A LITTLE SPRING CLEANING

We can't do a whole house overhaul because we are getting ready for Princess's birthday party on Saturday.  But I did want to get a few things cleaned out as we were prepping for the birthday party.  Cleaning out behind the downstairs entertainment center led to a purge and organization of videos.  I did this last summer but it was time to do it again.  We started last night and finally finished around lunch time.

"GINGERBREAD" HOUSES

Our day started out pretty rotten. Originally we had a day packed with plans for fun with friends.  But due to sickness those plans fell through and we were left with tears and disappointment.  After a bit we dusted ourselves off and came up with new plans.  It was time to make gingerbread houses!  Thankfully, yesterday I had printed out plans and had asked Dave to pick up supplies for us.  I believe Someone knew we would need them today!  

 Our supplies + a very excited boy

 Cutting up a cereal box to put our house on.

 And covering it with foil.

 Instead of baking gingerbread or buying a kit we used a box for our form and covered it.

 She was memorizing all the flavors.

 The basic form of the house.

 These two enjoyed some breakfast while Boo and I worked on the houses.

 Boo's house.

 Time for Mama to have a waffle break!

 Next we covered our houses with graham crackers. 
 Cheaper than buying a kit and easier than baking gingerbread.  =)

 Mine is all done!

 Boo is finishing up hers too.

 Now for the fun part!  Decorating!

 Boo and Princess teamed up to decorate one house.

 And Bugsy and I teamed up to decorate the other house.

 We made our own bags to pipe the frosting.  It got a little messy but it was fun.  

 Our sick one, Elvis, came down to decorate for a few minutes.  Then he wanted to go back to rest and read.  We are going to do another later when he is feeling 100% again.

 Our final masterpiece!  This is the front of our house.

 Side view.

 The back.  (We were getting tired by then and running out of frosting.  Lol!)

 The front of Boo and Princess's house.

 The side view.

 The other side.

And the back.

These took a lot more time than I thought they would but I haven't made one with this process before.  Next time I will definitely not tell the kids until we are done constructing the houses.  Thankfully, they were entertained with waffles and a game which made the waiting easier.  From start to finish it took us about 3 hours.  It was lots of fun and this might very well become a tradition.  =)

HOMEMADE JAM

It was our first ever attempt at making homemade jam today. Both Dave's Mom & my Mom and Nana too have always made homemade jam. But though I've helped prep as I was growing up I never knew the final process. Today we learned it was much, much easier than we had thought. I am praying it sets because we have some very eager jam eaters awaiting these homemade treats.

I received this little guy for Christmas.  This was his first time out of the box & he worked like a champ!

Do you think he may be a little excited?

Blueberries are squashed in a flash!

After we put together the blueberry jam it was time for strawberries.

Dave worked on finishing up the blueberry jam.

The kids wanted to be right in the middle of it all.

Thank you, Mom!  She got this for us to use in our jam making.

Our official taste testers.

She wanted to help stir & was very happy when it was finally her turn.

Next it was time to taste test the strawberry jam.  What a tough job, eh?

9 jars of blueberry jam

Daddy giving Boo instructions on how to fill the jars.

Boo & I finished up the strawberry jam and filled 12 jars.  This is all freezer jam.  We plan to make some hot jar jam with the rest of the strawberries sometime this week. 

The Saga of the Boy's Room

How did that title grab you? Could you hear the music of impending doom? Lol! I don't know about your boys but ours can demolish a room in less time than it takes me to imagine all they could do to it. When we have to clean out their room it is not a simple task of folding clothes, vacuuming & picking up a few toys while little birds sing happily in the background. No. It's more like put on your hazmat suit, bring the bulldozer & make sure you have plenty of bleach & a gas mask. You think I'm joking. Ask my husband. He will assure you I am not. It took 4 days but it's finally done. I am amazed & relieved. It took the entire family working together to make it happen. Thank God for team work & perseverance on my husband's part. I'm so pleased with the results!
This is a long post but I hope you enjoy the journey!
P.S With the exception of the black laundry baskets, the bed frames, one mattress & the reg. pillows everything were items we already owned. Some for a very long time. Lol. The mattress was a Groupon deal we purchased almost a year ago. Fabulous deal of $50 for $200 mattress or set!

Dave keeps a smile on his face as he uses a generic Magic Eraser to get crayon & pencil off of the wall. (Those things are FANTASTIC!)

Bugsy helped scrub too. After all he was one of the "artists".

Boo was not as happy as the others to join in. But she did anyway.

Elvis hard at work.

Being silly as we get ready to set up furniture.

What can I say here? Like father, like son.



Muscles came in to help Dave move furniture.

Trying different arrangements for the new beds. Dave knows this is the only way I can figure out exactly where I want them.

Surfing

He was a little off the wall with excitement! Lol!

Moving beds again.

And again.

Hey! Don't take my picture!

I guess Mama wasn't listening too well about that picture taking thing. Lol.

I think we finally found THE arrangement!

One dresser returns to the room.

Should we put the bookshelf here?

The cubbies go into the corner.

Folding clothes, purging clothes, hanging up clothes. This took a LONG time.

We labeled the drawers. Hopefully this will help to keep them neat & tidy.

The beds are all set up & ready to be made.

The boys spent their first night in their new beds last night.

Today we finished up the room. There were still toys to sort & put away, some clothes to hang up & a few other odds and ends.

The boys were ECSTATIC to get a TV in their room. We bought one for $20 locally. They are only allowed to watch approved DVD's & videos on it before they go to bed at night. We thought this might make their transition from sleeping in the family room (their choice) to their room a bit easier. It was one of their Christmas presents. =0)

Their newly organized & cleaned closet.

From top to bottom it is now clean & organized!

The cubbies are all set up with clothes & church shoes. Each boy has their own organized dresser too. The shelf you see here is Bugsy's shelf loaded with his special toys, treasures & books.

The hampers are in this corner too.

On the wall opposite the window there are these built in shelves in the corner. They hold special treasures on the top & some special toys and hats on the bottom.

A view of their completed room. Bugy's comforter was still in the laundry.

A view from the doorway.

Under Bugsy's Bed

We purposely chose to have the beds be up off of the floor so we could have storage underneath. The boy's room is narrow & this extra storage is sorely needed. I was excited to find some black laundry baskets at Walmart for under $3 each. They seem to fit in the room better & add inexpensive storage.

The GeoTraxs the boys were given by a generous friend fit perfectly underneath Elvis' bed.

Bugsy's bed

Elvis' bed.

The view from the other side of the room.

And one more view.

Happy again about the new-to-them TV. We actually gave them the TV from our room & took the other b/c it was too big for their dresser. =0) They didn't care. They were simply excited to have it in their room!
(Yes, all of our televisions are older & the old fashioned kind. No flat screens here! We don't mind one bit!)

Elvis' shelves. I think this shows a lot about who he is.

Everyone was tired & some were acting a bit silly. =)

Daddy hooking up the little DVD player.

She loves to crawl into beds & snuggle in.

They watched an episode of Clone Wars to "toast" their new room.

The family room was done as well. The couch was cleaned out & under, the books were organized, all the junk came out of the corners & the toys were sorted & purged. Can you hear my sigh of relief?

Nice & neat. At least for tonight. Lol.

(In case you are wondering the baskets are clothes that we are either getting rid of or storing. Those baskets will be out of my way before the weekend is over. Yahoo!)

This TV seems HUMUNGOUS to me! This is our $20 deal. I'm very, very happy with it & feel blessed to have found it.

Before I wrap this up I want to tell you a little about the boy's new beds. We knew the boys needed beds but all the ones we looked at were either way too flimsy for our active boys or way out of our price range. Bunks beds weren't an option as this nervous Mama didn't like the close proximity to the ceiling fan. We decided to have Dave make beds for them. We talked about a simple & sturdy design. Dave consulted our talented friend Joe & came up with a specific design. The plan was that Dave would buy the lumber, bring it over to Joe's workshop & they would make the beds together. Joe, out of his generous heart, insisted that Dave stay home the few nights he wasn't working & Joe would cut out all the pieces for the beds. Wow. What a gift! Dave brought them home when they were ready. He painted (with Sweet Pea's help), and put them together when we were ready to set up their room. I am beyond pleased with how they turned out. It's exactly what I had pictured in my mind. I'm so proud of both Dave & Joe! Many thanks to Joe too! You are a great friend!