home sweet home

After 5 or 6 hours in the air, we had a brief layover in LA and then headed home to Salt Lake City. The red eye flight was brutal. Tim hated it much worse than I did, but neither one of us was able to sleep much. We arrived in Salt Lake to this. Ugh...

And home to this...

But it was so worth it because of this...

My older boys wouldn't take two seconds to pose for the camera.  They were so busy throwing snowballs, building forts and sledding.  They were in heaven!

I was happy to be back in my awesome neighborhood with more great friends and the gorgeous weather that Utah has to offer.  Truly, I was feeling beyond blessed and grateful today!

Tim had to catch up on some work, but we mostly soaked up every second with our kids today.  I didn't even bother unpacking until Saturday morning.  I was so happy to be with my boys.  I definitely feel so re energized.  I'm on a Hawaiian high that I'm not sure I'll come down from anytime soon. 

I love that Cooper spent the afternoon asking how to write "Hawaiian" words.  He is too cute!

cooper's new room

Since Payton and Parker moved downstairs, Cooper got to move into their room.  He was so excited about his new room that he could not wait for his bed to sleep in his room.  He absolutely loves his new room and has so much fun showing it off to everyone!

 

what did you do for christmas vacation?

The boys and I had lots of fun with all our family in town...

while Tim, Jdub, Eric, Kent & Brady framed our basement!

Here are the weirdos handymen staging a picture in the boys room/closet.  Unfortunately, the handiest man of all (Brady) wasn't there while we took a picture, but I'm sure we'll have plenty more opportunities to snap a shot of him as he's helping throughout the entire process. 

In spite of these pictures, I'm very proud!

We decided to finish our basement, we got some bids, but Tim chose (through encouragement from his buddy Shane) to tackle the framing himself.  Obviously, he knew he would have help from his brothers and Dad.  He's lucky to have some serious expertise and tools within his family and friends.  These boys whipped out the framing of our basement in just a few days.  Tim may be turning into a handyman himself.

Hallway to the Family Room/Game Room

Hallway/Linen Closet/Boys Bedroom

Bathroom

Boys Bedroom Closet

Utility Room

Family Room/Game Room

Next steps...hvac, central vac, insulation and electrical all before the nastiest project of all...sheet rocking!  Tim's got this bug now and is interested in doing some more of this himself.  Wish us luck.

master suite makeover

If you read this post, you'll know how this all started!  You'll also know that Tim tried to encourage me to wait until after Christmas, but I just couldn't.  I picked up the paint on Tuesday and 9 hours later my closet was painted!  Yes, that took forever, but I loved the way it turned out.  Naturally, I couldn't stop there.  Friday evening we finished up the last coat in our bedroom and by Saturday afternoon the room was complete.  Although I still have a wish list of things I'd like such as, chandelier{s} and a footstool, but it's complete for now!  Just 9 days after my first vision of what I wanted my room to be like it came together.

{before}

{during}

{after}

Here's the breakdown.  I got everything at IKEA with the exception of the paint.  The paint is a Martha Stewart Living color, but I used the Behr Paint with Primer because I've used that paint before and liked it.  We only had to do two coats and it covered the red perfectly.  I wanted to break this all down for my benefit and thought I would share all the details with you.

Paint {3 gallons plus a couple supplies}.........$120

Quilt & 2 Pillow Shams.......$70

3 Pillow Shams........$15

Ung Drill Frame above bed............$30

Print on drawers.......$10

Nightstand Table......$20

Rug......$20

Grand Total......$285 

{Thanks, Tim!}


 

typical weeknight

Last week Tim was out of town and we were enjoying a typical weeknight at home. We had finished dinner and I was letting the boys {and myself} relax for a little bit before it was time to clean up and get ready for bed. I was busily working on the computer {checking out blogs} when Parker snagged my camera and asked if he could take some pictures. He wandered off and began snapping photos. About ten minutes later he came back to show me his pictures. He was pretty impressed with himself and so was I. It's amazing how well he was able to capture what actually goes on around our house.

Me still in my workout clothes.
He took another picture of me, but it was extremely
obvious that it had been days since I washed my hair.
Sorry, I'm not sharing that with you!

Like I said, busily working on my computer!

He was able to snap a shot of himself,
I'm impressed those little hands could do that!

Payton talking on the phone to Daddy.
{I'm sure he was giving him updates on the Jazz Game.}
Cooper standing close by playing with something.

This is what our playroom usually looks like.

This is my absolute favorite thing.
First, Parker took the picture above.
The next picture he took is the one below.

I think we may have a natural photographer on our hands!

I love the tight shot of our toys in the closet.

Payton coming into the office to chat with me.

Cooper with a ball?
Now you can see that I'm not exaggerating
when I say that this kid is obsessed.

Payton was watching the Jazz game on tv.

This is another one of my favorite pictures.
I love the guys on the table with the scattered puzzle pieces.
I love this because I never take ordinary pictures of
what our house actually looks like.

I guess Parker likes our pillows.

Weird, another basketball lying around.
I wonder which boy left that there.

Cooper shooting the ball.
He's trying to shoot it up into the
light fixture in our entry way.
He'll "shoot the ball" at anything!

Thanks Parker for capturing the everyday ordinary moments in our home! This little photo shoot has inspired me to do a "Day in the Life of..." series at our home. I think it's a great way to share what our family is up to. I'd also love to remember specific things about my kids everyday life right now. Stay tuned!