The Beth Life

July 8, 2011

An Old Friend, the Twins, and a Cheerleader

We moved into our new house about four months ago (Hallelujah), and I am just now putting stuff up on the walls. Just now. I adore arranging furniture and styling pieces, but for some reason I would rather prepare taxes then hang pictures, plates, or worse...shelves.

I had found some inspiration here that I was actually pretty pumped to try out. So, after gathering some items I already had, "enduring" a little bit of childless shopping, and practicing some minor patience, I was able to put together a spot that's pretty and functional.

The spot for this dresser is kind of unique. It's a little bit in the living room, a little bit in the kitchen, and even a little bit in the dining room, thus it functions a little bit for each room. We needed some lamp lighting for the living room in the evening, and some extra storage for dining linens and paper goods. Thus, meet my new best friends:

(See how it's a little part of every room?)

Here's a breakdown on how it came together:

The Dresser: is an old reliable friend from my college days. I think I paid $75 for it at a yard sale, slapped some white paint on it, and named her Mary. Not really. Names for dressers are silly. She's been our guest room standard for the last 10 years, so her free and painless transformation from sachet connoisseur to our fab new table console, slash key holder, slash linen closet, slash paper goods keeper, slash stereo table (Pheww...she's busy), is kind of cool.

Lamps: Found these girls at TJMaxx for $29.95 a piece. It was love at first sight fo sho.

Leather Tray: Target, $16.95 on clearance. Not bad. Not bad.

Accessories: The silver bowl was a gift from a work Christmas party like six years ago. It is the perfect place for the hub's keys, wallet, watch, whatever. It's not just a bowl. It's a peacekeeper. The stacked books are just from our stash, but you know the kind, these are the ones that are too tall to fit upright in the book shelf. Yay! Finally a home where they fit in (Get it? Fit in? Nope. I'm here all day people.)

Stereo: It may be little, but it definitely puts out great sound. It's a Philips Ipod Stereo/Charger that I am pretty sure I got it at Target last year. This is a great spot for it too, because music radiates between the dining room, kitchen, and living room, which is perfect for entertaining.

Plates: They're all from TJMaxx at some time or another, and I can promise you I didn't spend over $4 for one of them because I'm cheap like that. I did splurge on these adhesive plate hangers from Hobby Lobby for $1.99 each (see below), well, because I'm lazy like that.

Love these guys. They are so easy to attach to the plate, and hanging is a breeze. Which bodes well for my "hanging stuff" aversion. Arranging tip #1: Place your plates on the floor to play around with the design and look you want before hanging them. You'll have less nail holes. Well, less nail holes then me probably. Arranging tip #2: Do not ask your husband what he thinks after hanging them. He may say at first that he likes it a lot, but then later concede that he thinks your design might look like a cheerleader holding poms poms. This will make you sad, because now...that's all you see. Just saying.

Never moving again,

7 comments

June 24, 2011

The Cousin Extravaganza

Last week we had our Kansas cousins come down and spend 6 days with us. My boys were beyond ecstatic. All together there were five kids in the house, and with Darrel gone most of the time it was just me manning them. I was a little worried at first, but they all were fantastic, and I think it's safe to say that we had a blast! It was the perfect way to kick off the summer. We swam. A lot. We ate junk food. A lot. We watched movies. A lot. We stayed up past our bedtimes. Not a lot, because this aunt was sacked by 8:30. But we also baked, threw water balloons, played dress-up, and cheered on Ben at his first T-Ball game. It was a hoot. It's now been a week since they have left us, and it's been just a so-so kind of week. In my opinion it's been way too quiet around here. Ben has played a little too much Wii, and Harrison has watched more TV than usual. Though, I must say their diets have improved a little. I think they've ingested a vegetable or two, so that's a plus. But, still...we miss the cousins.
Here is some of our fun:

Playin' Dress Up (A.K.A. Running out of things to do)

M and T were cast as the bad guys. Well played guys. Well played.

A and Harrison, were well.... the good guys. Let's just say they dressed themselves.

The Evolution Of A Boy Hit By A Water Balloon

"I've been hit! Everyone look at me! I repeat, I've been hit!"

Oh no, the fun is going south.

Going souther.

And we're baaaack!

Obligatory Family Pool Pictures

Harrison smiling into the sun.

His grumpy twin.

Ben, my little swim monkey. I have to brag that he taught himself to swim this week.

Watch out Michael Phelps.

Sweet sisters.

M was making sure the pool was sparkly clean. Us girls were making a fuss.

I had just told them we were having ice cream for lunch. I jest. I jest. They were actually yelling "Holla!" It's a little inside joke from our fun week. :)

Crazy kids. I love 'em.

Come back cousins. We miss you.

2 comments

May 23, 2011

Forget It

I have given up on getting a decent picture of the boys together. So now I'm just taking what I can get.

This one is okay, but Harrison isn't smiling and it looks a little forced.

Ben has got the side hug down. Phew for those teenage years.

Just some brotherly choking and forced smiles. Just what I wanted to capture.

Yep, I'm losing them.

And...we're done.

Always proud,

4 comments

May 4, 2011

Chubby Bunny

Today, Ben lead his brother to the pantry to eat as many jumbo marshmallows as they could muster while I was getting dressed. I caught Ben behind the dining room table stuffing them in, while Harrison just settled down on the pantry floor helping himself. It was quite a sight as they tried to talk their way out of it, blaming each other of course, with their mouths full of marshmallows. My own little Adam and Eve.

I guess they can stay in the garden,

0 comments

An Old Friend, the Twins, and a Cheerleader

The Cousin Extravaganza

Forget It

Chubby Bunny

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