New Furniture Saga!

At the beginning of the year my parents started looking for new living room furniture. They asked us if we wanted their old furniture. I say old, but it's not really that old at all. It's still in perfect shape! Normally we would have said YES right away, but Michael wanted to think about it. The thing is normal furniture sets just don't really work for our family and our living room. A sofa, loveseat and recliner will fit everyone, but then someone has to sit in the dreaded middle seat on the sofa that doesn't recline. Also the way our living room is situated the recliner has to be just to the right of the TV so you are so far over it's hard to see the TV for family movie nights. The other issue was my parents old furniture is powered and that's really not something that we wanted. The kids are terrible about putting down their footrest! I know they can learn and they will, but if they do happen to leave it up I like being able to go over and shut it with my foot. Also Michael makes enough money so we can be grown ups and buy our furniture for a change. :) 

The furniture we currently have was given to us by my parents when I was pregnant with Ella! We had actually just found out that Michael had been laid off and it was a welcome gift. My parents had already had this furniture for 5 - 6 years prior to giving it to us. 

For being at least 16 years old...it's really not that bad. Yes, the coloring has faded a lot in certain areas, the cushions are most definitely worn down and the mechanics have seen better days, but they've been good to us. 

  

This is how the couch looks most of the time! 

There is only one spot that is actually worn out. This is on the far right couch cushion. The seating area of the furniture is full grain leather, but the sides are vinyl so that's why this cracked and tore. 

On January 23rd, Michael and I went on a date day to go check out furniture. We went to Mor Furniture, Ashley, Macy's and The Old Cannery. We only found 1 couch set that wasn't powered and it was microfiber! No such luck, but it was still fun to get out and be with just my hubby. 

When I got home I started researching. Michael had already found out that they still sold the furniture we have right now albeit they are a bit of a newer design. Since we found the design name I was able to look it up and find it being sold at all sorts of places. A lot of them charged for shipping which cost a lot! They did sell them at Ashley on their website, but they were about $100 more than another online shop so I decided to get them from the other online retailer. 

We decided the best thing for our family situation was to get 3 loveseats. It makes it so every person has their own recliner and since loveseats are smaller they will fit nicely in the living room. I made an online order with 1StopBedrooms.com. 

While we were out we came across some other fun pieces. Michael thought it might be nice and grown up of us to actually have matching end tables and coffee table. We were specifically looking for pieces that had lots of storage for games, pillows and blankets. 

This was at The Old Cannery and I love it. It's a huge piece of furniture, but I loved the white mixed with dark wood. Also all that storage underneath would be nice. 

These end tables would have be nice to hid pillows in. 

This black one was at Ashley, but I don't really like blank and brown together. 

We loved this idea for the coffee table. Tons of storage for blankets!!! Although...again I don't like black and brown together. 

The reason we wanted all this storage is because we don't really like our current blanket and pillow storage. 

I love the blanket ladders, but they really aren't the most effective way to store all the blankets. In this picture they look all nice, but that's because I hung them up. The kids have a hard time hanging them nicely so most of the time they are pulled over a rung of the ladder or simply thrown into the corner. The pillows are actually stored in a Costco box behind the blank end table that you can barely see. It's just a bit messy and overwhelming to the eye. 

I liked those pieces that we saw at The Old Cannery, but they were just SO big. I felt like the living room was going to be crowded enough with 3 loveseats I didn't want to basically have a whole wall of furniture for the TV. So I started looking around on Ashley's website. That's when I found a TV console I fell in love with and it had other pieces that would match. I decided to check on 1StopBedrooms.com and sure enough they had those other pieces as well. Almost every piece I wanted was cheaper with them and since I already made one order I thought it would be nicer to just deal with the same company instead of buying a bunch of furniture from different stores. So I went ahead and made another online order with them. 

The next day I woke up and I felt funny...I hadn't slept good at all. I get like that sometimes when I spend a lot of money...buyers remorse! Michael and I talked about it and he said...yes it's a lot of money, but first off we received our stimulus so that helped, but also we live in our living room so it was going to be a good investment. That helped me relax and not worry about it so much. 

Fast forward to Wednesday, January 27th...I got a text from 1StopBedrooms saying that I needed to confirm my billing/shipping address by calling the number listed. I called the number and got ahold of Douglas. He stated that the issue was with my zip code and the system had already corrected it. He did want to confirm my order though. He stated that we were getting 3 loveseats with one recliner in each. That's when I was like...huh??? Who has ever heard of a reclining loveseat where only one side reclines. He told me that's how these come. I was shocked and so happy that we caught this before they were made and delivered. I would have been so upset with myself if they'd arrived and we only had 3 reclining seats. I ask him if my order could be updated to include both seats reclining. He said sure, but that there would be an extra cost of $299 per loveseat. I was totally flustered at this point and told him to go ahead and update the order. He also told me about their warranty and how much it covered. It only cost $199 for all 3 pieces and it was good for 5 years. He also said if we didn't have a claim in 5 years they would give you the $199 back. I thought that sounded great so he added that coverage as well. I did have a time period where I could take the warranty off so I figured I would talk about it with Michael and if I needed to I could have them remove it. 

Once I got off the phone with him, I still felt funny! I just couldn't imagine not paying attention to the fact that it was only a one sided recliner! I was specifically wanting a typical reclining loveseat. I went to the website and this is what I found. 

Do you see the wording right under Description....

Dual-sided recliner

At this point I was unhappy! I trusted that the loveseats were made the way he said with only one side reclining, but I felt that the website was misleading. I called up Douglas again and told him my concerns. I said that they should probably have the website wording changed since it wouldn't most likely hold up in a legal proceeding since the word dual means two! He told me he'd look into it and put me on hold. When he came back on the line he said that he would be able to to take $50 off per loveseat because of the misunderstanding. I was still a bit peeved about it. I'm a stickler for verbiage and I know that how things are worded can make a big difference in a legal proceeding. He told me that I wasn't required to purchase furniture through their company and if I wanted to I could cancel the order. I told him that I really wanted the furniture, but I was just taken aback by this obviously false verbiage on their website. He told me that they would go ahead and throw in the warranty on all the other pieces we purchases as well. I felt good about that and thanked him for listening to me and helping get to a solution. 

A while later I was still thinking about it and it just bugged me...seriously have you ever seen a reclining loveseat where only one side reclines?!?!? I decided to find the furniture on Ashley's website and see how they had it listed. Lo and behold it was listed as a dual-sided recliner. I got on the phone to call Ashley and while waiting I decided to try to start a chat online as well. Sometimes it can take forever to actually get through. The agent on chat named Jessica answered me first so I started talking with her. Right after that Ashley answered the phone. I told her that it was adorable that her name was the same as the company and that she works for and she could help someone else since I'd just started working with the chat agent. I asked Jessica if this piece of furniture reclined on both sides. Her answer was yes! By this point I was getting so mad at 1StopBedrooms.com! Jessica also informed me of a coupon code to get 15% off my order. I decided that I would put everything in my cart....3 loveseats, 1 TV console, 2 end tables and 2 coffee tables and with that 15% off we saved over $700 and it ended up being cheaper than 1StopBedrooms by $2400 because of all those additional charges! I thanked Jessica for her amazing help!

My next call was to Douglas....of course he wasn't available. I was told he would call me in 15 minutes. I called back 30 minutes later and was told he still wasn't available. I asked if anyone else could help me since I just wanted to cancel my order. They told me that it had to be Douglas that helped me. I decided right then that I was going to call every 15 minutes if I had to, but thankfully Douglas called me back about 2 minutes later. I told him what I had discovered and that I felt his company had no integrity and I couldn't do business with a company like that. I'm so glad that I had said yes to the changes earlier because normally you only have 24 hours to cancel and it had been well over 24 hours, however, since I made those changes I received updated emails confirming the changes and on those emails it specifically stated that I had 24 hours to make changes. If he was going to give me a hard time I was absolutely going to get a lawyer. Thankfully he didn't give me any run around or issues at all. I think since I had said the word legal proceedings and lawyer earlier he was happy to see me go. I have since received emails stating that my refund will be processed in 72 hours. 

I honestly feel like this was all a God thing. I felt funny in the beginning for a reason and I feel like it was God trying to tell me not to trust them. Now that I've had time to think about it I highly doubt those loveseats are made with only one side reclining. I feel he was just trying to get more money out of me. I've since looked 1StopBedrooms.com up on the BBB (who knows why I didn't do this before)...they have horrible reviews. Of course on their website they only have 5 star reviews. On the BBB they have tons of 1 star reviews and that's only because you can't give zero stars! It seems this text and confirm your billing/shipping address thing is ploy to get you to call them and then they inform you about how since you live outside of the shipment zone you have to actually pay shipping. Or how there isn't certain part included in your order so you have to pay extra for it. They are a completely fraudulent company! 

I've since left a comment on the BBB, their website....which will most likely never get published and I've also commented on their Facebook page numerous times. This company is the worst! I can't believe I didn't do my research! I just wanted to try to get the furniture cheaper and in turn ended up with a lot of hassle and almost spending $2400 more! I'm so happy that I figured this out early and not months into the process like most of the other customers that I read about on the BBB. At least Ashley is local and they've been around for years and they have a good reputation. We are slated to get our new furniture around March 11th and I can't wait. 

Here is what our new loveseats look like. The only real difference other than the color being darker is the location of some of the seams are different. 

Here is our TV console. It's going to be perfect for storing all sorts of games.

This is our current set up. It's worked nice, but it's so cluttered looking with all the games stacked below. The cabinet on the left was painted by Michael's mom. I'm not getting rid of it, but I would like to move it. It is full of games so I'm hoping we can get most of them in the new console. 

I got two of these little end tables. I like that they are only 14 inches wide just big enough to set a book on, but not big enough to become a junk collector. It also has some fun features. The back part of the top opens up so you can plug in a lamp if you want and it has a USB plug for a charger. The little drawer comes out and is actually cup holders. In the back of the end table has a little nesting spot for you to store a book in. I love these!!! 

We knew we couldn't keep our current coffee table because it's square. Since we will have 3 reclining loveseats we had to consider how much space they'd be taking up when they are in the reclined position. Because of this we knew we needed a rectangle coffee table. 

This is the one we chose. All of this furniture is from the same furniture line...it's called Bolenburg. It's gonna be so nice having everything match! We did consider possibly not having a coffee table at all, but I really like playing card games in the living room and it's much better to play them on the coffee table than the floor. This will still allow us to do that. Plus it has all kinds of storage! 

I've never really wanted one of those coffee tables that has the top that pulls up, but this was the one that matched the other furniture I liked. The more I think about it though I think it's going to be so nice for Ella to sit on the loveseat and use it as a desk. Michael says no eating on the new furniture, but we'll see how long that lasts. 

You might remember I said that we got 2 coffee tables. Remember this view? 

Where that black chair is off to the left is where another loveseat will be so this corner will be basically unusable. We are taking out the two blanket ladders, the Costco box that holds the pillows and the black end table and replacing it with this....

This is the only piece that isn't from the Bolenburg line. It's from the Aldwin collection. The other pieces are vintage white with grey tops. This is a gray finish so we are crossing our fingers and hoping they pair well. We aren't two worried because like I said this is going to tucked back in the corner between two loveseats. It's not going to be a focal piece. The reason we loved this coffee table is...

Look at all that storage! This is going to be such a great place for the kids to be able to toss in their blankets! 

I'm so happy that it all worked out. I can't wait to get all our beautiful new furniture! 

Ouch That's Hot!

Thursday June 30th was just another normal day...Michael got home from work and after dinner he went straight out to work on the remodel some more. He was trying to cut through some 2x4's with the Saw-All. He asked me to get him a longer blade. I brought him the blade and that was that. I went inside and about a minute later Michael asked me for a different blade because the one I gave him wasn't doing the job. I went out to the garage and grab a different blade and then walked over to hand it to him. I was holding the new blade in my right hand and I was making sure that when I handed it to him I didn't stab him with it. Michael had the blade he'd been using for all of a minute in his right hand ready to pass it off to my left hand. He was holding it on the end that was attached to the actual Saw-All. Simultaneously he took the blade from me and I took the blade from him. 

The next part happened in just a matter of seconds. First off I realized I was screaming....loudly, but in my mind I didn't know why. It took my brain another second to realize that what I was holding was hot....VERY HOT!!!  That's when I threw or dropped the blade to the garage floor. The first thing I did was drop to the floor and put my hand on the concrete in hopes that it would be cool. It wasn't so I ran to our kitchen sink and put my hands on the stainless steel. I've done this before after burning my fingers and it's been great, but this time it wasn't cutting it. I grabbed some ice and put it on the burn and it hurt so bad. Then I went and sat down in the living room basically holding my hand and screaming in pain. The kids were freaked out a little. Michael of course was trying to help. I asked him for my lavender oil. He didn't know where I kept it so I got it myself and then put it on my burn. OH MY LORD!!!! That is the worst thing to do. NEVER EVER put essential oils on a burn right after it's happened. I found out later that the thing with oils is they keep heat in! My hand was basically "cooking" from the burn and I just shut the oven door to keep in the heat in. That's when Michael looked online and read that just running plain old cold water on it was the best thing to do. Not sure why I didn't try this earlier...chalk it up to being in the most intense pain of my life! 

After I ran my hand under cold water it really did start to feel better, but the moment I took it out of the water it felt horrible again. I got a bowl and filled it with cold water and then I got a paper towel I could hold onto. My hand felt the best when it was in the position it was when I grabbed the blade. 

I tried to contact a nurse friend of mine to find out what to do, but she wasn't responding. This is when I was able to research online and I found out about the oils and then I found out if you burn your hands you should really go to the ER. I was in so much pain at this point and it wasn't getting better I decided we needed to go. Michael had to finish up the electrical stuff he was working on since he had our power off and didn't want to leave the frig and freezer without power for who knows how long. I had also texted my neighbor to see if they could watch the kids, but she wasn't responding either. We decided to just stop by on our way out of the neighborhood to see if they could watch them. They were so willing and so happy that we stopped and asked. Rachael had just been in the shower so she hadn't gotten my texts. It was such a good thing that they were able to watch the kids because at Valley Medical Center they only allow 2 people into the ER rooms and that includes children. So Michael would have been stuck in the waiting area and I wouldn't have had anyone with me. 

When it comes to hospitals I really don't like St. Francis so I knew we weren't going there. I love Mary Bridge for the kids, but I didn't necessarily thing that we needed to drive all that way for me. So Valley it was....although it's probably pretty close to the same distance from our house than Tacoma General, but just in the opposite direction. When we got to the ER they took me right back to triage while Michael parked the van. While I was in triage I had to show the nurse my burn and she....having seen all sorts of awful things said, "Oh that's not that bad!" I wanted to smack her! Not that bad lady....my hand feels like it's incinerated! She showed me to my room before Michael was even back from parking the van. 

This is was the first picture I took of my hand. It's hard to see, but I had burnt all 5 of my fingers. Blisters were forming on my thumb, pointer and my middle finger. 

After a little while the doctor came in and wanted to look at it. He said they would wrap my hand up with burn cream and give me pain meds. The nurse came in with some oxycodone for me to take. After the doctor looked at it I figured I should probably keep my hand out of the water so it wouldn't be all prunie when they wrapped it up. I was amazed that it wasn't hurting immediately. After around 5 minutes though I could feel the pain in my thumb and then it moved to my other fingers. The pain was awful! It was like contractions where it would build up, peak and come down and then start all over again. It was hurting so bad it felt like my fingernails might pop off. The pain actually had me in tears it was so bad. When the nurse came in to wrap my hand I could barely talk and all I said was it felt like I was still holding the burning hot blade. Thankfully this was just about the time the pain meds started to kick in. They didn't stop the pain at first, but they did make my brain woozy so I think it just didn't really matter to me that much. 

She rubbed the burn cream on each finger and then wrapped them up lightly. The cream felt really good! After I was discharged we went out to the pharmacy to get my RX for the pain meds and then we were headed home. In all I think we were only at the hospital a little over an hour. 

We picked the kids up from Rachael's house and it was off to bed. I went to bed as well, but come to find out oxycodone and me don't really like each other. I was up tossing and turning until sunrise because I couldn't stop twitching and itching. My brain wouldn't stop thinking and the blood in my veins felt like it was traveling at 100 mph. 

Prior to going to bed I did wrap my hand in an ACE bandage. Since she put the bandages on so lightly I didn't want them coming off in the night. They said not to change them for 24 hrs so the above picture of me sitting on the couch is pretty much what I did all day on Friday. Michael ended up staying home from work. We didn't know how much I'd be able to do and with me being on high powered pain meds I couldn't drive....we all know how prone to accidents my kids are so odds are they would injure themselves and need to go to the hospital and I wouldn't be able to drive them. For the most part though I was fine....Michael helped me a few times, but he was also able to work a bit on the remodel.

Here's where the story of the 240 power plug for the dryer comes in. Michael was working on this part of the remodel on Friday when he got stuck. That is a lot of power and the wire was aluminum and he was having to change it to copper and everything that he could find on the internet was making him nervous. He finally said....."We're gonna have to hire an electrician!" I'm thinking....great! How much is this going to cost. It's a holiday weekend and we need it done NOW! So I did what everyone does when they need something....I posted it on FB! My friend Amanda ended up responding and saying that her husband could help. We made plans for him to come over on Tuesday after the holiday. A little while later Michael wanted to run to Lowe's to get some things and I needed to go with him because the credit card is in my name. So we all pile into the van and up to Lowe's we went. This is the cool part...while we were at Lowe's in the electrical aisle Michael notices a guy that he thinks is someone he used to play poker with. The guy and him keep eyeballing each other a bit and then the guy finally says, "Are you Mike?" and then Michael says, "Are you Pete?"  Ends up that Pete does electrical stuff professionally and he knew exactly what Michael needed to do in order to get the electrical stuff figured out. This was completely and 100% a God thing and I'm so thankful that I burned my hand! I really am! If I hadn't have burned my hand Michael would have gone to work like normal and this encounter wouldn't have happened. God is so awesome! Even though burning my hand sucked big time He worked it out for good! 

This is my hand 24 hours after the burn. I was honestly amazed at how well it looked. I was also amazed at how well it felt! I was sure it was going to hurt so bad once I exposed it to air, but it didn't at all. The only thing that was limited was my ability to bend my fingers all the way. 

This is my hand 3 days after burning it....all but two of the blistered had healed up. The blister on my thumb was already much much smaller. The one on my middle finger was driving me nuts, but I managed to not pop it until right before bed on the 4th of July. I just couldn't take it anymore. I put Neosporin on a bandage and wrapped it up.

The moral of the story is...don't grab onto a burning hot Saw-All blade! 

It was funny a couple days after I burned myself Ella was wanting to go down the slide aka the banister in the foyer of our house. She had asked Zeke to move, but he wouldn't. I told her to just slide down and that Zeke would learn to move out of the way because pain is a wonderful teacher. That's when Jack said, "No it's not!" and then I showed him my hand and said, "Do you think I'm ever going to touch a Saw-All blade that was just in use again? No....because pain is a WONDERFUL teacher!" 

Playing With Bees!

Owen had a rough week last week! On Sunday he was playing...yes playing with bees and got stung....yeah ya think! SMH! 

That night right when it happened he told us, but that was it. He went to bed fine and really I figured it was okay and maybe he didn't get stung since he didn't make a big deal about it at all. 

The next morning it was slightly swollen right around where he was stung, but that was it. Kind of surprised me that it took over 12 hours for it to swell up. Later that morning I got a call from the school saying that his had was really swollen and it was itching him so badly he couldn't focus on his work. So after my appointment at the chiropractor I drove over and picked him up from the nurses room. I tried a bunch of things....lavender oil, hydrocordizone, ice and of course Benadryl, but none of them really worked. 

The nest morning I knew I couldn't send him to school if I hadn't taken him to the Dr's. Thankfully she had an appointment for 9:30. She said that he was having a local reaction and she prescribed him Hydroxyine which is stronger than Benadryl for the itching. She did say not to give it to him until after school since it would make him really sleepy. For the discomfort she told me he could take one normal Advil. 

Back to the house we went so I could pack him a lunch and get him his pill. I love that my 8 year old can swallow pills!!! Then it was off to school. Of course he didn't want to go, but I told him he wasn't going to get to stay home because he chose to play with bees! Of course the day before he kept asking to play on the Kindle after I picked him up from school early and my answer was the same that time as well. Seriously! 

I did get another call an hour or so later from the school nurse saying that she had Owen in the office he was complaining about it being itchy. I had to explain what the doctor told me and how he couldn't take the RX until he got home. She decided to keep him in the nurses room with an ice pack...they can't take those back to the classroom because you know 2nd graders are so prone to chewing through those blue packs it's just not safe! SMH!!!! I told her I wasn't going to come pick him up though and reward him for PLAYING WITH BEES!!! He did have to do some of his school work while in the nurses room so that was good. 

Thankfully after he was able to take the RX when he got home that night it did start getting better and by the end of the week he wasn't even complaining about it at all. I don't even know how many people have asked him this last week, but he answers before they finish...."No...I won't be playing with bees anymore!" At least he learned something!!!! 

Side Note.....I LOVE LOVE LOVE my kids school! I think the teachers and other staff are fabulous! I just think that some of the rules that they have now are so ridiculous. Their hands are seriously tied. I guess I'm a bit more hardcore....maybe even borderline mean, but he's my child and I'm all for natural consequences so I would have been fine if they had told him to cowboy up and get back to class! 

Jackson Lost A Tooth!!!

Two Thursdays ago when we told the kids about St. Nicholas we also let the kids in on the fun that we are the ones that put money in the cup for their tooth. Of course we are still going to do that even though they know now. At first Owen didn't believe us he thought his tooth really dissolved and was gone leaving money so I ran upstairs to get his baby teeth I have saved in a little container in my closet. As I was coming downstairs I hear Michael say, "Where's the tooth?" and I'm thinking sheesh I'm coming hold your horses. Then when I get downstairs they are all searching the floor for a tooth....Jack's tooth! 

Jack's bottom tooth has only been wiggly for just about a week and it wasn't really near ready to come out. While I was upstairs Jack had been biting on one of our TV blankets and Owen ripped it out of his mouth and along came the tooth! It bled pretty badly since it wasn't ready...we ended up having to wet a teabag and press it over the hole to get it to stop. 

Jackson has been waiting and waiting to enter the club of kids that have lost teeth...he was so happy! And the fun part of letting the kids in on the secret.....a day or two after Jack lost his tooth Owen asked me if he could put some money in the cup for Jack! Michael's brothers used to do that for him when we was younger. So sweet! 

Revolving Door!

This kid and I have been to the ER so many times it feels like a normal thing! Last Thursday while watching the Seahawks game all the kids including the neighbor kids were out playing in the backyard and having a great time. Then I heard a screaming cry and went running. Evidently Zeke was trying to be a big boy and climb up the slide like the other kids and he was wearing socks. Yeah that didn't go so well. He had bit his tongue and it was bleeding, but otherwise he seemed fine. He was doing baby swear words so I should have known something else was wrong. 

Anyways I brought him inside and checked him out and then tried to console him. I ended up sitting him on Daddy's lap so he could lounge with him. He seemed content to just lay there. I did notice that he was looking at me longingly, but he didn't try to come to me. He also was holding his sippy with one hand, but it didn't seem like a big deal at the time. 

Then at 8:15 when we decided it was time to get the kids ready for bed we move him. That's when he started crying and I noticed he wasn't moving his left arm. Not again! I had him stand up and we tried to see if he would reach for something with that arm, but he wouldn't. Then I tried to see if it was nursemaids elbow again, but that just made him scream. So....off to the ER we went! 

The ER was a busy place! I think it was because some schools had started and the kids just weren't conditioned yet so there were lots of sports related injuries. 

While waiting Zeke wanted to wander over to see the fishies! 

Thankfully it wasn't too long and we were called back. Once they heard about his accident they ordered x-rays. When we were finished in triage they took us right to the x-ray room and then when that was done we were taken into the exam room. 

While at triage they gave Zeke some Motrin. By this point it had been around 30 minutes later and he was feeling pretty good. 

The nurse gave him some cars and blocks to play with and it was no time and he was zooming around the cars with both arms. He still wouldn't lift his arm higher than his shoulder though. When the Dr. came in he said that the x-rays looked just fine and then he examined his shoulder and elbow to make sure they were all good. In the end it was just a bad sprain and he just needed some children's Motrin or Tylenol. Thank goodness he didn't break anything! The nice thing is that even though we've been to the ER quite a lot they never make me feel like I'm a bad parent. Kids will be kids and we can't protect them from everything. Have I mentioned that I LOVE Mary Bridge Children's Hospital! 

Attack Of The Bubbles!

Mommy may have put in just a little too much bubbles for the jetted tub! 

They sure loved covering their bodies to look like snowmen. 

And of course there were many soap beards too! 

As for Zeke....he was in the tub before the bubbles got this big and he was FREAKING out! It was fun and the kids had a great time squashing all the bubbles off their bodies and the bathroom when they got out of the tub! 

Star Wars Shirt AKA Craft Fail!

I had this grand plan to add to the boys vacation shirts by making them Star Wars shirts. I figured I would use the same technique I did when I made the kids their super hero capes.  

I found these cool LEGO silhouettes online and then I typed out the characters name using the Star Wars font I downloaded for Jack's 5th birthday party. Then I printed them off at the library to give me a template to work with.  

I had to cut the shapes out which took quite awhile. 

Then I used scrapbook adhesive to stick it on a plain black t-shirt I bought at Wal-Mart for $3.46 

Then came the bleach. So far so good! 

When I removed the paper I noticed that the bleach had bled through a little since it was just normal printing paper and not cardstock. Oh well...it still looked good. 

Then I washed it!!! 

I was so bummed! The beach got everywhere and it was completely messed up. I think I probably should have rinsed the shirt prior to washing it??? I was looking back at my blog post about the capes and I didn't say anything about washing them. I'm thinking I didn't just because they weren't going to be wearing them up against their skin. Any tips on how to make this actually work? I think it's a great idea and I really want the boys to have Star Wars shirts. Jack's is Vader, Owen's is Yoda and Zeke is a Storm Trooper! 

The Floor Won!

Recently we moved Zeke out of his highchair and into a tall chair just like Ella. He'd been doing just fine with sitting on it and getting up and down with some help. On Thursday he was drinking out of his water bottle and I think he might have tilted his head too far or just wasn't paying attention, but the next thing I knew he face planted on the floor. Since he was holding his water bottle he didn't even try to catch himself. 

This is right after it happened. I snapped this shot so I could send it to Daddy. At his 2 year check-up he fell over and hit his head on the window seal and has had a bruise on his forehead ever since. It seems like whenever it's almost healed up he hits his head again. 

This was the morning after...thankfully the swelling had gone down a bit by then. I had given him some Children's Ibuprofen to help. And no those aren't stitches...it's just the way his skin got scraped. And right before this picture he was walking out of the garage to get to the van and he walked too quickly and hit head on the garage door going up! I think I might start having him wear his McQueen helmet! 

Monster!

Don't ever let Zeke get a hold of your laptop! It's not pretty! 

Thankfully this was my old laptop that had turned into a play toy for Ella. It was a great laptop for a time, but then when I was pregnant with Zeke I was carrying the laptop in a laundry basket down the stairs when I slipped and fell backwards sending the basket flying. Out fell the laptop and it really wasn't the same after that. The side of the screen got cracked and then every time I opened it up it would separate just a little bit more. Slowly, but surely it went kaput! Ella has loved having it for her play laptop. I find it hilarious that she wants to play with it since it doesn't turn on or make any noises. We have 3 other play laptops that have games on them, but this is the one she likes the best. Unfortunately it's missing some crucial parts now! I have a feeling this might be the final nail in the coffin!