Thankful Thursday

I am thankful ~

~for my family.
~for my church family.
~that soccer starts a week from tonight.
~that my front yard looks better.
~that Macklin was okay after drinking Resolve carpet cleaner earlier this week.
~for my bible study friend.
~for my book club friends.
~for cell phones.
~for lemons.

"But the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day." Proverbs 4:18

 This is where Chase likes to keep Macklin

Art on the Cheap

We have lived in our current home for almost 8 1/2 years.  I have very few things hanging on the walls, mostly because the walls are plaster.  I want to make sure I absolutely love something before I try putting a nail in, and risk having the plaster crumble, leaving me with a big hole.

I came across a project on Pinterest that intrigued me, because it is really lightweight, is large, and it is CHEAP, and I already had a nail in the dining room wall where I planned to hang the art, and another on the wall in the girls' room.

It's pretty simple to make.  I went to Staples and asked for an engineer print, approximately 3' X 4'.  They take your flash drive, plug it in, and in a couple minutes you have a huge picture for just under $5.  I had two pictures printed. I had just gotten a Staples coupon in the mail for $10 off any purchase of $10 or more, so I had to buy a diet Coke to get up over the $10 mark.  My pictures were virtually FREE.

I then went to Menards and bought a 4' X 8' sheet of styrofoam insulation  for just under $10.  I think it was 3/4" thick.  When I got home, I cut the foam down to size and painted the edges black with paint I already had.

When the paint was dry (don't use spray paint--it will eat the styrofoam), I sprayed the foam with spray adhesive, laid the picture on it, made a hanger out of wire, and duct taped it to the back.  That's all there is to it. 

You can get much more detailed instructions here.

Cheap and easy.  I did have to go back and brush some elmer's glue around one of the edges that didn't want to stick.

 The higher resolution photo you have, the better, obviously.  I was impressed with the quality, especially with so much enlargement.

 It fills up my dining room wall nicely.

And I have such beautiful children, who wouldn't want to have pictures of them all over their home?

If my cheapo artwork gets bumped or mangled in the chaos of our house, I'm not out much $$$.  It's also cheap to update.

"The mouth of the righteous is a well of life, But violence covers the mouth of the wicked." Proverbs 10:11

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for ~

~sunshine and 70's.
~lazy spring breaks.
~only one sick kid today.  Had 5 yesterday.
~improvement to Alex's ankle, although it is still ugly.
~the opportunity for Shannon and I to go away tomorrow.
~changes.
~the upcoming soccer season.
~Bryce.  He's very helpful.
~MARCH MADNESS!!!!!

"Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins."  Proverbs 10:12

Birthdays

I just went back through this blog to see  who's birthdays I have missed. Turns out I missed everyone from June through December of 2011 except Macklin, and four of us so far this year.  I'll see if I can find pictures of everyone...

Chase had his 15th Birthday in July.  It appears as if I even baked him a cake!  Often times we are at IRBC over Chase's birthday, so he misses out on cakes.  We tell him that he's still getting the biggest birthday party ever, but it doesn't seem to appease him.  Chase is always fun to have around.  He has a funny answer to everything, and loves nothing more than to compete in sports.  In 2011, his freshman year, he was the third highest scorer (by one goal) on the varsity soccer team, and he even had to sit out 8 games due to injury.  He was the highest rushing RB in football on the varsity team in the fall.  We're looking forward to soccer season beginning again next week, and games beginning on March 29th.


Jackson turned 17 on October 14th.  I have no pictures of him.  He did not get a birthday cake.  We did feed his football team breakfast that morning, and we made lots of panCAKES.  I thought they would be a good substitute, until Jackson reminded me he doesn't like pancakes.  He also reminded us that we haven't gotten him a present for his golden birthday...three years ago.  Poor guy.  We did take him out for dinner to celebrate.  This is the only picture I can find of him from that time period...



Alex turned 19 on November 17th.  His soccer awards ceremony was on his birthday, so we went to Ankeny and took him out to dinner afterwards.  We didn't have a ton of time to spend with him, but we enjoyed the time we did have.  He continues to take classes at FBBC, but is unsure of what his plans for next semester are.  He's keeping his options open and searching out God's will for his life.




 

Shannon had a birthday in December.  We celebrated by getting away for the weekend.  It's been such a blessing having big kids that we can trust to watch the littles while we take some time away.

Hudson's 5th birthday was January 9th.  He is at a really fun birthday age.  His cousins, aunt & uncle, & grandma and grandpas came to help him celebrate.  Of course, just our immediate family is a whole party in itself.    Hudson entertains us all day, every day.


The next birthday, on January 28th, was Katie's birthday.    She is now 8 years old, and is such a big girl.  She does an excellent job reading, and does well in all of her school work.  She's incredibly helpful around the house, and can be counted on to help out with the littles when needed.








I had a birthday a week after Katie, and Naomi's 7th birthday followed on February 18th.  Naomi loves to design clothes.  She is very creative, and can spend hours contentedly coloring.  She is either hot or cold, happy or sad.  She still loves to cuddle with me, and we have our own special spots on the sofa to watch TV in the evenings.  She loves everything girly, and most mornings she'll wake up, get dressed, and put on her eyeshadow and lip gloss before coming downstairs for breakfast.




We have a couple weeks off before Bryce's birthday.  I'll attempt to get his pictures posted in a more timely fashion.

"The heart of the prudent acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge."  Proverbs 18:15

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful ~

~for my laptop, even though the letter 'm' isn't working correctly.
~for Macklin.  He's helping me blog :-)
~for the warm weather.  The kids are loving being outside.
~for Words With Friends.  I've spent a lot of time playing this week.
~for being able to turn the furnace off.
~for kind people.
~for the time in-between high school sports seasons. Our schedule is pretty clear until April.
~for our garbage man.  He only comes once every two weeks, but it's so nice those first few days after a pick up.
~for Alex.  He's been home off and on this week during his Spring Break.
~for books--I mean e-books :-)
~for paint.
~for air compressors and nail guns.
~for Jackson having the courage to tear his motorcycle apart and repaint it himself.