Before & After: The Boy's Bathroom

I have been meaning to re-do the boy's bathroom for a long time and with Trevor potty training now seemed like the perfect time to do it. After all, a big boy deserves an awesome room to go potty in, right?

Here is a before picture of the upstairs bathroom.

 And now, the after!!

The shower curtain came from Target and that adorable wave shelf I found as a set of two at a garage sale for $10.  The shelves were too long so I had to shorten and then re-paint them to match.  It was time consuming, but so worth it.

I made the wall art by tracing the soap pump and toothbrush holder and then coloring them with watercolor pencils.

The soap pump, tooth brush holder and soap dish were the inspiration for the bathroom and they came from Target.

 

I took down the towel rack and in it's place added this so that we have room to hang a towel for each boy.  Also, it is low enough to the ground that Trevor can hang up his own towel.

The bathroom looks great and Trevor loves it.

Three Months

I am a little late in posting this, but Saturday was Austin's 3-month birthday.

I feel like all I ever say about Austin is that he is such a smiley, happy kid and very easy going, but it's so true.  He almost never cries when I change his diaper.  If he is crying and you make a silly face he will usually stop crying long enough to smile.  His favorite game is peek-a-boo and his feet are very ticklish.

Here are some pictures and a video to commemorate Austin's 3-month birthday.

 

A Week of Learning

This has been a week of learning at the Hales' home.  We have been learning to go pee and poop in the toilet, to fall asleep without being held, and to have patience.  (I'll let you use your imagination to determine who's learning what.)


And while each of us has had our triumphs this week, it hasn't been perfect.  There have been lots of accidents, lots of crying, and even the occasional temper-tantrum from both the two-year-old and the 20-something and it's OK because we are learning hard things around here.

Trevor is doing such a good job using the toilet.  Occasionally he refuses to wear underwear and begs to either go naked or wear a diaper, but so far so good.  He loves to get treats (jellybeans left over from Easter...haha) and stickers on his potty chart.  In an effort to help Trevor with potty learning, I was hoping to have a couple of "Popsicle, Play and Potty Dates" with friends.  What I had in mind was a morning of eating lots of popsicles, playing in our backyard and practicing going potty.  If you're interested in this rare sort of play date let me know.

Austin is doing AMAZING!  For the last two days he has cried very little or not at all each time I have laid him down in his crib to sleep and last night he slept from 7:30pm until 3:30am without even so much as a whimper.  Way to go Austin!!


I am doing better than I thought I might at being patient with Trevor's accidents.  I think it has helped a lot that I use cloth diapers, so washing wet and poopy underwear is no big deal.  In fact, it's better because whereas I was handling a wet/poopy diaper every 3-4 hours, now I am changing wet underwear only once or twice a day.

So three cheers for us.  My boys are growing up and I'm so proud of them both.

Austin's Blessing Day

Sunday, July 11th was Austin's blessing day.  It was wonderful to have so many friends and family come out to support us and stay to hear me give my lesson in Gospel Doctrine.

Instead of purchasing a blessing outfit for Austin, I made one (with a lot of help from my Aunt Shelley.)  I think it turned out great and he looked adorable in it.

Austin's blessing was beautiful and so different from Trevor's which is how I know that even though they look alike, they are destined to be very different children.  He was blessed that he would find the kind of happiness in this life that will draw him closer to his family and help him to be a shinning light to those around him.  That he will listen to the guidance of his parents, teachers, and family so that he can become a better man, son, father and friend.  That he will find the Spirit in his life that will guide him through life's trials.  Also, that he will get to know the Savior Jesus Christ and all that he has done for us.  And lastly, that he will be able to share his smile with everyone around him.

After church we all came back to our house to have lunch and spend time together.  A special occasion wouldn't be special without an awesome cake, so my sister-in-law Deborah and I made a clothesline cake for Austin.  There were some technical difficulties due to the high temps outside, but it turned out really cute and I can't wait to try this idea again when it's not 80+ degrees outside.

It was a special day for Austin and for our family.  Thanks to everyone who was a part of it.

(PS...we bribed Trevor with a treat to smile nice in this picture and I'm so glad we did.)

Kent Cornucopia Days 5K

On Saturday, July 10th Darren ran in his first race since 1999.  He used to run cross country and track in high school and he has just recently starting running again for fun.  Several other friends from our ward ran too.

Darren finished the race in 21:40, which he was very excited about.  Personally, I had no idea that my husband could run a 7 minute mile.  I was very impressed.

Darren did so well that he placed 2nd in his age group and finished 37th overall.  His friend Clint placed 3rd right behind him.

He had so much fun running he is planning on running in the 5K before the Torchlight parade, so if you happen to be there look out for him and give a little yell when you see him running by.

Jetty Island

Way back on July 3rd, we went to Jetty Island (a man-made island off the Everett waterfront) with a group of friends from church.  The weather started out pretty cold and dreary, but by lunchtime it was sunny and quite enjoyable.  In fact, up until our family reunion this last week it was the most fun we have had as a family in way too long.

While on the island we saw about 5 bald eagles sitting in the trees and even diving down to get fish and then fighting over who got to eat the fish.  It was amazing!

Trevor had a lot of fun playing in the sand and especially in the fort and tunnel the dads made.

Later in the day, the dads decided to make the cave and the fort connect with a tunnel.  It was very dangerous.  Even after one dad got caved in and the other dads had to dig him out, they still insisted on finishing the tunnel and then all crawling through.

After the tunnel was complete, the sun came out, and the tide was way out the dads and older boys decided that a race to the water was in order followed by some male bonding in the frigid water.

After their swim we were all standing in the sand out by the tide and wiggling our toes causing us to sink slowly into the sand.  Darren did it too, but he sank very quickly and became stuck.  Really stuck.  It took 3 guys nearly 15 minutes to get him out.  It was hilarious watching them dig Darren out.

We played hard, laughed a lot and had a great day!  As icing on the cake, on the way home we stopped by Dick's.  :)

Before & After: The Kitchen

We now return to a series I like to call "Before & After".  Today's episode is called "The Kitchen".  For a long time I have wanted to re-do the kitchen, meaning I want a color scheme and cute curtains.  So about a month go I saw this tutorial on on of my favorite blogs, Crap I've Made.  After a quick trip to Joann's and a couple nap times spent sewing and crafting, here's is what I came up with.

Before:

After:

I just covered the picture with scrapbook paper and glued a flower in the center.  Total Cost: $1.50


Before:

After:

The teal fabric is actually a book cover that I found in the clearance section of Joann's for $1 each.  The silverware is plastic that I spray painted.  Total cost: $3.50

Years ago I purchased some hair mousse and it came in a cool pump bottle and once it ran out we started using it for dish soap.  It used to be all blue with writing all over and people would always wonder why it said mousse on the bottle, but not any more!

I put stickers on the solid blue spots that had no writing, spray painted in red, removed the stickers, and ta-da!!  Total cost: $.25

And last but not least here are the curtains I made to match it all.  I had no pattern.  I just made it up as I went along and I think they turned out great!!

They are even cuter in person.  Total cost: $15 in supplies and two naps (which are priceless, so it's a good thing I love the curtains!!!)

Stay tuned for more posts about the 4th, Darren's 2nd place finish, Austin's blessing & cake and our family reunion.