New Old Guest Room Pieces

Hello!

I've been a busy woman! Our house is coming together nicely. I've decided to stop where I am. I have the living room, sunroom, guest room and girls room all put together. I had some really great plans for our master but decided to save that for the new house. 

We are going to start looking for a house this spring. We are SO excited and can't wait to start looking!! 

Here are a few pieces I picked up from yard sales last week. They are for the guest room. I've started a little work on them but it's slow going. 

Check back to see the finished product!

Birthday Girl!

Big Sis is 8! I can't believe it. She was such a tiny peanut weighing only 3lbs at birth and now she is this silly girl full of energy! 

Her birthday wish was to go to "DC cupcakes" from the TLC show. We each got a delicious cupcake (that we forgot to take a picture of). Then, we came home for presents and cake.

She had a great day!

Chair redo

Monday I snagged an old chair from Goodwill for $8. It was really rough but had a good, strong frame. 

Here it is when I brought it home - 

Nice huh? That soiled cushion is my fave.

I removed the cushion first. Everything got a really good cleaning with good ole' fashioned soap and water.

After sanding and 4 coats of paint (ugh), she looks great. I picked a fun fabric with lots of blues to go in the family room. A yard cost me $2.00.

That back corner needs to be stapled...I ran out. The front corners were easier than I thought. What do you think??? 

DIY table and Pillows

We need to furnish pretty much our entire house. With a restricted weight limit leaving Okinawa, we were able to bring our bed, dining table, ladder shelf and a tv stand. Those were the only heavy pieces...and they still aren't here. 

To save money, I've been scouring Craigslist and clearance departments for furnishings. 

Here is the coffee table for  our family room. Hubs picked it up on his way home from work for $15. (Craigslist)

I sanded and painted the trim and legs Satin white. It took me quite a while to sand the top...it had writing, some deep scratches and a lot of markings. I stained it but wasn't happy with the color...it was a lot lighter than I thought. So I spend 4 days scratching the stain off and trying a new color. I went with Ebony from Giddeb. It was a sample for it was only $3. I liked it better but I'm still not thrilled. I may cover it and make it an ottoman. 

Here's the before 

Here's the after

I made some pillows this weekend. (The butterfly one was from IKEA)

Blue and white stripe and a textured beige. I have a few more to make in the same navy blue as the butterfly pillow. I may even try to paint it.

BabyCat does not like when I sew! 

We ended the weekend with a delicious breakfast for dinner! YUM!

House Tour

We've  been in our house for about 3 weeks now. We are atill waiting on our shipment so it's pretty empty. We scored a little round table (for the breakfast nook) from Craigslist for $30. We also got a set of couches from Craigslist that cleaned up really nice. I shopped around at about 6 different furniture and just refuse to pay $2000 for a couch and love seat. Here are aome pics of the place. 

This is the front of the place. The 2 car garage is attached but I couldn't get a good picture since the entire front of the house is woodsy. 

I love how the kitchen is so light. And I finally have a window in front of my sink!

 

Two views of the family room that is right off the kitchen. Great lighting and fireplace!

The Sunroom. I plan to put a comfy chair and a bookcase out here. LOVE!! 

The entryway

Formal dining room

This is the biggest of the 4 bedrooms so it will be the girls. I didn't take pictures of the other bedrooms because empty bedrooms are boring >.<

Master bedroom. Love love love that there is a fireplace in here. I just want to smack down one of those bear rugs! 

Master closet. 

Master bath...couldn't get the tub in the photo but you can bet your butt I've used it several times! 

This is the photo from the realtor. 

There is also a finished basement with its own bedroom and bathroom and well as a sweet man cave that I've slightly invaded already. 

I hope you've enjoyed the tour! Next up is some homemade pillows and a table redo that I screwed up and thankfully semi fixed again. 

Have a great rest of the weekend! 

The Blog is Back in Town (or the USA!)

WOW!!! It's been almost 2 years since I blogged last. I'm not even sure where to start! Well, I'm back. We're back...in the States that is! We had another 3 amazing years in Okinawa and have since moved to Virginia. The hubs decided, after almost 11 years, to separate from the Marine Corps. Big Sis is about to celebrate her 8th birthday. I still haven't wrapped my head around the fact that she is almost 8! Lil Sis is almost 6...again...can't believe it. I have so much to play "catch up" on. Our time in Oki, our trip back (it took a whole month of state hopping to get to VA), our new place (that I am drooling over trying to decorate), and just so much more. I am so excited to be back to the blog world!!

Easter happenings

Good morning!

Tomorrow marks the start of Spring Break for Big Sis and I have some fun stuff planned! I am hoping the weather warms up a tad so we can do some good beach time. Today at school she has an egg hunt that she is pretty excited for. She even wore a new "springy" outfit. And of course I packed her an Easter-ish Bento.

I was messing around with lunch the other day and came up with this:

Kids both loved it. As you know, we are all obsessed with Angry Birds.

Big Sis celebrated her 6th birthday last Thursday and had an Angry Cake too!
We had a very low key birthday at home this year. I promised every other year we would do a big party. She was pretty bummed this was an off year but we still made it special. Her favorite present was a giant box full of big kid crafting supplies. ALthough she hasnt had a chance to touch it really with all this maddness going on lately. She has Karate on Tuesday and Thursdays. Soccer practice on Monday and Wednesdays. Gymnastics on Saturday mornings and Soccer games are Saturday afternoons. So throw a bunch of homework in there and the kid has NO time. Dont think Im one of those crazy moms who forces her kids in to every activity, My kids beg to do this stuff!!! Here is a picture of her cake and a few gifts!

This Sunday we are having friends over for Easter. I am planning for about 60 people so I should actually be in the kitchen right now prepping :) The Bunny will be here and there will be an egg hunt and TONS of food. Im really looking forward to it!! But I dont think my waist line is. I started another round of Boot Camp on Monday. Im really hoping to transform my body this next 8 weeks! Well I hope to take lots of pictures on Sunday! I hope you all have a wonderful Easter!!

Ballet Recital, March for babies, and Bento!

Happy Sunday everyone! Once again I am playing catch up. Things will slow down once summer gets here but as of right now, I dont have a minute to breathe, let alone blog.

Lil Sis had her ballet recital on Saturday. It was probably one of the cutest things EVER! I have some video but Ive never had any luck uploading videos to my blog.

Adorable!!

Saturday morning was also the March of Dimes walk! It was super windy and rainy but the show went on. It was REALLY rough on the kids though. They had the walk (4 miles) on one of the roughest running paths around here. Tons of steep hills. Not fun in the rain and wind. I was pretty nervous to talk on stage in front of 1,000 people but I think I did ok. I cut my speech really short because everyone wanted to get started. I am super excited that I raised $735!!! We were given a beautiful plaque thanking us for being the Ambassador family. It was so nice!!! Despite the wind and rain, we had a great time and Big Sis always loves the opportunity to be in the spot lite! The reporters from base took some pictures but have not sent them to me. Ill post them as soon as I get them!

Today, Hubs is running the Ayahashi road race 10k. Im staying home with the kids and cooking for the week and getting some other things done (like blogging, hehehe). I hope he takes some pictures!! Here is a picture from my 10k last month!

In other news, I have been dying to post my bento pictures! I pack Big Sis' school lunch everyday. A friend of mine started to pack some fun lunches for her son, so I jumped on board. I love making fun things for her. I can just picture her face when she opens her lunch everyday and sees such fun food. Of course I have days where I dont have time to pack super cool stuff, but most of the time, I set aside the 10 minutes to make something fun. Here are some pictures of past lunches.

This Bento is a ham and cheese sandwhich, motza cheese & pepperoni picks, strawberries, gogurt and juice box. Packed in a double decker piggy bento box.

This Bento is Turkey and cheese sandwhich in wonder bread holder, goldfish for snack in a hostess cupcake container, motza cheese &pepperoni picks in a froggy bento box. with Gatorade.

This Bento is peanut butter and grape jelly hearts, butterfly crackers with laughing cow swiss cheese, a blueberry muffin pudding cup and a squeeze it. Packed in old tupperware lol. Put together in a toy story lunch box. (I am having trouble finding containers that fit in this!! Ideas??)

This Bento is chicken noodle soup in a Toy Story thermos, bread with butter, Japanese soup crackers, mandarin oranges. Packed in Toy Story lunch box.

This Bento is a blueberry bagel with cream cheese in a froggy bento box, strawberries and a fruit punch organic juice box.

This Bento is mini pancakes with a side of syrup, sausage with a heart pick, gogurt, and orange juice, packed in a 100Y store bento box.

This Bento is a peanut butter and jelly happy face, fruit snack, strawberries, gogrut, fruit punch, packed in 100Y store bento.

This Bento is spaghetti, salad with ranch, (froggy bento box), pineapples chunks, and apple juice box.

This Bento is two tuplip ham and cheese sandwiches with cloud shaped clouds in frog bento box, in the pink box is a rice ball with flowers, and an assortment of veggies with ranch and a chicken pick, gogurt and a bottle of water.

Stay tuned for more Bentos!!!

March for Babies

It's that time of year! The March for Babies is coming up soon here in Okinawa! I am SO excited to announce that our family was chosen to represent the Okinawa Chapter as the Ambassador Family!! Here is a link to my personal fundraising page. Please take a minute and a few dollars for Team Olivia. This is our familiy's 3rd year participating in the March for Babies and Olivia is really excited this year!! Thanks everyone!!

Stay tuned for a post about my run in the Okinawa Marathon!

Slacker!!

Im a total blog slacker now a days. I do have an excuse though. Actually 2 excuses. They are really pretty and giggly. Any guesses? Yup. It would be my adorable daughters. I just don't understand the craziness! I DO NOT remember being in Kindergarten and having spelling tests every Friday. Or 5 pages of homework on top of that. AAAANNNDDD having to read an entire book (sent home by the teacher) and sign a paper saying she read it TO me.
I have always liked having a very full plate. But what is too much? I dont think i'll ever know. In the meantime, here is whats going on with me!!

The dreaded weight loss. UGH. I feel like I'm drowning in my own fat. I am SO happy here in Okinawa. I have no idea how I put on so much weigh. I mean obviously from eating. But it just hit me so fast. SO, here it goes again. Im doing the shake thing and trying REALLY hard to exercise everyday. Its proving pretty tough not having daycare available at the gym. So we'll see how this goes. Although I did just lose 7 pounds in two days!!! You know that stomach bug diet? Works every time.

Hubs is hanging out in Thailand for a while. The girls are doing exceptionally well this time. Big Sis always takes it pretty hard when Dad leaves, but I am so proud of her this time. She just doesnt let go of Daddy Doll. Hubs said he went out and checked out a mall that was "just like in the states". I was insanely jealous.

Ive been doing a lot of volunteer stuff lately so thats cool! I am super excited about the March for Babies coming up next month. This will be my third year raising money! I entered my application to be the ambassador Family for Okinawa, I really hope we get it! PRETTY PLEASE go to my page and donate if you can. Even $5 helps! Who can say no to preemie babies?! Just visit my personal Page here!

Since I havent blogged in oh....a month or so. I need to share some pics! Enjoy!


I recently hosted a baby shower for a friend. I had a blast making a diaper cake. Personalized water bottle labels, some fun food and silly games!