I have to admit now...this is rather embarrassing to show my room before! We seriously work SO hard on the rest of our house and neglect ourselves! Our bedroom has been on my mind for the last 7 years we have lived her! It was a modge podge of just randomness we had when we got married! But with Olivia Joy's impending arrival we knew that it was time to do something. I had wood moulding (which isn't always a bad thing...but its completely NOT my style!). The walls were painted "Seattle". Which if you have ever been to Seattle, then you can imagine how grayish/brownish they were! I HATED our furniture! But. We made due with what we had! That was when the idea for my Get er' Gone group came to! (see the post HERE) I wanted to redo my bedroom. But. Like most families these days we are not made of money nor have we found the darn money tree to plant out back! So we budgeted $600 from our taxes for furniture and paint. Anything extra was going to be on me! I honestly think my husband was thrilled about this because it started me going through and selling items that have been sitting collecting dust in our home! I think its a guy thing! OK...so you ready for the embarrassing part?! UGH! Here we go!


This here is where you walked into my room. Yes...we have a t.v. from the stone ages! BUT it works and no we did not budget a flat screen in although that would have been awesome! OK...so here...I HATE the dresser! The folding chair, the moulding, the paint...well almost everything ABOUT this picture! HA!


Continuing down the wall...there is my desk from college. Messy of course cause everything is OUT in the open! You can see our laundry bins and a modge podge of mess on the walls! Ugh! Yes...that is my Silhouette Machine on top of the printer! Poor Daisy! { the kids and I named her when I got her last year! }


I love my one wall art (by the bathroom) and my lamps and night stand. The picture above my bed just doesn't match my vision and neither does our maroon bedding I bought in college! I plan on spray painting the frame of the picture and then you will see what else later on!!


One thing that needs to be fixed is we need a headboard. BUT on a tap water budget! I have a few tricks up my sleeve! OH and you see that teeny walkway? That is how my dear husband climbs into his side of the bed! Yep. That is a plant stand as a night stand and the floor is COVERED with books! He is a bookaholic! I wanted a shelf thing for him but couldn't find one in the dimensions I needed so I have a friend who is a contractor. He is building a custom one for me with scraps left over from his own home remodel! It will not be ready in time for the reveal...but it will be done hopefully in the next few months! I AM SO EXCITED!!


This area just shouts BRIGHTEN ME UP! I love my black out curtains though! They were a Costco find!!


Yes...that is wrapping paper! Its finally put away! Pile of taxes on the floor. Random out grown maternity clothes! Ugh!


Yes...this is a mess! HA! No better way to describe it!

So my big thing is this. Our house is 1230 sq foot. We have 3 bedrooms and I am not wanting to combine Olivia with the other hooligans yet! SO...she will live in our room for a while. We have a co-sleeper that attaches to our bed. I need inches. I need more storage for her stuff and ours as well! I can't wait to show you what we have been working on! As of right now we are currently LIVING in the mess! Olivia Joy is due in 6 weeks! So we are on the fast track to get it all done! If you are on instagram I post a few pics here and there! { britchesnboots } That's it for now! Now don't make too much fun of me OK! Have a blessed day!

I have an addiction. There I said it! Phew...does it EVER feel good to get that off of my chest! Oh...you wanna know what my addiction is?!! Well, us Oregonians that grew up in my era (feeling awfully aged these days!) where we had these things we called "floppy discs". These "floppy discs" were literally the size of a sandwich and were...well...floppy! For school when we learned to play on the computers (I swear the computers were called something else. But cannot remember exactly. After all it was eons ago!) we had this awesome game called "Oregon Trail". You had to hunt, forge, save your family from polio etc. If you actually ever made it to the end of the game it was a BIG DEAL! I cannot say that I actually did, but have played witness to others! Well...I have this friend named Aimee. I blame my addiction on her. SHE came across the app for our phones, our ipods. YOU NAME IT! If you have something with app capabilities...oh my friend. YOU are in luck!


The greatest part of this app (besides that it brings a smile to this home grown Oregon girl!) is that you can make your village, build things, save people, collect $ to buy things. OH...the possibilities are endless. Have I said yet that its addicting?! HA! There have been times where I decide to take a "break" from working to get my trail on! I have it on my itouch and my phone! My husband makes fun of me. BUT I think he is just envious. You know what he grew up in Washington and there is no such thing as the "Washington Trail". Jealousy at its best! So if you are like me and want a mindless, fun, addicting game to play YOU too can download it! HA!


You can bet your bottom dollar that I will be bringing this bad boy with me to the hospital! Have a blessed day!

Today I am celebrating the Bloggiversary of my friend Steph over at Crafting in the Rain! Its her 2 year anniversary!

Today I turn into a sappy mush! I LOVE Valentine's Day! Yes...I know what most people say "Hallmark Holiday". But you know what? I don't care!! I hope today you are having a marvelous day! We will be celebrating with our heart shaped Papa Murphy's pizza and a movie at home! No better way to spend this day! BUT...I needed to share the Valentine's my kids took to school!


The Crayon tutorial { HERE } we put 1 crayon into a glassine bag. I let the kids tear off pieces of washi tape and then they added a felt sticky heart! Onto the backs I pre-made labels to attach (so we wouldn't have to write out each one!) We LOVED them! Emily Grace told me she had the most fun ever!!


Then for the teachers we made bird seed heart feeders! They are super easy! You need 3 packet of gelatin (clear gelatin...which might I add as the most horrid smell ever when cooking!) mix together with a 3/4 cup of water. Bring to a simmer in a pot and then remove from heat. We let ours cool a few seconds while we then gather up 3 cups of bird seed and mix together inside the pot of gelatin/water mixture! You shouldn't see any visible liquid. If so add more bird seed till liquid is gone! We then laid heart shaped cookie cutters onto parchment paper. Wax paper or even aluminum foil would work just fine too. Kids filled the cookie cutter 1/2 way with bird seed mixture. Flattening it out (we used a big normal spoon and a plastic baby spoon to help us!) We cut about 3-4" of twine and looped into the cutter. The kids then filled to the top of the cookie cutter with remaining birdseed smashing it down so it was nice and compact! We let dry a few hours and then I removed from the cookie cutters and we let them sit up over night!


I then used plastic bags (you can find at Paper Source or even possibly Michael's) we needed the larger size due to the cookie cutters we used! I then tied a bow with twine and then with red twine I attached a tag that read:


The kids enjoyed making their gifts for their friends and teachers and honestly I had everything but the heart molds for the crayons already at our house! So virtually we spent nothing this year! While we finished Valentine's we had Mushy hang hearts that I had the kids practice cutting out earlier in the day!


Now on Valentine's Day we have enjoyed 2 class parties, lunch at the park with daddy and are going to finish the night with pizza and a new movie! Happy Valentine's Day from my crew to yours!

I did a double duty for Valentines day! It was also super close to one of my best friends birthday (YOUNGIN'!) she was turning 30 and I wanted to do something more than just buy her a gift card or random present somewhere! So I made her a Mail Box that was filled with 30 things I love about Michelle! You can do the same thing for Valentines day for your husband or children! I plan on filling the kids mailboxes with treats and wrapping it the same as I did Michelle's!


I found the metal mail box at Target in the $1 section! I regret not buying more! I found the heart stamp at Michael's in the $1 stamp bin and I also bought my Martha Stewart brand paints at Michael's as it says can be used on any surface! I first squirted a bit of paint onto my rubber stamp.


Using the brush or a dobber I covered the stamp (I wanted mine to be more "bubble" so it had dimension to it!) I then placed the stamp carefully down on the spot I wanted. Lifted and then with my brush added more paint to fill in the heart! I then let them sit to dry. It did take 2 coats!


Could that be any easier??!!

For Michelle's gift I typed out on the computer my 30 things that I love about her. From her attributes, to how she makes me laugh etc. I then folded each one and placed inside the mailbox! Make sure to lift the red flag when they have "mail"!


I then wrapped with twine and sealed the twine to the back with washi tape and ribbon tape! I LOVE how they turned out! And it was super fun to make!

This is a tough post for me to write. On February 10th, 2012 my biological dad passed away from a heart attack. This year has been one of the toughest I have ever experienced (read about my relationship with my dad HERE). I reflected through Facebook of all things on the days following his passing. It was extremely hard...but something I needed to do. Does that sound weird? Here were my days starting from the moment I found out. Somehow I pray if you or someone you know is going through it you can find a gleam in the words that are written. This is a very personal post for me. If you have anything negative to say. Bite your tongue and keep it to yourself please. This is my blog and I have many readers who helped me through the days I felt most alone. If you were one of the many women who wrote me beautiful words to help me sleep at night, thousands of miles away from home I cannot thank you enough. You and God helped me through these days. The day that I found out I had just taken this picture...it had started out wonderful. Funny how you don't see what is right around the corner!



February 10, 2012 -

{ OMG...I just found out my dad died } - I can honestly say I still feel the pain and numbness from when I wrote this.

{ I found out a little bit ago that my biological dad died. I have so much pent up anger towards this and him. I didn't even get a chance to say good bye...}

{  Today I found out my biological dad died unexpectedly...my heart is in shock and my emotions are all over the place. I am angry sad, bawling and then completely fine...I am told this is the normal grieving process. The thing that breaks my heart the most is my Grandma is just finding out. }

{ Thank you all for the well wishes and prayers. It truly means the world to me. My heart is aching and I am still in shock. I have hit 3 levels of grief today. Non stop crying to the point of which I can't breath (and my eyes are now cotton balls), complete anger and frustration and then completely mellow like nothing ever happened. Some know I had some UN-resolved issues but it almost makes the pain that much worse. Paul and the kids brought me some gorgeous flowers which was very sweet. We are currently scrambling together to find a plane ticket (on a tap water budget!) for me and Mush will be my lap rider as I don't want to be alone. SO badly wishing I could at least take EG with too. Gonna stay with either my Aunt or my other 1/2 (cousin Mandy) so that part is taken care of. Just need to figure out flights (need to arrive no later than Monday...funeral will be either Tues or Wed) and childcare for the kiddos. I listened to friends & family and took some Advil pm...help with the killer headache and help m sleep. Please continue to pray...I appreciate it immensely. Those that know me well know I have a super had time asking for help, this situation is no different! }

{ But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble. ~Psalm 59:16 }



February 11, 2012-

{ Today I am holding it together better than I thought I would...probably because I am so busy packing, getting stuff ready for when I am gone etc. I am going to miss my kids and hubby desperately. I WISH we could all go. My brother Xavier stopped in which was perfect (much needed) and one of my besties Rachel. I had a long talk with my dear friend Jenni which also really was needed. She knows just the right things to say...but in a non-scripted way! I fly out with Mush at 10:35 a.m. have 1 stop in Salt Lake City before flying into St. Louis at 5:38 (so 3:38 our time). We have a viewing on Monday, funeral in Illinois on Tuesday and then back to Missouri for a veterans memorial and then Wednesday is the wake. Going to be a long emotional week. Thankfully I will have Mush by my side. I fly home Saturday (leave at 12:30 our time) and then fly in at 7:13 p.m. Continued prayers would be wonderful. Rhonda is bringing Paul a few meals during this week to help take some load off of him. His boss is going to let him work from home which is nice. Mush is coughing a ton...please pray for health for us...I don't want her (or I) feeling badly. She has 3 teeth coming in. Prayers of safety and peace would be nice too. ♥ }

February 12, 2012-

{ I miss my family already and we haven't even left the house yet! } Due to cost of flights we couldn't afford for our family of 5 to fly. It was one of the hardest things I have ever had to deal with...and still wish my husband and children could have been by my side.

I don't know about you. But I realized I am kind of a hoarder of crayons! Yes. There I feel better that I FINALLY admitted to this! I have crayons that I have had in a plastic shoe box for eons! Like before kids! I don't know if I should be ashamed of this or boastful?! Can I just say I had some pretty cool crayons back in my day! Sparkly, shimmery! You name it! But, alas. The time had come that we needed to part with some of these (as like any other mom in the world we were accumulating even more!). It was time to bid adieu!


First thing...park your kiddos on the floor with all the old crayons. Broken crayons (or ahem...restaurant crayons!). Have them peel the paper off (we put into a bowl) and then they get the honor of breaking the crayons into as SMALL of pieces as they can get them and placing them into a separate bowl! There are easier ways of doing this. Soaking the crayons in water and then rubbing the paper off. But I have to say the memories we made and the conversations we had while we peeled each and every crayon was priceless and I am so glad we did it this way!


I had a great picture my husband took of me spraying the silicone hearts with Pam. I edited it and when I went to add it to this tutorial...it has vanished! But I am sure you can figure that part out on your own! I bought these adorable silicone cups at Michael's. They came in a pack of 12. I really could have used 2 sets for this, but at $12.99 a package one would suffice! I had the kids set them out onto a cookie sheet. When they were done I sprayed the inside of each one with Pam. Then they sat down and covered just the bottoms with broken crayons! Pre-heat your oven to 250 degrees.


I let my princess carry the cookie sheet to the kitchen where I placed them into the oven. I set the timer for 15 minutes. When they are done...


They will look like a puddled mess of yuck! You can stick your cookie sheet in the refrigerator to speed up this next process or you can just let your crayons sit on the stove top until they are completely cooled. You will then peel them away from the silicone cup just as you would a Reese's peanut butter cup! Some of them will have some crayons that didn't melt all the way and I actually think it adds to the homemade ambiance!


When you flip them over that is when you see the magic of the melted crayons! The kids love them and I am so happy we went with the more frilly heart silicone cups! Now to wrap these bad boys up for Valentine's gifts! Have a blessed day!

I am preparing for Olivia's arrival as you know. And in the preparations I am going through all areas of my home and wanting to purge or get rid of items. BUT. I am a wuss. And when I say that I am a wuss I mean that I am scared of people on Craig's List! Did anyone else see the movie "Craig's List killer"?! Ummm...no thanks! Because of this I decided I would start a group amongst my FRIENDS and FRIENDS OF FRIENDS only on Facebook! I named it "Get er' Gone"! I will tell you...I started this private group on Wednesday and we have grown to 367 members and counting! I have already sold 2 items on there. One person's junk is another person's treasure! BUT by keeping it to friends and friends of only...we would only invite people WE would trust into our "circle" and therefore can feel confident accepting a check. Having someone come to our home etc! Another friend has already made close to $300!!

Here are a few tips for you if you decide to start a group of your own:

Create a set list of guidelines in advance (feel free to copy mine!) this way there is no confusion in the end!