10th birthday party

I'm finally getting to blog pictures from Kate's birthday party over a week ago.  Kate invited 15! of her closest friends, she wanted a sleepover, but I could not stay sane with that many girls for a whole night.  The party was from 6-10 at night instead, so they still had a good long time to play.

birthday flowers

some of the birthday cards

I made these cupcakes and Chris made a chocolate cake, and we had pizza to eat, so overall it was a pretty simple party, but I did have that day off work to organize and get ready for it and I took these pictures before the kids even came home from school that day.

I found this little lantern at Dollar tree, most of the other decorations I got from Hobby Lobby.

A poem Chris wrote for Kate and we had in a little frame, sorry the picture is blurry.

The birthday girl.  The main activity of the party was karaoke outside, with a microphone and small amplifier - sorry neighbors!  I also put bubbles and sidewalk chalk out there, so I was happy to see 10 year olds are not too old for that still!  Our little playhouse got played in the most it ever has too.

A good picture of Kate with her friends.

And sweet little brother who did well for having all of those bossy girls around, he only got his feelings hurt once.  We had one little incident were a girl fell in the pond too, but otherwise a good success of a party.

Thomas' birthday is in May and I will convince him to a simple little family party I think!



And just for my sister, the birthday video:

Spring break - fun with friends

Last weekend we went to Robbers Cave State Park - in SE Oklahoma.  We met up with our friends and stayed in an adjoining cabin.  It was a great time for the kids to play with friends and enjoy a lot of time outside.

 The last day was cold so the boys brought out the DS games.  Love our friend Marshall's hat!

Spring blossoms.



More painting and spring decor

Another small painting project this week, I started painting our downstairs hallway.  It is hard to tell the difference in the pictures, but the new color makes the white woodwork of the stairs stand out.

Before (taped and ready to paint):

After - eventually I need to paint that other wall going up the stairs,  but that leads to the upstairs hallway / playroom area, which = a lot more work so I will wait a couple of months to make sure I want this color or something a little different.

The color is similar to the color my kitchen is painted.

Kitchen and cabinets is Sherwin williams softer tan, wall under the counter is Seashell gray (Lowes) and wall to the right is Chatham Green (Home depot).

 Fiestaware and other vintage dishes. in my kitchen cabinet.  I have a combination of the newer and old fiestaware.

This yellow bud vase (below), Chris found at an antique shop for me on one of his little trips for work.

My little collection of milk glass vases.  The one on the left I just picked up yesterday for $4 at an antique shop in La Porte, TX.  They have some nice shops there.

My owl cookie jar and some bird friends also moved to the mantel.

The coffee table I bought a couple of weeks ago from Goodwill also moved back here to the family room.  That ladder shelf to the left was also from Goodwill and the vintage side table on the right from a garage sale.

The coffee table has matching "legs" to the dresser we use for a TV stand.



Quick little makeover

We started off with this little stool with fuzzy blue fabric on top, it was maybe one of the ugliest things I have bought, but Chris was at the Goodwill with me when I bought it, and he said "Anna, go ahead and buy it, it will be a good project for you." 

Step 1 - last night I took off 3 layers of fabric - blue fuzzy, red velvet, and an orange one too, as well as the old yellow foam.  Yuck, lots of dust in all those layers.

Step 2 - this morning I was left with just the wooden board, I used a nice clean white foam and a layer of cotton batting (from Hobby Lobby) and stapled them on and trimmed to size.

Step 3 - staple around evenly and make sure corners are nice and tight.

Step 4 - turn over and make sure everything is nice and smooth.

Step 5 - fabric of choice - staple around well

Looks good!

The AFTER - I painted it the same color as I used in Kate's room -  Watery (Sherwin Williams color)

 So much better now.  I took a picture here in the den - but this is going upstairs to the playroom.  Another chair I have up there at Kate's desk I re-upholstered with the same fabric.