He's Four Years Old!

This kid is awesome.  I was lucky enough to get the best (first) mother's day gift four years ago.  My little guy was born on Mother's Day 2008.

 How in the world have four years gone by already?

 With his birthday always falling on or close to mother's day, it's usually a big celebration around here.  This year was no exception.

Thursday was Bryce's Mother's Day tea party at preschool. 

The kids made us pictures showing their favorite thing about mom (that I love playing outside with Bryce...ha , ha, ha!)

We were served some amazing snacks, in addition to iced tea and lemonade.

 He was one lucky boy to get to celebrate his birthday and have a party at school on the same day.

Friday was his actual birthday, so we opened a few presents at breakfast (yup, drinkable yogurt) and went to gymnastics. 

 I think Sydney was a little more excited than Bryce was.

I decorated his room after he went to bed so he could be surprised when he woke up.

 I think it worked????

 Balloons were a big hit.

 Dan took the afternoon off and we went downtown for pizza at Peppino's.  We did this last year and funny enough, he remembered and wanted to go there again! 

 After dinner we went to six one six (right on the river) and had some ice cream.  It was a fun and gorgeous day!

Saturday we went to Dad's to celebrate Andrea's 50th.  Of course we snuck in a little celebration for Bryce too.  

Sunday was yet another party, this time at our house.  Dan's family came over and we celebrated all the moms, as well as B's birthday.

It was a long weekend or parties and celebrations and I loved every minute of it.  I am so blessed to have such an awesome little guy.  He is smart, funny, always the life of the party, sweet, thoughtful and just plain cool.  Happy Birthday Bryce!  We love you so much!

Why I don't "blog" anymore

It's been a while...

I can't seem to find the time to shower most days, let alone sit down at the computer and actually upload photos and write about them.  Any free time I have (which isn't really free...because I'm most likely neglecting something or someone else), I'm usually trying to catch up on my Project Life album, or a project I've promised someone.  (I've recently finished two sets of wedding invitations/reception cards/rsvp/programs for friends)  Add a needy 2.5 year old to the mix, in addition to a very rambunctious 4 year old who no longer naps, and every second of the day is spoken for.  Not a pitty party for Sara...just a little rant.  Anyone else seem to have this problem?   So...Anywho... things have been busy.

Oh...and I joined a gym.  More on that later.

Not to mention the darn chore chart that I decided to tackle. ????????????  This may have been a little aggresive.

I'm constantly overwhelmed with the idea of housework (mostly with the amount of it), so when I saw this on Pinterest, I thought I would give it a shot.  I spent nearly every day cleaning last week.  I managed to whip this place into shape, but I think this will be short lived. :)

After my most recent emotional meltdown, Dan and I decided to go ahead and join a local gym. (And when I say "we" I mean the kids and I...and when I say "Dan and I decided", I mean I freaked him out enough that he strongly encouraged I do SOMETHING to get away from my kids)

  The big selling point for me, besides the outdoor pool, was the amazing children's programs they offer.  The kids are enrolled in a 6 week gymnastics program and love it!  It hasn't even been three weeks and I already feel so much better.  The break from them is so refreshing.  An added bonus is the exercise. I've tried Zumba, Yoga, Pilates, a step class, and a crazy intense barbell weight class so far.   So fun!  I'm not gonna lie though...one day last week I did just plug my headphones in to watch Live with Kelly while I pretended to ride the bike.  It was pure bliss.  AND I GET TO TAKE A SHOWER...ALONE!  Worth every penny I tell ya.

So cleaning, exercising, what else...? Oh!   I managed to sneak a little craft real quick.

Put together this cute little potted flower plant for one of the grandma's mother's day gifts.  Oh how I love Pinterest!

I think Dan is just about finished with his Dock Season (seasonal business he runs to install and remove boat hoists, shore stations, and dock).  This spring weather has been very cooperative and they are actually finished before Memorial day.  Woo-Hoo!  We get him back on the weekends again.

We had a Mother's Day Tea Party at Pre-school on Thursday,

 Bryce turned four last Friday, we drove over to Detroit to celebrate Andrea's 50th on Saturday,

 then we had Dan's family over for B's birthday and celebrated Mother's day on Sunday.

We're exhausted!

Thank goodness I leave a week from Wednesday for the Bahamas to visit my boyfriend Kenny!

Bryce's Big Boy Room!

We have been busy with a special little boy's new big boy room makeover!  It was waaaaaay over-due, but we decided, spur of the moment, to just go for it!  

 I found lots of cool ideas on pinterest and just pulled a bunch of stuff together.  

  

First we started with a new paint color.  

 I went with (what I thought was) a basic light gray.  However, after it was primed and painted, it dried much blue-er than I thought it would be.

Grrrrrrr.....this still irks me.  Oh well, it's up there now, and its not getting re-painted anytime soon.

To cut back on costs, I decided not to get him a new bed, but instead, we were going to use an old Queen size set that we aren't using, and just gave the headboard a little face-lift.

Dan thought I was crazy for taking on this project, but I convinced him it would turn out fine.  How is it the man has no problem taking rediculous investmentl risks, but can't handle a little spray paint???
 
After some sanding, a few coats of Kilz, and MANY coats of blue spray paint, the headboard was finished.  (So are my remaining brain cells...but that is a different story)
 
 After the paint was dry, we started to tape off one wall to add some stripes.

 We were just doing a darker gray color on top of the base color, so the taping went pretty smooth.

Watching paint dry...
We still have several things to hang up on the walls, but it is coming along!

I've been waiting to take more pics, so this is the only one I have of his room so far.  I hope to get the rest of the shelves and signs up before the weekend.  More photos soon!

Bryce is loving his new room.  He looks so small in this giant bed.  He's been sleeping in it for a week now and I laugh when I get him up in the morning because he is in a different position every single time!  Must be nice to have so much wiggle room!

There's a few more projects I would like to incorporate, like this:

Source: sunshineontheinside.blogspot.com via Sara on Pinterest

or This:

Source: pennycarnival.typepad.com via Sara on Pinterest

And maybe something like this?  I bought some chalkboard paint, so I may paint a big area and frame it with some trim???  We'll see???

Source: mysisterssuitcase.blogspot.com via Sara on Pinterest

This Big Boy needs a new Big Boy room!

Poor Bryce got booted from his room when Sydney was on her way.  His current room looks very similar to his nursery did when he was in there.  Same wall color, same furniture, same decor.  

See all the baby stuff?  It really needs to go.  He is still in his toddler bed and quickly outgrowing it!  The crib converts into a full bed with headboard and footboard, but I have to order the bed rails (at $120 and 12 week delivery time...WHAT?), so I think I might start looking for a twin bed.  That would probably leave more room for play in there.  

Anyway, since he is totally potty trained and starting pre-school, I think it's time for a new big boy room!

The new Pottery Barn Kids catalog came in the mail this weekend, and I just happened to find this amazing room.  Check out the personalized bedding...BRYCE!!!  Coincidentally this is the exact theme I was thinking for him!

Most of this is unrealistic, but I figured if I just started with the bedding, then hit up Hobby Lobby  for the rest, I could get a similar look for pretty cheap.  I really don't want to re-paint the walls, so the buttercream yellow is probably going to have to stay.  Here are a few other ideas I would like to incorporate:

I already found the tin signs at Hobby Lobby in the hopes of using them in his room re-do.  We found several old license plates recently while doing some cleaning.  I thought they might be fun to add in somewhere.    Just need to work on finding a few accessories (and the bed...of course).

OH...and did I mention that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the wood wall in the PB photo?  Reminds me a little of this wall over at Bower Power...how cute is this???

Probably won't happen...but a girl can dream, right?

Anyway, these thoughts have been on my mind a ton lately, so I thought I would gather them all in one place.  Besides, this blog post could make a good presentation for Dan when I'm ready to go shopping! ;)