids bath so it didn't cost me a penny!

Project # 2- Re-cover the old deck furniture... no before picture but if you have been here, just try to remember the pink & brown flowered awful cushions! This was a huge project and I couldn't have done it without my Mom's help with the sewing machine. She is a sewing queen!

Dave bought me the fabric for Valentine's Day... Aren't we romantic???

Project # 3- I like to decorate our fireplace mantel for the seasons, when I took down the Valentine's Day stuff I knew I wanted to do something spring-like & refreshing (but not Easter bunnies!). I bought these flowers with 50% off coupons at Michael's, and the frames are from the Target Dollar Spot, I painted them white and printed portions of verses from my favorite chapter (Psalm 37) on colored card stock, added a few candles and got something that will last all spring and summer that I really love!

Last, but definitely not least... the last piece of furniture I have wanted for the nursery is a glider rocker & ottoman. I have been looking on Craigslist almost every day for a few months now for one that is nice and inexpensive. I found one over the weekend, exactly what I was looking for with the ottoman for $ 25! However, the cushions were badly faded and torn...I bought $ 3 a yard green & white gingham fabric and the "sewing queen" and I set out to re-cover them! It turned out so nice!! I am thrilled with it!!

Please pray with us that we hear some news soon...

Global Outreach Weekend & Moday's Paintings

Our church had its "Global Outreach Weekend" this past weekend and on Saturday there was an International Family Festival & Taste of the World Food Fair. We spent the afternoon there and had a great time visiting each country, making crafts, tasting food from around the world, and learning more about our missionaries and what they do.

A Passport photo...
Learning to write the Chinese Characters for the words "Lamb" and "Me" and the character for "righteousness". You make the word righteousness by drawing the "lamb" over the word "me". The Lamb covers me- Righteousness!

Drinking Coke out of a plastic bag with a flimsy straw...how it is served on the street in Latin America.

The kids got to play some African Drums. It was a fun and educational afternoon!

This week's paintings... it's called "Grey Winter"...they are a little dark and depressing to me... they promised something colorful and light next week!